© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

January 25, 1477 – Birth of Anne, Duchess of Brittany, Queen of France, wife of King Charles VIII of France and second wife of King Louis XII of France, at the Château des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes, Duchy of Brittany, now in France
Anne, Duchess of Brittany in her own right, is the only woman to have been Queen Consort of France twice. She was the wife of King Charles VIII and the second of the three wives of King Louis XII. Anne was the daughter of François II, Duke of Brittany. Upon the death of her father in1488, Anne became the Duchess of Brittany in her own right. In 1491, Anne married King Charles VIII of France. Anne and Charles had seven children but none survived. King Charles VIII died unexpectedly from a head injury in 1498. Because he had no surviving children, Louis, Duke of Orléans succeeded him as King Louis XII of France. Anne returned to Brittany and began taking steps to ensure the independence of her duchy. Louis XII did not want this to happen and so he had his 24-year childless marriage to Charles VIII’s sister Jeanne of France annulled and married Anne of Brittany in 1499. They had four stillborn sons and three miscarriages but they did have two daughters who survived to adulthood. After Anne’s death, the 52-year-old King Louis XII, still seeking a son to succeed him, married 18-year-old Mary Tudor, the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England, but Louis XII died three months after the marriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne, Duchess of Brittany, Queen of France

January 25, 1559 – Death of King Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in captivity at Kalundborg Castle in Denmark; buried at Saint Canute’s Cathedral in Odense, Denmark
Nicknamed Christian the Tyrant, Christian II was King of Denmark and Norway from 1513 until 1523 and also King of Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was the joint ruler of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein with his paternal uncle Frederik, the future King Frederik I of Denmark and Norway. In 1523, Christian II was forced to abdicate and was exiled. After trying to reclaim the throne in 1531, Christian was imprisoned, first in Sønderborg Castle and then at Kalundborg Castle, for the last twenty-seven years of his life. He died at Kalundborg Castle at the age of 77.
Unofficial Royalty: King Christian II of Denmark

January 25, 1661 – Birth of Prince Antonio I of Monaco in Paris, France
Antonio I, Prince of Monaco was the elder of the two sons and the eldest of the six children of Louis I, Prince of Monaco. In 1688, Antonio married Marie of Lorraine, the daughter of Louis of Lorraine, Count of Armagnac. Antonio and Marie had six daughters but only two survived to adulthood.  In 1701, upon the death of his father, Antonio became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco. He reigned for thirty years until he died on February 20, 1731, at the age of 70. Antonio I was succeeded by his eldest daughter Louise Hippolyte who had a very short reign of ten months. She died from smallpox at the age of 34, on December 29, 1731.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Antonio I of Monaco

January 25, 1755 – Birth of Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia, first wife of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, in Prenzlau, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Wilhelmine Luise
The daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, in 1773, Wilhelmine married Grand Duke Paul Petrovich (the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia), the son and heir of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia. After her marriage, she was known as Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna. After two-plus years of marriage, Natalia became pregnant. Sadly, she died at the age of 20 after six days of agonizing labor. Her child, a son, also died.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia

January 25, 1858 – Wedding of Victoria, Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Victoria, and the future Friedrich III, German Emperor at the Chapel Royal, St. James Palace in London, England
Victoria, Princess Royal and Prince Friedrich of Prussia, the future Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia, became engaged on September 29, 1855, but the engagement was not publicly announced until May 17, 1856. Because Vicky was so young, her parents decreed that the wedding would have to wait until Vicky was 17-years-old. They were married at the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace in London, England on January 25, 1858. The couple had eight children and the Greek, Prussian, Romanian, Serbian, and Spanish royal families descended from this marriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Victoria, Princess Royal and Friedrich III, German Emperor, King of Prussia

January 25, 1900 – Death of Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, wife of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, in Dresden, Kingdom of Prussia; buried in the Ducal Graveyard in Primkenau, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Przemków, Poland
Adelheid’s mother was Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the elder half-sister of Queen Victoria and therefore Adelheid was Queen Victoria’s niece. In 1856, Adelheid married the future Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. They had seven children including Princess Auguste Viktoria who married Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia. Soon after her husband’s death in 1880, and her eldest daughter’s marriage in early 1881, Adelheid retired from public life, settling in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, where she spent her time painting and enjoying the arts. She died on January 25, 1900, in Dresden at the age of 64.
Unofficial Royalty: Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein

January 25, 1978 – Birth of Princess Charlene of Monaco, wife of Prince Albert II of Monaco, born Charlene Lynette Wittstock in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe
Charlene competed for the South African national swimming team. In the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she competed in the 4 X 100-meter medley and the team came in fifth place. She planned to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but could not due to a shoulder injury. In June 2000 at the Marenostrum International Swimming Meet in Monaco, Charlene first met Prince Albert II of Monaco who presided over the meet. Prince Albert was also an Olympian having competed in bobsledding in five Winter Olympics. For the next five years, the couple periodically dated privately. At the Opening Ceremonies for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, their relationship went public. Charlene and Albert married in a civil ceremony on July 1, 2011, in the Throne Room of the Prince’s Palace, and then in a religious ceremony on July 2, 2011, in the courtyard of the Prince’s Palace. Prince Albert and Princess Charlene have two children, boy and girl twins.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Charlene of Monaco

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

King Gustav II of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

January 24, 1712 – Birth of Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia at the Berlin City Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
King Friedrich II of Prussia, best known as Frederick the Great, was the son Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Great Britain. In 1733, Friedrich married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, but they spent most of their lives separated, seeing each other only a handful of times after he became King. They had no children, and upon becoming King in 1740, Friedrich named his brother Augustus as Crown Prince. Augustus predeceased Friedrich so his son succeeded as King Friedrich Wilhelm II. Aside from his promotion of the arts, Friedrich proved himself a skilled military commander and is attributed with great advancements in his kingdom.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia

January 24, 1746 – Birth of King Gustav III of Sweden at the Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden
King Gustav III of Sweden is best known for being mortally wounded during a masked ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, Sweden, and dying thirteen days later. The incident was the subject of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1859 opera Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball). Gustav was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederik of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Great Britain. In 1766, Gustav married Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark and the couple had one surviving son. Gustav became King of Sweden upon the death of his father in 1771. In 1772, Gustav arranged for a coup d’état known as the Revolution of 1772 or Coup of Gustav III. The coup d’état reinstated an absolute monarchy and ended parliamentary rule. The Russo-Sweden War and the implementation of the Union and Security Act in 1789, which gave the king more power and abolished many of the privileges of the nobility, contributed to the increasing hatred of Gustav III, which had existed among the nobility since the 1772 coup. In the winter of 1791-1792, a conspiracy was formed within the nobility to kill the king and reform the government. Read more about the assassination in the link below.
Unofficial Royalty: King Gustav III of Sweden
Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Gustav III, King of Sweden

January 24, 1779 – Birth of Louise of Baden, wife of Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Full name: Louise Maria Auguste, known as Elizabeth Alexeievna after marriage
Louise was the daughter of Karl Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden and Amelia Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt. Louise, herself an empress, had seven siblings which included two queens, a grand duchess, a duchess, and a grand duke. Collectively, Louise’s siblings are ancestors of several royal families. In 1793, Louise married the future Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia. Both Elizabeth Alexeievna and her husband had affairs and their marriage produced no surviving children.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise of Baden, Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna of Russia

January 24, 1840 – Birth of Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Born The Honorable Julia Haldane-Duncan, she was the eldest child of Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown and married George Abercromby, 4th Baron Abercromby. She was an accomplished painter and had taken lessons from Mrs. Clarendon Smith of the Institute of Watercolours. During her service, Julia was asked to paint the first official portrait of Queen Victoria for the National Portrait Gallery, fulfilling a request made by the gallery in 1867. She painted a watercolor portrait, based on an original painting by von Angeli. It was reported to be one of Queen Victoria’s favorite portraits of herself. In later years, she exhibited some of her work at the Royal Academy in 1898. Today, her paintings are included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Balliol College, Oxford, and the Britannia Royal Naval College.
Unofficial Royalty: Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby

January 24, 1904 – Death of Friedrich I, Duke of Anhalt in Ballenstedt, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; first buried in the Dessau Mausoleum in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1958, his remains, along with the other former royals in the Dessau Mausoleum, were moved secretly by night for political reasons (Dessau was then in Communist East Germany) to an unmarked mass grave in the Ziebigk Cemetery in Dessau. In 2019, Friedrich’s remains were moved a second time and reinterred in the Marienkirche in Dessau, the traditional burial site of the Dukes of Anhalt-Dessau dating back to the 15th century. The Marienkirche was destroyed during World War II and has since been rebuilt.
In 1854, Friedrich married Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Altenburg. They had six children including two Dukes of Anhalt. Before he became Duke of Anhalt, Friedrich had a military career. He served on the staff of his brother-in-law, Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, during the Second Schleswig War and also served during the Franco-Prussian War, taking part in the Siege of Toul and battles at Beaumont and Sedan. In January 1871, he was present at the Palace of Versailles for the proclamation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia as the German Emperor. The day after suffering a stroke, Friedrich, aged 73, died in Ballenstedt, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, on January 24, 1904.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich I, Duke of Anhalt

January 24, 1924 – Death of former Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg at Hohenburg Castle in Bavaria, Germany; buried at Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Marie-Adélaïde was the eldest of the six daughters of Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg. At the time, female succession was not allowed in Luxembourg but Grand Duke Guillaume IV changed that. In 1912, when her father died, Marie-Adélaïde became the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. In the early days of World War I, Germany violated the neutral stance of Luxembourg and invaded the country. Marie-Adélaïde issued a formal protest, but this was not effective in preventing the military occupation by Germany. Marie-Adélaïde developed a rather friendly relationship with the Germans, including hosting Wilhelm II, German Emperor at the palace. This led to her unpopularity in Luxembourg and eventually to her abdication in favor of her sister Charlotte on January 14, 1919. After her abdication, Marie-Adélaïde entered a Carmelite convent in Modena, Italy. Eventually, she became a nun, joining the Little Sisters of the Poor in Rome, taking the name Sister Marie of the Poor. Her health began to worsen so she left the convent and settled at Hohenburg Castle in Bavaria, Germany where she died of influenza on January 24, 1924, at the age of 29.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

January 23, 1516 – Death of King Ferdinand II of Aragon in Madrigalejo, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain; buried in the Royal Chapel in the Cathedral of Granada in Spain
Ferdinand was the husband of Queen Isabella I of Castile and the father of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. He was the king of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband of Queen Isabella I of Castile, he was also the king of Castile from 1475 to 1504 (as Ferdinand V). He reigned jointly with Isabella over a dynastically unified Spain and together they are known as the Catholic Monarchs.
Unofficial Royalty: King Ferdinand II of Aragon

January 23, 1688 – Birth of Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden at Stockholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
The daughter of Karl XI, King of Sweden and Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden, in her own right, succeeded her unmarried brother Karl XII, King of Sweden in 1718 and reigned for two years before abdicating in favor of her husband Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel who reigned as Fredrik I, King of Sweden. Ulrika and her husband had no children. After Ulrika abdicated, although she had an interest in affairs of state, she withdrew from all visible participation in them, occupying herself with reading, charity, and her many friends. Ulrika Eleonora died from smallpox at the age of 53. Her husband Fredrik I, King of Sweden survived her by ten years.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden

January 23, 1724 – Birth of Sophie Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, wife of Ernst Friedrich of Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, in Wolfenbüttel, in the Principality of Wolfenbüttel, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
Sophia Antonia was the wife of Ernst Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and the great-grandmother of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. She had connections to several royal families. She was the paternal aunt of Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia, first cousin of Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, and first cousin of Peter II, Emperor of All Russia. Because she was related to many royal families, Sophie Antonia was considered as a bride for several princes. However, she was not considered attractive which resulted in the failure of many marriage negotiations. In 1749, she married Ernst Friedrich, the future Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The couple had seven children but only three survived childhood.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophie Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

January 23, 1820 – Death of Edward, Duke of Kent, son of King George III of the United Kingdom and father of Queen Victoria, at Sidmouth, Devon, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Edward was the fourth son and the fifth of the fifteen children of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Julie de Montgenêt de Saint-Laurent was his mistress from 1790 – 1818 and accompanied him wherever he went until when he married. In November 1817, the death in childbirth of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, necessitated the marriages of the unmarried sons of George III to provide an heir to the throne. Edward’s mistress Julie is said to have read the news of Edward’s engagement in the newspaper while seated at the breakfast table and reacted with violent hysterics. Edward was genuinely attached to her and deeply upset at their forced separation. On May 29, 1818, 50-year-old Edward married 32-year-old Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The future Queen Victoria, their only child, was born at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819.  Toward the end of 1819, Edward leased Woolbrook Cottage in Sidmouth, a town on the English Channel, due to the need to economize. In early January, Edward caught a cold and within days, the cold worsened, he became feverish and delirious and developed pneumonia. His condition was aggravated by the bleeding and cupping. Edward became increasingly weaker and died on January 23, 1820, just six days before his father, King George III died.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent

January 23, 1874 – Wedding of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Saxe-Coburg  and Gotha and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
During a family holiday in 1868 in Hesse, Alfred and Maria first met. They met again in 1871 and 1873 when Alfred proposed. Despite the misgivings of both Maria’s parents and Alfred’s mother, the couple was married on January 23, 1874, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Upon their return to London, they took up residence at Clarence House in London, and Eastwell Park in Kent, which they leased until 1893.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Saxe-Coburg  and Gotha and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia

January 23, 1891 – Death of Prince Baudouin of Belgium at the Palace of the Count of Flanders in Brussels; buried at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken
Baudouin was the son of Philippe, Count of Flanders, the second son of Leopold I, King of the Belgians. He was considered the heir of his uncle Leopold II, King of the Belgians who had no living male heirs. In early 1891, Baudouin became ill with influenza that had made its way through most of his family members. He likely caught the illness from his sister Henriette, whom he insisted on visiting during her illness despite warnings from doctors. Although at first, he appeared to be weathering the illness better than his sister, Baudouin’s condition suddenly deteriorated on January 22, 1891. He died early the following morning at the age of 21. The country of Belgium was plunged into mourning for their promising prince. Parliament was adjourned, theaters and libraries were closed, and mourning was ordered until the beginning of the spring. His younger brother later became Albert I, King of the Belgians.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Baudouin of Belgium

January 23, 1896 – Birth of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg at Berg Castle in Luxembourg
Full name: Charlotte Adelgonde Élise/Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine
Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg was the sovereign from January 14, 1919, until November 12, 1964, when she abdicated in favor of her son Jean. During World War II, Germany invaded Luxembourg, and Charlotte and her family spent most of the war in the United States. Charlotte returned to her homeland, and the family took up residence at Fischbach Castle, which had suffered significantly less damage than the other royal properties – Berg Castle and the Grand Ducal Palace. Her focus now became rebuilding Luxembourg and bringing the tiny nation to a more prominent profile in Europe. Through the remainder of her reign, she entertained world leaders and paid visits to many others. Her efforts to gain Luxembourg a place on the world’s stage were successful.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg

January 21, 1923 – Birth of Prince Andrew Romanov in London, England
Andrew was the son of Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife Duchess Elisabetta Sasso-Ruffo Di Sant Antimo from the Italian noble House of Ruffo di Calabria. Andrew’s paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia) and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia (daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and sister of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia). Known as Andrew Romanoff after he came to the United States in 1949, he was one of the disputed pretenders to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family from 2016 – 2021.
Unofficial Royalty: Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov

January 23, 1952 – Death of Natalia Sergeyevna Sheremetyevskaya, Countess Brasova, morganatic wife of Grand Duke Michael of Russia, son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, at the Laënnec, a charity hospital in Paris, France; buried in Passy Cemetery in Paris, France
Natalia was the lover and then the morganatic wife of Grand Duke Michael of Russia, brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. After the birth of a son named George after Michael’s deceased brother, Natalia and her first husband were divorced. Nicholas II issued a decree giving George the surname Brasov after Michael’s estate at Brasov, granted Natalia permission to use the surname Brasova, and allowed her to live with Michael at his estate Brasovo.  When Michael and Natalia were secretly married without Nicholas II’s permission, Nicholas stripped Michael of his military rank, froze all his assets in Russia, seized control of his estates, and banished him from Russia. Eventually, Michael was allowed to return to Russia, his son George was legitimized and created Count Brasov but neither he nor his descendants could be in the line of succession. At the same time, Natalia was created Countess Brasova. Michael and his secretary were killed during the Russian Revolution and their bodies were never found. Natalia, her daughter from her first marriage, and her son George were able to escape Russia. Natasha was able to use money in Michael’s bank accounts in Paris and Copenhagen, and also started selling her jewelry. George died in a car accident at the age of 20. By the time World War II started, Natasha was nearly broke and living in a one-room attic apartment in Paris. In 1951, Natasha found out she had cancer and her landlady evicted her. She was taken to the Laënnec, a charity hospital in Paris, France, where she died on January 23, 1952, at the age of 71.
Unofficial Royalty: Natalia Sergeyevna Sheremetyevskaya, Countess Brasova

January 23, 1957 – Birth of Princess Caroline of Monaco, Princess of Hanover at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco
Full name: Caroline Louise Marguerite
Caroline is the eldest of the three children of Rainier II, Prince of Monaco and Grace Kelly. In 1978, she married Philippe Junot, a Frenchman seventeen years her elder. The marriage ended in divorce in 1980. In 1983, Caroline married Italian businessman Stefano Casiraghi. Tragically, Stefano was killed in a speedboat accident in 1990 just off the coast of Monaco. The couple had three children. In January 1999, on her birthday, Caroline married Prince Ernst August of Hanover. Ernst August is the pretender to the throne of the former Kingdom of Hanover. While initially very happy, the couple now leads separate lives. Caroline and their daughter live primarily in Monaco, while her husband remains at his homes in Germany. Caroline regularly attends important social events in Monaco related to the Monégasque Princely Family. Due to her commitment to philanthropy and arts, Caroline was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2003.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Caroline of Monaco, Princess of Hanover

January 23, 1998 – Death of Prince Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Head of the Ducal Family of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and titular Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1954 until his death, in a hospital in Amstetten, Austria, buried in the family cemetery in the forest of Schloss Callenberg in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany.
The Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1954 until his death in 1998, Friedrich Josias was born just three weeks after his father Charles Edward was deposed as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha after the end of World War I. Through his father, Friedrich Josias was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria. In 1942, Friedrich Josias married his first cousin Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth The couple divorced in 1946 but they had one son who succeeded his father as the Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. During World War II, Friedrich Josias was an adjutant to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel who was in charge of the German campaign in North Africa and on the staff of General Hermann von Hanneken, the supreme commander of the German forces in Denmark. In May 1945, Friedrich Josias was captured by British forces in Denmark and remained in captivity until he was released that autumn when he returned to Coburg. In 1948, Friedrich Josias married  Denyse Henriette de Muralt  The couple divorced in 1964 and had three children. He made a third marriage in 1964 to Katrin Bremme but they had no children. During the last years of his life, Friedrich Josias was in ill health and his son Andreas took over many of his duties. He died on January 23, 1998, in a hospital in Amstetten, Austria at the age of 79.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Friedrich Josias  of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

January 23, 2015 – Death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, buried at the Al-Oud Cemetary in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was proclaimed the sixth King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on August 1, 2005, upon the death of his half-brother King Fahd bin Abdulaziz. Throughout his life, King Abdullah had a love of the desert and a love of horsemanship. He was a breeder of pure Arabian horses and the founder of the equestrian club in Riyadh. Another lifelong passion is reading which he considered very important. He established two libraries, the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh, and one in Casablanca, Morocco. King Abdullah died on January 23, 2015, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the age of 90, three weeks after being hospitalized for pneumonia. He was succeeded by his 79-year-old half-brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the current King of Saudi Arabia.
Unofficial Royalty: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom; Credit – Wikipedia

January 22, 1557 – Death of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, second of the three husbands of Margaret Tudor, at Tantallon Castle near North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland; his burial information is uncertain, may have been buried in Abernethy, Perthshire, Scotland
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V, King of Scots and Mary, Queen of Scots, was a leader of the Anglophile faction in Scotland in the early decades of the 16th century, seizing power several times. However, by the later part of his life, Archibald was once again a Scottish patriot. Through their daughter Margaret Douglas, Archibald and Margaret Tudor are the grandparents of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the first cousin and second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, the great-grandparents of James VI, King of Scots, later also James I, King of England, and the ancestors of the British royal family and most other European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus

January 22, 1592- Death of Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France, wife of King Charles IX of France, in Vienna, Austria; buried first in the Convent of Poor Clares, Mary, Queen of Angels in Vienna, Austria, re-interred in 1782 in the Ducal Crypt at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna
Elisabeth was the daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1570, she married King Charles IX of France. Elisabeth gave birth in 1572 to her only child, a daughter Princess Marie Elisabeth, who lived for only six years. In 1574, Elisabeth’s husband Charles IX died at the age of 23 from tuberculosis. Widowed at the age of 20, Elisabeth was determined to return to Vienna. Having provided no male heirs to the French throne, her future life at the French court alongside her mother-in-law Catherine de Medici was a dismal prospect. In 1580, Elisabeth bought some land in Vienna and founded the Convent of Poor Clares, Mary, Queen of Angels, also known as the Queen’s Monastery, and retired there. Elisabeth devoted the rest of her life to the practice of piety, caring for the poor, and nursing the sick. On January 22, 1592, Elisabeth died of pleurisy at the age of 37.
Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France

January 22, 1674 – Birth of Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, first wife of Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, in Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, now in Thuringia, Germany
In 1704, Dorothea Maria married her first cousin Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. They had five children including two Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen. The marriage was a happy one, and both shared the same interests in music and the arts. She devoted much of her time to charitable works, in particular supporting the orphanage in Meiningen. Dorothea Maria died, aged 39, on April 18, 1713.
Unofficial Royalty: Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

January 22, 1797 – Birth of Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil, Queen of Portugal, wife of Pedro I of Brazil/Pedro IV of Portugal, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Caroline Josepha Leopoldina Franziska Ferdinand
Maria Leopoldina was the daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the second of his four wives, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. In 1817, Maria Leopoldina married Pedro, Crown Prince of Portugal and Prince of Brazil.  At that time, Brazil was ruled as a kingdom united with Portugal.  In 1807, the Portuguese royal family had moved to Brazil to escape the Napoleonic invasion and had remained in Brazil where Rio de Janeiro became the de facto capital of the Portuguese Empire. Maria Leopoldina and Pedro had seven children including Queen Maria II of Portugal. Pedro was quite uneducated and the intelligent and well-educated Leopoldina quickly gained influence over her husband. Pedro discussed all government affairs with her and usually followed her advice. In August 1822, Pedro appointed Leopoldina Regent while he went on a political trip. While Pedro was away, Leopoldina received news that Portugal was about to take action, and without waiting for Pedro’s return, met with the Council of State and signed the Decree of Independence, declaring Brazil independent from Portugal. Pedro I was declared Emperor of Brazil. 29-year-old Leopoldina died at the Palacio de São Cristovão on December 11, 1826, from puerperal fever (childbed fever) after a miscarriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil

January 22, 1831 – Birth of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, husband of Princess Helena of the United Kingdon, at Augustenborg Palace in Augustenborg, Denmark
Full name: Friedrich Christian Karl August
Prince Christian was the son of Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Countess Louise Sophie of Danneskiold-Samsøe. While attending the University of Bonn, Christian became close friends with the future German Emperor Friedrich III. This friendship would serve him well in later years, as Friedrich’s wife Victoria, Princess Royal was the elder sister of Christian’s future wife Helena. Christian and Helena first met each other on a visit to Coburg in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Despite the fifteen-year age difference, they were drawn to each other. They were married in 1866 and made an agreement with Queen Victoria was that they would live in the United Kingdom, in close proximity to The Queen. Christian and Helena had five children. In 1916, he and Helena celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary – the first in the British royal family since King George III and Queen Charlotte.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein

January 22, 1858 – Death of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Baden, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany; buried in the Karlsruhe Stadtkirche, after World War II, his remains were moved to the Grand Ducal Chapel in the Pheasant Garden in Karlsruhe
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

January 22, 1872 – Birth of Prince Nicholas of Greece, son of King George I of Greece, at the Royal Palace in Athens, Greece
In 1902, Nicholas married his second cousin Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, the daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (a son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia) and Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Nicholas and Elena had three daughters including Princess Marina who married Prince George, Duke of Kent. Because of the political situation in Greece, members of the Greek royal family, including Nicholas and his wife, were often in exile. The Greek monarchy was restored in 1935, and the following year, Nicholas and Elena returned to Greece. Having suffered from declining health for several years, Prince Nicholas died in 1938 due to atherosclerosis.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Nicholas of Greece

January 22, 1901 – Death of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England; buried at the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore in Windsor, England
Queen Victoria had enjoyed good health throughout her life, but in the last year of her life, she suffered from indigestion, insomnia, weight loss, and some difficulty with speaking, reading, and writing. Rheumatism made it difficult to walk and cataracts made it difficult to see. On December 18, 1900, she traveled to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight for the last time. The journey exhausted her, but after a few days, she seemed somewhat recovered. However, by January 16, 1901, it was obvious that Queen Victoria’s life was drawing to an end. She died at Osborne House on January 22, 1901, surrounded by her family. Her funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and she was interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum in Windsor Great Park.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

January 22, 1954 – Death of Princess Margaret of Prussia, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at Schloss Kronberg (formerly Schloss Friedrichshof) in Taunus, Hesse, Germany and was buried  in the family cemetery of the House of Hesse there
Known as Mossy, she was the daughter of Friedrich III, German Emperor, King of Prussia and Victoria, Princess Royal. In 1893, Mossy married Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse, known as Fischy. They had six sons including two sets of twins. Two of their sons were killed in action during World War I and one was killed in action during World War II. In 1925, Fischy’s brother abdicated as the head of the House of Hesse and was succeeded by Fischy. Even though Germany had done away with royal titles, Fischy was styled as Landgrave of Hesse, and Mossy was styled as Landgravine of Hesse. Fischy died on May 28, 1940, at the age of 72. Mossy survived her husband by nearly fourteen years, dying  on January 22, 1954, at the age of 81
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Margaret of Prussia, Landgravine of Hesse

January 22, 1963 – Death of Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby, Marchioness of Milford Haven, daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia, wife of George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, in Cannes, France; buried at Bray Cemetery in Bray, Berkshire, England
Nadejda was the daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia, a grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, and his morganatic wife Countess Sophie von Merenberg. As her parents’ marriage was morganatic, her father was stripped of his position at the Imperial Court and banished from Russia for the rest of his life. By the time she was four years old, Nadejda’s family had settled in England, but they also spent part of the year at their villa in Cannes, France. The family became prominent members of British society and developed friendships with several members of the British Royal Family. It was through these friendships that Nadejda met her future husband, Prince George of Battenberg, later 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, and the uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Nadejda and George married in 1916 and had two children. Nadejda was widowed when her husband succumbed to bone marrow cancer in 1938. She survived her husband by twenty-five years, dying at the age of 67.
Unofficial Royalty: Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby, Marchioness of Milford Haven

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

January 21, 1705 – Death of Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen in Prussia, second wife of King Friedrich I of Prussia, in the Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany; buried at the Berlin Cathedral in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Sophia Charlotte was the daughter of Ernst August, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Sophia of the Palatinate. Her mother was named heiress-presumptive the British throne under the Act of Settlement 1701, and it would be Sophie Charlotte’s eldest brother who would become King George I of Great Britain in 1714. In 1684, she married the future King Friedrich I in Prussia. The marriage was not a happy one. Several years after having given birth to her two children, Sophie Charlotte retired to private life. She indulged in her love of the arts, philosophy, and theology. She surrounded herself with some of the leading minds of the day, including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a prominent mathematician and philosopher. Sophie Charlotte died of pneumonia at the age of 36, while visiting her mother in the Electorate of Hanover.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen in Prussia

January 21, 1793 – Execution of King Louis XVI of France at the Place de la Révolution in Paris, France; originally buried in a mass grave near the location of today’s La Madeleine Church in Paris, reburied at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris
During the French Revolution, Louis XVI was arrested and imprisoned in the Temple in Paris. Five weeks later, on September 21, the National Assembly declared a Republic, abolishing the monarchy, and stripping the King and his family of all their titles and honors. The former King of France was now known as Citizen Louis Capet. The King was brought to trial in December 1792, with 33 charges lodged against him, and he was found guilty on January 15, 1793. The following day, the National Convention, by a narrow margin, voted in favor of execution. On the morning of January 21, 1793, Louis made his final confession and attended Mass. He then traveled by carriage through the streets of Paris, to the Place de la Révolution (now the Place de la Concorde) where he was beheaded by guillotine. His body was taken to the Madeleine Cemetery, where a brief memorial service was held. His remains were dumped from their coffin into a grave, with his severed head placed at his feet. Years later, in 1815, on the anniversary of his execution, Louis XVI’s remains, along with those of his wife who was also executed, were reinterred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Unofficial Royalty: Executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, King and Queen of France
Unofficial Royalty: King Louis XVI of France

January 21, 1796 – Birth of Marie of Hesse-Kassel, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in Hanau, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany
Full name: Marie Wilhelmine Friederike
In 1817, Marie married Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. They had four children including Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who married Queen Victoria’s husband Princess Augusta of Cambridge. A talented painter, Marie often painted copies of famous paintings. Many were used as altarpieces in churches in the grand duchy, including the town churches in Schönberg and Neustrelitz, both of which still exist. Just three months after the death of her husband, Marie died at the age of 67.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie of Hesse-Kassel, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

January 21, 1829 – Birth of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
Full name: Oscar Fredrik
Oscar was the third of the four sons of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway. In 1857, he married Princess Sophia of Nassau and the couple had four sons. Upon his father’s death in 1859, Oscar became Crown Prince and heir of his elder brother King Karl XV, who had no living male heirs. Oscar became King of Sweden and Norway in 1872, upon his brother’s death. In 1905, King Oscar II formally renounced his claim to the Norwegian throne, with Sweden finally recognizing Norway as an independent constitutional monarchy. Oscar’s great-nephew, Prince Carl of Denmark (a grandson of Oscar’s elder brother King Karl XV), was elected King of Norway, taking the name Haakon VII. Ironically, Haakon’s son Olav married the daughter of Oscar’s son Prince Carl of Sweden, and today it is Oscar’s great-grandson, King Harald V, who sits on the Norwegian throne. Through his children, Oscar II’s descendants currently occupy the thrones of Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Soon after the end of the union with Norway, King Oscar’s health began to decline. He died at the age of 78.
Unofficial Royalty: King Oscar II of Sweden

January 21, 1836 – Death of Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies, first wife of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples
Maria Cristina was the daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este. In 1832, she married Ferdinando II, King of Two Sicilies. Maria Cristina was shy, modest, reserved, and a very devout Catholic. During the short time that she was Queen of the Two Sicilies, Maria Cristina managed to prevent the carrying out of all death sentences. She was called “the Holy Queen” for her deep religious devotion. She endured her nearly constant illnesses with patience and piety and was popular with the people for her charity, modesty, and humility. On January 21, 1836, five days after giving birth to her only child, the future Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies, 23-year-old Maria Cristina died from childbirth complications. In 1859, a cause for the canonization of Maria Cristina as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church was opened. In 1872, Maria Cristina was declared to be a Servant of God and in 1937, she was declared a Venerable Servant of God. In 2013, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle due to her intercession and approved Maria Cristina’s beatification. She is known in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy and is one step away from canonization as a saint. On January 25, 2014, the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy, the burial site of Maria Cristina, was the site of her beatification ceremony. Several thousand people attended the ceremony including the two branches of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies

January 21, 1846 – Death of Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio at the Ducal Palace in Modena, Duchy of Modena, now in Italy; buried at the Church of San Vincenzo in Modena, Duchy of Modena, now in Italy
Francesco was the son of Maria Beatrice d’Este, the heiress of Modena and Reggio and Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria, son of Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa, in her own right Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. Francesco’s paternal grandfather Ercole III d’Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio had been deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte. Francesco regained the Duchy of Modena and Reggio as Francesco IV in 1814, after the fall of Napoleon. In 1812, 1812, 33-year-old Francesco married his 20-year-old niece Maria Beatrice of Savoy and they had four children. While Francesco’s grandfather Ercole III reigned the Duchy of Modena and Reggio as an enlightened monarch, Francesco’s reign was more autocratic. Francesco died on January 21, 1846, aged 66.
Unofficial Royalty: Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio

January 21, 1869 – Birth of Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, favorite of the family of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, in Pokrovskoye, Siberia, Russia
Rasputin was the son of father Yefim Yakovlevich Rasputin, a peasant farmer and a coachman, and Anna Vasilievna Parshukova. Like most Siberian peasants, Rasputin was not formally educated and he remained illiterate until his early adulthood. In February 1887, Rasputin married Praskovya Feodorovna Dubrovina, a peasant girl. They had seven children but only three survived to adulthood. In 1897, Rasputin developed a renewed interest in religion and spent the next several years as a strannik, a holy wanderer or pilgrim. By the early 1900s, Rasputin had developed a circle of followers in Siberia and local church officials gave him a letter of recommendation to the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. In St. Petersburg, Rasputin met church official Archimandrite Theofan. It was through Theofan that Rasputin attracted some of his early and influential followers in St. Petersburg. Rasputin formed friendships with several members of the aristocracy, including the sisters Princess Militsa and Princess Anastasia of Montenegro, who had both married into the Russian Imperial Family and were instrumental in introducing Rasputin to Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his family.
Unofficial Royalty: Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin

January 21, 1940 – Death of Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, son of King George I of Greece, in Athens, Greece; buried at the Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece
Christopher was the only one of his parents’ eight children born outside of 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 the idea of leading a country. Christopher did not believe himself to be sufficiently up to the challenge. In 1920, Christopher married Nancy Stewart Worthington Leeds, an American widow, known as Princess Anastasia after her marriage. Anastasia was diagnosed with cancer not long after the wedding and died in London in 1923. Six years later, Christopher married French Princess Francoise of Orleans, and they had one son. Christopher died on January 21, 1940,  at the age of 51, after suffering several weeks with a lung abscess.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark

January 21, 1967 – Death of Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, wife of Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, at Schloss Taxis in Dischingen, Germany; buried at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany
In 1898, Dorothea married Ernst Günther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. Upon his father’s death in 1880, Ernst Günther had inherited his father’s title. However, just like his father before him, the title was merely in pretense, as the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been annexed by Prussia following the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. Dorothea and Ernst Günther had no children. Widowed in 1921, Dorothea survived her husband by nearly 46 years, dying at the age of 86.
Unofficial Royalty: Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein

January 21, 1984 – Death of Archduke Gottfried of Austria in Bad Ischl, Austria; buried in the parish cemetery of Sankt Gilgen in Salzburg, Austria
Archduke Gottfried of Austria was the Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany from 1948 until his death in 1984.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduke Gottfried of Austria

January 21, 1991 – Death of  Princess Ileana of Romania, Archduchess of Austria-Tuscany at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration she founded in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania; buried in the Cemetery of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration
Ileana was the daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1931, she married Archduke Anton of Austria, Prince of Tuscany. Ileana’s brother King Carol II of Romania banished the couple from the country, claiming that the Romanian people would never tolerate a Habsburg living on Romanian soil. They settled at Castle Sonnenburg, just outside of Vienna, Austria and the couple had six children. After World War II, Ileana and her husband lived in Argentina before purchasing a house in Massachusetts, to allow for proper schooling for the children. Ileana and  Anton divorced in May 1954, and Ileana remarried a month later, to Dr. Stefan Issarescu. This marriage would also end in divorce. In 1961, Illeana entered an Orthodox monastery in France, eventually becoming a nun, and taking on the name Mother Alexandra. Returning to the United States, she founded a monastery in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, and served as abbess. She retired from her position as abbess in 1981 but remained at the monastery for the remainder of her life. Princess Ileana, Mother Alexandra, died on January 21, 1991, at the age of 82, after suffering a fall and two major heart attacks.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Ileana of Romania

January 21, 2004 – Birth of Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, daughter of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, at the Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Ingrid Alexandra is the elder of the two children of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit (née Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby), and one of the five grandchildren of King Harald V of Norway. In 1990, Norway adopted absolute primogeniture whereby the crown goes to the eldest child regardless of gender. This means that Princess Ingrid Alexandra is second in the line of succession to the throne of Norway behind her father and is expected to become the reigning Queen of Norway.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

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

January 20, 1612 – Death of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Margrave of Moravia, at Prague Castle in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic; buried at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague
Rudolf never married. In 1568, as part of the Habsburg marriage policy, sixteen-year-old Rudolf had been betrothed to his first cousin, two-year-old Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, the daughter of Rudolf’s maternal uncle King Felipe II of Spain. Isabella Clara Eugenia had to wait for more than twenty years before Rudolf declared that he had no intention of marrying anybody. In 1572, Rudolf’s father Maximilian II passed the crown of Hungary to his son, and in 1575, Rudolf was also granted the crown of Bohemia and the Habsburg hereditary territories. Rudolf was elected King of the Romans in 1575, ensuring that he would succeed his father as Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolf is considered an ineffective ruler whose mistakes directly led to the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648), one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history.
Unofficial Royalty: Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Margrave of Moravia, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria

January 20, 1619 – Death of Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé, Princess of Orange, wife of Filips Willem, Prince of Orange, in Muret-le-Château, France; buried at the Eglise Saint-Thomas de Cantorbery in Vallery, France, the traditional burial place of the Princes of Condé and their descendants
Éléonore was the daughter of Henri I, Prince de Condé. The House of Condé was a French princely house and a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. In 1606, 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 (the Silent). 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. Éléonore and Filips Willem had a happy marriage despite their age difference and the absence of children. Filips Willem died in 1618, at the age of 63 after a botched medical procedure. Éléonore survived her husband by barely a year, dying at the age of 31.
Unofficial Royalty: Éléonore de Bourbon-Condé, Princess of Orange

January 20, 1666 – Death of Anne of Austria, Queen of France, wife of King Louis XIII of France, at the Convent of Val-de-Grâce in Paris, France; buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
Anne was the eldest daughter of King Felipe III of Spain and married King Louis XIII of France in 1615. After several stillbirths and nearly 23 years of marriage, Anne gave birth to two healthy sons: the future King Louis XIV of France and Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. King Louis XIII died in 1643, leaving his five-year-old son as the new King Louis XIV. In his will, the late King had sought to limit any power that Queen Anne might have had, including becoming Regent. He instructed that a regency council be established instead. However, just days after his death, Queen Anne was able to convene the Parliament of Paris and had that part of his will overturned. Anne was named sole Regent for her young son. Queen Anne appointed Cardinal Mazarin as her chief minister and relied on him to maintain the government. Anne retained much of her power even after her son came of age in 1651. She oversaw his marriage to her own niece, Maria Teresa of Spain in 1660, and the following year, after Mazarin’s death, Queen Anne stepped aside and retired to the Covent of Val-de-Grâce in Paris, France. Five years later, on January 20, 1666, she died there of breast cancer.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne of Austria, Queen of France

January 20, 1716 – Birth of King Carlos III of Spain at the Royal Palace of Madrid in Spain
Full name: Carlos Sebastián
Carlos III, King of Spain was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Carlo I (1731 – 1735), King of Naples, as Carlo VII (1735 – 1759), and King of Sicily, as Carlo V (1734 – 1759). In 1738, Carlos’ mother Elisabeth Farnese arranged a marriage for him to fourteen-year-old Maria Amalia of Saxony. Carlos III and Maria Amalia had thirteen children but only seven survived childhood. In in 1759, Carlos’ childless elder surviving half-brother Fernando VI, King of Spain died and Carlos succeeded him as King of Spain. When Carlos became King of Spain, he was 43 years old and had ruled Naples and Sicily for twenty-five years, so he had far more experience than his predecessors. Carlos III was responsible for some Spain’s national symbols. In 1770, he declared the Marcha Granadera to be used during official ceremonies. Since that time, it has been Spain’s national anthem except under the Second Republic ( 1931 – 1939 ). Carlos III also chose the colors and design of the Spanish flag as we see it today.
Unofficial Royalty: King Carlos III of Spain

January 20, 1745 – Death of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, also Karl I, Prince-Elector of Bavaria, at the Munich Residenz in Munich, then in the Electorate of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria; buried at the Theatinerkirche in Munich
Karl reigned as Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor from 1742 – 1745 and as Karl I, Prince-Elector of Bavaria from 1726 – 1745. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach and his reign as Holy Roman Emperor marked the end of three centuries of the House of Habsburg’s rule as Holy Roman Emperors. In 1726, Karl married Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I and niece of Emperor Karl VI. The couple had seven children but only four survived to adulthood. After Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI died in 1740, Karl claimed the Archduchy of Austria and briefly gained hold of the Bohemian throne. In 1742, he was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled until his death three years later.
Unofficial Royalty: Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Elector of Bavaria

January 20, 1753 – Death of Anna Maria of Liechtenstein, Princess of Liechtenstein, wife of first cousin Josef Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein, in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria; buried in a crypt at the Pauline Church in Vienna, Austria, where her mother had been buried. The crypt no longer exists and the tombs were not preserved.
The daughter of Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein, in 1717 Anna Maria first married her cousin Count Johann Ernst of Thun-Hohenstein, from her mother’s family but he died six months later, on March 20, 1717, Johann Ernst died at the age of twenty-three. In 1718, Anna Maria married her first cousin Josef Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein. The couple five children who all died in childhood. Anna Maria predeceased her husband dying on January 20, 1753, in Vienna, Austria, aged 53.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna Maria of Liechtenstein, Princess of Liechtenstein

January 20, 1819 – Death of King Carlos IV of Spain, in exile, at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, Italy; buried at San Lorenzo de El Escorial in Spain
In 1788, Carlos succeeded his father King Carlos III of Spain as King Carlos IV of Spain. Carlos IV would rather hunt than deal with government affairs and the running of the government was left mostly to his wife Maria Luisa of Parma and Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy. It is probable that de Godoy had a long-term relationship with Maria Luisa and that he was the father of her youngest son. In 1808, after riots and a revolt, King Carlos IV was forced to abdicate in favor of his son King Fernando VII. Less than two months later, Carlos IV and his son Fernando VII were summoned to a meeting with Napoleon I, Emperor of the French where he forced them both to abdicate, declared the Bourbon dynasty of Spain deposed, and installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain. Carlos IV, his wife Maria Luisa, and some of their children were held captive. Napoleon kept Carlos and Maria Luisa’s son Fernando VII under guard in France for more than five years until the 1813 Treaty of Valençay provided for the restoration of Fernando VII as King of Spain. After the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, King Fernando VII refused to allow his parents to return to Spain. Carlos IV and Maria Luisa settled in Rome at the Palazzo Barberini where they both died in 1819.
Unofficial Royalty: King Carlos IV of Spain

January 20, 1848 – Death of King Christian VIII of Denmark at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Christian VIII was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Christian’s father was the only child of King Frederik V of Denmark and his second wife Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. In 1806, Christian married his first cousin Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. They had one surviving son, Christian’s successor, the future King Frederik VII. Charlotte Frederica had an affair, was banished, divorced, and never saw her son again. In 1816, Christian married again to Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg but their marriage remained childless. Christian VIII became King of Denmark in 1839 upon the death of his half-nephew King Frederik VI who had two daughters but no sons to succeed him. On January 20, 1848, 61-year-old King Christian VIII died of blood poisoning after a blood-letting.
Unofficial Royalty: King Christian VIII of Denmark

January 20, 1855 – Death of Archduchess Adelheid of Austria, Queen of Sardinia, first wife of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Sardinia (the future King of Italy), at the Royal Palace of Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy; buried at the Royal Basilica of Superga in Turin
At the time of her marriage in 1842, Adeleheid’s husband Vittorio Emanuele was heir to the Sardinian throne and held the title Duke of Savoy. In 1849, she became Queen of Sardinia following her father-in-law’s abdication and her husband’s accession to the throne. However, she died before her husband became King of Italy. Adelheid and Vittorio Emanuele had eight children. Just days after giving birth to her last child, Adelheid fell ill after attending the funeral of her mother-in-law and died four days later at the age of 32.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduchess Adelheid of Austria, Queen of Sardinia

January 20, 1865 – Birth of Friedrich, the last reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in Hesse, Germany
Full name: Friedrich Adolf Hermann
Friedrich was the only son of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Helena of Nassau. Friedrich had six sisters, through his sister Emma, he was the uncle of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and through his sister Helena, he was the uncle of Charles Edward, the last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Upon the death of his father in 1893, Friedrich became the last reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont. In 1895, Friedrich married Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe and they had four children. Friedrich abdicated on November 13, 1918, and negotiated an agreement with the government that gave him and his descendants the ownership of the family home Arolsen Castle and the Arolsen Forest. Both Friedrich and his wife Bathildis lived through World War II. While neither Friedrich nor Bathildis joined the Nazi Party, their eldest son Josias did and after World War II, Josias was a convicted Nazi war criminal for crimes in connection to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Friedrich, the last Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont, died on May 26, 1946, at the age of 81 in Arolsen, Germany.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

January 20, 1878 – Birth of Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark, first wife of Prince Christopher of Greece, born Nonie May Stewart, in Zanesville, Ohio
Nancy had married two wealthy men who both died, leaving her a very wealthy widow. While visiting Biarritz, France in 1914, Nancy met Prince Christopher, the youngest child of King George I of Greece. The two quickly fell in love and decided to marry. Their engagement was first announced in 1914, but it would be six years before they actually married. There was much reservation within the Greek royal family over the bride being an American and already married twice. Finally, the couple was married on February 1, 1920, and several days after the marriage, Nancy converted to Greek Orthodoxy and took the name Anastasia. Not long after her marriage, Anastasia was diagnosed with the cancer that caused her death in 1923.
Unofficial Royalty: Nancy Stewart Worthington Leeds, Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark

January 20, 1891 – Death of Kalākaua, King of the Hawaiian Islands in San Francisco, California; buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Mauna ʻAla in Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii, now in the state of Hawaii, remains transferred to the underground Kalākaua Crypt on the grounds of the mausoleum

Unofficial Royalty: Kalākaua, King of the Hawaiian Islands

January 20, 1896 – Death of Prince Henry of Battenberg, husband of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, at sea from malaria caught in Africa during the Ashanti War; buried at St. Mildred’s Church in Whippingham, Isle of Wight, England
Henry was the fourth of the five children of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Countess Julia Hauke. As his parents’ marriage was morganatic, Henry and his siblings took their titles from their mother, who had been created Countess of Battenberg and was later elevated to Princess of Battenberg in 1858. Henry and Beatrice met at the wedding of Henry’s brother Louis of Battenberg and Beatrice’s cousin Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Queen Victoria had expectations that Beatrice would never marry and remain her personal assistant and secretary. However, during the wedding celebrations, Henry and Beatrice fell in love. When Beatrice told her mother of her desire to marry Henry, Queen Victoria did not speak to Beatrice for seven months. Eventually, the Queen realized that Beatrice would not back down and decided to allow the marriage with several conditions: Henry must renounce his career, nationality, and home and agree to live with Beatrice and the Queen. Henry and Beatrice married in 1885 and had four children. The Spanish royal family descends through their daughter Victoria Eugenia.  In November 1895, Henry persuaded Queen Victoria to allow him to go to West Africa to fight in the Anglo-Ashanti Wars. Henry arrived in Africa on Christmas Day 1895. By January 10, 1896, Henry was sick with malaria and it was decided to send him back to England. Henry died aboard the ship HMS Blonde off the coast of Sierra Leone on January 20, 1896, at the age of 37.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Henry of Battenberg

January 20, 1936 – Death of King George V of the United Kingdom at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
George was the second son of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife Alexandra of Denmark. At the time of his birth, George was third in the line of succession after his father and his brother Prince Albert Victor (Eddy) and was not expected to become king. However, that all changed when George’s brother Eddy died of pneumonia in 1892. In 1893, George married Eddy’s fiancée Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, and eventually, they became the beloved King George V and Queen Mary. In his final years, King George had a number of problems exacerbated by his habit of smoking including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pleurisy. On January 15, 1936, King George V went to bed at Sandringham House complaining of a cold, gradually becoming weaker, and drifting in and out of consciousness. On January 20, when the king was close to death, his doctors issued a bulletin with words that became famous: “The King’s life is moving peacefully towards its close.” As the king lay dying of bronchitis, Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn, Physician-in-Ordinary to King George V, gave him a lethal injection of cocaine and morphine, thereby hastening the king’s death to ensure that the announcement of the death would appear first in the morning edition of The Times and not in some lesser publication in the afternoon.
Unofficial Royalty: King George V of the United Kingdom

January 20, 1965 – Birth of Sophie, The Duchess of Edinburgh, born Sophie Rhys-Jones at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England
Full name: Sophie Helen
In 1993, Prince Edward renewed a casual acquaintance with Sophie Rhys-Jones at a Real Tennis Challenge, hosted by the prince. Sophie was the public relations executive handling the event. After a long courtship, their engagement was announced on January 6, 1999, and the couple married later that year. Sophie and Edward have two children, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (born 2003), and James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex (born 2007). Sophie carries out a full schedule of engagements in the United Kingdom and overseas in support of her brother-in-law KIng Charles III and the charities and organizations with which she is involved. She is particularly interested in working with organizations that help children and young people with sensory, learning, and communications disabilities
Unofficial Royalty: Sophie, Countess of Wessex

January 20, 1973 – Birth of Queen Mathilde of Belgium, born Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz in Uccle, Belgium
Full name: Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine
Mathilde attended the Institut Libre Marie Haps in Brussels, Belgium where she studied speech therapy and graduated magna cum laude. Mathilde then began to study psychology at the Université Catholique de Louvain and had her own speech therapy practice in Brussels from 1995 until her marriage in 1999. She continued her studies after her marriage and received a Master’s degree in psychology in 2002. Mathilde met Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant and the heir to the Belgian throne in 1996 playing tennis. Unbelievably, their romance went undetected by the press and their engagement was a surprise. The couple married in 1999 and had four children. Their eldest child Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant will become the first female monarch of Belgian due to changes in the succession law in 1991. On July 21, 2013, the annual Belgian National Day, Belgium got its first native-born queen. King Albert II of the Belgians abdicated in favor of his son Philippe, and Mathilde became Queen Consort of the Belgians. Belgium’s previous queen consorts were French, Austrian, German, Swedish, Spanish, and Italian.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Mathilde of the Belgians

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.