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Amalia of Oldenburg, wife of King Otto of Greece; Credit – Wikipedia
December 21, 1657 – Birth of Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester, mistress of King James II of England
Catherine’s father Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet of Ailesford, was among the close circle of King Charles II, brother of the future King James II, and this enabled his family to have access to the royal court. Catherine caught the eye of James and became his mistress before she was sixteen years old. Catherine and James had one daughter and two sons but both sons died in infancy. When James became King James II of England. Catherine’s yearly pension was doubled to £4,000 and she was created Countess of Dorchester and Baroness of Darlington in her own right for life. After James II lost his throne in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and fled to France, Catherine remained in England. Catherine’s pension stopped and the grants of Irish land James II had given her were called into question. However, she may have acted as a double agent for William III who gave her a pension. In 1696, Catherine married Sir David Colyear (1656 – 1730), Lieutenant-General of the Scots Brigade, and they had two sons.
Unofficial Royalty: Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester, mistress of King James II of England
December 21, 1750 – Death of Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, wife of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, in Vienna, Austria, on December 21, 1750; in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna
Elisabeth Christine was the eldest of the four children, all daughters, of Ludwig Rudolf, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. In 1708, she married the future Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor. Elisabeth Christine and Karl had one son who died in infancy and three daughters, with one dying in childhood. including Maria Theresa of Austria, in her own right Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia because she succeeded to her father’s Habsburg hereditary lands. In 1740, at the age of 55, Elisabeth Christine’s husband Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor died after a ten-day illness. His symptoms were typical of death cap mushroom poisoning but the definitive cause of Karl’s death remains unknown. Elisabeth Christine survived her husband by ten years, dying, aged 59, in Vienna, Austria, on December 21, 1750.
Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress
December 21, 1800 – Birth of Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, first wife of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, mother of Prince Albert, in Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, now in Thuringia, Germany
Full name: Luise Pauline Charlotte Friederike Auguste
The mother of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, Louise was the only child of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and his first wife Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Louise’s mother never recovered from childbirth and died eleven days after Louise was born at the age of 21. In 1817, Louise married the then Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (later Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha). The couple had two sons, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Although the marriage was initially happy, the couple soon grew apart due to Ernst’s infidelities. In 1823, Louise had an affair with Gottfried von Bülow, the court chamberlain, and in 1824, she had an affair with Alexander von Hanstein, one of her husband’s equerries. Louise was forced to go into exile and permanently cut off from her children. She suffered greatly due to her separation from her two sons. Images of her sons and visitation rights were denied to her. Ernst and Louise were divorced in 1826. Louise’s lover, Freiherr (Baron) Alexander von Hanstein followed her into exile and the couple married in 1826. In 1831, Louise was diagnosed with incurable cervical cancer Louise and died at the age of 30.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
December 21, 1818 – Birth of Amalia of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece, wife of King Otto of Greece, in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
Full name: Luise Pauline Charlotte Friederike Auguste
Amalia was the daughter of Duke Augustus of Oldenburg (later Grand Duke of Oldenburg) and his first wife Princess Adelheid of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym. In 1836, Amalia married King Otto I of Greece but their marriage remained childless. King Otto had been born Prince Otto of Bavaria of the Wittelsbach dynasty, the second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In 1833, Otto had been appointed king of the newly created Kingdom of Greece. Amalia wisely realized that her style of dress should emulate the style of the Greek people. She created a “romantic folksy court dress” which became the Greek national costume. In 1862, a coup took place, and Otto was overthrown. Otto and Amalia left Greece for Bavaria aboard a British warship. They lived at the Neue Residenz in Bamberg, Kingdom of Bavaria for the remainder of their lives.
Unofficial Royalty: Amalia of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece
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