Category Archives: Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha – a grandson of the last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha – is the pretender to the former ducal throne, and head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

photo: Frankie Fouganthinderivative work: Surtsicna – This file was derived from: Benedikte of Denmark and Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.jpg:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26616171

Prince Andreas Michael Friedrich Hans Armin Siegfried Hubertus was born on March 21, 1943 at Schloss Casel in Lower Lusatia. He is the only child of Friedrich Josias, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his first wife Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth.

Andreas has three half-siblings from father’s second marriage to Denyse Henriette de Muralt, and one half-sibling from his mother’s second marriage to Richard Whitten:

  • Marie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1949) – married Gion Schäfter, had issue
  • Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1951) – married Friedrich-Ernst of Saxe-Meiningen, had issue
  • Adrian of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1955) – married (1) Lea Rinderknecht, had issue; (2) Gertrud Krieg, no issue
  • Victoria Whitten (1948)

Following his parents’ divorce in 1946, Andreas moved with his mother to her family home in Austria. There, she met and married her second husband, Richard Whitten, an American military officer stationed in Salzburg. Three years later, the family returned to the United States, settling in New Orleans, where Andreas attended school. Having become heir to the former ducal throne upon his grandfather’s death in 1954, a few years later he began making regular visits to Germany in preparation for his future role as head of the Ducal House. He studied Business Administration at Louisiana State University in the early 1960s, before returning permanently to Germany in 1965. There, he completed two years of military service with the Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion 6 based in Eutin, Schleswig-Holstein. Andreas then began training in the forestry industry, including an apprenticeship with Mueller & Son in Hamburg from 1969-1971. He then worked at a Japanese financial firm, learning how to run a successful business.

On July 31, 1971 in Hamburg, Prince Andreas married Carin Dabelstein, the daughter of Adolf Dabelstein and Irma Callsen. Having received formal approval from his father as Head of the House, the marriage was deemed fully legitimate and dynastic. Andreas and Carin have three children:

  • Princess Stephanie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1972) – married Dr. Jan Stahl, no issue
  • Hubertus, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1975) – married Kelly Rondesvedt, has issue
  • Prince Alexander of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1977) – unmarried

After the birth of their elder son, Andreas and his wife decided to leave Hamburg and move to Coburg. There, he worked to establish a presence within the city and the European community as a whole. He began to reach out to extended family, hoping to heal many of the wounds caused in the past – primarily after his grandfather had sided with Hitler during World War II. He became involved with numerous civic organizations and focused on his work as Administrator of the Coburg Family Foundation.

Callenberg Castle. photo: By Überfranke – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83970018

Following the fall of communism and the reunification of Germany, Prince Andreas began working to re-acquire former family property that had been seized after the war. In 1996 he was able to purchase back over 4,900 acres of forest in Thuringia, and in 2000, the Family Foundation negotiated with the German government and the Free State of Thuringia to acquire an additional 15,000+ and 1,900+ acres, respectively. The family – through the foundation – also own Callenberg Castle in Coburg and Greinburg Castle (link in German) in Grein, Austria.

Having firmly set his roots in Coburg, Andreas served on the Coburg City Council from 1996-2002. During this time, he became the Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha upon his father’s death in January 1998. He continued to serve as Administrator of the Family Foundation until retiring and handing the reins to his son, Hubertus, in January 2012.

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Since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2011, the Prince has continued to be as active as possible. He spends much of his time with family and friends, traveling, and visiting his properties in Germany and Austria. He is a first cousin and close friend of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, and is the godfather of the King’s younger daughter, Princess Madeleine. Because of this relationship, the Prince is often seen in attendance at Swedish royal family events.

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Friedrich Josias, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

The Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1954 until his death, Friedrich Josias was born at Callenberg Castle now in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany on November 29, 1918. His birth occurred just three weeks after the Workers’ and Soldiers Council of Gotha, deposed his father as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His father signed a declaration relinquishing his rights to the throne but he still remained Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Christened Friedrich Josias Carl Eduard Ernst Kyrill Harald, he was the youngest of the five children and the youngest of the three sons of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Friedrich Josias’ father was the posthumous son of Queen Victoria’s youngest son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Therefore, Friedrich Josias was a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.  His mother was the daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. His maternal grandfather was the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and a nephew of King Christian IX of Denmark. His maternal grandmother was a granddaughter of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the half-sister of Queen Victoria from her mother’s first marriage.

Left to right: Prince Hubertus, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Princess Caroline Mathilde, Prince Johann Leopold, Prince Friedrich Josias on the lap of the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Sibylla

Friedrich Josias had four elder siblings:

Friedrich Josias was first educated by tutors at home and then attended the Casimirianum Coburg in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany from 1929 to 1934. He then attended the Schnepfenthal Salzmann School, a boarding school in Gotha, Germany, founded in 1784, graduating in 1938.

In 1938, Friedrich Josias joined the German Army and participated in the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. In 1941, he participated in the German occupation of Poland and France and fought in campaigns in Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.

In 1932, Friedrich Josias’ elder brother Johann Leopold made an unequal marriage against the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House Act of March 1, 1855, and had to renounce succession rights for himself and any children from the marriage. His brother Hubertus was designated the heir to his father as Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. However, after Hubertus was killed in action in an airplane crash during World War II in 1943, Friedrich Josias became the heir to Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

In 1944, Friedrich Josias became an adjutant to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel who was in charge of the German campaign in North Africa. Later in 1944, he was transferred to the staff of General Hermann von Hanneken, the supreme commander of the German forces in Denmark. In May 1945, Friedrich Josias was captured by British forces in Denmark and remained in captivity until he was released that autumn when he returned to Coburg.

Friedrich Josias married his first cousin Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth on January 25, 1942.  The couple divorced on September 19, 1946.

Friedrich Josias and Viktoria-Luise had one son who succeeded his father as the Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha:

On February 14, 1948, Friedrich Josias made a second marriage to Denyse Henriette de Muralt in San Francisco, California. The couple divorced in 1964 and had three children:

  • Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1949 – 2016), married Gion Schäfer, had two daughters
  • Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born 1951), married Friedrich-Ernst of Saxe-Meiningen, had one son and one daughter
  • Adrian of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1955 – 2011), married (1) Lea Rinderknecht, had two sons (2) Gertrud Krieg

Friedrich Josias and his third wife Katrin

Friedrich Josias married one last time, on October 30, 1964, in Hamburg, Germany to Katrin Bremme. The couple had no children. His third wife Katrin survived him by twenty-three years, dying in 2011.

In 1946, Friedrich Josias went to Stockholm, Sweden. There he stayed for a while with his elder sister Sibylla who was married to Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, the second in line to the Swedish throne after his father, the future King Gustaf VI Adolf. Prince Gustaf Adolf, the father of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, would have himself become King of Sweden had he not died tragically in an airplane crash in 1947. In Sweden, Friedrich Josias worked for Johnson Line AB, a Swedish shipping company.

In 1948, Friedrich Josias accepted a position with W.R. Grace and Company, another shipping company, in San Francisco, California, and later in Santos, Brazil and Hamburg, Germany. As per his father’s wish, he ended his employment with W.R. Grace and Company and to work for the Foundation of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Foundation for Art and Science. Upon the death of his father in 1954, Friedrich Josias became Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

From 1958 – 1964, Friedrich Josias again worked for the Swedish shipping company Johnson Line AB, this time in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Upon his return to Germany, he first lived in Hamburg. Beginning in 1967, he spent his time in Coburg, now in Bavaria, Germany and Grein, Austria. During the last years of his life, Friedrich Josias was in ill health and his son Andreas took over many of his duties. He died on January 23, 1998, in a hospital in Amstetten, Austria at the age of 79 and was buried in the family cemetery in the forest of Schloss Callenberg in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany.

The Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family cemetery in the forest of Callenberg Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

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

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Friedrich Josias Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Josias_Prinz_von_Sachsen-Coburg_und_Gotha [Accessed 28 Jan. 2019].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Friedrich Josias, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Josias,_Prince_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha [Accessed 28 Jan. 2019].
  • Thepeerage.com. (2019). Person Page. [online] Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/p10859.htm#i108581 [Accessed 28 Jan. 2019].

Princess Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – https://www.stadtgeschichte-coburg.de

Princess Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, known as Calma, was born on June 22, 1912, at Callenberg Castle in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Bavaria, Germany. She was the younger of the two daughters and the fourth of the five children of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Calma’s father was the posthumous son of Queen Victoria’s youngest son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Therefore, Calma was a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.  Her mother was the daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. Her father was the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and a nephew of King Christian IX of Denmark.  Calma’s mother was a granddaughter of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the half-sister of Queen Victoria from their mother’s first marriage.

Calma had four siblings:

The Christening of Caroline Mathilde; Credit – Wikipedia

Calma was christened Caroline Mathilde Helene Ludwiga Augusta Beatrice on July 25, 1912, at Callenberg Castle.

Her godparents were:

Wedding of Princess Caroline Mathilde and Count Friedrich Wolfgang Otto of Castell-Rüdenhausen at Schloss Greinburg; Credit – By Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R14380 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5368325

Calma married Count Friedrich Wolfgang of Castell-Rüdenhausen, son of Hugo Friedrich of Castell-Rüdenhausen and Clementine of Solms-Sonnenwalde, on December 14, 1931, at Greinburg Castle on the Danube in Austria. The marriage was not a happy one. Eventually, Calma left Friedrich, amid much controversy and scandal, and they were officially divorced on May 2, 1938. In 1940, during World War II, Friedrich was killed in action while flying over England.

Calma and Friedrich had three children:

  • Count Bertram Friedrich of Castell-Rüdenhausen (born 1932), married Felicita von Auersperg, had two children
  • Count Conradin Friedrich of Castell-Rüdenhausen (1933 – 2011), married Marta Catharina Lonegren, had two children
  • Countess Viktoria Adelheid of Castell-Rüdenhausen (born 1935), married Sir John Miles Huntington-Whiteley, 4th Baronet, had three children

On June 22, 1938, in Berlin, Germany, Calma married Captain Max Schnirring, a famous pilot whose aviation career began during World War I. He had been friends with the famous “ Red Baron” Manfred von Richthofen. Max was one of the first pilots for Deutsche Luft Hansa, a precursor to today’s Lufthansa. He also worked as a training supervisor for Focke-Wulf and as a test pilot for Arado. He had crashed four times during his test flights without serious injury. However, during a test flight on July 6, 1944, he crashed in a field near Parow, a village a few miles north of Stralsund in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Max died the next day, at the age of 49, in a hospital in Stralsund, Germany.

Calma and Max had three children:

  • Calma Barbara Schnirring (born 1938), married (1) Richard Darrell Berger, had six children (2) James Cook, adopted a daughter
  • Dagmar Schnirring (born 1940), married (1) Heinrich Walz, had two children, divorced in 1989 (2) married Eberhard Schäl, no children
  • Peter Michael Schnirring (1943 – 1966), unmarried

Calma married a third time on December 23, 1946, to Karl Otto Andree. The couple had no children and divorced on October 10, 1949.

After the end of World War II, Calma’s father Charles Edward was placed under house arrest at his residence the Veste Coburg because of his Nazi sympathies. In 1949, a denazification appeals court classified Charles Edward as a Nazi Follower, Category IV. He was heavily fined and almost bankrupted. Calma had a difficult time adjusting to her family’s circumstances and became estranged from some of her children. To make ends meet, she became a shoemaker. She had numerous relationships with different men and one relationship caused her to spend some time in prison.

Calma became involved with an engineer and factory owner named Alexander Glascow who had left his wife and five children for her. Glascow was accused of having sex with two underage girls who worked at his factory. One of the girls, just 15-years-old, became pregnant. Calma did not want to lose Glascow and became involved in the situation. She arranged for one of her sons to be named the father and further arranged for the pregnant girl to have an abortion, which was illegal. Unfortunately, the girl died during the abortion. Calma and Glascow were charged with committing a “continuing crime of acquiescence to a serious abortion crime”. On December 21, 1956, both Calma and Glascow were convicted and both spent about six months in prison.

Calma died on September 5, 1983, at the age of 71 in Erlangen, Germany. She was buried in the family cemetery in the forest of Schloss Callenberg.

The Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family cemetery in the forest of Callenberg Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

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

Works Cited

  • Australia, K., profile, V. and Australia, K. (n.d.). H.H. Princess Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1912 – 1983). [online] Royalchristenings.blogspot.gr. Available at: http://royalchristenings.blogspot.gr/2014/08/hh-princess-caroline-mathilde-of-saxe.html [Accessed 23 Jan. 2019].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Princess Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Caroline_Mathilde_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha [Accessed 23 Jan. 2019].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Carolina Matilde de Sajonia-Coburgo-Gotha. [online] Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Matilde_de_Sajonia-Coburgo-Gotha [Accessed 23 Jan. 2019].
  • Parow-info.de. (n.d.). Flugkapitän Max Otto Schnirring. [online] Available at: https://www.parow-info.de/c/Schnirring.html [Accessed 23 Jan. 2019].
  • Stegemann, W. (2013). Caroline Prinzessin von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha saß 1956 im Dorstener Amtsgerichtsgefängnis | DORSTEN-transparent.de. [online] Dorsten-transparent.de. Available at: http://www.dorsten-transparent.de/2013/01/caroline-prinzessin-von-sachsen-coburg-und-gotha-sas-1956-im-dorstener-amtsgerichtsgefangnis/ [Accessed 23 Jan. 2019].

Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was born on August 24, 1909, at Reinhardsbrunn Castle, now in Friedrichroda, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, near Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany. Christened with the names Dietmar Hubertus Friedrich Wilhelm Philip, he was the third of the five children and the second of the three sons of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Hubertus’ father was the posthumous son of Queen Victoria’s youngest son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Therefore, Hubertus was a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.  His mother was the daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. Her father was the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and a nephew of King Christian IX of Denmark. Her mother was a granddaughter of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the half-sister of Queen Victoria from her mother’s first marriage.

Hubertus and his family in 1918: (left to right) Hubertus, his mother Viktoria Adelheid, his sister Sibylla, his sister Karoline Mathilde, his father Charles Edward, and his brother Johann Leopold. His youngest brother was not yet born; Credit – Wikipedia

Hubertus had four siblings:

Hubertus and his sister Sibylla; Credit – Wikipedia

Hubertus was first educated by tutors at home, and then attended the Casimirianum Coburg in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany. On November 9, 1918, the Workers’ and Soldiers Council of Gotha, deposed Hubertus’ father as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Five days later, Charles Edward signed a declaration relinquishing his rights to the throne but remained Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. In 1932, Hubertus’ elder brother Johann Leopold made an unequal marriage against the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House Act of March 1, 1855 and renounced succession rights for himself and any children from the marriage. As the next son, Hubertus was designated the heir to his father as Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Hubertus became a member of the Nazi Party on October 1, 1939. He saw action with the German Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. He served as a first lieutenant on the High Command of the Army and was deployed as a Luftwaffe pilot serving as a squadron leader. Hubertus was killed in action in an airplane crash at the age of 34 on November 26, 1943, in Velyki Mosty, in present-day Ukraine. His funeral took place on November 30, 1943, at the German Luftwaffe base in Lötzen in East Prussia, now Giżycko, Poland. Hubertus was buried in the family cemetery in the forest of Callenberg Castle in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany.

The Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family cemetery in the forest of Callenberg Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. (2019). Hubertus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubertus_von_Sachsen-Coburg_und_Gotha [Accessed 22 Jan. 2019].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1909–1943). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Hubertus_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha_(1909%E2%80%931943) [Accessed 22 Jan. 2019].
  • Petropoulos, Jonathan. (2009) Royals and the Reich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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.

Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

Johann Leopold was the eldest of the five children and the eldest of the three sons of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. He was born on August 2, 1906, at Callenberg Castle now in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany. On September 19, 1906, Johann Leopold was christened Johann Leopold Wilhelm Albrecht Ferdinand Viktor with his father’s first cousin Wilhelm II, German Emperor and his wife Empress Augusta Victoria serving as godparents. Because he was the firstborn son, Johann Leopold was the heir to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and was styled Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife with their son Johann Leopold: Credit – Wikipedia

Johann Leopold had four younger siblings:

Johann Leopold and his sister Sybilla in the park of Castle Reinhardsbrunn: Credit – Wikipedia

Johann Leopold’s mother was the daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. Her father was the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and a nephew of King Christian IX of Denmark. Her mother was a granddaughter of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the half-sister of Queen Victoria from her mother’s first marriage.

Johann Leopold’s parents in 1905; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles Edward, Johann Leopold’s father, was the posthumous son of Queen Victoria’s youngest son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Therefore, Johann Leopold was a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. At the time of Johann Leopold’s birth, his father also held the British title Duke of Albany. However, due to his participation in World War I with the German Imperial Army, Charles Edward lost his British title via the 1917 Titles Deprivation Act. Charles Edward and his children also lost their titles of Prince and Princess of the United Kingdom and the styles Royal Highness and Highness. According to the Titles Deprivation Act, the male heirs of those deprived of their titles have the right to ask the British Crown to reinstate their titles. Johann Leopold remained heir to the title Duke of Albany and was eligible to apply for its reinstatement, though he did not do so and neither have any heirs since then.

At 11 AM on November 11, 1918 – “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” – a ceasefire ending World War I went into effect. On November 9, 1918, the Workers’ and Soldiers Council of Gotha, deposed Charles Edward as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Five days later, he signed a declaration relinquishing his rights to the throne.

In 1926, Johann Leopold completed his studies at the Ritterakademie in Brandenburg. He then studied economics, art history, and constitutional law at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn, now the University of Bonn. During this period, Johann Leopold had many conflicts with his father. The conflicts came to a head when Johann Leopold wanted to marry against the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House Law of March 1, 1855, which stated that members of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha could make only equal marriages with members of princely or royal houses. His intended bride was Feodora Freiin von der Horst, from a noble family – Freiin means Baroness – but not from a princely or royal house. If Johann Leopold and Feodora married, Johann Leopold would have to renounce his succession rights for himself and any children from the marriage. The couple married civilly on March 9, 1932, in Niedersedlitz near Dresden, Germany, and religiously on March 14, 1932, at a church in Dresden. Johann Leopold was allowed to keep his title of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Johann Leopold and Feodora had three children:

  • Princess Marianne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born 1933), married Michael Nielsen, had two daughters
  • Prince Ernst Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1935 – 1996), married (1) Ingeborg Henig, divorced 1963, had one son (2) Gertraude Monika Pfeiffer, divorced 1985, had two daughters and three sons (3) Sabine Biller, with whom he died by suicide, no children
  • Prince Peter of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born 1939), married Roswitha Henriette Breuer; had two sons

On April 1, 1932, Johann Leopold joined the Nazi Party but his loyalty to the party was repeatedly questioned. During World War II, he served as a sergeant in an anti-aircraft regiment but was released in 1943 because of political unreliability. After World War II, proceedings against him in a denazification appeals court were discontinued on February 20, 1947.

In 1948, Johann Leopold made headlines when he was sentenced to two years in prison by a criminal court in Amberg, Bavaria, Germany on charges of indecency with children. After this, he broke off all connections with his family. He did not attend the funeral of his father in Coburg in 1954.

On February 27, 1962, his marriage to Feodora ended in divorce. Johann Leopold married again on May 3, 1963, to a divorced commoner Maria Theresia Reindl. The two lived in Karlstein near Maria’s hometown of Bad Reichenhall in Bavaria, Germany. On May 4, 1972, Johann Leopold died at the age of 65 from cancer in Grein, Austria. He was buried in his second wife’s family grave at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Zeno in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, Germany. His second wife Maria survived him by 24 years, dying in 1996 at the age of 88.

Ill-fortune also followed Johann Leopold’s elder son Ernst Leopold. In 1986, Ernst Leopold married for a third time to Sabine Biller, a journalist. The couple began to have money problems as they were living beyond their means. On June 27, 1996, in the parking lot of a chalet restaurant in Bad Wiessee, Bavaria, Germany, the bodies of Ernst Leopold and Sabine were found in their car, dead from gunshot wounds from hunting rifles. Apparently, they had simultaneously shot themselves.

The Church of St. Zeno where Johann Leopold is buried; Credit – Von Wolfgang Sauber – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11612030

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

Works Cited

  • “Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Leopold,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha.
  • “Johann Leopold Von Sachsen-Coburg Und Gotha.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Jan. 2019, de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Leopold_von_Sachsen-Coburg_und_Gotha.
  • Karacs, Decca Aitkenhead/Imre. “Royal Couple Could Not Afford Lavish Life.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 23 Oct. 2011, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/royal-couple-could-not-afford-lavish-life-1339488.html.

Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein: In November 1863, Prince Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg claimed the twin duchies as Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein after the death without a male heir of King Frederick VII of Denmark, who was also the Duke of Schleswig and the Duke of Holstein.  In 1864, following the Second Schleswig War, the Duchy of Holstein and the Duchy of Schleswig became occupied territories of the German Confederation and two years later, following the Austro-Prussian War, part of the new Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein. However, Prussia recognized the head of the House of Oldenburg as the *mediatized duke of these two duchies, with the rank and all the titles. The Duchy of Schleswig and the Duchy of Holstein are now the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

*mediatize – to annex (a principality) to another state, while allowing certain rights to its former sovereign

Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein; Credit – WIkipedia

Princess Dorothea Maria Henriette Auguste Louise of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was born in Vienna, Austria on April 30, 1881, to Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Louise of Belgium. Through her mother, she was a granddaughter of King Leopold II of the Belgians. Dorothea had one older brother:

Ernst Günther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. source: Wikipedia

On August 2, 1898, in Coburg, Dorothea married Ernst Günther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. He was the son of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Upon his father’s death in January 1880, Ernst Günther had inherited his father’s title. However, just like his father before him, the title was merely in pretense, as the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been annexed by Prussia following the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. Ernst Günther served as a General in the Cavalry and was a member of the Prussian House of Lords.

Dorothea and Ernst Günther had no children of their own, but in 1920, they adopted Princess Marie Luise and Prince Johann Georg of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the children of Prince Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his first wife, Countess Ortrud of Ysenburg and Büdingen.

Schloss Taxis. source: Wikipedia

Widowed in 1921, Dorothea survived her husband by nearly 46 years. The Dowager Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, aged 86, died at Schloss Taxis in Dischingen, Germany on January 21, 1967. She is buried at St. Augustin Church in Coburg, Germany.

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.

Schleswig-Holstein Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was an uncle of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, father of King Ferdinand II of Portugal, and the founder of the Catholic cadet branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Born Prince Ferdinand Georg August of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld on March 28, 1785, in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in Bavaria, Germany, Ferdinand was the second son of Franz Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Countess Auguste of Reuss-Ebersdorf, and had eight siblings:

Ferdinand’s military career started in 1791 when he was just six years old. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Austrian Imperial Army, serving in a Dragoons Regiment. Over the next thirty-seven years, he served with several different regiments and saw battle in the Wars of the Fifth and Sixth Coalitions, the Battle of Kulm, and the Battle of Leipzig. By the late 1820s, he had reached the rank of General of the Cavalry.

Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya; Credit – Wikipedia

In Vienna on November 30, 1815, Ferdinand married Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya, the daughter of Ferenc József, Prince Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya and Countess Maria Antoinetta Josefa of Waldstein-Wartenburg. Although Ferdinand remained Lutheran, the couple married in the Catholic Church, with the condition that they would raise their children Catholic. They had four children:

The Palais Coburg in Vienna, 2014. photo: Von Buchhändler – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33246568

Ferdinand’s wife was the sole heiress to her father’s vast fortune, which she inherited upon his death in 1826. Ferdinand took over the management of the Koháry estates, which comprised of over 150,000 hectares of land in Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia, and included numerous estates, forests, mines, and factories. At the time, Ferdinand also converted to Catholicism and founded the Koháry branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He oversaw the construction of the Palais Coburg in Vienna, Austria in the early 1840s, which is used today as a five-star hotel.

Prince Ferdinand died in Vienna, Austria on August 27, 1851. He was buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in the Glockenberg Cemetery in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in Bavaria, Germany.

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.

Wedding of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2017

source: Wikipedia

Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were married in Coburg in October 19-20, 1932. They were the parents of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Gustaf Adolf’s Early Life

Gustaf Adolf (second from left) with his parents and siblings, 1912. source: Wikipedia

Prince Gustaf Adolf Oscar Fredrik Arthur Edmund of Sweden was the eldest son of the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught. He was born at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on April 22, 1906, and was soon joined by four younger siblings – Ingrid, Bertil, Sigvard, and Carl Johan. His education began privately at home and then he attended the Lundbergs School, a private boarding school in Värmland. After graduating in 1925, he began a military career, serving in the cavalry. He attended the Military Academy Karlberg and the War College, and later studied at Uppsala University and the Stockholm School of Economics.

In addition to his studies and military training, Gustaf Adolf (known within the family as Edmund) became quite skilled at both fencing and horse riding. He went on to become Swedish champion in saber fencing and competed in show jumping in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. He served as president of the Swedish Olympic Committee from 1933 until his death. He also was an avid steeplechase rider, although he later gave that sport up at the time of his marriage. Gustaf Adolf was also very involved with scouting, from the time he was a young boy. He remained involved his entire life, later serving as the first president of the Swedish Scouting Federation, and serving on the World Scout Committee.

Sibylla’s Early Life

Sibylla (center) with her parents and siblings, c1915. source: Wikipedia

Her Royal Highness Princess Sibylla Calma Marie Alice Bathildis Feodora of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was born at Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha on January 18, 1908. She was the second of five children of Carl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born Prince Charles Edward of Albany) and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Her father was a grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (son of Victoria’s youngest son, Leopold, Duke of Albany), and her mother was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria’s half-sister, Feodora of Leiningen. Her siblings were Johann Leopold (1906-1972), Hubertus (1909-1943), Caroline Mathilde (1912-1983), and Friedrich Josias (1918-1998). At birth, she also held the title Princess of the United Kingdom, as her father was born a British prince.

Sibylla was educated at home, and then attended the Gymnasium Alexandrinum in Coburg, and then the Kunstgewerbeschule in Weimar, Saxony. During World War I, Sibylla’s father – despite being born a British prince – sided with the Germans as the reigning Duke of one of the German states. For this, his cousin, King George V of the United Kingdom had him stripped of the Order of the Garter which he had received in 1902. He was deposed in November 1918 and formally announced that he had “ceased to rule”, although he never technically abdicated. The family retained Schloss Callenberg in Coburg, as well as several other properties in Europe, and were given the right to live at Veste Coburg. They also received significant compensation for other lost possessions and properties.

In March 1919, the family was stripped of their British titles and peerages under the British Titles Deprivation Act. Sibylla lost her style of Royal Highness (which was derived from her father’s British title) and became simply Her Highness Princess Sibylla.

The Engagement

Despite being second cousins (both were great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), Gustaf Adolf and Sibylla did not meet until November 1931 at the wedding of Lady May Cambridge in London. Lady May was a first cousin of Sibylla and a second cousin of Gustaf Adolf. Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf’s sister, Ingrid, were both bridesmaids, and it was Ingrid who introduced them. A romance quickly developed, and soon there was much public speculation over a possible engagement.

Gustaf Adolf was very coy with the press, denying any engagement but still telling the media to “wait and see”. In mid-June 1932, he traveled to Coburg along with his sister Ingrid. Two days later, on June 16, after having received the formal consent of King Gustaf V of Sweden, the couple’s engagement was announced at Schloss Callenberg in Coburg.

Pre-Wedding Festivities

The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, The Crown Prince of Sweden, Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf, The Crown Princess of Sweden, The Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

In the days leading up to the wedding, Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf, along with her parents, hosted a reception at the Veste Coburg for the press, who were able to find out many of the details of the wedding and see the display of wedding gifts. There were also several dinners and gala events, including a gala performance at the Opera, with many of the royal guests in attendance. In addition, a select few residents of Coburg were invited to attend as well.

Wedding Guests

Over sixty members of royal and noble families from Europe attended the wedding. One very prominent absentee was the groom’s grandfather, King Gustaf V, who refused to attend due to Coburg’s Nazi connections. He was instead officially represented by the Swedish Ambassador to Berlin. Some of the notable guests were:

The Groom’s Family
Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Crown Princess Louise
Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland
Princess Ingrid
Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland
Prince Carl Johan, Duke of Dalarna

The Bride’s Family
The Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Prince Johann Leopold
Prince Hubertus
Princess Caroline Mathilde
Prince Friedrich Josias

Royal Guests
Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria
King Ferdinand of Bulgaria
Prince Harald of Denmark and Princess Helena Adelaide
Princess Feodora of Denmark
Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark
Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway
Grand Duchess Victoria Melita of Russia
Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia
The Duke of Connaught
The Earl and Countess of Athlone

The Wedding Attire

For the church ceremony, the bride wore a simple gown of white silk satin with a long train. The train had belonged to Sibylla’s paternal grandmother, The Duchess of Albany, who had received it from Queen Victoria. Made of white satin, embroidered with silver and ostrich feathers, it was nine feet in length.

Another heirloom was her veil of Brussels lace. It had originally belonged to Queen Sofia, the consort of King Oscar II of Sweden (the great-grandparents of the groom), and has since become a traditional wedding bride for several Swedish brides. Instead of a tiara, Sibylla wore a crown of myrtle and flowers. She carried a bouquet of large white lilies.

The groom wore his uniform as a Lieutenant in the Swedish Guards, adorned with the sash and star of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order (of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and the star and insignia of the Swedish Order of the Seraphim and Order of the Sword.

The attendants wore simple white dresses, with pale blue shoes and white floral headdresses with blue ribbon. The blue matched the color of the groom’s regiment.

The Civil Ceremony

The civil ceremony took place on October 19, 1932, at the Coburg Castle. The brief ceremony was officiated by the Nazi Mayor of Coburg, Herr Franz Schwede. The groom wore a morning suit, while the bride wore a red wine dress. The Mayor gave a short speech, in which he recognized the joint effort of the Coburgers and the Swedes in defending the Coburg Castle during the Thirty Years’ War. He concluded that this must surely be a good omen for the success of the couple’s marriage.

Following the mayor’s speech, the marriage register was signed. Gustaf Adolf and Sibylla chose their fathers to serve as witnesses. The register was signed on a table that had originally belonged to Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the older brother of the couple’s mutual great-grandfather, Prince Albert. After the ceremony, the couple drove to St. Moritz’s Church for the rehearsal of their religious wedding the following day.

That evening, Gustaf Adolf and Sibylla, along with their parents and royal guests, viewed a torchlight procession of members of various civil organizations dancers and musicians, as well as Nazi stormtroopers. This was followed by a private dinner at the castle.

The Religious Ceremony

The religious ceremony was held on October 20, 1932, at the St. Moritz Church in Coburg. In the very traditional Lutheran service, the bride was escorted down the aisle by her father, to Handle’s “Prelude”.

The bride and groom had the following attendants:

  • Princess Ingrid of Sweden
  • Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia
  • Princess Feodora of Denmark
  • Princess Caroline of Denmark
  • Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein
  • Countess Dagmar Bernadotte (trainbearer)
  • Prince Wilhelm of Prussia
  • Prince Alexander of Prussia
  • Prince Bertil of Sweden
  • Prince Sigvard of Sweden
  • Prince Carl Johan of Sweden
  • Prince Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (trainbearer)

The Wedding Banquet

Processing back to the castle (note the swastika displayed in the background). source: Wikipedia

Following the ceremony, the couple greeted the crowds gathered outside the church and then processed by car back to the Castle – with the roads lined with well-wishers – where a banquet was held in the Congress Hall. The guests dined on:

Wildsuppe von Fasan
(wild pheasant soup)

Seezungenfilet, gebacken, Rémouladensauce
(baked filet of sole with Rémoulade sauce)

Tarteletten mit Gänseleberpastete
(Tartelettes with goose liver pate)

Poularden, gebraten, Erbsengemüse, Kompott, Salat
(fried poulard with peas, compote and salad)

Wallsee Pudding

Käsegebäck
(Cheese pastry)

Return to Sweden

Haga Palace. photo By Holger.Ellgaard – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4389507

Gustaf Adolf and Sibylla spent a month honeymooning in Italy before returning to Sweden. They sailed into Trelleborg on November 24 and took the train to Stockholm, arriving the next day and being greeted by the Prime Minister and members of the Royal Family. They traveled by motorcade to the Royal Palace, where a Te Deum was held in the Royal Chapel. The following day, a reception was held in the Apartments of the Orders of Chivalry in the palace, followed by a musical performance in the Hall of State and then dinner in the White Sea Ballroom. The next day, a gala performance was held at the Royal Opera.

Tragically, Gustaf Adolf was killed in a plane crash in 1947, leaving Sibylla widowed with five young children. She continued to take a very active role in the Swedish Royal Family, and after the death of Queen Louise in 1965, she served as the first lady for her father-in-law. Sibylla died in November 1972, just ten months before her son succeeded to the throne as King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Children

Gustaf Adolf and Sibylla with their five children in 1946; Credit – Wikipedia

Gustaf Adolf and Sibylla had four daughters and one son:

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.

Wedding of Queen Victoria of The United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were married at the Chapel Royal at St. James’ Palace in London, England on February 10, 1840.

Queen Victoria’s Family

Queen Victoria with her mother; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 6, 1817, a great tragedy struck the British Royal Family. Twenty-one-year-old Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of George, Prince of Wales, the future King George IV, died after delivering a stillborn son. At the time of her death, Charlotte, who was second in line to the throne, was the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, despite the fact that thirteen of his fifteen children were still alive. Her death left no legitimate heir in the second generation and prompted the aging sons of George III to begin a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession.

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. William, Duke of Clarence, age 53, married 26-year-old Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. 50-year-old Edward, Duke of Kent, married 32-year-old widow Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld. Victoria was the sister of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Princess Charlotte’s widower, and the future Leopold I, King of the Belgians. Twenty-one-year-old Augusta of Hesse-Kassel married 44-year-old Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. It was then the scramble to produce an heir began.

Within a short time, the three new duchesses, along with Frederica, wife of Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, became pregnant. Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a son on March 26, 1819, and Adelaide, Duchess of Clarence had a daughter the following day. Victoria, Duchess of Kent produced a daughter on May 24, 1819, and three days later Frederica, Duchess of Cumberland had a boy. Adelaide’s daughter would have been the heir but she 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 Victoria. The baby was fifth in line to the throne after her uncles George, Frederick, and William, and her father Edward.

The baby’s father, Edward, Duke of Kent 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. George IV died in 1830 and his brother William IV succeeded him. During 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.

Sources:
“Brewer’s British Royalty” by David Williamson
“Her Little Majesty” by Carolly Erickson
“Royal Weddings” by Dulcie M. Ashdown

Prince Albert’s Family

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Franz Albrecht August Karl Emanuel of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, better known by his anglicized name Albert, was born at Rosenau Castle near Coburg, in the Duchy of  Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in the German state of Bavaria, on August 26, 1819. Albert was the second son of the reigning Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. In 1825, the House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg became extinct and the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty were rearranged. Albert’s father then became the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Albert became a Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Albert’s parents had marital problems shortly after his birth. Ernst was a notorious womanizer and Louise also sought affection elsewhere. The couple separated in 1824 and divorced in 1826. After Louise’s early death from cancer in 1831, Ernest married his niece, Marie of Württemberg. Albert grew up at Rosenau Castle with Ernst, his older brother. The two brothers were complete opposites. Ernst grew up to be a womanizer like his father. Albert was serious-minded with a great love for the arts and sciences.

The Coburg family had strong ties to the British Royal Family. Albert and Ernst’s uncle Leopold had married Princess Charlotte of Wales, who died tragically in childbirth. Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, their aunt, married George III’s son, Edward, Duke of Kent, and was the mother of Princess Victoria. Augusta Reuss of Erbesdorf, the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, grandmother of Victoria and Albert, suggested the possibility of marriage between them in a letter to her daughter Victoria, Duchess of Kent, in 1821, when the children were but two years old. Later, the idea was taken up by their uncle Leopold, who became the first King of the Belgians in 1831.

First cousins Victoria and Albert met for the first time in 1836 when Albert and Ernst visited England. Seventeen-year-old Victoria seemed instantly infatuated with Albert. She wrote to her uncle Leopold, “How delighted I am with him, and how much I like him in every way. He possesses every quality that could be desired to make me perfectly happy.”

In October 1839, Albert and Ernst again visited England, staying at Windsor Castle with Victoria, who was now Queen. On October 15, 1839, the 20-year-old monarch summoned her cousin Albert and proposed to him. Albert accepted, but wrote to his stepmother, “My future position will have its dark sides, and the sky will not always be blue and unclouded.”

Sources:
“Brewer’s British Royalty” by David Williamson
“Her Little Majesty” by Carolly Erickson
“Uncrowned King” by Stanley Weintraub
“Royal Weddings” by Dulcie M. Ashdown

The Wedding 

The wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Victoria proposed to her cousin Albert on October 15, 1839. He accepted, and the couple was married in the Chapel Royal at St. James’ Palace on February 10, 1840, at 1 pm. Traditionally, royal weddings took place at night, but this wedding was held during the day so the Queen’s subjects could see the couple as they traveled down The Mall from Buckingham Palace the short distance to St. James’ Palace.

WEDDING GUESTS

The Bride’s Family

  • The Dowager Duchess of Kent (Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld), the bride’s mother
  • Prince Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen and the Princess of Leiningen, the bride’s half-brother and his wife
  • Ernst Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen, the bride’s half-nephew
  • The Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (Princess Feodora of Leiningen) and Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the bride’s half-sister and her husband
  • Carl Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the bride’s half-nephew
  • Queen Adelaide, widow of the bride’s paternal uncle King William IV
  • Princess Augusta Sophia, the bride’s paternal aunt
  • King Ernst August and Queen Frederica of Hanover, the bride’s paternal uncle and aunt
  • George, Crown Prince of Hanover, the bride’s first cousin
  • Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex and Cecilia Underwood, 1st Duchess of Inverness, the bride’s paternal uncle and aunt
  • Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and Duchess of Cambridge (Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel), the bride’s paternal uncle and aunt
  • Prince George of Cambridge, the bride’s first cousin
  • Princess Augusta of Cambridge, the bride’s first cousin
  • Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the bride’s first cousin
  • Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the bride’s paternal aunt
  • Princess Sophia, the bride’s paternal aunt

The Groom’s Family

(Note: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were first cousins.  Victoria’s mother and Albert’s father were siblings and so they share Saxe-Coburg-Gotha first cousins, aunts, and uncles)

  • Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his second wife Marie of Württemberg, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the groom’s father and stepmother, and the bride’s maternal uncle and aunt
  • Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the groom’s brother, and the bride’s first cousin
  • Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia (Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld), the groom’s paternal aunt, and the bride’s maternal aunt
  • Prince Ferdinand and Princess Maria Antonia of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, the groom’s paternal uncle and aunt, and the bride’s maternal uncle and aunt
  • King Consort Ferdinand (Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry) and Queen Maria II of Portugal, the groom and bride’s first cousin and his wife
  • Prince August and Princess Clémentine of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry (Princess Clémentine of Orléans), the groom and bride’s first cousin and his wife
  • Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, the groom and bride’s first cousin
  • Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, the groom and bride’s first cousin
  • King Leopold I (Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld) and Queen Louise-Marie of the Belgians (Princess Louise-Marie of Orléans), the groom’s paternal uncle and aunt, and the bride’s maternal uncle and aunt
  • Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, the groom and bride’s first cousin
  • Prince Philippe of Belgium, the groom and bride’s cousin
  • The Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Princess Karoline Amalie of Hesse-Kassel), the groom’s maternal step-grandmother

Wedding Attire

Victoria’s Wedding Dress; Credit – Wikipedia

Bridesmaid’s Dress; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Albert wore the uniform of a British field marshal, over which hung the collar of the Order of the Garter, an honor that had recently been bestowed on him by Victoria. Victoria’s wedding dress was of rich white satin, trimmed with orange flower blossoms. On her head, she wore a wreath of the same flowers, over which was a veil of Honiton lace. She wore her Turkish diamond necklace and earrings and Albert’s wedding present of a sapphire brooch.

While Queen Victoria may have popularized the white wedding dress, she was not the first royal bride to wear one. Documentation from the 1406 wedding of Philippa of England, daughter of King Henry IV of England, and Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway indicates that Philippa wore a tunic and cloak in white silk bordered with gray squirrel and ermine, making her the first documented princess to wear a white wedding dress. In 1558, when Mary, Queen of Scots married the first of her three husbands, the future (and short-reigned) François II, King of France, she also wore white defying the tradition that white was the color of mourning for Queens of France.

Bridesmaids

The twelve bridesmaids, all daughters of peers of the realm, were simply dressed in tulle and white roses. Each bridesmaid received a gold brooch in the shape of an eagle covered in turquoise, rubies, and pearls with a diamond beak, designed by Victoria herself.

  • Lady Mary Howard, daughter of Henry Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk
  • Lady Caroline Gordon-Lennox, daughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond
  • Lady Adelaide Paget, daughter of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey
  • Lady Eleanora Paget, granddaughter of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey
  • Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle
  • Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope, daughter of Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope
  • Lady Sarah Villiers, daughter of George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey
  • Lady Elizabeth Sackville-West, daughter of George Sackville-West, 5th Earl de la Warr
  • Lady Ida Hay, daughter of William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll
  • Lady Frances Cowper, daughter of Peter Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper
  • Lady Mary Grimston, daughter of James Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam
  • Lady Jane Pleydell-Bouverie, daughter of William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor

The simple ceremony took place at the altar and was performed by William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward Venables-Vernon, Archbishop of York, and Charles James Blomfield, Bishop of London. There had been no rehearsal and the chapel was really too small for the large wedding party. The bridesmaids stepped on each other’s dresses and kicked each other’s heels. At times it appeared Albert was not quite sure what he should be doing, and he seemed rather awkward and embarrassed.

After the Wedding

The Wedding Cake; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Following the ceremony, the couple returned to Buckingham Palace for a wedding breakfast. Hundreds of wedding cakes were distributed, mainly to members of the royal family. The main wedding cake was more than nine feet in diameter, but only sixteen inches high. This remarkable piece of Victoriana consisted of Britannia gazing at the royal couple while they pledged their vows at the top of the cake. At their feet were two turtledoves and a dog. The letters “V & A” were visible as well as Cupid writing the date of the wedding on his tablet.

After the wedding breakfast, the couple changed into their traveling outfits. Prince Albert wore a dark suit, while Victoria was attired in a white satin cloak trimmed with swansdown, and a textured white velvet bonnet with plumes of feathers and a deep fall of Brussels point lace. They set off for Windsor Castle, where they spent their two-day honeymoon.

Sources:
“Victoria & Albert: A Family Life at Osborne House” by The Duchess of York
“Prince Albert: A Biography” by Robert Rhodes James
“Queen Victoria” by Cecil Woodham-Smith
Wikipedia: Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

The Honeymoon

View from Coopers Hill, with Runnemede and Windsor Castle, engraved by E. Radclyffe after a picture by Thomas Allom, published 1842; Credit -Wikipedia

Newlyweds Victoria and Albert set off in a coach for Windsor Castle for a short honeymoon. There were so many well-wishers along the route that their arrival at Windsor was delayed. Victoria had a “sick headache” and had to lie down on a sofa. Despite this, she described her wedding night as “bliss beyond belief” and confided to her diary, “we did not sleep much.”

Anna Russell, The Duchess of Bedford, one of Victoria’s Ladies of the Bedchamber, observed that Albert seemed to be “not a bit” in love with Victoria and gave the impression of “not being happy.” He spent the afternoon lying down recovering from the previous day’s and night’s activities. After a very short stay at Windsor Castle, the couple returned to London where Victoria resumed her duties.

Sources:
“Brewer’s British Royalty” by David Williamson
“Her Little Majesty” by Carolly Erickson
“Uncrowned King” by Stanley Weintraub

Children of Victoria and Albert

Carte-de-visite photomontage, circa 1861 by John Mayall; Credit- Wikipedia

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had nine children.

Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria’s Children and Grandchildren

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Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Consort

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2017

NPG x24138; Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha by Vernon Heath, printed and published by Samuel E. Poulton

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha by Vernon Heath, published by Samuel E. Poulton, albumen carte-de-visite, 1861 NPG x24138 © National Portrait Gallery, London

The husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Prince Franz Albrecht August Karl Emanuel of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, better known by his anglicized name Albert, was born at Rosenau Castle near Coburg, in the Duchy of  Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in the German state of Bavaria, on August 26, 1819. Albert was the second of the two sons of the reigning Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. In 1825, the House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg became extinct and the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty were rearranged. Albert’s father then became the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Albert became a Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Albert was christened with the German names Franz Albrecht August Karl Emanuel but was called Albrecht, Albert in English. His godparents were:

Albert had one brother who was fourteen months older:

Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, with her children, Albert and Ernst; Credit – Wikipedia

Since Albert and Ernst were close in age, they were also close companions during their childhood. However, their childhood was marred by their parents’ disastrous marriage, separation, and divorce. Albert’s mother and father, who were seventeen years apart in age, were very different and drifted apart soon after Albert’s birth. Albert’s father was a notorious womanizer and as a result, his young wife Louise sought consolation with Baron Alexander von Hanstein, the Duke’s equerry. Louise was exiled from court in 1824 and divorced in March 1826. Seven months later, Louise secretly married von Hanstein. She died in 1831 at the age of 30 from cancer of the uterus. After Louise’s exile from court in 1824, she probably never saw her sons again. In 1831, the Duke married again to Duchess Marie of Württemberg, his niece, the daughter of his sister Antoinette. The Duke and Marie had no children, but Marie had a good relationship with her stepsons, also her first cousins, and maintained a correspondence with Albert throughout their lives.

Albert was first educated at home by a caring tutor, Johann Christoph Florschütz, who had a lifelong correspondence with Albert. Albert then studied with private tutors in Brussels, Belgium, where his paternal uncle was King Leopold I of the Belgians. He then studied at the University of Bonn, which many German princes attended. While at the University of Bonn, Albert studied law, political economy, philosophy, and art history. In his free time, he played music and excelled in gymnastics, fencing, and riding.

The Coburg family had strong ties to the British royal family. Albert’s uncle Leopold (the previously mentioned King of the Belgians) had married Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of King George IV, who had died in childbirth. His aunt Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld had married King George III’s son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and was the mother of the future Queen Victoria. Plans for a possible marriage between first cousins Victoria and Albert had first been mentioned by their grandmother the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg in letters to her daughter the Duchess of Kent in 1821. The idea was later taken up by their uncle Leopold.

In 1836, the cousins met for the first time when Ernst and Albert were taken by their father on a visit to England. Seventeen-year-old Victoria seemed instantly infatuated with Albert. She wrote to her uncle Leopold, “How delighted I am with him, and how much I like him in every way. He possesses every quality that could be desired to make me perfectly happy.” In October of 1839, Albert and Ernst again visited England, staying at Windsor Castle with Victoria, who was now Queen. On October 15, 1839, the 20-year-old monarch summoned her cousin Albert and proposed to him. Albert accepted, but wrote to his stepmother Marie, “My future position will have its dark sides, and the sky will not always be blue and unclouded.” The couple was married in the Chapel Royal at St. James’ Palace on February 10, 1840, at 1 p.m. Traditionally, royal weddings took place at night, but this wedding was held during the day so the Queen’s subjects could see the couple as they traveled down The Mall from Buckingham Palace.

NPG D11227; The Bridal Morn (Queen Victoria; Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) by Samuel William Reynolds Jr, after Frederick William Lock

The Bridal Morn (Queen Victoria; Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) by Samuel William Reynolds Jr, after Frederick William Lock, mezzotint, published 1844 NPG D11227 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Shortly after his marriage, Albert wrote to a friend, “I am only the husband and not the master in my house.” Albert was expected to be ready at a moment’s notice to go to his new wife to read aloud, play the piano, be petted, or blot her signature. Victoria was delighted to parade Albert before her court and, as she confided to her diary, to have him put her stockings on her feet. During Victoria’s early pregnancies, Albert showed a talent for diplomatic dealings with her ministers and an ability to understand complex government documents. Soon Albert was dealing with more and more of Victoria’s governmental duties and they worked with their desks side-by-side. As Albert’s influence over Victoria grew, she began to defer to him on every issue.

Victoria was quite temperamental and had a strong sexuality which Albert apparently met, as evidenced by the birth of nine children. Albert was somewhat prudish and his high moral standards would never allow extramarital affairs. He found marriage to Victoria a full-time job which exhausted him physically and mentally. Victoria rewarded Albert by creating him Prince Consort in 1857.

All of Victoria and Albert’s nine children grew to adulthood. However, their youngest son, Leopold, was afflicted with the genetic blood clotting disease hemophilia and two of their daughters, Alice and Beatrice, were hemophilia carriers.

Albert and Victoria had nine children:

Victoria and Albert’s children and grandchildren married into other European royal families giving Victoria the unofficial title of “Grandmother of Europe.” Their grandchildren sat upon the thrones of Germany/Prussia, Greece, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom as monarchs or consorts. Through these marriages, Victoria and Albert’s daughters and granddaughters transmitted the genetic disease hemophilia to other royal families. Victoria and Albert’s descendants currently sit upon the thrones of Denmark, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Victoria and Albert and their nine children in 1857; Credit – Wikipedia

Victoria and Albert, whose primary residences were Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, felt they needed residences of their very own. Albert’s architectural talents are evident in the seaside Italian-style palace Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and in Balmoral, a castle in the Scottish highlands. Osborne and Balmoral became their favorite homes. Following Victoria’s death, Osborne was given to the state and served as a Royal Navy training college from 1903-1921. Today it is open to the public as a home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Balmoral Castle remains the private property of the monarch and is used by the British Royal Family for their summer holidays.

Balmoral Castle; Credit – By Stuart Yeates from Oxford, UK – Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=728182

Besides helping Victoria privately with her paperwork, Prince Albert took on several public roles. He became President of the Society for the Extinction of Slavery. Slavery had already been abolished throughout the British Empire but was still legal in many places including the United States and the French colonies. After being appointed Chancellor of Cambridge University, Albert had the curriculum modified to include modern history and the natural sciences in addition to the traditional mathematics and classics.

Albert’s interest in applying science and art to the manufacturing industry led to the Great Exhibition of 1851.  Prince Albert and Sir Henry Cole, a civil servant and an inventor, organized the exhibition. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, the exhibition allowed countries to show their modern and technological achievements. Queen Victoria opened the exhibition in a specially designed glass building known as the Crystal Palace on May 1, 1851. It was a huge success and a surplus of £180,000 was used to purchase land in South Kensington, London on which was established educational and cultural institutions, including what would later be the Victoria and Albert Museum.

NPG D16397; The Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851. Plate 2. The Foreign Nave by Joseph Nash

The Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851. Plate 2. The Foreign Nave by Joseph Nash, hand-coloured lithograph, published 1851, NPG D16397 © National Portrait Gallery, London

After years of mismanagement by the previous Hanover monarchs, Albert managed to modernize the royal finances and investments, and under his watch, the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, the hereditary property of the Prince of Wales, steadily increased. Today’s British royal family can thank Prince Albert for their financial situation.

On March 16, 1861, Queen Victoria’s mother died. Because of Victoria’s grief, Albert took over many of her duties although he was chronically suffering from stomach problems. In the fall, Victoria and Albert learned that their 20-year-old eldest son Bertie (the future King Edward VII) was having an affair with an Irish actress. Devastated by this news, Albert traveled to Cambridge to discuss the matter with his son. On November 25, 1861, the two walked together in the pouring rain while Albert explained how horrified he and the Queen felt about the situation. Victoria later blamed her son for Albert’s final illness – “That boy…I never can, or ever shall look at him without a shudder.”

When Albert returned to Windsor Castle, he complained of shoulder, leg, back, and stomach pain and could not eat or sleep. He was examined by doctors who assured Victoria that Albert would be better in two or three days. Even while Albert was feeling ill, he was still working. When the Trent Affair, the forcible removal of Confederate diplomats from a British ship by Union forces during the American Civil War, threatened war between the United States and the United Kingdom, Albert intervened on November 30, 1861, to soften the British diplomatic response. His action probably prevented war between the United States and the United Kingdom.

However, Albert’s condition continued to worsen. Victoria continued to hope for a recovery, but finally, on December 11, the doctors told her the dismal prognosis. At 10:50 PM on December 14, 1861, Albert died in the presence of his wife and five of their nine children.

Sir William Jenner, one of Prince Albert’s doctors, diagnosed his final illness as typhoid fever, but Albert’s modern biographers have argued that the diagnosis is incorrect. Albert had been complaining of stomach pains for two years and this may indicate that he died of some chronic disease, perhaps complications from Crohn’s disease, kidney failure, or cancer.

L0021975 The last moments of HRH the Prince Consort.

The last moments of HRH the Prince Consort, Credit: Wellcome Library, London

Left a widow with nine children at the age of 42, the Queen’s grief was immense. She withdrew from public life and wore black for the 40 years that she survived Albert. The Blue Room in Windsor Castle where Albert had died was kept as it had been when he was alive, complete with hot water brought in the morning, and linen and towels changed daily.  Queen Victoria’s family called December 14 “Mausoleum Day”. They were expected to attend the annual memorial service in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore where Albert was buried. After her death on January 22, 1901, at the age of 81, Victoria was interred alongside her beloved Albert in the Royal Mausoleum.

Sarcophagus of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore, Credit – www.findagrave.com

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House of Hanover and Queen Victoria Resources at Unofficial Royalty