Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Assassination of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia (1762)

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Peter III, Emperor of All Russia died at the age of 34 on July 17, 1762, at Ropsha Palace, a country estate outside of St. Petersburg, Russia. He was probably murdered but the circumstances of his death remain unclear.

Peter III, Emperor of All Russia

Peter III, Emperor of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Peter III, Emperor of All Russia was born Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp on February 21, 1728, at Kiel Castle in Kiel, then in the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. His father was Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. His mother was Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, the elder of the two surviving daughters of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia and his second wife, born Marta Helena Skowrońska, the daughter of an ethnic Polish peasant, renamed Catherine (Ekaterina) Alexeievna, and later the successor to her husband Peter the Great as Catherine I, Empress of All Russia. Peter was his parents’ only child. His mother died at the age of 20, three months after his birth.

Peter was left in the care of the Holstein household guards who put sergeant’s stripes on Peter’s sleeve and let him drill with them. Peter lacked a serious education and any training in governing. Knowing nothing else but what the guards taught him, Peter became passionate about military drilling. In 1739, Peter’s father died, and at the age of eleven, he became Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.

Peter’s aunt, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1742, Peter’s life dramatically changed when his unmarried maternal aunt, his mother’s younger sister, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia, declared him her heir and brought him to St. Petersburg, Russia. Peter converted from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy, was given the name Peter Feodorovich, the title Grand Duke and was officially named the heir to the Russian throne.

Peter and Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

It was important to Empress Elizabeth that Peter marry so that the Romanov dynasty would be continued. Elizabeth arranged for Peter to marry his second cousin, Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst (later Catherine II the Great), daughter of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst and Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Sophie converted to Russian Orthodoxy, took the name Ekaterina (Catherine) Alexeievna, and married Peter on August 21, 1745. Peter and Catherine’s marriage was not happy, but Catherine gave birth to one son, the future Emperor Paul, and one daughter Anna Petrovna, who died in early childhood. Both children were taken by Empress Elizabeth to her apartments immediately after their births to be raised by her. Both Peter and Catherine had affairs. Catherine later claimed that her son Paul was not Peter’s son and they had never consummated their marriage.

Peter never attempted to gain more knowledge about Russia, its people, and its history. He neglected Russian customs, behaved inappropriately during church services, and did not observe fasts and other rites. He spoke Russian poorly and infrequently. Empress Elizabeth did not allow Peter to participate in government affairs. On January 5, 1762, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia died at the age of 52 after a massive stroke and her nephew became Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. Peter was unpopular and few were looking forward to his reign.

Roots of a Conspiracy

After he became Emperor of All Russia, Peter did little to win the support of Empress Elizabeth’s friends and courtiers. His foreign policy also did little to win supporters. The last straw for Peter may have been how he treated the Russian army. Peter abolished “the guard within the guard”, a group within the Preobrazhensky Regiment, created by Empress Elizabeth as her personal guard in remembrance of their support in the coup which brought her to the throne. He replaced “the guard within the guard” with his own Holstein guard and often spoke about their superiority over the Russian army.

Meanwhile, Catherine’s position deteriorated along with the position of three groups – the clergy, senior statesmen and the Imperial Guard, the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Peter began to think about divorcing Catherine and marrying his mistress. Wisely, Catherine quietly aligned herself with the three groups. She remained calm and dignified even when Peter grossly insulted her in public. The devotion of the Preobrazhensky Regiment to Catherine was never in doubt because her favorite Grigory Orlov and his four brothers were all members of the Guard.

A Conspiracy to Overthrow Peter

Alexei and Grigory Orlov in the 1770s; Credit – Wikipedia

A conspiracy to overthrow Peter was planned and centered around the five Orlov brothers with Grigory, Catherine’s favorite, and Alexei being the main conspirators.

On July 9, 1762 (June 29 in Old Style, the feast day of St. Peter and Paul), at Peterhof, a celebration of Peter’s name day was planned. It was no coincidence that the conspirators chose this time for their attack. The day before, Peter was to travel from Oranienbaum to Peterhof. The brothers Alexei Orlov and Grigory Orlov made preparations during weeks before the planned celebration. With threats and bribes of vodka and money, the Orlov brothers set up the guards against Peter.

Peter was late leaving Oranienbaum due to a hangover and his daily habit of reviewing his Holstein troops. He was to meet Catherine at Peterhof but she was not there when he arrived. Eventually, Peter and the few advisers he had with him began to suspect what was happening. Peter sent members of his entourage to St. Petersburg to find out what was happening but none returned. Eventually, he learned that Catherine had proclaimed herself Catherine II, Empress of All Russia, and that the senior government officials, the clergy, and all the Guards supported her.

Catherine II on a balcony of the Winter Palace on July 9, 1762, the day of the coup; Credit – Wikipedia

Peter ordered his Holstein guards to take up defensive positions at Peterhof. They did so but were afraid to tell Peter they had no cannonballs to fire. Peter thought about fleeing but was told that there were no horses available because his entourage had all arrived in carriages. Learning that Catherine and the Guards were approaching Peterhof, Peter made a desperate decision to sail Kronstadt, a fortress on an island. Upon arrival, Peter was refused admittance because all those in the fortress had sworn allegiance to Catherine. Peter rejected the advice of his advisors to go to the Prussian army and returned to Oranienbaum.

Peter and his Holstein guards were behind the gates at Oranienbaum when Alexei Orlov and his men surrounded Oranienbaum. Peter sent a message that he would renounce the throne if he, his mistress, and his favorite Russian general were allowed to go to Holstein. Catherine sent Grigori Orlov with a Russian general to Oranienbaum insisting that Peter must write a formal announcement of abdication in his own handwriting. Grigori Orlov was to deal with the abdication and the general was to lure Peter out of Oranienbaum and back to Peterhof to prevent any bloodshed. Grigori Orlov rode back to Peterhof with the signed abdication announcement and the general convinced Peter to go to Peterhof and beg Catherine for mercy. Upon arrival at Peterhof, Peter was arrested and taken by Alexei Orlov to Ropsha Palace, a country estate outside of St. Petersburg.

Catherine had to deal with the same dilemma that Empress Elizabeth had to deal with regarding Ivan VI who she had deposed – keeping a former emperor around was a threat to her throne. Catherine intended to send Peter to Shlisselburg Fortress where Ivan VI, who had been deposed in 1741 as an infant, was still imprisoned. However, Catherine did not have to deal with a living deposed emperor for long.

Peter’s Death

Ropsha Palace where Peter died. The palace needs restoration. In 2016 the palace was rented to the state-owned Rosneft oil corporation which has promised to restore the palace and allow tourists to visit; Credit – Wikipedia

One thing was certain – Peter was dead. He died at the age of 34 on July 17, 1762, at Ropsha Palace. What is uncertain is how he died. In the early afternoon of July 17, 1762, Peter was invited to dine with Alexei Orlov and Prince Feodor Baryatinsky, one of the officers of his guards. At 6:00 PM, a rider from Ropsha Palace reached St. Petersburg with a letter from Alexei Orlov for Catherine. Orlov wrote: “At dinner he [Peter] started quarreling and struggling with Prince Baryatinsky at the table. Before we could separate them, he was dead. We ourselves know not what we did. But we are equally guilty and deserve to die.”

Whether Peter’s death was planned or the result of an accidental drunken altercation is unknown. Catherine certainly benefitted from Peter’s death which happened in the presence of one of her key allies and his men. The Orlov brothers and the officers guarding Peter hated him. They would have known that they were doing the new empress a favor. The official cause of Peter’s death was “a severe attack of hemorrhoidal colic.”

Aftermath

Catherine was advised to have Peter’s body displayed so that it would be known he was dead and not hidden away like Ivan VI still was. Peter lay in state at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg in the blue uniform Holstein cavalry officer, drawing to his foreign birth. He wore a large tricornered hat covering his forehead and the part of his face that was visible was black and swollen. Around his neck and up to his chin was a wide cravat. It is common for those of the Russian Orthodox faith to be buried holding a cross in their bare hands but Peter was wearing leather riding gloves. It seems likely that Peter was dressed to hide the results of strangulation – the cravat to cover a bruised throat and gloves to hide injuries from trying to fight for his life. Despite the attempt to hide Peter’s injuries, there were rumors among the thousands of people who filed past his coffin that Peter had been poisoned and/or strangled.

Peter was denied a burial place at the Cathedral of Peter and Paul at the Peter and Paul Fortress that his grandfather Peter I “the Great” had built. Instead, Peter was buried without honors in the Annunciation Church at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg.

Never destined at birth to be a monarch or even married to a monarch, Catherine II, Empress of All Russia, born Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst, reigned for thirty-four years. During Catherine’s reign, Russia grew larger and stronger and was recognized as one of the great powers of Europe. Five years after she came to the throne, the Legislative Assembly voted to name her Catherine the Great but she refused. Later in her reign, when she was again called Catherine the Great, she replied, “I beg you no longer to call me Catherine the Great because my name is Catherine II.” After her death, Russians began speaking of her as Catherine the Great and she is still called that today.

When Catherine II died in 1796, her son and successor Paul I, Emperor of All Russia sought to seek revenge for the deposed and disgraced Peter III and for the coup of his mother Catherine II. Paul ordered the remains of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia to first be transferred to the church in the Winter Palace and then to be moved to the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, the burial site of the Romanovs. 60-year-old Alexei Orlov, who had played a role in deposing Peter III, was made to walk in the funeral cortege, holding the Imperial Crown as he walked in front of the coffin. Peter III was reburied in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg at the same time as the burial of his wife Catherine II. Peter III had never been crowned so at the time of his reburial, Paul I personally performed the ritual of coronation of his Peter’s remains. Ironically, Paul I, Emperor of All Russia suffered a fate similar to Peter III. Paul’s reign lasted five years, ending with his assassination by conspirators.

The tombs of Catherine II and Peter III (back row) at the Peter and Paul Cathedral; Photo Credit – Автор: Deror avi – собственная работа, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8368144

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Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. (2018). Peter III. (Russland). [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_III._(Russland) [Accessed 10 Jan. 2018].
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Peter III of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_III_of_Russia [Accessed 10 Jan. 2018].
Flantzer, Susan. (2018). Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/emperor-peter-iii-of-russia/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2020].
Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
Massie, R. (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
Ru.wikipedia.org. (2018). Пётр III. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%91%D1%82%D1%80_III [Accessed 10 Jan. 2018].

Assassination of Umberto I, King of Italy (1900)

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2020

On July 29, 1900, while visiting Monza, Italy, King Umberto I of Italy was shot and killed by Gaetano Bresci, an Italian anarchist claiming to avenge the deaths of people in Milan during the riots of May 1898.

Umberto I, King of Italy

Umberto I, King of Italy – source: Wikipedia

King Umberto I was born in Turin on March 14, 1844, the eldest son of the future King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy and Archduchess Adelheid of Austria. He married his first cousin, Princess Margherita of Savoy and had one son, later King Vittorio Emanuele II. Umberto became King of Italy upon his father’s death in January 1878 and reigned until his assassination in 1900.

For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: King Umberto I of Italy

The Assassin – Gaetano Bresci

Gaetano Bresci. source: Wikipedia

Gaetano Bresci was born in Prato, Tuscany, in 1869, and later emigrated to the United States. Bresci had been exposed to an anarchist group in Prato and his views continued to evolve while living in the United States. Following the Bava-Beccaris massacre, Bresci became determined to return to Italy and avenge the deaths of so many innocent people. He arrived back in Italy in May 1900, eventually making his way to Monza, where he tracked the movements of King Umberto I of Italy who typically spent his summers at the Royal Villa in Monza, Italy

The Assassination

source: Wikipedia

King Umberto I had already survived two previous assassination attempts, in November 1878 and again in April 1897. Unharmed in both, he would not be so lucky the third time.

In May 1898, workers organized a strike in Milan, protesting the rising food costs in Italy. A peaceful strike turned violent and riots broke out around the city. Umberto’s government brought General Fiorenzo Bava-Beccaris in to help restore order. However, the General ordered his troops to fire on the demonstrators on May 7, 1898, resulting in nearly 100 deaths and several hundred injuries. Further uproar came when King Umberto I honored General Bava-Beccaris the following month, presenting him with the Great Cross of the Order of Savoy.

On the evening of July 29, 1900, King Umberto attended an athletic competition in Monza. Having been the target of previous assassination attempts, he usually wore a protective vest under this coat, but because of the extreme heat, and against the advice of his security team, he chose not to wear it that evening. In the crowd was Gaetano Bresci, an anarchist who was out to avenge the deaths in the Bava-Beccaris massacre. Leaving the athletic competition at around 10:30 pm, King Umberto returned to his carriage for the brief trip back to the Royal Villa of Monza. While he acknowledged the crowd who had come to see him, Bresci came forward and fired four shots. King Umberto was hit three times, in his shoulder, his lung, and his heart. He slumped forward in the carriage, allegedly saying “I think I’m hurt” and lost consciousness. The carriage quickly rushed back to the Royal Villa, where, despite the doctors’ efforts to save his life, King Umberto I died at 11:30 pm.

Tomb of Umberto I at the Pantheon in Rome. photo: By Jastrow – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1820580

King Umberto’s body was returned to Rome where his funeral and burial took place on August 9. His remains were interred in the Pantheon in Rome, Italy beside his father. King Umberto I would be the last Italian King to be buried in Italy until his son’s remains were later returned to the country in 2017.

photo: By MarkusMark – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4365063

In honor of his father, Umberto’s son Vittorio Emanuele III, King of Italy had a chapel monument, the Expiatory Chapel of Monza, built on the site where King Umberto was killed. It sits near the entrance to the Royal Villa of Monza and was inaugurated on July 29, 1910, the 10th anniversary of the King’s assassination.

What happened to Gaetano Bresci?

Remains of the Santo Stefano prison. source: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=447753

Following the assassination, Gaetano Bresci was quickly subdued and taken into custody by the local police, who likely saved him from being killed by the crowds. He was tried for regicide and as the death penalty had been abolished in Italy years earlier, was sentenced to life in prison.

On May 22, 1901, Bresci was found dead, his lifeless body hanging from the railing in his cell in the Santo Stefano prison. Reportedly, the guard watching him had stepped away for a few minutes and found the body upon his return. Some reports state that he was beaten to death by the guards. The doctor who performed the autopsy wrote that the body was in a state of decomposition, suggesting that he had been dead for more than 48 hours, disputing the official suggestion that he had hanged himself. Bresci’s remains were buried in the prison cemetery.

Assassination of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1898)

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

On September 10, 1898, while walking to a ferry landing on Lake Geneva in Geneva, Switzerland with her lady-in-waiting, sixty-year-old Empress Elisabeth of Austria was stabbed in the heart by twenty-five-year-old Luigi Lucheni.

Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, 1897; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria, known as Sisi, was born on December 24, 1837, at Herzog-Max-Palais (Duke Max Palace) in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany. She was the fourth of the nine children of Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria, from a junior branch of the House of Wittelsbach, and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria, the daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria and his second wife Caroline of Baden.

In 1853, Helene, the eldest daughter in the family, traveled to the resort of Bad Ischl, Upper Austria with her mother and younger sister Elisabeth to meet her first cousin Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria with the hopes that Helene would become his bride. Instead, Franz Joseph fell in love with the 15-year-old Elisabeth. Franz Joseph told his mother that if he could not marry Elisabeth, he would not marry at all. Five days later their engagement was officially announced. Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were married on April 24, 1854, at the Augustinerkirche, the parish church of the Imperial Court of the Habsburgs, a short walk from Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria.

Elisabeth and Franz Joseph had three daughters and a son. Their eldest daughter died in childhood. The heir to the throne was their son Crown Prince Rudolf. The marriage was not a happy one for Elisabeth. Although her husband loved her, Elisabeth had difficulties adjusting to the strict Austrian court and did not get along with Imperial Family members, especially Sophie Friederike of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria, her controlling mother-in-law who was also her maternal aunt. Elisabeth felt emotionally distant from her husband and fled from him, as well as her duties at court, by frequent traveling.

Crown Prince Rudolf married Princess Stephanie of Belgium, daughter of King Leopold II of the Belgians. The couple had one child, a daughter. On January 30, 1889, at Mayerling, a hunting lodge in the Vienna Woods which Rudolf had purchased, Rudolf shot his 17-year-old mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera and then shot himself in an apparent suicide plot.

For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria

The Assassin – Luigi Lucheni

Lucheni’s police file; Credit – Wikipedia

Twenty-five-year-old Luigi Lucheni was born in Paris, France on April 22, 1873. His father is unknown and his mother was an Italian worker named Luigia Laccheni who left her son at a foundling hospital. Lucheni moved to Italy in 1874 and spent his childhood in orphanages and with foster families. He left foster care when he was sixteen years old and worked odd jobs in Italy, Switzerland, and Austria-Hungary. Lucheni served in the Italian Army from 1894 – 1897.

In 1898, Lucheni returned to Switzerland where he did some construction work. The poverty of the lower classes and of his own life made Lucheni hate authority. He began to turn to the philosophy of anarchy – a society without authorities or a governing body. Soon he began to call himself an anarchist although he was not in contact with any other anarchists. Lucheni came to the conclusion that emperors, empresses, kings, queens, princes, and princesses were annoying parasites.

In May 1898, when King Umberto I of Italy brutally suppressed a workers’ uprising in Milan, Lucheni vowed revenge. He made plans to assassinate Umberto I but had no money for a trip to Italy. King Umberto I was assassinated in 1900 by anarchist Gaetano Bresci, an act of revenge for what happened in Milan.

Lucheni then focused his attention on assassinating a royal person traveling in Switzerland. He originally wanted to assassinate Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans, the Orléanist claimant to the throne of France, but he had left Geneva earlier than expected. Lucheni then selected Elisabeth as his victim when a Geneva newspaper revealed that the woman traveling under the pseudonym of “Countess of Hohenembs” was Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Because he did not have enough money to purchase a proper weapon, Lucheni chose a simple file to which he added a wooden handle as the murder weapon.

The file that was used to stab Elisabeth on display at the Hofburg Palace; Credit – http://www.hofburg-wien.at

The Assassination

Last photograph of Elisabeth and her lady-in-waiting the day before her death; Credit – Wikipedia

After Crown Prince Rudolf’s suicide, Elisabeth spent little time with her husband, preferring to travel. In September 1898, despite being warned about possible assassination attempts, Elisabeth traveled incognito to Geneva, Switzerland where she stayed at the Hotel Beau-Rivage.

An artist’s rendition of the stabbing of Elisabeth by Luigi Lucheni; Credit – Wikipedia

On September 10, 1898, Elisabeth was due to take a ferry across Lake Geneva to the town of Territet. As Elisabeth and Countess Irma Sztáray, her lady-in-waiting, were walking to the ferry’s landing, Luigi Lucheni rushed at her and stabbed her in the heart with a pointed file. The puncture wound was so small that it was initially not noticed and it was thought that Elisabeth had just been punched in the chest. Elisabeth thanked all the people who had rushed to help and conversed with Countess Irma Sztáray about the incident.

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Elisabeth being carried on an improvised stretcher

Only when onboard the ferry did she finally collapse and then the severity of Elisabeth’s injury was realized. The ferry captain ordered the ferry back to Geneva and the empress was taken back to the hotel on an improvised stretcher. A doctor and a priest were summoned. The doctor confirmed that there was no hope and a priest administered the Last Rites. Empress Elisabeth of Austria died without regaining consciousness.

The Funeral

The funeral procession Of Empress Elisabeth in Vienna, (September 17, 1898); Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth’s body was placed in a triple coffin: two inner ones of lead and the third exterior one in bronze. The coffins were fitted with two glass panels, covered with doors, which could be slid back to allow her face to be seen. On September 13, 1898, Emperor Franz Joseph’s official representatives arrived in Geneva to identify the body. The coffins were then sealed. The next day, Elisabeth’s final journey back to Vienna began aboard a funeral train. Upon arriving in Vienna, Elisabeth’s coffin was brought to the Hofburg Palace chapel to lie in state.

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Empress Elisabeth’s coffin lying in state at Hofburg Palace chapel

Elisabeth had wanted to be buried in Corfu, Greece where she had built a home for herself near the sea. However, arrangements were made to bury her in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the traditional burial site for the Habsburgs, which is in the care of the monks from the cloister. The burial place of the Habsburgs is so unlike the soaring cathedral containing the other royal burial sites that this author has visited. The Capuchin Church is small and is on a street with traffic, shops, stores, restaurants, and cafes. Walking past the church, one would never think the burial place of emperors is there.

Capuchin Church in Vienna (Cloister on left, Church in middle, Imperial Crypt on right); Credit – Susan Flantzer

On September 17, 1898, a procession formed at the Hofburg Palace to take Elisabeth the short distance to her final resting place at the Capuchin Church. Eighty-two sovereigns and other royalty along with high-ranking nobles, other dignitaries, court servants, pages, and footmen followed the funeral cortege to Capuchin Church where Cardinal Anton Josef Gruscha, Archbishop of Vienna conducted a short service. The coffin was then taken down the stairs to the Imperial Crypt (Kaisergruft in German) and the graveside committal service was held.

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Empress Elisabeth’s coffin being carried into the Capuchin Church

By 1908, the seven vaults of the Imperial Crypt already held 129 coffins. In commemoration of Franz Joseph’s sixty years on the throne and to provide much-needed room for future interments, the Franz Joseph Vault was built along with the Crypt Chapel which now holds the most recent burials. Elisabeth’s coffin, along with that of her son Rudolf, were moved to the new Franz Joseph Vault. When Franz Joseph died in 1916, his coffin was placed in the middle with Elisabeth’s on the left and Rudolf’s on the right.

Elisabeth’s tomb on the left, Franz Joseph’s tomb in the middle, Rudolf’s tomb on the right; Credit – Susan Flantzer

What happened to the assassin, Luigi Lucheni?

Luigi Lucheni, smiling and proud after his first interrogation regarding the assassination of Empress Elisabeth, is returned to jail; Credit – Wikipedia

After stabbing Elisabeth, Lucheni ran along the Rue des Alpes heading toward the Square des Alpes. However, he was grabbed by two cab drivers who had witnessed the stabbing. They escorted Lucheni to a police officer who escorted him to a police station. Lucheni did not resist arrest. In fact, he seemed to be joyful about as he sang, “I did it! She must be dead!” When Lucheni went before a magistrate, he confessed to the murder saying, “I am an anarchist by conviction…I came to Geneva to kill a sovereign, with the object of giving an example to those who suffer and those who do nothing to improve their social position; it did not matter to me who the sovereign was whom I should kill…It was not a woman I struck, but an Empress; it was a crown that I had in view.”

Lucheni’s trial began in October 1898 and he was furious that the Canton of Geneva did not have the death penalty. He demanded his extradition to Italy, where the death penalty had not been abolished. Lucheni wanted to be executed so he could be a martyr for the anarchist movement. On November 10, 1898, Lucheni was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Lucheni acted aggressively while imprisoned, and several times he was in solitary confinement. Most of the time, he was in a large cell, with a comfortable bed, a writing desk, and a bookcase filled with books. On October 17, 1910, he became very violent, smashed everything in his cell, and was put in a straitjacket. When Lucheni became calmer, the straitjacket was removed. During the afternoon of October 19, 1910, the guards heard him singing for several hours. As night fell, the singing stopped. The guards became alarmed with the sudden silence. When they checked Lucheni’s cell, they found him hanging from the window bars by his belt which he had twisted around his neck. Efforts to revive him failed.

After Lucheni’s suicide, his head was severed from his body. His brain was removed and examined with no abnormalities detected. The head was then stored in a jar of formaldehyde at the Institute of Forensic Science of the University of Geneva. In 1985, the head was given to the Federal Museum of Pathology and Anatomy in Vienna, Austria. Lucheni’s head was buried at the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna in 2000.

Works Cited

De.wikipedia.org. (2019). Elisabeth von Österreich-Ungarn. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_von_%C3%96sterreich-Ungarn [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].
De.wikipedia.org. (2019). Luigi Lucheni. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Lucheni [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Empress Elisabeth of Austria. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Elisabeth_of_Austria [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Luigi Lucheni. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Lucheni [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].
Flantzer, Susan. (2012). A Visit to the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt) in Vienna. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/austrian-imperial-burial-sites/a-visit-to-the-kaisergruft-imperial-crypt-in-vienna/ [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].
Flantzer, Susan. (2016). Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/elisabeth-of-bavaria-empress-of-austria/ [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].
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Timesmachine.nytimes.com. (1898). EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA SLAIN; Stabbed on a Geneva Quay by an Italian Anarchist. THE MURDERER ARRESTED Says He Went There to Kill the Duc D’Orleans. PART OF AN ANARCHIST PLOT? Reported Movement to Assassinate Principal European Sovereigns. Emperor Francis Joseph Apprised of the Tragedy While on His Way to the Army Manoeuvres in Hungary.. [online] Available at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1898/09/11/102076759.html?pageNumber=1 [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].
Timesmachine.nytimes.com. (1898). THE EMPRESS LAID AT REST; Vienna Crowded with Dignitaries and Visitors Generally Who Witnessed the Ceremonies. CITY DRAPED WITH BLACK Sad and Impression Scenes in the Church Attended the Benediction — Twenty-three Persons Fainted During the Procession.. [online] Available at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1898/09/18/102077419.html?pageNumber=7 [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].

Assassination of Alexander I, King of Yugoslavia (1934)

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

On October 9, 1934, 45-year-old Alexander I, King of Yugoslavia was assassinated in Marseilles, France, by Bulgarian assassin Vlado Chernozemski during a state visit to France.

Alexander I, King of Yugoslavia; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander I, King of Yugoslavia

The fourth of the five children of the future King Peter I of Serbia and Princess Zorka of Montenegro, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia was born on December 1, 1888, in Cetinje, Montenegro. Alexander’s elder brother Crown Prince George had anger issues. In 1909, Crown Prince George killed his valet by kicking him to death. Despite a cover-up, the truth came out and George had to renounce his succession rights and Alexander became Crown Prince of Serbia. In 1914, Alexander became Regent when his father turned over his royal prerogatives.

The Kingdom of Serbia went through some name changes in the early 20th century. After the First and Second Balkan Wars (1912-1913), Serbia annexed Sandžak-Raška, Kosovo Vilayet, and Vardar Macedonia. In November 1918, at the end of World War I, Serbia united with Vojvodina and the Kingdom of Montenegro. The next month, Serbia merged with the newly created State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs to form the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which became known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929.

Alexander’s father died on August 16, 1921, and succeeded as King Alexander I of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The following year, on June 8, 1922, he married Princess Maria of Romania, the daughter of King Ferdinand of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The couple had three sons including Alexander’s successor King Peter II of Yugoslavia.

For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: Alexander I, King of Yugoslavia

What caused the assassination of Alexander I, King of Yugoslavia?

After the Croatian People’s Peasant Party leader and opposition leader Stjepan Radić was shot dead by Montenegrin Serb nationalist Member of Parliament Puniša Račić in the Serbian Parliament in Belgrade in 1928, the opposition Croatian Members of Parliament refused to continue to attend parliamentary sessions and questioned the continued existence of the current state system. Because of this, King Alexander carried out a coup d’état on January 6, 1929. He suspended the constitution of 1921, dissolved the parliament, and proclaimed a royal dictatorship.

Alexander renamed the nation from the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia came from the Slavic words “jug” (south) and “slaveni” (Slavs). The use of the national designations Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes for political purposes was banned. All citizens were ordered to consider themselves only as “Yugoslavs”. This move alienated the non-Serbs from the idea of unity. When it became clear that Alexander wanted to maintain a central state order and rule predominantly with the help of army officers of Serbian descent, he was met with growing opposition, especially from Croats.

Ante Pavelić, previously chairman of an ultra-nationalist Croatian political party, founded the Ustaša Croatian Revolutionary Movement and called for a violent overthrow in Yugoslavia. To overthrow the current regime in Yugoslavia, the Ustaša movement in collaboration with the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, and probably with the support of the Italian foreign intelligence service, planned the assassination of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia.

The Assassination

Two of the conspirators Vlado Chernozemski (in the middle), and Zvonimir Pospišil (on the right) at a training camp; Credit – Wikipedia

The assassin, 36-year-old Vlado Chernozemski, a Bulgarian of Macedonian descent, was a member of the Bulgarian nationalist Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and had carried out previous assassinations. Chernozemski became the instructor of three members of the Ustasha movement who were planning to assassinate King Alexander: Mijo Kralj, Zvonimir Pospišil, and Milan Rajic. The four men arrived in Paris, France on September 29, 1934, and on October 6, 1934, they split into two groups. Chernozemski and Kralj went to Marseille, France where King Alexander was expected to arrive on October 9, 1934. Pospišil and Rajic went to Versailles where a second attack was planned in case the first attack failed. Ultimately, Chernozemski decided to carry out the assassination after concluding that the other members of the group were unprepared psychologically.

In the pre-World War II era, French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou was attempting to build alliances. King Alexander was making a state visit to France to sign a Franco-Yugoslav agreement. Barthou met King Alexander when he arrived in Marseilles, France on the Royal Yugoslav Navy destroyer Dubrovnik. The pair slowly traveled in a motorcade through the streets of Marseilles, lined with people eager to see the king. Chernozemski emerged from the crowd and jumped onto the running board of Alexander and Barthou’s car. He was carrying a bouquet of flowers, in which his pistol was concealed, and shouted “Vive le roi!” (“Long live the king!”) Chernozemski shot Alexander, hitting him once in the abdomen and once in the heart, killing the king within minutes.

The chauffeur, who had tried to push Chernozemski off the car, and French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou were also shot. The chauffeur was killed instantly and because he had his foot on the brake, the car had stopped and there were photographs and even a film of the assassination. A bullet hit Barthou in the arm, severing an artery. He died of excessive blood loss less than an hour later. A ballistic report on the bullets was made in 1935 but the results were not made available to the public until 1974. The report revealed that Barthou had been hit by a bullet from a revolver carried by French police. Therefore, he was killed during the police response rather than by the assassin.

One of the most notable newsreel films in existence is the film showing the assassination of King Alexander. While the exact moment of the shooting was not captured on film, the events leading to the assassination and the immediate aftermath were captured.

YouTube: Live footage of King Alexander’s Assassination (1934)

What happened to the conspirators?

French Colonel Piole slashes assassin Vlado Chernozemski with his saber; Credit – Wikipedia

Vlado Chernozemski tried to flee the scene of the assassination but he was slashed by an army officer’s saber (see above photo). He was then non-fatally shot by a police officer and was allowed to be severely beaten by the angry crowd while the police watched. In critical condition, Chernozemski was brought to a police station and interrogated but his condition did not permit him to respond to questions and he died later that evening. The French police were unable to identify him but they made note of his tattoo, a skull with crossbones, and a sign reading “V.M.R.O.” A Yugoslav journalist identified the tattoo as the symbol and the initials of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. Chernozemski was buried in a Marseilles cemetery in an unmarked grave with only two detectives and the gravediggers present.

On October 10, 1934, French police arrested Zvonimir Pospišil and Milan Raijc. Five days later, Mijo Kralj was arrested and he admitted everything. Chernozemski’s body was exhumed and his fingerprints were sent to Sofia, Bulgaria and Belgrade, Serbia. Bulgarian police announced on October 17, 1934, that the assassin was Vlado Chernozemski. The other conspirators, Mijo Kralj, Zvonimir Pospišil, and Milan Rajic, were tried and sentenced to life in prison. In 1940, after the Fall of France to Germany during World War II, all three conspirators were released from prison by the Nazis.

King Alexander’s Funeral

Embed from Getty Images
The royal family of Yugoslavia attending the funeral of King Alexander- from left to right: The king’s son 11-year-old King Peter II of Yugoslavia; the king’s veiled wife Queen Maria of Yugoslavia (born a Romanian princess); Princess Olga, also veiled (born a Greek princess) and her husband, Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, the king’s first cousin; behind them: King Carol II of Romania in the peaked cap, brother of Queen Marie; and behind him Prince Nicholas of Greece, Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Prince Kirill of Bulgaria (Note: the caption on photo on Getty Images incorrectly identifies the people)

The day after his death, King Alexander I’s body was transported back to Yugoslavia by the ship that had brought him to France, the Royal Yugoslav Navy destroyer Dubrovnik escorted by French, Italian, and British ships.

On October 18, 1934, 500,000 people lined the streets of Belgrade to see King Alexander’s funeral procession. The funeral was attended by royalty and leading statesmen from Europe. Alexander was buried next to his mother in the royal crypt at St. George’s Church, also known as Oplenac, Yugoslavia, now in Serbia.

Alexander was succeeded by his 11-year-old son who ascended the throne as King Peter II of Yugoslavia. Because of his age, a Regency Council was established, led by his father’s first cousin Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. In November 1945, the Yugoslav monarchy was formally abolished and King Peter II was deposed but he never abdicated.

Grave of Alexander I, King of Yugoslavia; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Alexander I of Yugoslavia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_I_of_Yugoslavia [Accessed 30 Nov. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Vlado Chernozemski. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlado_Chernozemski [Accessed 30 Nov. 2019].
Mehl, Scott. (2016). King Alexander I of Yugoslavia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-alexander-i-of-yugoslavia/ [Accessed 30 Nov. 2019].
Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Александар I Карађорђевић. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80_I_%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%92%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%92%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B [Accessed 30 Nov. 2019]. (Alexander I Karadjordjevic from Serbian Wikipedia)
Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Марсељски атентат. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%B5%D1%99%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8_%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82 [Accessed 30 Nov. 2019]. (Assassination of Alexander I from Serbian Wikipedia)

Assassination of Alexander I, King of Serbia and his wife Queen Draga (1903)

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

On June 11, 1903, 26-year-old Alexander I, King of Serbia and his 38-year-old wife Queen Draga were brutally shot, mutilated, and thrown out a window at the Stari Dvor (Old Palace) in Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia.

Alexander I, King of Serbia

Alexander I, King of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

The only surviving child of King Milan I of Serbia and his wife Natalija Keschko, Alexander I, King of Serbia was born on August 14, 1876, in Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia. On March 6, 1889, King Milan unexpectedly abdicated in favor of his twelve-year-old son. A regency was supposed to be in place until his 18th birthday but in 1893, 17-year-old King Alexander proclaimed himself of age and dismissed the regency council to take royal authority for himself. The following year, King Alexander abolished the 1889 liberal constitution and restored the former conservative 1869 constitution.

King Alexander and Queen Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 8, 1900, 24-year-old King Alexander suddenly announced his engagement to 36-year-old Draga Mašin, a widow and a former lady-in-waiting to his mother. The proposed marriage was met with great opposition. Draga was of unequal birth but more importantly, since Alexander had no siblings, he needed to have a child to secure the succession and there were doubts that Draga could provide an heir. Alexander’s parents were banished from Serbia because of their opposition to the marriage.

King Alexander attempted to reconcile the political forces in Serbia by granting a new liberal constitution, introducing into Serbia for the first time a two-chamber national legislature system. On May 8, 1901, King Alexander announced that Queen Draga was pregnant and that Serbia would soon have an heir to the throne. However, it soon became apparent that Queen Draga was not pregnant. Whether Draga deliberately told a lie about being pregnant or whether she was the victim of a delusion by a doctor is not known. The incident completely undermined the reputation of King Alexander and Queen Draga.

On March 25, 1903, irritated by the independence of the Senate and the Council of State, King Alexander suspended the constitution for thirty minutes which was enough time enough to publish decrees dismissing and replacing the members of the Senate and Councilors of State. This act greatly increased dissatisfaction in the country. In addition, the Serbian Government had decided to proclaim Prince Mirko of Montenegro as heir-presumptive to the Serbian throne, but King Alexander had his own ideas. Rumors began to circulate that Nikodije Lunjevica, one of the two unpopular brothers of Queen Draga, was to be proclaimed heir-presumptive to the throne.

To learn more about Alexander and Draga see:

The Assassination

Dragutin Dimitrijevic Apis, leader of the conspirators; Credit – Wikipedia

The army had had enough. A conspiracy called the May Coup was organized by the military, to replace King Alexander I of the House of Obrenović with Prince Peter Karađorđević of the rival House of Karađorđević which had held power in Serbia in earlier times. The coup was carried out by a large group of officers and civilian conspirators led by Captain Dragutin Dimitrijevic Apis, later promoted to Colonel. Among the conspirators was Alexander Mašin, an army officer and the brother of Queen Draga’s first husband Svetozar Mašin. Svetozar Mašin had died at age 35 in somewhat mysterious circumstances. A questionable doctor’s report said the cause of death was a heart attack. Draga inherited Svetozar’s pension and his name. Alexander Mašin was so opposed to this that he later accused Draga of killing his brother and became one of the conspirators in the May Coup.

On the night of June 10-11, 1903, the conspirators, divided into five groups, met in cafes in Belgrade. At 12:45 AM, Dragutin Dimitrijevic commanded the five groups to proceed to the Stari Dvor (Old Palace). Retired Lieutenant General Alexander Mašin, brother of Queen Draga’s first husband, had already entered the Twelfth Regiment barracks to take command. Lieutenant Colonel Petar Mišić was preparing to go to the palace with his Eleventh Regiment. Other conspirators had already surrounded the homes of government ministers to block any action from the ministers.

At 2 AM, Commander of the Palace Guard, Petar Živković, later Prime Minister of Yugoslavia, opened the palace doors to the conspirators. The conspirators stormed the palace and clashed with some members of the Palace Guard. Two conspirators, members of the Palace Guard, were supposed to have unlocked the doors to the royal chambers, but they were discovered dead. No keys were discovered in the pockets of the two deceased conspirators and so the royal chamber doors were opened by dynamite.

The royal chambers were extensive and the conspirators had searched for a long period but had not found King Alexander and Queen Draga. As the conspirators searched the royal bedroom once again, they noticed a slit in an upholstered wall where a door to a secret room was hidden. King Alexander and Queen Draga had hidden in the secret room. King Alexander thought the conspirators were members of the Palace Guard and the secret door opened and out came King Alexander and Queen Draga.

The Stari Dvor (Old Palace) where Alexander and Draga were assassinated. They were thrown out the open window after being shot and mutilated; Credit – Wikipedia

The conspirators opened fire with their revolvers and rifles. Queen Draga tried to protect her husband with her body. Other conspirators from other parts of the palace, hearing what was happening, ran into the royal bedroom and emptied their revolvers and rifles into the king and queen. Their bodies were then stabbed and slashed with sabers and bayonets and finally thrown from the window into the courtyard.

Along with the king and queen, the conspirators also killed Prime Minister Dimitrije Cincar-Marković, Minister of the Army Milovan Pavlović, and General-Adjutant Lazar Petrović.

The autopsy of King Alexander and Queen Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

An autopsy was carried out in the early morning hours on the pool table in the palace. Queen Draga’s two brothers, Nikodije and Nikola Lunjevica, were executed by a firing squad on the same day. Alexander I, King of Serbia and Queen Draga were secretly buried at St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, Serbia. The assassination resulted in the extinction of the House of Obrenović. Prince Peter Karađorđević was then proclaimed as the new King of Serbia and the House of Karađorđević reigned until the monarchy was abolished in 1945.

Tomb of King Alexander and Queen Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

What happened to the conspirators?

For the most part, the conspirators were not punished. Under pressure from some foreign governments, the new King Peter removed any palace aides-de-camp that had taken part in the coup but promoted them to higher positions. Some conspirators were brought to trial but were only forced into early retirement. Junior conspirators were never punished for their participation in the coup.

Many prominent conspirators, led by Dragutin Dimitrijević Apis, founded a secret military organization called the Unification of Death, popularly known as the Black Hand. The Black Hand was best known for being involved in the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, Serbia, a catalyst for the start of World War I.

Two years later, Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić decided to get rid of the most prominent members of the Black Hand movement despite being officially disbanded. Dimitrijević and several others were arrested in December 1916 on false charges for the attempted assassination of Prince Regent Alexander, the future King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, in September 1916. Dimitrijević and the others were found guilty of treason and executed by firing squad. In 1953, Dimitrijević and his co-defendants were all posthumously retried by the Supreme Court of Serbia and found not guilty because there was no proof of their alleged participation in the assassination plot.

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Alexander I of Serbia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_I_of_Serbia [Accessed 28 Nov. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Black Hand (Serbia). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hand_(Serbia) [Accessed 28 Nov. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Draga Mašin. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draga_Ma%C5%A1in [Accessed 28 Nov. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Dragutin Dimitrijević. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragutin_Dimitrijevi%C4%87 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). May Coup (Serbia). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Coup_(Serbia) [Accessed 28 Nov. 2019].
Flantzer, Susan. (2019). Draga Mašin, Queen of Serbia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/draga-masin-queen-of-serbia/ [Accessed 28 Nov. 2019].
Flantzer, Susan. (2019). King Alexander I of Serbia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-alexander-i-of-serbia/ [Accessed 28 Nov. 2019].
Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Мајски преврат. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%98%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2019]. (May Coup from Serbian Wikipedia)

Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1587)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, England on February 8, 1587. She was 44-years-old and had spent the last nineteen years of her life imprisoned in English castles Mary was the last of five Stewart/Stuart monarchs of Scotland who died a violent death: James I, King of Scots was assassinated, James II was accidentally killed when a cannon nearby where he was standing exploded, and James III and James IV were killed in battle.

Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary, Queen of Scots, circa 1559; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on December 8, 1542, at Linlithgow Palace in Scotland, Mary became Queen of Scots when she was six-days-old upon the death of her father. She was the third and the only surviving child of James V, King of Scots and his second wife Marie of Guise, a French princess. James V was the son of James IV, King of Scots and Margaret Tudor, the eldest surviving daughter of King Henry VII of England, and the sister of King Henry VIII of England. Therefore, Mary’s father was the nephew of King Henry VIII and the first cousin of his children, all monarchs of England, King Edward VI, Queen Mary I, and Queen Elizabeth I. All of Henry VIII’s children turned out to be childless, and this gave their first cousin once removed, Mary, Queen of Scots, a strong claim to the English throne.

Mary and her first husband François II, King of France; Credit – Wikipedia

In July 1548, the Scottish Parliament approved Mary’s marriage to François, Dauphin of France, the son and heir of King Henri II of France and Catherine de’ Medici. On August 7, 1548, five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots set sail for France where she would be raised with her future husband. She would not return to Scotland for thirteen years. Upon the death of his father in 1559, and Mary’s husband succeeded his father as King François II of France. However, François died after only a 17-month reign and 18-year-old Mary returned to Scotland in 1561.

During Mary’s thirteen-year absence, the Protestant Reformation had swept through Scotland, led by John Knox, considered the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Therefore, Catholic Mary returned to a very different Scotland from the one she had left as a child. Mary needed an heir, so a second marriage became necessary. Her choice was her first cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were grandchildren of Margaret Tudor. Darnley was the son of Lady Margaret Douglas, Margaret Tudor’s only child from her second marriage to Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. Mary and Darnley married at Holyrood Palace on July 29, 1565. They had one child, James VI, King of Scots, the future King James I of England, who succeeded Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Mary with her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s marriage with Darnley was unsuccessful and she began to be drawn to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Bothwell entered into a conspiracy with Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll and George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly to rid Mary of her husband. On February 10, 1567, Darnley was killed when the house he was staying at was blown up.

Mary and Bothwell were married on May 15, 1567. The marriage angered many Scottish nobles who raised an army against Mary and Bothwell. After negotiations at the Battle of Carberry Hill, Bothwell was given safe passage and the lords took Mary to Edinburgh. The following night, Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle, on an island in the middle of Loch Leven. Between July 20-23, 1567, Mary miscarried twins, and on July 24, 1567, she was forced to abdicate in favor of her one-year-old son James, whom she never saw again. Bothwell was driven into exile. He was imprisoned in Denmark, became insane, and died in 1578.

In 1568, Mary escaped from her imprisonment at Loch Leven Castle. After being defeated at the Battle of Langside by the forces of her Protestant illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, Mary was forced to flee to England, where she was subsequently imprisoned by her first cousin once removed, Queen Elizabeth I of England, because Elizabeth saw Mary as a threat to her throne. Mary was first taken to Carlisle Castle and then moved to Bolton Castle because it was further from the Scottish border.

In 1569, Mary was moved to Tutbury Castle and placed in the custody of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife Bess of Hardwick. From 1569 – 1585, Mary was confined to properties of Shrewsbury, including Sheffield Castle, Sheffield Manor Lodge, Wingfield Manor, and Chatsworth House, all of which were in the interior of England and away from the sea for security reasons. In 1585, Mary was moved to Chartley Hall in Staffordshire, England and Sir Amias Paulet became her keeper. Mary was always held in comfortable captivity, with her own domestic staff, which never numbered fewer than sixteen. Her chambers were decorated with fine tapestries and carpets, her bedlinens were changed daily, her own chefs prepared meals served on silver plates, and sometimes she was allowed outside to walk and ride.

For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: Mary, Queen of Scots

Why was Mary, Queen of Scots executed?

Mary in captivity, 1578; Credit – Wikipedia

Since Mary was Catholic, she was seen by many English Catholics as the legitimate English sovereign instead of the Protestant Elizabeth I. There were various plots to replace Elizabeth on the English throne with Mary, possibly without Mary’s knowledge. After the 1583 Throckmorton Plot, Elizabeth I issued a decree preventing all communication to and from Mary. However, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, Elizabeth’s Secretary of State and Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s spymaster, who wanted to entrap Mary, realized that the decree would hinder their plans.

Walsingham established a new line of communication that he could control without Mary’s knowledge. With the help of Gilbert Gifford, a double agent, it was arranged for a local brewer to deliver and receive messages between Mary and her supporters by placing them in a watertight casing inside the stopper of a beer barrel which would be delivered and then picked up at Chartley Hall in Staffordshire, England where Mary was confined. Double agent Gilbert Gifford approached the unsuspecting Guillaume de l’Aubespine, the French ambassador to England, and described the new correspondence arrangement designed by Walsingham. Gifford then submitted a code table to de l’Aubespine supplied by Walsingham and requested the first message be sent to Mary.

Cipher and code tables of Mary in the United Kingdom National Archives; Credit – Wikipedia

All messages to Mary would be sent via diplomatic packets to the French ambassador de l’Aubespine who then passed them on to double agent Gifford. Gifford would then pass the messages on to Walsingham who would have them decoded. The letter was then resealed and returned to Gifford who would pass it on to the brewer. The brewer would then smuggle the letter to Mary. If Mary sent a letter to her supporters, it would go through the reverse process. Every message coming to and from Chartley Hall was intercepted and read by Walsingham.

The letter that incriminated Mary, from the United Kingdom National Archives; Credit – Wikipedia

Eventually, the Babington Plot was detected. The goals of the Babington Plot were to assassinate Elizabeth I and then for England to be invaded by Spanish-led Catholic forces. When Mary consented to the plot by replying to a letter, her days were numbered.

There were fourteen conspirators:

Anthony Babington, a 25-year-old Catholic nobleman
John Ballard, an English Jesuit priest
Chidiock Tichborne, a Catholic poet
Thomas Salisbury
Henry Donn
Robert Barnewell
John Savage
Edward Habington
Charles Tilney
Edward Jones
John Charnock
John Travers
Jerome Bellamy
Robert Gage

What happened to the conspirators?

Anthony Babington; Credit – Wikipedia

John Ballard was arrested on August 4, 1586, and under torture, he confessed and implicated Anthony Babington. All of the conspirators were arrested by August 15, 1586. They were tried at Westminster Hall in London on September 13-14, 1586, found guilty of treason and conspiracy, and sentenced to be executed.

On September 20, 1586, Ballard along with Babington, Tichborne, Salisbury, Donn, Barnewell, and Savage were executed by hanging, drawing, and quartering. Their horrific and bloody executions shocked the witnesses. When Elizabeth I was told of their suffering and the shock of the witnesses, she gave a slight reprieve to the remaining seven conspirators who were to be executed the next day. She ordered that they were to be left hanging until they were dead before being cut down, disemboweled, and quartered.

What happened to Mary, Queen of Scots?

On August 11, 1586, Mary was riding from Chartley Hall with her musician Bastian Pagez, her doctor Dominique Bourgoing, and others. They were surprised by armed soldiers who took them to nearby Tixall Hall so that Mary’s rooms at Chartley Hall could be searched and her papers could be seized. Mary was kept at Tixall Hall until late September 1586, when she was moved to her final place of imprisonment, Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire where King Richard III of England had been born.

Contemporary drawing of the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

In October 1586, at Fotheringhay Castle, Mary was tried for treason before a court of thirty-six commissioners appointed by Elizabeth I, including the two men who had plotted her downfall, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Sir Francis Walsingham. She protested that as a foreign anointed queen she had never been an English subject and therefore could not be convicted of treason. Mary was not permitted legal counsel, to review the evidence against her, or to call witnesses. On October 25, 1586, Mary was convicted of treason and sentenced to death with only one commissioner, Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, voting against the conviction and death penalty.

Queen Elizabeth I procrastinated signing Mary’s death warrant. She was reluctant to sign the death warrant of an anointed queen as she felt it would set a bad precedent and feared that Mary’s son James VI, King of Scots, now twenty years old, would form an alliance and invade England. Additionally, Elizabeth feared the reaction of her Catholic subjects and Catholic Europe. With the intense pressure from Parliament and her Council continuing, Elizabeth finally signed the death warrant on February 1, 1587, and it was immediately sent to Fotheringhay Castle. Later, Elizabeth would deny that she had approved the sending of the death warrant to Fotheringhay Castle and punished those responsible.

The Execution

Execution of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, from Robert Beale’s The Order and Manner of the Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, Feb. 8, 1587; Credit – Wikipedia

The death warrant arrived at Fotheringhay Castle on February 7, 1587. Having just found out she was to be executed the next day, Mary spent her final night praying in the castle’s small chapel. She wrote her last letter to King Henri III of France, the brother of her first husband. At two in the morning, Mary lay down on her bed but did not sleep. Throughout the rest of the night, the sound of hammering came from the Great Hall where the scaffold was being built.

Mary’s request to have her ladies and servants accompany her to her execution was initially denied. Mary countered with the disbelief that Elizabeth I would allow her to die without any ladies to attend her. She further explained that she was “cousin to your Queen, descended from the blood of Henry VII, a married Queen of France, and the anointed Queen of Scotland.” After some discussion, it was decided that Mary could choose six servants to accompany her. Her secretary James Melville, her doctor Dominique Bourgoing, her surgeon Jacques Gervais, and her porter Didier were allowed to accompany her. In addition, her ladies Jane Kennedy and Elizabeth Curle were also allowed to accompany her.

Mary on the way to the scaffold by Scipione Vannutelli, 1861; Credit – Wikipedia

Three hundred people had gathered in the Great Hall of Fotheringhay Castle to witness the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots on February 8, 1587. Mary wore a black satin dress embroidered with black velvet. On her head, she wore a white peaked headdress with a white veil flowing down her back. Mary held a crucifix and a prayer book in her hands. Two rosaries hung from her waist. Around her neck, she wore a pomander and an Agnus Dei, a disc of wax impressed with the figure of a lamb.

The scaffold, draped with black fabric, was in the center of the Great Hall. On the scaffold were the block, a cushion for Mary to kneel on, and three stools, for Mary and the official witnesses, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent. Mary was led up the three steps to the scaffold and listened calmly as the commission for her execution was read aloud. When Richard Fletcher, the Protestant Dean of Peterborough Cathedral began Protestant payers, Mary said, “I am settled in the ancient Catholic Roman religion and mind to spend my blood in defense of it.” The Dean continued to pray and Mary also began to pray in Latin from her prayer book. When the Dean had finished praying, Mary switched to English and prayed aloud for the English Catholic Church, her son, and Elizabeth that she might serve God in the years to come.

When Mary was done praying, the executioner asked for forgiveness for taking her life. Mary answered, “I forgive you with all my heart for now I hope you shall make an end to all my troubles.” Then the executioner assisted by Mary’s ladies Jane Kennedy and Elizabeth Curle helped Mary to undress. When her black dress was removed, Mary was wearing a red petticoat, trimmed with lace with a low neckline and back. Mary’s ladies gave her a pair of red sleeves. She was now dressed all in red, the color of blood, and the liturgical color of martyrdom in the Roman Catholic Church.

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Mary’s rosary and prayer book

It was the usual practice for executioners to receive any items of adornment that the condemned person was wearing. When the executioner touched Mary’s gold rosary, Jane Kennedy protested. Mary intervened saying that the executioner would be compensated with money in lieu of the rosary and the Agnus Dei. The beautiful gold rosary was meant for Mary’s friend Anne Dacre, the wife of Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel, canonized a saint in 1970. Jane Kennedy later delivered the rosary to Anne and it has been in the possession of the Earl of Arundel’s descendants, the Dukes of Norfolk, ever since. However, on May 21, 2021, burglar alarms alerted staff at Arundel Castle, the home of the Dukes of Norfolk. Items of great historical significance, including Mary’s rosary, were stolen by force from a display cabinet.

BBC: Arundel Castle: Mary Queen of Scots beads stolen in raid

Mary remained calm and admonished her weeping women to stop their crying. Mary then turned to her four male servants sitting on benches, smiled at them, and told them to be comforted. The time had come for the execution. Jane Kennedy had a white cloth embroidered in gold. She kissed the cloth and gently wrapped it over Mary’s eyes and over her head so that her hair was covered and her neck was bare. Then Jane Kennedy and Elizabeth Curle left the scaffold.

This watercolor was made for a Dutch magistrate who compiled an album of historical prints and drawings in 1613. The costume and architecture look very Dutch, but the picture does reflect eyewitness accounts of the event. Mary’s clothes were burned to prevent supporters from keeping them as relics, and this scene is shown on the far left. Credit Wikipedia from the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland

Mary knelt down on the cushion in front of the block. She said, in Latin, the psalm “In you Lord is my trust, let me never be confounded.” Mary then felt for the block and put her head down on it. She stretched out her arms and legs and cried in Latin, “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit” three or four times. The executioner’s assistant put his hand on her body to steady her. The first blow missed her neck and cut into the back of her head. Her servants thought they heard her say, “Sweet Jesus.” The second blow severed her neck except for a small sinew which was cut by using the ax as a saw.

The executioner held up Mary’s head and said, “God save the Queen!” However, Mary’s auburn hair separated from her head which then fell to the floor. Mary’s hair had been gray and cut very short and she had chosen to wear an auburn wig. The spectators sat stunned until the Dean of Peterborough called out, “So perish all the Queen’s enemies!” The Earl of Kent then cried out, “Such be the end of all the Queen’s and the Gospels’ enemies.” The Earl of Shrewsbury, Mary’s official keeper between 1569 and 1585, sat on the scaffold speechless, with tears streaming down his face. Then, Mary’s lapdog, a Skye terrier, appeared from under Mary’s red petticoat and sadly stationed itself between Mary’s head and her shoulder.

The Earl of Shrewsbury’s eldest son rode hard to London to break the news of Mary’s execution to Queen Elizabeth I. He reached London at nine the next morning. Elizabeth first received the news with indignation which quickly turned to distress and then sorrow and many tears.

Aftermath

Copy of Mary’s death mask at Falkland Palace in Scotland; By Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21201424

Mary had requested that she be buried in France at either the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, the traditional burial site of the French royal family, or Reims Cathedral but Elizabeth denied her request. Mary’s ladies and servants were allowed one requiem mass to be said for Mary by Father de Preau, her almoner and confessor, on the morning after her execution.

Mary’s body was embalmed and her heart and entrails, removed as part of the embalming process, were buried secretly within Fotheringhay Castle to prevent them from becoming relics. Mary’s body was wrapped in a wax winding-sheet, put in a lead coffin, and left in Fotheringhay Castle until August 1, 1587, when she were buried at Peterborough Cathedral where Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII’s first wife had been buried.

In 1603, as Queen Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudors, lay dying, she gave her assent that Mary, Queen of Scots’ son James VI, King of Scots, should succeed her. By primogeniture, James was the next in line to the English throne. Elizabeth died on March 24, 1603. Now James I, King of England and James VI, King of Scots, Mary’s son entered London on May 7, 1603, and his coronation was held on July 25, 1603. In 1612, the remains of Mary, Queen of Scots were exhumed upon the orders of her son and were reburied in a marble tomb with a beautiful effigy in Westminster Abbey in a chapel directly across the aisle from the chapel containing the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I. Mary, Queen of Scots is the ancestor of the current British royal family and many other European royal families.

Tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots in Westminster Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Babington Plot. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babington_Plot [Accessed 25 Nov. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Mary, Queen of Scots. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Queen_of_Scots [Accessed 25 Nov. 2019].
Flantzer, Susan. (2016). Mary, Queen of Scots. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/mary-queen-of-scots/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2019].
Fraser, Antonia. (1969). Mary Queen of Scots. New York: Dell Publishing Company.
Weir, Alison. (2003). Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley. New York: Ballantine Books.

Assassination of James I, King of Scots (1437)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

On February 20, 1437, 42-year-old James I, King of Scots was assassinated by conspirators including his uncle Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, the son of Robert II, King of Scots and his second wife Euphemia de Ross, who wanted to be on the throne instead of James. James I was the first of five Stewart monarchs to die a violent death. His son James II was accidentally killed when a cannon nearby where he was standing exploded. The violent deaths continued with the deaths in battle of James III and James IV and the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots.

James I, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

James I, King of Scots

James I, King of Scots was born on July 25, 1394, at Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, Scotland. He was the second surviving son of Robert III, King of Scots and Anabella Drummond. James’ father Robert III was the eldest child of Robert II, King of Scots and his mistress Elizabeth Mure. The couple married in 1346, but the marriage was not in agreement with the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church. After receiving a papal dispensation, the couple remarried. The children born before their marriage were legitimized. Despite the legitimization of Elizabeth’s children, there were family disputes over her children’s right to the crown.

At the time of his birth, James’ much older brother David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay was the heir to the throne of Scotland. However, serious problems began to emerge between David and his uncle Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, the third in line to the throne after David and James. Through the machinations of Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, David was accused unjustifiably of appropriating and confiscating funds and was arrested in 1402. He was imprisoned at Falkland Palace and died on March 26, 1402, at the age of 22, probably of starvation.

Eight-year-old James, now heir to the throne, was the only one in the way of transferring the royal line to the Albany Stewarts. Eventually, fearing for the safety of his only surviving son James, Robert III, King of Scots decided to send him to France. However, the ship 12-year-old James was sailing on was captured on March 22, 1406, by English pirates who delivered James to King Henry IV of England. Robert III, King of Scots, aged 68, died at Rothesay Castle on April 4, 1406, after hearing of his son’s captivity. 12-year-old James was now the uncrowned King of Scots and would remain in captivity in England for eighteen years. While in England, James was more of a guest than a hostage.

While in England, James met his future wife Lady Joan Beaufort. She was the third of the six children and the first of the two daughters of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and Margaret Holland. Joan’s father was the eldest of the four children of John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III, and his mistress and later his wife, Katherine Swynford. Joan was a great grand-daughter of King Edward III, a first cousin once removed of King Richard II, a niece of King Henry IV, and a first cousin of King Henry V. Her paternal uncle Henry Beaufort was a Cardinal, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England.

James I, King of Scots and Joan Beaufort; Credit – Wikipedia

The English considered that a marriage to a Beaufort gave the Scots an alliance with the English instead of the French. James and Joan were married on February 12, 1424, at St. Mary Overie Church, now known as Southwark Cathedral in Southwark, London, England. James was released from his long captivity on March 28, 1424, and the couple traveled to Scotland. James and Joan had eight children including James’ successor James II, King of Scots.

For more information about James I, King of Scots, see Unofficial Royalty: James I, King of Scots

What caused a conspiracy to assassinate James I, King of Scots?

Upon his return to Scotland in 1424, James found that there were still doubts about the validity of the first marriage of his grandfather Robert II and this raised questions about James’ own right to the throne of Scotland. James found himself facing challenges from descendants of his grandfather’s two marriages. Those descendants included:

Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany – son of Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany and the heir to the throne until James had children. Murdoch had three sons who also would have a claim on the throne: Walter Stewart, Alexander Stewart, and James Stewart.
Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl – the only surviving son of Robert II and his second wife Euphemia de Ross. Walter had two sons who would also have a claim on the throne: David Stewart, Master of Atholl (died 1434) and Alan Stewart, 4th Earl of Caithness (died 1431) but as both had died Walter’s grandson Robert Stewart, Master of Atholl then became his heir.

James knew he had to crush the power of his cousin Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany to strengthen his power. He also could not forget Murdoch’s father caused the death of his elder brother David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay. In 1425, Duncan, Earl of Lennox, Murdoch’s father-in-law, raised his men of Lennox in a revolt against James I in support of Murdoch. A Parliament held in Perth, Scotland in 1425 issued orders for Murdoch’s arrest and in May 1425 a trial was held at Stirling Castle where Murdoch, his sons Alexander and Walter Stewart, and his father-in-law Duncan, Earl of Lennox were all found guilty of treason and executed at Stirling Castle. Murdoch’s third son James Stewart fled to Ireland, where he would spend the remainder of his life in exile.

The Albany Stewarts were no longer a problem but his uncle, the only surviving son of Robert II and his second wife Euphemia de Ross, Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, now had a stronger claim to the throne. In 1425, James I had only one infant child, a daughter. His only surviving son, the future James II, would not be born until 1430 and the remaining five children of James I would be all daughters.

Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl had been instrumental in negotiating James I’s release from captivity in England in 1424. Atholl also served as a member of the jury that tried and executed his nephew Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany. Atholl’s elder son David, Master of Atholl had been one of the hostages sent to England as a condition of James I’s release and had died there in 1434. Atholl’s younger son Alan died at the Battle of Inverlochy in 1431. Atholl’s grandson Robert, the son of David, was now Atholl’s heir and both were in line to the throne after James I’s son who had been born in 1430.

James I showed his uncle Atholl favor by appointing him the Great Justiciar of Scotland, basically equivalent to a modern Prime Minister, and giving him an additional earldom, the Earldom of Strathearn. In addition, James appointed Atholl’s grandson Robert as his personal chamberlain. However, the true nature of Atholl’s loyalty to his nephew James I is unclear. Atholl was upset with issues with the lands he held and how they would and would not be inherited by his grandson. Some historians think the imprisonment and subsequent death of his son David in England turned Atholl against James. Other historians think that Atholl’s efforts to return James to Scotland from his English captivity and support him against the Albany Stewarts was a well-thought-out plan for those two branches of the House of Stewart to destroy each other and clear Atholl’s own way to the throne because of the claims of the illegitimacy against his half-brother Robert III.

The Assassination

A 17th- century depiction of James I’s assassination; Credit – Wikipedia

Whatever the cause of Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl’s issues with his nephew James I, King of Scots, he decided to assassinate the king and take the throne for himself. Some disaffected supporters of the Albany Stewarts joined in the conspiracy. The number of conspirators is thought to be around thirty but the main conspirators were:

Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl – the only surviving son of Robert II and his second wife Euphemia de Ross
Robert Stewart, Master of Atholl – Atholl’s grandson and heir and personal chamberlain of James I
Sir Robert Graham – a former supporter of the Albany Stewarts
Thomas Graham – son of Sir Robert Graham
Christopher and Robert Chambers – former supporters of the Albany Stewarts, Robert was a member of the royal household

James I, King of Scots and his wife Joan Beaufort were staying at the Blackfriars Priory in Perth, Scotland. They had spent Christmas there and stayed on for a general council held in Perth in February 1437. On the evening of February 20, 1437, Robert Stewart, Master of Atholl, the personal chamberlain of James I, let about thirty conspirators into the Blackfriars Priory.

While James, his wife Joan, and her ladies were in their chambers, they heard a great noise and became fearful. It was discovered that the chamber door had been tampered with and would not lock. Unbeknownst to them, Robert Stewart, James’ chamberlain, had broken the locks. James asked the women to guard the door while he searched for a means of escape.

James was unable to open any windows so he grabbed iron tongs from the fireplace and managed to open a plank of the chamber’s floor. He crawled under the floorboards and put them back in their place. He was in the passage that led to a large drain but because the drain had been blocked, James could not escape. James had played a lot of tennis while at the Blackfriars Priory and had hit many balls off the court and down the large drain. Just three days before his assassination, James had ordered the drain blocked up with stones so that he would not lose any more tennis balls.

Catherine Douglas barring the door, by J R Skelton, from H E Marshall’s Scotland’s Story of 1906.

Catherine Douglas, one of Queen Joan’s ladies, used her arm to bar the door closed against the assassins. Eventually, the assassins forced their way into the chamber, breaking Catherine’s arm. Catherine’s story has been retold over the centuries and she has been nicknamed Kate Barless. James I was eventually discovered and hacked to death by Sir Robert Graham. Queen Joan had been a target of her husband’s killers, and although wounded, she escaped. James I, King of Scots was only 42 years old when he was killed and left a 7-year-old son to succeed him as James II, King of Scots. Some people were glad to see James I dead. They considered him a tyrant who without reason attacked the nobility by imposing forfeiture on their estates and who failed to deliver justice to his people.

A monument now marks the site of the Carthusian Charterhouse in Perth; Photo Credit – By kim traynor, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29398897

James I, King of Scots was buried in the Carthusian Charterhouse in Perth, which he had founded. On May 11, 1559, following a sermon by John Knox, a leader of the Scottish Reformation and the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, a mob of Protestant reformers attacked the Carthusian Charterhouse in Perth. Everything was destroyed including the tombs and remains of James I, his wife Joan, and Margaret Tudor, the wife of James IV, King of Scots and the daughter of King Henry VII of England.

What happened to the conspirators?

There was no strong support for the conspiracy and James I’s assassins were soon captured and brutally executed on March 26, 1437. They were dragged naked through the street and stabbed with red-hot irons. Then they were beheaded, torn limb from limb, and quartered. Their heads were placed on iron spikes and their limbs were hung on gates in towns and cities throughout Scotland as a warning to other would-be traitors.

The would-be King of Scots, Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, had the most brutal torture and execution. He was tortured for two days and then killed on the third day. On the first day, he was put in a cart with a crane, pulled up, and then violently dropped. He was then put in a pillory and a crown of burning iron was placed upon his head with the inscription King of all Traitors. On the second day, Atholl was dragged naked through the streets. On the third day, he was disemboweled while still alive. His entrails and heart were torn out and burned. Finally, he was beheaded and quartered. Like the other assassins, his head and the quarters were displayed throughout Scotland.

Works Cited

Abernethy, S. (2013). The Assassination of King James I of Scotland. [online] The Freelance History Writer. Available at: https://thefreelancehistorywriter.com/2013/05/24/the-assassination-of-king-james-i-of-scotland/ [Accessed 24 Nov. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). James I of Scotland. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_I_of_Scotland [Accessed 24 Nov. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Stewart,_Earl_of_Atholl [Accessed 24 Nov. 2019].
Flantzer, Susan. (2017). James I, King of Scots. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/james-i-king-of-scots/ [Accessed 24 Nov. 2019].
Scotsman.com. (2015). How King James’ love of tennis sealed his murder. [online] Available at: https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/how-king-james-love-of-tennis-sealed-his-murder-1-4367436 [Accessed 24 Nov. 2019].

Wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece by Bassano Ltd 12 x 10 inch glass plate negative, 29 November 1934 NPG x95790 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark were married in a Church of England ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London, England on November 29, 1934, followed by a Greek Orthodox service at the Private Chapel in Buckingham Palace. This was the last time a foreign princess married into the British Royal Family. It was the first time that a royal wedding was broadcast over the radio.

George’s Early Life

Prince George with his siblings in 1902; (Sitting left to right, John, Mary, George, Standing left to right Albert (future King George VI), Henry, Edward (known as David, future King Edward VIII); Credit – Wikipedia

Prince George, Duke of Kent was the fifth of six children of the future King George V and Queen Mary. He was born on December 20, 1902, at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. George’s siblings were King Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor; King George VI; Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince John who died at age thirteen due to epilepsy complications.

George’s education began privately at home, and then he attended St Peter’s Court Preparatory School in Kent, England. After attending the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and at Dartmouth, George served in the Royal Navy until 1929. He then became the first member of the British Royal Family to work as a civil servant, taking up positions in the Foreign Office and then the Home Office. On October 12, 1934, six weeks before his marriage to Princess Marina, he was created Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews, and Baron Downpatrick.

Learn more about Prince George at Unofficial Royalty: Prince George, Duke of Kent

Marina’s Early Life

Marina on the right with her sisters Olga and Elizabeth; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark was born on December 13, 1906, in Athens, Greece. She was the youngest of the three daughters of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark (a son of King George I of the Hellenes, born Prince Vilhelm of Denmark) and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia (a granddaughter of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia). Through her father, Marina was the first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Marina and her sisters grew up with their paternal grandparents in Athens, Greece. They were educated by English governesses and were taught foreign languages, history, and mathematics by private tutors. The year 1913 brought the family’s idyllic life to an end. Marina’s grandfather King George I was assassinated. In 1917, when her uncle King Constantine I was forced from the Greek throne, Marina’s family joined Constantine in exile in Switzerland. World War I had wiped out her mother’s Russian fortune and the family faced financial difficulties for the first time. Marina’s family returned to Greece in 1920 when King Constantine I was restored to the throne but again went into exile two years later when he was forced to abdicate. After staying in Italy and England, Marina’s family settled in Paris, where they relied upon the generosity of her father’s elder brother Prince George and his very wealthy wife Princess Marie Bonaparte.

Learn more about Princess Marina at Unofficial Royalty: Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Kent

The Engagement

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In September 1933, Marina traveled to London with her sister Olga and Olga’s husband Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. Both Marina and George attended a luncheon at Claridge’s Hotel. The two were second cousins as they were both great-grandchildren of King Christian IX of Denmark. They had met many times before but at the luncheon, they each paid more attention to the other. George’s eldest brother encouraged him to court Marina.

The next summer, Marina’s mother and other members of the Greek royal family came to London, and George and Marina began a serious courtship. On the evening of August 20, 1934, after a game of backgammon, Marina’s family left her alone with George and he proposed. On August 28, 1934, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Prince George, Duke of Kent to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.

The Wedding Site

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Westminster Abbey was completed around 1060 and was consecrated in 1065, during the reign of Edward the Confessor. Construction of the second and present church was begun in 1245 by Henry III who selected the site for his burial. In 1269, Henry III oversaw a grand ceremony to rebury Edward the Confessor in a magnificent new shrine, personally helping to carry the body to its new resting place.

Westminster Abbey was the wedding venue for six royal weddings during the reigns of the Plantagenet kings including the wedding of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia in 1382. That would be the last royal wedding at Westminster Abbey until the reign of King George V. Queen Victoria’s granddaughter and King George V’s first cousin Princess Patricia of Connaught married The Honorable Alexander Ramsay at Westminster Abbey in 1919. This was the first major royal event after World War I.

The wedding of George’s sister Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles in 1922 was the first time a child of a monarch had married at Westminster Abbey since 1290 when Margaret of England, daughter of King Edward I, married John II, Duke of Brabant. George’s brother Prince Albert, Duke of York, the future King George VI, had married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey in 1923. Because there had not been a royal wedding for eleven years, there was much excitement about the wedding of George and Marina.

Wedding Guests

1,500 guests attended the wedding at Westminster Abbey. Members of the British royal family attended the wedding along with members of the royal families of Denmark, Greece, and Yugoslavia. Also in attendance were members of the former reigning royal families of Russia, Prussia, Austria, and other lesser royals who had also lost their thrones after World War I. Among the guests were the American-born British shipbroker Ernest Simpson and his American wife Wallis, who would soon become a household name. Also in Westminster Abbey, was an eight-year-old bridesmaid, the niece of the groom, the future Queen Elizabeth II, and the thirteen-year-old first cousin of the bride, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, the future Duke of Edinburgh.

Bridesmaids and Supporters

The wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent by Bassano Ltd, 12 x 10 inch glass plate negative, 29 November 1934, NPG x95791 © National Portrait Gallery, London

George’s two eldest brothers The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor) and The Duke of York (the future King George VI) served as best man and his supporter.

The eight bridesmaids were related to the bride and/or the groom:

Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, the bride’s first cousin and groom’s second cousin, daughter of King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophie of Prussia (granddaughter of Queen Victoria), married Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta
Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, the bride’s first cousin and groom’s second cousin, daughter of King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophie of Prussia (granddaughter of Queen Victoria), married Major Richard Brandram
Princess Eugénie of Greece and Denmark, the bride’s first cousin, daughter of Prince George of Greece and Denmark, married (1) Prince Dominic Radziwill (2) husband Prince Raymundo della Torre e Tasso, Duke of Castel Duino
Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia, the bride’s first cousin and the groom’s second cousin, daughter of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (granddaughter of Queen Victoria), married Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia
Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, the bride’s first cousin once removed, the future Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, daughter of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, married Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
Princess Elizabeth of York, the groom’s niece and the bride’s second cousin once removed, the future Queen Elizabeth II, married the bride’s first cousin Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark
Lady Iris Mountbatten, the groom’s second cousin, daughter of Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke, (grandson of Queen Victoria), married (1) Hamilton O’Malley (2) Michael Bryan (3) William Kemp
Lady Mary Cambridge, the groom’s first cousin once removed, daughter of George Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge (nephew of Queen Mary), married Peter Whitley

Wedding Attire

The Wedding of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent and Prince George, Duke of Kent by Elliott & Fry vintage contact print, 29 November 1934 NPG x104247 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Prince George, Duke of Kent was dressed in military uniform with ropes, sash, and medals including the Royal Victorian Order, the Order of the Thistle, the Order of the Garter, and the Order of St Michael and St George.

Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent by Elliott & Fry half-plate negative, 29 November 1934 NPG x82064 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Princess Marina was considered the most glamorous of the early Windsor brides. Her gown, designed by British designer Edward Molyneux, was made from silver and white brocade with a flower design and was lined with silver lamé. The court train was fifteen feet long and the sleeves were long and in a medieval style. The veil, made of handmade lace and white tulle, had been worn by Marina’s mother, born Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, and by Marina’s sister Olga at their weddings. It was secured by the Kent City of London Fringe Tiara, a wedding gift to Marina from the City of London. Princess Marina was the first British royal bride to wear the now de rigueur tiara.

The Kent City of London Fringe Tiara; Photo Credit – http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.com

The Wedding

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At 8 AM on November 29, 1934, the first guests began to arrive at Westminster Abbey, dressed in uniforms and evening dress. An hour later, arriving guests found it difficult to make their way into Westminster Abbey due to the huge crowds that had gathered.

The groom’s parents King George V and Queen Mary led the royal procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, departing as scheduled at 10:35 AM. King Haakon V (first cousin once removed of both the bride and groom) and Queen Maud of Norway (the groom’s aunt), King Christian X of Denmark (the first cousin once removed of both the bride and groom) and his wife Queen Alexandrine, former King George II of Greece (second cousin of both the bride and groom), Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (the bride’s brother-in-law) and Princess Nicholas of Greece (the bride’s mother) followed in the royal procession to Westminster Abbey. Prince George, Duke of Kent left St. James’ Palace at 10:44 AM with his brothers The Prince of Wales and The Duke of York. Two minutes later, Princess Marina and her father Prince Nicholas of Greece left Buckingham Palace.

At 10:50 AM, members of the various royal families began the royal procession into Westminster Abbey which ended with King George V and Queen Mary. Following the royal procession, the groom made his way down the aisle accompanied by his two eldest brothers the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor) and the Duke of York (the future King George VI). Princess Marina, on the arm of her father Prince Nicholas of Greece, and accompanied by her eight bridesmaids, proceeded to the altar to the organ playing “The Bridal March” by Hubert Parry. Eight-year-old Princess Elizabeth of York and ten-year-old Lady Mary Cambridge carried the bride’s veil. After the bride reached the altar, the hymn “Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost” was sung.

Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury conducted the wedding ceremony, and referring to the radio broadcast, he said, “The whole nation, nay the whole empire, are wedding guests.” The couple took their vows as the bridesmaids stood in two lines behind them. After two prayers and the choir’s melodious “Amens”, the bridal couple moved to the altar. Psalms were sung and the Lord’s Prayer was said. After additional prayers and the hymn “God Be in My Head”, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave his address followed by his benediction and the national anthem, “God Save The King.” The choir then sang an anthem specially written for the occasion, “Alleluia, The Lord Send You Help from the Sanctuary”. The bride, the groom, their parents, and other royalty signed the wedding register in the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor.

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Upon returning to Buckingham Palace, a Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony was held in the Private Chapel officiated by The Metropolitan Dr. Strinopoulos Germanos, Head of the Greek Orthodox Church in England.

After the Wedding

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A wedding breakfast was held for 120 guests at Buckingham Palace. There were five wedding cakes and the largest one was cut with the groom’s sword. Shortly before 1:30 PM, the newlyweds appeared on the balcony. As George and Marina left Buckingham Palace for Paddington Station, they were pelted by rose petals confetti shaped in symbols of good luck: silver shoes, horseshoes, and true lovers’ knots. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of York then ran after the carriage in the palace forecourt tossing the symbols of good luck at the newlyweds.

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On the way to Paddington Stations, the couple was greeted by crowds of people lining the streets. They spent their honeymoon at Himley Hall in Himley, Staffordshire, England, the country estate of William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley.

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At Paddington Station, ready to leave for their honeymoon

Children

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George and Marina had three children. Sadly, just six weeks after the birth of their youngest child Prince Michael, George was killed when his military plane crashed in Scotland on August 25, 1942.

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (born 1935), married Katharine Worsley, had two sons and one daughter
Princess Alexandra of Kent (born 1936), married The Honorable Angus Ogilvy, had one son and one daughter
Prince Michael of Kent (born 1942), married Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, had one son and one daughter

Works Cited

Hough, Richard. (1991). Born Royal – The Lives and Loves of the Young Windsors. Leicester: Ulverscroft.
Jewels, K. and Jeweller, T. (2019). Kent Royal Wedding Jewels. [online] Thecourtjeweller.com. Available at: http://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2019/05/kent-royal-wedding-jewels.html [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
Mehl, Scott. (2014). Prince George, Duke of Kent. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/prince-george-duke-of-kent/ [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
Mehl, Scott. (2014). Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/princess-marina-duchess-of-kent/ [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
News.google.com. (1934). Dense Crowds Throng Around Westminster To See Processions. [online] Available at: https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gBRkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BnsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1563,3406056&dq=prince+george+duke+of+kent&hl=en [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
News.google.com. (1934). Prince George, Son of King To Be Married. [online] Available at: https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0owjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HZkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6110,3145586&hl=en [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
News.google.com. (1934). Royal Wedding – King and Queen See Rehearsals. [online] Available at: https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jOpUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6JEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7191,2539668&dq=princess+marina&hl=en [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
Nytimes.com. (1934). Glittering Gathering in Abbey.. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1934/11/30/archives/glittering-gathering-in-abbey.html?searchResultPosition=4 [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
Nytimes.com. (1934). MARGOT ASQUITH HAILS ‘LOVE MATCH’; Happy Expressions on Faces of Princess Marina and Duke of Kent Move Her. THRONGS WELL MANNERED Writer Marvels at Good Humor of Britons That Makes Rulers Safe in Their Midst.. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1934/11/30/archives/margot-asquith-hails-love-match-happy-expressions-on-faces-of.html?searchResultPosition=3 [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
Nytimes.com. (1934). PRINCE GEORGE GOES ABROAD FOR A BRIDE; His Wedding With Princess Marina Allies Windsor With a Dispossessed Dynasty. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1934/09/02/archives/prince-george-goes-abroad-for-a-bride-his-wedding-with-princess.html?searchResultPosition=2 [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
Orderofsplendor.blogspot.com. (2012). Wedding Wednesday: Princess Marina’s Gown. [online] Available at: http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.com/2012/10/wedding-wednesday-princess-marinas-gown.html [Accessed 26 Oct. 2019].
Pope-Hennessy, James. (1959). Queen Mary, 1867-1953. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Wedding of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019

The Marriage of Princess Beatrice by Richard Caton Woodville painted for Queen Victoria. Princess Beatrice is accompanied to the altar by her brother, the Prince of Wales, and Queen Victoria. Her nieces were bridesmaids, but only eight out of the total of ten are shown in the painting; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg were married on July 23, 1885, at Saint Mildred’s Church in Whippingham, Isle of Wight, England.

Unofficial Royalty: St. Mildred’s Church in Whippingham, Isle of Wight, England

Beatrice’s Early Life

Princess Beatrice with her mother Queen Victoria; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Beatrice was born on April 14, 1857, at Buckingham Palace in London, England. She was the youngest of the nine children of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. On December 14, 1861, Prince Albert died at the age of 42. Beatrice was only four and a half and had lost one of her principal role models. Queen Victoria was grief-stricken. The night Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria went into the nursery and carried the sleeping Beatrice to her own bed, where she lay unable to sleep, hugging Beatrice while wrapped in the bedclothes of her deceased husband. Because of her mother’s prolonged grief and mourning, Beatrice’s life would forever be shaped by her father’s death. She became a great solace to her mother, and as the years progressed Queen Victoria hoped that Beatrice would always be her constant companion.

Despite her father’s death, Beatrice’s education proceeded according to the plan Prince Albert had devised for all his children. She received lessons in French and German and received a hands-on history education by visiting historical sites. Unlike her mother, Beatrice eventually had clear and legible handwriting and was an accurate speller. By the age of fifteen, Beatrice was writing letters on behalf of Queen Victoria and she was developing into the quiet, attentive, and devoted helper the Queen wanted. When the last of her sisters married and left home, Beatrice took on the job of being her mother’s full-time personal assistant.

To learn more about Beatrice, see Unofficial Royalty: Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, Princess Henry of Battenberg

Henry’s Early Life

Prince Henry of Battenberg; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Battenberg was born on October 5, 1858 in Milan, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, now in Italy. Henry (nicknamed Liko) was the fourth of the five children and the third of the four sons of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Countess Julia Hauke. As his parents’ marriage was morganatic, Henry and his siblings took their titles from their mother, who had been created Countess of Battenberg and was later elevated to Princess of Battenberg in 1858.

Henry received a military education and was commissioned a lieutenant in the 1st Regiment of the Rhenish Hussars of the Prussian Army. He also served in the Gardes du Corps, the personal bodyguard of the King of Prussia and, after 1871, of the German Emperor.

To learn more about Henry, see Unofficial Royalty: Prince Henry of Battenberg