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Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

August 17, 1153 – Death of Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne, son of King Stephen of England, at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England; buried at Faversham Abbey in Kent, England
Eustace was the second but first surviving son of King Stephen and Matilda of Boulogne.  He became the ruler of his mother’s country in 1147 at the age of 21.  Eustace married Constance, the only daughter of King Louis VI of France.  He had a very unpleasant personality and more or less imprisoned his wife in Canterbury Castle.  He died childless “of fever” or “in a fit of madness” and was buried at Faversham Abbey.  At Eustace’s death, young Henry Fitzempress came to England to claim his rights to the English throne through his mother Empress Matilda (or Maud), the only surviving child of Henry I.  Stephen, who was Empress Matilda’s first cousin and Henry reached an agreement with the Treaty of Wallingford which allowed Stephen to rule until his death when the throne would pass to Henry who ruled as Henry II.
Unofficial Royalty: Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne

August 17, 1153 – Birth of William IX, Count of Poitiers, son of King Henry II of England, in Normandy, France
William was the first child of Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine and ironically was born on the day Eustace of Boulogne, King Stephen’s son and heir died. (See Eustace’s entry above for more information.) William died when he was three.
Unofficial Royalty: William  IX, Count of Poitiers

August 17, 1473 – Birth of Richard, Duke of York, son of King Edward IV of England, at the Dominican Friary in Shrewsbury, England
Sometimes called Richard of Shrewsbury after his place of birth, Richard, Duke of York and his elder brother briefly King Edward V of England have been immortalized as the two “Princes in the Tower” who mysteriously disappeared. Richard was the sixth of the ten children and the second of the three sons of King Edward IV of England, the first King of England from the House of York, and Elizabeth Woodville.
Unofficial Royalty: Richard, Duke of York

 August 17, 1786 – Death of Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia, at the Palace of Sanssouci in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany; originally buried at the Garrison Church in Potsdam, re-buried at the Palace of Sanssouci
King Friedrich II of Prussia, best known as Frederick the Great, was the son of Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Great Britain. In 1733, Friedrich married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, but they spent most of their lives separated, seeing each other only a handful of times after he became King. They had no children, and upon becoming King in 1740, Friedrich named his brother Augustus as Crown Prince. Augustus predeceased Friedrich so his son succeeded as King Friedrich Wilhelm II. Aside from his promotion of the arts, Friedrich proved himself a skilled military commander and is attributed with great advancements in his kingdom. Friedrich II died quietly in his study at the Palace of Sanssouci at the age of 74.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia

August 17, 1786 – Birth of Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld, Duchess of Kent, wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent; mother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, at Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in Bavaria, Germany
Full name: Marie Luise Viktoria
In November of 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 King George III to provide an heir to the throne.  Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (fourth son of King George III) married the 32-year-old widow Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Edward had never married but had lived for 28 years with his mistress Julie de Montgenêt de Saint-Laurent. In September 1818, Edward and Victoria set out for Leiningen, where the Duchess of Kent’s young son from her first marriage was the Sovereign Prince. However, when the Duchess became pregnant, they were determined to return to England so the possible heir to the throne would be born there. They took up residence in an apartment at Kensington Palace and it was there that their only child, the future Queen Victoria, was born on May 24, 1819.
Unofficial Royalty: Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld, Duchess of Kent

August 17, 1887 – Birth of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, at the Castle of Persenbeug in Persenbeug-Gottsdorf, Austria
Full name: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Maria
In 1911, Karl married Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. The couple had eight children. Their oldest child Otto, who was Crown Prince during his father’s short reign, was the longest surviving of their children and died on July 4, 2011, at the age of 98. In 1889, after the suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, the next heir was Karl’s grandfather Archduke Karl Ludwig, but within a few days, he renounced his claim in favor of his son Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir until his assassination on June 28, 1914, an event that was one of the causes of World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been allowed to make a morganatic marriage with the condition that the children of the marriage would not have succession rights. Upon Franz Ferdinand’s death, Karl became the heir. He succeeded to the throne upon the death of Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1916 and was the last Emperor of Austria. Karl spent the rest of his life in exile, dying in 1922. On October 3, 2004, Pope John Paul II beatified Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, and he is known as Blessed Karl of Austria. Beatification is the third of four steps toward sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. On January 31, 2008, the Roman Catholic Church, after a 16-month investigation, formally recognized a second miracle attributed to Karl I which is required for his canonization as a saint. However, no word on his canonization has been forthcoming.
Unofficial Royalty: Karl I, Emperor of Austria

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