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Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom; Credit – Wikipedia

January 22, 1557 – Death of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, second of the three husbands of Margaret Tudor, at Tantallon Castle near North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland; his burial information is uncertain, may have been buried in Abernethy, Perthshire, Scotland
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V, King of Scots and Mary, Queen of Scots, was a leader of the Anglophile faction in Scotland in the early decades of the 16th century, seizing power several times. However, by the later part of his life, Archibald was once again a Scottish patriot. Through their daughter Margaret Douglas, Archibald and Margaret Tudor are the grandparents of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the first cousin and second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, the great-grandparents of James VI, King of Scots, later also James I, King of England, and the ancestors of the British royal family and most other European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus

January 22, 1592- Death of Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France, wife of King Charles IX of France, in Vienna, Austria; buried first in the Convent of Poor Clares, Mary, Queen of Angels in Vienna, Austria, re-interred in 1782 in the Ducal Crypt at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna
Elisabeth was the daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1570, she married King Charles IX of France. Elisabeth gave birth in 1572 to her only child, a daughter Princess Marie Elisabeth, who lived for only six years. In 1574, Elisabeth’s husband Charles IX died at the age of 23 from tuberculosis. Widowed at the age of 20, Elisabeth was determined to return to Vienna. Having provided no male heirs to the French throne, her future life at the French court alongside her mother-in-law Catherine de Medici was a dismal prospect. In 1580, Elisabeth bought some land in Vienna and founded the Convent of Poor Clares, Mary, Queen of Angels, also known as the Queen’s Monastery, and retired there. Elisabeth devoted the rest of her life to the practice of piety, caring for the poor, and nursing the sick. On January 22, 1592, Elisabeth died of pleurisy at the age of 37.
Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France

January 22, 1674 – Birth of Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, first wife of Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, in Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, now in Thuringia, Germany
In 1704, Dorothea Maria married her first cousin Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. They had five children including two Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen. The marriage was a happy one, and both shared the same interests in music and the arts. She devoted much of her time to charitable works, in particular supporting the orphanage in Meiningen. Dorothea Maria died, aged 39, on April 18, 1713.
Unofficial Royalty: Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

January 22, 1797 – Birth of Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil, Queen of Portugal, wife of Pedro I of Brazil/Pedro IV of Portugal, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Caroline Josepha Leopoldina Franziska Ferdinand
Maria Leopoldina was the daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the second of his four wives, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. In 1817, Maria Leopoldina married Pedro, Crown Prince of Portugal and Prince of Brazil.  At that time, Brazil was ruled as a kingdom united with Portugal.  In 1807, the Portuguese royal family had moved to Brazil to escape the Napoleonic invasion and had remained in Brazil where Rio de Janeiro became the de facto capital of the Portuguese Empire. Maria Leopoldina and Pedro had seven children including Queen Maria II of Portugal. Pedro was quite uneducated and the intelligent and well-educated Leopoldina quickly gained influence over her husband. Pedro discussed all government affairs with her and usually followed her advice. In August 1822, Pedro appointed Leopoldina Regent while he went on a political trip. While Pedro was away, Leopoldina received news that Portugal was about to take action, and without waiting for Pedro’s return, met with the Council of State and signed the Decree of Independence, declaring Brazil independent from Portugal. Pedro I was declared Emperor of Brazil. 29-year-old Leopoldina died at the Palacio de São Cristovão on December 11, 1826, from puerperal fever (childbed fever) after a miscarriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil

January 22, 1831 – Birth of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, husband of Princess Helena of the United Kingdon, at Augustenborg Palace in Augustenborg, Denmark
Full name: Friedrich Christian Karl August
Prince Christian was the son of Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Countess Louise Sophie of Danneskiold-Samsøe. While attending the University of Bonn, Christian became close friends with the future German Emperor Friedrich III. This friendship would serve him well in later years, as Friedrich’s wife Victoria, Princess Royal was the elder sister of Christian’s future wife Helena. Christian and Helena first met each other on a visit to Coburg in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Despite the fifteen-year age difference, they were drawn to each other. They were married in 1866 and made an agreement with Queen Victoria was that they would live in the United Kingdom, in close proximity to The Queen. Christian and Helena had five children. In 1916, he and Helena celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary – the first in the British royal family since King George III and Queen Charlotte.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein

January 22, 1858 – Death of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Baden, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany; buried in the Karlsruhe Stadtkirche, after World War II, his remains were moved to the Grand Ducal Chapel in the Pheasant Garden in Karlsruhe
Ludwig was the eldest surviving son of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and Sofia of Sweden.  As Ludwig got older, signs of mental illness began to show, and in March 1852, he was diagnosed as having a non-curable mental disorder. The following month, Ludwig’s father died and he succeeded as Grand Duke of Baden. However, because of his illness, his brother Friedrich served as Regent during Ludwig’s brief four-year reign.
Unofficial Royalty: Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Baden

January 22, 1872 – Birth of Prince Nicholas of Greece, son of King George I of Greece, at the Royal Palace in Athens, Greece
In 1902, Nicholas married his second cousin Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, the daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (a son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia) and Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Nicholas and Elena had three daughters including Princess Marina who married Prince George, Duke of Kent. Because of the political situation in Greece, members of the Greek royal family, including Nicholas and his wife, were often in exile. The Greek monarchy was restored in 1935, and the following year, Nicholas and Elena returned to Greece. Having suffered from declining health for several years, Prince Nicholas died in 1938 due to atherosclerosis.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Nicholas of Greece

January 22, 1901 – Death of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England; buried at the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore in Windsor, England
Queen Victoria had enjoyed good health throughout her life, but in the last year of her life, she suffered from indigestion, insomnia, weight loss, and some difficulty with speaking, reading, and writing. Rheumatism made it difficult to walk and cataracts made it difficult to see. On December 18, 1900, she traveled to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight for the last time. The journey exhausted her, but after a few days, she seemed somewhat recovered. However, by January 16, 1901, it was obvious that Queen Victoria’s life was drawing to an end. She died at Osborne House on January 22, 1901, surrounded by her family. Her funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and she was interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum in Windsor Great Park.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

January 22, 1954 – Death of Princess Margaret of Prussia, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at Schloss Kronberg (formerly Schloss Friedrichshof) in Taunus, Hesse, Germany and was buried  in the family cemetery of the House of Hesse there
Known as Mossy, she was the daughter of Friedrich III, German Emperor, King of Prussia and Victoria, Princess Royal. In 1893, Mossy married Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse, known as Fischy. They had six sons including two sets of twins. Two of their sons were killed in action during World War I and one was killed in action during World War II. In 1925, Fischy’s brother abdicated as the head of the House of Hesse and was succeeded by Fischy. Even though Germany had done away with royal titles, Fischy was styled as Landgrave of Hesse, and Mossy was styled as Landgravine of Hesse. Fischy died on May 28, 1940, at the age of 72. Mossy survived her husband by nearly fourteen years, dying  on January 22, 1954, at the age of 81
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Margaret of Prussia, Landgravine of Hesse

January 22, 1963 – Death of Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby, Marchioness of Milford Haven, daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia, wife of George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, in Cannes, France; buried at Bray Cemetery in Bray, Berkshire, England
Nadejda was the daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia, a grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, and his morganatic wife Countess Sophie von Merenberg. As her parents’ marriage was morganatic, her father was stripped of his position at the Imperial Court and banished from Russia for the rest of his life. By the time she was four years old, Nadejda’s family had settled in England, but they also spent part of the year at their villa in Cannes, France. The family became prominent members of British society and developed friendships with several members of the British Royal Family. It was through these friendships that Nadejda met her future husband, Prince George of Battenberg, later 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, and the uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Nadejda and George married in 1916 and had two children. Nadejda was widowed when her husband succumbed to bone marrow cancer in 1938. She survived her husband by twenty-five years, dying at the age of 67.
Unofficial Royalty: Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby, Marchioness of Milford Haven

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King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

January 21, 1705 – Death of Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen in Prussia, second wife of King Friedrich I of Prussia, in the Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany; buried at the Berlin Cathedral in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Sophia Charlotte was the daughter of Ernst August, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Sophia of the Palatinate. Her mother was named heiress-presumptive the British throne under the Act of Settlement 1701, and it would be Sophie Charlotte’s eldest brother who would become King George I of Great Britain in 1714. In 1684, she married the future King Friedrich I in Prussia. The marriage was not a happy one. Several years after having given birth to her two children, Sophie Charlotte retired to private life. She indulged in her love of the arts, philosophy, and theology. She surrounded herself with some of the leading minds of the day, including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a prominent mathematician and philosopher. Sophie Charlotte died of pneumonia at the age of 36, while visiting her mother in the Electorate of Hanover.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen in Prussia

January 21, 1793 – Execution of King Louis XVI of France at the Place de la Révolution in Paris, France; originally buried in a mass grave near the location of today’s La Madeleine Church in Paris, reburied at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris
During the French Revolution, Louis XVI was arrested and imprisoned in the Temple in Paris. Five weeks later, on September 21, the National Assembly declared a Republic, abolishing the monarchy, and stripping the King and his family of all their titles and honors. The former King of France was now known as Citizen Louis Capet. The King was brought to trial in December 1792, with 33 charges lodged against him, and he was found guilty on January 15, 1793. The following day, the National Convention, by a narrow margin, voted in favor of execution. On the morning of January 21, 1793, Louis made his final confession and attended Mass. He then traveled by carriage through the streets of Paris, to the Place de la Révolution (now the Place de la Concorde) where he was beheaded by guillotine. His body was taken to the Madeleine Cemetery, where a brief memorial service was held. His remains were dumped from their coffin into a grave, with his severed head placed at his feet. Years later, in 1815, on the anniversary of his execution, Louis XVI’s remains, along with those of his wife who was also executed, were reinterred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Unofficial Royalty: Executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, King and Queen of France
Unofficial Royalty: King Louis XVI of France

January 21, 1796 – Birth of Marie of Hesse-Kassel, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in Hanau, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany
Full name: Marie Wilhelmine Friederike
In 1817, Marie married Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. They had four children including Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who married Queen Victoria’s husband Princess Augusta of Cambridge. A talented painter, Marie often painted copies of famous paintings. Many were used as altarpieces in churches in the grand duchy, including the town churches in Schönberg and Neustrelitz, both of which still exist. Just three months after the death of her husband, Marie died at the age of 67.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie of Hesse-Kassel, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

January 21, 1829 – Birth of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
Full name: Oscar Fredrik
Oscar was the third of the four sons of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway. In 1857, he married Princess Sophia of Nassau and the couple had four sons. Upon his father’s death in 1859, Oscar became Crown Prince and heir of his elder brother King Karl XV, who had no living male heirs. Oscar became King of Sweden and Norway in 1872, upon his brother’s death. In 1905, King Oscar II formally renounced his claim to the Norwegian throne, with Sweden finally recognizing Norway as an independent constitutional monarchy. Oscar’s great-nephew, Prince Carl of Denmark (a grandson of Oscar’s elder brother King Karl XV), was elected King of Norway, taking the name Haakon VII. Ironically, Haakon’s son Olav married the daughter of Oscar’s son Prince Carl of Sweden, and today it is Oscar’s great-grandson, King Harald V, who sits on the Norwegian throne. Through his children, Oscar II’s descendants currently occupy the thrones of Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Soon after the end of the union with Norway, King Oscar’s health began to decline. He died at the age of 78.
Unofficial Royalty: King Oscar II of Sweden

January 21, 1836 – Death of Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies, first wife of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples
Maria Cristina was the daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este. In 1832, she married Ferdinando II, King of Two Sicilies. Maria Cristina was shy, modest, reserved, and a very devout Catholic. During the short time that she was Queen of the Two Sicilies, Maria Cristina managed to prevent the carrying out of all death sentences. She was called “the Holy Queen” for her deep religious devotion. She endured her nearly constant illnesses with patience and piety and was popular with the people for her charity, modesty, and humility. On January 21, 1836, five days after giving birth to her only child, the future Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies, 23-year-old Maria Cristina died from childbirth complications. In 1859, a cause for the canonization of Maria Cristina as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church was opened. In 1872, Maria Cristina was declared to be a Servant of God and in 1937, she was declared a Venerable Servant of God. In 2013, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle due to her intercession and approved Maria Cristina’s beatification. She is known in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy and is one step away from canonization as a saint. On January 25, 2014, the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy, the burial site of Maria Cristina, was the site of her beatification ceremony. Several thousand people attended the ceremony including the two branches of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies

January 21, 1846 – Death of Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio at the Ducal Palace in Modena, Duchy of Modena, now in Italy; buried at the Church of San Vincenzo in Modena, Duchy of Modena, now in Italy
Francesco was the son of Maria Beatrice d’Este, the heiress of Modena and Reggio and Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria, son of Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa, in her own right Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. Francesco’s paternal grandfather Ercole III d’Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio had been deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte. Francesco regained the Duchy of Modena and Reggio as Francesco IV in 1814, after the fall of Napoleon. In 1812, 1812, 33-year-old Francesco married his 20-year-old niece Maria Beatrice of Savoy and they had four children. While Francesco’s grandfather Ercole III reigned the Duchy of Modena and Reggio as an enlightened monarch, Francesco’s reign was more autocratic. Francesco died on January 21, 1846, aged 66.
Unofficial Royalty: Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio

January 21, 1869 – Birth of Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, favorite of the family of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, in Pokrovskoye, Siberia, Russia
Rasputin was the son of father Yefim Yakovlevich Rasputin, a peasant farmer and a coachman, and Anna Vasilievna Parshukova. Like most Siberian peasants, Rasputin was not formally educated and he remained illiterate until his early adulthood. In February 1887, Rasputin married Praskovya Feodorovna Dubrovina, a peasant girl. They had seven children but only three survived to adulthood. In 1897, Rasputin developed a renewed interest in religion and spent the next several years as a strannik, a holy wanderer or pilgrim. By the early 1900s, Rasputin had developed a circle of followers in Siberia and local church officials gave him a letter of recommendation to the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. In St. Petersburg, Rasputin met church official Archimandrite Theofan. It was through Theofan that Rasputin attracted some of his early and influential followers in St. Petersburg. Rasputin formed friendships with several members of the aristocracy, including the sisters Princess Militsa and Princess Anastasia of Montenegro, who had both married into the Russian Imperial Family and were instrumental in introducing Rasputin to Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his family.
Unofficial Royalty: Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin

January 21, 1940 – Death of Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, son of King George I of Greece, in Athens, Greece; buried at the Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece
Christopher was the only one of his parents’ eight children born outside of Greece. His birth was a surprise, as his eldest sibling was 20 years old at the time of Christopher’s birth. Christopher was offered the thrones of Lithuania, Albania, and Portugal, all of which he refused. Christopher believed a throne should be accepted only when the prospective ruler was seriously dedicated to the idea of leading a country. Christopher did not believe himself to be sufficiently up to the challenge. In 1920, Christopher married Nancy Stewart Worthington Leeds, an American widow, known as Princess Anastasia after her marriage. Anastasia was diagnosed with cancer not long after the wedding and died in London in 1923. Six years later, Christopher married French Princess Francoise of Orleans, and they had one son. Christopher died on January 21, 1940,  at the age of 51, after suffering several weeks with a lung abscess.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark

January 21, 1967 – Death of Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, wife of Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, at Schloss Taxis in Dischingen, Germany; buried at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany
In 1898, Dorothea married Ernst Günther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. Upon his father’s death in 1880, Ernst Günther had inherited his father’s title. However, just like his father before him, the title was merely in pretense, as the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been annexed by Prussia following the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. Dorothea and Ernst Günther had no children. Widowed in 1921, Dorothea survived her husband by nearly 46 years, dying at the age of 86.
Unofficial Royalty: Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein

January 21, 1984 – Death of Archduke Gottfried of Austria in Bad Ischl, Austria; buried in the parish cemetery of Sankt Gilgen in Salzburg, Austria
Archduke Gottfried of Austria was the Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany from 1948 until his death in 1984.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduke Gottfried of Austria

January 21, 1991 – Death of  Princess Ileana of Romania, Archduchess of Austria-Tuscany at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration she founded in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania; buried in the Cemetery of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration
Ileana was the daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1931, she married Archduke Anton of Austria, Prince of Tuscany. Ileana’s brother King Carol II of Romania banished the couple from the country, claiming that the Romanian people would never tolerate a Habsburg living on Romanian soil. They settled at Castle Sonnenburg, just outside of Vienna, Austria and the couple had six children. After World War II, Ileana and her husband lived in Argentina before purchasing a house in Massachusetts, to allow for proper schooling for the children. Ileana and  Anton divorced in May 1954, and Ileana remarried a month later, to Dr. Stefan Issarescu. This marriage would also end in divorce. In 1961, Illeana entered an Orthodox monastery in France, eventually becoming a nun, and taking on the name Mother Alexandra. Returning to the United States, she founded a monastery in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, and served as abbess. She retired from her position as abbess in 1981 but remained at the monastery for the remainder of her life. Princess Ileana, Mother Alexandra, died on January 21, 1991, at the age of 82, after suffering a fall and two major heart attacks.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Ileana of Romania

January 21, 2004 – Birth of Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, daughter of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, at the Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Ingrid Alexandra is the elder of the two children of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit (née Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby), and one of the five grandchildren of King Harald V of Norway. In 1990, Norway adopted absolute primogeniture whereby the crown goes to the eldest child regardless of gender. This means that Princess Ingrid Alexandra is second in the line of succession to the throne of Norway behind her father and is expected to become the reigning Queen of Norway.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

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

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé, Princess of Orange Credit – Wikipedia

January 20, 1612 – Death of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Margrave of Moravia, at Prague Castle in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic; buried at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague
Rudolf never married. In 1568, as part of the Habsburg marriage policy, sixteen-year-old Rudolf had been betrothed to his first cousin, two-year-old Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, the daughter of Rudolf’s maternal uncle King Felipe II of Spain. Isabella Clara Eugenia had to wait for more than twenty years before Rudolf declared that he had no intention of marrying anybody. In 1572, Rudolf’s father Maximilian II passed the crown of Hungary to his son, and in 1575, Rudolf was also granted the crown of Bohemia and the Habsburg hereditary territories. Rudolf was elected King of the Romans in 1575, ensuring that he would succeed his father as Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolf is considered an ineffective ruler whose mistakes directly led to the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648), one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history.
Unofficial Royalty: Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Margrave of Moravia, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria

January 20, 1619 – Death of Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé, Princess of Orange, wife of Filips Willem, Prince of Orange, in Muret-le-Château, France; buried at the Eglise Saint-Thomas de Cantorbery in Vallery, France, the traditional burial place of the Princes of Condé and their descendants
Éléonore was the daughter of Henri I, Prince de Condé. The House of Condé was a French princely house and a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. In 1606, 19-year-old Éléonore married 51-year-old Filips Willem, Prince of Orange, son of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange and his first wife Anna van Egmont. The marriage had been arranged by Louise de Coligny, the fourth wife and widow of Willem I (the Silent). Louise was the daughter of a French nobleman, admiral, and Huguenot leader Gaspard II de Coligny who had been killed during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 when thousands of Huguenots were murdered. Éléonore and Filips Willem had a happy marriage despite their age difference and the absence of children. Filips Willem died in 1618, at the age of 63 after a botched medical procedure. Éléonore survived her husband by barely a year, dying at the age of 31.
Unofficial Royalty: Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé, Princess of Orange

January 20, 1666 – Death of Anne of Austria, Queen of France, wife of King Louis XIII of France, at the Convent of Val-de-Grâce in Paris, France; buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
Anne was the eldest daughter of King Felipe III of Spain and married King Louis XIII of France in 1615. After several stillbirths and nearly 23 years of marriage, Anne gave birth to two healthy sons: the future King Louis XIV of France and Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. King Louis XIII died in 1643, leaving his five-year-old son as the new King Louis XIV. In his will, the late King had sought to limit any power that Queen Anne might have had, including becoming Regent. He instructed that a regency council be established instead. However, just days after his death, Queen Anne was able to convene the Parliament of Paris and had that part of his will overturned. Anne was named sole Regent for her young son. Queen Anne appointed Cardinal Mazarin as her chief minister and relied on him to maintain the government. Anne retained much of her power even after her son came of age in 1651. She oversaw his marriage to her own niece, Maria Teresa of Spain in 1660, and the following year, after Mazarin’s death, Queen Anne stepped aside and retired to the Covent of Val-de-Grâce in Paris, France. Five years later, on January 20, 1666, she died there of breast cancer.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne of Austria, Queen of France

January 20, 1716 – Birth of King Carlos III of Spain at the Royal Palace of Madrid in Spain
Full name: Carlos Sebastián
Carlos III, King of Spain was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Carlo I (1731 – 1735), King of Naples, as Carlo VII (1735 – 1759), and King of Sicily, as Carlo V (1734 – 1759). In 1738, Carlos’ mother Elisabeth Farnese arranged a marriage for him to fourteen-year-old Maria Amalia of Saxony. Carlos III and Maria Amalia had thirteen children but only seven survived childhood. In in 1759, Carlos’ childless elder surviving half-brother Fernando VI, King of Spain died and Carlos succeeded him as King of Spain. When Carlos became King of Spain, he was 43 years old and had ruled Naples and Sicily for twenty-five years, so he had far more experience than his predecessors. Carlos III was responsible for some Spain’s national symbols. In 1770, he declared the Marcha Granadera to be used during official ceremonies. Since that time, it has been Spain’s national anthem except under the Second Republic ( 1931 – 1939 ). Carlos III also chose the colors and design of the Spanish flag as we see it today.
Unofficial Royalty: King Carlos III of Spain

January 20, 1745 – Death of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, also Karl I, Prince-Elector of Bavaria, at the Munich Residenz in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria; buried at the Theatinerkirche in Munich
Karl reigned as Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor from 1742 – 1745 and as Karl I, Prince-Elector of Bavaria from 1726 – 1745. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach and his reign as Holy Roman Emperor marked the end of three centuries of the House of Habsburg’s rule as Holy Roman Emperors. In 1726, Karl married Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I and niece of Emperor Karl VI. The couple had seven children but only four survived to adulthood. After Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI died in 1740, Karl claimed the Archduchy of Austria and briefly gained hold of the Bohemian throne. In 1742, he was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled until his death three years later.
Unofficial Royalty: Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria

January 20, 1753 – Death of Anna Maria of Liechtenstein, Princess of Liechtenstein, wife of first cousin Josef Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein, in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria; buried in a crypt at the Pauline Church in Vienna, Austria, where her mother had been buried. The crypt no longer exists and the tombs were not preserved.
The daughter of Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein, in 1717 Anna Maria first married her cousin Count Johann Ernst of Thun-Hohenstein, from her mother’s family but he died six months later, on March 20, 1717, Johann Ernst died at the age of twenty-three. In 1718, Anna Maria married her first cousin Josef Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein. The couple five children who all died in childhood. Anna Maria predeceased her husband dying on January 20, 1753, in Vienna, Austria, aged 53.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna Maria of Liechtenstein, Princess of Liechtenstein

January 20, 1819 – Death of King Carlos IV of Spain, in exile, at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, Italy; buried at San Lorenzo de El Escorial in Spain
In 1788, Carlos succeeded his father King Carlos III of Spain as King Carlos IV of Spain. Carlos IV would rather hunt than deal with government affairs and the running of the government was left mostly to his wife Maria Luisa of Parma and Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy. It is probable that de Godoy had a long-term relationship with Maria Luisa and that he was the father of her youngest son. In 1808, after riots and a revolt, King Carlos IV was forced to abdicate in favor of his son King Fernando VII. Less than two months later, Carlos IV and his son Fernando VII were summoned to a meeting with Napoleon I, Emperor of the French where he forced them both to abdicate, declared the Bourbon dynasty of Spain deposed, and installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain. Carlos IV, his wife Maria Luisa, and some of their children were held captive. Napoleon kept Carlos and Maria Luisa’s son Fernando VII under guard in France for more than five years until the 1813 Treaty of Valençay provided for the restoration of Fernando VII as King of Spain. After the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, King Fernando VII refused to allow his parents to return to Spain. Carlos IV and Maria Luisa settled in Rome at the Palazzo Barberini where they both died in 1819.
Unofficial Royalty: King Carlos IV of Spain

January 20, 1848 – Death of King Christian VIII of Denmark at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Christian VIII was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Christian’s father was the only child of King Frederik V of Denmark and his second wife Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. In 1806, Christian married his first cousin Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. They had one surviving son, Christian’s successor, the future King Frederik VII. Charlotte Frederica had an affair, was banished, divorced, and never saw her son again. In 1816, Christian married again to Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg but their marriage remained childless. Christian VIII became King of Denmark in 1839 upon the death of his half-nephew King Frederik VI who had two daughters but no sons to succeed him. On January 20, 1848, 61-year-old King Christian VIII died of blood poisoning after a blood-letting.
Unofficial Royalty: King Christian VIII of Denmark

January 20, 1855 – Death of Archduchess Adelheid of Austria, Queen of Sardinia, first wife of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Sardinia (the future King of Italy), at the Royal Palace of Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy; buried at the Royal Basilica of Superga in Turin
At the time of her marriage in 1842, Adeleheid’s husband Vittorio Emanuele was heir to the Sardinian throne and held the title Duke of Savoy. In 1849, she became Queen of Sardinia following her father-in-law’s abdication and her husband’s accession to the throne. However, she died before her husband became King of Italy. Adelheid and Vittorio Emanuele had eight children. Just days after giving birth to her last child, Adelheid fell ill after attending the funeral of her mother-in-law and died four days later at the age of 32.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduchess Adelheid of Austria, Queen of Sardinia

January 20, 1865 – Birth of Friedrich, the last reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in Hesse, Germany
Full name: Friedrich Adolf Hermann
Friedrich was the only son of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Helena of Nassau. Friedrich had six sisters, through his sister Emma, he was the uncle of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and through his sister Helena, he was the uncle of Charles Edward, the last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Upon the death of his father in 1893, Friedrich became the last reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont. In 1895, Friedrich married Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe and they had four children. Friedrich abdicated on November 13, 1918, and negotiated an agreement with the government that gave him and his descendants the ownership of the family home Arolsen Castle and the Arolsen Forest. Both Friedrich and his wife Bathildis lived through World War II. While neither Friedrich nor Bathildis joined the Nazi Party, their eldest son Josias did and after World War II, Josias was a convicted Nazi war criminal for crimes in connection to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Friedrich, the last Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont, died on May 26, 1946, at the age of 81 in Arolsen, Germany.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

January 20, 1878 – Birth of Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark, first wife of Prince Christopher of Greece, born Nonie May Stewart, in Zanesville, Ohio
Nancy had married two wealthy men who both died, leaving her a very wealthy widow. While visiting Biarritz, France in 1914, Nancy met Prince Christopher, the youngest child of King George I of Greece. The two quickly fell in love and decided to marry. Their engagement was first announced in 1914, but it would be six years before they actually married. There was much reservation within the Greek royal family over the bride being an American and already married twice. Finally, the couple was married on February 1, 1920, and several days after the marriage, Nancy converted to Greek Orthodoxy and took the name Anastasia. Not long after her marriage, Anastasia was diagnosed with the cancer that caused her death in 1923.
Unofficial Royalty: Nancy Stewart Worthington Leeds, Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark

January 20, 1891 – Death of Kalākaua, King of the Hawaiian Islands in San Francisco, California; buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Mauna ʻAla in Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii, now in the state of Hawaii, remains transferred to the underground Kalākaua Crypt on the grounds of the mausoleum

Unofficial Royalty: Kalākaua, King of the Hawaiian Islands

January 20, 1896 – Death of Prince Henry of Battenberg, husband of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, at sea from malaria caught in Africa during the Ashanti War; buried at St. Mildred’s Church in Whippingham, Isle of Wight, England
Henry was the fourth of the five children 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 and Beatrice met at the wedding of Henry’s brother Louis of Battenberg and Beatrice’s cousin Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Queen Victoria had expectations that Beatrice would never marry and remain her personal assistant and secretary. However, during the wedding celebrations, Henry and Beatrice fell in love. When Beatrice told her mother of her desire to marry Henry, Queen Victoria did not speak to Beatrice for seven months. Eventually, the Queen realized that Beatrice would not back down and decided to allow the marriage with several conditions: Henry must renounce his career, nationality, and home and agree to live with Beatrice and the Queen. Henry and Beatrice married in 1885 and had four children. The Spanish royal family descends through their daughter Victoria Eugenia.  In November 1895, Henry persuaded Queen Victoria to allow him to go to West Africa to fight in the Anglo-Ashanti Wars. Henry arrived in Africa on Christmas Day 1895. By January 10, 1896, Henry was sick with malaria and it was decided to send him back to England. Henry died aboard the ship HMS Blonde off the coast of Sierra Leone on January 20, 1896, at the age of 37.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Henry of Battenberg

January 20, 1936 – Death of King George V of the United Kingdom at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
George was the second son of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife Alexandra of Denmark. At the time of his birth, George was third in the line of succession after his father and his brother Prince Albert Victor (Eddy) and was not expected to become king. However, that all changed when George’s brother Eddy died of pneumonia in 1892. In 1893, George married Eddy’s fiancée Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, and eventually, they became the beloved King George V and Queen Mary. In his final years, King George had a number of problems exacerbated by his habit of smoking including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pleurisy. On January 15, 1936, King George V went to bed at Sandringham House complaining of a cold, gradually becoming weaker, and drifting in and out of consciousness. On January 20, when the king was close to death, his doctors issued a bulletin with words that became famous: “The King’s life is moving peacefully towards its close.” As the king lay dying of bronchitis, Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn, Physician-in-Ordinary to King George V, gave him a lethal injection of cocaine and morphine, thereby hastening the king’s death to ensure that the announcement of the death would appear first in the morning edition of The Times and not in some lesser publication in the afternoon.
Unofficial Royalty: King George V of the United Kingdom

January 20, 1965 – Birth of Sophie, The Duchess of Edinburgh, born Sophie Rhys-Jones at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England
Full name: Sophie Helen
In 1993, Prince Edward renewed a casual acquaintance with Sophie Rhys-Jones at a Real Tennis Challenge, hosted by the prince. Sophie was the public relations executive handling the event. After a long courtship, their engagement was announced on January 6, 1999, and the couple married later that year. Sophie and Edward have two children, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (born 2003), and James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex (born 2007). Sophie carries out a full schedule of engagements in the United Kingdom and overseas in support of her brother-in-law KIng Charles III and the charities and organizations with which she is involved. She is particularly interested in working with organizations that help children and young people with sensory, learning, and communications disabilities
Unofficial Royalty: Sophie, Countess of Wessex

January 20, 1973 – Birth of Queen Mathilde of Belgium, born Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz in Uccle, Belgium
Full name: Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine
Mathilde attended the Institut Libre Marie Haps in Brussels, Belgium where she studied speech therapy and graduated magna cum laude. Mathilde then began to study psychology at the Université Catholique de Louvain and had her own speech therapy practice in Brussels from 1995 until her marriage in 1999. She continued her studies after her marriage and received a Master’s degree in psychology in 2002. Mathilde met Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant and the heir to the Belgian throne in 1996 playing tennis. Unbelievably, their romance went undetected by the press and their engagement was a surprise. The couple married in 1999 and had four children. Their eldest child Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant will become the first female monarch of Belgian due to changes in the succession law in 1991. On July 21, 2013, the annual Belgian National Day, Belgium got its first native-born queen. King Albert II of the Belgians abdicated in favor of his son Philippe, and Mathilde became Queen Consort of the Belgians. Belgium’s previous queen consorts were French, Austrian, German, Swedish, Spanish, and Italian.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Mathilde of the Belgians

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Isabella of Austria, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

January 19, 1526 – Death of Isabella of Austria, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, wife of Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, in Ghent, County of Flanders, now in Belgium; buried first at St Peter Abbey in Ghent, then in Saint Canute’s Cathedral in Odense, Denmark
The daughter of Philip, Duke of Burgundy and Juana I, Queen of Castile and Aragon, Isabella was born an Archduchess of Austria and an Infanta of Castile and Aragon. Isabella’s brother was the powerful Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor who was also King of Spain. Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII of England, was her maternal aunt, and Catherine and Henry VIII’s only surviving child, Queen Mary I of England was her first cousin. In 1514, Isabella married Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden who was deposed in 1523 causing them to live the rest of their lives in exile. In 1524, Isabella, Christian, and their children settled in Lier, Spanish Netherlands, now in Belgium. Isabella’s aunt Margaret of Austria, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, provided them with a home and financial support. Even with the support, they had a difficult time, with many worries, and a lack of money. In late 1525, Isabella became seriously ill and she died on January 19, 1526, at the age of 24.
Unofficial Royalty: Isabella of Austria, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

January 19, 1544 – Birth of François II, King of France and King Consort of Scotland, at the Château de Fontainebleau in France
The eldest of the ten children of Henri II, King of France and Catherine de’ Medici, 14-year-old François married 15-year-old Mary Queen of Scots in 1558.  It was a marriage that could have given the future kings of France the throne of Scotland and also a claim to the throne of England through Mary’s great-grandfather King Henry VII of England. A little more than a year after the wedding, a great tragedy occurred in France. King Henri II died from injuries he received in a joust during a tournament. François succeeded his father but after only a 17-month reign, François II, King of France, aged 16, died in great pain, possibly from mastoiditis, meningitis, or otitis which turned into an abscess.
Unofficial Royalty: King François II of France, King Consort of Scotland

January 19, 1720 – Death of Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress, 3rd wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria; buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna
Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg was the third of the three wives and also the second cousin of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor who was also King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, Duke of Teschen, King of the Romans, Archduke of Further Austria, and Prince of Transylvania. Leopold I had no male heir from his first tow wives. Eleanore Magdalene’s mother had 23 pregnancies and 17 live births and the family gained the reputation as a fertile family. Because of this reputation, 36-year-old Leopold chose his 21-year-old second cousin Eleonore Magdalene to be his third wife. Leopold made a good choice because his third wife Eleonore Magdalene had ten children with five surviving childhood including two Holy Roman Emperors. Eleonore Magdalene died on January 19, 1720, aged sixty-five, at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Following her wishes, Eleonora Magdalene was buried wearing the robe of a nun, in a very simple wooden coffin that bore the inscription “Eleonore Magdalene Theresa, poor sinner”.
Unofficial Royalty: Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress

January 19, 1757 – Birth of Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, wife of Franz Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, at Ebersdorf Castle in Saalburg-Ebersdorf, County of  Reuss-Ebersdorf, now in Thuringia, Germany
Full name: Augusta Caroline Sophie
Augusta was the grandmother of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In 1777, she married Franz Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The couple had nine children including Prince Albert’s father and Franz Friedrich Anton’s successor Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen Victoria’s mother Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Victoria and Albert’s uncle Leopold, the future first King of the Belgians. Augusta may have been the first person to suggest a marriage between two of her grandchildren. In 1821, in a letter to her daughter Victoria, Duchess of Kent, she suggested the possibility of marriage between Victoria and Albert who were only two years old at the time. Augusta did not live long enough to see her grandchildren Victoria and Albert married. She died at the age of 74, five months after the election of her son Leopold as King of the Belgians.
Unofficial Royalty: Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

January 19, 1925 – Death of Maria Sophie in Bavaria, Queen of the Two Sicilies in Munich, Bavaria, Germany;  initially buried at the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Neapolitans in Rome, Italy, in 1984, her remains were transferred to the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy
Maria Sophie was a younger sister of the more well-known Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria (Sisi) who married Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, and was assassinated in 1898. Marie Sophie’s husband lost his throne during the unification of Italy. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861, ending the reign of Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies. After the loss of the throne of the Two Sicilies, Francesco and Maria Sophia lived in Rome as guests of Pope Pius IX. In 1870, the annexation of the Papal States to Italy, including Rome, forced Francesco and Maria Sophie to find refuge over the years in Austria, France, and Bavaria. In 1894, Maria Sophia’s husband died. After her husband’s death, Maria Sophie lived for a time in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. She also spent time in Paris, France where she lived in a house that her husband had purchased. After World War I, Maria Sophia returned to her birthplace of Bavaria, Germany, living in Munich. It is there that she died on January 19, 1925, at the age of 83.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Sophie of Bavaria, Queen of the Two Sicilies

January 19, 1927 – Death of Charlotte of Belgium, Empress Carlota of Mexico, wife of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, at the Castle of Bouchout in Meise, Belgium; buried at the Royal Crypt in the Church of Our Lady in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium
Charlotte was a first cousin of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  Her father was their Uncle Leopold, the first King of the Belgians.  In 1857, Charlotte married Archduke Maximilian of Austria, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Four years later, Charlotte’s husband accepted the offer of becoming Emperor of Mexico. The liberal forces led by Benito Juárez, the former president who had been deposed by the French, refused to recognize his rule. There was continuous warfare between the French troops and the forces of Juárez who wanted a republic. Maximilian was condemned to death by a court of war and on June 19, 1867, he was executed by a firing squad. After her return to Belgium, Charlotte developed mental illness and was declared insane. Charlotte spent the rest of her life at Bouchout Castle in Meise, Belgium where her brother King Leopold II oversaw her care. Over the years, her mental illness seemed to lessen and Charlotte developed a passion for collecting objects that had belonged to her husband. She died from pneumonia at the age of 86.
Unofficial Royalty: Charlotte of Belgium, Empress Carlota of Mexico

January 19, 1937 – Birth of Princess Birgitta of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern, at the Haga Palace in Solna, Sweden
Full name: Birgitta Ingeborg Alice
Birgitta is the daughter of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the second of the four elder sisters of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. In 1961, she married Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern and they had three children. Because she married a man of princely status, Birgitta retained her royal style and title as Princess of Sweden and is the only one of her sisters to remain an official member of the Swedish Royal House. Birgitta and her husband separated in 1990 but remained married.  Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern died, aged 83, in  2016, following a brief illness.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Birgitta of Sweden

January 19, 1943 – Birth of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, at Ottawa Civic Hospital in Ottawa, Canada
Full name: Margriet Francisca
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands is the third of the four daughters of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She is a younger sister of the former Queen Beatrix and an aunt of the current King Willem-Alexander. In 1967, she married Pieter van Vollenhoven and they had four sons. It was decided at the time of their marriage that any children would hold the title of Prince/Princess of Orange-Nassau, with the surname van Vollenhoven, and the style of Highness. Princess Margriet holds a prominent role in the Dutch Royal Family. Unlike her sisters Irene and Christina, she retained her place in the Dutch Royal House. In addition to many official duties, she often represents the royal family at royal events around the world and is usually in attendance at formal events, such as incoming state visits.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Margriet of the Netherlands

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Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of the Netherlands; Credit – Wikipedia

January 18, 1625 – Death of Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, Tsaritsa of All Russia, first wife of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia; first buried at the Ascension Convent, a Russian Orthodox nunnery in the Moscow Kremlin, in 1929 moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin
Princess Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova was the only child of Prince Vladimir Timofeevich Dolgorukov, a military commander for three tsars, and was appointed Viceroy of Kazan by Michael I. Michael’s mother, born Xenia Ivanovna Shestova, but now a nun known as Marfa, chose Maria Vladimirovna to be her son’s second wife. Michael and Maria Vladimirovna were married on September 19, 1624, witnessed by many nobles and their wives. Celebrations continued the next day, but the new Tsaritsa became ill and was not present. It is unclear exactly what happened but five months later, on January 17, 1625, Maria Vladimirovna died. There were rumors at the time that she had been poisoned by the enemies of the Dolgorukov family. Chronicles of the time called her death a divine punishment for the fate of Michael’s first wife Maria Ivanovna Khlopova and her family. Other contemporary writers said Maria Vladimirovna died giving birth to a stillborn baby.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, Tsaritsa of All Russia

January 18, 1795 – Birth of Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of the Netherlands, wife of King Willem II of the Netherlands, at Gatchina Palace near Saint Petersburg, Russia
Anna Pavlovna was the daughter of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and his second wife, Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. In 1816, Anna Pavlovna married the future King Willem II of the Netherlands, then Prince of Orange. Anna and Willem had five children. Although she took an interest in Dutch history and learned to speak the language quite well, Anna was very homesick for her family and for Russia. Anna became Queen of the Netherlands in October 1840 after her father-in-law’s abdication.  Anna never really connected with the Dutch public and was not a popular queen. She founded several orphanages in the Netherlands and did not meddle in politics.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of the Netherlands

January 18, 1808 – Birth of Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark and Norway, Princess Frederik of Denmark, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, daughter of King Frederik VI of Denmark, first wife of the future King Frederik VII of Denmark, in Kiel, Duchy of Holstein, now Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Vilhelmine Marie’s first marriage to the future King Frederik VII of Denmark was unhappy and the couple divorced. She made a second marriage to Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, elder brother of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the future King Christian IX of Denmark who would succeed King Frederik VII, Vilhelmine Marie’s thrice-married but childless first husband. Vilhelmine Marie’s second marriage was a happy one but it was childless. In 1864, after the Second Schleswig War, which Denmark lost, Karl’s duchy was annexed by Prussia and Karl lost his ducal title. Vilhelmine Marie and Karl were able to live at the family ancestral home Schloss Glücksburg and Karl died there in 1878. Vilhelmine Marie’s charitable work made her popular in Glücksburg. Eventually, she became more and more isolated as her hearing loss made it difficult to communicate. Vilhelmine Marie survived her husband Karl for thirteen years, dying on May 30, 1891, at the age of 83
Unofficial Royalty: Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark, Princess Frederik of Denmark, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

January 18, 1872 – Death of Caroline Amalie of Hesse-Homburg, Princess of Reuss-Greiz, Regent of Reuss-Greiz, second wife of Heinrich XX, 4th Prince Reuss-Greiz, in Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz, now in Thuringia, Germany; buried at the Stadtkirche St. Marien, now in Greiz, Thuringia, Germany
45-year-old Heinrich XX, 4th Prince Reuss of Greiz needed an heir. His first wife had died childless and so he married 20-year-old Caroline Amalie and the couple had five children. Heinrich XX died in 1859, Heinrich XXIII, his thirteen-year-old son, succeeded him as the 5th Prince Reuss of Greiz. Caroline Amalie was Regent of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz from 1859 until 1867. Carolina Amalie survived her husband by thirteen years, dying on January 18, 1872, aged 52.
Unofficial Royalty: Caroline Amalie of Hesse-Homburg, Princess of Reuss of Greiz

January 18, 1890 – Death of Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, former King Amadeo I of Spain in Turin, Italy; buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin, Italy
Born the son of King Vittorio Emanuele II (King of Piedmont-Sardinia and later first King of Italy), Amedeo briefly reigned as the only King of Spain from the House of Savoy. After the exile of Queen Isabella II of Spain, the Spanish Cortes (Parliament) elected Amedeo the new King of Spain.  In 1867, Amedeo married Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, daughter of Italian noble Carlo Emmanuele dal Pozzo, 5th Prince of Cisterna. Upon her father’s death in 1864, Maria Vittoria inherited her father’s titles in her own right. Amedeo and Maria Vittoria had three children. Their descendants through their eldest son have been claimants to the disputed headship of the House of Savoy along with descendants of Amedeo’s brother King Umberto I of Italy. After an attempt to assassinate him, Amedeo abdicated the Spanish throne and returned to Turin where he assumed the title Duke of Aosta. In 1876, Amedeo’s wife Maria Vittoria died from tuberculosis. In 1888, Amedeo married again. His second wife was Princess Maria Letizia Bonaparte, his niece, the daughter of his sister Marie Clotilde and Prince Napoléon Joseph Bonaparte. Amedeo and Maria Letizia had one son. Amedeo was married to his second wife for less than two years, dying from pneumonia at the age of 44.
Unofficial Royalty: King Amadeo I of Spain, Duke of Aosta

January 18, 1908 – Birth of Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Västerbotten, wife of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and mother of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, at Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Thuringia, Germany
Full name: Sibylla Calma Marie Alice Bathildis Feodora
Sibylla was a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria through her father Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the posthumous son of Queen Victoria’s youngest son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. In 1932, she married Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten. Prince Gustaf Adolf was the eldest son of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden (the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden) and was therefore second in the line of succession to the Swedish throne. Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf had four daughters and one son including the current King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf. Tragically, Prince Gustaf Adolf was killed in a commercial airplane crash in 1947, seven months after the birth of his son Carl Gustaf, at the Kastrup Airport in Kastrup, Denmark near Copenhagen. After her stepmother-in-law Queen Louise died in 1965, Sibylla was the senior royal princess and acted in a supporting role for her father-in-law King Gustaf VI Adolf. Unfortunately, Sibylla did not live long enough to see her son Carl Gustaf become king. She died of colon cancer at the age of 64, less than a year before her son would become king.
Unofficial Royalty: Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Västerbotten

January 18, 1919 – Death of Prince John of the United Kingdom, son of King George V of the United Kingdom, at Wood Farm in Wolferton in Norfolk, England; buried at Sandringham Church in Norfolk, England
For the first four years of his life, John appeared healthy, but at the age of four he suffered his first epileptic seizure, and his condition gradually worsened. Besides epilepsy, it is quite possible that John also had a mild form of autism. A household was set up for John at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate and John lived there under the care of his nanny Charlotte Bill who was called Lala, and several other staff members. A young girl named Winifred Thomas, who suffered from asthma and had been sent to the country to live with her aunt and uncle, was John’s companion. Winifred visited John nearly every day and the two went on walks and took care of the garden. Later in life, Winifred recounted John’s excitement at watching zeppelins passing over Sandringham in 1916 and his pleasure in meeting ‘a real, live soldier’, her father Sergeant Frederick Thomas who visited that same year. She also remembered his mother Queen Mary as a loving and interested parent who spent a lot of time with her son. John’s grandmother Queen Alexandra also visited him often.  On the morning of January 18, 1919, John had a very severe seizure and died peacefully in his sleep at 5:30 that afternoon, most likely from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy or SUDEP.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince John of the United Kingdom

January 18, 1974 – Birth of Princess Claire of Belgium, wife of Prince Laurent of Belgium, born Claire Louise Coombs in Bath, England
Claire’s family moved to Belgium when she was three years old. Claire and Prince Laurent first met in 2000 at the home of a mutual friend. In 2003, they were married at the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula in Brussels. By Royal Decree issued by King Albert II, Claire was elevated to Princess of Belgium in her own right. Claire and Laurent have a daughter and twin sons. Unlike her two sisters-in-law, Queen Mathilde and Princess Astrid, Princess Claire has no official role. However, she is often in attendance at official events and state functions with her husband.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Claire of Belgium

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King Olav V of Norway; Credit; Wikipedia

January 17, 1719 – Death of Sophie Amalie Moth, mistress of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway, at her estate Jomfruens Egede in Fakse on the island of Zealand in Denmark; first buried at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1734, Sophia Amalie and her eldest son by King Christian V, Christian Gyldenløve, were reinterred at Saint Peter’s Church in Copenhagen, Denmark
Sophie Amalie was recognized as Christian V’s official mistress and was created Countess of Samsøe. Christian V and Sophie Amalie had six children who were all publicly acknowledged. Following the practice of his grandfather and father, Christian also gave his illegitimate children the surname Gyldenløve which means Golden Love. All the children also had Christian or Christiane among their names in honor of their royal father. The current Danish noble family of the Danneskiold-Samsøe descends from the eldest son of Sophie Amalie and King Christian V. Sophie Amalie and her children were financially secure because of the funds received from King Christian V and the crown treasury. King Christian V was an active participant in the children’s upbringing, education, and marriage negotiations. After the death of King Christian V in 1699, Sophie Amalie left the Danish court and retired to Jomfruens Egede, an estate she had purchased in 1674 in Fakse on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Twenty years later, Sophie Amalie died on January 17, 1719, aged 64.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophie Amalie Moth, Mistress of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway

January 17, 1755 – Birth of Peter I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg in Riesenberg, Kingdom of Prussia now Prabuty, Poland
Full name: Peter Friedrich Ludwig
In 1781, Peter married Friederike of Württemberg, and they had two sons. In 1785, Peter’s uncle, Friedrich August I, Duke of Oldenburg, died and was succeeded by his son Wilhelm. However, Wilhelm was mentally incapacitated, and Peter was appointed Regent. Peter established a new government for the Grand Duchy, introduced general conscription, and established the Oldenburg Infantry Regiment. Upon his cousin’s death in 1823, Peter became the reigning Grand Duke of Oldenburg. Just short of six years after assuming the throne, Peter suffered a stroke and died
Unofficial Royalty: Peter I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg

January 17, 1764 – Birth of Maria Carolina of Savoy, Electoral Princess of Saxony, 1st wife of the future Anton, King of Saxony, at the Royal Palace of Turin in the Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy
Full name: Maria Carolina Antonietta Adelaide
The daughter of Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy and Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Maria Carolina was the first wife of the future Anton, King of Saxony.  She married Anton on October 24, 1781. Around December 14, 1782, Maria Carolina became ill with smallpox, and died on December 28, 1782, at the age of 18.
Unofficial Royalty; Maria Carolina of Savoy, Electoral Princess of Saxony

January 17, 1779 – Birth of Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily, Queen of Sardinia, wife of Carlo Felice, King  of Sardinia, at Caserta Palace in the Kingdom of Naples, now in Italy
Maria Cristina was the daughter of Ferdinando IV, King of Naples and Sicily (later Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies) and Maria Carolina of Austria. Her maternal grandmother was Maria Theresa, the sovereign ruler of the Habsburg territories from 1740 until her death in 1780, and was the only female to hold the position. In 1807, Maria Cristina married the future Carlo Felice, King of Sardina but their marriage was childless. In 1821, Carlo Felice’s brother Vittorio Emanuele I was not willing to grant a liberal constitution so he abdicated the throne of Sardinia in favor of Carlo Felice who reigned until his death in 1831. Maria Cristina survived her husband by eighteen years, dying on March 11, 1849, aged 70.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily, Queen of Sardinia

Elizabeth Hay, Countess of Erroll was born Elizabeth FitzClarence, the sixth of the ten children and the third of the five daughters of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom and his mistress Dorothea Jordan, on January 17, 1801, at Bushy House in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

January 17, 1861 – Death of Lola Montez, mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, in Brooklyn, New York; buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York
Lola Montez was a dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. She was born Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert on February 17, 1821, in Ireland. Starting in 1842, using the stage name Maria de los Dolores Porrys y Montez, also known as Lola Montez, she pretended to be a Spanish dancer from Seville, Spain. She also accepted favors from wealthy men in return for sex and was widely regarded as a courtesan. Lola became famous for her Spider Dance, which involved her shaking imaginary tarantulas out of her clothes and stamping on them. She then raised her skirt so high that the audience could see that she wore no underwear. In 1846, 25-year-old Lola became the mistress of the 60-year-old King Ludwig I of Bavaria. At the start of the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, Lola was forced to flee, living in Austria, Switzerland, France, and London, working as an entertainer and lecturer. In 1851, Lola went to the United States where she was surprisingly successful. In 1852, on Broadway, she played herself in a theater revue, Lola Montez in Bavaria. She toured the east coast until 1853 when she went to San Francisco where her performances created a sensation. By 1860, Lola was exhibiting the third-stage effects of syphilis. She died on January 17, 1861, aged 39, in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City.
Unofficial Royalty: Lola Montez, mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria

January 17, 1870 – Birth of Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma, Princess of Bulgaria, first wife Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria, in Rome, Italy
Full name: Maria Luisa Pia Teresa Anna Ferdinanda Francesca Antonietta Margherita Giuseppina Caroline Bianca Lucia Apollonia
Maria Luisa was the eldest child of Robert I, Duke of Parma and his first wife Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. In 1893, she married the reigning Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria. They had four children including Boris III, Tsar of Bulgaria. Maria Luisa’s marriage, which had been strictly for political and dynastic reasons, was not a happy one. Having given birth to three children, and expecting a fourth within five years had taken a toll on her already frail health. 29-year-old Maria Luisa developed pneumonia while pregnant with her youngest child, and died on January 31, 1899, just a day after giving birth.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma, Princess of Bulgaria

January 17, 1882 – Birth of Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, Princess Nicholas of Greece, daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and wife of Prince Nicholas of Greece, in St. Petersburg, Russia
Elena was the only daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Through her father, she was the granddaughter of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, niece of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, and first cousin of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. In 1902, Elena married her second cousin Prince Nicholas of Greece, the son of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia. The couple had three daughters including Princess Marina of Greece who married Prince George, Duke of Kent. Because of the political situation in Greece, members of the Greek royal family, including Elena and her husband, were often in exile. The Greek monarchy was restored in 1935, and the following year, Elena and Nicholas returned to Greece. Having suffered from declining health for several years, Prince Nicholas died in 1938. Elena remained in Greece throughout World War II. Along with her sister-in-law, Princess Andreas of Greece (the former Princess Alice of Battenberg), Elena worked with the Red Cross during World War II to organize shelters and nurses in the poor neighborhoods of Athens. Elena lived out the rest of her life in Greece, enjoying a close relationship with King Paul and Queen Friederike, and a particularly close bond with the future King Constantine II.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, Princess Nicholas of Greece

January 17, 1905 – Death of Caroline Reuss of Greiz, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, first wife of Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, in Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, now in Thuringia, Germany; buried in the Weimarer Fürstengruft in the Historical Cemetery of Weimar in Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, now in Thuringia, Germany
In 1903, Caroline married Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The wedding was attended by the groom’s second cousin, Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia and his wife Augusta Viktoria, as well as his first cousin, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and her husband Prince Hendrik. Caroline was against the arranged marriage, and it was only through the insistence of Wilhelm II and his wife Augusta Viktoria that she went through with the ceremony. The couple had no children, and their marriage lasted less than two years. Caroline died on January 17, 1905, at just 20 years old. Officially, the cause of death was pneumonia, but there were many rumors that she died by suicide.
Unofficial Royalty: Caroline Reuss of Greiz, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

January 17, 1908 – Death of Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany in Salzburg, Austria; buried in the Tuscan Vault at Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria
Ferdinando was the son of Leopoldo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his second wife Maria Antonia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. In 1856, Ferdinando married Princess Anna of Saxony, daughter of Johann, King of Saxony. Anna gave birth to a daughter in 1858. However, a year later, Anna miscarried a daughter due to typhoid fever and died four days later. In 1859, the Grand Ducal family was forced to flee Florence because of the wars caused by the Italian unification movement. Leopoldo II abdicated in favor of his son Ferdinand IV who was Grand Duke of Tuscany in name but never really reigned. Ferdinando was unable to return to Florence to claim his throne, and an elected Tuscan National Assembly formally deposed him. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860, as a part of the unification of Italy and in 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy. Ferdinando spent the rest of his life in exile in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. In 1868, Ferdinando married Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma and the couple had ten children. Ferdinando died at the age of 72.
Unofficial Royalty: Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany

January 17, 1991 – Death of King Olav V of Norway at the Royal Lodge (Kongsseteren) in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway; buried at the Akershus Fortress in Oslo, Norway
The son of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of the United Kingdom, he assumed the name Olav when his father became King Haakon VII of Norway in 1905. He was the paternal grandson of King Frederik VIII of Denmark and Princess Louise of Sweden, and the maternal grandson of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Princess Alexandra of Denmark.  An avid skier and sailor, Olav represented Norway in the 1928 Olympic Games, winning a Gold Medal in the sailing competition, and remained active in sailing his whole life. In 1929, Olav married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden. They had three children including the current King of Norway, Harald V. In April 1954, Crown Princess Märtha died of cancer, having been ill for some time. Three years later, Olav became King of Norway, following the death of his father. Olav, already much loved by the Norwegian people, became even more popular during his reign. He was often found among his people – driving around town, stopping in shops, taking the train to the ski slopes unaccompanied – gaining him the nickname “The People’s King”. King Olav V died of a heart attack on January 17, 1991, at the age of 88.
Unofficial Royalty: King Olav V of Norway

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Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught; Credit – Wikipedia

January 16, 1245 – Birth of Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster and Leicester, son of King Henry III of England, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England
Edmund was named after his father’s favorite saint, Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia who was killed in 869 by Vikings on the orders of Ivar the Boneless and his brother Ubba. A couple of 14th-century chroniclers misinterpreted “Crouchback” as meaning Edmund had a physical deformity, but it is probable that “Crouchback” refers to his participation in the Ninth Crusades when he would have worn a cross on his back. Edmund first married Aveline de Forz, Countess of Aumale and Lady of Holderness in 1269, but she died childless five years later. In 1276, Edmund married Blanche of Artois, widow of King Henri I of Navarre, and they had three sons. Edmund was a loyal supporter of his brother King Edward I of England who succeeded to the throne in 1272. In 1271, Edmund had accompanied his elder brother Edward on the Ninth Crusade to Palestine. In 1277, Edmund was appointed commander of Wales. In 1282, Edmund ambushed and executed Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Gwynedd, the last native and sovereign Prince of Wales. This lead to the final defeat and annexation of Wales in 1283.
Unofficial Royalty: Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster and Leicester

January 16, 1362 – Birth of Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Marquess of Dublin, 9th Earl of Oxford, favorite of King Richard II of England
In 1376, Robert married Philippa de Coucy, daughter of Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy and Isabella of England, the eldest daughter of King Edward III of England. Robert was often at court in his role as Lord Great Chamberlain and as the husband of King Richard II’s first cousin. He quickly became a favorite of the young king and a member of the Privy Council. Robert became very unpopular with the other nobles and his close relationship with Richard II was one of the causes for the emergence of organized opposition to Richard called the Lords Appellant. In 1387, the Lords Appellant launched an armed rebellion against King Richard II and defeated an army under Robert de Vere at the Battle of Radcot Bridge on the River Thames, outside Oxford. Robert fled to France and was attainted, found guilty of treason, lost his titles and land, and sentenced to death in absentia. In 1392, in Louvain, Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium, 30-year-old Robert de Vere died in exile and poverty from the wounds received while hunting a wild boar.
Unofficial Royalty: Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, Marquess of Dublin, 9th Earl of Oxford

January 16, 1831 – Birth of Alexander, Prince of Lippe in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Full name: Karl Alexander
As the fifth of the six sons of Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, Alexander was not expected to succeed to the throne. He served as a captain in the army of the Kingdom of Hanover, and in 1851, when he was 20-year-old, he had a fall from his horse. Over the subsequent years, he developed the first signs of a mental disorder. In 1870, due to the worsening of his mental disorder, Alexander was legally declared incapacitated. The following year, it became necessary to place Alexander in the St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium, a private sanatorium for men with nervous and mental disorders, near Bayreuth, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, where he spent the remainder of his life. When Alexander’s father Leopold II died in 1851, he was succeeded by his eldest son as Leopold III. The childless Leopold III died in 1875 and he was succeeded by his next brother Woldemar who was also childless. During Woldemar’s reign, Alexander became Woldemar’s only surviving brother, the last of the line of the House of Lippe, and therefore his heir. When Woldemar died in 1895, his incapacitated brother Alexander succeeded him as Prince of Lippe, with a regency. There was a huge disagreement about who should be regent and who should be Alexander’s successor, so huge that Wilhelm II, German Emperor became involved. (Read more about it in Alexander’s article.)
Unofficial Royalty: Alexander, Prince of Lippe

January 16, 1836 – Birth of Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Full name: Francesco d’Assisi Maria Leopoldo
Francesco II was the last King of the Two Sicilies. In 1859, he married Maria Sophie of Bavaria. The couple had one daughter. Three months after his marriage Francesco’s father died and he became King of the Two Sicilies. During the reign of Francesco II, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860-1861 invasion called the Expedition of the Thousand led to the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which then was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861. After losing his throne, Francesco lived in Rome but in 1870, the annexation of the Papal States to Italy, including Rome, forced Francesco and Maria Sophie to find refuge in Austria, France, and Bavaria. Maria Sophie purchased Garatshausen Castle on Lake Starnberg in the Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria from her brother Ludwig, and the castle became their home.
Unofficial Royalty: Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies

Elizabeth Hay, Countess of Erroll, born Elizabeth FitzClarence in the churchyard of St. Mary’s Church in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, Greater London. Elizabeth survived her husband by a little less than ten years, dying on January 16, 1856, aged 54, in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was buried with her husband at St. Mary’s Church in Wimbledon.

January 16, 1928 – Death of Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen at Schloss Altenstein in Bad Liebenstein, Germany where he was buried
Bernhard III was the last reigning Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, a scholar, a Field Marshal in the Prussian army, and the husband of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Charlotte of Prussia. He was interested in the Greek language and was the author and translator of several works. Between 1873 and 1894, he made numerous study trips to Greece and Asia Minor, where he visited archaeological sites and had worked with well-known archaeologists. In 1878,  Bernhard married Princess Charlotte of Prussia, the eldest daughter of Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia and Victoria, Princess Royal, and the sister of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Bernhard and Charlotte had one child. After his abdication in 1918 at the end of World War I, Bernhard lived his remaining years at Schloss Altenstein in Bad Liebenstein, now in Germany. His wife Charlotte died in 1919. Bernhard survived her by nine years, dying at the age of 76,
Unofficial Royalty: Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

January 16, 1935 – Death of Alicia of Parma, Titular Grand Duchess of Tuscany, wife of Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany at Schloss Schwertburg in Schwertburg, Austria; first buried in Schwertburg, and in 2007, her remains were reburied in the cemetery of the parish church in St. Gilgen, near Salzburg, Austria.
Alicia was the daughter of Carlo III, Duke of Parma and Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France, who was a granddaughter of King Charles X of France. Alicia’s father was assassinated in 1854 and her six-year-old brother Roberto became Duke of Parma. Roberto lost his throne in 1859 during the Italian unification movement. In 1868, Alicia became the second wife of the former Ferdinando IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Ferdinando lost his throne due to the Italian unification and was in exile like Alicia’s family. Alicia and Ferdinando had ten children. Ferdinando and Alicia lived at the Villa Tuscany in Lindau, Austria during the summer, and during the winter they lived in a wing of the Salzburg Residenz, formerly the residence of the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg. Both residences were provided by Ferdinando’s second cousin Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria. Alice’s husband Ferdinando Ferdinando died in 1908, at the age of 72. Alicia survived him by twenty-seven years, dying on January 16, 1935, aged 85.
Unofficial Royalty: Alicia of Bourbon-Parma, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

January 16, 1942 – Death of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria, at Bagshot Park in Surrey, England; buried at the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore in Windsor, England
Arthur had a 40-year military career and participated in many missions in various parts of the British Empire. In 1879, Arthur married Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia and the couple had three children. Through their daughter Margaret, who married the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Arthur and Louise Margaret are the ancestors of the Danish and Swedish royal families. Two of their great-grandchildren are current monarchs: Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. In 1911, in order to strengthen the links between the British monarchy and Canada, Arthur was appointed the first Governor-General of Canada who was a member of the Royal Family. After his time in Canada, Arthur returned to the British Army and served for the rest of World War I. Louise Margaret, who had been ill during their stay in Canada, died of influenza and bronchitis in 1917, at the age of 56. Arthur withdrew from public life in 1928 and died on January 16, 1942, at his home Bagshot Park in Surrey, England at the age of 91. His sister Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll also died at the age of 91, making both Arthur and Louise the longest-lived of Victoria and Albert’s children.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught

January 16, 1957 – Death of Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, husband of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Alice of Albany, at Kensington Palace in London, England; buried at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore in Windsor, England
Born Prince Alexander of Teck, and called Alge, his mother was Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a male-line granddaughter of King George III and a first cousin of Queen Victoria.  His sister was Queen Mary, wife of King George V. In 1904, Alge married Princess Alice of Albany, the daughter of Queen Victoria’s hemophiliac son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Alice and Alge had two surviving children, a son Rupert and a daughter May. In 1928, 20-year-old Rupert died from an injury received in a car accident which he probably would have recovered from had he not been a hemophiliac. Upon the orders of King George V, during World War I, Alge and other royal family members relinquished the use of all German titles and dignities. Alge became Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone. From 1924-1930, Alge was Governor-General of South Africa and he was the Governor-General of Canada from 1940-1946. In 1946, Alge retired and he and Alice took a grace and favor apartment at Kensington Palace in London. Alge died on January 16, 1957, at Kensington Palace at the age of 82. His wife Alice survived him by 24 years, dying on January 3, 1981, one month short of her 98th birthday, the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone

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Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

January 15, 1776 – Birth of Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, great-grandson of King George II, nephew and son-in-law of King George III, and husband of Princess Mary of the United Kingdom, at Palazzo Teodoli in Via del Corso, Rome, Italy
William Frederick was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and like his father, Prince William Henry, 1st Duke of Gloucester (brother of King George III), had a career in the British Army, attaining the rank of Field Marshal in 1816. He was an advocate for the abolition of slavery, served as President of the African Institution, and was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. In 1816, 40-year-old William Frederick married his 40-year-old first cousin Princess Mary, the daughter of King George III.  Mary and William’s marriage was childless and the couple lived at Gloucester House in Piccadilly, London and Bagshot Park, now the home of Queen Elizabeth II’s youngest child Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. William Frederick died at the age of 58 after being ill with a fever for fifteen days.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester

January 15, 1781 – Death of Mariana Victoria of Spain, wife of King José I of Portugal at Barraca Real of Ajuda, Portugal; first buried at the Church of São Francisco de Paula in Lisbon, Portugal, her remains were later transferred to the Pantheon of the House of Braganza in Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal
The daughter of Felipe V, the first Bourbon King of Spain, and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, Mariana Victoria married the future José, I. King of Portugal in 1729. The couple had four daughters including Maria I, Queen of Portugal. After King José suffered a series of strokes, Mariana Victoria was created Regent of Portugal in 1776, and remained Regent until José’s death. José I, King of Portugal died in 1777. Mariana Victoria had a significant influence on her daughter Maria I, Queen of Portugal, who would often ask her mother’s advice on matters of state.
Unofficial Royalty: Mariana Victoria of Spain, Queen of Portugal

January 15, 1875 – Birth of King Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, then in the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa, now the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz was an Arab tribal leader who founded the Kingdom of  Saudi Arabia. He was King of Saudi Arabia from 1932 until his death in 1953. He had ruled parts of the kingdom since 1902, having previously been Emir, Sultan, and King of Nejd, and King of Hejaz. Abdulaziz had a polygamous household comprising of several wives at a time and numerous concubines. It is thought he had a total of 22-24 wives. He was the father of almost a hundred children, including 45 sons of whom 36 survived to adulthood. The six Kings of Saudi Arabia who followed King Abdulaziz were all his sons including Salman, the current King of Saudi Arabia. At the age of 78, Abdulaziz died in his sleep from a heart attack with his son Prince Faisal, a future King of Saudi Arabia, at his bedside.
Unofficial Royalty: King Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) of Saudi Arabia

January 15, 1882 – Birth of Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden, daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and first wife of the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, at Bagshot Park in Surrey, England
Full name: Margaret Victoria Augusta Charlotte Norah
Margaret was the daughter of Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. In 1905, Margaret married the future King Gustaf VI Adolf, then Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Skåne. The couple had four sons and one daughter, and the Danish and Swedish Royal Families are the descendants of Margaret and Gustaf Adolf. Margaret was eager to learn the Swedish language and history, endearing her to the Swedish public. During World War I in neutral Sweden, Margaret organized supply drives and acted as a go-between for her relatives whose Allied and Axis countries were divided by the war. In 1907, when Gustaf Adolf’s grandfather King Oscar II died and his father then became King Gustaf V, Gustaf Adolf and Margaret became the Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden. Margaret was eight months pregnant with her sixth child in 1920 when she underwent mastoid surgery. An infection set in, killing Margaret, at the age of 38, and her unborn child on May 1, 1920, her father’s 70th birthday. Her family along with the Swedish and British public mourned her death greatly.
Unofficial Royalty:  Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden

January 15, 1902 – Birth of King Saud of Saudi Arabia at the home of his paternal grandfather Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud, Emir of Nejd in Kuwait City, Kuwait
Upon the death of his father King Abdulaziz in 1953, Saud became the second King of Saudi Arabia and reorganized the government. Saud sought to maintain friendly relations with the United States, while also supporting other Arab countries in their conflicts against Israel. Saud’s inability to deal with the Saudi national debt brought him into a power struggle with his half-brother Crown Prince Faisal. This resulted in the forced abdication of Saud by senior members of the royal family and Faisal becoming King of Saudi Arabia. Saud lived the rest of his life in exile.
Unofficial Royalty: King Saud of Saudi Arabia

January 15, 1945 – Birth of Princess Michael of Kent, wife of Prince Michael of Kent, born Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz in Carlsbad, then in the German-controlled Sudetenland, now known as Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. 
Full name: Marie-Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida
After her first marriage to English banker Thomas Troubridge ended in divorce and an annulment from the Roman Catholic Church, Marie-Christine married Prince Michael of Kent, a grandson of King George V and a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Because his wife was Roman Catholic, Prince Michael forfeited his place in the line of succession under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701. When the Succession to The Crown Act 2013 went into effect, eliminating the exclusion of anyone who marries a Roman Catholic, Prince Michael was returned to his place in the line of succession. Marie-Christine and Michael had two children who were raised in the Church of England. Neither Princess Michael nor her husband have official royal duties or receive public funds. However, they occasionally represent Queen Elizabeth II at events abroad. Princess Michael works as a writer, historian, lecturer, interior designer, and art consultant.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Michael of Kent

January 15, 1968 – Birth of Inaki Urdangarin y Liebaert in Zumarraga, Spain, husband of Infanta Cristina of Spain
Iñaki was a professional handball player and was a member of the Spanish Olympic Handball Team in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics, winning bronze in 1996 and 2000, and serving as team captain in 2000. While participating in the 1996 Olympics, he met Infanta Cristina of Spain. They married in 1997 and had four children. In 2003, he was a founding partner of the Nóos Institute and served as President until 2006. At that time, he became a director at Telefónica International in Barcelona. In 2009, Iñaki and his family moved to Washington DC after he was appointed director and president of the Public Affairs Committee for Telefónica Latin America and the United States. In early 2011, allegations were made against Iñaki regarding the misappropriation of public funds through his Nóos Institute. He was charged with embezzlement, fraud, breach of trust, forgery, and money laundering. Infanta Cristina was also charged with tax fraud and money laundering. In 2017, Infanta Cristina was acquitted of tax fraud and money laundering, and Iñaki was found guilty of embezzling and of political corruption. He was sentenced to six years and three months in prison. In 2018, the Supreme Court in appeal reduced his sentence to a term of five years and ten months. On September 19, 2019, Urdangarín began working two days a week helping intellectually disabled adults at the Hogar Don Orione Center in the Madrid municipality of Pozuelo de Alarcón. After spending a period of time in prison, Urdangarín was upgraded to the Grade 3 regime, meaning he regained his freedom of movement and only has to report in once a week.
Unofficial Royalty: Inaki Urdangarin

January 15, 1996 – Death of King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho in the Maloti Mountains, Lesotho; buried on Thaba Bosiu, a plateau in Lesotho, the stronghold of King Moshoeshoe I (reigned 1822 – 1870) and once the capital of Lesotho
Moshoeshoe II was Paramount Chief of Basutoland (the former name of Lesotho) from 1960 – 1965 and King of Lesotho from 1965 – 1990. The Kingdom of Lesotho is a country completely within the borders of South Africa. In December 1990, he was deposed and his elder son became king, reigning as King Letsie III. Letsie III was embarrassed at being king while his father was still alive, and tried to persuade the government to reinstate his father as king. In August 1994 he enacted a new coup d’état with the army. Having obtained power, Letsie promised to return power to the previous government on the condition that Moshoeshoe II would return to being King of Lesotho. Moshoeshoe II’s second reign was brief. In the Maloti Mountains in Lesotho, Moshoeshoe’s car plunged off a mountain road during the early hours of January 15, 1996, killing him and his chauffeur. Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral ceremony. The procession stretched for miles along the road from the king’s favorite farm in Matsieng to Thaba Bosiu, the birthplace of the Basotho nation and the burial place of its kings.
Unofficial Royalty: King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho

January 15, 2006 – Death of Jaber III al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, 3rd Emir of Kuwait in Kuwait City, Kuwait; buried at Sulaibikhat Cemetery in Sulaibikhat, Al Asimah, Kuwait
Jaber III Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah reigned as the 13th Ruler and 3rd Emir of Kuwait from 1977 – 2006. He was Emir of Kuwait during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq and the subsequent Persian Gulf War. Unlike many other rulers in the Middle East, Emir Jaber stood out for his modest style. He declined to put his own image on the nation’s currency and he lived in what Kuwaitis considered a relatively simple home. The Kuwaiti people often referred to him as Baba Jaber or Father Jaber. Jaber suffered from some health problems in his last years, and he traveled outside Kuwait to receive treatment a number of times, including in September 2001, when he suffered a stroke and went to the United Kingdom for treatment. On January 15, 2006, Jaber III Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 3rd Emir of Kuwait, aged 79, died from a cerebral hemorrhage at Dasman Palace in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Unofficial Royalty: Jaber III al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, 3rd Emir of Kuwait

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Princess Mary of Great Britain, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel; Credit – Wikipedia

 January 14, 1766 – Death of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Frederik had a very sensual nature and loved wine and women. He spent so much time visiting Copenhagen’s pubs and brothels that his father King Christian VI considered disinheriting him from the throne. When he married Louisa of Great Britain in 1743, the Danish government hoped (incorrectly) that marriage would put a damper on his affairs and drunkenness. Frederik and Louisa had five children. When Frederik became king, he did take part in the government by attending council meetings but was afflicted with alcoholism, and most of his reign was dominated by his very able ministers. In 1752, a year after Louisa died due to complications from a miscarriage. Frederik married Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and the couple had one son. In 1760, Frederik broke his leg in a drunken accident, which affected his health for the rest of his life. He died on January 14, 1766, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark at the age of 42.
Unofficial Royalty: King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway

January 14, 1767 – Birth of Maria Theresia of Austria, Queen of Saxony, wife of King Anton of Saxony, in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
Full name: Maria Theresia Josepha Charlotte Johanna
Maria Theresia was the eldest child of Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany (later Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor) and Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain. In 1787, she married the future King Anton of Saxony. The couple had four children, none of whom lived past infancy. In 1827, Maria Theresia and her husband became King and Queen of Saxony. Sadly, her tenure as Queen was short-lived. Just six months after her husband’s accession, Queen Maria Theresia died at the age of 60.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Theresia of Austria, Queen of Saxony

January 14, 1772 – Death of Princess Mary of Great Britain, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel, daughter of King George II of Great Britain, at Hanau, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany; buried at the Reformed Church in Hanau
In 1740, Mary married Friedrich II, the future Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. As Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, Friedrich became famous during the American Revolution as a supplier of thousands of Hessian soldiers who fought on behalf of the British. Mary and Friedrich had four sons and they are the ancestors of six of the ten current European monarchs. The marriage was unhappy, and Friedrich reportedly abused Mary to spousal abuse. The couple separated in 1754 on Friedrich’s conversion to Roman Catholicism. Mary was supported by her father-in-law as she did not wish to return to Great Britain because she believed it was her duty to remain in the place that God had placed her and that she would ensure her sons would be brought up Protestant. In 1756, Mary moved to Denmark, to take care of the children of her sister Louisa of Great Britain (wife of King Frederik V above), who had died in 1751. She took her children with her, and they were raised at the Danish court and her sons were married to Danish princesses. Her husband succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in 1760, and so Mary was technically Landgravine consort for the last twelve years of her life, despite her estrangement from her husband. Mary died on January 14, 1772, in Hanau, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany, at the age of 48.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Mary of Great Britain, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel

January 14, 1823 – Birth of Carlo III, Duke of Parma at the Villa delle Pianore near Lucca in the Duchy of Lucca, now in Italy
Full name: Ferdinando Carlo Vittorio Giuseppe Maria Baldassarre
Carlo’s father was in financial difficulty and so he decided to marry his son to a princess with a large dowry. The chosen bride was Louise Marie Therese of France, the granddaughter of King Charles X of France. Carlo and Louise Therese Marie were married in 1847 had four children.  Carlo became Duke of Parma upon the abdication in 1849 of his very unpopular father Carlo II Ludovico. Carlo III, Duke of Parma reigned for only five years and was assassinated for his authoritarian policies. His six-year-old son Roberto became Duke of Parma with his mother as regent but had a short reign. In 1859, the Duchy of Parma was abolished during the Italian unification movement. It was merged with the Kingdom of Sardinia as part of the unification of Italy. In 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy.
Unofficial Royalty: Carlo III, Duke of Parma

January 14, 1831 – Birth of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in Hesse, Germany
In 1845, Georg Viktor’s father died and his mother Emma served as Regent of the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont until he reached his majority in 1852. In 1853, Georg Victor married Helena of Nassau. Helena proved to be very successful in finding suitable marriages for their children by making contacts with various European royal houses. Because of her efforts, the relatively poor House of Waldeck-Pyrmont was linked to the richer ruling dynasties of Würtemberg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Their daughter Emma married King Willem III of the Netherlands and their daughter Helena married Queen Victoria’s son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Georg Viktor and his wife Helena are the ancestors of the Dutch royal family through their daughter Emma and the Swedish royal family through their daughter Helena. Three years after Georg Viktor’s wife Helena died in 1888, he married Louise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. They had one son, Prince Wolrad, who was killed in action during World War I. A year after the birth of his son Wolrad, Georg Viktor, aged 62, died from pneumonia on May 12, 1893.
Unofficial Royalty: Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

January 14, 1850 – Birth of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
Alexei is most well-known for his coast-to-coast official visit to the United States in 1871 where one of the highlights was buffalo hunting with Buffalo Bill Cody, General George Armstrong Custer, and General Philip Sheridan. Being the fourth of six sons, Alexei had a career in the Russian Imperial Navy. He was ultimately promoted to Admiral-General and Chief of the Fleet and Naval Department and Chairman of the Admiralty Board. At the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, when the Russian naval fleet was defeated, Alexei was dismissed from all naval posts.  He then spent most of the time in Paris, France in a house he had bought in 1897. There he welcomed writers, painters, actors, and actresses. He loved living in Paris and was a familiar figure in restaurants and theaters. He died of pneumonia on November 27, 1908, in Paris at the age of 58.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia

January 14, 1880 – Death of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein in Wiesbaden, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Hesse, Germany; buried in the Ducal Graveyard in Primkenau, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Przemków, Poland
In 1864, following the Second Schleswig War, the Duchy of Holstein and the Duchy of Schleswig became occupied territories of the German Confederation and two years later, following the Austro-Prussian War, part of the new Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein. However, Prussia recognized Friedrich as the mediatized duke of these two duchies, with the rank and all the titles. In 1856, Friedrich married Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. She was the daughter of Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Feodora of Leiningen (the half-sister of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom). Together they had seven children. At just 50 years old, Friedrich VIII died in Wiesbaden, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Hesse, Germany on January 14, 1880.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein

January 14, 1892 – Death of Prince Albert Victor (Eddy), eldest son of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England; buried in the Albert Memorial Chapel at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Eddy, as he was known, was second in line of succession to the British throne after his father, the future King Edward VII. Eddy was inattentive and lazy and never excelled in his studies. Perhaps this was due to his premature birth which can be associated with learning disabilities. Eddy’s family decided that finding a suitable wife might help correct his attitude and behavior. In December 1891, Eddy became engaged to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, known as May, the daughter of Queen Victoria’s first cousin Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. The wedding was set for February 27, 1892. In the midst of the wedding preparations, Eddy developed a high fever on January 7, 1892. His sister Victoria and other household members had been ill with influenza, which Eddy also developed. Two days later, his lungs became inflamed and pneumonia was diagnosed. In the early morning hours of January 14, 1892, a chaplain was summoned to Eddy’s bedroom. There, surrounded by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, his brother George, his sisters Louise, Victoria, and Maud, his fiancée May, and her mother the Duchess of Teck, Eddy died at 9:35 a.m. Eddy’s funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and he was buried in the Albert Memorial Chapel in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, England. May’s wedding bouquet of orange blossoms lay on his coffin. May eventually married Eddy’s brother George and they became the beloved King George V and Queen Mary.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence

January 14, 1939 – Death of Prince Valdemar of Denmark, son of King Christian IX of Denmark, at the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark; buried in Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Valdemar was the youngest of the six children of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. He was the brother of King Frederik VIII of Denmark, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, King George I of Greece, and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. In 1885, Valdemar married Princess Marie of Orléans. Valdemar and Marie had four sons and one daughter. Three of their sons made unequal marriages and relinquished their position within the Danish Royal Family upon marrying without official consent from the monarch. Valdemar had a lifelong naval career which frequently caused him to be away from home. When his wife Marie died in 1909, after a long illness, Valdemar was on a long naval voyage. Valdemar survived Marie by 30 years, dying on January 14, 1939, at the age of 80.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Valdemar of Denmark

January 14, 1972 – Death of King Frederik IX of Denmark at Copenhagen Municipal Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark; buried outside Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
In 1935, Frederik married Princess Ingrid of Sweden, daughter of King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The couple had three daughters including Frederik’s successor Queen Margrethe II. In 1947, Frederik succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father King Christian X. During Frederik’s reign the 1953 Danish Act of Succession was adopted which allowed for female succession in the event that the monarch had no sons. A 2009 succession law now allows for the succession of the firstborn child regardless of gender. Frederik had a great love for music and was a talented pianist and conductor. Several recordings of orchestral music originally heard on Danish radio conducted by King Frederik have been released on CDs. In January 1972, shortly after Frederik had given his New Year speech, he became ill with flu-like symptoms. On January 3, 1972, he had a cardiac arrest and was rushed to Copenhagen Municipal Hospital. The king improved for a time but took a turn for the worse on January 11, and on January 14, 1972, King Frederik IX died at the age of 72.  Unlike other Danish monarchs who had been buried inside Roskilde Cathedral, Frederik wanted to be buried outside the cathedral in sight of the sea. Frederik had a career in the Royal Danish Navy where he had several senior commands and attained the rank of Rear Admiral.
Unofficial Royalty: King Frederik IX of Denmark

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Sophie of Prussia, Queen of Greece; Credit – Wikipedia

January 13, 1735 – Death of Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia, second wife of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia, at the Royal Palace of Turin in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin
Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the second of the three wives, all of whom died young, of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. Polyxena and Carlo Emanuele III had six children including her husband’s successor Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia. She was active in charity work, founding a home for young mothers in Turin. Polyxena worked with Italian architect Filippo Juvarra, the architect of the great Basilica of Superga in Turin, to remodel and renovate several buildings. In 1733, Polyxena gave birth to her last child Prince Carlo of Savoy, Duke of Chablais, who lived a little over five months. She fell seriously ill in June 1734 and died on January 13, 1735, aged 28.
Unofficial Royalty: Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia

January 13, 1797 – Death of Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern, Queen of Prussia, wife of King Friedrich II of Prussia; at the Stadtschloss in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany; buried at the Berlin Cathedral
In 1733, Elisabeth Christine married Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia. The marriage had been arranged between the groom’s father, King Friedrich Wilhelm I in Prussia, and the bride’s uncle, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. They had no children and basically lived separate lives until their deaths. In 1740, Elisabeth’s father-in-law died and her husband succeeded him. Despite their separation, the new King understood the importance of court life and ensured that Elisabeth Christine had a very prominent and official role. While Friedrich II rarely attended any court functions, Elisabeth Christine was always there, even often representing him at his own birthday celebrations. Beloved by the people of Prussia, Elisabeth Christine became a symbol of strength during the Seven Years’ War. Further endearing herself to the Prussian people was her charity work. She donated the majority of her allowance to charitable causes each year. Widowed in 1786, the Dowager Queen continued to have a very prominent role at court and was often consulted on matters of etiquette and court life. Eleven years after the death of her husband, Elisabeth Christine died at the age of 82.
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern, Queen of Prussia

January 13, 1883 – Birth of Prince Arthur of Connaught, grandson of Queen Victoria, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Full name: Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert
Prince Arthur was the son of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia. Like his father, Arthur had a military career. He was on active duty during the Second Boer War. During World War I, Prince Arthur served as aide-de-camp to General Sir John French and General Sir Douglas Haig. He was Governor-General of South Africa from 1920 – 1923. Prince Arthur married his first cousin once removed Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, the elder daughter of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and a grandchild of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. The couple had two daughters. In 1938, Prince Arthur died of stomach cancer at the age of 55. As Prince Arthur predeceased his father The Duke of Connaught, Arthur’s son Alastair became heir to the dukedom.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Arthur of Connaught

January 13, 1897 – Death of Arcadie Claret, mistress of Leopold I, King of the Belgians in Monheim am Rhein, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of in North Rhine-Westphalia
Arcadie Claret was the mistress of Leopold I, King of the Belgians, the uncle of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, from around 1842 until the King’s death in 1865. Because their relationship became publicly known and widely discussed in the press, Leopold arranged a marriage between Arcadie and Ferdinand Meyer, his Master of the Stable and friend. This marriage of convenience provided some relief from the intense speculation about Arcadie and her relationship with Leopold. Arcadie and Leopold had two sons together, although both were registered as the children of her husband, and given the surname Meyer. Following King Leopold’s death in December 1865, Arcadie no longer found herself no longer welcome within the royal family. Within days of his death, she and her sons left Brussels and settled at her castle in Monheim. Arcadie lived a quiet and private life in Monheim for the next 31 years before dying there on January 13, 1897, at the age of 71.
Unofficial Royalty: Arcadie Claret, Mistress of Leopold I, King of the Belgians

January 13, 1905 – Death of Alexander, Prince of Lippe at the St Gilgenberg Sanatorium near Bayreuth, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Bavaria, Germany; buried in the family mausoleum in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
As the fifth of the six sons of Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, Alexander was not expected to succeed to the throne. He served as a captain in the army of the Kingdom of Hanover, and in 1851, when he was 20 years old, he had a fall from his horse. Over the subsequent years, he developed the first signs of a mental disorder. In 1870, due to the worsening of his mental disorder, Alexander was legally declared incapacitated. The following year, it became necessary to place Alexander in the St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium, a private sanatorium for men with nervous and mental disorders, near Bayreuth, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, where he spent the remainder of his life. When Alexander’s father Leopold II died in 1851, he was succeeded by his eldest son as Leopold III. The childless Leopold III died in 1875 and he was succeeded by his next brother Woldemar who was also childless. During Woldemar’s reign, Alexander became Woldemar’s only surviving brother, the last of the line of the House of Lippe, and therefore his heir. When Woldemar died in 1895, his incapacitated brother Alexander succeeded him as Prince of Lippe, with a regency. There was a huge disagreement about who should be regent and who should be Alexander’s successor, so huge that Wilhelm II, German Emperor became involved. (Read more about it in Alexander’s article.) Alexander probably knew nothing about the dispute. He remained at the St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium but was able to attend concerts and plays, and spent his time playing chess, copying pictures from illustrated newspapers, listening to music, and playing chess. However, Alexander did know his rank and position and insisted on the proper etiquette. He died at the sanatorium at the age of 73.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexander, Prince of Lippe

January 13, 1932 – Death of Sophie of Prussia, Queen of Greece, wife of King Constantine I of Greece, at Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany; first buried in the Greek Orthodox Church in Florence, Italy, in 1936, after the restoration of the Greek monarchy, her remains were buried in the mausoleum at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace in Greece
Sophie was the daughter of Victoria, Princess Royal and Friedrich III, German Emperor and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1889, she married the future King Constantine I of Greece, and they had six children and all three of their sons became King of Greece. The Greek, Romanian, Serbian, and Spanish Royal Families descend from their marriage. In 1913, Constantine’s father King George I of Greece was assassinated and he acceded to the Greek throne as King Constantine I. Due to much political turmoil, Constantine was forced to abdicate in 1917, restored to the throne in 1920, and then forced to abdicate a second time. Sophie and Constantine lived the rest of their lives in exile. Constantine died in 1923 in Palermo, Italy from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 54. Sophie spent her last years at her villa in Florence, Italy. She died at the age of 61, on January 13, 1932, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where she had been undergoing treatment for cancer.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophie of Prussia, Queen of Greece

January 13, 2017 – Death of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, former husband of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom, in Kensington, London, England; buried at St. Baglan’s Church in Llanfaglan, Wales
Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon was a gifted artist and photographer. In 1960, he married Princess Margaret, the younger daughter of King George VI and the sister of Queen Elizabeth II. The couple had two children. The marriage, while happy at the beginning, quickly turned sour. Both were rumored to have had affairs, and often battled publicly. After the couple’s divorce in 1978, Lord Snowdon remained close to the British Royal Family. Lord Snowdon married Lucy Mary Lindsay-Hogg (née Davies) and they had one daughter. This marriage would also end in divorce after it was revealed that Snowdon had fathered a son with another woman. At Princess Margaret’s funeral in 2002, he was among the leading mourners, alongside the couple’s children, Queen Elizabeth II, and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. When Lord Snowdow died at the age of 86, his son David succeeded him as 2nd Earl of Snowdon.  His former sister-in-law Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh along with their sons the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex and their grandson the Duke of Cambridge attended the memorial service for Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon on April 7, 2017, at the Church of St Margaret in Westminster, London, England on the grounds of Westminster Abbey.
Unofficial Royalty: Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon

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