© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Alexandrine of Baden, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

December 6, 1421 – Birth of King Henry VI of England at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
King Henry VI, from the House of Lancaster, is the youngest-ever English monarch. He is also on the top ten list of longest-reigning British monarchs, coming in at number seven. Henry VI’s father King Henry V, a warrior king, succumbed to dysentery, a disease that killed more soldiers than battle, leaving a nine-month-old son to inherit his throne. In 1445, Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou, the niece of King Charles VII of France. The couple had one son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales who was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury during the Wars of the Roses. Even before the birth of Henry’s son, factions were forming and the seeds of the Wars of the Roses were being planted. Henry’s wife Margaret Margaret believed her husband was threatened with being deposed by Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York who thought he had a better claim to the throne and would be a better king than Henry. Eventually, things came to a head between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists, and war broke out.  The Wars of the Roses did not end well for Henry VI. The final decisive Yorkist victory was at the Battle of Tewkesbury on May 4, 1471, where Henry’s son Edward was killed. Henry VI was sent to the Tower of London and died on May 21, 1471, probably murdered on orders from the Yorkist King Edward IV.
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry VI of England

December 6, 1685 – Birth of Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, Duchess of Burgundy, wife of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin at the Royal Palace of Turin, in the Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy
Marie Adélaïde of Savoy was the wife of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin, and the mother of Louis XV, King of France. King Louis XIV outlived both his son Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Grand Dauphin and his grandson Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin, and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV when he died in 1715. On February 12, 1712, at the Palace of Versailles, 26-year-old Marie Adélaïde died from measles. Her husband Louis dearly loved his wife and stayed by her side throughout her illness. He caught the disease and died six days after her death, on February 18, 1712, aged 29.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, Duchess of Burgundy

December 6, 1686 – Death of Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua, the third of the three wives of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now the capital of Austria, at the age of fifty-six; buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna
Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria, the second wife and first cousin of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, died in childbirth in 1649. Ferdinand III’s stepmother, the Dowager Holy Roman Empress, also named Eleonora Gonzaga, was the second wife of his father Ferdinand II and Eleonora’s great aunt. It was Dowager Holy Roman Empress Eleonora who arranged the marriage between her stepson Ferdinand III and grand niece and goddaughter Eleonora. Twenty-year-old Eleonora and forty-two-year-old Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor were married in 1651 and had four children but only two daughters survived childhood. After the death of her husband, Eleonora did all she could to ensure that her seventeen-year-old surviving stepson would be elected Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. Eleonora was highly respected by Leopold who consulted with her on many political and personal issues. Eleonora survived her husband by twenty-nine years, dying on December 6, 1686, in Vienna, Austria, at the age of fifty-six.
Unofficial Royalty: Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua, Holy Roman Empress, 3rd wife of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

December 6, 1734 – Death of Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham, favorite of Queen Anne of Great Britain, at Oates Hall, her husband’s family home, in High Laver, Essex, England; buried in the churchyard of All Saint Church in High Laver
Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham was the first cousin of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, born Sarah Jennings, and replaced Sarah as the favorite of Queen Anne of Great Britain. She remained Queen Anne’s favorite until Anne died in 1714. Abigail faithfully attended Anne during the last days of her life. However, upon Queen Anne’s death and the accession of the first Hanoverian monarch King George I, Abigail and her husband Samuel Masham, 1st Baron Masham were quickly evicted from their apartments in the various royal palaces. Even though Abigail and Samuel lost some income due to losing court positions, they were by no means poor. Just two weeks before Queen Anne’s death, Samuel had purchased a manor house three miles from Windsor, England where he retired with Abigail. Twenty years after Queen Anne’s death, 64-year-old Abigail died after a long illness.
Unofficial Royalty: Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham

December 6, 1792 – Birth of King Willem II of the Netherlands at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, Dutch Republic, now in the Netherlands
Full name: Willem Frederik George Lodewijk
When he was two years old, Willem’s family was forced into exile when the French invaded and occupied the Dutch Republic during the Napoleonic Wars. Willem spent his childhood at the Prussian court where he received military training, and served in the Prussian Army. He attended Oxford University in England. In 1811, he entered the British Army and was an aide-de-camp to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Willem’s family returned to the Netherlands in 1813 after the French retreated. In 1816, Willem married Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia and the couple had five children. Willem came to the Dutch throne in 1840 when his father King Willem I abdicated due to constitutional changes he disagreed with, anger over the loss of Belgium, and his desire to make a morganatic second marriage with Henriëtte d’Oultremont after the death of his wife. During Willem II’s reign, the power of many monarchs diminished. The revolutions of 1848 and 1849, in which Louis-Philippe of France was deposed and other European monarchs were forced by violence to make concessions, made him fear for his throne. Willem decided to institute a more liberal government, believing it was better to grant reforms instead of having them imposed on him on less favorable terms later.
Unofficial Royalty: King Willem II of the Netherlands

December 6, 1792 – Birth of Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena and Reggio, wife of Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio, in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy
Full name: Maria Beatrice Vittoria Giuseppina
Maria Beatrice was the eldest of the seven children of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. In 1812, 20-year-old Maria Beatrice married her 33-year-old maternal uncle Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio, and had four children. Like Maria Beatrice’s family, her husband Francesco had also been exiled since 1796 from the Duchy of Modena and Reggio due to the occupation of Napoleon’s French forces. After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the couple was able to return and made their solemn entry into Modena on July 14, 1814. As the senior surviving descendant of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, daughter of King Charles I of England and sister of James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots, Maria Beatrice became the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England and Scotland after the death of her father Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia in 1824.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena
Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

December 6, 1820 – Birth of Alexandrine of Baden, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, wife of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Full name: Alexandrine Luise Amalie Friederike Elisabeth Sophie
Alexandrine was the eldest of the eight children of Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden and Princess Sophie of Sweden. In 1842, she married the future Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the elder brother of Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert. Before the marriage, Ernst was suffering from a venereal disease as a result of his many affairs. He had been warned that continued promiscuity could leave him unable to father children. Ernst had at least three illegitimate children, but his marriage was childless, perhaps due to Ernst passing the venereal disease to Alexandrine causing her to become infertile. Alexandrine was loyal and devoted to her husband despite his infidelities and believed their lack of children was her fault. In 1844, Ernst’s father died and he became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Ernst was not well-loved by his people, but Alexandrine was. She supported many charities including the Ernst Foundation for needy students.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexandrine of Baden, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

December 6, 1892 – Birth of George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, son of Prince Ludwig (Louis) of Battenberg (later 1st Marquess of Milford Haven) and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, at the Neues Palais in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany
Birth name: Prince George Louis Victor Henry Serge of Battenberg
Like his father, George had a career in the Royal Navy. In 1916, he married Countess Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby, daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia and Countess Sophie von Merenberg.  The couple had two children. George was instrumental in the upbringing of his nephew Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh after Philip’s mother suffered a breakdown and his father was more or less separated from the family. George became Philip’s primary guardian, serving as a surrogate father and arranging for, and financing, Philip’s education. George died from bone marrow cancer at the age of 45.
Unofficial Royalty: George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven

December 6, 1971 – Death of Mathilde Feliksovna Kschessinskaya, prima ballerina assoluta, mistress of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia before his marriage, mistress of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia, and mistress and wife of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia, in Paris, France; buried at the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery in Paris, France
Mathilde Feliksovna Kschessinskaya was one of the most famous ballerinas of the Maryinsky Ballet (now the Kirov Ballet) in St. Petersburg, Russia. She was awarded the title prima ballerina assoluta, traditionally reserved only for the most exceptional ballerinas of their generation.  Mathilde, who was ambitious, used her connections to the Romanovs to promote her career. Mathilde and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich escaped from Russia after the Russian Revolution and married in 1921. Mathilde had previously had one son whose father was either Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich’s or Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich’s. In 1926, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, Head of the Romanov Family, gave Mathilde and her son Vladimir the title and surname of the Prince/Princess of Krasinsky. In 1935, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich gave Mathilde and her son the surname Romanovsky-Krasinsky, and so they were formally styled Princess Maria Romanovsky-Krasinsky and Prince Vladimir Andreievich Romanovsky-Krasinsky. Mathilde opened a ballet studio in Paris and trained some of the most famous ballet dancers of the 20th century. She lived a long life dying in 1971, at the age of 99.
Unofficial Royalty: Mathilde Feliksovna Kschessinskaya

December 6, 1984 – Birth of Princess Sofia of Sweden, wife of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, born Sofia Hellqvist in Täby, Sweden
Full name: Sofia Kristina
In August 2010, the Swedish Royal Court released a statement confirming that Sofia and Prince Carl Philip had a relationship. In the documentary The Year with the Royal Family, Prince Carl Philip explains how the couple met: “I was eating with friends in Baastad. Sofia was there with a friend and our friends knew each other. We started with a shy greeting and everything followed.” In April 2011, the couple moved in together at a private estate in Djurgården, Sweden and the Swedish Royal Court confirmed this two months later. Sofia and Prince Carl Philip became engaged on June 27, 2014, and were married on June 13, 2015, at the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace of Stockholm. The couple had three children.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Sofia of Sweden

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King Mihai (Michael) of Romania; Credit – Wikipedia

December 5, 1560 – Death of François II, King of France, King Consort of Scotland, first husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, at the Hotel Groslot d’Orleans in Orléans, France; buried at the Basilica of St. Denis in Paris, France
The eldest of the ten children of Henri II, King of France and Catherine de’ Medici, 14-year-old François married 15-year-old Mary Queen of Scots in 1558.  It was a marriage that could have given the future kings of France the throne of Scotland and a claim to the throne of England through Mary’s great-grandfather King Henry VII of England. A little more than a year after the wedding, a great tragedy occurred in France. King Henri II died from injuries he received in a joust during a tournament. François succeeded his father but after only a 17-month reign, François II, King of France, aged 16, died in great pain, possibly from mastoiditis, meningitis, or otitis which turned into an abscess.
Unofficial Royalty: King François II of France, King Consort of Scotland

December 5, 1916 – Death of Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in Neustrelitz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany; buried in the New Crypt at Johanniterkirche in Mirow, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Augusta was a granddaughter of King George III of the United Kingdom, first cousin of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and aunt of Queen Mary, wife of King George V of the United Kingdom.  Even though Augusta lived in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz after her marriage, she and her husband visited London frequently, staying with the Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace. Augusta retained close ties with the British Royal Family. Before the coronation of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife Queen Alexandra in 1902, Augusta was consulted on matters of ceremony and attire as she was almost the only person alive who could remember the coronation of King William IV and Queen Adelaide.  Her recollection of Queen Victoria’s coronation also proved invaluable. In the autumn of 1916, Augusta’s health began to fail. Augusta sent a message to King George V: “Tell the king that it is a stout old English heart which is ceasing to beat.” She died at the age of 94. Augusta was the longest-lived grandchild of King George III of the United Kingdom and the last link to the British branch of the House of Hanover.
Unofficial Royalty: Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

December 5, 1927 – Birth of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand (King Rama IX) at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts
King Bhumibol was born in the United States because, at the time of birth, his father Prince Mahidol Adulyadej was studying medicine at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1946, King Bhumibol became king at the age of 18. King Bhumibol’s brother King Ananda Mahidol was found shot dead in his bedroom in the Boromphiman Throne Hall at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, four days before he was scheduled to return to Switzerland to finish his doctoral degree in law at the University of Lausanne. The circumstances of King Ananda Mahidol’s death have never been fully explained. In 1950, Bhumibol married Sirikit Kitiyakara, the daughter of the Thai ambassador to France. The couple had three daughters and one son. King Bhumibol Adulyadej died at the age of 88, following several years of illness.  At the time of his death, he was the world’s longest-reigning current monarch, having reigned for 70 years and 126 days.
Unofficial Royalty: King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand

December 5, 1969 – Death of Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace in London, England; first buried in the Royal Crypt at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, reburied in 1988 at the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel near her aunt Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia
Alice was the daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, a grandchild of Queen Victoria. As a child, Alice was diagnosed with congenital deafness and learned to lip-read in both English and German. In 1903, she married Prince Andreas of Greece and Denmark and the couple had four daughters and one son, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Alice spent a time in a Swiss sanitorium after she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Alice’s husband moved to the French Riviera where enjoyed a life of leisure, spending much of his time living aboard mistress’ yacht. In November 1947, Alice returned to the United Kingdom for her son’s wedding. Some of her jewels were used to create Elizabeth’s engagement ring and a bracelet Philip designed for her as a wedding gift. In 1948, Alice founded a nursing order of nuns, the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary. She established a home for the order just north of Athens and trained on the Greek island of Tinos. In 1953, Princess Alice attended the coronation of her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, at Westminster Abbey. Alice left Greece in 1967 following the Colonels’ Coup and was invited by her son and daughter-in-law to live at Buckingham Palace in London, England. She died there at the age of 84.
Unofficial Royalty: Alice of Battenberg, Princess Andreas of Greece

December 5, 2014 – Death of Queen Fabiola of Belgium, born Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, wife of King Baudouin of the Belgians, at Stuyvenberg Castle in Laeken, Belgium; buried at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium
Born to a Spanish aristocratic family, Fabiola was the fifth of the six children of Gonzalo de Mora y Fernández, Riera y del Olmo, 4th Marquess of Casa Riera, 2nd Count of Mora and his wife Blanca de Aragón y Carrillo de Albornoz, Barroeta-Aldamar y Elío. Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was her godmother. In 1960, Fabiola married King Baudouin of the Belgians, who had been king since his father King Leopold III abdicated in 1951. Unfortunately, King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola lost five children to miscarriages and never had children. In 1993, King Baudouin died. Although King Baudouin had heart surgery in March 1992 this death from heart failure still came unexpectedly, and sent much of Belgium into a period of deep mourning. Fabiola survived her husband by twenty-one years, dying at the age of 86.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Fabiola of Belgium

December 5, 2017 – Death of King Michael (Mihai) of Romania at his home in Aubonne, Switzerland; buried at the new Archdiocesan and Royal Cathedral at Curtea de Argeș in Romania
Mihai was the only child of King Carol II of Romania and his second wife, Princess Helen of Greece. He was the last King of Romania, reigning from 1927 – 1930 and again from 1940 until his forced abdication in 1947. In 1947, Mihai married Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma. The couple had five daughters. Their eldest daughter Margareta is the current Custodian of the Crown of Romania. Mihai was banned from Romania for 43 years. In 1997, the Romanian government restored Mihai’s citizenship and in the following years, several properties were returned to the royal family. In 2016, it was announced that King Mihai had been diagnosed with chronic leukemia and metastatic epidermoid carcinoma and that he was withdrawing from public life. Crown Princess Margareta took on his public duties. King Mihai’s wife Anne died on August 1, 2016, in a hospital in Morges, Switzerland, at the age of 92. King Mihai died at his residence in Switzerland on December 5, 2017, at the age of 96.
Unofficial Royalty: King Michael (Mihai) of Romania

December 5, 2023 – Death of Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein, son of Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein; buried at the Cathedral of St. Florin in Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Prince Constantin was the third of the three sons and the third of the four children of Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein and the late Princess Marie, born Countess Marie Aglaë of Wchinitz and Tettau. He received a law degree from the University of Salzburg in Austria and has worked primarily in the financial field, holding positions at investment firms in the United States and in Europe. Constantin married Countess Marie Gabriele Franziska Kálnoky de Kőröspatak and the couple had three children. Prince Constantin died on December 5, 2023, at the age of 51. A statement released by the Prince House of Liechtenstein said: “The Princely House regrets to announce that H.S.H. Prince Constantin von und zu Liechtenstein passed away unexpectedly on 5 December 2023.” A private family funeral and burial took place at the Cathedral of St. Florin in Vaduz, Liechtenstein on December 10, 2023.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein

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Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

December 4, 1214 – Death of William I “the Lion”, King of Scots at Stirling Castle in Scotland; buried at Arbroath Abbey, in Arbroath, Scotland
William I, King of Scots, nicknamed “the Lion,” had the second-longest reign in Scottish history before the Act of Union with England in 1707. He reigned for 49 years, from 1165 – 1214, and was a contemporary of King Henry II of England and his sons King Richard I and King John. His standard, a red lion rampant with a forked tail on a yellow background became the Royal Standard of Scotland and is used today on the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom, quartered with the royal standards of England and Ireland. William became King of Scots upon the death of his brother in 1165. He married Ermengarde de Beaumont, a great-granddaughter of King Henry I of England (through an illegitimate child of Henry I), and the couple had four children. William died at about the age of 70.
Unofficial Royalty: William I, King of Scots

December 4, 1655 – Birth of King Karl XI of Sweden at Tre Kronor Castle in Stockholm, Sweden
Karl XI, King of Sweden was the only child of Karl X Gustav, King of Sweden. Karl X died at the age of 37 in 1660, from influenza and pneumonia and his four-year-old son Karl became King of Sweden. Karl XI’s mother Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp served as Regent of Sweden until her son reached his majority. In 1680, Karl married Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark. The couple had seven children but only three survived childhood, including two Swedish monarchs, King Karl XII and Queen Ulrika Eleonora.
Unofficial Royalty: King Karl XI of Sweden

December 4, 1711 – Birth of Bárbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain, wife of King Fernando VI of Spain, at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
Full name: Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa
The daughter of João V, King of Portugal, Bárbara married King Fernando VI of Spain but the couple had no children except a stillborn son. Benevolent but weak, Fernando VI left the government mostly to others. Bárbara was the conduit through which the government ministers worked with Fernando VI. She was presented with all documents of state before they were given to Fernando VI because only she knew what should be said or hidden from him. Bárbara suffered from severe asthma for most of her life and became obese in the years before her death. Bárbara’s death at the age of 46,  broke Fernando’s heart. During the last year of his reign, probably at least partially caused by his wife’s death, Fernando VI rapidly lost his mental capacity. He lived at the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón, near Madrid, where he died less than a year after Barbara’s death, on August 10, 1759, as the age of 45.
Unofficial Royalty: Bárbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain

December 4, 1727 – Death of Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the first wife of Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia.; first buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg, the castle church at Schwarzburg Castle in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, reburied in the 1940s in the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany
On February 8, 1720, in Saalfeld, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in the German state of Thuringia, 26-year-old Sophia Wilhelmina married 28-year-old Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Sophia Wilhelmina and Friedrich Anton had three children but only two survived childhood. The marriage of Friedrich Anton and Sophia Wilhelmina lasted only seven years as Sophia Wilhelmina died on December 4, 1727, aged 34, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

December 4, 1784 – Birth of Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark, first wife of the future King Christian VIII, at Ludwiglust Palace in Ludwigslust, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Charlotte Frederica was divorced from her husband after an alleged affair.  She was sent into exile and never again saw her son, the future King Frederik VII of Denmark. She finally settled in Rome where she converted to Roman Catholicism.  She died in Rome in 1840, at the age of 55. Charlotte Frederica was buried in a tomb paid for by her son and created by the Danish sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau at the Teutonic Cemetery, a burial site adjacent to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City that had been dedicated to the German-speaking residents of Rome. On July 11, 2019, the tomb of Charlotte Frederica and the adjacent tomb of Princess Sophia of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein were opened to search for the remains of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old who disappeared in 1983. Not only was there no sign of Emanuela’s remains, but the remains of Princess Sophia and Duchess Charlotte Frederica were missing. It is possible that their remains were moved due to renovations at the end of the 1800s and again in the 1960s and 1970s.
Unofficial Royalty: Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark
Unofficial Royalty: The Strange Case of the Tombs of Two 19th Century Princesses and a 20th Century 15-Year-Old Missing Girl.

December 4, 1878 – Birth of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, at the Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
A younger brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, Michael was the first of the eighteen Romanovs executed during the Russian Revolution. Michael fell in love with  Natalia Sergeyevna Wulfert (called Natasha), the wife of an officer from his army regiment. In 1910, Natasha gave birth to Michael’s son named George after Michael’s deceased brother. Michael knew that his brother would not grant permission to marry Natasha. Michael feared that his hemophiliac nephew Alexei would not survive and that he would become the heir which would make the possibility of his marriage to Natalia even more remote. By marrying Natasha before Alexei died, Michael would be removed from the line of succession early, preventing him from losing Natasha, so the couple was married in 1912. Michael was banished from Russia but in 1914, he reconciled with his brother Nicholas and was allowed to return to Russia.  It would have been better if Michael had remained in exile. On June 13, 1918, Michael and his British secretary Nicholas Johnson were executed by the Bolsheviks. Their remains have never been found.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia

December 4, 1999 – Wedding of King Philippe of the Belgians and Mathilde d’Udekem d’ Acoz, civilly at the Brussels City Hall and religiously at the Cathedral of Saint Michel and Saint Gudula in Brussels, Belgium
When Philippe and Mathilde’s engagement was announced in September 1999, it was a huge surprise to the Belgian people. The couple had first met in 1996 and had been involved ever since, but it was not until the announcement that anyone knew anything about the relationship.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of King Philippe of the Belgians and Mathilde d’Udekem d’ Acoz

December 4, 2024 – Death of Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern, one of the four elder sisters of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, in Majorca, Spain; buried at the Royal Burial Ground in Haga Park in Solna, Sweden.
Princess Birgitta was the second of the five children and the second of the four daughters of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Sadly, her father Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten died in an airplane crash in 1947, when Princess Birgitta was ten years old. She married Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in 1961 and they had three children. Princess Birgitta and her husband separated in 1990 but remained married. Prince Johann Georg lived in Munich, Germany while Princess Birgitta lived on the island of Majorca, in Spain.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Princess Louise of the United Kingdom, Duchess of Argyll; Credit – Wikipedia

December 3, 1764 – Birth of Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess Friedrich of Württemberg, first wife of the future King Friedrich I of Württemberg, in Brunswick, Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
Full name: Augusta Caroline Friederike Luise
Augusta was the daughter of Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Augusta of Great Britain, a sister of King George III. In 1780, Augusta married Prince Friedrich of Württemberg, later King Friedrich I of Württemberg. Despite a very unhappy marriage, Augusta and Friedrich had four children. Augusta wanted to leave her husband as early as her first pregnancy.  In 1782, Friedrich had impressed Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia while visiting Russia, and she made him Governor-General of Eastern Finland. Four years later, while they were visiting Catherine II in St. Petersburg, Augusta asked Catherine for protection from her husband. She claimed that Friedrich was abusive to her, and was having affairs with several men. Catherine took Augusta in and told Friedrich to leave the country. Augusta hoped to obtain a divorce, but her father would not permit it. So Catherine provided Augusta with a home at Koluvere Castle in Estonia, along with a custodian, Wilhelm von Pohlmann. Soon, Augusta and von Pohlmann began an affair and she became pregnant. On September 27, 1788, Augusta went into premature labor. Fearing that their affair would become known, von Pohlmann refused to call for a doctor and Augusta died of blood loss.
Unofficial Royalty: Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

December 3, 1821 – Birth of Jane Loftus, Marchioness of Ely, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria
Born Jane Hope-Vere, the daughter of  James Hope-Vere and Lady Elizabeth Hay, a daughter of the 7th Marquess of Tweeddale. She married John Loftus, 3rd Marquess of Ely. She was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria from 1851 until 1889. She then served as an Extra Lady of the Bedchamber until she died in 1890.
Unofficial Royalty: Jane Loftus, Marchioness of Ely

December 3, 1838 – Birth of Luise of Prussia, Grand Duchess of Baden, wife of Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Luise Marie Elisabeth
Luise was the daughter of Wilhelm I, King of Prussia and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. She had one older brother Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia. In 1856, Luise married the future Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden. The couple had three children including Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden and Victoria who married King Gustav V of Sweden. Luise became involved in charitable causes in Baden, particularly those that helped and promoted women. Luise’s husband died in 1907. At the end of World War I, Luise along with her daughter Queen Victoria of Sweden, who was visiting, fled to Zwingenberg Palace in Zwingenberg, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The new Baden government then granted Luise permission to stay at Langenstein Castle, owned by the Swedish Count Douglas, who was related to the Baden Grand Ducal family through marriage. The Baden government ordered that Luise and her family be protected, primarily because her daughter was Queen of Sweden, and they did not want to cause any diplomatic problems.  In 1919, Luise was given permission to return to Neues Schloss (New Castle) in Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany where she died at the age of 85.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise of Prussia, Grand Duchess of Baden

December 3, 1839 – Death of King Frederik VI of Denmark and Norway at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Frederik VI was the only son and the eldest of the two children of King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway and his and Caroline Matilda of Wales, sister of King George III of the United Kingdom. Frederik’s father King Christian VII suffered from mental illness. His ill-treated mother Caroline Matilda had an affair with physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. After the affair was discovered Struenss was executed and Caroline Matilda was imprisoned in a castle and never saw her children again. In 1790, Frederik married his cousin Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel. Frederik and Marie had eight children but unfortunately, six of them, including two boys, died in infancy. Only two daughters survived and both daughters had childless marriages. In 1808, 1808, Frederik became king upon the death of his father. After the French defeat in the Napoleonic Wars in 1814 and the loss of Norway, Frederik became more authoritarian and reactionary, giving up his former liberal ideas. He died at the age of 71.
Unofficial Royalty: King Frederik VI of Denmark and Norway

December 3, 1882 – Death of Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen in Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meinigen, now in Thuringia, Germany; buried in the Ducal Crypt Chapel in the Meiningen municipal cemetery until 1977, when his remains were removed from the chapel, cremated and buried elsewhere in the cemetery
Bernhard was the only son of Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and the younger brother of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen who married King William IV of the United Kingdom.  In 1803, three-year-old Bernhard became Duke of Saxe-Meiningen upon the death of his father. In 1825, Bernhard married Princess Marie Friederike of Hesse-Kassel and the couple had two children. Although he had earlier aligned himself with Prussia, in the mid-1860s, Bernhard instead sided with Austria during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Following Austria’s defeat, the Prussians forced Bernhard to abdicate on September 20, 1866, in favor of his son, Georg II. Now the former Duke, Bernhard took up residence at the Great Palace in Meiningen, previously built as a dower home for his mother. He died there at the age of 81.
Unofficial Royalty: Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

December 3, 1935 – Death of Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, at her home Coppins in Iver, Buckinghamshire, England; buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in Windsor, England
Victoria’s mother Alexandra was extremely possessive, demanded complete devotion from her children, and insisted that they call her Motherdear. Victoria’s sisters Louise and Maud escaped into marriage, leaving her at home as her mother’s constant companion. She had several suitors including Prince Adolphus of Teck, Sir Arthur Davidson, one of her father’s equerries, and Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery. Lord Rosebery was a former Prime Minister who had been widowed, and both he and Victoria would have liked to have married. However, Victoria’s mother actively discouraged her from marrying anyone. Instead, she remained a companion to her mother, Queen Alexandra, whom she lived with until the Queen died in 1925. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, Victoria’s first cousin, described her as little more than “a glorified maid.”  When her mother died, Victoria was 57 and was able to live her own life at last. She purchased a country home, Coppins, in Iver, Buckinghamshire, England. Victoria became active in the village life of Iver and was the honorary president of the Iver Horticultural Society. Victoria’s last years were plagued with health issues and she suffered from neuralgia, migraines, indigestion, depression, colds, and influenza. Princess Victoria died at her home Coppins at the age of 67.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom

December 3, 1939 – Death of Princess Louise of the United Kingdom, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria, at Kensington Palace in London, England; cremated and ashes buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in Windsor, England
Louise developed a strong interest in the arts. Queen Victoria permitted her to enroll at The National Art Training School to pursue her interests and she became a very skilled painter and sculptress. She sculpted a statue of Queen Victoria which stands today on the grounds of Kensington Palace. In 1871, Louise married John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne and heir to the Dukedom of Argyll. Queen Victoria found this to be a wonderful match, infusing ‘new blood’ into the royal family. Others, including the Prince of Wales, found it appalling that the Princess should marry below her class. Louise and her husband had no children. From 1878 – 1883, Louise’s husband was the Governor-General of Canada and the couple resided at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. Louise was widowed in 1914 when her husband passed away after a lengthy illness. She would survive him by more than 25 years. During this time, she remained an active member of the royal family, taking part in official events and maintaining contact with many of her patronages and charities. Louise spent her remaining years at Kensington Palace, where she died at the age of 91.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

December 3, 1944 – Death of Prince Andreas (Andrew) of Greece, son of King George I of Greece and father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the Metropole Hotel in Monte Carlo, Monaco; first buried at the Russian Orthodox Church in Nice, France; in 1946, his remains were reinterred in the royal cemetery at Tatoi Palace in Greece
The father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Andreas was the son of King George I of Greece (born a Prince of Denmark) and Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia. In 1903, he married Princess Alice of Battenberg, daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. The couple had four daughters and one son. Andreas’ life was often interrupted by the political turmoil in Greece. By the early 1930s, Andreas had less and less contact with his family. His wife suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized, his four daughters had all married into former German royal families, and his son was attending school first in Germany and then in the United Kingdom. Somewhat at a loss, having been basically forced into a life of retirement, Andreas moved to the French Riviera. The onset of World War II brought an end to the little contact Andreas had with his wife and children. His wife had returned to Greece, his daughters were all behind German lines, and his son was fighting for the British forces. Prince Andreas died at the Metropole Hotel in Monte Carlo on December 3, 1944, at the age of 62.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Andreas of Greece

December 3, 2005 – Birth of Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway, son of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, at the Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo, Norway
Sverre Magnus is the youngest of the two children of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit (née Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby), and one of the five grandchildren of King Harald V of Norway. The prince is third in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne, behind his father and sister Princess Ingrid Alexandra.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway

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Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil, Queen of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

December 2, 1767 – Birth of Leopold I, Prince of Lippe in Detmold, County of Lippe-Detmold, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Full name: Wilhelm Leopold
As a child, Leopold’s lack of strength of character, lack of interest, lack of concentration, and a tendency to mental disorders became apparent. In 1782, Leopold’s father died and the fourteen-year-old succeeded him. In 1790, Leopold’s mental disorders interfered with his role as reigning prince and he was deemed legally incapacitated and placed under guardianship. In 1795, the guardianship was conditionally lifted after Leopold’s condition improved. Leopold married Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg in 1796 and the couple had two sons. Because of Leopold’s tenuous mental condition, Pauline became his governmental adviser and colleague. Within the next few years, Leopold developed intestinal tuberculosis, and his mental disorders returned with memory loss. He died at the age of 34 and his five-year-old son Leopold II, Prince of Lippe succeeded him with his mother Pauline very capably acting as Regent of the Principality of Lippe.
Unofficial Royalty: Leopold I, Prince of Lippe

December 2, 1826 – Death of Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil, Queen of Portugal, wife of Pedro I of Brazil/Pedro IV of Portugal, at São Cristóvão Palace in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; first buried at the Church of the Ajuda Convent in Rio de Janeiro, reinterred in 1954 at the Monument to the Independence of Brazil in São Paulo, Brazil
Known as Leopoldina, she was the daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the second of his four wives, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. In 1817, she married Pedro, Crown Prince of Portugal and Prince of Brazil, son of King João VI of Portugal. At that time, Brazil was ruled as a kingdom united with Portugal. The couple had seven children. In 1821, Pedro became the Regent of Brazil. In August 1822, Pedro appointed Leopoldina Regent of Brazil while he was away on a trip. While Pedro was away, Leopoldina received news that Portugal intended to recall Pedro and relegate Brazil to the status of a colony. Leopoldina met with the Council of State and signed the Decree of Independence, declaring Brazil independent from Portugal. Pedro I was declared Emperor of Brazil and Leopoldina became Empress of Brazil. In 1826, 29-year-old Leopoldina died from puerperal fever (childbed fever) after a miscarriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil, Queen of Portugal

December 2, 1849 – Death of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen of the United Kingdom, wife of King William IV of the United Kingdom, at Bentley Priory in Stanmore, Middlesex, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in Windsor, England
After twenty-one-year-old Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of George, Prince of Wales, died delivering a stillborn son, the unmarried, aging sons of King George III began a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession. One of the sons was William, Duke of Clarence (the future King William IV). William had never married but had lived for 20 years with actress Dorothea Jordan. Soon after Princess Charlotte of Wales died, negotiations began for the marriage of William to Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, and the engagement was announced on April 19, 1818. William was 52 and Adelaide was 25. Adelaide loved children but was destined not to have one of her own. Sadly, Adelaide had babies who died in early infancy, a miscarriage, and two stillbirths. A child of William and Adelaide would have succeeded to the throne as William’s two elder brothers (George IV and Frederick, Duke of York) had no surviving children.  Adelaide wrote to her widowed sister-in-law the Duchess of Kent, “My children are dead, but your child lives, and she is mine too.” That child was the future Queen Victoria. In 1830, Adelaide’s husband William became king upon the death of his brother King George IV.  He reigned for only seven years and was succeeded by his niece Victoria. Adelaide survived William by 12 years, dying at the age of 57.
Unofficial Royalty: Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen of the United Kingdom

December 2, 1865 – Birth of Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, the second, morganatic wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, in St. Petersburg, Russia
Olga first married Major General Erich Augustinovich von Pistohlkors, an officer of the Imperial Guard and an aide to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. As a friend of Pistohlkors, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich often spent evenings with him and his wife Olga. Paul appreciated Olga’s elegance and lively spirit and an affair began. Pistohlkors turned a blind eye to the affair. Olga gave birth in 1897 to a son then 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, her 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.
Unofficial Royalty: Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, Princess Paley

December 2, 1915 – Birth of Prince Mikasa of Japan, son of Emperor Taishō of Japan, at the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan
Prince Mikasa was the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei, and the youngest brother of Emperor Hirohito (Shōwa). He studied archaeology, Middle Eastern studies, and Semitic languages at the University of Tokyo. From 1954 until he died in 2016, he directed the Japanese Society for Middle East Studies. He also held visiting and guest faculty appointments in Middle Eastern studies and archaeology at universities in Japan and abroad. In 1941, Prince Mikasa married Yuriko Takagi, daughter of Japanese noble Viscount Masanari, who was known as Princess Mikasa after her marriage. The couple had three sons and two daughters. All three sons predeceased their parents. Prince Mikasa died of heart failure on October 27, 2016, at the age of 100, a little more than a month before his 101st birthday. At the time of his death, he was the world’s oldest royal, the longest-lived member of the Japanese Imperial Family, and the last of the five Japanese princes in the line of succession. Today, there are only three princes in the line of succession. See The Japanese Succession Crisis. Prince Mikasa lived during the reigns of three emperors: his father Emperor Taishō, his brother Emperor Hirohito, and his nephew Emperor Akihito.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Mikasa of Japan

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King Henry I of England, Credit – Wikipedia

December 1, 1135 – Death of King Henry I of England at St. Denis-le-Fermont, France; buried at Reading Abbey in Berkshire, England
Henry I was the fourth and the youngest son of William the Conqueror (King William I). In 1100, Henry married Edith of Scotland (renamed Matilda upon her marriage), the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret of Scotland (born an Anglo-Saxon princess). Through her mother, Matilda merged the bloodline of the Anglo-Saxon kings with Henry’s Norman bloodline. Henry and Matilda had two surviving children. In 1120, William Ætheling, Henry’s only legitimate son, was returning to England from Normandy when his ship, the White Ship, hit a submerged rock, capsized, and sank. William Ætheling and many others drowned. King Henry I holds the record for the British monarch with the most illegitimate children, 25 or so illegitimate children. However, the tragedy of the White Ship left him with only one legitimate child, his daughter Matilda. Henry died around the age of 67. He had fallen ill after eating a number of lampreys against his doctor’s advice. It is possible the cause of death was ptomaine poisoning. Upon hearing of Henry’s death, Stephen of Blois, one of Henry’s nephews, quickly crossed the English Channel from France, seized power, and was crowned King of England. This started the terrible civil war between Stephen and Henry’s daughter Matilda known as The Anarchy. England did not see peace for eighteen years until Matilda’s son acceded to the throne as King Henry II of England in 1153.
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry I of England

December 1, 1241 – Death of Isabella of England, Holy Roman Empress, daughter of King John of England, at Foggia, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Italy; buried at the Cathedral of Andria in Andria, Kingdom of Sicily, now in Italy
In 1235, 21-year-old Isabella married the twice-widowed 40-year-old Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Sicily. There is controversy over how many children Isabella and Friedrich had, but they had at least four children. Isabella rarely appeared in public and had no political influence. She lived in seclusion mostly at the castle in Noventa Padovana, near Venice and Padua in present-day Italy. Isabella died at the age of 27 after giving birth to her last child.
Unofficial Royalty: Isabella of England, Holy Roman Empress

December 1, 1463 – Death of Mary of Guelders, Queen of Scots, wife of  James II, King of Scots, at Ravenscraig Castle in Scotland;  buried in Trinity College Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland; in 1848, Mary’s remains were moved to Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh
Mary was educated in the court of her great-uncle Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and his third wife Isabella of Portugal, a granddaughter of John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III of England. Isabella, well educated by her parents King João I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, was known for her intelligence, patronage of the arts, and political influence on her husband and son. Isabella greatly influenced Mary and helped arrange Mary’s marriage to James II, King of Scots in 1449. Mary and James II had seven children. In 1460, Mary’s husband 29-year-old James II was accidentally killed when a cannon nearby where he was standing exploded. Mary became the regent for her nine-year-old son King James III. Mary of Guelders survived her husband by only three years, dying at the age of thirty.
Unofficial Royalty: Mary of Guelders, Queen of Scots

December 1, 1825 – Death of Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia at Taganrog, Russia; buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Russia
In 1793, fifteen-year-old Alexander married fourteen-year-old Louise of Baden who took the Russian name Elizabeth Alexeievna. Two daughters were born during the marriage and both died in early childhood. It is possible that the daughters were not Alexander’s. Both Alexander and his wife had affairs and their marriage was one in name only. Alexander became Emperor of All Russia in 1801 upon the assassination of his father Paul I, Emperor of All Russia. The most important event during Alexander’s reign was the Napoleonic Wars, a series of major conflicts (1803 – 1815) pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against various coalitions of European powers. In 1812, Napoleon’s army invaded Russia. The French forces eventually were repelled by the brutal Russian winter and retreated to the borders of Russia, pursued by the Russian army. The French Army was almost destroyed. Napoleon’s ill-fated Russian invasion was the motivation for composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, written in 1882 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Russia’s defense against Napoleon’s invading army. Toward the end of his life, Alexander somewhat reconciled with his wife. By 1825, Elizabeth Alexeievna’s health was suffering due to lung problems and the doctors recommended getting away from the harsh climate of St. Petersburg. Alexander and Elizabeth Alexeievna relocated to the city of Taganrog, Russia by the Sea of Azov. Alexander had a cold, which developed into typhus. He died at the age of 47. Elizabeth Alexeievna survived him by five months.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia

December 1, 1844 – Birth of Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of the United Kingdom, wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, at the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark
Full name: Alexandra Carolina Marie Charlotte Louise
The daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark, Alexandra, known as Alix, married the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (Bertie) in 1863. The couple had six children including King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Maud of Norway. In 1901, Alix’s husband succeeded to the British throne upon the death of his mother Queen Victoria. Alix and her husband began the idea of the royal family’s public appearances as we now know them during Queen Victoria’s withdrawal after her husband’s death, and they continued this during Bertie’s reign. During his marriage, Bertie had several mistresses. Alix knew about many of them and accepted them. When Bertie died in 1910, Alix quipped, “Now at least I know where he is.”
Unofficial Royalty: Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of the United Kingdom

December 1, 2001 – Birth of Princess Aiko of Japan, the only child of Emperor Naruhito of Japan, at the Hospital of the Imperial Household in Tokyo, Japan
Princess Aiko is the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. She graduated from Gakushūin Primary School in March 2014, and the following month, she entered the Gakushūin Girls Junior High School. In 2017, Aiko entered the Gakushuin Girls High School, graduating in March 2020. In April 2020, Princess Aiko began her studies at Gakushuin University where she majored in Japanese language and literature, graduating in March 2024. Despite being the child of the Emperor, Princess Aiko is not in the line of succession to the throne, as The Imperial Household Law of 1947 limits succession to males in a male line only. After Aiko’s birth, there was much discussion about changing the succession laws. In 2005, the Prime Minister vowed to submit a bill to the government to change The Imperial Household Law, based on recommendations from an independent, government-appointed panel. However, the birth of a male cousin, Prince Hisahito, son of Crown Prince Akoshino, in 2006, ended the efforts, and the proposal was dropped. In practicality, with the current succession laws, the Imperial Family now has only one person who can provide any heirs, a boy born in 2006 who will not marry for years. In November 2020, it was recommended that the discussion regarding succession be shelved until Prince Hisahito becomes an adult and has children.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Aiko of Japan
Unofficial Royalty: Japanese Succession Crisis

December 1, 2004 – Death of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, born Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld, raised to Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, father of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, husband of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, at the University of Utrecht Medical Center in Utrecht, the Netherlands; buried at Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands
Bernhard was the elder son of Prince Bernhard of Lippe (younger brother of Leopold IV, the reigning Prince of Lippe) and his wife Armgard von Cramm. Bernhard and Armgard’s marriage was considered morganatic, Bernhard was styled Graf von Biesterfeld (Count of Biesterfeld) at birth. In 1916, Bernhard’s uncle, Leopold IV, the reigning Prince of Lippe, created Armgard Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld with the style Serene Highness and this title and style was also extended to her two sons. In 1937, Bernhard married  Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, the only child, and heir of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. Bernhard and Juliana had four daughters including Juliana’s successor Queen Beatrix. In 2004, eight months after Juliana’s death, it was announced that Prince Bernhard had lung cancer. An additional announcement was made two weeks later stating that he also had a malignant tumor in the intestines. Bernhard died soon afterward at the age of 93.
Unofficial Royalty: Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld

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