Category Archives: British Royals

Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone; Photo: Wikipedia

January 3, 1981 saw the end of an era.  On that day the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria died at the age of 97, one month short of her 98th birthday.  Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone had lived through six reigns: Queen Victoria (grandmother), King Edward VII (uncle), King George V (first cousin and brother-in-law), King Edward VIII (first cousin once removed and nephew by marriage), King George VI (first cousin once removed and nephew by marriage) and Queen Elizabeth II (first cousin twice removed and great-niece by marriage).  Princess Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline was born on February 25, 1883, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.  Her parents were Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the youngest son of Queen Victoria, and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Princess Alice was christened Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on March 26, 1883.  She was named Alice for her late paternal aunt. Her godparents were:

Alice had one brother:

Prince Leopold was the only one of Queen Victoria’s four sons to have hemophilia and the first of the nine hemophiliacs among Queen Victoria’s descendants.  Hemophilia is transmitted on the X chromosome and it is a recessive trait.  Women have XX chromosomes and men have XY chromosomes.  Each person gets one chromosome from each parent. A woman has XX chromosomes so she can only pass an X chromosome onto her children.  A man has XY and can pass either chromosome on, so the father determines the child’s gender.  If the father passes the X, it’s a girl and if the father passes the Y, it’s a boy.  The daughter of a hemophiliac will always be a carrier because her father can only pass on an X chromosome with hemophilia on it.  However, sons of a hemophiliac will not have hemophilia because the hemophiliac father will pass on a Y chromosome and his wife will pass on a healthy X chromosome (unless she is a hemophilia carrier).  Therefore, all of Prince Leopold’s daughters would be hemophilia carriers and all of his sons would bear no trace of the disease.  The only way for a female to be a hemophiliac is for her to be the daughter of a carrier and a hemophiliac.  For more detailed information on hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s family, see Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia.

Leopold had some difficulty in finding a bride, but not because of his hemophilia, but rather his mild epilepsy.  Although hemophilia has severe genetic implications, not much was known about it at that time.  Epilepsy was considered a social stigma and it was not unusual for families to hide away epileptic relatives.  Finally, a marriage was arranged by Leopold’s mother and his eldest sister.  On April 27, 1882, Leopold married Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.  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, and 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.

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany; Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone by Hills & Saunders albumen cabinet card, 1883 NPG Ax5552 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany; Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, by Hills & Saunders, albumen cabinet card, 1883. NPG Ax5552 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Four months after Leopold’s death, Helena gave birth to a son, Charles Edward. 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 due to his taking 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, sits upon the throne of Sweden.

Alice and Charles Edward were brought up by their widowed mother at Claremont House near Esher in Surrey, England.  Alice’s childhood was full of visits to her many relations throughout Europe.  In addition to her over forty first cousins from her father’s side of the family, Alice was also a first cousin of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.  Alice’s maternal aunt, Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, had married King Willem III of the Netherlands, and their daughter Wilhelmina succeeded her father on the Dutch throne at the age of ten in 1890.

 

In November 1903, Alice became engaged to Prince Alexander of Teck, called Alge by his family and friends. Alge was the youngest of four children of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck,  and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge,  a granddaughter of King George III and first cousin of Queen Victoria.   At the time of his marriage, Alge’s sister Mary was the Princess of Wales, having married the future King George V in 1893.  Alice and Alge were married at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on February 10, 1904.  Many royal relations attended including Alice’s cousin Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.  Alice’s brother escorted her down the aisle where her uncle, King Edward VII, waited to give her away.  Lady Violet Greville commented, “Unlike most royal brides, this bride looked the picture of happiness.”

 

The couple had three children:

  • Lady May Cambridge, born Princess May of Teck (1906 – 1994), married Henry Abel Smith, had issue
  • Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon, born Prince Rupert of Teck (1907 – 1928), hemophiliac, died from injuries received in a car accident
  • Prince Maurice of Teck (born and died 1910), died in infancy

Princess Alice with her children May and Rupert in 1908 or 1909;  Wikipedia

Due to anti-German sentiment during World War I, King George V issued Letters Patents on July 17, 1917 “declaring that the name Windsor is to be borne by his royal house and family and relinquishing the use of all German titles and dignities.” Alge relinquished the title Prince of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style Serene Highness.  His two surviving children also lost their Württemberg titles and styles.  Princess Alice relinquished her titles of Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duchess of Saxony which she had inherited from her father and through her grandfather Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  However, Alice remained a Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and a Royal Highness in her own right because she was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria in the male line.  The Teck family adopted the surname Cambridge (Alge’s eldest brother Adolphus became the 1st Marquess of Cambridge) and for several months Alge’s style was Sir Alexander Cambridge.  On November 7, 1917, King George V created him Earl of Athlone and Viscount Trematon.  Alge’s son Rupert used his father’s secondary title as a courtesy title and his daughter May was styled Lady May Cambridge.  Alice was then styled Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.

After World War I, Alice became one of the most widely traveled members of the royal family, visiting Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Malaya, Singapore, Siam (now Thailand), South Africa, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Uganda, Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, the West Indies, Canada, and the United States.  From 1924-1930, Alge was Governor-General of South Africa and from 1940-1946, he was the Governor-General of Canada.   Alice was very active in charities during her time in both South Africa and Canada.  In 1966, Alice published For My Grandchildren, a memoir describing her life, duties, and travels.

Princess Alice and the Earl of Athlone at the Opening of Parliament in 1946; Photo: Wikipedia

On April 1, 1928, while they were serving in South Africa, Alge and Alice received the news that Rupert, their hemophiliac son had been in a car accident in France.  Rupert had been driving with two of his friends when the car skidded and crashed into a tree.  One of his friends died due to injuries and the other was only slightly injured.  At first, Rupert also did not seem to be seriously injured.  However, after being in the hospital for several days, he began to hemorrhage from the ear due to a slight fracture of the skull.  The bleeding was arrested and Rupert seemed to be improving, but it did not last.  On April 15, 1928, 20-year-old Rupert died from an injury he probably would have recovered from had he not been a hemophiliac.  Rupert’s funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, but his parents, who were too far away in South Africa, were unable to attend.  King George V, Queen Mary, the Prince of Wales, and other members of the royal family attended the funeral.  Rupert was buried at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore in Windsor, England.  Rupert’s death, following the death of his brother Maurice in 1910, meant that the title of Earl of Athlone would become extinct when his father died.

Upon Alge’s retirement as Governor-General of Canada, Alge and Alice took up residence in a grace and favor apartment in Kensington Palace.  Alge died on January 16, 1957, at Kensington Palace at the age of 82.  After a funeral with full military honors, Alge was buried at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore in Windsor, England.

Alice was frequently consulted on matters of royal protocol as she was the oldest surviving member of the royal family.  There is a story at the time of Princess Anne’s first marriage in 1973 when Alice refused to ride in the carriage procession to Westminster Abbey saying it was not fitting for a princess of her rank.  She traveled by car instead.  Alice was a familiar sight in the neighborhood around Kensington Palace.  Each Sunday she would walk to the local church, St. Mary Abbots Church, and could frequently be seen at the local shops.  Alice also could be seen riding on London buses.  During Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, Princess Alice proudly wore her Silver Jubilee Medal on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

In 1978, Princess Alice had a fall, hurt her shoulder, and had to be hospitalized for several days.  Although she did recover, this marked the beginning of the deterioration of her health.  Members of the royal family visited her regularly including the Queen, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Princess Alice the Duchess of Gloucester, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and various Dutch, Swedish, and German princesses.  The Queen Mother once remarked that she had been kept waiting while Princess Alice “put a little powder on her face and had her hair attended to.”  Alice’s physical condition continued to weaken.  She said that if she could not walk, she would die.  By the end of 1980, she could no longer walk.  Princess Alice of Albany died peacefully in her sleep on January 3, 1981, at Kensington Palace.

Princess Alice’s funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on January 8, 1981.  Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British Royal Family attended along with many other royals including King Olav of Norway, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, former Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and her brother’s son Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Princess Alice was buried beside her husband and son at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore in Windsor, England.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended books about Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
For My Grandchildren: Some Reminiscences of Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, by Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (1966)
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, by Theo Aronson (1981)

Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine of Braganza (Catarina Henriqueta) was born on November 25, 1638, at the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa in Vila Viçosa, Portugal. Her parents were João, 8th Duke of Braganza and Luisa de Guzmán.  When Catherine was two years old, her father became King João IV of Portugal when the Portuguese Restoration War ended the sixty-year rule of Portugal by the Spanish Habsburgs.

Catherine had six siblings:

The accession of Catherine’s father as King of Portugal brought a great change in the family’s status and Catherine became a potential royal bride for John of Austria (illegitimate son of King Philip IV of Spain), François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort (illegitimate grandson of King Henry IV of France and cousin to King Louis XIV of France), King Louis XIV of France, and King Charles II of England.  She had first been suggested as a bride for King Charles II of England in 1645 during the reign of Charles’ father King Charles I of England and again in 1660 when the monarchy was restored in England.

Already there were rumors of Catherine’s inability to have children, but the newly restored King Charles II was eager to have the £300,000 dowry.  The marriage contract was signed on June 23, 1661.  Catherine set sail for England in April of 1662 and landed at Portsmouth, England on May 13, 1662.  On May 21, 1662, King Charles II and Catherine were married in Portsmouth in two ceremonies, a private Catholic one, and a public Anglican one.  Catherine’s Roman Catholicism made her an unpopular queen.

Despite fathering at least 16 illegitimate children with his mistresses, Charles had no children with Catherine.  It is thought that Catherine did have at least three miscarriages.  Despite having many mistresses, Charles insisted that Catherine be treated with respect, and sided with her over his mistresses when he felt she was not receiving the respect she was due.  After an initial shock at being presented to Charles’ mistress right after her marriage, Catherine maintained a dignified attitude towards her husband’s mistresses and showed many acts of kindness to his illegitimate children. When it became apparent that Catherine would not produce an heir to the throne, it was suggested that Charles divorce his wife and marry a Protestant princess.  Charles refused the suggestion.

On  February 2, 1685, King Charles II suffered an apparent stroke and died four days later.  While Charles was dying, Catherine was ill and sent a message begging his forgiveness for being unable to come to him. Charles replied to her, “Alas, poor woman, it is I who should be begging forgiveness.”

After the death of King Charles II and the accession of Charles’ brother King James II, Catherine continued to live at Somerset House in London.  Catherine was present at the 1688 birth of King James II’s son James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales, and was his godmother.  When rumors began to spread that he was an impostor baby, and had been smuggled into the royal birth chamber in a warming pan, Catherine was one of the witnesses giving evidence of his legitimacy.  Catherine remained in England after King James II was overthrown in 1688 by the Glorious Revolution and his daughter and her husband and first cousin took the throne as King William III and Queen Mary II.  However, Catherine found that her position with the new monarchs deteriorated and she decided to return to Portugal in 1693.

After living in the homes of noblemen in Lisbon, Portugal for a period of time, Catherine decided to build her own palace, the Palace of Bemposta.  Catherine was an important female figure to her nephew, the future King João V of Portugal after his mother died.  When her brother King Pedro II grew tired of government, Catherine served as his regent.

Catherine died at her Palace of Bemposta in Lisbon, Portugal on December 31, 1705, at the age of 67.  She was originally buried at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal.  On September 29, 1855, Catherine’s remains along with the remains of other family members were re-interred at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora.

Tomb of Catherine of Braganza; Credit: www.findagrave.com

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House of Stuart Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Princess Louisa of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2013

Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Louisa of Great Britain was born on December 18, 1724, at Leicester House in London, England.  Her father was the future King George II of Great Britain and her mother was Caroline of Ansbach.  Louisa was the fifth daughter and the youngest child of her parents’ eight children:

Louisa was christened on December 22, 1724, at Leicester House in London, England. Her godparents were:

Louisa’s husband, King Frederik V; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 11, 1743, in Altona, Duchy of Holstein, now in Germany, the 19-year-old princess married Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Norway, the son and heir of King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway.  King Christian hoped that this marriage would cause the British government to support his or his son’s claim to the Swedish throne.  Furthermore, the Danish government hoped (incorrectly) that marriage would put a damper on Crown Prince Frederik’s affairs and drunkenness.  The couple got along reasonably well and although Frederick continued his affairs, Louisa pretended not to notice them.  The couple had five children:

Louisa was popular with the Danish people and was interested in music, dance, and theater.  The Danish people greatly appreciated Louisa’s efforts to learn and speak Danish and her insistence that her children learn Danish, a rarity in an almost German-language Danish court.

Louisa’s husband succeeded his father as King Frederik V in 1746, but sadly Louisa died only five years later at the age of 27.  While pregnant with her sixth child, Louise died due to complications from a miscarriage on December 19, 1751, a day after her 27th birthday, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was buried in Roskilde Cathedral, the burial place of the kings and queens of Denmark, in Roskilde, Denmark.

Tomb of Queen Louisa; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

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.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; By Alfred Ellis: 51 Baker Street, London – RCIN 2109487, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88769843

On December 5, 1916, Her Royal Highness The Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz died at the age of 94.  She had been born a British Princess on July 19, 1822, and was the longest-lived grandchild of King George III of the United Kingdom and the last link to the British branch of the House of Hanover.

Her Royal Highness Princess Augusta Caroline Charlotte Elizabeth Mary Sophia Louisa of Cambridge was the elder daughter and the second of three children of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (the seventh son of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz) and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel.  At the time of her death, Augusta was 94 years, 4 months, and 16 days old which made her, at that time, the longest-lived British Princess of the Blood Royal.  Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone, the daughter of Queen Victoria’s son Prince Leopold, became the longest-lived British Princess of the Blood Royal in 1977 and died four years later at the age of at age 97 years and 313 days.

Princess Augusta was born at the Palace of Montbrillant in the Kingdom of Hanover, where her father was serving as Governor-General and later Viceroy of the Kingdom of Hanover for his brothers King George IV and King William IV.  She was christened Augusta Caroline Charlotte Elizabeth Mary Sophia Louisa on August 16, 1822, at the Palace of Montbrillant in the Kingdom of Hanover.  Her godparents were:

When Augusta’s first cousin Queen Victoria succeeded their uncle King William IV in 1837, their uncle Ernest became King of Hanover because the Salic Law did not allow female succession in Hanover.  Augusta’s family then returned to England and lived at Cambridge House in Piccadilly, London.

Augusta had two siblings:

Friedrich Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 28, 1843, Augusta married Friedrich Wilhelm, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz at the Private Chapel in Buckingham Palace in London, England.  The bride and groom were first cousins through their mothers and second cousins through their fathers.  This marriage meant that Augusta would live in Neustrlitz, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. However, the couple visited London frequently, staying with the Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace, and Augusta retained close ties with the British Royal Family.

The couple had two sons, but only one survived to adulthood:

In 1860, Friedrich Wilhelm succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Augusta became Grand Duchess.  Because she had no daughter of her own, Augusta became very close with her niece Mary (May) of Teck, later the wife of King George V of the United Kingdom, and the two corresponded regularly until Augusta’s death.  In 1887, Augusta participated in the Golden Jubilee celebrations of her first cousin Queen Victoria.  When Augusta’s mother died in 1889, Augusta purchased a home near Buckingham Palace and stayed there for a portion of each year until her infirmity made it difficult to travel.  Augusta also attended Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897 and was heard to say in a loud voice, “Why is she thanking God in the street?” as Queen Victoria sat in her carriage in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral for a blessing because she was too infirm to enter the cathedral.

Before the coronation of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife Queen Alexandra in 1902, Augusta was consulted on matters of ceremony and attire as she was almost the only person alive who could remember the coronation of King William IV and Queen Adelaide.  Her recollection of Queen Victoria’s coronation also proved invaluable.

Augusta, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz at the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, Credit – Wikipedia

1904 was not a good year for Augusta as both her brother and husband died.  Augusta had been on a visit to England when her husband died.  Their son succeeded his father as Adolf Friedrich V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.  Unfortunately, due to old age, Augusta was unable to attend the coronation of her niece May (Queen Mary) and her husband King George V of the United Kingdom in 1911.

In August 1914, Augusta was 92 when World War I started.  Her only child had died two months earlier and now her grandson Adolf Friedrich VI was the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.   Adolf Friedrich was devoted to his grandmother, and the war was stressful for both.  Because Augusta was living in an enemy country, the British government suspended paying her pension.  Sadly, two years after Augusta’s death, her grandson Adolf Friedrich VI died by suicide. During the war, Augusta was able to keep up her correspondence with her niece May through Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, born Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

In the autumn of 1916, Augusta’s health began to fail. She lay in her bed for a month, sleeping most of the time.  When she was awake, she was lucid and listened to letters or newspapers read aloud to her.  Augusta sent a message to King George V: “Tell the king that it is a stout old English heart which is ceasing to beat.”  She died in Neustrelitz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, on the morning of December 5, 1916.  Her last word was “May,” the name of her beloved niece.  Augusta was interred in the New Crypt at Johanniterkirche (link in German) in Mirow, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now a small town in northeastern Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.  The church, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, has two crypts that have been the burial place for the Mecklenburg-Strelitz family for the past 300 years.

Johanniterkirche in Mirow; Credit – Von Niteshift (talk) – Selbst fotografiert, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9970572

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Mecklenburg-Strelitz Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2013

Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Born in 1241, Eleanor of Castile, first wife of King Edward I of England, was the daughter of (Saint) King Ferdinand III of Castile and his second wife Jeanne de Dammartin, Countess of Ponthieu in her own right.  She was the second child of her parents’ five children.

Eleanor’s siblings:

  • Ferdinand II, Count of Aumale (1239–ca 1265), married Laure de Montfort, Lady of Espernon, had issue
  • Louis (1243–ca 1275), who married Juana de Manzanedo, Lady of Gaton, had issue
  • Simon (born and died 1244)
  • John (born and died 1246)

Eleanor also had ten half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Elisabeth of Swabia:

13-year old Eleanor married 15-year old Edward of Westminster, the future King Edward I of England and the son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence on November 1, 1254, at the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in the Kingdom of Castile, now in Spain. Edward and Eleanor had a loving marriage and were inseparable throughout their married life.  Edward is one of the few English kings of the time period to apparently be faithful to his wife.  Eleanor accompanied her husband on Crusade and on other military campaigns.  In 1272, Edward succeeded his father King Henry III.  Edward and Eleanor were crowned in Westminster Abbey on August 19, 1274, the first king and queen to take part in a coronation together since the Norman Conquest.  The couple had 14-16 children, but only six survived childhood.

  • Daughter (stillborn in May 1255)
  • Katherine of England (before 1264 – 1264)
  • Joan of England (born and died 1265)
  • John of England (1266 – 1271)
  • Henry of England (1268 – 1274)
  • Eleanor of England (1269 – 1298), married Henri III, Count of Bar, had issue
  • Daughter (born and died 1271)
  • Joan of Acre (1272 – 1307), married (1) in 1290 Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, had issue  (2) in 1297 Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, had issue
  • Alfonso, Earl of Chester (1273 – 1284)
  • Margaret of England (1275 – after 1333), married John II of Brabant, had issue
  • Berengaria of England (1276 – 1278)
  • Daughter (born and died 1278)
  • Mary of Woodstock (1279 – 1332), a Benedictine nun in Amesbury, Wiltshire
  • Son (born in 1280 or 1281 who died very shortly after birth)
  • Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (1282 – 1316), married (1) in 1297 John I, Count of Holland, no issue (2) in 1302 Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, 3rd Earl of Essex, had issue
  • King Edward II of England (1284 – 1327), married Isabella of France, had issue

In the autumn of 1290, King Edward I of England heard of the death of Margaret, the Maid of Norway, the seven-year-old heir to the Scots throne, who died while she was traveling from Norway to Scotland.  Edward had been attending a session of Parliament in Nottinghamshire and decided to stay in the north of England, most likely to hear news of what would happen in Scotland.  His queen, Eleanor of Castile, was following him north at a leisurely pace.  On her way to Lincoln, Eleanor became ill and as she reached the village of Harby in Nottinghamshire, 22 miles from Lincoln, she could go no further, so she sought lodging at the house of Richard de Weston in Harby.  Eleanor’s condition worsened and messengers were sent to summon the king to her bedside.  King Edward arrived in Harby before Eleanor died in the evening of November 28, 1290.  Eleanor was 49 years old, had been married to Edward for 36 years, and had given birth to 14-16 children.

King Edward I was devastated when Eleanor died.  Eleanor’s body was taken to the Gilbertine Priory of St. Catherine in Lincoln, where she was embalmed. Her viscera were buried at Lincoln Cathedral and her body was then taken to London, where Eleanor was to be interred at Westminster Abbey.  It took 12 days to reach London and twelve crosses, known as Eleanor Crosses, were erected at the places where her funeral procession stopped overnight.  Charing Cross in London is perhaps the most famous, but the cross there is a reconstruction.  Only three original crosses survive although they have had some reconstruction: Geddington Cross, Hardingstone Cross, and Waltham Cross.

Original Eleanor Cross, in Geddington, England; Credit – Wikipedia

London V&A Eleanor of Castile 2

Statue of Eleanor of Castile which was part of the Eleanor Cross at Waltham, Hertfordshire, England; Victoria and Albert Museum in London; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer 2015

On December 17, 1290, Eleanor’s funeral was held at Westminster Abbey.  Temporarily, she was buried in a grave near the high altar that had originally contained the coffin of Edward the Confessor and that of her father-in-law King Henry III until their remains were placed in their tombs.  Eleanor’s body remained in this grave until the completion of her own tomb.  The tomb is a marble chest with carved moldings and shields of the arms of England, Castile, and Ponthieu which were originally painted.  On top of the tomb is Eleanor’s beautiful bronze effigy.

Effigy of Eleanor of Castile; Credit – www.findagrave.com

England: House of Plantagenet Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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November 20, 1992 – Fire seriously damages Windsor Castle

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Aerial view of Windsor Castle, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

On November 24, 1992, in a speech at the Guildhall in London marking the 40th anniversary of her accession, Queen Elizabeth II said “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an ‘Annus Horribilis‘.”   Indeed it was a horrible year for the Queen.  In March 1992, it was announced that the Duke and Duchess of York would separate.  In April, the Princess Royal divorced her husband, Captain Mark Phillips.  In June, the Princess of Wales’ tell-all book, Diana, Her True Story by Andrew Morton, was published.  Just two weeks after the Guildhall speech, on December 9, Prime Minister John Major announced to Parliament that the Prince and Princess of Wales would separate, something the Queen must have known about at the time of her speech.  And on November 20, just four days before the Guildhall speech, a fire seriously damaged Windsor Castle, the Queen’s oldest home with the most history.

Windsor Castle, an official residence of the British monarch, has been a royal residence for over 900 years and has the distinction of being the world’s longest-occupied castle and the world’s largest occupied castle.  William the Conqueror chose the site, high above the River Thames, because it was a day’s march from London and therefore could guard the western approaches to London.  The outer walls of today’s castle are in the same place as those of the original castle, as is the central mound supporting the Round Tower and the Upper Ward, where monarchs have had their private apartments since the fourteenth century.  Originally built out of wood, much of Windsor Castle was rebuilt in stone in the 1170s by Henry II. In the 1360s, Edward III built St. George’s Hall for the use of the knights of his newly founded Order of the Garter.  St.  George’s Chapel, dedicated to the patron saint of the Order of the Garter, was begun by Edward IV in 1475 and completed by Henry VIII.  Eleven British monarchs and other members of the British Royal Family are buried in St. George’s Chapel.

Plan of Windsor Castle, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Key to Plan
A: The Round Tower
B: The Upper Ward, The Quadrangle
C: The State Apartments
D: Private Apartments, overlooking the East Terrace
E: South Wing, overlooking The Long Walk
F: Lower Ward
G: St. George’s Chapel
H: Horseshoe Cloister
L: The Long Walk
K: King Henry VIII Gate (principal entrance)
M: Norman Gate
N: North Terrace
O: Edward IV Tower
T: The Curfew Tower

Windsor Castle on fire, Photo Credit – www.windsorexpress.co.uk

On November 20, 1992, at 11:33 AM, a fire began in the Private Chapel when a spotlight left too close to curtains by a painter, started the fire.  The location of the fire was shown on a map of the castle by an indicator light and the chief officer of the castle’s fire brigade immediately sounded the public fire alarm.  The fire was initially in the Brunswick Tower, but soon many other indicator bulbs lit up, as the fire spread to neighboring rooms, including the State Apartments which are the rooms the public is allowed to visit.  Prince Andrew was the only member of the Royal Family at the castle and advised the Queen of the fire via mobile phone and then helped in the removal of valuable items.  By 12:20 PM, the fire had spread to St. George’s Hall, built in the 1360s and the largest of the State Apartments, and the roof of St. George’s Hall would later collapse.  The Queen arrived at 3 PM and stayed at the castle for an hour, returning again the following morning.  Prince Charles visited in the evening and Prince Andrew briefed the press at 3 PM.

Queen Elizabeth II looks shocked as she views the fire damage, Credit – www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

It took 15 hours and one-and-a-half million gallons of water to put out the fire. Nine principal rooms and over 100 other rooms over an area of 9,000 square meters were damaged or destroyed by the fire, approximately 20% of the area of the castle.  There were no deaths or serious injuries, but Christopher Lloyd, the Surveyor of The Queen’s Pictures, suffered a suspected heart attack, five firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and a decorator in the Private Chapel suffered minor burns while rescuing paintings.  Firefighters, castle staff, and some local people were able to save many valuable items including furniture and works of art from the endangered apartments, including a 150-foot long table, a 120-foot long carpet from the Waterloo Chamber, 300 clocks, a collection of miniatures, many thousands of valuable books and manuscripts, and old Master drawings from the Royal Library.

The restoration of the damaged areas took five years and was completed six months ahead of schedule on 20 November 1997 at a cost of £37 million (US $59.2 million), £3 million below budget.  70% of the cost of restoration was to be met by charging the public entry fees to the Windsor Castle precincts, and to Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth II contributed £2 million.

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Death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in childbirth and its impact on the British succession

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Princess Charlotte of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

Not many people remember Princess Charlotte of Wales, but I think it is important that she be remembered and that it is understood how her death affected the British succession.

Princess Charlotte of Wales was the only child of George, Prince of Wales, the future King George IV, and the only legitimate grandchild of King George III. She married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld, the future uncle of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the future Leopold I, King of the Belgians. Charlotte suffered two miscarriages in the early months of her first two pregnancies, but the third pregnancy in 1817 gave Charlotte and Leopold hope. After a labor of over 50 hours, Charlotte delivered a stillborn son. Several hours later, twenty-one-year-old Princess Charlotte died of postpartum hemorrhage on November 6, 1817. Had Charlotte lived, she would have succeeded her father as Queen of the United Kingdom. Charlotte was mourned by the British people like the mourning of Diana, Princess of Wales. Her pregnancy and delivery were grossly mismanaged and the doctor in charge, Sir Richard Croft, who later died by suicide.

Memorial to Charlotte at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor; Credit – http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/

At the time of her death, Charlotte, who was second in line to the throne, was the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, even though eleven of his fifteen children were still living. Charlotte’s death left no legitimate heir in the second generation and prompted the aging sons of King George III to begin a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession.

King George III’s eldest son (Charlotte’s father) and his second son Frederick, Duke of York, were in loveless marriages, and their wives, both in their late forties, were not expected to produce heirs. The third son William, Duke of Clarence, age 53, married 26-year-old Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. 50-year-old Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth son, married 32-year-old widow Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld. Victoire was the sister of Leopold, Princess Charlotte’s widower. 21-year-old Augusta of Hesse-Kassel was married to 44-year-old Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the seventh son. It was then the scramble to produce an heir began.

Within a short time, the three new Duchesses, along with Frederica, wife of the fifth son Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, became pregnant. Augusta gave birth to a son on March 26, 1819; Adelaide had a daughter the following day. Victoire produced a daughter on May 24, 1819, and three days later Frederica had a boy. Adelaide’s daughter would have been the heir but the little princess died in infancy. The child of the next Royal Duke in seniority stood to inherit the throne. This was Alexandrina Victoria, daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent and Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld. The baby stood fifth in line to the throne after her uncles George, Frederick and William, and her father Edward.

The baby’s father Edward died on January 23, 1820, eight months after her birth. Six days later, King George III’s death brought his eldest son to the throne as King George IV. Frederick, Duke of York, died in 1827, bringing the young princess a step closer to the throne. King George IV died in 1830 and his brother William (IV) succeeded him. During King William IV’s reign little Drina, as she was called, was the heiress presumptive. There was always the possibility that King William IV and Queen Adelaide would still produce an heir but it was not to be. William died on June 20, 1837, and left the throne to his 18-year-old niece, who is known to history as Queen Victoria.

Read more about Queen Victoria and her family at House of Hanover: Queen Victoria Index.

Queen Victoria’s coronation portrait, Credit – Wikipedia

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Catherine of Valois, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Catherine of Valois, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

“On Shrove Tuesday 1669, I to the Abbey went, and by favour did see the body of Queen Catherine of Valois, and had the upper part of the body in my hands, and I did kiss her mouth, reflecting upon it I did kiss a Queen: and this my birthday and I thirty-six years old and I did kiss a Queen.” Samuel Pepys, an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is most famous for the diary he kept during the years 1660-1669, wrote this in his diary on his 36th birthday.

The queen was Catherine of Valois, wife of King Henry V of England, mother of King Henry VI of England, and grandmother of Henry Tudor who became King Henry VII of England. During renovations of Westminster Abbey in the reign of King Henry VII, Catherine’s tomb was destroyed (some say to distance her grandson Henry VII from his illegitimate ancestry) and her remains were placed in a wooden coffin and kept above ground.  Abbey vergers charged a shilling to take off the coffin’s lid so curious visitors could view Catherine’s corpse.  Her coffin remained a public spectacle for over 200 years until it was buried in the Villiers Vault in the St. Nicholas Chapel of Westminster Abbey in 1778.  In 1878, Catherine’s remains were re-buried in a new altar tomb of Henry V’s Chantry in Westminster Abbey.

Tomb of Catherine of Valois; Credit – https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/henry-v-and-catherine-de-valois/

Catherine of Valois was born a French princess on October 27, 1401, the tenth of the twelve children of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria.  Once known as Charles the Beloved, Catherine’s father became known as Charles the Mad when he began to suffer bouts of insanity in 1392 which continued throughout his life.  During one bout, Charles thought that he was made of glass and acted in ways that caused him to protect himself so that he would not break.  Catherine’s son King Henry VI of England also suffered from similar bouts and it is possible that they were both suffering from porphyria, which is a hereditary disease believed to have plagued King George III of Great Britain, a descendant of Catherine of Valois through one of her sons by Owen Tudor.

Catherine had eleven siblings:

Most notable of Catherine’s seven siblings who reached adulthood is King Charles VII of France, the Dauphin helped by Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years War, and Isabella of Valois, the second wife and widow of King Richard II of England.  King Henry IV  had usurped the throne from his cousin King Richard II.  It is thought that Richard starved to death in captivity on or around February 14, 1400, but there is uncertainty over the date and manner of his death. King Henry IV then decided the widowed Queen Isabella should marry his son, the future King Henry V of England, but she refused. Knowing her husband was dead, she went into mourning, ignoring King Henry IV’s demands. Eventually, Isabella was allowed to return to France where she married a second time and died in childbirth at the age of 19.

King Henry IV had started negotiations to marry Catherine to his heir Henry, but he died before the negotiations were completed.  The new king, Henry V, continued the marriage negotiations.  He was eager to regain all the French land that previous English kings had lost over the centuries and reign in both England and France. He intended to accomplish this either by conquest or marriage.  As a dowry, King Henry V demanded two million crowns and the return of Normandy and Aquitaine.  The French refused and King Henry V declared war.  According to contemporary writers, Catherine took pride in the fact that she was worth fighting for and was eager to marry Henry.  Following many defeats including the great English victory at the Battle of Agincourt, the French agreed to the marriage.  A peace treaty was agreed upon in May 1420 and one of the provisions was that King Charles VI of France would acknowledge King Henry V of England as his heir.  Catherine and Henry were married at Troyes Cathedral in France on June 2, 1420. Despite the peace treaty, fighting continued and Catherine spent the first few months of her marriage accompanying Henry from battle to battle.

Marriage of King Henry V of England and Catherine of Valois; Credit:  Wikipedia

Eventually, the couple returned to England, and Catherine was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey on February 23, 1421.  By the summer, Catherine was pregnant and Henry was returning to France to continue his military campaigns.  Henry was superstitious and had warned Catherine against giving birth at Windsor Castle.  Catherine did not listen to him and on December 6, 1421, gave birth to a boy at Windsor Castle:

Upon hearing the news of his son’s birth, King Henry V said to his chamberlain Lord Fitz-Hugh, “I, Henry born at Monmouth, shall small time reign and much get, but Henry born at Windsor shall long reign and lose all.”  Within nine months, his prophecy came true.  On August 31, 1422, King Henry V died of dysentery, nine days before his 36th birthday, having reigned nine years, and his son King Henry VI at the age of nine months started his 40 years on the throne.  Catherine was left a widow at the age of 21.

The two surviving brothers of King Henry V played important roles during the minority of King Henry VI.  John, Duke of Bedford, was appointed Regent of the Realm and was in charge of the ongoing war in France. During Bedford’s absence, the government of England was headed by King Henry V’s other surviving brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who was appointed Protector and Defender of the Realm. His duties were limited to keeping the peace and summoning Parliament.

Because Catherine was still quite marriageable, Parliament passed a bill setting the rules for the remarriage of a queen dowager.  The bill stated that if a queen dowager married without the king’s consent, her husband would lose his lands and possessions, but that any children of the marriage would not suffer any consequences.  A “Catch 22” which would seem not to allow Catherine to marry any time soon stated that permission could only be granted once the king had reached his majority.  At the time of the bill’s passage, Henry was six years old.

With Catherine being a young widow and with apparently no chance of remarriage, it should not seem unusual that an amorous relationship would be likely.  Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudor (in Welsh  Owain ap Maredudd ap Tewdwr) was a Welsh soldier and courtier, descended from a daughter of the Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffudd.  He served in Catherine’s household and their relationship began when Catherine was living at Windsor Castle.  There is much debate as to whether Catherine and Owen married.  No documentation of marriage exists and even if they did marry, their marriage would not have been legal due to the act regarding the remarriage of a queen dowager.  From the relationship between Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois descended King Henry VII of England and the Tudor dynasty. The British royal family and many other European royal families descended from their great-granddaughter Margaret Tudor.

It is uncertain how many children Catherine and Owen had. The following four can be verified:

Catherine died at the Abbey of St. Saviour in Bermondsey, London, England on January 3, 1437, following the birth of her last child and was buried in Westminster Abbey. After her death, Catherine’s two sons Edmund and Jasper went to live with Katherine de la Pole, Abbess of Barking, sister of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk.  Katherine de la Pole persuaded King Henry VI to take an interest in the boys, who were his half-brothers. King Henry VI eventually gave his two Tudor half-brothers the rank of Earl and issued an edict that the legitimization of his two Tudor half-brothers was unnecessary.

Owen Tudor became an early casualty of the Wars of the Roses between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. On February 2, 1461, Owen, at the age of 60, unsuccessfully led the Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross against the Yorkists led by Edward, Earl of March (the future King Edward IV). Owen was beheaded at Hereford along with other prisoners and was buried there. Before his execution, he is alleged to have said that “the head which used to lie in Queen Catherine’s lap would now lie in the executioner’s basket”.

Catherine’s son with King Henry V, King Henry VI, reigned in England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471.  From 1455 onward, the Wars of the Roses tore the country apart literally and emotionally.  After the Yorkist victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury where King Henry VI’s only child Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales was killed, King Henry VI ultimately lost his crown to the Yorkist King Edward IV. Henry was imprisoned in the Wakefield Tower at the Tower of London and died, most likely by murder, during the night of May 21/22, 1471.

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England: House of Lancaster Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Maria Beatrice of Modena, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Maria Beatrice of Modena, Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Beatrice of Modena was an Italian princess who had intentions of becoming a nun, but instead, she was thrust into religious and political turmoil in England. Born at the Ducal Palace in Modena, Duchy of Modena, now in Italy on October 5, 1658, Maria Beatrice Eleanor Anna Margherita Isabella d’Este, generally known as Mary of Modena, was the elder of the two children of Alfonso IV d’Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio, and Laura Martinozzi, the niece of the powerful Cardinal Mazarin, who served as King Louis XIV’s chief minister at the French court from 1642 until he died in 1661.  Maria Beatrice’s father died when she was four-years-old and her two-year-old brother, her only sibling, became Duke of Modena under his mother’s regency.  Her brother Francesco II d’Este, Duke of Modena (1660 – 1694), married his first cousin Margherita Maria Farnese. The couple had no children and Francesco died two years after the marriage.

Maria Beatrice had a strict religious upbringing and wanted to be a nun, but those plans changed when she was suggested as a second wife for England’s James, Duke of York, the younger brother of King Charles II.  Her priest told her that this marriage would be an offering to the Roman Catholic Church as she would play a role in converting England to Catholicism.  Fifteen-year-old Maria Beatrice was married by proxy to the forty-year-old Duke of York on September 30, 1673, in Modena.  Maria Beatrice arrived in England on November 21, 1673, and first saw her husband two days later at their second wedding ceremony.

Maria Beatrice’s husband, King James II; Credit – Wikipedia

James had been a widower for two years and had two surviving children from his first marriage: eleven-year-old Mary and eight-year-old Anne, both future reigning Queens of England. Maria Beatrice was more of a playmate to James’ daughters than a stepmother.  Mary and Maria Beatrice got along well, but Anne was resentful of her young stepmother.  James secretly converted to Catholicism around 1668, but his brother King Charles II insisted that Mary and Anne be raised in the Church of England.  James’ marriage to the Catholic Maria Beatrice was not popular with the English people who regarded her as an agent of the pope.

Even though Maria Beatrice had a secluded, strict upbringing, her charm, poise, and intelligence helped her transition into the wild English court.  Middle-aged James who was used to his mistresses treated his young bride with great consideration and in time the differences in their ages did not seem to matter.  Between 1675 and 1684, Maria Beatrice had ten pregnancies and gave birth to five live children, all of whom died young.  To James, this seemed a repeat of his first marriage to Anne Hyde when six of their eight children died young.

Maria Beatrice’s pregnancies:

  • Unnamed child (March 1674), miscarriage
  • Catherine Laura (1675 – 1676): Born at St. James’ Palace in London, England, Catherine Laura was named after Catherine of Braganza, the wife of her uncle King Charles II of England, and her maternal grandmother Laura Martinozzi, Duchess of Modena.  Catherine Laura’s Catholic mother had her baptized in a Catholic rite but her uncle Charles II carried her off to the Chapel Royal and had her christened in a Church of England rite. Catherine Laura died at the age of nine months and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
  • Unnamed child (October 1675), stillborn
  • Isabel (1676 – 1681): Isabella was born at St. James’ Palace. She was the first of her parents’ children to survive infancy but died at the age of four. She was buried at Westminster Abbey.
  • Charles, Duke of Cambridge (born and died 1677): Charles was born at St. James’ Palace and was styled Duke of Cambridge but was never formally created Duke of Cambridge. He died 35 days after his birth and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
  • Elizabeth (born and died 1678)
  • Unnamed child (February 1681), stillborn
  • Charlotte Maria (born and died 1682): Charlotte Maria was born at St. James’ Palace in London, England. She died of convulsions at the age of two months and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
  • Unnamed child (October 1683), stillborn
  • Unnamed child (May 1684) miscarriage
  • James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales “the Old Pretender” (1688 – 1766), married Maria Clementina Sobieski, had issue
  • Louisa Maria Teresa (1692 – 1712), died of smallpox

James’ brother Charles had been married to Catherine of Braganza since 1662, but the marriage remained childless. However, Charles had quite many illegitimate children with his mistresses.  With the monarch and the heir married to Catholics, waves of anti-Catholic hysteria swept England.  There was even talk of a Catholic plot to kill Charles and put James on the throne.

On February 6, 1685, King Charles II died, converting to Catholicism on his deathbed, and his brother succeeded him as King James II.  James and Maria Beatrice were crowned at Westminster Abbey on April 23, 1685, two Catholics participating in an Anglican ceremony.  Soon after his accession, James faced a rebellion led by his nephew, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, King Charles II’s eldest illegitimate child.  Monmouth declared himself king, but the rebellion ultimately failed and Monmouth was beheaded.

In 1687, five years after her last pregnancy, Maria Beatrice was again pregnant.  Catholics rejoiced at the prospect of a Catholic heir.  Protestants who had tolerated James because he had no Catholic heir, were worried.  If the baby was a boy, he would supplant James’ Protestant daughters from his first marriage, Mary and Anne, in the line of succession. On June 10, 1688, Maria Beatrice gave birth to a boy, James Francis Edward.   Rumors soon swirled that Maria Beatrice had had a stillbirth and the dead baby was replaced with one smuggled into her bed even though many (both Catholic and Protestant) had witnessed the birth including James’ younger daughter Anne.

Maria Beatrice and her son James Francis Edward, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Fearful of a return to Catholicism, some members of Parliament began what is called the Glorious Revolution and King James II was overthrown and succession rights for his son James Francis Edward were denied.  Parliament invited James’ elder daughter Mary and her husband William III, Prince of Orange to reign jointly as King William III and Queen Mary II.  William was the only child of Mary, Princess Royal who was the daughter of King Charles I and thus was the third in the line of succession after his first cousin and wife Mary and her sister and his first cousin Anne. As William and Mary’s marriage was childless, Anne ultimately succeeded to the throne, the last of the Stuarts.  Despite seventeen pregnancies, Anne had no living children and through the Act of Settlement, upon Anne’s death, the throne went to the nearest Protestant in the line of succession, thus bringing the Hanovers to the throne.

James and Maria Beatrice were forced to flee to France where King Louis XIV, James’ first cousin, gave them refuge.  Louis allowed James and Maria Beatrice to use Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, where a court in exile was established.  In 1692, Maria Beatrice gave birth to her last child Louise Maria Teresa.  Plans to restore James failed and in 1700 he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed.  He died on September 16, 1701, and was buried at the Chapel of Saint Edmund in the Church of the English Benedictines in the Rue St. Jacques in Paris.  His tomb and remains were destroyed during the French Revolution.

Maria Beatrice’s two surviving children, James Francis Edward and Louisa Maria Teresa; Credit – Wikipedia

After James’ death, Maria Beatrice began to periodically stay at the Convent of the Visitations in Chaillot, where she befriended Louise de La Vallière, one of Louis XIV’s mistresses who had become a nun.  In 1712, due to the Treaty of Utrecht, Louis XIV was forced to withdraw his support of James Francis Edward who was then expelled from France and settled in Rome, Italy.  The same year, Maria Beatrice’s daughter Louise Maria Teresa died of smallpox.

On May 7, 1718, Maria Beatrice died of breast cancer at the age of 59. She was buried at the Convent of the Visitations in Chaillot, a place she greatly loved.  Her remains were lost in 1793 when the convent was looted and destroyed during the French Revolution. However, her viscera were found and were reburied at the Chapel of the College of the Scots in Paris.

Viscera tomb of Maria Beatrice, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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House of Stuart Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Blanche of Lancaster, Duchess of Lancaster

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Lancaster: Wikipedia

The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England and is held in trust for the Sovereign to provide income for the use of the British monarch.  The other royal duchy is the Duchy of Cornwall which provides a similar purpose for the eldest son of the reigning British monarch.  The monarch, regardless of gender, has the style of Duke of Lancaster.  The duchy comprises of 46,000 acres and includes urban developments, historic buildings, and farmland in many parts of England and Wales, and large holdings in Lancashire.  At the end of March 2013, the Duchy of Lancaster had £428 million of net assets under its control. The Sovereign is not entitled to the capital of the Duchy’s portfolio or to capital profits.  Revenue profits are distributed to the Sovereign and are subject to income tax.

In 1265, King Henry III of England granted lands forfeited by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester to his second son Edmund Crouchback and created him Earl of Lancaster and Leicester. Over the years, more land was added to the original holdings making it quite profitable.  In 1315, Edmund Crouchback’s grandson Henry of Grosmont was created Duke of Lancaster and the lands were thereafter called the Duchy of Lancaster.  Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster became the wealthiest and most powerful peer in England.  So how did the Duchy of Lancaster get into the hands of the British Sovereign?  The connection is Blanche of Lancaster, Henry of Grosmont’s younger daughter.

Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster and father of Blanche of Lancaster, Credit: Wikipedia

The date of Blanche of Lancaster’s birth is not known for certain.  Many sources give March 25, 1345, as her birth date, and some sources believe her birth year was 1347, but she was born in Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, England.  Blanche’s father was Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, a great-grandson of King Henry III.  Her mother was Isabel de Beaumont, the youngest daughter of Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan and Alice Comyn.  Blanche had only one sibling, an elder sister Maud.

On May 19, 1359, Blanche married John of Gaunt, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, in the Queen’s Chapel at Reading Abbey in Reading, England.  The bride was 14 and the groom was 19.  Blanche and John were third cousins, both being great-great-grandchildren of King Henry III.  This was an excellent match for both Blanche and John.  Blanche was marrying into the royal family and John’s wealth was greatly increased by marrying one of the richest heiresses in England.

Marriage of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster in Reading Abbey on 19 May 1359 by Horace Wright (1914)

Description of the above painting from the Reading Museum where the painting is on display: In this painting, John of Gaunt and his bride walk from beneath a gilded canopy towards the officiating Bishop of Salisbury. Four lords support the wedding canopy. The one nearest to Blanche is her father, Henry Duke of Lancaster. Close by is the poet Chaucer, clothed in black and bearing a scroll. On the throne is John’s father, King Edward III, beneath a crimson canopy decorated with the lions of England. Beside the King are two of the royal princes, Edward the Black Prince and Prince Lionel.

Blanche and John had seven children:

Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster died of the plague in 1361.  Since Blanche’s father did not have any sons, Blanche and her sister Maud became his co-heiresses. Maud had first married Ralph, the son of Ralph, Lord Stafford when she was very young and was widowed at the age of eight.  When she was 13, Maud married Wilhelm I, Duke of Bavaria, Count of Zeeland, Holland, and Hainault.  The groom was a nephew of Blanche’s mother-in-law Queen Philippa.  Maud did not have any surviving children from either of her two marriages.  Maud died of the plague on April 10, 1362, but some believed she was poisoned at the instigation of her brother-in-law John of Gaunt.  Maud’s portion of her inheritance passed to Blanche and her husband upon her death.

At this time, it was common for extinct titles of heiresses’ fathers to pass to their husbands.  John of Gaunt was created Duke of Lancaster on November 13, 1362.  By that time, his wealth was immense.  He owned thirty castles and estates in England and France. His household was comparable in size and organization to that of a monarch and his annual income between £8,000 and £10,000 a year would be several million pounds in today’s terms.

Blanche died at age 23, possibly of the plague or possibly from childbirth complications, on September 12, 1368, while John was away at sea.  Her funeral was held at the Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England, and was attended by most of England’s nobility and clergy.  John held annual commemorations of Blanche’s death for the rest of his life and had a magnificent double tomb built at St. Paul’s for Blanche and himself.  Despite the fact that he married two more times, when John died in 1399, he was buried with Blanche.  Unfortunately, the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed Old St. Paul’s Cathedral and the tomb of Blanche and John.  Through her daughter Philippa who married King John I of Portugal, Blanche is the ancestress of many European monarchs.

Tomb of Blanche of Lancaster and John of Gaunt, destroyed during Great Fire of London of 1666. Photo: Wikipedia

So how did the Duchy of Lancaster get into the hands of the British monarchs?  When King Edward III died in 1377, he was succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson, King Richard II, the only child of King Edward III’s deceased eldest son Edward the Black Prince.  In 1398, John of Gaunt’s eldest son Henry Bolingbroke made an enemy of his cousin King Richard II and was banished for six years.  When John of Gaunt died in 1399, King Richard II confiscated the holdings of the Duchy of Lancaster and banished Henry Bolingbroke for life.  However, Henry was not having any of this.

While Richard was on a military campaign in Ireland, Henry returned to England to claim his inheritance. Supported by leading families, Henry regained control of the Lancastrian strongholds and captured Richard II. Richard abdicated and was imprisoned in Pontefract Castle where he later died.  Henry Bolingbroke was crowned King Henry IV on October 13, 1399.  The first act of King Henry IV was to declare that the Duchy of Lancaster would be held separately from the other possessions of the Crown, and should descend to his male heirs. This separation was confirmed in 1461 by King Edward IV when he stipulated that the Duchy would be held separate from other inheritances by him and his heirs, Kings of England.  Ever since, the Duchy of Lancaster has effectively passed to each reigning monarch. And it all started with the marriage of a 14-year-old girl in 1359.

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