Murder of Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin in 1916; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 26, 1894, in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, Nicholas II, Emperor of All the Russias married Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, the youngest surviving daughter of Ludwig, Grand Duke IV of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, a daughter of Queen Victoria.  Upon her conversion to Russian Orthodoxy, Alix was given the name Alexandra Feodorovna. After giving birth to four daughters during the first seven years of her marriage, Alexandra felt great pressure to provide an heir. Finally, in 1904, she gave birth to a son Alexei. However, it would soon become apparent that she was a carrier of hemophilia, and her young son was a sufferer. This would cause great pain to Alexandra, and great measures were taken to protect him from harm and to hide the illness from the Russian people. When Alexei’s illness eventually became public knowledge, it led to more dislike for Alexandra, with many of the Russian people blaming her for the heir’s illness.

After working with many physicians to help Alexei who suffered greatly, Alexandra turned to mystics and faith healers. This led to her close, disastrous relationship with Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, a Russian peasant and mystical faith healer. Several times Rasputin appeared to have brought Alexei back from the brink of death, further cementing Alexandra’s reliance on him. To many historians and experts, this relationship would contribute greatly to the fall of the Russian monarchy.

Rasputin with Alexandra Feodorovna, her children, and the children’s nurse in 1908; Credit – Wikipedia

Rasputin became an influential figure in Saint Petersburg, especially after August 1915, when Nicholas II took supreme command of the Russian armies fighting in World War I. Eventually, a group of conspirators plotted to murder Rasputin, hoping to end his influence over the Imperial Family.

Rasputin, Nicholas, and Alexandra, anonymous caricature in 1916; Credit – Wikipedia

The conspirators were led by two men, one a member of the Imperial Family and one who married into the Imperial Family. Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia was the second child and only son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, a son of Alexander II, Emperor of All the Russias, and Princess Alexandra of Greece, a daughter of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia. Therefore, Dmitri was the first cousin of Nicholas II as their fathers were brothers. (A side note, Dmitri is also the first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh as Dmitri’s mother and Philip’s father were siblings.) Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov was a Russian aristocrat who was wealthier than any of the Romanovs. Felix married Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia, Nicholas II’s only niece, the daughter of his sister Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia.

Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia, before 1917; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Felix Yusupov, 1914; Credit – Wikipedia

Along with Dmitri and Felix, Vladimir Purishkevich, a deputy of the Duma, the Russian legislature, was one of the main conspirators. Dr. Stanislaus de Lazovert, a physician, and Sergei Mikhailovich Sukhotin, a lieutenant in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, were also participants. On the night of December 29-30, 1916, Felix invited Rasputin to Moika Palace, his home in St. Petersburg, promising Rasputin that his wife Irina would be there, although she was not there. According to his memoir, Felix brought Rasputin to a soundproof room in a part of the wine cellar and offered Rasputin tea and petit fours laced with a large amount of cyanide, but the poison had no effect.

Felix then offered Rasputin wine, and after an hour Rasputin was fairly drunk. The other conspirators were waiting in a room on another floor of the palace and Felix then went upstairs and returned with Dmitri’s revolver. He shot Rasputin in the chest and the wounds appeared to be serious enough to cause death. However, Rasputin escaped, struggling up the stairs and opening an unlocked door to the courtyard. Purishkevich heard the noise, went out to the courtyard, and shot Rasputin four times, missing three times. Rasputin fell in the snow. Again, Rasputin should have been dead, but he was still moving. One of the conspirators shot him in the forehead. Rasputin’s body was thrown off the Bolshoy Petrovsky Bridge into an ice-hole in the Malaya Neva River. His body was found a few days later.

Police photograph of Rasputin’s corpse, found floating in the Malaya Nevka River; Credit – Wikipedia

Rasputin was buried on January 2, 1917, at a small church at Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg. Members of the Imperial Family attended his funeral. Rasputin’s body was exhumed and burned by a detachment of soldiers shortly after Nicholas II abdicated in March 1917 to prevent his burial site from becoming a place of pilgrimage.

After Rasputin’s murder, the St. Petersburg authorities refused to arrest the conspirators because the murder they committed was considered acceptable. Instead, Dmitri was exiled to Persia (now Iran), a move that most likely saved his life during the Russian Revolution, and Felix was exiled to his estate in Rakitnoje, near Belgorod, Russia and the Ukraine border.

After the Russian Revolution, Dmitri lived in exile in Paris where he had an affair with the fashion designer Coco Chanel. He married American heiress Audrey Emery in 1926, but the couple divorced in 1937. The marriage produced one child, Paul Ilyinsky, an American citizen, served as a US Marine in the Korean War, and was elected mayor of Palm Beach, Florida. Dmitri died from tuberculosis at a Swiss sanatorium in 1942 at the age of 50.

Dmitri with his wife Audrey Emery, 1920s; Credit – Wikipedia

Felix and his wife Irina escaped Russia in 1919 aboard the British battleship HMS Marlborough along with Irina’s grandmother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (born Princess Dagmar of Denmark) and other members of the Imperial Family. Felix and Irina lived in exile in Paris. Felix died in 1967 at the age of 80 and Irina died three years later at the age of 74.

Felix and Irina in exile, 1930s, 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.

Maurits, Prince of Orange

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Maurits, Prince of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

Maurits (Maurice in English), Prince of Orange was born on November 14, 1567, at Castle Dillenburg, the ancestral seat of the Orange branch of the House of Nassau now in Hesse, Germany. He was the only surviving son and the fourth of the five children of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange and his second wife Anna of Saxony. Maurits was named after his maternal grandfather Maurice, Elector of Saxony.

Maurits had four siblings but only two survived childhood:

Maurits had three half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Anna van Egmont:

Maurits had six half-sisters from his father’s third marriage to Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier:

Maurits had one half-brother from his father’s fourth marriage to Louise de Coligny:

Maurits, circa 1578-1579; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage of Maurits’ parents was not a happy one. The situation between Anna and Willem was strained and they often lived apart. In early 1571, when Maurits was only four years old, his mother Anna realized she was pregnant. Immediately, the paternity was controversial. Two possibilities were discussed: either Anna’s husband Willem, who had visited Anna and his children during Christmas 1570, was the father or the lawyer Jan Rubens, the future father of the painter Peter Paul Rubens, who spent a lot of time with Anna as her legal adviser was the father. A daughter, Christine, was born in August 1571. Willem accused Rubens and Anna of adultery and forced Anna to agree to a divorce. Anna was sent to her family in Saxony where they imprisoned her as an adulteress until her death five years later. Maurits never saw his mother again and his elder half-sister Maria took over the care of Maurits and his sisters.

Maurits grew up at the family ancestral home, Castle Dillenburg. He was educated in Heidelberg (now in Germany) and Leiden (now in the Netherlands) with his first cousin Willem Lodewijk, the eldest son of his paternal uncle Count Jan VI of Nassau-Dillenburg.

Castle Dillenburg; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1568, Willem I, Prince of Orange, Maurit’s father, became the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs who held the land that we now know as the Netherlands and Belgium. That set off the Eighty Years’ War and resulted in the formal independence of the Dutch Republic in 1581. In 1568, Maurits’ 13-year-old half-brother and the eldest son of his father, Filips Willem, was a student at the University of Leuven (now in Belgium). Angered by Willem’s actions against Spain, King Philip II of Spain had Filips Willem abducted, taken to Spain, and held hostage. In Spain, Filips Willem was made to convert to Roman Catholicism and educated as a Spaniard. He never saw his father again.

In 1580, Willem I was declared an outlaw by King Philip II. He called Willem “a pest on the whole of Christianity and the enemy of the human race” and offered 25,000 crowns to anyone who killed Willem. Willem was severely injured by an unsuccessful assassination attempt in 1582. On July 10, 1584, Balthasar Gérard, a subject and supporter of Philip II who regarded Willem as a traitor to both Philip and the Catholic religion, succeeded in assassinating Willem.

Filips Willem became Prince of Orange, a French hereditary title, not a Dutch title. However, he was not allowed to return to his homeland because he was not trusted and was considered an agent of Spain. In his absence, his sister Maria vigorously defended his claims to the title Prince of Orange and other titles against the claims of their half-brother Maurits. In 1585, 17-year-old Maurits held his father’s elective offices as Stadtholder (Governor) of the provinces of Holland and Zeeland. Five years later, Maurits became Stadtholder of the provinces of Guelders, Overijssel, and Utrecht. As the Stadtholder of five of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic, Maurits was effectively the ruler of the Dutch Republic. In 1590, Maurits became Captain-General and Admiral of the military forces of the Dutch Republic. He organized the Dutch rebellion against Spain into a coherent, successful revolt and won fame as a military strategist.

Maurits leading his troops into battle; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1596, 28 years after he was kidnapped, Filips Willem returned to the Netherlands and lived at the Palace of Nassau in Brussels. At the request of the States-General (the legislature), he did not engage in political affairs. In 1606, at the age of 51, he married 19-year-old Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé but the couple remained childless. Filips Willem died on February 20, 1618, at the age of 63 and Maurits succeeded him as Prince of Orange.

Maurits never married but he did have several illegitimate children.

by Margaretha van Mechelen

by Cornelia Jacobsdochter

  • Anna (died 1673)

by Ursula de Rijck

  • Elisabeth (1611–1679)
  • Karl (ca. 1612–1637)

by Anna van de Kelder

  • Karl Maurits

by Deliana de Backer

  • Eleonora (died 1673)

Maurits, Prince of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

Maurits refused to marry his mistress Margaretha van Mechelen because she was Catholic. On his deathbed, he threatened to legitimize her sons which would then threaten the succession of his unmarried half-brother Frederik Hendrik. A few years earlier, Frederik Hendrik had met Princess Amalia of Solms-Braunfels and asked her to become his lover. She refused saying she would only marry him. Frederik Hendrik summoned Amalia and married her on April 4, 1625. Maurits died on April 23, 1625, at the age of 57 and was buried in the royal vault in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft.

The Old Crypt with the coffin of Willem I on the bottom, the body-like coffin of Willem I’s fourth wife Louise de Coligny on the bottom right, the coffin of Maurits on the top left, and the coffin of Frederik Hendrik on the top right; 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.

March 1918: Royalty and World War I

by Susan Flantzer

  • Sons One, Two, and Three – Gone
  • Timeline: March 1, 1918 – March 31, 1918
  • A Note About German Titles
  • March 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

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Sons One, Two, and Three – Gone

Portraits of the three Cubitt brothers hanging in the Cubitt Chapel in St. Barnabas Church in Ranmore, England; Photo Credit – http://ranmorewarmemorial.info

Every month I have been writing these articles, I am saddened by the deaths of soldiers so young. Even sadder are the times I came across families losing more than one son. The film Saving Private Ryan, in which there is a search for the last surviving brother of four soldiers during World War II, always comes to mind. Although that story is fictional, there are many cases of families, rich and poor, losing multiple children in many wars.

Henry Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe and his wife Maud Marianne Calvert had six sons.  They are one of the many families that lost multiple children in war and there is a royal connection.  Their six sons were:

  • Henry Archibald Cubitt (January 3, 1892 – September 15, 1916)
  • Alick George Cubitt (January 16, 1894 – November 24, 1917)
  • William Hugh Cubitt (May 30, 1896 – March 24, 1918)
  • Roland Calvert Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe (January 26, 1899 – October 28, 1962), married Sonia Keppel (daughter of The Honorable George Keppel and Alice Keppel, a mistress of King Edward VII), had three children including Rosalind, mother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
  • Archibald Edward Cubitt (January 16, 1901 – February 13, 1972), married (1) Lady Irene Helen Pratt, no children; (2) Sibell Margaret Norman, had two children
  • Charles Guy Cubitt (February 13, 1903 – August 1979), married Rosamund Mary Edith Cholmeley, had three children

The eldest three were killed in action in order of their birth in 1916, 1917, and 1918. The two youngest sons were too young to have served during World War I. The fourth son, the eldest surviving son, was Roland Calvert Cubitt. Despite the fact that his three elder brothers had been killed in action, 19-year-old Roland was about to be sent to France as a Lieutenant in the Coldstream Guard when the Armistice was signed in November 1918. However, in the article below, there is some speculation that due to the deaths of his three brothers, someone in the War Department stopped Roland from going off to war.  Roland succeeded his father as 3rd Baron Ashcombe. In addition, he is the maternal grandfather of Queen Camilla – and so these three brothers who died in World War I were her great-uncles.

About the deaths of her three great-uncles, Queen Camilla said: “I cannot imagine what it must have been like for my great-grandparents to receive such devastating news. It is so hard for us, a century later, to understand what the soldiers of the Great War and their families went through.”

In 2014, to mark the centenary of World War I, Queen Camilla, then The Duchess of Cornwall, was asked to choose a poem for an anthology of poems of recollections of World War I, Only Remembered, edited by Michael Morpurgo.  She chose the poem The Christmas Truce by Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, and said this about the poem:

“It is about the spontaneous, unofficial ceasefire between British and German troops along the Western Front on Christmas Day. Huddled in flooded, freezing trenches, facing each other over the hideous shell-holes and barbed wire of No Man’s Land, it was a moment when both sides recognized what united them as men, rather than what divided them as soldiers.

Poetry is like time travel, and poems take us to the heart of the matter. This poem made me cry. It is such a touching and perceptive evocation – through its deceptively simple language and powerful imagery – of the truth of life in the trenches, and of that moment of hope when the sounds of wars were silenced.”

Daily Mail: The ‘Saving Private Ryan’ mystery that haunts Camilla’s family: Three brothers killed in the trenches, a fourth raring to go… but he’s told – you can’t go. So who gave the order that saved the Duchess’s beloved grandfather

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Captain Henry Archibald Cubitt of the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards – killed in action September 15, 1916, age 24, during the four-month-long Battle of the Somme in France

Credit – https://www.dorkingmuseum.org.uk

Henry was educated at Stone House School, Broadstairs, and Eton College. In 1911, 19-year-old Henry obtained his commission in the Coldstream Guards. On August 12, 1914, eight days after the start of World War I, Henry left for France where he took part in the Retreat from Mons, the First Battle of the Marne and the Battle of Aisne. Two months before his death, he was promoted to the rank of Captain.

During the four-month-long Battle of the Somme, on September 15, 1916, the regimental history of the Coldstream Guards remarks, ” three battalions of the Coldstreams attacked in line together… Almost immediately … two Coldstream battalions came under the most terrific machine gun fire… “and Major Vaughan, the Second-in-command of the 3rd Battalion, and Capt. Cubitt, the Adjutant, were both killed before they had gone a hundred yards.” Henry was buried at Carnoy Military Cemetery, France.

Carnoy Military Cemetery; Photo Credit – http://ranmorewarmemorial.info

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Lieutenant Alick George Cubitt of 15th King’s Hussars – killed in action November 24, 1917, age 23, at Bourlon Wood, France during the First Battle of Cambrai

Credit – http://www.surreyinthegreatwar.org.uk

Like his older brother Henry, Alick was educated at Stone House School, Broadstairs, and Eton College. In addition, he trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was then commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 15th The King’s Hussars. At the start of World War I, Alick was sent to France and fought at the Battle of Ypres, the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, and the Battle of Loos.

In November 1917, during the First Battle of Cambrai, Alick’s regiment, as part of 9th Cavalry Brigade, was near Bourlon Wood and was expected to capture the Wood. While their horses were unsaddled, fed, and resting, the regiment was ordered to trenches on the front line where there was close hand-to-hand combat and Alick was killed. His remains were never found, and he is remembered with more than 7,000 missing soldiers on the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing, Louverval, France

Cambrai Memorial to the Missing; Photo Credit – https://www.cwgc.org

Lieutenant William Hugh Cubitt of 1st Royal Dragoons died on March 24, 1918, age 21, from wounds received in action on March 21, 1918, near the village of Ham, France

William Hugh Cubitt, third of three brothers killed in World War I; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

Called by his second name Hugh, he was educated at Mr. E.L. Bent’s (a prep school) and at Eton College. When World War I started, 18-year-old Hugh entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was then commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the 1st Royal King’s Dragoons in November 1914. On May 22, 1915, Hugh left for France and joined the Dragoons at the Front a week later. He served with the Cavalry Corps and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1916.

On March 21, 1918, the Germans began their spring offensive, Operation Michael, also known as Second Battle of the Somme. On that first day, the British army quickly improvised a defense near the village of Ham, France using a mounted squadron (soldiers on horses) including Hugh’s troop of the 1st Royal Dragoons. This was one of the last times the British army used the old traditional cavalry (soldiers mounted on horses) in the advancing technology of war that instead used machine guns and tanks.

Galloping along on their horses, the British cavalry with their swords had some brief success but eventually were overcome by the German machine guns. The regimental history of the Royal Dragoons states, “Knee to knee at first, opening out a little as they dashed forward, the 10th and the Royals covered the ground at a gallop. Many fell, among them Lieutenant Cubitt, but the German fire was wild and did not stop the horsemen, who came right in among them, cutting them down left and right.” Hugh was severely wounded and died three days later, on March 24, 1918, at the 46th Casualty Clearing Station. He was first buried at a cemetery near the 46th Casualty Clearing Station. After the war was over, Hugh’s remains were among the 108 remains that were collectively re-buried at Noyon New British Cemetery in Noyon, France. Because the remains were not buried individually, Hugh’s headstone reads, “Buried near this spot.”

Grave of William Hugh Cubitt; Photo Credit – http://ranmorewarmemorial.info

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Henry Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cubitt,_2nd_Baron_Ashcombe [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].
  • Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall. (2017). First World War centenary: the war poem that moves the Duchess of Cornwall to tears. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/10932405/First-World-War-centenary-the-war-poem-that-moves-the-Duchess-of-Cornwall-to-tears.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].
  • Ranmorewarmemorial.info. (2017). Ranmore War Memorial. [online] Available at: http://ranmorewarmemorial.info/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

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Timeline: March 1, 1918 – March 31, 1918

Operation Michael – Some German soldiers resting while others continue the advance through the Somme wasteland; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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March 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

Because of the dates of death, it is probable that all these deaths occurred during the German Spring Offensive in France, Operation Michael (also known as Second Battle of the Somme).

Emich Ernst Hermann Heinrich Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen

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Prince Heinrich XXXVIII Reuss zu Köstritz

Grave of Prince Heinrich XXXVIII Reuss zu Köstritz; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Freiherr Johann Friedrich von Solemacher-Antweiler

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Captain The Honorable Alfred Aubrey Tennyson

The Ponzieres Memorial to the Missing forms the perimeter of the cemetery and can be seen in the background; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Captain The Honorable Reginald Nicholas Francis Barnewall

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Lieutenant The Honorable William Hugh Cubitt (see article above)

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2nd Lieutenant The Honorable Edward Wodehouse

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Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Gerard Alexander Hamilton, Master of Belhaven

Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

Grave of Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Gerard Alexander Hamilton; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

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Captain Charles Thomas Anderson Pollock

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Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé, Princess of Orange

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé, Princess of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of Filips Willem, Prince of Orange, Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé, was born on April 30, 1587, St-Jean-d’Angély, Saintonge, France. She was the elder of the two children of Henri I, Prince de Condé and his second wife Charlotte Catherine de La Tremoille. The House of Condé was a French princely house and a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. The title of Prince of Condé was originally assumed around 1557 by Éléonore’s grandfather Louis de Bourbon,  a prominent Huguenot (French Protestant) leader and general and first cousin of King Henri IV of France. The title was held by his male-line descendants.

Éléonore had one younger brother who was named heir presumptive to the French throne by King Henri IV and remained the heir until the birth of the king’s son, the future King Louis XII, in 1601:

Éléonore had a half-sister from her father’s first marriage to Marie of Cleves:

  • Catherine de Bourbon-Conde, (1574–1595), died unmarried

Éléonore’s father died when she was nearly a year old. Henri I, Prince de Condé had been wounded in battle several months earlier and was recuperating when he suddenly died on March 3, 1588, at the age of 35. An autopsy indicated that he may have been poisoned. Éléonore’s mother Charlotte Catherine was three months pregnant at the time and there was talk that the father was her page. Thought to have a motive, Charlotte Catherine was arrested for murder. She was held in the tower of the family castle where she gave birth to her son Henri on September 1, 1588. Charlotte Catherine was tried and condemned to death. She appealed her conviction but she remained imprisoned. After seven years, Charlotte Catherine’s conviction was overturned and she was released from her imprisonment.

On November 23, 1606, at the Château de Fontainebleau in France, 19-year-old Éléonore married 51-year-old Filips Willem, Prince of Orange, son of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange and his first wife Anna van Egmont. The marriage had been arranged by Louise de Coligny, the fourth wife and widow of Willem I. Louise was the daughter of a French nobleman, admiral, and Huguenot leader Gaspard II de Coligny who had been killed during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 when thousands of Huguenots were murdered.

Filips Willem, Prince of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange, Filips Willem’s father, was the leader of Dutch forces during the wars of independence against the Spaniards who held the land we now know as the Netherlands. In 1568, when the 13-year-old Filips Willem was a student at the University of Leuven (now in Belgium), he had been abducted and taken to Spain, where he had been held hostage by King Philip II of Spain. In Spain, Filips Willem was made to convert to Roman Catholicism and educated as a Spaniard. He never saw his father again. In 1584, his father was assassinated and Filips Willem inherited the Principality of Orange (which was in France). He did not return to the Netherlands until 1596, 28 years after he was kidnapped. As a Catholic, Filips Willem often collided with his younger Protestant half-brother Maurits, who had succeeded his father as Stadtholder (Governor) of several Dutch provinces. The brothers were at odds with each other until 1609 when King Henri IV of France succeeded in reconciling them.

Éléonore and Filips Willem dancing at a ball; Credit – Wikipedia

Éléonore and Filips Willem had a happy marriage despite their age difference and the absence of children. Filips Willem died on February 20, 1618, at the age of 63 at the Palace of Nassau in Brussels after a botched medical procedure. He was buried at Saint Sulpice Church, a Roman Catholic parish church in Diest, now in Belgium. Éléonore did not inherit anything since her husband had willed all his possessions to his half-brother Maurits who became the next Prince of Orange.

Éléonore survived her husband by barely a year, dying at the age of 31 on January 20, 1619, in Muret-le-Château, France. She was buried at the Eglise Saint-Thomas de Cantorbery in Vallery, France, the traditional burial place of the Princes of Condé and their descendants.

Eglise Saint-Thomas de Cantorbery; Photo Credit – Par François GOGLINS — Travail personnel, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28084982

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.

Filips Willem, Prince of Orange

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Filips Willem, Prince of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

Filips Willem (Philip William in English), Prince of Orange was born on December 19, 1554, in Buren, Guelders, now part of the Netherlands, but then part of the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Lord of the Netherlands and Archduke of Austria. Filips Willem was the only son of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange and the first of his four wives Anna van Egmont. He was named for King Philip II of Spain (son of Charles V) and his father.

Filips Willem had two sisters but only one survived infancy:

Filips Willem had five half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Anna of Saxony:

Filips Willem had six half-sisters from his father’s third marriage to Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier:

Filips Willem had one half-brother from his father’s fourth marriage to Louise de Coligny:

A sculpture of Filips Willem, his parents, and his sister; Photo Credit – By Brbbl – Own work, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20845588

Filips Willem’s mother Anna van Egmont was the only child of Maximilian of Egmont, Count of Buren and Leerdam and she inherited those titles in her own right when her father died. Sadly, Anna died when Filips Willem was three years old and he inherited his mother’s titles. Filips Willem and his sister Maria were placed in the care of the sister of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V’s sister Mary of Austria, Governor of Habsburg Netherlands.

In 1555, Charles V abdicated and retired to the peace of a monastery, where he died three years later. Upon Charles’s abdication, the Holy Roman Empire was inherited by his younger brother Ferdinand, who had already been given the Austrian lands in 1521. The Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy, was inherited by Charles’ son King Philip II of Spain. In 1568, Willem I, Prince of Orange, Filips Willem’s father, became the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs who held the land that we now know as the Netherlands and Belgium.  That set off the Eighty Years’ War and resulted in the formal independence of the Dutch Republic in 1581.

At the time of the outbreak of the revolt, 13-year-old Filips Willem was a student at the University of Leuven in Brabant, now in Belgium. Angered by Willem I’s revolt, Philip II arranged for the boy to be kidnapped and taken to Spain, partly as a hostage, but also to be raised as a Catholic and a loyal subject to Spain. Filips Willem never saw his father again.

Filips Willem is kidnapped from the University of Leuven by David van der Kellen; Credit – Wikipedia

Filips Willem was allowed to continue his studies at the University of Alcalá de Henares and soon spoke six languages fluently. He was given the freedom to hunt, dance, and have friends and was allowed to visit King Philip II. Although contact with his family was forbidden, he had managed to write to his father. After the correspondence was discovered, Filips Willem was transferred to the Castle of Arévalo under somewhat stricter conditions.

In 1580, Willem I was declared an outlaw by Philip II.  He called Willem “a pest on the whole of Christianity and the enemy of the human race” and offered 25,000 crowns to anyone who killed Willem.   Willem was severely injured by an unsuccessful assassination attempt in 1582.  On July 10, 1584, Balthasar Gérard, a subject and supporter of Philip II who regarded Willem as a traitor to both Philip and the Catholic religion, succeeded in assassinating Willem.

Filips Willem became Prince of Orange, a French hereditary title, not a Dutch title. However, he was not allowed to return to his homeland because he was not trusted and was considered an agent of Spain. His half-brother Maurits held his father’s elective offices as Stadtholder (Governor) of the provinces of Holland and Zeeland. Five years later, Maurits became Stadtholder of the provinces of Guelders, Overijssel, and Utrecht. As the Stadtholder of five of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic, Maurits was effectively the ruler of the Dutch Republic. In Filips Willem’s absence, his sister Maria vigorously defended his claims to the title Prince of Orange and other titles against the claims of their half-brother Maurits. In 1596, 28 years after he was kidnapped, Filips Willem returned to the Netherlands and lived at the Palace of Nassau in Brussels. At the request of the States-General (the legislature), he did not engage in political affairs. In 1606, Filips Willem was recognized as Lord of Breda.

Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé; Credit – Wikipedia

Through the influence of Louise de Coligny, Willem I’s French fourth wife and widow, Filips Willem made a French marriage. At the age of 51, he married 19-year-old Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé, daughter of Henri I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (a first cousin of King Henri IV of France) and his second wife Charlotte Catherine de la Tremoille, on November 23, 1606, at the Château de Fontainebleau in France. The couple was childless.

Filips Willem died on February 20, 1618, at the age of 63, at the Palace of Nassau in Brussels after a botched medical procedure. In his will, he requested to be buried in one of his cities (Breda, Orange, Lons-le-Saunier, or Diest) whichever would be closest to his place of death. He had a Catholic funeral and was buried at the Catholic parish church Saint Sulpice in Diest, now in Belgium. In 1944, a proposal was made to Queen Wilhelmina to move the remains of Filips Willem to the royal crypt at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, where the other Princes of Orange (except Willem III, Prince of Orange who later became King William III of England) and the monarchs of the Netherlands are buried. Queen Wilhelmina rejected the proposal because of Filips Willem’s burial request in his will.

Saint Sulpice Church in Diest; Photo Credit – Door Sonuwe – Eigen werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5520238

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Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

In the Netherlands, Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange is known as the Vader des Vaderlands (Father of the Fatherland), and the Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, was written in his honor. He got his nickname “the Silent” (in Dutch De Zwijger) not because he was quiet, but because of his habit of holding his tongue in difficult situations.  Willem is the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau and the ancestor of the Dutch monarchs, the British monarchs from King George I forward, and other European royal families. Willem was the eldest of the twelve children of Willem, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg and his second wife Juliana of Stolberg-Werningerode. He was born on April 24, 1533, at Dillenburg Castle, then in the County of Nassau-Dillenburg in the Holy Roman Empire, now in Hesse, Germany.

Willem had two half-sisters from his father’s first marriage to Countess Walburga of Egmont:

  • Elisabeth (1520 – 1523), died in early childhood
  • Magdalene (1522 – 1567), married Count Herman of Neuenahr and Moers

Willem had eleven younger siblings:

Until Willem was eleven years old, he received a Lutheran education at home. His mother was a determined Lutheran and passed her strong Protestant convictions to her children. When Willem’s childless cousin René of Châlon, Prince of Orange died in 1544, he left the Principality of Orange to Willem. The Principality of Orange was a feudal state in Provence, in the south of modern-day France.  Today, the title Prince/Princess of Orange is held by the heir apparent of the Dutch monarch.

Willem also received land in present-day Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. However, Charles V, Lord of the Netherlands and Holy Roman Emperor attached the condition that eleven-year-old Willem would convert to Roman Catholicism and receive a Roman Catholic education. Because of the immense inheritance, Willem would receive, his parents agreed. In the court of Emperor Charles V, German-speaking Willem learned Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch and received a military and diplomatic education.

Willem married four times.

Anna van Egmont; Credit – Wikipedia

(1) On July 8, 1551, 18-year-old Willem married his first wife Anna van Egmont, a wealthy Dutch heiress, the only child of Maximiliaan van Egmont and Françoise de Lannoy. Because Anna’s father had died, Willem acquired his titles, Lord of Egmond and Count of Buren, on his wedding day. Anna’s early death at the age of 25, on March 24, 1558, brought much grief to Willem.

Willem and Anna had three children:

Anna of Saxony; Credit – Wikipedia

(2) On August 25, 1561, William married his second wife, Anna of Saxony, the only surviving child and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony and his wife Agnes of Hesse. Anna’s dowry of 100,000 thalers was a very large amount of money. The marriage was an unhappy one.

Willem and Anna had five children but only three survived to adulthood:

In early 1571, Anna realized she was pregnant. Immediately, the paternity was controversial. Two possibilities were discussed: either Anna’s husband Willem, who had visited Anna and his children during Christmas 1570, was the father or the lawyer Jan Rubens, the future father of the painter Peter Paul Rubens, who spent a lot of time with Anna as her legal adviser was the father. A daughter, Christine, was born in August 1571.

Willem knew that his non-recognition of the child as his daughter would be a pretext for divorce by accusing Anna of adultery. Wilhelm accused Rubens of having had an adulterous relationship with his wife and of being the biological father of Christine. Rubens was imprisoned and threatened with execution. He confessed to adultery under torture and was pardoned on the intercession of his wife. Anna also admitted the adultery, but she denied that Rubens was the father. On December 14, 1571, Anna was forced to agree to a divorce. Christine, who had been given Diez as a surname, was not recognized by Willem as his child and he did not have to pay any further maintenance for her.  In 1572, Anna was sent to her family in Saxony where they imprisoned her as an adulteress until she died in 1577.

Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier: Credit – Wikipedia

(3) On April 24, 1575, Willem married his third wife Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier, daughter of Louis, Duke of Montpensier and Jacqueline de Longwy, Countess of Bar-sur-Seine. She was a former French nun who converted to Calvinism and escaped the convent. This marriage was Willem’s happiest marriage. Charlotte died from pneumonia on May 5, 1582, at the age of 35. Willem was recovering from an assassination attempt and his doctors feared his grief might cause a fatal relapse.

Willem and Charlotte had six daughters:

Louise de Coligny; Credit – Wikipedia

(4) On April 12, 1583, Willem married his fourth wife, French Huguenot Louise de Coligny, daughter of Gaspard II de Coligny and Charlotte de Laval. Her father was a French nobleman and admiral but is best remembered as a leader of the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants). Louise had previously been married to Charles de Teligny. Both he and Louise’s father were killed during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 when thousands of Huguenots were murdered. Louise survived Willem.

Willem and Louise had one son:

Willem in 1555; Credit – Wikipedia

As a young man, Willem served at the court of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in Brussels and became a confidant of Charles. Physically exhausted after 40 years of ruling, Charles abdicated in 1555 and retired to the peace of a monastery, where he died three years later. Upon Charles’s abdications, his younger brother Ferdinand, who had already been given the Austrian lands in 1521, was elected Holy Roman Emperor. Charles’s son was now King Philip II of Spain having inherited the Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy.

In 1559, Philip appointed Willem Stadtholder (governor) of the provinces of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht (all in the present-day Netherlands) greatly increasing his political power. Willem soon became one of the most prominent opposition members in the Council of State who were seeking more political power for themselves and the Dutch nobility because too many Catholic Spaniards were involved in governing the Netherlands. King Philip II was a devout Roman Catholic and envisioned an empire with Roman Catholicism as the only religion. Willem had been brought up as a Lutheran but had converted to Roman Catholicism. However, he was a strong proponent of freedom of religion and was increasingly disturbed by the persecution of Protestants by the Catholic Spaniards in the Netherlands. In addition, Willem wanted to see the end of Spanish troops in the Netherlands.

In 1568 the Netherlands, led by Willem, revolted against Philip II because of high taxes, persecution of Protestants, and Philip’s efforts to modernize and centralize the medieval government structures of the provinces. This disagreement eventually resulted in the Eighty Years War, resulting in the independence of the northern United Provinces in 1581. The United Provinces, also known as the Dutch Republic, a confederation of seven provinces that had their own governments and were very independent. The States-General consisted of representatives of each of the seven provinces: Duchy of Guelders, County of Holland, County of Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Lordship of Overijssel, Lordship of Frisia, and Lordship of Groningen and Ommelanden. The Princes of Orange, beginning with William the Silent, were always chosen as stadtholders (governors) of most of the provinces.

In 1573, Willem left the Roman Catholic Church and became a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, a Calvinist reformed religion that followed the practices of John Calvin. He was declared an outlaw in 1580 by Philip II, who called Willem “a pest on the whole of Christianity and the enemy of the human race.” Philip offered 25,000 crowns to anyone who killed Willem. Willem responded with a document, Apology, which defended his actions, attacked Philip II, and restated his allegiance to the Protestant reform religion. On March 18, 1582, Juan de Jáuregui, a Spaniard, attempted to assassinate Willem. He was severely wounded but survived due to the care of his third wife Charlotte and his sister Maria. Unfortunately, while William slowly recovered, Charlotte became exhausted from providing intensive care and died.

In 1584, Balthasar Gérard, a subject and supporter of Philip II who regarded Willem as a traitor to both Philip and the Catholic religion, succeeded in assassinating Willem. On July 10, 1584, Willem had lunch with his sister, his wife, his daughter, and Rombertus van Uylenburgh, Mayor of Leeuwarden at the Prinsenhof in Delft. After lunch, Willem began to climb the stairs to his second-floor chamber where he worked and slept. Gérard, who had been hiding behind a pillar, jumped out and fired two shots at the 51-year-old Willem, who collapsed and died. The killer was arrested after a wild pursuit and was brutally tortured and then executed on July 14, 1584. Instead of giving Gérard’s parents the reward of 25,000 crowns, Philip II instead gave them three country estates and a peerage.

Site of the assassination, bullet holes are still in the wall; Credit – Door Looi uit nl, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2287221

Willem had been planned to be buried at the Grote Kerk in Breda, where the House of Orange was traditionally buried, but Breda was under Spanish control. Instead, Willem was buried in the Old Crypt at the Nieuwe Kerk ( New Church) in Delft, South Holland (Zuid-Holland), the Netherlands. His memorial was originally very modest but was replaced in 1623 by a new one, made by Hendrik de Keyser and his son Pieter. Since then, most of the members of the House of Orange-Nassau, including all Dutch monarchs, have been buried in the same church in the royal vault whose entrance, sealed by a large stone cover with four brass rings, is behind the tomb of Willem the Silent.  Willem’s fourth wife Louise de Coligny was buried with him.

The Old Crypt with the body-like lead sarcophagus of Louise de Coligny on the bottom right and Willem I, Prince of Orange’s coffin on the bottom left; Credit – Wikipedia

Memorial to Willem the Silent; Credit – By Alexander Williams – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80947669

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The Funeral of Prince Henrik of Denmark

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Photo Credit – Foto: Keld Navntoft, Kongehuset

Prince Henrik‘s funeral took place on February 20, 2018, at the Christiansborg Palace Church in Copenhagen. The funeral service was conducted by Chaplain-in-Ordinary Erik Norman Svendsen assisted by Ejgil Bank Olesen, Dean of the Holmens Church. In accordance with Prince Henrik’s wishes, the funeral was private. No foreign royalty attended. Members of the Danish Royal Family and Prince Henrik’s birth family were in attendance. The other guests were mostly Danish Royal Court officials. See the guest list below.

An honor guard consisting of members from the Danish Army, Navy, and Air Force was posted in front of the church. Church bells of all the Danish National Evangelical Lutheran Churches across the country rang for the half-hour before and the half-hour after the funeral.
After earth was sprinkled on the coffin and the benediction was given in Christiansborg Palace Church, a mourning gun salute was fired off for forty minutes at thirty-second intervals. At the same time, the kingdom’s flag was raised to full mast.

Embed from Getty Images 

After the funeral, ten officers from The Royal Life Guard carried Prince Henrik’s coffin from the Palace Church to the hearse. As the coffin was carried out of the church, 19th-century Danish composer Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann’s Funeral March for Bertel Thorvaldsen (a Danish/Icelandic sculptor) was played. This music has been used at other Danish royal funerals including the funeral of King Frederik IX, Queen Margrethe II’s father. The royal family followed the coffin to the hearse and made their final farewells to Prince Henrik. When the hearse was driven away, Prince Henrik’s Homage March by Preben Beyer was played. This march was composed in 1967 as a wedding gift to Prince Henrik.

After Prince Henrik’s remains were cremated, half of the ashes were spread over the Danish waters and the other half were placed in an urn in the private section of Fredensborg Palace Garden.

Embed from Getty Images

Guest list for HRH Prince Henrik’s funeral service

The Royal Family

Family of Prince Henrik

  • Mrs. Françoise Bardin (sister of Prince Henrik)
  • Mr. Guillaume Bardin (nephew of Prince Henrik)
  • Mrs. Laurence Bardin (wife of Guillaume Bardin)
  • Charles-Henri Keller (nephew of Prince Henrik)
  • Sister Catherine de Monpezat (sister of Prince Henrik)
  • Count Etienne de Laborde de Monpezat (brother of Prince Henrik)
  • Countess Isabelle de Laborde de Monpezat (sister-in-law of Prince Henrik)
  • Count Jean-Baptiste de Laborde de Monpezat (brother of Prince Henrik)
  • Countess Gill de Laborde de Monpezat (sister-in-law of Prince Henrik)

Guests (in alphabetical order)

  • HE Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg (first wife of Prince Joachim)
  • Valet Officer: Anker Andersen
  • Communications Manager: Lene Balleby
  • Secretary of State for HKH Prince Joachim: Colonel Søren Bo Bojesen
  • Chairman of the National Forest Association: Jens Bjerregaard Christensen
  • Court Chief of Prince Henrik: Chamberlain Colonel Mogens Christensen
  • Professional Deputy: Marianne Gøttsche G. Dupont
  • Court Marshal: Chamberlain Michael Ehrenreich
  • Cabinet Secretary, Secretary of the Order: Chamberlain Henning Fode
  • Lady-in-Waiting for Her Majesty The Queen: Ane Vibeke Foss
  • Secretary of State for The Crown Prince: Morten Roland Hansen
  • Deputy Chief of Staff: Colonel Lasse Harkjær
  • Valet Officer Jesper G. Jensen
  • Managing Director at Fredensborg Palace: Colonel John Kidde-Hansen
  • Chairman of the Danish Parliament, Member of the Danish Parliament: Pia Kjærsgaard
  • Ceremonial Master: Colonel Kim Kristensen
  • Secretary of the Royal Civilian: Chamberlain Søren Weiskopf Kruse
  • Valet Officer: Olivier Laurent
  • Secretary-General of Prince Henrik Secretariat: Supervisor Olivier Lesenecal
  • Secretary of Prince Henrik: Major Nils Nykjær
  • Captain of the Royal Yacht Dannebrog: Commander Christian A. Nørgaard
  • Secretary of State Princess Benedikte: Chamberlain Colonel Tommy M. Paulsen
  • Secretary of State Crown Princess Mary: Christine Pii
  • Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen
  • HE Count Ingolf of Rosenborg (cousin of Queen Margrethe II)
  • Countess Sussie of Rosenborg (wife of Count Ingolf)
  • HE President of the Supreme Court: Thomas Rørdam
  • Lady-in-Waiting for Her Majesty The Queen: Colonel Annette de Scheel
  • President of the Diplomatic Corps: Chamberlain General Consul Fritz H. Schur
  • Court Chief of Crown Prince and Crown Princess Court: Chamberlain Christian Schønau
  • Lady-in-Waiting, Secretary of State for Princess Marie: Britt Siesbye
  • Palace Manager: Major Michael de Voss Court
  • Lady-in-Waiting of Her Majesty The Queen: Annelise Wern
  • HE The Ambassador of France: Francois Zimera

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15 Million Views!

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

On February 19, 2018, Unofficial Royalty reached 15 million views since it was moved to its current home on the Internet on January 1, 2012. Thank you to all who have visited! We also thank everyone – past and present – who has helped to make Unofficial Royalty successful.

What began as a simple news site in 1995 by Geraldine Voost, quickly began to evolve into the site we have today. Geraldine began posting royal news articles and was soon inundated with questions about the British royals. A FAQ section was added, as well as a Yahoo group. In 1997, she decided to consolidate everything into one site, establishing Unofficial Royalty, and adding content areas for a number of Royal families as well as an integrated forum.
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By 2009, we had a team of volunteers helping with the daily news updates, contributing content for the various royal families, moderating the forums, and writing featured columns for the site. We decided to move the site to a new domain – www.unofficialtoyalty.com – with a new content management system to make it easier to maintain.

In 2010, Geraldine handed over the day-to-day administration of Unofficial Royalty to Susan and Scott, in order to focus on her passion for competitive ballroom dancing.  As of January 1, 2012, the site was sold, with Deven, a long-time contributor to the site, taking the reins. Susan and Scott continued as site-administrators.

Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, Queen of Spain, Duchess of Aosta

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, Queen of Spain, Duchess of Aosta; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo (Maria Vittoria Carlotta Enrichetta) was born in Paris, France on August 9, 1847, the elder of the two daughters of Italian noble Carlo Emmanuele dal Pozzo, 5th Prince of Cisterna and his wife Countess Louise de Merode. Maria Vittoria’s father’s family was one of the few aristocratic families in the Kingdom of Sardinia to bear the title of “prince” as a noble title. Her father was a politician in the Kingdom of Sardinia. Her mother was a member of the de Merode family, an important Belgian noble family. Her mother’s younger sister, Antoinette de Merode, was the wife of Charles III, Prince of Monaco.

Maria Vittoria had one younger sister who died at the age of 13:

  • Beatrice Giuseppa Antonia Luisa dal Pozzo (1851–1864)

Maria Vittoria spent most of her childhood at the Palazzo della Cisterna in Turin in the Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy. Upon her father’s death in 1864, Maria Vittoria inherited her father’s noble titles and became Princess della Cisterna, Princess di Belriguardo, Marchioness di Voghera, and Countess di Ponderano in her own right. Maria Vittoria’s sister died from typhus one month after her father’s death.

On May 30, 1867, Maria Vittoria married Prince Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta at the chapel of the Royal Palace of Turin. Amedeo was the second son of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy (formerly King of Piedmont, Savoy, and Sardinia) and Archduchess Adelheid of Austria.

Maria Vittoria and Amedeo; Credit – Wikipedia

Amedeo and Maria Vittoria had three children. Their descendants through their eldest son have been the disputed claimants to the headship of the House of Savoy along with descendants of Amedeo’s brother King Umberto I of Italy.

After Queen Isabella II of Spain was deposed, Amedeo was elected King of Spain and Maria Vittoria was Queen Consort. In Madrid, she suffered a great deal because of her poor health and difficulties with Spanish politics. Maria Vittoria stayed away from politics and devoted her time to charitable works. One of the charities she founded was a nursery where children of washerwomen who worked on the banks of the Manzanares River in Madrid could be cared for by nuns while their mothers worked. Attached to the nursery was a hospital for the washerwomen.

During Amedeo’s reign, there were many republican uprisings. Without popular support, Amedeo abdicated the Spanish throne on February 11, 1873, and left Spain. Maria Vittoria had given birth to her last child only two weeks before the abdication. The recent childbirth, the stress of the abdication, and the exile from Spain exacerbated her physical condition. On November 8, 1876, at the Villa Dufour in San Remo, Italy, 29-year-old Maria Vittoria died from tuberculosis. She was buried in the Basilica of Superga near Turin. The Spanish and American Enlightenment newspaper wrote of her: “Madrid cannot forget that angel of virtue and charity, to whom the people granted the simple title of Mother of the Poor.”

Basilica of Superga; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Kingdom of Spain Resources at Unofficial Royalty

King Amedeo I of Spain, Duke of Aosta

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2018

King Amedeo I of Spain, Duke of Aosta; Credit – Wikipedia

Born an Italian prince, Amedeo briefly reigned Spain as the only King of Spain from the House of Savoy. Born on May 30, 1845, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy, he was the second of the three surviving sons and the third of the eight children of King Vittorio Emanuele II (King of Piedmont-Sardinia and later first King of Italy) and Archduchess Adelheid of Austria. Soon after his birth, Amedeo was given the title Duke of Aosta, which he was known as for most of his life.

Amedeo had seven siblings but only four survived to adulthood:

Amedeo with his parents and siblings, 1854; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1859, Amedeo entered the Royal Italian Army with the rank of captain. By 1866, he had risen to the rank of major-general and took part in the Third Italian War of Independence of 1866 and was wounded at the Battle of Custoza.

On May 30, 1867, Amedeo married Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, the elder of the two daughters of Italian noble Carlo Emmanuele dal Pozzo, 5th Prince of Cisterna and his wife Countess Louise de Merode. Upon her father’s death in 1864, Maria Vittoria inherited her father’s titles in her own right.

Maria Vittoria and Amedeo; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Amedeo and Maria Vittoria had three children. Their descendants through their eldest son have been claimants to the disputed headship of the House of Savoy along with descendants of Amedeo’s brother King Umberto I of Italy.

In Spain, Queen Isabella II had reigned since 1833, when she was not quite three years old. Isabella’s authoritarianism, her religious fanaticism, her alliance with the military, and the chaos of her reign — sixty different governments — helped bring about the Revolution of 1868 that eventually exiled her to Paris, France. On November 16, 1870, the Spanish Cortes (Parliament) elected Amedeo the new King of Spain. He swore to uphold the constitution and was proclaimed King in Madrid on January 2, 1871.

King Amedeo I of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

During Amedeo’s reign, there were many republican uprisings. After an attempt to assassinate him on July 19, 1872, Amedeo I declared his frustration with the complications of Spanish politics: “I do not understand anything. We’re in a mad cage.” Lacking popular support, Amedeo abdicated the Spanish throne on February 11, 1873. The First Spanish Republic was declared but it lasted a little less than two years. After the First Spanish Republic collapsed, Queen Isabella’s 17-year-old son became King Alfonso XII.

Completely disgusted, Amedeo returned to Turin where he assumed the title Duke of Aosta. On November 8, 1876, Amedeo’s wife Maria Vittoria died from tuberculosis at the age of 29. Amedeo again became active in the Royal Italian Army and held various positions during the reign of his brother who succeeded as King Umberto I of Italy in 1878.

In 1888, twelve years after the death of his first wife, Amedeo married again. His second wife was Princess Maria Letizia Bonaparte, his niece, the daughter of his sister Marie Clotilde and Prince Napoléon Joseph Bonaparte. The betrothal announcement caused a great scandal in the Italian court because Amedeo was twenty-two years older than Maria Letizia and was also her uncle. Nevertheless, the necessary papal dispensation for the marriage was obtained.

Maria Letizia in 1888; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Amedeo and Maria Letizia had one child:

  • Prince Umberto of Savoy-Aosta, Count of Salemi (1889 – 1918), unmarried, served in the Royal Italian Army during World War I; the official court bulletin recorded that he was killed in action, but apparently, he died from influenza

Amedeo was married to his second wife for less than two years. He died from pneumonia in Turin, Italy on January 18, 1890, at the age of 44. He was buried at the Basilica of Superga near Turin, the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy.

Basilica of Superga; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Kingdom of Spain Resources at Unofficial Royalty