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Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of the Netherlands; Credit – Wikipedia
January 18, 1625 – Death of Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, Tsaritsa of All Russia, first wife of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia; first buried at the Ascension Convent, a Russian Orthodox nunnery in the Moscow Kremlin, in 1929 moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin
Princess Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova was the only child of Prince Vladimir Timofeevich Dolgorukov, a military commander for three tsars, and was appointed Viceroy of Kazan by Michael I. Michael’s mother, born Xenia Ivanovna Shestova, but now a nun known as Marfa, chose Maria Vladimirovna to be her son’s second wife. Michael and Maria Vladimirovna were married on September 19, 1624, witnessed by many nobles and their wives. Celebrations continued the next day, but the new Tsaritsa became ill and was not present. It is unclear exactly what happened but five months later, on January 17, 1625, Maria Vladimirovna died. There were rumors at the time that she had been poisoned by the enemies of the Dolgorukov family. Chronicles of the time called her death a divine punishment for the fate of Michael’s first wife Maria Ivanovna Khlopova and her family. Other contemporary writers said Maria Vladimirovna died giving birth to a stillborn baby.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, Tsaritsa of All Russia
January 18, 1795 – Birth of Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of the Netherlands, wife of King Willem II of the Netherlands, at Gatchina Palace near Saint Petersburg, Russia
Anna Pavlovna was the daughter of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and his second wife, Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. In 1816, Anna Pavlovna married the future King Willem II of the Netherlands, then Prince of Orange. Anna and Willem had five children. Although she took an interest in Dutch history and learned to speak the language quite well, Anna was very homesick for her family and for Russia. Anna became Queen of the Netherlands in October 1840 after her father-in-law’s abdication. Anna never really connected with the Dutch public and was not a popular queen. She founded several orphanages in the Netherlands and did not meddle in politics.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of the Netherlands
January 18, 1808 – Birth of Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark and Norway, Princess Frederik of Denmark, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, daughter of King Frederik VI of Denmark, first wife of the future King Frederik VII of Denmark, in Kiel, Duchy of Holstein, now Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Vilhelmine Marie’s first marriage to the future King Frederik VII of Denmark was unhappy and the couple divorced. She made a second marriage to Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, elder brother of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the future King Christian IX of Denmark who would succeed King Frederik VII, Vilhelmine Marie’s thrice-married but childless first husband. Vilhelmine Marie’s second marriage was a happy one but it was childless. In 1864, after the Second Schleswig War, which Denmark lost, Karl’s duchy was annexed by Prussia and Karl lost his ducal title. Vilhelmine Marie and Karl were able to live at the family ancestral home Schloss Glücksburg and Karl died there in 1878. Vilhelmine Marie’s charitable work made her popular in Glücksburg. Eventually, she became more and more isolated as her hearing loss made it difficult to communicate. Vilhelmine Marie survived her husband Karl for thirteen years, dying on May 30, 1891, at the age of 83
Unofficial Royalty: Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark, Princess Frederik of Denmark, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
January 18, 1872 – Death of Caroline Amalie of Hesse-Homburg, Princess of Reuss-Greiz, Regent of Reuss-Greiz, second wife of Heinrich XX, 4th Prince Reuss-Greiz, in Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz, now in Thuringia, Germany; buried at the Stadtkirche St. Marien, now in Greiz, Thuringia, Germany
45-year-old Heinrich XX, 4th Prince Reuss of Greiz needed an heir. His first wife had died childless and so he married 20-year-old Caroline Amalie and the couple had five children. Heinrich XX died in 1859, Heinrich XXIII, his thirteen-year-old son, succeeded him as the 5th Prince Reuss of Greiz. Caroline Amalie was Regent of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz from 1859 until 1867. Carolina Amalie survived her husband by thirteen years, dying on January 18, 1872, aged 52.
Unofficial Royalty: Caroline Amalie of Hesse-Homburg, Princess of Reuss of Greiz
January 18, 1890 – Death of Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, former King Amadeo I of Spain in Turin, Italy; buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin, Italy
Born the son of King Vittorio Emanuele II (King of Piedmont-Sardinia and later first King of Italy), Amedeo briefly reigned as the only King of Spain from the House of Savoy. After the exile of Queen Isabella II of Spain, the Spanish Cortes (Parliament) elected Amedeo the new King of Spain. In 1867, Amedeo married Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, daughter of Italian noble Carlo Emmanuele dal Pozzo, 5th Prince of Cisterna. Upon her father’s death in 1864, Maria Vittoria inherited her father’s titles in her own right. Amedeo and Maria Vittoria had three children. Their descendants through their eldest son have been claimants to the disputed headship of the House of Savoy along with descendants of Amedeo’s brother King Umberto I of Italy. After an attempt to assassinate him, Amedeo abdicated the Spanish throne and returned to Turin where he assumed the title Duke of Aosta. In 1876, Amedeo’s wife Maria Vittoria died from tuberculosis. In 1888, Amedeo married again. His second wife was Princess Maria Letizia Bonaparte, his niece, the daughter of his sister Marie Clotilde and Prince Napoléon Joseph Bonaparte. Amedeo and Maria Letizia had one son. Amedeo was married to his second wife for less than two years, dying from pneumonia at the age of 44.
Unofficial Royalty: King Amadeo I of Spain, Duke of Aosta
January 18, 1908 – Birth of Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Västerbotten, wife of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and mother of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, at Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Thuringia, Germany
Full name: Sibylla Calma Marie Alice Bathildis Feodora
Sibylla was a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria through her father Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the posthumous son of Queen Victoria’s youngest son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. In 1932, she married Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten. Prince Gustaf Adolf was the eldest son of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden (the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden) and was therefore second in the line of succession to the Swedish throne. Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf had four daughters and one son including the current King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf. Tragically, Prince Gustaf Adolf was killed in a commercial airplane crash in 1947, seven months after the birth of his son Carl Gustaf, at the Kastrup Airport in Kastrup, Denmark near Copenhagen. After her stepmother-in-law Queen Louise died in 1965, Sibylla was the senior royal princess and acted in a supporting role for her father-in-law King Gustaf VI Adolf. Unfortunately, Sibylla did not live long enough to see her son Carl Gustaf become king. She died of colon cancer at the age of 64, less than a year before her son would become king.
Unofficial Royalty: Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Västerbotten
January 18, 1919 – Death of Prince John of the United Kingdom, son of King George V of the United Kingdom, at Wood Farm in Wolferton in Norfolk, England; buried at Sandringham Church in Norfolk, England
For the first four years of his life, John appeared healthy, but at the age of four he suffered his first epileptic seizure, and his condition gradually worsened. Besides epilepsy, it is quite possible that John also had a mild form of autism. A household was set up for John at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate and John lived there under the care of his nanny Charlotte Bill who was called Lala, and several other staff members. A young girl named Winifred Thomas, who suffered from asthma and had been sent to the country to live with her aunt and uncle, was John’s companion. Winifred visited John nearly every day and the two went on walks and took care of the garden. Later in life, Winifred recounted John’s excitement at watching zeppelins passing over Sandringham in 1916 and his pleasure in meeting ‘a real, live soldier’, her father Sergeant Frederick Thomas who visited that same year. She also remembered his mother Queen Mary as a loving and interested parent who spent a lot of time with her son. John’s grandmother Queen Alexandra also visited him often. On the morning of January 18, 1919, John had a very severe seizure and died peacefully in his sleep at 5:30 that afternoon, most likely from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy or SUDEP.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince John of the United Kingdom
January 18, 1974 – Birth of Princess Claire of Belgium, wife of Prince Laurent of Belgium, born Claire Louise Coombs in Bath, England
Claire’s family moved to Belgium when she was three years old. Claire and Prince Laurent first met in 2000 at the home of a mutual friend. In 2003, they were married at the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula in Brussels. By Royal Decree issued by King Albert II, Claire was elevated to Princess of Belgium in her own right. Claire and Laurent have a daughter and twin sons. Unlike her two sisters-in-law, Queen Mathilde and Princess Astrid, Princess Claire has no official role. However, she is often in attendance at official events and state functions with her husband.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Claire of Belgium
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