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King Henri IV of France, Credit – Wikipedia

December 13, 1533 – Birth of King Erik XIV of Sweden at Stockholm Castle in Stockholm, Sweden
Erik was the only child of King Gustav I Vasa of Sweden and his first wife Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg. Early in his reign, he showed signs of mental instability, a condition that eventually led to insanity. Some scholars claim that his illness began early during his reign, while others believe that it first manifested with the Sture murders in which he and his guards killed six men. Deposed by his half-brother who became King Johan III of Sweden Erik was imprisoned, and likely murdered by arsenic poisoning. Erik, having been deposed and imprisoned, was most likely murdered. An examination of his remains in 1958 confirmed that Erik probably died of arsenic poisoning.
Unofficial Royalty: King Eric XIV of Sweden

December 13, 1553 – Birth of King Henri IV of France in Pau, Kingdom of Navarre, now in France
King Henri IV of France was the first French king of the House of Bourbon. He was the son of Queen Jeanne III of Navarre and Antoine de Bourbon, Duke de Vendôme. Although he was baptized in the Catholic Church, Henri was raised as a Protestant. Upon his mother’s death in 1572, Henri took the throne as King Henri III of Navarre. Two months later, he married Marguerite of Valois, the daughter of King Henri II of France. In 1584, Henri became the heir-presumptive to the French throne, as the last heir to King Henri III of France had died. Henri was the most senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, and therefore the rightful heir. When King Henri III of France was assassinated in 1589, King Henri III of Navarre, as the heir-presumptive, became King Henri IV of France. In a loveless and childless marriage, and knowing that he needed an heir, Henri began negotiations to end his first marriage to Marguerite of Valois. In 1600, Henri married Marie de’ Medici and the couple had six children. In 1610, Henri IV was stabbed to death while his carriage was traveling through Paris.
Unofficial Royalty: King Henri IV of France
Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Henri IV, King of France

December 13, 1621 – Death of Katarina Stenbock, Queen of Sweden, third wife of King Gustav I of Sweden at Strömsholm Palace in Sweden; buried at Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden
Katarina’s mother was the sister of King Gustav I Vasa of Sweden’s second wife Margareta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud. Therefore, Katarina was the first cousin of the ten children of Gustav Vasa and Margareta Leijonhufvud. Katarina’s parents were part of the Kungafränderna (The King’s Relatives) and were given prominent positions and had much influence at court. It is quite probable that Katerina served as a maid of honor to her aunt Margareta Leijonhufvud. When Katerina’s aunt died in 1551, Gustav Vasa decided to marry Katarina despite the king being 56 and Katarina being 17. Gustav Vasa saw this marriage as a way to forgo the costs and the time-consuming negotiations necessary to arrange a marriage with a foreign princess in the complicated political climate in Europe as a result of the ongoing conflicts caused by the Protestant Reformation. Katarina’s family saw the marriage as a way to preserve the family connection they had made with Gustav Vasa through his previous marriage with Margareta Leijonhufvud. Katarina and Gustav Vasa had no children but Katarina served as a stepmother to her first cousins, the children of Gustav Vasa and her aunt Margareta Leijonhufvud. King Gustav I Vasa’s died in 1560, aged 64. Katarina never remarried despite being only 25 years old when King Gustav I died. She dressed in mourning for the rest of her life. Katarina survived her husband by sixty-one years, dying at the age of 86.
Unofficial Royalty: Katarina Stenbock, Queen of Sweden

December 13, 1826 – Death of Louise d’Aumont Mazarin, Hereditary Princess of Monaco, wife of Prince Honoré IV of Monaco, in Paris, France; buried first at Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, in 1885 her remains were moved to Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco
Louise d’Aumont, a wealthy heiress, was the wife of Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco. However, Louise divorced Honoré before he became Prince of Monaco, and so the title she held during their marriage was Hereditary Princess of Monaco. Louise and Honoré IV had two sons, both Sovereign Princes of Monaco. In 1794, while Honoré IV was in prison during the French Revolution, Louise gave birth to an illegitimate daughter Amélie Céleste Erodore d’Aumont. The father of the child is believed to have been Antoine de Montazet, Archbishop of Lyon. After Honoré IV’s release from prison, Louise and Honoré IV’s marriage became unhappy and the couple separated. In 1798, Louise divorced Honoré IV, giving Louise sole access to her fortune.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise d’Aumont Mazarin, Hereditary Princess of Monaco

December 13, 1906 – Birth of Princess Marina of Greece, wife of Prince George, Duke of Kent, at Nicholas Palace in Athens, Greece
Marina was the youngest of the three daughters of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark (a son of King George I of the Hellenes, born Prince Vilhelm of Denmark) and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia (a granddaughter of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia). Through her father, Marina was the first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1934, she married Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V of the United Kingdom. The two were second cousins, through their mutual descent from King Christian IX of Denmark. This would be the last marriage of a foreign princess into the British Royal Family. Marina and George had three children, the first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II: Prince Edward who succeeded his father as Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Michael. Sadly, just six weeks after the birth of Prince Michael, Prince George was killed when his military plane crashed in Scotland. Marina remained a very active and highly popular member of the Royal Family. She is perhaps best known for her 26 years serving as President of the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Marina of Greece, Duchess of Kent

December 13, 1946 – Birth of Princess Maria da Glória of Orléans-Bragança, first wife of Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia, in Petrópolis, Brazil
Maria da Glória is the daughter of Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Bragança and Princess Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. She is a direct descendant of King Pedro II of Brazil and King Francisco I of the Two Sicilies. Through her mother, she is directly descended from King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, King Ferdinand VII of Spain, and Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Through both parents, she is descended from King Louis Philippe I of the French. She is also a first cousin, through her mother, of King Juan Carlos I of Spain. In 1972, Maria da Glória married Crown Prince Alexander, the pretender to the throne of Serbia. The couple had three sons before divorcing in 1985. In 1985, Maria da Glória then married Ignacio de Medina y Fernández de Córdoba, 19th Duke of Segorbe and the couple had two daughters.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Maria da Glória of Orléans-Bragança

December 13, 1958 – Death of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, in a hospital in Konstanz, Germany; buried next to her brother Grand Duke Dmitri in a side altar of the Mainau Palace Church at Mainau Castle, the estate of her son Count Lennart Bernadotte of Wisborg on the island of Mainau in Lake Constance in Germany
A first cousin of both Nicholas II, the last Emperor of All Russia and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Maria Pavlovna made an unsuccessful marriage to Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland, son of King Gustav V of Sweden. She left her husband and son and returned to Russia which caused a great scandal in Sweden. The marriage was officially dissolved and Maria’s son Lennart remained in his father’s custody and rarely saw his mother during his childhood. In 1917, Maria Pavlovna married Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Putyatin, the son of the former palace commandant at Tsarkoye Selo, where they had met as children. They had one son who died in infancy. Maria Pavlovna and her husband managed to escape Russia during the Russian Revolution which was disastrous for her family. Maria Pavlovna’s half-brother Prince Vladimir Paley, her aunt and her former guardian Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, and her father Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich were all murdered by the Bolsheviks. Maria and her husband divorced in 1923. Maria led an interesting life. She lived in Paris, London, New York, and Argentina, and worked as an embroiderer for Coco Chanel, a fashion buyer for Bergdorf Goodmans and a photojournalist in New York, and wrote two memoirs. In 1937, Maria Pavlovna was reunited with her son Lennart at his estate on the island of Mainau in Lake Constance, Germany. She lived with her son at his estate during her final years and died in a nearby hospital from pneumonia at the age of 68.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the Younger) of Russia

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Anne of Denmark, Queen of Scots, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

December 12, 1212 – Death of Geoffrey, Archbishop of York, the illegitimate son of King Henry II of England; died and buried at the Priory of Saint Michael in Grandmont, Duchy of Normandy, now in France

Unofficial Royalty: Geoffrey, Archbishop of York, Illegitimate Son of King Henry II of England (Unofficial Royalty article coming soon.)

December 12, 1296 – Death of Isabella of Mar, Countess of Carrick, first wife of Robert I, King of Scots (Robert the Bruce), due to childbirth complications at the Manor of Cardross in Dunbartonshire, Scotland; buried at Paisley Abbey in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, her tomb has not survived
Isabella of Mar was the first wife of Robert I (the Bruce), King of Scots, but she died before her husband became king. She was the daughter of Domhnall (Donald), 6th Earl of Mar and Elen the Younger ferch Llywelyn, an illegitimate daughter of the de facto Prince of Wales, Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn the Great). In 1295, Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick and Isabella of Mar married. Shortly after the wedding, Isabella became pregnant. Nineteen-year-old Isabella had a healthy pregnancy but died soon after giving birth to a daughter named Marjorie on December 12, 1296. Marjorie Bruce married Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland. Marjorie was 19-years-old at the time of her death, like her mother, who was the same age when she died in childbirth. Marjorie’s son became Robert II, King of Scots, the first monarch of the House of Stewart. Marjorie’s descendants include the House of Stuart, all their successors on the thrones of Scotland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, and many other European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: Isabella of Mar, Countess of Carrick

December 12, 1574 – Birth of Anne of Denmark, Queen of Scots, Queen of England, wife of James VI, King of Scots/James I, King of England and daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark, at Skanderborg Castle in Skanderborg, Denmark
In 1589, Anne married James VI, King of Scots, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. In 1603, James succeeded to the English throne upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England as King James I of England. Anne and James had seven children but only three survived childhood: Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales who died of typhoid fever, aged 18; Elizabeth who married Frederick V, Elector Palatine whose daughter Sophia of Hanover who became heiress presumptive to the British throne under the Act of Settlement 1701 (Sophia’s son was King George I) and King Charles I of England who was beheaded during the English Civil War. When Anne’s son Henry Frederick died, it was a great tragedy for Anne and the entire nation. Anne could not bear to have Henry’s death mentioned and people were advised not to give her condolences. After her son’s death, Anne’s health began to deteriorate and she withdrew from social activities. By 1617, Anne’s condition became debilitating. Her surviving son Charles was often with her and was at her bedside when Anne died at the age of 44 from dropsy (edema).
Unofficial Royalty: Anne of Denmark, Queen of Scots, Queen of England

December 12, 1785 – Death of Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, second wife of the future Grand Duke Carl II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany; buried in the New Crypt of the Johanniterkirche in Mirow, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg- Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
In 1784, Charlotte married the future Grand Duke Carl II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Carl had previously been married to her older sister Friederike who had died after giving birth to her tenth child two years earlier. Charlotte and Carl had one son, however, twelve days after giving birth to her son, Charlotte died of complications from childbirth.
Unofficial Royalty: Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt, Duchess of Mecklenburg- Strelitz

December 12, 1791 – Birth of Marie Louise of Austria, Empress of France, second wife of Napoléon Bonaparte and daughter of Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor (later Emperor Franz I of Austria), at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Maria Ludovica Leopoldina Franziska Therese Josepha Lucia
Archduchess Maria Ludovica of Austria was the second wife of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and later Duchess of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla in her own right. Because his wife Josephine had not provided him with an heir, French Emperor Napoleon was searching for a new bride who could bear him an heir and set his sights on the leading royal families of Europe. After Napoleon divorced his first wife, Maria Ludovica married him married in 1810, became Empress of the French and Queen of Italy, and took the French version of her name, Marie Louise. The couple did have one child, a son, who died at the age of 23. After Napoleon’s final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and his exile to Saint Helena in 1815, Marie Louise had no further contact with him. Marie Louise married two more times and had three children with her second husband. As Duchess of Parma, Marie Louise supported many causes, with much of her efforts going toward improving medical care and treatment. She established a childbirth hospital and a training school for nurses, as well as a hospital for those with mental illness.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie Louise of Austria, Empress of France

December 12, 1801 – Birth of King Johann of Saxony in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany
Full name: Johann Nepomuk Maria Joseph Anton Vincenz Aloys Franz de Paula Stanislaus Bernhard Paul Felix Damasus
In 1822, Johann married Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. They had nine children including two kings of Saxony. Johann became King of Saxony upon the death of his childless brother King Friedrich August II in 1854. His reign saw much progress within Saxony, including the extension of the railroad network, the introduction of free trade – including a commercial treaty with France – and the establishment of the Judiciary Organization. Under King Johann’s oversight, Saxony became one of the most modern and progressive of the German states.
Unofficial Royalty: King Johann of Saxony

December 12, 1843 – Death of King Willem I of the Netherlands in exile in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany; buried at Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands
Willem was the eldest surviving son of Willem V, Prince of Orange, the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. Willem’s life was disrupted by the Napoleonic Wars. The French invaded the Dutch Republic in 1795 and the family went into exile first in England and then in 1796 in Prussia where they lived until 1813. In 1806, Willem’s father died and he inherited the title Prince of Orange.  After the defeat of Napoleon, the Dutch Republic was proclaimed the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Willem became its first king. King Willem I abdicated in 1840 due to constitutional changes he did not agree with, anger over the loss of Belgium, and his desire to make a morganatic second marriage with Henriëtte d’Oultremont after the death of his first wife Wilhelmine of Prussia in 1837.  His eldest son succeeded him as Willem II.  After his abdication, Willem was styled King Willem Frederick, Count of Nassau. Willem died at the age of 71.
Unofficial Royalty: King Willem I of the Netherlands

December 12, 1912 – Death of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany; buried at the Theatine Church St. Cajetan in Munich
Luitpold was the regent and the real ruler of Bavaria from 1886 to 1912, due to the mental incompetency of his nephews, King Ludwig II and King Otto. He was the third son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In 1844, Luitpold married Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria and they had four children including Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria. On June 10, 1886, Luitpold became Prince Regent after his nephew King Ludwig II was declared mentally incompetent. Ludwig II died three days later under mysterious circumstances, and the throne passed to Ludwig’s brother Otto. However, by this time, Otto had also been declared mentally ill, and Luitpold continued as Prince Regent. Luitpold died at the age of 91, after having developed bronchitis. He was succeeded as Regent by his eldest son, who became King Ludwig III the following year, after deposing his cousin King Otto.
Unofficial Royalty: Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria

December 12, 1992 – Wedding of Anne, Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and Timothy Laurence at Crathie Church in Ballater, Scotland
Timothy Laurence first met his future wife, Anne, Princess Royal when he was Equerry to Queen Elizabeth II. As the Queen’s Equerry for three years, Timothy learned the ways of the Royal Family. He often ate with the family, accompanied them on outings, cruised with them on the royal yacht, and made formal introductions when important guests came to visit. Anne’s marriage to Mark Phillips was in trouble and Timothy caught her eye. However, it was not until 1989, when four of Timothy’s love letters were stolen from Anne’s briefcase at Buckingham Palace that the romance came to light. In the same year, Anne separated from her first husband, but her courtship with Timothy remained discreet. The couple was seldom seen together until Anne’s divorce became final in April 1992. The couple’s intention to marry was announced by Buckingham Palace on December 5, 1992, just a week before the wedding.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Princess Anne and Timothy Laurence

December 12, 1995 – Death of Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark, Hereditary Princess of Denmark, wife of her first cousin Hereditary Prince Knud of Denmark, at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Caroline-Mathilde was the granddaughter of King Frederik VIII of Denmark. In 1933, Caroline-Mathilde married her first cousin Prince Knud of Denmark. Knud was the younger son of King Christian X of Denmark who was the brother of Caroline-Mathilde’s father Prince Harald. Caroline-Mathilde and Knud had one daughter and two sons. From 1947 to 1953, Knud was the heir presumptive of his older brother King Frederick IX. Knud would have become king and Caroline Mathilde queen, but a 1953 change in the succession law caused Knud to lose his place in the succession to his niece, who became Queen Margrethe II upon the death of her father in 1972. After the change, Prince Knud was given the title of Hereditary Prince and Caroline Mathilde became Hereditary Princess.  Prince Knud died in 1976, and Caroline-Mathilde survived him by 19 years, dying at the age of 83.
Unofficial Royalty: Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark, Hereditary Princess of Denmark

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© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Viktoria Luise of Prussia, Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick; Credit – Wikipedia

December 11, 1282 – Death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales at the Battle of Orewin Bridge near Builth Wells, Wales
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was the native Prince of Wales from 1258 until his death in 1282. Llywelyn was the son of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr and grandson of Llywelyn the Great (Llywelyn I), and he was one of the last native and independent princes of Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England and English rule in Wales that followed.
Unofficial Royalty: Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales (article coming soon)

December 11, 1718 – Death of King Karl XII of Sweden during a siege at Fredriksten Fortress in Halden, Norway; buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden
Karl XII became King of Sweden at the age of fifteen in 1697 upon the death of his father Karl XI, King of Sweden, and reigned for twenty-one years.  Karl never married. For almost all of his reign, Karl XII led Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700 – 1721). He acted as the general of the army and achieved significant success for several years. After losing a decisive battle in which he was wounded and lost one-third of his forces, Karl fled to the Ottoman Empire and remained there for five years. Upon his return to Sweden, he started an offensive military campaign and ultimately lost his life in battle. In 1718, Karl once again invaded Norway by laying siege to Fredriksten Fortress. On December 11, 1718, while in the trenches close to the perimeter of Fredriksten Fortress, 36-year-old Karl was hit in the head by a projectile that entered the left side of his skull and exited on the right side of his skull, instantly killing him. The invasion was abandoned and Karl’s body was returned to Sweden where he was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm.
Unofficial Royalty: King Karl XII of Sweden

December 11, 1756 – Death of Archduchess Maria Amalie of Austria, wife of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor who was also Karl I, Elector of Bavaria, at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Electorate of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria; buried in the Theatinerkirche in Munich
The daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Maria Amalie married Karl of Bavaria, the heir to the Electorate of Bavaria. They had seven children but only four survived to adulthood. While the War of the Austrian Succession was occurring, Karl, now Elector of Bavaria was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII in 1742, and his wife Maria Amalie was now Holy Roman Empress. Karl VII’s three-year reign as Holy Roman Emperor was greatly overshadowed by the War of Austrian Succession. After the death of her husband in 1745, Maria Amalie lived at the home her husband had given her, Fürstenried Palace, for the rest of her life. She died at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich on December 11, 1756, aged 55. Like her husband, she was buried in the Theatinerkirche in Munich.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Amalie of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, Electress of Bavaria

December 11, 1817 – Death of Countess Maria Walewska, mistress of Emperor Napoleon I of France, born Countess Maria Łączyńska, Countess d’Ornano via her second marriage, in Paris, France; her heart was interred in the Ornano family crypt at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France and her body was buried with her birth family in Kiernozia, Poland
Maria Walewska was a member of the Polish nobility, and from 1807 – 1810, was the mistress of the French Emperor Napoleon I, with whom she had one son. The end of her relationship with Napoleon was very amicable, and Napoleon ensured that Marie and their son were very well provided for financially. In 1812, Marie divorced her husband and received half of his estates, which in addition to the money provided by Napoleon, made Marie a very wealthy woman. In 1816, she married for a second time, to Philippe Antoine, Count d’Ornano, a prominent military leader and a second cousin of Napoleon. In January 1817, while on a visit to Poland, she was diagnosed with a kidney disease, which became worse during her pregnancy and resulted in the birth of a son. Marie’s health continued to deteriorate and she died at just 31 years old.
Unofficial Royalty: Countess Maria Walewska, Mistress of Emperor Napoleon I of France

December 11, 1826 – Death of Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil, Queen of Portugal, first wife of Pedro I of Brazil/Pedro IV of Portugal, in childbirth at the Palacio de São Cristovão in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; buried first in the Ajuda Abbey in Rio de Janeiro, since 1954 in the Ipiranga monument in São Paulo, Brazil
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, Queen of Portugal

December 11, 1830 – Birth of Kamehameha V, King of the Hawaiian Islands in Honolulu on the island of Oahu in the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands, now in the state of Hawaii

Unofficial Royalty: Kamehameha V, King of the Hawaiian Islands

December 11, 1850 – Birth of Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton, Hereditary Princess of Monaco, first wife of Prince Albert I of Monaco, daughter of William Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton, at Hamilton Palace in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Besides having an American mother, Prince Albert II of Monaco has a Scottish great-grandmother, and not on his mother’s side, but on his father’s side. Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton was the daughter of William Alexander Anthony Archibald Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton and Princess Marie Amelie of Baden. French Emperor Napoléon III suggested a match between the future Prince Albert I of Monaco and Lady Mary Victoria. The couple married in 1869 but the marriage was unsuccessful. Mary Victoria did not like her husband and did not like Monaco and the Mediterranean, which was so unlike her native Scotland. 19-year-old, pregnant Mary Victoria left Monaco with her mother and headed to her mother’s family home in the Grand Duchy of Baden. It was in Baden that Mary Victoria gave birth to the future Prince Louis II of Monaco in 1870. Mary Victoria and Albert never reconciled. Their marriage was annulled by the Roman Catholic Church in 1880 and civilly dissolved the same year by Prince Charles III of Monaco. Their son Prince Louis was raised in Baden by his maternal grandmother and did not see his father until he was 11-years-old. Mary Victoria married a second time in 1880 to Count Tassilo Festetics de Tolna, a Hungarian noble, and the couple had four children. Mary Victoria’s second marriage was a happy one and lasted over 40 years until the death of her second husband.
Unofficial Royalty: Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton, Hereditary Princess of Monaco

December 11, 1872 – Death of Kamehameha V, King of the Hawaiian Islands in Honolulu on the island of Oahu in the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands, now in the state of Hawaii

Unofficial Royalty: Kamehameha V, King of the Hawaiian Islands

December 11, 1898 – Death of Sir William Jenner, 1st Baronet, Queen Victoria’s Physician-in-Ordinary from 1861 – 1890, at his estate Greenwood in Durley, Hampshire, England
Jenner took an interest in pathology, particularly in typhus and typhoid fever. Through his work, Jenner confirmed in 1849 that typhus and typhoid fever were two distinct diseases with very different causes. His work on the subject earned him an international reputation and made a huge impact on public health. With the importance of Jenner’s pathology work, his career quickly progressed. He taught pathological anatomy at the University College of London and became a staff doctor at University College Hospital. In 1861, his fame reached Queen Victoria who appointed him her Physician-Extraordinary. Jenner was one of the doctors who treated Prince Albert during his final illness. Despite his failure to save Albert, Jenner made a favorable impression on Queen Victoria, who appointed him her Physician-In-Ordinary in 1862. Queen Victoria and Jenner became lifelong friends, and in 1868, she created Jenner a Baronet. In December 1878, Jenner went to Darmstadt to attend Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, Queen Victoria’s daughter who had become ill with diphtheria while nursing her family, also ill with the disease. Sadly, Alice died seventeen years to the day of her father’s death. In 1890, Jenner was forced to retire from his position as Physician-In-Ordinary due to ill health. He went to live at his estate, Greenwood in Durley, Hampshire, England, where he died at the age of 83.
Unofficial Royalty: Sir William Jenner, 1st Baronet

December 11, 1936 – Abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom; his brother becomes King George VI of the United Kingdom
On December 11, 1936, King Edward VIII performed the last act of his reign, the royal assent to His Majesty’s Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, necessary because only Parliament can change the succession to the throne. On the evening of December 11, 1936, once again His Royal Highness Prince Edward, the former king gave his famous radio speech in which he said, “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.” On December 12, 1936, at the accession meeting of the Privy Council, the new King George VI announced he was going to give his brother the title Duke of Windsor with the style of Royal Highness. Letters Patent dated May 27, 1937 re-conferred the “title, style, or attribute of Royal Highness” upon the Duke of Windsor, but specifically stated that “his wife and descendants, if any, shall not hold said title or attribute”.
Unofficial Royalty: Duke of Windsor, former King Edward VIII

December 11, 1950 – Death of Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in Langenburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany; buried in the family cemetery at Schloss Langenburg in Langenburg
In 1896, Ernst married Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The couple was second cousins. Their grandmothers, Queen Victoria and Princess Feodora of Leiningen were half-sisters. Ernst and Alexandra had five children including Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg who married Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, a sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1900, Ernst’s father-in-law Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha died, and the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha passed to Alexandra’s cousin, Charles Edward, Duke of Albany. Because Charles Edward was just 16 at the time, Ernst was appointed as Regent until the new Duke reached his majority in 1905. During World War I, Ernst served the German Empire as General Delegate to the Eastern Front and also served as a special envoy to Constantinople and the Balkans in 1915. In 1936, Ernst joined the Nazi Party. Following World War II, Ernst retired from official service and lived a quiet and more private life. Ernst died at the age of 87, having survived his wife by eight years.
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

December 11, 1980 – Death of Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick, daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, in Hanover, Germany; buried in the Royal Mausoleum in the Berggarten at Herrenhausen Gardens in Hanover, Germany
Viktoria Luise was the youngest child of the seven children and the only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia. Through her father, she was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1913, Viktoria Luise married Ernst August III, Duke of Brunswick. Viktoria Luise and Ernst August had five children. Viktoria Luise’s husband was forced to abdicate on November 8, 1918, when the monarchies in Germany were abolished. The following year, he also lost his British title as a Prince of the United Kingdom under the Titles Deprivation Act. Viktoria Luise was widowed in 1953. After living many years in Brunswick, her health began to fail in the fall of 1980, and she moved to the Friederikestift, a hospital in Hanover, where she died at the age of 88.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick

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Leopold I, King of the Belgians, Credit – Wikipedia

December 10, 1756 – Birth of Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Schwerin, then in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
In 1775, Friedrich Franz married Princess Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and had six children. He also had numerous mistresses and fathered at least 15 illegitimate children. He maintained close contact with all of them, providing financial support and arranging for the best education possible for his sons. Friedrich Franz became the reigning Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1785, following the death of his childless uncle Friedrich II. After Napoleon’s defeat, Friedrich Franz was raised to Grand Duke in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna. The remaining years of his reign were focused on strengthening the education system in the Grand Duchy, as well as pushing for legal reforms and the abolishment of serfdom.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

December 10, 1825 – Birth of Sir Henry Ponsonby, Private Secretary to Queen Victoria, in Corfu, Greece, where his father was stationed with the British Army
In 1857, Henry was appointed Equerry to Prince Albert, beginning his service in the Royal Household which would continue until just months before his death in 1895. He was Queen Victoria’s Private Secretary from 1870-1895 as well as Keeper of the Privy Purse from 1878-1895.
Unofficial Royalty: Sir Henry Ponsonby

December 10, 1861 – Birth of Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, born Frances Evelyn Maynard at 27 Berkeley Square in London, England
Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, was the mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom from 1889 until 1898, while he was The Prince of Wales. A renowned social hostess, she later put much of her time and effort, and fortune into helping those less fortunate. Interestingly, Daisy was descended from King Charles II of England in several different ways, through his mistresses Nell Gwyn, Barbara Palmer, and Louise de Kéroualle.
Unofficial Royalty: Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom

December 10, 1865 – Death of Leopold I, King of the Belgians at the Royal Palace of Laeken in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium; buried in the  Royal Vault at the Church of Our Lady in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium
Born Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, King Leopold was the uncle of both Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. Leopold’s first marriage in 1816 to Princess Charlotte of Wales, the heir and the only child of the future King George IV of the United Kingdom, tragically ended when Charlotte delivered a stillborn son and died of postpartum hemorrhage. In 1831, the southern provinces of the Netherlands rebelled against Dutch rule and became a new country, Belgium. Leopold agreed to become the first King of the Belgians. Leopold had to marry to provide for the Belgian succession, and so in 1832, he married Princess Louise-Marie of Orléans, daughter of Louis-Philippe I, King of the French. The couple had four children. Leopold again became a widower when Louise-Marie died in 1850, at the age of 38 from tuberculosis. Leopold helped arrange the marriage of his niece, Queen Victoria, the daughter of his sister, to his nephew, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of his brother. Even before she succeeded to the throne, Leopold had been advising Victoria by letter, and after her accession continued to influence her. Leopold had a twenty-year relationship with Arcadie Claret with whom he had two sons. Leopold died at the age of 74. Among his last words were “Charlotte…Charlotte.” Was he calling to his daughter Charlotte or to his beloved first wife Princess Charlotte of Wales?
Unofficial Royalty: King Leopold I of the Belgians

December 10, 1936 – King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom signs the Instrument of Abdication
King Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication at Fort Belvedere, his home in Windsor Great Park, in the presence of his brothers: Prince Albert, Duke of York, the heir to the throne; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince George, Duke of Kent. The next day, the last act of his reign was the royal assent to His Majesty’s Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, necessary because only Parliament can change the succession to the throne. On the evening of December 11, 1936, once again His Royal Highness Prince Edward, the former king gave his famous radio speech in which he said, “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”
Unofficial Royalty: King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, Duke of Windsor

December 10, 2014 – Birth of Princess Gabriella of Monaco, Countess of Carladès and Hereditary Prince Jacques of Monaco, Marquis of Baux, children of Prince Albert II of Monaco, at the Princess Grace Hospital Center in Monaco
Full names: Gabriella Thérèse Marie and Jacques Honoré Rainier
Princess Gabriella, Countess of Carladès and Hereditary Prince Jacques of Monaco, Marquis of Baux are the twin children of Prince Albert II of Monaco and his wife Princess Charlene (born Charlene Wittstock). Gabriella was born two minutes before her twin brother, however, she is second in the line of succession to the throne of Monaco. Because the succession to the throne is male-preference cognatic primogeniture, Gabriella’s brother Jacques is ahead of her in the line of succession even though she was born first.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Gabriella of Monaco
Unofficial Royalty: Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco

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Pedro II, King of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

December 9, 1706 – Death of King Pedro II of Portugal at the Palhavã Palace in Alcântara, Portugal; buried at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal
Following the death of his father João IV, King of Portugal, Pedro’s mother Luisa de Guzmán became regent for the new king 13-year-old Afonso VI, Peter’s elder, partially paralyzed, and mentally unstable brother. In 1662 Afonso put his mother away in a convent and assumed control of Portugal as Prince Regent.  He also had his brother’s marriage to Marie Françoise of Savoy annulled and then married her. Pedro officially became King of Portugal when his brother died in 1683. After his first wife died, Pedro married again to Maria Sophia of Neuberg because he had only one daughter with his first wife and wanted sons. On December 5, 1706, he had a seizure that resulted in a stroke and he died four days later.  Pedro was succeeded by was 17-year-old son João V, King of Portugal.
Unofficial Royalty: King Pedro II of Portugal

December 9, 1709 – Birth of Louise-Élisabeth of Orléans, Queen of Spain, wife of King Luis I of Spain, at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France
Louise-Élisabeth was the daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the legitimized daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan. In 1721, eleven-year-old Louise Élisabeth married the future King Luis I of Spain. The marriage was not successful and resulted in no children due to the young age of Louise Élisabeth and because she became increasingly known for her erratic and impulsive behavior. In 1724, King Luis I died from smallpox. Louise Élisabeth, a widow at the age of fourteen. Because the marriage of Luis I and Louise Élisabeth had not been consummated, Louise Élisabeth was to be sent back to France. She lived at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, away from the court of King Louis XV, her first cousin once removed. Louise Élisabeth died seventeen years later, on June 16, 1742, lonely and forgotten. She was buried in the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris but her tomb was desecrated and destroyed during the French Revolution.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise-Élisabeth of Orléans, Queen of Spain

December 9, 1751 – Birth of Maria Luisa of Parma, Queen of Spain, wife of King Carlos IV of Spain, in the Duchy of Parma, now in Italy
Full name: Luisa María Teresa Ana
The daughter of Felipe, Infante of Spain, Duke of Parma (founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma) and Louise Élisabeth of France, Maria Luisa married her first cousin, the future King Carlos IV of Spain in 1765. Maria Luisa had twenty-three pregnancies. Thirteen of the pregnancies resulted in live births, including a set of twins. The other ten pregnancies ended in miscarriages. Of the fourteen children who were born alive, only seven survived childhood. 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. 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: Maria Luisa of Parma, Queen of Spain

December 9, 1793 – Death of Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchesse de Polignac, favorite of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, in Vienna, Austria; buried in Vienna, Austria
In 1775, Gabrielle and her husband were invited to visit Versailles by her sister-in-law, Diane de Polignac, who was a lady-in-waiting to Princess Elizabeth of France, the younger sister of King Louis XVI. Gabrielle was formally presented to Queen Marie Antoinette who instantly took a liking to her and soon asked her to move permanently to Versailles. Heavily in debt, this was not a move that Gabrielle and her husband could afford. Despite their aristocratic background, there was little money for extravagance. They lived on Jules’s military salary of just 4,000 livres and were heavily in debt. Becoming aware of this, Marie Antoinette quickly arranged to settle their debts and find a better position for Jules within the royal household. In 1782, Gabrielle was appointed Governess to the children of France. Following the storming of the Bastille in July 1789, Gabrielle and her family fled France, traveling throughout Europe before eventually settling in Vienna, Austria. During this time, she remained in close contact with Marie Antoinette for the next several years. Having developed what is believed to be cancer, her health quickly began to decline. Just two months after the Queen’s execution, Gabrielle died at the age of 44. Gabrielle is an ancestor of Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.
Unofficial Royalty: Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchesse de Polignac

Lord Frederick FitzClarence was born on December 9, 1799, at Bushy House in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

December 9, 1806 – Death of Franz Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in Bavaria, Germany; buried in a mausoleum in the Coburg Court Garden in Coburg
Franz Friedrich Anton was the grandfather of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In 1777, Franz married Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf. They had nine children including Franz’s successor and Prince Albert’s father Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen Victoria’s mother Victoria, and Leopold who was the first King of the Belgians. In 1775, he began a print collection that ultimately consisted of 300,000 prints. The collection can be visited at the Veste Coburg. Because of Franz, the family’s library had an extensive collection of books. Franz conducted an extensive renovation of the family castles. Walls, ditches, and towers were demolished and replaced by gardens and other green areas. In 1805, Franz bought back Schloss Rosenau which the family had been forced to sell in 1704 due to debts. Franz Frederick Anton died, aged 56.
Unofficial Royalty: Franz Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

December 9, 1810 – Birth of Auguste de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg, first husband of Queen Maria II of Portugal, at the Royal Villa of Monza, just outside of Milan, Italy
Full name: Auguste Charles Eugène Napoléon
Auguste was the eldest son of Eugène de Beauharnais and Princess Augusta of Bavaria, a daughter of King Maximilian I of Bavaria. Auguste’s father Eugène was the son of the French Empress Joséphine from her first marriage, and therefore a stepson of Emperor Napoleon I. on January 26, 1835, Auguste married Queen Maria II of Portugal. Sadly, their marriage was to be very short-lived. On March 20, 1835, Auguste complained of a sore throat but refused to see a doctor. By March 23, 1835, his condition was worse and he finally consented to see a doctor. Within days, his condition became extremely grave, doctors told the family there was no hope, and Auguste was given the last rites. Auguste died on March 28, 1835, at the age of 24, most likely from diphtheria.
Unofficial Royalty: Auguste de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg

December 9, 1963 – Birth of Empress Masako of Japan, wife of Emperor Naruhito of Japan, born Masako Owada at Toranomon Hospital in Tokyo, Japan
Masako’s father Hisashi Owada, was a former Japanese diplomat and served as Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations and as a member of the International Court of Justice, located in the Netherlands. Masako has a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Radcliffe College, part of Harvard University, and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Balliol College, Oxford University. In 1986, Masako met her future husband, Emperor Naruhito of Japan, at a tea held in honor of Infanta Elena of Spain. She finally accepted his third proposal in December 1992.  On June 9, 1993, Naruhito and Masako were married in a traditional ceremony. The couple has one daughter Princess Aiko, born in 2001. In 2004, it was announced that she was suffering from Adjustment Disorder, although many speculate that she was dealing with clinical depression, brought on by the pressures and constraints placed upon her by the strict Imperial Household Agency. It would be many years before she would return to the public eye. In 2019, upon the abdication of his father Emperor Akihito, Masako’s husband became Emperor of Japan and she became Empress.
Unofficial Royalty: Empress Masako of Japan

December 9, 1987 – Death of Ernst August (IV), the former Hereditary Prince of Brunswick and Prince of Hanover, at Calenberg Castle in Schulenburg in Lower Saxony, Germany; buried at Marienburg Castle in Pattensen in Lower Saxony, Germany
Ernst August (IV) was the eldest son of Ernst August (III), Duke of Brunswick and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia. He was the senior male-line descendant of King George III of the United Kingdom, which made him the pretender to the former Kingdom of Hanover. He was also a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria via his mother. In 1951, Ernst August (IV) married Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. They had six children including the present Prince Ernst August (V), the husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco. After his first wife’s death, Ernst August (IV) married Countess Monika zu Solms-Laubach. Ernst August (IV) died at the age of 73.
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst August (IV), Hereditary Prince of Brunswick and Prince of Hanover

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King Oscar II of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

December 8, 1521 – Death of Christina of Saxony, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, wife of King Hans of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, in Odense, Denmark; buried first in the Gråbrödre Klosterkirke in Odense, after her first burial site was demolished her remains were moved in 1805 to Saint Canute’s Cathedral in Odense, Denmark
In 1478, Christina married the future King Hans of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Christina and Hans had six children. In 1501, Hans began a long-term affair with Edel Jernskjæg, one of Christina’s ladies-in-waiting. The affair caused a scandal and a de facto termination of their marriage. From that time on, the marriage of Hans and Christina was one in name only. Christina was a devout Catholic (the Reformation had not yet occurred in Denmark) and she founded convents for the nuns of the Poor Clares in Copenhagen and Odense. In 1513, King Hans died from injuries after he was thrown from his horse. Christina survived her husband by eight years, dying aged 59, and was buried wearing the habit of a Poor Clares nun.
Unofficial Royalty: Christina of Saxony, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden

December 8, 1542 – Birth of Mary, Queen of Scots at Linlithgow Palace in Scotland
The year before Mary’s birth, her grandmother Margaret Tudor died and her father James V saw no reason to keep the peace with England. When war broke out between England and France in 1542, it was inevitable that Scotland would go to war against England because of their treaty with France. When Henry VIII of England broke from the Roman Catholic Church, he asked James V of Scotland, his nephew, to do the same. James ignored his uncle’s request and further insulted him by refusing to meet with Henry VIII at York. Furious, Henry VIII sent troops against Scotland. In retaliation for the English raid into Scotland, James raised an army and attacked England. On November 24, 1542, the Battle of Solway Moss in Cumberland, England resulted in a decisive English victory. After the Battle of Solway Moss, James V fled to Falkland Palace in Scotland where he became ill and took to his bed. Overcome with grief and shame about the Battle of Solway Moss, James V lost the will to live. The news that his wife Marie of Guise had given birth to a daughter on December 8, 1542, did nothing to raise his spirits. James V, King of Scots died at Falkland Palace in Fife, Scotland on December 14, 1542, at the age of 30, and was succeeded by his only surviving, legitimate child, six-day-old Mary.
Unofficial Royalty: Mary, Queen of Scots

December 8, 1625 – Death of Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden, second wife of King Karl IX of Sweden, at Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden; buried at Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, Sweden
In 1592, Christina married the future King Karl IX of Sweden as his second wife. They had four children including Gustavus II Adolphus the Great, King of Sweden. In 1611, Christina’s husband died. Christina was co-regent for her son Gustavus II Adolphus during his short regency. Christina was considered the real power behind the throne during the early years of her son’s reign. In 1622, Christina’s younger son Karl Philip died at the age of twenty after a serious illness. Christina was heartbroken after the death of her younger son, and she retired from public life and lived in seclusion. She survived her husband by fourteen years, dying at the age of 52.
Unofficial Royalty: Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden

December 8, 1708 – Birth of Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor at the Ducal Palace of Nancy, Duchy of Lorraine, now in France
In 1736, Francis Stephen married Maria Theresa of Austria, the only surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI and the heir to the Habsburg empire. The couple had sixteen children but only eight survived childhood including two Holy Roman Emperors and Maria Antonia better known as Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Upon her father’s death in 1740, Maria Theresa became the sovereign ruler of the Habsburg territories in her own right of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma, and she was the only female to hold the position. However, Maria Theresa was unable to become the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female. Maria Theresa’s right to succeed to her father was the cause of the eight-year-long War of the Austrian Succession. The Habsburgs had been elected Holy Roman Emperors since 1438, but in 1742 Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria from the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII. He died in 1745 and via a treaty Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor as Franz I. Despite the snub, Maria Theresa wielded the real power and Francis Stephen was content to leave the act of reigning to his wife.
Unofficial Royalty: Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor

December 8, 1722 – Death of Elizabeth Charlotte (Liselotte) of the Palatinate, Duchess of Orléans, second wife of Philippe, Duke of Orléans, at the Château de Saint-Cloud, near Paris, France; buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, near Paris, France
Elizabeth Charlotte, called Liselotte, was the daughter of Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine. Her paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of King James I of England and the granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots. Liselotte’s paternal aunt Sophia of the Palatinate, Electress of Hanover was the heiress presumptive to Queen Anne of Great Britain in accordance with the Act of Settlement 1701 but Sophia died two months before Queen Anne died. Upon Queen Anne’s death on August 1, 1714, Liselotte’s first cousin succeeded to the British throne as King George I of Great Britain. In 1670, Liselotte’s first cousin once removed, Henrietta of England, daughter of King Charles I of England, wife of Philippe, Duke of Orléans, and sister-in-law of King Louis XIV of France, died at the age of 26. In 1671, Liselotte became the second wife of Philippe, Duke of Orléans. Philippe and Liselotte had three children including Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans who was the paternal grandmother of Maria Antoinette, Queen of France. After Philippe’s death  After Philippe’s death in 1701, Liselotte was concerned that she would be forced to retire to a convent as stated in her marriage contract. However, her brother-in-law Louis XIV appreciated her and allowed Liselotte to keep her apartments at all the royal residences and retain her rank. Liselotte survived Philippe by twenty-one years, dying at age 70.
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Duchess of Orléans

December 8, 1793 – Execution by guillotine of Jeanne Bécu, Countess du Barry, mistress of King Louis XV of France, at the Place de la Révolution (now the Place de la Concorde), in Paris, France; buried at the Madeleine Cemetery in Paris, France
Jeanne Bécu, Countess du Barry was the last official mistress of King Louis XV of France, from 1768 until Louis XV’s death in 1774. Following Louis XV’s death, Jeanne was banished from court and sent to the Abbey du Pont-aux-Dames. After a year, she was permitted to leave the abbey but banned from coming within 10 miles of Versailles. During her time as the King’s mistress, Jeanne had been gifted with a slave Zamor who remained in her household. Zamor later joined the Jacobin club, and upon discovering this, Jeanne dismissed him. In retaliation, Zamor gave testimony implying that Jeanne had assisted numerous aristocrats who had fled the French Revolution. Due to this testimony, Jeanne was arrested and charged with treason. A swift trial took place and she was found guilty and sentenced to death by guillotine.
Unofficial Royalty: Jeanne Bécu, Countess du Barry, mistress of King Louis XV of France

December 8, 1818 – Birth of Charles III, Prince of Monaco in Paris, France
Charles Honoré Grimaldi was born on December 8, 1818, in Paris, France. During his reign, the famous Casino de Monte-Carlo was established and the construction of the Cathedral of Monaco began. In 1846, Charles married 18-year-old Countess Antoinette de Mérode, the daughter of Count Werner de Mérode, a Belgian politician. Although they sometimes were in Monaco, Charles and Antoinette preferred to live in France, where Antoinette had acquired the Château de Marchais in Aisne in northern France. The Château de Marchais still belongs to the Princely Family of Monaco. Charles and Antoinette had one child Albert I, Prince of Monaco.
Unofficial Royalty: Charles III, Prince of Monaco

December 8, 1818 – Death of Karl, Grand Duke of Baden at Schloss Rastatt in Rastatt, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany; buried St. Michael’s Church in Pforzheim, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Karl became Grand Duke of Baden upon the death of his grandfather Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Baden in 1811. In 1806, Karl had married Stéphanie de Beauharnais. They had five children but their only son died within a week of his birth. In 1817, with no living male heirs, and only one unmarried uncle to succeed him, Karl formally gave dynastic rights to his half-uncles – the sons of his grandfather Karl Friedrich from his second, morganatic, marriage. This kept the Grand Ducal throne of Baden from passing to Karl’s brother-in-law King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. In 1818, Karl oversaw the passing of a new and much more liberal constitution.  When Karl died in 1818 at the age of 32, the throne of Baden passed to his uncle, Ludwig I. However, through his daughters, his descendants include the former Kings of Romania and Yugoslavia, the Belgian royal family, the Luxembourg grand ducal family, and the Monaco princely family.
Unofficial Royalty: Karl, Grand Duke of Baden

December 8, 1826 – Birth of John Brown, personal attendant and favorite of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, in Crathie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
John Brown served Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom as a ghillie at Balmoral (Scottish outdoor servant) from 1849 – 1861 and a personal attendant from 1861 – 1883. Prince Albert’s untimely death in 1861 was a shock from which Queen Victoria never fully recovered. In 1864, Victoria’s personal physician Sir William Jenner ordered that she ride all winter. Victoria refused to be accompanied by a stranger and so John Brown was summoned to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight with Victoria’s Highland pony. His duties soon encompassed more than leading a horse. Brown became known as “the Queen’s Highland Servant” who took his orders exclusively from the Queen. From then on, until his death nearly twenty years later, Brown was never far from Victoria’s side.
Unofficial Royalty: John Brown

December 8, 1875 – Death of Leopold III, Prince of Lippe in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; buried in the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg in Detmold
Upon the death of his father in 1851, Leopold became sovereign Prince of Lippe. A year later, he married Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt but the couple had no children. In 1875, Leopold III, aged 54, died after suffering a stroke and was succeeded by his brother Woldemar. Leopold III had eight younger siblings. It appears that Leopold and his brother Woldemar were the only ones who married and neither had any children. This would eventually create a succession crisis. After the death of Leopold’s brother Alexander, who succeeded his brother Woldemar, and the extinction of the Lippe-Detmold line, the throne of the Principality of Lippe went to Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld who would be the last Prince of Lippe.
Unofficial Royalty: Leopold III, Prince of Lippe

December 8, 1907 – Death of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden; buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden
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

December 8, 1915 – Death of Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, at Camperdown House in Dundee, Scotland
Born The Honorable Julia Haldane-Duncan, she was the eldest child of Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown and married George Abercromby, 4th Baron Abercromby. In April 1874, Julia was appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria and served until March 1885. She was an accomplished painter and was asked to paint the first official portrait of Queen Victoria for the National Portrait Gallery. She painted a watercolor portrait, based on an original painting by von Angeli. It was reported to be one of Queen Victoria’s favorite portraits of herself.
Unofficial Royalty: Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby

December 8, 1942 – Death of Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia, son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, at Villa Ingenheim in Potsdam, Germany; buried at the Antique Temple in Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, Germany
In 1906, Eitel Friedrich married Duchess Sophie Charlotte of Oldenburg. The couple had no children. The marriage was never a happy one as Eitel Friedrich was continually unfaithful and the couple divorced in 1926. After World War I and the end of the German Empire, Eitel Friedrich remained active in monarchist circles and was a supporter of the Stahlhelm paramilitary organization. He was later one of the founders of the Harzburg Front, a radical right-wing alliance formed to present unified opposition to the government of Chancellor Heinrich Brüning. However, Eitel Friedrich was an outspoken opponent of Hitler. When Eitel Friedrich died at the age of 59 in 1942, the Nazi regime refused to allow him any military honors at his funeral and forbade anyone to participate wearing their uniforms. Despite this, there was a large turnout of his former comrades, all in civilian clothes, who participated in his funeral.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia

December 8, 1956 – Death of Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, daughter of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom and granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at 10 Fitzmaurice Place, Berkeley Square, London, England; buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in Windsor, England
In 1890, Marie Louise married Prince Aribert of Anhalt. However, the marriage was unsuccessful. In 1900, the marriage was dissolved by Marie Louise’s father-in-law, at her husband’s insistence. It has been speculated that the marriage was never consummated and that Aribert was homosexual, and had been caught in a delicate situation by either his wife or his father. In her memoirs, Marie Louise states that even though her marriage was annulled, she maintained the vows she had made at her wedding, and would never remarry. After World War II, Marie Louise and her unmarried sister Helena Victoria moved to 10 Fitzmaurice Place in Berkeley Square, London, England. She continued to participate in most family functions and remained very close to King George VI and his family. Following her sister’s death in 1952, one of her last major appearances was the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. At the suggestion of Queen Elizabeth II, she began to write her memoir, My Memories of Six Reigns, which was published in 1956. Soon after the book was published, Princess Marie Louise died at the age of 84.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein

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Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Credit – Wikipedia

December 7, 1545 – Birth of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, son of Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox and Margaret Douglas (daughter of Margaret Tudor), at Temple Newsham in Yorkshire, England
Lord Darnley was the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots and the father of King James VI of Scotland/James I of England. Like his wife Mary, Queen of Scots, Darnley was the grandchild of Margaret Tudor (daughter of King Henry VII of England and the older sister of King Henry VIII of England). Darnley had claims to both the Scottish and English thrones as he was descended from both James II of Scotland and Henry VII of England. In 1565, Darnley and Mary, Queen of Scots were married. They had one child, the future James VI, King of Scots who succeeded to the English throne upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I as King James I of England. In 1565, Mary while Mary was pregnant. Darnley, who was jealous of Mary’s friendship with her private secretary David Riccio, and formed a conspiracy to do away with Riccio who was murdered in Mary’s presence. Mary’s marriage was all but over and she began to be drawn to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Bothwell entered into a conspiracy with Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll and George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly to rid Mary of her husband. 1567, Kirk o’ Field, the house where Darnley was staying, was blown up. Darnley and his servant were found dead near the house in an orchard outside the city walls.
Unofficial Royalty: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, King Consort of Scotland

December 7, 1786 – Birth of Countess Maria Walewska, mistress of Emperor Napoleon I of France, born Countess Maria Łączyńska in Kiernozia, Poland
Maria Walewska was a member of the Polish nobility, and from 1807 – 1810, was the mistress of the French Emperor Napoleon I, with whom she had one son.
Unofficial Royalty: Countess Maria Walewska, Mistress of Emperor Napoleon I of France

December 7, 1803 – Birth of Maria Josepha of Saxony, Queen of Spain, third wife of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany
Full name: Maria Josepha Amalia Beatrix Xaveria Vincentia Aloysia Franziska de Paula Franziska de Chantal Anna Apollonia Johanna Nepomucena Walburga Theresia Ambrosia
In 1819, 16-year-old Maria Josepha married Ferdinand VII of Spain who had been widowed twice. Maria Josepha’s youth and inexperience made the adjustment to marriage difficult. There was much pressure upon Ferdinand VII to produce an heir. There were rumors that Maria Josepha Amalia’s devout Roman Catholicism caused her to believe that sexual relations between spouses was wrong and that it took Pope Pius VII to convince her that such relations were permissible. Nevertheless, the marriage remained childless and Maria Josepha Amalia died of a fever at the age of 25 in 1829.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Josepha of Saxony, Queen of Spain

December 7, 1805 – Death of Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark, son of King Frederick V of Denmark and his second wife Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Frederik was the heir presumptive to the throne and acted as regent for his mentally unstable half-brother King Christian VII from 1772 to 1784.  In 1774, 21-year-old Hereditary Prince Frederik married 16-year-old Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The couple had five children including  King Christian VIII of Denmark. After King Christain VII’s son, the future King Frederik V, came of age, he ruled permanently as Prince Regent, and Hereditary Prince Frederik lost his power. Hereditary Prince Frederik died in 1805, at the age of 52.
Unofficial Royalty: Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark

December 7, 1807 – Birth of Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in Amorbach, Principality of Leiningen, now in Bavaria, Germany
Full name: Anna Feodora Auguste Charlotte Wilhelmine
Feodora was the elder maternal half-sister of Queen Victoria. In 1828, Feodora married Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg at Kensington Palace in London, and the couple had six children. Victoria and Feodora wrote to each other religiously. Victoria and her mother visited Feodora and Feodora visited Victoria and their mother in England. Whenever she came, Victoria paid Feodora £300 for her expenses. After being widowed in 1860, Feodora moved to Baden-Baden, where, with some financial help from Queen Victoria, she purchased a cottage called Villa Friesenberg. Feodora came to England when Victoria needed her the most, in the summer of 1861 following the death of their mother and then in December 1861 following Prince Albert’s death.
Unofficial Royalty: Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

December 7, 1941 – Death of Marguerite Bellanger, mistress of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, at the Château de Villeneuve-sous-Dammartin, near Meaux, France; buried in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris, France
Using the stage name Marguerite Bellanger, she had a brief career on the Paris stage before she was noticed by Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. She was the mistress of Napoleon III from 1863 until 1870 when he was deposed and exiled. In February 1864, Marguerite gave birth to a son Charles Jules Auguste François Marie Leboeuf, who was in all likelihood, the Emperor’s son. With the Emperor’s exile in 1870, his affair with Marguerite ended. In 1872, she married William Kulbach, Baronet, a Captain in the British Army and the couple lived in England and France. Marguerite Bellanger, aged 48, died on November 23, 1886, at the Château de Villeneuve-sous-Dammartin, near Meaux, France.
Unofficial Royalty: Marguerite Bellanger, Mistress of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French

December 7, 1978 – Birth of Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand, daughter of King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand, at the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall on the grounds of Dusit Palace in Bangkok, Thailand
An attorney and a diplomat, Princess Bajrakitiyabha, The Princess Rajasarini Siribajra, also known as Princess Pa, is the eldest of the seven children of King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand, and the only child of the King and his first wife Princess Soamsawali of Thailand. Sadly, the princess remains in a coma after collapsing and losing consciousness due to a severe heart arrhythmia on December 14, 2022.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand

December 7, 2003 – Birth of Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, daughter and heir apparent of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, at Bronovo Hospital in The Hague, the Netherlands
Full name: Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria
Known as Amalia she is the heir-apparent to the Dutch throne. She became Princess of Orange in her own right, the first time the title has been held by a female in nearly 600 years. The Netherlands changed its succession law in 1983 to absolute primogeniture where the succession passes to the eldest child of the sovereign regardless of gender. Males and females have equal succession rights. This means that Amalia is the heir apparent and comes first in the line of succession as the eldest child.
Unofficial Royalty: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

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Alexandrine of Baden, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

December 6, 1421 – Birth of King Henry VI of England at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Henry VI, from the House of Lancaster, is the youngest-ever English monarch. He is also on the top ten list of longest-reigning British monarchs, coming in at number seven. Henry VI’s father King Henry V, a warrior king, succumbed to dysentery, a disease that killed more soldiers than battle, leaving a nine-month-old son to inherit his throne. In 1445, Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou, the niece of King Charles VII of France. The couple had one son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales who was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury during the Wars of the Roses. Even before the birth of Henry’s son, factions were forming and the seeds of the Wars of the Roses were being planted. Henry’s wife Margaret Margaret believed her husband was threatened with being deposed by Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York who thought he had a better claim to the throne and would be a better king than Henry. Eventually, things came to a head between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists, and war broke out.  The Wars of the Roses did not end well for Henry VI. The final decisive Yorkist victory was at the Battle of Tewkesbury on May 4, 1471, where Henry’s son Edward was killed. Henry VI was sent to the Tower of London and died on May 21, 1471, probably murdered on orders from the Yorkist King Edward IV.
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry VI of England

December 6, 1685 – Birth of Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, Duchess of Burgundy, wife of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin at the Royal Palace of Turin, in the Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy
Marie Adélaïde of Savoy was the wife of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin, and the mother of Louis XV, King of France. King Louis XIV outlived both his son Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Grand Dauphin and his grandson Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV when he died in 1715. On February 12, 1712, at the Palace of Versailles, 26-year-old Marie Adélaïde died from measles. Her husband Louis dearly loved his wife and stayed by her side throughout her illness. He caught the disease and died six days after her death, on February 18, 1712, aged 29.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, Duchess of Burgundy

December 6, 1686 – Death of Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua, the third of the three wives of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now the capital of Austria, at the age of fifty-six; buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna
Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria, the second wife and first cousin of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, died in childbirth in 1649. Ferdinand III’s stepmother, the Dowager Holy Roman Empress, also named Eleonora Gonzaga, was the second wife of his father Ferdinand II and Eleonora’s great aunt. It was Dowager Holy Roman Empress Eleonora who arranged the marriage between her stepson Ferdinand III and grand niece and goddaughter Eleonora. Twenty-year-old Eleonora and forty-two-year-old Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor were married in 1651 and had four children but only two daughters survived childhood. After the death of her husband, Eleonora did all she could to ensure that her seventeen-year-old surviving stepson would be elected Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. Eleonora was highly respected by Leopold who consulted with her on many political and personal issues. Eleonora survived her husband by twenty-nine years, dying on December 6, 1686, in Vienna, Austria, at the age of fifty-six.
Unofficial Royalty: Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua, Holy Roman Empress, 3rd wife of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

December 6, 1734 – Death of Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham, favorite of Queen Anne of Great Britain, at Oates Hall, her husband’s family home, in High Laver, Essex, England 
Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham was the first cousin of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, born Sarah Jennings, and replaced Sarah as the favorite of Queen Anne of Great Britain. She remained Queen Anne’s favorite until Anne’s death in 1714. Abigail faithfully attended Anne during the last days of her life. However, upon Queen Anne’s death and the accession of the first Hanoverian monarch King George I, Abigail and her husband Samuel Masham, 1st Baron Masham were quickly evicted from their apartments in the various royal palaces. Even though Abigail and Samuel lost some income due to losing court positions, they were by no means poor. Just two weeks before Queen Anne’s death, Samuel had purchased a manor house three miles from Windsor, England where he retired with Abigail. Twenty years after Queen Anne’s death, Abigail, aged 64, died after a long illness.
Unofficial Royalty: Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham

December 6, 1792 – Birth of King Willem II of the Netherlands at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, Dutch Republic, now in the Netherlands
Full name: Willem Frederik George Lodewijk
When he was two years old, Willem’s family was forced into exile when the French invaded and occupied the Dutch Republic during the Napoleonic Wars. Willem spent his childhood at the Prussian court where he received military training, served in the Prussian Army, and then attended Oxford University in England. In 1811, he entered the British Army and was an aide-de-camp to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Willem’s family returned to the Netherlands in 1813 after the French retreated. In 1816, Willem married Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia and the couple had five children. Willem came to the Dutch throne in 1840 when his father King Willem I abdicated due to constitutional changes he did not agree with, anger over the loss of Belgium, and his desire to make a morganatic second marriage with Henriëtte d’Oultremont after the death of his wife. During Willem II’s reign, the power of many monarchs diminished. The revolutions of 1848 and 1849, in which Louis-Philippe of France was deposed and other European monarchs were forced by violence to make concessions, made him fear for his throne. Willem decided to institute a more liberal government, believing it was better to grant reforms instead of having them imposed on him on less favorable terms later.
Unofficial Royalty: King Willem II of the Netherlands

December 6, 1792 – Birth of Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena and Reggio, wife of Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio, in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy
Full name: Maria Beatrice Vittoria Giuseppina
Maria Beatrice was the eldest of the seven children of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. In 1812, 20-year-old Maria Beatrice married her 33-year-old maternal uncle Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio and had four children. Like Maria Beatrice’s family, her husband Francesco had also been exiled since 1796 from the Duchy of Modena and Reggio due to the occupation of Napoleon’s French forces. After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the couple was able to return and made their solemn entry into Modena on July 14, 1814. As the senior surviving descendant of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, daughter of King Charles I of England and sister of James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots, Maria Beatrice became the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England and Scotland after the death of her father Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia in 1824.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena
Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

December 6, 1820 – Birth of Alexandrine of Baden, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, wife of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Full name: Alexandrine Luise Amalie Friederike Elisabeth Sophie
Alexandrine was the eldest of the eight children of Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden and Princess Sophie of Sweden. In 1842, she married the future Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the elder brother of Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert. Prior to the marriage, Ernst was suffering from a venereal disease as a result of his many affairs. He had been warned that continued promiscuity could leave him unable to father children. Ernst had at least three illegitimate children, but his marriage was childless, perhaps due to Ernst passing the venereal disease to Alexandrine causing her to become infertile. Alexandrine was loyal and devoted to her husband despite his infidelities and believed that their lack of children was her fault. In 1844, Ernst’s father died and he became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Ernst was not well-loved by his people, but Alexandrine was. She supported many charities including the Ernst Foundation for needy students.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexandrine of Baden, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

December 6, 1892 – Birth of George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, son of Prince Ludwig (Louis) of Battenberg (later 1st Marquess of Milford Haven) and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, at the Neues Palais in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany
Birth name: Prince George Louis Victor Henry Serge of Battenberg
Like his father, George had a career in the Royal Navy. In 1916, he married Countess Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby, daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia and Countess Sophie von Merenberg.  The couple had two children. George was instrumental in the upbringing of his nephew Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh after Philip’s mother suffered a breakdown and his father was more or less separated from the family. George became Philip’s primary guardian, serving as a surrogate father and arranging for, and financing, Philip’s education. George died from bone marrow cancer at the age of 45.
Unofficial Royalty: George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven

December 6, 1971 – Death of Mathilde Feliksovna Kschessinskaya, prima ballerina assoluta, mistress of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia before his marriage, mistress of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia, and mistress and wife of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia, in Paris, France; buried at the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery in Paris, France
Mathilde Feliksovna Kschessinskaya was one of the most famous ballerinas of the Maryinsky Ballet (now the Kirov Ballet) in St. Petersburg, Russia. She was awarded the title prima ballerina assoluta, traditionally reserved only for the most exceptional ballerinas of their generation.  Mathilde, who was ambitious, used her connections to the Romanovs to promote her career. Mathilde and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich escaped from Russia after the Russian Revolution and married in 1921. Mathilde had previously had one son whose father was either Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich’s or Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich’s. In 1926, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, Head of the Romanov Family, gave Mathilde and her son Vladimir the title and surname of the Prince/Princess of Krasinsky. In 1935, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich gave Mathilde and her son the surname Romanovsky-Krasinsky, and so they were formally styled Princess Maria Romanovsky-Krasinsky and Prince Vladimir Andreievich Romanovsky-Krasinsky. Mathilde opened a ballet studio in Paris and trained some of the most famous ballet dancers of the 20th century. She lived a long life dying in 1971, at the age of 99.
Unofficial Royalty: Mathilde Feliksovna Kschessinskaya

December 6, 1984 – Birth of Princess Sofia of Sweden, wife of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, born Sofia Hellqvist in Täby, Sweden
Full name: Sofia Kristina
In August 2010, the Swedish Royal Court released a statement confirming that Sofia and Prince Carl Philip had a relationship. In the documentary The Year with the Royal Family, Prince Carl Philip explains how the couple met: “I was eating with friends in Baastad. Sofia was there with a friend and our friends knew each other. We started with a shy greeting and everything followed.” In April 2011, the couple moved in together at a private estate in Djurgården, Sweden and the Swedish Royal Court confirmed this two months later. Sofia and Prince Carl Philip became engaged on June 27, 2014, and were married on June 13, 2015, at the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace of Stockholm.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Sofia of Sweden

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King Mihai (Michael) of Romania; Credit – Wikipedia

December 5, 1560 – Death of François II, King of France, King Consort of Scotland, first husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, at the Hotel Groslot d’Orleans in Orléans, France; buried at the Basilica of St. Denis in Paris, 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

December 5, 1916 – Death of Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in Neustrelitz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany; buried in the New Crypt at Johanniterkirche in Mirow, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Augusta was a granddaughter of King George III of the United Kingdom, first cousin of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and aunt of Queen Mary, wife of King George V of the United Kingdom.  Even though Augusta lived in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz after her marriage, she and her husband visited London frequently, staying with the Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace,  and Augusta retained close ties with the British Royal Family. Prior to the coronation of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife Queen Alexandra in 1902, Augusta was consulted on matters of ceremony and attire as she was almost the only person alive who could remember the coronation of King William IV and Queen Adelaide.  Her recollection of Queen Victoria’s coronation also proved invaluable. In the autumn of 1916, Augusta’s health began to fail. She lay in her bed for a month, sleeping most of the time. When she was awake, she was lucid and listened to letters or newspapers read aloud to her. Augusta sent a message to King George V: “Tell the king that it is a stout old English heart which is ceasing to beat.” She died at the age of 94. Augusta was the longest-lived grandchild of King George III of the United Kingdom and the last link to the British branch of the House of Hanover.
Unofficial Royalty: Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

December 5, 1927 – Birth of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand (King Rama IX) at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts
King Bhumibol was born in the United States because, at the time of birth, his father Prince Mahidol Adulyadej was studying medicine at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1946, King Bhumibol became king at the age of 18. King Bhumibol’s brother King Ananda Mahidol was found shot dead in his bedroom in the Boromphiman Throne Hall at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, four days before he was scheduled to return to Switzerland to finish his doctoral degree in law at the University of Lausanne. The circumstances of King Ananda Mahidol’s death have never been fully explained. In 1950, Bhumibol married Sirikit Kitiyakara who was the daughter of the Thai ambassador to France. The couple had three daughters and one son. King Bhumibol Adulyadej died at the age of 88, following several years of illness.  At the time of his death, he was the world’s longest-reigning current monarch, having reigned for 70 years and 126 days.
Unofficial Royalty: King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand

December 5, 1969 – Death of Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace in London, England; first buried in the Royal Crypt at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, reburied in 1988 at the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel near her aunt Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia
Alice was the daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, a grandchild of Queen Victoria. As a child, Alice was diagnosed with congenital deafness and learned to lip-read in both English and German. In 1903, she married Prince Andreas of Greece and Denmark and the couple had four daughters and one son, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Alice spent a period of time in a Swiss sanitorium after she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Alice’s husband moved to the French Riviera where enjoyed a life of leisure, spending much of his time living aboard the yacht of his mistress. In November 1947, Alice returned to the United Kingdom for her son’s wedding. Some of her jewels were used to create Elizabeth’s engagement ring, as well as a bracelet that Philip designed for her as a wedding gift. In 1948, Alice founded a nursing order of nuns, the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary. She established a home for the order just north of Athens and trained on the Greek island of Tinos. In 1953, Princess Alice attended the coronation of her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, at Westminster Abbey. Alice left Greece in 1967 following the Colonels’ Coup and was invited by her son and daughter-in-law to take up residence at Buckingham Palace in London, England. She died there at the age of 84.
Unofficial Royalty: Alice of Battenberg, Princess Andreas of Greece

December 5, 2014 – Death of Queen Fabiola of Belgium, born Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, wife of King Baudouin of the Belgians, at Stuyvenberg Castle in Laeken, Belgium; buried at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium
Born to a Spanish aristocratic family, Fabiola was the fifth of the six children of Gonzalo de Mora y Fernández, Riera y del Olmo, 4th Marquess of Casa Riera, 2nd Count of Mora and his wife Blanca de Aragón y Carrillo de Albornoz, Barroeta-Aldamar y Elío. Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was her godmother. In 1960, Fabiola married King Baudouin of the Belgians, who had been king since the abdication of his father King Leopold III in 1951. Unfortunately, King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola lost five children to miscarriages and never had children. In 1993, King Baudouin died. Although King Baudouin had heart surgery in March 1992 this death from heart failure still came unexpectedly, and sent much of Belgium into a period of deep mourning. Fabiola survived her husband by twenty-one years, dying at the age of 86.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Fabiola of Belgium

December 5, 2017 – Death of King Michael (Mihai) of Romania at his home in Aubonne, Switzerland; buried at the new Archdiocesan and Royal Cathedral at Curtea de Argeș in Romania
Mihai was the only child of King Carol II of Romania and his second wife, Princess Helen of Greece. He was the last King of Romania, reigning from 1927 – 1930 and again from 1940 until his forced abdication in 1947. In 1947, Mihai married Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma. The couple had five daughters. Their eldest daughter Margareta is the current Custodian of the Crown of Romania. Mihai was banned from Romania for 43 years. In 1997, the Romanian government restored Mihai’s citizenship and in the following years, several properties were returned to the royal family. In 2016, it was announced that King Mihai had been diagnosed with chronic leukemia and metastatic epidermoid carcinoma and that he was withdrawing from public life. Crown Princess Margareta took on his public duties. King Mihai’s wife Anne died on August 1, 2016, in a hospital in Morges, Switzerland, at the age of 92. King Mihai died at his residence in Switzerland on December 5, 2017, at the age of 96.
Unofficial Royalty: King Michael (Mihai) of Romania

December 5, 2023 – Death of Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein, son of Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein; buried at the Cathedral of St. Florin in Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Prince Constantin was the third of the three sons and the third of the four children of Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein and the late Princess Marie, born Countess Marie Aglaë of Wchinitz and Tettau. . He received a law degree from the University of Salzburg in Austria and has worked primarily in the financial field, holding positions at investment firms both in the United States and in Europe. Constantin married Countess Marie Gabriele Franziska Kálnoky de Kőröspatak and the couple had three children. Prince Constantin died on December 5, 2023, at the age of 51. A statement released by the Prince House of Liechtenstein said: “The Princely House regrets to announce that H.S.H. Prince Constantin von und zu Liechtenstein passed away unexpectedly on 5 December 2023.” A private family funeral and burial took place at the Cathedral of St. Florin in Vaduz, Liechtenstein on December 10, 2023.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein

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© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

December 4, 1214 – Death of William I “the Lion”, King of Scots at Stirling Castle in Scotland; buried at Arbroath Abbey, in Arbroath, Scotland
William I, King of Scots, nicknamed “the Lion,” had the second-longest reign in Scottish history before the Act of Union with England in 1707. He reigned for 49 years, from 1165 – 1214, and was a contemporary of King Henry II of England and his sons King Richard I and King John. His standard, a red lion rampant with a forked tail on a yellow background became the Royal Standard of Scotland and is used today on the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom, quartered with the royal standards of England and Ireland. William became King of Scots upon the death of his brother in 1165. He married Ermengarde de Beaumont, a great-granddaughter of King Henry I of England (through an illegitimate child of Henry I), and the couple had four children. William died at about the age of 70.
Unofficial Royalty: William I, King of Scots

December 4, 1655 – Birth of King Karl XI of Sweden at Tre Kronor Castle in Stockholm, Sweden
Karl XI, King of Sweden was the only child of Karl X Gustav, King of Sweden. Karl X died at the age of 37 in 1660, from influenza and pneumonia and his four-year-old son Karl became King of Sweden. Karl XI’s mother Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp served as Regent of Sweden until her son reached his majority. In 1680, Karl married Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark. The couple had seven children but only three survived childhood, including two Swedish monarchs, King Karl XII and Queen Ulrika Eleonora.
Unofficial Royalty: King Karl XI of Sweden

December 4, 1711 – Birth of Bárbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain, wife of King Fernando VI of Spain, at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
Full name: Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa
The daughter of João V, King of Portugal, Bárbara married King Fernando VI of Spain but the couple had no children except a stillborn son. Benevolent but weak, Fernando VI left the government mostly to others. Bárbara was the conduit through which the government ministers worked with Fernando VI. She was presented with all documents of state before they were given to Fernando VI because only she knew what should be said or hidden from him. Bárbara suffered from severe asthma for most of her life and became obese in the years before her death. Bárbara’s death at the age of 46,  broke Fernando’s heart. During the last year of his reign, probably at least partially caused by his wife’s death, Fernando VI rapidly lost his mental capacity and was held at the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón, near Madrid, where he died less than a year after Barbara’s death, on August 10, 1759, as the age of 45.
Unofficial Royalty: Bárbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain

December 4, 1727 – Death of Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the first wife of Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia.; first buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg, the castle church at Schwarzburg Castle in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, reburied in the 1940s in the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany
On February 8, 1720, in Saalfeld, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in the German state of Thuringia, 26-year-old Sophia Wilhelmina married 28-year-old Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Sophia Wilhelmina and Friedrich Anton had three children but only two survived childhood. The marriage of Friedrich Anton and Sophia Wilhelmina lasted only seven years as Sophia Wilhelmina died on December 4, 1727, aged 34, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (article coming soon)

December 4, 1784 – Birth of Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark, first wife of the future King Christian VIII, at Ludwiglust Palace in Ludwigslust, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Charlotte Frederica was divorced from her husband after an alleged affair.  She was sent into exile and never again saw her son, the future King Frederik VII of Denmark. She finally settled in Rome where she converted to Roman Catholicism.  She died in Rome in 1840, at the age of 55. Charlotte Frederica was buried in a tomb paid for by her son and created by the Danish sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau at the Teutonic Cemetery, a burial site adjacent to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City that had been dedicated to the German-speaking residents of Rome. On July 11, 2019, the tomb of Charlotte Frederica and the adjacent tomb of Princess Sophia of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein were opened to search for the remains of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old who disappeared in 1983. Not only was there no sign of Emanuela’s remains, but the remains of Princess Sophia and Duchess Charlotte Frederica were missing. Vatican officials said they would research the burial records to try to discover what happened to their remains. It is possible that their remains were moved due to renovations at the end of the 1800s and again in the 1960s and 1970s.
Unofficial Royalty: Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark
Unofficial Royalty: The Strange Case of the Tombs of Two 19th Century Princesses and a 20th Century 15-Year-Old Missing Girl.

December 4, 1878 – Birth of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, at the Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
A younger brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, Michael was the first of the eighteen Romanovs executed during the Russian Revolution. Michael fell in love with  Natalia Sergeyevna Wulfert (called Natasha), the wife of an officer from his army regiment. In 1910, Natasha gave birth to Michael’s son named George after Michael’s deceased brother. Michael knew that his brother would not grant permission to marry Natasha. Michael feared that his hemophiliac nephew Alexei would not survive and that he would become the heir which would make the possibility of his marriage to Natalia even more remote. By marrying Natasha before Alexei died, Michael would be removed from the line of succession early which would prevent him from losing Natasha and so the couple was married in 1912. Michael was banished from Russia but in 1914, he reconciled with his brother Nicholas and was allowed to return to Russia.  In reality, it might have been better if Michael had remained in exile. On June 13, 1918, Michael and his British secretary Nicholas Johnson were executed by the Bolsheviks. Their remains have never been found.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia

December 4, 1999 – Wedding of King Philippe of the Belgians and Mathilde d’Udekem d’ Acoz, civilly at the Brussels City Hall and religiously at the Cathedral of Saint Michel and Saint Gudula in Brussels, Belgium
When the engagement of Philippe and Mathilde was announced in September 1999, it came as a huge surprise to the Belgian people. The couple had first met in 1996 and had been involved ever since, but it was not until the announcement that anyone knew anything about the relationship.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of King Philippe of the Belgians and Mathilde d’Udekem d’ Acoz

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