Sheikh Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Embed from Getty Images 

Sheikh Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain was born on June 3, 1933, in the village of Al Jasra in Bahrain. He was the son of Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, Hakim of Bahrain and Mouza bint Hamad al-Khalifa, one of his father’s three wives.

Isa had one full brother and one half-brother and six half-sisters.

Isa’s full brother:

Isa’s half-brother from his father’s wife Latifa bint Ibrahim al-Khalifa:

Isa’s six half-sisters:

  • Thajba bint Salman al-Khalifa
  • Fatima bint Salman Al Khalifa
  • Maryam bint Salman al-Khalifa
  • Aisha bint Salman al-Khalifa
  • Sheikha bint Salman al-Khalifa
  • Nura bint Salman al-Khalifa

On May 8, 1949, Isa married his cousin Hessa bint Salman al-Khalifa (1933 – 2009) and the couple had five sons and four daughters:

  • Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, King of Bahrain (born 1950), Wife 1 Sabika bint Ibrahim al-Khalifa, had three sons and one daughter; Wife 2 Sheia bint Hassan al-Khrayyesh Al Ajmi, had two sons; Wife 3 Hessa bint Faisal Muhammad Shreim al-Marri, had one son and two daughters; Wife 4 Binh bint Jabr al-Nuaimi, had one son and two daughters
  • Sheikh Rashed bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa (? – 2011), married ?, had seven sons
  • Sheikh Mohamed bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, married Sheika Kholoud al-Khalifa, had two sons and one daughter
  • Sheikh Abdullah bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, married Sheikha Haya bint Muhammad al-Khalifa, had three sons and one daughter
  • Sheikh Ali bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa (born 1955), married Sheikha Anoud bint Muhammad al-Khalifa, had three sons and one daughter
  • Sheikha Munira bint Isa al-Khalifa, married Sheikh Salman bin Muhammad al-Khalifa, had five sons and one daughter
  • Sheikha Maryam bint Isa al-Khalifa, married Sheikh Ali bin ‘Abdullah al-Khalifa, had two sons and three daughters
  • Sheikha Shaikha bint Isa al-Khalifa married Sheikh Duaij bin Hamad al-Khalifa had two sons and three daughters
  • Sheikha Noura bint Isa al-Khalifa (? – 2018), married and divorced Sheikh Isa bin Ali bin Hamad al-Khalifa, had two sons
Embed from Getty Images
Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain and his son and heir Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, the UK in 1968, after the Commissioning Parade, where the Hamid  was commissioned into the Bahrain Royal Guard

The Kingdom of Bahrain is an island country in the Persian Gulf, situated between the Qatar peninsula and the northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia. In the 1800s, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom and remained so until independence was declared in 1971. The House of Khalifa has reigned in Bahrain since 1783.

Isa became Hakim of Bahrain upon the death of his father on November 2, 1961. On August 15, 1971, Bahrain declared its independence from the United Kingdom and signed a new treaty of friendship with the United Kingdom. Isa changed the title of the ruler of Bahrain to the Emir of Bahrain and appointed his brother Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa as the first Prime Minister of the newly sovereign country, the Emirate of Bahrain.

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Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip with Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain, following dinner at the Al-Qudaibiya Palace in Manama, Bahrain in 1979

In 1973, Isa introduced a moderate form of parliamentary democracy, and men (but not women) were allowed to vote in parliamentary elections. However, parliamentary democracy was short-lived. In August 1975, however, Isa dissolved Parliament because it refused to pass the State Security Law of 1974 which caused a period of political suppression with the torture of political prisoners and human rights violations. In 2001, Isa’s son Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, who had succeeded him as Emir of Bahrain in 1999, abolished the State Security Law, declared Bahrain a constitutional monarchy following a national referendum, and changed the title of the ruler of Bahrain to King of Bahrain.

Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain, during a visit to the Pentagon in 1998; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 6, 1999, at the Al-Sakhir Palace in Sakhir, Bahrain, 65-year-old Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain died of a heart attack just minutes after concluding a meeting with the United States Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Isa had suffered heart problems in the past. In 1998, he visited Cleveland, Ohio to undergo heart treatment.

Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain was buried at the Al-Rifa’a Cemetery with crowds of people showering the 12-mile funeral route with flowers in a traditional display of mourning. Isa’s son and successor Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, now Emir of Bahrain, and Isa’s brother Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, attended the funeral which was held within hours of Isa’s death following the Islamic custom of quick burial. Many of the 10,000 mourners at the royal cemetery pushed forward to help members of the royal family carry the wooden bier on which Isa’s cloth-wrapped body was carried from an ambulance to his grave.

Although he had dissolved Parliament in 1975 and took on absolute power, during Isa’s 38 years as Emir, Bahrain was transformed into a modern nation and became an important financial center in the Persian Gulf area. President Bill Clinton called him “a good friend of peace” and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan described him as “a force for stability” in the region.

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

  • Ar.wikipedia.org. 2020. عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة. [online] Available at: <https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%89_%D8%A8%D9%86_%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%A2%D9%84_%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%81%D8%A9> [Accessed 3 August 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isa_bin_Salman_Al_Khalifa> [Accessed 3 August 2020].
  • Nytimes.com. 2020. Bahrain Emir Dies In Palace After Meeting On U.S. Arms. [online] Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/07/world/bahrain-emir-dies-in-palace-after-meeting-on-us-arms.html?ref=oembed> [Accessed 3 August 2020].
  • Royalark.net. 2020. Bahrain Royal Genealogy. [online] Available at: <https://www.royalark.net/Bahrain/bahrain10.htm> [Accessed 3 August 2020].
  • Tulsa World. 1999. Bahrain’s Emir Dies Suddenly. [online] Available at: <https://tulsaworld.com/archive/bahrains-emir-dies-suddenly/article_72c18e9d-2f63-5b15-a2a5-31a932fb68a7.html> [Accessed 3 August 2020].

Why did former King Juan Carlos leave Spain?

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Embed from Getty ImagesThis tablet will start to show the effect sale on viagra late or sometimes you may fail to experience the effect. Treating the underlying cause can help restore the erectile function. india viagra online Janumet 50 500 mg tablets are one sided film-coated with 78 debossed, bi-convex oval and light blue in color. viagra uk sale http://amerikabulteni.com/2012/12/03/catherine-duchess-of-cambridge-is-pregnant/ You can use this herbal remedy both cialis professional no prescription internally and externally.

In March 2020, Swiss authorities began investigating former King Juan Carlos of Spain, who abdicated in favor of his son King Felipe VI in 2014,  concerning a $100 million donation given to the former king’s alleged mistress Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn in 2012. This donation was linked to alleged kick-back fees from Saudi Arabia for Juan Carlos’ role as a facilitator in the construction of a high-speed rail connecting Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

On March 15, 2020, King Felipe VI announced that he would renounce any future inheritance from his father that was connected with his foreign bank accounts. He also stripped Juan Carlos of his annual stipend.

In June 2020, Spain’s prosecutor general decided that prosecutors from the Supreme Court of Spain should investigate Juan Carlos’ role in the Saudi Arabia case to determine whether there is sufficient evidence that Juan Carlos committed a crime after his abdication. As King of Spain, Juan Carlos was immune from prosecution via crown immunity from 1975 to 2014.

On August 3, 2020, Juan Carlos I informed his son, King Felipe VI, via a letter, of his decision to leave Spain because of increased media press concerning his business dealings in Saudi Arabia. By the time the letter had been made public, Juan Carlos had already left Spain. Juan Carlos’ location is unclear but the Dominican Republic, Portugal, France, and Italy have been suggested. Juan Carlos said he would be available if prosecutors needed to interview him.

Queen Sofia will remain in Spain, staying at her home, Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, and continuing with her activities.

On August 3, 2020, the following letter was sent to King Felipe VI from his father, Juan Carlos, the former King of Spain:

Your Majesty, Dear Felipe, with the same zeal to serve Spain that inspired my reign and faced with the public impact that certain past actions of my private life are causing, I wish to show you my absolute willingness to contribute to helping the exercise of your functions with the peace and tranquility required of your high level of responsibility. My legacy, and my own dignity as a person, demands it.

A year ago, I told you of my willingness and desire to stand down from my institutional activities. Now, guided by the conviction to provide the best service to Spaniards, its institutions, and to you as King, I am informing you of my well-considered decision to move away from Spain.

It is a decision I take, with deep feeling but great calm. I was king of Spain for 40 years and during all those years I have always wanted the best for Spain and the Crown.

With my loyalty always.

With great affection, your father.

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Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova, Mistress of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova; Credit – Wikipedia

Patronymics

  • In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

A mistress of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia, Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova was born on August 24, 1739, the second of the three daughters and the second of the five children of Count Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov, who served in the Senate of the Russian Empire and as Governor-General of several provinces, and Marfa Ivanovna Surmina, daughter of a wealthy merchant. Elizaveta’s paternal uncle was Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov who served as Vice-Chancellor and then Chancellor of the Russian Empire.

Elizaveta had four siblings:

  • Maria Romanovna Vorontsova (1737 – 1779), married Count Peter Alexandrovich Buturlin, had two children
  • Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov (1741 – 1805), married his second cousin Anna Artemievna Vorontsova, had nine children
  • Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova (1743 – 1810), married Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Dashkov, had three children, was Princess Dashkova, the closest female friend of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia
  • Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1744 – 1832), married Ekaterina Alekseevna Senyavina, had two children

Elizaveta’s elder brother Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizaveta’s younger brother Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizaveta’s father, Count Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov, took part in the 1741 coup that brought Elizabeth Petrovna, the only surviving child of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia, to the throne as Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth, Vorontsov, who owned estates and factories, became one of the wealthiest people in Russia. In 1746, when Elizaveta’s mother died, her father had no desire to marry again or raise his children, and his children were sent to be raised by relatives. In 1750, Elizaveta and her elder sister Maria were sent to court to serve as maids of honor.

Eleven-year-old Elizaveta was assigned to the court of Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich (the future Peter III, Emperor of All Russia) at his palace Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg, where she was to serve Peter’s wife Grand Duchess Ekaterina (Catherine) Alexeievna. Peter had been born Prince Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, the son of Karl Friedrich, reigning Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, the elder of the two surviving daughters of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia. Peter’s mother died at the age of 20, three months after his birth. His father died when Peter was eleven-years-old and he became the reigning Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. Three years later, in 1742, Peter’s life dramatically changed when his unmarried maternal aunt, his mother’s younger sister, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia, declared him her heir and brought him to St. Petersburg, Russia.

Peter and his wife Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

Grand Duchess Ekaterina (Catherine) Alexeievna (the future Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia) had been born Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst. It was important to Empress Elizabeth that Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich, the grandson of Peter the Great, marry so that the Romanov dynasty could be continued. Empress Elizabeth picked Sophie to marry her nephew. Peter and Catherine’s marriage was not a happy one but Catherine did have one son, Paul, the future Emperor of All Russia, and one daughter Anna Petrovna, who died in early childhood. Peter took Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova as his mistress and Catherine had affairs.

Elizaveta did not have a positive reputation. A member of Peter’s court said of her that she “swore like a soldier, squinted her eyes, smelled bad, and spit while talking.” Peter’s wife Catherine said that Elizaveta was “a very ugly, extremely unscrupulous child with olive skin color, and after suffering smallpox, she became even more ugly because her features were completely disfigured and her whole face was covered not with smallpox, but with scars.” However, Peter developed a fondness for Elizaveta and fondly called her “my Romanova” – a pun on her patronymic derived from her father’s first name Romanovna and Peter’s surname Romanov. Eventually, Peter and Elizaveta became lovers.

On January 3, 1762, Empress Elizabeth had a massive stroke and the doctors agreed she would not recover. Upon her death two days later, her nephew became Peter III, Emperor of All Russia and his wife Catherine became the Empress Consort. As the death of Empress Elizabeth was announced to the court, the room was filled with moans and weeping. Peter was unpopular and few were looking forward to his reign. During the religious ceremonies for the lying-in-state of the deceased empress, Peter “made faces, acted the buffoon and imitated poor old ladies.”

Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon his accession, Peter granted his mistress Elizaveta her own maids of honor and assigned her rooms in the Winter Palace next to his rooms. On June 9, 1762, Peter bestowed the Order of Saint Catherine upon Elizaveta. Instituted in 1714 by Peter the Great, it was an honor reserved for female members of the Romanov family. Every Russian Grand Duchess was given the Order of St. Catherine at her christening or upon her marriage into the Romanov family. Princesses of the Imperial Blood were given the order when they reached the age of 18. According to those standards, Elizaveta was not entitled to receive the Order of Saint Catherine.

Contemporary memoirs describe Elizaveta as the “official favorite” of the emperor and “a participant in his entertainment”. According to Andrey Timofeyevich Bolotov, a well-known memoir writer, Peter “spent most of his time with her” and “did not hide before anyone an exorbitant love for her.” Foreign ambassadors in St. Peterburg reported that Peter intended to imprison his wife Catherine in a convent and marry Elizaveta.

Elizaveta’s sister Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, a close friend of Empress Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

During the reign of Empress Elizabeth, Catherine became a close friend of Elizaveta’s sister Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova who introduced Catherine to several powerful political groups that opposed her husband Peter. Catherine had maintained contact with those groups. As Emperor, Peter did little to gain support. At the time of Elizabeth’s death, Russia was on the verge of defeating Prussia in the Seven Years’ War. Instead, because Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia was his idol, Peter withdrew Russian troops from Berlin and marched against the Austrians, Russia’s ally. The last straw for Peter may have been how he treated the Russian army. Peter abolished “the guard within the guard”, a group within the Preobrazhensky Regiment, created by Empress Elizabeth as her personal guard in remembrance for their support in the coup which brought her to the throne. He replaced “the guard within the guard” with his own Holstein guard and often spoke about their superiority over the Russian army.

The devotion of the Preobrazhensky Regiment to Catherine was never in doubt because her lover Grigory Orlov and his four brothers were all members of the Guard. A conspiracy to overthrow Peter was planned and centered around the five Orlov brothers. Peter was arrested at his palace Oranienbaum, and taken by Alexei Orlov to Ropsha, a country estate outside of St. Petersburg, and his wife became Catherine II, Empress of All Russia.

Catherine II on a balcony of the Winter Palace on 28 June 1762, the day of the coup; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine showed Peter some sympathy by allowing him his bed, his dogs, his violin, and his personal doctor. However, she declined the thing Peter wanted the most – to see Elizaveta. Eight days after the coup, Peter was dead. The true circumstances of Peter’s death at the age of 34 on July 17, 1762, are unclear. It is possible Alexei Orlov murdered Peter. Another story is that Peter had been killed in a drunken brawl with one of his jailers. At the time, the official cause was “an acute attack of colic during one of his frequent bouts with hemorrhoids.” It is doubtful that Catherine played any role in Peter’s death.

Elizaveta had been at Oranienbaum at the time of Peter’s arrest and was also arrested. The original plan had been for Peter to be exiled in his homeland, the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, where Peter was still the reigning Duke, and Elizaveta wished to accompany him. Instead, Elizaveta was sent to her father’s Konkovo estate near Moscow. Her maids of honor and her Order of Saint Catherine were taken from her. Empress Catherine ordered Elizaveta’s father to ensure she “lived in silence without giving people any reasons to talk about her.”

Eventually, Empress Catherine arranged a marriage for Elizaveta to Alexander Ivanovich Polyansky (1721 – 1818), a middle-aged army colonel of humble background who was eighteen years older than Elizaveta. In Russian society, the marriage was seen as a mockery of Empress Catherine’s former rival. The wedding took place on September 18, 1765, at the Konkovo estate of Elizaveta’s father near Moscow.

Elizaveta and Alexander had two children:

  • Anna Alexandrovna Polyanskaya (1766 – 1845), married Baron Wilhelm d’Hogger, Dutch ambassador in St. Petersburg, had three children
  • Alexander Alexandrovich Polyansky (1774 – 1818), married Elizaveta Ivanovna Ribopier, had five children

Lazarevskoe Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, Russia; Credit – By Christian Bickel (Fingalo) – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10620059

Initially, Elizaveta and Alexander were ordered to live away from St. Petersburg. However, in 1765, they were allowed to return to St. Petersburg, and Alexander received several civil service positions. Elizaveta never again appeared at court but did have contact with Empress Catherine’s close friend Countess Anna Stepanovna Protasova. Elizaveta died on February 2, 1792, at the age of 52. She was buried at the Lazarevskoe Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her husband Alexander Ivanovich Polyansky survived her by twenty-six years, dying at the age of 97 on November 28, 1818, shortly after the death of his only son, and was buried with his wife Elizaveta.

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

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Catherine the Great. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_the_Great [Accessed 19 Jan. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Elizaveta Vorontsova. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizaveta_Vorontsova> [Accessed 4 June 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Peter III of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_III_of_Russia [Accessed 10 Jan. 2018].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Catherine II (The Great), Empress Of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/empress-catherine-ii-the-great-of-russia/> [Accessed 4 June 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Peter III, Emperor Of All Russia. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/emperor-peter-iii-of-russia/> [Accessed 4 June 2020].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
  • Massie, R. (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Воронцова, Елизавета Романовна. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0,_%D0%95%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 4 June 2020]. (Russian Wikipedia article on Elizaveta Vorontsova)

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione, Mistress of Emperor Napoleon III of France

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione was the mistress of Emperor Napoleon III of France from 1856-1857.

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione; source: Wikipedia

Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoïni was born on March 22, 1837 in Florence. She was the only daughter of Marquis Filippo Oldoïni – later the Italian Ambassador to Portugal – and Isabella Lamporecchi. At the age of 17, she married Francesco Verasis, Count of Castiglione on January 9, 1854. A year later she gave birth to her only child, a son Georgio.

Elsewhere in Europe at the time, an effort was made to establish a unified and independent Kingdom of Italy. Virginia’s cousin Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who served as a minister to King Vittorio Emanuele II of Sardinia (and later as the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy), saw the young beautiful Virginia as a way to gain the attention and support of the French Emperor Napoleon III. At her cousin’s request, Virginia and her husband traveled to Paris on Christmas Day in 1855. Just a few weeks later, she was presented to Emperor Napoleon III at a ball held at the home of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, and within a few months, she had become his mistress. While such relationships were usually maintained with some level of discretion, Virginia and the Emperor made no secret of theirs. The scandal and humiliation led to a formal separation between Virginia and her husband.

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione; source: Wikipedia

Virginia’s affair with Emperor Napoleon III ended in 1857, and she returned to Italy. Four years later, the Kingdom of Italy was established, and Virginia maintained that her influence had, in part, contributed to the unification. By 1861, she had moved to France where she settled in Passy before returning to Paris. By then a very wealthy woman, she devoted much of her time and fortune to her newfound passion – photography.

La Dame de Coeurs. source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1856, Virginia began posing for Pierre-Louis Pierson, a photographer favored by the Imperial Court. Many of the photographs depicted specific moments from her life, while others were recreations of historical figures. One, shown above, titled La Dame de Coeurs (The Lady of Hearts), was displayed in the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867. Over the next forty years, Virginia sat for more than 700 photographs, all very carefully choreographed by Virginia herself. After her death, Robert de Montesquiou, a noted poet and art collector, amassed over 400 of these photographs, many of which are now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Countess of Castiglione, photographed in 1893. source: Wikipedia

In her later years, following the death of her estranged husband in 1867 and her son in 1879, Virginia became a virtual recluse, rarely leaving her apartments in Paris. No longer having the immense beauty of her youth, she had all her mirrors covered and refused to go out in public until after dark, always draping herself in scarves to avoid anyone seeing her face. In the mid-1890s, perhaps in an attempt to recapture her youth, she collaborated with Pierson once again for a series of photographs, many of them in the same costumes and outfits from years earlier.

Virginia Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione died on November 28, 1899, at the age of 62. She is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France.

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.

Update on the condition of Prince Joachim of Denmark

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The Danish Royal House released the following update on the condition of Prince Joachim of Denmark on July 28, 2020:

His Royal Highness Prince Joachim underwent an operation for a blood clot in the brain in the early morning hours of Saturday, 25 July at University Hospital in Toulouse, France. After the recent days of hospitalization and treatment in the intensive care unit, it is the doctors’ assessment that Prince Joachim will not have any physical effects or other injuries as a result of the blood clot.

The blood clot in the brain was due to a sudden dissection of an artery, and the hospital’s medical team assesses that the risk of recurrence is very small when the artery has healed. Prince Joachim is expected to be moved out of the intensive care unit as soon as possible but will continue to be hospitalized for some time to come. It is still the royal family’s hope that the media will comply with the wish for calm and respect for privacy.

Prince Joachim and Princess Marie would like to express thanks for the support and the many warm greetings they have received over the past few days. It means a great deal. Her Majesty The Queen also expresses warm thanks for all of the sympathy that has been shown to the royal family.

Prince Joachim is the younger of the two sons of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Learn more about the Danish Royal Family, past and present at Unofficial Royalty: Kingdom of Denmark Index.

Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky, Lover of Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky; Credit – Wikipedia

Patronymics

  • In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

Born on March 28, 1709, Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky began his life on a farm near Chernihiv, now in Ukraine, the son of a Ukrainian Cossack farmer Grigory Yakovlev Rozum and his wife Natalya Demyanovna Demeshko. Alexei had five siblings: three sisters Agafyu, Anna and Vera, an elder brother Danilo and a younger brother Kirill, known as Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky, who benefitted from his brother’s relationship with Empress Elizabeth. Kirill was a Field Marshal of the Russian Imperial Army and President of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences. However, Alexei and Kirill’s childhood was spent in poverty on their drunken father’s farm working to keep the family from starvation.

Alexei was taught to read and write by a local priest. Because his father hated his love of learning, Alexei fled to the neighboring village of Chemer where he lived with a clerk as his apprentice and sang in the village church choir. In 1731, Colonel Vishnevsky, a courtier of Anna, Empress of All Russia (reigned 1730 – 1740), who was passing through Chemer, returning to St. Petersburg after a diplomatic trip to Hungary, was impressed with Alexei’s vocal abilities and took him to Saint Petersburg where he joined the Court Choir under the name Alexei Grigoriev.

Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexei’s beautiful singing and good looks earned him the interest of Tsesarevna Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia (reigned 1682 – 1725), the future Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia (reigned 1741 – 1762). In 1732, Elizabeth made Alexei a member of the choir in her private chapel. Soon, he had a room near her apartments. Alexei had personality qualities that made him a good choice to be Elizabeth’s favorite and lover. He was a simple and decent person and well-liked for his kindness, good nature, and tact. He had no ambition and never interfered in politics. Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia (reigned 1762 – 1796), who in 1745 as Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, married Empress Elizabeth’s nephew and heir, the future Peter III, Emperor of All Russia (reigned 1762), later wrote about Alexei and his brother Kirill that she “knew no other family enjoying the sovereign’s favor to a degree, who were so much loved by so many people as the two brothers.”

Peter and Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

In October 1740, the infant Ivan VI (reigned 1740 – 1741) became Emperor of All Russia. A conspiracy soon arose intending to obtain the Russian throne for Elizabeth Petrovna, the only surviving child of Peter the Great. A coup took place during the night of December 5-6, 1741 with financial support from France and military support from the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Elizabeth Petrovna arrived at the regiment’s headquarters wearing armor over her dress asking, “Who do you want to serve, me, your natural sovereign, or those who have stolen my inheritance?” The Preobrazhensky Regiment marched to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and arrested the infant Emperor Ivan VI and his parents. It was a daring coup and succeeded without bloodshed. The new 32-year-old Empress of All Russia, Elizabeth Petrovna, vowed that she would not sign a single death sentence, a promise she kept throughout her twenty-year reign.

Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky had played an important role in the coup and like others who had helped the new Empress gain her position, he was rewarded. He was created chamberlain with the rank of Lieutenant-General. On the day of Elizabeth’s coronation, Alexei was made the Court Chamberlain, the administrative official in charge of the court. At the same time, he received the Order of Saint Andrew and the Order of Alexander Nevsky and several estates. in 1744, Alexei was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire by Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII and then Elizabeth made him a Count of Russia. There are several stories about children allegedly born to Alexei and Elizabeth but not one of them is documented.

In 1742, rumors began circulating that Empress Elizabeth and Alexei had been secretly married in the village of Perovo near Moscow. After this time, Alexei settled in apartments adjoining Elizabeth’s apartments. He had constant access to her and his nickname became the Night Emperor. During the reign of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, Catherine searched for a precedent to marry her lover Grigory Orlov. Catherine sent her chancellor to Alexei asking for proof of his marriage to Elizabeth. Alexei was told that as the widower of an empress, he would have a position in the Imperial Family and a large pension. Alexei told Catherine’s chancellor that he was already one of the richest men in Russia and that he needed neither honors nor money. He then unlocked a cabinet and took out a scrolled parchment tied with a pink ribbon. He made the sign of the cross, kissed the parchment, and threw it into the fireplace. Alexei said, “Tell Her Imperial Majesty that I was never anything more than the humble slave of the late Elizabeth Petrovna.” Was that parchment proof of the marriage of Alexei and Elizabeth?

Despite becoming one of the richest people in Russia, Alexei remained modest and tried not to interfere in court intrigues. He did not forget his Ukrainian relatives or his native Ukraine. It was thanks to Alexei that during the reign of Elizabeth Ukrainians managed to be granted some privileges.

On January 3, 1762, Empress Elizabeth had a massive stroke and the doctors agreed she would not recover. Alexei was one of the people who gathered at her bedside at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, along with Elizabeth’s nephew Peter, his wife Catherine, and others close to Elizabeth. Elizabeth made her successor, her nephew Peter, promise to protect Alexei. On January 5, 1762, Elizabeth asked her priest to read the Orthodox prayer for the dying. She blessed everyone in the room and asked each one for forgiveness. At about 4 PM, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia died at the age of 52.

Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg; Credit – By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21480614

Shortly after Elizabeth’s death, Alexei submitted his resignation from his various positions and moved from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to the nearby Anichkov Palace which Empress Elizabeth had built for Alexei. Following their marriage in 1866, the future Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and his wife Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, made the Anichkov Palace their St. Petersburg residence. Their children, including Nicholas II, the last Emperor of All Russia, spent their childhood there.

The new emperor, Peter III, often visited Alexei at Anichkov Palace. However, the reign of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia lasted only six months. He was deposed by his wife, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who reigned as Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia. Alexei did not take part in the coup that overthrew Peter III and when Catherine became Empress, Alexei swore allegiance to her and carried the crown during her coronation. Catherine offered Alexei the style of “Highness” but Alexei refused.

Alexei became quite ill in 1770 and during the last months of that year, he became bedridden. Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky, aged 62, died on July 17, 1771, at Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was buried in the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, together with the wife of his brother Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky, Ekaterina Ivanovna Razumovskaya, who died just two weeks after Alexei. Over their graves, Kirill erected a magnificent marble monument in the form of triumphal gates.

Tomb of Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky and his sister-in-law Ekaterina Ivanovna Razumovskaya; Credit – Wikipedia

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

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Alexei Razumovsky. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Razumovsky> [Accessed 3 June 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2020). Elizabeth of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Russia [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
  • Massie, Robert. (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Разумовский, Алексей Григорьевич. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87> [Accessed 3 June 2020]. (Russian Wikipedia article on Alexei Razumovsky)
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Разумовская, Наталья Демьяновна. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F,_%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F_%D0%94%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 3 June 2020]. (Russian Wikipedia article on Natalya Demyanovna Razumovskaya, Alexei’s mother)

Wedding of Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Photo Credit – https://www.instagram.com/p/CC05fTMH_HJ/ Photograph by Benjamin Wheeler

On Friday, July 17, 2020, at 11:00 AM, Princess Beatrice of York married Mr. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a small private ceremony held at the Royal Chapel of All Saints Chapel, located on the grounds of Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park in Windsor, England.

Princess Beatrice of York

Embed from Getty Images 

Princess Beatrice of York was born on August 8, 1988, at 8:18 pm at Portland Hospital in London, England. She is the elder of the two daughters of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and his former wife née Sarah Ferguson, known as Sarah, Duchess of York after her divorce. Princess Beatrice has a younger sister, Princess Eugenie, born in 1990.

Princess Beatrice started her schooling in 1991 at Upton House School in Windsor, Berkshire, England. In 1995, Beatrice began attending Coworth Park School in Windlesham, Surrey, England which merged in 2004 with Flexlands School to become Coworth Flexlands School. From 2000-2007, Beatrice attended St. George’s School in Ascot, Berkshire, England. She completed A-Levels in Drama, History, and Film Studies and in her final year was Head Girl. In September 2008, Beatrice started a three-year course studying for a Bachelors’s degree in History and History of Ideas at Goldsmiths College, University of London, England graduating in 2011.

On her 18th birthday, Beatrice said she wanted to use her position to assist others through charity work.  She has been active in a number of charities including Children in Crisis, a charity founded by her mother, Sarah, Duchess of York, whose goal is to help educate children and women in some of the poorest countries, and The Big Change Charitable Trust, a charity Beatrice founded with six friends that identifies and supports projects that improve the lives of young people. At the time of her wedding, Beatrice was working for Afiniti, an artificial intelligence software firm, as vice president of partnerships and strategy.

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

 

Born on November 19, 1983, in Westminster, London, England, Edoardo (Edo) Mapelli Mozzi is the younger of the two children of Count Alessandro (Alex) Mapelli Mozzi and his first wife Nicola (Nikki) Burrows. Eduardo has a sister Natalia Alice Yeomans (born 1981) and a half-brother Alby Shale (born 1991) from his mother’s second marriage to Christopher Shale, British businessman and Conservative politician, who died in 2011. Edoardo’s father made a second marriage to Ebba Eckermann and his mother made a third marriage to sculptor David Williams-Ellis.

Edoardo’s father is a member of an Italian noble family, whose family seat is the Villa Mapelli Mozzi located in Ponte San Pietro, Bergamo, Italy. Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi’s title, which he uses as a courtesy, is not officially recognized in either Italy or the United Kingdom. He holds both Italian and British citizenship and competed in the 1972 Winter Olympics in three alpine skiing events as a member of the British Olympic team.

Edoardo attended Radley College, a boys’ independent boarding school near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. He received a master’s degree in politics at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburg, Scotland.

When he was 23-years-old, Edoardo founded Banda Property, a property development and interior design company that focuses on designing homes for affluent clients in undervalued parts of London. He is also a co-founder of the British-Rwandan charity Cricket Builds Hope whose goal is to use cricket as a tool for positive social change in Rwanda.

The Engagement

Engagement Photo of Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi; Photo Credit – https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily © Princess Eugenie

The families of Beatrice and Edoardo had been close friends for decades. In 2018, the couple started dating. Beatrice and Edoardo attended their first royal family event together, the wedding of Beatrice’s second cousin once removed, Lady Gabriella Windsor, in May 2019.

Beatrice and Edoardo became engaged in Italy in September 2019, and on September 26, 2019, Buckingham Palace formally announced their engagement.  Edoardo helped design the engagement ring with British jeweler Shaun Leane. The setting is platinum with the main diamond of 2.5 karats and .75 karat baguette diamonds on the side.

Wedding Guests

Photo Credit – https://www.instagram.com/theroyalfamily/  Photograph by Benjamin Wheeler

A press release stated:  “The small ceremony was attended by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and close family. The wedding took place in accordance with all relevant government guidelines.” When the COVID lockdown began on March 23, 2020, weddings in England were banned under almost all circumstances. After July 4, 2020, weddings with up to 30 attendees were allowed to take place. It is known that there were approximately twenty guests including the bride and groom’s parents and siblings, and the bride’s paternal grandparents Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Wedding Attendants

The bride’s sister Princess Eugenie, Mrs. Jack Brooksbank was the matron of honor. The groom’s four-year-old son from his relationship with American architect Dara Huang,  Christopher Woolf Mapelli Mozzi, known as Wolfie, served as both the best man and a pageboy. The groom’s niece and nephew, five-year-old Coco Yeomans and three-year-old Freddie Yeomans, the children of his sister Natalia Yeomans, served as bridesmaid and pageboy.

The Wedding Attire

Photo Credit – https://www.instagram.com/theroyalfamily/  Photograph by Benjamin Wheeler

Princess Beatrice wore a vintage peau de soie taffeta dress, in shades of ivory and trimmed with duchess satin and encrusted with diamante, originally designed by Norman Hartnell, on loan from her grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. The dress was a modified version of the dress Queen Elizabeth II wore to the world premiere of the film Lawrence Of Arabia at the Odeon Cinema Leicester Square, London in December 1962. Beatrice’s wedding dress was remodeled and fitted by the Queen’s senior dresser Angela Kelly and designer Stewart Parvin. 

 

Princess Beatrice’s floor-length veil was attached by the Queen Mary diamond fringe tiara loaned to her by her grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. It is the same tiara Beatrice’s grandmother wore on her wedding day in 1947. The tiara was made in 1919 for Queen Mary, Beatrice’s great-great-grandmother, from diamonds taken from a necklace given to Mary by Queen Victoria as a wedding present in 1893. Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, also wore the tiara for her marriage to Captain Mark Phillips in 1973. So it was fitting that Princess Beatrice as Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest royal granddaughter wore the same tiara on her wedding day.

Queen Mary’s Diamond Fringe Tiara; Photo Credit – https://www.tiara-mania.com/2011/11/fringe-tiara.html

The bouquet consisted of trailing jasmine, pale pink and cream sweet peas, royal porcelain ivory spray roses, pink O’Hara garden roses, pink waxflower, baby pink astilbe and, in keeping with royal tradition, sprigs of myrtle. After the wedding, the bouquet was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. This has been a tradition for British royal brides since 1923 when Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the wife of King George VI and Beatrice’s great-grandmother, placed her bouquet of white roses on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, whose remains had been brought from France and buried in the Westminster Abbey floor three years earlier. No doubt Lady Elizabeth was thinking of her brother Fergus Bowes-Lyon and all the other British soldiers who had died in World War I.

Embed from Getty Images

The Ceremony

Royal Chapel of All Saints, the site of the wedding; Credit – By Wilfridselsey – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56272459

The wedding was scheduled to take place on May 29, 2020, at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace in London, England, followed by a private reception in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the wedding was postponed.

The wedding was held on July 17, 2020, in private at the Royal Chapel of All Saints on the grounds of Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park in Windsor, England. The new date had not been announced in advance and Buckingham Palace said the ceremony was small and confirmed that Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the bride’s father, walked her down the aisle.

The ceremony was officiated by The Reverend Canon Paul Wright, Sub-Dean of the Chapel Royal and The Reverend Canon Martin Poll, Domestic Chaplain to Her Majesty. In line with British government guidelines for COVID-19, all social distancing measures were followed.

The service included two of the couple’s favorite poems, read by their mothers: Sonnet 116 – Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments by William Shakespeare and  I carry you in my heart by E.E. Cummings; and a biblical reading: St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 13, verses 1-13 – If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Prayers were said but in accordance with British government guidelines for COVID-19, no hymns were sung, but a selection of music was played. The National Anthem was played but not sung.

The Wedding Reception

A small party was held afterward at Royal Lodge, the Windsor home of The Duke of York and his former wife Sarah, Duchess of York, featuring specialty cocktails, made-to-order catering, an exquisitely decorated Indian-style tent, and a bouncy castle. Many of the twenty guests stayed overnight in glamping pods.

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

  • Andrews, E., 2020. Beatrice Poses With New Husband Edoardo And Grandparents After Wedding. [online] Mail Online. Available at: <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8537155/Beatrice-poses-new-husband-Edoardo-grandparents-socially-distanced-wedding.html> [Accessed 23 July 2020].
  • BBC News. 2020. Princess Beatrice’s Wedding Photos Released. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53457958> [Accessed 23 July 2020]
  • Film, T., Edition, U., McKnight, J., Film, T., Edition, U. and NEWSLETTER, H., 2020. Everything You Need To Know About Princess Beatrice’s Wedding: From Her Dress To The Ceremony. [online] HELLO!. Available at: <https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/2020071893730/princess-beatrice-wedding-details-everything-you-need-to-know/> [Accessed 23 July 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Husband Of Princess Beatrice Of York. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/edoardo-mapelli-mozzi-fiance-of-princess-beatrice-of-york/> [Accessed 23 July 2020].
  • Unofficial Royalty. 2014. Princess Beatrice, Mrs. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/princess-beatrice-of-york/> [Accessed 23 July 2020].

Johann Friedrich Struensee, Favorite of King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway and Lover of his wife Queen Caroline Matilda

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Johann Friedrich Struensee, Credit – Wikipedia

The scandalous story of King Christian VII, Queen Caroline Matilda, and Johann Friedrich Struensee has been told in several novels including Norah Loft’s The Lost Queen (1969) and Per Olov Enquist’s The Visit of the Royal Physician (1999) and also in the Danish film A Royal Affair (2012) which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and starred Academy Award-winning supporting actress (for The Danish Girl) Alicia Vikander as Queen Caroline Matilda.

Johann Friedrich Struensee was born on August 5, 1737, in Halle, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. He was the third of the seven children and the second of the four sons of Adam Struensee (link in German) and Maria Dorothea Carl.

Struensee had six siblings:

  • Sophie Elisabeth Struensee (1733 – 1768), married her cousin Samuel Struensee
  • Carl August Struensee (link in German) (1735 – 1804), Prussian Minister of Finance, married Karoline Elisabeth Müller, had three daughters
  • Samuel Adam Struensee (born 1739), died young
  • Maria Dorothea Struensee (1744 – 1820), married Wilhelm Alexander Schwollmann
  • Johanna Henrietta Struensee (born 1745), died young
  • Gotthilf Christoph Struensee (link in German) (1746 – 1829), married unknown wife

Struensee’s mother Maria Dorothea Carl was the daughter of Johann Samuel Carl, (link in German) the personal physician of Ludwig Ferdinand, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. In 1736, Carl became the personal physician of King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway and also served as personal physician to Christian VI’s son and successor King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway. Struensee’s father Adam Struensee was a Lutheran minister who adhered to Pietism, a movement that originated in the Lutheran Church in the 17th century in Germany that stressed personal piety over religious formality and orthodoxy. Adam Struensee was a pastor in Halle and a professor of theology at the University of Halle. In 1758, he accepted the position as pastor of Trinity Church in Altona, now in Germany, but then under the administration of the Danish monarchy. In 1760 Adam Struensee became superintendent-general (similar to a bishop) of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, then part of Denmark.

In 1752, at the age of fifteen, Johann Friedrich Struensee entered the University of Halle and graduated as a Doctor in Medicine on December 12, 1757. He moved with his parents to Altona in 1758 and took a low-paying position as a public physician. In Altona, Struensee fought the spread of epidemics by improving hygiene and introducing the smallpox vaccination. In 1760, he was appointed physician of the County of Rantzau and in that position, he also treated bourgeois and noble patients. Struensee began to publish articles in medical journals. In his articles, he wrote about the links between lack of education, poor hygiene, and diseases in poor neighborhoods and recommended reforms. He believed that the government had a duty to ensure the health and education of its citizens. Struensee also believed that this care should apply to unmarried mothers and the mentally ill. Over time, Struensee earned a good reputation with the Schleswig-Holstein nobility. In 1768, because he was known for a new kind of therapy for mental illness, Struensee was called to treat 18-year-old King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway while he was staying in Altona.

King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

When King Christian VII was not quite two years old, his mother Queen Louisa, daughter of King George II of Great Britain, died at age 27 due to complications from a miscarriage. The next year, his father King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway made a second marriage to Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. By all reports, Christian seemed to be an intelligent child and was taught in Danish, German, and French. However, he had a nervous disposition and was poorly educated and terrorized by a brutal governor, Christian Ditlev Reventlow, Count of Reventlow.

Queen Caroline Matilda; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1766, Christian VII succeeded to the Danish and Norwegian thrones after the early death of his father at age 42. Since there was a connection between the British and Danish royal families and both families were Protestant, it was natural that a British bride should be sought for Christian. The choice fell upon fifteen-year-old Princess Caroline Matilda, his first cousin, the daughter of Christian’s deceased maternal uncle Frederick, Prince of Wales. On October 1, 1766, a proxy marriage was held at St. James’s Palace in London, with Caroline Matilda’s brother King George III standing in for King Christian VII. Caroline Matilda arrived in Copenhagen on November 8, 1766, and married Christian in person later that day in the Christiansborg Palace Chapel in Copenhagen, Denmark.

A copperplate engraving depicting the first dance of King Christian VII and Queen Caroline Mathilde of Denmark at their wedding at Christiansborg Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

It was soon clear that Christian VII was not quite normal. It is unknown if Christian’s mental illness was caused by the brutal treatment of the Count of Reventlow, possible porphyria inherited from his Hanover mother, or schizophrenia. Christian’s behavior wandered into excesses, especially sexual promiscuity. He publicly declared that he could not love Caroline Matilda because it was “unfashionable to love one’s wife”. His symptoms included paranoia, self-mutilation, and hallucinations. Christian wandered the streets of Copenhagen visiting the city’s taverns and brothels with his favorite Count Frederik Vilhelm Conrad Holck. It was becoming clearer and clearer that Christian could not fulfill his role as king.

In May of 1768, Christian VII took a long tour of Europe, including stays in Altona, Paris, and London. The trip had been arranged because it was believed that new environments could change Christian’s behavior. It was on this journey that he became acquainted with Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee was the first person who understood that Christian was seriously ill. When Christian came home from the trip, Struensee accompanied him and was employed as Christian’s personal physician. Struensee could handle Christian’s instability, which was a great relief to the king’s advisers, and Christian developed confidence in him.

Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark, probably the child of Queen Caroline Matilda and Johann Friedrich Stuensee; Credit – Wikipedia

Because of Christian VII’s confidence in him, Struensee gained political power. In 1770, Struensee became Master of Requests and Minister of the Royal Cabinet. Within a short time, Struensee tried to reform the Danish state in the spirit of the Enlightenment. He also became the lover of the ill-treated Caroline Matilda, whose marriage was less than satisfactory. In 1771, when Caroline Matilda gave birth to her daughter Louise Auguste, no one doubted that Struensee was the father of the princess, who was given the unflattering nickname la petite Struensee, although Christian VII officially acknowledged her as his daughter. Eventually, Queen Dowager Juliana Maria maneuvered a coup that would bring about the fall of Struensee and discredit Caroline Matilda.

Contemporary woodcarving of the arrest of Struensee; Credit – Wikipedia

Early on the morning of January 17, 1772, following a ball at the court theater at Christiansborg Palace, Christian VII was awakened and forced to sign orders for the arrest of Struensee, his friend Count Enevold Brandt, and Caroline Matilda. Caroline Matilda was immediately taken to Kronberg Castle in Helsingør, Denmark, immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, to await her fate. She was allowed to keep her daughter with her, but the four-year-old Crown Prince Frederik stayed with his father. Upon hearing of Caroline Matilda’s arrest, Struensee confessed to his relationship with her, and eventually, Caroline Matilda also confessed. 34-year-old Struensee and his friend Brandt were condemned to death and both suffered a brutal execution on April 28, 1772. In the presence of thousands of people, their right hands were severed first, then their bodies were broken on the wheel, and finally, they were beheaded. Struensee’s parents were both still alive when he was executed.

Johann Friedrich Struensee and his friend Count Enevold Brandt are beheaded; Credit – Wikipedia

The bodies of Stuensee and Brandt were put on public display at the execution site for two years until only their bones were left. Exactly what happened to their remains is unknown. By tradition, it is said that Struensee and Brandt’s remains were buried at the Vestre Cemetery in Copenhagen and that in the 1920s, their coffins were placed in the burial chapel under the German-speaking St. Peter’s Church in Copenhagen However, according to St. Peter’s Church, Struensee and Brandt are not in the burial chapel, but are buried in the churchyard. There has never been an investigation to determine if Struensee and Brandt are buried at St. Peter’s Church.

Queen Caroline Matilda was also punished. Her marriage was dissolved on April 6, 1772. She lost her title of Queen and was forcibly separated from her children whom she never saw again. Caroline Matilda was not quite 20-years-old. Originally, it was decided that Caroline Matilda was to be held in custody for life at Aalborghus Castle in Aalborg, Denmark, but her brother King George III intervened. King George III sent Sir Robert Murray Keith, a British diplomat, to negotiate her release from Danish imprisonment. On May 28, 1772, Caroline Matilda was sent to Celle in her brother’s Kingdom of Hanover and lived the rest of her life at Celle Castle. Her imprisonment was not to last long. Caroline Matilda died of “a putrid fever and sore throat,” probably scarlet fever, on May 10, 1775, at the age of 23. She was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Marien (link in German) in Celle next to her great-grandmother Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover, wife of the future King George I of Great Britain, who suffered a similar fate.

After the fall of Struensee, Christian VII’s stepmother Dowager Queen Juliana Marie and her son, Christian’s half-brother Hereditary Prince Frederik, reinstated the Council of State. Christian was only nominally king from 1772 onward. Between 1772 and 1784, Denmark was ruled by Queen Dowager Juliana Marie, Hereditary Prince Frederik, and Cabinet Secretary Ove Høegh-Guldberg. From 1784, Christian’s son, the future King Frederik VI, ruled permanently as a prince regent.

The former King Christian VII lived in isolation with a caretaker. When he was behaving too violently, he was locked up in his room or tied to his chair. His only involvement with the government was when he had to sign “Christian Rex” on formal papers. On March 13, 1808, in Rendsburg, Schleswig (then in Denmark, now in Germany) King Christian VII died from a stroke at the age 59. He was buried in Frederik V’s Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark.

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

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Countess Maria Walewska, Mistress of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Maria Walewska was a member of the Polish nobility, and became the mistress of the French Emperor Napoleon I, with whom she had one son.

Countess Maria Walewska; Photo: By François Gérard Own work image taken by Mathiasrex, Maciej Szczepańczyk, 30 November 2013, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29934370

Countess Maria Łączyńska was born in Kiernozia, Poland on December 7, 1786, one of seven children of Count Mateusz Łączyński and Eva Zaborowska. She was privately educated for several years by Nicolas Chopin, the father of famed composer Frederic Chopin. Later, she attended the Our Lady of the Assumption convent in Warsaw, to complete her education in the manner expected of those from the aristocracy.

In 1804, Marie married Athenasius Count Colonna-Walewski, a former chamberlain to the last King of Poland. She was just 17, while her husband was in his late 60s. Later Marie would say that her family pushed her into the marriage against her will. The couple had one son, Antoni Colonna-Walewski, born in 1805.

Emperor Napoleon I. source: Wikipedia

Marie first met Napoleon on January 1, 1807, when the Emperor passed through Blonie on his way to Warsaw. According to her memoirs, Marie and a cousin rushed to join the crowds, hoping to get a glimpse of his carriage. A French officer saw her trying to get closer and brought her to Napoleon’s carriage to greet him personally. The Emperor gave her a bouquet which was sitting in his carriage, and said he hoped they would meet again soon, perhaps in Warsaw.

Shortly after that first meeting, Marie was invited to attend a ball held in Warsaw, where she again met the Emperor who was quickly smitten with her. The next day, the grand marshal of the palace arrived at her home with a large bouquet of flowers and a sealed letter from Napoleon. Several more letters followed before Marie agreed, with the consent of her family and her husband, to become the Emperor’s mistress. This was also encouraged by the members of the Polish aristocracy who hoped that this relationship might help them in their quest for Poland to regain its independence. Marie states in her memoirs that she agreed to the affair for this reason alone.

Their affair was very well known although an effort was made to keep it a secret. Marie would only come to see Napoleon at night, secretly entering and leaving the palace in darkness. She later took up apartments adjoining his apartments at Finckenstein Palace in East Prussia which Napoleon used as his field headquarters. She refused to leave the palace for fear of being seen and having their relationship discovered. When Napoleon moved to Vienna, she moved into a house adjacent to Schönbrunn Palace where the Emperor was living. During this time, she became pregnant and on May 4, 1810, she gave birth to Alexandre Joseph, her only child with the Emperor. Although Napoleon’s son, he was recognized as husband’s son and was titled Count Alexandre Joseph Colonna-Walewski.

The following year, Marie followed the Emperor back to Paris. There, she was given a large residence on the Rue de Montmorency and a very generous allowance. However, around the same time, her romance with Napoleon ended. He was planning to divorce his wife Josephine and marry Marie Louise of Austria. The end was very amicable, and Napoleon ensured that Marie and their son were very well provided for financially.

Philippe Antoine, Count d’Ornano. source: Wikipedia

In 1812, Marie divorced her husband and received half of his estates, which in addition to the money provided by the Emperor, made Marie a very wealthy woman. Four years later, in September 1816, she married for a second time to Philippe Antoine, Count d’Ornano, a prominent military leader and a second cousin of Napoleon. They settled in Liege, and Marie became pregnant right away. In January 1817, while on a visit to Poland, she was diagnosed with a kidney disease, which became worse due to her pregnancy. The couple’s only child Rudolph Augustus d’Ornano was born in Liege on June 9, 1817. However, Marie’s health continued to deteriorate. Over the next several months, she dictated her memoirs to her secretary. The Countess d’Ornano died in Paris on December 11, 1817, at just 31 years old. Per her wishes, her heart was interred in the Ornano family crypt at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and her body was returned to Poland and buried with her family in Kiernozia.

Marie’s coffin in the family crypt in Kiernozia, Poland. photo: By Jolanta Dyr – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25352176

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Anna Sophie von Reventlow, Queen of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Anna Sophie von Reventlow, Queen of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1711 – 1712, Anna Sophie von Reventlow was the mistress of Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway. From 1712 – 1721, she was the bigamous wife of Frederik IV, and then she was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1721 until 1730 when she was expelled from the Danish court by Frederik IV’s son and successor Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway.

Clausholm Castle, Anna Sophie’s family home; Credit – By Nico at the Danish language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6672277

Anna Sophie von Reventlow was born on April 16, 1693, at Clausholm Castle, her family home, in the eastern part of the Jutland Peninsula of Denmark. She was one of the ten children of Conrad von Reventlow, Count Reventlow of Clausholm and his second wife Sophie Amalie von Hahn. Anna Sophia had seven elder half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Anna Margarete von Gabel. Conrad von Reventlow, Count Reventlow of Clausholm served Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway as Grand Chancellor, the highest-ranking non-monarchial government official at that time, similar to a Prime Minister. Nothing is known about Anna Sophie’s childhood but it is assumed that she was not well educated because her letters show that she wrote poorly in Danish, French, and German.

Among Anna Sophie’s siblings were:

Notable half-siblings from her father’s first marriage:

Anna Sophie’s notable full siblings:

Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1695, Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway married Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow with whom he had five children although three sons died in infancy. Frederik began a relationship with Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg, a lady-in-waiting to his unmarried sister Princess Sophia Hedwig of Denmark and Norway in 1699. In 1703, without divorcing his wife Queen Louise, Frederik made a bigamous marriage with Elisabeth. After Elisabeth died in 1704 due to childbirth complications giving birth to a son Frederik Gyldenløve, Frederik IV gave her an elaborate funeral. Little Frederik Gyldenløve lived for only nine months.

After the death of Elisabeth, Frederik began an affair with her lady-in-waiting, Charlotte Helene von Schindel (scroll down in the article). In 1709, Frederik wanted to again make a bigamous marriage but received strong opposition from the church which told him that the law against bigamy also applied to kings. Charlotte and Frederik had a daughter in 1710 who died in infancy.

After losing interest in his mistress Charlotte Helene von Schindel in 1711, Frederik IV then fell in love with 19-year-old Anna Sophie von Reventlow after meeting her at a masked ball. In 1712, Frederik abducted Anna Sophie from her parents’ home Clausholm Castle, and took her to Skanderborg Castle. There they were married bigamously as Frederik’s wife Queen Louise was still alive. Frederik IV installed Anna Sophie in a house on Bag Børsen (present-day Slotsholmsgade 8), close to Copenhagen Castle in Copenhagen and she was given the title Duchess of Schleswig. In 1713, Frederik gave Vallø Castle to Anna Sophie.

Vallø Castle; Credit – By Flemming – DSC_0125, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17230727

Anna Sophie’s mother, by then a widow, did not support her daughter’s bigamous marriage, and mother and daughter did not reconcile until 1718. Anna Sophie did, however, receive support from her influential half-sister Christine Sophie who often visited her. Frederik IV preferred to spend time with Anna Sophie instead of Queen Louise. Anna Sophie’s home became more or less a court, with gatherings of the nobility seeking Frederik IV’s favor. Because Frederik IV did not wish to be so public about his bigamous marriage to Anna Sophie, she was regarded by many as just his official mistress.

Queen Louise died on March 15, 1721, aged 53, and was buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial site of the Danish royal family, in Roskilde, Denmark. On April 4, 1721, Frederik IV and Anna Sophie were married in a second formal wedding conducted with great ceremony. Although the marriage was still scandalous, it was not declared morganatic and Anna Sophie was crowned Queen of Denmark and Norway at Frederiksberg Palace in May 1721. Neither of the two surviving children of Frederik IV and his first wife, Crown Prince Christian (future King Christian VI) nor the unmarried Princess Charlotte Amalie, kissed her hand as required by the ceremony.

Anna Sophie as Queen of Denmark and Norway, circa 1730; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Crown Prince Christian behaved with respect towards Anna Sophie, he detested her and blamed her for his father’s ill-treatment of his mother. Princess Charlotte Amalie overcame her disapproval of Anna Sophie and eventually came to like her. In 1725, King Frederik IV made an addition to his will that guaranteed Anna Sophie’s rights as Queen Dowager after his death and made Crown Prince Christian sign it.

After Anna Sophie’s coronation, Frederik IV dismissed several officials and replaced them with relatives of Anna Sophie who were known as the Reventlowske Bande (Reventlow Gang). Anna Sophie was accused of nepotism but it is not known whether she used political influence or if Frederik IV wished to strengthen her role at court by appointing those loyal to her to powerful positions.

Anna Sophie enjoyed the theater and founded, and then supported, the Lille Grønnegade Theater, the first public theater in Denmark. She was known to be generous to those in need, both privately and publically, and came to be called “The Protector of the Poor.” In 1729, Anna Sophie created the charity Dronning Anna Sofies Stiftelse (Foundation of Queen Anna Sophie) to benefit the poor.

Anna Sophie and King Frederik IV had six children. Three were born before the legal marriage in 1721 but none survived. The three children born after the 1721 marriage were styled as Prince/Princess of Denmark and Norway but none survived infancy. The deaths of all the children of Frederik IV and Anna Sophie were seen by many as divine punishment for their bigamous marriage.

  • Frederika Sophie von Reventlow (born and died before1721), died in infancy
  • Frederica Conradine von Reventlow (born and before 1721), died in infancy
  • Stillborn (before 1721)
  • Princess Christiana Amalia (1723 – 1724), died in infancy
  • Prince Frederik Christian (1726 – 1727), died in infancy
  • Prince Karl (1728 – 1729), died in infancy

Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway died on October 12, 1730, the day after his 59th birthday, and was buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place for the Danish royal family, in a tomb adjacent to the tomb of his first wife Queen Louise. Frederik IV’s son, Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway, did not follow the instruction in his father’s will to guarantee Anna Sophie’s rights as Queen Dowager. Christian VI’s opinion was that Anna Sophie had taken advantage of his father during his ill health and that she had caused his family pain and suffering during the years of her open adultery.

Christian VI granted Anna Sophie an allowance but confiscated all her property, and banished her to Clausholm Castle, her family home. She was allowed to be styled Queen Anna Sophie but not Queen Anna Sophie of Denmark and Norway or Queen Dowager. Anna Sophie spent the remainder of her life under house arrest at Clausholm Castle and was never granted permission to leave. She spent her time developing the gardens at Clausholm Castle, engaging in charitable works for the peasants on the estate, and in religious devotions.

When Anna Sophie, aged 49, died at Clausholm Castle on January 7, 1743, Christian VI allowed her to be buried at Roskilde Cathedral, but in the Trolle Chapel which is on the opposite side of the cathedral, far away from his parents’ tombs in the chancel of the cathedral. Her three children, born after her 1721 marriage, were also re-buried in the Trolle Chapel on Christian VI’s orders.

Tombs of Anna Sophie and three of her children; Credit – By FaceMePLS – originally posted to Flickr as Roskilde cathedral, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6821429

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.

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Sophie Reventlow. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Sophie_Reventlow> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anne Sophie Reventlow. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Sophie_Reventlow> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Conrad Von Reventlow. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_von_Reventlow> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan., 2020. Frederik IV, King Of Denmark And Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/frederik-iv-king-of-denmark-and-norway/> [Accessed 1 May 2020].