Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier, Princess of Orange, 3rd wife of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier, Princess of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 24, 1575, Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange married his third wife Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier. She was born in 1546/1547, the fifth of the six children of Louis, Duke of Montpensier and Jacqueline de Longwy, Countess of Bar-sur-Seine, a niece of King François I of France.

Charlotte had one brother and four sisters:

  • Françoise de Bourbon (1539–1587), married Henri Robert de La Marck, Duke of Bouillon, Prince of Sedan, had two children
  • Anne de Bourbon (1540–1572), married François de Clèves, Duke de Nevers
  • Jeanne de Bourbon (1541–1620), Abbess of Jouarre
  • François de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier (1542–1592), married Renée d’Anjou, had one son
  • Louise de Bourbon (1548–1586), Abbess of Faremoutier

As a young child, Charlotte was sent to the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Jouarre in the care of her aunt Louise, who was the abbess there. To give his only son François the greatest possible legacy, Charlotte’s father Louis planned to send his unmarried daughters to various abbeys to avoid paying their dowries. Charlotte begged not to go to the abbey and when she took her final vows at the age of thirteen, she made a formal written protest. Upon her aunt’s death, Charlotte became the abbess against her wishes.

While in the abbey, Charlotte was instructed in Calvinism by a dissident priest. At the time of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572, when thousands of French Protestants were killed, Charlotte converted to Protestantism, escaped from the abbey in a cart filled with hay, and fled to the Electorate of the Palatinate (in Germany), well beyond her parents’ reach. Friedrich III, Elector Palatine took her to Heidelberg and placed her under his protection. Only a few weeks after Charlotte’s escape, she met Willem I, Prince of Orange while he was visiting Friedrich III, Elector Palatine. Two years later, he asked for her hand in marriage.

Willem and Charlotte had six daughters:

Charlotte nursing her husband Willem I after the failed assassination attempt with family and friends gathered around Willem’s bed; Credit – Wikipedia

This marriage was Willem’s happiest marriage. Charlotte supported her husband in the Dutch independence war against Spain by serving as an important link in the communication between Willem and the troops of the Dutch provinces. After an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Willem on March 18, 1582, Charlotte took great care of her wounded husband. Exhausted from caring for Willem, she fell ill with pneumonia and a high fever and died at the age of 35 on May 5, 1582. Charlotte was buried at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp (Belgium) but her tomb has not survived.

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Anna of Saxony, Princess of Orange, 2nd wife of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Anna of Saxony, Princess of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

Three years after the death of his first wife, Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange married again. On August 25, 1561, he married Anna of Saxony. However, the marriage would not end happily, and neither would Anna’s life. Anna was born on December 23, 1544, in Dresden, Duchy of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany. She was the only surviving child and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony and his wife Agnes of Hesse, the eldest daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.

Anna had one younger brother who lived for only six months:

  • Albert of Saxony (1545 – 1546), died in infancy

In 1553, Anna’s father died in battle during the Second Margrave War. In 1555, her mother remarried but died due to a miscarriage six months later. The eleven-year-old Anna was sent to live at the court of her uncle Augustus, Elector of Saxony in Dresden.

Since Anna was her father’s only heir, she was a wealthy young woman and attracted many royal suitors. The future King Eric XIV of Sweden made an unsuccessful marriage proposal, but it was Willem I, Prince of Orange who caught her attention. Anna’s dowry of 100,000 thalers was a very large amount of money. Willem was especially interested in the wealth and support he would acquire from Anna’s family in Saxony, Hesse-Kassel, and the Palatine. However, there was resistance to the marriage from Anna’s family. They thought she could get a husband with more status and they were concerned with the lack of Willem’s financial resources. Eventually, Willem’s persistent involvement in the marriage negotiations proved successful.

Willem and Anna had five children but only three survived to adulthood:

Within a few months of the marriage, the couple began quarreling. By 1565, it was common knowledge at all the courts in Germany and in the Netherlands that the marriage was unhappy. After the death of her first son Maurits in 1566, Anna suffered severe depression. She tried to drown her grief with alcohol. The situation between Anna and Willem was strained and they often lived apart.

In early 1571, Anna realized she was pregnant. Immediately, the paternity was controversial. Two possibilities were discussed: either Anna’s husband Willem, who had visited Anna and his children during Christmas 1570, was the father or the lawyer Jan Rubens (the future father of the painter Peter Paul Rubens), who spent a lot of time with Anna as her legal adviser, was the father. A daughter, Christine, was born in August 1571.

Willem knew that his non-recognition of the child as his daughter would be a pretext for divorce by accusing Anna of adultery. Wilhelm accused Rubens of having had an adulterous relationship with his wife and of being the biological father of Christina. Rubens was imprisoned and threatened with execution. He confessed to adultery under torture and was pardoned on the intercession of his wife. Anna also admitted the adultery, but she denied that Rubens was the father. On December 14, 1571, Anna was forced to agree to a divorce. Christine, who had been given Dietz as a surname, was not recognized by Willem as his child and he did not have to pay any further maintenance for her.

In 1572, Anna was sent to her family in Saxony where they imprisoned her as an adulteress. The windows of her room were walled up and fitted with additional iron bars. A square hole was made in the door through which food and drink were given to her. An iron gate was installed outside the door prohibiting any attempt to escape. Anna died on December 18, 1577, at the Palace of the Elector of Saxony in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, shortly before her 33rd birthday. She was buried in Meissen Cathedral in the Electorate of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany, near her ancestors in a nameless tomb.

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Anna van Egmont, Princess of Orange, 1st wife of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Anna van Egmont, Princess of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna van Egmont was the first wife of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange. Born in March 1533 in Grave, Duchy of Brabant, now in the Dutch province North Brabant, she was the only child of Maximilian of Egmont, Count of Buren and Leerdam, Stadtholder of Friesland  (1509-1548) and Françoise de Lannoy (1513-1562) of the de Lannoy family, one of the oldest and most prominent families in the Netherlands. Anna’s father served as a diplomat in the imperial court of the Holy Roman Empire in Brussels, where Anna was raised in the household of Mary of Austria, the Governor of the Netherlands and the sister of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Upon her father’s death in 1548, Anna inherited his titles in her own right.

On July 8, 1551, 18-year-old Anna married another 18-year-old, Willem I, Prince of Orange. By all accounts, their marriage was a happy one. Anna and Willem lived alternately in her castle in Buren and his castle in Breda.

The couple had three children:

Statue of Anna and her husband Willem and their two surviving children in the town center of Buren; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna’s early death in Breda, Duchy of Brabant, now in the Netherlands, at the age of 25, on March 24, 1558, brought much grief to Willem. She was buried in the Grote Kerk in Breda, the traditional burial site of the House of Orange.

Grave of Anna van Egmont, Princess of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

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David Riccio, Favorite of Mary, Queen of Scots

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

David Riccio; Credit – Wikipedia

Favorite: a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, queen, or another royal person

David Riccio was an Italian musician and private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was brutally murdered in the presence of the queen by a conspiracy of Protestant nobles, in part due to the jealousy of Mary’s husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. His name is sometimes spelled Rizzio but Riccio is the original Italian spelling. Riccio’s name in Italian records is David Riccio di Pancalieri, David Riccio of Pancalieri. Pancalieri, a town near Turin, then in the Duchy of Savoy, now in the Piedmont section of Italy, was probably where he was born around 1533. He was a descendant of a noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts di San Paolo e Solbrito.

Riccio was a musician at the court of Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy. He went to Scotland in 1561 with Carlo Ubertino Solaro di Moretta who was sent there as an ambassador by Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy. Once in Scotland, Riccio made friends with some musicians of Mary, Queen of Scots who told him that Mary needed a bass to complete a vocal quartet, and thus Riccio was introduced to the Scots court. He was considered a very ugly-looking man, but his qualities as a musician and singer caught the queen’s attention. Riccio was a good conversationalist and Mary enjoyed his discussions about continental Europe where she spent her childhood in the French court.

In 1564, Mary chose Riccio to replace Augustine Raulet, her confidential secretary and decipherer, the only person apart from Mary to have the keys to the box containing her personal papers. The reasons for Mary’s decision remain unclear, but soon unfounded rumors were flying that Riccio was a papal spy whose real role was to support Mary in her attempt to subvert the Reformation in Scotland.

Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband and first cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary had been married as a teenager to another teenager, François II, King of France. After only a 17-month reign, 16-year-old François died, and Mary returned to Scotland. She needed an heir, so a second marriage became necessary. After considering Carlos, Prince of Asturias, known as Don Carlos, eldest son and heir of King Philip II of Spain, and Queen Elizabeth I’s candidate Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Mary became infatuated with her first cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Mary and Darnley were both grandchildren of Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England and sister of King Henry VIII of England. Mary was the daughter of James V, King of Scots, the son of Margaret Tudor and her first husband James IV, King of Scots. Darnley was the son of Lady Margaret Douglas, Margaret Tudor’s only child from her second marriage to Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. Mary and Darnley married at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland on July 29, 1565.

The marriage angered Queen Elizabeth I of England, who felt that Darnley, as her first cousin once removed and an English subject, needed her permission to marry. Mary’s Protestant illegitimate half-brother James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was also angered by his sister’s marriage to a prominent Catholic. Mary soon became disillusioned by Darnley’s uncouth behavior and insistence on receiving the Crown Matrimonial which would have made him co-sovereign of Scotland. Mary refused and their relationship became strained. In the autumn of 1565, Mary became pregnant. Darnley was jealous of Mary’s friendship with her private secretary David Riccio, rumored to be the father of her child, and at Darnley’s behest, some Protestant nobles formed a conspiracy to do away with Riccio.

The Protestant nobles were careful to get Darnley’s signature on the conspiracy bond so that he would be as implicated as they would be. The goals mentioned on the bond were obtaining the Crown Matrimonial for Darnley, upholding the Protestant religion, and returning those exiled because of their Protestant religion. In the conspiracy bond, there was no specific mention of any violence toward Riccio, except this rather open-ended statement: “So shall they not spare life or limb in setting forward all that may bend to the advancement of his [Darnley’s] honour.”

Along with Mary’s illegitimate half-brother James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, the nobles who signed the conspiracy pact were:

Bedchamber of Mary, Queen of Scots; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

On the evening of March 9, 1566, Mary, who was six months pregnant, was in her tiny Supper Room at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland with David Riccio, Mary’s illegitimate half-sister born Lady Jean Stewart, married to Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll (one of the conspirators), and Jean’s mother Elizabeth Bethune, married to John Stewart, 4th Lord Innermeath. Mary’s chambers consisted of four rooms: the Outer Chamber where she received visitors, her Bedchamber, a Dressing Room, and the Supper Room entered via a doorway in the Bedchamber. This writer has visited Holyrood Palace and can attest that the Supper Room is indeed tiny – twelve feet square in area. The entrance to the Supper Room can be seen in the above photo taken from the Bedchamber, through open the tapestry, the room with the chair. Directly beneath Mary’s apartments were Darnley’s apartments. The apartments were connected by a narrow privy staircase that had an entrance in Mary’s Bedchamber close to the entrance of the Supper Room.

Supper Room, Mary, Queen of Scots Chambers; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

As supper was being served, Darnley suddenly appeared from the privy staircase. After a few minutes, Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven also appeared from the privy staircase wearing a helmet and armor. Mary and her supper companions were so astounded by Ruthven with his armor that they thought he must have been ill with a fever and that in his delirium, he thought he was being attacked. However, Mary and those present were more shocked when Ruthven said, “Let it please Your Majesty that yonder man David come forth from your privy-chamber where he hath been overlong.” Mary said that Riccio was there by her royal wish and asked if Ruthven had taken leave of his senses. Ruthven then delivered a long denunciation of Mary’s supposed illicit relationship with Riccio. At the same time, Riccio, becoming more fearful, moved toward a large window in the Supper Room.

The Murder of David Rizzio by William Allan, 1833; Credit – Wikipedia

Ruthven then yelled, “Lay not hands on me, for I will not be handled” which was the signal for the other conspirators to enter the Supper Room from the privy staircase. In the confusion, the table was knocked over. Riccio was clinging to Mary’s skirts while the attackers produced pistols and knives. Riccio’s fingers were pried from Mary’s skirts and he was dragged, kicking and screaming, out of the Supper Room, through the Bedchamber, and into the Outer Chamber. Riccio screamed in French, “ Justice! Justice! Save my life, Madame, save my life!” In the Outer Chamber, Riccio was stabbed fifty-seven times and then his body was thrown down the winding main staircase and stripped of his clothes and jewels.

Ruins of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – By Kaihsu at English Wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., GFDL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2777882

Within two hours of his death, David Riccio was buried in the cemetery at Holyrood Abbey. Shortly thereafter, there were reports that Mary ordered Riccio’s remains to be interred in the vault of her father James V, King of Scots at Holyrood Abbey. There were other reports that Riccio was buried in the cemetery of the Protestant Canongate Kirk built in Edinburgh from 1688 – 1691. However, it is unlikely that Riccio was buried at Canongate Kirk, as it would have required the reburial of a Catholic in a Protestant cemetery 120 years after his death. It is more likely that David Riccio rests under an anonymous gravestone in the cemetery at Holyrood Abbey which now lies in ruins.

Immediately after the murder, Mary was able to speak to Darnley and convinced him they were both in danger and needed to escape. They stayed at Dunbar Castle, the home of  John Stewart, Commendator of Coldingham, another of Mary’s illegitimate half-siblings, and his wife Jean Hepburn, the sister of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, later Mary’s third husband. After a brief stay at Dunbar Castle, Mary entered Edinburgh on March 18, 1566, with 3,000 troops and moved into Edinburgh Castle to prepare for the birth of her baby. With the conspirators having fled England, Mary appeared to have won and had Darnley declared innocent of Riccio’s murder on March 21, 1566. On June 19, 1566, Mary gave birth to a son.

Like David Riccio, both Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley died violent deaths. James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, later Mary’s third husband, entered into a conspiracy with Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll, his brother-in-law and a Riccio murder conspirator, and George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly to rid Mary of her husband Darnley. On February 10, 1567, Darnley was killed when the house he was staying at in Edinburgh was blown up. After being imprisoned in English castles for nineteen years by Queen Elizabeth I, Mary was implicated in the Babington Plot, a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and put Mary on the English throne. Mary was convicted of treason, condemned to death, and beheaded on February 8, 1587. Mary and Darnley’s infant son succeeded his mother as James VI, King of Scots when she was forced to abdicate in 1567, and he then succeeded Queen Elizabeth I of England upon her death in 1603 as James I, King of England.

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. David Rizzio. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rizzio> [Accessed 2 January 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2017. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/henry-stuart-lord-darnley/> [Accessed 2 January 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2016. Mary, Queen Of Scots. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/mary-queen-of-scots/> [Accessed 2 January 2021].
  • Fraser, Antonia, 1969. Mary Queen Of Scots. New York: Bantam Dell.
  • Royal Collection Trust. 2021. Highlights Of The Palace Of Holyroodhouse. [online] Available at: <https://www.rct.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse/highlights-of-the-palace-of-holyroodhouse#/> [Accessed 2 January 2021].

Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess of Schleswig and Holstein, first wife of Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Anna of Brandenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna of Brandenburg was the first wife of Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway. She died before her husband became King of Denmark and Norway but she was the mother of his heir. Anna was born on August 27, 1487, in Berlin, Margraviate of Brandenburg, now in the German state of Brandenburg. She was the fourth of the six children and the second of the three daughters of Johann II, Elector of Brandenburg and Margaret of Thuringia.

Anna had five siblings, but a brother and a sister died in infancy:

In 1495, Johann II, Elector of Brandenburg started marriage negotiations with the Jagiellonian family of Poland for his elder surviving son, Joachim Nestor and Anna, his elder surviving daughter, but the marriage negotiations were unsuccessful. After Johann II, Elector of Brandenburg died in 1499, his half-brother Friedrich V, Margrave of Ansbach-Bayreuth, successfully negotiated with the Danish royal family for marriages for Joachim Nestor and Anna. Joachim Nestor was to marry Elisabeth of Denmark, daughter of King Hans of Denmark and Norway, and Anna was to marry King Hans’ much younger brother Frederik of Denmark, who was co-Duke of Schleswig and Holstein with his elder brother King Hans. The wedding was scheduled for Anna’s 14th birthday, but the death of Anna’s mother on July 13, 1501, delayed the marriage. On April 10, 1502, in Stendal, Margraviate of Brandenburg, now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, fifteen-year-old Anna married thirty-one-year-old Frederik. Their marriage was a double ceremony as Anna’s brother Joachim Nestor married Elisabeth of Denmark at the same time.

The double wedding in Stendal in 1502; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna and Frederik had two children:

Anna and Frederik lived at Gottorp Castle in the Duchy of Schleswig, now in Schleswig in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Anna often accompanied her husband on his travels, and she was very popular with the people of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Having two children during her teenage years weakened Anna’s health. She contracted tuberculosis and died on May 3, 1514, aged 26, while six months pregnant. Anna was buried in the  Bordesholm Monastery Church (link in German) in the Duchy of Schleswig. After Anna’s death, Frederik ordered a magnificent tomb with bronze effigies of Anna and himself, which still stands in Bordesholm Monastery Church. Frederik planned to be buried there, but he was buried at Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Schleswig.

Anna’s tomb at the Bordesholm Monastery Church; Credit – By Photo: Andreas Praefcke – Self-photographed, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37913487

Frederik hired Hans Brüggemann to carve an altar for Bordesholm Monastery Church in memory of Anna. From 1514 to 1520, Brüggemann worked on the altar, known as the Brüggemann or Bordesholm Altar. The altar has over 400 carved figures and depicts biblical stories including Adam and Eve, the Passion, the Ascension, Pentecost, and the Last Judgment. In 1666, the altar was moved to Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Schleswig, where it remains.

Brüggemann Altar; Credit – Von Arnoldius – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77065794

Frederik married again in 1518 to Sophie of Pomerania, and they had six children. He became King of Denmark and Norway in 1523, and after a reign of ten years, he died on April 10, 1533, aged 61. Instead of being buried with his first wife Anna at the Bordesholm Monastery Church, where a tomb was awaiting him, Frederik was buried at Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Schleswig, Duchy of Schleswig, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Frederik’s second wife Sophie was buried with him upon her death in 1568.

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 Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Af Brandenburg. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_af_Brandenburg> [Accessed 27 December 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Von Brandenburg (1487–1514). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_von_Brandenburg_(1487%E2%80%931514)> [Accessed 27 December 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Of Brandenburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_of_Brandenburg> [Accessed 27 December 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. John Cicero, Elector Of Brandenburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cicero,_Elector_of_Brandenburg> [Accessed 27 December 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2020. Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/frederik-i-king-of-denmark-and-norway/> [Accessed 27 December 2020].

Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchesse de Polignac, Favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette of France

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchesse de Polignac was a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. She is also the ancestress of Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.

Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchesse de Polignac; source: Wikipedia

Born in Paris on September 8, 1749, Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron was the second daughter of Jean François Gabriel, Count of Polastron, Seigneur de Noueilles, Venerque and Grépiac and his first wife, Jeanne Charlotte Hérault de Vaucresson. Gabrielle (as she was known) had an elder sister Jeanne. Through her father’s second marriage to Anne-Charlotte de Noé, she also had three younger half-siblings, Denis, Adélaïde, and Henriette-Nathalie.

Although her family was part of the aristocracy, they were debt-laden and lived a relatively modest lifestyle. Gabrielle was initially raised at the family’s Château de Noueilles in southern France. Following her mother’s death when Gabrielle was just three years old, her upbringing was left to an aunt who sent her to a convent to receive her education.

Gabrielle was married on July 7, 1767, to Jules François Armand de Polignac, Marquis de Mancini (later created Duke of Polignac). At the time, Polignac was serving in the French military. The couple had four children:

Queen Marie Antoinette of France. source: Wikipedia

In 1775, Gabrielle and her husband were invited to visit Versailles by her sister-in-law Diane de Polignac, a lady-in-waiting to Princess Elizabeth of France, the younger sister of King Louis XVI. Gabrielle was formally presented to Queen Marie Antoinette who instantly took a liking to her and soon asked her to move permanently to Versailles. Heavily in debt, this was not a move that Gabrielle and her husband could afford. Despite their aristocratic background, there was little money for extravagance. They lived on Jules’s military salary of just 4,000 livres and were heavily in debt. Becoming aware of this, The Queen quickly arranged to settle their debts and find a better position for Jules within the royal household.

From all accounts, Gabrielle was greatly welcomed by the French royal family, however, the feeling was not the same from many other members of the court who questioned her motives and were wary of her very quick accession to the highest level of the Queen’s entourage. Many also resented Marie Antoinette’s immense generosity shown to Gabrielle and her family. Not only were their debts resolved but they lived a very lavish lifestyle, primarily funded by Marie Antoinette. Further adding to the resentment came in 1780 when Gabrielle’s husband was created Duke of Polignac, making Gabrielle a Duchess.

In 1782, Gabrielle was appointed Governess to King Louis XVI’s children, which further alienated other members of the Court who felt Gabrielle was not of a sufficient social status for such a prominent position. She took up new apartments within the Palace of Versailles, significantly larger than any of her predecessors, and was given a small cottage at the Hameau de la Reine – the Queen’s private retreat on the grounds of the Petit Trianon.

Joseph Hyacinthe François de Paule de Rigaud, Count of Vaudreuil. source: Wikipedia

Gabrielle briefly fell out of favor with Marie Antoinette in 1785, primarily due to her friendship with Joseph Hyacinthe de Rigaud, Count of Vaudreuil whom the Queen did not trust. Rumors spread that Gabrielle and the Count were having an affair and that he was the father of her youngest son but most historians dispute this. Sensing the Queen’s displeasure, Gabrielle left Versailles for an extended vacation in England. The two soon mended their relationship and became close again in the months leading up to the French Revolution. However, the world would quickly change for everyone at the French Court, following the storming of the Bastille in July 1789. Gabrielle and her family fled France, traveling throughout Europe before eventually settling in Vienna. During this time, she remained in close contact with Marie Antoinette for the next several years.

Having developed what is believed to be cancer, her health quickly began to decline. Just two months after Marie Antoinette’s execution, Gabrielle died in Vienna on December 3, 1793, at the age of 44.

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George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, Favorite of King Charles II of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham; Credit – Wikipedia

Favorite: a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, queen, or another royal person

A member of the Villiers family, a prominent aristocratic family during the Stuart dynasty, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham was born on January 30, 1628, during the reign of King Charles I of England. He was the third of the four children and the second but the eldest surviving of the three sons of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Katherine Manners. George was a half-first cousin once removed of King Charles II’s mistress, Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, who was born as Barbara Villiers. Barbara’s father, William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandiso,n was the son of Sir Edward Villiers, a half-brother of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.

George (on his mother’s lap) with his parents and his sister Mary; Credit – Wikipedia

George had three siblings:

  • Mary Villiers (1622 – 1685), married (1) Charles Herbert, Lord Herbert, no children (2) James Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox, had two children (3) Colonel Thomas Howard, no children
  • Charles Villiers, Earl of Coventry (1625 – 1627), died in childhood
  • Lord Francis Villiers (1629 – 1648), unmarried, died in a skirmish at Kingston-Upon-Thames during the Second English Civil War

The elder George Villiers, the 1st Duke of Buckingham, was a courtier and favorite of King James I of England and his son King Charles I until a disgruntled army officer assassinated him on August 23, 1628. His seven-month-old son George inherited his father’s wealth and his long string of titles: Duke of Buckingham, Marquess of Buckingham, Earl of Buckingham, Earl of Coventry, Viscount Villiers, and Baron Whaddon. George’s mother Katherine succeeded to one of her father’s titles, Baron de Ros of Helmsley upon his death in 1632, becoming the 18th Baroness de Ros of Helmsley in her own right. In 1635, she married for a second time to Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim, and went to live at Dunluce Castle in County Antrim, Ireland. Katherine survived her first husband by twenty-one years, dying in 1649 in Waterford, Ireland, probably of the plague. Upon his mother’s death, George inherited her title Baron de Ros of Helmsley.

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and his brother Lord Francis Villiers; Credit – Wikipedia

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and his brother Lord Francis Villiers were brought up in the household of King Charles I with Charles I’s sons, the future King Charles II and the future King James II. King Charles I took responsibility for George and Francis because of his loyalty to their assassinated father and because he did not think their Catholic mother should raise them. The education of the two Villiers boys and the two royal princes was overseen by William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle and Brian Duppa, Bishop of Winchester, and then later by John Earle, Bishop of Salisbury. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes was their mathematics teacher.

George and his brother Francis actively supported and fought with the Royalists during the English Civil War. After the death of his brother in a battle near Kingston upon Thames, George Villiers fled England and took refuge like many other royalists in the Netherlands. The execution of King Charles I on January 30, 1649, made his son Charles the de jure King of England. Because George participated in the Royalist cause, his property in England was confiscated, but King Charles II, in exile, made him a Knight of the Garter in 1649 and a member of the Privy Council in 1650.

King Charles II in exile, 1653; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1650, accompanied by George, Charles II landed in Scotland and raised an army of 10,000 men. After being crowned King of Scots at Scone on January 1, 1651, Charles marched his army into England but was overwhelmingly defeated at the Battle of Worcester.  After being a fugitive for six weeks, Charles escaped England and fled to France. Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. England remained a Commonwealth and then a Protectorate until 1660.

George followed the English royal family into exile. He returned to England in 1657 and married Mary Fairfax, the only child and heir of Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron. After the Cromwell government confiscated George’s property, it was given to Mary’s father, Thomas Fairfax. George hoped that the marriage would result in him getting back his property. George and Mary’s marriage was childless. Mary was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Charles II’s wife, Catherine of Braganza, from 1663 to 1688.

In 1658, George was suspected of organizing a plot against Cromwell’s government. He was placed under house arrest at York House, his home in London, but escaped. When he was captured, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London until his father-in-law negotiated his release in 1659. The conditions of George’s release were a promise not to assist the enemies of the government and a large security payment from his father-in-law Thomas Fairfax.

On September 3, 1658, Oliver Cromwell died. His son Richard Cromwell ruled only until April 1659, and there was a real possibility for the restoration of the monarchy. On May 1, 1660, Parliament formally invited Charles, as King Charles II, to be the English monarch in what has become known as the Restoration. On May 23, 1660, Charles landed at Dover, England, and on his 30th birthday, May 29, 1660, King Charles II entered London in a procession with George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham accompanying the king.

After the restoration of King Charles II, George held several positions, including Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Minister of State, and Master of the Horse. His endeavor to influence English politics was stymied by the Lord Chancellor Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. In 1667, George took an active part in the overthrow of Hyde. He then played an important role in the group of five royal advisors that called itself the CABAL, formed from the letters of its members’ names:

C (Sir Thomas Clifford)
A (Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Baron Ashley)
B (George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham)
A (Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington)
L (John Maitland, 2nd Earl of Lauderdale)

George’s mistress Anna Maria Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury; Credit – Wikipedia

George was one of the Restoration rakes, which included John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Sir Charles Sedley, and Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset. Following the example of King Charles II, they distinguished themselves in drinking, sex, and witty conversation. In 1667, George began an affair with Anna Maria Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, the wife of Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury. The Earl challenged George to a duel and was mortally wounded by George, dying two months later of his injury. After the death of the 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, his widow Anna Maria went to live with George, which necessitated George’s wife Mary living in the home of her birth family until the affair ended in 1674.

The Life of Buckingham by Augustus Leopold Egg – George is the central figure with King Charles II standing behind him; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1674, the House of Commons and the House of Lords brought charges against George. He was accused of embezzling public funds, having secret negotiations with France, and condemned for his affair with Anna Maria Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury. Due to a petition from the House of Commons, George was removed from office by Charles II and resigned from the royal advisory group. However, as a peer, he was still a member of the House of Lords and participated in the business of the House of Lords. Personally, George reformed his ways, reconciled with his wife Mary, and began to pay his debts.

After the death of King Charles II in 1685, George retired to his estate in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England. He died there on April 16, 1687, aged 59, from complications of a cold he caught while participating in a fox hunt. Originally buried in Yorkshire, on June 7, 1687, George’s remains were moved to the Buckingham Vault in the Chapel of St. Nicholas in Westminster Abbey in London, England. While his father has a lavish tomb with an effigy in the Chapel of St. Nicholas, George has no monument or marker. Because George had no legitimate male heir, his titles became extinct except for Baron de Ros of Helmsley from his mother’s family, which fell into abeyance until 1790. George’s wife Mary survived him by seventeen years, dying on October 30, 1704, aged 67. She was buried with her husband in the Buckingham Vault in Westminster Abbey.

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The Chapel of St. Nicholas at Westminster Abbey, where George and his wife Mary are buried in the Buckingham Vault

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. 2020. George Villiers, 2Nd Duke Of Buckingham. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Villiers,_2nd_Duke_of_Buckingham> [Accessed 31 December 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2016. King Charles II Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 31 December 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2020. George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, Favorite of King James I of England and King Charles I of England. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/george-villiers-1st-duke-of-buckingham-favorite-of-king-james-i-of-england-and-king-charles-i-of-england/> [Accessed 31 December 2020].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2020. George Villiers (2E Duc De Buckingham). [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Villiers_(2e_duc_de_Buckingham)> [Accessed 31 December 2020].
  • Nl.wikipedia.org. 2020. George Villiers (1628-1687). [online] Available at: <https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Villiers_(1628-1687)> [Accessed 31 December 2020].
  • Westminster Abbey. 2020. Villiers Family | Westminster Abbey. [online] Available at: <https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/villiers-family> [Accessed 31 December 2020].

Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on October 7, 1471, in Hadersleben, Duchy of Schleswig, now Haderslev, Denmark, Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway was the youngest of the four sons and the youngest of the five children of Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and Dorothea of Brandenburg.

Frederik had four elder siblings, but his eldest two siblings died young. He was fifteen years younger than his closest sibling Margaret.

Frederik’s father Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and also Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, died in 1481 when Frederik was ten years old. During King Christian I’s life, his wife Queen Dorothea asked her husband to leave the Duchy of Schleswig and the Duchy of  Holstein to Frederik. However, upon the death of King Christian I, his son and successor King Hans I, instead insisted on German inheritance law, which meant both brothers would be co-rulers of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.

Until Frederik reached his majority in 1490, his mother Queen Dorothea was co-ruler as regent of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein with her son King Hans. Frederik grew up at Gottorp Castle in the Duchy of Schleswig, now in Schleswig in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. He was educated at Bordesholm Monastery (link in German) in the Duchy of Schleswig. Although the duchies could not be divided, Queen Dorothea arranged for the income from both duchies to be divided equally between the two brothers, who both held the title Duke of Schleswig and Holstein.

The double wedding in Stendal in 1502; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 10, 1502, in Stendal, Electorate of Brandenburg, now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, thirty-one-year-old Frederik married fifteen-year-old Anna of Brandenburg, daughter of Johann II, Elector of Brandenburg and Margaret of Thuringia. Their marriage was a double ceremony as Anna’s brother Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg and Frederik’s niece Elisabeth of Denmark, daughter of King Hans of Denmark, were also married.

Frederik and his first wife Anna of Brandenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

Frederik and Anna had two children:

Having two children during her teenage years weakened Anna’s health. She contracted tuberculosis and died on May 3, 1514, aged 26, while six months pregnant. Anna was buried in the Bordesholm Monastery Church in the Duchy of Schleswig. After Anna’s death, Frederik I ordered a magnificent tomb with bronze effigies of Anna and himself, which still stands in Bordesholm Monastery Church. Frederik planned to be buried there, but he was buried elsewhere.

Sophie of Pomerania, Frederik’s second wife; Credit – Wikipedia

Four years after Anna’s death, forty-seven-year-old Frederik married twenty-year-old Sophie of Pomerania on October 9, 1518, in Kiel, Duchy of Holstein, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Sophia was the daughter of Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania and Princess Anna Jagiellon of Poland.

Sophie and Frederik had six children:

Frederik’s nephew, King Christian II; Credit – Wikipedia

Frederik’s nephew, Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, had been deposed in Sweden in 1521 and replaced by Gustav Vasa, the first monarch of the Swedish House of Vasa. By 1523, the Danes had had enough of Christian II, and a rebellion started. Christian II was forced to abdicate by the Danish nobles. His paternal uncle Frederik, Duke of Schleswig and Holstein was offered the crown on January 20, 1523. Frederik’s army gained control over most of Denmark during the spring, and in April 1523, Christian II and his family left Denmark to live in exile. In November 1531, Christian II attempted to reclaim Norway but was unsuccessful. He accepted a promise of safe-conduct from his uncle Frederik I, but Frederik had had enough of his nephew Christian. He did not keep his promise, and instead, Christian was imprisoned in castles, albeit in comfortable circumstances, for the last twenty-seven years of his life.

Although Frederik was King of Norway, he never visited the country and was never crowned King of Norway. He did visit Denmark, but he kept his main residence at Gottorp Castle in the Duchy of Schleswig. It is not certain if Frederik ever learned to speak Danish. Frederik was the last Roman Catholic Danish monarch. All subsequent Danish monarchs have been Lutheran. Although Frederik remained Catholic, he was somewhat tolerant of the new Protestant Lutheran religion. He ordered  Lutherans and Roman Catholics to share the same churches and encouraged the first publication of the Bible in the Danish language. When Lutheran reformer Hans Tausen was threatened with arrest and trial for heresy, Frederick appointed him his personal chaplain to give him immunity. Frederik’s attitude toward religion postponed the all-out warfare between Protestants and Roman Catholics that occurred during the reign of his son, King Christian III, ultimately turning Denmark into a Protestant nation.

Cenotaph of Frederik I,  King of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Schleswig and Holstein; Credit – Von Arnoldius – Selbst fotografiert, CC BY-SA 4.0

After a reign of ten years, King Frederik I died on April 10, 1533, aged 61, at Gottrop Castle in Gottorp, Duchy of Schleswig, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Instead of being buried with his first wife Anna at the Bordesholm Monastery Church, where a tomb was awaiting him, Frederik was buried in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Schleswig, Duchy of Schleswig, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. However, the location of Frederik’s burial site in St. Peter’s Cathedral is unknown. In the north choir nave, there is a cenotaph, an empty tomb, created by Flemish sculptor Cornelis Floris de Vriendt for Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, and erected in St. Peter’s Cathedral in 1552. His second wife Sophie survived him by thirty-five years, dying on May 13, 1568, at about the age of 70, and was also buried at Schleswig Cathedral.

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 Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Frederik 1. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_1.> [Accessed 26 December 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Frederick I Of Denmark. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_I_of_Denmark> [Accessed 26 December 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Friedrich I. (Dänemark Und Norwegen). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_I._(D%C3%A4nemark_und_Norwegen)> [Accessed 26 December 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2020. Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.  [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/christian-i-king-of-denmark-norway-and-sweden/> [Accessed 26 December 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2020. Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/christian-ii-king-of-denmark-norway-and-sweden/> [Accessed 26 December 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2020. Hans, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/hans-king-of-denmark-norway-and-sweden/> [Accessed 26 December 2020].

Anne Tennant, Baroness Glenconner, Lady-in-Waiting and Confidante of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Anne as a debutante – Credit – Anne Veronica (née Coke), Baroness Glenconner by Navana Vandyk, whole-plate film negative, 8 May 1950, NPG x97522 © National Portrait Gallery, London

In 1971, Anne Tennant, Baroness Glenconner became a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and remained a lady-in-waiting until Princess Margaret’s death in 2002. In 2020, Anne Tennant’s memoir Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown was published. Her reason for writing the memoir was because she “was so fed up with people writing such horrible things about Princess Margaret.”

Anne Tennant, Baroness Glenconner was born Anne Veronica Coke (pronounced “Cook”) on July 16, 1932, in London, England, the eldest of the three daughters of Thomas Coke, the future 5th Earl of Leicester (1908 – 1976) and Lady Elizabeth Mary Yorke (1912 – 1985), daughter of Charles Yorke, 8th Earl of Hardwicke. Anne’s father, who became the 5th Earl of Leicester in 1949, served as Equerry to the Duke of York (the future King George VI) from 1934-1937. When the Duke of York became King George VI, he became Extra Equerry to the king from 1937-1952, and then continued as Extra Equerry to Queen Elizabeth II. Anne’s mother served as Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II from 1953 – 1973.

Anne had two younger siblings:

  • Lady Carey Elizabeth Coke (1934 – 2018), married Bryan Ronald Basset, had three sons
  • Lady Sarah Marion Coke (born 1944), married Major David Finlayson Wylie-Hill Walter, had two sons

Holkham Hall, Anne’s childhood home; Credit – By Holkham.j.lewis – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77267021

Anne spent her childhood at Holkham Hall, the 18th century Coke family country estate in Holkham, Norfolk, England. Sandringham House, the British monarch’s personally-owned country estate, was only 18 miles from Holkham Hall, and so Anne was a regular playmate of Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth were friends with Anne’s parents. They saw each other socially and the Coke family always attended the annual Christmas party at Buckingham Palace.

During World War II, Anne and her sister Carey stayed with their paternal great-aunt the Countess of Airlie, born Lady Bridget Coke and her husband David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, and the six Ogilvy children. Their playmates were the three youngest Ogilvy children: David Ogilvy, the future 13th Earl of Airlie, The Honorable Angus Ogilvy who married Princess Alexandra of Kent, the first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, and The Honorable James Ogilvy.

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Queen Elizabeth II with her maids of honor: (left to right) Lady Moyra Hamilton, Lady Anne Coke, Lady Rosemary Spencer-Churchill, Lady Mary Baillie-Hamilton, Lady Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, Lady Jane Vane-Tempest-Stewart

In 1950, at the age of 18, Anne was formally presented at court and was named “debutante of the year” by Tatler which then was “an illustrated journal of society”. In 1953, Anne was selected to be one of the six maids of honor at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey.

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Colin Tennant and Lady Anne Coke pictured as they announce their engagement

In the summer of 1955, Anne met Colin Tennant, the son and heir of Christopher Tennant, 2nd Baron Glenconner at a debutante party at the Ritz Hotel in London. Their engagement was announced on December 16, 1955. On April 21, 1956, at St. Withburga’s Church in Holkham, Norfolk, England, Anne married Colin Tennant, the future 3rd Baron Glenconner. The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret attended the wedding. Antony Armstrong-Jones, Princess Margaret’s future husband, was the wedding photographer.

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Anne and Colin with their first child Charles

Anne and her husband had three sons and twin daughters:

  • The Honorable Charles Tennant (1957 – 1996), married Sheilagh Scott, had one son, Cody Tennant who became the 4th Baron Glenconner upon the death of his grandfather in 2010
  • The Honorable Henry Tennant (1960 – 1990), married Teresa Cormack (died 2018), had one son
  • The Honorable Christopher Tennant (born 1968), married (1) Anastasia Papadakos, had two daughters, divorced (2) Johanna Lissack Hurn
  • The Honorable May Tennant (born 1970), married Anton Creasy, had one daughter
  • The Honorable Amy Tennant (born 1970), unmarried
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Anne and Colin’s twin daughters with their nanny Barbara Barnes who later became Prince William’s nanny

Sadly, all three sons had major medical issues. The eldest son Charles died in 1996 from Hepatitis C due to his long-term heroin use. Henry, the second son, died from AIDS in 1990. Henry and his wife Tessa had a son Euan shortly before Henry told Tessa that he was gay. The couple separated but remained close. Their son Euan Tennant manages The Glen, the Tennant family estate in Traquair, Scotland. The youngest son Christopher suffered severe brain damage in a motorcycle accident in 1987 in Belize. He was found by a passing motorist and taken to the hospital, where he spent the next three months in a coma.

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Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh are greeted by Princess Margaret, Anne, and Colin as they arrive on Mustique during their 1977 Silver Jubilee Tour

Two years after Anne and Colin married, Colin bought the Caribbean island of Mustique £45,000. He built a new village for its inhabitants, planted coconut palms, vegetables, and fruit, and developed the fisheries. In 1960, Princess Margaret and her new husband Antony Armstrong-Jones visited Mustique while on their honeymoon cruise to accept a wedding gift from Colin, a plot of land on which Princess Margaret built a villa called Les Jolies Eaux, French for “the pretty waters.” Due to financial issues, by 1987, Colin had sold, by 1987, all of his financial interest in Mustique. After that Anne and Colin lived in England and in the Caribbean island country of St. Lucia.

In early 1971, shortly after the christening of Anne’s twin daughters, at which Princess Margaret was May’s godmother, the princess asked Anne to become one of her ladies-in-waiting. Anne accompanied Princess Margaret on many engagements and tours and she once stood in for Princess Margaret on a trip to the Philippines to meet with Imelda Marcos when Margaret became ill. For her service to the royal family, Anne received the Royal Victorian Order on June 14, 1991.

The Glen, the Tennant family country estate; Credit – By Jim Barton, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13581551

Prior to a dinner party during the summer of 1973 at The Glen, the Tennant family home, where Princess Margaret would be a guest, another guest canceled at the last minute. At the suggestion of Colin’s aunt, Anne called Roddy Llewellyn, the younger son of Sir Harry Llewellyn, 3rd Baronet, an Olympic gold medallist in show jumping. At that dinner party, the 43-year-old still-married Princess Margaret first met 25-year-old Roddy Llewellyn. Their much-publicized eight-year relationship was a factor in the end of Princess Margaret’s marriage. After Princess Margaret’s funeral in 2002, the Queen Mother discussed Roddy Llewellyn with Anne and thanked her for having introduced her daughter to Roddy, because “he made her really happy.”

In 1994, Princess Margaret, Anne, and Colin attended a dinner at mutual friends’ home in Mustique. During that dinner, Princess Margaret suffered her first stroke. Over the following year, Anne noticed Margaret becoming gradually slower and moments where she would suddenly lose her place. In 1999, while in Mustique, Margaret scalded her feet in the bath. Although Anne was not in Mustique, she rushed there to be with Margaret. When Margaret refused to go home to England for treatment, Anne called Queen Elizabeth who persuaded her sister to come home. After that, Princess Margaret was wheelchair-bound. She had two more strokes and her eyesight began to fail. When Anne was not on duty, she visited Margaret as much as possible. Margaret spent Christmas 2001 at Sandringham with her family but Anne, who was also in Norfolk, had to be called in because Margaret refused to eat and seemed to have given up on life. Anne managed to get Margaret to eat a jam tart, watch her favorite television programs, and settle down.

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Princess Margaret making one of her rare public appearances shortly after she scalded her feet, accompanied by her lady-in-waiting Anne Tennant, March 20, 2000

After the Christmas holidays, Princess Margaret returned to her London home at Kensington Palace. Anne visited her, read to her, and listened to the radio with her. On the evening of February 8, 2002, Anne received a phone call from Princess Margaret’s Private Secretary saying that Margaret had suffered another stroke and that the prognosis was not good. Princess Margaret died early the next morning. After Princess Margaret’s funeral service, Queen Elizabeth thanked Anne for all that she had done for Margaret. She acknowledged Roddy Llewllyn’s positive impact on her sister and was glad that her home on Mustique had made Margaret happy.

In 2009, Anne’s husband Colin was diagnosed with prostate cancer but was determined that no one should find out. He died on August 27, 2010, from a heart attack, at the age of 83, and was buried in the Traquair Kirkyard, near The Glen, the Tennant family home. Colin’s grandson Cody Tennant, the only child of Colin’s eldest son Charles succeeded as the 4th Baron Glenconner and received all property and funds connected to the Baron of Glenconnner title.

However, Colin left his family an unpleasant surprise. Colin had made a new will seven months before his death and had left everything not connected to the Baron of Glenconner title to Kent Adonai, a St. Lucia citizen, and his valet for 26 years who was with him when he had his fatal heart attack. The Tennant family contested the will and after an eight-year legal battle, the estate was divided more or less equally between Kent Adonai and Cody Tennant, 4th Baron Glenconner.

Anne Tennant, Baroness Glenconner; Credit – https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/anne-glenconner

The family remains bitter over what Colin did but as Anne wrote in her memoir, “Obsessing about this would have driven me mad so, instead, I made a decision to move on.” Anne moved on with her life, living in the farmhouse in Norfolk, England that she had bought for herself years before, surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

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. Anne Tennant, Baroness Glenconner. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Tennant,_Baroness_Glenconner> [Accessed 18 February 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Tennant,_3rd_Baron_Glenconner> [Accessed 18 February 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Thomas Coke, 5th Earl of Leicester. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Coke,_5th_Earl_of_Leicester> [Accessed 18 February 2021].
  • Glenconner, Anne, 2020. Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown. New York: Hachette Book Group, Inc.
  • Thefreelibrary.com. 2000. FAITH HEALER SAVED MY THIRD SON FROM DEATH; Tennant matriarch finds peace in India. – Free Online Library. [online] Available at: <https://www.thefreelibrary.com/FAITH+HEALER+SAVED+MY+THIRD+SON+FROM+DEATH%3B+Tennant+matriarch+finds…-a060956241> [Accessed 18 February 2021].

The Laird o’ Thistle – Special Edition – HRH and Other Royal Monikers

by The Laird o’Thistle
March 8, 2021

There is plenty of uproar in the worldwide media today over the interview of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast last night in the U.S. While I have no intention of wading into any issues and allegations involved in the interview, there are some factual bits concerning honorifics and titles that may be helpful in sorting out what was said.

One of the headline grabbers today has been about young Archie not being a “Prince” or an HRH. That is true. But, that is because of some royal streamlining rules put in place as long ago as 1917, during the reign of the Queen’s grandfather, King George V.

According to those rules, the honorific of being “His/Her Royal Highness” by birth, and the title “Prince” or “Princess” (of Wales, Cambridge, York, Kent, etc.), pertains to the children and grandchildren of the sovereign “in the male line.” While a special exception has been granted for three of the Queen’s great-grandchildren – Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis – that is specifically because they are the children of the heir’s heir in direct succession… that is, because their father will one day be King… as someday will Prince George, assuming that the monarchy continues.

The Duke of Sussex is the Queen’s grandson, via Prince Charles, and thus automatically an HRH (though not currently using the honorific) and a Prince. His children are not yet grandchildren of the sovereign, and thus not automatically entitled [sic] to be HRH or Prince/Princess. When Prince Charles eventually becomes King, they too will automatically become HRHs and Prince and Princess of Sussex… unless they choose to not assume the status, as has been the choice of Prince Edward for his family.

In looking at other members of the current royal family, among the Queen’s other grandchildren (besides William and Harry), only Beatrice and Eugenie are titled “HRH” and “Princess” – statuses their father insists they retain. Princess Eugenie’s new son, however, is simply August Brooksbank with no other title. As noted, Prince Edward’s children… though entitled to do so… are more simply James, Viscount Severn (more on courtesy titles in a moment) and Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor. Princess Anne’s children, under the old “male-line” rule and at her insistence years ago, have no royal titles. The late Princess Margaret’s children, the Earl of Snowdon and Lady Sarah Chatto, are not royal either. Their titles derive from the one granted to their late father.

The other “HRH” Princes and Princess by birth are Prince Richard (Duke of Gloucester), Prince Edward (Duke of Kent), Prince Michael of Kent, and Princess Alexandra (Lady Ogilvy). They are all grandchildren of George V, through their fathers. None of their children or descendants are of “royal” status. The descendants of George V’s daughter, Princess Mary (Countess of Harewood), have no royal status.

The other somewhat confusing issue in play is that of courtesy titles. The custom is that when a Peer holds several titles, their direct line heir can their secondary titles (etc.) as a courtesy title. That is why the son of Prince Edward, who is Earl of Wessex, is called Viscount Severn… Edward’s secondary title. The best known instance is the current Earl of Snowdon, who was known as Viscount Linley from the day of his birth up until his father’s death in 2017. Similarly, the Duke of Gloucester’s son is the Earl of Ulster; and the Duke of Kent’s eldest is the Earl of St. Andrews.

As Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan’s son Archie already has every right to be known as the Earl of Dumbarton, Harry’s secondary title. Every indication has been that it has been their choice to not do so, and for him to simply be known as Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

So, while there is certainly a case to be made for a revision of the rule concerning who is or isn’t an “HRH” and “Prince” or “Princess” by birth – especially in regard to the restriction to the “male line” – the issue with the Sussexes is not one of being denied something, but of not being granted an exception as was done for Prince William’s children. And, it may be argued that the rationale that exists for the young Cambridges does not exist for the young Sussexes… especially given Prince Charles’s long-expressed intention (well before the Sussex wedding) to “downsize” the working royal family when he succeeds as King.

As for the tangentially related issue of extending official police protection to the Queen’s grandchildren and their families, the rule of thumb is that it applies to “working” members of the Royal Family, and extends to the family of immediate heirs such as the Cambridge children. Until leaving the UK, Harry was covered… unlike his first cousins Beatrice, Eugenie, and so on. (Long-time Royal watchers will recall the vocal protestations raised by Prince Andrew when protection was withdrawn from Beatrice and Eugenie in 2011.) Those to whom government-funded protection does not apply have to make private arrangements, sometimes with the financial assistance of other family members.

Yours aye,

Ken Cuthbertson – The Laird o’ Thistle

March 8, 2021

Postscript: After completing the column, it occurred to me that in 1948 an earlier exception to the “male line” rule had to be made by King George VI, for the children of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, granting the status of “HRH” and the style of “Prince or Princess” to their children, in anticipation of the birth of Prince Charles. It applied for both Prince Charles and Princess Anne at their births. Otherwise they would have been known as the Earl of Merioneth and Lady Anne Mountbatten.