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Emperor Meiji of Japan;  Credit – Wikipedia

November 3, 1456 – Death of Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, father of King Henry VII of England, died of the plague in captivity at Carmarthen Castle in Wales; initially buried in the Grey Friars Church in Carmarthen, Wales; during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the reign of his grandson King Henry VIII, Edmund Tudor remains were moved to St. David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire
Edmund Tudor was the father of Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch of England, and the ancestor of the British royal family and most other European royal families. He was the son of Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudor, better known as Owen Tudor, and Catherine of Valois, Dowager Queen of England, the widow of King Henry V of England. In 1455, Edmund married Lady Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of King Edward III of England through her father. The Wars of the Roses, the fight for the English throne between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, had just started and Edmund, a Lancastrian, was taken prisoner by the Yorkists less than a year later. He died of the plague in captivity at Carmarthen Castle in Wales on November 3, 1456, leaving a 13-year-old widow who was seven months pregnant with their child, the future King Henry VII.
Unofficial Royalty: Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond

November 3, 1777 – Birth of Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom, at Buckingham Palace in London, England
Full name: Sophia Matilda
Known for giving birth to an illegitimate son, Sophia was one of the three daughters of King George III who never married. Sophia’s childhood was very sheltered and she spent most of her time with her parents and sisters. The living conditions of King George’s daughters came to be known as “the Nunnery.”  Limited in exposure to eligible men, Sophia and several of her sisters became involved with courtiers and equerries. Major-General Thomas Garth, an equerry to King George III, was 56 years old, 33 years older than Sophia, and had a large purple birthmark that disfigured his face. Sophia and Garth were allegedly lovers during the winter of 1799 at Windsor Castle, resulting in a pregnancy. In the summer of 1800, Sophia went to the seaside town of Weymouth, a holiday destination for the royal family, pretending to be suffering from dropsy. Apparently, on August 5, 1800, Sophia gave birth to a son in Weymouth. The child was adopted by a local couple. Eventually, Major-General Garth adopted the boy, renamed him Thomas Garth (Tommy), had him educated at Harrow School, made him his heir, and helped him in an army career in the 15th The King’s Hussars, his old regiment.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom

November 3, 1852 – Birth of Emperor Meiji of Japan at the Gosho, the palace compound, in Kyoto, Japan
Birth name: Mutsuhito
Meiji’s father Emperor Kōmei died suddenly in 1867 at the age of 36 and 14-year-old Meiji became Emperor. Since 1185, a shogun, a military dictator, had been the de facto ruler of Japan, although the shoguns were appointed by the Emperor. In 1868, the last shogun lost power, and in the name and with the support of the young emperor, a new, more Western-oriented upper class initiated the modernization of Japan known as the Meiji Restoration. Under Emperor Meiji’s reign, Japan started to become an industrial and naval power. The old feudal system was abolished and public state schools were introduced along with the Gregorian calendar. In 1890, the Emperor made the greatest contribution to the modernization of Japan with the enactment of a constitution.
Unofficial Royalty: Emperor Meiji of Japan

November 3, 1901 – Birth of Leopold III, King of the Belgians at the Palace of the Marquis d’Assche in Brussels, Belgium
Full name: Léopold Philippe Charles Albert Meinrad Hubertus Marie Miguel
Leopold III became king in 1934 after his father Albert I, King of the Belgians fell to his death while mountain climbing. In 1926, Leopold married Princess Astrid of Sweden and the couple had three children. Sadly, in August 1935, Astrid was killed in a car accident while the family was on vacation in Switzerland. In September 1941, Leopold married Lilian Baels. Following the marriage, Lilian was given the title Princess de Réthy and was not styled as Queen. It was also decided that any children would be Prince/Princess of Belgium but without any rights of succession.  Leopold and Lilian had three children. At the beginning of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasion in May 1940, he surrendered his country, earning him much hostility, both in Belgium and around the world. Leopold and his family were held under house arrest before being liberated by the Americans in 1945. Leopold was banned for several years from returning to Belgium, where his brother Prince Charles had been declared regent. Leopold’s eventual return to Belgium in 1950 nearly caused a civil war, and under pressure from the government, he abdicated in favor of his son Prince Baudouin in July 1951.
Unofficial Royalty: Leopold III, King of the Belgians

November 3, 1923 – Wedding of King Gustaf Adolf VI of Sweden and Lady Louise Mountbatten at the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace in London, England
Gustaf Adolf was previously married to Princess Margaret of Connaught from 1905 until her death in 1920. In June 1923, Lady Louise’s great-aunt, Princess Helena (the third daughter of Queen Victoria), passed away in London. Among those attending the funeral was Gustaf Adolf. He and Louise were drawn to each other immediately, and despite her vow that she would never marry a king or a widower, fate had other plans. Their engagement was announced on July 1, 1923, by both the Swedish and British courts.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of King Gustaf Adolf VI of Sweden and Lady Louise Mountbatten

November 3, 1961 – Birth of David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, son of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom, at Clarence House in London, England
Full name: David Albert Charles
From 1980-1982, David studied the craft of woodworking at Parnham College in Beaminster, Dorset, England. He has had a career as a furniture designer and maker and set up his own company LINLEY in 1985. David does not have an official role, but he does take part in Royal Family events, such as Trooping the Colors. In 2002, while his grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was lying in state at Westminster Hall, David, along with his first cousins The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, and The Earl of Wessex, stood guard around their grandmother’s coffin.
Unofficial Royalty: David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon

November 3, 1970 – Death of King Peter II of Yugoslavia in Denver, Colorado; originally buried at St. Sava Monastery Church in Libertyville, Illinois, reburied in 2013 at the Royal Family Mausoleum in Oplenac, Serbia
After the assassination of his father King Alexander I in 1934,  11-year-old Peter ascended the throne of Yugoslavia. In 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by Nazi forces, and the government was forced to surrender. King Peter went into exile with the government. After settling in London, Peter married Princess Alexandra of Greece, the daughter of King Alexander I of Greece, and the couple had one son.  In 1944, a Communist government was established in Yugoslavia. The following year, the monarchy was officially abolished. After World War II, Peter and Alexandra left London, living in France and Switzerland before settling in the United States in 1949. The marriage suffered from the strain of Peter’s numerous affairs and the constant struggle to find sources of income. Eventually, they went their separate ways. Peter settled permanently in the United States while Alexandra took her son and moved to Venice with her mother. Suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, King Peter II died at the age of 47, following a failed liver transplant. Per his wishes, he was interred at the Saint Sava Monastery Church in Libertyville, Illinois. To date, he is the only European monarch to be buried in the United States. He was reburied in 2013 at the Royal Family Mausoleum in Oplenac, Serbia.
Unofficial Royalty: King Peter II of Yugoslavia

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© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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

November 2, 1083 – Death of Matilda of Flanders, Queen of England, wife of King William I (the Conqueror) of England, at Caen, Normandy, now in France; buried at Holy Trinity Abbey in Caen, Normandy
In 1051 or 1052, Matilda married William II, Duke of Normandy, the future King William I (the Conqueror) of England. Matilda was a direct descendant of the Anglo-Saxon king, Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, and this line of ancestry from Alfred the Great through the Counts of Flanders to Matilda was appealing to William. William and Matilda were devoted to each other and there is no evidence that William had illegitimate children. They had four sons and at least five daughters. After William became King of England in 1066, Matilda spent most of her time in the Duchy of Normandy where she took care of affairs of the duchy. In 1083, Matilda became ill. William rushed from England to Normandy to be at her bedside when she died at the age of about 52.
Unofficial Royalty: Matilda of Flanders, Queen of England

November 2, 1470 – Birth of King Edward V of England in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey in London, England
Immortalized as one of the “Princes in the Tower,” King Edward V of England, along with disputed monarchs Empress Matilda and Lady Jane Grey, and King Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936, is one of the four British monarchs since the Norman Conquest who were never crowned. During the Wars of the Roses, from October 1470 – April 1471, when the Lancastrian King Henry VI regained power, Edward’s father King Edward IV and his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III) fled to Burgundy where they knew they would be welcomed by their sister Margaret, who was the wife of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Edward’s mother Elizabeth Woodville and her children sought sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth’s first son, the future, but short-lived, King Edward V, was born there.
Unofficial Royalty: King Edward V of England

November 2, 1475 – Birth of Anne of York, Lady Howard, daughter of King Edward IV of England, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England
Anne of York was the fifth of the seven daughters and the seventh of the ten children of King Edward IV of England, the first King of England from the House of York, and Elizabeth Woodville. She was the sister of King Edward V (see above) and Richard, Duke of York, the Princes in the Tower, who were sent to the Tower of London and were never seen again. In 1495, Anne married Lord Thomas Howard, the future 3rd Duke of Norfolk, after Anne’s death. Thomas and Anne had four children but none survived childhood. Anne died after November 22 or 23, 1511, but before 1513, aged 36 – 38. She was originally buried at Thetford Priory in Thetford, Norfolk, England. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Anne’s husband, now Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, moved the remains of the Howard family members to the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Framlingham, Suffolk, England. He ordered an ornate tomb for Anne with the figures of the twelve apostles around the four sides.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne of York, Lady Howard

November 2, 1549 – Birth of Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain, fourth wife of King Felipe II of Spain, in Cigales, Spain
Anna of Austria was the niece and the fourth of the four wives of Felipe II, King of Spain, King of Portugal. She was the eldest of the six daughters and the eldest of the fifteen children of first cousins Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria and Maria of Spain. In 1570, she married Felipe II. They had five children but only one survived childhood, Felipe II’s successor Felipe III, King of Spain. Anna died from influenza at the age of 30, in 1580, eight months after giving birth to her youngest child.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain 

November 2, 1709 – Birth of Anne, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain, at Schloss Herrenhausen, in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
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

November 2, 1755 – Birth of Queen Marie Antoinette of France, wife of King Louis XVI of France; born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna (better known by her French name Marie Antoinette)
Maria Antonia was the fifteenth of the sixteen children of Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right, and Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor. After establishing peace with France, Empress Maria Theresa agreed to a marriage between Maria Antonia and Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France (the future King Louis XVI). Maria Antonia took the French version of her name, becoming Marie Antoinette, Dauphine of France. The following month, she arrived in her new country and met her husband for the first time. Two days later, on May 16, 1770, 15-year-old Marie Antoinette and 16-year-old Louis-Auguste were married in a grand ceremony held in the chapel of the Palace of Versailles.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Antonia of Austria, Queen of France (Marie Antoinette)

November 2, 1767 – Birth of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, son of King George III of Great Britain, father of Queen Victoria, at Buckingham Palace in London, England
Full name: Edward Augustus
Edward was the fourth son and the fifth of the fifteen children of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Julie de Montgenêt de Saint-Laurent was his mistress from 1790 – 1818 and accompanied him wherever he went until he married. In November 1817, the death in childbirth of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, necessitated the marriages of the unmarried sons of George III to provide an heir to the throne. Edward’s mistress Julie is said to have read the news of Edward’s engagement in the newspaper while seated at the breakfast table and reacted with violent hysterics. Edward was genuinely attached to her and deeply upset at their forced separation. On May 29, 1818, 50-year-old Edward married 32-year-old Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld at Schloss Ehrenburg in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in Bavaria, Germany. The future Queen Victoria, their only child was born at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819. Eight months later, Edward died.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent

November 2, 1773 – Death of Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg, Illegitimate daughter of King George I of Great Britain and his mistress Melusine von der Schulenburg,  in London, England; buried at Grosvenor Chapel in South Audley Street, London, England
King George I and Melusine von der Schulenburg had three daughters. Melusine’s daughters were never openly acknowledged as George I’s children. Instead, two of Melusine’s sisters and their husbands officially acknowledged them. On December 31, 1707, Anna Luise Sophie married Ernst August Philipp von dem Bussche zu Ippenburg but the marriage was unhappy and childless. In 1716, Anna Luise Sophie’s husband caught her in bed with another man and divorced her. On November 2, 1773, 81-year-old Anna Luise Sophie died at her home in London. She requested to be buried with her mother at Grosvenor Chapel in South Audley Street, London, England.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg

November 2, 1810 – Death of Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom, at Augusta Lodge at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England; buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, England
Born 21 years after her eldest sibling, Princess Amelia was the sixth daughter and the youngest of the fifteen children of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Like three of her six sisters, Amelia never married. Limited in exposure to eligible men, Amelia and several sisters became involved with courtiers and equerries. Amelia became involved with Colonel The Honorable Charles Fitzroy, an equerry to King George III and a great-great-great-grandson of King Charles II of England and his mistress Barbara Villiers. Amelia had always been sickly and by 1810, she was fatally ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. In the autumn of 1810, in addition to tuberculosis, Amelia was suffering from erysipelas, an acute skin infection. Before the advent of antibiotics, erysipelas frequently resulted in death. Amelia’s case of erysipelas was particularly severe with the rash literally from her head to her toes. Amelia died at the age of 27 with her sister Mary at her bedside. Mary wrote to Fitzroy, “My dear Fitzroy, Our beloved Amelia is no more but her last words to me were, ‘Tell Charles I die blessing him.’” Amelia’s death is partly credited to the decline in her father’s health which resulted in his final insanity and the Regency Act of 1811.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom

November 2, 1929 – Death of Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, the morganatic, second wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, in Paris, France; buried at Colombes Gabriel Peri Cemetery in Colombes, France
Olga first married Major General Erich Augustinovich von Pistohlkors, an officer of the Imperial Guard and an aide to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich often spent evenings with him and his wife Olga, and an affair began between Paul and Olga. Olga gave birth in 1897 to a son, known as Vladimir von Pistohlkors because his mother was still married to Pistohlkors. Eventually, Olga divorced her husband and Paul asked for permission to marry Olga from his nephew Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia but Nicholas II denied permission. Paul made a morganatic marriage to Olga on October 10, 1902. Paul was banished from Russia, dismissed from his military commissions, and all his property was seized. Ten years later, Nicholas II relented and decided to pardon his only surviving paternal uncle. Grand Duke Paul’s titles and properties were returned and Nicholas II recognized Paul’s marriage to Olga. Olga and Paul had one son and two daughters. During the Russian Revolution, their son Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley was one of the five Romanovs executed on July 18, 1918, with Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. On January 28, 1919, her husband Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich along with three other Grand Dukes were executed by a firing squad in the courtyard of the Peter and Paul Fortress. In 1920, Olga settled in Paris, France where she died nine years later at the age of 64.
Unofficial Royalty: Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, Princess Paley

November 2, 1938 – Birth of Queen Sofia of Spain, wife of King Juan Carlos I of Spain, born Princess Sophia of Greece at Villa Psychiko in the suburbs of Athens, Greece
Full name: Sophia Margarita Victoria Frederika
Sofia is the daughter of King Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover, both descendants of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter Victoria, Princess Royal who married Friedrich III, German Emperor. On an August 1954 cruise aboard the Agamemnon, a 5,500-ton luxury liner owned by the Greek line Nomikes, funded by Sofia’s father and reportedly the idea of her mother, that Sofia first met her future husband Juan Carlos of Spain. Sofia and Juan Carlos met again in 1961 when Prince Edward, Duke of Kent married. A year later, Sofia and Juan Carlos were married. They had two daughters and one son, Felipe VI, the current King of Spain.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Sofia of Spain

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