Accession, Coronation, Benediction – Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Benediction of King Harald V and Queen Sonja at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim; Credit – Royal House of Norway

A Bit of History

The Kingdom of Norway was established in 872 as a merger of many small kingdoms. During the Kalmar Union from 1397 until 1523, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were ruled together under one monarch until Danish rule was overthrown in a rebellion led by nobleman Gustav Vasa, who became King Gustav I of Sweden. From 1537 to 1814, Norway was a part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway, and from 1814 to 1905, it was in a personal union with the Kingdom of Sweden.

In 1905, when the union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved, the Norwegian government began searching for candidates to become King of Norway. Prince Carl of Denmark, the second son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark, was the overwhelming favorite because of his descent from prior Norwegian monarchs and the British connections of his wife Princess Maud, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Before accepting, Prince Carl insisted that the voices of the Norwegian people be heard regarding retaining a monarchy. Following a referendum with a 79% majority in favor, Prince Carl was formally offered, and then accepted the throne and reigned as King Haakon VII of Norway until he died in 1957.

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Accession

When the Norwegian Sovereign dies, the accession is automatic. The last Norwegian accession took place on January 17, 1991, when King Olav V died and his son immediately succeeded him as King Harald V. The Constitution of Norway requires the new Norwegian Sovereign to swear an oath before the Storting, the Norwegian legislature. If the Storting is not in session, the new  Sovereign swears the oath before the Council of State and again before the Storting once it is in session.

On January 21, 1991, King Harald V swore an oath during a formal ceremony in the Storting. President of the Storting Jo Benkow read the announcement of King Olav V’s death before King Harald V swore the oath: “I solemnly swear to reign in the Kingdom of Norway in accordance with its Constitution and laws, so help me Almighty God.”

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History of Coronations

Coronation of King Karl III Johan of Norway in Nidaros Cathedral 1818; Credit – Wikipedia

The first coronation in Norway occurred in 1163 or 1164, in Bergen, then the capital of Norway, at Christ Church (Old Cathedral).  Christ Church was razed to the ground In 1531, by Eske Bille, a Danish diplomat and statesman, and commander of the Bergenhus Fortress.  Bille was famous for demolishing the churches in Bergen and became known by the nickname “Church Breaker”. Churches and other buildings in Bergen had to be removed to enable a better defense of Bergen and its port. When King Haakon V came to the throne in 1299, Norway’s capital was moved from Bergen to Oslo, which is still Norway’s capital. After 1299, some coronations were held in Oslo but most took place at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.

During the Kalmar Union (1397 to 1523), when a single monarch ruled Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the monarchs were crowned in all three monarchies. After the Kalmar Union was dissolved, Norway remained unified with Denmark under the King of Denmark until 1814. Throughout the Danish Union, the Kings of Denmark-Norway had one ceremony in Denmark in which the King placed the crown upon his own head and was anointed. During the Swedish Union (1814 – 1905), the 1814 Constitution of Norway required the monarch of Norway to be crowned in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway.

The first King of Sweden-Norway, King Karl II of Norway who was also King Carl XIII of Sweden, never visited Norway and was never crowned. When King Karl III Johan of Norway/King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden ascended the throne in 1818, the coronation at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim continued in accordance with the 1814 Constitution of Norway with him and his successors.

King Haakon VII and Queen Maud seated on their thrones during their coronation in 1906; Credit – By Municipal Archives of Trondheim from Trondheim, Norway – Kroningen i Trondhjem 1906Uploaded by Anne-Sophie Ofrim, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18901728

When the Swedish union was abolished in 1905, and Prince Carl of Denmark was elected King of Norway and reigned as King Haakon VII, he and his wife Queen Maud (born Princess Maud of Wales, the daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) were crowned at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, in accordance with the 1814 Constitution of Norway. So far, this was the last coronation held in Norway.

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A Change

In 1908, just two years after the coronation of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud, the Storting, the Norwegian legislature, repealed the provision in the Constitution of Norway requiring a coronation with only two Storting members voting against the repeal. Many Norwegians felt that a coronation was undemocratic and archaic. Norwegian law does not expressly ban coronations but the Norwegian monarchs since the 1908 repeal have opted for a different ceremony, a benediction.

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History of the Benediction

King Olav V of Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

When King Olav V came to the throne in 1957, upon the death of his father King Haakon VII, he desired to have a religious ceremony as he embarked on his roles as King of Norway and the Head of the Church of Norway. Olav proposed a ritual known in Norwegian as Signing til kongsgjerning – Blessing the King for His Reign – a benediction rite. There was and still is no constitutional prohibition against arranging a ceremony for a new monarch of Norway, even a coronation if any future monarch of Norway desires to have one.

King Olav played an active role in developing the Benediction, also called the Consecration. However, Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen and his Government showed little enthusiasm for the Benediction. The Government decided that only three members of the Storting’s Presidium, a committee of six members chaired by the President of the Storting, three members of the Government, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court should attend the Benediction. However, Arne Fjellbu, Bishop of Nidaros sent a letter to all members of the Storting informing them that seating would be reserved for all those who wished to attend. Within a short time, most of the Storting members had accepted the invitation.

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King Olav V’s Benediction – June 22, 1958

King Olav V’s Benediction; Credit – Royal House of Norway

King Olav V’s wife and first cousin, born Princess Märtha of Sweden, sadly died of cancer on April 5, 1954, so Olav came to the throne without a Queen Consort, and he never remarried. For his Benediction, Olav chose the date June 22, 1958, exactly 52 years after the coronation of his parents in the same cathedral, Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway. The ceremony was carried live by radio throughout Norway.

Arne Fjellbu, Bishop of Nidaros and Johannes Smemo, Bishop of Oslo, who gave the sermon, officiated at the Benediction. The new ceremony retained some of the religious elements of earlier rites and eliminated elements considered to be undemocratic. There is no law preventing a coronation from occurring so any future monarch of Norway can choose to have one. During the ceremony, the Norwegian royal regalia was displayed but not worn.

Bishop Fjellbu consecrating King Olav V; Credit – Royal House of Norway

King Olav V sat on the 1818 coronation throne in Nidaros Cathedral. Following the sermon, Olav knelt before the high altar. Bishop Fjellbu laid his hand on the king’s head and recited a special prayer of consecration and blessing which formed the climax of the ritual:

Eternal, Almighty God, Heavenly Father, we thank thee whose grace in need has always gone over our land in woeful and good times to this day. Hear, today, our king’s and our prayer. We pray thee, send thy grace to King Olav the Fifth, assist him by thy Spirit and give him wisdom and peace from thee that his reign be a benefit and a blessing on Norway’s land and people. Deceitful and burdensome days will come; may truth and goodness from thee be his power and gladness. Eternal, powerful God, bless our king, be thou always his Lord and his King and grant his House all good days in time and eternity. Amen.

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Benediction of King Harald V and Queen Sonja – June 23, 1991

Benediction of King Harald V and Queen Sonja; Credit – Royal House of Norway

King Olav V died on January 17, 1991, and his son King Harald V succeeded him. King Harald V and his wife Queen Sonja, a commoner,  born Sonja Haraldsen, expressed their desire to both participate in a Benediction ceremony like King Olav V’s. On June 23, 1991, their Benediction ceremony was held at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway, officiated by Finn Wagle, Bishop of Nidaros and Andreas Aarflot, Bishop of Oslo.

King Haakon VII and Queen Maud in 1906 with the Norwegian regalia; Credit – By Peder O. Aune, 1906 Uploaded by Anne-Sophie Ofrim, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23926801

The royal regalia was displayed during the ceremony but not worn. The King’s Crown and the Queen’s Crown were placed on either side of the high altar. The bishops met King Harald V and Queen Sonja as they entered the cathedral. Bishop Wagle greeted King Harald: “May the Lord bless your going in and your coming out now and for evermore.” King Harald V and Queen Sonja proceeded up the aisle and sat in the 1818 coronation thrones.

Bishop Wagle consecrating King Harald V; Credit – Royal House of Norway

After scripture readings and the sermon, King Harald V knelt before the high altar. Bishop Wagle put his right hand on his head and said the consecration prayer which included: “Consecrate King Harald V, strengthen and lead him in his work as King of Norway. Let his service to the people and the Church be a blessing.”

Queen Sonja then came forward and knelt beside King Harald. Bishop Wagle lay his right hand on her head and said: “Let her work be in support of the King’s deed. Help her use abilities and forces for the joy and benefit of Norway’s country and people.”

Bishop Wagle then said a prayer over the kneeling King and Queen and turned and knelt at the high altar as the Royal Anthem, the Kongesangen, was sung:

God bless our good king!
Bless him with strength and courage
bless home and castle!
Guide him with your Spirit,
Forge with your strong Hand
Holy bonds of allegiance
Around people and king!

Loudly pledge men of Norway
Each in his calling, his station,
Loyalty to his king.
Loyal in life and death,
Courageous in war and distress,
Always our Norway obeyed
God and its king.

Bishop Wagle said a final blessing over the kneeling King and Queen: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you. Amen.” The Lord Chamberlain then came forward as the King and Queen rose, and conducted them back to their coronation thrones.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Accession of the New Monarch in 1991. (2016). Royalcourt.no. https://www.royalcourt.no/nyhet.html?tid=131423&sek=27262
  • Consecration. (2011). Royalcourt.no. https://www.royalcourt.no/artikkel.html?tid=35248&sek=35247
  • The Consecration of King Harald and Queen Sonja. (2013). Royalcourt.no. https://www.royalcourt.no/artikkel.html?tid=28733&sek=27278
  • The Consecration of King Olav V. (2007). Royalcourt.no. https://www.royalcourt.no/artikkel.html?tid=35246&sek=35244
  • Wikipedia Contributors. (2024). Coronations in Norway. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Wikipedia Contributors. (2024). Monarchy of Norway. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation.

Royal News Recap for Saturday, November 2 and Sunday, November 3, 2024

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Royal News Recaps are published Mondays-Fridays and on Sundays, except for Thanksgiving in the United States, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The Royal News Recap for Sundays will be a weekend recap. If there is any breaking or major news, we will add an update as necessary.

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November 4: Today in Royal History

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Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

November 4, 1631 – Birth of Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange, daughter of King Charles I of England, at St. James Palace in London, England
In 1642, Mary was created the first Princess Royal. Her mother Queen Henrietta Maria, daughter of King Henri IV of France wanted to imitate the way the eldest daughter of the King of France was styled Madame Royale. Holders retain the style for life, so a princess cannot receive the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal. Mary married Willem II, Prince of Orange and was the mother of Willem III, Prince of Orange.  Willem III of Orange married his first cousin Mary, daughter of King James II of England. They jointly succeeded to the British throne as William III and Mary II after the overthrow of James II.
Unofficial Royalty: Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange

November 4, 1731 – Birth of Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France, second wife of Louis, Dauphin of France and the mother of three Kings of France, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X, at Dresden Castle in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, later in the Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony
Full name: Maria Josepha Karolina Eleonore Franziska Xaveria
Maria Josepha was the daughter of Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and Maria Josepha of Austria. In 1747, fifteen-year-old Maria Josepha married seventeen-year-old Louis, Dauphin of France, the son and heir apparent of his father Louis XV, King of France. They had eight children including three Kings of France. Maria Josepha’s husband Louis never succeeded to the throne, dying of tuberculosis in 1765, at the age of 36. Maria Josepha, who had cared for Louis during his last illness, also contracted tuberculosis. She died at the Palace of Versailles, on March 13, 1767, at the age of 35, and was buried with her husband.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France

November 4, 1872 – Birth of Prince Barbu Alexandru Știrbey, lover/confidant of Queen Marie of Romania, at the Știrbey Palace in Buftea, Romania
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Barbu Alexandru Știrbey, lover/confidant of Queen Marie of Romania (Unofficial Royalty article coming soon.)

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November 3: Today in Royal History

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Emperor Meiji of Japan;  Credit – Wikipedia

November 3, 1456 – Death of Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, father of King Henry VII of England, died of the plague in captivity at Carmarthen Castle in Wales; initially buried in the Grey Friars Church in Carmarthen, Wales; during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the reign of his grandson King Henry VIII, Edmund Tudor remains were moved to St. David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire
Edmund Tudor was the father of Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch of England, and the ancestor of the British royal family and most other European royal families. He was the son of Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudor, better known as Owen Tudor, and Catherine of Valois, Dowager Queen of England, the widow of King Henry V of England. In 1455, Edmund married Lady Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of King Edward III of England through her father. The Wars of the Roses, the fight for the English throne between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, had just started and Edmund, a Lancastrian, was taken prisoner by the Yorkists less than a year later. He died of the plague in captivity at Carmarthen Castle in Wales on November 3, 1456, leaving a 13-year-old widow who was seven months pregnant with their child, the future King Henry VII.
Unofficial Royalty: Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond

November 3, 1777 – Birth of Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom, at Buckingham Palace in London, England
Full name: Sophia Matilda
Known for giving birth to an illegitimate son, Sophia was one of the three daughters of King George III who never married. Sophia’s childhood was very sheltered and she spent most of her time with her parents and sisters. The living conditions of King George’s daughters came to be known as “the Nunnery.”  Limited in exposure to eligible men, Sophia and several of her sisters became involved with courtiers and equerries. Major-General Thomas Garth, an equerry to King George III, was 56 years old, 33 years older than Sophia, and had a large purple birthmark that disfigured his face. Sophia and Garth were allegedly lovers during the winter of 1799 at Windsor Castle, resulting in a pregnancy. In the summer of 1800, Sophia went to the seaside town of Weymouth, a holiday destination for the royal family, pretending to be suffering from dropsy. Apparently, on August 5, 1800, Sophia gave birth to a son in Weymouth. The child was adopted by a local couple. Eventually, Major-General Garth adopted the boy, renamed him Thomas Garth (Tommy), had him educated at Harrow School, made him his heir, and helped him in an army career in the 15th The King’s Hussars, his old regiment.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom

November 3, 1852 – Birth of Emperor Meiji of Japan at the Gosho, the palace compound, in Kyoto, Japan
Birth name: Mutsuhito
Meiji’s father Emperor Kōmei died suddenly in 1867 at the age of 36 and 14-year-old Meiji became Emperor. Since 1185, a shogun, a military dictator, had been the de facto ruler of Japan, although the shoguns were appointed by the Emperor. In 1868, the last shogun lost power, and in the name and with the support of the young emperor, a new, more Western-oriented upper class initiated the modernization of Japan known as the Meiji Restoration. Under Emperor Meiji’s reign, Japan started to become an industrial and naval power. The old feudal system was abolished and public state schools were introduced along with the Gregorian calendar. In 1890, the Emperor made the greatest contribution to the modernization of Japan with the enactment of a constitution.
Unofficial Royalty: Emperor Meiji of Japan

November 3, 1901 – Birth of Leopold III, King of the Belgians at the Palace of the Marquis d’Assche in Brussels, Belgium
Full name: Léopold Philippe Charles Albert Meinrad Hubertus Marie Miguel
Leopold III became king in 1934 after his father Albert I, King of the Belgians fell to his death while mountain climbing. In 1926, Leopold married Princess Astrid of Sweden and the couple had three children. Sadly, in August 1935, Astrid was killed in a car accident while the family was on vacation in Switzerland. In September 1941, Leopold married Lilian Baels. Following the marriage, Lilian was given the title Princess de Réthy and was not styled as Queen. It was also decided that any children would be Prince/Princess of Belgium but without any rights of succession.  Leopold and Lilian had three children. At the beginning of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasion in May 1940, he surrendered his country, earning him much hostility, both in Belgium and around the world. Leopold and his family were held under house arrest before being liberated by the Americans in 1945. Leopold was banned for several years from returning to Belgium, where his brother Prince Charles had been declared regent. Leopold’s eventual return to Belgium in 1950 nearly caused a civil war, and under pressure from the government, he abdicated in favor of his son Prince Baudouin in July 1951.
Unofficial Royalty: Leopold III, King of the Belgians

November 3, 1923 – Wedding of King Gustaf Adolf VI of Sweden and Lady Louise Mountbatten at the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace in London, England
Gustaf Adolf was previously married to Princess Margaret of Connaught from 1905 until her death in 1920. In June 1923, Lady Louise’s great-aunt, Princess Helena (the third daughter of Queen Victoria), passed away in London. Among those attending the funeral was Gustaf Adolf. He and Louise were drawn to each other immediately, and despite her vow that she would never marry a king or a widower, fate had other plans. Their engagement was announced on July 1, 1923, by both the Swedish and British courts.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of King Gustaf Adolf VI of Sweden and Lady Louise Mountbatten

November 3, 1961 – Birth of David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, son of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom, at Clarence House in London, England
Full name: David Albert Charles
From 1980-1982, David studied the craft of woodworking at Parnham College in Beaminster, Dorset, England. He has had a career as a furniture designer and maker and set up his own company LINLEY in 1985. David does not have an official role, but he does take part in Royal Family events, such as Trooping the Colors. In 2002, while his grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was lying in state at Westminster Hall, David, along with his first cousins The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, and The Earl of Wessex, stood guard around their grandmother’s coffin.
Unofficial Royalty: David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon

November 3, 1970 – Death of King Peter II of Yugoslavia in Denver, Colorado; originally buried at St. Sava Monastery Church in Libertyville, Illinois, reburied in 2013 at the Royal Family Mausoleum in Oplenac, Serbia
After the assassination of his father King Alexander I in 1934,  11-year-old Peter ascended the throne of Yugoslavia. In 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by Nazi forces, and the government was forced to surrender. King Peter went into exile with the government. After settling in London, Peter married Princess Alexandra of Greece, the daughter of King Alexander I of Greece, and the couple had one son.  In 1944, a Communist government was established in Yugoslavia. The following year, the monarchy was officially abolished. After World War II, Peter and Alexandra left London, living in France and Switzerland before settling in the United States in 1949. The marriage suffered from the strain of Peter’s numerous affairs and the constant struggle to find sources of income. Eventually, they went their separate ways. Peter settled permanently in the United States while Alexandra took her son and moved to Venice with her mother. Suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, King Peter II died at the age of 47, following a failed liver transplant. Per his wishes, he was interred at the Saint Sava Monastery Church in Libertyville, Illinois. To date, he is the only European monarch to be buried in the United States. He was reburied in 2013 at the Royal Family Mausoleum in Oplenac, Serbia.
Unofficial Royalty: King Peter II of Yugoslavia

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Royal Birthdays & Anniversaries: November 3-November 9

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Below is a select list of birthdays and wedding anniversaries for current monarchies. It does not purport to be a complete list. Please see the Current Monarchies Index in the heading above for more information on current monarchies.

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David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon; Credit – Katie Chan – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=123094990

63rd birthday of David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, son of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom; born at Clarence House in London, England on November 3, 1961
Full name: David Albert Charles
Unofficial Royalty: David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon

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21st birthday of Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh; born at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, England on November 8, 2003
Full name: Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary
Unofficial Royalty: Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor

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November 2: Today in Royal History

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Anne, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

November 2, 1083 – Death of Matilda of Flanders, Queen of England, wife of King William I (the Conqueror) of England, at Caen, Normandy, now in France; buried at Holy Trinity Abbey in Caen, Normandy
In 1051 or 1052, Matilda married William II, Duke of Normandy, the future King William I (the Conqueror) of England. Matilda was a direct descendant of the Anglo-Saxon king, Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, and this line of ancestry from Alfred the Great through the Counts of Flanders to Matilda was appealing to William. William and Matilda were devoted to each other and there is no evidence that William had illegitimate children. They had four sons and at least five daughters. After William became King of England in 1066, Matilda spent most of her time in the Duchy of Normandy where she took care of affairs of the duchy. In 1083, Matilda became ill. William rushed from England to Normandy to be at her bedside when she died at the age of about 52.
Unofficial Royalty: Matilda of Flanders, Queen of England

November 2, 1470 – Birth of King Edward V of England in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey in London, England
Immortalized as one of the “Princes in the Tower,” King Edward V of England, along with disputed monarchs Empress Matilda and Lady Jane Grey, and King Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936, is one of the four British monarchs since the Norman Conquest who were never crowned. During the Wars of the Roses, from October 1470 – April 1471, when the Lancastrian King Henry VI regained power, Edward’s father King Edward IV and his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III) fled to Burgundy where they knew they would be welcomed by their sister Margaret, who was the wife of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Edward’s mother Elizabeth Woodville and her children sought sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth’s first son, the future, but short-lived, King Edward V, was born there.
Unofficial Royalty: King Edward V of England

November 2, 1475 – Birth of Anne of York, Lady Howard, daughter of King Edward IV of England, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England
Anne of York was the fifth of the seven daughters and the seventh of the ten children of King Edward IV of England, the first King of England from the House of York, and Elizabeth Woodville. She was the sister of King Edward V (see above) and Richard, Duke of York, the Princes in the Tower, who were sent to the Tower of London and were never seen again. In 1495, Anne married Lord Thomas Howard, the future 3rd Duke of Norfolk, after Anne’s death. Thomas and Anne had four children but none survived childhood. Anne died after November 22 or 23, 1511, but before 1513, aged 36 – 38. She was originally buried at Thetford Priory in Thetford, Norfolk, England. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Anne’s husband, now Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, moved the remains of the Howard family members to the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Framlingham, Suffolk, England. He ordered an ornate tomb for Anne with the figures of the twelve apostles around the four sides.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne of York, Lady Howard

November 2, 1549 – Birth of Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain, fourth wife of King Felipe II of Spain, in Cigales, Spain
Anna of Austria was the niece and the fourth of the four wives of Felipe II, King of Spain, King of Portugal. She was the eldest of the six daughters and the eldest of the fifteen children of first cousins Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria and Maria of Spain. In 1570, she married Felipe II. They had five children but only one survived childhood, Felipe II’s successor Felipe III, King of Spain. Anna died from influenza at the age of 30, in 1580, eight months after giving birth to her youngest child.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain 

November 2, 1709 – Birth of Anne, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain, at Schloss Herrenhausen, in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
In 1734, Anne married Willem IV, Prince of Orange and they had two surviving children. The Dutch Royal Family is descended from Anne. When Willem IV died at age 40 from a stroke in 1751, he was succeeded by his three-year-old son as Willem V with Anne serving as Regent. As Regent, Anne was given all the powers normally given a hereditary Stadtholder of the Netherlands, with the exception of the military duties of the office, which was entrusted to Ludwig Ernst of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Anne acted as Regent until her death from dropsy in 1759, at age 49.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange

November 2, 1755 – Birth of Queen Marie Antoinette of France, wife of King Louis XVI of France; born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna (better known by her French name Marie Antoinette)
Maria Antonia was the fifteenth of the sixteen children of Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right, and Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor. After establishing peace with France, Empress Maria Theresa agreed to a marriage between Maria Antonia and Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France (the future King Louis XVI). Maria Antonia took the French version of her name, becoming Marie Antoinette, Dauphine of France. The following month, she arrived in her new country and met her husband for the first time. Two days later, on May 16, 1770, 15-year-old Marie Antoinette and 16-year-old Louis-Auguste were married in a grand ceremony held in the chapel of the Palace of Versailles.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Antonia of Austria, Queen of France (Marie Antoinette)

November 2, 1767 – Birth of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, son of King George III of Great Britain, father of Queen Victoria, at Buckingham Palace in London, England
Full name: Edward Augustus
Edward was the fourth son and the fifth of the fifteen children of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Julie de Montgenêt de Saint-Laurent was his mistress from 1790 – 1818 and accompanied him wherever he went until he married. In November 1817, the death in childbirth of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, necessitated the marriages of the unmarried sons of George III to provide an heir to the throne. Edward’s mistress Julie is said to have read the news of Edward’s engagement in the newspaper while seated at the breakfast table and reacted with violent hysterics. Edward was genuinely attached to her and deeply upset at their forced separation. On May 29, 1818, 50-year-old Edward married 32-year-old Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld at Schloss Ehrenburg in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in Bavaria, Germany. The future Queen Victoria, their only child was born at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819. Eight months later, Edward died.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent

November 2, 1773 – Death of Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg, Illegitimate daughter of King George I of Great Britain and his mistress Melusine von der Schulenburg,  in London, England; buried at Grosvenor Chapel in South Audley Street, London, England
King George I and Melusine von der Schulenburg had three daughters. Melusine’s daughters were never openly acknowledged as George I’s children. Instead, two of Melusine’s sisters and their husbands officially acknowledged them. On December 31, 1707, Anna Luise Sophie married Ernst August Philipp von dem Bussche zu Ippenburg but the marriage was unhappy and childless. In 1716, Anna Luise Sophie’s husband caught her in bed with another man and divorced her. On November 2, 1773, 81-year-old Anna Luise Sophie died at her home in London. She requested to be buried with her mother at Grosvenor Chapel in South Audley Street, London, England.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna Luise Sophie von der Schulenburg

November 2, 1810 – Death of Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom, at Augusta Lodge at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England; buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, England
Born 21 years after her eldest sibling, Princess Amelia was the sixth daughter and the youngest of the fifteen children of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Like three of her six sisters, Amelia never married. Limited in exposure to eligible men, Amelia and several sisters became involved with courtiers and equerries. Amelia became involved with Colonel The Honorable Charles Fitzroy, an equerry to King George III and a great-great-great-grandson of King Charles II of England and his mistress Barbara Villiers. Amelia had always been sickly and by 1810, she was fatally ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. In the autumn of 1810, in addition to tuberculosis, Amelia was suffering from erysipelas, an acute skin infection. Before the advent of antibiotics, erysipelas frequently resulted in death. Amelia’s case of erysipelas was particularly severe with the rash literally from her head to her toes. Amelia died at the age of 27 with her sister Mary at her bedside. Mary wrote to Fitzroy, “My dear Fitzroy, Our beloved Amelia is no more but her last words to me were, ‘Tell Charles I die blessing him.’” Amelia’s death is partly credited to the decline in her father’s health which resulted in his final insanity and the Regency Act of 1811.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom

November 2, 1929 – Death of Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, the morganatic, second wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, in Paris, France; buried at Colombes Gabriel Peri Cemetery in Colombes, France
Olga first married Major General Erich Augustinovich von Pistohlkors, an officer of the Imperial Guard and an aide to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich often spent evenings with him and his wife Olga, and an affair began between Paul and Olga. Olga gave birth in 1897 to a son, known as Vladimir von Pistohlkors because his mother was still married to Pistohlkors. Eventually, Olga divorced her husband and Paul asked for permission to marry Olga from his nephew Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia but Nicholas II denied permission. Paul made a morganatic marriage to Olga on October 10, 1902. Paul was banished from Russia, dismissed from his military commissions, and all his property was seized. Ten years later, Nicholas II relented and decided to pardon his only surviving paternal uncle. Grand Duke Paul’s titles and properties were returned and Nicholas II recognized Paul’s marriage to Olga. Olga and Paul had one son and two daughters. During the Russian Revolution, their son Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley was one of the five Romanovs executed on July 18, 1918, with Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. On January 28, 1919, her husband Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich along with three other Grand Dukes were executed by a firing squad in the courtyard of the Peter and Paul Fortress. In 1920, Olga settled in Paris, France where she died nine years later at the age of 64.
Unofficial Royalty: Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, Princess Paley

November 2, 1938 – Birth of Queen Sofia of Spain, wife of King Juan Carlos I of Spain, born Princess Sophia of Greece at Villa Psychiko in the suburbs of Athens, Greece
Full name: Sophia Margarita Victoria Frederika
Sofia is the daughter of King Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover, both descendants of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter Victoria, Princess Royal who married Friedrich III, German Emperor. On an August 1954 cruise aboard the Agamemnon, a 5,500-ton luxury liner owned by the Greek line Nomikes, funded by Sofia’s father and reportedly the idea of her mother, that Sofia first met her future husband Juan Carlos of Spain. Sofia and Juan Carlos met again in 1961 when Prince Edward, Duke of Kent married. A year later, Sofia and Juan Carlos were married. They had two daughters and one son, Felipe VI, the current King of Spain.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Sofia of Spain

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Adolphus FitzClarence, Illegitimate Son of King William IV of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Adolphus FitzClarence as a young Royal Navy officer; Credit – Wikipedia

Adolphus FitzClarence was born on February 18, 1802, at Bushy House in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. He was the fifth of the ten children and the third of the five sons of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom and his mistress Dorothea Jordan. Adolphus’ paternal grandparents were King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Francis Bland, a stagehand, and his mistress Grace Phillips, an actress, were his maternal grandparents.

From 1790 until 1811, before he became king, King William IV of the United Kingdom had a long-term relationship with actress Dorothea Jordan. Their relationship resulted in ten children who were given the surname FitzClarence. The surname comes from the Anglo-Norman word  Fitz, meaning “son of” and Clarence, from King William IV’s title before he became king, Duke of Clarence.

Dorothea Jordan was born Dorothea Bland was born in County Waterford, Ireland, the daughter of Francis Bland, a stagehand, and his mistress Grace Phillips, an actress. Her mother encouraged Dorothea to enter the theater, and within a few years, she began to draw large crowds for her performances. She left Ireland in 1782 and moved to Leeds, England. It was at this point that she took the name Jordan. She performed for three years with the York Company, before being lured away in 1785 to move to the Royal Theatre, Drury Lane in London. By then, Dorothea was becoming a very popular performer and could be counted on to bring large crowds every night. It was at Drury Lane that her life would come to the attention of The Duke of Clarence several years later.


Adolphus’ parents The Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) and Dorothea Jordan; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1790, Dorothea was first noticed by The Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) while performing at Drury Lane. They quickly began an affair that would last for the next 21 years. Dorothea moved in with the Duke at his home, Clarence Lodge in Roehampton, London, England and later they moved to Bushy House in Bushy Park in Richmond upon Thames, London, England.

Bushy House, Adolphus’ birthplace; By Stephen Williams, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12574949

In 1797, King George III of the United Kingdom appointed his third son William, then Duke of Clarence, the ranger of Bushy Park. The position came with the residence Bushy House in Bushy Park. William and Dorothea lived there with their ten children until their relationship ended in 1811. William continued living there with his children and later with his wife Adelaide Saxe-Meinigen after they married in 1818.

The children of King William IV and Dorothea Jordan had an elder half-brother, William Henry Courtney, born around 1788 to an unknown mother, and named after his father whose given names were William Henry. Dorothea Jordan cared for William Henry, and she was fond of him and he was fond of her. William Henry served in the Royal Navy from 1803 until 1807 when his ship HMS Blenheim was lost in a gale off Madagascar. Despite an extensive search, no trace of the ship was ever found. 590 men were lost aboard HMS Blenheim, including King William IV’s eldest illegitimate son nineteen-year-old William Henry Courtney.

Nine of the ten children of King William IV and Dorothea Jordan were named after nine of William’s fourteen siblings. That one child was named Henry, William IV’s middle name.

Adolphus’ nine siblings:

William and Dorothea’s children married into the British aristocracy and their many descendants include some notable people including sisters Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife and Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk (granddaughters of King Edward VII and daughters of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, a descendant of Dorothea Jordan and King William IV), Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich (British diplomat, Cabinet member, author), John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute (also known as Johnny Dumfries, racing driver), and David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

By 1811, William was pressured by his family to find a suitable wife. At the time he was fourth in line for the throne following his elder brother The Prince of Wales, the future King George IV, George’s only child Princess Charlotte of Wales, and George’s next oldest brother who was childless Prince Frederick, Duke of York. William gave in to the pressure and ended his relationship with Dorothea but ensured she was well provided for. William became closer to the throne when his niece Princess Charlotte died in 1817 giving birth to a stillborn son. When King George IV died in 1830, William succeeded to the throne. Although William had ten children with Dorothea Jordan, his marriage with Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen produced no surviving children. King William IV was succeeded by his niece Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria had relationships with her first cousins, King William IV’s illegitimate children. They are mentioned in Queen Victoria’s diaries when visiting Windsor Castle.

Adolphus and his siblings had little contact with their mother Dorothea Jordan after 1811 when their father ended his relationship with her. After losing much of her savings when her daughter Augusta and her husband ran up large debts in her name, Dorothea’s health quickly began to decline. Virtually penniless, Dorothea Jordan died in Saint-Cloud, France on July 5, 1816, at the age of 54. She is buried in the local cemetery in Saint-Cloud.

After attending a boarding school in Sunbury-on-Thames, England, in 1812, twelve-year-old Adolphus joined the Royal Navy, where he had a career and attained the rank of Rear Admiral. He first served on the HMS Impregnable, the flagship of his father, then The Duke of Clarence, who also had a naval career. The HMS Impregnable was involved in the Napoleonic Wars (1803 – 1815). Adolphus then served as a Midshipman aboard the HMS Newcastle which participated in the War of 1812. The HMS Newcastle captured an American privateer en route to the United States and participated in the blockade of the 44-gun frigate USS Constitution in Boston harbor. In April 1821, Adolphus was commissioned as a Lieutenant and transferred to the HMS Euryalus. After being promoted to Commander in 1823, Adolphus served aboard the HMS Brisk and HMS Redwing in the North Sea. In December 1824, Adolphus was promoted to Captain. He received his first command in 1826, becoming Captain of HMS Ariadne. In 1827, he commanded HMS Challenger, and in 1828, HMS Pallas.

When his father King William IV acceded to the throne in 1830, Adolphus was given command of the Royal Yacht HMY Royal George. The same year, his father appointed him Groom of the Robes and in 1833, he was appointed Lord of the Bedchamber. In 1837, his father died and his Adolphus’ first cousin Queen Victoria came to the throne. Victoria allowed Adolphus to keep the command of the Royal Yacht. In her diary, Queen Victoria recorded that upon hearing he would keep the command, Adolphus burst into tears and said that this was unexpected and that he had not hoped for it. He held the command of the Royal Yacht until his promotion to Rear-Admiral of the Blue in 1853. In 1848, Adolphus became Naval Aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria.

Posthumous portrait of Adolphus wearing an admiral’s hat by Rosa Koberwein; Credit – Wikipedia

Fifty-four-year-old Adolphus FitzClarence suffered a paralytic seizure on or a few days before May 17, 1856, and died unmarried on May 18, 1856, at Newburgh Priory in Coxwold, North Yorkshire, England, the home of Sir George Orby Wombwell, 4th Baronet. He was buried in a vault under the chancel of St. Michael’s Church in Coxwold, North Yorkshire, England. Adolphus’ assets were not enough to pay his debts and funeral expenses. Queen Victoria wrote in her diary on May 19, 1856, “Poor Ld Adolphus FitzClarence of whose paralytic seizure we heard on the 17th, died yesterday evening. We are truly sorry as he was very good natured & kind hearted, but he positively killed himself by living too well. He was only 54, although he looked quite 10 or 12 years older.”

Memorial to Adolphus erected by “a few sincere friends and relatives at St. Michael’s Church in Coxwold, North Yorkshire, England; Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Autoren der Wikimedia-Projekte. (2007). Britischer Offizier der Royal Navy. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphus_FitzClarence
  • Beauclerk-Dewar, Peter & Powell, Roger. (2006). Right Royal Bastards – The Fruits of Passion. Burke’s Peerage & Gentry LLC.
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015). King William IV of the United Kingdom. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-william-iv-of-the-united-kingdom/
  • Mehl, Scott. (2020). Dorothea Jordan, Mistress of King William IV of the United Kingdom. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/dorothea-jordan-mistress-of-king-william-iv-of-the-united-kingdom/
  • Rear Admiral Lord Adolphus FitzClarence … (2017). Findagrave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186168309/adolphus-fitzclarence
  • Weir, Alison. (2008). Britain’s Royal Families – The Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books.
  • Wikipedia Contributors. (2024). Lord Adolphus FitzClarence. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Adolphus_FitzClarence
  • Wikipedia Contributors. (2023). St. Michael’s Church. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael%27s_Church

Royal News Recap for Friday, November 1, 2024

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Royal News Recaps are published Mondays-Fridays and on Sundays, except for Thanksgiving in the United States, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The Royal News Recap for Sundays will be a weekend recap. If there is any breaking or major news, we will add an update as necessary.

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Unofficial Royalty

Denmark

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Thailand

United Kingdom

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November 1: Today in Royal History

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Katarina Jagellonica of Poland, Queen of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

November 1, 1526 – Birth of Katarina Jagellonica, Queen of Sweden, wife of King Johan III of Sweden, in Krakow, Poland
Katarina was the daughter of Sigismund I, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Due to in-fighting among the sons of the deceased King Gustav I Vasa of Sweden, Katarina was married to the future King Johan III of Sweden. In exchange for marrying Katarina, Johan received a substantial sum of money and land in Livonia (located in present-day Estonia and Latvia), which hindered the expansionist policy of his half-brother King Erik XIV.  In January 1569, the Riksdag (parliament) legally dethroned Erik. Johan and Katarina were crowned King and Queen of Sweden on July 10, 1569. As Queen Consort of Sweden, Katarina had much political influence and influenced her husband in many areas, such as his foreign policy and interest in Renaissance art. In the spring of 1583, Katarina became seriously ill with gout, and after much suffering, she died, aged 56.
Unofficial Royalty: Katarina Jagellonica, Queen of Sweden

November 1, 1661 – Birth of Louis of France, Le Grand Dauphin, eldest son and heir of King Louis XIV of France, at the Château de Fontainebleau in France
Louis of France was the only child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain to survive childhood. As the heir apparent to the French throne, he was styled Dauphin of France and was called Le Grand Dauphin after the birth of his eldest son Louis, Le Petit Dauphin. Louis married his second cousin Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria and they had three sons. King Louis XIV outlived his son and his eldest grandson and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV when he died in 1715. However, the second son of Louis of France, Le Grand Dauphin, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, succeeded to the Spanish throne as King Felipe V via his Spanish grandmother after the Spanish Habsburgs died out, and the House of Bourbon still sits upon the Spanish throne.
Unofficial Royalty: Louis of France, Le Grand Dauphin

November 1, 1700 – Death of King Carlos II of Spain at Royal Alcazar of Madrid  in Spain; buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real in El Escorial, Spain
Carlos II was the last Spanish king from the House of Habsburg. He had physical and mental conditions probably caused by the continued inbreeding of the House of Habsburg. Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. When Carlos died without children, the Spanish House of Habsburg became extinct. Carlos II was succeeded by his half-sister’s grandson Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in the Kingdom of Spain today.
Unofficial Royalty: King Carlos II of Spain

November 1, 1773 – Birth of Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia, wife of  Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia, at the Royal Palace of Milan in the Duchy of Milan, now in Italy
In 1789, Maria Theresa married the future Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia. They had six daughters and one son who died in early childhood from smallpox. Their five surviving daughters all married reigning monarchs. In 1802, Maria Theresa’s husband Vittorio Emanuele became King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his brother Carlo Emanuele. In March 1821, liberal revolutions were occurring throughout Italy. However, Vittorio Emanuele I was not willing to grant a liberal constitution so he abdicated the throne of Sardinia in favor of his brother Carlo Felice. Vittorio Emanuele died in 1824, aged 64. Maria Theresa survived her husband by eight years. She died unexpectedly, aged 58, on March 29, 1832.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia

November 1, 1778 – Birth of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden at Stockholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
King Gustav IV Adolf became king at the age of 13 when his father was assassinated and was deposed 17 years later in a coup. In 1797, Gustav IV Adolf married Frederica of Baden and the couple had five children. The occupation of Finland, a territory of Sweden, in 1808 – 1809 by Russian forces was the immediate cause of Gustav Adolf’s overthrow by officers of his army. Prince Karl, Gustav Adolf’s uncle, agreed to form a provisional government, and the Swedish parliament gave their approval for the coup. Prince Karl was proclaimed King Karl XIII of Sweden on June 6, 1809. In December 1809, Gustav Adolf and his family were sent into exile. Gustav Adolf and his family settled in Frederica’s home country, the Grand Duchy of Baden. However, the couple became incompatible and divorced in 1812. Gustav Adolf ultimately settled in a small hotel in St. Gallen, Switzerland where he lived in great loneliness. On February 7, 1837, Gustav Adolf suffered a stroke and died at the age of 58.
Unofficial Royalty: King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden

November 1, 1860 – Death of Charlotte of Prussia, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, at the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, Russia; buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
Charlotte was the eldest of the four daughters and the third of the nine children of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Charlotte’s two elder brothers became Kings of Prussia and the younger of the two brothers was the first German Emperor. In 1817, Charlotte married Grand Nicholas Pavlovich, the future Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. She converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Alexandra Feodorovna. The couple had seven children.  Because Nicholas’ eldest brother Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia had no surviving children and the second brother Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich made a morganatic marriage, Nicholas succeeded his brother in 1825. Nicholas died in 1855, and his eldest son succeeded him as Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna survived her husband by five years, dying at the age of 62 on November 1, 1860, at the Alexander Palace. She was buried next to her husband at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
Unofficial Royalty: Charlotte of Prussia, Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia

November 1, 1864 – Birth of Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich of Russia, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at Bessungen, Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany
Full name: Elisabeth Alexandra Luise Alice
Elisabeth (Ella) was the daughter of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1884, Ella married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. After her marriage, Ella was known as Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Sergei and Ella did not have any children of their own. However, they later took in the children of Sergei’s brother Paul, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the younger), and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich. In 1905, Sergei was assassinated by a bomb. Four years after her husband’s assassination, Ella sold all her jewelry and with the proceeds opened the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary and became its abbess. Ella was one of the Romanovs killed by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution.
Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna of Russia
Unofficial Royalty: July 18, 1918 – Execution of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and Five Other Romanovs

November 1, 1881 – Birth of Admiral Perikles Ioannidis, second husband of Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark, in Corinth, Greece
From 1917 – 1920, the Greek royal family was in exile after Princess Maria’s brother King Constantine I was forced from the throne due to disagreements with Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos. In 1920, Maria returned to Greece when her brother King Constantine I was brought back to power. She traveled aboard a Greek destroyer commanded by Admiral Perikles Ioannidis. Maria was determined to marry a Greek and a romance developed.  Maria’s first husband Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia had been killed by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. Perikles and Maria married in 1922 but they had no children. Their marriage did have its issues. Perikles had mistresses and often gave his mistresses jewelry stolen from his wife. Maria lost money playing backgammon and Perikles was forced to carefully monitor their expenses. Maria died of a heart attack in 1940. Perikles spent the remainder of his life devoted to philanthropy and public service. He was president of the Piraeus Yacht Club and a benefactor of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece. He bequeathed his collection of photographs and historical items to the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece and the society’s collection is now housed at the National Historical Museum in Athens. Admiral Perikles Ioannidis survived his wife by twenty-five years, dying at the age of 83.
Unofficial Royalty: Admiral Perikles Ioannidis

November 1, 1894 – Death of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia at Livadia Palace in the Crimea, Russia; buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
In 1866, Alexander III married Princess Dagmar of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark. They had six children including the ill-fated Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. Alexander III became Emperor of All Russia in 1881 upon the assassination of his father Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. Because of his father’s assassination, Alexander III’s reign was reactionary. On the day of his assassination, Alexander II signed a proclamation creating a consulting group to advise the Emperor, which some considered a step toward constitutional monarchy. The new emperor, Alexander III, canceled the new policy before it was published. In 1894, Alexander became ill with nephritis, a kidney disorder. His condition rapidly deteriorated and he died on November 1, 1894, at the age of 49.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexander III, Emperor of All of Russia

November 1, 1906 – Death of Archduke Otto Franz of Austria, father of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, at a villa in Währing, a district of Vienna, Austria; buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria
Otto Franz of Austria was the father of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, and the brother of the ill-fated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination in 1914 was one of the causes of World War I. Otto Franz married Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony and the couple had two sons. By 1900, it was clear that Otto Franz had contracted syphilis and he withdrew from public life. He was in agonizing pain for the last two years of his life and was forced to replace his nose with a rubber prosthetic due to the facial deformity caused by syphilis. On November 1, 1906, Archduke Otto Franz, aged forty-one, died.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduke Otto Franz of Austria

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Some Spooky and Some Not So Spooky Royal Burial Sites for Halloween or Anytime

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

One of my favorite vacation pastimes is to pay a call on dead royals. I highly recommend it for learning and making history come alive. I am fortunate to have visited the royal burial sites of the current monarchies of Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom including England and Scotland. In addition, I have visited the royal burial sites of the former monarchies of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire, Bavaria, France, and Russia.

Unofficial Royalty: Royal Funerals & Burial Sites has links to articles about burial sites of current and past monarchies. All information below is taken from articles at Unofficial Royalty.

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My Creepiest Experience – Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St. Cajetan) in Munich, Germany

A view of the dark and creepy (if you are alone!) crypt at the Theatinerkirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The traditional burial site for the Electors of Bavaria was the Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St Cajetan) in Munich, Germany which contains the tombs of most of the Electors of Bavaria and their wives, as well as several members of the subsequent Bavarian Royal Family. Besides the Theatine Church, rulers of the House of Wittelsbach have been interred at the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Munich, Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church) in Munich, and the Andechs Abbey in Andechs.

When I visited the Theatinekirche, my husband did not want to pay the two euros for admission to the crypt, so I went into the crypt alone – just me and 47 coffins of members of the House of Wittelsbach – no one else was there. Being alone was a fairly creepy experience. I looked around, took photos, and exited quickly! Still haunting.

Coffins in the crypt of the Theatinekirche; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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My Most Amazing Royal Burials Experience – Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in St. Petersburg, Russia

Sarcophagi in the Peter and Paul Cathedral; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Visiting the burial site of the Romanovs at the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in St. Petersburg, Russia was something I never thought I would do. On a trip to Denmark and Sweden, my husband and I took a cruise from Stockholm, Sweden with ports of call at Helsinki, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia. The ship was docked in St. Petersburg for two days. On each day, an eight-hour excursion that visited places related to the Romanovs was offered. Of course, we went on both excursions. Besides visiting the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, we visited the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and Tsarkoe Selo, the town 15 miles/24 kilometers south of St. Petersburg, where the Alexander Palace and the Catherine Palace are located.

Our tour guide with the pulpit and lots of people in the background; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

On an island in the Neva River that flows through St. Petersburg, Russia is the Peter and Paul Fortress, the original citadel of the city established by Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia in 1703. Inside the fortress is a Russian Orthodox cathedral, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, built under Peter I (the Great). The cathedral is the burial place of almost all the Russian emperors and empresses from Peter the Great to Nicholas II and his family, who were finally laid to rest in July 1998. Of the Russian emperors and empresses after Peter the Great, only Peter II and Ivan VI are not buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The place was packed with tourists, local and foreign, feeling the aura and maybe thinking how that government compares with the present one.

Tombs of Emperors and Empresses – Row 1 left to right: Elizabeth I, Catherine I, Peter I (the Great); Row 2 left to right: Tombs of Catherine II (the Great), Peter III, Anna I; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

On July 17, 1998, on the 80th anniversary of their murders, the remains of Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, and three of their five children Olga, Tatiana, and Anastasia along with the remains of physician Yevgeny Sergeyevich Botkin, maid Anna Demidova, cook Ivan Khartinov, and footman Alexei Trupp were buried in the Chapel of St. Catherine in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The remains of the last two children of Nicholas II – Maria and Alexei – were found in 2007 and positively identified the following year. After the remains were in the state archives for eight years, a burial was scheduled for October 18, 2015. However, the burial has been delayed mainly due to the insistence of the Russian Orthodox Church on more DNA testing.

St. Catherine’s Chapel at the Peter and Paul Cathedral; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Nicholas II, his family, and their servants are buried in a small chapel which visitors cannot enter. To view the chapel, one must wait their turn, and stand in the narrow doorway. To take the photo above, I took up as much space as possible in the doorway so no one would be in my way.

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Plain on the Outside, Lots of Sarcophagi on the Inside – Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria

Capuchin Church in Vienna (Cloister on left, Church in middle, Imperial Crypt on right); Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Habsburgs, including Holy Roman Emperors, Emperors of Austria from 1804 – 1918, their wives, and some children are buried at the Capuchin Church in Vienna where there is still a cloister of Capuchin monks who take care of the church. Unlike other burial sites I have visited, the Capuchin Church is small and on a street with traffic, shops, stores, restaurants, and cafes. One cafe is directly across from it. Walking past the church, one would never think the burial place of emperors was there. After paying an admission fee, visitors descend the stairs marked by a sign that said “Zur Kaisergruft” to the series of crypts containing the remains of the Habsburgs.

Tomb of Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, second wife of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the mother of his children. Maria Theresa died giving birth to her twelfth child who also died; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

As of 2024, there are 145 Habsburgs interred here, plus urns containing hearts and cremated remains. 107 metal sarcophagi are visible and they range in style from plain to fancy. All sarcophagi are labeled in German with the person’s identity and their relationship to a Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of Austria, or Archduke.

Tomb of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

I think this is my second creepiest royal burial site. There are sarcophagi everywhere and some have creepy skulls. Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI’s sarcophagus has a death’s head at each corner wearing one of the crowns of his major realms, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Hungary, and the Archduchy of Austria.

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A Destroyed Burial Site – Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland

The ruins of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The abbey church of Holyrood Abbey, founded by David I, King of Scots in 1128, now stands in roofless ruins adjacent to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1559, during the Scottish Reformation, the abbey church suffered much damage when a Protestant mob destroyed the altars and looted the rest of the church. In 1569, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland decided to demolish the east end of the abbey church because of the damage. Only the nave was retained, all but two of the windows in the nave were blocked up, and the royal tombs were removed to a new royal burial vault in the south aisle.

Royal Vault in the ruins of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 1688, the abbey church was ransacked by a mob, furious with the Roman Catholic allegiance of James VII, King of Scots (also James II, King of England). There was some restoration work done on the abbey church in 1758 – 1760 including the rebuilding of the roof but during a storm in 1768 the roof collapsed, leaving the abbey in its current ruins.

The ruins of the abbey church of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – By Brian Holsclaw from Seattle, WA, USA – 20090513_Edinburgh_034Uploaded by Kurpfalzbilder.de, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9562367

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Destruction and Restoration – Basilica of Saint-Denis in Saint-Denis, France

Some of the effigies rescued and preserved by archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir (see below); Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

The Basilica of Saint-Denis is a Roman Catholic church in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France. The current Gothic cathedral was built in the 12th century. The Kings of France and their families were buried for centuries at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The remains of all but three monarchs of France from the 10th century until 1789 are interred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

Violation of the royal tombs of Saint-Denis by Hubert Robert (Musée Carnavalet, Paris); Credit – https://uk.tourisme93.com/basilica/desecration-of-the-royal-tombs.html

During the French Revolution, the remains of French royals were desecrated and some tombs and effigies were destroyed. By the decree on August 1, 1793, the National Convention ordered: “The tombs and mausoleums of the former kings, mounted in the Church of Saint-Denis, in temples and in other places, across the entire Republic, will be destroyed.” This occurred systematically from August 1793 – October 1793. The remains of 46 kings, 32 queens, and 63 other royals were thrown into two large pits in the monks’ cemetery adjacent to the Basilica of Saint-Denis and covered in quicklime and soil. A combination of seventy effigies and tombs were saved because of the efforts of archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir who claimed them as artworks for his Museum of French Monuments.

Crypt where Louis VII, Louis de Lorraine, Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and Louis XVIII are buried at Saint-Denis; Credit – By Fbrandao.1963 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64407677

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French reopened the Basilica of Saint-Denis in 1806 but left the royal remains in their mass graves. One of the first things King Louis XVIII, a younger brother of the guillotined King Louis XVI, did after the Bourbon Restoration in 1814 was to order a search for the remains of his brother and sister-in-law, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. They were originally buried in the cemetery at the Madeleine Church and covered with quicklime. The few remains that were found were reburied at the Basilica of Saint-Denis on January 21, 1815, the twenty-second anniversary of King Louis XVI’s execution.

Door leading to the crypt where the desecrated royal remains were re-interred. The large plaques on either side of the door are engraved with the names of those who were re-interred; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

In 1817, King Louis XVIII ordered the mass graves adjacent to the Basilica of Saint-Denis to be opened but due to the damage from the quicklime, identification of the remains was impossible. The remains were collected into an ossuary, a site serving as the final resting place of human skeletal remains, in the basilica’s crypt. Large marble plates on either side of the gated door leading to the crypt are engraved with the names of those whose remains are buried in the crypt. The seventy effigies and tombs that Alexandre Lenoir saved were returned to the Basilica of Saint-Denis and are now mostly in their original places.

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The Tell-Tale Story of the Heart of Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France

A depiction of Louis-Charles in the Temple; Credit – Wikipedia

Louis-Charles of France, Dauphin of France, born in 1785, was the only surviving son of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, who were guillotined during the French Revolution. Louis-Charles and his family were imprisoned at the Temple, the remains of a medieval fortress in Paris. He was only eight-years old when his parents were beheaded in 1793. The terrible conditions of Louis-Charles’ imprisonment led to the rapid deterioration of his health. Ill with tuberculosis, Louis-Charles died on June 8, 1795, at the age of ten. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Cimetière Sainte-Marguerite in Paris.

Louis-Charles’ heart in the crystal urn; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

After Louis-Charles’ death, an autopsy was held. Following the tradition of preserving royal hearts, Louis-Charles’ heart was removed and smuggled out during the autopsy by Dr. Philippe-Jean Pelletan, a royalist, who preserved the heart in alcohol. After the Bourbon Restoration in 1815, Dr. Pellatan offered the heart to Louis-Charles’ paternal uncle King Louis XVIII but he refused it because he could not bring himself to believe that it was his nephew’s heart. Following the July Revolution in 1830, Dr. Pelletan’s son found the heart in the remnants of a looted palace and placed it in the crystal urn where it still resides. After the death of Dr. Pelletan’s son in 1879, Eduard Dumont, a relative of Dr. Pelletan’s wife, took possession of the heart.

In 1895, Carlos, Duke of Madrid, the Legitimist claimant to the French throne under the name Charles XI, accepted the heart from Eduard Dumont. The heart was kept at Schloss Frohsdorf near Vienna, Austria. Upon the death of his father Carlos, Duke of Madrid in 1909, Jaime, Duke of Madrid, the next Legitimist claimant to the French throne, inherited the heart and gave it to his sister Beatriz.

During World War II, Schloss Frohsdorf suffered damage. The heart was rescued by descendants of Carlos, Duke of Madrid, and ultimately came into the possession of his granddaughter Princess Marie des Neiges Massimo. In 1975, the princess offered the heart to the Memorial of Saint-Denis in Paris, the organization that oversees the royal graves at the Basilica of St. Denis. The heart was placed in an underground chapel at the basilica where the remains of French royals that were desecrated during the French Revolution were subsequently interred.

In 2004, mitochondrial DNA testing proved the heart belonged to Louis-Charles. Comparison samples were taken from descendants of Marie Antoinette’s sisters, members of the Bourbon-Parma family including Queen Anne of Romania who was born a Princess of Bourbon-Parma, and a strand of Marie-Antoinette’s hair. With the approval of the French government, the Legitimists organized a ceremony at the Basilica of St. Denis on June 8, 2004, the 209th anniversary of Louis-Charles’ death. His heart was placed in a niche near the graves of his parents Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette whose remains were transferred to the basilica in 1815.

The resting place of Louis-Charles’ heart in the Basilica of St. Denis; Photo Credit – © Susan Flantzer

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“I feel like everywhere I walk, I’m walking over dead people.” – Westminster Abbey in London, England

Monuments in the Chapel of St. Edmund, Westminster Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia

Note: I have no photos of Westminster Abbey because photographs are not allowed.

Not exactly Haley Joel Osment’s “I see dead people” from The Sixth Sense, but the comment above was said by my 13-year-old son during a 1990 visit to Westminster Abbey. Yes, there are a lot of dead people there. One of the United Kingdom’s most significant honors is to be buried or commemorated in Westminster Abbey. Musicians, poets, generals, admirals, politicians, doctors, scientists, and more were given the honor over the years. There have been over 3,300 burials and there are over 600 monuments, wall tablets, and markers on the floor. People have been interred in crypts under the floor, in the walls, in side chapels, and in tombs.

Grave marker in the floor of Westminster Abbey of Stephen Hawking; Credit – By JRennocks – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128242974

One of the renowned people accorded a burial at Westminster Abbey was the theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author Stephen Hawking. On June 15, 2018, his ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey’s nave, alongside the graves of Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

King Henry III’s tomb in the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor; Credit – Westminster Abbey Facebook page

Thirty kings and queens are buried at Westminster Abbey, starting with King Edward the Confessor whose magnificent shrine stands just behind the High Altar. Five kings and four queens lie buried in his Chapel.

The Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor with his shrine; Credit – By amanderson2 – https://www.flickr.com/photos/49399018@N00/52640667304/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128111063

October 13 is the feast day of St. Edward the Confessor, the day his body was interred in Westminster Abbey in 1163. Every year, from October 13 – 18, St. Edward the Confessor is remembered and celebrated. A national pilgrimage to his shrine is held, attracting people from across the United Kingdom and the world. I have visited Westminster Abbey several times and one of those times was during the national pilgrimage. The Chapel of Edward the Confessor is usually not open but it is open during the national pilgrimage and it was awe-inspiring to see Edward the Confessor’s shrine surrounded by the tombs of kings and queens.

Effigy of Mary, Queen of Scots; Credit – By Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15875544

Mary, Queen of Scots, who was beheaded in 1587 during the reign of her first cousin once removed Queen Elizabeth I of England, was originally buried at Peterborough Cathedral. In 1612, Mary’s remains were exhumed upon the orders of her son King James I of England and ironically were reburied in a chapel directly across the aisle from the chapel containing the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I.

Effigy of Queen Elizabeth I of England; Credit – www.findagrave.com

By the time King George II died in 1760, the royal burial vaults at Westminster Abbey were quite crowded. His successor, his grandson King George III, decided to build a new royal vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Since the reign of King George III, royal burials, with a few exceptions, have been at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle or the Royal Burial Ground and Mausoleums at Frogmore, near Windsor Castle. The last monarch buried in Westminster Abbey was King George II in 1760. The last royal burial in Westminster Abbey was that of Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland, son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and brother of King George III, in 1790.

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