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Princess Mary of the United Kingdom, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh; Credit – Wikipedia

April 25, 1284 – Birth of King Edward II of England at Caernarvon Castle in Wales
Edward was the first English Prince of Wales. The tradition of conferring the title Prince of Wales on the heir apparent of the monarch is usually considered to have begun in 1301 when King Edward I of England invested his son Edward of Caernarfon with the title at a Parliament held in Lincoln. Since then, the title has been granted (with a few exceptions) to the heir apparent of the English or British monarch. Edward II succeeded his father, King Edward I in 1307. The granting of favors to Edward II’s favorites greatly displeased the English nobility. His wife Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March decided to depose Edward II, resulting in his forced abdication. Edward II and Isabella’s son was crowned King Edward III, and Isabella and Mortimer served as regents for the teenage king. King Edward II was sent to Berkeley Castle, where castle records indicate he was well treated. The circumstances of what happened to him are uncertain. One theory is that he died at Berkeley Castle on September 21, 1327, murdered on the orders of Isabella and Mortimer. When King Edward III reached the age of 18, he conducted a coup d’état against Mortimer and Isabella, resulting in the execution of Mortimer and the confinement of his mother at Castle Rising in Norfolk.
Unofficial Royalty: King Edward II of England

April 25, 1566 – Death of Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henri II of France, at the Château d’Anet near Dreux, Eure-et-Loir, France; buried in the funeral chapel on the grounds of the Château d’Anet
Diane de Poitiers was the royal mistress of King Henri II of France from around 1534 until the King died in 1559. During that time, she was considered France’s most powerful and influential woman, far surpassing the King’s wife, Catherine de’ Medici.
Unofficial Royalty: Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henri II of France

April 25, 1775 – Birth of Carlota Joaquina of Spain, Queen of Portugal, wife of King João VI of Portugal, at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Spain
Full name: Carlota Joaquina Teresa Cayetana
The daughter of Carlos IV, King of Spain, Carlota Joaquina married the future João VI, King of Portugal in 1785. The couple had nine children, including two Kings of Portugal and one Queen Consort of Spain. In 1816, Carlota Joaquina’s husband became King of Portugal. In 1824, Carlota Joaquina plotted with her son Miguel to overthrow her husband and place Miguel on the throne. The plot was discovered, and King João VI reprimanded his son Miguel, deposed him from command of the army, and exiled him.  Later in the year, another rebellion organized by Carlota Joaquina was discovered, and she was placed under house arrest in the Palace of Queluz. In 1826, João VI died, and it was suspected that he was poisoned. In 2000, a team of researchers exhumed the ceramic pot that contained João VI’s heart. An analysis of his heart detected enough arsenic to kill two people, confirming suspicions that João VI had been murdered. For the rest of her life, Carlota Joaquina remained confined in the Palace of Queluz, where she died alone and abandoned by her children on January 7, 1830, at the age of 56
Unofficial Royalty: Carlota Joaquina of Spain, Queen of Portugal

April 25, 1776 – Birth of Princess Mary of the United Kingdom, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom, at Buckingham Palace in London, England
Princess Mary was one of three of the six daughters of King George III who eventually married.  At the age of 48, she married her paternal first cousin, Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the son of King George III’s brother, Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. Mary was a great favorite with all the members of the royal family, particularly with her niece, Queen Victoria. She died at age 81, the longest-lived and the last survivor of her parents’ fifteen children. Mary also has the distinction of being the only child of King George III to be photographed – a photo with her niece Queen Victoria and two of Victoria’s children, Princess Alice and the Prince of Wales (future Edward VII) – which can be seen in the article linked below.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester

April 25, 1805 – Death of Anna Petrovna Lopukhina, mistress of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, in Turin, First French Empire, now in Italy; buried in the St. Lazarus Church at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, Russia
Anna was the mistress of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia for several years before his assassination in 1801. Anna had married Prince Pavel Gavrilovich Gagarin. After the death of Emperor Paul, the benefits that Pavel would reap from being married to Paul’s official mistress were now gone, and Pavel and Anna’s marriage deteriorated. Both Pavel and Anna had affairs. Anna’s affair was with Prince Boris Antonovich Chetvertinsky. On February 5, 1805, Anna gave birth to Boris Antonovich’s daughter. Six weeks later, Anna, aged 27, died from tuberculosis. Her infant daughter died a few weeks later.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna Petrovna Lopukhina, mistress of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia

April 25, 1806 – Birth of Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick in Brunswick, Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
Full name: Wilhelm August Ludwig Maximilian Friedrich
Wilhelm was the second Duke of Brunswick, reigning from 1830 until 1884. Under Wilhelm’s regency, the Duchy of Brunswick was granted a new constitution that extended significant fundamental rights to the people. He quickly became much more popular than his brother had ever been. He let his government do much of the ruling, leaving his ministers to handle most of the government business, and spending much of his time at his estates. Wilhelm never married, but he had a number of illegitimate children.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick

April 25, 1843 – Birth of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria, at Buckingham Palace in London, England
Full name: Alice Maud Mary
Alice was known as the family caregiver, having nursed both her maternal grandmother and her father through their last days and then supported her widowed mother in her intense grief. Seven months after her father’s death, Alice married the future Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine in a somber marriage ceremony.  Alice was a hemophilia carrier. Her hemophiliac son Friedrich (Frittie) died after a fall. Two of Alice’s daughters were hemophilia carriers – Irene, who transmitted the disease to two of her sons, and Alix, who married Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, and transmitted hemophilia to her only son. Alice and her husband are the great-grandparents of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Sadly, Alice died, aged 35, on December 14, 1878, the 17th anniversary of her father’s death, of diphtheria after nursing her family through the disease. Her youngest child May had died from the disease a month earlier.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine

April 25, 1885 – Death of Emma, Queen Consort of the Hawaiian Islands, wife of King Kamehameha IV, in Honolulu, Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands, now in the state of Hawaii; first buried at the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla in Honolulu, later moved to the Kamehameha Tomb, an underground vault, under the Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb, on the grounds of the Royal Mausoleum
On June 19, 1856, 20-year-old Emma became Queen of the Hawaiian Islands when she married 22-year-old King Kamehameha IV. Emma and Alexander had one son, Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha, named in honor of Queen Victoria’s eldest son Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. Kamehameha IV met Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, on an around-the-world trip from 1849 to 1852. Queen Victoria agreed to become Albert Edward’s godmother by proxy. Queen Emma and Queen Victoria had a long-term friendship via letters. The two Queens met in the United Kingdom in 1865. Sadly, four-year-old Prince Albert Edward died at the age of four. A year later, Kamehameha IV died. In 1883, Emma had the first of several small strokes. On April 25, 1885, Emma died from a series of strokes, aged 49, in Honolulu.
Unofficial Royalty: Emma, Queen Consort of the Hawaiian Islands, wife of King Kamehameha IV

April 25, 1897 – Birth of Mary, Princess Royal, daughter of King George V of the United Kingdom, at Marlborough House in London, England
Full name: Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary
Mary was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary and the paternal aunt of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1922, Mary married the future Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, and the couple had two sons. Mary continued to carry out engagements during the reigns of her brother King George VI and her niece Queen Elizabeth II.  After her husband died in 1947, Mary lived at Harewood House with her elder son George, the 7th Earl of Harewood, and his family. On March 28, 1965, Mary went for a walk on the grounds of Harewood House with her elder son George and two of her grandsons. She stumbled and fell, and her son helped her to a seat while his sons ran back to the house to get help. Before help arrived, Mary died peacefully in her son’s arms from a heart attack at the age of 67.
Unofficial Royalty: Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood

April 25, 1941 – Birth of Princess Muna al-Hussein of Jordan, second wife of King Hussein I of Jordan and mother of King Abdullah II of Jordan, born Antoinette Avril Gardiner in Chelmondiston, Suffolk, England 
While Antoinette was working as a secretary on the production of the film Lawrence of Arabia in Jordan, Antoinette met her future husband, King Hussein I of Jordan. Antoinette converted to Islam and took the name Muna-al Hussein. The couple married in 1961 and had four children, including King Abdullah II of Jordan. Unlike King Hussein’s other wives, she was never created Queen of Jordan.  In 1971, King Hussein and Princess Muna divorced, but she retained her titles.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Muna al-Hussein

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Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

April 24, 1533 – Birth of Willem I of Orange-Nassau (the Silent), Prince of Orange, at Dillenburg Castle, then in the County of Nassau-Dillenburg in the Holy Roman Empire, now in Hesse, Germany
In the Netherlands, Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange is known as the Vader des Vaderlands (Father of the Fatherland), and the Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, was written in his honor. He got his nickname “the Silent” (in Dutch De Zwijger) not because he was quiet, but because of his habit of holding his tongue in difficult situations. Willem is the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau and the ancestor of the Dutch monarchs, the British monarchs from King George I forward, and other European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: Willem I, Prince of Orange

April 24, 1608 – Birth of Gaston of France, Duke of Orléans, son of King Henri IV of France, at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France
Gaston, Duke of Orléans could be considered the black sheep of his family. Twice he had to leave France for conspiring against the government of his brother, King Louis XIII. When his brother refused to grant permission for Gaston to marry Marguerite of Lorraine after the death of his first wife, Gaston married her anyway and kept the marriage secret. Because of his participation against the government in a series of civil wars, Gaston was exiled to one of his homes for the last seven years of his life.
Unofficial Royalty: Gaston of France, Duke of Orléans

 Birth of April 24, 1777 – Birth of Maria Clementina of Austria, Duchess of Calabria, first wife of the future Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies, at the Villa del Poggio Imperiale in Poggio Imperiale, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
Full name: Maria Clementina Josepha Johanna Fidele
In 1797, Maria Clementina married the future Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies, and took on the female version of his title at that time, Duchess of Calabria. Maria Clementina and Francesco had two children, but she died from tuberculosis on November 15, 1801, aged 24.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Clementina of Austria, Duchess of Calabria

April 24, 1783 – Death of Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, at Neskuchnoe, his estate near Moscow, Russia; buried at  the Orthodox Church of St. George Monastery in Velikiy Novgorod, Russia
Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov and his four brothers organized the coup d’etat that overthrew the husband of Catherine II the Great, Empress of All Russia (born Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst), and gave her the throne of the Russian Empire. He gave Catherine the famous Orlov Diamond, used in the scepter of the Romanov rulers, and was the father of at least one of Catherine’s children, Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky. Catherine and Orlov had a long relationship from 1759 to 1774, spanning the time Catherine was a Grand Duchess and Empress.
Unofficial Royalty: Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia

April 24, 1852 – Death of Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany; buried in the Karlsruhe Stadtkirche, and after World War II, his remains were moved to the Grand Ducal Chapel in the Pheasant Garden in Karlsruhe
In 1819, Leopold married Princess Sofia of Sweden. The couple had eight children, including two Grand Dukes of Baden. Leopold became Grand Duke of Baden in 1830, upon the death of his unmarried brother Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Baden, and held the throne for just over 22 years.
Unofficial Royalty: Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden

April 24, 1865 – Death of Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, from cerebrospinal meningitis in Nice, France; buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
Although Nicholas was born to succeed his father as Emperor of All Russia, it was not to be. He died from cerebrospinal meningitis, the same disease that had claimed the life of his elder sister Alexandra Alexandrovna when she was just six years old. Nicholas had been engaged to marry Princess Dagmar of Denmark, who was at his deathbed. There is an uncorroborated story that shortly before he died, Nicholas clasped together the hands of Dagmar and his brother, the future Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, begging them to marry. The couple did marry in 1866 and had six children, including Nicholas II, the last Emperor of All Russia, who was named in honor of his deceased uncle.
Unofficial Royalty: Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia

April 24, 1923 – Death of Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach at Schloss Heinrichau, the family’s estate in Heinrichau, Silesia, now Henryków, Poland; buried in the park at Schloss Heinrichau
From 1897 until 1909, Wilhelm Ernst was the heir presumptive to the Dutch throne. King Willem III of the Netherlands died in 1890, leaving the throne to his ten-year-old daughter Wilhelmina. As a grandson of Princess Sophie of the Netherlands, the younger sister of King Willem III, Wilhelm Ernst was the next person in the line of succession. Wilhelm Ernst was the last Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, abdicating on November 9, 1918. He was stripped of his throne and his properties and forced into exile.  He took up residence at Schloss Heinrichau, the family’s estate in Heinrichau, Silesia, now Henryków, Poland, where he died on April 24, 1923, aged 46.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

April 24, 1981 – Death of Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in Langenburg, Germany; buried in the Hohenlohe-Langenburg family cemetery
Although Margarita and her sisters were not invited to their brother Philip’s wedding due to the strong anti-German sentiment so soon after World War II, she and Philip remained close. In 1950, she was named one of the godparents of Philip’s daughter, Princess Anne. In 1953, Margarita, her surviving sisters, and their mother were prominent guests at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Margarita’s grandson Philipp, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Head of the House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, was one of the thirty guests at the funeral of his great-uncle Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

April 24, 1986 – Death of Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, wife of The Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, at Villa Windsor in Bois de Boulogne, Paris, France; buried next to her husband at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in Windsor, England
The Duchess of Windsor survived her husband by fourteen years. Her funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and was attended by her two surviving sisters-in-law: The Queen Mother and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and also Queen Elizabeth II, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Anne, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Prince and Princess of Wales also attended the burial.
Unofficial Royalty: Wallis, The Duchess of Windsor

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Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English; Credit – Wikipedia

April 23, 1016 – Death of Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English, in London, England; buried at (old) St. Paul’s Cathedral (destroyed in the Great Fire of London)
Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English was from the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex. He was a great-great-grandson of King Alfred the Great and the father of two kings, Edmund Ironside and Edward the Confessor. His nickname in Old English was unræd, which means “no counsel” and describes the poor quality of advice Æthelred received throughout his reign. Æthelred is number eight on the top ten list of longest-reigning British monarchs.
Unofficial Royalty: Æthelred II, King of the English

April 23, 1151 – Death of Adeliza of Louvain, Queen of England, second wife of King Henry I of England, at Afflighem in Flanders, now in Belgium; buried at the Abbey of Afflighem in Afflighem
Because Henry I’s only son died in the White Ship disaster, it was necessary for him to marry again after the death of his first wife. His second wife Adeliza and the wives of King Henry VIII of England probably had a similar amount of pressure put on them to produce a male heir.  However, Adeliza’s marriage to King Henry I was childless. After Henry I’s death, Adeliza married William d’Aubigny, 1st Earl of Lincoln and 1st Earl of Arundel, and the couple had seven children.   Among  Adeliza and William’s descendants are the well-known Howard family and the Dukes of Norfolk. In 1150, Adeliza left her family and retired to Affligem Abbey in Flemish Brabant (now in Belgium) near where she grew up. She died at Affligem Abbey on April 23, 1151, at the age of 48, and was buried at the abbey.
Unofficial Royalty: Adeliza of Louvain, Queen of England

April 23, 1307 – Death of Joan of Acre, daughter of King Edward I of England, at Clare Castle in Clare, Suffolk, England; buried at Clare Priory in Clare, Suffolk, England
Joan was the daughter of King Edward I of England and his first wife Eleanor of Castile. She was born in Acre, Palestine, while her parents participated in the Crusades. In 1290, Joan married Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, and probably the most powerful English baron. Gilbert was twenty-nine years older than Joan and had been previously married to Alice de Lusignan, the half-niece of King Henry III, but the marriage was annulled in 1285. Joan and Gilbert had four children. The couple’s marriage lasted only five years as Gilbert died in 1295, aged 52. Joan fell in love with Ralph de Monthermer, a squire in the service of the de Clare family. After Joan persuaded her father to knight Ralph, they secretly married in 1297. When Joan’s father found out about the marriage, Ralph was arrested, but King Edward I relented and released Ralph from prison. Ralph managed to win the favor of his father-in-law and kept it until the end of King Edward I’s reign. Joan and Ralph had four children. Joan died on April 23, 1307, at Clare Castle in Clare, Suffolk, England at the age of 35. The cause of Joan’s death is unknown, but she may have died during childbirth, a common cause of death at the time.
Unofficial Royalty: Joan of Acre, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester

April 23, 1464 – Birth of Jeanne of France, Queen of France, Saint Joan of Valois in Nogent-le-Roi, County of Dreux, now in France
Jeanne was the daughter of King Louis XI of France and the first of the three wives of King Louis XII of France.  After Jeanne and Louis XII’s marriage was annulled, Jeanne founded the monastic Order of the Sisters of the Annunciation of Mary and was canonized as a saint in 1950.
Unofficial Royalty: Jeanne of France, Queen of France, Saint Joan of Valois

April 23, 1625 – Death of Maurits, Prince of Orange, at The Hague, the Netherlands; buried at Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands
Maurits was the only surviving son and the fourth of the five children of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange and his second wife Anna of Saxony. In 1618, Maurits succeeded his childless half-brother Filip Willem. Maurits never married, but he did have a number of illegitimate children.
Unofficial Royalty: Maurits, Prince of Orange

April 23, 1751 – Death of Prince Jacques I of Monaco at Hôtel Matignon in Paris, France
Born Jacques François Leonor Goyon de Matignon from a wealthy French noble family, Jacques was the husband of Louise-Hippolyte, Sovereign Princess of Monaco, and was briefly the Sovereign Prince of Monaco. Louise-Hippolyte and Jacques had nine children, but only four survived to adulthood. The former Jacques I, Prince of Monaco, died, aged 61, on April 23, 1751, at his Paris home, the Hôtel de Matignon. He was buried at the Église Saint-Laurent, the burial site of Jacques’ birth family, in Torigni-sur-Vire in France, but his remains were lost during the French Revolution.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Jacques I of Monaco

April 23, 1800 – Birth of Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, wife of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe, in Sonderhausen, then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, now in the German state of Thuringia
Full name: Emilie Friederike Caroline
Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was the wife of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe. Emilie and Leopold had nine children, including three reigning Princes of Lippe, but none of their children had children. Leopold II had a passion for the theater, and with the help of his wife Emilie, the Lippe Princely Court Theater was established in Detmold in 1825. The theater established by Leopold II and Emilie is still in existence today. Now called the Landestheater Detmold, it is a theater for operas, operettas, musicals, ballets, and stage plays in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Unofficial Royalty: Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Princess of Lippe

April 23, 1828 – Birth of King Albert of Saxony in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany
Full name: Friedrich August Albert Anton Ferdinand Joseph Karl Maria Baptist Nepomuk Wilhelm Xaver Georg Fidelis
In 1853, Albert married Princess Carola of Vasa, the daughter of Gustaf, Prince of Vasa (formerly the Crown Prince of Sweden). When Albert’s father King  Johann of Saxony died in 1873, he succeeded him as King of Saxony. For the most part, his reign was quiet and uneventful, as he focused primarily on military affairs and did not involve himself much in politics. Perhaps his greatest contribution was the establishment of the Albertstadt, a suburb in Dresden. In the late 1890s, he was appointed an arbitrator in the dispute over succession in the Principality of Lippe. Albert’s marriage was childless, and he was succeeded by his younger brother Georg.
Unofficial Royalty: King Albert of Saxony

April 23, 1922 – Death of Lord Leopold Mountbatten, grandson of Queen Victoria, at Kensington Palace in London, England; buried at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore near Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Leopold was the son of Princess Beatrice, daughter of Queen Victoria, and Prince Henry of Battenberg.  His mother was a hemophilia carrier, and he inherited the disease from her.  Leopold never married. On April 22, 1922, Leopold had hip surgery at Kensington Palace. He appeared to be making a normal recovery but had a relapse and died on April 23, 1922, at the age of 32.
Unofficial Royalty: Lord Leopold Mountbatten
Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Descendants

April 23, 1923 – Death of Luise of Prussia, Grand Duchess of Baden, daughter of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, wife of Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, in Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany; buried in the Grand Ducal Chapel in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Luise was the daughter of Wilhelm I, King of Prussia and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. She had one older brother Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia. In 1856, Luise married the future Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden. The couple had three children, including Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden and Victoria, who married King Gustav V of Sweden. Luise became involved in charitable causes in Baden, particularly those that helped and promoted women. Luise’s husband died in 1907. Luise and her daughter Queen Victoria of Sweden, who was visiting, fled to Zwingenberg Palace in Zwingenberg, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The new Baden government then granted Luise permission to stay at Langenstein Castle, owned by the Swedish Count Douglas, who was related to the Baden Grand Ducal family through marriage. The Baden government ordered that Luise and her family be protected, primarily because her daughter was Queen of Sweden, and they did not want to cause diplomatic problems. In 1919, Luise was permitted to return to Neues Schloss (New Castle) in Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany where she died at the age of 85.
Unofficial Royalty: Luise of Prussia, Grand Duchess of Baden

April 23, 2018 – Birth of Prince Louis of Wales, son of Prince William, The Prince of Wales, at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, England
Full name: Louis Arthur Charles
Prince Louis is the second son of the two sons and the youngest of the three children of Prince William, The Prince of Wales. The Succession to The Crown Act 2013, which formally went into effect on March 26, 2015, put in place absolute primogeniture for those born after October 28, 2011. Now the eldest child becomes the heir to his or her parent, regardless of gender. This means that Prince Louis is now fourth in the line of succession after his father, The Prince of Wales, his elder brother, Prince George of Wales, and his elder sister, Princess Charlotte of Wales. With the birth of Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte became the first princess not to be overtaken in the line of succession by her younger brother.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Louis of Wales

April 23, 2019 – Death of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; buried in the Ducal Crypt at the Cathedral Notre-Dame of Luxembourg in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Grand Duke Jean was the eldest of six children of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma. During World War II, Jean joined the Irish Guards of the British Army on the advice of King George VI of the United Kingdom. After preliminary training, Jean completed his military education at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and was later promoted to lieutenant. Jean landed near Bayeux, Normandy, five days after D-Day. He took part in the Battle for Caen and the liberation of Brussels. On September 10, 1944, he took part in the liberation of Luxembourg before participating in the invasion of Germany. In 1953, Jean married Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, daughter of Léopold III, King of the Belgians, and the couple had five children. In 1964, Jean’s mother Grand Duchess Charlotte abdicated, and he became Grand Duke. Grand Duke Jean reigned until 2000 when he abdicated in favor of his eldest son Henri. Jean died on April 23, 2019, at the age of 98, after being hospitalized with a pulmonary condition.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg
Unofficial Royalty: Funeral of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg

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Queen Isabella I of Castile and Leon; Credit – Wikipedia

April 22, 1355 – Death of Eleanor of Woodstock, daughter of King Edward II of England, at Deventer Abbey in Gueldres, now in the Netherlands; buried at Deventer Abbey
In 1332, 14-year-old Eleanor married 37-year-old Reinald II, then Count of Guelders and later Duke of Guelders. The couple had two sons, and Eleanor was stepmother to Reinald’s four daughters from his first marriage. In  1343, 48-year-old Reinald II, Duke of Guelders died after a riding accident. Eleanor was named one of the Regents for her nine-year-old son Reinald III, Duke of Guelders, but the other Regents made the situation so difficult for her that she was forced to resign. In 1350, with encouragement from his mother, Eleanor’s younger son Edward began a civil war against his brother Reinald III for control of the Duchy of Guelders. When Eleanor attempted to reconcile with her son Reinald, he rejected her reconciliation attempts and confiscated her property. Eleanor was then forced to retire to the Cistercian where she died in poverty on April 22, 1355, aged 36.
Unofficial Royalty: Eleanor of Woodstock, Duchess of Guelders

April 22, 1451 –  Birth of Queen Isabella I of Castile and Leon at Madrigal de las Altas Torres in Avila, Spain
Isabella was the wife of King Ferdinand of Aragon and the mother of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. Her great-grandfather was John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III of England. The marriage of Queen Isabella I of Castile and León (reigned 1474 – 1504) and King Ferdinand II (Fernando in Spanish) of Aragon (reigned 1479 – 1516) led to the political unification of the Kingdom of Aragon and the Kingdom of Castile and León into the Kingdom of Spain under their grandson King Charles I (Carlos in Spanish), King of Spain who later also became Charles V, Holy Roman Empire.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Isabella I of Castile and Leon

April 22, 1736 – Birth of Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden, the illegitimate son of King George II of Great Britain and his mistress Amalie von Wallmoden, in Hanover in the Electorate of Hanover, now in the German state of Lower Saxony
Born on April 22, 1736, in Hanover in the Electorate of Hanover, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden was the illegitimate son of King George II of Great Britain and Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of Yarmouth, George II’s mistress from 1735 until he died in 1760.  Johann Ludwig was brought up at his father’s court and received a comprehensive education. During a grand tour of Italy, Johann Ludwig began to collect art and antiquities. Johann Ludwig joined the Hanoverian Army and rose to the rank of major general. Johann Ludwig married two times: to Charlotte Christiane Auguste Wilhelmine von Wangenheim, with whom he had five children, and to Baroness Luise Christiane von Lichtenstein, with whom he had three children.
Unofficial Royalty: Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden

April 22, 1847 – Birth of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
As the third son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, Vladimir was considered distant from the throne, but in 1865, the death of his eldest brother Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich at the age of 21 changed that. Vladimir was then the second in the line of succession after his elder brother Alexander, the future Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia.  In 1874, Vladimir married Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and they had four sons and one daughter. On February 17, 1909, 61-year-old Vladimir died suddenly after suffering a major cerebral hemorrhage. Today, the most recognized claimant as the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia is through Vladimir’s line. Queen Elizabeth II’s first cousins, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and his sister and brother, Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael, are Vladimir’s great-grandchildren through his daughter Elena, who married into the Greek royal family.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia

April 22, 1852 – Birth of Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg, as Wilhelm Alexander, Hereditary Prince of Nassau in Biebrich Palace in Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau, now Hesse, Germany
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was united with the Netherlands, and King Willem I of the Netherlands was also Grand Duke of Luxembourg. This rule continued until King Willem III of the Netherlands died in 1890. His successor was his daughter Wilhelmina, who could not inherit the throne of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg due to the Salic Law, which prevented female succession. Through the Nassau Family Pact, Wilhelm’s father Adolph became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Wilhelm became His Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg on November 23, 1890. Usually, Wilhelm is styled using the French for Wilhelm, Guillaume. In 1893, he married Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal, and the couple had six daughter,s including two reigning Grand Duchesses of Luxembourg.
Unofficial Royalty: Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

April 22, 1868 – Birth of Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, in Ofen (Buda), Hungary
Full name: Marie Valerie Mathilde Amalie
Valerie’s elder siblings had been raised by her paternal grandmother, Archduchess Sophie, born a Princess of Bavaria, who was also the maternal aunt of Valerie’s mother Empress Elisabeth, also born a Princess of Bavaria. Empress Elisabeth was never close to her two elder surviving children. An older and wiser Empress Elisabeth decided that her youngest child Valerie would be hers and hers alone. Her obvious preference for Valerie can be seen by the nickname her mother gave her – die Einzige – the only one. In 1890, Valerie married Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria-Tuscany. The couple had ten children.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria

April 22, 1872 – Birth of Princess Margarete of Prussia, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at Neues Palais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Margarete Beatrice Feodora
Known as Mossy, Margarete was the daughter of Friedrich III, German Emperor, King of Prussia and Victoria, Princess Royal. She married Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse. They had six sons, including two sets of twins. Two of their sons were killed in action during World War I, and one was killed in action during World War II. Christoph, the son killed in World War I, was the first husband of Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Margaret of Prussia, Landgravine of Hesse

April 22, 1897 – Death of Elizabeth Russell, Duchess of Bedford, Queen Victoria’s Mistress of the Robes 1880–1883 and Acting Mistress of the Robes 1886, at Latimer House near Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England; buried in the Bedford Chapel at St. Michael’s Church in Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England
Born Lady Elizabeth Sackville-West, she was the daughter of George Sackville-West, 5th Earl De La Warr. She married Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth Russell, Duchess of Bedford

April 22, 1906 – Birth of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, eldest son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, father of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
Full name: Gustaf Adolf Oscar Fredrik Arthur Edmund
Prince Gustaf Adolf was the father of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and would have himself become King of Sweden had he not died tragically in an airplane crash at the age of 40. His only son, nine-month-old Carl Gustaf, became second in the line of succession and would succeed his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf, in 1973.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten

April 22, 1922 – Death of Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 3rd wife of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands; buried at Schwerin Cathedral in Schwerin, Germany
In 1868, Marie married the widowed Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin as his third wife, and they had four children. Through their son Heinrich, who married Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Marie and her husband are ancestors of the Dutch royal family. Marie died while she was in The Netherlands for the 46th birthday celebrations of her son Heinrich.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

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