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Prince Aloys of Liechtenstein

Aloys of Liechtenstein with his wife Elisabeth Amalie and their oldest son, the future Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

June 17, 1869 – Birth of Aloys of Liechtenstein

Aloys’ Wikipedia page

Born in Hollenegg, Austria, Aloys was the son of cousins Alfred of Liechtenstein (grandson of Johann I Joseph, ruling Prince of Liechtenstein) and Henriette of Liechtenstein (a daughter of Aloys II, Prince of Liechtenstein). Aloys was also the nephew and first cousin of Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein, who was childless.

Aloys was described as very studious and well-educated. As great-grandson of the reigning prince and with a living older brother, Aloys’ chances of succeeding in Liechtenstein were remote for most of his life. However, as the main line of Liechtenstein princes slowly died out, it became clearer that Aloys would eventually become first in line. Finding a suitable bride as a possible future consort and mother of his heirs became paramount.

Some do the exercise in the morning, it will be effective even in the evening for this latest innovation, you’ll probably want to find out why this pill has become so popular. purchase generic cialis After some days of doing this low cost viagra exercise you can get extra height. generic cialis usa You can buy Kamagra and Dapoxetine over the internet. Between the observed adverse effects of the medication during clinical trial are headache, flushing, dyspepsia, nasal congestion and brand viagra canada sale impaired vision, which include photophobia and blurred vision. While spending time at court in Vienna, Aloys met Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria. Elisabeth was the daughter of Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria and Maria Teresa of Portugal. Elisabeth was the niece of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria and the half-sister of his heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Through her mother’s many sisters, Elisabeth was also connected to the royal and noble families of Luxembourg, Parma, and Belgium. Elisabeth was also a very devout Catholic. The couple grew very fond of one another during their time at court.

Aloys’ engagement to Elisabeth was announced in October 1902. There was some question at the time that the marriage was not equal given Elisabeth’s close connections with the Austrian Emperor and Aloys’ rather minor status in an obscure principality. Aloys was actually considered an Austrian citizen before the engagement; a marriage with an ordinary Austrian citizen would have robbed Elisabeth of her titles. However, the marriage had the full blessing of Franz Josef, who agreed to consider the Liechtenstein princes as foreign so Elisabeth would still be considered Her Imperial and Royal Highness.

Aloys and Elisabeth married on April 20, 1903 in Vienna, with Franz Josef in attendance. As a token of their appreciation to the Emperor, the couple named their first son (the future Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein) for him and had Franz Josef stand as godfather to the child. The two raised their family of eight children at several castles in Austria, including Gross-Ullersdorf Castle in Moravia and Frauenthal Castle. The family also spent at least part of the year in Liechtenstein, unusual for the princely family up until that time.

As the years went by, Aloys realized that if he were to inherit the princely throne, he would do so as an older man. Aloys surrendered his rights to the throne of Liechtenstein in 1923 in favor of his son Franz Joseph with the hopes of providing a long-lived ruler to the principality. Franz Joseph became the reigning prince in 1938 following the abdication of his granduncle Franz I.

Aloys died at Vaduz Castle in 1955 at the age of 86 following a bout of influenza. Elisabeth survived him by five years, dying in 1960 at the age of 82. The two are buried in St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, Illegitimate Son of King Henry VIII of England

by Emily McMahon  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset; Credit: Wikipedia

Born on June 15, 1519, Henry Fitzroy was the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII of England by his mistress Elizabeth Blount, a maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon, better known as Bessie Blount. Fitzroy (a surname meaning “son of the king”) was born in relative seclusion at the Augustinian Priory of St. Lawrence in Blackmore, Essex. Elizabeth was between 17 and 21 years old when she gave birth to King Henry VIII’s son after becoming his mistress a few years prior.

Fitzroy’s birth came at a crucial time in his father’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon as a few months before Catherine had given birth to the last of her six children, a stillborn daughter. The future Mary I was Henry’s and Catherine’s only surviving child, and Henry was wary of entrusting his kingdom to a sickly female. Fitzroy’s birth proved to Henry that he could father a healthy male child, and convinced him that Catherine was at fault for the lack of male heirs.

Fitzroy was christened a few weeks later with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and possibly the King himself serving as godfathers.  Fitzroy is King Henry VIII’s only acknowledged illegitimate child. Although little documentation from his first years survives, Fitzroy is thought to have been cared for in the royal nursery with his half-sister Mary.

Fitzroy was given his own London residence in 1525, the same year he was raised to the peerage as the Duke of Richmond and Somerset. He was also given numerous titles such as Lord High Admiral of England, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Lord President of the Council, among others. Fitzroy also spent time in Cambridge living with his tutor Richard Croke.

The granting of Fitzroy’s peerage and many titles suggests the esteem in which his father held him. Henry wanted to make Fitzroy his heir, even considering the possibility of marriage between Fitzroy and his half-sister Mary. Due to the scandal surrounding Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, the Pope was willing to provide a dispensation to accommodate the unconventional marriage to prevent Henry’s eventual break from the Church.

Fitzroy was said to be rather handsome in his teens, greatly resembling King Henry VIII. He was also reportedly intelligent and well-behaved. In 1533, Fitzroy married Lady Mary Howard, a daughter of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, the uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of Henry VIII’s wives. Henry’s second wife Anne Boleyn arranged the marriage. Fitzroy and Mary reportedly did not consummate their relationship, possibly due to their young age or concerns for Fitzroy’s health.

Fitzroy died somewhat unexpectedly on July 23, 1536, at the age of seventeen, likely of tuberculosis. At this point, Henry VIII had made both his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, illegitimate and was left with no real heir. Henry VIII may have been planning to legitimize his son in the years before Fitzroy’s death. Fitzroy was buried rather hastily at Thetford Priory in Norfolk and with no autopsy, suggesting that perhaps he died of the plague. Fitzroy’s remains were later moved to St. Michael the Archangel Church in Framlingham, Suffolk, England where his widow was later interred. Fitzroy may have left two illegitimate daughters of his own at the time of his death, but their fates are unknown. His younger half-brother succeeded their father as King Edward VI in 1547.

Tomb of Henry Fitzroy and his wife Lady Mary Howard; Credit – https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10925235/henry-fitzroy#view-photo=9540028

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Prince Henrik of Denmark, husband of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

by Emily McMahon and Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

photo: The Danish Monarchy, photographer: Jacob Jørgensen

photo: The Danish Monarchy, photographer: Jacob Jørgensen

Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat was born on June 11, 1934, in Talence, France. His parents, Count André de Laborde de Monpezat and Renee Doursenot, were members of the French nobility. Renee had previously been civilly married to another man before her marriage to Andre. Her first marriage allowed Renee to marry Andre religiously in 1934, but the couple did not marry civilly until 1948. Henri was the second of eight siblings, however, three of his siblings died in childhood.

Henri began his education at home with a private tutor, continuing on at a Jesuit school in Bordeaux, France. Henri spent several years of his childhood in Vietnam, then under French control, where his father ran a newspaper. He attended a French school in Hanoi, where he took an interest in Vietnamese and Chinese languages. Henri recalled his childhood as a very happy and extravagant colonial life, living in a big house with his parents, siblings, and a nanny.

 Henri as a baby with his two-year-old sister Françoise in Vietnam

 

Henri’s love for Southeast Asia continued into his adolescence and adulthood, as he continued his education at schools in Saigon and Hong Kong. He also studied at Paris University, earning a master’s degree in French literature. Henri was also awarded a diploma in Oriental languages from Ecole Nationale de Langues Oriental.

Henri’s developed a wide variety of interests ranging from flying planes to collecting Chinese porcelain to sailing. Like his future wife, Henri was multi-lingual from an early age. In addition to French, Danish, and English, Henri was fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese.  After a brief stint in the military, Henri entered the French foreign services. At the time he met Princess Margrethe of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Frederik IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden in 1965, Henri was working as the third secretary at the French embassy in the Department of Oriental Affairs in London.

While studying at the London School of Economics in 1965, Margrethe was invited to a dinner at the French embassy. As an employee of the embassy at the time, Henri was expected to attend but was ambivalent about meeting the Danish princess by whom he was to be seated. Henri later said that to his surprise he found Margrethe interesting from their first meeting, but was a bit intimidated by her and said little during the dinner as a result. Margrethe said she had no real impression of Henri from their first meeting.

Margrethe and Henri were both guests at a wedding shortly after the first dinner. The two chatted at the wedding reception and on the plane ride back to London, as they were seated together once again. Upon their return to London, Margrethe and Henri gradually began seeing more and more – and growing mutual fonder – of one another.

The couple kept a low profile for more than a year, made easier by the fact that Margrethe was not as well known in the United Kingdom. Their relationship was so private that upon the news that an engagement announcement was imminent, most Danes had no idea their princess had been exclusively dating anyone. Margrethe’s father Frederik was later to say to his daughter of her courtship with Henri, “He came, he saw, and you conquered.”

 

On June 10, 1967, Princess Margrethe married Henri at the Holmens Kirke in Copenhagen,  Denmark, followed by a banquet at Fredensborg Palace. After a honeymoon in Cozumel, Mexico, the couple took up residence at Amalienborg Palace, in Christian IX’s Palace (formerly Schack’s Palace).

The couple had two sons:

 

After the wedding, Henri became a Prince of Denmark and was known by the Danish version of his name, Henrik. On January 14, 1972, King Frederik IX died after a brief illness and Henrik’s wife ascended the Danish throne as Queen Margrethe II. In April 2016, Henrik renounced the title of Prince Consort, which he had been given in 2005.  He retired from public life and decided to participate in limited official events. Although Henrik remained close to Margrethe, he was vocal about the difficulties he experienced as a male consort (a historically female role) in terms of his personal income and his role in the affairs of the country.

Henrik published several books of poetry in his native language as well as additional books in Danish. Henrik and his wife owned Chateau de Cayx, a wine estate in southern France, where the two spent part of their summers.

The Danish Royal House announced on August 3, 2017, that Prince Henrik would not be buried with his wife Queen Margrethe II of Denmark at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark, the traditional burial place of Danish royalty. The press release read:

The Royal House has announced today that His Royal Highness Prince Henrik does not want to be buried in Roskilde Cathedral, as it had been planned. The Prince’s decision implies that he will not be buried next to Her Majesty The Queen in the sarcophagus that Professor and sculptor Bjørn Nørgaard has prepared. The Queen has been aware of the decision for some time and supports the decision. The Prince’s decision does not change the Queen’s funeral plans. It has been stated in the media that the Prince wants to be buried in France. This is not correct. The Prince still wishes to be buried in Denmark, but the arrangements are not yet in place.

On September 6, 2017, it was announced that Prince Henrik was suffering from dementia. Prince Henrik was hospitalized on January 28, 2018. Later it was determined that he had a benign tumor in his left lung. On February 9, 2018, the Danish Royal Court announced that his condition had severely deteriorated. Crown Prince Frederik returned home from the Winter Olympics in South Korea which he was attending as a member of the International Olympic Committee. On February 13, 2018, Prince Henrik was transferred from the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen to Fredensborg Castle, where he wished to stay during his remaining time.

Prince Henrik died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, February 13, 2018, at 11:18 pm, at Fredensborg Palace at the age of 83.  His wife Queen Margrethe II and their two sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim were at his side.

Prince Henrik’s funeral was held on Tuesday, February 20th in the Palace Chapel at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen.  Per his wishes, it was a private service, with family and close friends in attendance.  His remains were cremated, with half of his ashes spread over the Danish seas, and the other half interred in the private garden at Fredensborg Castle.

Prince Henrik and his family in 2017; Photo Credit – The Danish Monarchy

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Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen

by Emily McMahon and Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

 

Princess Ragnhild Alexandra of Norway was the eldest child of the future King Olav V of Norway and his wife Princess Märtha of Sweden. She was named for another Ragnhild, the wife of Harald Fairhair, the first king of a united Norway. Born at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway on June 9, 1930, Ragnhild was also the first native Norwegian princess born in the country in over 600 years.

Ragnhild was christened on June 27, 1930, at the Royal Chapel of the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway. Her godparents were:

Princess Ragnhild had two younger siblings:

Ragnhild (on the right) with her parents and siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Ragnhild was also closely related to the Belgian royal and Luxembourg grand ducal families through her mother; she was the first cousin of Kings Baudouin and Albert II of Belgium and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg. As a toddler, a section of the Antarctic coastline was named in her honor. Princess Ragnhild Coast makes up a portion of the larger Queen Maud Land, named for Ragnhild’s paternal grandmother. Along with her sister Astrid, Ragnhild served as a flower girl at the wedding of her cousin Ingrid of Sweden to the future Frederik IX of Denmark.

Ragnhild spent most of her childhood at the Skaugum Estate, the family home (rebuilt after a fire shortly before Ragnhild’s birth) located just outside of Oslo. She accompanied her mother and siblings to the United States in 1940 following the German invasion and occupation of Norway while her father and grandfather were based in Britain. The family was reunited and returned to Norway in 1945.

 

On May 15, 1953, Ragnhild married Erling Lorentzen, a commoner and her former bodyguard. Reportedly, Ragnhild’s grandfather King Haakon VII consented to the marriage only after Crown Princess Märtha’s intervention as Ragnhild was the first Norwegian royal to marry a commoner. Ragnhild lost her style of Royal Highness with the marriage, becoming known instead as Her Highness Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen. The couple settled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and had three children:

  • Haakon Lorentzen (born 1954), married Martha Carvalho de Freitas, had three children
  • Ingeborg Lorentzen (born 1957), married Paulo César Ribeiro Filho, had one daughter
  • Ragnhild Alexandra Lorentzen (born 1968), married Aaron Matthew Long, had two daughters

Ragnhild kept an apartment in Oslo and visited Norway often but did not undertake official duties. Often photographed wearing a rather sour expression, Ragnhild gained attention during a 2004 television interview when she expressed her intense displeasure with Crown Prince Haakon’s and Princess Märtha Louise’s respective spouses. Reportedly the remarks were made after King Harald and Queen Sonia abruptly canceled a visit to Brazil, hurting Ragnhild’s feelings. It is said that Ragnhild privately apologized to her brother’s family afterward, greatly regretting her unkind words. Conversely, Ragnhild was seen in her adopted country of Brazil as very friendly and warm-hearted due to her charity work. She was known among her friends and family to have a very sharp wit and a dry sense of humor.

 

Ragnhild died in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 16, 2012, following a bout with cancer. Her remains were transferred to Norway where her funeral was held on September 28, 2012. At her request, Ragnhild was buried at Asker Church in Asker, Norway. She was survived by her husband, three children, six grandchildren, and her siblings. Princess Ragnhild’s widower Erling Lorentzen died after a short illness on March 9, 2021, aged 98, in Oslo, Norway.

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Sigvard Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg

by Emily McMahon  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

 

Sigvard Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, was born Prince Sigvard of Sweden on June 7, 1907, at Drottningholm Palace in Drottningholm, Sweden.  He was the second son of the future King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.  He had four siblings:

Sigvard (left) with his parents and eldest siblings, 1912. source: Wikipedia

The family divided their time between homes in Stockholm and their summer residence at Sofiero Palace near Skåne. The family was a close one, and unlike royal parents of previous generations, Gustav Adolf and Margaret spent a great deal of time with their children. Sigvard’s mother died suddenly on May 1, 1920, shortly after undergoing mastoid surgery. She was eight months pregnant with her sixth child. The loss of Margaret was so devastating for the family that Gustav Adolf refused to let anyone speak of her out of grief. Three years later, Gustav Adolf married again to Lady Louise Mountbatten.

Sigvard was educated privately and later at the Lundberg School. He entered Uppsala University in 1926, studying political science and art history. Sigvard became the first Bernadotte to earn an academic degree in 1929, the same year he designed a church window at Lundberg. He continued his studies at Konstfack, a Swedish art and design college. He was among a group of painters selected to design the Stockholm Exhibit in 1930.

Sigvard (center) with his brothers Bertil (left) and Gustaf Adolf (right) in the 1930s. source: Wikipedia

Throughout his young adulthood, Sigvard was romantically linked to various European princesses. Maria Francesca of Italy and Juliana of the Netherlands were rumored to be nearly engaged to Sigvard. Even actress Greta Garbo was said to be involved with Sigvard. Although the two did know one another, it is unlikely they were more than friends.

In the early 1930s, Sigvard relocated to Germany (supposedly due to a romance with a commoner) where he worked as a set designer for several theaters. It was through his theater work in Berlin that Sigvard met his first wife, actress Erica Patzek. When Sigvard declared his intentions to marry Erica, his entire family and top Swedish government officials attempted to talk him out of it. Sigvard’s grandfather, King Gustav V, was so disgusted with the third marriage to a commoner within the family (following Gustav’s brother Oscar and grandson Lennart) that he stopped speaking with Sigvard for a time.

Erica and Sigvard married quietly in London in 1934. The marriage removed Sigvard from the line of succession and meant a loss of his titles and appanage. The couple, now Sigvard and Erica Bernadotte, relocated to Hollywood to establish Erica’s movie career (without success), while Sigvard designed posters for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Sigvard and Erica divorced in 1943, after which he married Danish commoner Sonja Robbert. The couple had a son, Michael, the following year. After their divorce in 1961, Sigvard married Marianne Lindberg with whom he stayed until his death.

c.1944. source: Wikipedia

During the following two decades, Sigvard divided his time between Copenhagen, Stockholm, and New York working at Bernadotte & Bjorn Industrial, a design firm he founded with Danish designer Acton Bjorn. Sigvard remained well-known in Sweden for the work he did during that time, designing everything from machinery to appliances to cookware. He was particularly fond of designing items from silver.

In 1951, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg conferred on him the title of Count of Wisborg. After marriages to commoners became a common practice among Swedish royals in the 1960s and 1970s, Sigvard decided to pursue the reinstatement of his princely title. Sigvard’s nephew, King Carl XVI Gustav, never consented to this, which caused a long-standing rift between the two. A lawsuit against the Kingdom of Sweden was ongoing at the time of Sigvard’s death.

Sigvard Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, died on February 4, 2002, in Stockholm, Sweden. He was 94 years old, and for the last eight years of his life, had been the eldest living great-grandchild of Queen Victoria, and her longest-lived descendant. He is buried in the Royal Cemetery at Haga Park in Solna, Sweden. His widow, Countess Marianne, remained active with several Swedish charities, some of which she founded with her late husband. She was often seen at family functions, including the weddings of Crown Princess Victoria in 2010, Princess Madeleine in 2013, and Prince Carl Philip in 2015.

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Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland

by Emily McMahon and Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, Duke of Södermanland; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on June 17, 1884, at Tullgarn Palace, a royal summer palace in the province of Södermanland, south of Stockholm, Sweden, Prince Wilhelm of Sweden (Carl Wilhelm Ludvig)  was the second of three sons of King Gustaf V of Sweden and Victoria of Baden.  Wilhelm saw little of his parents during his childhood, as his mother frequently traveled abroad. In his young adulthood, he became known as the “Sailor Prince,” due to his service in the navy.

Wilhelm had an older brother and a younger brother:

Wilhelm represented his father at the Jamestown Exposition in the United States in 1907 and was very well received by Swedish-Americans. At around the same time, Wilhelm became engaged to Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, and the only daughter and the eldest of the two children of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark (Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna).  When Maria Pavlovna was only seventeen months old, her mother died shortly after giving premature birth to her second child, Maria Pavlovna’s brother.  Maria Pavlovna and her brother were raised by their childless uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (born Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine).

In 1907, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna received a request from the Swedish royal court for a photograph of Maria Pavlovna. Wilhelm’s mother was looking for a bride for him. Marrying Maria Pavlovna to Wilhelm worked well with Elizabeth Feodorovna’s plans to retire from the Russian court and start a Russian Orthodox religious order.  It was decided that Prince Wilhelm would travel to Moscow to meet Maria Pavlovna. The day after they met, 23-year-old Wilhelm told 16-year-old Maria he wanted to marry her. Pressured by Elizabeth Feodorovna, Maria Pavlovna became engaged to marry a man that she had just met with the stipulation that the wedding was to be postponed until Maria was 18-years-old. The couple married at the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg, Russia on May 3, 1908.

Maria Pavlovna and Prince Wilhelm of Sweden on their wedding day

The couple had one son:

Wilhelm of Sweden with his wife, Maria Pavlovna of Russia and their son, Lennart. Photo credit: Wikipedia

Wilhelm and Maria Pavlovna settled in the Djurgarden, a fashionable section of Stockholm, where the couple’s home (Oakhill) was built. However, the couple could spend little time together due to Wilhelm’s military responsibilities. Maria was homesick in a strange country where the royal court was even more formal than the Russian court. In 1913, Maria left her husband and son and returned to Russia, causing a great scandal in Sweden. On March 13, 1914, the marriage was officially dissolved, and then confirmed by an edict issued by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia on July 15, 1914. Wilhelm and Maria’s son Lennart remained in his father’s custody, was raised primarily by his paternal grandmother Queen Victoria of Sweden, and rarely saw his mother during his childhood.

Around the time of his divorce, Wilhelm met a French woman, Jeanne de Tramcourt. Jeanne was divorced from a Swedish sculptor, who used her as a model in several of his works. Wilhelm lived with Jeanne at his new home Stenhammar Palace in Flen, Sweden. Although it was known within the family circle that Jeanne and Wilhelm were a couple, Wilhelm’s royal status prohibited him from marrying commoner Jeanne. For her part, Jeanne told Wilhelm when he mentioned marriage, that she did not want to be the “Swedish Mrs. Simpson” and was fine with cohabiting quietly. Jeanne was known instead as the “hostess” of Stenhammar.

Jeanne de Tramcourt, Wilhelm's longtime partner. Photo credit: polarbearstale.blogspot.com

Jeanne de Tramcourt, Wilhelm’s longtime partner. Photo credit: polarbearstale.blogspot.com

Jeanne was killed in a car accident near Stjärnhov in 1952 when the couple was on their way to visit Wilhelm’s son Lennart. The snowy weather and icy road conditions were determined to have caused the accident. However, Wilhelm, the driver, was heartbroken and blamed himself until the end of his life.

Like his grandfather King Oscar II of Sweden, Wilhelm was a poet, and wrote more than forty books between 1912 and his death. His 1955 book of poetry entitled Verklighetens Skuggbilder (The Shadow Images) reflects Wilhelm’s pain and desperation after Jeanne’s death. Wilhelm also produced several short films and authored numerous travel books, visiting Central America, Central Africa, and Thailand to conduct research for his works.

Wilhelm died of a heart attack at Stenhammar Palace in Flen, Sweden on June 5, 1965, twelve days before his 81st birthday. Unusual for a Swedish prince, he was not buried at the traditional Swedish royal burial sites but in the parish cemetery in Flen, Sweden.

Grave of Prince Wilhelm and first daughter-in-law Karin Nissvandt; Credit – Wikipedia

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Prince Baudouin of Belgium

by Emily McMahon, revised by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2013

Prince Baudouin of Belgium; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on June 3, 1869, at the Palais de la Régence in Brussels, Belgium, Prince Baudouin was the eldest son of Philippe, Count of Flanders, second son of Leopold I, King of the Belgians, and Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. His birth was met with great celebration in the Belgian royal family. Earlier that year, on January 22, 1869, Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, Baudouin’s nine-year-old cousin and the only son of King Leopold II had died of pneumonia after falling into a pond. His death left no other male heirs aside from Baudouin’s father, so Baudouin was seen as the eventual heir to the Belgian throne.  He was baptized on June 26, 1869, at the Palais de la Régence, the home of his father the Count of Flanders in Brussels, Belgium with a long string of names: Baudouin Léopold Philippe Marie Charles Antoine Joseph Louis.

Baptism of Prince Baudouin; Credit Wikipedia

Baudouin had four younger siblings:

Baudouin grew up with his sisters and brother at his father’s palace and was prepared for his future role as king.  He was confident, very social, pious, and highly intelligent. An eager and able sportsman, Baudouin was, according to his sister Henriette, a “born leader,” who looked to lead Belgium as a traditionalist. His younger siblings adored him and looked up to him. Although the siblings’ strict and pious mother was at times critical of him, Baudouin was very much the apple of his parents’ eye as well.

12-year-old Prince Baudouin in September 1881; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Baudouin was informally betrothed to his cousin Clementine, the youngest daughter of King Leopold II. Although accounts differ as to whether or not Baudouin was in favor of this arrangement, it was generally seen as the best way of uniting the cadet and main branches of the family.

In early 1891, Baudouin became ill with influenza that had made its way through most of the members of the Flanders family already. He likely caught the illness from his sister Henriette, whom he insisted on visiting during her illness despite warnings from doctors. Although he appeared to be handling the illness better than his sister, Baudouin’s condition suddenly deteriorated on January 22, 1891. He died early the following morning at the age of 21 at the Palace of the Count of Flanders in Brussels, Belgium.

Baudouin’s death was kept from his sister Henriette at first due to the fear of worsening her grave condition. It was expected that she too would die due to the severity of her illness, but she survived. Baudouin died 22 years to the day of the death of his cousin Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, the boy whom Baudouin had replaced as heir.

The country of Belgium was plunged into mourning for their promising prince. Parliament was adjourned, theaters and libraries were closed, and mourning was ordered until the beginning of the spring. Outpourings of grief flooded the Flanders family from the Belgian people and other royal families of Europe.

As Baudouin’s condition had been largely kept from the public until his death, suspicion of the true cause quickly arose. With the 1889 Mayerling incident, resulting in the suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his mistress, fresh in the minds of the royal family’s detractors, rumors quickly spread that Baudouin’s death had been caused by suicide or murder over a woman. The likely unrelated dismissal of a German governess in the household appeared to give credence to the rumor, but the story died down fairly quickly after Baudouin’s death.

Funeral of Prince Baudouin; Credit – Wikipedia

The funeral was held on January 29, 1891, at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. King Leopold II, the Count of Flanders, and Baudouin’s younger brother Albert were all said to have appeared profoundly grieved during the service. Burial at the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken followed.  Baudouin’s death left his brother, the quiet and bookish Albert, as the heir to the Belgian throne. Although Albert became a very able, successful, and beloved king, he often lamented that Baudouin would have done so much better. Baudouin, King of the Belgians from 1951 until 1993, was named in honor of his deceased great-uncle.

Tomb of Prince Baudouin, Photo Credit – By Carolus –  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24155591

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Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria

by Emily McMahon and Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Kingdom of Bavaria: The House of Wittelsbach ruled as Dukes, Electors, and Kings of Bavaria from 1180 until 1918. Today Bavaria is a landlocked federal state of Germany, occupying its southeastern corner.  Maximilian IV Joseph, Prince-Elector of Bavaria allied his electorate with Napoleon and adopted many of the French beliefs of the Enlightenment. It was this loyal service to Napoleon through which Maximilian’s electorate was created the Kingdom of Bavaria with Maximilian at its king. He officially became the Maximilian I Joseph, the first King of Bavaria on January 1, 1806. On November 13, 1918, King Ludwig III would be the first monarch in the German Empire to be deposed at the end of World War I, bringing an end to 738 years of rule by the Wittelsbach dynasty.

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Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria – source: Wikipedia

King Maximilian I Joseph was the first King of Bavaria, reigning from 1806 until his death in 1825.  He was born on May 27, 1756, in Schwetzingen, Electorate of the Palatine, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the son of Friedrich Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and Maria Franziska, Countess Palatine of Sulzbach.

He had four older siblings:

Maximilian was educated under the watchful eye of his uncle, Christian IV, Duke of Zweibrücken, and several years after his father’s death in 1767, he was set up with his own household at the Hôtel des Deux-Ponts in Strasbourg, France which was purchased by his uncle in 1770. Maximilian would remain at the Hôtel des Deux-Ponts until 1790.

Maximilian joined the French army stationed in Strasbourg, and quickly rose through the ranks, attaining the rank of Major General. Following the French Revolution and the occupation of Zweibrücken during the Napoleonic Wars, Maximilian joined the Austrian army. He succeeded his brother Charles as Duke of Zweibrücken in 1795 and became Elector of Bavaria, Duke of Berg, and Count Palatine of the Rhine on February 16, 1799.

King Maximilian I Joseph, c1806. source: Wikipedia

Despite his switch in service to the Austrian army, Maximilian allied his electorate to Napoleon and adopted many of the French beliefs of enlightenment. Because of this loyal service to Napoleon, Maximilian’s electorate was created a kingdom with Maximilian at its head. He officially became the first King of Bavaria on January 1, 1806. In March 1806, he ceded the Duchy of Berg to Joachim Murat, Napoleon’s brother-in-law.

Shortly before the decisive Battle of Leipzig, Maximilian parted with his ally Napoleon to fight with Prussian, Russian, Swedish, and Austrian forces. Maximilian allied with the forces against Napoleon on the condition that if Napoleon’s forces were defeated, Bavaria would remain a kingdom. Following Napoleon’s downfall, Maximilian had a territorial dispute with Austria that lasted several years. One of the most powerful rulers in what is now Germany, Maximilian strongly supported the sovereignty of the individual duchies, principalities, kingdoms, and city-states within a larger German Confederation.

As one of the more liberal rulers during the first half of the 19th century, Maximilian granted Bavaria a constitution in 1816. Maximilian also made Munich a center for the arts in Bavaria, founding the Academy of Fine Arts and commissioning the construction of the National Theatre.

Princess Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt. source: Wikipedia

on September 30, 1785, in Darmstadt, Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, now in the German state of Hesse, Maximilian married  Princess Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt, the daughter of Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt and Countess Maria Luise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg.

They had five children:

Princess Caroline of Baden. source: Wikipedia

Auguste died in March 1796, and the following year, on July 9, 1797, in Karlsruhe, Margraviate of Baden, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, Maximilian married for a second time, to Princess Caroline of Baden, daughter of Carl Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden and Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Maximilian and Amalie had seven children including two sets of twin daughters:

Tombs of King Maximilian I and his second wife, Queen Caroline, at the Theatinerkirche in Munich. Photo: © Susan Flantzer

King Maximilian I died on October 13, 1825, at the Nymphenburg Palace, in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, and is buried in the crypt at the Theatinerkirche in Munich. His heart is interred at the Shrine of Our Lady of Altötting.

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Bavaria Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Sophie of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Baden

Sophie of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Baden. Photo credit: Wikipedia

May 21, 1801 – Birth of Sophie of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Baden

Sophie’s Wikipedia page

Sophie was the daughter of Gustav IV Adolf, King of Sweden and Frederica of Baden. Sophie was well-educated and had a wide variety of interests throughout her life. Sophie left Sweden with her family in 1809 following her father’s overthrow as king. She was described as stubborn and self-important as a child and maintained negative feelings about her father’s deposition for the rest of her life.

At the age of fourteen, Sophie was engaged to her half grand uncle, the future Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden. By this time, there were only two heirs left in the direct male line in Baden, both of whom were childless. One of these men, Sophie’s uncle Karl I, arranged a marriage between Sophie and Leopold, the result of a morganatic marriage between Grand Duke Charles Frederick and Louise Caroline of Hochberg. Sophie’s Baden lineage would shore up Leopold’s more tenuous claim to the grand ducal throne.

Sophie married Leopold, only eleven years her senior, in 1819. The couple had seven surviving children, including two future Grand Dukes of Baden. Sophie and Leopold raised their children away from court per request by Sophie’s uncle Louis I. Leopold inherited the grand ducal throne in 1830.

In 1828, so-called “wild child” Kaspar Hauser appeared in Nuremberg. He was believed by some to have ties to the Baden grand ducal family, rumors that were probably manufactured by Leopold’s detractors. When Hauser was stabbed in 1833, Sophie was accused of ordering his murder leading to a rift between her and her husband. The family fled Baden during the 1848 revolutions, returning the following year.

Sophie died in 1865. In 1881, her granddaughter Victoria of Baden married the future Gustaf V of Sweden for much the same reason as Sophie had married Leopold: Victoria was a princess with old Swedish lineage which was meant to strengthen the claim to the throne held by the new Bernadotte dynasty.

Guts and Glory: Edward VII’s Appendix and the Coronation that Never Was

by Emily McMahon © Unofficial Royalty 2013

I have recently found myself with a bit more free time on my hands due to an attack of acute appendicitis and a consequent appendectomy. In these days appendectomies are typically quick, routine surgeries that involve fairly easy recoveries for most patients (as mine has been). However, surgery to relieve appendicitis is a relatively new treatment that has been practiced regularly for only about the past 100 years – previous sufferers of appendicitis typically died of sepsis.

One of the most famous (and at the time controversial) surgeries for appendicitis occurred in the United Kingdom in 1902. After spending more than 59 years as the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, the eldest son of Queen Victoria, would be beginning his own rule as Edward VII. What occurred a few months into Edward’s reign changed the course of medical and legal history in surprising ways.

Edward had been king for a few months when a brilliant coronation ceremony was meticulously planned for June 26, 1902, at Westminster Abbey. Having spent nearly sixty years in pursuit of the finer things in life, Edward had had plenty of time to consider exactly how large of a celebration his coronation would entail. Several thousand pounds of fowl were ordered for the banquet, viewing stands were constructed along the parade route, and numerous hotels were built to accommodate the influx of expected guests to London.

While Edward was focused on the details of his coronation, his body had other plans. In the two weeks preceding the coronation, Edward had recurrent abdominal pain accompanied by a fever. After being examined by several members of his medical staff, Frederick Treves (once a physician for Joseph Merrick, otherwise known as the Elephant Man), Edward’s accomplished and newly-appointed Sergeant-Surgeon was summoned for his opinion.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Dr. Frederick Treves. Photo credit: Wikipedia

By the time Treves first examined Edward on June 18, Edward was running a constant fever and had developed a mass in the lower right quadrant of his abdomen. For his part, Edward was eager to resume his activities and was annoyed at the thought of rumors of his illness circulating. Edward’s private secretary, Sir Francis Knollys, quickly issued a report denying any problems with Edward’s health.

Although Edward was feeling well enough to attend a lavish banquet on June 23, he was confined to bed the following day with a high fever and intense pain. After another examination of the King, the medical team concluded that Edward was suffering from appendicitis and required immediate surgery.

The regrettable timing aside, Edward was incredibly fortunate to have appendicitis while in the care of Dr. Treves. Although not the first to perform an appendectomy, Treves first did surgery on a patient with recurrent appendicitis in 1888. After the successful surgery, Treves authored a paper presented to the Royal Medical and Surgical Society a few months later recommending the removal of appendices in similar cases. Although his recommendation was not well-received by the medical community, by the turn of the 20th century he had removed more than one thousand appendices.

Insisting on fulfilling his duty, Edward rejected his doctors’ planned course of action. He continued to refuse surgery until Treves bluntly pointed out that Edward would be dead before the coronation took place. This approach seemed to work on Edward as he finally agreed to the surgery – and the coronation was officially postponed until further notice.

Shortly after noon on June 24, the abscess in Edward’s abdomen was drained, irrigated, packed with gauze, and fitted with rubber tubing to allow additional pus to escape. The operation took about an hour and a half. Edward started to choke during the operation, but the team managed to get the King to breathe again by pulling on his beard, thus opening his mouth.

Edward’s appendix was actually not removed, but the draining and cleaning of the abscess prevented further illness. On the following day, Edward was able to sit up in bed and smoke a cigar and within two weeks, it was clear that the King would make a full recovery. The medical team (including Treves) was awarded knighthoods for their actions and authored numerous articles that described the King’s illness and treatment.

Most rejoiced at the King’s miraculous recovery, particularly those in the East End poorhouses who received the thousands of chickens, quails, and game hens intended for the coronation banquet. However, the canceled coronation took its toll on those contracted to provide supplies, services, and payment for venues booked. A number of so-called “coronation cases” were decided in the British courts surrounding the contracts broken due to the cancellation.

Most of these contracts were voided as the arrangements were typically made with the sole purpose of celebrating the coronation. However, in the case of Herne Bay Steamboat Company vs. Hutton, it was ruled that a river cruise could be booked and enjoyed regardless of whether the coronation was held. Mr. Hutton was one of the few coronation case plaintiffs who was ordered to provide full payment as agreed by contract.

A more scaled-down coronation for Edward was held on August 9. While the practice of surgical intervention for appendicitis gained acceptance from one of its most famous patients, its adoption was not universal nor were the symptoms of appendicitis yet fully recognized. Shortly before Edward’s operation, Treves’ own daughter Hattie died of a ruptured appendix. Edward’s nephew Christian of Hanover had died from appendicitis that was incorrectly diagnosed a few months before. And in a final twist of irony, Frederick Treves himself died of peritonitis in Switzerland in 1923. An autopsy was not performed, but the culprit was assumed to be a ruptured appendix.

There is no word yet on the new date for my coronation.

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.