Maria Anna of Neuburg, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Maria Anna of Neuburg, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna of Neuburg, the second wife of Carlos II, King of Spain was born on October 28, 1667, at Schloss Benrath in Düsseldorf, Duchy of Berg, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. She was the twelfth of the seventeen children and the fifth of the eight daughters of Philipp Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate, Count Palatine of Neuburg, Duke of Jülich and Berg and his second wife Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Maria Sophie’s paternal grandparents were Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, Duke of Jülich and Berg and Magdalene of Bavaria. Her maternal grandparents were Georg II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Sophia Eleonore of Saxony.

Maria Anna’s mother had 23 pregnancies and 17 live births and the family gained the reputation as a fertile family. Maria Anna had sixteen siblings:

Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg (1655 – 1720), married (his third wife) Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, had ten children
Maria Adelheid Anna of Neuburg (born and died 1656), died in infancy
Sophie Elisabeth of Neuburg (1657 – 1658), died in infancy
Johann Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate (1658 – 1716), married (1) Maria Anna Josepha of Austria, two sons who died in infancy (2) Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, no children
Wolfgang Georg Friedrich of Neuburg, Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1659 – 1683)
Ludwig Anton of Neuburg, Prince-Bishop of Worms (1660 – 1694)
Karl Philipp, Elector of the Palatinate (1661 – 1742), married (1) Luise Charlotte Radziwill, had three children (2) Princess Theresa Katharina Lubomirska, had two daughters who died in early childhood (3) Countess Violante Maria Theresa von Thurn und Taxis, no children
Alexander Sigismund of Neuburg, Prince-Bishop of Augsburg (1663 – 1737)
Franz Ludwig of Neuburg, Archbishop of Trier and Mainz (1664 – 1732)
Friedrich Wilhelm of Neuburg (1665 – 1689), unmarried, died in battle
Maria Sophia of Neuburg, Queen of Portugal (1666 – 1699), married Pedro II, King of Portugal, had eight children
Philipp Wilhelm August of Neuburg (1668 – 1693), married Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg, had two children
Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg (1670 – 1748), married (1) Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma, had one son who died in infancy (2) Francesco, Duke of Parma (half-brother of Odoardo), had a son who died in infancy and a daughter Elisabeth who married Felipe V, King of Spain
Hedwig Elisabeth Amalia of Neuburg (1673 – 1722), married Jakub Ludwik Henryk Sobieski, Prince of Poland, had seven children
Johann of Neuburg (born and died 1675), died shortly after birth
Leopoldine Eleonore of Neuburg (1679 – 1693), betrothed to Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria but died before the marriage

Neuburg Castle; Credit – By User: Bbb at wikivoyage shared, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22660132

Maria Anna was raised with her many siblings at Neuburg Castle, the seat of the Electors of the Palatinate in Neuburg an der Donau in Palatinate-Neuburg, now in Bavaria, Germany. With her sisters, Maria Anna received a comprehensive education that included languages, science, and music, supervised by their governess Frau von Klau. Jesuit priests instructed the sisters in religion.

Maria Anna’s husband Carlos II, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1679, 18-year-old Carlos II, King of Spain married 17-year-old Marie Louise of Orléans, the eldest niece of King Louis XIV of France and daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Henrietta of England. Ten years later, in 1689, the marriage was childless and Marie Louise of Orléans died, probably from appendicitis. The lack of an heir to the Spanish throne and concerns over King Carlos II’s health made a second marriage an urgent matter. Carlos’ mother Mariana of Austria selected twenty-two-year-old Maria Anna of Neuburg based on the family’s history of fertility. Maria Anna’s eldest sister Eleonor Magdalene had married Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, strengthening her ties to the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg.

The House of Habsburg, which ruled over Austria, Spain, and their many territories, was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Seven of King Carlos II of Spain’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation.

King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw) which can be seen in this painting; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many members of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. However, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Carlos was educated by the Jesuit priests, however, because of his developmental disability, both physically and mentally, he only received a basic education. Carlos’ conditions showed clear signs of the long-time inbreeding of the House of Habsburg.

Maria Anna in 1689, the year of her marriage; Credit – Wikipedia

The proxy wedding was held on August 28, 1689, in Ingolstadt, Duchy of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. Among the many distinguished guests at the ceremony were Maria Anna’s brother-in-law Leopold I and her sister Eleonor Magdalene, the Holy Roman Emperor and Empress. Maria Anna arrived in Spain in the spring of 1690. 28-year-old King Carlos II of Spain and 22-year-old Maria Anna of Neuberg were married in person on May 14, 1690, in the Church of the Convent of San Diego, within the complex of the Royal Palace of Valladolid in Spain. During the celebration after the wedding, Carlos II, who was still mourning his first wife, did not pay any attention to Maria Anna. It seemed that he was present only to eat cakes. On their wedding night, Carlos and Maria Anna slept in separate quarters, and this practice continued throughout their marriage. Likely, the marriage was never consummated.

The grand entrance of Maria Anna of Neuburg, Queen of Spain into Madrid following her marriage; Credit – Wikipedia

During her marriage, under pressure to provide an heir, Maria Anna faked several pregnancies and encouraged Carlos to undergo treatments to increase his fertility, making it clear the failure to produce an heir was not her fault. Maria Anna attempted to influence the decision of the successor to the Spanish throne. In succession disputes, Maria Anna always supported the claims of her nephew Archduke Karl of Austria, the future Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, the son of her older sister, Eleonor Magdalene and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. As the years passed, it became increasingly clear that King Carlos II would never have an heir. It seemed that Carlos was almost certainly infertile and his autopsy did reveal he had only one atrophied testicle.

Felipe V, King of France, grandson of King Louis XIV of France and the successor of the childless King Carlos II of Spain, 1701; Credit – Wikipedia

In September 1700, Carlos became ill, and by September 28, 1700, was no longer able to eat. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the only surviving child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain, Carlos’ half-sister, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, in his will, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos’ half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. Carlos II, King of Spain died on November 1, 1700, five days before his thirty-ninth birthday, and was succeeded by his half-sister’s grandson Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in the Kingdom of Spain today.

Although Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou succeeded to the Spanish throne as Felipe V, King of Spain, the political struggle over the Spanish throne between the French faction, which supported Felipe V, and the Austrian faction, which supported Maria Anna’s nephew, Archduke Karl of Austria, the future Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, resulted in the 1701 – 1714 War of the Spanish Succession that involved the Great Powers of Europe. Ultimately, the War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the recognition of Felipe V as King of Spain, and the renouncing of the rights of Felipe V, formerly Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, and his descendants to inherit the French throne.

Maria Anna of Neuburg, Queen of Spain as a widow; Credit – Wikipedia

In his will, King Carlos II had stipulated that Maria Anna be given a good annual pension and be treated with respect by his successors. However, King Felipe V ordered Maria Anna to leave Madrid before he entered the capital. Maria Anna had no choice but to reside in the Alcazar of Toledo in Toledo, Spain. Having limited funds, Maria Anna wrote to her relatives asking for financial help. In 1701, her brother Johann Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate wrote to their sister Eleonor Magdalene, Holy Roman Empress: “About the Queen of Spain, I sincerely sympathize with this unfortunate lady, but, in truth, everything that she had to face was her own fault, as a result of her terrible behavior. And I think what she’s asking Your Majesty is more unrealistic than feasible. But, if you could help this poor woman and console her in such a difficult situation, I would consider this a personal service to me .”

Maria Anna’s 1704 letter to her mother revealed her desperate situation: “I am abandoned by everyone. They do not pay me a full pension, they do not even pay a third…Therefore, I do not always have servants – I simply have nothing to pay them. Sometimes I don’t even have enough food…I became pathetic because I can’t trust anyone, but at the same time, I’m afraid that everyone will leave me.” In 1706, Maria Anna’s situation improved when forces of the Holy Roman Empire led by her nephew Archduke Karl of Austria occupied Toledo. Maria Anna was overjoyed and warmly welcomed her nephew and his army. Because of this, two years later, King Felipe V exiled Maria Anna from Spain. She settled in Bayonne, France where she lived from 1708 – 1739.

Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara, Spain, Maria Anna’s last home, where she died; Credit – By tiger rus, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58620784

In 1739, elderly and in ill health, Maria Anna was allowed to return to Spain. This was probably due to the influence of her niece Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, the daughter of Maria Anna’s sister Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg and Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma, who had become the second wife of King Felipe V of Spain in 1714. Because of Felipe V’s mental condition, Elisabeth Farnese was the de facto ruler of Spain and later the Regent of Spain. Maria Anna was given a home at the Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara, Spain, where she died on July 16, 1740, at the age of 72. She was interred in Chapel IX of the Pantheon of the Infantes at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. The Pantheon of the Infantes is the burial place for Infantes and Infantas (corresponding to Prince and Princess) of Spain and for Queen Consorts of Spain who were not mothers of Kings of Spain.

Maria Anna’s tomb is the first tomb on the right; Credit – By José Luis Filpo Cabana – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26540368

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Works Cited

Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Carlos II, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlos-ii-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
Maria Anna of Neuburg (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_of_Neuburg (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
Philip William, Elector Palatine (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_William,_Elector_Palatine (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
Marie-Anne de Neubourg (2022) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Anne_de_Neubourg (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
Maria Anna von der Pfalz (1667–1740) (2022) Wikipedia (German). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_von_der_Pfalz_(1667%E2%80%931740) (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
Мария Анна пфальц-нейбургская (2022) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9F%D1%84%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%86-%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
Mariana de Neoburgo (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_de_Neoburgo (Accessed: October 24, 2022).
Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, Countess of Holland, Countess of Hereford

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

A depiction of Elizabeth of Rhuddlan from the Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan was born on August 7, 1282, at Rhuddlan Castle in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, Wales. The castle was built by her father King Edward I of England in 1277, following the First Welsh War. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so Elizabeth was called “of Rhuddlan”. Elizabeth was the tenth but the fifth surviving daughter and the thirteenth or fourteenth of the 14 – 16 children of Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, the first of his two wives. Mary’s paternal grandparents were Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Toledo and King of León, and Galicia and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale in her own right.

Early fourteenth-century manuscript showing Elizabeth’s parents King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth’s parents had 14 – 16 children. Only five daughters and one son survived to adulthood. The eleven siblings of Elizabeth listed below were those who were named and survived infancy for at least a couple of months.

Katherine of England (born and died 1264), died in infancy
Joan of England (born and died 1265), died in infancy
John of England (1266 – 1271), died in childhood
Henry of England (1268 – 1274), died in childhood
Eleanor of England (1269 – 1298), married Henri III, Count of Bar, had one son and one daughter
Joan of Acre (1272 – 1307), married (1) Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, had four children (2) Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, had four children
Margaret of England (1275 – after 1333), married Jean II, Duke of Brabant, had one son
Alfonso, Earl of Chester (1273 – 1284), died in childhood, heir apparent to the English throne but never became king
Berengaria of England (1276 – 1278), died in childhood
Mary of Woodstock (1278 – 1332), a nun at Amesbury Priory in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England
King Edward II of England (1284 – 1327), married Isabella of France, had four children

In November 1290, when Elizabeth was eight-years-old, her mother Eleanor of Castile died. Only six of Edward I and Eleanor’s children, five daughters and one son, were still living. The only son, the future King Edward II, was the youngest child and just six years old. King Edward I had to be worried about the succession, and a second marriage with sons would ensure the succession. On September 10, 1299, 60-year-old King Edward I married 17-year-old Margaret of France, daughter of King Philippe III of France and his second wife Marie of Brabant.

Elizabeth had three half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Margaret of France:

Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300 – 1338), married (1) Alice de Hales, had three children (2) Mary de Brewes, no children
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (1301 – 1330), married Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell, had four children including Joan, 4th Countess of Kent who married King Edward III‘s eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales (The Black Prince) and was the mother of King Richard II of England
Eleanor of England (1306 – 1311), died young

In 1285, three-year-old Elizabeth was betrothed to an infant, the future John I, Count of Holland (1284 – 1299). Soon after this, the infant John was sent to England to be raised and educated at King Edward I’s court. In 1296, John’s father Floris V, Count of Holland was murdered, and John became Count of Holland.

On January 7, 1297, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth and twelve-year-old John were married at St. Peter’s Church in Ipswich, England. John I, Count of Holland was allowed to return to Holland at the end of January 1297, but Elizabeth remained in England and did not join her husband in Holland until November 1297. On November 10, 1299, childless and only fifteen years old, John I, Count of Holland died from dysentery although there were suspicions he was murdered. Now a widow, 17-year-old Elizabeth returned to England, stopping to visit her sister Margaret in the Duchy of Brabant on the way. When Elizabeth arrived in England, she first met her stepmother Margaret, who had married Elizabeth’s father King Edward I while Elizabeth was in Holland. Margaret and Elizabeth became close friends, and Elizabeth’s first child was named after her.

Effigy of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford from a memorial at Hereford Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth settled at her father’s court. She had probably met 24-year-old Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Constable of England in the late 1280s, but they became reacquainted at court. By 1302, plans were being arranged for Elizabeth and Humphrey to marry. On November 14, 1302, Elizabeth and Humphrey were married at Westminster Abbey in London, England. After her marriage, Elizabeth continued to live at the royal court. She did not move to her husband’s estates until the death of her father King Edward I and the accession of her brother King Edward II in 1307.

Elizabeth and Humphrey had ten children

Margaret de Bohun (1302 – 1304), died in early childhood
Humphrey de Bohun (1303 – 1304), died in infancy
Eleanor de Bohun (1304 – 1363), married (1) James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond, had three children (2) Sir Thomas de Dagworth, had one daughter
John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford (1306 – 1336), married (1) Alice FitzAlan, no children (2) Margaret Basset, no children
Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford (1309 – 1361), unmarried
Margaret de Bohun (1311 – 1391), married Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon, had seventeen children
William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton (1312 – 1360), twin of Edward, married Elizabeth de Badlesmere, had two children
Edward de Bohun (1312 – 1334), twin of William, married Margaret de Ros, no children; during a military campaign in Scotland, Edward tried to save a soldier who had fallen into a river, but drowned
Eneas de Bohun, (1314 – after 1322), died in childhood
Isabel de Bohun (born and died 1316), both Elizabeth and her daughter Isabella died shortly after birth

Humphrey was imprisoned after the English defeat by the Scots at the 1314 Battle of Bannockburn. Humphrey had fought Robert I the Bruce, King of Scots in single combat but was forced to concede. Humphrey was ransomed by his brother-in-law King Edward II. He was traded for Robert the Bruce’s second wife Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen of Scots and his daughter from his first marriage Marjorie Bruce, who had both been imprisoned by the English for eight years.

Elizabeth and especially her husband Humphrey had issues with King Edward II’s relationship with his favorite Piers Gaveston, bluntly called a traitor by Humphrey. This caused years of estrangement between Elizabeth and her brother King Edward II. They were finally reconciled in 1315, three years after Gaveston’s murder by English nobles who had had enough of him. Elizabeth spent Christmas of 1315 with her brother King Edward II and his wife Isabella of France.

Tomb of Elizabeth of Rhuddlan; Credit – www.findagrave.com

After the 1315 Christmas celebrations, Elizabeth settled at her husband’s estate in Quendon, Essex, England to await the birth of her tenth child. She gave birth on May 5, 1316, to a daughter named Isabella in honor of the Queen. Sadly, 33-year-old Elizabeth and her daughter Isabella both died the same day. Elizabeth and her daughter Isabella were interred at Waltham Abbey Church in Waltham Abbey, Essex, England.

Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford survived Elizabeth by six years. He was brutally killed in battle, leading an attempt to storm a bridge, on March 16, 1322, aged 46, at the Battle of Boroughbridge during the Despenser War (1321 -1322), a revolt by nobles against King Edward II of England led by Humphrey and Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March. Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford was buried at the York Dominican Friary in North Yorkshire, England.

Works Cited

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Rhuddlan (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
Елизавета Рудланская (2021) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%95%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
Flantzer, Susan, 2013. Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-28-1290-death-of-eleanor-of-castile-first-wife-of-king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 1 November 2022].
Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Edward I of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 1 November 2022].
Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_de_Bohun,_4th_Earl_of_Hereford (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
John I, Count of Holland (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_I,_Count_of_Holland (Accessed: November 1, 2022).
Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.
Wilson-Lee, Kelcey, 2019. Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Princesses of King Edward Longshanks. New York: Pegasus.

Marie Louise d’Orléans, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Marie Louise d’Orléans, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Louise d’Orléans was the first wife of Carlos II, King of Spain. She was born on March 26, 1662, at the Palais-Royal in Paris, France. Marie Louise had an impeccable royal genealogy. Her parents were first cousins. Her father was Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger of the two sons of Louis XIII, King of France and Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Portugal, and the only sibling of Louis XIV, King of France. Her mother was Henrietta of England, the youngest child of Charles I, King of England and Henrietta Maria of France. Philippe’s father Louis XIII and Henrietta’s mother Henrietta Maria were siblings, the children of Henri IV, King of France and Marie de Medici from the famous House of Medici. As the granddaughter of Louis XIII, King of France, Marie Louise was entitled to the style and title Her Royal Highness Petite-fille de France (Granddaughter of France).

French Royal Family in a mythological setting: Henrietta Maria of France, Queen of England; Philippe I, Duke of Orléans; his daughter Marie Louise; his wife Henrietta of England; Anne of Austria, Queen Mother; King Louis XIV: Louis XIV’s children Louis, Marie Thérèse, and Philippe; Marie Teresa of Austria, Queen of France; Anne Marie Louise d’Orleans, la Grande Mademoiselle; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Louise had two younger siblings. The Jacobite claim to the British throne goes through Marie Louise’s younger sister Anne Marie because their brother had died in childhood and Marie Louise had no children. Through her mother, Anne Marie was a granddaughter of King Charles I of England. When Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) and his brother Cardinal Henry Stuart, both died without legitimate issue, Anne Marie’s descendants inherited the Jacobite claim.

Marie Louise’s siblings:

Philippe Charles d’Orléans, Duke of Valois (1664 – 1666), died in early childhood
Anne Marie d’Orléans (1669 – 1728), married Vittorio Amadeo II, King of Sardinia, had five children

Philippe I, Duke of Orléans with his favorite daughter Marie Louise; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie Louise had a happy early childhood, living at the Palais-Royal in Paris and at the Château de Saint-Cloud, overlooking the Seine, just outside Paris. She spent a lot of time with both her paternal grandmother Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain who left most of her fortune to her when she died in 1666, and her maternal grandmother Henrietta Maria of France (died 1669), the widow of the beheaded King Charles I of England, who had returned to her native France after her husband was deposed and executed.

Marie Louise with her mother Henrietta; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1670, when Marie Louise was eight-years-old, her mother Henrietta died at the age of 26. Marie Louise’s uncle King Louis XIV wanted a male heir for her father to continue the Orléans line and looked for a second wife for Philippe himself. King Louis XIV rejected many potential second brides for his brother before settling on the Protestant Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. She was the only daughter of Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine and his first wife Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel. Liselotte’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England and granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots. Liselotte converted to Roman Catholicism and married Philippe on November 19, 1671.

Marie Louise’s stepmother Liselotte with her two surviving children, Marie Louise’s step-siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Due to the attitude of the court, as well as the homosexual relations of her husband Philippe, which he did not hide, Liselotte devoted much attention to Philippe’s daughters. Liselotte acted as a mother to Marie Louise and her younger sister Anne Marie and maintained correspondence with them throughout their lives. As with his first marriage, Philippe had homosexual affairs but was intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children. Philippe and Liselotte had three children who were the half-siblings of Marie Louise:

Alexandre Louis d’Orléans, Duke of Valois (1673 – 1676), died in childhood
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674 – 1723) married his cousin Françoise Marie de Bourbon, a legitimized daughter of King Louis XIV and one of his mistresses Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan, had eight children
Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans (1676 – 1744) married Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, had thirteen children, Élisabeth Charlotte and Leopold were the grandparents of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria

Maria Louise’s husband Carlos II, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

After the 1678 Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen were signed between France and Spain, a marriage was arranged between 16-year-old Marie Louise and 17-year-old Carlos II, King of Spain. King Louis XIV was married to Carlos II’s half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, who was also his double first cousin. Carlos II was also a first cousin of Louis XIV and Louis XIV wanted to have his brother-in-law/first cousin, weakened by years of inbreeding in the House of Habsburg, under French influence. Having no daughter, King Louis XIV offered his elder niece Marie Louise as a bride for Carlos II, King of Spain. Thinking to the future, Louis XIV knew that if Marie Louise and Carlos II had a child who became the monarch of Spain, then French influence would remain. If Marie Louise and Carlos II did not have children, Louis XIV’s own line could inherit the Spanish throne. Louis XIV’s wife Maria Teresa was the elder surviving of two daughters of King Felipe IV of Spain and had senior succession rights after her half-brother King Carlos II of Spain, also a child of Felipe IV.

The House of Habsburg, which ruled over Austria, Spain, and their many territories, was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and they wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Seven of King Carlos II of Spain’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation.

King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw) which can be seen in this painting; Credit – Wikipedia

Even though the French ambassador to Spain wrote that Carlos “… is so ugly as to cause fear, and looks ill”, Carlos’ appearance and condition were considered irrelevant to the political benefits. Marie Louise was distressed by the arranged marriage and spent most of her time crying. She even confronted her uncle King Louis XIV, who retorted with irony, that it was not worthy that the “Catholic Queen” (nickname of the Spanish Queens) throws herself at the feet of “The Very Christian King” (nickname of the Kings of France). Trying to reason with his niece, King Louis XIV asked Marie Louise if she thought he could have found a better marriage for his own daughter if he had one. Marie Louise replied, “No, but you could have found a better marriage for your niece,” referring to her desire to marry Louis XIV’s only surviving (legitimate) child and her first cousin, Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France.

On August 30, 1679, Marie Louise and Carlos II, King of Spain were married via a proxy marriage at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France with Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, a cousin of the bride, standing in for the groom. When Marie Louise left France for Spain, her uncle King Louis XIV, worried that like his first cousin Marguerite-Louise d’Orléans, who married Cosimo III de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Marie Louise would leave her husband to return to France, said to his niece, “Goodbye Madame, and forever.” Marie Louise never returned to France.

On November 19, 1679, Marie Louise married Carlos II in person in Quintanapalla, near Burgos, Spain. She found the Spanish court etiquette even more regulated and restrictive than the French court. Marie Louise did not speak Spanish and Carlos II did not speak French, so they were dependent on an interpreter when they first met. Carlos had fallen in love with Marie Louise the first time he saw her portrait. Despite not feeling passion for her husband, over time Marie Louise became fond of Carlos. Carlos taught her Spanish and Marie Louise taught him French. The Spanish court became increasingly desperate regarding the delay in the arrival of an heir. More likely than not, it was Carlos who was infertile. He did not have any children with his second wife either. The lack of a child and the strict Spanish court caused Marie Louise to show signs of depression. She longed more and more for her happy life in France, developed an enormous appetite, and became overweight.

Marie Louise, Queen of Spain, lying in state in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid by Sebastián Muñoz; Credit – Wikipedia

The childless marriage last ten years. One day after taking a ride on horseback, Marie Louise began to feel strong pain in her stomach. She died the next day, aged 26, on February 12, 1689, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid in Spain. Although many reasons were considered as causes of Marie Louise’s death including poison, it is most likely that she died from appendicitis, a fatal infection until the mid-nineteenth century when the advent of anesthesia and new surgical techniques allowed for successful appendectomies. Marie Louise was interred in Chapel IX of the Pantheon of the Infantes at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. The Pantheon of the Infantes is the burial place for Infantes and Infantas of Spain and for Queen Consorts of Spain who were not mothers of Kings of Spain. Infante and Infanta are Spanish royal titles that basically correspond to Prince and Princess.

Tomb of Marie Louise; Credit – https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22953504/maria-louisa-d’orl%C3%A9ans

In 1690, Carlos II married Maria Anna of Neuberg but that marriage was also childless. Carlos II’s autopsy revealed he had only one atrophied testicle, the cause of infertility in his two marriages. In September 1700, Carlos became ill and was no longer able to eat. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir to the French throne and the only surviving child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, Carlos’ half-sister, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain, just as King Louis XIV of France had thought could happen. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin (the father of King Louis XV who succeeded his great-grandfather King Louis XIV) could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, in his will, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos II’s half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. When Carlos II, King of Spain died on November 1, 1700, five days before his thirty-ninth birthday, he was succeeded by his half-sister’s grandson Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in the Kingdom of Spain today.

Works Cited

Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Carlos II, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/carlos-ii-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/philippe-i-duke-of-orleans/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
María Luisa de Orleans (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Luisa_de_Orleans (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Marie Louise d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia (German). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Louise_d%E2%80%99Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Marie Louise d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Louise_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Marie-Louise d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Louise_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Мария луиза орлеанская (2021) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%9B%D1%83%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0_%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Mary of Woodstock (England)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

A depiction of Mary of Woodstock from the Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Destined to be a nun, Mary of Woodstock was born at Woodstock Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, on March 11, 1278. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so Mary was called “of Woodstock”. Mary was the ninth but the fourth surviving daughter and the twelfth or thirteenth of the 14 – 16 children of Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, the first of his two wives. Mary’s paternal grandparents were Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Toledo and King of León, and Galicia and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale in her own right.

Early fourteenth-century manuscript showing Mary’s parents King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s parents had 14 – 16 children. Only five daughters and one son survived to adulthood. The eleven siblings of Mary listed below were those who were named and survived infancy for at least a couple of months.

Katherine of England (born and died 1264), died in infancy
Joan of England (born and died 1265), died in infancy
John of England (1266 – 1271), died in childhood
Henry of England (1268 – 1274), died in childhood
Eleanor of England (1269 – 1298), married Henri III, Count of Bar, had one son and one daughter
Joan of Acre (1272 – 1307), married (1) Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, had four children (2) Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, had four children
Margaret of England (1275 – after 1333), married Jean II, Duke of Brabant, had one son
Alfonso, Earl of Chester (1273 – 1284), died in childhood, heir apparent to the English throne but never became king
Berengaria of England (1276 – 1278), died in childhood
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (1282 – 1316), married (1) John I, Count of Holland, no children (2) Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, 3rd Earl of Essex, had ten children
King Edward II of England (1284 – 1327), married Isabella of France, had four children

Mary’s paternal grandmother Eleanor of Provence, wife of King Henry III; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s paternal grandmother Eleanor of Provence, Queen of England, the widow of King Henry III, intended to retire to Amesbury Priory, a Benedictine monastery in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. Amesbury Priory was a religious community with a nunnery of more than seventy nuns, mostly from noble families, and a monastery with about twenty-five men, serving as priests or monks. Eleanor of Provence suggested that two of her granddaughters keep her company and devote their lives to God by becoming Benedictine nuns. Mary, the eldest daughter of King Edward I who was not yet betrothed in marriage, and her cousin Eleanor of Brittany, daughter of Eleanor of Provence’s daughter Beatrice of England and Jean II, Duke of Brittany were selected. Mary’s mother Eleanor of Castile was strongly against her young daughter being sent off to become a nun. However, King Edward I sided with his mother, and with great reluctance, Eleanor of Castile agreed.

Eleanor of Brittany, three years older than Mary, entered Amesbury Priory in 1281, and her cousin Mary entered in 1285. In August 1285, on the Feast of the Assumption, seven-year-old Mary and thirteen daughters of English nobles were consecrated as future nuns. Mary was formally veiled as a nun in December 1291 when she was thirteen years old. King Edward I and his wife Queen Eleanor visited their daughter Mary in 1286, 1289, and 1290. In 1291, King Edward I visited three times: in February 1291, for the burial of his mother Eleanor of Provence, in September 1291, and again in December 1291 when Mary took her vows as a nun.

Mary lived in comfort in private quarters at Amesbury Priory. In the early 1280s, Mary’s grandmother Eleanor of Provence built a suite of rooms at the priory where she would live with her two granddaughters in a style befitting royalty. Eleanor of Provence arrived at Amesbury Priory in 1286 and lived there until she died in 1291 when she was buried at the priory. By order of her father, during the rest of her life, Mary received an extremely generous allowance, double the amount needed to provide entire households for two knights. She also received a double quota of clothing and a special right to wine from the Southampton docks.

In November 1290, Eleanor of Castile, Mary’s mother died. Only six of Edward I and Eleanor’s children, five daughters and one son, were still living. The only son, the future King Edward II, was the youngest child and just six years old. King Edward I had to be worried about the succession, and a second marriage with sons would ensure the succession. On September 10, 1299, 60-year-old King Edward I married 17-year-old Margaret of France, daughter of King Philippe III of France and his second wife Marie of Brabant.

Mary had three half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Margaret of France:

Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300 – 1338), married (1) Alice de Hales, had three children (2) Mary de Brewes, no children
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (1301 – 1330), married Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell, had four children including Joan, 4th Countess of Kent who married King Edward III‘s eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales (The Black Prince) and was the mother of King Richard II of England
Eleanor of England (1306 – 1311), died young

Despite living in a style that befitted a princess, Mary followed the daily routine of a nun, communal prayer throughout the day and night, private religious reflection, and silence during the day. Although nuns were not allowed to leave their convents except for necessary business, Mary, as the king’s daughter, was an exception. She was allowed to leave Amesbury Priory to visit her family and go on pilgrimages. On several occasions, Mary was enlisted by the priory’s abbess to represent the priory in negotiations with her father.

Mary died on May 29, 1332, aged 54, and was buried in Amesbury Priory church near her grandmother Eleanor of Provence but all the graves and tombs have been lost. Amesbury Priory was disbanded and the priory church was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 during the reign of King Henry VIII. The priory and its land were then granted to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, later Duke of Somerset, the brother of Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII’s third wife. Some priory buildings were destroyed and others were reused to form a house for the Seymours. The house was rebuilt in 1660 – and 1661 and became known as Amesbury Abbey.

Works Cited

Flantzer, Susan, 2013. Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-28-1290-death-of-eleanor-of-castile-first-wife-of-king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 22 October 2022].
Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Edward I of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 22 October 2022].
Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
Mary of Woodstock (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Woodstock (Accessed: October 22, 2022).
Мария Вудстокская (2021) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%92%D1%83%D0%B4%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: October 22, 2022).
Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.
Wilson-Lee, Kelcey, 2019. Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Princesses of King Edward Longshanks. New York: Pegasus.

Carlos II, King of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Carlos II, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlos II, King of Spain was the last Spanish king from the House of Habsburg. He had physical and mental conditions probably caused by the continued inbreeding of the House of Habsburg. When Carlos died without children, the Spanish House of Habsburg became extinct. Carlos II, King of Spain was born on November 6, 1661, at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, located at the site of today’s Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. He was the youngest of the five children and the third but the only surviving of the three sons of Felipe IV, King of Spain and his second wife Mariana of Austria, who were uncle and niece, an example of inbreeding. Carlos’ paternal grandparents were Felipe III, King of Spain and Margaret of Austria, both children of parents who were an uncle and his niece, and were first cousins once removed and second cousins. Carlos’ maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria and his first wife Maria Anna of Spain who were first cousins.

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage. They wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. Seven of Carlos II’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation. See the family tree of the ancestors of Carlos II, King of Spain at Wikipedia: Ancestors of Charles II of Spain.

Carlos had four siblings but only one survived childhood. Five days before Carlos’ birth, Felipe Prospero, his nearly four-year-old elder brother and heir to the throne died. He had been ill for quite some time, suffered from epilepsy, and was frequently ill, probably due to the generations of inbreeding. At birth, Carlos was the heir to the Spanish throne and was titled Prince of Asturias, the title of the heir to the Spanish throne.

Carlos’ only surviving full sibling Margarita Teresa in mourning for her father; Credit: Wikipedia

Carlos’ siblings:

Margarita Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1651 – 1673), married her maternal uncle and first cousin Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, and had four children, only one daughter survived infancy
Maria Ambrosia de la Concepción of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1655), died in infancy
Felipe Prospero of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1657 – 1661), died in childhood
Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (1658 – 1659), died in infancy

Carlos had eight half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Elisabeth of France who died in 1644, at the age of forty-one, after miscarrying a son. All but one of Carlos’ half-siblings had died before he was born. Only his half-sister Maria Theresa who married King Louis XIV of France survived childhood. The death in 1646 of Balthasar Carlos, Carlos’ half-brother and heir to the Spanish throne, caused King Felipe IV to marry for a second time, in search of a male heir.

Carlos’ only surviving half-sibling Maria Theresa who married King Louis XIV of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlos’ half-siblings:

Maria Margarita of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1621)
Margarita Maria Catalina of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1623)
Maria Eugenia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1625 – 1627)
Isabella Maria of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1627)
Balthasar Carlos of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1629 – 1646), died at age 16 from smallpox
Francisco Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (born and died 1634)
Maria Ana Antonia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1636)
Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1638 – 1683), married King Louis XIV of France, had six children but only one son survived childhood, the House of Bourbon, the reigning house of Spain from 1700 to today, descends from this marriage

Carlos II’s mother Queen Mariana who served as Regent of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

In early September 1665, Carlos’ father King Felipe IV began to feel unwell. His stools were bloody which meant he may have had dysentery. After great suffering, Felipe IV, King of Spain, aged 60, died on September 17, 1665, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid. Carlos’ mother Queen Mariana was appointed Regent for her nearly four-year-old son, now Carlos II, King of Spain. In his will, Felipe IV had ordered the creation of a government commission consisting of carefully selected important people from politics, the church, and society to assist Mariana in her role as Regent of Spain.

King Carlos II as a child, circa 1666; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. However, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Because of his physical condition, the superstitions of the time caused him to be considered bewitched and he was given the nickname El Hechizado – the bewitched one. Carlos was subjected to unsuccessful medical attempts at healing, mystical practices, and religious exorcisms. Carlos was educated by the Jesuit priest Juan de Mariana, however because of his developmental disability, both physically and mentally, he only received a basic education. Carlos’ condition showed clear signs of the long-time inbreeding of the House of Habsburg.

King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw) which can be seen in this painting; Credit – Wikipedia

King Carlos II reached legal age on November 6, 1675, his 14th birthday, and legally could take over the government. Carlos wanted to appoint his elder illegitimate half-brother Juan José of Austria (1629 – 1679), the only illegitimate son of King Felipe IV of Spain to be acknowledged by his father, as his chief minister. Juan José had been trained and served in military command and political administration. However, Carlos’ mother Queen Mariana persuaded her son to extend her regency. In 1677, King Carlos II’s illegitimate half-brother Juan José of Austria marched on Madrid and took power with the help of the Spanish nobility. Queen Mariana left the court and lived at the Alcázar of Toledo. However, Mariana remained influential during her son’s reign, until she died in 1696.

Carlos’ illegitimate half-brother, Don Juan José of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

After the 1678 Peace of Nijmegen was signed between France and Spain, a marriage was arranged between 17-year-old Carlos II, King of Spain and 16-year-old Marie Louise of Orléans, the eldest niece of King Louis XIV of France and daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Henrietta of England. King Louis XIV was married to Carlos II’s half-sister Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain, who was also his double first cousin. Carlos II was also a was a first cousin of Louis XIV and Louis wanted to have his brother-in-law/first cousin, weakened by years of inbreeding in the House of Habsburg, under French influence. Having no daughter, King Louis XIV offered his elder niece Marie Louise as a bride for Carlos. Thinking to the future, Louis XIV knew that if Marie Louise and Carlos II could have a child who would become the monarch of Spain, then French influence would remain. If Marie Louise and Carlos II did not have children, Louis XIV’s own line could inherit the Spanish throne. Louis XIV’s wife Maria Theresa was the elder surviving of two daughters of King Felipe IV of Spain and had senior succession rights after her half-brother King Carlos II of Spain. Even though the French ambassador to Spain wrote that Carlos “… is so ugly as to cause fear, and looks ill”, Carlos’ appearance and condition were considered irrelevant to the political benefits. Marie Louise of Orléans was distressed by the arranged marriage and spent most of her time crying.

On August 30, 1679, Carlos and Marie Louise were married via a proxy marriage at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France with Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, a cousin of the bride, standing in for the groom. Arranging the marriage was one of the last acts that Juan José of Austria did as chief minister because he died on September 17, 1679, perhaps by poison. For the rest of his life, King Carlos II, fully aware of his inability to govern the Kingdom of Spain, appointed well-qualified people to the most important positions. On November 19, 1679, Marie Louise married Carlos II in person in Quintanapalla, near Burgos, Spain. Carlos fell in love with Marie Louise but she had a lonely life at the Spanish court. She found the court etiquette very confining and was distressed over not having children.

Carlos II’s first wife Marie Louise of Orléans; Credit – Wikipedia

The childless marriage last ten years. One day after taking a ride on horseback, Marie Louise began to feel strong pain in her stomach. She died the next day, aged 26, on February 12, 1689, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid in Spain and was interred in Chapel IX of the Pantheon of the Infantes at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. Although many reasons were considered as causes of Marie Louise’s death including poison, it is most likely that she died from appendicitis, a fatal infection until the mid-nineteenth century when the advent of anesthesia and new surgical techniques allowed for successful appendectomies.

Carlos II’s second wife Maria Anna of Neuberg; Credit – Wikipedia

The lack of an heir to the Spanish throne and concerns over Carlos II’s health made a second marriage urgent. Carlos’ mother Queen Mariana selected twenty-two-year-old Maria Anna of Neuburg, daughter of Philipp Wilhelm, Count Palatine and Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg, Duke of Jülich-Berg, and Elector Palatine based on the family’s history of fertility. Maria Anna’s mother Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt was pregnant twenty-three times and fourteen of the seventeen children born reached adulthood. The proxy wedding was held on August 28, 1689, in Ingolstadt, Duchy of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. Maria Anna arrived in Spain in the spring of 1690. Carlos II and Maria Anna of Neuberg were married in person on May 14, 1690, in the Church of the Convent of San Diego, within the complex of the Royal Palace of Valladolid in Spain.

As the years passed, it became increasingly clear that King Carlos II would never have an heir. It seemed that Carlos was almost certainly infertile and his autopsy did reveal he had only one atrophied testicle. During her marriage Maria Anna claimed to be pregnant on several occasions and encouraged Carlos to undergo treatments to increase his fertility, making it clear the failure to produce an heir was not her fault.

In 1698, Carlos II became seriously ill and seemed likely to die. Because Carlos was childless, the closest heirs were from the Habsburgs who ruled in Austria or the French House of Bourbon. The acquisition by either Austria or France of the undivided Spanish Empire would change the European balance of power. Negotiations took place immediately to attempt to resolve the issue without another war. The 1698 Treaty of The Hague negotiated by France, Great Britain, and the Dutch Republic would make six-year-old Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria the heir to the Spanish throne, with Spain’s European possessions divided between France and Austria. Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria was the grandson of Carlos’ full sister Margarita Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. However, the Spanish did not agree with this. Carlos published his will naming Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria as his heir but stipulating that he would inherit an undivided Spanish Empire. In February 1699, Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria died from smallpox, and the Treaty of The Hague was a useless piece of paper.

In September 1700, Carlos became ill again, and by September 28, 1700, was no longer able to eat. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the only child of King Louis XIV of France and Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain, Carlos’ half-sister, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, in his will, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, and the grandson of Carlos’ half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor.

Tomb of Carlos II, King of Spain; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Carlos II, King of Spain died on November 1, 1700, five days before his thirty-ninth birthday at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain. He was buried in the Pantheon of Kings in the Royal Crypt of the Monastery of El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. Carlos II was succeeded by his half-sister’s grandson Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou who reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in the Kingdom of Spain today.

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Charles II of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Maria Anna of Neuburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_of_Neuburg> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Marie Louise d’Orléans – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Louise_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
Es.wikipedia.org. 2022. Carlos II de España – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_II_de_Espa%C3%B1a> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iv-king-of-spain-filip-iii-king-of-portugal/> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/mariana-of-austria-queen-of-spain/> [Accessed 18 October 2022].
Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Wedding of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and Alix of Hesse and by Rhine

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Nicholas and Alexandra’s Feodorovna engagement photo; Credit – Wikipedia

Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine were married on November 26, 1894, at the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.

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Nicholas’ Early Life

Embed from Getty Images

Nicholas (standing behind his father) with his parents and siblings

Nicholas was the eldest of the four sons and the eldest of the six children of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Empress Maria Feodorovna (born Princess Dagmar of Denmark). He was born May 18, 1868, at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, Russia. Nicholas’s brother Alexander, who was one year younger, died at the age of ten months from meningitis, and so Nicholas was raised with his brother George who was three years younger in a relatively simple manner considering their status. Nicholas and George slept in cots, woke up at 6:00 AM, took cold baths, and ate simple, plain meals. Their rooms were furnished with simple furniture. Both brothers were fluent in Russian, English, French, German, and Danish. The boys enjoyed shooting and fly fishing with their English tutor.

On March 13, 1881, Nicholas’ grandfather Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia was assassinated in St. Petersburg, a victim of a bombing by the underground organization, Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will), and Nicholas’ father succeeded to the Russian throne as Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia. 13-year-old Nicholas became the Tsesarevich of Russia, the heir to the throne.

Unofficial Royalty: Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia

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Alix’s Early Life

Alix (in the middle, being hugged by her mother) with her parents and siblings, 1876; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine was the sixth of the seven children and the fourth of the five daughters of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria. Alix was born on June 6, 1872, at the Neues Palais in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany,

Nicknamed Sunny, she was a happy and beautiful child. The family lived a rather simple life, as they were not very wealthy by royal standards. In 1877, Alix’s father became the reigning Grand Duke, but the children’s lives remained mostly unchanged. They spent time with their grandmother Queen Victoria each year, relishing their visits to ‘Grandmama’ and looking forward to the next one. This relationship would become even closer in the coming years.

Tragedy struck the family in 1873, a week before Alix’s first birthday. Alix’s two-and-a-half-year-old brother Friedrich, known as Frittie had been diagnosed with hemophilia after a cut on his ear took several days to stop bleeding. On May 29, 1873, Frittie and his brother Ernst were playing in their mother’s bedroom. Ernst went into another room to look through the window which was at an angle to the window in Alice’s bedroom. While Alice was out of the room to get Ernst, Frittie climbed up to the window in the bedroom to try and see Ernst. From all accounts, the chair he had climbed on tipped over and Frittie fell from the window to the ground below. Due to his hemophilia, Frittie died from his injuries. As it turned out, Alix and her sister Irene were hemophilia carriers.

Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Family

Tragedy struck again in 1878, when Alix was six-and-a-half years old. In November 1878, the family began to fall ill with diphtheria. Alix’s mother Alice quickly slipped into her role as caregiver, nursing her husband and children back to health. Sadly, her youngest child, four-year-old May, succumbed to the illness and died on November 16, 1878. Alice tried to keep the news from her husband and other children until they were in better health. Eventually telling her son Ernst, who was quite devoted to the young May, Alice broke the one rule of nursing this horrible illness. She comforted him with hugs and a kiss. Soon after, Alice herself began to fall ill and was also diagnosed with diphtheria. Her condition quickly deteriorated, and in the early morning of December 14, 1878, the 17th anniversary of the death of her father Prince Albert, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine died at the age of 35. Queen Victoria stepped in to serve as a surrogate mother to the children, managing nearly every detail of their lives.

On March 13, 1892, when Alix was nineteen years old, her father Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine died from a heart attack at the age of 54. Alix deeply felt the loss of her father because he had been her only parent since she was six years old.

Unofficial Royalty: Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia

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The Engagement

Queen Victoria, surrounded by her extended family, gathered for the wedding of Alix’s brother Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine to his first cousin Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1894. Nicholas and Alix are standing in the first row, second and third on the left. The photo was taken on April 21, 1894, the day after their engagement; Credit – Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2022

In June 1884, 16-year-old Nicholas attended the wedding of his uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich to Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (Ella) in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was during the wedding festivities that he first met the bride’s younger sister, 12-year-old Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine. The two were second cousins through their mutual great-grandparents, Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his wife Wilhelmine of Baden.

In 1889, 17-year-old Alix visited her sister Ella in St. Petersburg, Russia for six weeks. Alix and 21-year-old Nicholas saw each other at receptions, suppers, and balls. Nicholas took Alix ice skating and sledding. Before Alix returned home, Nicholas persuaded his parents to give her a special tea dance at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo which later would become their favorite residence. Nicholas was smitten with Alix. In 1892, he wrote in his diary: “ My dream is someday to marry Alix H. I have loved her a long time and still deeper and stronger since 1889 when she spent six weeks in St. Petersburg. For a long time, I resisted my feeling that my dearest dream will come true.”

After the 1889 meeting, Alix thought Nicholas to be polite, charming, and gentle and liked his blue eyes. She noticed that Nicholas quietly persisted in pursuing her against his parents’ wishes. However, as a devout Lutheran, she was unwilling to give up her religion and convert to the Russian Orthodox religion, as would be required of her. Alix did have feelings for Nicholas and this caused her much turmoil, doubt, and self-examination.

A possible marriage between Alix and Nicholas was met with opposition from both Nicholas’ parents, and Alix’s grandmother Queen Victoria. Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna felt that Alix was not suitable enough for their son, in part because of their dislike and distrust for all things German. They also hoped for a higher-profile bride and future Empress. As for Queen Victoria, she quite liked Nicholas personally. Ironically, considering what would happen to both Alix and her sister Ella in 1918, Queen Victoria also felt uneasy about another of her granddaughters marrying into the Russian Imperial Family. Instead, Queen Victoria pushed for a marriage between Alix and her first cousin Prince Albert Victor, known as Prince Eddy. Eddy was then second in line to the British throne after his father, the future King Edward VII. Eddy did propose and Alix rejected his proposal. Eddy died in 1892, resulting in his brother eventually succeeding to the throne as King George V.

In April 1894 in Coburg, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, Nicholas represented his father at the wedding of Alix’s brother Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Nicholas and Alix’s mutual first cousin. The wedding was attended by Queen Victoria, the grandmother of both the bride and groom, and much of her extended family. Before Nicholas left for Coburg, after much pestering, he received permission from his father to propose to Alix.

When Nicholas arrived in Coburg, Alix greeted him at the train station. That evening, they went to dinner and an operetta with the family. The next morning Nicholas proposed to Alix. Tearfully, Alix rejected his proposal because she objected to changing her religion. Later that day Queen Victoria arrived in Coburg. Apparently, she had a change of heart and now supported the marriage. Queen Victoria told her granddaughter that the Russian Orthodox religion was really not all that different from Lutheranism. The following day, Alix’s first cousin Wilhelm II, German Empire had a conversation with Alix, insisting that it was her duty to marry Nicholas, despite her religious objection. However, it was Alix’s sister Ella who made all the difference. Although Ella’s husband Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was the son of an Emperor of All Russia, he was far removed from the throne and Ella was not required to convert to Russian Orthodoxy. However, she had converted voluntarily and she told Alix that a change of religion was not an enormous or unusual experience.

On April 19, 1894, during the wedding ceremony, a still saddened Nicholas closely watched Alix. Later in the day, he wrote in his diary, “How much I would have liked to have been able to look into the depths of Alix’s soul.” However, by the next day, things had completely changed. Alix had decided to marry Nicholas. The jubilant Nicholas wrote in his diary: “A marvelous, unforgettable day. Today is the day of my engagement to my darling, adorable Alix. After ten she came to Aunt Miechen [Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the wife of Nicholas’ eldest uncle Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich] and after a talk with her, we came to an understanding. O God, what a mountain has rolled from my shoulders…The whole day I have been walking in a dream, without fully realizing what was happening to me…I went straight with Alix to the Queen [Victoria]… The whole family was simply enraptured.”

Alix’s first cousin Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, who was the same age as Alix, wrote in her memoir: “I remember sitting in my room. I was quietly getting ready for a luncheon party when Alix stormed into my room, threw her arms around my neck, and said, ‘I’m going to marry Nicky!’”

The wedding was planned for the spring of 1895 but another tragedy caused those plans to be disrupted.

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Disruption of the Wedding Plans

Alexander III’s death in Livadia by M.Zichy (Hermitage); Credit – Wikipedia

In 1894, Nicholas’s father Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia became ill with nephritis, a kidney disorder. Alexander was on his way to the Greek isle of Corfu where he hoped to recuperate at Mon Repos, the villa of his wife’s sister-in-law, Queen Olga of Greece. Born Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, Queen Olga was also Alexander III’s first cousin. However, when Alexander reached Crimea, he was too ill to continue traveling and stayed at the Small Palace in Livadia, his home in Crimea. It was soon obvious that Alexander III would not survive and various relatives came to Crimea.

Alexander III instructed Nicholas to send for Alix, who arrived on October 22, 1894. Despite his ailing health, Alexander III insisted on greeting Alix in full uniform and gave her his blessing. Alexander III’s condition rapidly deteriorated and he died on November 1, 1894, at the age of 49, leaving the 26-year-old Nicholas as the new Emperor of All Russia. Since her engagement in April, Alix had been receiving instruction in the Russian Orthodox religion. The day after the death of Alexander III, Alix was received into the Russian Orthodox Church and was given the title and name Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia. On November 18, 1894, after two weeks of Russian Orthodox ceremonies, and a procession from Crimea to St. Petersburg, via Moscow, Nicholas’s father was interred at the Cathedral of Peter and Paul in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Nicholas and Alix’s wedding had been scheduled for the spring of 1895. Planning for the wedding had been ongoing since the April engagement and would have included a week of public celebrations and parades. However, Alexander III’s death necessitated a change in the wedding plans due to court mourning. Nicholas wanted to be married privately in Livadia before his father’s funeral and his mother agreed to this. However, his uncles, the brothers of his father, Grand Dukes Vladimir, Alexei, Sergei, and Paul argued that, as Nicholas was now the Emperor of All Russia, the wedding should be held in St. Petersburg with some pomp. With Nicholas unwilling to wait until the end of official mourning to marry, it was decided to hold the wedding on his mother’s birthday (November 26), which would allow for court mourning to be somewhat relaxed.

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The Wedding Site

The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia; Credit – By Alex ‘Florstein’ Fedorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49250446

The wedding site was the Grand Church of the Winter Palace on the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the photo above of the Winter Palace, the golden cupola of the Grand Church can be seen on the left side of the photo. The Grand Church of the Winter Palace was a Russian Orthodox church that had cathedral status and was the site of most Romanov christenings, weddings, conversions of foreign princesses marrying into the family, and memorial services.

Unofficial Royalty: Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia

The Grand Church of the Winter Palace; Credit – By Januarius-zick – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42460200

I have visited the Winter Palace on the banks of the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia and it is truly awe-inspiring. It was the official residence of the Russian Emperors and Empresses from 1732 to 1917. Today, part of the palace houses the State Hermitage Museum, one of the world’s premier art museums. The Winter Palace’s monumental scale was intended to reflect the might and power of Imperial Russia and it is still a mighty and powerful building. It is said to contain 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms, and 117 staircases.

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The Wedding Guests

Many of the foreign royalty who had come to St. Petersburg for the funeral of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia remained in Russia for the wedding.

Family of the Groom

Empress Dowager Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (born Dagmar of Denmark), mother of Nicholas II
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, sister of Nicholas II, and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia, brother-in-law and first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, brother of Nicholas II
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, sister of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, paternal uncle and his wife Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna of Russia (born Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin)
Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, paternal uncle of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, paternal uncle of Nicholas II, and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia (born Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine), sister of Alexandra
Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, paternal uncle of Nicholas II
Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia (born Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg), paternal great aunt by marriage of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II, and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna of Russia (born Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg)
Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Duchess Vera of Württemberg (born Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna of Russia), first cousin once removed of Nicholas II (representing the King Wilhelm II of Württemberg)
Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia, paternal great-uncle of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Christian IX, King of Denmark, maternal grandfather of Nicholas II
George I, King of the Hellenes, maternal uncle of Nicholas II, and his wife Queen Olga of the Hellenes (born Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia), first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Prince George of Greece and Denmark, first cousin of Nicholas II
Prince Valdemar of Denmark, maternal uncle of Nicholas II

Family of the Bride

Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, brother of Alexandra
Prince Heinrich of Prussia, brother-in-law and first cousin of Alexandra, and Princess Heinrich of Prussia (born Irene of Hesse and by Rhine), sister of Alexandra (representing
Wilhelm II, German Emperor, first cousin of Alexandra)
The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom), maternal uncle of Alexandra, and The Princess of Wales (born Alexandra of Denmark), maternal aunt of Nicholas II (representing Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, maternal grandmother of Alexandra)
The Duke of York (the future King George V of the United Kingdom), first cousin of both Nicholas II and Alexandra
Prince Alfred of the United Kingdom, Duke of Edinburgh and Sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, maternal uncle of Alexandra, and The Duchess of Edinburg and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia), paternal aunt of Nicholas II
Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania (the future King Ferdinand I of Romania), husband of Marie of Edinburgh, Crown Princess of Romania, first cousin of both Nicholas II and Alexandra (representing King Carol I of Romania)

Foreign Royalty

Duke Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg, second cousin once removed of Nicholas II (representing Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin)
Prince Wilhelm of Baden and Princess Maria Maximilianovna of Baden (born Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg), second cousin once removed of both Nicholas and Alexandra, and first cousin once removed of Nicholas II (representing Friedrich I, Grand Duke of Baden)
Prince Eugen Maximilianovich Romanowsky, 5th Duke of Leuchtenberg, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Prince George Maximilianovich Romanowsky (the future 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg), first cousin once removed of Nicholas II, and his wife Princess Anastasia of Leuchtenberg (born Anastasia of Montenegro)
Duke Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg, second cousin once removed, and Duchess Eugenia Maximilianovna of Oldenburg (born Eugenia Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg), first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, second cousin of Nicholas II
Duke Konstantin Petrovich of Oldenburg, second cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, second cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Duke Karl Michael of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, second cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Prince Albrecht of Saxe-Altenburg, third cousin once removed of both Nicholas and Alexandra, and Princess Helene of Saxe-Altenburg (born Helene of Mecklenburg-Strelitz), second cousin once removed of Nicholas II (representing Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg)

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Groomsmen

In Romanov weddings, there were no bridesmaids, only groomsmen. Their main job was to hold the gold marriage crowns over the heads of the bride and groom during the Russian Orthodox wedding ceremony. The groomsmen for Nicholas and Alexandra’s wedding were:

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, brother of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, first cousin of Nicholas II
Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia, first cousin once removed of Nicholas II
Prince George of Greece and Denmark, first cousin of Nicholas II

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The Wedding Attire

Nicholas wore the ceremonial dress uniform of a colonel in the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. The red tunic of the uniform was decorated with gold braid, gold epaulets, several rows of medals, and the orange sash of the Order of Hesse and by Rhine. The dark blue breeches were trimmed with gold braid.

Alexandra wore a dress modeled on the traditional Russian court dress. The silver brocade bodice was adorned with diamonds and embroidered with a leaf design in gold thread. The neckline was edged in white ermine and revealed Alexandra’s neck and shoulder. The long sleeves were edged in white ermine and hung in folds below the waist. The silver brocade overskirt was open in the front in an inverted V, revealing a silver tissue underskirt edged in ermine. The overskirt spread out from the waist into a fifteen-foot train edged in white ermine.

Alexandra’s hair was styled in the traditional style of Romanov brides. Her hair was in a bun at the back of her head and two ringlets that hung down to her shoulders were attached on either side of her head. She wore the same lace wedding veil designed by her grandfather Prince Albert for her mother Princess Alice. Alexandra’s sisters Victoria, Elisabeth, and Irene also wore the same veil when they got married. On her head, Alexandra wore the diamond Romanov nuptial tiara, formed like the traditional Russian kokoshnik headdress. In addition, she wore the diamond Romanov nuptial crown with a cross. For more information on the Romanov wedding jewelry see: The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor: Russian Imperial Wedding Splendor

The photo below is not Alexandra but rather the first cousin of Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna. The photo was taken on the day of Elena Vladimirovna’s wedding to Prince Nicholas of Greece in 1902. There is no photo of Alexandra on her wedding day but she would have been dressed in a similar manner. Notice on Elena’s head the Romanov nuptial tiara, in the front and the Romanov nuptial crown with the cross in the back.

Maria Alexandrovna’s niece Elena Vladimirovna dressed as her aunt would have been dressed on her wedding day; Credit – Wikipedia

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The Wedding

The Wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra by Laurits Tuxen, 1895; Credit – Wikipedia

As the guns from the Peter and Paul Fortress, just across the Neva River, fired a fifty-one-gun salute, the wedding procession began. Three thousand guests had been invited to witness the procession and they lined the halls of the Winter Palace. Proceeded by one hundred officials in pairs, Nicholas’ mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna led Alexandra at the head of the procession, with Nicholas right behind. Members of Nicholas’s entourage came next, followed by the foreign royal guests headed by King Christian IX of Denmark, Nicholas’ maternal grandfather. Members of the Russian imperial family came next followed by Russian high-ranking government officials. As the procession reached the 1812 Gallery, members of the diplomatic corps, the Imperial Council, and the Council of Ministers joined the procession.

This 1894 painting by Ilya Repin shows the golden nuptial crowns being held over the heads of the bride and groom and shows where the guests stood; Credit – Wikipedia

Father Ioann Yanishev, the private imperial confessor and chief of the palace clergy, along with other clergymen, conducted the wedding service. After Nicholas had walked up the several steps to the dais, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna led Alexandra up the steps. Nicholas and Alexandra stood on a crimson carpet before a lectern on which lay the Gospels in a bejeweled cover. Father Yanishev announced the betrothal of Nicholas to Alexandra and then handed them their rings. After exchanging the rings three times in recognition of the Holy Trinity, Nicholas and Alexandra knelt and exchanged formal wedding vows. The four groomsmen took turns holding the golden nuptial crowns over the heads of the bride and groom, exchanging them three times. Nicholas and Alexandra joined hands and were led around the altar three times. They then knelt before the lectern and kissed a gold cross. Following a final prayer, Nicholas and Alexandra were pronounced man and wife. The church bells rang across St. Petersburg and guns were fired from the Peter and Paul Fortress.

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After the Wedding

After the wedding, it was straight back to strict court mourning. There was no wedding breakfast or reception, and no honeymoon trip. Nicholas and Alexandra changed into traveling clothes and left the Winter Palace in an open landau drawn by four horses for the nearby Anichkov Palace, where Nicholas had spent his childhood. Nicholas wrote in his diary, “The streets were so crowded that we could hardly drive through them.” Nicholas saluted the crowds and Alexandra, in tears, nervously repeatedly bowed her head. The couple stopped at Kazan Cathedral, crowded with people, to pray before its famous icon. The landau proceeded to Anichkov Palace where the newlyweds were met by Nicholas’ mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna with the traditional Russian welcome of bread and salt signifying plenty and good luck. Nicholas and Alexandra spent their first night as husband and wife in Nicholas’ former childhood bedroom. Meanwhile, in England, Queen Victoria held a banquet at Windsor Castle to celebrate the wedding, toasting the bride and groom and reading telegraphs from the new Empress Alexandra and from The Prince and Princess of Wales, who had traveled to Russia as her representatives.

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Children

Nicholas and Alexandra with their children (circa 1913-1914); Credit – Wikipedia

Nicholas and Alexandra had four daughters and one son. Unfortunately, Alexandra was a hemophilia carrier and her son was a hemophiliac.

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (1895 – 1918)
Grand Duchess TatianaNikolaevna of Russia (1897 – 1918)
Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (1899 – 1918)
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (1901 – 1918)
Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich Russia (1904 – 1918)

Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children, along with three of their most loyal servants and the court doctor, were shot to death by a firing squad during the Russian Revolution on July 17, 1918.

Unofficial Royalty Execution of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and His Family

Works Cited

Ceremony of the wedding of Nicholas and Alexandra. Available at: https://www.alexanderpalace.org/wedding/ (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
King, Greg. (2006) The Court of the Last Tsar: Pomp, Power, and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II. Hoboken: Wiley.
Laurits Regner Tuxen (1853-1927) – The Marriage of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, 26th November 1894 (no date) Royal Collection Trust. Available at: https://www.rct.uk/collection/404465/the-marriage-of-nicholas-ii-tsar-of-russia-26th-november-1894 (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
Massie, Robert K. (1967) Nicholas and Alexandra. New York: Random House.
Mehl, Scott. (2015) Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/princess-alix-of-hesse-and-by-rhine-empress-alexandra-feodorovna-of-russia/ (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
Mehl, Scott. (2015) Nicholas II of Russia, Emperor of All Russia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/tsar-nicholas-ii-of-russia/ (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
Royal Wedding,: 1894-12-01: Weekly Mail – Welsh Newspapers (1894) ROYAL WEDDING,|1894-12-01|Weekly Mail – Welsh Newspapers. Available at: https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3369740/3369752/105/ (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
The Court Jeweller (2021) Romanov Splendor: The wedding tiara and jewels of Russia’s last Empress, The Court Jeweller. Available at: https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2021/11/romanov-splendor-the-wedding-tiara-and-jewels-of-russias-last-empress.html (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
The life and tragedy of Alexandra – chapter V – marriage and first year in Russia. Available at: https://www.alexanderpalace.org/alexandra/V.html (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
To re-form the Russian Ministry; the usual pomp will be wanting in the marriage of czar Nicholas II. (1894) The New York Times. The New York Times. Available at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1894/11/19/106879632.html?pageNumber=1 (Accessed: November 22, 2022).
Wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Nicholas_II_and_Alexandra_Feodorovna (Accessed: November 22, 2022).

Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant

Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant from Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on March 15, 1275, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, Margaret of England was the sixth but the third surviving daughter and the tenth of the 14 – 16 children of Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, the first of his two wives. Margaret’s paternal grandparents were Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Toledo and King of León, and Galicia and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale in her own right.

Margaret’s parents had 14 – 16 children. Only five daughters and one son survived to adulthood. The eleven siblings of Margaret listed below were those who were named and survived infancy for at least a couple of months. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth. For instance, Margaret’s sister Joan was born in Acre (now in Israel) while her parents were on a crusade, and was called Joan of Acre.

Katherine of England (born and died 1264), died in infancy
Joan of England (born and died 1265), died in infancy
John of England (1266 – 1271), died in childhood
Henry of England (1268 – 1274), died in childhood
Eleanor of England (1269 – 1298), married Henri III, Count of Bar, had one son and one daughter
Joan of Acre (1272 – 1307), married (1) Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, had four children (2) Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, had four children
Alfonso, Earl of Chester (1273 – 1284), died in childhood, heir apparent to the English throne but never became king
Berengaria of England (1276 – 1278), died in childhood
Mary of Woodstock (1279 – 1332), a Benedictine nun in Amesbury, Wiltshire
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (1282 – 1316), married (1) John I, Count of Holland, no children (2) Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, 3rd Earl of Essex, had ten children
King Edward II of England (1284 – 1327), married Isabella of France, had four children

Early fourteenth-century manuscript showing Margaret’s parents King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile; Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret’s parents Edward and Eleanor had a loving marriage and were inseparable throughout their married life. King Edward I is one of the few English kings of this time period to apparently be faithful to his wife. Eleanor accompanied her husband on crusade and other military campaigns. Because her parents were often away, Margaret lived with her siblings in her own household at the royal court.

Margaret and her husband Jean II, Duke of Brabant, among the statues in the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium; Credit – By Mappo – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=120610127

At an early age, Margaret’s father betrothed her to the future Jean II, Duke of Brabant, the son of Jean I, Duke of Brabant and Margaret of Flanders. The Duchy of Brabant consisted of much of present-day Belgium and part of present-day the Netherlands. Today, the title of Duke or Duchess of Brabant is the title of the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. On July 8, 1290, at Westminster Abbey in London, England, Margaret and Jean, both fourteen years old, were married. For two years after their marriage, Margaret and Jean lived in England. In 1292, they settled in the Duchy of Brabant. Margaret was unhappy at the Brabant court and unhappy in her marriage. She was forced to accept her husband’s mistresses and their illegitimate children who were raised at court along with Margaret’s only child.

Margaret and Jean had one son:

Jean III, Duke of Brabant (1300 – 1355), married Marie d’Évreux, had six children

Four months after her marriage, Margaret’s mother Eleanor of Castile died. Only six of Edward I and Eleanor’s children, five daughters and one son, were still living. The only son, the future King Edward II, was the youngest child and just six years old. King Edward I had to be worried about the succession, and a second marriage with sons would ensure the succession. On September 10, 1299, 60-year-old King Edward I married 17-year-old Margaret of France, daughter of King Philippe III of France and his second wife Marie of Brabant.

Margaret had three half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Margaret of France:

Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300 – 1338), married (1) Alice de Hales, had three children (2) Mary de Brewes, no children
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (1301 – 1330), married Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell, had four children including Joan, 4th Countess of Kent who married King Edward III‘s eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales (The Black Prince) and was the mother of King Richard II of England
Eleanor of England (1306 – 1311), died young

On May 3, 1294, Jean I, Duke of Brabant, Margaret’s father-in-law was seriously wounded in a jousting tournament and died. He was succeeded by his son as Jean II, Duke of Brabant and Margaret became Duchess of Brabant. In 1307, Margaret’s father King Edward I of England died and was succeeded by Margaret’s younger brother King Edward II. In January 1308, Margaret and her husband traveled to Boulogne, France where King Edward II married Isabella of France, daughter of King Philippe IV of France and Joan I, Queen of Navarre in her own right. Margaret and Jean also attended King Edward II’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on February 25, 1308.

In 1311, Margaret’s husband Jean II, Duke of Brabant became ill. Because of his illness, Jean II wanted to ensure peace with France so that his son would have a peaceful transition of power. Jean II arranged a marriage for his eleven-year-old son to eight-year-old Marie of Évreux, the granddaughter of King Philippe III of France, and the niece of King Philippe IV, the current King of France. The young couple was married in 1311. Exactly one month after signing the Charter of Kortenberg, basically a constitution for the Duchy of Brabant that provided among other things, a representative council, Margaret’s husband Jean II, Duke of Brabant died, aged 37, on October 27, 1312, in Tervuren, Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium. He was interred at the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula in Brussels, Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium.

Margaret saw the birth of all her grandchildren, including Jeanne, Duchess of Brabant, who succeeded her father Jean III, Duke of Brabant in 1355 due to the deaths of all her brothers. Margaret’s exact death date is unknown. She died most likely in the Duchy of Brabant, sometime after March 11, 1333. On that date, fifty-eight-year-old Margaret sent a letter to her nephew King Edward III of England. After March 11, 1333, her name disappears from the historical record. Margaret was interred with her husband at the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula in Brussels, Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium but where they were buried in the cathedral is now unknown.

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2022. John III, Duke of Brabant – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_III,_Duke_of_Brabant> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_of_England,_Duchess_of_Brabant> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
Flantzer, Susan, 2013. Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-28-1290-death-of-eleanor-of-castile-first-wife-of-king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Edward I of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-i-of-england/> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Marguerite d’Angleterre (1275-1333) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_d%27Angleterre_(1275-1333)> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Jean II de Brabant — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_II_de_Brabant> [Accessed 15 October 2022].
Jones, Dan, 2012. The Plantagenets. New York: Viking.
Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.
Wilson-Lee, Kelcey, 2019. Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Princesses of King Edward Longshanks. New York: Pegasus.

Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein

Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein; Credit – lgt.com

Philipp Erasmus Alois Ferdinand Maria Sebaldus was born in Zurich, Switzerland on August 19, 1946. He was the second of the five children and the second of the four sons of Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein and Countess Georgina von Wilczek (Gina).

Prince Franz Josef II and Princess Gina with their four eldest children – Nora (seated next to her mother) and (left to right, standing) Prince Nikolaus, Prince Philipp, and Prince Hans-Adam; Credit – lux-arazzi.blogspot.com

Philipp has four siblings:

Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein (born 1945), married Countess Marie Aglaë von Wchinitz und Tettau, had three sons and one daughter
Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (born 1947), married Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg, had two sons and two daughters
Princess Nora of Liechtenstein (born 1950), married Vicente Sartorius y Cabeza de Vaca, 3rd Marqués de Mariño, had one daughter
Prince Wenzel of Liechtenstein (1962 – 1991), unmarried

Prince Philipp attended elementary school in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and then attended two secondary schools, the Schottengymnasium in Vienna, Austria, and the Lyceum Alpinum in Zuoz, Switzerland. He studied history at the Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms University in Bonn, then in West Germany, and now in Germany. Philipp received a Ph.D. in social sciences from the University of Basel in Switzerland. His thesis was on Liechtenstein’s economic history during the 18th century.

Prince Philipp married Isabelle de l’Arbre de Malander at their wedding; Credit – http://www.noblesseetroyautes.com/

Prince Philipp married Isabelle de l’Arbre de Malander on September 11, 1971, at the Abbaye Notre Dame de la Cambre in Brussels, Belgium. Isabelle is from Belgium and the daughter of Jean-Baptiste de l’Arbre de Malander and Guillemette Grassal. Even though she is not royal, Isabelle has a royal connection. Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians, the wife of Albert I, King of the Belgians, born Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, is her godmother.

They had three sons:

Prince Alexander of Liechtenstein (born 1972), married Astrid Barbara Kohl, had one daughter
Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein (born 1974), unmarried
Prince Rudolf Ferdinand of Liechtenstein (born 1975), married İlhan Tılsım Tanberk, had two daughters and one son

Prince Philipp worked in banking and finance. In 1979 Philipp became chairman of the board of the Liechtensteinische Landesbank, owned by the Liechtenstein government. In 1981, he became a member of the board of directors of The Liechtenstein Global Trust, owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein through The Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation. Since 1998, Philipp has been chairman of the board of directors of The Liechtenstein Global Trust.

Embed from Getty Images

Isabelle and Philipp arrive at the 2014 wedding of Prince Amedeo of Belgium and Elisabetta Maria Rosboch Von Wolkenstein

Philipp and his family lived in Basel, Switzerland, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and London, England before moving to France, where he worked in private banking. Philipp and his wife Isabelle do not undertake official duties on behalf of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein. They live in Vaduz, Liechtenstein and Paris, France, and are often seen at royal events in Europe.

Works Cited

Philipp de Liechtenstein (2021) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_de_Liechtenstein (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philipp_of_Liechtenstein (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Saad719, ~ (2021) Wedding of Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein, 1971, The Royal Watcher. Available at: https://royalwatcherblog.com/2021/09/11/wedding-of-prince-philipp-of-liechtenstein-1971/ (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Svenja (2014) Luxarazzi 101: Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein, Luxarazzi. Available at: http://www.luxarazzi.com/2014/01/luxarazzi-101-prince-philipp-of.html (Accessed: November 18, 2022).

Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain

Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Mariana of Austria was the second wife of her uncle Felipe IV, King of Spain, and Regent of Spain for her son Carlos II, King of Spain from 1665 – 1675. Born Maria Anna of Austria (she was called Mariana after her marriage to Felipe IV) on December 24, 1634, in Wiener Neustadt, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire, now in Austria, she was the second of the six children and the elder of the two daughters of first cousins Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria and his first wife Maria Anna of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Portugal. Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria and his first wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. Mariana’s maternal grandparents were Felipe III, King of Spain and Margaret of Austria.

Mariana, on the right, with her brother Ferdinand, circa 1636; Credit Wikipedia

Mariana had five siblings but only two of her siblings survived childhood:

Ferdinand, King of the Romans (1633 – 1654), unmarried, died from smallpox
Archduke Philip August of Austria (1637 – 1639), died in childhood
Archduke Maximilian Thomas of Austria (1638 – 1639), died in infancy
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 – 1705), married (1) his niece and first cousin, Mariana’s daughter Margarita Theresa of Spain, had four children but only one survived childhood, died in childbirth (2) Claudia Felicitas of Austria, had two daughters who died in infancy, died from tuberculosis (3) Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, had ten children
Archduchess Maria of Austria (born and died 1646), died in infancy

Mariana’s parents Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III and Maria Anna of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

When Mariana was twelve-years-old her 39-year-old mother died. On May 12, 1646, Mariana’s pregnant mother Maria Anna suddenly felt ill with a fever and heavy bleeding. She died the next morning, and her unborn child, a girl named Maria, was delivered by cesarean section but she lived only a few hours.

In 1648, Mariana’s father married sixteen-year-old Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Tyrol, daughter of Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and Claudia de’ Medici. A year later, Maria Leopoldine died in childbirth giving birth to Mariana’s half-brother who died at the age of fourteen:

Archduke Karl Joseph of Austria (1649 – 1664), died in his teens

In 1650, Mariana’s father made a third marriage to 21-year-old Eleonora Gonzaga, born a Princess of Mantua, Nevers, and Rethel. Eleanora was the daughter of Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, the heir of the Duchy of Mantua, and his wife and cousin Maria Gonzaga, heiress to the Duchy of Montferrat.

Mariana had four half-siblings from her father’s marriage to Eleonora Gonzaga but only two survived childhood:

Archduchess Theresia Maria Josefa of Austria (1652 – 1653), died in infancy
Archduchess Eleonora Maria of Austria (1653 – 1697), married (1) Michal Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland, no children (2) Charles Léopold V, Duke of Lorraine, had six children
Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria (1654 – 1689), married Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, had two sons who both died on the day of their birth, died from tuberculosis
Archduke Ferdinand Josef Alois of Austria (1657 – 1658), died in infancy

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and they wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently among themselves. In 1646, continuing the Habsburg practice of intermarriage, King Felipe IV of Spain, Mariana’s uncle, the brother of her mother, arranged a marriage for his son and heir Balthasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias with his first cousin Mariana. However, Balthasar Carlos died three months later from smallpox, leaving his father with no male heir.

Mariana’s uncle and husband Felipe IV, King of Spain, circa 1644; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1644, Elisabeth of France, the wife of King Felipe IV of Spain, weakened by her multiple pregnancies and miscarriages, died at the age of forty-one, after miscarrying a son. After the death of his son Balthasar Carlos in 1646 left King Felipe IV with no male heir, he arranged to marry his son’s former fiancée Mariana. As Mariana was still young, the marriage was delayed. On October 7, 1649, the 44-year-old Felipe IV married his 14-year-old niece Mariana in Navalcarnero, outside Madrid, Spain. Of course, this marriage led to more inbreeding in the House of Habsburg.

Mariana and Felipe IV had five children but only two survived childhood:

Margarita Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1651 – 1673), married her maternal uncle and first cousin Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, had four children, only one survived infancy
Maria Ambrosia de la Concepción of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1655), died in infancy
Felipe Prospero of Austria, Prince of Asturias (1657 – 1661), died in childhood
Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (1658 – 1659), died in infancy
Carlos II, King of Spain (1661 – 1700) married (1) Marie Louise d’Orléans, no children (2) Maria Anna of Neuburg, no children

Mariana and King Felipe IV’s son King Carlos II of Spain had a severe type of mandibular prognathism (Habsburg jaw); Credit – Wikipedia

The Spanish House of Habsburg would end with the reign of Mariana and Felipe IV’s physically and mentally disabled son Carlos II, King of Spain. While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Carlos II had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation. Seven of his eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy. See the family tree of the ancestors of Carlos II, King of Spain at Wikipedia: Ancestors of Charles II of Spain. Carlos II’s Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw, was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. He did not learn to walk until he was eight and was unable to be educated as befitted the heir to the throne.

In early September 1665, Mariana’s husband Felipe IV began to feel unwell. His stools were bloody which meant he may have had dysentery. After great suffering, Felipe IV, King of Spain, aged 60, died on September 17, 1665, at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, located at the site of today’s Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. He was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Mariana was appointed Regent for their nearly four-year-old son Carlos II, King of Spain. In his will, Felipe IV ordered the creation of a government commission consisting of carefully selected important people from politics, the church and, society to assist Mariana in her role as Regent of Spain. Although Mariana ceased to be Regent when her son Carlos II reached the age of 14 on November 6, 1675, due to Carlos’ physical and mental issues, Mariana remained an influential figure during his reign, until her death.

The Mariana Islands, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, were named after Mariana. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first Europeans to see the islands while on a Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation under Magellan’s command. In 1667, Spain formally claimed the islands as a colony and established a capital on the largest island, Guam. The following year, Mariana approved the establishment of a Jesuit mission on the islands under Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores and Saint Pedro Calungsod. After the 1898 Spanish-American War, the Mariana Islands were ceded to the United States. Today, Guam is a United States territory and the Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth of the United States. The deepest trench in the Earth’s oceans, located to the southeast of the Mariana Islands, owes its name to Queen Mariana.

Mariana in her later years, circa 1683–1693; Credit – Wikipedia

Mariana survived her husband by thirty-one years, dying on May 16, 1696, at Uceda Palace in Madrid, Spain, at the age of sixty-one, probably from breast cancer. She was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Tomb of Queen Mariana of Spain; Credit – De AldanaN – Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15342544

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Charles II of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain> [Accessed 18 November 2022].
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_III,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iv-king-of-spain-filip-iii-king-of-portugal/> [Accessed 18 November 2022].
Mariana de Austria (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_de_Austria (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Mariana of Austria (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_of_Austria (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Maria Anna von Österreich (1634–1696) (2021) Wikipedia (German). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_von_%C3%96sterreich_(1634%E2%80%931696) (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Wheatcroft, Andrew (1995). The Habsburgs. London: Viking.

Prince Wenzel of Liechtenstein

Prince Wenzel of Liechtenstein; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Franz Josef Wenceslaus Georg Maria, known as Prince Wenzel was born on November 19, 1962, in Zürich, Switzerland. He was the youngest of the five children and the youngest of the four sons of Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein and Countess Georgina von Wilczek (Gina).

Wenzel had four elder siblings:

Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein (born 1945), married Countess Marie Aglaë von Wchinitz und Tettau, had three sons and one daughter
Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein (born 1946), married Isabelle de l’Arbre de Malander, had three sons
Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (born 1947), married Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg, had two sons and two daughters
Princess Nora of Liechtenstein (born 1950), married Vicente Sartorius y Cabeza de Vaca, 3rd Marqués de Mariño, had one daughter

Prince Wenzel on a 1970 postage stamp; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1982, Prince Wenzel entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England. A year later, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards, an infantry regiment of the British Army. Wenzel studied medicine at the University of Friborg and at the University of Zurich, both in Switzerland. At the time of his death, he worked as an intern at Rorschach Hospital in Rorschach, Saint-Gallen Canton, Switzerland, thirty-five miles from Vaduz, Liechtenstein, where he was living in the guest house at Vaduz Castle, the residence of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein.

On February 28, 1991, Prince Wenzel’s butler tried to wake him as usual via phone, but Wenzel did not answer the phone. The butler became concerned and upon entering the bedroom, he found Wenzel dead in his bed at the age of 28. Wenzel’s body was taken to the coroner at the Court of Justice in Saint-Gallen. We can presume there was an autopsy but the Princely Family of Liechtenstein kept silent and remains silent about the cause of death.

There has been a lot of speculation about the cause of Prince Wenzel’s death. Two stopwatches and an anesthesia mask were found on Wenzel’s bedside table. There have been speculations that Wenzel attempted a temporary cessation of breathing or a medical experiment that went awry. Suicide was another speculation. However, the night before, Wenzel had dined with his eldest brother Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein who commented, “I still can’t believe it, The night before we had talked so extensively about his plans!”

Prince Wenzel’s coffin; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Prince Wenzel’s funeral was held on March 6, 1991, at Vaduz Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St. Florin, in Vaduz, the capital of the Principality of Liechtenstein. Among the royalty who attended were Felipe, Prince of the Asturias (later King Felipe VI of Spain), Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, Archduchess Walburga of Austria, Archduchess Regina of Austria (wife of Archduke Otto of Austria, Head of the House of Habsburg), Prince Max of Bavaria and his wife (later Duke and Duchess in Bavaria), Erich, Hereditary Count von Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg (later Prince von Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg) and representatives of the families of the former monarchies of Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse, and Yugoslavia.

Prince Wenzel’s coffin being taken from Vaduz Cathedral to The Princely Crypt; Credit – The Esoteric Curiosa

Prince Wenzel was interred in The Princely Crypt, located next to Vaduz Cathedral near his parents Prince Franz Josef II and Princess Gina, who both died in 1989, within twenty-six days of each other.

Tomb of Prince Wenzel; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Works Cited

A mysterious end! the demise of Prince Wenzel von und zu Liechtenstein (2010) The Esoteric Curiosa. Available at: http://theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com/2010/10/mysterious-end-demise-of-prince-wenzel.html (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Flantzer, Susan. (2015) Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/franz-josef-ii-prince-of-liechtenstein/ (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Franz Josef Wenzel de Liechtenstein (1962–1991) (2021) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Josef_Wenzel_de_Liechtenstein_(1962%E2%80%931991) (Accessed: November 18, 2022).
Prince Franz Josef of Liechtenstein (1962–1991) (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Franz_Josef_of_Liechtenstein_(1962%E2%80%931991) (Accessed: November 18, 2022).

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Nicholas’ Early Life

Alix’s Early Life

The Engagement

Disruption of the Wedding Plans

The Wedding Site

The Wedding Guests

Groomsmen

The Wedding Attire

The Wedding

After the Wedding

Children

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