Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

********************

Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on January 12, 1810, in Palermo, Sicily in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy, Ferdinando Carlo Maria was the eldest of the six sons and the third of the twelve children of Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Maria Isabella of Spain. His paternal grandparents were Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies and his first wife Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of Naples and Sicily, who died before her husband became King of the Two Sicilies. His maternal grandparents were Carlos IV, King of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma. Ferdinando I and Carols IV were brothers, both sons of Carlos III, King of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony.

Ferdinando’s parents and siblings: Left to right: Maria Isabella, second wife of Francesco I holding Maria Carolina, Ferdinanda Luisa, Maria Antonia, Luisa Carlotta, Maria Cristina, Ferdinando, Francesco I holding Maria Amalia, Carlo, Prince of Capua and Leopoldo, Count of Syracuse; Credit – Wikipedia

Ferdinando II had eleven siblings. Unusual for the time, they all survived childhood.

Ferdinando had two half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria who died from tuberculosis in 1801:

Ferdinando was well-educated by Giuseppe Capocasale (link in Italian), an abbot known by the nickname of “the Christian Socrates“, who became his tutor in 1822. Ferdinando also received a political and military education in local academies. Twenty-year-old Ferdinando II succeeded to the throne of the Two Sicilies upon the death of his father on November 8, 1830. He quickly got to work on reorganizing the government, focused on reducing public debt, and calming the country still affected by the turbulence following the Napoleonic Wars.

Marriage of Ferdinando II and Maria Cristina of Savoy; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 21, 1832, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Acquasanta in Genoa, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy, Ferdinando married Maria Cristina of Savoy, the daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este.

Ferdinando and Maria Cristina had one child:

Ferdinando’s first wife Maria Cristina of Savoy; Credit – Wikipedia

On January 21, 1836, five days after giving birth to her only child, 23-year-old Maria Cristina died from childbirth complications. She was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. Maria Cristina had been called “the Holy Queen” for her deep religious devotion. She was constantly ill which she patiently endured with her piety and was popular with the people for her charity, modesty, and humility.

The Roman Catholic Church opened a cause for Maria Cristina’s possible canonization as a saint. On July 10, 1872, Maria Cristina was declared to be a Servant of God and on May 6, 1937, she was declared a Venerable Servant of God. On May 3, 2013, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle due to her intercession and approved Maria Cristina’s beatification. Her beatification took place on January 25, 2014, at the Basilica of Santa Chiara where she is buried. She is known in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy and is one step away from canonization as a saint.

Ferdinando’s second wife Maria Theresa of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

A year after Maria Cristina’s death, Ferdinando married Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Archduke Karl of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg. He had met Maria Theresa during his stay in Vienna, Austria in July 1836, and they married on January 9, 1837, at the Augustinian Church in Vienna, Austria.

Ferdinando II and his family; Credit – Wikipedia

Ferdinando and Maria Theresa of Austria had twelve children:

The Revolutions of 1848 reached the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Ferdinando II was forced to grant a constitution of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The goodwill created by the constitution did not last long. Between 1849 and 1851, Ferdinando returned to repressive policies causing many who opposed him to go into exile. An estimated 2,000 suspected revolutionaries or dissidents were jailed.

The attempted assassination of Ferdinando II by Agesilao Milano: Credit – Wikipedia

On December 8, 1856, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Ferdinando II attended mass in Naples with his family, government officials, and nobles. After the mass, Ferdinando reviewed the troops. During the military review, Agesilao Milano (link in Italian), a soldier who had accused Ferdinando of being a “tyrant from whom the nation had to free itself” wounded the king with a bayonet in an assassination attempt. Milano was arrested and sentenced to death and was hanged five days later.

Ferdinando II on his deathbed; Credit _ Wikipedia

Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies died at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Caserta, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy on May 22, 1859, aged 49 from a strangulated hernia after hesitating for months to have surgery. There is some speculation that his condition could have been related to the assassination attempt. He was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. His second wife Maria Theresa survived her husband by eight years, dying at the age of 51 from cholera on August 8, 1867, just days before her youngest child also died from cholera. She was buried with her husband at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples.

During Ferdinando II’s reign, the Italian unification movement led by Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia , later Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Italy, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a noted general and politician, began. Shortly before Ferdinando II’s death, the Second War of Italian Independence began. During the reign of Ferdinando’s son Francesco II, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860-1861 invasion called the Expedition of the Thousand led to the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which then was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ferdinand II. (Sizilien) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II._(Sizilien)> [Accessed 12 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II_of_the_Two_Sicilies> [Accessed 12 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/francesco-i-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 12 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Royal Burial Sites. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/kingdom-of-the-two-sicilies-royal-burial-sites/> [Accessed 12 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ferdinando II delle Due Sicilie – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinando_II_delle_Due_Sicilie> [Accessed 12 August 2021].

Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Albrecht with his younger half-brother, Prince Heinrich; Credit – Wikipedia

Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria was Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne from 1955 until he died in 1996. He was the eldest surviving grandson of the last reigning King of Bavaria, Ludwig III, and also the heir to the Jacobite succession.

Prince Albrecht Luitpold Ferdinand Michael of Bavaria was born in Munich on May 3, 1905, the son of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria. He had three siblings, all of whom died young:

  • Luitpold, Hereditary Prince of Bavaria (1901) – died in his youth
  • Princess Irmingard (1902) – died in infancy
  • Prince Rudolf (1909) – died in childhood

Albrecht also had six half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Princess Antonia of Luxembourg:

  • Prince Heinrich (1922) – married Anne Marie de Lustrac, no issue
  • Princess Irmingard (1923) – married Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, had issue
  • Princess Editha (1924) – married (1) Tito Tmmaso Brunetti, had issue; (2) Gustav Schimert, had issue
  • Princess Hilda (1926) – married Juan Lockett de Loayza, had issue
  • Princess Gabriele (1927) – married Karl, Duke of Croy, had issue
  • Princess Sophie (1935) – married Jean-Engelbert, Duke of Arenberg, had issue

Albrecht (left) with his father and elder brother Luitpold. photo: Wikipedia

Upon the death of his elder brother in 1914, Albrecht became Hereditary Prince of Bavaria, second in line to the Bavarian throne. However, four years later, in November 1918, the monarchy was abolished. After leaving Bavaria for a short time, he returned to Munich and began studying Forestry but was unable to complete his studies due to the rising Nazi regime.

On September 3, 1930 in Berchtesgaden, Albrecht married Countess Maria Drawkovich of Trakostjan, the daughter of Count Dionys Draskovich von Trakostjan and Princess Juliana Rose von Tentenuovo. At the time of their marriage, a family council deemed the marriage unequal, thus initially excluding Albrecht and his children from the line of succession. However, in 1948, it was ruled that the Head of the House (Albrecht’s father at the time) had the sole authority to determine the validity of the union, and their marriage was recognized as dynastic in May 1949. This reinstated Albrecht and his descendants as heirs to the former Bavarian throne.

Albrecht and his wife had four children:

  • Princess Marie Gabrielle (1931) – married Georg, Prince von Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg, had issue
  • Princess Marie Charlotte (1931) – married Paul, Prince von Quadt zu Wykradt und Isny, had issue
  • Franz, Duke of Bavaria (1933) – unmarried
  • Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria (1937) – married Countess Elisabeth Douglas, had issue, including Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein

After several years living in Bad Kreuth in upper Bavaria, Albrecht and his family left the country in 1937, settling briefly in Croatia and then in Hungary by 1940. In October 1944 following the German invasion, the family was arrested and imprisoned in several concentration camps before finally being freed by American forces in April 1945.

Upon his father’s death in August 1955, Albrecht became Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne. It was at that time that he took on the style ‘Duke in Bavaria’. In addition, he became the recognized heir to the Jacobite succession.

Several years later, in 1959, Albrecht orchestrated an official ceremony at which the Greek Crown Jewels were returned to the Greek king. The jewels were originally made for Prince Otto of Bavaria, who had been elected as Greece’s first modern-day King in 1832, but was formally deposed in 1862, and had taken the jewels with him upon returning to Bavaria. Otto was then succeeded by Prince Vilhelm of Denmark who became King George I of the Hellenes. It was King George’s grandson, King Paul of the Hellenes, who accepted the jewels at the ceremony.

Following the death of his first wife in 1969, Albrecht remarried two years later, on April 21, 1971 in Weichselboden, Austria. His second wife was Countess Marie-Jenke Keglevich of Buzin, the daughter of Count Stephan Keglevich de Buzin and Countess Klára Zichy of Zich and Vásonkeö. They had no children.

Having returned to the study of forestry, Albrecht also developed a passion for hunting. He amassed a large collection of antlers, many of which became part of the Deer Museum at Berchtesgaden Castle. In addition, he and his second wife published two books of their research about deer, for which they received honorary doctorates from the University of Munich.

Berg Castle. photo: By 2micha – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8311566

Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria died on July 8, 1996, at Berg Castle in Starnberg. Germany. Following a funeral at the Theatinerkirche in Munich, he was buried in the Wittelsbach cemetery at Andechs Abbey in Starnberg along with both of his wives.

* * * * * * * * * *

Bavarian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

* * * * * * * * * *

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Westminster Abbey in London, England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Westminster Abbey; Photo Credit – By Σπάρτακος – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26334184

History of Westminster Abbey

First known as St. Peter’s Abbey, Westminster Abbey in London, England, which this writer has visited several times, was founded by Benedictine monks in 960 under the patronage of King Edgar the Peaceful (reigned 943 – 975) and St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury.  In the 1040s, King Edward, better known as St. Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042 – 1066), built his royal palace nearby St. Peter’s Abbey on the banks of the River Thames on land known as Thorney Island. Later the medieval Palace of Westminster sat upon the site and today the Houses of Parliament (formal name is still Palace of Westminster) is there.

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry showing the funeral procession of Edward the Confessor with the church Edward built on the left. This is the only contemporary depiction of Edward’s church; Credit – Wikipedia

Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St. Peter’s Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church. This church became known as the “west minster” to distinguish it from (old) St. Paul’s Cathedral (the east minster) in the City of London. See Wikipedia: Minster. The new church was consecrated on December 28, 1065. Too ill to attend the consecration, Edward the Confessor died on January 5, 1066, and was buried before the high altar of his new church the day after his death.

In 1245, King Henry III started the construction of the second and present Westminster Abbey in the new Gothic style of architecture. The second church was designed to be not only a place of worship and a monastery but also a place for the coronation and burial of monarchs. This church was consecrated on October 13, 1269, and on that day, King Henry III oversaw a grand ceremony to rebury Edward the Confessor in a magnificent new shrine, personally helping to carry the body to its new resting place. Edward the Confessor’s shrine survives and around his shrine were interred five kings and four queens.

Shrine of Edward the Confessor

Each October 13 – 20, Westminster Abbey observes Edwardtide which celebrates the life of Saint Edward the Confessor. On October 13, National Pilgrimage Day, everyone is welcome, without a ticket, “to visit the Abbey with other pilgrims and experience its beauty and space in an atmosphere characterised by prayer. Everyone will be able to pray at the Shrine of St Edward – the only shrine in this country that still contains the body of the saint.” On October 13, 2018, this writer had the experience of attending the National Pilgrimage Day. The Chapel of Edward the Confessor is usually not open to tourists and it was awe-inspiring to see the shrine surrounded by the tombs of kings and queens. In the photo above of the shrine, notice the three openings at the bottom of the shrine. These are openings where pilgrims enter to kneel to pray. Imagine all the people over the centuries who have knelt there over the centuries.

Embed from Getty Images 
Henry VII Chapel

King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, added a major addition to Westminster Abbey, the exquisitely beautiful chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary known as the Henry VII Chapel or the Lady Chapel. The tomb of Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York is in the main part of the chapel. Around the perimeter are small chapels where other royals are interred, some in tombs and some in vaults below the chapels. Mary, Queen of Scots was exhumed from her original burial place in Peterborough Cathedral and re-interred in one of the chapels in 1612, during the reign of her son King James I. In 1867, the vault below her tomb was opened in an attempt to find the resting place of her son James I who was ultimately found to have been interred in the vault of his great-great-grandfather King Henry VII. However, all around the coffin of Mary, Queen of Scots were the coffins of over twenty of her descendants, including the small coffins of the many Stuart children who were stillborn, died in infancy, or died in childhood.

The Interior of the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey by Canaletto, early 1750s; Credit – Wikipedia

Under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel is the Hanover vault and it is here that the members of the House of Hanover were interred until the construction of the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Statues of 20th-century martyrs above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey. Those commemorated are Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Janani Luwum, Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King, Óscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi, and Wang Zhiming; Credit – Wikipedia

A recent addition to Westminster Abbey are ten statues of modern martyrs, Christians who gave up their lives for their beliefs. The statues occupy ten niches over the Great West Door which had been empty since the Middle Ages. The statues were unveiled in 1998 at a service attended by Queen Elizabeth II. The martyrs are from all over the world and from many Christian denominations and represent all who have been oppressed or persecuted for their faith.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna in her nun’s habit; Credit – Wikipedia

One of the statues is Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia. She was born Princess Elisabeth Hesse and by Rhine, a daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, the sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia,  and the great-aunt of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1909, four years after her husband’s assassination, Ella, as she was called, sold all her jewelry and with the proceeds opened the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary and became its abbess. A hospital, pharmacy, and orphanage were opened on the convent’s grounds, and Ella and her Russian Orthodox nuns spent their time serving the poor of Moscow. On July 18, 1918, the day after the execution of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, Ella’s sister Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and their children, Ella along with five other Romanovs, a nun from Ella’s convent, and the secretary of one of the other Romanovs were executed by the Bolsheviks.

The altar

The monastery was dissolved during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in King Henry VIII’s reign. In 1539, Henry VIII then assumed direct royal control over the abbey and granted it the status of a cathedral. By granting the abbey cathedral status, Henry VIII had an excuse to spare it from destruction. Henry VIII’s Catholic daughter, Queen Mary I, gave the abbey back to the Benedictine monks but that ended during the reign of her half-sister, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I. In 1560, Elizabeth I assumed royal control of the abbey as her father had done and declared that Westminster Abbey was a “Royal Peculiar” – a church of the Church of England responsible to the monarch rather than a bishop – and made it the Collegiate Church of St Peter. Today, Westminster Abbey remains a Royal Peculiar and its formal name remains the Collegiate Church of St Peter.

Embed from Getty Images
The Choir

**********************

Coronations

The Coronation Chair (also called St. Edward’s Chair and King Edward’s Chair); Credit – Wikipedia

Westminster Abbey has been Britain’s coronation church since 1066. From King William I (the Conqueror) to King Charles III, all monarchs except for two have been crowned in Westminster Abbey. Twelve-year-old King Edward V was presumed murdered in the Tower of London before he could be crowned.  King Edward VIII abdicated eleven months after succeeding his father, before his scheduled coronation date.

********************

Royal Funerals

The coffin of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother is carried into Westminster Abbey

We can assume that those royals buried at Westminster Abbey had a funeral there or, at the very least, a burial service. However, since the reign of the House of Hanover, St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle has become the usual place for funerals of the British royal family.  The past eight British monarchs – King George III, King George IV, King William IV, Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V, King Edward VIII (as Duke of Windsor), and King George VI – had funerals at St. George’s Chapel. Except for the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII who had a private funeral, the other seven funerals were state funerals. Most members of the British royal family have private funerals at St, George’s Chapel. The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022, was the first funeral of a British monarch held at Westminster Abbey since the funeral of King George II on November 13, 1760.

Since 1904, there have been only six funerals of members of the royal family at Westminster Abbey. Five of the funerals were ceremonial funerals and none of the six were buried at Westminster Abbey. Ceremonial funerals, including those of senior members of the royal family and high-ranking public figures, may share many of the characteristics of a state funeral but the term ceremonial funeral is used.  A state funeral is usually reserved for the monarch, although people of great achievement, exceptional military leaders, and outstanding statesmen have had state funerals. Sir Winston Churchill‘s funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London in 1965 was a state funeral. On September 19, 2022, a state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II was held at Westminster Abbey.

Below are the funerals of members of the royal family at Westminster Abbey since 1904:

  • March 22, 1904 – Funeral of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (1819 – 1904)
    • son of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel
    • male-line grandson of King George III
    • first cousin of Queen Victoria
    • served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces (military head of the British Army)
    • buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London, England
  • September 22, 1921 – Funeral of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven (1854 – 1921)
    • born Prince Louis of Battenberg
    • son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and his morganatic wife Countess Julia von Hauke
    • husband of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria
    • grandfather of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
    • served in the Royal Navy as Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord
    • buried at St. Mildred’s Church in Whippingham, Isle of Wight, England
  • September 5, 1979 – Funeral of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900 – 1979)
    • born Prince Louis of Battenberg
    • son of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine
    • great-grandson of Queen Victoria
    • uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
    • Chief of the Defence Staff
    • First Sea Lord
    • Viceroy and Governor-General of India
    • killed when his boat was blown up by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on Donegal Bay, in County Sligo, Ireland
    • buried at Romsey Abbey in Romsey, Hampshire, England
  • September 6, 1997 – Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 – 1997)
    • born The Honourable Diana Spencer, later Lady Diana Spencer
    • daughter of Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and The Honourable Frances Shand Kydd
    • first wife of Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, later King Charles III
    • mother of Prince William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
    • died from injuries received in a car accident in the Pont de l’Alma Tunnel in Paris, France
    • buried at Althorp, the Spencer family home, on an island in the center of a lake on the grounds
  • April 9, 2002 – Funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother ( 1900 – 2002)
    • born The Honourable Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
    • daughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck
    • wife of King George VI of the United Kingdom
    • mother of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
    • buried in King George VI Memorial Chapel at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
  • September 19, 2022 – Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (1926 – 2022)

On March 29, 2022, a Service of Thanksgiving for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was held at Westminster Abbey. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh died at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England on April 9, 2021, at the age of 99, just two months short of his 100th birthday. The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh took place on Saturday, April 17, 2021, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor England. The Thanksgiving Service was organized because due to COVID-19 restrictions, there could be only 30 guests at the funeral. For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: Service of Thanksgiving for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

**********************

Royal Burials

King Henry III’s tomb in the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor; Credit – Westminster Abbey Facebook page

There have been over 3,300 burials at Westminster Abbey and there are over 600 monuments and wall tablets. One of the United Kingdom’s most significant honors is to be buried or commemorated in Westminster Abbey. Musicians, poets, generals, admirals, politicians, doctors, and scientists were given the honor over the years. On June 15, 2018, the ashes of the theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author Stephen Hawking were interred in Westminster Abbey’s nave, alongside the graves of Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. See Wikipedia: Burials and memorials in Westminster Abbey for information on other people interred and commemorated in Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey Tomb Map; Credit – https://www.gutenberg.org

Thirty kings and queens are buried at Westminster Abbey, starting with King Edward the Confessor whose magnificent shrine stands just behind the High Altar. Five kings and four queens lie buried in his Chapel. Many royal children, especially those who died in childhood, were buried in the vaults at Westminster Abbey. By the time of King George II’s death in 1760, the royal burial vaults at Westminster Abbey were quite crowded. His successor, his grandson King George III, decided to build a new royal vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Since the reign of King George III, royal burials, with a few exceptions, have been at St. George’s Chapel or the Royal Burial Ground and Mausoleums at Frogmore, near Windsor Castle. The last monarch buried in Westminster Abbey was King George II in 1760. The last royal burial in Westminster Abbey was that of Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland, son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and brother of King George III, in 1790.

  • 1066 – St. Edward the Confessor, King of England: first buried before the high altar in the first Westminster Abbey, in 1269 after the rebuilding of the second Westminster Abbey, his remains were placed in a shrine
  • 1075 – Edith of Wessex, Queen of England, wife of Edward the Confessor, King of England: buried on the left side of her husband’s shrine
  • 1118 – Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England, first wife of King Henry I: first buried at the entrance of the Chapter House, reburied by King Henry III south of Edward the Confessor’s shrine
  • 1257 – Katherine, daughter of King Henry III: died in early childhood, buried in the ambulatory between the chapels of Edward the Confessor and St. Benedict
  • 1264 – Katherine, daughter of King Edward I: died in infancy
  • 1265 – Joanna, daughter of King Edward I: died in infancy
  • 1271 – John, son of King Edward I: died in early childhood: buried in the ambulatory between the chapels of Edward the Confessor and St. Benedict
  • 1272 – King Henry III of England: first placed in a grave near the high altar that had originally contained the coffin of Edward the Confessor, transferred in 1290 to a tomb north of Edward the Confessor’s shrine
  • 1274 – Henry, son of King Edward I: died in childhood, buried in the ambulatory between the chapels of Edward the Confessor and St. Benedict
  • 1277/1278 – Berengaria, daughter of King Edward I: died in early childhood
  • 1284 – Alphonso, Earl of Chester, Edward I’s eldest surviving son at the time of his death: died in childhood, buried in the ambulatory between the chapels of Edward the Confessor and St. Benedict
  • 1290 – Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England, wife of King Edward I, first placed in a grave near the high altar that had originally contained the coffin of Edward the Confessor, later transferred to her own tomb
  • 1296 – Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, son of King Henry III: buried in the Edward the Confessor Chapel
  • 1298 – Eleanor, Countess of Bar, daughter of King Edward I: buried in the ambulatory between the chapels of Edward the Confessor and St. Benedict
  • 1307 – King Edward I of England: buried in a tomb in the northwest corner of Edward the Confessor’s Chapel
  • 1331 (buried) – Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, son of King Edward I: died 1330
  • 1336 – John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, son of King Edward II: buried in an alabaster-carved tomb
  • 1342 – Blanche of the Tower, daughter of King Edward III: died shortly after birth, buried in St. Edmund’s Chapel
  • 1348 – William of Windsor, son of King Edward III: died in infancy, buried in St. Edmund’s Chapel
  • 1370 (buried) – Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England, wife of King Edward III: died 1369, buried in a tomb on the northeast side of Edward the Confessor’s Chapel
  • 1377 – King Edward III of England: buried in a tomb south of Edward the Confessor’s shrine.
  • 1394 – Anne of Bohemia, Queen of England, first wife of King Richard II: buried in a double tomb next to the tomb of Richard’s grandfather King Edward III
  • 1397 – Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, son of King Edward III: buried in the Edward the Confessor Chapel
  • 1413 (buried) – King Richard II of England, died 1400, first buried at Kings Langley Church, moved by King Henry V to the double tomb next to the tomb of Richard’s grandfather King Edward III where Anne of Bohemia was previously buried.
  • 1422 – King Henry V of England: buried in a tomb at the eastern end of Edward the Confessor’s Chapel.
  • 1437 – Catherine of Valois, Queen of England, wife of King Henry V: originally buried in the Lady Chapel, during renovations in the reign of King Henry VII, Catherine’s tomb was destroyed and her remains were placed in a wooden coffin which was placed alongside the tomb of her first husband King Henry V, in 1778, her remains were buried in the Villiers Vault in the St. Nicholas Chapel
  • 1472 – Margaret of York, daughter of King Edward IV: died in infancy, her coffin was originally placed to fit in the steps of Edward the Confessor Chapel but it was moved to the edge of the chapel at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
  • 1485 – Anne Neville, Queen of England: buried in an unmarked grave to the right of the High Altar, next to the door to Edward the Confessor’s Chapel
  • 1495 – Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII: died in early childhood, buried in a tomb on the north side of the Edward the Confessor Chapel
  • 1503 – Elizabeth of York, Queen of England, daughter of King Edward IV and wife of King Henry VII: buried with her husband in a magnificent tomb in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1509 – King Henry VII of England: buried with his wife in a magnificent tomb in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1509 – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, mother of King Henry VII: buried in a tomb in the Henry VII Chapel situated between the later graves of William III and Mary II and the tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots.
  • 1511 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall, son of King Henry VIII: died in infancy
  • 1553 – King Edward VI of England: buried in a tomb in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1557 – Anne of Cleves, Queen of England, fourth wife of King Henry VIII: buried in a plain marble tomb on the south side of the altar
  • 1558 – Queen Mary I of England: buried in a vault in the Henry VII Chapel she would eventually share with her Protestant half-sister and successor Queen Elizabeth I, the tomb erected above only has Elizabeth’s effigy
  • 1559 – Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, daughter of Mary Tudor and granddaughter of King Henry VII: buried in a tomb in St. Edmund’s Chapel
  • 1578 – Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, daughter of Margaret Tudor and granddaughter of King Henry VII, buried in a tomb in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1578 – Lady Mary Grey, daughter of Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk and granddaughter of Mary Tudor: buried in the tomb of her mother Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, her grave is unmarked
  • 1603 – Queen Elizabeth I of England: buried in a vault in the Henry VII Chapel that she shares with her Catholic half-sister Queen Mary I, the tomb erected above only has Elizabeth’s effigy
  • 1606 – Sophia Stuart, daughter of King James I: died 48 hours after birth, buried in a monument that resembles a cradle near the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1607 – Mary Stuart, daughter of King James I: died in early childhood, buried in a tomb opposite her sister Sophia’s tomb near the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I in the Henry VII’s Chapel
  • 1612 (buried) Mary, Queen of Scots: died 1587, originally buried at Peterborough Cathedral, in 1612, Mary’s remains were exhumed upon the orders of her son King James I and were reburied in a marble tomb with a beautiful effigy directly across the aisle from the chapel containing the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I.
  • 1612 – Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of King James I: died at age 18, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1615 – Lady Arbella Stuart, great-granddaughter of Margaret Tudor: buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1619 – Anne of Denmark, Queen of England, wife of King James I: buried in the vault of the Dukes of Buckinghamshire in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1625 – King James I of England: buried in the vault with King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, his great-great-grandparents
  • 1629 – Charles James Stuart, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, firstborn of King Charles I: born and died the same day
  • 1640 – Princess Anne, daughter of King Charles I: died in early childhood, buried next to her brother Charles James
  • 1660 – Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester, son of King Charles I: buried in a vault under the monument of Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1660 – Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange, daughter of King Charles I, mother of King William III: buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1661 – Charles Stuart, Duke of Cambridge, son of King James II: died in infancy, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1662 – Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine, Queen of Bohemia, daughter of King James I: buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1667 – James Stuart, Duke of Cambridge, son of King James II: died in early childhood, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1667 – Charles Stuart, Duke of Kendal, son of King James II: died in infancy, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1669 – Henrietta Stuart, daughter of King James II: died in infancy, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1671 – Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, first wife of King James I: buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1671 – Edgar Stuart, Duke of Cambridge, son of King James II: died in early childhood, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1671 – Catherine Stuart, daughter of King James II: died in infancy, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1675 – Catherine Laura Stuart, daughter of King James II: died in infancy, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1677 – Charles, Duke of Cambridge, son of King James II: died in infancy, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1678 – Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James II: died in infancy
  • 1681 – Isabella Stuart, daughter of King James II: died in early childhood, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1681 (buried) Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth, an illegitimate son of King Charles II: died 1680, buried in what is now the Royal Air Force Memorial Chapel
  • 1682 – Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, nephew of King Charles I and cousin of King Charles II and King James II: buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1682 – Charlotte Maria, daughter of King James II: died in infancy
  • 1684 – Charlotte FitzRoy, Countess of Yarmouth, illegitimate daughter of King Charles II
  • 1684: Stillborn daughter of Queen Anne
  • 1685 – King Charles II of England: buried in a vault under the monument to George Monck, Duke of Albemarle in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1686 – James Darnley, an illegitimate son of King James II: died in infancy, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1687 – Mary, daughter of Queen Anne: died in early childhood from smallpox, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1687 – Anne Sophia, daughter of Queen Anne: died in infancy from smallpox, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1687 – Stillborn son of Queen Anne
  • 1690 – Mary, daughter of Queen Anne: premature, lived only two hours, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1692 – George, son of Queen Anne: lived only a few minutes, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1693 – Stillborn daughter of Queen Anne
  • 1694 – Queen Mary II of England: buried in a vault under the monument to George Monck, Duke of Albemarle in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1700 – Stillborn son of Queen Anne
  • 1700 – Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, only surviving child of Queen Anne: died at age 11, buried in a vault under the monument to Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1702 – King William III of England: buried in a vault under the monument to George Monck, Duke of Albemarle in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1708 – Prince George of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland, husband of Queen Anne: buried in a vault under the monument to George Monck, Duke of Albemarle in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1714 – Queen Anne of Great Britain: buried in a vault under the monument to George Monck, Duke of Albemarle in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1718 – Prince George William of Great Britain, son of King George II: died in infancy, buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1723 – Charles Lenox, 1st Duke of Richmond, an illegitimate son of King Charles II: buried in the vault of Esme Stuart, Duke of Richmond in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1726 – Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, an illegitimate son of King Charles II
  • 1730 – Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, an illegitimate son of King Charles II: buried in the Duke of Ormond’s Vault
  • 1737 – Caroline of Ansbach, Queen of Great Britain, wife of King George II: buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1743 – Lady Catherine Darnley, Duchess of Buckingham, an illegitimate daughter of King James II: buried in the vault of the Dukes of Buckingham in the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1751 – Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of King George II and father of King George III: buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1757 – Princess Caroline of Great Britain, daughter of King George II: buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1759 – Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain, daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales: died at age 18, buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1760 – King George II of Great Britain: buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1765 – Prince Frederick of Great Britain, son of Frederick, Prince of Wales: died at age 15, buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1765 – Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, son of King George II: buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1767 – Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, son of Frederick, Prince of Wales: buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1768 – Princess Louisa of Great Britain, daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales, died at age 19, buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1772 – Augusta of Saxe-Gotha- Altenburg, Dowager Princess of Wales, wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales and mother of King George III: buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1782 – Prince Alfred of Great Britain, son of King George III: died in early childhood, first buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel, moved to St. George’s Chapel, Windsor in 1820
  • 1783 – Prince Octavius of Great Britain, son of King George III: died in early childhood, first buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel, moved to St. George’s Chapel, Windsor in 1820
  • 1786 – Princess Amelia of Great Britain, daughter of King George II: buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel
  • 1790 – Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland, son of Frederick, Prince of Wales: buried in the Hanover vault under the central part of the Henry VII Chapel

**********************

Royal Weddings

Embed from Getty Images

Before the 20th century, most royal weddings were small, private, family affairs. Some royal weddings were in churches and chapels and some were in palaces and castles. Westminster Abbey was the wedding venue for several royal weddings beginning with the wedding of King Henry III and Matilda of Scotland in 1100 and including the wedding of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia in 1382. There would not be another royal wedding in Westminster Abbey until 1919 when Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Patricia of Connaught married The Honorable Alexander Ramsay. From the wedding of King Henry III and Matilda of Scotland in 1100 to the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011 (photo above), there have been only sixteen royal weddings at Westminster Abbey.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Burials and memorials in Westminster Abbey – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burials_and_memorials_in_Westminster_Abbey> [Accessed 10 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. List of British coronations – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_coronations> [Accessed 10 July 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Westminster Abbey – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Abbey> [Accessed 10 July 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Westminster Abbey: Royal Burials. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/westminster-abbey-royal-burials/> [Accessed 10 July 2021].
  • Fox, Adam, 1984. Westminster Abbey. Andover: Pitkin Pictorials.
  • Jenkyns, Richard, 2005. Westminster Abbey. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  • Unofficial Royalty. 2021. British Royal Weddings. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-weddings/british-royal-weddings/> [Accessed 10 July 2021].
  • Westminster Abbey. 2021. A royal church | Westminster Abbey. [online] Available at: <https://www.westminster-abbey.org/> [Accessed 10 July 2021].

​Maria Isabella of Spain, Queen of the Two Sicilies

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

********************

Maria Isabella of Spain, Queen of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Isabella of Spain was the second wife of Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies. María Isabel Antonia Josefa Ana Teresa Filipina was born at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain on July 6, 1789. She was the eleventh of the fourteen children and the fifth of the six daughters of  Carlos IV, King of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma. Her paternal grandparents were King Carlos III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. Felipe of Spain, Duke of Parma, who founded the House of Bourbon-Parma, and Louise Élisabeth of France, daughter of Louis XV, King of France, were her maternal grandparents.

The Family of Carlos IV by Francisco Goya, 1800. The man in the shadows in the background on the left is the artist Francisco Goya. From left to right: Carlos Maria Isidro, the future Fernando VII, Maria Josefa the sister of Carlos IV, an unknown woman, Maria Isabella, Queen Maria Luisa, Francisco de Paula, King Carlos IV, Antonio Pascual the brother of Carlos IV, Carlota Joaquina (only part of her head is visible), Luis of Parma and his wife Maria Luisa holding baby Carlos Luis the future Duke of Parma; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Isabella had thirteen siblings:

Raised at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Maria Isabella received only a cursory education. Several possible husbands were considered for her including Napoleon Bonaparte, then the First Consul of France. Through Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother and the French ambassador to Spain, a marriage between Maria Isabella and Napoleon was proposed in April 1801. Napoleon was married to Joséphine de Beauharnais but it had been suggested that he should divorce her and marry a princess of royal blood. However, Napoleon had a low opinion of the Spanish House of Bourbon.

Maria Isabella of Spain, circa 1801; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite Maria Isabella being only twelve years old, her mother Maria Luisa was anxious to find a match for her. Maria Clementina of Austria, the wife of Maria Isabella’s first cousin Francesco, Duke of Calabria, the heir to the thrones of Naples and Sicily, had died in 1801 from tuberculosis. A marriage between Spain and Naples and Sicily would be politically advantageous at a time when Europe was dealing with the expansionist policy of Napoleon. A double marriage was arranged between Spain and Naples and Sicily. Carlos IV, King of Spain was the brother of King Ferdinando IV of Naples and III of Sicily, and so these marriages were between first cousins. Maria Isabella would marry Franceso and her brother Ferdinand of Spain, Prince of Asturias, later King Ferdinand VII of Spain would marry Franceso’s sister Maria Antonia. On July 6, 1802, in Madrid Spain, 13-year-old Maria Isabella married her 25-year-old cousin Francesco by proxy with her brother Ferdinand standing in for the groom. The two couples were married in person in Barcelona, Spain on October 4, 1802. However, Maria Antonia died in 1806 from tuberculosis before her husband became King of Spain.

Although Maria Isabella did not make a good impression on her mother-in-law, born Maria Carolina of Austria, the Spanish ambassador to Naples informed the Spanish court that Maria Isabella was happy in Naples and that she attended theater performances and celebrations. Maria Isabella had a four-year-old stepdaughter from her husband’s first marriage:

Maria Isabella and Francesco’s family: Left to right: Maria Isabella  holding Maria Carolina, Ferdinanda Luisa, Maria Antonia, Luisa Carlotta, Maria Cristina, Ferdinando, Francesco holding Maria Amalia, Carlo, Prince of Capua and Leopoldo, Count of Syracuse; Credit – Wikipedia

As a 15-year-old, Maria Isabella gave birth to her first child who was to be followed by eleven more children over the next twenty-three years. Unusual for the time, all twelve survived childhood.

Francesco’s father Ferdinando was deposed twice from his thrones: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805. In February 1806, Ferdinando, Maria Carolina, and their family, including Maria Isabella and Francesco, were forced to flee to the island of Sicily, which was still in their control, where they lived in the Royal Palace of Palermo under British protection. However, the government of Sicily was a feudal type and the British insisted on a government more similar to the British one. In 1813, Ferdinando essentially but not officially abdicated and Francesco was appointed regent. At the insistence of the British, who were becoming more and more adverse to Maria Carolina, she was forced to leave Sicily. She returned to her home in Austria where she died from a stroke in 1814.

Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1816, after Ferdinando abolished the constitution of the Kingdom of Sicily, the two kingdoms, Naples and Sicily, were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. For the next four years, Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies reigned as an absolute monarch and there were no constitutional reforms. In 1820, a revolt broke out in Sicily and riots occurred in Naples. Ferdinando was forced to sign a constitution and appoint his son Francesco as regent of Sicily. This only lasted until March 1821, when Austrian troops friendly to Ferdinando occupied Naples. Ferdinando was re-established as an absolute monarch and the constitution was withdrawn. Ferdinando died from a stroke on January 4, 1825, at the age of 73 and his son Francesco became King of the Two Sicilies and Maria Isabella became Queen Consort.

Maria Isabella, Queen of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

As Queen Consort, Maria Isabella had no interest in politics or government. After her many births, she was overweight and preferred to attend the theater, balls, and parties. She was described as kind and generous and was more popular than her husband. In 1829, she took over the patronage of the girls’ boarding school located in the monastery complex of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Naples and established a girls’ boarding school at the former monastery Santi Marcellino e Festo also in Naples called Queen Isabella Secondary School.

Maria Isabella and her husband Francesco decided to travel to Spain for the wedding of their daughter Maria Christina and Maria Isabella’s brother Ferdinand VII, King of Spain. Ferdinand VII was three times a widower and had no surviving children. Although Francesco had gout and his health was declining, Maria Isabella had not been to Spain since her marriage twenty-seven years earlier and persuaded her husband to take the long trip. Leaving Naples in September 1829 on a ten-month trip, they visited Pope Pius VIII in Rome, and then in France, they visited Francesco’s daughter from his first marriage Maria Carolina who they had not seen for thirteen years. Finally, the bride Maria Christina and the groom Ferdinand VII met in Aranjuez, Spain on December 10, 1829, made their solemn entry into Madrid the next day, and were married. Maria Isabella and Francesco had an extended stay in Spain. On the return trip, Maria Isabella and Francesco met again with his daughter Maria Carolina and then traveled to Paris, France for a stay with King Charles X of France. Maria Isabella and Francesco arrived back in Naples on July 30, 1830.

Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies, 1829; Credit – Wikipedia

It had been a wonderful trip but it was exhausting for the ailing Francesco. Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies died on November 8, 1830, aged 53, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. He was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, the traditional burial site of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

After the death of Francesco, his 20-year-old son succeeded him as Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies. Prince Vincenzo Ruffo della Scarletta and Pietro Ugo, Marchese delle Favare (link in Italian) plotted to remove the conservative Ferdinando II from the throne only for a period of several years and to install Maria Isabella as regent in his place. This conspiracy, arranged without Maria Isabella’s knowledge and intended to bring about more liberal conditions, was quickly exposed and stopped. However, Maria Isabella and her son Ferdinando had a very cool relationship until Ferdinando’s first wife Maria Christina of Savoy reconciled them.

Maria Isabella was only 41-year-old when her husband died and despite being overweight, she was still attractive and had relationships with younger handsome servants. In 1835, Maria Isabella began a love affair with Baron Peter von Schmucker, a married Austrian officer. After the death of Schmucker’s wife in 1837, Maria Isabella wanted to marry him. However, Schmucker was too greedy. He wanted to be guaranteed that he would have the title and privileges of a Royal Highness if he married Maria Isabella. She refused and had her son Ferdinando II expel Schmucker from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

The Royal Palace of Capodimonte, home of Maria Isabella and her second husband Count Francesco del Balzo; Credit – By Mentnafunangann – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37000184

Maria Isabella wanted to marry again and her son Ferdinando II provided her with a list of acceptable young nobles as potential husbands. On January 15, 1839, 50-year-old Maria Isabella married 34-year-old Count Francesco del Balzo. Her second husband was an attractive, high-ranking army officer but was not allowed to be at court with Maria Isabella. The couple withdrew from court and moved to the Royal Palace of Capodimonte in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy.

Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies on the entrance to the royal crypt; Credit – Di Giuseppe Guida – Flickr: Basilica di Santa Chiara., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20267754

Maria Isabella died on September 13, 1848, aged 59, at the Palace of Portici in Portici, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. She was buried in the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Isabel von Spanien – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Isabel_von_Spanien> [Accessed 7 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Charles IV of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV_of_Spain> [Accessed 7 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. María Isabella of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Isabella_of_Spain> [Accessed 7 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, S., 2021. Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/francesco-i-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 7 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Isabella di Borbone-Spagna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Isabella_di_Borbone-Spagna> [Accessed 7 August 2021].

Maria Clementina of Austria, Duchess of Calabria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

********************

Maria Clementina of Austria, Duchess of Calabria; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Clementina of Austria was the first wife of the future Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies. Maria Clementina Josepha Johanna Fidelis was born on April 24, 1777, at the Villa del Poggio Imperiale in Poggio Imperiale in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy. She was the tenth of the sixteen children and the third of the five daughters of Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany (later Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor) and Maria Luisa of Spain. Maria Clementina’s paternal grandparents were the formidable and powerful  Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, who was in her own right Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, and Queen of Bohemia, and Francis Stephen, Holy Roman Emperor, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Duke of Lorraine. Even though her husband was the nominal Holy Roman Emperor, Maria Theresa wielded the real power.  Maria Clementina’s maternal grandparents were Carlos III, King of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony.

Leopold I, Grand Duke of Tuscany with his wife Maria Luisa and their children (left to right) Maria Theresa, Karl, Alexander Leopold, Maria Clementina, Maria Anna, Josef Anton, Franz, and Ferdinand; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Clementina had fifteen siblings:

Maria Clementina’s husband Francesco, circa 1793-1797; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Clementina was raised in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the death of her paternal uncle Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor in 1790. Her father became Holy Roman Emperor and the family moved to Vienna, Austria. In that same year, Maria Clementine became engaged to her double first cousin Franceso, Duke of Calabria and heir to the throne of Naples and Sicily, the son of Ferdinando, King of Naples and King of Sicily from 1759 – 1816, and King of the Two Sicilies from 1816 – 1825, and his first wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. Her father Leopold II was the brother of Francesco’s mother and her mother Maria Luisa was the sister of Francesco’s father. The marriage was planned to strengthen the alliance between Naples and Sicily and Austria. A proxy marriage took place in 1790 In Vienna, Austria. However, because the bride and the groom were both only thirteen years old and the French Revolution caused unrest in Europe, the actual wedding did not occur for seven years. On June 25, 1797, Francesco and Maria Clementina were married in person in Foggia, Kingdom of Naples, now in Italy. Upon her marriage, she was styled Duchess of Calabria, the female counterpart of her husband’s title Duke of Calabria as the heir apparent.

Maria Clementina and Francesco had two children:

  • Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1798 – 1870), married (1) Charles Ferdinand d’Artois, Duke of Berry, son of the future Charles X, King of France, assassinated while leaving the opera in Paris, had four children but two died soon after birth (2) Ettore Carlo Lucchesi-Palli, 8th Duke della Grazia, had five children
  • Fernando Francesco of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1800 – 1801), died in infancy

Maria Clementina and Francesco had a loving and happy but short marriage. She died from tuberculosis on November 15, 1801, aged 24, in Naples, then in the Kingdom of Naples, later in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy, before Francesco became King of the Two Sicilies. Her infant son had died four months earlier. Maria Clementina was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples with her son. Francesco married again in 1802 to another first cousin, Maria Isabella of Spain, and the couple had twelve children.  Francesco reigned as King of the Two Sicilies from 1825 – 1830.

Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies on the entrance to the royal crypt; Credit – Di Giuseppe Guida – Flickr: Basilica di Santa Chiara., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20267754

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Klementine von Österreich (1777–1801) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Klementine_von_%C3%96sterreich_(1777%E2%80%931801)> [Accessed 7 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduchess_Maria_Clementina_of_Austria> [Accessed 7 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor> [Accessed 7 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, S., 2021. Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/francesco-i-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 7 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Clementina d’Asburgo-Lorena (1777-1801) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Clementina_d%27Asburgo-Lorena_(1777-1801)> [Accessed 7 August 2021].

Sigismund III Vasa, King of Sweden, King of Poland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Sigismund III Vasa, King of Sweden, King of Poland; Credit – Wikipedia

Sigmund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 until he died in 1632 and King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from his father’s death in 1592 until he was deposed by his uncle in 1599. He was born on June 20, 1566, at Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden, where his parents were being held in captivity because of a failed rebellion against Johan’s mentally ill half-brother Erik XIV, King of Sweden. Sigismund was the second of the three children and only son of Johan, Grand Duke of Finland, the future Johan III, King of Sweden, and his first wife Katarina Jagellonica of Poland. Sigismund’s mother was the daughter of Sigismund I, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1467 – 1548) and his second wife Bona Sforza of Milan (1494 – 1557). After the death of her father in 1548, Katarina’s brother Sigismund II Augustus succeeded as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Johan III of Sweden, his wife Katarina Jagiellon and young Sigismund imprisoned at Gripsholm Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

Sigismund III Vasa had two sisters:

  • Isabella Vasa of Sweden (1564 – 1566), died in early childhood
  • Anna Vasa of Sweden (1568 – 1625), unmarried

Due to King Erik XIV’s mental health issues, his participation in the 1567 Sture Murders, and his unpopular marriage to his mistress Karin Månsdotter, his younger half-brothers led a revolt against him with the support of many nobles that ended in Erik XIV’s removal as King of Sweden in September 1568 and his eldest half-brother succeeding to the throne as Johan III, King of Sweden. Sigismund was now the Crown Prince of Sweden.

While his father was Lutheran, Sigismund’s mother was Roman Catholic and he was raised Catholic in the hopes that he would become King of Poland. Sigismund was made aware of his connection to the Jagiellonian dynasty which ruled Poland since 1386. He was tutored in both Polish and Swedish and was proficient in German, Italian, and Latin. In the spring of 1583, Sigismund’s mother Katarina became seriously ill with gout, and after much suffering, she died on September 16, 1583, aged 56. After Katarina’s death, Johan III married again to Gunilla Bielke.

Sigismund had one half-brother from his father’s second marriage to Gunilla Bielke:

After the death of Stephen Báthory, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, who had no legitimate children, 21-year-old Sigismund was elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1587. He was crowned on December 27, 1587, at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland.

Anna of Austria, Sigismund’s first wife; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 31, 1592, at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland, Sigismund married his first wife Anna of Austria, daughter of Archduke Karl II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. On the same day, Anna was crowned Queen of Poland.

Sigismund and Anna had five children but only one, Ladislaus Vasa, who succeeded his father as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, survived childhood. Similarly, Ladislaus Vasa had five children from his two marriages but none survived childhood.

On November 17, 1592, Sigismund’s father Johan III, King of Sweden, Grand Duke of Lithuania died, and Sigismund was granted permission by the Polish legislature to claim his inheritance as the rightful King of Sweden. The Catholic Sigismund promised to recognize Lutheranism as Sweden’s state religion and was crowned at Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden on February 19, 1594. However, many were suspicious of Sigismund’s promise to uphold Lutheranism when a papal nuncio was in the coronation procession.

Sigismund’s uncle Karl who deposed him and then reigned as Karl IX, King of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

When Sigismund returned to Poland in July 1594, Sigismund’s uncle Karl, Duke of Södermanland and the council were to govern in his absence. Because of the religious differences, Sigismund did not want to give us uncle and the council full government power. He appointed some council members who favored the Roman Catholic Church who would receive orders directly from him. In 1595, the Riksdag (legislature) gained control of the Swedish government and appointed Karl Regent.  During this long conflict, Sigismund’s first wife Anna died, aged 24, on February 10, 1598, due to birth complications during the birth of her sixth child, who also died. She was buried in the South Ambulatory Crypt at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland. Ultimately, on February  24, 1604, the Swedish Riksdag declared that Sigismund abdicated the Swedish throne and that his uncle Karl, Duke of Södermanland was recognized as the sovereign – Karl IX, King of Sweden. Although he lost the Swedish throne, Sigismund reigned as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania until his death.

Constance of Austria, Sigismund’s second wife and the younger sister of his first wife; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 11, 1605, Sigismund married Anna’s sister Constance of Austria (1588 – 1631) who became Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania upon her marriage.

Sigismund and Constance had seven children:

In June 1631, on a very hot day, Constance participated in the procession on the religious Feast of Corpus Christi and suffered a severe heatstroke. She died on July 10, 1631, aged 42, from the effects of the heatstroke. Sigismund was so upset that he could not attend her funeral. He never recovered from Constance’s sudden death and died just nine months later, on April 30, 1632, aged 65. Sigismund and Constance were both buried in the crypt under the Vasa Chapel at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland.

Sigismund III on his catafalque following his death; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Sigismund III Vasa – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismund_III_Vasa> [Accessed 4 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. Johan III, King of Sweden. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/johan-iii-king-of-sweden/> [Accessed 4 June 2021].
  • Pl.wikipedia.org. 2021. Zygmunt III Waza – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia. [online] Available at: <https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygmunt_III_Waza> [Accessed 4 June 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Sigismund – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismund> [Accessed 4 June 2021].

Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

********************

Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

King of the Two Sicilies for only five years, Francesco Gennaro Giuseppe Saverio Giovanni Battista was born in the Royal Palace of Naples in the Kingdom of Naples, now in Italy, on August 19, 1777. He was the fifth of the seventeen children and the second but the eldest surviving of the seven sons of Ferdinando, who reigned as King of Naples and King of Sicily from 1759 – 1816, and then as King Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies from 1816 – 1825, and his first wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. Francesco’s paternal grandparents were Carlos III, King of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. His maternal grandparents were the formidable and powerful Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, who was in her own right Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, and Queen of Bohemia, and Franz, Holy Roman Emperor, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Duke of Lorraine. Even though her husband was the nominal Holy Roman Emperor, Maria Theresa wielded the real power.

Included in the portrait are Ferdinando, Maria Carolina, and their children Maria Theresa, Maria Luisa, Maria Amelia, Francesco, Maria Cristina, and Gennaro, 1783; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon the death of his three-year-old elder brother Carlo, Duke of Calabria from smallpox, Francesco became the heir-apparent to the thrones of Naples and Sicily and Duke of Calabria, the traditional title of the heir apparent to the throne of Naples. Six more of Francesco’s sixteen siblings would also die from smallpox.

Francesco at the age of thirteen; Credit – Wikipedia

Unlike his father who had received no comprehensive education, Francesco was well educated by highly qualified tutors such as physicist and biologist Giuseppe Saverio Poli and Cardinal Domenico Orsini d’Aragona. He showed great interest in history and the natural sciences, particularly botany. When Francesco was eighteen years old, he began to attend meetings of the state council so that he could learn about the government.

Francesco’s mother Maria Carolina of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Francesco’s mother Maria Carolina of Austria had been extremely well educated and well prepared for her role as Queen Consort. As part of her marriage contract, Maria Carolina was to have a place on the council of state after the birth of her first son. In 1775, after her first son was born, Maria Carolina took her place on the council of state. Bernardo Tanucci, the former president of her husband’s regency council, was still on the council of state and attempted to thwart her political influence and found himself dismissed in 1777. From then on, Maria Carolina was the de facto ruler of the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily.

Maria Clementina of Austria, Francesco’s first wife; Credit – Wikipedia

Francesco accepted his mother’s plan that he marry his double first cousin Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria, the daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain. Leopold II was the brother of Francesco’s mother and Maria Luisa was the sister of Francesco’s father. The marriage was planned to strengthen the alliance between Naples and Sicily and Austria. A proxy marriage took place in 1790. However, because the bride and the groom were both only thirteen years old and the French Revolution caused unrest in Europe, the actual wedding did not occur for seven years. On June 25, 1797, Francesco and Maria Clementina were married in person in Foggia, Kingdom of Naples, now in Italy.

Francesco and Maria Clementina had two children:

Maria Isabella of Spain, Francesco’s second wife; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Clementina died from tuberculosis in Naples, Kingdom of Naples on November 15, 1801, aged 24, and was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara, Naples. After her death, a double marriage was arranged with Spain. Carlos IV, King of Spain was the brother of Ferdinando I, King of Naples and Sicily, and so these marriages were between first cousins. Francesco was to marry Maria Isabella of Spain and his sister Maria Antonia was to marry Ferdinand of Spain, Prince of Asturias, later King Ferdinand VII of Spain. Maria Antonia died in 1806 from tuberculosis before her husband became King of Spain. On July 6, 1802, in Madrid Spain, 13-year-old Maria Isabella married her 25-year-old cousin Francesco by proxy with her brother Ferdinand standing in for the groom. The two couples were married in person in Barcelona, Spain on October 4, 1802.

Francesco’s family: Left to right: Maria Isabella, second wife of Francesco holding Maria Carolina, Ferdinanda Luisa, Maria Antonia, Luisa Carlotta, Maria Cristina, Ferdinando, Francesco holding Maria Amalia, Carlo, Prince of Capua and Leopoldo, Count of Syracuse; Credit – Wikipedia

Francesco and Maria Isabella had twelve children over twenty-three years. Unusual for the time, all twelve survived childhood.

Francesco’s father Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Francesco’s father Ferdinando was deposed twice from his thrones: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805. In February 1806, Ferdinando, Maria Carolina, and their family was forced to flee to the island of Sicily, which was still in their control, where they lived in the Royal Palace of Palermo under British protection. However, the government of Sicily was a feudal type and the British insisted on a government more similar to the British one. In 1813, Ferdinando essentially but not officially abdicated and Francesco was appointed regent. At the insistence of the British, who were becoming more and more adverse to Maria Carolina, she was forced to leave Sicily. She returned to her home in Austria where she died from a stroke, aged 62, on September 8, 1814.

Less than three months after the death of his mother Maria Carolina, Francesco’s father Ferdinand married again to Lucia Migliaccio, Duchess of Floridia. The marriage caused a considerable scandal. Francesco had tried to dissuade his father from marrying Lucia, and always intensely disliked her. In 1816, after Ferdinando abolished the constitution of the Kingdom of Sicily, the two kingdoms, Naples and Sicily, were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. For the next four years, Ferdinand reigned as an absolute monarch and there were no constitutional reforms. In 1820, a revolt broke out in Sicily and riots occurred in Naples. Ferdinando was forced to sign a constitution and appoint his son Francesco as regent of Sicily. This only lasted until March 1821, when Austrian troops friendly to Ferdinando occupied Naples. Ferdinando was re-established as an absolute monarch and the constitution was withdrawn. Ferdinando died from a stroke on January 4, 1825, at the age of 73 and his son Francesco became King of the Two Sicilies.

Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies, 1829; Credit – Wikipedia

After his father’s death, Francesco expelled his stepmother Lucia Migliaccio, Duchess of Floridia from the royal court. When Lucia died in 1826, noticeably missing from her funeral were Francesco and members of the royal family of the Two Sicilies. Francesco wanted to demonstrate once and for all the true feelings he had for Lucia. As king, Francesco followed conservative policies. He was content to leave the running of the government in the hands of his favorites and advisers. During Francesco’s reign, the Carbonari, an informal network of secret revolutionary societies, grew stronger especially in eastern Sicily and in the Italian mainland part of the kingdom. In Sicily, smuggling and corruption flourished. Numerous crimes were committed by private armed gangs in the service of nobles and large landowners, from which the Cosa Nostra, also known as the Sicilian Mafia, later developed. Francesco’s major success was having the Austrian occupation force withdrawn, relieving a large financial burden on the treasury.

Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies on the entrance to the royal crypt; Credit – Di Giuseppe Guida – Flickr: Basilica di Santa Chiara., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20267754

Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies died on November 8, 1830, aged 53, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. He was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, the traditional burial site of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. His second wife Maria Isabella survived him by eighteen years, dying on September 13, 1848, at the age of 59, at the Palace of Portici in Portici, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. She was buried with her husband at the Basilica di Santa Chiara.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited:

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Franz I. (Sizilien) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_I._(Sizilien)> [Accessed 6 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Francis I of the Two Sicilies – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I_of_the_Two_Sicilies> [Accessed 6 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinando-i-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 6 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Francesco I delle Due Sicilie – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_I_delle_Due_Sicilie> [Accessed 6 August 2021].

Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Rupprecht was Crown Prince of Bavaria from 1913 until the end of the Bavarian monarchy in 1918. From his father’s death in 1921, he became pretender to the former Bavarian throne, and Head of the House of Wittelsbach. Through his direct descent from King Charles I of England, he also became heir to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland in the Jacobite Succession.

photo: Wikipedia

Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Bavaria, was born in Munich on May 18, 1869, the eldest child of the future King Ludwig III of Bavaria and Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este. He had 12 younger siblings:

Rupprecht grew up at Schloss Leutstetten in Starnberg, and the family’s villa near Lindau, at Lake Constance. Initially educated at home, he became the first member of the Bavarian royal family to study at a public school, attending the Maximilian-Gymnasium in Munich. He began his military career serving in the Lifeguards Regiment of the Bavarian Army, quickly rising to the rank of Colonel and was given command of the 2nd Crown Prince’s Regiment. During this time, he also studied at the Universities of Berlin and Munich.

When Rupprecht was just 17, his future changed when his father was named Regent of Bavaria for both King Ludwig II and King Otto who had been declared insane and unable to reign. From that point, it was likely that he would someday succeed to the throne himself. When his grandfather died in 1912, Rupprecht’s father assumed the Regency, and the following year was formally named King of Bavaria as Ludwig III. Rupprecht formally became Crown Prince at that time.

Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria. photo: Wikipedia

On July 10, 1900, Rupprecht married Duchess Marie Gabriele in Bavaria, at the Residenz (the Royal Palace in Munich). Marie Gabriele was the daughter of Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, and his second wife Infanta Maria José of Portugal, and was the younger sister of the future Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, the wife of King Albert I of the Belgians. Rupprecht and his wife had four children:

  • Luitpold, Hereditary Prince of Bavaria (1901) – died in his youth
  • Princess Irmingard (1902) – died in infancy
  • Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (1905) – married (1) Countess Maria Draskovich de Trakostjan, had issue; (2) Countess Marie-Jenke Keglevich de Buzin, no issue
  • Prince Rudolf (1909) – died in childhood

After the outbreak of World War I, Rupprecht was given command of the German Sixth Army, serving on the Western front, and rose to the rank of Field Marshal by 1916. He then took command of Army Group Rupprecht, which consisted of the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th armies. Despite the losses at the end of the war, Rupprecht had proven himself to be a skilled military leader. He resigned from his military positions on November 11, 1918 – Armistice Day. The following day, the Bavarian monarchy was abolished.

The next several years saw many changes in Rupprecht’s life. Upon his mother’s death in 1919, he became heir to the Jacobite succession, although he never made any claims based upon this, and discouraged anyone from making any claims on his behalf. And then in April 1921, having been widowed for nine years, Rupprecht remarried.

Princess Antonia of Luxembourg. photo: Wikipedia

In August 1918, Rupprecht had become engaged to Princess Antonia of Luxembourg, the 4th of 6 daughters of the late Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal. At the time they were engaged, Luxembourg was occupied by German forces, and Antonia’s eldest sister, Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde was facing intense criticism for her perceived close ties with Germany. These concerns forced Marie-Adélaïde to abdicate in early 1919 in favor of her sister, Charlotte, who would reign – much more successfully than her elder sister – as Grand Duchess for over 45 years. Finally, on April 7, 1921, Rupprecht and Antonia were married at Schloss Hohenburg in Lenggries, Bavaria. They had six children:

  • Prince Heinrich (1922) – married Anne Marie de Lustrac, no issue
  • Princess Irmingard (1923) – married Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, had issue
  • Princess Editha (1924) – married (1) Tito Tmmaso Brunetti, had issue; (2) Gustav Schimert, had issue
  • Princess Hilda (1926) – married Juan Lockett de Loayza, had issue
  • Princess Gabriele (1927) – married Karl, Duke of Croy, had issue
  • Princess Sophie (1935) – married Jean-Engelbert, Duke of Arenberg, had issue

Just five months later, in October 1921, King Ludwig III died and Rupprecht became Head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the former Bavarian throne. He and his family lived at Berchtesgaden Castle, and the Leuchtenberg Palace in Munich before later returning to Leutstetten Castle. Rupprecht soon began pursuing the restitution of properties and estates which had been seized by the Bavarian state at the end of the war. After extensive negotiations, an agreement was reached in 1923, and the state established the Wittelsbach Compensation Fund. Properties and assets were placed into this foundation instead of being returned to any specific person. In addition, the family agreed to place numerous assets – including a large art collection – into the fund, with the provision that they be made accessible to the public. With this agreement in place, Rupprecht also waived any future claims for properties or assets. Today, the fund is self-supporting, with all income used to maintain the collections and to provide financial resources for the Wittelsbach family.

For many years, Rupprecht promoted the idea of a constitutional monarchy in Bavaria, but soon Hitler came to power. Despite attempts to lure him into the Nazi party, Rupprecht refused. In 1939, he and his family were forced into exile, moving to Italy as guests of King Vittorio Emanuele III. Following the 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler, Rupprecht and his family were targeted by the Gestapo for possibly being involved. Rupprecht managed to remain in hiding and avoid capture. However, his wife and children, who had earlier moved to Hungary, were taken into custody. They spent the remainder of the war in several concentration camps, before being freed in April 1945. Such was the treatment they received that his wife refused to ever return to German soil. Following the war, he established the Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria Foundation for the Reconstruction of Würzburg which focused on rebuilding the damaged city and providing affordable housing for its residents. In addition, he continued his efforts for a restoration of the monarchy, with no success.

Leutstetten Castle. photo: Von Gras-Ober, Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons (cc-by-sa-3.0), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14520511

Widowed in 1954, his health soon began to fail as well. On August 8, 1955, surrounded by his family, Crown Prince Rupprecht died at Leutstetten Castle at the age of 86. He was given a state funeral with full royal honors and his coffin placed in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

* * * * * * * * * *

Bavarian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

* * * * * * * * * *

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

St. Mary Magdalene Church; Credit – By Elliott Brown – Flickr: The Church of St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28380611

In 1862, the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, purchased the 8,000-acre Sandringham Estate from William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple, as a country home for him and his future wife Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Like Balmoral in Scotland, the Sandringham Estate is the private property of the British Sovereign.

Embed from Getty Images 
Prince Philip, Prince Edward, Prince Charles, Princess of Wales (red coat with a black hat), Peter Phillips, Prince William (holding flowers), Zara Phillips, Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth II (purple coat), Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (blue coat), Prince Harry, Princess Margaret after the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church on December 25, 1993

St. Mary Magdalene Church, located in Sandringham, Norfolk, England, is just southwest of Sandringham House. Sandringham Estate staff regularly use the church and when in residence at Sandringham, members of the British royal family attend services at St. Mary Magdalene Church which usually includes Christmas services.

Chancel of St. Mary Magdalene Church; Credit – By Andrewrabbott – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80579847

The church dates to the 16th century and was restored by architects Samuel Sanders Teulon in 1855 and Arthur Blomfield in 1890. King Edward VII commissioned Charles Eamer Kempe, a designer and a manufacturer of stained glass, to create some of the church decorations and the stained glass in the east window.

The altar presented to Queen Alexandra by the American department store owner Rodman Wanamaker; Credit – By Andrewrabbott – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80579848

The church’s silver altar and altarpiece were created by the silversmiths Barkentin & Krall and were presented to Queen Alexandra as a memorial to King Edward VII by the American department store owner Rodman Wanamaker, a patron of many important commissions in the field of liturgical arts. Wanamaker also presented Queen Alexandra with the silver pulpit and a silver 17th-century Spanish processional cross.

The pulpit presented to Queen Alexandra by the American department store owner, Rodman Wanamaker; Credit – By Andrewrabbott – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80579846

On the walls of the church are memorials to several members of the British royal family.

Memorial to Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Edinburgh; Credit – By Andrewrabbott – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80579763

Memorial to King George V; Credit – By Basher Eyre, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70591702

********************

Christenings

Embed from Getty Images
Christening of Princess Eugenie of York
  • Prince Albert (later King George VI), son of Prince George, Duke of York, later Prince of Wales and King George V – christened February 10, 1896
  • Princess Mary (later Princess Royal), daughter of Prince George, Duke of York, later Prince of Wales and King George V – christened June 7, 1897
  • Prince Alexander of Denmark (later King Olav V of Norway), son of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Wales, later King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway – christened August 11, 1903
  • Prince John, son of Prince George, Prince of Wales, later King George V – christened August 3, 1905
  • The Honorable Diana Spencer (later The Princess of Wales), daughter of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, first wife of King Charles III – christened August 30, 1961
  • Princess Eugenie of York, daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York – christened December 23, 1990
  • Princess Charlotte of Wales, daughter of Prince William, The Prince of Wales – christened July 5, 2015

********************

Burials

Graves of Prince John and Prince Alexander John; Credit – www.findagrave.com

  • Prince Alexander John (April 6, 1871 – April 7, 1871), son of The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII
  • Prince John (1905 – 1919), son of King George V

Relatives of Diana, Princess of Wales

St. Mary Magdalene Churchyard; Credit – By Immanuel Giel – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70288455

The family of Diana, Princess of Wales has a connection to Sandringham Estate. Park House, located on the Sandringham Estate, just to the west of Sandringham House, was the birthplace of Diana. However, the family history goes back a little further. In the 1930s, King George V leased Park House to his friend Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy. Baron Fermoy and his wife Ruth, later a Woman of the Bedchamber and close confidante to The Queen Mother, had three children, all born at Park House, including Diana’s mother The Honorable Frances Ruth Roche. When Frances married John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, the couple took over the lease on Park House from her parents. Diana was born there seven years later, and her father retained the lease on Park House until 1975 when he became the 8th Earl Spencer and the family moved to the Spencer family home Althorp.

Because of this family connection, several members of Diana’s family are buried in the churchyard at St. Mary Magdalene Church.

  • Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy (1885 – 1955), Diana’s maternal grandfather
  • The Honorable John Spencer (born and died January 12, 1960), Diana’s brother
  • The Honorable Elizabeth Burke Roche (March 27, 1966 – April 2, 1966), Diana’s first cousin, daughter of Edmund Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy
  • Edmund Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy (1939 – 1984), died by suicide, Diana’s maternal uncle
  • Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy (1908 – 1993), Diana’s maternal grandmother

********************

Resting of King George V’s Coffin

Embed from Getty Images

In his final years, King George V had several medical issues exacerbated by his habit of smoking including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pleurisy. On January 15, 1936, King George V went to bed at Sandringham House complaining of a cold, gradually became weaker, and drifted in and out of consciousness. On January 20, when the king was close to death, his doctors issued a bulletin with words that became famous: “The King’s life is moving peacefully towards its close.” As the king lay dying of bronchitis, Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn, Physician-in-Ordinary to King George V, gave him a lethal injection of cocaine and morphine, thereby hastening his death to ensure that the announcement of the death would appear first in the morning edition of The Times and not in some lesser publication in the afternoon. Before King George V’s coffin was taken to London to lie in state at Westminster Hall, it rested at St. Mary Magdalene Church. His funeral was held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor.

********************

Resting of King George VI’s Coffin

Embed from Getty Images

Suffering from lung cancer, King George VI died in his sleep on February 6, 1952, at Sandringham House. His coffin rested at St. Mary Magdalene Church until it was taken to London on February 11, 1952, to lie-in-state at Westminster Hall. His funeral was held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor.

********************

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Britain Express, 2021. Sandringham, St Mary Magdalene Church | History & Photos. [online] Britain Express. Available at: <https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/norfolk/churches/sandringham.htm> [Accessed 23 May 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary_Magdalene_Church,_Sandringham> [Accessed 23 May 2021].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2013. Park House, Sandringham Estate. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/park-house-sandringham-estate/> [Accessed 23 May 2021].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2015. Sandringham House. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/sandringham-house/> [Accessed 23 May 2021].
  • Sandringhamestate.co.uk. 2021. Sandringham. [online] Available at: <https://sandringhamestate.co.uk/attractions/sandringham-church> [Accessed 23 May 2021].

​Lucia Migliaccio, Duchess of Floridia, morganatic 2nd wife of Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

​Lucia Migliaccio, Duchess of Floridia; Credit – Wikipedia

Lucia Migliaccio, Duchess of Floridia was born on July 19, 1770, in Syracuse, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Italy. She was the daughter of Vincenzo Migliaccio, 8th Duke of Floridia, a Sicilian nobleman, and Dorotea Borgia dei Marchesi del Casale who was from a Spanish noble family. When Lucia was five years old, her father and elder brother Ignazio died, making her the sole heir to her father’s title.

On April 4, 1791, Lucia married Benedetto Grifeo, Prince of Partanna. The couple had seven children:

  • Girolamo Grifeo (circa 1790 – ?), died young
  • Vincenzo I Grifeo, Prince of Partanna (1791 – 1846), married Agata Gravina, Princess of Palagonia, had eight children
  • Giuseppe Grifeo (circa 1794 – circa 1857), married Agata Moncada, had four children
  • Dorotea Grifeo (circa 1795 – 1850), unmarried?
  • Leopoldo Grifeo, Prince of Pantelleria (1796 – 1871), married Antonia Reggio Requesens, had three children
  • Luigi Grifeo (circa 1800 – 1860), unmarried?
  • Marianna Grifeo (1809 – 1831), unmarried

Lucia became lady-in-waiting at the court of King Ferdinando IV of Naples and III of Sicily (later King of the Two Sicilies) and his wife, born Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. While at court, Lucia received the Order of the Noble Ladies of Queen Maria Luisa of Spain and the Austrian Order of the Star Cross. Lucia’s husband Benedetto Grifeo, Prince of Partanna died on March 28, 1812, aged 56, in Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Italy.

King Ferdinando IV of Naples and III of Sicily, after 1815 King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

On September 8, 1814, Maria Carolina, the wife of King Ferdinando IV of Naples and III of Sicily died. Wanting to remarry, the 63-year-old Ferdinando turned his attention to the 44-year-old Lucia, whom he had met frequently at court. Protocol rules required at least one year of mourning. However, on November 27, 1814, less than three months after the death of his first wife, Ferdinando married Lucia. Ferdinando received a special dispensation from an archbishop to marry Lucia. The couple was married very privately by Ferdinando’s confessor in the presence of only two witnesses at the Palatine Chapel in the Royal Palace of Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Italy.

Lucia’s stepson Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage caused a considerable scandal. Ferdinando and Maria Carolina’s eldest surviving son, the future Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies had tried to dissuade his father from marrying Lucia, and always intensely disliked her. To protect Lucia, Ferdinando forced his son Francesco to sign a document stating that he would ensure Lucia’s high standard of living until her death. Because Lucia was not of royal blood, the marriage was morganatic and Lucia did not receive the title of queen and any children from the marriage would not be in the line of succession. However, the marriage remained childless. Ferdinando’s first wife Maria Carolina had been very politically involved and had been considered the de facto ruler of Naples and Sicily but Lucia had limited influence and little interest in politics.

Villa Floridiana: ; Credit – Di Armando Mancini – Flickr: Napoli – Villa Floridiana, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16730432

In 1817, Ferdinando purchased an unfinished villa on a hill in the Vomero district of Naples which he named the Villa Floridiana in honor of Lucia’s title Duchess of Floridia. The villa was completed in a neoclassical style and the gardens were landscaped in the English style. Ferdinando also acquired another nearby villa which he renamed Villa Lucia. The entire complex was given to Lucia as her own personal property.

In 1816, after Ferdinando abolished the constitution of the Kingdom of Sicily, the two kingdoms, Naples and Sicily, were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. For the next four years, Ferdinand reigned as an absolute monarch and there were no constitutional reforms. In 1820, a revolt broke out in Sicily and riots occurred in Naples. Ferdinando was forced to sign a constitution and appoint his son Francesco as regent of Sicily. This only lasted until March 1821, when Austrian troops friendly to Ferdinando occupied Naples. Ferdinando was re-established as an absolute monarch and the constitution was withdrawn. Ferdinando died from a stroke in Naples on January 4, 1825, at the age of 73. He was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, the traditional burial site of the Kings of Naples from the House of Anjou (1282 – 1501) and the Kings of the Two Sicilies from the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1816 – 1861).

Detail from Lucia’s tomb showing her deathbed surrounded by her children from her first marriage; Credit – By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39133853

Lucia’s great emotional pain over Ferdinando’s death combined with the many quarrels due to the substantial personal bequests made by Ferdinando to Lucia, and the insult for having been expelled from the royal court by the new king Francesco I of the Two Sicilies undermined Lucia’s health. She survived her husband by a little more than a year, dying on April 26, 1826, aged 55, in Naples. Lucia’s funeral was held at the Church of San Ferdinando in Naples and she was buried there by the order of her late husband who had forbidden any other burials at that church. Lucia’s funeral was attended by the nobility of Naples, government ministers, foreign ambassadors, and Lucia’s close relatives. Noticeably missing was Lucia’s stepson Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies and members of the royal family of the Two Sicilies. Francesco I wanted to demonstrate once and for all the true feelings he had for Lucia.

Church of San Ferdinando in Naples; Credit – By Lalupa – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3551990

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Lucia Migliaccio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucia_Migliaccio> [Accessed 2 August 2021].
  • Di Rubbio, Lucia, 2017. LUCIA MIGLIACCIO GRIFEO: LA SPOSA DEL RE. [online] Altaterradilavoro.com. Available at: <https://www.altaterradilavoro.com/lucia-migliaccio-grifeo-la-sposa-del-re/?doing_wp_cron=1627851744.0155940055847167968750> [Accessed 2 August 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Lucia Migliaccio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucia_Migliaccio> [Accessed 2 August 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinando-i-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 2 August 2021].
  • geni_family_tree. 2021. Lucia Migliaccio, duchessa di Floridia. [online] Available at: <https://www.geni.com/people/Lucia-Migliaccio-duchessa-di-Floridia/6000000004254760366> [Accessed 2 August 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Lucia Migliaccio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucia_Migliaccio> [Accessed 2 August 2021].