by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2018

UPDATE: Since this article was published we have added a new area Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle. We have extended articles on some of those who served Queen Victoria and some of her relatives who lived during her reign (1837 – 1901). Many of the people listed were seen in the television series Victoria but their true life story may be very different than the story depicted in the series.

Queen Victoria and her family were my gateway to becoming a royalty aficionado but I procrastinated watching Victoria Season 2. I had seen articles in the British media about the many inaccuracies when Victoria Season 2 was shown in the United Kingdom. I DVRed all the shows when Season 2 started in the United States in January 2018. I noticed that right after the shows aired on Sunday nights and into Monday, a lot of people viewed Unofficial Royalty’s article about Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert’s brother. That made me wonder what they had Ernst doing in Season 2 – probably the same inaccurate thing he had been doing in Season 1. As of the date of this article’s publication, Ernst’s article has had 50,000+ views, is Unofficial Royalty’s tenth most viewed article and is our most viewed biography article. What they had Ernst doing (and what they had many other characters – or should I say real people – doing) never happened.

In my article What’s Wrong With Victoria Season 1, I wrote about the poetic license in historical fiction. I certainly realize that the creators of historical fiction have some poetic license to change the facts of the real world to make their story more interesting. But how much poetic license should historical fiction creators take with facts? Should they change the characteristics of a real person because it will make the plot more dramatic? Should they change the facts so much that a real person is misrepresented or even defamed? How much should real events change? What responsibility do the creators of historical fiction have to tell the truth that the historical facts reveal?

Many things about many secondary characters – real people – are inaccurate and I feel the need to tell the story of these real people. I have compiled a timeline with real events and included comments after most of the events. At the end of the timeline, there is some brief information about the true lives of some of these real people.

There are many timeline inaccuracies and events that occur out of order in Victoria Series 2. Because of this, it is very difficult to tell the time span of each episode. When Victoria Season 2 ends, Queen Victoria has three children and she is pregnant with another child. That child must be her fourth child Prince Alfred who was born in August 1844 so Season 2 must end at Christmas 1843 and yet events have occurred in Season 2 that in reality occurred after 1843.

• Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom
• Unofficial Royalty: Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, The Prince Consort
• Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria’s Children and Grandchildren Index
• Unofficial Royalty: Christenings of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Their Children, and Select Grandchildren
• Unofficial Royalty: Bibliography of Royal Biographies: Queen Victoria and Family
• Unofficial Royalty: Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld/Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Index

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Timeline

I have included the birth dates of Queen Victoria’s first five children, born 1840 – 1846. They are the children in the family portrait above. The ages of the children in Victoria Season 2 are all wrong.   In December 1843, when Season 2 ended, Victoria, Princess Royal (Vicky) would have been 3 years old, her brother the Prince of Wales (Bertie) would have been 2 years old, and Alice would have been 8 months old.

March 30, 1792 – Birth of Edward Drummond, personal secretary to Prime Minister Robert Peel (Drummond in Victoria Season 2 was in his 20s – 30s. In reality, he was 24 years older than Lord Alfred Paget with whom he has a relationship in Victoria Season 2. The real Drummond died in 1843 before Lord Alfred held a position in Queen Victoria’s household. Drummond and Lord Alfred did not have a relationship.)

April 17, 1795 – Birth of Lady Elizabeth Wilhelmina Coke, daughter of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (I think the writers just picked a random person as this character.  The real Wilhelmina Coke was not the niece or great-niece of the Duchess of Buccleuch who was not born until 1811 and Wilhelmina did not marry Lord Alfred Paget. I find no evidence that she ever served as a maid of honor or lady-in-waiting. The real Wilhelmina married John Spencer-Stanhope and had six children.)

May 21, 1806 – Birth of Lady Harriet Howard, the future Duchess of Sutherland, Mistress of the Robes (Harriet in Victoria Season 2 is much too young. She was 13 years older than Queen Victoria and 12 years older than Prince Ernst of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The real Harriet’s husband George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland did not die until 1861. Harriet and Prince Ernst did not have a relationship. More information below.)

April 10, 1811 – Birth of Lady Charlotte Thynne, the future Duchess of Buccleuch, Mistress of the Robes (The real Charlotte was 8 years older than Queen Victoria, not an old woman named Matilda as portrayed by actress Diana Rigg. More information below.)

June 26, 1816 – Birth of Lord Alfred Paget (Lord Alfred was Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal to Queen Victoria from July 1846 to March 1852, from December 1852 to March 1858, and from June 1859 to 1888. If Victoria Season 2 ends in December 1843, the real Lord Alfred had not yet started serving in Queen Victoria’s household. He did not have a relationship with Edward Drummond. More information below.)

August 9, 1832 – King Leopold I of Belgium (Uncle Leopold) married Princess Louise-Marie of Orléans, daughter of Louis Philippe I, King of the French (Where is Queen Louise-Marie? Why is King Leopold not spending Christmas with his wife and their three young children?)

1837 – 1847 – Baron Christian von Stockmar acted, first as Victoria’s, and then as Victoria and Albert’s, unofficial counselor (Where is Baron Stockmar? More information below.)

1837 – 1862 – Marianne Skerrett served as Head Dresser and Wardrobe-Woman to Queen Victoria. (Her name was not Nancy and she was 26 years older than Queen Victoria. Her entire story in Victoria is utterly false. She did not take the place of a pregnant cousin’s intended position as dresser. More information below.)

March 9, 1840 – March 31, 1842 – Employment of Charles Elmé Francatelli as Queen Victoria’s maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary. (Francatelli worked at the palace for only two years. He did not come back to work at the palace after leaving and he did not have a relationship with Marianne Skerrett who was 12 years older than him. More information below.)

November 21, 1840 – Birth of Victoria, Princess Royal (Vicky)

November 9, 1841 – Birth of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (Bertie)

January 1842 – 2-year-old Vicky was very ill. (In Victoria Season 2, Vicky is ill after the birth of Princess Alice and is older than age 2.)

May 3, 1842 – Prince Ernst of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha married Princess Alexandrine of Baden before he succeeded as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (In Victoria Season 2, Ernst is not yet married in December 1843. Where is Alexandrine? More information below.)

July 25, 1842 – Baroness Louise Lehzen was dismissed by Prince Albert (In Victoria Season 2, Lehzen is dismissed after the birth of Princess Alice.)

January 25, 1843 – An assassination attempt was made on Prime Minister Robert Peel (The killer mistook Edward Drummond, Peel’s personal secretary, for Peel, and shot and killed Drummond, age 51. The real Drummond did not jump in front of the bullet and did have a fiancée to mourn him as he did in Victoria Season 2.)

April 25, 1843 – Birth of Princess Alice (Her uncle Prince Ernst did not attend her christening although he does in Victoria Season 2.)

June 18, 1843 – King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland and Victoria’s uncle, attended the wedding of his niece Princess Augusta of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace. This does not occur in the show but I mention it because it was the only time Ernest was in England after he became King of Hanover in 1837. (He did not visit England at Christmas 1843 as shown in Victoria Season 2.)

1843 – Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Louis Philippe I, King of the French (Louis Philippe I’s son Antoine, Duke of Montpensier did not marry Queen Isabella II of Spain as was said in Victoria Season 2. He married her sister Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain. Albert and Victoria’s cousin Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was never considered as a husband to Queen Isabella II of Spain. Ferdinand married Queen Maria II of Portugal.)

January 29, 1844 – Prince Ernst succeeded his father Ernst I as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (In Victoria Season 2 which ends in December 1843, he is already Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.)

August 6, 1844 – Birth of Prince Alfred (Affie)

1845 – 1849 – Irish Potato Famine (In Victoria Season 2, which ends in December 1843, the Irish Potato Famine has already occurred.)

May 25, 1846 – Birth of Princess Helena (Lenchen)

June 25, 1846 – Repeal of the Corn Laws (In Victoria Season 2, which ends in December 1843, the Repeal of the Corn Laws has already occurred.)

June 29, 1846 – Prime Minister Robert Peel forced to resign because of his support of the repeal of the Corn Laws. (In Victoria Season 2, which ends in December 1843, Peel’s resignation has already occurred.)

1847 – Death of Irish clergyman Robert Traill from typhus (Traill established a soup kitchen in his home to help victims of the Irish Potato Famine. He is the great-great-great-grandfather of Daisy Goodwin, the creator of Victoria. In Victoria Season 2, which ends in December 1843, Traill’s death has already occurred.)

November 24, 1848 – Death of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (Lord Melbourne) at age 69 (Did Melbourne die as he sat in his chair? I am confused!)

1848 – Aina, born in 1843, renamed Sara Forbes Bonetta, was rescued from the Kingdom of Dahomey in Africa by Captain Frederick Forbes of the Royal Navy. (The real Sara was born in 1843 and was not with Victoria and her family at Christmas 1843 as shown in Victoria Season 2. I can find no evidence that she ever lived in the palace.)

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The Real Stories

Marianne Skerrett (1793 – 1887) was the Head Dresser and Wardrobe-Woman to Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1862. The daughter of a British Army officer who owned a plantation in the West Indies, Marianne was born in 1793, so she was 44 years old when Victoria became queen. She was extremely well-read and was fluent in Danish, French, and German.

Author Carolly Erickson has references to Marianne in her biography of Queen Victoria, Her Little Majesty. From Erickson’s book: Marianne Skerrett was “the head of Victoria’s wardrobe, overseeing all the practical work of ordering all her clothing, shoes, hats, gloves, and undergarments…She kept the wardrobe accounts, checking all the bills to make certain no one tried to cheat her mistress, and supervised the purveyors, hairdressers, dressmakers, and pearl-sewers whose task it was to keep the royal wardrobe in good repair.”

In addition, Marianne and Victoria had a lot in common. From Erickson’s book: “Both were intelligent, loved animals, spoke several languages…shared a great interest in paintings and painters. Marianne was well educated, with cultivated tastes, and in time to come Victoria would rely on her to help with the purchase of paintings and in corresponding with artists.”

Although she retired in 1862, Marianne remained in contact with Queen Victoria until her death in 1887 at the age of 94.

• Unofficial Royalty: Marianne Skerrett

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Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (1806 – 1868) was born Lady Harriet Howard, the fifth of the twelve children and the third of the six daughters of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle and Lady Georgiana Cavendish. In 1823, Harriet married George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower who succeeded his father in 1833 as the 2nd Duke of Sutherland. Harriet and her husband had a successful, loving marriage and had eleven children.  One of their daughters was named Victoria and another was named Alexandrina – named after Queen Victoria whose given names were Alexandrina Victoria. Their grandson John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll married Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Louise.

Harriet served Queen Victoria as Mistress of the Robes whenever the Whigs were in power until her husband’s death: August 1837 to September 1841, July 1846 to March 1852, January 1853 to February 1858, and June 1859 to April 1861. In the weeks following Prince Albert’s death in 1861, Harriet, who had lost her own husband earlier that year, was Queen Victoria’s sole companion.

Harriet’s last public appearance was at the Prince of Wales’s marriage in 1863. Later that year, she developed an illness from which she never recovered. She died on October 27, 1868, at the age of 62.

• Unofficial Royalty: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland

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Charlotte Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch (1811 – 1895) was born Lady Charlotte Thynne, the youngest of the three daughters and tenth of the eleven children of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath and The Honorable Isabella Elizabeth Byng. In 1829, Charlotte married Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch and the couple had seven children.  Like Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Charlotte and her husband are great-great-grandparents of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. They are also great-great-great grandparents of Sarah, Duchess of York. Charlotte’s husband died on April 16, 1884, at the age of 77.

Charlotte served Queen Victoria as Mistress of the Robes from 1841 – 1846 when the Conservative Party was in power and Robert Peel was Prime Minister. Charlotte and Queen Victoria remained close friends and Queen Victoria was a godmother to Charlotte’s daughter Lady Victoria. Charlotte’s daughter-in-law Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Victoria from 1885 – 1892 and from 1895 until Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 and was also Mistress of the Robes to Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII, from 1901 until her death in 1912.

Charlotte Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch died on March 18, 1895, at the age of 83.

• Unofficial Royalty: Charlotte Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch

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Lord Alfred Paget (1816 – 1888) was the fourth of the ten children and the second of the five sons of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey and his second wife Lady Charlotte Cadogan. Alfred had eight half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Lady Caroline Villiers.

Alfred was a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards and served as a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1837 – 1865. From July 1846 to March 1852, from December 1852 to March 1858, and from June 1859 to 1888, Alfred served Queen Victoria as Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal. The offices of Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal were combined until 1874 when they were separated. From 1874 – 1888, Alfred was only Chief Marshal. An Equerry serves as an aide-de-camp. As Clerk Marshal, Alfred was responsible for the payment of all Royal Household officers and servants. He was also responsible for submitting the Royal Household to the Board of Green Cloth which audited the accounts of the Royal Household.

In 1847, Alfred married Cecilia Wyndham, co-heiress with her elder sister of George Thomas Wyndham. Alfred and Cecilia had fourteen children including two pairs of twins. Their first child was named Victoria Alexandrina after Queen Victoria. He died on August 24, 1888, at the age of 72.

• Unofficial Royalty: Lord Alfred Paget

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Charles Elmé Francatelli (1805 – 1876) was born in London, England. He was educated in France at the Parisian College of Cooking where he studied culinary arts with Antonin Carême, known as “The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings.” When Francatelli returned to England, he became chef de cuisine (executive chef) to several members of the nobility. He then became chef de cuisine at the St. James’s Club, popularly known as Crockford’s.

For two years only, from March 9, 1840 to March 31, 1842, Francatelli served as maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria. For some reason, he was dismissed, perhaps because Queen Victoria did not like his French cuisine, and he returned to Crockford’s. Francatelli did have one more royal client. From 1863 – 1863, he served as chef de cuisine to The Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) at their London home, Marlborough House

During his career, Francatelli was chef de cuisine at the Coventry House Club and the Reform Club. Afterward, he managed the St. James’s Hotel in Piccadilly London and finally the Freemasons’ Tavern, a position he held until shortly before his death.

Francatelli was a very successful cookbook author. In 1845, he published The Modern Cook which ran through twelve editions. His next book was The Cook’s Guide and Butler’s Assistant published in 1861. The same year, he published Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes which contained practical information valuable to the less affluent people. In 1862, The Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book was published.

Francatelli did marry twice (but not to Marianne Skerrett) and have children. He died in Eastbourne, England on August 10, 1876, at the age of 71.

• Unofficial Royalty: Charles Elmé Francatelli

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Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1818 – 1893) was a year older than Prince Albert and was the elder of the two sons of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his first wife Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Since Ernst and Albert were close in age, they were also close companions during their childhood. However, as mentioned in Victoria, their childhood was marred by their parents’ disastrous marriage, separation, and divorce.

At the urging of his brother Albert, who had married Queen Victoria in 1840, Ernst began his search for a bride. However, Ernst was suffering from a venereal disease as a result of his many affairs. However, he did not have an affair with Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland as depicted in the television series Victoria. Ernst had been warned that continued promiscuity could leave him unable to father children. On May 13, 1842, in Karlsruhe, Baden (now in Germany) Ernst married Princess Alexandrine of Baden, the daughter of Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden and Princess Sofia of Sweden. 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 that their lack of children was her fault.

On January 29, 1844, Ernst’s father died and he became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Ernst had financial difficulties throughout his reign due to his extravagance. He was an excellent musician, an amateur composer, and a great patron of the arts and sciences in Coburg. Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha died after a short illness in Coburg on August 22, 1893, at the age of 75.

• Unofficial Royalty: Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

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Where is Baron Stockmar?
Christian Friedrich, Freiherr von Stockmar (Baron Stockmar) (1787 – 1863) was a physician and a statesman from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha who was sent to Victoria in 1837, the year of her accession, by her uncle King Leopold I of Belgium to advise her. Stockmar had accompanied Leopold to England when he married Princess Charlotte of Wales in 1816 and served as his personal physician, private secretary, comptroller of the household, and political advisor. When Albert and Ernst made a six-month tour of Italy in early 1839, Stockmar accompanied them. Baron Stockmar was Albert’s negotiator during the discussions regarding the marriage of Victoria and Albert and stayed in England after the marriage of Victoria and Albert, acting as their unofficial advisor. He was an important person to both Victoria and Albert and is missing from Victoria.

• Unofficial Royalty: Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar

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.

compiled by Susan Flantzer

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert have 140 great-great-grandchildren.  Great-great-grandchildren are third cousins. Note that many of the great-great-grandchildren used or are using styles and titles from monarchies that ceased to exist during the 20th century. The great-great-grandchildren are arranged according to their relationship with Queen Victoria’s children.  Death dates may be updated only for notable people.  The links below are for Unofficial Royalty articles or Wikipedia articles.  Not all great-great-grandchildren have articles.

Other Queen Victoria resources here at Unofficial Royalty:

• House of Hanover: Queen Victoria Index
• Queen Victoria’s Children and Grandchildren
• Queen Victoria’s Great-Grandchildren 
• Queen Victoria’s Saxe-Coburg Relatives
• Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Family
• December 14 – Queen Victoria’s Dire Day

Notable Great-Great-Grandchildren

• Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark)
• King Harald V of Norway
• King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
• Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
• King Juan Carlos I of Spain
• Queen Sofia of Spain (born Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark)
• King Constantine II of Greece
• Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (born Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark)
• King Michael I of Romania

GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF VICTORIA, PRINCESS ROYAL, GERMAN EMPRESS, QUEEN OF PRUSSIA

• Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1906 – 1940)
• Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1907 – 1994)
• Prince Hubertus of Prussia (1909 – 1950)
• Prince Friedrich of Prussia (1911 – 1966)
• Princess Alexandrine of Prussia (1915 – 1980)
• Princess Cecilie of Prussia (1917 – 1975)
• Princess Victoria Marina of Prussia (1917 – 1981)
• Prince Wilhelm-Victor of Prussia (1919 – 1989)
• Prince Alexander Ferdinand of Prussia (1912 – 1985)
• Prince Oskar of Prussia (1915 – 1939)
• Prince Burchard of Prussia (1917 – 1988)
• Princess Herzeleide of Prussia (1918 – 1989)
• Prince Wilhelm-Karl of Prussia (1922 – 2007)
• Prince Karl Franz Joseph of Prussia (1916 – 1975)
• Ernst August IV, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, Prince of Hanover (1914 – 1987)
• Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover (1915 – 2006)
• Princess Friederike of Hanover, Queen of Greece (1917 – 1981)
• Prince Christian Oskar of Hanover (1919 – 1981)
• Prince Welf Heinrich of Hanover (1923 – 1997)
• Princess Barbara of Prussia (1920 – 1994)
• Prince Alfred of Prussia (1924 – 2013)
• Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, Queen of Yugoslavia (1921 – 1993)
• Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, Queen Sofia of Spain (1938 – )
• King Constantine II of Greece (1940 – 2023)
• Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (1942 – )
• Prince Amedeo III of Savoy, 5th Duke of Aosta (1943 – 2021)
• Richard Paul Brandram (1948 – 2020)
• Landgrave Moritz of Hesse-Kassel (1926 – 2013)
• Prince Heinrich of Hesse-Kassel (1927 – 1999)
• Prince Otto of Hesse-Kassel (1937 – 1998)
• Princess Elisabeth of Hesse-Kassel (1940 – )
• Princess Christina of Hesse-Kassel (1933 – 2011)
• Princess Dorothea of Hesse-Kassel (1934 – )
• Prince Karl of Hesse-Kassel (1937 – 2022)
• Prince Rainer of Hesse-Kassel (1939 – )
• Princess Clarissa of Hesse-Kassel (1944 – )

GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF KING EDWARD VII OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

• Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (1926 – 2022)
• Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom, Countess of Snowdon (1930 – 2002)
• George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood (1923 – 2011)
• The Honorable Gerald Lascelles (1924 – 1998)
• Prince William of Gloucester (1941 – 1972)
• Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (1944 – )
• Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (1935 – )
• Princess Alexandra of Kent (1936 – )
• Prince Michael of Kent (1942 – )
• James Carnegie, 3rd Duke of Fife (1929 – 2015)
• Princess Ragnhild of Norway (1930 – 2012)
• Princess Astrid of Norway (1932 – )
• King Harald V of Norway (1937 – )

GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF PRINCESS ALICE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, GRAND DUCHESS OF HESSE AND BY RHINE

• Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark (1905 – 1981)
• Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark (1906 – 1969)
• Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark (1911 – 1937)
• Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark (1914 – 2001)
• Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, Duke of Edinburgh (1921 – 2021)
• Lady Tatiana Elizabeth Mountbatten (1917 – 1988)
• David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven (1919 – 1970)
• Patricia Mountbatten, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (1924 – 2017)
• Lady Pamela Mountbatten Hicks (1929 – )
• Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine (1931 – 1937)
• Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine (1933 – 1937)
• Princess Johanna of Hesse and by Rhine (1936 – 1939)

GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF PRINCE ALFRED, DUKE OF EDINBURGH, DUKE OF SAXE-COBURG AND GOTHA

• Mircea Carol Hohenzollern (1920 – 2006)
• King Michael I of Romania (1921 – 2017)
• King Peter II of Yugoslavia (1923 – 1970)
• Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia (1928 – 2000)
• Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia (1929 – 1990)
• Archduke Stefan of Austria-Tuscany (1932 – 1998)
• Archduchess Marie Ileana of Austria-Tuscany (1933 – 1959)
• Archduchess Alexandra of Austria-Tuscany (1935 – )
• Archduke Dominic of Austria-Tuscany (1937 – )
• Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria-Tuscany (1939 – 2021 )
• Archduchess Elizabeth of Austria-Tuscany (1942 – 2019)
• Prince Emich of Leiningen, 7th Prince of Leiningen (1926 – 1991)
• Prince Karl of Leiningen (1928 – 1990)
• Princess Kira Melita of Leiningen (1930 – 2005)
• Princess Margarita of Leiningen (1932 – 1996)
• Princess Mechtilde of Leiningen (1936 – )
• Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Leiningen (1938 – 1998)
• Prince Peter Viktor of Leiningen (1942 – 1943)
• Grand Duchess Marie Vladimirovna of Russia (1953 – )
• Prince Kraft of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, 9th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1935 – 2004)
• Princess Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1936 – 1997)
• Hereditary Prince Georg Andreas of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1938 – 2021)
• Prince Ruprecht of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1944 – 1978)
• Prince Albrecht of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1944 – 1992)
• Hereditary Prince Hans Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1917 – 1944)
• Prince Wilhelm Alfred of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1919 – 1926)
• Duke Peter of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1922 – 1980)
• Princess Marie Alexandra of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1927 – 2000)
• Princess Gerarda de Orleans-Borbon y Parodi-Delfino (1939 – )
• Prince Alonso de Orleans-Borbon y Parodi-Delfino (1941 – 1975)
• Princess Beatriz de Orleans-Borbon y Parodi-Delfino (1943 – )
• Prince Alvaro-Jaime de Orleans-Borbon y Parodi-Delfino (1947 – )

GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF PRINCE ARTHUR, DUKE OF CONNAUGHT

*Also great-grandchildren of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany via their mother.

• *Princess Margaretha of Sweden (1934 – )
• *Princess Birgitta of Sweden (1937 – )
• *Princess Désirée of Sweden (1938 – )
• *Princess Christina of Sweden (1943 – )
• *King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (1946 – )
• Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg (1944 – )
• Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (1940 – )
• Princess Benedikte of Denmark (1944 – )
• Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (1946 – )
• Katharine Fraser, Mistress of Saltoun  (1957 – )
• Alice Ramsay (1961 – )
• Elizabeth Ramsay (1963 – )

GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF PRINCE LEOPOLD, DUKE OF ALBANY

• Anne Abel Smith (1932 – )
• Richard Abel Smith (1933 – 2004)
• Elizabeth Abel Smith (1936 – )
• Princess Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1933 – )
• Prince Ernst Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1935 – 1996)
• Prince Peter of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1939 – )
• **Princess Margaretha of Sweden (1934 – )
• **Princess Birgitta of Sweden (1937 – )
• **Princess Désirée of Sweden (1938 – )
• **Princess Christina of Sweden (1943 – )
• **King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (1946 – )
• Count Bertram of Castell-Rüdenhausen (1932 – )
• Count Conradin of Castell-Rüdenhausen (1933 – 2011)
• Countess Victoria of Castell-Rüdenhausen (1935 – )
• Calma Schnirring (1938 – )
• Dagmar Schnirring (1940 – )
• Michael Schnirring (1943 – 1966)
• Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1943 – )
• Princess Claudia of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1949 – 2016)
• Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1951 – )
• Prince Adrian of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1955 – 2011)

**Also great-grandchildren of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught via their father.

GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF PRINCESS BEATRICE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, PRINCESS HENRY OF BATTENBURG)

• Robin Alexander Bryan (1957 – )
• Alfonso de Borbon y de Dampierre, Duke of Anjou and Cadiz (1936 – 1989)
• Gonzalo de Borbon y de Dampierre, Duke of Aquitaine (1937 – 2000)
• Princess Alessandra Torlonia of Civitella-Cesi (1936 – 2014)
• Marco Alfonso Torlonia, 6th Prince of Civitella-Cesi (1937 – 2014)
• Prince Marino Torlonia of Civitella-Cesi (1939 – 1995)
• Princess Olimpia Torlonia of Civitella-Cesi (1943 – )
• Vittoria Marone-Cinzano (1941 – )
• Giovanna Marone-Cinzano (1943 – )
• Maria Teresa Marone-Cinzano (1945 – )
• Anna Marone-Cinzano (1948 – )
• Infanta Pilar of Spain, Duchess of Badajoz (1936 – 2020)
• King Juan Carlos I of Spain (1938 – )
• Infanta Margarita of Spain, Duchess of Soria (1939 – )
• Infante Alfonso of Spain (1941 – 1956)

compiled by Susan Flantzer

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had 87 great-grandchildren.

• 3 were stillborn (not included in the list below)
• 1 was illegitimate
• 7 were born Prince/Princess and had titles changed in 1917 to British peerage titles or courtesy titles
• 1 had no title
• 75 had a royal title

Female descendants’ married titles are in parentheses as are some male descendants who had title changes for various reasons.  Great-grandchildren are second cousins.  Carl Johan Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, who died in 2012, was the last living great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.

Other Queen Victoria resources here at Unofficial Royalty:

• House of Hanover: Queen Victoria Index
• Queen Victoria’s Children and Grandchildren
• Queen Victoria’s Great-Great-Grandchildren
• Queen Victoria’s Saxe-Coburg Relatives
• Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Family
• December 14 – Queen Victoria’s Dire Day

Grandchildren of Princess Victoria, Princess Royal (German Empress, Queen of Prussia) and Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia

Children of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia and Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (German Empress, Queen of Prussia)

• Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1882 – 1951)
• Prince Eitel-Friedrich of Prussia (1883 – 1942)
• Prince Adalbert of Prussia (1884 – 1948)
• Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia (1887 – 1949)
• Prince Oskar of Prussia (1888 – 1958)
• Prince Joachim of Prussia (1890 – 1920)
• Princess Viktoria-Luise of Prussia (Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick) (1892 – 1980)

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Child of Princess Charlotte of Prussia (Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen) and Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

• Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen (Princess Heinrich Reuss XXX) (1879 – 1945)

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Children of Prince Heinrich of Prussia and Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (Princess of Prussia) (both grandchildren of Queen Victoria)

• Prince Waldemar of Prussia (1889 – 1945, hemophiliac)
• Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1896 – 1978)
• Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1900 – 1904, hemophiliac)

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Children of Princess Sophie of Prussia (Queen of Greece) and King Constantine I of Greece

• King George II of Greece (1890 – 1947)
• King Alexander I of Greece (1893 – 1920)
• Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark (Queen Mother of Romania) (1896 – 1982)
• King Paul I of Greece (1901 – 1964)
• Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (Duchess of Aosta) (1904 – 1974)
• Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (The Lady Katherine Brandram) (1913 – 2007)

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Children of Princess Margarete of Prussia (Landgravine of Hesse) and Friedrich Karl, Landgrave of Hesse

• Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel (1893 – 1916), killed in World War I
• Prince Maximilian of Hesse-Kassel (1894 – 1914), killed in World War I
• Prince Philipp of Hesse-Kassel (1896 – 1980)
• Prince Wolfgang of Hesse-Kassel (1896 – 1989)
• Prince Richard of Hesse-Kassel (1901 – 1969)
• Prince Christoph of Hesse-Kassel (1901 – 1943), killed in World War II

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Grandchildren of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Princess Alexandra of Denmark (Queen Alexandra)

Children of King George V of the United Kingdom and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (Queen Mary)

 Family of King George V

• King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (later Duke of Windsor) (1894 – 1972)
• King George VI of the United Kingdom (1895 – 1952)
• Princess Mary, Princess Royal (Countess of Harewood) (1897 – 1965)
• Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1900 – 1974)
• Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902 – 1942)
• Prince John of the United Kingdom (1905 – 1919)

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Children of Princess Louise, Princess Royal (Duchess of Fife) and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife

• Princess Alexandra of Fife, 2nd Duchess of Fife (Princess Arthur of Connaught) (1891 – 1959)
• Princess Maud of Fife (Countess of Southesk) (1893 – 1945)

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Child of Princess Maud of Wales (Queen of Norway) and King Haakon VII of Norway

• King Olav V of Norway (1903 – 1991)

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Grandchildren of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine) and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by the Rhine

Children of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (Princess of Battenberg, Marchioness of Milford Haven) and Prince Louis of Battenberg (after 1917 Louis Mountbatten 1st Marquess of Milford Haven)

• Princess Alice of Battenberg (Princess Andreas of Greece) (1885 – 1969)
• Princess Louise of Battenberg (after 1917 Lady Louise Mountbatten, later Queen of Sweden) (1889 – 1965)
• Prince George of Battenberg (later George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven) (1892 – 1938)
• Prince Louis of Battenberg (later Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma) (1900 – 1979)

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Child of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh (Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine) (both grandchildren of Queen Victoria)

• Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1895 – 1903)

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Children of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Eleanore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich (Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine)

• Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus of Hesse and by Rhine (1906 – 1937)
• Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine (1908 – 1968)

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Children of Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia) and Nicholas II, Emperor of All of Russia

• Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (1895 – 1918)
• Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia (1897 – 1918)
• Grand Duchess Maria of Nikolaevna Russia (1899 – 1918)
• Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (1901 – 1918)
• Tsarevich Alexis of Russia Nikolaevich (1904 – 1918, hemophiliac)

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Grandchildren of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia (Duchess of Edinburgh, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)

Children of Princess Marie of Edinburgh (Queen of Romania) and King Ferdinand I of Romania

• King Carol II of Romania (1893 – 1953)
• Princess Elisabeth of Romania (Queen of Greece) (1894 – 1956)
• Princess Marie of Romania (Queen of Yugoslavia) (1900 – 1961)
• Prince Nicolas of Romania (1903 – 1978)
• Princess Ileana of Romania (Archduchess of Austria-Tuscany) (1909 – 1991)
• Prince Mircea of Romania (1913 – 1916)

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Children of Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh (Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia) and Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia

• Grand Duchess Marie Kirillovna of Russia (Princess of Leiningen) (1907 – 1951)
• Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (Princess of Prussia) (1909 – 1967)
• Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia (1917 – 1992)

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Children of Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh (Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg) and Prince Ernst II of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

• Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, 8th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1897 – 1960)
• Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein) (1899 – 1967)
• Princess Alexandra of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, unmarried (1901 – 1963)
• Princess Irma of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, unmarried (1902 – 1986)
• Prince Alfred of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (born and died 1911)

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Children of Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh (Infanta of Spain, Duchess of Galliera) and Infante Alfonso of Spain, Duke of Galliera

• Infante Alvaro, Duke of Galliera (1910 – 1997)
• Infante Alonso of Spain (1912 – 1936), killed during the Spanish Civil War
• Infante Ataulfo of Spain (1913 – 1974)

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Grandchild of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein) and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein

Illegitimate Child of Prince Albert, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (mother’s identity has never been revealed)

• Valerie zu Schleswig-Holstein (1900 – 1953)

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Grandchildren of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (Duchess of Connaught)

Children of Princess Margaret of Connaught (Crown Princess of Sweden) and Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden (later King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden)

• Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten (1906 – 1947)
• Prince Sigvard of Sweden, Duke of Uppland (later Sigvard Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg) (1907 – 2002)
• Princess Ingrid of Sweden (Queen of Denmark) (1910 – 2000)
• Prince Bertil of Sweden, Duke of Halland (1912 – 1997)
• Prince Carl Johan of Sweden, Duke of Dalarna (later Carl Johan Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, last living great-grandchild of Queen Victoria) (1916 – 2012)

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Child of Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Alexandra of Fife, 2nd Duchess of Fife (Princess Arthur of Connaught)  (Arthur is a grandson of Queen Victoria and Alexandra is a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.)

• Prince Alastair, 2nd Duke of Connaught (1914 – 1943)

********************

Child of Princess Patricia of Connaught (Lady Patricia Ramsay) and The Honorable Alexander Ramsay

• Alexander Arthur Ramsay of Mar (1919 – 2000)

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Grandchildren of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Duchess of Albany)

Children of Princess Alice of Albany (Countess of Athlone) and Prince Alexander of Teck (after 1917 Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone)

• Princess May of Teck (after 1917 Lady May Cambridge, after marriage Lady May Abel Smith) (1906 – 1994)
• Prince Rupert of Teck (after 1917 Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon, hemophiliac) 1907 – 1928
• Prince Maurice of Teck (born and died 1910)

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Children of Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (deprived of British titles in 1919) and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein (Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)

• Hereditary Prince Johann Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1906 – 1972)
• Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västerbotten) (1908 – 1972)
• Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1909 – 1943), killed in World War II
• Princess Karoline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1912 – 1983)
• Prince Friedrich-Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1918 – 1998)

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Grandchildren of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (Princess Henry of Battenberg) and Prince Henry of Battenberg

Child of Prince Alexander of Battenberg (after 1917 Alexander Mountbatten, Marquess of Carisbrooke) and Lady Irene Denison (Marchioness of Carisbrooke)

• Lady Iris Mountbatten (1920 – 1982)

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Children of Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (Queen Ena of Spain) and King Alfonso XIII of Spain

• Infante Alfonso of Spain (1907 – 1938, hemophiliac)
• Infante Jaime of Spain (1908 – 1975)
• Infanta Beatriz of Spain (Princess di Civitella-Cesi) (1909 – 2002)
• Infanta Maria Christina of Spain (Contessa Marone) (1911 – 1996)
• Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona (1913 – 1993)
• Infante Gonzalo of Spain (1914 – 1934, hemophiliac)

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by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Born on May 3, 1986, at St. Thomas Hospital in London, Lambeth, England, Jack Christopher Stamp Brooksbank is the elder of the two sons of George Brooksbank, an accountant and company director, and the former Nicola Newton. He has a younger brother Thomas born in 1988. Jack attended Stowe School, an exclusive independent school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England.

Jack skipped university and started working in the hospitality trade. He first worked in pubs including the Admiral Codrington in Chelsea, London then got a job at the trendy restaurant, the Markham Inn, also in the Chelsea area of London, which has since closed. Then Jack worked as the manager of the nightclub Mahiki in Mayfair, London, frequented by the younger royals. Currently, he is the brand ambassador of Casamigos Tequila, which was co-founded by George Clooney, Rande Gerber, and Mike Meldman. In 2017, Jack set up a wholesale company for the sale of wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages called Jack Brooksbank Limited.

Jack and Princess Eugenie in 2010

On January 22, 2018, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank.  Princess Eugenie is a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the younger of the two daughters of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York. Jack and Eugenie were introduced by mutual friends in 2010 during a skiing holiday in Verbier, Switzerland. The couple dated for seven years before becoming engaged.

Jack and his future mother-in-law Sarah, Duchess of York at the 2017 Royal Ascot

Jack and Eugenie are third cousins twice removed via their mutual descent from Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester. Eugenie’s mother Sarah, Duchess of York is the great-great-granddaughter of Lady Julia Coke, the daughter of Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester who is Jack’s great-great-grandfather.  For more information about Jack Brooksbank’s ancestors see Marlene Koenig’s 2016 article at Royal Musings: Perhaps an engagement…

 

Jack and Eugenie were married on October 12, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.

• Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank

August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, the first child of Jack and Princess Eugenie was born by cesarean section on February 9, 2021, at Portland Hospital in London, England. He is the first grandchild of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, and the ninth great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh.

• August: The name August comes from August’s maternal great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819-1861), Queen Victoria’s husband, whose full name in German was Franz Albrecht August Karl Emanuel.
• Philip: The name Philip comes from August’s great-grandfather Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born 1921).
• Hawke: The name Hawke comes from August’s paternal great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Reverend Edward Hawke Brooksbank (1789-1883). He graduated from Cambridge University with a Master of Arts and held the office of Justice of the Peace for the West Riding, Yorkshire, England.

On May 30, 2023, Princess Eugenie gave birth to her second son, Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank at Portland Hospital in London, England.

• Ernest: The name Ernest was a middle name of King George V.
• George: The name George is a tribute to Jack Brooksbank’s father George Brooksbank, who died in 2021 after being ill for some time.

• Ronnie: The name Ronnie is in honor of the father of Sarah, Duchess of York, Major Ronald Ferguson, who died in 2003.

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.

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2017

The article details how the Royal Family spent the Christmas holidays during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Royal Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom began in mid-December when The Queen hosted a luncheon at Buckingham Palace for the entire extended Royal Family. This gave The Queen a chance to celebrate with her cousins and their families before she traveled to Sandringham for Christmas itself.

Soon after the luncheon, The Queen traveled to Sandringham, her private home in Norfolk, where she stayed through the anniversary of her accession, in early February. In the later years of her reign, Her Majesty traveled by train, departing from London’s King Cross Station on a scheduled route – in a first-class car, of course. Less than two hours later, she arrives at King’s Lynn Station and was driven the few miles to her Sandringham Estate. Prior to 1901, Christmas was traditionally celebrated at Windsor Castle. It was King Edward VII who began celebrating at Sandringham, which was purchased for him as a country home in the early 1860s. His son and grandson, Kings George V and George VI, continued the tradition. Today, Queen Elizabeth II  also spent the holidays there, along with her family.

The rest of the family arrived on Christmas Eve. Guests include The Queen’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, as well as the families of her niece and nephew, Lady Sarah Chatto and The Earl of Snowdon, the children of the late Princess Margaret. They arrived in very precise order, based on precedence, with The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (now The King and Queen Consort) the last to make their appearance.  Despite its size, Sandringham House is rather small when it comes to accommodations.  Often, members of the staff were moved elsewhere on the estate, and their rooms were used to house members of the Royal Family.

Once all arrived and got settled in their rooms, the family met for tea in the White Drawing Room at 4:00 pm. There, the younger members of the family helped to put the last of the decorations on the large spruce tree, brought in from the estate. The tradition of a Christmas Tree first began in the late 18th century when Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III, had a yew tree brought in and decorated. This continued for many years, but it was not until the reign of Queen Victoria that it became popular. In 1848, the London Illustrated News published an image of the Royal Family gathered around their Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle. In 1850, Queen Victoria commissioned James Roberts to paint a watercolor of The Queen’s Tree in the State Apartments at Windsor Castle. The painting shows the tree decorated with candles, and placed on a table surrounded by gifts from The Queen’s family. (See the painting here!) A second painting shows the trees of Queen Victoria’s children and her mother, The Duchess of Kent. (See the painting here!)

Following tea, the family proceeded into the Red Drawing Room to exchange gifts. Tables were set up with each person’s gifts placed on them. And the gifts were not quite what one would expect! Apparently, gag gifts were the presents of choice, and the family went out of their way to find the silliest things. One year, Prince Harry reportedly gave The Queen a bathing cap with “Ain’t life a bitch?” printed on it, and a light-up pepper mill was apparently one of the Duke of Edinburgh’s favorite gifts!

That evening, a formal dinner was held in the Dining Room, with the men in black-tie and the women in evening gowns and their best jewels. Following dinner, the women adjourned to the drawing-room for coffee or tea, while the men enjoyed some brandy in the Dining Room.

Christmas Day began with a full English breakfast followed by a private service at 9:00 am at St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate, at which the Queen received communion privately.

A second service was held at 11:00 am.  Traditionally members of the family walked the brief distance from the house to the church, while The Queen arrived by car, often accompanied by her daughter-in-law, The Countess of Wessex. Both before and after this service, members of the family greeted the crowds of people who have gathered. The family then returned to Sandringham House, where lunch was served in the Dining Room. Once the meal was done, The Queen invited the head chef to join the family in the dining room and raised a toast to him.

At 3 pm, the family gathered around the television to watch The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast. The tradition of the Christmas Message began with a radio broadcast given by King George V in 1932. The King spoke live to the people of the British Empire from a small office at Sandringham. Impressed with the response, as well as the new technology which allowed him to reach the far corners of the Empire, King George V continued giving a Christmas Message each year until his death in early 1936. In 1939, after the outbreak of war, the Christmas Broadcast became firmly cemented as an annual tradition for the British sovereign. King George VI broadcast a message from Sandringham to the people of the Empire, offering them reassurances in the uncertain times they were all facing. The Queen gave her first broadcast from Sandringham in 1952, using the same desk and chair used by her father and grandfather. Since 1957, the Christmas Broadcast has been televised, with the exceptions of 1963 (a radio broadcast was done instead, as The Queen was pregnant with Prince Edward), and 1969 (the documentary Royal Family was re-aired in place of the Christmas message).

• YouTube: The Queen’s first televised broadcast, 1957

The day ended with a cold buffet dinner that evening, followed by a round of Charades, reportedly a favorite of The Queen, and puzzles and other games.

Boxing Day – December 26th – began with a big breakfast before the men went off on a shoot.  They were often joined by the women for lunch out on the moors.  Others enjoyed hiking through the grounds of the estate.  Another dinner rounded out the evening, and the guests began to leave the following day.

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.

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(From Susan: I used to teach preschool way back when and I think this is adorable.)

From November 29 – 30, 2017, The Duke of Cambridge undertook a visit to Finland at the request of the Foreign Office. However, William had another task on his visit to Finland. He delivered Prince George’s Christmas list to Father Christmas/Santa Claus. On a pre-printed Christmas list, four-year-old George had circled at the top that he had been “nice”, filled in one of the five lines provided for gift requests with “police car”, and wrote his name.

Embed from Getty Images

Meghan Markle’s engagement ring was reportedly designed by Prince Harry with the help of Cleave and Company, Court Jewellers and Medallists to The Queen. The ring which is on a gold band features a cushion diamond from Botswana and two outside stones from the personal collection of Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

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by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

Rachel Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981, in Los Angeles, California, and is the daughter of Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland. Her father was a cinematographer and lighting director and worked on the primetime shows Married With Children and Facts of Life and the daytime shows General Hospital and Santa Barbara. He is the winner of two Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Drama Series and was nominated six other times. Meghan’s mother has a master’s degree in social work and works as a clinical therapist and yoga instructor. Meghan told Elle magazine in 2016, “My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I’m half black and half white.” Meghan has two much older half-siblings from her father’s first marriage: Samantha Markle Grant born in 1965 and Thomas Markle Jr. born in 1966.

Meghan grew up and was educated at private schools in Los Angeles, California. She attended elementary school at Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse and then attended Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girls high school. Meghan graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago Illinois in 2003 with a double major in theater and international relations. In 2011, Meghan married her long-time boyfriend Trevor Engelson, a film and television producer. The couple divorced in 2013.

Growing up in Hollywood and with a lighting director as a father, Meghan was around the entertainment industry and knew she would end up in show business in some capacity. Her first acting job was a one-episode role on the daytime show General Hospital in 2002. Thereafter, she had small roles on television shows and in several films. To help support herself, Meghan took on freelance calligraphy jobs. Starting in 2011, Meghan appeared on Suits, an American legal drama television series, playing Rachel Zane, a senior paralegal with dreams of going to law school.

Meghan Markle attends the Wimbledon tennis tournament in June 2016

On November 8, 2016, Kensington Palace confirmed Meghan was “a few months” into a relationship with Prince Harry in a statement from the prince asking for the media harassment of Meghan and her family to end. Harry and Meghan were introduced by a mutual woman friend.

In March 2017, after finishing filming the seventh season of Suits, it was announced that Meghan was “ready to be done with Suits” and with “acting in general.” A source told E! News, “Even before Harry, she was starting to think about transitioning out of acting. She wants to focus on other worldly endeavors she is passionate about, like her philanthropy.” In 2016, Meghan became the Global Ambassador for World Vision Canada, traveling to Rwanda for the Clean Water Campaign. She has also worked with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women as an Advocate.

Meghan and her mother Doria Ragland attend the Invictus Games with Prince Harry

In September 2017, Prince Harry and Meghan made their first public appearances together at an official royal engagement, the wheelchair tennis event and the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada.

Meghan is a direct descendant of John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford, Chamberlain to King Henry VIII’s daughter Mary, the future Queen Mary I. Lord Hussey’s wife Lady Anne was one of Mary’s attendants. Lord Hussey was beheaded for his participation in the 1536 uprising the Pilgrimage of Grace. Prince Harry and Meghan share common ancestors: Richard Bowes (circa 1497 – 1558) and his wife Elizabeth Aske  (1505 – circa 1572). Meghan’s maternal great-great-great-grandfather was a slave on a Georgia plantation before being emancipated when slavery was abolished in 1865.

 

The engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was announced on November 27, 2017.  The couple was married on May 19, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle where many royal weddings have been held. Following the couple’s marriage, Meghan was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.

In preparation for the wedding, Meghan was baptized and confirmed into the Church of England on March 6, 2018, by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. The private ceremony, performed with holy water from the River Jordan, took place in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace.

 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married on May 19, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.

• Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

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Meghan and Harry have two children:

• Prince Archie of Sussex (born May 6, 2019, at Portland Hospital in London, England)
• Princess Lilibet of Sussex, nicknamed Lili (born June 4, 2021 at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California)

Their daughter 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, which originated from Elizabeth’s pronunciation of her name when she was young. As the children of a duke, Archie and Lilibet were entitled to the courtesy titles Earl of Dumbarton and Lady Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor. However, their parents declined the use. With the accession of the children’s grandfather as King Charles III, Archie and Lilibet are male-line grandchildren of the monarch and are entitled to be styled His/Her Royal Highness Prince/Princess.

• Unofficial Royalty: Are the children of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex entitled to be HRH Prince/Princess?

In a New York Times editorial about loss published on November 25, 2020, the Duchess of Sussex revealed that she had a miscarriage in July 2020.

• New York Times: The Losses We Share – Perhaps the path to healing begins with three simple words: Are you OK?

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced on January 8, 2020, that they will 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 California in the United States.

Below is their statement:

“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity. We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support.”

It was announced on January 18, 2020, from Buckingham Palace that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer use their HRH titles or receive any public funds for royal duties, as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family. The couple has also made known their intentions to repay the funds used from the Sovereign Grant for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, their home in Windsor Home Park. The statement also said that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would balance their time between the United Kingdom and North America and would continue to honor their duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and their patronages.

However, a statement was released on February 19, 2021, stating that as part of the review planned a year earlier when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex first stepped away from royal duties, it has been decided that they will no longer have any of their royal patronages or honorary military roles.

Buckingham Palace made the following statement:

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed to Her Majesty The Queen that they will not be returning as working members of The Royal Family.  Following conversations with The Duke, The Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of The Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service. The honorary military appointments and Royal patronages held by The Duke and Duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty, before being redistributed among working members of The Royal Family. While all are saddened by their decision, The Duke and Duchess remain much loved members of the family.

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.