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Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of the Belgians; Credit – Wikipedia
July 25, 1182 – Death of Marie of Blois, Countess of Boulogne in her own right, daughter of King Stephen of England, at the Abbey of St. Austrebert near Montreuil-sur-Mer, County of Boulogne; buried at the Abbey of St. Austrebert
A daughter of King Stephen of England, Marie of Blois was Countess of Boulogne in her own right after the deaths of her mother Matilda I, Countess of Boulogne in her own right and her two surviving brothers Eustace and Willliam who were both Count of Boulogne but had childless marriages. As a young girl, Marie entered a convent and became a nun. Shortly after Marie became Countess of Boulogne, she was abducted from her convent by a young nobleman and forced into marriage with the nobleman who then claimed the title of Count of Boulogne jure uxoris (by right of his wife). The marriage was eventually annulled and Marie returned to religious life as a nun.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie of Blois, Countess of Boulogne
July 25, 1394 -Birth of James I, King of Scots and his elder twin brother Robert who died in infancy, at Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, Scotland
Robert III, King of Scots, the father of James I, feared for the safety of his only surviving son because of the machinations of his half-brother and decided to send him to France. However, the ship 12-year-old James was sailing on was captured by English pirates who delivered James to King Henry IV of England. Robert III, King of Scots, aged 68, died soon after hearing of his son’s captivity. 12-year-old James was now the uncrowned King of Scots and would remain in captivity in England for eighteen years where he was more of a guest than a hostage. While in England, James met his future wife Lady Joan Beaufort, the daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset who was the eldest of the four children of John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III, and his mistress Katherine Swynford. The English considered a marriage to a Beaufort gave the Scots an alliance with the English instead of the French. The couple was married in 1424, traveled to Scotland, and had eight children.
Unofficial Royalty: James I, King of Scots
July 25, 1642 – Birth of Louis I, Prince of Monaco at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco
Nine-year-old Louis became heir apparent to the throne of Monaco when his father Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux, the only child and the heir of Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, was killed accidentally in a firearms accident. Louis married Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, from a French noble family and the couple had six children. After a reign of fifty-eight years, Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, Louis’ grandfather, died in 1662, and 20-year-old Louis became Prince of Monaco.
Unofficial Royalty: Louis I, Prince of Monaco
July 25, 1821 – Death of Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey, mistress of the future King George IV of the United Kingdom, in Cheltenham, England; buried in the Villiers Family vault in Middleton Stoney, Oxfordshire, England
Frances began her affair with George, then Prince of Wales, in 1793, following a string of other discreet affairs. George was secretly married, in contravention to the Royal Marriages Act, to Maria Fitzherbert, but his wandering eye could not be kept in check. Frances had convinced the Prince to end his relationship with Mrs. Fitzherbert and encouraged him to marry his future wife, Caroline of Brunswick. Frances was appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber to the new Princess of Wales. Frances and George continued their affair and he also brought Mrs. Fitzherbert back into his life. The two women disliked each other greatly, but the Prince continued his affairs with both. Then, a new mistress made her appearance, The Marchioness of Hertford soon replaced Frances as the Prince of Wales’s mistress. By 1807, Frances lost her royal household position and left the court. Having been widowed in 1805 and left with little financial means, Frances struggled to maintain the lifestyle expected of someone of her rank. She benefited only from her son’s generosity who increased her annual income and often paid off her debts.
Unofficial Royalty: Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey, mistress of King George IV of the United Kingdom
July 25, 1797 – Birth of Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, at Rumpenheim Castle in Offenbach am Main in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany
Full name: Auguste Wilhelmine Luise
Augusta was the youngest of the eight children of Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen. Her father was the youngest son of Landgrave Friedrich II of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Mary of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain. After the tragic death in childbirth of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, the king’s aging bachelor sons needed to seek brides to provide for the succession. Of all the bachelor sons, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge was the most eligible. He married Augusta of Hesse-Kassel. The groom was 44 and the bride was 20. Despite the age difference, the marriage was happy. Adolphus was in love with Augusta, and the couple had three children. Augusta and Adolphus are the ancestors of the current British royal family. Their youngest child Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge was the mother of Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, later Queen Mary, the wife of King George V of the United Kingdom
Unofficial Royalty: Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, Duchess of Cambridge
July 25, 1860 – Birth of Louise Margaret of Prussia, Duchess of Connaught, wife of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, at Marmorpalais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Luise Margarete Alexandra Victoria Agnes
Louise Margaret was the granddaughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. In 1879, she married Queen Victoria’s son, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. They had one son and two daughters including Margaret of Connaught who married Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. Margaret died before her husband became King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden but she is an ancestor of the Danish and Swedish Royal Families. Louise Margaret spent the first twenty years of her marriage accompanying her husband on his various military assignments. In 1911, Arthur was appointed the first Governor-General of Canada who was a member of the Royal Family. Louise Margaret and her youngest child Patricia accompanied Arthur to Canada. Louise Margaret died from bronchial pneumonia at the age of 56. She became the first member of the British Royal Family to be cremated, which was done at Golders Green Crematorium. Burying ashes in an urn was still unfamiliar at the time, and her urn was placed in a coffin during the funeral, which was held at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise Margaret of Prussia, Duchess of Connaught
July 25, 1869 – Birth of Prince Ferdinando Pio of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, in Rome, Italy
Prince Ferdinando Pio, Duke of Calabria was Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and pretender to the former throne from 1934 until he died in 1960. His death brought about a dispute between two branches of his extended family, both claiming to be the rightful heir and thus head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Ferdinando Pio of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria
July 25, 1876 – Birth of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians, wife of King Albert I of the Belgians, born Elisabeth of Bavaria at Possenhofen Castle in the Kingdom of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
Full name: Elisabeth Gabriele Valérie Marie
Elisabeth was the third of six children of Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria (a grandson of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria), and his second wife, Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal (a daughter of King Miguel I of Portugal). She was named after her father’s sister, Empress Elisabeth “Sisi” of Austria. While in Paris in May 1897, attending the funeral of her aunt, Elisabeth met her future husband, the future Albert I, King of the Belgians. The two quickly became involved, and several months later they became engaged. They married in 1900 and had three children.
Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgians
July 25, 1938 – Death of Prince Franz I of Liechtenstein in Valtice, Czechoslovakia, now in the Czech Republic; buried in the New Crypt of the Princely Mausoleum on the grounds of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, in Vranov, near Brno, in Czechoslovakia, now in the Czech Republic
In 1914, Franz met Elisabeth von Gutmann, the widow of the Hungarian Baron Géza Erős of Bethlenfalva, at a gala for the Relief Fund for Soldiers. The couple wanted to marry in 1919 but Franz’s brother Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein refused to consent to the marriage because of Elsa’s lower social status and Jewish background, although she had converted to Catholicism before her first marriage. Elsa and Franz secretly married Elsa in 1919, and that same year, Pope Benedict XV received the couple at the Vatican. Johann II died in 1929, and as he was unmarried with no children, his only brother succeeded as Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein. Now that Franz was the Sovereign Prince, he could officially marry Elsa. Their marriage was childless and upon Franz’s death, he was succeeded by his great-nephew, Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Franz I of Liechtenstein
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