Category Archives: British Royals

Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry Beaufort was an English prelate and statesman who was Bishop of Lincoln (1398 – 1404), Bishop of Winchester (1404 – 1447), a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (1426 – 1447), and Lord Chancellor of England three times (1403 – 1405, 1413 – 1417, and 1424 – 1426). Born circa 1375, Henry Beaufort was the second of the three sons and the second of the four children of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he later married as his third wife in 1396. The surname of Henry and his three siblings is derived from the now-demolished Beaufort Castle, a property in Champagne, France that John of Gaunt had sold years before. John of Gaunt likely felt it was a safe name to give to his illegitimate children by Katherine Swynford.

All British monarchs since King Henry IV are descended from Henry’s father John of Gaunt. In fact, most European monarchies are descended from John. The Houses of Lancaster, York, and Tudor were all descended from John of Gaunt’s children:

During the Wars of the Roses, the battle for the English throne pitted the House of Lancaster and the House of York against each other.

Henry’s father John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry Beaufort’s paternal grandparents were King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England. His maternal grandmother is unknown but his maternal grandfather was Paon de Roet, a knight from the County of Hainault (now part of Belgium and France) who first came to England in 1328 when Philippa of Hainault married King Edward III of England.

Henry’s mother Katherine Swynford; Credit – http://kettlethorpechurch.co.uk/katherine-swynford/

Henry had three siblings:

Henry had three half-siblings from his mother’s first marriage to Sir Hugh Swynford (circa 1340 – 1371), a knight in service to John of Gaunt:

  • Blanche Swynford (1367 – circa 1374), died in childhood
  • Sir Thomas Swynford (1368 – 1432), married (1) Jane Crophill, had three children (2) Margaret Grey, no children
  • Margaret Swynford (born c. 1369), became a nun at Barking Abbey in 1377 with help from her future stepfather John of Gaunt, where she lived the religious life with her cousin Elizabeth Chaucer, daughter of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer and Katherine’s sister Philippa de Roet

King Henry IV of England, Henry’s half-brother from his father’s first marriage to Blanche of Lancaster; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry had seven half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to the wealthy heiress Blanche of Lancaster:

The effigy of Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile, Henry’s half-sister from his father’s second marriage to Constance of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry had two half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Infanta Constance of Castile:

  • Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile (1372 – 1418), married King Enrique III of Castile and León, had three children. Through their son Juan II of Castile, Catherine and Enrique III are the grandparents of Isabella I, Queen of Castile and great-grandparents of Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), the first wife of King Henry VIII of England.
  • John of Lancaster (1374 – 1375), died in infancy

Henry and his siblings likely spent their early years at Kettlethorpe Hall in Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire, England, a property that had belonged to the first husband of Henry’s mother, Sir Hugh Swynford, who had died in 1371. Kettlethorpe was a small, quiet village, close to the city of Lincoln but 150 miles from London. It would have been a perfect place for John of Gaunt to carry on a discreet affair and have his illegitimate children raised as he had made a second marriage in 1371 and Katherine was a recent widow.

Two years after the death of his second wife Constance of Castile, John of Gaunt married his mistress Katherine Swynford, Henry Beaufort’s mother, on January 13, 1396, at Lincoln Cathedral in England. After the marriage of Katherine and John, their four children were legitimized by both John of Gaunt’s nephew King Richard II of England and Pope Boniface IX. After Henry Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt’s eldest son by his first wife Blanche of Lancaster, deposed his first cousin King Richard II in 1399, and became King Henry IV, he inserted the Latin phrase excepta regali dignitate (except royal status) in the documents that had legitimized his Beaufort half-siblings and supposedly that phrase barred them from the throne. However, many disputed and still dispute the authority of a monarch to alter an existing parliamentary statute on his or her own authority, without the further approval of Parliament.

John of Gaunt treated his Beaufort children as cherished members of the family but he was careful that the provisions he made for them would not interfere with the Lancaster inheritance reserved for his legitimate children. Instead, he found other forms of income for them through marriages and for his second son Henry, through the church. Because of John of Gaunt’s cautions, his Beaufort children were held in great affection by their half-siblings.

Henry was destined from an early age to have a career in the Roman Catholic Church. At that time in the Church, there were benefices, ecclesiastical offices that bestowed an income on its holder. A prebend was a type of benefice connected with a cathedral or a collegiate church (a church administered by a chapter of canons). In January 1390, when Henry was about fifteen years old, he was given the wealthy prebend of Thame in the Diocese of Lincoln. In August 1390, Henry had been given the prebend of Riccall in the Diocese of York. The additional wealthy prebend of Sutton in the Diocese of Lincoln was given to Henry in January 1391.

It was not at all unusual for teenagers to be granted church offices at this time. The benefices would provide for Henry’s living expenses and his education. Beginning in the academic year of 1390 – 1391, Henry attended Queens College at the University of Oxford to study civil and canon law. After his year at Oxford, Henry was sent to Aachen, a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, to continue his studies in civil and canon law.

In 1397, Pope Boniface IX issued a papal bull making twenty-two-year-old Henry Beaufort the Dean of Wells Cathedral in Somerset, England, most likely at the request of Henry’s father John of Gaunt. It was at this time that John of Gaunt pressed Pope Boniface IX to legitimize his four children by his former mistress Katherine Swynford whom he had married in 1396. The pope was more than eager to grant the influential John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster his wish. In early April 1397, Henry was ordained as a deacon, and later that month, he was appointed Chancellor of Oxford University.

On February 27, 1398, in a move that astounded many, twenty-one-year-old Henry was named Bishop of Lincoln by his first cousin King Richard II of England who had received a papal bull from Pope Boniface IX instructing him to do so. Despite thirty being the required age for bishops, John of Gaunt had again pressed Pope Boniface IX, and again wishing to gain favor with John of Gaunt, the pope agreed. Henry resigned from the position of Chancellor of Oxford University and on July 14, 1398, he was consecrated as Bishop of Lincoln.

Henry Beaufort, while Bishop of Lincoln, fathered an illegitimate daughter with an unknown woman. Jane Beaufort and her husband Sir Edward Stradling were both named in Beaufort’s will. Sir Edward held several government positions over the years which he may have owed to the influence of his father-in-law.

  • Jane Beaufort (1402 – 1453), married Sir Edward Stradling, had one son and one daughter

In 1403, four years after his half-brother Henry Bolingbroke deposed their mutual first cousin King Richard II and became King Henry IV, Henry Beaufort was appointed Lord Chancellor of England for the first of three times. On November 14, 1404, he was appointed Bishop of Winchester. Henry Beaufort was a trusted advisor to his half-brother King Henry IV (reigned 1399 – 1413) and his nephew King Henry V (reigned 1413 – 1422). He played an important role in English history during the first half of the fifteenth century and became extremely wealthy and influential in the process.

King Henry V of England; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1421, King Henry V named Henry Beaufort the godfather of his only child, the future King Henry VI. On August 31, 1422, thirty-five-year-old King Henry V, a warrior king, the victor against the French at the Battle of Agincourt, determined to conquer France once and for all, succumbed to dysentery, a disease that killed more soldiers than battle, leaving a nine-month-old son to inherit his throne. The infant King Henry VI was entrusted to the care of his great uncles, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester and Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter.

King Henry VI’s accession – It is likely that Henry Beaufort is in this drawing; Credit – Wikipedia

During the minority of King Henry VI, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester was a leading figure on the regency council. In 1424, Beaufort was appointed Chancellor of England for the third and final time but was forced to resign in 1426 because of disputes with King Henry VI’s other uncles, in particular Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. Pope Martin V appointed Beaufort as a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 1426.

There is often confusion over Beaufort’s participation in the trial of Joan of Arc, who is famous for her role in the Siege of Orléans and the coronation of King Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years’ War against England. After successfully leading several French military actions, Joan of Arc was captured, handed over to the English, convicted as a heretic, and burnt at the stake in 1431. Twenty-five years later, her conviction was formally overturned, and she became a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 1920. Although an 1825 painting by Paul Delaroche shows Henry Beaufort interrogating Joan of Arc, she was actually interrogated by Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, the judge in the trial of Joan of Arc, and there is no evidence that an encounter with Beaufort ever took place. The full record of the trial, which lists all those who took part in Joan of Arc’s trial on a daily basis, shows that Beaufort was not at the trial nor the execution. His only appearance was on May 26, 1431. On that day, afraid of what would happen to her in English hands, Joan relented and signed a document in which she admitted to her charges.

Tomb of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester; Credit – By Scrivener-uki – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8755532

Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester died on April 11, 1447, aged 71 -72, at Wolvesey Castle, also known as the Old Bishop’s Palace, in Winchester, England. He was buried in the chantry he had founded at Winchester Cathedral. His tomb has an effigy of him wearing the red robes of a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a wide-brimmed hat.

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.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Henry Beaufort – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Beaufort> [Accessed 30 June 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/john-beaufort-1st-earl-of-somerset/> [Accessed 30 June 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2017. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/john-of-gaunt-1st-duke-of-lancaster/> [Accessed 30 June 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/katherine-swynford-duchess-of-lancaster/> [Accessed 30 June 2022].
  • Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
  • Weir, Alison, 2009. Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. New York: Ballantine Books.
  • Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Tomb effigy of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset; Credit – www.findagrave.com

John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset is significant in the history of British and Scottish royal genealogy. The Tudor dynasty was directly descended from him as he was the great-grandfather of King Henry VII of England. Henry VII based his claim to the English throne on the descent of his mother (and John’s granddaughter) Lady Margaret Beaufort from John of Gaunt, a son of King Edward III of England. John Beaufort’s daughter Joan Beaufort married James I, King of Scots, and was an ancestor of the Scots House of Stuart and the English House of Stuart.

All British monarchs since King Henry IV are descended from John of Gaunt. In fact, most European monarchies are descended from John. The Houses of Lancaster, York, and Tudor were all descended from John of Gaunt’s children:

During the Wars of the Roses, the battle for the English throne pitted the House of Lancaster and the House of York against each other.

John’s father John of Gaunt; Credit – Wikipedia

John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset was the eldest of the three sons and the eldest of the four children of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he later married in 1396. John was born circa 1373. The surname of John and his three siblings is derived from the now-demolished Beaufort Castle, a property in Champagne, France that John of Gaunt had sold years before. John of Gaunt likely felt it was a safe name to give to his illegitimate children by Katherine Swynford.

John’s mother Katherine Swynford; Credit – http://kettlethorpechurch.co.uk/katherine-swynford/

John Beaufort’s paternal grandparents were King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England. His maternal grandmother is unknown but his maternal grandfather was Paon de Roet, a knight from the County of Hainault (now part of Belgium and France) who first came to England in 1328 when Philippa of Hainault married King Edward III of England.

John had three younger siblings:

John had three half-siblings from his mother’s first marriage to Sir Hugh Swynford (circa 1340 – 1371), a knight in service to John of Gaunt:

  • Blanche Swynford (1367 – circa 1374), died in childhood
  • Sir Thomas Swynford (1368 – 1432), married (1) Jane Crophill, had three children (2) Margaret Grey, no children
  • Margaret Swynford (born c. 1369), became a nun at Barking Abbey in 1377 with help from her future stepfather John of Gaunt, where she lived the religious life with her cousin Elizabeth Chaucer, daughter of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer and Katherine’s sister Philippa de Roet

King Henry IV of England, John’s half-brother from his father’s first marriage to Blanche of Lancaster; Credit – Wikipedia

John had seven half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to the wealthy heiress Blanche of Lancaster:

The effigy of Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile, John’s half-sister from his father’s second marriage to Constance of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

John had two half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Infanta Constance of Castile:

  • Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile (1372 – 1418), married King Enrique III of Castile and León, had three children. Through their son Juan II of Castile, Catherine and Enrique III are the grandparents of Isabella I, Queen of Castile and great-grandparents of Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), the first wife of King Henry VIII of England.
  • John of Lancaster (1374 – 1375), died in infancy

John and his siblings likely spent their early years at Kettlethorpe Hall in Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire, England, a property that had belonged to the first husband of John’s mother, Sir Hugh Swynford who had died in 1371. Kettlethorpe was a small, quiet village, close to the city of Lincoln but 150 miles from London. It would have been a perfect place for John of Gaunt to carry on a discreet affair and have his illegitimate children raised as he had made a second marriage in 1371 and Katherine was a recent widow.

John of Gaunt treated his Beaufort children as cherished members of the family but he was careful that the provisions he made for them would not interfere with the Lancaster inheritance reserved for his legitimate children. Instead, he found other forms of income for them through marriages and for his second son Henry, through the church. Because of John of Gaunt’s cautions, his Beaufort children were held in great affection by their half-siblings.

Two years after the death of his second wife Constance of Castile, John of Gaunt married his mistress Katherine Swynford, John Beaufort’s mother, on January 13, 1396, at Lincoln Cathedral in England. After the marriage of Katherine and John, their four children were legitimized by both John of Gaunt’s nephew King Richard II of England and Pope Boniface IX. After Henry Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt’s eldest son by his first wife Blanche of Lancaster, deposed his first cousin King Richard II in 1399, and became King Henry IV, he inserted the phrase excepta regali dignitate (“except royal status”) in the documents that had legitimized his Beaufort half-siblings and supposedly that phrase barred them from the throne. However, many disputed and still dispute the authority of a monarch to alter an existing parliamentary statute on his or her own authority, without the further approval of Parliament.

Shortly after John Beaufort was legitimized, he was created Earl of Somerset. During the summer of 1397, he was one of the noblemen who helped King Richard II free himself from the power of the Lords Appellant. As a reward, John was created Marquess of Somerset and Marquess of Dorset and was made a Knight of the Garter.

Since John Beaufort was the first cousin of King Richard II and the half-brother of King Henry IV, he held several important appointments:

Effigy of Margaret Holland; Credit – www.geni.com

On September 27, 1397, John Beaufort married Margaret Holland (1385 – 1439), the niece of John’s first cousin King Richard II of England. Margaret was the daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and Alice FitzAlan. Like her husband, Margaret was also descended from English royalty. Her father’s mother was Joan of Kent, 4th Countess of Kent, Princess of Wales, a granddaughter of King Edward I of England. Margaret descended from Joan’s first marriage with Thomas Holland 1st Earl of Kent. Joan’s second husband was Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince) who predeceased his father King Edward III of England. Joan and her second husband were the parents of King Richard II of England, the half-brother of Margaret Holland’s father Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent.

John Beaufort and Margaret Holland had six children:

After John’s first cousin King Richard II was deposed by John’s half-brother Henry Bolingbroke, in 1399, the new King Henry IV rescinded the titles that had been given to those nobles who had helped King Richard II free himself from the power of the Lords Appellant. John Beaufort lost his Marquess of Dorset title and was demoted from Marquess of Somerset back to Earl of Somerset. Despite this, John was loyal to his half-brother, serving in various military commands and on important diplomatic missions.

John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset died on March 16, 1410, aged about thirty-seven, at the Royal Hospital of St. Katharine by the Tower, a medieval church and hospital next to the Tower of London. He was buried at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England near the tomb of his uncle Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), and the shrine of St. Thomas Becket, a final resting place probably chosen by his half-brother King Henry IV who was buried there himself in 1413.

Tomb of John Beaufort 1st Earl of Somerset, Margaret Holland, and Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence; Credit – https://thehistoryjar.com/tag/john-beaufort/

After his death, John Beaufort’s wife Margaret Holland married his nephew Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence (1387 – 1421), the son of King Henry IV, but they had no children. Margaret’s second husband died, aged thirty-three, on March 22, 1421, at the Battle of Baugé during the Hundred Years’ War in Anjou, France. Margaret survived both her husbands, dying on December 30, 1439, aged fifty-four, at St. Saviour’s Abbey, Bermondsey, in London, England. Margaret and both her husbands are buried together in a carved alabaster tomb in St. Michael’s Chapel at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England. Atop the tomb is an effigy with Margaret lying between her two husbands.

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.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Beaufort,_1st_Earl_of_Somerset> [Accessed 29 June 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Margaret Holland, Duchess of Clarence – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Holland,_Duchess_of_Clarence> [Accessed 29 June 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2017. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/john-of-gaunt-1st-duke-of-lancaster/> [Accessed 29 June 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/katherine-swynford-duchess-of-lancaster/> [Accessed 29 June 2022].
  • Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
  • Weir, Alison, 2009. Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. New York: Ballantine Books.
  • Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Katherine Swynford was the long-time mistress and the third wife of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, the fourth but the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. The descendants of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt are significant in English and Scottish history. The Tudor dynasty was directly descended from their eldest son John Beaufort, great-grandfather of King Henry VII of England, the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Katherine and John are the great grandparents of King Edward IV and King Richard III from the House of York. Their granddaughter Joan Beaufort married James I, King of Scots, and was an ancestor of the Scots House of Stuart and the English House of Stuart.

Born Katherine de Roet in circa 1350, probably in the County of Hainault, now part of Belgium and France, she was the daughter of Paon de Roet, a knight from Hainault who first came to England in 1328 when Philippa of Hainault married King Edward III of England. Katherine’s mother is unknown. Katherine’s father Paon de Roet remained in the service of Queen Philippa in England. He took part in the Hundred Years’ War, including at the Battle of Crécy and the Siege of Calais. In 1349, Paon de Roet returned to Hainault, where he served Margaret II, Countess of Hainault, Queen Philippa’s sister. In 1351, Paon de Roet accompanied Margaret II, Countess of Hainault, when she was forced to flee to England due to a civil war with her son. Paon de Roet returned to the County of Hainault in March 1352 but shortly thereafter, all mention of him disappears.

Katherine had three known siblings:

Coronation of Queen Philippa who played a major role in Katherine’s life; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1352, Katherine and her sister Philippa were raised in the household of Queen Philippa, wife of King Edward III of England. This would suggest that their mother was dead. Being raised in the household of the Queen of England, Katherine would have known all the members of the royal family including her future lover and husband John of Gaunt and would have been well versed in court etiquette and protocol. Queen Philippa would have ensured that Katherine received a good education.

Around 1360, Queen Philippa placed Katherine in the household of her daughter-in-law Blanche of Lancaster who was married to John of Gaunt. Blanche gave birth to seven children between 1360 and 1368, and Katherine assisted with their care. Around 1366, a marriage was arranged for Katherine by John of Gaunt at the request of his wife Blanche of Lancaster. Katherine married Sir Hugh Swynford (circa 1340 – 1371), a knight in service to John of Gaunt.

Katherine and Hugh had three children:

  • Blanche Swynford (1367 – circa 1374), named for Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster, died in childhood
  • Sir Thomas Swynford (1368 – 1432), married (1) Jane Crophill, had three children (2) Margaret Grey, no children
  • Margaret Swynford (born c. 1369), became a nun at Barking Abbey in 1377 with help from her future stepfather John of Gaunt, where she lived the religious life with her cousin Elizabeth Chaucer, daughter of Geoffrey Chaucer and Katherine’s sister Philippa de Roet

On September 12, 1368, John of Gaunt’s wife Blanche of Lancaster died at age 23, possibly of the plague or possibly from childbirth complications, while John was away at sea. John married again on September 21, 1371, to Infanta Constance of Castile, the daughter of Pedro I, King of Castile and León. John and Constance had two children, a son who died in infancy and a daughter Catherine of Lancaster who married King Enrique III of Castile and León. Through his daughter Catherine, John of Gaunt is the great-grandfather of Isabella I, Queen of Castile and the great-great-grandfather of Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. John of Gaunt is the ancestor of all subsequent monarchs of the Kingdom of Castile and a united Kingdom of Spain.

Three years after the death of Blanche of Lancaster, Katherine also lost her spouse. In 1370, Hugh Swynford went on a military campaign with John of Gaunt to Aquitaine in present-day France. When John of Gaunt returned to England in the fall of 1371, Hugh did not accompany him due to illness. He died in Aquitaine on November 13, 1371. His widow Katherine was given the management of Hugh’s estates in Coleby and Kettlethorpe in Lincolnshire, England.

After the death of her husband, Katherine became a member of the household of John of Gaunt’s second wife Constance of Castile. It is uncertain exactly when Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt became lovers. However, the affair certainly had started by late 1372 as Katherine and John’s eldest child was born no later than 1373.

Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt had had three sons and one daughter. Their children’s surname is derived from the name of the now-demolished Beaufort Castle, a property in Champagne, France that John of Gaunt had sold years before. John of Gaunt likely felt it was a safe name to give to his illegitimate children by Katherine Swynford.

John of Gaunt, painting circa 1593, probably modeled after John of Gaunt’s tomb effigy; Credit – Wikipedia

John gave Katherine several estates and a generous allowance. In 1381, John was forced to break off his relationship with Katherine out of political necessity. The 1371 marriage of John to his second wife Constance of Castile, a claimant to the throne of Castile, had been a calculated plan for England to gain control of the Kingdom of Castile, and John’s relationship with Katherine while being married to Constance was not helping in the plan to gain control of Castile. Constance of Castile died on March 24, 1394, and the English never gained control of the Kingdom of Castile.

Katherine’s coat of arms as Duchess of Lancaster, after her marriage to John of Gaunt: three gold Catherine wheels on a red field. The wheel emblem shows Katherine’s devotion to her patron saint, Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel. Credit – By Sodacan – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27269786

In the early 1390s, even before the death of his wife Constance, John of Gaunt resumed his affair with Katherine. Two years after the death of his second wife Constance of Castile, John married Katherine on January 13, 1396, at Lincoln Cathedral in England. After the marriage of Katherine and John, their four children were legitimized by both John’s nephew King Richard II of England and Pope Boniface IX. After Henry Bolingbroke, John’s eldest son by his first wife Blanche of Lancaster, deposed his first cousin King Richard II in 1399, the new King Henry IV inserted the phrase excepta regali dignitate (“except royal status”) in the documents that had legitimized his Beaufort half-siblings and supposedly that phrase barred them from the throne. However, many disputed and still dispute the authority of a monarch to alter an existing parliamentary statute on his or her own authority, without the further approval of Parliament.

Tomb effigy of the eldest son of Katherine and John of Gaunt, John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset; Credit – www.findagrave.com

The descendants of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt are significant in English and Scottish history. The Tudor dynasty was directly descended from their eldest son John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, great-grandfather of King Henry VII of England. Henry VII based his claim to the English throne on the descent of his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort from John of Gaunt, a son of King Edward III. John Beaufort’s daughter Joan Beaufort married James I, King of Scots, and was an ancestor of the Scots House of Stuart and the English House of Stuart.

Katherine and John of Gaunt’s only daughter Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmoreland, the wife of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland; Credit – Wikipedia

Katherine and John’s only daughter, another Joan Beaufort, was the maternal grandmother of two English kings from the House of York, the brothers King Edward IV and King Richard III. Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, becoming by conquest King Henry VII of England. Henry VII’s claim to the English throne was strengthened by marrying Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of King Edward IV and the great-granddaughter of Joan Beaufort, Katherine and John’s daughter.

Tomb of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster in Lincoln Cathedral; Credit – www.findagrave.com

John of Gaunt died on February 3, 1399, at Leicester Castle in England at the age of 58. Even though he had married two more times, John was buried with his first wife Blanche of Lancaster at Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Unfortunately, the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed Old St. Paul’s Cathedral and the magnificent tomb of Blanche and John. Katherine Swynford, John’s widow, survived him by four years, dying in Lincoln, England, on May 10, 1403, at about the age of 53. She was buried at Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England.

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.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Katherine Swynford – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Swynford> [Accessed 26 June 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2017. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/john-of-gaunt-1st-duke-of-lancaster/> [Accessed 26 June 2022].
  • Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Суинфорд, Екатерина — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%83%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%84%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B4,_%D0%95%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 26 June 2022].
  • Weir, Alison, 2009. Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. New York: Ballantine Books.
  • Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Isabella, 3rd Countess of Gloucester

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Isabella’s first of three husbands, King John of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Isabella, 3rd Countess of Gloucester was the first wife of King John of England. Born circa 1173/1174, Isabella was the youngest of the four children and the second of the two daughters of William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and Hawise de Beaumont of Leicester. Isabella’s paternal grandparents were Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England, and Mabel FitzRobert, Countess of Gloucester. Her maternal grandparents were Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester and Amica de Gael.

Isabella had three elder siblings:

In 1176, King Henry II of England betrothed his youngest son John to Isabella of Gloucester. As Isabella was only three and John was only nine, the marriage had to be delayed. Isabella’s father William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester was a first cousin of King Henry II as his father was the illegitimate son of King Henry I, Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester and King Henry II’s mother Empress Matilda was the legitimate daughter of King Henry I. Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was Matilda’s chief military support during the long civil war called The Anarchy with their cousin Stephen of Blois (King Stephen of England) for the English throne. Isabella stood to inherit part of her father’s estate along with her two elder sisters because their only brother had died. However, King Henry II disinherited Isabella’s elder sisters so that Isabella would become Countess of Gloucester in her own right and John would eventually receive the whole Gloucester estate. In 1183, when her father died, Isabella became the Countess of Gloucester in her own right.

John’s father King Henry II died on July 6, 1189, and John’s elder brother succeeded their father as King Richard I of England. On August 29, 1189, John and Isabella of Gloucester were married at Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire, England and John assumed the Earldom of Gloucester in the right of his wife. Isabella and John were second cousins as they were both great-grandchildren of King Henry I of England. For that reason, Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury declared the marriage null by reason of consanguinity. Roman Catholic Canon Law prohibited marriage between a couple who were within four degrees of consanguinity. As second cousins, Isabella and John were within three degrees. An appeal was made to Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury was overruled by Pope Clement III.

On April 6, 1199, John’s childless brother King Richard I died of gangrene from an arrow wound, and John became King of England. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 27, 1199. John’s next order of business was to have his marriage to Isabella annulled. Isabella and John were ill-matched and the marriage had produced no children. Isabella had not been acknowledged as queen and the marriage was easily annulled using the grounds of consanguinity. John kept Isabella’s lands and Isabella did not contest the annulment. After the annulment, John granted the title of Earl of Gloucester to Isabella’s nephew Amaury IV, Count of Évreux. When Amaury died without children in 1213, Isabella once again became Countess of Gloucester in her own right and held the title until she died in 1217. In 1200, John married Isabella of Angoulême, the only child of Aymer III, Count of Angoulême, and therefore destined to be Duchess of Angoulême in her own right. John and Isabella of Angoulême had five children including John’s successor King Henry III.

Isabella’s third husband Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent; Credit – Wikipedia

Isabella married two more times. On January 20, 1214, she married Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex. King John charged Geoffrey 20,000 marks to buy her in marriage and to obtain her title, jure uxoris, a Latin term that means “by right of his wife” and so Geoffrey was the 4th Earl of Gloucester. The marriage resulted in no children and Geoffrey died in 1216 in a tournament. In September 1217, Isabella married Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent. However, the next month, on October 14, 1217, Isabella died at age 43 and was buried at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England. Isabella’s nephew Gilbert de Clare, the son of her sister Amice and Richard de Clare, became the 5th Earl of Gloucester.

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.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_FitzGeoffrey_de_Mandeville,_2nd_Earl_of_Essex> [Accessed 25 June 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Isabella, Countess of Gloucester – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella,_Countess_of_Gloucester> [Accessed 25 June 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_FitzRobert,_2nd_Earl_of_Gloucester> [Accessed 25 June 2022].
  • Unofficial Royalty. 2016. King John of England. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-john-of-england/> [Accessed 25 June 2022].
  • Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Weekend – Thursday, June 2, 2022 to Sunday, June 5, 2022

© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Queen Elizabeth II, official photo for the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne; Credit – The Royal Family Facebook page

On February 6, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom marked seventy years on the British throne. Celebrations were held in the United Kingdom from Thursday, June 2, 2022 to Sunday, June 5, 2022.

Thursday, June 2, 2002

The Royal Family on the Buckingham Palace balcony witnessing the Royal Air Force fly-past

Trooping the Colour: Queen Elizabeth II did not take the Salute due to her mobility issues. Instead, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge, and The Princess Royal took the salute accompanied by members of the Royal Family at the Birthday Parade on Horse Guards (Trooping the Colour) at Whitehall, London. The Royal Family, including The Queen, witnessed a fly-past by the Royal Air Force from the balcony at Buckingham Palace.

Queen Elizabeth II beginning the beacon lighting

Platinum Jubilee Beacons: Over 1,500 beacons were lit throughout the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, continuing the long tradition of celebrating Royal Jubilees, Royal Weddings, and Coronations with a chain of lights across the country. Queen Elizabeth II began the ceremony by touching a globe representing the Commonwealth nations,  sending a chain of lights from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace.

Friday, June 3, 2022

Members of the Royal Family and other guests listen to Prime Minister Boris Johnson speak

Service of Thanksgiving: A Service of Thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II‘s 70-year reign was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Due to her mobility issues, The Queen did not attend.

Saturday, June 4, 2022

The Princess Royal watches a race with her son Peter Phillips and his girlfriend Lindsay Wallace

The Derby at Epsom Downs: Members of the Royal Family attended the Derby at Epsom Downs. Due to her mobility issues, The Queen did not attend.

The audience including members of the Royal Family enjoying the concert

Platinum Party at the Palace: A music concert that was held in front of Buckingham Palace featuring “the world’s biggest entertainment stars.” The Queen did not attend but she would have been able to see the concert from Buckingham Palace.

Sunday, June 5, 2022

The Earl of Wessex joins the crowds taking part in the Big Jubilee Lunch on the Long Walk in Windsor Great Park 

The Big Jubilee Lunch: Communities across the United Kingdom came together for The Big Jubilee Lunch as part of the official celebrations for HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. More than 70,000 Big Lunches were held across the United Kingdom.

Crowds gather to see Queen Elizabeth II stand on the balcony during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in front of Buckingham Palace

The Platinum Jubilee Pageant: A pageant featuring approximately 5,000 people from across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth was held against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace combined with street arts, theatre, music, circus, carnival, and costumes.

Unofficial Royalty’s Queen Elizabeth II Resources

 

As a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II’s seventy years on the throne, Unofficial Royalty proudly lists all our resources regarding Her Majesty.

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.

Elizabeth: The Firstborn Windsor

by The Laird o’ Thistle (Special Edition)
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Queen Elizabeth II, official photo for the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne; Credit – The Royal Family Facebook page

I hope that many who read this were able to see the BBC’s The Unseen Queen on May 29, 2022 or subsequently online. I found it an amazing and moving record of Her Majesty’s life, mostly based on the family’s own home movies, with narration mostly from written and recorded comments by Her Majesty, including some reflections recorded as recently as the last month. I found some of the earliest clips of the Queen with her grandparents, George V and Queen Mary, and with her uncles, the Dukes of Windsor and Kent, particularly fascinating.

It occurred to me some time ago that Elizabeth II is now the last living person who can be said to have known several members of the royal family (and some other historical figures as well). First and foremost on that list is King George V, the founder of the House of Windsor, who died in January 1936, about three months before Elizabeth’s 10th birthday.

Elizabeth knew the old King and was a great favorite of his. As a tiny child, not yet 3 years old, Princess Elizabeth was brought to Bognor (Regis) in early 1929 to keep the King and Queen Mary company as George recuperated from surgery and a nearly fatal bout of septicemia. Accounts say that the princess and the King would chat away… as best she could at that age… while she played in the sand. Later accounts by Marion Crawford, Elizabeth and Margaret’s governess, tell of the King’s expressed desire that she learn to write in “a decent hand.” Various photos show young Princess Elizabeth riding to church with her grandparents at Crathie Kirk (Balmoral), and the two princesses participating in King George’s Silver Jubilee events in 1935, including the procession, thanksgiving service, and balcony appearance. I have mentioned previously here that there is also newsreel footage of Princess Elizabeth and her parents following the old king’s coffin into St. George’s Chapel on the day of his funeral… a clip not included in The Unseen Queen. (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgJJbq8FvvQ, look at the 9:30 minute mark.) Elizabeth was the youngest royal attendee, and the only one now living.

A well-known story tells that George V… given his testy relationship with his eldest son and heir… bluntly attested his hope at the end of his life that “nothing come between Bertie (George VI), Elizabeth, and the throne.” He saw in her the future. Providence, in due course, granted his wish.

In point of fact, Queen Elizabeth II is the actual firstborn member of the House of Windsor, the first member of the royal family born with the Windsor surname. (Her two elder cousins, the sons of her aunt, Princess Mary, were Lascelles, not Windsors. All of the other elder family members had their surname changed to Windsor in 1917.) That seems both a simple happenstance and incredibly significant.

As well as George V, the Queen is also the only living member of the current royal family who can remember several others, such as her grandfather’s sisters Princess Victoria (d. 1935), and Queen Maud of Norway (d. 1938). [She might, or might not, remember Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, who died in January 1931.] There are several other senior royals, who died in the first half of the 1940s, that HM remembers along with her cousins Prince Edward (the Duke of Kent, b. 1935) and his sister Princess Alexandra (b. 1936). First and foremost of these is the Kents’ father, Prince George, who was killed in 1942 on active duty in WWII. The others are the last three surviving children of Queen Victoria: Princess Louise (Duchess of Argyll, d. December 1939); Prince Arthur (Duke of Connaught, d. 1942); and Princess Beatrice (widow of Prince Henry of Battenberg, d. 1944.)

In her comments in The Unseen Queen, HM notes that “looking back” is a way of also looking toward the future. It’s a matter of perspective. This week Britain, the Commonwealth, and the world celebrate the unprecedented Platinum Jubilee of the little princess who waved so enthusiastically from carriage and balcony at the 1935 Silver Jubilee, and who grew up around those to whom Queen Victoria was “Grandmama” and even “Mama”, and so on. She’s also the 96-year-old “Gan-gan” of little ones who will remember her as she remembers those others, especially Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis… the family future. The firstborn Windsor will be standing in a unique spot on Thursday as she (hopefully) appears on the balcony at Buckingham Palace with the currently “working” family and the Cambridge children. She will be standing as much at a point in time, as in a physical place. She will be looking “onward” as well as outward. Hopefully someday in the future… God and the British People willing… Prince George will himself stand there in turn, thinking back to a June day in 2022 with his Gan-gan, and also ahead into a then still unfolding future. That, I think, is clearly what HM is hoping.

Yours Aye,
Ken Cuthbertson – the Laird o’ Thistle
May 30, 2022

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.

Charles Alongside

by The Laird o’Thistle (Special Edition)
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Embed from Getty Images

I believe that this is the first time that I have been asked by the staff of Unofficial Royalty to address a particular topic, and not a small one at that. On Tuesday, 10 May 2022, Prince Charles presided at the State Opening of the new session of the U.K. Parliament in the Queen’s behalf. It was announced the previous day that the Queen, upon the advice of her doctors, had “reluctantly decided not to attend” the State Opening due to the “episodic mobility problems” that have limited her activities since early last autumn. In an unprecedented, but entirely legitimate and appropriate move, she issued “Letters Patent” designating Prince Charles and Prince William as “Counsellors of State” to act in her behalf, with Prince Charles taking the lead. Charles and William did so on Tuesday, also accompanied by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

All of this was done under provisions of the 1937 Regency Act, which was adopted following the Accession of George VI as a contingency for what would happen if he were to die before Princess Elizabeth came of age. (The Act was subsequently updated in 1946 and 1953; and the need for further revisions is currently being discussed. See note.) The pertinent section invoked for Tuesday’s State Opening reads as follows:

[Section 6] Power to delegate royal functions to Counsellors of State.
(1) In the event of illness not amounting to such infirmity of mind or body as is mentioned in section two of this Act, or of absence or intended absence from the United Kingdom, the Sovereign may, in order to prevent delay or difficulty in the despatch of public business, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal, delegate, for the period of that illness or absence, to Counsellors of State such of the royal functions as may be specified in the Letters Patent, and may in like manner revoke or vary any such delegation.
(https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw8and1Geo6/1/16/section/6)

With two Counsellors of State being required, at least implicitly and by precedent, Prince William was called upon to accompany his father in this instance. Though some are questioning whether, in the Queen’s absence, it was actually a “State Opening” (versus simply an “Opening”), I would argue that it was… precisely due to H.M.’s invoking of the provisions of Section 6. This was further reinforced by the symbolic inclusion of the Imperial State Crown in the ceremony… placed on a small table on the very spot where H.M.’s throne usually stands.

So much for the facts of what occurred, and why. The question raised anew by it all concerns the degree to which we are seeing the emergence of a sort of “dual monarchy” in which Prince Charles and Camilla become the “public face” of the Crown, while the Queen… still the Sovereign… retreats more and more from public view. This, I think, is increasingly the case, with Prince Charles and Camilla being assisted by Prince William and Katherine, the Princess Royal, and Prince Edward and Sophie. (Although still officially active, the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra, are increasingly stepping back and “aging out” of their longtime service as “working” royals.) The question behind the question is whether this de facto situation may… sooner or later… shift to an official (de jure) designation.

My layperson’s read of the Regency Act is that it does not provide for the possibility of a co-Regency shared by the Queen and Prince Charles. Nor would the plural wording allow Prince Charles to be solely designated as Counsellor of State without a second Counsellor. Either would, I think, require a revision by Parliament of the legislation.

The focus then shifts to the Queen, and what she is willing to do? By all accounts she has, always and still, totally ruled out the idea of abdication. (One wonders if the future Charles III may hold a different attitude when his turn comes.) By all accounts the Queen is still fully compos mentis (i.e., sound of mind, memory, and understanding), and thus able to do the “desk job” of monarchy, as it were. The issues at hand are her great age, and her apparent physical disability to attend public events going forward.

She’s now at the age where Prince Philip chose to withdraw from public duties. There was talk in the press at the time that she might eventually follow suit. But, as recently as her statement released for the 70th anniversary of her Accession, it is clear that she takes her 1947 pledge that “my whole life, whether it be long or short, will be devoted to your service” VERY seriously. Her Coronation Oath, likewise. The thing that I wonder about, however, is whether she may be at, or near, the point at which that service needs to become vicarious? When does she reach the point at which her devotion to service itself requires her to step further back, if not away?

As in most families, this is probably not something that her family feel they can broach with their mother/grandmother, at least not yet. At some point her U.K. and Commonwealth governments may feel the need to raise the question. The U.K. press has begun making some noises on the topic in recent months. My own gut is telling me that once we get beyond the official Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June, something may significantly shift over the summer. Whether and how that involves some sort of more official and permanent “viceregal” role for Prince Charles will emerge.

All that being said, the one thing that I am absolutely confident about is that Queen Elizabeth II will continue to do her conscientious best in her stewardship of the Crown and her service to the peoples of the U.K. and the Commonwealth to her life’s end, in whatever form that takes. That is her never-wavering sacred trust.

Yours aye,
Ken Cuthbertson, the Laird o’ Thistle

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.

Princess Lilibet of Sussex

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Princess Lilibet of Sussex, June 2022; Credit – Misan Harriman

Princess Lilibet Diana of Sussex, nicknamed Lili, is the second of the two children and the only daughter of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife The Duchess of Sussex, the former Meghan Markle. Born on June 4, 2021, at 11:40 AM local time at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, Lilibet weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. Lilibet is named after her paternal great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and her paternal grandmother Diana, Princess of Wales. Lilibet was Queen Elizabeth II’s family nickname, originating from Queen Elizabeth II’s pronunciation of her name when she was young. Lilibet has dual citizenship from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Lilibet has one elder sibling:

  • Prince Archie of Sussex, born May 6, 2019 at Portland Hospital for Women and Children, a private hospital on Great Portland Street in London, England

Lilibet was seventh in the line of succession to the British throne after her paternal uncle Prince William, The Prince of Wales and his three children, her father Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and her brother Prince Archie. As the daughter of a Duke, Lilibet was entitled to use the courtesy title “Lady” before her given name. However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided that their children would not use any styles or titles in accordance with their wish that they live their lives as private citizens.

Lilibet being held by her mother with her father and brother, from the 2021 Christmas card of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex; Credit – Alexi Lubomirski/The Duke and Duchess of Sussex

However, at birth, Lilibet was not entitled to the style and title Her Royal Highness Princess. In 1917, King George V issued Letters Patent changing the rights to the style Royal Highness and the title Prince/Princess. The children of the Sovereign, the children of the sons of the Sovereign, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales would be entitled to the style Royal Highness and the title Prince/Princess. Exceptions to the rule can be made by the Sovereign. For instance, in 2012, Queen Elizabeth II issued a Letters Patent declaring that all the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should have the title Prince or Princess and the style Royal Highness. This meant that all the children of Prince William would be HRH Prince/Princess. Under the 1917 Letters Patent, Lilibet would be entitled to the style and title Her Royal Highness Princess, when her paternal grandfather succeeds to the throne. Lilibet would then be a male-line grandchild of the Sovereign.

With the accession of Lilibet’s grandfather as King Charles III on September 8, 2022, Lilibet is a male-line grandchild of the monarch and is entitled to be styled Her Royal Highness Princess Lilibet of Sussex under the 1917 Letters Patent.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had announced on January 8, 2020, that they would step back as senior royals and divide time between the United Kingdom and North America. However, since that time the Duke and Duchess have made a home in Montecito, California in the United States.

On March 8, 2023, it was announced that Lilibet has been christened in a private ceremony at the family home in Montecito, California. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said: “I can confirm that Princess Lilibet Diana was christened on Friday, March 3 by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Rev John Taylor.” The Right Reverand John Taylor is the Archbishop of Los Angeles for the Episcopal Church, a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Although Lilibet has technically been a princess since the accession of her grandfather King Charles III, the christening announcement is the first time she has been publicly called a princess.

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.

Service of Thanksgiving for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Prince Philip accompanying Queen Elizabeth II at the 2015 Trooping the Colour; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 29, 2022, a Service of Thanksgiving for His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was held at Westminster Abbey in London, England. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh died at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England on April 9, 2021, at the age of 99, just two months short of his 100th birthday. The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh took place on Saturday, April 17, 2021, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor England. The Thanksgiving Service was organized because due to COVID-19 restrictions, there could be only 30 guests at the funeral.

Westminster Abbey; Photo Credit – By Σπάρτακος – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26334184

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Guests

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Westminster Abbey with their two eldest children Prince George and Princess Charlotte

1,800 invited guests attended the Service of Thanksgiving including members of the British Royal Family, representatives from current and former royal families, representatives from Prince Philip’s birth family, political leaders, and representatives of many of Prince Philip’s charities.

Many guests wore Edinburgh green, a color closely associated with Prince Philip. The color was used in many official capacities relating to his position, including the uniforms of his staff and his cars. The Land Rover which was used to carry his coffin to his funeral in 2021 was Edinburgh green and the Order of Service for the Service of Thanksgiving was printed in Edinburgh green.

British royal family in the front rows, followed by foreign royalty and other important guests

Guests included:

British Royal Family

Some members of the British royal family

Relatives of Prince Philip 

Prince Philip’s great-nephew Philipp, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Prince Philip’s four sisters were represented by members of the House of Baden, the House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and the House of Hesse, all former monarchies. The Mountbatten family was represented by Penelope Knatchbull, the wife of the current Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and India Hicks, the granddaughter of Prince Philip’s maternal uncle Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

  • Penelope Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, a close friend of Prince Philip and the wife of Norton Louis Philip Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, son of Prince Philip’s first cousin Patricia Mountbatten, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma and grandson of Prince Philip’s uncle Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
  • India Hicks, daughter of Prince Philip’s first cousin Lady Pamela Mountbatten and granddaughter of Prince Philip’s uncle Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and her husband David Flint Wood
  • Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden: Heir to the Head of the House of Baden, great-nephew of Prince Philip, son of Maximilian, Margrave of Baden who is the son of Prince Philip’s sister Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark and Berthold, Margrave of Baden
  • Stephanie Anne Kaul, Hereditary Princess of Baden, wife of Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden
  • Philipp, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg: Head of the House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, great-nephew of Prince Philip, son of Kraft, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg who is the son of Prince Philip’s sister Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark and Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
  • Saskia Binder, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, wife of Philipp, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
  • Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse: Head of the House of Hesse, into which Prince Philip’s sisters Princess Cecile of Greece and Denmark and Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark married.
  • Countess Floria Franziska Marie-Luisa Erika von Faber-Castell, Princess of Hesse, wife of Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse

Foreign Royalty

Queen Máxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, King Felipe VI of Spain, Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

Prince Philip was born a Prince of Greece and Denmark and his Greek and Danish family background was represented by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes (born a Princess of Denmark, Queen Margrethe II’s sister), Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, and Prince Philippos and Princess Nina of Greece

King Harald V of Norway, the closest current monarch relative of Queen Elizabeth II (they are both great-grandchildren of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom), and his wife Queen Sonja were invited but were unable to attend because King Harald was recovering from COVID-19.

Current Monarchies

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands (formerly Queen Beatrix) leave Westminster Abbey after the Service of Thanksgiving

Former Monarchies

Prince Philip’s granddaughter Zara Tindall has a word with Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, the wife of former King Constantine II of Greece, Prince Philip’s first cousin once removed

Government Officials

Prime Minister Boris Johnson talks to clergy at Westminster Abbey as he arrives for the Service of Thanksgiving

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The Service of Thanksgiving

 

The arrangements for Prince Philip’s funeral had been planned over many years, with his involvement and The Queen signing off on the funeral plans. However, when Prince Philip died, last-minute changes were necessary to ensure compliance with COVID-19 restrictions. Some of the original arrangements that had to be omitted from the funeral on April 17, 2021, were included in the Service of Thanksgiving. The Queen was also actively involved in the planning of the Service of Thanksgiving.

It was Prince Philip’s wish that clergy from Crathie Kirk near Balmoral in Scotland, St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, England, and the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor, England should play a role in his funeral. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, this was impossible and so they were included in the Service of Thanksgiving. In line with COVID-19 government guidelines at the time of Prince Philip’s funeral, there was no congregational singing. Some of the hymns used during the Service of Thanksgiving had been chosen by Prince Philip for his funeral.

Queen Elizabeth II during the Service of Thanksgiving

Because of the recent mobility issues of the nearly 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, she entered Westminster Abbey by a side door which allowed her to walk a shorter distance from Poets’ Corner to her seat. For her comfort, the length of the service was limited to forty-five minutes.

The service was led by David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, James Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dame Sarah Mullally, Dean of Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal, Mark Birch, Minor Canon and Precentor, Kenneth MacKenzie, Minister of Crathie Kirk, Jonathan Riviere, Rector of Sandringham, Martin Poll, Chaplain to the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park, Paul Wright, Sub-Dean of Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal, and James Hawkey, Canon in Residence also participated in the Service of Thanksgiving.

The choir and congregation sang the hymn He Who Would Valiant Be, adapted from an English folk song, arranged by James O’Donnell (born 1961), words from The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (1628 – 1688).

David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster said The Bidding.

Doyin Sonibare gives her tribute to Prince Philip

Doyin Sonibare, who holds the Gold Level of a Duke of Edinburgh Award, gave a tribute, speaking of her experience working towards the award when she was 18-years-old.

James Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland read The First Lesson, Isaiah 40:25-31 and Dame Sarah Mullally, Dean of Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal read The Second Lesson, Philippians 4:4-9.

The choir and the congregation sang the hymn All Creatures of Our God and King, music by Ralph Vaughan Williams after a melody in 1623 Geistliche Kirchengesäng Cologne, arranged by James O’Donnell, words by St Francis of Assisi (1182 – 1226), translated by William Draper (1855 – 1933).

David Conner, Dean of Windsor gives The Address

David Conner, Dean of Windsor, gave The Address, paying tribute to Prince Philip.

The choir sang Te Deum in C by Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976)

Prayers were offered giving thanks for Prince Philip’s service as Consort, for his devotion to Family, to Nation, and to Commonwealth, for his energy and spirit of adventure, for his work with the young to discover new skills and serve their communities, for his work in conservation and the good stewardship of the environment, for his gifts of character, for his humor and resilience, and for his fortitude and devotion to duty by Mark Birch, Minor Canon and Precentor, Kenneth MacKenzie, Minister of Crathie Church, Jonathan Riviere, Rector of Sandringham, Martin Poll, Chaplain to the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Windsor Great Park, Paul Wright, Sub-Dean of Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal, and James Hawkey, Canon in Residence.

Members of the congregation sing a hymn during the Service of Thanksgiving

The choir and congregation sang the hymn Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, music by John Hughes (1873 – 1932), arranged by James O’Donnell, words from Arglwydd, arwain trwy’r anialwch by William Williams (1717 – 1791), translated from Welsh by Peter Williams (1727 – 1796) and others

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury gave The Blessing

The Service of Thanksgiving ended with the singing of The National Anthem, God Save The Queen.

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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.

Works Cited

  • BBC News. 2022. As it happened: Prince Philip Queen joins royals for memorial service – BBC News. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-60904990> [Accessed 1 April 2022].
  • BBC News. 2022. Queen attends Prince Philip memorial service at Westminster Abbey. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60902088> [Accessed 1 April 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/funeral-of-prince-philip-duke-of-edinburgh/> [Accessed 1 April 2022].
  • Howard, Harry, 2022. The day the Queen got to say goodbye to Philip the way she wanted. [online] Mail Online. Available at: <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10663357/The-day-Majesty-finally-got-say-goodbye-Philip-way-wanted.html> [Accessed 1 April 2022].
  • Pearson-Jones, Bridie, 2022. Prince Philip’s family at Westminster Abbey for memorial service. [online] Mail Online. Available at: <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10663319/Prince-Philips-family-arrive-Westminster-Abbey-Duke-Edinburghs-memorial-service.html> [Accessed 1 April 2022].
  • Royal.uk. 2022. Order of Service – A Service of Thanksgiving for HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. [online] Available at: <https://www.royal.uk/sites/default/files/media/order_of_service_-_a_service_of_thanksgiving_for_hrh_the_prince_philip_duke_of_edinburgh.pdf> [Accessed 1 April 2022].
  • The Royal Family. 2022. Service of Thanksgiving for the life of The Duke of Edinburgh. [online] Available at: <https://www.royal.uk/service-thanksgiving-life-duke-edinburgh> [Accessed 1 April 2022].

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom – Seventy Years on the Throne

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Queen Elizabeth II, official photo for the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne; Credit – The Royal Family Facebook page

On February 6, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom marked seventy years on the British throne. On September 9, 2015, Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who reigned 63 years, 216 days, as the longest-reigning British monarch.

The top ten longest-reigning British monarchs:

  1. Queen Elizabeth II, reigned February 6, 1952 – September 8, 2022; 70 years, 214 days
  2. Queen Victoria, reigned June 20, 1837 – January 22, 1901, for 63 years, 216 days
  3. King George III, reigned October 25, 1760 – January 29, 1820, for 59 years, 96 days
  4. King Henry III, reigned October 18, 1216 – November 16, 1272, for 56 years, 29 days
  5. King Edward III, reigned January 25, 1327 – June 21, 1377, for 50 years, 147 days
  6. Queen Elizabeth I, reigned November 17, 1558 – March 24, 1603, for 44 years, 127 days
  7. King Henry VI, reigned August 31, 1422 – March 4, 1461, and October 31, 1470 – April 11, 1471, for 38 years, 347 days
  8. King Æthelred II, reigned March 18, 978 – December 25, 1013, and February 3, 1014 – April 23, 1016, for 37 years, 362 days
  9. King Henry VIII, reigned April 22, 1509 – January 28, 1547, for 37 years, 281 days
  10. King Henry I, reigned August 3, 1100 – December 1, 1135, for 35 years, 120 days

As of September 8, 2022, the day of her death, Queen Elizabeth II was second on the list of longest-reigning monarchs of internationally recognized sovereign states with verifiable reigns by exact date, after only King Louis XIV of France, who reigned for 72 years, 110 days (May 14, 1643 – September 1, 1715).

Read more about Queen Elizabeth II at:

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May 12, 1937, Coronation Day of King George VI

As the second son of the sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II’s father Prince Albert, Duke of York (known as Bertie) was not expected to inherit the throne. His role would be to support his father King George V of the United Kingdom, and then later his brother The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII, known as David in the family.

Bertie married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters: Elizabeth born in 1926 and Margaret born in 1930. However, things were soon to change for the York family. In January 1936, Bertie’s father King George V died. His elder brother became King Edward VIII and Bertie became heir presumptive to the throne. The new king was unmarried and involved with Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American. This relationship would soon bring about unheard-of events in the British monarchy. Failing to reach an agreement with the Government by which he and Mrs. Simpson could marry, King Edward VIII abdicated on December 11, 1936, giving his famous “without the woman I love” speech on the radio. Upon Parliament’s passing of the Abdication Act, Bertie became the new King of the United Kingdom, taking the regnal name George VI, in honor of his father, and to stress the continuity of the British monarchy.

King George VI’s elder daughter, the 10-year-old Princess Elizabeth, was now the heir presumptive to the British throne. However, because there was always the possibility of a younger brother being born and becoming heir apparent, Elizabeth did not receive any of the titles traditionally held by the heir. For her father’s entire reign, she remained Princess Elizabeth.

Eventually, the British succession would be more equitable. The Succession to The Crown Act 2013, which formally went into effect on March 26, 2015, put in place absolute primogeniture, which means that for those born after October 28, 2011, the eldest child born becomes the heir to his or her parent, regardless of gender. On April 23, 2018, with the birth of her younger brother Prince Louis of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II’s great-granddaughter, became the first British princess not to be overtaken in the line of succession by her younger brother.

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King George VI waving goodbye to Elizabeth and Philip on January 31, 1952

In 1947, when Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, born Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark, her father was only fifty-two years old and it was thought she would not become Queen for years, enabling her to settle into married life and then life with children. By 1949, King George VI’s health was failing. He was suffering from lung cancer and several other ailments. Elizabeth and Philip began to take on more royal duties, often filling in for King George VI when he was unable to attend events. A tour of Australia had been postponed and on January 31, 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set off in King George VI’s place. He came to the airport to see them off, looking drawn and frail. It would be the last time he would see his daughter. On February 6, 1952, 56-year-old King George VI passed away in his sleep at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England.

Queen Elizabeth II returning to London on February 7, 1952 after her father’s death

During a stop-over in Kenya, on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth and Philip had just returned to Sagana Lodge, where they were staying in Kenya after a night spent at Treetops Hotel when the news arrived of the death of King George VI and consequently Elizabeth’s immediate accession to the throne. Philip broke the news to the new queen. They immediately returned to London, where Queen Elizabeth II attended the Accession Council on February 8, 1952.

For more information about what happens when the British monarch dies, see Unofficial Royalty: When The British Monarch Dies.

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Queen Elizabeth II does not intend to abdicate although her heir Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales and other family members have taken on more of her duties and she carries out fewer public engagements. The Platinum Jubilee was celebrated in 2022 to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth. The celebration plans were formally unveiled by Buckingham Palace on January 10, 2022. Events took place throughout the year, culminating in a four-day holiday weekend from Thursday, June 2, 2022 to Sunday, June 5, 2022.

For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Weekend

On February 5, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II released a Platinum Jubilee message to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The highlight of the message was her statement that when her son Charles becomes king, “Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her loyal service.”

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom died at the age of 96, at Balmoral Castle, her home in Balmoral, Scotland, on September 8, 2022, at 3:10 PM, more than three hours before the public was informed. The death certificate, released by National Records of Scotland cites the Queen as dying of “old age”.

Queen Elizabeth II Resources 

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.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. List of longest-reigning monarchs – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-reigning_monarchs> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2017. When The British Monarch Dies: The Accession Council. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/when-the-monarch-dies-the-accession-council/> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2014. King George VI of the United Kingdom. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-george-vi-of-the-united-kingdom/> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2015. Queen Elizabeth II of The United Kingdom. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-of-the-united-kingdom/> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • The Royal Family. 2022. Plans announced for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.royal.uk/platinum-jubilee-central-weekend> [Accessed 23 January 2022].
  • Unofficial Royalty. 2015. Longest Reigning British Monarchs. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/current-monarchies/british-royals/british-royal-history/longest-reigning-british-monarchs/> [Accessed 23 January 2022].