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Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

August 16, 1573 – Birth of Anna of Austria, first wife of King Sigismund III Vasa of Sweden and Poland, in Graz, Austria
In May 1592, Anna married Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland. Anna and Sigmund had five children but only one, Ladislaus Vasa, who succeeded his father as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, survived childhood. On November 17, 1592, Sigismund’s father Johan III, King of Sweden, Grand Duke of Lithuania died and Sigismund was granted permission by the Polish legislature to claim his inheritance as the rightful King of Sweden. In 1594, Anna accompanied her husband to Sweden, where she and her husband were crowned King and Queen of Sweden. In 1598, Anna died due to birth complications during the birth of her sixth child, who also died.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna of Austria, Queen of Sweden, Queen of Poland

August 16, 1662 – Birth of Prince Hans-Adam I of Liechtenstein in Brno, Margraviate of Moravia, now in the Czech Republic
Full name: Johann Adam Andreas
Twenty-two-year-old Hans-Adam became Prince of Liechtenstein upon the death of his father Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein on April 5, 1684. Karl Eusebius left his son a rich inheritance and an extensive collection of artworks that were multiplied by his son and other descendants. The current Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II, is the richest European monarch. In 1681, Hans-Adam married Princess Erdmuthe Maria Theresia of Dietrichstein-Nikolsburg. Hans-Adam and Erdmuthe had eleven children but all their sons predeceased Hans-Adam. Because Hans-Adam had no sons, he had chosen his distant cousin Prince Joseph Wenzel, the great-grandnephew of Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein, even though he was not next in line. The actual heir was his uncle Anton Florian but he was not very popular with the family.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Hans-Adam I of Liechtenstein

August 16, 1682 – Birth of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin, son of Louis, Le Grande Dauphin and grandson of King Louis XIV of France, at the Palace of Versailles in  Versailles, France
Louis, Duke of Burgundy was the eldest of the three sons of Louis, Dauphin of France and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. At the time of his birth, Louis’ grandfather Louis XIV was King of France and his father was the heir apparent to the French throne. After Louis’ birth, his father was called Le Grand Dauphin and his son Louis, who was second in the line of succession, was called Le Petit Dauphin. However, King Louis XIV outlived both his son and his grandson and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV when he died in 1715.
Unofficial Royalty: Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin

August 16, 1763 – Birth of Frederick, Duke of York, son of King George III of the United Kingdom, at St. James Palace in London, England
Full name: Frederick Augustus
Prince Frederick, Duke of York was the second son of King George III but his marriage produced no children. Frederick had a career in the army and attained the rank of general. A well-known nursery rhyme is supposedly about Frederick’s defeat at the Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign.

The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up.
And when they were down, they were down.
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down

Unofficial Royalty: Frederick, Duke of York

August 16, 1906 – Birth of Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein at Schloss Frauenthal in Steiermark, Austria   
Full name: Franz Josef Maria Aloys Alfred Karl Johannes Heinrich Michael Georg Ignaz Benediktus Gerhardus Majella
Franz Josef was named after Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, his mother’s paternal uncle and his godfather. In 1938, Franz Joseph succeeded his childless great-uncle Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein. Franz Josef was the first sovereign prince to live full-time in the principality and made his home at Vaduz Castle. He is the father of the current Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein

August 16, 2019 – Death of Princess Christina of the Netherlands, daughter of Queen Julianna of the Netherlands, at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands
Princess Christina was the youngest of four daughters of the future Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. Her mother had contracted German measles while pregnant with Christina, resulting in her being born nearly blind. Fortunately, she was able to gain some sight and was able to live a relatively normal life. In June 2018 it was announced that Princess Christina was suffering from bone cancer. Princess Christina died at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands on August 16, 2019, at the age of 72 from bone cancer. Princess Christina’s remains were taken to Fagel’s Garden Pavilion on the grounds of Noordeinde Palace, where close friends and family paid their last respects. The cremation was held in private.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Christina of the Netherlands

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Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French; Credit – Wikipedia

August 15, 1316 – Birth of John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, son of King Edward II of England, at Eltham Palace in London, England
In 1327, when John was eleven years old, his father King Edward II was forced to give up his crown in favor of his son 14-year-old son King Edward III, with his mother Isabella of France and Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer, 1st Earl of March acting as regents. King Edward II died in Berkeley Castle on September 21, 1327, probably murdered on the orders of Isabella and Mortimer. John was the heir to the English throne until 1330, when his nephew Edward, Prince of Wales, the first child of King Edward III, was born.  King Edward III began marriage negotiations for his brother several times but none of the negotiations led to a betrothal. John had a brilliant military career, similar to the later military career of his nephew Edward, Prince of Wales, known as The Black Prince, who predeceased his father, and whose career ended just as suddenly. John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall died on September 13, 1336, in Perth, Scotland at the age of 20. The cause of his death is uncertain. There are references to John dying from a fever and dying in a skirmish with the Scots.
Unofficial Royalty: John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall

August 15, 1369 – Death of Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England, wife of King Edward III of England, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England; buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England
Philippa married King Edward III of England in 1348. The couple had thirteen children including her eldest child, Edward the Black Prince, who was born days before her sixteenth birthday. The sons of Edward and Philippa married into the English nobility and it was their descendants who later battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses. Like other medieval consorts, Philippa often accompanied her husband on military campaigns.  She was known for her kind nature and successfully pleaded for the lives of six burghers who had surrendered their city of Calais to King Edward III. Philippa died of a “dropsical malady” (edema) that had bothered her for about two years. She was 55 years old and had outlived seven of her children. According to the chronicler Jean Froissart, Philippa died holding the hands of her husband and her youngest child Thomas who was fourteen years old.
Unofficial Royalty: Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England

August 15, 1769 – Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica, France
Napoléon joined the French army and quickly advanced. During the latter part of the French Revolution, he rose to prominence and by the age of 30 was the First Consul of France. Napoléon was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. In the early part of the 19th century, Napoléon’s quest for power led to wars throughout a large part of Europe. In 1814, Paris was captured by the coalition fighting against Napoléon and his marshals decided to mutiny. He had no choice but to abdicate. The Treaty of Fontainebleau exiled Napoléon to the Mediterranean island of Elba, off the coast of Tuscany, Italy. Napoléon escaped from Elba on February 26, 1815, and arrived in France two days later. He attempted to regain power, but he was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, by a coalition of forces from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Nassau, Brunswick, and Prussia.
Unofficial Royalty: Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French

August 15, 1824 – Birth of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Baden in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Ludwig was the eldest surviving son of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and Sofia of Sweden.  As Ludwig got older, signs of mental illness began to show, and in March 1852, he was diagnosed as having a non-curable mental disorder. The following month, Ludwig’s father died and he succeeded as Grand Duke of Baden. However, because of his illness, his brother Friedrich served as Regent during Ludwig’s brief four-year reign.
Unofficial Royalty: Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Baden

August 15, 1860 – Death of Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia, at her estate in Elfenau, near Bern, Switzerland; buried at her estate in Elfenau
Julianne was an aunt to both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She made an unsuccessful marriage to Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia, the second son of the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia. Juliane managed to leave Russia and upon arriving back home in Coburg, she refused to ever return to Russia. She soon began to negotiate for a divorce. However, the Russian court would not allow a formal end to the marriage. Although still technically married, Juliane had several affairs, two of which resulted in the birth of children. In 1814, after refusing an offer of reconciliation from her husband, Juliane purchased an estate in Bern, Switzerland along the banks of the Aare River. She named the property Elfenau and it would become her home for the rest of her life.
Unofficial Royalty:  Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna

August 15, 1950 – Birth of Princess Anne, Princess Royal at Clarence House in London, England
Full name: Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise
From a young age, Princess Anne was passionate about riding and she soon became an excellent equestrienne. In 1971, Anne won the European Eventing Championship and was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.  For more than five years Anne competed with the British eventing team, winning a silver medal in both individual and team disciplines in the 1975 European Eventing Championship. In the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, Anne competed as a member of the British equestrian team.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne, Princess Royal

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Prince Heinrich of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

August 14, 1473 – Birth of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, daughter of  George, Duke of Clarence (third son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York) and niece of King Edward IV and King Richard III, at Farleigh Hungerford Castle in Somerset, England
Margaret was one of the few surviving members of the Plantagenet dynasty after the Wars of the Roses. She was the mother of Reginald Pole, Cardinal, Papal Legate, and last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Queen Mary I.  After the rise of the Tudors, the remaining members of the House of York were systematically dealt with through marriage, imprisonment, and eventually, execution. Accused of conducting treasonable correspondence with her son Cardinal Pole, Margaret was executed during the reign of King Henry VIII.
Unofficial Royalty: Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury

August 14, 1479 – Birth of Catherine of York, Countess of Devon, daughter of King Edward IV of England, at Eltham Palace in London, England
In 1495, sixteen-year-old Catherine married twenty-year-old William Courtenay, son and heir of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, a strong supporter of the then-current monarch, King Henry VII, and they had three children. After her marriage, Catherine remained close to her eldest sister Elizabeth of York, wife of King Henry VII. She attended the wedding of her eldest nephew Arthur, Prince of Wales and Catherine of Aragon in November 1501, and the betrothal of her eldest niece Margaret Tudor to James IV, King of Scots in January 1502. After the death of her husband in 1511, Catherine took a vow of celibacy and was rarely at court. One of her few appearances at court was in 1516 for the christening of her great-niece, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon’s daughter, the future Queen Mary I of England, at which Catherine was the godmother. Catherine of York died on November 15, 1527, at Tiverton Castle in Tiverton, Devon, England, aged 48.
Unofficial Royalty: Catherine of York, Countess of Devon

August 14, 1687 – Birth of Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange in Dessau, Principality of Anhalt-Dessau, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
At the time of Johan Willem Friso’s birth, his first cousin once removed Willem III was Prince of Orange and Stadtholder (Governor) of five of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic. Willem III had married his English first cousin Mary Stuart, the elder surviving child of King James II of England. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688 which deposed King James II, Willem and Mary jointly ruled England as King William III and Queen Mary II, but the couple had no children.  After Willem’s death,  Johan Willem Friso claimed succession in the five provinces of the Dutch Republic that William (Willem) III had held as well as to the title Prince of Orange. However, the five provinces over which Willem III had ruled as Stadtholder all suspended the office of Stadtholder after his death. A dispute arose between Johan Willem Friso and Friedrich I, King in Prussia, also a grandson of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange, over the Principality of Orange,  located in France. Friedrich I eventually inherited the land and ceded the land to France in 1713. However, the title Prince of Orange continued to be used in the Dutch Republic. In July, Johan Willem Friso went to The Hague to meet with King Friedrich I of Prussia about their succession dispute. To cross the Hollands Diep, a wide river in the Netherlands, Johan Willem Friso and his carriage traveled on a ferry. The captain had trouble with the sails and suddenly a great gust of wind filled the sails, the ferry capsized and Johan Willem Friso drowned at the age of 23 on July 14, 1711. His body was found floating in the river eight days later.
Unofficial Royalty: Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange

August 14, 1688 – Birth of Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
For the first few years of his life, Friedrich Wilhelm was raised in Hanover, at the court of his grandmother, the Electress Sophia of Hanover, along with his cousins – his future wife, Sophie Dorothea of Hanover,  whom he married in 1706, and her brother, the future King George II of Great Britain. Friedrich Wilhelm came to the Prussian throne upon his father’s death in 1713. Unlike his father who viewed the treasury as his own money and lived a lavish lifestyle, Friedrich Wilhelm chose to go the opposite direction. He sold many of his father’s possessions and lived an austere life. While his father was focused more on his personal enjoyment, Friedrich Wilhelm focused on strengthening Prussia, particularly the economy and the military.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia

August 14, 1720 – Birth of Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, husband of Princess Mary of Great Britain (daughter of King George II of Great Britain), in Kassel in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany
Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel became famous during the American Revolution as a supplier of thousands of Hessian soldiers who fought on behalf of the British. Friedrich and his wife Mary are ancestors of the current British royal family through their fourth son Prince Friedrich. Prince Friedrich’s daughter Augusta was the grandmother of Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, better known as Queen Mary, the wife of King George V of the United Kingdom. Through their third son Prince Karl, Friedrich and Mary are great-grandparents of King Christian IX of Denmark. Through King Christian IX, Friedrich and Mary are ancestors of six of the ten current European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

August 14, 1754 – Death of Maria Anna of Austria, Queen of Portugal, wife of King João V of Portugal, in Lisbon, Portugal; initially interred at the Monastery of São João Nepomuceno (Saint John Nepomuk), which she founded, her heart was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria, the burial place of her birth family, the Habsburgs. In 1855, her remains were transferred to the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal, where her husband João V had been interred.
Maria Anna, the daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, was the wife and first cousin of João V, King of Portugal. Maria Anna and João V had six children including two kings of Portugal. Soon after her marriage, Maria Anna realized that beauty and luxury were valued at the Portuguese court much more than learning and knowledge, which were the traits valued at the Austrian court. João had many mistresses and several illegitimate children and although he was well educated and religious, he occupied himself with whatever pleased him at the moment.  Maria Anna died four years after the death of her husband.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Anna of Austria, Queen of Portugal

August 14, 1862 – Birth of Prince Heinrich of Prussia, son of Friedrich III, German Emperor, at Neues Palais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Albert Wilhelm Heinrich
Prince Heinrich was the son of Victoria, Princess Royal and Friedrich III, German Emperor, and Queen Victoria’s grandson. He married his first cousin Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, Irene was a hemophilia carrier having inherited the gene from her mother Princess Alice who had inherited it from her mother Queen Victoria. Nine of Queen Victoria’s descendants were afflicted with hemophilia and two of them were Heinrich and Irene’s sons. At the age of 15, Heinrich started his career in the  German Imperial Navy.  In 1909, he was promoted to Grand Admiral (Großadmiral), the highest rank in the German Imperial Navy. At the beginning of World War I, Heinrich was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet. He was charged with preventing the Russian Navy from attacking the German coast and was successful. At the end of World War I, and with the abdication of his brother Wilhelm as German Emperor and King of Prussia, Heinrich left the navy. After the dissolution of the German monarchies, Heinrich and his family lived at Hemmelmark, an estate in Eckernförde in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where he died at the age of 66, on April 20, 1929.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Heinrich of Prussia

August 14, 1876 – Birth of King Alexander I of Serbia in Belgrade, Serbia
King Alexander I of Serbia was the last ruler of Serbia from the House of Obrenović. His reign ended with his and his wife’s brutal assassinations in 1903. He was the only surviving child of King Milan I of Serbia and his wife Natalija Keschko. In 1889, King Milan unexpectedly abdicated in favor of his twelve-year-old son who became King Alexander I of Serbia. In 1893, 17-year-old King Alexander proclaimed himself of age and dismissed the regency council to take royal authority for himself. The following year, King Alexander abolished the 1889 liberal constitution and restored the former conservative 1869 constitution. The political situation continued to worsen until the army had enough. The military organized a conspiracy, the May Coup, to replace King Alexander I of the House of Obrenović with Prince Peter Karađorđević of the rival House of Karađorđević.  This resulted in the assassination of Alexander and his wife.
Unofficial Royalty: King Alexander I of Serbia

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Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of Naples and Sicily; Credit – Wikipedia

August 13, 1090 – Death of Constance of Normandy, Duchess of Brittany, daughter of King William I of England (the Conqueror), buried at St. Melans near Rhedon in France
Born around 1066, Constance was one of the daughters of William I and Matilda of Flanders.  She married Alan IV, Duke of Brittany in 1086 but they had no children. Two chroniclers of the time had very different views of Constance. Orderic Vitalius wrote that Constance was caring and attentive to her husband’s subjects and that her death on August 13, 1090, was the greatest loss for the inhabitants of the duchy. However, William of Malmesbury wrote that her “harsh and conservative manner” of government made Constance unpopular in the duchy, and her husband ordered her servants to poison her.
Unofficial Royalty: Constance of Normandy, Duchess of Brittany

August 13, 1752 – Birth of Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of Naples and Sicily, first wife of the future Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antonia
Maria Carolina was the thirteenth of the sixteen children and the tenth of the eleven daughters of Empress Maria Theresa, who was in her own right Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, and Queen of Bohemia, and Franz, Holy Roman Emperor, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Duke of Lorraine. During childhood, Maria Carolina was very close to her younger sister Maria Antonia, better known as the ill-fated Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. Maria Carolina married King Ferdinando IV of Naples and III of Sicily, who became King of the Two Sicilies after her death. Despite her dislike for her husband, Maria Carolina fulfilled her most important duty – to continue the dynasty. Maria Carolina and Ferdinando had seventeen children but only seven survived childhood. Seven of their children died from smallpox. However, four of their five surviving daughters married sovereigns, and their son Francesco succeeded his father.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of Naples and Sicily

August 13, 1792 – Birth of Queen Adelaide of the United Kingdom, wife of King William IV of the United Kingdom, born Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen at the Elisabethenburg Palace  in Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, now in Thuringia, Germany
Full name: Adelheid Luise Therese Karoline Amalie
After twenty-one-year-old Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of George, Prince of Wales, died delivering a stillborn son, the unmarried, aging sons of King George III began a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession. One of the sons was William, Duke of Clarence (the future King William IV).  William had never married but had lived for 20 years with actress Dorothea Jordan. Soon after Princess Charlotte of Wales died, negotiations began for the marriage of William to Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, and the engagement was announced on April 19, 1818. William was 52 and Adelaide was 25. Adelaide loved children but was destined not to have one of her own. Sadly, Adelaide had two babies who died in early infancy, a miscarriage, and two stillbirths. A child of William and Adelaide would have succeeded to the throne as William’s two elder brothers (George IV and Frederick, Duke of York) had no surviving children.  Adelaide wrote to her widowed sister-in-law the Duchess of Kent, “My children are dead, but your child lives, and she is mine too.”  That child was the future Queen Victoria.
Unofficial Royalty: Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen of the United Kingdom

August 13, 1904 – Death of Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington, Queen Victoria’s Lady of the Bedchamber 1843-1858 and Mistress of the Robes 1861–1868, 1874–1880, in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England;  buried at Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire, England
Born Lady Elizabeth Hay, daughter of George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale, she married Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington.
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington

August 13, 1910 – Birth of Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Oman in Muscat, Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, now the Sultanate of Oman
In 1932, Said’s father, Taimur bin Feisal, abdicated. The new 21-year-old Sultan of Oman inherited a country heavily in debt to the United Kingdom and India. To break away from the United Kingdom (Oman had become a British protectorate in 1891) and maintain autonomy, Oman needed to regain economic independence. During his reign, Said maintained close oversight of Oman’s budget. Oil wealth would have allowed Said to modernize his country. However, his policies were extremely conservative and he opposed any modernization, therefore, Oman was isolated from the outside world. He achieved Oman’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1951. In 1970, Said was overthrown in a coup d’etat by his son Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sultan of Oman. Said bin Taimur, former Sultan of Oman lived out the rest of his life in exile in the United Kingdom.
Unofficial Royalty: Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Oman

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Tsesarevich Alexei of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

August 12, 1503 – Birth of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway at Gottorp Castle in Schleswig, Duchy of Schleswig, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein
Christian III lived during the time of the Reformation. After the death of his father, the Catholic Frederik I, the Council of State had a lengthy discussion on whether the Danish throne should go to Christian, Frederik I’s Lutheran son from his first marriage, or Frederik I’s Catholic twelve-year-old son Johann from his second marriage. In 1534, Christian was proclaimed Christian III, King of Denmark at an assembly of Lutheran nobles in Jutland. However, the Council of State, made up of mostly Catholic bishops and nobles, refused to accept Christian III as king. Johann, Frederik’s son from his second marriage, was deemed too young and the council was more amenable to restoring the deposed King Christian II to the throne because he had supported both the Catholics and Protestant Reformers at various times. Christopher, Count of Oldenburg, the grandson of a brother of King Christian I of Denmark and the second cousin of both Christian II and Christian III, led the military alliance to restore King Christian II to the throne. What resulted was a two-year civil war, known as the Count’s Feud, from 1534 – 1536, between Protestant and Catholic forces, that led to King Frederik I’s son from his first marriage ascending the Danish throne as King Christian III. In 1537, Christian III was also recognized as King of Norway.
Unofficial Royalty: King Christian III of Denmark

August 12, 1674 – Birth of Marie of Lorraine, wife of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco in Paris, France
In 1688, in the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France, 14-year-old Marie married 27-year-old Antonio, the future Prince of Monaco. Antonio and Marie had six daughters but only two survived to adulthood. The elder surviving daughter Louise-Hippolyte succeeded her father as the reigning Princess of Monaco. The marriage was not happy. In what seems to have become a Grimaldi tradition, Antonio had several illegitimate children from different affairs. Marie responded by finding lovers of her own. In 1701, Antonio became Prince of Monaco upon the death of his father Louis I, Prince of Monaco. Marie spent the last years of her life quietly, frequently returning to the French court. She died at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco on October 30, 1724, at the age of 50.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie of Lorraine, Princess of Monaco

August 12, 1762 – Birth of King George IV of the United Kingdom at St. James’s Palace in London, England
George’s birth marked the first time an heir had been born to a reigning monarch since the birth of King James II’s son in 1688. At birth, George was automatically Duke of Cornwall as the eldest son of the reigning monarch. Five days after his birth, George was created Prince of Wales. George was created a Knight of the Garter at age three and was introduced to ceremonial functions at an early age. In 1795, George married Caroline of Brunswick, his first cousin. This marriage is one of the worst ever royal marriages. Upon first seeing Caroline, George said to his valet, “Harris, I am not well. Pray get me a glass of brandy.” Caroline said George was fat and not as handsome as his portrait. It is doubtful that the couple spent more than a few nights together as husband and wife. Their only child, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was born nine months later. They both found each other equally unattractive and never lived together nor appeared in public together.  Their daughter Charlotte married Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (the uncle of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and the future King of the Belgians), but she predeceased both her parents, dying in childbirth in 1817 at the age of 21, along with her son. Had Charlotte lived, she would have succeeded her father on the throne.
Unofficial Royalty: King George IV of the United Kingdom

August 12, 1779 – Birth of Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
In 1807, Georg represented his father in Paris to negotiate the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz’s entry into the Confederation of the Rhine. He again represented his father seven years later at the Congress of Vienna. Through his efforts, Mecklenburg-Strelitz was raised to a Grand Duchy. Georg became Grand Duke in 1816, upon his father’s death. Georg found Mecklenburg-Strelitz in great debt and in need of much rebuilding. To eliminate much of the debt, he sold several towns to Prussia, towns given to the Grand Duchy at the Congress of Vienna. He abolished serfdom and throughout his reign, he worked to raise education standards, building schools and instituting compulsory education. He made vast improvements to the infrastructure which would help to energize the grand duchy’s economy.
Unofficial Royalty: Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

August 12, 1872 – Birth of Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor, England
Full name: Franziska Josepha Louise Augusta Marie Christina Helena
Marie Louise was the daughter of Princess Helena, the third daughter of Queen Victoria, and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1890, Marie Louise married Prince Aribert of Anhalt. However, the marriage was unsuccessful. In 1900, the marriage was dissolved by Marie Louise’s father-in-law, at her husband’s insistence. It has been speculated that the marriage was never consummated and implied that Aribert was homosexual, and had been caught in a delicate situation by either his wife or his father. In her memoirs, Marie Louise states that even though her marriage was annulled, she maintained the vows she had made at her wedding, and would never remarry.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein

August 12, 1904 – Birth of Tsesarevich Alexei of Russia, son of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, at Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
Alexei’s mother Empress Alexandra, born Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, was the daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Before Alexei’s birth, Queen Victoria’s son Prince Leopold, two of her grandsons, and two of her great-grandsons had been born with hemophilia, a genetic disease that prevents the blood from clotting properly. One of the grandsons was Empress Alexandra’s brother Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine (Frittie) who died of a brain hemorrhage at age 2 ½ after falling out a low window to the ground below. Therefore, there was a risk that Empress Alexandra was a hemophilia carrier. Even before Alexei was two months old, when he suffered severe bleeding from his navel, it was evident that he too had been born with hemophilia. After Alexei’s birth, three more great-grandsons of Queen Victoria would also be diagnosed with the disease.  In 2009, DNA analysis done on the remains of Empress Alexandra, Alexei, and his sister Anastasia, the only sister who was a carrier, revealed that Alexei suffered from the rare, severe form of hemophilia, known as Hemophilia B or Christmas Disease. Throughout his short life, Alexei suffered greatly.
Unofficial Royalty: Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia
Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Descendants

August 12, 1932 – Birth of Queen Sirikit of Thailand, widow of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand; born Sirikit Kitiyakara at the home of Lord Vongsanuprabhand, her maternal grandfather, in Bangkok, Siam, now Thailand
Sirikit’s paternal grandfather Prince Kitiyakara Voralaksana was the twelfth son of King Chulalongkorn of Siam.  She shared a descent from King Chulalongkorn with her husband King Bhumibol Adulyadej and they are first cousins once removed.  While he was attending the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, King Bhumibol Adulyadej frequently visited Paris and it was there that he met his future wife Sirikit Kitiyakara who was the daughter of the Thai ambassador to France. Both Sirikit and King Bhumibol Adulyadej were studying at the Thai embassy and a relationship developed. They married in 1950, just a week before the king’s coronation. After the coronation, the 22-year-old king and the 17-year-old queen returned to their studies in Lausanne, Switzerland. The couple had three daughters and one son including the current King of Thailand, King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Sirikit of Thailand

August 12, 2013 – Death of Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau, son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, at Huis ten Bosch Palace, his mother’s residence in The Hague; buried at the Dutch Reformed Cemetery in Lage Vuursche, Utrecht,  the Netherlands
On February 17, 2012, while on the royal family’s annual skiing holiday in Lech, Austria, Prince Friso was buried under an avalanche and was in a coma. According to medical reports, he had been buried for 25 minutes and suffered neurological injuries due to the lack of oxygen. On March 1, 2012, he was moved to Wellington Hospital in London, England, nearer to his family’s home. In the summer of 2013, he was declared to be in a minimally conscious state and no longer in need of hospital care. He was moved again on July 9, 2013, to Huis ten Bosch Palace, his mother’s residence in The Hague in the Netherlands. It was there that Prince Friso passed away at the age of 44.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau

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Nikolai Kulikovsky and Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

August 11, 1467 – Birth of Mary of York, daughter of King Edward IV of England, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Mary was the second of the ten children and the second of the seven daughters of King Edward IV of England, the first King of England from the House of York, and Elizabeth Woodville. In 1481, negotiations began for a marriage between Mary and Frederik, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig (the future King Frederik I of Denmark and Norway), the youngest son of King Christian I of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. However, at the end of 1481, Mary became seriously ill with an unknown illness and died, aged fourteen. She was interred on the north side of the altar in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England at the side of her younger brother George, who had died three years earlier at the age of two. Mary’s parents were interred in a tomb nearby – her father in 1483 and her mother in 1492.
Unofficial Royalty: Mary of York

August 11, 1730 – Birth of Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, wife of Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, in Philippsthal, Landgraviate of Hesse-Philippsthal, now in Hesse, Germany
In 1750, Charlotte Amalie married Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, who was 43 years older. He had previously contracted a morganatic marriage and had ten children, but they were not eligible to succeed to the ducal throne. This marriage was solely intended to provide an heir for Saxe-Meiningen. The couple had eight children. Following her husband’s death in 1763, Charlotte Amalie was appointed the sole guardian of their sons and served as Regent of Saxe-Meiningen.
Unofficial Royalty: Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

August 11, 1763 – Birth of Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, wife of Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, in Langenburg, Principality of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
In 1782, Luise Eleonore married Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. The couple had three children including Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, the wife of King William IV of the United Kingdom. In December 1803, her husband died and her three-year-old son became Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Luise Eleonore became Regent and is credited with steering the duchy through very difficult times.
Unofficial Royalty: Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

August 11, 1863 – Birth of Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein in Dolzig, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Poland
In 1864, following the Second Schleswig War, the Duchy of Holstein and the Duchy of Schleswig became occupied territories of the German Confederation, and two years later, following the Austro-Prussian War, part of the new Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein. Just like his father, Prussia recognized Ernst Gunther as the mediatized duke of these two duchies, with the rank and all the titles. (mediatize – to annex monarchy to another state, while allowing certain rights to its former sovereign)
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein

August 11, 1873 – Birth of Luise Charlotte of Saxe-Altenburg, Princess Eduard of Anhalt, wife of the future Eduard, Duke of Anhalt, in Altenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, now in Thuringia, Germany
In 1895, Luise Charlotte married Eduard, the future Duke of Anhalt. They had six children but were divorced on January 26, 1918, just a few months before he succeeded to the ducal throne. Luise Charlotte spent her remaining years in Altenburg, Germany where she died in 1953.
Unofficial Royalty: Luise Charlotte of Saxe-Altenburg, Princess Eduard of Anhalt

August 11, 1958 – Death of Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky, second husband of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, at 2130 Camilla Road, Cooksville in Ontario, Canada, a suburb of Toronto; buried at York Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Grand Duchess Olga was in an unsuccessful marriage with Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg when, in 1903, she saw Nikolai at a military review. It was love at first sight. Despite Olga’s continuing requests to her brother Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, permission for marriage was not granted until 1916. Olga and Nikolai had two sons. After the Russian Revolution, the couple and their sons lived in Denmark. After World War II, the Soviet Union notified the Danish government that Olga was accused of conspiracy against the Soviet government. Because they were fearful of assassination or kidnap attempts, Nikolai and Olga decided to move their family across the Atlantic to the relative safety of rural Canada. By 1952, Olga and Nikolai’s sons had moved away and the farm became a burden so they sold it and moved to a five-room house at 2130 Camilla Road, Cooksville, Ontario, Canada, a suburb of Toronto, where Nikolai died.
Unofficial Royalty: Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky

August 11, 1968 – Birth of Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau, widow of Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau, born Mabel Martine Wisse Smit in Pijnacker, the Netherlands
Mabel is the widow of Prince Friso, son of the former Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, who was critically injured in a skiing accident after being buried by an avalanche in 2012. He died eighteen months after the accident. Mabel is a prominent human rights activist and has served in leadership roles in several human rights organizations. Most notably, in 2008, she became the first CEO of The Elders, an international non-governmental organization of public figures noted as senior statesmen, peace activists, and human rights advocates founded by Nelson Mandela.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau

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King Ferdinand VI of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

August 10, 1520 – Birth of Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scots, daughter of King François I of France and first wife of James V, King of Scots, at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
After the Battle of Flodden in 1514, where James IV, King of Scots led an invading army into England, was defeated, and died in the battle, Scotland wanted to strengthen their alliance with France. The Treaty of Rouen was signed in 1517 and one of the provisions was for James V, King of Scots to marry a French princess. When James V reached a marriageable age, talks began regarding a marriage with Madeleine. However, Madeleine had tuberculosis and her ill health was an issue and another French bride, Mary of Bourbon, was offered as a substitute. When James V came to France to meet Mary of Bourbon, he met Madeleine and decided to marry her. Because of his daughter’s health issues, François I was reluctant to agree to the marriage, but eventually, he did so. Madeleine and King James V of Scotland were married on January 1, 1537, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The couple arrived in Scotland on May 19, 1537, after months of celebrations in France, with Madeleine’s health having further deteriorated. Madeleine wrote a letter to her father on June 8, 1537, saying that she was feeling better and that her symptoms had subsided. Despite this, on July 7, 1537, Madeleine died from tuberculosis in her husband’s arms, a month short of her seventeenth birthday.
Unofficial Royalty: Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scots

August 10, 1759 – Death of King Fernando VI of Spain at the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón in Madrid, Spain; buried at Salesas Reales Church in Madrid, Spain
In 1729, Fernando married Barbara of Portugal, daughter of João V, King of Portugal. The couple had no children. Fernando succeeded his father Felipe V, King of Spain in 1746, and reigned for thirteen years. His wife Barbara died in 1758 and her death broke Fernando’s heart. During the last year of his reign, probably at least partially caused by his wife’s death, Fernando VI rapidly lost his mental capacity and was held at the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón, near Madrid, where he died less than a year after Barbara’s death, on August 10, 1759, as the age of 45.
Unofficial Royalty: King Fernando VI of Spain

August 10, 1869 – Birth of Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, second wife of Friedrich August II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg, in Schwerin, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg- Schwein, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Elisabeth Alexandrine married Friedrich August II, the last Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was the sister of Prince Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the husband of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. After her husband was forced to abdicate on November 11, 1918, when the German Empire fell, the couple took up residence at Rastede Castle in Rastede near Oldenburg, Germany. Elisabeth Alexandrine remained close to her large family, often spending time with her brother Heinrich in the Netherlands.
Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg

August 10, 1876 – Death of Charles Elmé Francatelli, maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria from 1840 – 1842, in Eastbourne, England
Charles Francatelli’s story in the TV series Victoria is mostly fictional. For two years only, from March 9, 1840 to March 31, 1842, Francatelli served as maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria. For some reason, he was dismissed, perhaps because Queen Victoria did not like his French cuisine. Francatelli did have one more royal client. From 1863 – 1865, he served as chef de cuisine to The Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) at their London home, Marlborough House. He did marry (but not to Queen Victoria’s dresser Marianne Skerrett as depicted in the television series Victoria) and have children.
Unofficial Royalty: Charles Elmé Francatelli

August 10, 1888 – Birth of Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, son of King George I of Greece, in Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg, Russia
Christopher was the only one of his parents’ eight children not born in Greece. His birth was a surprise, as his eldest sibling was 20 years old at the time of Christopher’s birth. Christopher was offered the thrones of Lithuania, Albania, and Portugal, all of which he refused. Christopher believed a throne should be accepted only when the prospective ruler was seriously dedicated to leading a country. Christopher did not believe himself to be sufficiently up to the challenge.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark

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