© Unofficial Royalty 2024
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (left) with his brother and mother; Credit – Wikipedia
August 26, 1551 – Death of Margareta Leijonhufvud, Queen of Sweden, second of the three wives of King Gustav Vasa I of Sweden; died at Tynnelsö Castle in Strängnäs Municipality, Södermanland, Sweden; buried at Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden
Margareta was selected as the king’s second wife because she belonged to one of the leading Swedish noble families which created an alliance between the king and one of the most powerful factions of the nobility. Although Margareta was twenty years younger than her husband, she felt very comfortable in her role as Queen of Sweden and had a great influence on King Gustav I Vasa. Margareta gave birth to ten children. Her constant pregnancies took a toll on her health and she died from pneumonia at the age of 35.
Unofficial Royalty: Margareta Leijonhufvud, Queen of Sweden
August 26, 1728 – Death of Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia, wife of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia, at Villa della Regina in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy
Anne Marie is an important link in the Jacobite succession to the thrones of England and Scotland, and now to the United Kingdom. In 1688, Anne Marie’s maternal uncle James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots was deposed. After James II lost his throne, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his Roman Catholic heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland. When the line of the deposed King James II of England died out the Jacobite claims to the British throne descended from the line of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, James II’s sister, and Anne Marie’s mother. Since Anne Marie’s elder sister had died and had no children and her brother died in childhood, the Jacobite claims descended through Anne Marie. The Jacobite line of succession has proceeded over the years from the House of Savoy to the House of Austria-Este, and to the House of Wittelsbach (Bavaria). It appears in the future, that it will proceed to the House of Liechtenstein.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia
Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne
August 26, 1819 – Birth of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, at Schloss Rosenau in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Bavaria, Germany
Full name: Franz Albrecht August Karl Emanuel
The husband and first cousin of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Albert was the second of the two sons of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his first wife Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. The Coburg family had strong ties to the British royal family. Albert’s uncle Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (the future King of the Belgians) had married Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of King George IV, who had died in childbirth. His aunt Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld had married King George III’s son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and was the mother of the future Queen Victoria. Plans for a possible marriage between first cousins Victoria and Albert had first been mentioned by their grandmother the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld in letters to her daughter the Duchess of Kent in 1821. The idea was later taken up by their uncle Leopold.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
August 26, 1836 – Birth of Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry, Queen Victoria’s Mistress of the Robes 1885–1886, 1885–1886, 1895–1901 and Queen Alexandra’s Mistress of the Robes 1901-1912, in Brighton, Sussex, England
Born Lady Louisa Hamilton, she was the daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn and married William Montagu Douglas Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch and 8th Duke of Queensberry. They are the grandparents of the late Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester and the great-great-grandparents of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Sarah, Duchess of York.
Unofficial Royalty: Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry
August 26, 1850 – Death of Louis-Philippe I, King of the French, in exile at Claremont, Surrey, England; buried at the Chapelle Royale in Dreux, France
The economic crisis of 1847, led to the French Revolution of 1848 and, once again, the end of the French monarchy. On February 24, 1848, Louis Philippe abdicated in favor of his grandson, Philippe, Count of Paris. Afraid that he may be imprisoned and executed, he quickly left Paris, and using a disguise, made his way to England. Two days later, the Second Republic was declared, once again ending the monarchy in France. In England, Louis Philippe and his wife took up residence at Claremont, a country house in Surrey, England where he died in 1850.
Unofficial Royalty: Louis-Philippe I, King of the French
August 26, 1944 – Birth of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester at Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire, England
Full name: Richard Alexander Walter George
A first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, Richard had one elder brother, Prince William of Gloucester who was killed in an airplane accident at an airshow in 1972. At that time, Prince Richard became the heir to his father’s titles. In 1963, Richard began studying architecture at Magdalene College, Cambridge University where he received a Diploma of Architecture. He was a partner in a London architecture firm and planned to make it his career. However, upon his brother’s death in 1972, when Richard became his father’s heir, he took on increased royal duties and the responsibility for the family estate, so he resigned from his partnership. On June 10, 1974, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester died and Prince Richard succeeded his father as Duke of Gloucester.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
August 26, 1954 – Birth of Archduke Carl Christian of Austria, husband of Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg, at the Château de Belœil in Belœil, Belgium
Full name: Carl Christian Maria Anna Rudolph Anton Marcus d’Aviano
Carl Christian is a grandson of the last Austrian Emperor Karl I and his wife Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. In 1982, Archduke Christian married his second cousin, Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg, the daughter of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium. The couple had five children.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduke Carl Christian of Austria
This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.