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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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