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King Henry II of England; Credit – Wikipedia
March 5, 1133 – Birth of King Henry II of England in Le Mans, the capital of the County of Maine, now in France
Henry II was the eldest of the three sons of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine, and Empress Matilda, the only surviving, legitimate child of King Henry I of England and Duke of Normandy. On Christmas Day 1126, King Henry I of England had gathered his nobles at Westminster where they swore to recognize Matilda and any future legitimate heir she might have as his successors. However, when Henry I died in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois quickly crossed from Boulogne (France) to England, seized power in England, and was crowned King Stephen of England on December 22, 1135. Empress Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, leading to the long civil war known as The Anarchy between 1135 and 1153. Eventually, Stephen and Matilda’s son Henry agreed upon a negotiated peace, the Treaty of Winchester, in which Stephen recognized Henry as his heir. Stephen died in 1154, and Henry ascended the throne as King Henry II, the first Angevin King of England.
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry II of England
March 5, 1723 – Birth of Princess Mary of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain, at Leicester House in London, England
In 1740, Mary married Friedrich II, the future Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. As Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, Friedrich became famous during the American Revolution as a supplier of thousands of Hessian soldiers who fought on behalf of the British. Mary and Friedrich had four sons and they are the ancestors of six of the ten current European monarchs. The marriage was unhappy, and Friedrich reportedly abused Mary to spousal abuse. The couple separated in 1754 on Friedrich’s conversion to Roman Catholicism. Mary was supported by her father-in-law as she did not wish to return to Great Britain because she believed it was her duty to remain in the place that God had placed her and that she would ensure her sons would be brought up Protestant. In 1756, Mary moved to Denmark, to take care of the children of her sister Louisa of Great Britain (wife of King Frederik V above), who had died in 1751. She took her children with her, and they were raised at the Danish court, and her sons were married to Danish princesses. Her husband succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in 1760, and so Mary was technically Landgravine consort for the last twelve years of her life, despite her estrangement from her husband. Mary died on January 14, 1772, in Hanau, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany, at the age of 48.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Mary of Great Britain, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel
March 5, 1942 – Death of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia, son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, at the Schatzalp Sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland; initially buried at Waldfriedhof in Davos, Switzerland, his remains were transferred to the Mainau Palace Church, on Mainau Island in Lake Constance, Germany, on the estate of his nephew Count Lennart Bernadotte of Wisborg
Dmitri was one of the conspirators in the murder of Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin and was exiled to Persia (now Iran), a move that most likely saved his life during the Russian Revolution. Dmitri’s half-brother Prince Vladimir Paley, his father Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, Dmitri’s aunt by marriage and his former guardian, were murdered by the Bolsheviks. In addition, amazingly, Dmitri was a first cousin of both Nicholas II, the last Emperor of All Russia and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Dmitri participated in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm in the Equestrian Individual and Team Jumping events, placing ninth in Individual Jumping and fifth in Team Jumping. In 1926, Dmitri married the rich American heiress Audrey Emery. The couple had one son and divorced in 1937. It is believed that Dmitri’s ill health was caused by tuberculosis which he probably contracted around 1929. In 1939, Dmitri entered Schatzalp Sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland and he died there on March 5, 1942, at the age of 50. Because the sanatorium’s medical records were destroyed when the sanatorium was converted into a hotel in the 1950s, there is no definite cause for Dmitri’s death. Both tuberculosis and uremia have been cited.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia
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