Category Archives: British Royals

Matilda, Countess of Boulogne, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

A depiction of Queen Matilda in a family tree; Credit – Wikipedia

During the 12th century in a period called The Anarchy, two Matildas who were the daughters of two sisters, Matilda of Scotland and Mary of Scotland fought each other for control of England. Matilda of Scotland and her sister Mary of Scotland were the daughters of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret of Scotland. Through their mother, they were descendants of the Saxon kings in England.

Matilda of Scotland married King Henry I of England and their daughter was Matilda of England, known as Empress Matilda from her first marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.  Mary of Scotland married Eustace III, Count of Boulogne and their daughter Matilda of Boulogne married Stephen of Blois, the future King Stephen of England.  Stephen of Blois and Empress Matilda were first cousins, both grandchildren of King William I of England (the Conqueror).

A note about names: Matilda-Maud-Maude were interchangeable names. Matilda was the Latin or Norman form and Maud/Maude was the Saxon form.
About.com: Matilda or Maud?
Appellation Mountain: Name of the Day: Maud
Behind the Name: Matilda
Behind the Name: Maud

Matilda of Boulogne was born circa 1105 and was the only child of her parents Eustace III, Count of Boulogne and Mary of Scotland. Upon her father’s death in 1125, Matilda became Countess of Boulogne in her own right.  Boulogne was a county within the Kingdom of France from 896 – 1501, centered on the city of Boulogne-sur-Mer, a coastal city in Northern France. The same year, King Henry I of England arranged for his nephew Stephen of Blois to marry Matilda.

Stephen and Matilda had three sons and two daughters:

Five years before Matilda and Stephen married, a terrible tragedy caused a succession crisis.  The White Ship carrying King Henry I of England’s only son William Ætheling sank as it left France to sail to England, and William Ætheling drowned.  Empress Matilda was King Henry’s only legitimate child, and on Christmas Day of 1226, Henry had his barons swear to recognize Matilda and any future legitimate heirs she might have as his successors.

Unofficial Royalty: The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession

After the sinking of the White Ship, Stephen and Matilda stayed close to King Henry I and lived most of the time in England realizing that Stephen was very close to the throne.  Henry’s daughter Empress Matilda had left England as a child to marry Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.  The marriage was childless and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V died in 1125.  Empress Matilda went to the royal court in Normandy (Kings of England were also Dukes of Normandy). Eventually, King Henry I made arrangements for his daughter to marry Geoffrey of Anjou in 1128.  The marriage was not a happy one.  The couple often lived apart and failed to produce a child until 1133.

On December 1, 1135, King Henry I of England died.  Stephen of Blois, quickly crossed from Boulogne to England, accompanied by his military household.  With the help of his brother, Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, Stephen seized power in England and was crowned king on December 22, 1135.  Matilda of Boulogne was unable to accompany her husband because she was pregnant, so she was crowned on Easter Day, March 22, 1136.  Empress Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, leading to the long civil war known as The Anarchy between 1135 and 1153.

During the civil war, Matilda of Boulogne proved to be her husband’s strongest supporter.  Matilda was as strong and resourceful as Stephen was weak and indecisive. When England was invaded in 1138, Matilda rallied troops from Boulogne and its ally Flanders, and successfully besieged Dover Castle.  She then went north to Durham, where she made a treaty with King David I of Scotland in 1139.  After Stephen was captured at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, she rallied Stephen’s supporters and raised an army with the help of William of Ypres, Stephen’s chief lieutenant.  It was Matilda who recaptured London for Stephen and forced Empress Matilda to withdraw from the siege of Winchester, leading to Stephen’s release in 1141 in exchange for the Empress’ illegitimate brother and her chief supporter Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester.

By the mid-1140s, the fighting had slowed down and there was a stalemate and the succession began to be the focus.  Empress Matilda returned to Normandy in 1147.  In the same year, the Empress’ husband and her eldest son Henry FitzEmpress, the future King Henry II,  mounted a small, unsuccessful mercenary invasion of England.  The Empress remained in Normandy where she focused on stabilizing the Duchy of Normandy and promoting her son’s rights to the English throne.

Matilda of Boulogne died of a fever on May 3, 1152, at Hedingham Castle in Essex, England.  She was buried at Faversham Abbey in Kent, England which she and her husband had established.  Perhaps if she had not died and her husband had not lost his strongest supporter, the result of the civil war would have turned out differently.

King Stephen holding a model of Faversham Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 17, 1153, Stephen and Matilda’s eldest surviving son Eustace died.  Ironically, this was the same day that the first child of Henry FitzEmpress, the future King Henry II, and Eleanor of Aquitaine was born.  The child, William IX, Count of Poitiers, survived for only two years, but he was followed by seven siblings, two of whom became Kings of England.

Shortly after Eustace’s death in 1153, Stephen and Henry FitzEmpress reached a formal agreement known as the Treaty of Wallingford (or Winchester or Westminster).  The treaty allowed Stephen to keep the throne until his death but forced him to recognize Empress Matilda’s son Henry FitzEmpress, as his heir.

The supposed tomb of King Stephen, his wife Matilda, and their son Eustace at St. Mary of Charity Church; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Stephen survived his wife by a little more than two years.  He died apparently of appendicitis at Dover Castle on October 25, 1154, and a line of 14 Plantagenet kings who ruled until 1485 started.  Stephen was buried with his wife Matilda and his son Eustace at Faversham Abbey which Stephen and Matilda had founded. All three tombs were lost when Faversham Abbey was demolished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII. Their remains were reportedly thrown into the nearby Faversham Creek. Their empty tombs were unearthed in 1964 near what had been the center of the choir. At St. Mary of Charity Church, the parish church in Faversham, there is a tomb where it is said that the remains of King Stephen, his wife Matilda, and his son Eustace were reinterred after the destruction of Faversham Abbey.

Sharon Kay Penman’s excellent historical fiction novel When Christ and His Saints Slept deals with The Anarchy and most of the historical figures mentioned here are characters.

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England: House of Normandy Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones Chatto

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

 

Lady Sarah Frances Elizabeth Armstrong-Jones was born May 1, 1964, at Kensington Palace, the second child and only daughter of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom and Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon.

Sarah was christened in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace on  July 13, 1964. Her godparents were:

  • Prudence, Lady Penn, Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
  • Jane Stevens, her mother’s Lady-in-Waiting
  • Marigold Bridgeman, her mother’s friend
  • David Fane, 15th Earl of Westmorland
  • Antony Barton, her father’s friend

Sarah has an older brother:

Sarah attended Bedales School where she developed an interest in art. Her interest in art led her to attend the Camberwell College of Arts followed by coursework in Printed Textiles at Middlesex Polytechnic, before completing her studies at Royal Academy Schools where she won the Winsor & Newton Prize for emerging artists in painting and drawing in 1988 and the Creswick Landscape Prize in 1990.

 

On July 14, 1994, at St Stephen’s, Walbrook, London, Sarah married Daniel Chatto, son of actor Thomas Chatto Sproule (stage name Thomas Chatto) and theatrical agent Ros Chatto, born Rosalind Thompson. With both of his parents in show business, it was not unusual for Daniel to try his hand at acting.  One of his roles was as Sarah’s cousin Prince Andrew in an American TV movie Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story.

 

Sarah and Daniel had two sons:

  • Samuel David Benedict Chatto (born 1996)
  • Arthur Robert Nathaniel Chatto (born 1999)

Both Sarah and her husband continue to pursue their careers as painters and their work can be seen on the websites of the galleries that represent them:

Like her mother Princess Margaret, Sarah is also a supporter of other areas of the arts, becoming vice president of the Royal Ballet in 2004. In 1957, Princess Margaret became the first President of the Royal Ballet.

Having always been close to Queen Elizabeth II, her maternal aunt, Sarah and her family typically attended all the family functions and often spent the holidays with the Royal Family. Below she is seen in 2019 accompanying her aunt Queen Elizabeth II to a church service at Crathie Church near Balmoral in Scotland.

 

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Adeliza of Louvain, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Adeliza of Louvain, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 25, 1120, William Ætheling, the only legitimate son of King Henry I of England, died in the sinking of the White Ship.  King Henry I holds the record for the British monarch with the most illegitimate children with at least 25, but at the time of his son’s death, his only surviving legitimate child was a daughter Matilda, often called Maud(e), who was married to Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor.  King Henry’s wife Matilda of Scotland had died in 1118 and he needed a male heir, so a second marriage became a necessity.  King Henry I of England, aged 53, married the 18-year-old Adeliza of Louvain on January 24, 1121, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.  Negotiations for the marriage probably started before the White Ship disaster.

Adeliza was the eldest child of Godfrey I, Count of Louvain and his first wife Ida of Chiny.  Today Louvain (French)/Leuven (Dutch) is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium and is located about 16 miles from Brussels.   Adeliza was beautiful (she was called the “fair maid of Brabant”) and charming.  She was not interested in playing a political role in England but rather focused her activities on the arts and literature, particularly French poetry.

Adeliza had five siblings:

Adeliza and the wives of King Henry VIII of England probably had a similar amount of pressure put on them to produce a male heir.  However, her marriage to King Henry I was childless.  She was present on the day in January 1126 when King Henry I named his daughter Matilda as his heir and had his Anglo-Norman barons swear to recognize Matilda and any future legitimate heirs.  Matilda, whose first husband had died, married Geoffrey of Anjou.  Their son eventually became King Henry II of England after a long civil war called The Anarchy, precipitated by Matilda’s cousin Stephen taking the throne when King Henry I died.

In late 1135, King Henry I was in Normandy dealing with a rebellion by the barons in southern Normandy. Henry traveled to the castle at Saint-Denis-en-Lyons, Normandy (now called Lyons-la-Forêt) for some hunting.  According to the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, Henry ate some lampreys, little eels, which disagreed with him.  Over the next week, his condition, possibly ptomaine poisoning, worsened.  On December 1, 1135, King Henry I of England died at the age of 67.  Henry’s body was brought back to England where he was buried at Reading Abbey.  Adeliza was present at the dedication of Henry’s tomb on the first anniversary of his death.  Reading Abbey, along with Henry’s tomb, was destroyed in 1538 during King Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries.

After King Henry I’s death, Adeliza went to live at Arundel Castle, part of her dower lands.  In 1138, Adeliza married William d’Aubigny, 1st Earl of Lincoln and 1st Earl of Arundel and the couple had seven children.   Among  Adeliza and William’s descendants are the well-known Howard family and the Dukes of Norfolk.  Arundel Castle remains the principal seat of the Duke of Norfolk.

Arundel Castle; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

In 1150, Adeliza left her family and retired to Affligem Abbey in Flemish Brabant ( now in Belgium) near where she grew up. She died at Affligem Abbey on April 23, 1151, at the age of 48, and was buried at the abbey.  Her second husband William d’Aubigny survived her by 25 years.

Tomb of Adeliza of Louvain; Credit – http://www.findagrave.com

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England: House of Normandy Resources at Unofficial Royalty

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, Illegitimate Son of King Charles II of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite fathering many illegitimate children with his mistresses, King Charles II of England had no children with his wife Catherine of Braganza. King Charles II is an ancestor through his mistresses of many British aristocrats and of several women who married into the British Royal Family. Lucy Walter and King Charles II are ancestors of Sarah, Duchess of York and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland and King Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York. Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth and King Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla, and Sarah, Duchess of York.

In 1648, Charles, Prince of Wales (the future King Charles II of England), the eldest son of King Charles I of England, traveled to The Hague, The Netherlands where his sister Mary, Princess Royal and her husband Willem II, Prince of Orange lived.  Charles hoped to persuade them to contribute financially to the royalist cause in the Second English Civil War which ultimately ended with the beheading of King Charles I of England.  While in The Hague, the 18-year-old Charles had a brief affair with Lucy Walter.

Lucy Walter was born around 1630 at Roch Castle near Haverfordwest, Wales to William Walter and Elizabeth Prothero.  During the English Civil War, the Walter family supported the royalist forces and in 1644 Roch Castle was captured by the parliamentary forces and burned.   The Walter family fled and Lucy found herself in London and soon set sail for The Hague where she met Charles.  On April 9, 1649, Lucy gave birth in Rotterdam, then in the Principality of Orange, now in The Netherlands, to a son named James.  Charles did acknowledge the child, but some thought that Colonel Robert Sidney, a younger son of the 2nd Earl of Leicester, was the father.

A DNA test in 2012 concluded that James’ descendant Richard Montagu Douglas Scott, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch, shared patrilineal DNA with a descendant of the royal Stuarts, proving that James Scott, Duke of Monmouth was the son of King Charles II of England.  There was also a controversy over whether Charles had secretly married Lucy Walter. Their son claimed his parents had married, but King Charles II said the only woman he had ever married was his queen, Catherine of Braganza.  Charles and Catherine’s marriage was childless, but Charles had at least 15 illegitimate children with his mistresses, and James was the eldest of Charles’ children.

When James was about nine years old, he was brought to Paris and placed in the care of his paternal grandmother Henrietta Maria of France, who had returned to her home country during the English Civil War.   James lived in the household of William Crofts, 1st Baron Crofts who had followed Charles into exile after the execution of King Charles I of England.  At this time, James took the surname Crofts.  In 1662, two years after his father was restored to the English throne, James was brought to England.

On February 14, 1663, 14-year-old James was created Duke of Monmouth, Earl of Doncaster, and Baron Scott of Tinsdale.  The next month, he was created a Knight of the Garter.  On April 20, 1663, James married Anne Scott who was the 4th Countess of Buccleuch in her own right.  On their wedding day, the couple was created Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch.  Thereafter, James used Scott as his surname but was usually called Monmouth.  The couple had seven children and Sarah, Duchess of York and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester are among their descendants.

Children of James and Anne:

Anne, Duchess of Buccleuch and her sons; Credit – Wikipedia

At the age of 16, James began to serve in various military and government roles.  He served in the Royal Navy under his uncle the Duke of York (the future King James II of England) and was captain of a horse troop of the 1st Life Guards.  In 1670, James became a Privy Councilor.  His father King Charles II sent James as an ambassador to Paris and Utrecht in 1672.  That same year, he commanded British troops sent to help King Louis XIV of France (his father’s first cousin) in a campaign against the Dutch.  Other roles included Lord High Chamberlain of Scotland, Master of the Horse, Chancellor of Cambridge University, and Captain-General of all the land forces of England, Scotland, and Wales.

James, Duke of Monmouth commanding the British against the Dutch in 1672; Credit – Wikipedia

Because King Charles II had no legitimate children, his Catholic brother James, Duke of York was heir to the throne.  In 1678, there was a popular outcry for a Protestant heir, and James, Duke of Monmouth was touted as that heir. King Charles II issued a proclamation that he had married only Catherine of Braganza to squelch the possibility that his son James was a legitimate heir.  James was then sent out of England to Scotland to suppress an uprising.  His success in Scotland only made James more popular, and he was sent to the Netherlands into temporary exile.  When James returned to England, his popularity had not decreased and he was met with bonfires and bells ringing.  King Charles II refused to see his son and deprived him of most of his positions.  Charles ordered his son into exile, but James defied his father and went on a tour of the West Country to determine his support there.  Over the next several years, there were several failed attempts at reconciliation between father and son.  In 1683, James was used as a tool in the unsuccessful Rye House Plot to assassinate King Charles II and James, Duke of York.  James was obliged to go into exile in the Netherlands and he was there when his father, King Charles II, died on February 6, 1685, and his uncle became King James II.

Upon his father’s death, James, Duke of Monmouth asserted his claim to the throne and planned an invasion of England and Scotland.  He landed at Lyme Regis, Dorset, England on June 11, 1685, and proclaimed himself king on June 20, 1685.  On July 6, 1685, the armies of uncle and nephew met at the Battle of Sedgemoor where the army of James, Duke of Monmouth was defeated.  James had left the battlefield disguised as a peasant and was discovered hiding in a ditch three days later.

James, Duke of Monmouth had been attainted of treason by Parliament on June 16, 1685, and was to “suffer Paines of Death and Incurr all Forfeitures as a Traitor Convicted and Attainted of High Treason.” He groveled at the feet of his uncle King James II, begging for his life.  James was sent to the Tower of London and beheaded on Tower Hill on July 15, 1685. It took several blows of the ax to behead him.  36-year-old James, Duke of Monmouth was buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London.

The Act of Attainder forfeited his English peerages, but his Scottish peerages were not affected and continued to be held by his widow and their descendants.  The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Monmouth peerage were restored to Monmouth’s grandson, Francis Scott, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch.  Ironically, King James II’s reign lasted only until 1688, when he was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution by his Protestant daughter Queen Mary II and his nephew and Mary’s husband King William III.

Execution of James, Duke of Monmouth; Credit – Wikipedia

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Lord Frederick Windsor

photo: Zimbio

photo: Zimbio

Lord Frederick Michael George David Louis Windsor was born April 6, 1979 at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London. He is the son of Prince Michael of Kent (a grandson of King George V and cousin of Queen Elizabeth II) and the former Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz.

He was raised at Kensington Palace in London, and Nether Lypiatt Manor, his parents’ former country house in Gloucestershire. He attended school at Wetherby School, Sunningdale School, Eton College, and Magdalen College, Oxford.

photo: Zimbio

photo: Zimbio

On September 12, 2009 Lord Frederick married Sophie Winkleman in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace. The couple have two daughters:

  • Maud Elizabeth Daphne Marina Windsor, born August 15, 2013 in Los Angeles
  • Isabella Alexandra May Windsor, born January 16, 2016 in London

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Princess Louise of the United Kingdom, Duchess of Argyll

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2014

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

Princess Louise Caroline Alberta was born March 18, 1848, at Buckingham Palace in London, England,  the fourth daughter and sixth child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was christened on May 13, 1848, at the Private Chapel in Buckingham Palace.  Her godparents were:

Louise had eight siblings:

Louise was educated at home with her siblings and developed a strong interest in the arts. In 1863, the Queen permitted Louise to enroll at The National Art Training School to pursue her interests and she became a very skilled painter and sculptress. Later in life, she sculpted a statue of Queen Victoria that stands on the grounds of Kensington Palace.

Statue of Queen Victoria sculpted by Princess Louise; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

Several foreign princes were put forward as possible husbands for Louise, including the future King Frederik VIII of Denmark, Prince Albert of Prussia, and the Prince of Orange. However, none of these was agreeable to Queen Victoria, and Louise wanted nothing to do with marriage to a prince. Instead, she fell in love with John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne and heir to the Dukedom of Argyll. Queen Victoria found this a wonderful match, infusing ‘new blood’ into the royal family. Others, including the Prince of Wales, found it appalling that the Princess should marry below her class. Despite these misgivings, the couple became engaged on October 3, 1870. They married at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England on March 21, 1871, and honeymooned at Claremont House, later the home of Louise’s brother Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.

In 1878, Lorne (as he was known) was appointed Governor-General of Canada, and he and Louise took up residence at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. Initially getting a cool welcome, the couple soon ingratiated themselves with the Canadian people, traveling throughout the country and socializing with people from all classes and backgrounds. In 1880, she was severely injured in a sleigh accident, although this was significantly downplayed in both the Canadian and British press. Therefore, her subsequent lack of public appearances gave the impression that she was simply shirking her duties. In fact, her health was significantly affected and she spent much time recuperating. Her husband remained Governor-General until 1883 and they again took up residence in the United Kingdom. Queen Victoria gave them apartments in Kensington Palace, which would be Louise’s home for the rest of her life.

Princess Louise is often credited with helping to develop the tourist industry of the British colony of Bermuda.  To take advantage of the warmer climate, Princess Louise spent the winter of 1883 in Bermuda.  This quickly led to a trend of wealthier Americans and Canadians escaping to the tropical climate for the winter.  In 1885, a grand hotel was built on Hamilton Harbor to accommodate the influx of wealthy visitors. It was duly named The Princess Hotel in honor of Louise’s visit two years earlier.

Years later, in 1905, the Canadian province of Alberta was named in her honor. Initially, to be named Louise, the Princess requested that her third name Alberta be used to also honor her late father Prince Albert. Lake Louise and Mount Alberta were also named for the Princess.

In 1900, her father-in-law passed away and her husband became the 9th Duke of Argyll. This meant that the couple now had several prominent homes at their disposal, including Inveraray Castle, the seat of the Dukes of Argyll as Chief of the Clan Campbell.

The following year, in January 1901, Queen Victoria died at Osborne House in the presence of most of her children, including Louise. Despite the Queen’s wishes that Osborne should remain a royal residence, King Edward VII gifted the house to the nation. Princess Louise was given a small cottage on the estate, Kent House, which she later gave to her niece Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (later Marchioness of Milford-Haven).

Portrait by Philip de Laszlo, 1915 Source: The de Laszlo Archive Trust

Portrait by Philip de Laszlo, 1915; Source: The de Laszlo Archive Trust

Louise was widowed in 1914 when her husband passed away after a lengthy illness. He had been ill for several years, suffering from what is now believed to have been Alzheimer’s Disease. During these years, Louise devoted herself to caring for her husband. Despite the sometimes distant relationship between the two, she was truly devastated at the loss of her beloved husband. She would go on to survive him by more than 25 years. During this time, she remained an active member of the royal family, participating in official events and maintaining contact with many of her patronages and charities. By the mid-1930s, her health was declining. She made her last public appearance at an Exhibition in 1937, however, she was unable to attend the coronation of her great-nephew King George VI that May. She spent her remaining years at Kensington Palace, living in her apartments next door to her sister Beatrice. She was very close with her great-nephew The Duke of Kent and his wife, Princess Marina of Greece.

The Duchess of Argyll, 1933

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll  circa 1933

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, died at Kensington Palace in London, England on December 3, 1939, at the age of 91. Following a private funeral on December 12, 1939, her cremated remains were initially placed in the Royal Crypt at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. A few months later, in March 1940, her ashes were moved to the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore in Windsor, England.

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Recommended Books

  • Darling Loosy: Letters to Princess Louise (1856-1939) – Elizabeth Longford
  • Princess Louise: Queen Victoria’s Unconventional Daughter – Jehanne Wake
  • The Mystery of Princess Louise: Queen Victoria’s Rebellious Daughter – Lucinda Hawksley

Queen Victoria Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Henry the Young King

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Henry the Young King, son of King Henry II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry the Young King was born at Bermondsey Abbey in London, England on February 28, 1155, where his parents who had been recently crowned were holding court.  He was the second child of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Henry’s elder brother, William, Count of Poitiers, died in 1156 at the age of two, leaving Henry as the eldest child of King Henry II.

Henry had seven siblings:

13th-century depiction of Henry and his legitimate children: (l to r) William, Young Henry, Richard, Matilda, Geoffrey, Eleanor, Joan, and John; Credit – Wikipedia 

On November 2, 1160, five-year-old Henry was married to two-year-old Marguerite of France.  Marguerite was the daughter of King Louis VII of France (the first husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine) and his second wife Constance of Castile.  The reason for the early marriage was political. Marguerite’s dowry included the disputed territory of the Vexin and King Henry II wanted to possess it.

Henry was educated under the guidance of his father’s chancellor Thomas Becket.   In 1170, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke was appointed his tutor and was also his tournament team leader until 1182 when Henry and Marshal had a falling out.  Henry participated in many tournaments in northern and central France and became one of the major patrons of the sport.

When Henry was 15, his father adopted the French practice of ensuring the succession by declaring his heir the junior king.  Henry was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 14, 1170, by Roger of Pont L’Évêque, Archbishop of York.  Marguerite was not crowned at this time and this greatly infuriated her father King Louis VII.  To appease the French king, another coronation which included Marguerite was held on August 27, 1172, at Winchester Cathedral.  Marguerite and Henry had only one son, William, who was born prematurely on June 19, 1177, and died three days later.

Despite his rank of junior king,  King Henry II refused to grant Henry land or allow him to participate in the government.  With his mother and his brothers Richard (the future King Richard I of England) and Geoffrey, he nearly overthrew King Henry II in 1173.  In 1182–83, Henry had a falling out with his brother Richard when Richard refused to pay homage to him on the orders of King Henry II.  As he was preparing to fight Richard, Henry became ill with dysentery (also called the bloody flux), the scourge of armies for centuries.  It was clear that Henry was dying and he repented for his sins by prostrating himself naked on the floor before a crucifix.  Henry the Young King died on June 11, 1183, in Martel, France holding a ring his father had sent as a sign of his forgiveness.  Henry was so popular that the people of Le Mans and Rouen almost went to war for the custody of his body.  He had requested to be buried in Rouen Cathedral, but as his body traveled through Le Mans, the bishop ordered his body to be buried at the cathedral there.  The Dean of Rouen Cathedral had to resort to legal means to bury Henry according to his wishes.  Ironically, the tombs of the perpetually fighting brothers, Henry and Richard, lie on opposite sides of the altar of Rouen Cathedral.

Henry the Young King in literature:

  • Henry is an important character in Sharon Kay Penman‘s novels Time and Chance and The Devil’s Brood.
  • Henry is an important secondary character in Elizabeth Chadwick‘s novel The Greatest Knight about William Marshal.
  • The consequences of Henry’s death plays an important role in the events of James Goldman’s play The Lion in Winter (also a film) which features Henry’s parents and three younger brothers, the future King Richard II of England; Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany; and the future King John of England.

Tomb of Henry the Young King in Rouen Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

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Princess Louise, Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Louise, Princess Royal; Photo: Wikipedia

Late in her third pregnancy 22-year old Alexandra, Princess of Wales became ill with rheumatic fever.  She safely gave birth to her first daughter without the use of the painkiller chloroform which her doctors thought would worsen her condition.  The bout of rheumatic fever continued after the baby’s birth and the Princess of Wales was in such pain that she had to be constantly comforted by her lady-in-waiting, Lady Macclesfield. The rheumatic fever threatened Alexandra’s life and left her with a permanent limp.  Thus, the future Princess Royal entered the world on February 20, 1867, at Marlborough House in London, England.

The princess was christened Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar at Marlborough House, her parents’ home in London. Her godparents were:

 

Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar was the third of six children and the eldest of the three daughters of the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.  She was the granddaughter of two monarchs, Queen Victoria and King Christian IX of Denmark.  At the time of her birth, she was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Louise of Wales.

Louise’s five siblings:

by Alexander Bassano half-plate glass negative, 1875 NPG x104919 © National Portrait Gallery, London

The children of King Edward VII, by Alexander Bassano, half-plate glass negative, 1875.
NPG x104919. © National Portrait Gallery, London

Unlike their beautiful mother, Louise and her sisters were not considered attractive and had the rather unpleasant nickname of “The Hags.”  Their education was minimal although they had been taught music.  In public, the sisters appeared shy and did not want to be noticed or have others talk about them.  In private, they were less inhibited and took part in the family tradition of practical jokes.  Alexandra was extremely possessive of her children and prolonged their childhood far past the norm.  For example, Louise, at age 19, was given a child’s birthday party.  While Louise and Maud married, their sister Victoria was not allowed to marry so that she could serve as a companion to her mother.  Her cousin Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna described her a little more than “a glorified maid.”

On July 27, 1889, Louise followed the example of her aunt, Princess Louise, and married a husband from the British nobility.  Seventeen years older than his bride, Alexander William George Duff was the only son of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife and Lady Agnes Hay, daughter of the 18th Earl of Erroll and Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence who was an illegitimate daughter of King William IV. Louise and Alexander were third cousins via their mutual descent from King George III. Alexander’s descent was via the future King William IV’s long-time relationship with actress Dorothea Jordan by whom he had ten children who married into the British aristocracy.

Alexander had become 6th Earl Fife upon the death of his father in 1879.  Two days after the wedding, Queen Victoria created the groom Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.  Despite their age difference, the couple was well-matched and settled down to a life of country pursuits with the Duke managing his Scottish estates and Louise becoming an expert at salmon fishing.

by William Downey, for W. & D. Downey albumen cabinet card, 27 July 1889 NPG x3805 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife; Princess Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar, Duchess of Fife by William Downey, for W. & D. Downey. albumen cabinet card, 27 July 1889,
NPG x3805.  © National Portrait Gallery, London

The couple had three children:

Louise with her daughters Alexandra and Maud, circa 1894; Credit – Wikipedia

As female-line great-granddaughters of the British monarch, (Queen Victoria), Alexandra and Maud were not entitled to the title of Princess or the style Royal Highness. Instead, they were styled Lady Alexandra Duff and Lady Maud Duff, the styles of daughters of a Duke.   In 1900, when it became apparent that the Duke and Duchess of Fife were unlikely to have a son to inherit the title, Queen Victoria issued the Duke of Fife a new Letters Patent as Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom giving the second dukedom of Fife a special remainder in default of male issue to the Duke’s daughters and their agnatic male descendants.

Louise was the eldest daughter of King Edward VII and was created Princess Royal during her father’s reign, in 1905.  At the same time, Louise’s daughters Alexandra and Maud were granted the title of Princess with the style of “Highness” and received precedence immediately after all members of the royal family bearing the style of “Royal Highness.” This act was unprecedented and when the College of Arms told King Edward VII it could not be done, the King simply said, “Do it!” Louise’s brother, the future King George V, was greatly disturbed by this act.

In December of 1911, the Duke and Duchess of Fife and their two daughters set off to spend the winter in Egypt and Sudan where the climate was more beneficial to Louise’s health.  Their ship went aground near Morocco and then their lifeboat sank.  The family was rescued, but the Duke of Fife later developed pneumonia and died in Aswan, Egypt on January 29, 1912.  Alexandra succeeded to the 1900 Dukedom, becoming the Duchess of Fife and Countess of Macduff in her own right and her father’s other titles, including the 1889 Dukedom, became extinct.  Alexandra’s only son predeceased her, so upon her death, Maud’s son James Carnegie became the 3rd Duke of Fife. He also became the 12th Earl of Southesk, a title he inherited from his father.

Louise died at the age of 63 on January 4, 1931, at her London home at 15 Portman Square in London, England. She was first interred at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, and later was buried with her husband at the private chapel in the mausoleum of Mar Lodge in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Credit – By GentryGraves – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45486868

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Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Duchess of Albany

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Duchess of Albany; Credit – Wikipedia

Her Serene Highness Princess Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont (Helena Frederica Augusta) was born on February 17, 1861, at Arolsen Castle in Arolsen, the capital of the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont.  Today the town is known as Bad Arolsen and is located in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district of Hesse, Germany. Her parents were George Victor, Sovereign Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Princess Helena of Nassau. Through both of her parents, Helena was a descendant of Anne, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain.

Helena was the fifth of seven children and had five sisters and one brother:

Helena had one half-brother from her father’s second marriage to Princess Louise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg:

Helena’s family lived mostly at  Arolsen Castle, a Baroque-style home built from 1713-1728.  The Scottish philosopher, historian, and writer Thomas Carlyle was a great friend of Helena’s mother and a frequent visitor to Arolsen Castle.  Carlyle described life at Arolsen Castle as a “pumpernickel court.”  Helena had a Lutheran education from a very liberal-minded pastor.

Arolsen Castle, now a museum and home of Wittekind, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1881, Helena first met her future husband, Queen Victoria’s youngest son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in the German state of Hesse, where Leopold was staying with Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, who was the widower of Leopold’s sister Alice.  Leopold was the only son of Queen Victoria to suffer from hemophilia.  He saw marriage as a way to become independent from Queen Victoria, his overbearing mother. Besides having hemophilia, Leopold also had mild epilepsy. (See Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Descendants.)  Although hemophilia had more serious consequences, it was a disease that was not completely understood at the time, and it was Leopold’s epilepsy that caused him problems while seeking a bride. Epilepsy was considered a social stigma and many families hid away their epileptic relatives.

After Leopold was rejected by several potential royal brides, Queen Victoria and her eldest daughter Victoria stepped in and made arrangements for Leopold and Helena to meet.  The couple became engaged on November 17, 1881.  Leopold was ecstatic when he wrote to his brother-in-law Ludwig, widower of his sister Alice: “…we became engaged this afternoon…Oh, my dear brother, I am so overjoyed, and you, who have known this happiness, you will be pleased for me, won’t you?…You only know Helena a little as yet – when you really know her, then you will understand why I’m mad with joy today.”

Leopold and Helena; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 27, 1882, Leopold and Helena were married at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.  Helena was escorted down the aisle by her father George Victor, Sovereign Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and her brother-in-law King Willem III of the Netherlands.  Her wedding gown of white satin, decorated with traditional orange blossom and myrtle was a gift from her sister Queen Emma of the Netherlands.  Leopold had requested that his friend, the French composer Charles Gounod, compose a wedding march to be played as Helena made her way to the altar.

Leopold and Helena had two children:

Charles Edward became Duke of Albany at birth (his father’s title) and in 1900 succeeded his uncle Alfred as the last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  During World War I, he was deprived of his British titles because he took up arms against his native country.  After World War II, Charles Edward was imprisoned due to his Nazi sympathies and was heavily fined and almost bankrupted.  Charles Edward’s grandson, King Carl XVI Gustaf, currently sits upon the throne of Sweden.  Leopold’s daughter Alice married a brother of Queen Mary, Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, and died in 1981, the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria.

Helena, Duchess of Albany with her two children Alice and Charles Edward in 1887; Credit – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

Unfortunately, Leopold and Helena’s marriage was short-lived.  In early 1884, Leopold’s doctors recommended that he spend the winter in Cannes, France, which he had done before.  At the time, Helena was expecting her second child.  On March 27, 1884, Leopold slipped and fell on the staircase at Villa Nevada, the private home where he was staying in Cannes.  He injured his knee and hit his head. Leopold died early on the morning of March 28, 1884, apparently of a cerebral hemorrhage, the injuries having been exacerbated by his hemophilia. He was 31 years old.

Four months after Leopold’s death Helena gave birth to her son.  She continued to live with her children at Claremont House near Esher in Surrey, England, which Queen Victoria had bought for Leopold upon his marriage. Helena devoted the rest of her life to her children, grandchildren, and charitable work.  She was one of the founders of the Deptford Fund, originally founded in 1894 to help the people living by the dockyards in the Deptford section of London.  In 1899,  Helena founded The Albany Institute which is still in existence.  Its website says, “The Albany is a centre for the community that has been responding to the needs of the people of Deptford for over 100 years.”

On September 1, 1922, Helena died of a heart attack at the age of 61 in Hinterriss, Austria where she was visiting her son.  At her request, Helena was buried in the beautiful countryside of Hinteriss.

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Frederick, Prince of Wales

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Frederick, Prince of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

Frederick, Prince of Wales was one of the seven Princes of Wales who never became King.  Six Princes of Wales, including Frederick, predeceased their fathers:

When Frederick was born in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany on February 1, 1709, Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch, sat upon the British throne, but there was a succession crisis.  Despite having 18 pregnancies, Queen Anne did not have a Protestant heir as decreed by the 1689 Bill of RightsQueen Mary II, the wife, first cousin, and co-ruler of King William III, and the elder sister of the future Queen Anne’s sister, had died childless in 1694. In 1701, Parliament enacted the Act of Settlement to prevent a succession crisis and a Catholic restoration.  If neither King William III nor the future Queen Anne failed to provide an heir, the crown would go to the senior Protestant heir, Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and her Protestant descendants.  Over fifty Catholics with better claims to the British throne than Sophia, Electress of Hanover were excluded from the line of succession.  Sophia was the daughter of Elizabeth Stuart who was the daughter of King James I of England.  Sophia was Frederick’s great-grandmother, so at the time of his birth, His Serene Highness Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Hanover was fourth in line to the British throne after his great-grandmother, grandfather, and father.

Sophia, Electress of Hanover died on June 8, 1714, less than two months before the death of Queen Anne on August 1, 1714.  Upon Queen Anne’s death, Frederick’s grandfather George, ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) in the Holy Roman Empire, became King George I of Great Britain.  George’s son, the future King George II of Great Britain, was created Prince of Wales and along with his wife Caroline of Ansbach, now the Princess of Wales, went to live in Great Britain.  They left seven-year-old Frederick, now second in the line of succession to the British throne, in Hanover in the care of his great-uncle Ernst August, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück, and they did not see their son again for 14 years.  Certainly, this long separation during childhood was a factor in the negative relationship Frederick had with his parents as an adult.

Frederick had seven siblings, six of whom survived childhood:

In 1727, Frederick’s grandfather King George I died and Frederick’s father acceded to the throne as King George II.  The following year, Frederick, who automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at his father’s accession, was summoned to London.  There was more evidence of the feud between Frederick and his parents.  He was the heir to the throne but was not even met by any officials when he first arrived in London and had to take a hackney carriage to St. James’ Palace. In addition, King George II was reluctant to create Frederick Prince of Wales but finally did so in January 1729 at the urging of the government. During his first years in England, with not given much to do by his father, Frederick occupied himself with drinking, gambling, and womanizing.  Frederick had several mistresses before he settled down in marriage.

Marriage possibilities to Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia (Frederick’s first cousin) and Lady Diana Spencer (see Unofficial Royalty: The Other Lady Diana Spencers), daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, and Lady Anne Churchill, were vetoed by King George II. Finally, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was chosen as Frederick’s bride.  Sixteen-year-old Augusta arrived in England, barely speaking any English, to marry the 29-year old Frederick.  Frederick and Augusta married at the Chapel Royal in St. James’ Palace in London, England on May 8, 1736.

The couple had nine children:

Family of Frederick, Prince of Wales painted in 1751 after the prince’s death; Photo Credit – Wikipedia
Front row: Henry, William, Frederick; Back row: Edward, George, Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales holding Caroline Matilda, Elizabeth, Louisa

Frederick made a point of opposing his parents in nearly everything.  He annoyed them when he and Augusta appeared in public together because the couple was popular with the public. When Augusta went into labor with her first child at Hampton Court Palace where the King and Queen were in residence, Frederick insisted that Augusta endure a bumpy carriage ride back to St. James’ Palace in London just to prevent his hated parents from being present at the birth.  This event created an even larger rift between Frederick and his parents.

Frederick was a great patron of the arts, most notably music and painting.  He loved taking part in amateur theatricals with his children.  He also enjoyed sports and was seriously involved in cricket, both as a patron and a player. Frederick looked forward to succeeding to the throne and becoming “a patriot king.”  He delighted in opposing the government and lent his support to the opposition.  After the Jacobite rising in 1745, Frederick opposed the severe treatment of the Jacobites that his father and brother supported.

Frederick became ill in March 1751 after he caught “a chill” while gardening at his home.  He became feverish and was bled and blistered, the medical treatment of the time. After a brief recovery, Frederick suffered a relapse and was again bled. After eating a light supper on the evening of March 31, 1751, at Leicester House in London, Frederick suffered a coughing fit and died suddenly at the age of 44.  An autopsy found the cause of death to be a burst abscess in the lung.  It was popularly believed that his death was caused by a blow from a cricket ball in his chest, but there is no proof of that. King George II was playing cards with his mistress when he was told of Frederick’s death.  He continued playing cards and later said, “I have lost my eldest son, but I am glad,” so the feud between father and son did not even end with death.  Frederick was buried in the royal vault in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

A famous epigram was written upon Frederick’s death:

Here lies poor Fred who was alive and is dead,
Had it been his father I had much rather,
Had it been his sister nobody would have missed her,
Had it been his brother, still better than another,
Had it been the whole generation, so much better for the nation,
But since it is Fred who was alive and is dead,
There is no more to be said!

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