Royal News Recap for Friday, October 18, 2024

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

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Denmark

Jordan

Multiple Monarchies

Sweden

United Kingdom

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Disclaimer: Please be advised that any media article titles or content that appear in the Royal News that identify members of royal families with their maiden names, nicknames, incorrect style or title, etc., come directly from the media source and not from Unofficial Royalty. We encourage you to contact the media sources to express your concern about their use of the incorrect name, style, title, etc. Contact information can usually be found at the bottom of each media source’s main page.

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

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Frederick FitzClarence; Credit – Wikipedia

Frederick FitzClarence was born on December 9, 1799, at Bushy House in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. He was the fifth of the ten children and the fourth of the five sons of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom and his mistress Dorothea Jordan. Frederick’s paternal grandparents were  King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Francis Bland, a stagehand, and his mistress Grace Phillips, an actress were his maternal grandparents.

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

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


Frederick’s parents The Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) and Dorothea Jordan

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

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

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

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

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

Frederick had nine full siblings:

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

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

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

Etal Manor, the home of Frederick and his wife Augusta; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 19, 1821, Frederick married Lady Augusta Boyle (1801 – 1876), the daughter of George Boyle, 4th Earl of Glasgow and Lady Augusta Hay. The couple made their home at Etal Manor in Etal, a village in Northumberland, England.

Frederick and Augusta had two children:

  • Augusta FitzClarence (1823 – 1855), unmarried
  • William FitzClarence (born and died 1827)

Frederick had a military career. In 1814, when he was nearly fifteen, Frederick was commissioned an officer in the British Army. He served in the Waterloo Campaign (June 15 – July 8, 1815) which ended the Napoleonic Wars. In 1820, while a Captain in the Coldstream Guards, Frederick commanded a small detachment in support of the police with the arrest of the Cato Street Conspirators, who plotted to murder the British cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool. For his leadership during the arrest, which resulted in a violent street fight, Frederick was promoted to Colonel of the 36th Regiment of Foot. Frederick was Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth from 1846 – 1851, South-West District Commander commanding an army military district from 1847 – 1851, and Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army from 1852 until he died in 1854. His highest military rank was Lieutenant-General.

Lord Frederick FitzClarence, aged fifty-four, died on October 30, 1854, in Pune, Maharashtra, India in active service as Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army. When his remains arrived in Bombay, India on November 13, 1854, they were received with honors by his nephew Lucius Cary, Master of Falkland, the son of his sister Lady Amelia FitzClarence and Lucius Cary, 10th Viscount Falkland. A ship carrying Frederick’s remains embarked for England on November 24, 1854, with his widow, daughter, and nephew Lucius Cary, Master of Falkland aboard. The ship arrived in Southampton, England on January 22, 1855. The remains were received by Frederick’s brother Lord Adolphus FitzClarence and his brothers-in-law Lucius Cary, 10th Viscount Falkland and The Honorable George Boyle (later 6th Earl of Glasgow).

Chapel of St Mary the Virgin in Etal; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Frederick’s widow Augusta built a mortuary chapel for her husband and their daughter Augusta who died in 1855, just a year after her father died. Their burial site, the Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, stands beside the drive leading to Etal Manor, which was the home of Frederick and Augusta. William Butterfield, a successful architect of many Victorian Gothic Revival churches, built the chapel. Originally a private chapel, the Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin is now a parish church of the Church of England. Augusta survived her husband by twenty-two years, dying, aged seventy-five, on July 28, 1876, at her home, Etal Manor. She is buried with her husband and their daughter in the Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin.

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

Works Cited

  • Beauclerk-Dewar, Peter & Powell, Roger. (2006). Right Royal Bastards – The Fruits of Passion. Burke’s Peerage & Gentry LLC.
  • Britain Express. (2024). Etal, St Mary’s Chapel, Northumberland | History & Photos. Britain Express. https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/northumbria/churches/etal.htm
  • Etal, Northumberland, History, Tourism, and Accommodation information. (2024). Britain Express. https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=3017#google_vignette
  • Find a Grave. Lieutenant-General Lord Frederick FitzClarence. (2017).  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186155457/frederick-fitzclarence
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015). King William IV of the United Kingdom. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-william-iv-of-the-united-kingdom/
  • Mehl, Scott. (2020). Dorothea Jordan, Mistress of King William IV of the United Kingdom. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/dorothea-jordan-mistress-of-king-william-iv-of-the-united-kingdom/
  • Ufficiale Inglese. (2023). Figlio illegittimo di Guglielmo IV. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_FitzClarence
  • Weir, Alison. (2008). Britain’s Royal Families – The Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books.
  • Wikipedia Contributors. (2023). Etal. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etal
  • Wikipedia Contributors. (2024). Lord Frederick FitzClarence. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Frederick_FitzClarence

October 19: Today in Royal History

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Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France; Credit – Wikipedia

October 19, 1216 – Death of King John of England at Newark Castle in Newark, England; buried at Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England
In 1199, John succeeded his childless brother King Richard I as King of England. During his reign, John lost the French territories of Normandy, Maine, Touraine, Anjou, and Poitou, all ancestral territories of his Norman or Angevin ancestors. While John was trying to save his French territories, his discontented English barons led by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, were protesting John’s continued misgovernment of England. This discontent resulted in the best-known event of John’s reign, the Magna Carta, the “great charter” of English liberties. Among the liberties were the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown. Amid the First Barons’ War, John was traveling through East Anglia, from Spalding in Lincolnshire to Bishop’s Lynn, in Norfolk, became ill with dysentery, and decided to turn back, taking the longer road route. John managed to ride to Swineshead Abbey where he spent the night. The next day, he was taken by a litter to Newark Castle where he died at the age of 49.
Unofficial Royalty: King John of England

October 19, 1765 – Death of Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of Yarmouth, mistress of King George II of Great Britain, in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in the German state of Lower Saxony
Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of Yarmouth was the mistress of King George II of Great Britain from 1735 until the King died in 1760. She was the last British royal mistress to be granted a peerage title.
Unofficial Royalty: Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of Yarmouth, mistress of King George II of Great Britain

October 19, 1851 – Death of Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France, eldest daughter of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France, wife of Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (Legitimist pretender to the French throne), at the Frohsdorf Palace in Lanzenkirchen, Austria; buried with her uncle King Charles X and her husband at the Kostanjevica Monastery in Görz, then in Austria, now Kostanjevica in Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte was the only one in her family to survive imprisonment in the Temple, the remains of a medieval fortress in Paris, and the French Revolution. She married her first cousin Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, the son of her father’s younger brother, the future King Charles X of France. The couple had no children. After the end of the Bourbon Restoration in 1830, Marie-Thérèse lived in exile again, this time with the former King Charles X, her uncle and her father-in-law, and her husband Louis-Antoine. The exiles ultimately moved to the estate of Count Johann Baptist Coronini near Gorizia, which was in Austria but now in Italy. After the death of her husband, Marie-Thérèse moved to the Schloss Frohsdorf, just outside Vienna, Austria where she spent her days taking walks, reading, sewing, and praying. There she died from pneumonia at the age of 72.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France, Duchess of Angoulême

October 19, 1889 – Death of King Luís I of Portugal at the Citadel of Cascais in Cascais, Portugal; buried at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal
Luis became King of Portugal in 1861 when his elder, childless brother King Pedro V died from typhoid fever. Two other brothers also died from typhoid. In 1862, Luís married Princess Maria Pia of Savoy and the couple had two sons. Luis’ reign saw many advances, both politically and culturally. He oversaw the construction of the port of Lisbon, the extension of the road network and railway throughout Portugal, and the advancement of the arts, founding the Philharmonic Union. An avid oceanographer, Luis also donated much of his fortune to finance research ships and vessels to gather different species of sea creatures from around the world. He also established the Vasco da Gama Aquarium in Lisbon, one of the first aquariums in the world. Luís died suddenly at just 50 years old.
Unofficial Royalty: King Luis I of Portugal

October 19, 1963 – Birth of Prince Laurent of Belgium, son of King Albert II of the Belgians, at Château de Belvédère in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium
Full name: Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie
In 2003, Laurent married British-born, but Belgian-raised Claire Coombs. The couple had a daughter and twin sons. Laurent has been a somewhat controversial figure. In 2018, the Belgian parliament cut Prince Laurent’s annual allowance by 15% for a year.  The sanction was imposed after Prince Laurent, in full naval uniform, attended a Chinese embassy reception in 2017 without government permission. The government had warned Laurent to ask permission from the foreign ministry before conducting any diplomatic activity. Despite that, he went to the embassy event and tweeted a photo of himself there.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Laurent of Belgium

October 19, 1972 – Death of Said bin Taimur, the former Sultan of Oman, in exile in London, United Kingdom; buried in Brookwood Cemetery in Woking, Surrey, England
In 1970, Said was overthrown in a coup d’etat by his son Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sultan of Oman. He lived the rest of his life in exile in the United Kingdom, living the last two years at the Dorchester Hotel in London, where he died at the age of 62.
Unofficial Royalty: Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Oman

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Royal News Recap for Thursday, October 17, 2024

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

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Belgium

Monaco

Norway

 

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

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Disclaimer: Please be advised that any media article titles or content that appear in the Royal News that identify members of royal families with their maiden names, nicknames, incorrect style or title, etc., come directly from the media source and not from Unofficial Royalty. We encourage you to contact the media sources to express your concern about their use of the incorrect name, style, title, etc. Contact information can usually be found at the bottom of each media source’s main page.

October 18: Today in Royal History

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King Ludwig III of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

October 18, 1541 – Death of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, daughter of King Henry VII of England, wife of King James IV of Scotland, Archibald Douglas, and Henry Stewart, and sister of King Henry VIII of England, at Methven Castle, Perthshire, Scotland; buried at the Carthusian Abbey of St John in Perth, Scotland
Margaret was the daughter of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch, and Elizabeth of York, the eldest child of King Edward IV of England. She married three times to James IV, King of Scots (had one surviving child James V, King of Scots, the father of Mary, Queen of Scots), Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (had one child Lady Margaret Douglas, the mother of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley who married his first cousin Mary, Queen of Scots), and Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven (no children). After suffering a stroke, Margaret died at Methven Castle on October 18, 1541, at the age of 51. When the Tudor line died out with the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1603, it was Margaret’s great-grandson James VI, King of Scots who succeeded to the English throne as King James I. Margaret is the ancestor of many past and present European royals.
Unofficial Royalty: Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots

October 18, 1744 – Death of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, favorite of Queen Anne of Great Britain, at Marlborough House in London, England; buried in the chapel at  Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England
Sarah Churchill is considered one of the most influential women in British history due to her friendship and the influence she had with Queen Anne of Great Britain. Queen Anne named Sarah Mistress of the Robes, the highest office in the royal court that could be held by a woman, Groom of the Stole, Keeper of the Privy Purse, and Ranger of Windsor Great Park. She was the first of only two women ever to be Keeper of the Privy Purse and the only woman ever to be Ranger of Windsor Great Park. Sarah exerted great influence on Queen Anne and had control over most of Anne’s existence, from her finances to the people admitted to the royal presence. However, the relationship between Sarah and Anne became increasingly strained, especially when Abigail Hill, Sarah’s first cousin, was in a position to replace her as Queen Anne’s favorite. By 1711, Sarah had lost all he positions and she and her husband John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough fell out of favor. In disgrace, Sarah and John left England and traveled in Europe for several years. Queen Anne died on August 1, 1714, the same day Sarah and John returned to England. The new King George I had a personal friendship with Sarah and John who had visited him frequently during their exile in Europe.  John was restored to his old office, Captain-General of the Army. Sarah survived her husband by twenty-two years, dying, aged 84, at Marlborough House in London, England.
Unofficial Royalty: Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, favorite of Queen Anne of Great Britain

October 18, 1831 – Birth of Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia, husband of Princess Victoria, Princess Royal, at Neues Palais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl
Friedrich was the only son of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, King of Prussia and his wife Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. In 1858, he married Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. They had eight children including Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria hoped that this marriage would make the ties between London and Berlin closer, and lead to a unified and liberal Germany. However, Vicky and Fritz were politically isolated and their liberal and Anglophile views clashed with the authoritarian ideas of the Minister-President of Prussia and later Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. Despite their efforts to educate their eldest son Wilhelm about the benefits of democracy, he favored his German tutors’ views of autocratic rule and became alienated from his parents. The year 1888 is called “The Year of Three Emperors” in German history. Fritz’s father Wilhelm I died on March 9, 1888, and Fritz succeeded him as Friedrich III. However, Fritz was already gravely ill with cancer of the larynx and could no longer speak, but despite this, he did his best to fulfill his obligations as Emperor. In May 1888, Fritz lamented, “I cannot die … What would happen to Germany?” Fritz reigned for only 99 days, dying at the age of 56 on June 15, 1888, and was succeeded by his son Wilhelm.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia

October 18, 1884 – Death of Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick at Sibyllenort Castle in Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia now in Szczodre, Poland; buried in the crypt at Brunswick Cathedral in Brunswick, Duchy of Brunswick, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
Wilhelm was the second Duke of Brunswick, reigning from 1830 until 1884. Under Wilhelm’s regency, the Duchy of Brunswick was granted a new constitution that extended significant fundamental rights to the people. He quickly became much more popular than his brother had ever been. He let his government do much of the ruling, leaving his ministers to handle most of the government business, and spending much of his time at his estates. Wilhelm never married but he had a number of illegitimate children.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick

October 18, 1921 – Death of King Ludwig III of Bavaria at Nádasdy Castle in Sárvár, Hungary; buried at the Frauenkirche in Munich, Bavaria, Germany
In 1868, King Ludwig III married Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este and the couple had thirteen children. In 1886, his father became Prince Regent after King Ludwig II was declared mentally incompetent. Just days later, Ludwig II died mysteriously and was succeeded by his brother King Otto. However, Otto was also mentally ill, and the regency continued. Upon his father’s death in 1912, Ludwig III succeeded him as Prince Regent for his cousin King Otto. Less than a year later, the Bavarian Parliament passed legislation allowing the Regent to assume the throne himself, provided that the regency was for reasons of incapacity, had lasted more than ten years, and there was no prospect of the Sovereign being able to reign. With overwhelming support from the parliament, Ludwig deposed his cousin and assumed the Bavarian throne as King Ludwig III. On November 13, 1918, he would be the first monarch in the German Empire to be deposed, ending 738 years of rule by the Wittelsbach dynasty.
Unofficial Royalty: Ludwig III, King of Bavaria

October 18, 1978 – Birth of Mike Tindall, husband of Zara Phillips, daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, born in Otley, West Yorkshire, England
Full name: Michael James
A former professional rugby player, Mike Tindall met Zara Phillips, daughter of The Princess Royal and the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, in Australia in 2003, during the Rugby World Cup. Buckingham Palace announced the engagement in December 2010, and they were married on July 30, 2011, at the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mike and Zara have two daughters and one son.
Unofficial Royalty: Mike Tindall

October 18, 1989 – Death of  Princess Gina of Liechtenstein, born Countess Georgina von Wilczek, wife of Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein, in a hospital in Grabs, Switzerland; buried in the Princely Crypt at St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein
In 1942, Gina became engaged to Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein and they were married the following year at St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. It was the first royal wedding in Liechtenstein’s history that took place in the principality. Gina and Franz Josef had five children including the present Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II. During World War II, Princess Gina, like her mother, had concerns for prisoners of war. In 1945, she founded the Liechtenstein Red Cross and was president from 1945 to 1984. Princess Gina died six days before her 68th birthday after a long battle with cancer. Her husband Franz Josef died 26 days later.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Gina of Liechtenstein

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Royal News Recap for Wednesday, October 16, 2024

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

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Belgium

Greece

Jordan

Netherlands

Norway

Sweden

United Kingdom

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Disclaimer:Please be advised that any media article titles or content that appear in the Royal News which identify members of royal families with their maiden names, nicknames, incorrect style or title, etc., come directly from the media source and not from Unofficial Royalty. We encourage you to contact the media sources to express your concern about their use of the incorrect name, style, title, etc. Contact information can usually be found at the bottom of each media source’s main page.

October 17: Today in Royal History

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Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

October 17, 1368 – Death of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of King Edward III of England, in Alba, Lordship of Milan, now in Italy; buried at Clare Priory in Suffolk, England
The third, but the second surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, Lionel of Antwerp, was one of the two people on whom the House of York would base its claim to the English throne during the Wars of the Roses. Lionel married the wealthy heiress Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster in her own right. Lionel and Elizabeth had one child, a daughter Philippa, who married Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. It is through Philippa and Edmund’s eldest son Roger Mortimer that the House of York is derived. During the reign of the childless King Richard II, the only surviving child of Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince) who predeceased his father King Edward III, Lionel’s daughter Philippa was the heir presumptive to the English throne and after her death in 1382, her eldest son Roger was the heir presumptive. In 1400, King Richard II was deposed by his first cousin Henry of Bolingbroke (King Henry IV), the eldest son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, King Edward III’s third surviving son. Thus started the beginnings of the Wars of the Roses between the Lancasters and the Yorks.
Unofficial Royalty: Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence

October 17, 1680 – Death of Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth, illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and his mistress Catherine Pegge, in Tangier, Morocco; buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England
King Charles II saw to it that Charles was well-educated. He progressed so quickly with his education that King Charles II considered sending him to Cambridge University but then changed his mind. In 1675, eighteen-year-old Charles was created Earl of Plymouth. In 1678, Charles married Lady Bridget Osborne, the daughter of Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, the Lord High Treasurer for King Charles II, but the marriage was childless. While serving in Tangier, then part of the Portuguese colonial empire, now in Morocco, during the Great Siege of Tangier with the regiment named for him, the Earl of Plymouth’s Regiment of Foot, 23-year-old Charles died on October 17, 1680, from dysentery, a common killer of soldiers for centuries due to poor hygienic conditions in army camps. Charles’ body was returned to England where he was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Unofficial Royalty: Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth

October 17, 1734 – Birth of Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, at the family estate in Lyutkino, Russia
Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov and his brother Alexei were instrumental in the fall of Catherine the Great’s husband Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. He gave Catherine the famous Orlov Diamond which was used in the scepter of the Romanov rulers and was the father of at least one of Catherine’s children, Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky. Catherine and Orlov had a long-time relationship from 1759 – 1774, spanning the time Catherine was a Grand Duchess and Empress.
Unofficial Royalty: Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia

October 17, 1819 – Birth of Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Neustrelitz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Full name: Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Georg Ernst Adolf Gustav
Friedrich Wilhelm married Princess Augusta of Cambridge. She was the daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (a son of King George III of the United Kingdom) and Friedrich Wilhelm’s maternal aunt Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel. Friedrich Wilhelm and Augusta were first cousins through their mothers and second cousins through their fathers. The couple had two children. Friedrich Wilhelm became Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz upon the death of his father in 1860. He took a particular interest in restoring and building churches. He also focused much of his time on improving the education systems, as well as building and refurbishing schools throughout the Grand Duchy. Friedrich Wilhelm is credited with restoring the Grand Duchy’s financial resources, taking a country that was riddled with war debt, and amassing a great fortune in its treasury. In addition, his personal wealth made him the wealthiest of the German sovereigns at the time.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

October 17, 1853 – Birth of Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, daughter of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, wife of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, at Tsarskoe-Selo, near St. Petersburg, Russia
The only daughter of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, Marie met Prince Alfred during a family holiday in Denmark in 1871. Despite the misgivings of both her parents and Alfred’s mother Queen Victoria, the couple married in 1874, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Marie and Alfred had five children. The new Duchess of Edinburgh was not well received by British society, many of whom thought her very condescending and haughty. Used to the splendor and pageantry of the Russian court, she found the British court very dull by comparison. She also felt that, as the daughter of an Emperor, she should outrank all the other members of the British royal family, in particular, her sister-in-law, The Princess of Wales, who was merely the daughter of a king. Despite the demands of Marie and her father, Queen Victoria would not sanction anything of the sort.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

October 17, 1966 – Birth of Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse, the current pretender to the former Grand-Ducal throne of Hesse and by Rhine and Head of the House of Hesse, in Kiel in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein
Full name: Heinrich Donatus Philipp Umberton
Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse is the current pretender to the former grand ducal throne of Hesse and by Rhine, and Head of the House of Hesse. He succeeded to both upon his father’s death in 2013. Donatus maintains close ties with the British Royal Family and is often invited to events. In 2016, he was seated next to the Duchess of Cambridge at an event for Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday celebrations, and in 2021, was one of a very small group of family members invited to attend the funeral of The Duke of Edinburgh. Donatus and his wife also attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
Unofficial Royalty: Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse

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Royal News Recap for October 15, 2024

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Belgium

Denmark

Greece (former monarchy)

Japan

Jordan

Monaco

Netherlands

Norway

Saudi Arabia

United Kingdom

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October 16: Today in Royal History

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Marie Antoinette, Queen of France; Credit – Wikipedia

October 16, 1430 – Birth of James II, King of Scots at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland
James II was the son of James I, King of Scots and Lady Joan Beaufort, a granddaughter of John of Gaunt who was a son of King Edward III of England. His father was assassinated and James became King of Scots at the age of six. In 1449, James II married Mary of Guelders, the eldest of the five children of Arnold, Duke of Guelders and Catherine of Cleves, and the couple had seven children. In 1460, James II besieged Roxburgh Castle near the English border in support of King Henry VI. He was accidentally killed when a cannon near where he was standing exploded.
Unofficial Royalty: James II, King of Scots

October 16, 1673 – Birth of Lady Mary Tudor, an illegitimate daughter of King Charles II of England and one of his mistresses, Mary ‘Moll’ Davis
Mary’s mother Mary “Moll” Davis was an actress and singer in the Duke’s Theatre Company in London. King Charles II, an avid theatergoer, first saw Moll Davis on stage and she soon became his mistress and was given a house on Suffolk Street in London where her daughter Mary was probably born. Lady Mary Tudor was married three times and two of her sons, the grandsons of King Charles II, were beheaded for high treason. Fifty-three-year-old Mary died in Paris, France, on November 5, 1726. Her burial site is unknown.
Unofficial Royalty: Lady Mary Tudor, Illegitimate Daughter of King Charles II of England

October 16, 1751 – Birth of Friederike Luisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, Queen of Prussia, second wife of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, in Prenzlau, Margraviate of Brandenburg, now in Brandenburg, Germany
In 1769, Friederike Luise married the future King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia as his second wife. The couple had seven children. Friederike Luise was ignored and neglected by her husband, who chose to spend his time with his official mistress, and later two additional morganatic wives. Even her husband’s uncle King, Friedrich II, who had arranged the marriage, failed to give her the support and privileges her predecessor had enjoyed. So instead of being a major part of the Prussian court, she lived primarily in Potsdam, rarely permitted to visit Berlin. In 1786, her husband became King of Prussia. Friederike Luise moved to Berlin and took up her role and duties as Queen but her situation did not change.  Her husband had two bigamous, morganatic marriages. Eventually, Friederike Luise lived at Monbijou Palace, while her husband lived at the nearby Berlin Palace. Monbijou Palace would remain her primary residence for the rest of her life.
Unofficial Royalty: Friederike Luisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, Queen of Prussia

October 16, 1791 – Death of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, in Jassy, Moldavia, now in Romania; originally buried at the Cathedral of St. Catherine in Kherson, Russia, now in Ukraine. In October 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces removed the remains of Potemkin from the Cathedral of St. Catherine. It is thought that the remains were transported to Russia.
Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin is considered Catherine the Great’s great love. In 1791, while traveling from Russia to Jassy in Moldavia, now in Romania, to negotiate the Treaty of Jassy ending the Russo-Turkish War, Grigoryi became ill with a fever. He had contracted malaria in Crimea in 1783 and his symptoms showed a reoccurrence of malaria. He refused to take quinine or other medicines the doctor accompanying him prescribed. Grigory was bothered by the humid air in Jassy and requested to be moved to Nikolaev where he thought the cooler air would do him good. However, after only seven miles, Grigory ordered the carriage to stop. He said, “This will be enough. There is no point in going on. Take me out of the carriage. I want to die on the field! ” Grigory was taken from the carriage, laid on a Persian carpet, and died, at the age of 52,  in the arms of his niece. Catherine received the news via courier a week later and collapsed saying, “Now I have no one left on whom I can rely. How can anyone replace Potemkin?” Days passed and the same report came from Catherine’s secretary, “Tears and despair, tears and more tears.”
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia

October 16, 1793 – Execution of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, 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 St. Denis near Paris
After a failed attempt to escape Paris in 1791 ended what little support was left for the monarchy, King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their children were held under house arrest at the Tuileries Palace. In 1792, they were imprisoned at the Temple, the remains of a medieval fortress in Paris. Louis XVI was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. He was executed by guillotine on January 21, 1793. On October 14, 1793, Marie Antoinette was tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal. Among other things, she was charged with organizing orgies at Versailles, sending millions in French treasury money to Austria, and planning the massacre of the National Guards. There were also charges of incest with her son. Two days later, she was found guilty of the main charges and sentenced to death. Just after noon on October 16, 1793, Marie Antoinette was executed by guillotine in the Place de la Révolution (now the Place de la Concorde).
Unofficial Royalty: Executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, King and Queen of France
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Antonia of Austria, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France

October 16, 1796 – Death of Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin, Kingdom of Sardina, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin
In 1750, the future Vittorio Amedeo III married Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, daughter of Felipe V, King of Spain. The couple had twelve children. Vittorio Amedeo III became King of Sardinia in 1773 following his father’s death. During Napoleon‘s Italian campaign, Vittorio Amedeo’s troops were defeated by the French at the 1796 Battle of Milessimo. Vittorio Amedeo was forced to sign the 1796 Treaty of Paris. The treaty stipulated that Vittorio Amedeo recognize the French Republic, cede the original Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France, and give the French Army free passage through his territory towards the rest of Italy. Five months after signing the devastating Treaty of Paris, Vittorio Amadeo III died from a stroke, aged 70.
Unofficial Royalty: Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy

October 16, 1968 – Birth of Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria in Madrid, Spain
Since 2015, Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies is one of the current claimants to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and pretender to the former throne of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. The other is his distant cousin, Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria

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Royal News Recap for Monday, October 14, 2024

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Belgium

Jordan

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Morocco

Norway

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

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