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King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga; Credit – Wikipedia
July 4, 1394 – Death of Mary de Bohun, first wife of King Henry IV of England, at Peterborough Castle in Peterborough, England; buried at St Mary of the Annunciation of the Newarke in Leicester, England, which was destroyed under the Dissolution of the Chantries Act of Edward VI
Mary died while delivering her daughter Philippa, her second daughter and seventh child. She was never queen because she died before her husband became king.
Unofficial Royalty: Mary de Bohun, Countess of Northampton, Countess of Derby
July 4, 1394 – Birth of Philippa of England, daughter of King Henry IV of England, wife of Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, at Peterborough Castle in Peterborough, England
Eleven-year-old Philippa was married by proxy to 24-year-old Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway on November 26, 1405, at Westminster Abbey in London. Philippa was formally proclaimed Queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway on December 8, 1405, in the presence of the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ambassadors. In August 1406, Philippa left England to travel to Sweden and married Eric of Pomerania in person on October 26, 1406, at Lund Cathedral in Lund, Sweden. Documentation from the wedding indicates that Philippa wore a tunic with a cloak in white silk bordered with gray squirrel and ermine, making her the first documented princess to wear a white wedding dress. On November 1, 1406, Philippa was crowned Queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
Unofficial Royalty: Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
July 4, 1799 – Birth of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway in Paris, France
Born Joseph Francois Oscar Bernadotte
Oscar was the son of General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, a Marshal of France, and Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary, known as Désirée, the first fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1810, just as Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was about to start a new position as governor of Rome, the Swedish Riksdag elected him heir to the childless King Carl XIII of Sweden. The Riksdag wanted a soldier as the king because of their worries over Russia. Oscar was eleven years old when his father was elected Crown Prince of Sweden and he moved to Stockholm with his mother Désirée. Oscar was given the title Duke of Södermanland, and, unlike his mother, quickly learned Swedish and adapted to life in Sweden. Oscar’s father reigned as King Carl XIV Johan and started the House of Bernadotte which still reigns in Sweden.
Unofficial Royalty: King Oscar I of Sweden
July 4, 1890 – Birth of Irene Mountbatten, Marchioness of Carisbrooke, wife of Queen Victoria’s grandson Alexander Mountbatten, Marquess of Carisbrooke, born Lady Irene Denison, daughter of William Denison, 2nd Earl of Londesborough in London, England
Lady Irene’s family was well-connected. For her 18th birthday, a party was held at St. Dunstan’s Lodge in Regents Park, London, and The Duke and Duchess of Connaught attended along with their daughter Margaret, Crown Princess of Sweden, and her husband, the Crown Prince (the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden). Lady Irene was a debutante in 1908, the same year as her 18th birthday party. A periodical from the time called Lady Irene an interesting debutante and said that she is “fond of sport…shares her parents’ interest in the drama” and “…acted from childhood.”After her marriage, she was styled Irene Mountbatten, Marchioness of Carisbrooke.
Unofficial Royalty: Irene Mountbatten, Marchioness of Carisbrooke
July 4, 1918 – Birth of King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga at the Royal Palace in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
In his youth, Tāufaʻāhau Tupou began competing in the pole vault, and by the age of fourteen, he held the Tonga pole vault record, a record that stood for many years. Upon graduating from university in Australia where he received both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree, Tāufaʻāhau Tupou returned to Tonga and began a career in government. His mother Queen Sālote appointed him Minister of Education in 1943, Minister of Health in 1944, and in 1949, he was appointed Prime Minister of Tonga, a position he held until he succeeded his mother and became King of Tonga in 1965.
Unofficial Royalty: King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga
July 4, 1937 – Birth of Queen Sonja of Norway, wife of King Harald V of Norway, born Sonja Haraldsen in Oslo, Norway
Sonja Haraldsen first met Crown Prince Harald at a dinner party in 1959 hosted by a mutual friend. The relationship between the Crown Prince and Sonja was controversial as many people felt the Crown Prince should marry a princess, not a Norwegian commoner. The controversy continued for years as did the relationship despite the media’s attempts to promote a royal marriage with either of the Greek princesses Sophia and Irene. Crown Prince Harald made it clear to his father, King Olav V, that he would remain unmarried if he could not marry Sonja. This would have resulted in a succession crisis as Harald was the sole heir to the throne. At that time, Norway did not allow female succession, so his two sisters Ragnhild and Astrid were not in the line of succession. Finally, in 1968, when King Olav felt the position of the Norwegian people had changed to favor Sonja, he consulted with parliamentary leaders and other government leaders and gave his consent for the Crown Prince to marry a commoner.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Sonja of Norway
July 4, 1942 – Birth of Prince Michael of Kent at Coppins in Iver, Buckinghamshire, England
Full name: Michael George Charles Franklin
Because Prince Michael was born on American Independence Day, his father Prince George, Duke of Kent asked President Franklin Roosevelt to be one of his son’s godparents. President Roosevelt accepted and the baby prince was named Michael George Charles Franklin. Sadly, six weeks after his son’s birth, on August 25, 1942, the Duke of Kent died in a Royal Air Force plane crash in the service of his country.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Michael of Kent
Unofficial Royalty: Born on the Fourth of July
July 4, 1957 – Birth of Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand, daughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, at Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall, Dusit Palace in Bangkok, Thailand
Princess Chulabhorn attended the Chitralada School in the Dusit Palace complex. Following her secondary education, she attended Kasetart University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Organic Chemistry in 1979. She continued her studies in organic chemistry at Mahidol University, receiving her doctorate in 1985. In 1982, Princess Chulabhorn married Virayudh Tishyasarin, an Air Vice Marshal in the Royal Thai Air Force, and the couple had two daughters. With permission from her father, she retained her royal title and style. The marriage ended in divorce two years later.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand
July 4, 2011 – Death of Otto von Habsburg, last Crown Prince of Austria, son of the last Emperor of Austria, Karl I, at his home in Pöcking, Germany; buried at Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria
The last Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, and Croatia and later in his long life, a member of the European Parliament, Otto von Habsburg was the eldest and the longest surviving of the eight children of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria and his wife Zita of Bourbon-Parma. Otto was given what was called “the last Emperor’s funeral.” Following a 13-day period of mourning in many of the countries that were once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a requiem mass was held at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria, and Otto then was buried in the Crypt Chapel of the Imperial Crypt in Vienna where his mother was also buried. At the time of his burial, Otto’s wife Regina was reburied nearby. 1,000 guests attended the funeral and over 100,000 people lined the streets of Vienna. The ceremonies caused large parts of central Vienna to be closed to traffic. The funeral was televised on Austrian television. Otto’s heart was buried at Pannonhalma Archabbey in Hungary on the day after his funeral.
Unofficial Royalty: Otto von Habsburg
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