Anna Luise of Schönburg-Waldenburg, Princess of Schwarzburg

by Susan Flantzer

Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The new counties remained in the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution. In 1697, the County of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1710.

The death of Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen without an heir in 1909 caused the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen to be united under Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in a personal union. Following his succession in Sondershausen, Prince Günther Victor dropped the name Rudolstadt from his title and assumed the title Prince of Schwarzburg.

At the end of World War I, Prince Günther Victor was the last German prince to renounce his throne, abdicating on November 22, 1918. He made an agreement with the government that awarded him an annual pension and the right to use several of the family residences. The territory that encompassed the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is now located in the German state of Thuringia.

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Credit – Wikipedia

Anna Luise of Schönburg-Waldenburg was the wife of Günther Victor, the last sovereign Prince of both the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and was styled Princess of Schwarzburg. As a widow, Anna Luise was forced by the Nazis to leave Schwarzburg Castle so it could be demolished and Adolf Hitler’s Imperial Guest House built. The castle was demolished but the guest house was never completed. She spent the last years of her life living under the Communist regime of the German Democratic (East Germany).

Born on February 19, 1871, at Hermsdorf Castle (link in German) near Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, she was the only daughter and the youngest of the three children of Prince Georg of Schönburg-Waldenburg and Princess Luise of Bentheim-Tecklenburg.

Anna Luise had two older brothers:

Hermann of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1865 – 1943), married Thekla von Rothenberg, no children
Ulrich Georg of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1869 – 1939), married Pauline of Löwenstein-Werthelm-Freudenberg, had five children

Hermsdorf Castle; Credit – Von X-Weinzar – Selbst fotografiert, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6921372

Anna Luise grew up with her two brothers at Hermsdorf Castle, her birthplace, and Schneeberg in the Austrian Alps. From the age of six, she was taught together with her brother Ulrich Georg and several other children. Besides academic subjects, Anna Luise also had music and drawing lessons.

On December 9, 1891, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, 20-year-old Anna Luise married her 39-year-old first cousin Günther Victor, the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Six months later, her pregnancy was happily announced. However, in the seventh month of pregnancy, Anna Luise suffered a stillbirth. It had been a boy who would have ensured the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt succession. After the stillbirth, Anna Luise developed puerperal fever (childbed fever) along with pleurisy and cardiac issues. Afterward, Anna Luise was unable to have children which was a dynastic catastrophe for the House of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

To ensure the continued existence of the House of Schwarzburg, Prince Sizzo of Leutenberg was appointed as Günther Victor’s successor by law on June 1, 1896, and was recognized as a member of the House of Schwarzburg. Prince Sizzo was the only son of Friedrich Günther, reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from a morganatic marriage. Sizzo and his twin sister were created Prince and Princess of Leutenberg shortly after their birth but Sizzo did not have succession rights due to his parents’ morganatic marriage.

After he was recognized as a member of the House of Schwarzburg, Sizzo was able to use the title of Prince of Schwarzburg. Following the agreement, Sizzo became the heir presumptive of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, ahead of the Schwarzburg-Sondershausen princes, and third in line to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Following the death of Prince Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in 1909, Günther Victor became Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Prince Sizzo became the heir presumptive to the two principalities. However, over time, the relationship between the cousins Sizzo and Günther Victor deteriorated. Sizzo felt deprived for no valid reason. After a dispute, Günther Victor refused to allow Sizzo to stay in the castles in Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg. In 1918, their relationship had so deteriorated that they only came to an understanding through lawyers.

Anna Luise took on the role of mother of the country and became beloved by the people. She was the patron of various non-profit institutions and charities such as a social welfare facility for the elderly and poor in Quittelsdorf and the Anna Luise Nursing Home in Bad Blankenburg. During World War I, Anna Luise established the Anna Luise Medal given to women who cared for wounded soldiers.

When Prince Leopold of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen died in 1906, Günther Victor became heir presumptive to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. He succeeded in 1909 as Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, upon the death of Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The two Schwarzburg principalities were united under Günther Victor in a personal union and he was then styled Prince of Schwarzburg.

Günther Victor and Anna Luise; Credit – Wikipedia

After the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, the November Revolution of 1918 led to the end of all the German monarchies. On November 23, 1918, Günther Victor abdicated the throne of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and on November 25, 1918, he abdicated in Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Günther Victor made an agreement with the new government that awarded him an annual pension and the right to use several of the family residences. Günther Victor and Anna Luise retained ownership of Schwarzburg Castle (link in German) and Rothsfeld Hunting Lodge (link in German) and their associated lands and also had the right of residence in Heidecksburg Castle (link in German) and Sondershausen Castle. Anna Luisa accepted the forced loss that she and her husband had suffered with a heavy heart. According to her, the new government of the State of Thuringia only wanted to keep them as “historical oddities.”

Günther Victor died after a long illness on April 21, 1925, aged 72, at Sondershausen Castle in Sondershausen, Thuringia, Germany, and was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas (link in German) in Rudolstadt, Germany. Prince Sizzo became Head of the House of Schwarzberg. Günther Victor had made Anna Luise his sole heir and so she had to continue the legal battle with Prince Sizzo. In 1926, Prince Sizzo died and Anna Luise ruled out the adoption of Prince Sizzo’s only son Prince Friedrich Günther who succeeded as Head of the House of Schwarzberg. She continued her husband’s original legal battles with Prince Sizzo with his son. In 1942, Anna Luise decided to adopt as her heir Prince Wilhelm of Schönburg-Waldenburg, the youngest son of her brother Ulrich.

Schwarzburg Castle in the 1930s; Credit – Wikipedia

After Günther Victor died in 1925, Anna Luise was allowed to continue to live in Schwarzburg Castle (link in German). This right of residence was initially not curtailed when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Anna Luise was not a supporter of the Nazi Party. In 1940, the Nazis planned to demolish Schwarzburg Castle and build an Imperial Guest House for Adolf Hitler in its place. Anna Luise had to leave the castle within a few days for financial compensation. In June 1940, demolition began on Schwarzburg Castle, one of the most important Baroque castles in central Germany. The remains of the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt family buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg (castle church) were moved to Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany. In 1942, the construction was stopped and the Imperial Guest House was never finished. The ruins of the castle and the incomplete construction of the guest house were left for years. The only thing that remained of the castle church was the tower dome but it was destroyed in a fire caused by fireworks on New Year’s Eve 1980. There has been much reconstruction work done on the castle especially after Schwarzburg Castle was transferred to the Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation in 1994.

Sondershausen Castle, Anna Luise’s last home; Credit – Von HieRo GlyPhe – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10958015

After World War II, the area that had encompassed the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen were in the newly formed German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, and a satellite state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948. In 1945, most of the Schwarzburg property was expropriated and the ownership was transferred to the government. Until her death, Anna Luise was allowed to reside in Sondershausen Castle (link in German).

Anna Luise in 1950; Credit – https://www.thueringen.de/

Anna Luise, aged 80, died November 7, 1951, in Sondershausen Castle in Sondershausen, East Germany, now in the German state of Thuringia. She was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, East Germany, now in the German state of Thuringia. Although news of her death was kept secret by the Stasi, the state security police of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), the streets of Rudolstadt were full of people who paid her their last respects and there was standing room only for her funeral at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas; Credit – Wikipedia

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Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt/Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Index Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Luise Von Schwarzburg. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Luise_von_Schwarzburg> [Accessed 3 November 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Günther Victor (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_Victor_(Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt)> [Accessed 3 November 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Schloss Schwarzburg. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Schwarzburg> [Accessed 5 November 2020].
Es.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ana Luisa De Schönburg-Waldenburg. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Luisa_de_Sch%C3%B6nburg-Waldenburg> [Accessed 5 November 2020].
Flantzer, Susan. 2020. Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/gunther-victor-prince-of-schwarzburg/>
Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 4 November 2020].

Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The new counties remained in the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution. In 1697, the County of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1710.

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Credit – Wikipedia

Günther Victor was the last sovereign Prince of both Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and was styled Prince of Schwarzburg. He was born on August 21, 1852, in Rudolstadt, then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, the only son and the second of the four children of Prince Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Princess Mathilde of Schönburg-Waldenburg. Prince Adolf was the grandson of two reigning Princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt: Friedrich Karl and Johann Friedrich. Princess Mathilde was the granddaughter of Ludwig Friedrich II, reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Therefore, Günther Victor was the great-grandson of three reigning Princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Georg Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, who reigned from 1869 – 1890, was unmarried and had no surviving brothers. Therefore, his first cousin and Georg Victor’s father Prince Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was his heir presumptive. When Prince Adolf died in 1875, Georg Victor became the heir presumptive to the throne of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

Günther Victor had three sisters:

Marie Karoline Auguste of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1850 – 1922), married Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had four children
Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1859 – 1939), unmarried
Luise of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1862 – 1865) died in childhood

Günther Victor received his early education from private tutors and then attended the Vitzthumsche Gymnasium (link in German) in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony. From 1868 – 1870, he was prepared for a military career and made study trips to Belgium, France, and England.

The Franco-Prussian War in 1870 caused Günther Victor to end his education. He served as a second lieutenant in the Dragoon Regiment of the Mecklenburg troops under his brother-in-law Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Günther Victor took part in the Siege of Toul, Siege of Metz, Siege of Paris, as well as the Battle of Orléans and the Battle of Le Mans. For his service, Günther Victor was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class and the Schwarzburg Cross of Honor 2nd class.

In 1871, Günther Victor was released from military service and he studied law, political science, and art history at the University of Leipzig. He returned to active military duty in 1874. Georg Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt died on January 19, 1890, and Günther Victor succeeded his unmarried, childless first cousin once removed.

Anna Luise of Schönburg-Waldenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

In November 1890, Günther Victor was betrothed to Luise Charlotte of Saxe-Altenburg but the couple did not get along and the engagement was broken in 1891. On December 9, 1891, in Rudolstadt, Günther Victor married his first cousin Anna Luise of Schönburg-Waldenburg, the daughter of Prince Georg of Schönburg-Waldenburg and Princess Luise of Bentheim-Tecklenburg. A stillbirth with complications in 1892 left Anna Luise unable to have children.

When Prince Leopold of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen died in 1906, Günther Victor became heir presumptive to the other Schwarzburg principality. He succeeded as Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in 1909, upon the death of Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The two Schwarzburg principalities were united under Günther Victor in a personal union and he was then styled Prince of Schwarzburg. After the union of the two principalities, Günther Victor and Anna Luise had a total of six different residences and they regularly changed their residence about every two months.

Prince Sizzo; Credit – Wikipedia

In order to ensure the continued existence of the House of Schwarzburg due to Günther Victor’s lack of children, Prince Sizzo of Leutenberg was appointed as his successor by law on June 1, 1896, and was recognized as a member of the House of Schwarzburg. Prince Sizzo was the only son of Friedrich Günther, reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from a morganatic marriage. Sizzo and his twin sister were created Prince and Princess of Leutenberg shortly after their birth but Sizzo did not have succession rights due to his parents’ morganatic marriage.

After he was recognized as a member of the House of Schwarzburg, Sizzo was able to use the title of Prince of Schwarzburg. Following the agreement, Sizzo became the heir presumptive of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, ahead of the Schwarzburg -Sondershausen princes, and third in line to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Following the death of Prince Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in 1909, Prince Sizzo became the heir presumptive to the two principalities. However, over time, the relationship between the cousins Sizzo and Günther Victor deteriorated. Sizzo felt deprived for no valid reason. After a dispute, Günther Victor refused to allow Sizzo to stay in the castles in Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg. In 1918, their relationship had so deteriorated that they only came to an understanding through lawyers.

Günther Victor and Anna Luise; Credit – Wikipedia

Due to Günther Victor’s circulatory and heart problems, Anna Luise had to adjust her daily routine to ensure her husband’s proper care. She often traveled with Günther Victor to cures prescribed by his doctors. Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg died after a long illness on April 21, 1925, aged 72, at Sondershausen Castle in Sondershausen, Thuringia, Germany, and was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas (link in German) in Rudolstadt, Germany. Prince Sizzo succeeded him as Head of the House of Schwarzburg but he died less than a year later. Sizzo’s only son Prince Friedrich Günther succeeded him as the last Head of the House of Schwarzburg and last pretender to the Schwarzburg principalities.

Günther Victor’s wife Anna Luise survived him by 26 years, dying on November 7, 1951, aged 80, also in Sondershausen, but then in East (Communist), Germany, now in the German state of Thuringia, and was buried with her husband at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas; Credit – Wikipedia

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt/Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Index Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Luise Von Schwarzburg. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Luise_von_Schwarzburg> [Accessed 3 November 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Günther Victor (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_Victor_(Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt)> [Accessed 3 November 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Günther Victor, Prince Of Schwarzburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_Victor,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg> [Accessed 3 November 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Sizzo, Prince Of Schwarzburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizzo,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg> [Accessed 3 November 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 20 October 2020].

Georg Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

by Susan Flantzer

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Credit – Wikipedia

Georg Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was born on November 23, 1838, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. He was the second of the three sons and the third of the four children of Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Princess Auguste of Solms-Braunfels.

Albrecht’s two brothers died in infancy. Only his sister survived childhood.

Karl (born and died 1828)
Elisabeth (1833 – 1896), married Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, no children
Ernst Heinrich (born and died 1848)

During his childhood, Georg Albrecht was very interested in horses and all things military. Because of this interest, a Kindergarde (Children’s Guard) was formed of noble sons and sons of civil servants who were outfitted with specially made uniforms and weapons. After being educated by private tutors, Georg Albrecht studied legal history, philosophy, and economics at the University of Göttingen and the University of Bonn. However, his higher education was cut short because of his desire to enter the Prussian Army. Georg Albrecht served as a first lieutenant in the Garde du Corps regiment starting in 1859. In 1864, he became an orderly officer of Lieutenant General Gustav von der Mülbe (link in German). He fought during the Second Schleswig War in 1864 and during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866.

Upon the death of his father on November 26, 1869, Georg Albrecht succeeded him as Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Soon afterward, he became engaged to his second cousin once removed Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. However, while traveling with his family through the various German monarchies, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, the second surviving son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, met his second cousin Marie. Vladimir and Marie quickly fell in love and subsequently Marie broke off her engagement to Georg Albert, who never did marry.

After he became Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Georg Albrecht remained in the Prussian Army for the rest of his life. During the Franco-Prussian War, he was a member of the General Staff of the 8th Infantry Division and was involved in the Battle of Sedan and the Battle of Beaumont. Following the defeat of France, Georg Albrecht was present when Wilhelm I, King of Prussia was declared German Emperor (Kaiser) in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France, on January 18, 1871. In 1883, he was promoted to General of the Cavalry and in 1886, he was created a Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle. Because of his military duties, Georg Albrecht left the running of the government of the Principality of Schwarzberg-Rudolstadt mostly to his government ministers.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas; Credit – Wikipedia

Georg Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt died on January 19, 1890, aged 51, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, and was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas (link in German) in Rudolstadt. He was succeeded by his first cousin once removed Günther Victor.

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Georg Albert (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Albert_(Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt)> [Accessed 2 November 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. George Albert, Prince Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Albert,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt> [Accessed 2 November 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 20 October 2020].

Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

by Susan Flantzer

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Credit – Wikipedia

Born on April 30, 1798, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was the second of the four sons and the fifth of the seven children of Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Karoline of Hesse-Homburg. When he was nine-years-old, Albrecht’s father died and his fourteen-year-old brother Friedrich Günther became the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. As stipulated in Ludwig Friedrich’s will, Friedrich Günther’s mother Karoline served as Regent of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt until her son came of age in 1814.

Albrecht had six siblings but only two of his siblings survived childhood:

Cäcilie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1792 – 1794), died in childhood
Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1793 – 1867), married (1) Princess Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau, had three children (2) Countess Helene of Reina, morganatic marriage, had two children (3) Marie Schultze, morganatic marriage, no children
Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1795 – 1861), married Otto Victor, Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg, had nine children
Karoline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1796), died in infancy
Bernhard of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1816), twin of Rudolf, died in childhood
Rudolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1808), twin of Bernhard, died in childhood

From October 7-9, 1806, Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Prussia was a guest at Heidecksburg Castle (link in German) in Rudolstadt. Ludwig Ferdinand was the commander of a Prussian-Saxon vanguard during the Napoleonic Wars against Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. The soldier-prince made a great impression upon the eight-year-old Albrecht and it sparked his interest in the military. Sadly, Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Prussia died on October 10, 1806, during the Battle of Saalfeld. Albrecht was educated by private tutors but from 1810 – 1811, he and his brother Friedrich Günther were sent to Geneva, Switzerland to perfect their French.

By the age of sixteen, Albrecht was a lieutenant in the Prussian Army. From 1814 – 1815, he served as a member of the staff of his maternal uncle Ludwig Wilhem, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, in the Prussian campaign against Napoleon and received the Iron Cross 2nd class for his service. During his soldier years, Albrecht was often a guest at the Prussian court, and there he met his future wife Princess Auguste of Solms-Braunfels (1804 – 1865), daughter of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels and Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and niece of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. Auguste’s mother Friederike, born a Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was by her three marriages, Princess of Prussia (married Prince Ludwig Karl, son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia), Princess of Solms-Braunfels, and lastly Duchess of Cumberland and Queen of Hanover as the wife of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover, the fifth son and eighth child of King George III if the United Kingdom.

Auguste of Solms-Braunfels; Credit – Wikipedia

Albrecht and Auguste were married on July 27, 1827, at Schönhausen Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Brandenburg. Albrecht’s wife Auguste died before he succeeded to the throne of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, dying on October 8, 1865, aged 61, and was buried in the Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt.

The couple had four children:

Karl (born and died 1828)
Elisabeth (1833 – 1896), married Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, no children
Georg Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1838 – 1890), unmarried
Ernst Heinrich (born and died 1848)

Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon the death of his brother Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, on June 28, 1867, Albrecht became the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. All of Friedrich Günther’s sons by his first wife had predeceased him and his only son by his second wife was born from a morganatic marriage and did not have succession rights. Three days after Albrecht succeeded to the throne, the North German Confederation, the German federal state which existed from July 1867 to December 1870 and was the precursor of the German Empire, came into effect. On October 23, 1869, Albrecht dissolved the state parliament due to a dispute over planned tax increases. The state parliament was reinstated during the reign of his son Georg Albrecht.

After a reign of two years and five months, Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt died on November 26, 1869, aged 71, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. He was buried with his wife in the Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt. When that cemetery was closed sometime after 1869, the remains of Albrecht and Auguste were moved to the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg (link in German) at the Schloss Schwarzburg.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas; Credit – Wikipedia

In the early 1940s, the remains of the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt family buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg were transferred to the Stadtkirche St. Andreas (link in German) in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany before the demolition of Schwarzburg Castle and Schlosskirche Schwarzburg by the German government who planned to convert the castle into Adolf Hitler’s Imperial Guest House. However, the construction was never completed and the ruins of the castle and the incomplete construction of the guest house were left for years until reconstruction of the original castle, which is still occurring, began.

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Albert (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_(Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt)> [Accessed 2 November 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Albert, Prince Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt> [Accessed 2 November 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 20 October 2020].

Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, Mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, was the mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom from 1889 until 1898, while he was The Prince of Wales. A renowned social hostess, she later put much of her time and effort – and fortune – into helping those less fortunate.

source: Wikipedia

Frances Evelyn “Daisy” Maynard was born in London on December 10, 1861, the daughter of Col. Charles Maynard and Blanche FitzRoy. Her father was the son and heir of Henry Maynard, 3rd Viscount Maynard. Charles died several months before his father, resulting in the viscountcy becoming extinct. And as the eldest child, it was Daisy who inherited the majority of the Maynard estates and fortune. Daisy’s mother was descended from King Charles II several different ways, through his mistresses Nell Gwyn, Barbara Palmer and Louise de Kéroualle. Daisy had one younger sister:

Blanche Maynard (1864) – married Col. Lord Algernon Gordon-Lennox, had issue

Two years after being widowed, Daisy’s mother remarried to Robert St Clair-Erskine, 4th Earl of Rosslyn, a favorite of Queen Victoria. Through this marriage, Daisy had five half-siblings:

Lady Millicent St Clair-Erskine (1867) – married Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland, had issue
James St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl of Rosslyn (1869) – married (1) Violet Vyner, had issue (divorced); (2) Anna Robinson, no issue (divorced); (3) Vera Bayley, had issue
The Hon. Alexander St Clair-Erskine (1870) – married Winifrede Baker, no issue
Lady Sybil St Clair-Erskine (1871) – married Anthony Fane, 13th Earl of Westmorland, had issue
Lady Angela St Clair-Erskine (1876) – married Lieutenant-Colonel James Forbes, had issue (divorced)

Having inherited her grandfather’s estates and fortune in 1865 – including the family seat, Easton Lodge in Essex – Daisy was greatly pursued as a potential bride. One prominent possibility was a marriage to Queen Victoria’s youngest son, Prince Leopold. The Queen herself wanted to arrange a marriage, but it never came to be. Instead, Daisy fell in love with Leopold’s aide-de-camp, Francis Greville.

Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick. source: Wikipedia

On April 30, 1881, Daisy and Francis were married at Westminster Abbey, with several members of the Royal Family in attendance – including The Prince and Princess of Wales. Her new husband was the eldest son and heir of George Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick and Lady Anne Wemyss-Charteris, daughter of the 9th Earl of Wemyss. Following their marriage, the couple lived at Easton Lodge, and after her husband succeeded as 5th Earl of Warwick in 1893, they moved to Warwick Castle. Daisy and Francis had five children:

Leopold Guy Greville, 6th Earl of Warwick (1882) – married Elfrida Marjorie Eden, had issue
Marjorie Blanche Greville (1884) – married (1) Charles Duncombe, 2nd Earl of Feversham, had issue; (2) Sir William Gervase Beckett, 2nd Baronet, had issue
The Hon. Charles Greville (1885) – died in childhood
The Hon. Maynard Greville (1898) – married Dora Pape, had issue
Lady Mercy Greville (1904) – married (1) Basil Dean, had issue; (2) Patrick Gamble, no issue; (3) Richard Marter, no issue

It is believed that only the couple’s first child was the legitimate child of Daisy’s husband. She alleged that her elder daughter, Marjorie, was fathered by Lord Charles Beresford, and it’s possible that her son Charles was also Beresford’s child. Her last two children were fathered by Joe Laycock, a wealthy bachelor with whom Daisy maintained a long-term affair despite his wandering ways.

Edward VII. source: Wikipedia

Quickly rising in the ranks of London society, Daisy became one of the most celebrated hostesses amongst the Marlborough House Set – the upper echelon of society led by the Prince and Princess of Wales. When her affair with Charles Beresford became a public scandal in 1889, Daisy turned to the Prince of Wales for advice and support. This quickly turned into an affair that would last for the next nine years. The Prince would often visit her at Easton Lodge, where she had a rail station built closer to the house to make it easier for him to come and go more discreetly. After her husband succeeded his father as Earl of Warwick in 1893, the Prince of Wales became less discreet about his relationship with Daisy, often attending the theatre and other events together. This led to the Princess of Wales – who had formerly enjoyed Daisy’s company – to refuse to include Daisy in any further social events at Marlborough House and Sandringham.

After ending her affair with the Prince of Wales, Daisy threw herself into philanthropic work. Getting involved with the Social Democratic Federation, she fought for better working conditions, salaries, and education for women and those less fortunate. Within several years, she had depleted much of the fortune she had inherited from her grandfather, however, she refused an offer to write her memoirs and discuss her relationship with the then-King Edward VII. But after his death in 1910, her debt continued to increase and she began to consider the possibility of publishing her private letters. Threatening to publish them in the hopes of getting a financial settlement from the new King George V was unsuccessful. The King’s lawyers took the matter to court, which agreed with their argument that the Crown held the copyright to those letters and they could not be published in the United Kingdom. A subsequent threat to publish the letters in America was more successful. British politician Arthur Du Cros paid off a large amount of Daisy’s debt in exchange for the letters.

Daisy, Countess of Warwick in her later years. source: The Peerage

Having survived her husband for 24 years, The Dowager Countess of Warwick died at Easton Lodge on July 26, 1938, at the age of 76. She is buried at the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary in Warwick.

Nell Gwyn, Mistress of King Charles II of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Credit – Wikipedia

Nell Gwyn’s beginnings are uncertain. Generally, her birth is given as February 2, 1650. A horoscope done for Nell Gwyn by antiquarian and astrologer Elias Ashmole at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford bears that date. As far as Nell’s birthplace, three cities make the claim: Hereford, London, and Oxford in England. It is thought that Nell’s father was Thomas Gwyn, an army captain who died or disappeared. Nell’s mother was born Helena Smith, known as Madam Gwyn, in the civil parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, England, and lived there all her life. Nell had an older sister Rose and the two girls were brought up in one of the streets off Drury Lane, on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London. At that time, the area of Drury Lane was almost exclusively brothels and pubs and was considered the center of London prostitution. Nell’s mother worked as a tapwoman at the Rose Tavern on Russell Street and it can be assumed that she also worked as a prostitute and that Nell probably worked as a child prostitute.

When King Charles II was restored to the English throne in 1660 after ten years of protectorate rule by Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard Cromwell, he quickly reinstated the theater which the Cromwells had banned. In 1663, the King’s Company, led by Thomas Killigrew, opened a new playhouse, the Theatre in Bridges Street, which was later rebuilt and renamed the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Mary Meggs, a former prostitute nicknamed “Orange Moll” and a friend of Madam Gwyn’s, was granted a license to sell fruit and sweetmeats within the theater. Orange Moll hired Nell and her older sister Rose as scantily clad “orange-girls” to sell her wares to the audience inside the theater. The orange-girls were exposed to aspects of theater life and London’s higher society. The actors at the theater were the King’s Company and King Charles II frequently attended performances. The orange-girls also served as messengers between men in the audience and actresses backstage. They received monetary tips for this role and some of these messages would end in sexual assignations.

Previously in England, women’s roles had been played by boys or men. The new theatres were the first in England to feature actresses. Less than a year after becoming an orange-girl, fourteen-year-old Nell became an actress with the King’s Company. Nell could not read or write and had to learn her lines by having them read to her. Charles Hart, one of the fine male actors of the time, taught her the basics of acting, and John Lacy, a comic actor, and playwright, taught her dancing. Nell became the mistress of both John Lacy and Charles Hart.

Nell first appeared in smaller parts during the 1664–65 season but by 1665, she had become a more prominent actress. She was first mentioned in Samuel Pepys‘ famous diary on Monday, April 3, 1665, when Pepys had attended a play and mentioned “pretty, witty Nell”. This unusual use of only her first name would imply that Nell had made herself known both on the stage and off. Her first recorded appearance on-stage was in March 1665, in John Dryden‘s heroic drama The Indian Emperor, playing opposite Charles Hart. However, it was in the new form of restoration comedy that Nell would become a star. In May 1665, she appeared opposite Charles Hart in James Howard’s comedy All Mistaken, or the Mad Couple. This was the first of many appearances in which Nell Gwyn and Charles Hart played the “gay couple”, a pair of witty, antagonistic lovers, the man generally a rake fearing marriage and the woman pretending to do the same to keep her lover at arm’s length.

King Charles II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

The affair between Nell and King Charles II began in April 1668 when Nell was attending a performance at Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theater. Charles II was in the next box and was more interested in flirting with Nell than watching the play. Charles II invited Nell and her escort to supper, along with his brother the Duke of York. After supper, so the story goes, Charles II discovered that he had no money on him and neither did his brother, resulting in Nell having to cover the cost of the supper. “Od’s fish!” she exclaimed, in imitation of Charles II’s manner of speaking, “but this is the poorest company I ever was in!”

Between September 1668 and the spring of 1669, Charles II and Nell spent a great deal of time together. Nell would joke with Charles II, referring to two former lovers with the name Charles, that he was “my Charles the Third”. When Charles’ sister Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orléans, came to England on a visit in 1670, she met Nell and gave her gifts. Shortly afterward Louise de Kérouaille, one of Henrietta Anne’s ladies-in-waiting also became a mistress of Charles II, however, Nell did not show any signs of jealousy. Unlike Barbara Palmer or Louise de Kérouaille, Nell did not insist on an apartment in the Palace of Whitehall either.

Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, son of King Charles II and Nell Gwyn, circa 1690; Credit – Wikipedia

Nell had two children with King Charles II:

Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans (1670 – 1726), married Lady Diana de Vere, had 12 children, the descendants of Nell Gwynn and King Charles II have continued the line of the Dukes of St. Albans through the centuries
Lord James Beauclerk (1671 – 1680), died young

Nell was famous for her wit and bawdiness. Some examples follow.

Because of the general mistrust between England and France in the 17th century, Charles II’s French Catholic mistress Louise de Kérouaille was unpopular with the English people. Instead, most of the public adored the bawdy actress Nell Gwyn. One day, Nell was out for a carriage ride when she heard a crowd shouting at her about her supposed Catholic faith. Nell realized the crowd had mixed her up with Louise. She opened the carriage window and said, “Good people, you are mistaken. I am the Protestant whore.”
When Charles II asked Nell to invite Anna Maria Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury to a party which Nell gave in his honor, Nell is said to have replied: “One whore at a time should be enough for you, sir.”
In public, Nell is said to have asked the king several times and very directly whether he would come to her in the evening or not, “I hope I shall have your company at night, shall I?” As might be expected, Nell never hoped in vain to see the king at night.
Charles II was careful about inviting Nell to the Palace of Whitehall, and Nell never asked for such invitations. She had no desire to act like a lady she was not and that she preferred to meet Charles in her own house in a far more informal atmosphere. Louise de Kérouaille, in contrast, was of French noble descent and moved into apartments in Whitehall in 1671. Both women seldom met in Whitehall, however, Charles loved to arrange day trips and picnics with all his mistresses and children. On one of these occasions, Louise is said to have congratulated Nell on her social rise by saying she was as rich as a queen. Referring to Louise’s new title Duchess of Portsmouth after the birth of her first and only son with Charles, Nell is said to have responded, “You are right, madam. And I am whore enough to be a duchess. “
When Louise de Kérouaille ‘s son Charles Lennox was made Duke of Richmond, Nell was upset. Her two sons had not yet been provided with titles and lands, unlike Charles II’ other illegitimate sons. So when Charles II visited her in her house, Nell is said to have called to her son, “Come here, you little bastard, and say hello to your father!” When Charles reprimanded her not to insult the child with the label “bastard,” Nell replied, “Why, Sire, Your Majesty has given me no other name to call him by.” Soon thereafter, Nell’s firstborn son received the titles Duke of St. Albans, Earl of Burford, and Baron Headington.

Nell Gwyn, circa 1680; Credit – Wikipedia

Nell never received a title for “services to the king” or was showered with fortune and jewels like Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland or Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. Charles II did give her an annual pension of £2,000 and several houses where she was famous for giving dinner parties. Despite many offers, she never returned to the theater. Nell never dared meddle in Charles’ personal or political issues, as Louise and Barbara did. She knew such discussions would only cause trouble and avoided these topics.

In July 1679, Nell’s mother, a well-known alcoholic at the end of her life, died. During a night walk, she is said to have fallen into a stream, passed out, and drowned. Nell had supported her mother financially and arranges a lavish funeral for her mother and burial in St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London. When her youngest son Lord James Beauclerk died in Paris, France in 1680, Nell was very distressed and accused herself of being responsible for his death. She had sent him to Paris for upbringing and training for a year, accompanied by his tutor. James is said to have died of an “open leg,” likely an infected wound after an accident.

When Nell learned of King Charles II’s serious illness at the beginning of February 1685, she wanted to see him, but she was not admitted to his bedchamber. Charles’ brother James, who would succeed his brother as King James II, let her know that she was not a member of the royal family. After Charles’ death, Nell was forbidden to wear mourning clothes and was not allowed to attend his funeral. However, on his deathbed, Charles remembered Nell when he told his brother James to look after his mistresses: “let not poor Nelly starve.” King James II eventually paid most of Nell’s debts and gave her an annual pension of £1,500. He also paid off the mortgage on Nell’s home in Bestwood, Nottinghamshire which remained in the Beauclerk family until 1940.

St. Martin-in-the-Field-Church where Nell Gwyn is buried; Credit – By Robert Cutts – Flickr: St Martin in the Fields, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31207964

In March 1687, Nell suffered a stroke, probably due to the effects of syphilis, that left her paralyzed on one side. Two months later, a second stroke left her confined to her bed at her Pall Mall, London house. On November 14, 1687, Nell Gwyn, aged 37, died from another stroke. Her funeral took place on November 17, 1687, in a packed St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London, where she was also buried, with many more mourners lining the streets outside the church. Fulfilling one of Nell’s last requests, Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, preached a sermon from the text of Luke 15:7 “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Works Cited

Beauclerk, Charles, 2005. Nell Gwyn: Mistress To A King. New York: Grove Press.
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Nell Gwyn. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Gwyn> [Accessed 4 October 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Nell Gwyn. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Gwyn> [Accessed 4 October 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Charles II Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
Fraser, Antonia, 1979. King Charles II. London: Phoenix.
Williamson, D., 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

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Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was born on November 6, 1793, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. He was the eldest of the four sons and the second of the seven children of Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Karoline of Hesse-Homburg.

Only two of Friedrich Günther’s six siblings survived childhood:

Cäcilie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1792 – 1794), died in childhood
Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1795 – 1861), married Otto Victor, Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg, had nine children
Karoline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1796), died in infancy
Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 1798 – 1869), married Princess Augusta of Solms-Braunfels, had three children
Bernhard of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1816), twin of Rudolf, died in childhood
Rudolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1808), twin of Bernhard, died in childhood

Friedrich Günther’s father Ludwig Friedrich, died at the age of 39, on April 28, 1807, and his fourteen-year-old son became the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. As stipulated in Ludwig Friedrich’s will, Friedrich Günther’s mother Karoline served as Regent of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt until her son came of age in 1814. Friedrich Günther was rather disinterested in government affairs and after he came of age, he left the decisions to other people. As a result, his mother Karoline, who died in 1854 at the age of 82, continued to have a strong influence on government decisions.

Friedrich Günther; Credit – Wikipedia

After being educated by private tutors, Friedrich Günther was sent to Geneva, Switzerland from 1810 – 1811 to perfect his French. From 1813 – 1814, he accompanied his maternal uncle Philip of Hesse-Homburg, who was an officer in the Imperial Austrian Army, as an observer during battles against Napoleon’s French forces during the Napoleonic Wars.

Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 15, 1816, Friedrich Günther made the first of his three marriages. He married Princess Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau, now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Auguste was the eldest child of Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau and Amalie of Hesse-Homburg. Her mother and Friedrich Günther’s mother were sisters and so husband and wife were first cousins. Auguste was popular with the people of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and was a supporter of the arts and sciences.

Friedrich Günther and Auguste had three sons. All three predeceased their father, leaving Friedrich Günther with no male heirs. Auguste died on June 12, 1854, in Rudolstadt, aged 60, and was buried in the Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt.

Friedrich Günther, Hereditary Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1818 – 1821), died in early childhood
Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Hereditary Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1821 – 1845), unmarried, died in his 20s
Prince Gustav of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1828 – 1837), died in childhood

On August 7, 1855, in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, Friedrich Günther married Countess Helene of Reina (1835 – 1860). Helene was the daughter of Prince Georg Bernhard of Anhalt-Dessau from his morganatic, second marriage. She was adopted by her paternal uncle Prince Wilhelm of Anhalt shortly before her marriage and assumed the title of Princess of Anhalt. Regardless, Helene’s marriage to Friedrich Günther was considered morganatic under the House Laws of the Schwarzburg family. They had a set of twins, one boy and one girl, but Helene, aged 25, died three days after their birth. She was buried in the Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt. The children were created Prince and Princess of Leutenberg shortly after their birth but the son did not have succession rights.

Princess Helene (1860 – 1937), married Prince Hans of Schönaich-Carolath, had two children
Prince Sizzo (1860 – 1926), married Princess Alexandra of Anhalt, had three children

Friedrich Günther’s son Prince Sizzo, 1907; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1896, Prince Sizzo’s succession rights were recognized by all members of the House of Schwarzburg. He was made a full member of the house and able to use the title of Prince of Schwarzburg. Following the agreement, Prince Sizzo became the heir presumptive of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, ahead of the Schwarzburg -Sondershausen princes, and third in line to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Following the death of Prince Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in 1909, the Sondershausen branch became extinct and the Schwarzburg principalities were united in a personal union under Prince Günther Victor of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Prince Sizzo became the heir presumptive to the two principalities. After the end of the German monarchies in 1918 and following the death of Prince Günther Victor in 1925, Prince Sizzo succeeded him as Head of the House of Schwarzburg.

Friedrich Günther’s third marriage to Marie Schultze (1840 – 1909) on September 24, 1861, was also morganatic and was childless. After Friedrich Günther’s death, Marie married a second time to Dr. Marcellus von Nencki and died on March 19, 1909, aged 68, in Bern Switzerland where she was buried.

Several important events happened during Friedrich Günther’s reign. In 1815, the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt joined the German Confederation, an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe, created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved in 1806. The principality received its first constitution in 1816 which required the approval of the state parliament to raise taxes and pass laws. The last years of his reign saw the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 when Friedrich Günther kept Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt neutral and following the conclusion of the war the creation of the North German Confederation, the German federal state which existed from July 1867 to December 1870 and was the precursor of the German Empire that was established in 1871.

Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt died on June 28, 1867, at the age of 73, at Schloss Heidecksburg (link in German) in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. He was first buried in the Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt. When that cemetery was closed sometime after 1869, his remains along with the remains of his first two wives were moved to the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg (link in German) in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Friedrich Günther was succeeded by his brother Albrecht as all of his sons by his first wife had predeceased him and his son by his second wife was born from a morganatic marriage.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas; Credit – Wikipedia

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Auguste Von Anhalt-Dessau. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_von_Anhalt-Dessau> [Accessed 1 November 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Friedrich Günther (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_G%C3%BCnther_(Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt)> [Accessed 1 November 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Friedrich Günther, Prince Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_G%C3%BCnther,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt> [Accessed 1 November 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 20 October 2020].

Karoline of Hesse-Homburg, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Regent of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

by Susan Flantzer

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Credit – Wikipedia

Karoline of Hesse-Homburg was the wife of Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt — and served as Regent for the first seven years of the reign of their son Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt until he came of age. The daughter of Friedrich V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt, she was born on August 26, 1771 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, now in the German state of Hesse.

Karoline had fourteen siblings but only the following ten survived childhood. Four of her brothers were reigning Landgraves of Hesse-Homburg. Three of them were childless and one had a son who predeceased him.

Friedrich VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1769 – 1829), married Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, no children
Ludwig Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1770 – 1839), married Princess Augusta of Nassau-Usingen, divorced, no children
Luise Ulrike of Hesse-Homburg (1772 – 1854), married Prince Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, had seven children
Amalie of Hesse-Homburg (1774 – 1846), Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, had seven children
Auguste of Hesse-Homburg (1776 – 1871), married Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, no children
Philip, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1779 – 1846), married morganatically Rosalie Antonie, Baroness Schimmelpfennig von der Oye, no children
Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1781 – 1848), married Princess Louise of Anhalt-Dessau, had three children but his only son predeceased him
Ferdinand, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1783 – 1866), unmarried
Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg (1785 – 1846), married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Karl of Prussia, had seven children
Leopold of Hesse-Homburg (1787 – 1813), unmarried, killed at the Battle of Lützen during the Napoleonic Wars

Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 21, 1791, in Homburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, now in the German state of Hesse, Karoline married Ludwig Friedrich, then the Hereditary Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Ludwig Friedrich’s father Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt suffered a stroke in 1792. He died on April 13, 1793, and 23-year-old Ludwig Friedrich became the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Karoline was well educated and had a considerable influence on the artistic life of the principality.

Karoline and Ludwig Friedrich had seven children including two reigning Princes of Schwarburg-Rudolstadt:

Cäcilie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1792 – 1794), died in childhood
Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1793 – 1867), married (1) Princess Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau, had three children (2) Countess Helene of Reina, morganatic marriage, had two children (3) Marie Schultze, morganatic marriage, no children
Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1795 – 1861), married Otto Victor, Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg, had nine children
Karoline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1796), died in infancy
Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 1798 – 1869), married Princess Augusta of Solms-Braunfels, had three children
Bernhard of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1816), twin of Rudolf, died in childhood
Rudolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1808), twin of Bernhard, died in childhood

Karoline’s husband Ludwig Friedrich, died at the age of 39, on April 28, 1807, and was succeeded by his fourteen-year-old son Friedrich Günther. As stipulated in Ludwig Friedrich’s will, Karoline served as Regent of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt until her son came of age in 1814. As Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Friedrich Günther was rather disinterested in government affairs and left the decisions to other people. As a result, Karoline continued to have a strong influence on government decisions

Karoline corresponded with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, considered the greatest writer in the German language, writer Friedrich Schiller, and philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt, who called Karoline “a woman who is seldom found.” Karoline left behind a large collection of her drawings, sketches, and watercolors, which are of high artistic quality and show her romantic approach to nature.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas; Credit – Wikipedia

Karoline survived her husband by 47 years, dying on June 20, 1854, aged 82, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Her remains are now at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas (link in German) in Rudolstadt but it is not known if they were previously buried in Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt and/or Schlosskirche Schwarzburg (link in German). Her husband had been buried in both places. In the early 1940s, the remains of the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt family buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg were transferred to the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany before the demolition of Schwarzburg Castle and Schlosskirche Schwarzburg by the German government who planned to convert the castle into Adolf Hitler’s Imperial Guest House. However, the construction was never completed and the ruins of the castle and the incomplete construction of the guest house were left for years until reconstruction of the original castle, which is still occurring, began.

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Karoline Von Hessen-Homburg. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoline_von_Hessen-Homburg> [Accessed 31 October 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Caroline Of Hesse-Homburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_of_Hesse-Homburg> [Accessed 31 October 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 20 October 2020].

Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

by Susan Flantzer

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Credit – Wikipedia

Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was born in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt now in the German state of Thuringia, on August 9, 1767. He was the eldest son and the second of the six children of Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and his first wife and first cousin once removed Friederike of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt who was the daughter of Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

Ludwig Friedrich had five siblings but two sisters did not survive childhood:

Friederike (1765 – 1767), died in infancy
Henriette (1770 – 1783), died in childhood
Karl Günther (1771 – 1825), married Louise Ulrike of Hesse-Homburg, had seven children
Karoline (1774 – 1854), married Günther Friedrich Karl I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, had two children
Luise (1775 – 1808), married Ernst Konstantin, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal, had five children

When Ludwig Friedrich was ten-years-old, his mother died. Two years later, his father married Auguste of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg but their marriage was childless. After being educated by private tutors at home, in 1789, Ludwig Friedrich and his brother Karl Günther were sent on an educational trip to Geneva, Switzerland, and several other destinations. During this trip, the French Revolution was occurring and it was a constant topic of conversation among Ludwig Friedrich’s traveling entourage.

Karoline of Hesse-Homburg; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 21, 1791, in Homburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, now in the German state of Hesse, Ludwig Friedrich married Karoline of Hesse-Homburg, daughter of Friedrich V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt. Karoline of Hesse-Homburg’s brother Friedrich VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg married Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, a daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom.

Ludwig Friedrich and Karoline had seven children including two reigning Princes of Schwarburg-Rudolstadt:

Cäcilie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1792 – 1794), died in childhood
Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1793 – 1867), married (1) Princess Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau, had three children (2) Countess Helene of Reina, morganatic marriage, had two children (3) Marie Schultze, morganatic marriage, no children
Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1795 – 1861), married Otto Victor, Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg, had nine children
Karoline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1796), died in infancy
Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 1798 – 1869), married Princess Augusta of Solms-Braunfels, had three children
Bernhard of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1816), twin of Rudolf, died in childhood
Rudolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1808), twin of Bernhard, died in childhood

Komödienhaus on the Anger in the 19th century; Credit – https://theater-rudolstadt.de/theater/geschichte/

Ludwig Friedrich’s father Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt suffered a stroke in 1792. He died on April 13, 1793, at the age of 56 and 23-year-old Ludwig Friedrich became the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. He was known as a prince with high ideals and a supporter of the arts and sciences. He maintained correspondence with many famous personalities of the time, including writer Friedrich Schiller and philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt. Along with his wife, Ludwig Friedrich continued the work on the Komödienhaus on the Anger, the theater his father had ordered to be constructed to provide education and culture to the citizens of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. The theater opening took place on July 26, 1793, three months after Friedrich Karl’s death. The theater was under the artistic direction of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, considered the greatest writer in the German language. Despite being small, the theater was one of the best in the German monarchies at the time and evolved into the current Theater-Rudolstadt (link in German).

The Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was affected by the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon‘s victory at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt in 1806, the principality was placed under French administration and joined the Confederation of the Rhine, a confederation of the client states of Napoleon’s First French Empire. Due to the skillful negotiations of the Chancellor of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Friedrich Wilhelm von Ketelhodt, the French administration was lifted on March 24, 1807, and the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was allowed self-governance.

Ludwig Friedrich II; Credit – Wikipedia

Ludwig Friedrich II of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, died at the age of 39, on April 28, 1807, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. He was first buried in the Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt. When that cemetery was closed sometime after 1869, his remains were moved to the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg (link in German) at the Schloss Schwarzburg in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Ludwig Friedrich was succeeded by his fourteen-year-old son Friedrich Günther. As per the will of Ludwig Friedrich, his wife Karoline ruled the principality as regent until Friedrich Günther came of age in 1814.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas; Credit – Wikipedia

In the early 1940s, the remains of the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt family buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg were transferred to the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany before the demolition of Schwarzburg Castle and Schlosskirche Schwarzburg by the German government who planned to convert the castle into Adolf Hitler’s Imperial Guest House. However, the construction was never completed and the ruins of the castle and the incomplete construction of the guest house were left for years until reconstruction of the original castle, which is still occurring, began. Ludwig Friedrich’s wife Karoline died on June 20, 1854, aged 82. Her remains are now at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt but it is not known if they were previously buried in Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) and/or Schlosskirche Schwarzburg.

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ludwig Friedrich II. (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Friedrich_II._(Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt)> [Accessed 31 October 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Louis Frederick II, Prince Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Frederick_II,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt> [Accessed 31 October 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 20 October 2020].
Theater Rudolstadt. 2020. Geschichte – Die Vielfältige Historie Des Theaters Rudolstadt. [online] Available at: <https://theater-rudolstadt.de/theater/geschichte/> [Accessed 30 October 2020].

Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon: Queen Elizabeth II’s Hidden Cousins

“The Crown” shared photos of Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon at the end of Season 4, Episode 7; Credit – Netflix/The Crown

In the Netflix series The Crown Series 4, Episode 7, The Hereditary Principle, Princess Margaret discovers from her therapist that she has two severely mentally disabled maternal cousins who were institutionalized and further learns that they are still alive although they have been listed as dead in Burke’s Peerage. Princess Margaret confronts her mother, the aunt of the two severely mentally disabled women. The Queen Mother responds as if she was part of a royal cover-up. She explains that her nieces were institutionalized because of fears that evidence of mental instability in the royal family could threaten the security of their claim to the throne after the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII. While it is true that Princess Margaret was unaware that she had two severely mentally disabled cousins and that they were listed as dead in Burke’s Peerage, the rest of the scenario is complete fiction, made up by the series’ creators. The Queen Mother believed her nieces were deceased and she was not aware of their situation until 1982. Her nieces were institutionalized in 1941, five years after the abdication of King Edward VIII. It seems unlikely that after five years, the decision to institutionalize the Queen Mother’s two nieces was taken in reaction to the Bowes-Lyon family’s new close ties to the British throne.

John Bowes-Lyon; Credit – www.geni.com

In reality, in 1987, The Sun broke the news that two supposedly deceased first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II had been alive and secretly institutionalized. The two sisters, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, were the daughters of The Honorable John Bowes-Lyon (1886 – 1930), the second son of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore (1855 – 1944), and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900 – 2002), and his wife Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck (1862 – 1938). Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and his wife Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck had ten children and twenty-six grandchildren. Two of their grandchildren were Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Princess Margaret. From their mother’s side of the family, Elizabeth and Margaret had 24 first cousins.

Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis; Credit – https://theroyalhistory.tumblr.com/

Nerissa and Katherine’s mother was The Honorable Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis (1889 – 1966), daughter of Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton (1863 – 1957) and Lady Jane McDonnell (1863 – 1953), daughter of Mark McDonnell, 5th Earl of Antrim. Fenella had one sibling Harriet Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis (1887 – 1958) who married Henry Fane (1883 – 1947) and had seven children. Interestingly, three of their daughters had severe developmental disabilities similar to those of Nerissa and Katherine.

John Bowes-Lyon and his wife Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis had five daughters:

Patricia Bowes-Lyon (1916 – 1917), died in infancy
Anne Bowes-Lyon (1917 – 1980), married (1) Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson, son of Thomas Anson, 4th Earl of Lichfield, had one son and one daughter, divorced (2) Prince George Valdemar of Denmark, no children
Nerissa Bowes-Lyon (1919 – 1986)
Diana Bowes-Lyon (1923 – 1986), married Peter Somervell, had one daughter
Katherine Bowes-Lyon (1926 – 2014)

John Bowes-Lyon died in 1930 of pneumonia, aged 44, leaving his widow Fenella to care for their four young children, including Nerissa and Katherine who were severely mentally disabled. Nerissa and Katherine had a mental age of about three-years-old and never learned to talk. In 1941, when Nerissa was 22-years-old and Katherine was 15-years-old, they were sent to Royal Earlswood Hospital in Redhill, Surrey, England. There is no information on why this decision was made. Perhaps, the sisters needed more care than could be given at home.

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The Royal Earlswood Hospital in Redhill, Surrey, England

Three of Nerissa and Katherine’s maternal first cousins with similar developmental disabilities were placed at Royal Earlswood Hospital, a facility for 230 mentally disabled men and women, on the very same day as Nerissa and Katherine. The three maternal cousins were the sisters Idonea Fane (1912 – 2002), Rosemary Fane (1914 – 1972), and Etheldreda Fane (1922 – 1996), the daughters of Harriet Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis and Henry Fane. The five cousins were placed in Asylum Arch Road, Earlswood Common area of the hospital. In 1997, when Royal Earlswood Hospital closed, Katherine Bowes-Lyon and her cousin Idonea Fane, who were the only ones among the five cousins still living, were moved to Ketwin House Care Home in Surrey, England, and then when it closed in 2001, they were moved to another care home in Surrey. The mental disability the five cousins had probably was a genetic disorder and it originated not in the Bowes-Lyon family but rather in the Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis family. Idonea, Etheldreda, and Rosemary Fane were the children of Fenella’s sister Harriet, her only sibling. There was never any risk of that genetic disorder occurring in the British royal family descended from The Queen Mother, born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, because it did not originate in the Bowes-Lyon family.

In 1987, it was discovered by The Sun that Burke’s Peerage, which publishes books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage, and landed gentry of the United Kingdom, had listed Nerissa and Katherine as having died in 1940 and 1961. Nerissa had died in 1986 and Katherine lived until 2014. Burke’s Peerage prides itself on its accuracy and insisted that was the information given to them by the Bowes-Lyon family.

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Nerissa and Katherine’s aunt, in 1986; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1987, there was much criticism for the British royal family about how Nerissa and Katherine had been treated and there were even rumors that there had been a royal coverup although there is no evidence. In 1982, after thinking her nieces had died, the Queen Mother learned that they were still alive and in the Royal Earlswood Hospital when the hospital’s League of Friends wrote to her. After that, she sent them money for their birthdays and for Christmas which was used to buy candy and toys. We do not know if the Queen Mother told anyone about her nieces after she learned they were alive in 1982. While today our attitudes regarding the care of mentally disabled people are different, an argument could be made that the sisters received the care that they needed as was understood during the years they were institutionalized. Previously, there was a huge amount of shame and lack of knowledge associated with mental disability.

What, if any, responsibility the British royal family had for Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon can be debated. In 1987, Buckingham Palace said, “It is a matter for the Bowes-Lyon family” and in reality, it was and there were plenty of members of the Bowes-Lyon family to deal with the matter. The members of the Bowes-Lyon family had the means and the familial responsibility to make the decisions regarding Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon as did the Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis family, the family of their mother.

Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore, the paternal grandfather of Nerissa and Katherine; Credit – Wikipedia

The Earl of Strathmore is the head of the Bowes-Lyon family and is also Chief of the Scottish Clan Lyon. Nerissa and Katherine’s grandfather Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore lived until 1944, three years after his two granddaughters were placed at Royal Earlswood Hospital. His son and the uncle of Nerissa and Katherine, Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore (1884 – 1949) succeeded him and died in 1949. Then the 15th Earl’s son and Nerissa and Katherine’s first cousin Timothy Bowes-Lyon, 16th Earl of Strathmore (1918 – 1972) held the peerage title until 1972 when he was succeeded by his first cousin, and the first cousin of Nerissa and Katherine, Michael Bowes-Lyon, 17th Earl of Strathmore (1928 – 1987). Upon the death of the 17th Earl in 1987, he was succeeded by his son Michael Bowes-Lyon, 18th Earl of Strathmore (1957 – 2016) who died in 2016, two years after the death of Katherine Bowes-Lyon. These Earls, as head of the Bowes-Lyon family, presumably bore some responsibility for family matters.

Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton, the maternal grandfather of Nerissa and Katherine; Credit – www.geni.com

Not only were there plenty of members of the Bowes-Lyon family to take responsibility but there were also members of the Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis family, Nerissa and Katherine’s maternal family. In 1987, it was revealed that Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton (1863 – 1957) had paid funds to Royal Earlswood Hospital for the care of his five granddaughters. This would indicate that he played a role in the decisions regarding his five severely mentally disabled granddaughters. In 1987, Gerard Fane-Trefusis, 22nd Baron Clinton, the great-grandson of the 21st Baron Clinton, rejected the idea of any kind of cover-up. Regarding the errors in the death dates in Burke’s Peerage, he said of his great-aunt Fenella, the mother of Nerissa and Katherine, “She was an elderly lady at that time. These forms (from Burke’s Peerage) come in every year or so and I imagine it was filled in wrongly or wasn’t filled in at all.” However, a spokesperson for Burke’s Peerage said, “If this is what the Bowes-Lyon family told us, then we would have included it in the book.”

Nerissa and Katherine’s sister Anne Bowes-Lyon, Princess of Denmark; Credit – www.thepeerage.com

Nerissa and Katherine’s mother, born Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, who was their next of kin, lived until 1966. After the death of their mother, their sister Anne (1917 – 1980), would have been the next of kin. After divorcing her first husband Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson (1913 – 1958), son of Thomas Anson, 4th Earl of Lichfield (1883 – 1960) Anne married Prince George Valdemar of Denmark, a great-grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark, and a second cousin of King George VI of the United Kingdom who was the father of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Nerissa and Katherine’s sister Diana Bowes-Lyon

Anne died in 1980 and then her younger sister Diana (1923 – 1986), would have been the next of kin. Presumably, after the death of Diana in 1986, the two children of her elder sister Anne, Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (1939 – 2005), a well-known professional photographer whose professional name was Patrick Lichfield, and his sister Elizabeth Anson (1941 – 2020), wife of Sir Geoffrey Shakerley, 6th Baronet, would have been the next of kin for their aunts Nerissa and Katherine. Diana’s only child Katherine Somervell (born 1961), a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II who married Robert Lagneau, also would have been able to play a role in the decisions regarding her aunts. As with the Bowes-Lyon family, there were members of the Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis who had the means and the familial responsibility to make the decisions regarding Nerissa and Katherine.

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The grave of Nerissa Bowes-Lyon at Redstone Cemetery, in the center, marked by a small plastic tag at the foot of the headstone

In 1987, many British people were outraged and blamed the British royal family after finding out that when Nerissa died in 1986, she was buried in a pauper’s plot at Redstone Cemetery in Redhill, Surrey, England. Her funeral was attended by only Royal Earlswood Hospital staff members. Where were her Bowes-Lyon and Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis family members? When Katherine Bowes-Lyon died, aged 87, on February 23, 2014, a private family funeral was held.

Works Cited

Coke, Hope, 2020. Behind The Crown: The True Story Of The Queen’S Cousins, Nerissa And Katherine Bowes-Lyon. [online] Tatler. Available at: <https://www.tatler.com/article/real-story-nerissa-and-katherine-bowes-lyon-the-queens-cousins-the-crown-season-4> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
Davison, Mark, 2014. Queen’s Cousin Dies After Spending 55 Years At Royal Earlswood Hospital. [online] SurreyLive. Available at: <https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/queens-cousin-dies-after-spending-13642685> [Accessed 27 November 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Nerissa And Katherine Bowes-Lyon. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerissa_and_Katherine_Bowes-Lyon> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
Esquire. 2020. The Queen’s Hidden Cousins Are Part Of A Shameful Chapter In Royal History. [online] Available at: <https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a34728377/queen-elizabeth-cousins-katherine-nerissa-bowes-lyon-asylum-true-story-the-crown-season-4/> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
Genealogics.org. 2020. Leo’s Genealogics. [online] Available at: <https://www.genealogics.org/> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
News.google.com. 1987. Royal Nieces Cover-Up Denied By Lord Clinton. [online] Available at: <https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SxA1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=sKULAAAAIBAJ&dq=nerissa%20bowes-lyon&pg=2382%2C1684307> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
Radio Times. 2020. The Crown Fact-Check: Did The Queen And Margaret Really Have Two Secret Cousins With Developmental Disabilities?. [online] Available at: <https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2020-11-15/queen-cousins-katherine-nerissa-bowes-lyon-the-crown/> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
W Magazine | Women’s Fashion & Celebrity News. 2020. ‘The Crown’ Fact Check: Were The Queen’s Cousins Hidden In An Asylum?. [online] Available at: <https://www.wmagazine.com/story/queen-cousins-asylum-nerissa-katherine-bowes-lyon/> [Accessed 26 November 2020].

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