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Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

January 12, 1519 – Death of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria at the Castle of Wels in Wels, Upper Austria, now in Austria; buried at St. George’s Cathedral in Wiener Neustadt Castle in Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria, now in Austria. As per his will, his heart was placed in the tomb of his first wife Mary, Duchess of Burgundy in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, County of Flanders, now in Belgium.
Maximilian I reigned as King of the Romans, the de facto leader of the Holy Roman Empire from 1493 – 1508, Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 – 1519, and ruled his family lands as Archduke of Austria from 1493 – 1519. Maximilian married Mary, Duchess of Burgundy in her own right, the only child of Charles I the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and the couple had three children. It was through the marriage of Maximilian and Mary’s son Philip to Juana I, Queen of Castile and León, Queen of Aragon that the Habsburg lands would be joined with the Spanish lands. Philip and Juana’s son Carlos, best known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, was one of the most powerful ever monarchs and had a large number of titles due to his vast inheritance of the Burgundian, Spanish, and Austrian realms. After Mary’s death in a horseriding accident, Maximilan married two more times but neither marriage produced children. Maximilain suffered a stroke on December 15, 1518, that left him bedridden. However, Maximilian continued to read documents and receive foreign envoys. On January 12, 1519, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria died, aged 59 at the Castle of Wels in Wels, Upper Austria.
Unofficial Royalty: Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria

January 12, 1751 – Birth of Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies at the Royal Palace in the Kingdom of Naples, now in Italy
In 1759, upon the death of his childless half-brother King Ferdinand VI of Spain, Ferdinando’s father King Carlos IV of Naples and Sicily succeeded him as King Carlos III of Spain. Because of treaties, Carlos could not be the sovereign of all three kingdoms. His eldest son Felipe was excluded from the succession because of intellectual disability and his second son Carlos was the heir apparent to the Spanish throne. That left the third son Ferdinando to become King of Naples and King of Sicily. In 1768, Ferdinando married Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. The couple had 17 children but only seven survived childhood. Four of their five surviving daughters married sovereigns. Ferdinando’s wife Maria Carolina was better educated and more qualified to reign. As part of the marriage contract, Maria Carolina was to have a place on the council of state after the birth of her first son. From 1777 on, Maria Carolina was the de facto ruler of the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. Ferdinando was deposed twice: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816. In 1820, after riots in Sicily, Ferdinando Ferdinando was forced to sign a constitution and appoint his son Francesco as regent of Sicily. This only lasted until 1821, when Austrian troops friendly to Ferdinando occupied Naples.
Unofficial Royalty: Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies

January 12, 1759 – Death of Anne, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange, daughter of King George II of Great Britain and wife of Willem IV, Prince of Orange, at The Hague, the Netherlands; buried at Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands
In 1734, Anne married Willem IV, Prince of Orange and they had two surviving children. The Dutch Royal Family is descended from Anne. When Willem IV died at age 40 from a stroke in 1751, he was succeeded by his three-year-old son as Willem V with Anne serving as Regent. As Regent, Anne was given all the powers normally given a hereditary Stadtholder of the Netherlands, with the exception of the military duties of the office, which was entrusted to Ludwig Ernst of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Anne acted as Regent until her death from dropsy in 1759, at age 49.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange

January 12, 1810 – Birth of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies in Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Italy
Full name: Ferdinando Carlo Maria
Twenty-year-old Ferdinando II succeeded to the throne of the Two Sicilies upon the death of his father Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies in 1830. In 1832, Ferdinando married Maria Cristina of Savoy, the daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia. In 1836, five days after giving birth to her only child, 23-year-old Maria Cristina died from childbirth complications. Maria Cristina had been called “the Holy Queen” for her deep religious devotion. She was constantly ill which she patiently endured with her piety and was popular with the people for her charity, modesty, and humility. In 2014, at the Basilica of Santa Chiara where she is buried, Maria Cristina was beatified and is known as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy and is one step away from canonization as a saint. In 1837, Ferdinando married Maria Theresa of Austria and they had twelve children. The Revolutions of 1848 reached the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Ferdinando II was forced to grant a constitution to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The goodwill created by the constitution did not last long. Between 1849 and 1851, Ferdinando returned to repressive policies causing many who opposed him to go into exile. An estimated 2,000 suspected revolutionaries or dissidents were jailed. Because of this, in 1856, Ferdinando was the victim of an assassination attempt.
Unofficial Royalty: Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies

January 12, 1855 – Death of Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of Sardinia, wife of Carlo Alberto I, King of Sardinia in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin
Maria Theresa was the daughter of Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his first wife Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily. In 1817, she married the future Carlo Alberto I, King of Sardinia. They had three children including Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia, later King of Italy, who became the first king of a united Italy. Maria Theresa’s husband became King of Sardinia in 1831. In 1848, Carlo Alberto attempted to rid the Italian peninsula of Austrian-ruled and supported states resulting in the First Italian War of Independence, part of the Italian Unification. After his forces were defeated by the Austrian forces, Carlo Alberto immediately abdicated in favor of his son Vittorio Emanuele and went into exile in Portugal. However, he became seriously ill during the trip and died soon after reaching his destination. After the death of her husband, Maria Theresa no longer appeared in public. However, she was a great influence on her son Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia. Her son became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. However, Maria Theresa did not live long enough to see her son become King of a united Italy. On January 12, 1855, in Turin, Maria Theresa died at the age of 53.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of Sardinia

January 12, 1974 – Death of Lady Patricia Ramsay, born Princess Patricia of Connaught, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at her home Ribsden Holt in Windlesham, Surrey, England; buried at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore in Windsor, England
Princess Patricia, known as Patsy in the family, was the daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.  Upon her marriage to Sir Alexander Ramsay, she voluntarily relinquished the style of Royal Highness and the title of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and assumed the style of Lady Patricia Ramsay. Lady Patricia and her husband had one son. She remained a member of the British Royal Family, remained in the line of succession, and attended all major royal events including weddings, funerals, and coronations. At the age of 91, Alexander Ramsay died and fourteen months later, Lady Patricia died at the age of 87.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Patricia of Connaught, Lady Patricia Ramsay

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King Constantine I of Greece; Credit – Wikipedia

January 11, 1716 – Death of Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina, Tsaritsa of All Russia, second wife of Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia, in St. Petersburg, Russia; buried in the entrance of Peter and Paul Cathedral at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, the fourth Romanov buried at the not yet finished cathedral
In 1681, Feodor III’s first wife Agaphia Semenovna Grushevskaya died of puerperal fever (childbed fever) three days after giving birth to her only child, a son, who also died. Feodor III was so grief-stricken that he was unable to attend his wife’s funeral. At the beginning of 1682, Ivan Yazykov, a friend of Feodor III, suggested that the tsar marry Marfa, expecting his situation at court to improve. Feodor married Marfa on February 24, 1682. However, the marriage lasted a little more than two months. Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia died on May 7, 1682, at the age of 20. Marfa never remarried but remained a widow for the rest of her life. She lived in Moscow, and then in St. Petersburg in her own palace. With her skillful behavior, Marfa created a position for herself at the court of Peter the Great, her husband’s younger half-brother. She died at the age of 52 and was buried at the entrance of Peter and Paul Cathedral at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, the fourth Romanov buried at the not yet finished cathedral.
Unofficial Royalty: Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina, Tsaritsa of All Russia

January 11, 1901 – Birth of Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt at Ballenstedt Castle in Ballenstedt, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Full name: Joachim Ernst Wilhelm Karl Albrecht Leopold Friedrich Moritz Erdmann
Joachim Ernst was the last Duke of Anhalt. He came to the throne in September 1918 when he was 17-years-old. As he was underage, his father’s brother Prince Aribert of Anhalt served as Regent. With the German Empire crumbling at the end of World War I, Aribert abdicated on Joachim Ernst’s behalf on November 12, 1918. Joachim Ernst married twice. In 1927, he married actress Elisabeth Strickrodt. They divorced in 1929. In the same year, he married Edda-Charlotte von Stephani-Marwitz, and they had five children. Joachim Ernst spent his post-abdication life at Ballenstedt Castle, where he raised his family and became a trained agricultural and forestry farmer. Always at odds with the Nazis, he was arrested in 1944 and imprisoned at the Dachau Concentration Camp for three months. He was arrested again in September 1945 – this time by the Soviets – and was sent to the NKVD Special Camp No. 2 at the former Buchenwald Concentration Camp where he died on February 18, 1947, and his remains were thrown into a mass grave.
Unofficial Royalty: Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt

January 11, 1923 – Death of King Constantine I of Greece in exile in Palermo, Sicily; first buried in the crypt of the Russian Church of Florence in Italy, reburied at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace near Athens, Greece in 1936
In 1889, Constantine married a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Sophie of Prussia, daughter of Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia and Victoria, Princess Royal. The couple had six children including three kings of Greece. In 1913, Constantine’s father King George I of Greece was assassinated and he acceded to the Greek throne as King Constantine I. Due to much political turmoil, Constantine was forced to abdicate in 1917, restored to the throne in 1920, and then forced to abdicate a second time. He lived the rest of his life in exile and died at the age of 54 from a brain hemorrhage.
Unofficial Royalty: King Constantine I of Greece

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Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy; Credit – Wikipedia

January 10, 1662 – Death of Prince Honoré II of Monaco in Monaco, buried at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco
When Honoré  II was two years old, his mother died due to childbirth complications. Five years later, his father Hercule, Lord of Monaco was stabbed to death while walking through the streets of Monaco at night. A month short of his seventh birthday, Honoré succeeded his father as Lord of Monaco. In 1612, Honoré II started using the title of Prince, becoming the first Prince of Monaco. Honoré II became a vassal of King Louis XIII of France in 1633. Many Princes of Monaco were vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes of Monaco. The Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families. In 1616, Honoré married Ippolita Trivulzio, the daughter of the Italian nobles. Honoré and Ippolita had one son who died before his father. During his reign, Honoré II did much to extend, rebuild, and transform what was originally the 1191 fortress of his Grimaldi ancestors into what is today’s Prince’s Palace of Monaco. After a reign of fifty-eight years, Honoré II, Prince of Monaco died in Monaco on January 10, 1662, at the age of 64.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Honoré II of Monaco

January 10, 1741- Birth of Princess Elizabeth Caroline of Wales at Norfolk House, 31 St James’s Square in London, England
Elizabeth Caroline was one of the nine children of Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of King George II of Great Britain, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. In 1751, Elizabeth Caroline was ten-years-old, her father died, leaving a pregnant widow with eight children. Elizabeth Caroline’s thirteen-year-old eldest brother George was now the heir to the throne and was created Prince of Wales by his grandfather King George II. George succeeded his grandfather as King George III. According to Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, an English writer, art historian, and Whig politician, Elizabeth Caroline was extremely delicate and backward. On September 4, 1759, Princess Elizabeth Caroline, aged 18, had died at Kew Palace in London.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Elizabeth Caroline of Wales

January 10, 1821 – Birth of Caroline Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Crown Princess of Denmark, the second wife of the future King Frederik VII of Denmark, in Neustrelitz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Full name: Caroline Charlotte Marianne
Caroline Mariane was the daughter of Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Marie of Hesse-Kassel. Her 1841 marriage to the future King Frederik VII of Denmark was very unhappy. In 1844, Caroline Mariane went to visit her parents and refused to return to Denmark. The couple divorced in 1846. She retained her Danish titles after her divorce and never remarried, and lived quietly in Neustrelitz where her parents built the Carolinenpalais for her.
Unofficial Royalty: Caroline Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Crown Princess of Denmark

January 10, 1824 – Death of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin
Vittorio Emanuele I reigned as King of Sardinia from the abdication of his elder brother Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia in 1802 until his own abdication in 1821 in favor of his younger brother Carlo Felice, King of Sardinia. After his abdication as King of Sardinia, Vittorio Emanuele but remained Duke of Savoy until his death. In 1789, Vittorio Emanuele married Maria Theresa of Austria-Este and they had six daughters and one son who died in childhood. As the senior surviving descendant of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, daughter of King Charles I of England and sister of James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots, Vittorio Emanuele became the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England and Scotland after the death of his brother Carlo Emanuele in 1819.  Vittorio Emanuele died at his home in the Duchy of Savoy at the age of 64.
Unofficial Royalty: Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia
Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

January 10, 1840 – Death of Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom and wife of Friedrich VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, at her home in the Free City of Frankfurt, now in Hesse, Germany; buried at the Mausoleum of the Landgraves in Homburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, now in Hesse, Germany
Elizabeth was one of three of the six daughters of King George III who would eventually marry, all of them much later than was the norm for the time. In 1818, 48-year-old Elizabeth read a letter from 48-year-old Friedrich, then Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Homburg, to her mother asking to marry Elizabeth and she finally saw the way to exit “the Nunnery,” the term used to describe the sheltered existence of George III’s daughters. Friedrich had a military career and while he was in the military, he showed no inclination to marry. In 1814, he met Elizabeth at a ball held at the British court. Elizabeth and Friedrich were married in 1818. When Friedrich died in 1829, Elizabeth wrote, “No woman was ever more happy than I was for eleven years and they will often be lived over again in the memory of the heart.” When Elizabeth died in 1840 at the age of 69, deep court mourning was temporarily suspended for several days in the United Kingdom the following month for the wedding festivities of her niece Queen Victoria. Elizabeth’s great-niece, Victoria, Princess Royal, German Empress wanted to erect a monument in her honor but unfortunately did not live to see it done. However, Wilhelm II, German Emperor did fulfill his mother’s wish and, on August 11, 1908, unveiled the monument in the presence of his uncle King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg

January 10, 2005 – Death of Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, born Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, wife of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, at Fischbach Castle in Fischbach, Luxembourg; buried at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Joséphine-Charlotte was the eldest child and only daughter of Leopold III, King of the Belgians and Princess Astrid of Sweden. Her two younger brothers Baudouin and Albert II were both Kings of the Belgians. In 1953, Joséphine-Charlotte married Hereditary Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, the eldest child of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma. The couple had five children including Henri, the current Grand Duke of Luxembourg.  In 1964, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg abdicated, and Jean and Joséphine-Charlotte became the new Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. In 2003, it was reported that  Joséphine-Charlotte had been diagnosed with lung cancer and the planned ceremonies and celebrations for the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary were canceled. Two years later, 77-year-old Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte died at Fischbach Castle, surrounded by her family.
Unofficial Royalty: Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

January 10, 2020 – Death of Sultan Qaboos of Oman at the Al Alam Palace in Muscat, Oman; buried at the Royal Cemetery in Muscat
Qaboos was the only son of Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, and his second wife, Princess Mazoon bint Ahmed Ali al-Maashani. In 1970, Qaboos staged a coup that overthrew his father as Sultan. His father was exiled to the United Kingdom, where he lived at the Dorchester Hotel in London until his death in 1972. Sultan Qaboos immediately began efforts to modernize and develop the country. In 1976, he married his first cousin, Nawwal bint Tariq Al-Said but the couple had no children, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1979. Qaboos had been under treatment for colon cancer since at least 2014 and had spent much time in Germany undergoing treatment. In December 2019, he traveled to Belgium for medical treatment. Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sultan of Oman died at the age of 79.
Unofficial Royalty: Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sultan of Oman

January 10, 2023 – Death of former King Constantine II of Greece at Hygeia Hospital in Athens, Greece; buried at the Royal Cemetery on the grounds of Tatoi Palace, the former summer palace of the Greek royal family, near Athens, Greece
Constantine was the King of Greece from 1964 until the monarchy was abolished in 1973. Both his parents, King Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover, were descendants of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter Victoria, Princess Royal who married Friedrich III, German Emperor.  In 1960, Constantine became one of the royal Olympian medal winners.  In the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics, Constantine won a Gold Medal in Sailing.
Unofficial Royalty: King Constantine II of Greece

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Napoleon III, Emperor of the French; Credit – Wikipedia

January 9, 1500 – Birth of Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henri II of France, at the Château de Saint-Vallier in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France
Diane de Poitiers was the royal mistress of King Henri II of France from around 1534 until Henri’s death in 1559. It was through her presence at court as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Claude of France (mother of Henri II) that she became known to the young Prince Henri. Eighteen years older than Henri, she made quite an impression on him. Despite his marriage to Catherine de’ Medici, Diane’s second cousin, Henri was smitten with Diane. For the next 25 years, Diane de Poitiers would be Henri’s closest companion, and many felt she was the most powerful woman in France at the time. Her influence on Henri was without match, and he relied heavily on her advice in all official decisions. Such was her position that when foreign royals and leaders would send gifts to Catherine de Medici, they would also send gifts for Diane. Diane’s influence and power would come to a complete halt in 1559 after King Henri II died from injuries received in a jousting tournament. The widowed Catherine de’ Medici quickly took steps to remove Diane from the existence she had enjoyed for so many years.
Unofficial Royalty: Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henri II of France

January 9, 1514 – Death of Anne, Duchess of Brittany, Queen of France, wife of King Charles VIII of France and second wife of King Louis XII of France, at the Royal Château de Blois in Blois, France; buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris
Anne, Duchess of Brittany in her own right, is the only woman to have been Queen Consort of France twice. She was the wife of King Charles VIII and the second of the three wives of King Louis XII. Anne was the daughter of François II, Duke of Brittany. Upon the death of her father in 1488, Anne became the Duchess of Brittany in her own right. In 1491, Anne married King Charles VIII of France. Anne and Charles had seven children but none survived. King Charles VIII died unexpectedly from a head injury in 1498. Because he had no surviving children, Louis, Duke of Orléans succeeded him as King Louis XII of France. Anne returned to Brittany and began taking steps to ensure the independence of her duchy. Louis XII did not want this to happen and so he had his 24-year childless marriage to Charles VIII’s sister Jeanne of France annulled and married Anne of Brittany in 1499. They had four stillborn sons and three miscarriages but they did have two daughters who survived to adulthood. After Anne’s death, the 52-year-old King Louis XII, still seeking a son to succeed him, married 18-year-old Mary Tudor, the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England, but Louis XII died three months after the marriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne, Duchess of Brittany, Queen of France

January 9, 1819 – Death of Queen Catherina of Württemberg, second wife of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg, born Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna of Russia, in Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany;  buried at the Württemberg Mausoleum in Rotenberg, Stuttgart
Catherina was the daughter of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and the sister of Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, and Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. She had a short marriage and two sons with her first cousin Duke Georg of Oldenburg, who died from typhoid fever. She then married the future King Wilhelm I of Württemberg in 1816 and they had two daughters. Despite having a happy marriage, Wilhelm continued his relationships with numerous mistresses, including the Italian Blanche de la Flèche. When Catharina was made aware of this, she drove to Scharnhausen Castle on January 3, 1819, where she found Wilhelm and his mistress together. She quickly returned to Stuttgart and just six days later, 30-year-old Catharina died of complications from pneumonia
Unofficial Royalty: Ekaterina Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of Württemberg

January 9, 1854 – Birth of Lady Randolph Churchill, mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, born Jennie Jerome in Brooklyn, New York (mother of Sir Winston Churchill)
Jennie Jerome was an American socialite who was the mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, among others. Through her first marriage to Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill, a younger son of John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, she was the mother of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The Spencer-Churchills were opposed to the marriage, but after the offer of a dowry of $250,000 (several million dollars today), they quickly agreed to the marriage. Jennie is also reported to have had affairs with King Milan I of Serbia, Prince Karl Kinsky, and Herbert von Bismarck. She married two more times after the death of her first husband.
Unofficial Royalty: Lady Randolph Churchill, mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom

January 9, 1873 – Death of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon III of the French, in exile at Camden Place (now Chislehurst Golf Club) in Chislehurst, England; buried at Saint Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire, England
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, later Napoleon III of the French, was the son of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland (younger brother of Emperor Napoleon I) and Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Emperor Napoleon’s first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais and her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais who was beheaded during the French Revolution.  Elected to the presidency of the French Second Republic in 1848, Louis-Napoléon seized power by force in 1851, when he could not constitutionally be reelected, and later proclaimed himself Emperor of the French. After being turned down by Princess Carola of Vasa (daughter of the deposed Swedish King Gustaf IV Adolf), and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (a niece of Queen Victoria), Napoleon III married Eugénie de Montijo, Countess of Teba and Marquise of Ardales in 1853. The couple had one son, Napoléon, Prince Imperial who died unmarried in 1879 while fighting in the Anglo-Zulu War. In July 1870, France entered the Franco-Prussian War. Without significant allied support, and with unprepared and limited forces, the French army was quickly defeated. Napoleon III was captured at the Battle of Sedan and quickly surrendered. As word reached Paris, the Third Republic was declared on September 4, 1870, ending, for the last time, the French monarchy. Louis-Napoléon and his family went into exile in England. After falling ill in the summer of 1872, and undergoing two operations, he died at the age of 64.
Unofficial Royalty: Napoleon III, Emperor of the French

January 9, 1907 – Death of Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, Queen of Hanover, wife of King George V of Hanover, in Gmunden, Austria; buried in the Crypt at Cumberland Palace in Gmunden, Austria
Marie was the eldest daughter of the six daughters of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Amalie of Württemberg. In 1843, she married the future and last King of Hanover, George V, and they had three children. George succeeded his father in 1851 but reigned for only 15 years, being exiled from Hanover as a result of his support for Austria in the Austro-Prussian War. In 1866, Hanover was annexed by Prussia. George never abdicated from the throne of Hanover and he and Marie lived in exile at Gmunden, Austria. After George’s death, Marie continued living in the Villa Thun in Gmunden which became known as the Queen’s Villa and is still owned by the House of Hanover. Through her son Ernst Augustus, Marie is the ancestor of former King Constantine I of Greece, his sister Queen Sofia of Spain, Sofia’s son King Felipe VI of Spain, and Prince Ernst Augustus of Hanover (third husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco).
Unofficial Royalty: Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, Queen of Hanover

January 9, 1982 – Birth of The Princess of Wales, wife of Prince William, The Prince of Wales, born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, England
Catherine is the eldest of three children of Michael Middleton and Carole Goldsmith. In 2001 she enrolled at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. It was here that Catherine met Prince William, second in the line of succession to the British throne. First as friends, and later flat-mates, a couple of years later, their relationship became romantic. After graduating in 2005, Catherine worked for her family’s business Party Pieces, and launched her own brand within the company in 2008, called First Birthdays. In addition, she worked as a part-time buyer for Jigsaw Junior, a London-based clothing company. Following intense media scrutiny and speculation, and a brief and very public breakup, Catherine and William became engaged while on holiday in Kenya in October 2010. The engagement was formally announced on November 16, 2010. On April 29, 2011, the couple married at Westminster Abbey. Catherine and William have two sons and one daughter.
Unofficial Royalty: Catherine, The Princess of Wales

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