First Cousins: King George I of Great Britain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King George I of Great Britain (1660 – 1727)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King George I of Great Britain was born His Highness Duke Georg Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg on May 28, 1660, at the Leineschloss (Leine Palace) in Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany. He was the eldest of the seven children of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Sophia of the Palatinate, usually referred to as Electress Sophia of Hanover. George I’s paternal grandparents were Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Anna Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt. His maternal grandparents were Friedrich V, Elector Palatinate of the Rhine and Elizabeth Stuart. It is through his maternal grandmother that his destiny drastically changed.

George I’s maternal grandmother Elizabeth Stuart was the second child and eldest daughter of King James VI of Scotland/King James I of England. The House of Stuart occupied the British throne but the Stuarts failed to produce a legitimate Protestant heir. George I’s mother Sophia, Electress of Hanover was the closest Protestant heir and was named the heiress presumptive to the British throne. However, Sophia of Hanover died two months before Queen Anne of Great Britain died and her son George I succeeded to the British throne upon the death of Queen Anne.

Before George I became King of Great Britain and while he was still living in Hanover, he married his paternal first cousin Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle, known as Sophia Dorothea of Celle. The couple had two children, the eventual King George II of Great Britain and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover who married King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia. Both George I and his wife Sophia Dorothea committed adultery and their marriage was dissolved. Sophia Dorothea was declared to be the guilty party and so she was confined in the Castle of Ahlden in Celle, now in Germany, for the rest of her life, 32 years. At the time Sophia Dorothea’s son was eleven-years-old and her daughter was eight-years-old. They never saw their mother again.

King George I shared his 33 first cousins with his only sibling Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Queen of Prussia. He shared his paternal first cousins with his first cousin and wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Anna Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Friedrich V, Elector Palatinate of the Rhine and Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatinate

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Child of Georg Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Eleonore d’Esmier d’Olbreuse

Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover (1666 – 1726)

George I’s first cousin but also his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Celle was born on September 15, 1666, in Celle, now in Germany, the only child of Georg Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his mistress Éléonore d’Esmier d’Olbreuse. Sophia Dorothea was legitimized by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I who granted her mother Éléonore the titles Gräfin (Countess) von Harburg and Wilhelmsburg. Éléonore and Georg Wilhelm later married morganatically. At the age of 16, in a marriage arranged by the bride and groom’s fathers (who were brothers), Sophia Dorothea was married to her first cousin, 22-year-old Georg Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the future King George I of Great Britain, had one son and one daughter, the future King George II of Great Britain and Sophia Dorothea, the future Queen Consort of Prussia.

The marriage was happy at first but then both George and Sophia Dorothea had affairs. Sophia Dorothea’s lover disappeared and was never seen again. It was widely believed that George ordered his death. A tribunal of judges and Lutheran Church officials declared the marriage of George and Sophia Dorothea dissolved on the grounds of Sophia Dorothea’s desertion. Because she was considered the guilty party, Sophia Dorothea was not allowed to remarry, would never again see her children, and would be kept as a prisoner at the Castle of Ahlden for the remainder of her life. Although Sophia Dorothea spent 32 years in captivity, she received an income that allowed her to live in the style of a princess and she was able to go for drives in her coach with an escort. When Sophia Dorothea died, her former husband, now King George I of Great Britain, would not allow mourning at the British court and was furious when he learned that his daughter had ordered court mourning in Prussia.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate

Anna Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1670 – 1672), died in childhood

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Charlotte Felicitas of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duchess of Modena (1671 – 1710)

Charlotte married Rinaldo d’Este who had been a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He left the church to succeed his nephew Francesco II as Duke of Modena. Charlotte and Rinaldo had three daughters and three sons. Charlotte died in childbirth delivering a fourth daughter who also died.

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Henriette Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1672 – 1757), unmarried

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Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia (1673 – 1742)

Although she was born into a Lutheran family, Wilhelmina received a Roman Catholic education from her great-aunt Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate who had converted to Roman Catholicism and became a nun and abbess at the Maubuisson Abbey in France. Wilhelmina was sought as a bride for the future Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, the heir of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The couple married and had two daughters and one son, who died before his first birthday. While they were trying to produce a new heir, Joseph gave Wilhelmine a sexually transmittable disease, probably syphilis, which made her unable to have any more children. Joseph died at the age of 32 during a smallpox epidemic. Despite suffering from a sexually transmitted disease, Wilhelmina outlived her husband by 31 years.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg and King Frederik III of Denmark

King Christian V of Denmark (1646 – 1699)

As King of Denmark, Christian V tried unsuccessfully to regain territory that had been annexed by Sweden during his father’s reign. He was more successful in establishing colonies in Africa and the Caribbean as part of the Danish triangle trade. One of the Danish colonies in the Caribbean was the Virgin Islands which were held by Denmark until 1917 when Denmark and the United States ratified a treaty in which Denmark sold the Danish Virgin Islands to the United States for $25 million in gold. In 1691, the capital of the Danish Virgin Islands on the island of St. Thomas was renamed to Charlotte Amalie after Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, wife of Christian V. Today, Charlotte Amalie remains the capital of the United States territory of the Virgin Islands. Christian V and his wife Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, daughter of Wilhelm VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg, had five sons and two daughters including King Frederik IV of Denmark.

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Anna Sophia of Denmark, Electress of Saxony (1647 – 1717)

Anna Sophia was very well educated and spoke six languages. She married Johann Georg III, Elector of Saxony. They had two sons: Johann Georg IV who succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony and Friedrich August I who succeeded his brother as Elector of Saxony and later became King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.

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Frederika Amalia of Denmark, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp (1649 – 1704)

Frederika Amalia married Christian Albrecht, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and had two sons and two daughters. Through her son Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin she was the great-grandmother of Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, better known as Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia and the maternal grandmother of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden. Through her son Friedrich IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, she was the great-grandmother of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia, the ill-fated husband of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia.

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Wilhelmina Ernestina of Denmark, Electress of the Palatinate (1650 – 1706)

Wilhelmina Ernestina married Karl II, Elector of the Palatinate in a marriage arranged by their mutual aunt Sophia, Electress of Hanover. The marriage was very unhappy. Karl had been forced by his father to marry against his will and disliked the marriage from the beginning. The couple had no children. After she was widowed, Wilhelmina Ernestina lived with her sister Anna Sophia, Electress of Saxony.

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Frederik of Denmark (1651 – 1652), died in infancy

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George and his wife Queen Anne of the United Kingdom

George of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland (1653 – 1708)

Ironically, George of Denmark was the first cousin of King George I of Great Britain, the person who succeeded his wife Queen Anne of Great Britain on the British throne. Queen Anne’s unfortunate childbearing history was one of the reasons the House of Stuart was replaced by the House of Hanover. Anne became pregnant a few months after her marriage but she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. She had 17 pregnancies with only five children being born alive. Two died on the day of their birth, two died at less than two years old within six days of each from smallpox, and one died at age 11. Anne suffered from what was diagnosed as gout and had pain in her limbs, stomach, and head. Based upon these symptoms and her obstetrical history, Anne may have had systemic lupus erythematosus which causes an increased rate of fetal death.

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Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, Queen of Sweden (1656 – 1693)

Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark married King Carl XI of Sweden in the hopes that the marriage would bring peace to their two countries which had recently been at war with each other. Ulrika Eleonora and Carl had two daughters and five sons including King Carl XII of Sweden, Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, and Hedwig Sophia, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp who was the grandmother of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. Weakened by giving birth to seven children in as many years, Ulrike Eleonora died at the age of 36.

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Dorothea of Denmark (1657 – 1658), died in infancy

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Karl I Ludwig, Elector of the Palatinate and his first wife Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel

Karl II, Elector of the Palatinate (1651 – 1685)

Karl II married Wilhelmina Ernestina of Denmark, also George I’s first cousin, in a marriage arranged by their mutual aunt Sophia, Electress of Hanover. The marriage was very unhappy. Karl had been forced by his father to marry against his will and disliked the marriage from the beginning. The couple had no children. Karl’s reign as Elector of the Palatinate lasted only five years as he died at the age of 34.

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Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Duchess of Orléans (1652 – 1722)

Known as Liselotte, she grew up in the court of her aunt Sophia, Electress of Hanover. Liselotte wanted to marry her second cousin Willem III, Prince of Orange, who would later become King of England. However, her family felt a better marriage for her would be to become the second wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger brother of King Louis XIV of France. The recently widowed Philippe had been married to his first cousin Henrietta of England, Liselotte’s father’s first cousin. Liselotte converted to Roman Catholicism and married Philippe. She acted as a mother to Philippe’s children by Henrietta and maintained correspondence with them throughout their lives. Despite Philippe having homosexual affairs, he had been intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children with his first wife and also did so with Liselotte. Philippe and Liselotte had three children of their own. Through their daughter Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans, they are the paternal grandparents of Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, better known as Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.

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Friedrich (born and died 1653), died in infancy

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Karl I Ludwig, Elector of the Palatinate and his morganatic second wife Marie Luise von Degenfeld

  • Karl Ludwig of the Palatinate (1658 – 1688), killed in battle
  • Caroline Elisabeth of the Palatinate, Duchess of Schomberg (1659 – 1696), married Meinhardt von Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, had one son and three daughters
  • Louise of the Palatinate (1661 – 1733)
  • Ludwig of the Palatinate (born and died 1662)
  • Amalia Elisabeth of the Palatinate (1663 – 1709)
  • Georg Ludwig of the Palatinate (1664 – 1665), died in infancy
  • Frederica of the Palatinate (1665 – 1674), died in childhood
  • Friedrich Wilhelm of the Palatinate (1666 – 1667), died in infancy
  • Karl Eduard of the Palatinate (1668 – 1690), killed in battle
  • Sophie of the Palatinate (born and died 1669), died in infancy
  • Karl Moritz of the Palatinate (1671 – 1702)
  • Karl August of the Palatinate (1672 – 1691), killed in battle
  • Karl Casimir of the Palatinate (1675 – 1691), killed in a duel

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Maternal First Cousins: Child of Karl I Ludwig, Elector of the Palatinate and his morganatic third wife Elisabeth Hollander von Bernau

Karl Ludwig of the Palatinate( 1681 – ?)

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Edward, Count Palatinate of Simmern and Anna Gonzaga

Luise Marie of the Palatinate, Princess of Salm-Salm (1647 – 1679)

Luise Marie married Karl Theodor, Prince of Salm-Salm and had three daughters and one son.

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Anne Henriette of the Palatinate, Princess of Condé (1648 – 1723)

Anne Henriette’s father Edward, Count Palatinate of Simmern was the son of Elizabeth Stuart, eldest daughter of King James I of England. Edward converted to Roman Catholicism and his three children were raised as Catholics. The Bill of Rights 1689 barred Catholics from the thrones of England and Scotland and the Act of Settlement 1701 gave the thrones of England and Scotland to “the most excellent princess Sophia, electress and duchess-dowager of Hanover” and “the heirs of her body, being Protestant”. Sophia, Electress of Hanover was the aunt of Anne Henriette and her surviving sister Benedicta Henrietta and the younger sister of their deceased father. Therefore, the surviving children of Edward, Count Palatinate of Simmern and his other Catholic descendants were barred from the thrones of England and Scotland.

Anne Henriette married Henri Jules de Bourbon, Prince of Condé at the Palais du Louvre in Paris with King Louis XIV of France and the rest of the French royal family attending the wedding. The couple had six daughters and four sons.

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Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1652 – 1730)

Benedicta Henrietta married Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Johann Friedrich was 27 years older than Benedicta Henrietta and was the only member of his family to convert to Roman Catholicism. As reigning Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, he needed a male heir but he had four daughters with Benedicta Henrietta. Their four daughters are also first cousins of King George I of Great Britain through their father. When Johann Friedrich died without a male heir, his younger brother Ernst August became Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Ernst August’s succeeded to the British throne as King George I. After her husband died, Benedicta Henrietta returned to her native France and lived with her sister Anne Henriette of the Palatinate, Princess of Condé.

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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

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

Emperor Naruhito of Japan Accession Ceremony: November 14-15, 2019: Great Thanksgiving Festival (Daijo-sai)

by Susan Flantzer

The Great Thanksgiving Festival (Daijo-sai) is the last and most controversial of the accession ceremonies because it is the one in which Emperor Naruhito of Japan is united to his traditional ancestor the sun goddess Amaterasu to share in her divinity. There is no mention of this ceremony in the Constitution imposed by the American occupation forces after World War II. Its legality was questioned after the accession of Emperor Akihito.

Miniatures of the two huts; Credit – http://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp

The ceremony requires that two thatched-roof huts, each with two rooms be built within a special enclosure. One room contains a large couch at the center and the second room is used by musicians. These two structures represent the house of the previous Emperor and that of the new Emperor.

Emperor Akihito dressed for the Great Thanksgiving Festival in 1990

After a ritual bath, Emperor Naruhito will be dressed in the white silk dress of a Shinto priest but with a special long train. Surrounded by courtiers, the Emperor will solemnly enter the enclosure and then each of the huts in turn and perform the same ritual twice, from 6:30 to 9:30 PM in the first hut and from 12:30 to 3:30 AM in the second hut. A mat will be unrolled before the Emperor and then rolled up again as he walks so that his feet never touch the ground. A special umbrella will be held over the Emperor’s head that prevents any defilement of his sacred person coming from the air above him.

During the ritual, Emperor Naruhito will kneel on a mat facing towards the direction of the Ise Grand Shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu and will make an offering of sacred rice, sake, millet, fish and a variety of other foods from both the land and the sea to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Then he will eat some of the sacred rice himself, as an act of divine communion which consummates his unity with Amaterasu, making him the intermediary between Amaterasu and the Japanese people.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Enthronement of the Japanese Emperor. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enthronement_of_the_Japanese_Emperor [Accessed 27 Oct. 2018].
  • Weisman, S. (1990). AKIHITO PERFORMS HIS SOLITARY RITE. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/23/world/akihito-performs-his-solitary-rite.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2018].

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First Cousins: King George II of Great Britain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King George II of Great Britain (1683 – 1759)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King George II was born at Schloss Herrenhausen in Hanover, now in Germany on November 10, 1683. He was the elder of the two children of first cousins Georg Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg (later King George I of Great Britain), and Sophia Dorothea of Celle. George II’s paternal grandparents were Ernst August, Elector of Hanover and Princess Sophia of the Palatinate who is more commonly known as Sophia, Electress of Hanover. His maternal grandparents were Georg Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his mistress Éléonore d’Esmier d’Olbreuse who later married morganatically.

George II’s parents both committed adultery and their marriage was dissolved when George was eleven-years-old. His mother was considered the guilty party and was confined in the Castle of Ahlden in Celle, now in Germany, for the rest of her life, 32 years. George and his sister Sophia Dorothea never saw their mother again. George II married Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, usually known as Caroline of Ansbach, and the couple had eight children.

At the time of George II’s birth, the House of Stuart occupied the British throne but the Stuarts failed to produce a legitimate Protestant heir. George II’s grandmother Sophia, Electress of Hanover was the closest Protestant heir and was named the heiress presumptive to the British throne. Sophia’s mother was Elizabeth Stuart, the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, and Ireland. However, Sophia of Hanover died two months before Queen Anne of Great Britain died and George I’s father succeeded to the British throne as King George I upon the death of Queen Anne. George II followed his father on the British throne, however, his eldest son and heir Frederick, Prince of Wales predeceased him. Frederick’s eldest son became the heir apparent and succeeded his grandfather as King George III.

King George II shared his two first cousins with his only sibling Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Queen of Prussia. He had no maternal aunts, maternal uncles, or maternal first cousins because Sophia Dorothea of Celle, King George II’s mother, was an only child.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles of King George II: Children of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover and Princess Sophia of the Palatinate

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Sophia Charlotte of Hanover and Friedrich I, King in Prussia

Prince Friedrich August of Prussia (1685 – 1686), died in childhood

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Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia (1688 – 1740)

King Friedrich Wilhelm I was known as the “Soldier King” and did much to improve Prussia economically and militarily. He married his first cousin Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, George II’s sister, and the couple had seven sons and seven daughters including King Friedrich II of Prussia, known as Frederick the Great, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, Queen of Sweden who married King Adolf Frederick of Sweden, and Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia whose son succeeded the childless King Friedrich II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) as King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia.

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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

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia; Credit – Wikipedia

Arabic Naming Conventions

  • Al – family/clan of…
  • bin or ibn – son of…
  • bint – daughter of…

Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was King of Saudi Arabia from 1964 until his assassination in 1975. He was born on April 14, 1906, in Riyadh, then in the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa, now the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His father was Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud, also known as Ibn Saud, the founder and the first king of Saudi Arabia. Abdulaziz had a polygamous household comprising several wives at a time and numerous concubines. It is thought he had a total of 22-24 wives. Abdul Aziz was the father of almost a hundred children, including forty-five sons of whom 36 survived to adulthood. Faisal’s mother was Tarfa bint Abdullah bin Abdullatif Al ash-Sheikh. She was from Al ash-Sheikh clan and her father was Abdullah bin Abdullatif Al ash-Sheikh.  Tarfa married Abdulaziz in 1902 and had at least three children with him:

  • Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1903 – 1904), son, died in infancy
  • Noura bint Abdulaziz Al Saud  (1904 – 1938), daughter, married her half first cousin Khalid bin Muhammad, son of Abdulaziz’s half-brother Muhammad Al Abd al-Rahman
  • Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia (1906 – 1975)
Embed from Getty Images 
King Abdulaziz with some of his sons in 1930

Faisal had many half-siblings, too numerous to list here. See Wikipedia: Descendants of Ibn Saud (Abdulaziz).  The six Kings of Saudi Arabia who followed King Abdulaziz were all his sons and five of them were the half-brothers of Faisal. King Faisal succeeded his half-brother King Saud, who he had deposed, and was succeeded by his half-brother King Khalid.

Faisal was introduced to politics at an early age. In 1919, at the age of thirteen, Faisal was sent to meetings in the United Kingdom and France as the head of the Saudi delegation. After Abdulaziz’s eldest son Turki, Faisal’s half-brother, died in 1919 during the influenza pandemic, Faisal became the second eldest of Abdulaziz’s sons after his half-brother Saud. Besides speaking Arabic, Faisal was fluent in English and French.

Faisal married his first wife Sultana bint Ahmad bin Muhammad Al Sudayri while he was quite young. His eldest son Prince Abdullah Bin Faisal Al Saud was born when he was only sixteen years old. Faisal had four wives and a total of seventeen children. Unusual at the time, most of Faisal’s sons attended university abroad, either at Cambridge or Oxford in the United Kingdom or at Ivy League universities in the United States. Faisal’s daughters were taught by European tutors and received additional education in Switzerland. By contrast, only six of the 108 children of Faisal’s half-brother and predecessor King Saud finished high school.

First wife: Sultana bint Ahmad bin Muhammad Al Sudayri: Faisal and Sultana’s marriage was prearranged while Faisal was traveling abroad. They never met until the marriage ceremony. They had one son and three daughters and later divorced.

Second wife: Iffat Al-Thunayan (1916 – 2000) was born and raised in Turkey. Her ancestors were from the Al Thunayan branch of the Al Saud family but were taken to Istanbul or Cairo by Egyptian forces in 1818. Faisal met Iffat in Istanbul while he was in Turkey for an official visit and they married in 1932. Iffat was given the title Queen because of her beloved status in Saudi Arabia. Faisal and Iffat had five sons and four daughters.

Third wife: Al Jawhara bint Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Al Kabir was Faisal’s first cousin, the daughter of Noura bint Abdul Rahman Al Saud who was the sister of King Abdulaziz. Faisal and Al Jawhara had one daughter,

  • Princess Munira bint Faisal Al Saud

Fourth wife: Haya bint Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Turki was a member of the Al Turki clan. Faisal and Haya had two sons and one daughter

Embed from Getty Images
Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia arrives in New York with his 9-year-old son Mohammed in 1946

Faisal served as his father’s Foreign Minister beginning in 1930. Upon the death of his father King Abdulaziz and the accession of his half-brother King Saud in 1953, Faisal was appointed Crown Prince. At the same time, the position of Prime Minister was created and King Saud held that position with Faisal being the Deputy Prime Minister as well as continuing as Foreign Minister. However, unrest within the royal family over King Saud’s rule forced him to appoint Faisal as Prime Minister. An ongoing power struggle between the two half-brothers led to Faisal’s resignation as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in 1960. The continued discontent with King Saud’s reign allowed Faisal to become Prime Minister and Foreign Minister again in 1962.

King Saud and Crown Prince Faisal continued their power struggle when Prince Faisal formed a cabinet in the absence of King Saud, who had gone abroad for medical treatment. Faisal allied himself with his half-brothers Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Interior Minister and the future King of Saudi Arabia, and Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Minister of Defense (from 1963 until his death) and the Crown Prince from 2005 until he died in 2011. The new government excluded any sons of King Saud.

When King Saud returned to Saudi Arabia, he threatened to mobilize the Royal Guard against his half-brother. In response, Faisal demanded King Saud make him regent and turn over all royal powers to him. Faisal had the support of the ulema, the elite Islamic scholars. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, a relative of Faisal on his mother’s side, issued a fatwa saying King Saud should accede to Faisal’s demands. When King Saud refused, Faisal ordered the National Guard to surround Saud’s palace. In March 1964, Saud finally agreed to name Faisal regent with full executive powers, reducing himself to a figurehead. In November 1964, the ulema, the cabinet, and senior members of the Saudi royal family forced Saud to abdicate and Faisal became king in his own right. Saud was forced into exile, first in Egypt and then in Greece where he lived until he died in 1969.

Embed from Getty Images
King Faisal and Queen Elizabeth II in 1967

King Faisal implemented a policy of modernization and reform and he was popular with the Saudi people. On March 25, 1975, 68-year-old King Faisal was shot and killed by his nephew Prince Faisal bin Musaid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The assassination occurred at a majlis, an event where the king opens up his residence to the citizens to enter and petition the king. King Faisal was buried in Al Oud cemetery in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on March 26, 1975. A Sharia court found Prince Faisal guilty of King Faisal’s murder on June 18, 1975, and he was publicly beheaded hours later.

Embed from Getty Images
Many heads of state attended King Faisal’s funeral

Works Cited

  • Ar.wikipedia.org. (2019). فيصل بن عبد العزيز آل سعود. [online] Available at: https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B5%D9%84_%D8%A8%D9%86_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B2_%D8%A2%D9%84_%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Faisal of Saudi Arabia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].
  • Lacey, Robert. (1981). The Kingdom: Arabia & The House of Sa’ud. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

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.

First Cousins: King George III of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King George III of the United Kingdom (1738 – 1820)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King George III, the eldest son and the second child of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, was born June 4, 1738, at Norfolk House in St. James’s Square in London, England. His paternal grandparents were King George II of Great Britain and Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, generally known as Caroline of Ansbach. His maternal grandparents were Friedrich II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst.

When George III was thirteen-years-old, his father died at the age of 44. George became heir to the throne and was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. Nine years later, King George II died and his grandson succeeded him as King George III.  George III married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.  Their marriage was a very happy one and George remained faithful to Charlotte. Between 1762 – 1783, Charlotte gave birth to fifteen children, all of whom survived childbirth. Only two of the children did not survive childhood. The only disruption in the family’s domestic lives were George’s attacks of illness. There has been speculation that King George suffered from porphyria.

King George III is the longest-reigning British king, having reigned for 59 years, 96 days. His length of reign is surpassed only by two queens, his granddaughter Queen Victoria and his great-great-great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch.

King George III shared his 29 first cousins with his eight siblings: Princess Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick; Prince Edward, Duke of York; Princess Elizabeth; Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester; Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland; Princess Louisa; Prince Frederick; and Princess Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Norway.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles Of King George III: Children of King George II of Great Britain and Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles of King George III: Children of Friedrich II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst

  • Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1697 – 1703), died in childhood of smallpox
  • Friedrich III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1699 – 1772), married Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen, had four sons and two daughters
  • Wilhelm of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1701 – 1771), married Anna of Holstein-Gottorp, no children
  • Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1702 – 1703), died in infancy of smallpox
  • Johann August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1704 – 1767), married Louise Reuss of Schleiz, the widow of his brother Christian Wilhelm, had two daughters
  • Christian of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1705), died in early infancy of smallpox
  • Christian Wilhelm of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1706 – 1748), married Luise Reuss of Schleiz, no children
  • Ludwig Ernst of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1707 – 1763), unmarried, military career
  • Emanuel of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1709 – 1710), died in infancy
  • Moritz of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1711 – 1777), unmarried, military career
  • Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1712), died in infancy
  • Karl of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1714 – 1715), died in infancy
  • Friederike of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Weissenfels  (1715 – 1775), married Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, had four sons and one daughter
  • Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1718), died in infancy
  • Johann Adolf of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1721 – 1799), married morganatically Marie Maximiliane Elisabeth Schauer, had two sons and one daughter

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Anne, Princess Royal and Willem IV, Prince of Orange

Carolina of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Nassau-Weilburg (1743 – 1787)

Carolina married Karl Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg and had six sons and five daughters. Her father had died when she was eight-years-old and her three-year-old brother succeeded as Willem V, Prince of Orange. Willem would not reach his majority for fifteen years and until then he had a series of four regents. Carolina served as the last regent.

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Anna of Orange-Nassau (born and died 1746)

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Willem V, Prince of Orange (1748 – 1806)

Willem was the only son of Anne, Princess Royal and Willem IV, Prince of Orange. His father died when he was three-years-old Willem IV. Willem would not reach his majority for fifteen years and until then he had a series of four regents. Willem married Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, daughter of Prince Augustus William of Prussia and Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Wilhelmina was the favorite niece of King Friedrich II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) and was the sister of his successor King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. The couple had three children who survived infancy including Willem I, the first King of the Netherlands.

When the Dutch Republic which Willem ruled was replaced by the Batavian Republic, Willem and his family fled to England where they lived in exile in the part of Kew Palace known as the Dutch House with the permission of Willem’s first cousin King George III. The family later went to Germany where they lived in Nassau and Brunswick. Willem spent the rest of his life in exile and was viewed quite negatively both in England and the Netherlands.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Mary of Great Britain and Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel (1741 – 1742), died in infancy

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Wilhelm I, Prince-Elector of Hesse (1743 – 1821)

When Wilhelm was four-years-old, his father Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel deserted his family and converted to Roman Catholicism.  Along with his mother Mary of Great Britain and his two younger brothers, Wilhelm moved to Denmark where they lived with Mary’s sister, Louise of Great Britain who was Queen Consort of Denmark. Wilhelm married his first cousin Princess Caroline of Denmark, daughter of his maternal aunt Louise and her husband King Frederik V of Denmark, and had two daughters and two sons. Upon the death of his father, Wilhelm became Wilhelm IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. Later he was created Prince-Elector of Hesse.

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Prince Karl of Hesse-Kassel (1744 – 1836)

A younger brother of Wilhelm I, Prince-Elector of Hesse, Karl was brought up with relatives at the Danish court and spent most of his life in Denmark. Like his elder brother, he married also married a Danish first cousin, Princess Louise of Denmark, the youngest daughter of his maternal aunt, Princess Louise of Great Britain, and King Frederik V of Denmark. Karl and Louise had three sons and three daughters including Marie Sophie, who became Queen of Denmark by marrying her first cousin the future King Frederik VI of Denmark. Karl had a military career in the Danish Army and served as Governor-General of Norway and Royal Governor of Schleswig-Holstein.

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Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel (1747 – 1837)

The youngest son of Princess Mary of Great Britain and Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, Friedrich was raised in Denmark and spent most of his life there. Like his brother Karl, Friedrich had a career in the Danish Army. He married Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen and had five sons and three daughters, including Wilhelm who married Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark and was the father of Louise of Hesse-Kassel, wife of King Christian IX of Denmark. Friedrich bought Rumpenheim Castle, now in Offenbach, Germany, from his brother Karl, and it became his family’s seat. The large extended family of Friedrich’s granddaughter Louise of Hesse-Kassel and her husband King Christian IX of Denmark had many family get-togethers at Rumpenheim Castle.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Louise of Great Britain and Frederik V, King of Denmark and Norway

Crown Prince Christian of Denmark (1745 – 1747), died in early childhood

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Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, Queen of Sweden (1746 – 1813)

Princess Sophia Magdalena was the eldest daughter and the eldest surviving child of the four children of King Frederik V of Denmark and his first wife Princess Louisa of Great Britain. She married King Gustav III of Sweden and had two sons including King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. On March 16, 1792, Sophia Magdalena’s husband King Gustav III was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström during a masquerade at the Royal Opera House. King Gustav III died of his wounds at the Stockholm Royal Palace two weeks later. The event is the subject of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1859 opera Un Ballo in Maschera (The Masked Ball).

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Princess Caroline of Denmark, Princess-Electress of Hesse (1747 – 1820)

Caroline of Denmark married her maternal first cousin Wilhelm I, Prince-Elector of Hesse and had two sons and two daughters. As explained above, Wilhelm grew up at the Danish court and it was decided during their childhood that they would marry each other. Shortly after their marriage, Caroline and Wilhelm left Denmark to live in Hanau, the capital of the County of Hanau-Münzenberg, which had been separated from Hesse-Kassel and given to Wilhelm. Upon the death of his father, Wilhelm became Wilhelm IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. Later he was created Prince-Elector of Hesse.

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King Christian VII of Denmark (1749 – 1808)

King Christian VII married his maternal first cousin Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales, the youngest sibling of King George III of the United Kingdom. They had one son, King Frederik VI of Denmark, and one daughter. King Christian VII’s reign was marked by mental illness. He publicly declared that he could not love Caroline Matilda because it was “unfashionable to love one’s wife”. Caroline Matilda’s daughter Louise Augusta’s father may have been Christian’s physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee gained political power and also gained powerful enemies, including Christian VII’s stepmother Queen Dowager Juliana Maria and her son Hereditary Prince Frederik. Juliana Maria directed a plot to overthrow the lovers, which ended with the brutal execution of Struensee and Caroline Matilda’s divorce and banishment. Not quite 20-years-old, Caroline Matilda lost her title of Queen and was forcibly separated from her children whom she never saw again. She died of “a putrid fever and sore throat,” probably scarlet fever, at the age of 23. Because of his mental illness, Christian was only nominally king from 1772 onward and regents ruled for him. Christian lived in isolation with a caretaker. His only involvement with the government was when he had to sign “Christian Rex” on formal papers.

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Princess Louise of Denmark, Princess of Hesse-Kassel (1750 – 1831)

Princess Louise married her maternal first cousin Prince Karl of Hesse-Kassel (see above) who had grown up with her at the Danish court. The couple had three daughters and three sons daughters including Marie Sophie, who became Queen of Denmark by marrying her first cousin the future King Frederik VI of Denmark.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Friedrich III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen

Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig on the right and his tutor Baron Ulrich von Thun

Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1735 – 1756)

Friedrich Ludwig was very well-educated. Along with his tutor Baron Ulrich von Thun, he took a lengthy multi-year educational journey through Europe where he became acquainted with proponents of French Enlightenment such as Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Denis Diderot. Friedrich Ludwig was often sick as a child and he died at the age of 21 after suffering from a fever and severe gouty pains. Friedrich Ludwig’s younger brother Ernst became Hereditary Prince and later Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

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Ludwig of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1735)

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Friederike Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1741 – 1776)

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Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1745 – 1804)

After the death of her eldest son, Ernst’s mother Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen was intent that her two surviving sons be well educated. They were carefully educated by select tutors and went on an educational trip to the Netherlands, England, and France where they met important people in politics, science and the arts. When he became Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Ernst continued his interest in the arts and science in his duchy. Ernst married Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen and had four sons, two of them became Dukes of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Their son August, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg married his first cousin Luise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and their daughter Louise was the mother of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the husband of Queen Victoria and the ancestor of all British monarchs beginning with Edward VII, and of numerous other European monarchs.

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Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1746)

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August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1747 – 1806)

August was carefully educated with his brother Ernst as explained above. He was to have a career in the military but that did not last long. August never married and was considered a prince of the Enlightenment. He was an important translator of French literature and corresponded with several important German writers including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Johann August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Louise Reuss of Schleiz, co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf

Augusta Luise Friederike of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1752 – 1805)

Upon the death of her mother, Augusta and her sister Luise inherited the title of Co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf. Later the sisters sold their shares of Limpurg-Gaildorf to Carl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg. Augusta became the second wife of Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt but the marriage was childless.

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Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1756 – 1808)

As explained above, Luise became co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf with her sister Augusta upon the death of their mother and the sisters later sold their portion of the County of Limpurg-Gaildorf. Luise married Friedrich Franz I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who became the first Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin after Luise’s death. Luise and Friedrich Franz had four sons and two daughters. Their daughter Charlotte Frederica was the first wife of the future King Christian VIII of Denmark and the mother of King Frederik VII of Denmark. Charlotte Frederica’s marriage was unhappy and she and her husband eventually divorced.

Luise Charlotte, another daughter of Luise and Friedrich Franz, married August, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and their daughter Luise was the mother of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the husband of Queen Victoria and the ancestor of all British monarchs beginning with King Edward VII and of numerous other European monarchs.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Friederike of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels

All their children died in childhood.

  • Karl Frederick Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels (1736 – 1737)
  • Johann Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels (born and died 1738)
  • August Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels (1739 – 1740)
  • Johann Georg Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels (born and died 1740)
  • Friederike Adolfine of Saxe-Weissenfels (1741 – 1751)

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Johann Adolf of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and his morganatic wife Marie Maximiliane Elisabeth Schauer

Marie Maximiliane Elisabeth Schauer and her two surviving children were ennobled by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor and given permission to discard the surname Schauer and instead use the surname von Gothart

  • Friedrich Adolph (born and died 1760)
  • Adolph Christian Carl von Gothart (1761 – 1835)
  • Johanna Adolfine Friederike von Gothart (1767 – 1804)

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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

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

Draga Mašin, Queen of Serbia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Draga Mašin, Queen of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

Draga Mašin was the wife of King Alexander I of Serbia, the last ruler of Serbia from the House of Obrenović. Alexander’s reign ended with his and Draga’s brutal assassinations. Born Draga Lunjevica on September 23, 1864, in Gornji Milanovac, Serbia, she was the fourth of the five daughters and the sixth of the seven children of Panta Lunjevica and Anđelija Koljević. Panta Lunjevica supported the House of Obrenović and served as a high government administrative official. Draga had two brothers: Nikola and Nikodije and four sisters: Hristina, Đina, Ana, and Vojka.

At the age of nine, Draga was sent to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, to attend school. There she completed her elementary and secondary education and then attended the Women’s Institute. She learned several foreign languages including Russian, French, and German. While in Belgrade, Draga began writing novels and short stories. Even though her father was wealthy enough to support her, Draga started to earn her own money. She translated books for money and had stories published in foreign magazines.

A younger Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

After Draga completed her education, her parents began to prepare for her marriage. Their choice of a husband for Draga was Svetozar Mašin, a close friend of Draga’s father and a well-known mining engineer, thirteen years older than his intended bride. Svetozar’s father was a respected physician and had served in the court of two Obrenović rulers Prince Mihailo Obrenović III and King Milan I of Serbia, then the current ruler. Draga and Svetozar Mašin were married on August 28, 1883, at the Parliamentary Church in Belgrade.

Because Draga’s husband was a friend of King Milan I of Serbia, Draga was often at court and became acquainted with many people including Queen Natalija, King Milan’s wife. Draga and Svetozar’s marriage lasted only three years. On May 21, 1886, 35-year-old Svetozar Mašin died from a heart attack, according to a doctor’s report. Draga inherited Svetozar’s pension and his name. Svetozar’s brother Alexander Mašin, an army officer, was so opposed to this that he later accused Draga of killing his brother and became one of the conspirators in the plot that assassinated Draga and her second husband King Alexander I of Serbia.

After her husband’s death, Draga continued to write novels and short stories and do translations. She was an editor of the magazine “Housewife” and a member of the Serbian Journalist Society. Draga lived in her husband’s state-owned apartment until she was forced to move out. Both her parents died, making Draga’s financial situation difficult. She tried to arrange a marriage for herself but to no avail.

Queen Natalija; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1888, King Milan I of Serbia and his wife Queen Natalija divorced. Queen Natalija bought the Villa Sasino in Biarritz, France. Since Queen Natalija was acquainted with Draga, she invited Draga to join her and become her lady-in-waiting. They traveled together by train to Russia, visited Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and his family, and then traveled to Biarritz, the spa resort on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast of France. In Biarritz, Draga accompanied Queen Natalija to various social events and took care of her wardrobe, jewelry, and cosmetics.

King Alexander I of Serbia, 1894; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1889, King Milan I suddenly abdicated the throne without an apparent reason and his twelve-year-old son Alexander became king. Several years later, in March 1895, Queen Natalija’s 18-year-old King Alexander I of Serbia arrived in Biarritz. After Draga saved King Alexander from drowning, Draga and Alexander began to see each other. Queen Natalija did not object to Alexander having an affair with Draga, who was twelve years older than Alexander, because she wanted her son ready for marriage to a high-ranking princess. However, the love that developed between Alexander and Draga was much stronger than Alexander’s parents thought. Alexander asked his mother to return to Belgrade and leave him alone with Draga. Queen Natalija did so, thinking it was just a passing adventure. Alexander tried to persuade Draga to leave his mother’s service, saying he would take care of her and her family. However, Draga remained in the service of Queen Natalija until 1897 when she returned to Belgrade.

In Belgrade, everyone knew about the affair of Alexander and Draga. Draga appeared at every important court function and was praised for her tact, elegance, beauty, wit, and restraint. However, everyone also thought that it was just an affair. On July 8, 1900, 24-year-old King Alexander suddenly announced his engagement to 36-year-old Draga. The proposed marriage was met with shock and great opposition. Draga was of unequal birth but more importantly, since Alexander was an only child, he needed to have a child to secure the succession and there were doubts that Draga could provide an heir.

Alexander and Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander’s father Milan was out of the country and making arrangements for the marriage of Alexander to Princess Alexandra of Schaumburg-Lippe. Prime Minister Vladan Đorđević was visiting the Paris Universal Exhibition at the time of the announcement. Both Milan and Đorđević immediately resigned their positions, and Alexander had difficulty forming a new cabinet. Alexander’s mother also opposed the marriage and subsequently was banished from the kingdom along with Alexander’s father who died the following year from pneumonia in Vienna.

On August 5, 1900, King Alexander married Draga at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia. On the morning of the wedding, thousands of people appeared at Draga’s house, calling out to her. King Alexander wore a military uniform with epaulets and decorations and Draga wore a white lace wedding dress with a brilliant diadem on her head. Two metropolitans, several bishops, and twenty-six archimandrites performed the Serbian Orthodox wedding ceremony. After the wedding, upon leaving the church, the people shouted, “Long live the King! Long live the Queen!”

On May 8, 1901, King Alexander announced that Queen Draga was pregnant and that Serbia would soon have an heir to the throne. However, it soon became apparent that Queen Draga was not pregnant. Whether Draga deliberately told a lie about being pregnant or whether she was the victim of a delusion by a doctor is not known. The incident completely undermined the reputation of King Alexander and Queen Draga.

Queen Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 25, 1903, irritated by the independence of the Senate and the Council of State, King Alexander suspended the constitution for thirty minutes which was enough time to publish decrees dismissing and replacing the members of the Senate and councilors of state. This act greatly increased dissatisfaction in the country. In addition, the Serbian Government had decided to proclaim Prince Mirko of Montenegro, who was married to Natalija Konstantinovic, the granddaughter of Princess Anka Obrenović, an aunt of King Milan, as heir-presumptive to the Serbian throne, but King Alexander had his own ideas. Rumors began to circulate that Nikodije Lunjevica, one of the two unpopular brothers of Queen Draga, was to be proclaimed heir-presumptive to the throne.

The army had had enough. A conspiracy, the May Coup, was organized by the military to replace King Alexander I of the House of Obrenović with Prince Peter Karađorđević of the rival House of Karađorđević,  Serbia still used the Julian Calendar (Old Style) which was behind the Gregorian Calendar (New Style) that most other countries were using. The coup occurred on the night of May 28-29 Old Style (hence the May Coup) but on the night of June 10-11 New Style.

Illustration of the assassination from an Italian newspaper; Credit – Wikipedia

King Alexander, aged 26, and Queen Draga, aged 38, were brutally shot, mutilated, and thrown out a window at the Stari Dvor (Old Palace), the royal residence of the House of Obrenović which now houses the City Assembly of Belgrade, Serbia. Queen Draga’s two brothers, Nikodije and Nikola Lunjevica, were executed by a firing squad on the same day. Draga and her husband were secretly buried at St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, Serbia. The assassination resulted in the extinction of the House of Obrenović. Prince Peter Karađorđević was then proclaimed as the new King of Serbia and the House of Karađorđević reigned until the monarchy was abolished in 1945.

Embed from Getty Images 
The graves of King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife Queen Draga at St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, Serbia

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.

Serbia/Yugoslavia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Draga Mašin. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draga_Ma%C5%A1in [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019). King Alexander I of Serbia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-alexander-i-of-serbia/ [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2019). Драга Обренович. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].
  • Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Драга Обреновић. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].

King Alexander I of Serbia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Alexander I of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

King Alexander I of Serbia was the last ruler of Serbia from the House of Obrenović. His reign ended with his and his wife’s brutal assassinations. The only surviving child of King Milan I of Serbia and his wife Natalija Keschko, Alexander was born on August 14, 1876, in a special maternity ward personally financed by his father. A brother, Sergei, was born in 1878 but he died soon after his birth.

Alexander with his parents in 1880; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander’s parents had an unsuccessful marriage. His father had affairs and the couple had political differences. King Milan favored alliances with Austria-Hungary which the Russophile Queen Natalija could not tolerate. Young Alexander became a weapon his parents used in their personal vendetta against each other.

Alexander with his father King Milan in 1888; Credit – Wikipedia

In May 1887, King Milan I and Queen Natalija, after years of personal and political conflicts, decided to separate. Queen Natalija took Alexander with her to a voluntary exile in the Crimea. Two months later, they returned to Serbia only to leave again for the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in August 1887. King Milan wanted to reconcile with his wife so that his son and heir would return to Serbia. He traveled to Budapest for a meeting with Queen Natalija and thought he had made the proper arrangements. However, instead of returning with her son to Serbia, Queen Natalija traveled to Wiesbaden in the Duchy of Nassau, now Hesse, Germany. At the request of King Milan, local police intervened, took Alexander away from his mother, and returned him to Serbia, under the control of his father. In 1888, Alexander’s parents divorced but the couple reconciled in 1893, and the divorce was overturned.

The Boy King, King Alexander I, 1889; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 6, 1889, the seventh anniversary of the elevation of the Principality of Serbia to the Kingdom of Serbia, King Milan unexpectedly abdicated in favor of his twelve-year-old son who became King Alexander I of Serbia. Because Alexander was a minor, a regency council would be in place until his eighteenth birthday. On June 15, 1889, the young King Alexander I of Serbia was anointed by Metropolitan Mihailo Jovanović, a political enemy of Alexander’s father who had exiled him, at the 13th-century Žiča Monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia, the traditional coronation site of Serbian rulers. Both Milan and Natalija were forced into exile. Natalija lived mostly in Biarritz, France, and Milan lived in Paris, France.

In 1893, 17-year-old King Alexander proclaimed himself of age and dismissed the regency council to take royal authority for himself. The following year, King Alexander abolished the 1889 liberal constitution and restored the former conservative 1869 constitution. Alexander’s mother returned to Serbia in 1895 and then in 1897 permanently. In 1897, Milan returned to Serbia and Alexander appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Army, which he completely reformed and modernized.

King Alexander and Draga Mašin; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 8, 1900, 24-year-old King Alexander suddenly announced his engagement to 36-year-old Draga Mašin, a widow and a former lady-in-waiting to his mother. The proposed marriage was met with great opposition. Draga was of unequal birth but more importantly, since Alexander was an only child, he needed to have a child to secure the succession and there were doubts that Draga could provide an heir. Milan was out of the country and making arrangements for the marriage of Alexander to Princess Alexandra of Schaumburg-Lippe. Prime Minister Vladan Đorđević was visiting the Paris Universal Exhibition at the time of the announcement. Milan and Đorđević immediately resigned from their positions, and Alexander had difficulty forming a new cabinet. Alexander’s mother also opposed the marriage and subsequently was banished from the kingdom along with Alexander’s father who died the following year from pneumonia in Vienna. On August 5, 1900, King Alexander married Draga Mašin at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia.

King Alexander attempted to reconcile the political forces in Serbia by granting a new liberal constitution that introduced into Serbia for the first time a two-chamber national legislature system. On May 8, 1901, King Alexander announced that Queen Draga was pregnant and that Serbia would soon have an heir to the throne. However, it soon became apparent that Queen Draga was not pregnant. Whether Draga deliberately told a lie about being pregnant or whether she was the victim of a delusion by a doctor is not known. The incident completely undermined the reputation of King Alexander and Queen Draga.

Queen Draga in the Serbian national costume; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 25, 1903, annoyed by the independence of the Senate and the Council of State, King Alexander suspended the constitution for thirty minutes which was enough time to publish decrees dismissing and replacing the members of the Senate and Councilors of State. This act greatly increased dissatisfaction in the country. In addition, the Serbian Government had decided to proclaim Prince Mirko of Montenegro, who was married to Natalija Konstantinovic, the granddaughter of Princess Anka Obrenović, an aunt of King Milan, as heir-presumptive to the Serbian throne, but King Alexander had his own ideas. Rumors began to circulate that Nikodije Lunjevica, one of the two unpopular brothers of Queen Draga, was to be proclaimed heir-presumptive to the throne.

The army had had enough.  A conspiracy, the May Coup, was organized by the military to replace King Alexander I of the House of Obrenović with Prince Peter Karađorđević of the rival House of Karađorđević.  Serbia still used the Julian Calendar (Old Style) that was behind the Gregorian Calendar (New Style) that most other countries used. The coup occurred on the night of May 28-29 Old Style (hence the May Coup) but on the night of June 10-11 New Style.

The Stari Dvor (Old Palace) where Alexander and Draga were assassinated. They were thrown out the open window after being shot and mutilated; Credit – Wikipedia

King Alexander, aged 26, and Queen Draga, age 38, were brutally shot, mutilated, and thrown out a window at the Stari Dvor (Old Palace), the royal residence of the House of Obrenović which now houses the City Assembly of Belgrade, Serbia. Queen Draga’s two brothers, Nikodije and Nikola Lunjevica, were executed by a firing squad on the same day. Draga and her husband were secretly buried at St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, Serbia. The assassination resulted in the extinction of the House of Obrenović. Prince Peter Karađorđević was then proclaimed as the new King of Serbia and the House of Karađorđević reigned until the monarchy was abolished in 1945.

Embed from Getty Images 
The graves of King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife Queen Draga at St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, Serbia

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.

Serbia/Yugoslavia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Alexander I of Serbia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_I_of_Serbia [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].
  • Pt.wikipedia.org. (2019). Alexandre I da Sérvia. [online] Available at: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_I_da_S%C3%A9rvia [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2019). Александр Обренович. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].
  • Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Александар Обреновић. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].

Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia, the wife of Milan I, the first King of Serbia, was born on May 14, 1859, in Florence, then in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy. She was the eldest of the four children of Petre Ivanovich Keschko, a Russian Imperial Army colonel, originally from Bessarabia, and Princess Pulcheria Sturdza from a Moldavian noble family.

Natalija had two sisters and one brother:

  • Maria Keschko (1861 – 1935), married Prince Grigore Ghica-Brigadier
  • Ekaterina Keschko married Prince Eugen Ghica-Comănești
  • Ioniță Keschko

Because Natalija’s mother suffered from tuberculosis, the family spent much time abroad, especially in Florence, where the climate was milder. After her father died in 1865 and her mother died in 1874, Natalijia and her three younger siblings were raised by their maternal aunt, Princess Ekaterina Moruzi and her husband, Prince Constantin Moruzi. Natalija graduated from a boarding school for the daughters of aristocratic families in Paris, France.

Milan Obrenović; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 17, 1875, at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia, 16-year-old Natalija married her second cousin, 21-year-old Milan Obrenović IV, Prince of Serbia. In 1882, the Principality of Serbia was elevated to the Kingdom of Serbia, and Milan and Natalija became the first King and Queen of Serbia. Natalija and Milan had two sons, but only the eldest survived:

Milan, Natalija and their son Alexander, circa 1880; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage was unsuccessful. Milan had affairs, and the couple had political differences. Milan favored alliances with Austria-Hungary, which the Russophile Natalija could not tolerate. The couple separated in 1886 and divorced in 1888. Natalija publicly rejected the divorce and declared that she still considered herself Milan’s wife. Natalija left Serbia, taking her son Alexander with her. Eventually, Milan succeeded in obtaining the custody of his son, and Alexander returned to Serbia. The couple reconciled in 1893, and the divorce was overturned.

In 1889, Milan suddenly abdicated the throne without apparent reason, and his twelve-year-old son Alexander became king under a regency council. Natalija was forced into exile and lived mostly in Biarritz, France. She returned to Serbia in 1895. Milan lived in Paris, France, until 1897, when he returned to Serbia. He became Commander-in-Chief of the Army, which he completely reformed and modernized.

King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife Queen Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1900, 24-year-old King Alexander suddenly announced his engagement to 36-year-old Draga Mašin, a widow and a former lady-in-waiting to his mother. There was much opposition to the marriage, including from Alexander’s parents, who were ultimately banished from Serbia by their son. Natalija returned to France, and Milan eventually settled in Vienna, Austria, where he died the next year on February 11, 1901, at the age of 46 from pneumonia.

On the night of June 10-11, 1903, a group of army officers who supported the rival House of Karađorđević led a coup d’état in which King Alexander and Queen Draga were brutally assassinated at the Stari Dvor (Old Palace), the royal residence of the House of Obrenović which now houses the City Assembly of Belgrade, Serbia. The assassination resulted in the extinction of the House of Obrenović. Prince Peter Karađorđević was then proclaimed as the new King of Serbia. The House of Karađorđević reigned until the monarchy was abolished in 1945.

After the horrible events of 1903, Natalija found some comfort in the Roman Catholic faith, to which she had converted in 1902.  After the assassination of her son and his wife, Natalija was the only member of the Obrenović dynasty. She donated the Obrenović inheritance to the University of Belgrade and churches and monasteries in Serbia. Natalija became a nun and died on May 8, 1941, at the age of 81 at the Monastery of Saint-Denis near Paris, France, and was buried at the Cemetery of Lardy in Seine et Oise, France.

Grave of Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia; Credit- By krischnig – Own work Original text: selbst fotografiert, Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48472059

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.

Serbia/Yugoslavia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Natalie of Serbia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_of_Serbia [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019). King Milan I of Serbia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-milan-i-of-serbia/ [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].
  • Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019) Наталија Обреновић. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].

King Milan I of Serbia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Milan I of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

The first King of Serbia, Milan Obrenović was born on August 22, 1854, in Mărășești, then in Moldavia, Ottoman Empire, now in Romania. He was the only surviving child of Miloš Obrenović and Marija Obrenović, born Elena Maria Catargiu. Milan’s father was a member of the House of Obrenović which vied for control of Serbia, often violently, with the House of Karađorđević. His mother was from a noble family with Moldavian and Romanian roots. Milan’s family had lived in exile in Moldavia since 1842 when his uncle Mihailo Obrenović III, reigning Prince of Serbia was deposed by the rival House of Karađorđević.

Milan’s parents divorced a year after his birth. His mother became the mistress of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Moldavia, Prince of Wallachia, and later the first Sovereign Prince of Romania, and the couple had two sons, Milan’s half-brothers. They were adopted by their biological father and his wife Elena Rosetti because they could not have children. In 1861, when Milan was seven years old, his father died fighting the Turks as a foreign mercenary in the Romanian Army.

Milan’s half-brothers:

  • Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1862 or 1864 – 1889), married Maria Moruzi, no children
  • Dimitrie Cuza (1865–1888), unmarried, died by suicide

Milan’s uncle Mihailo Obrenović III, Sovereign Prince of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

The House of Obrenović was restored to the Serbian throne in 1858. When he was six-years-old, Milan’s care and education had been taken over by his paternal uncle Mihailo Obrenović III, once again the Sovereign Prince of Serbia. After receiving his early education from a governess, Milan was sent to the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, France.

In 1868, Milan’s childless uncle Mihailo Obrenović III, Sovereign Prince of Serbia was assassinated. The plot behind the assassination has never been proven but the sympathizers of the House of Karađorđević were suspected of being behind the assassination. Fourteen-year-old Milan became the Sovereign Prince of Serbia but because he was a minor there was a regency until his eighteenth birthday in 1872.

Natalija in 1875; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 17, 1875, at the St. Michael’s Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia, 21-year-old Milan married his 16-year-old second cousin Natalija Keschko, the eldest of the four children of Petre Ivanovich Keschko, an Imperial Russian Army colonel, originally from Bessarabia, and Princess Pulcheria Sturdza from a Moldavian noble family.

Milan and Natalija had two sons but only the eldest survived:

The marriage was unsuccessful and the couple separated in 1886 and divorced in 1888. Natalija publically rejected the divorce and declared that she still considered herself the king’s wife. Natalija left Serbia taking her son Alexander with her. Eventually, Milan succeeded in obtaining the custody of his son and Alexander returned to Serbia. The couple reconciled in 1893 and the divorce was overturned.

Milan, Natalija, and their son Alexander circa 1880; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1882, the Principality of Serbia was elevated to the Kingdom of Serbia, so Milan became the first King of Serbia. Milan devoted his energy to improvements in Serbia particularly in communications and the development of natural resources. However, this led to heavy taxation and increased military service, making Milan unpopular.

In 1889, Milan suddenly abdicated the throne without apparent reason and his twelve-year-old son Alexander became king. Milan lived in Paris, France until 1897 when he returned to Serbia. He became Commander-in-Chief of the Army, which he completely reformed and modernized.

Milan in his later years; Credit – Wikipedia

However, in 1900, any positive relations between Milan and his son King Alexander ended. Milan and his wife strongly opposed his son’s marriage to Draga Mašin, a widow and a former lady-in-waiting to his mother, who was twelve years older than Alexander. Milan resigned his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and subsequently, King Alexander banished both his parents from Serbia. Milan eventually settled in Vienna, Austria where he died the next year on February 11, 1901, at the age of 46 from pneumonia. He was buried at the Krušedol Monastery in Vojvodina, Serbia. His son King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife Queen Draga were brutally assassinated in 1903 resulting in the extinction of the House of Obrenović.

Milan’s wife Natalija survived him by forty years. She converted to Roman Catholicism and became a nun. Natalija died on May 8, 1941, at the age of 81 at the Monastery of Saint-Denis near Paris, France, and was buried at the Cemetery of Lardy in Seine et Oise, France.

Tomb of King Milan I of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

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

Serbia/Yugoslavia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Milan I of Serbia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_I_of_Serbia [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].
  • Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Милан Обреновић. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].

First Cousins: King George IV and King William IV of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King George IV of the United Kingdom (1762 – 1830)

King Willian IV of the United Kingdom (1765 – 1837)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King George IV, born at St. James’ Palace in London, England on August 12, 1762, was the eldest of the fifteen children and the eldest of the nine sons of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His marriage to his first cousin Princess Caroline of Brunswick was one of the worst ever royal marriages. It is doubtful that the couple spent more than a few nights together as husband and wife. They did manage to have one daughter Princess Charlotte of Wales who would have succeeded her father as queen if she had not died at the age of 21 in childbirth along with her son. From 1811 until his accession, George served as Prince Regent during his father’s final mental illness. George was succeeded by his parents’ third son William. George had no surviving children and the second son Prince Frederick, Duke of York had died childless.

King William IV was the third of his parents’ fifteen children and the third of their nine sons. He was born at Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) in London, England on August 21, 1765. William had a happy relationship with actress Dorothea Jordan that lasted over twenty years and produced ten illegitimate children. William and Dorothea’s children married into the British aristocracy and their many descendants include a number of notable people. William’s niece Princess Charlotte of Wales was second in line to the throne and was the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, despite the fact that eleven of his fifteen children were still living. Her death left no legitimate heir in the second generation and prompted the aging sons of King George III to begin a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession.

William, along with his unmarried brothers Edward, Duke of Kent and Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, all married. 52-year-old William married 25-year-old Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. A child of William and Adelaide would have succeeded to the throne as William’s two elder brothers (George IV and Frederick, Duke of York) had no surviving children. Adelaide suffered a miscarriage, gave birth to two princesses who both died in infancy and gave birth to stillborn twin boys. William’s niece Victoria, the daughter of his parents’ fourth son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, became his heir.

George and William’s paternal grandparents were Frederick, Prince of Wales and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Frederick was the eldest child of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach. However, Frederick predeceased his father and upon the death of George II, Frederick’s eldest son became King George III. George and William’s maternal grandparents were Duke Carl Ludwig Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

George IV and William had 12 paternal first cousins and 11 maternal cousins. They share their first cousins with their siblings Prince Frederick, Duke of York; Charlotte, Princess Royal, Queen of Württemberg; Prince Edward, Duke of Kent; Princess Augusta; Princess Elizabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg; King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland; Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex; Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge; Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester; Princess Sophia; Prince Octavius; Prince Alfred; and Princess Amelia.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles of King George IV and King William IV: Children of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Family of Frederick, Prince of Wales painted in 1751 after his death; Front row: Henry, William, Frederick; Back row: Edward, George, Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales holding Caroline Matilda, Elizabeth, Louisa

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles of King George IV and King William IV: Children of Duke Carl Ludwig Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Augusta of Wales and Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick

Augusta of Brunswick, Princess Friedrich of Württemberg ( 1764 – 1788)

Augusta of Brunswick was the eldest of her parents’ seven children. She was the first wife of Prince Friedrich of Württemberg (later Duke of Württemberg 1797 -1803, Elector of Württemberg 1803 – 1806, King of Württemberg 1806 – 1816). Despite having a very unhappy marriage, Augusta and Friedrich had two sons and two daughters including King Wilhelm I of Württemberg.

Friedrich had impressed Empress Catherine II (the Great) while visiting Russia, and she made him Governor-General of Eastern Finland. Four years later, while they were visiting the Empress in St. Petersburg, Augusta asked Catherine for protection from her husband. She claimed that Friedrich was abusive to her, and was having affairs with several men. The Empress took Augusta in and told Friedrich to leave the country. Augusta hoped to obtain a divorce but her father would not permit it. Empress Catherine provided Augusta with a home at Koluvere Castle in Estonia, along with a custodian, Wilhelm von Pohlmann. Soon, Augusta and von Pohlmann began an affair and she became pregnant. Sadly, she went into premature labor and died of blood loss.

Unofficial Royalty: Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess Friedrich of Württemberg

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Karl, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1766 – 1806)

Karl was the eldest son and the heir to the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. However, he had been born blind and mentally disabled. A marriage was arranged for him with Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau but the marriage was childless and Louise was more of a nurse to him than a wife. Karl was eventually forced to renounce his position as heir to his younger brother.

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Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of the United Kingdom (1768 – 1821)

Caroline married her first cousin, the future King George IV of the United Kingdom. Despite being first cousins, they had never met. The marriage was very unsuccessful and they separated shortly after the birth of their only child Princess Charlotte of Wales who died at the age of 21 in childbirth.

When George became king, he insisted Caroline would never be queen and wanted a divorce. However, Caroline was popular with the British people who sympathized with her and despised the new king for his immoral behavior. The government introduced a bill in Parliament, the Pains and Penalties Bill 1820, to strip Caroline of the title of queen consort and dissolve her marriage. The reading of the bill in Parliament was effectively a trial of Caroline. The bill passed by 108–99. Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool then declared that since the vote was so close, and public tensions so high, the government was withdrawing the bill.

George had made no plans for Caroline to participate in his coronation. On the day of the coronation, Caroline went to Westminster Abbey but was barred at every entrance and finally left. She died three weeks later and had requested that she be buried in her native Brunswick. The official route of Caroline’s cortege through London was to avoid major streets. However, members of the public blocked those streets and forced a new route through the major streets. Caroline was buried at Brunswick Cathedral in Germany alongside her father. Her casket bears the inscription, “Here lies Caroline, the Injured Queen of England.”

Unofficial Royalty: Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of the United Kingdom

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Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1771 – 1815)

The fourth son of his parents, Friedrich Wilhelm succeeded his father as Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel because of the disabilities of his three elder brothers. He had an army career and participated in the Napoleonic Wars. Friedrich Wilhelm married Princess Marie of Baden and had two sons. His wife died of childbed fever (puerperal fever) four days after giving birth to a stillborn daughter. Friedrich Wilhelm was killed in action at the Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo where Napoleon was defeated once and for all.

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  • Georg of Brunswick (1769 – 1811), unmarried, mentally disabled, excluded from the line of succession of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
  • August of Brunswick (1770 – 1822), unmarried, blind, excluded from the line of succession of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
  • Amelie of Brunswick ( 1772 – 1773), died in childhood

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince William Henry of Wales, 1st Duke of Gloucester and Maria, Countess Waldegrave

Background on this side of the family: Prince William Henry of Wales, 1st Duke of Gloucester, a younger brother of King George III of the United Kingdom, secretly married Maria Walpole, the illegitimate daughter of Sir Edward Walpole and his mistress Dorothy Clement. Her grandfather Robert Walpole served as Prime Minister from 1721 – 1741. At the time of the marriage, Maria was the widow of James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave.

King George III’s brothers were a constant headache for him but he was especially annoyed with Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland. Prince Henry had married a commoner Anne Horton. George III considered Anne Horton inappropriate as a royal bride because she was from a lower social class and German law barred any children of the couple from the succession. George insisted on a new law that would forbid members of the royal family from legally marrying without the consent of the monarch. Although it was unpopular with both George III’s ministers and members of Parliament, the Royal Marriages Act 1772 was passed.

However, King George III did not know that his brother Prince William Henry, 1st Duke of Gloucester had secretly married Maria Walpole in 1766. For six years, King George III believed that his brother William Henry was a bachelor and that Maria was his mistress. In September 1772, five months after the Royal Marriages Act was passed, William Henry found out Maria was pregnant and confessed to his brother that he was married. King George III was quite upset not only by the marriage but also by William Henry’s deception. Because the provisions of the Royal Marriages Act could not be applied retroactively, William Henry and Maria’s marriage was considered valid. Their children were styled His/Her Highness Prince/Princess and used the territorial designation of Gloucester as great-grandchildren in the male line of King George II. However, due to the anger of King George III, Maria, now Duchess of Gloucester, was never received at court.

Princess Sophia of Gloucester (1773–1844)

Sophia was the eldest child of Prince William Henry and Maria Walpole. Her uncle King George III refused to be her godparent because of the deception of her parents’ marriage. She never married. When her brother His Highness Prince William Frederick married their first cousin Princess Mary, daughter of King George III, the king granted him the style His Royal Highness. Sophia was granted the same style the next day.

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Princess Caroline of Gloucester (1774–1775)

Princess Caroline’s father Prince William Henry of Wales, Duke of Gloucester became ill with smallpox in March 1775. He immediately ordered that his two daughters (his son had not yet been born) be inoculated against smallpox. At that time, 3% of those receiving the smallpox inoculation died after receiving the inoculation. Sadly, eight-month-old Princess Caroline was one of them. A few years later, Caroline’s first cousins, the two youngest sons of King George III, Prince Octavius and Prince Alfred, also died after receiving the smallpox inoculation.

Wikipedia: Princess Caroline of Gloucester
Unofficial Royalty: Smallpox knew no class boundaries

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Prince William Frederick, 2nd Duke of Gloucester (1776–1834)

William Frederick was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and like his father, had a career in the British Army, attaining the rank of Field Marshal. He was an advocate for the abolition of slavery, served as President of the African Institution and was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. William Frederick had been encouraged to remain unmarried so that there might be a suitable husband for his first cousin once removed, Princess Charlotte of Wales, the heir to the throne after her father the future King George IV, if no foreign prince proved a suitable match. Charlotte married Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld but within twenty months, Charlotte had died in childbirth along with her son. After Charlotte’s marriage, 40-year-old William Frederick married his first cousin 40-year-old Princess Mary, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom. The couple had no children.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales and King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway

Background on Caroline Matilda and Christian VII: Princess Caroline Matilda and King Christian VII were first cousins – both were grandchildren of King George II of Great Britain. Christian VII’s reign was marked by mental illness and for most of his reign, he was only nominally king. He publicly declared that he could not love Caroline Matilda because it was “unfashionable to love one’s wife”. Caroline Matilda’s daughter Louise Augusta’s father may have been Christian’s physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee gained political power and also gained powerful enemies, including Christian VII’s stepmother Queen Dowager Juliana Maria and her son Hereditary Prince Frederik. Juliana Maria directed a plot to overthrow the lovers, which ended with the brutal execution of Struensee and Caroline Matilda’s divorce and banishment. Not quite 20-years-old, Caroline Matilda lost her title of Queen and was forcibly separated from her children whom she never saw again. She died of “a putrid fever and sore throat,” probably scarlet fever, at the age of 23. She was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Marien in Celle next to his great-grandmother Sophie Dorothea of Celle who suffered a similar fate.

King Frederik VI of Denmark (1768 – 1839)

When Frederik came of age, he had to wrest the power from Queen Dowager Juliana Maria and her son Hereditary Prince Frederik, who was ruling as Regent for the mentally disabled King Christian VII. Frederik then ruled permanently as Crown Prince Regent until the death of his father. He married his cousin Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, daughter of Prince Carl of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Louise of Denmark. Frederik was a great-grandchild of King George II of Great Britain and Marie was a double great-grandchild of George II. Both of Marie’s parents were children of a daughter of King George II of Great Britain. Frederik and Marie had eight children but unfortunately, six of them, including two boys, died in infancy. Only two daughters survived and both daughters had childless marriages. As he had no sons, Frederik was succeeded by King Christian VIII who was the son of King Frederik’s half-uncle Hereditary Prince Frederik.

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Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg  (1771 – 1843)

Louise Augusta was officially the daughter of King Christian VII of Denmark but most likely her biological father was Johann Friedrich Struensee, Christian VII’s physician. When she was only 14-years-old, Louise Augusta married Frederik Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and had two sons and one daughter. Their daughter Caroline Amalie became Queen of Denmark by marrying the future King Christian VIII of Denmark, son of Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark. Louise Auguste’s son Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg was the father of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein who married Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Helena. Another of Christian August II’s sons, Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, was the father of Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, the wife of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Carl II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his first wife Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt who died in childbirth giving birth to her tenth child who lived only one day

Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1769–1818)

Charlotte and her siblings grew up in Hanover, where their father served as governor, on behalf of his brother-in-law King George III of the United Kingdom, who was also King of Hanover. She married Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (later Duke of Saxe-Altenburg) and had seven sons and five daughters, including Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen who became Queen of Bavaria by marrying King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

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Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Princess of Thurn and Taxis (1773–1839)

Therese married Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and had three daughters and four sons. Karl Alexander was Roman Catholic. Therese’s aunt Queen Charlotte of the United Kingdom and her husband King George III helped to broker the marriage and were responsible for ensuring that Therese could remain Protestant. Therese also had an illegitimate son and daughter with Maximilian, Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg. She Therese took an active role in the administration of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis and was also devoted to art and literature.

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Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia (1776–1810)

Following her mother’s death in childbirth in 1782, Luise and her siblings were raised mostly by their maternal grandmother, Marie Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg. Luise and her sister Friederike attracted the attention of two Prussian princes. Luise married the future King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, while Friederike married his brother Ludwig Karl. Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm III had five sons and four daughters including Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia; Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, German Emperor; and Charlotte who married Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia. Luise took it upon herself to stay well-versed in the affairs of the country, earning her the respect of her husband’s advisers. While visiting her father in Strelitz, 34-year-old Luise died in her husband’s arms from an unidentified illness.

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Duchess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Hanover (1778–1841)

Friederike married three times and had a total of ten children. When her sister Luise married the future King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, Friederike married his brother Ludwig Karl and had two sons and one daughter. The marriage between Friederike and Ludwig was not very happy, with both of them allegedly having affairs. Prince Ludwig died of diphtheria just two days after their third wedding anniversary, leaving Friederike an 18-year-old widow with three children. Two years later, Friederike accepted a proposal from Prince Adolphus of the United Kingdom, Duke of Cambridge, her first cousin. Apparently, Friederike had not very lonely. Despite her unofficial engagement to Adolphus, she soon found herself pregnant with the child of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels. The couple married and had five sons and one daughter. Within a few years of the marriage, the couple had drifted very far apart and were given permission to divorce but remained married.

Friederike fell in love with another first cousin, Prince Ernest August of the United Kingdom, Duke of Cumberland, a son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Friederike’s aunt Charlotte. Divorce proceedings were started but Friederike’s second husband Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels suddenly died and Friederike soon married Ernest August. After two stillborn daughters, the couple had one son. When Ernest Augustus’ brother King William IV died, he was succeeded by his niece, Victoria, as Queen of the United Kingdom but because Hanover did not allow for female succession, Friederike’s husband succeeded him as King Ernst August I of Hanover, and Friederike became Queen.

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Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1779–1860)

Georg married Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, the daughter of Landgrave Freidrich of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen and had four children including Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who married his first cousin Princess Augusta of Cambridge and Princess Caroline Mariane who married the future King Frederik VII of Denmark. When Georg succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, he found the grand duchy in great debt and in need of much rebuilding. He abolished serfdom and throughout his reign worked to raise the standards of education, building schools and instituting compulsory education. He made vast improvements to the infrastructure which would help to energize the grand duchy’s economy.

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  • Duchess Caroline Auguste of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1771–1773), died in childhood
  • Duke Georg Carl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1772–1773), died in childhood
  • Duke Friedrich Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (born and died 1774), died in infancy
  • Duke Friedrich Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1781–1783), died in childhood
  • Duchess Augusta Albertine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (born and died 1782), died in infancy along with her mother

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Carl II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his second wife Princess Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt who was the sister of Carl’s first wife. Like her sister, Charlotte died in childbirth.

Duke Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1785–1837)

Karl’s mother died as a result of his birth. He had a career in the Prussian Army and never married. He fought in the Napoleonic Wars and attained the rank of a Lieutenant General. For the last ten years of his life, Karl was President of the Prussian State Council, an advisory body in the Kingdom of Prussia.

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Works Cited

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)