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September 21, 1327 – Death of King Edward II of England at Berkeley Castle in Berkeley, England, buried at Gloucester Cathedral in Gloucester, England
Edward II succeeded his father King Edward I in 1307. The granting of favors to Edward II’s favorites greatly displeased the English nobility. His wife and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March decided to depose Edward II resulting in his forced abdication. Edward II and Isabella’s son was crowned King Edward III, and Isabella and Mortimer served as regents for the teenage king. King Edward II was sent to Berkeley Castle where castle records indicate he was well treated. The circumstances of what happened to him are uncertain. One theory is that he died at Berkeley Castle on September 21, 1327, murdered on the orders of Isabella and Mortimer. When King Edward III reached the age of 18, he conducted a coup d’état against Mortimer and Isabella resulting in the execution of Mortimer and the confinement of his mother at Castle Rising in Norfolk.
Unofficial Royalty: King Edward II of England
September 21, 1411 – Birth of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, claimant to the English throne, father of King Edward IV of England and King Richard III of England
Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York was a claimant to the English throne, the leader of the Yorkist faction during the Wars of the Roses until he died in battle in 1460, the father of King Edward IV of England and King Richard III of England, and the great-grandfather of King Henry VIII of England and his sister Margaret Tudor. Through Margaret Tudor, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York is an ancestor of the British royal family and many other European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York
September 21, 1415 – Birth of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, Archduke of Austria in Innsbruck, County of Tyrol, now in Austria
Friedrich III reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 1440 to 1493, as Friedrich V, Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola from 1424 to 1493, and as Friedrich V, Duke (Duchy of Austria) and then Archduke of Austria (Archduchy of Austria) from 1457 to 1493. He would lay the foundation that would keep the House of Habsburg in a power play position until its fall after World War I. During his reign, Friedrich concentrated on re-uniting the Habsburg hereditary lands of Austria. In February 1493, Friedrich’s health began to worsen. He had an issue with his left leg which contemporary sources referred to as gangrene but in today’s modern medicine, the issue was caused by arteriosclerosis. Friedrich’s doctors decided to amputate the affected leg. Although Friedrich survived the amputation, he died on August 19, 1493, in Linz, Duchy of Austria, now in Austria, at the age of 77. Contemporary sources say the cause of his death was complications from the leg amputation, old age, or dysentery-like diarrhea from eating melon.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, Archduke of Austria
September 21, 1558 – Death of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, at the Monastery of Yuste in Extremadura, Spain.; originally buried at the Monastery of Yuste, reburied at the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in El Escorial, Spain
Best known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles was one of the most powerful ever monarchs and had a large number of titles due to his vast inheritance of the Burgundian, Spanish, and Austrian realms. He was the second of the six children and the elder of the two sons of Philip of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, the ruler of the Burgundian State from the House of Habsburg, and Juana I, Queen of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara.
Unofficial Royalty: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy
September 21, 1640 – Birth of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, son of King Louis XIII of France and brother of King Louis XIV of France, at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
During the English Civil War, Philippe’s paternal aunt Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I of England, and her youngest child and Philippe’s first cousin Henrietta sought refuge at the French court. The cousins married in 1661. Philippe had homosexual affairs but apparently, he was intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children. Philippe and Henrietta had three children. Today’s Jacobite claim to the British throne goes through their younger daughter Anne Marie. After Henrietta’s death, Philippe married Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte, and they had three children. Philippe’s careful investment and management of his various estates made him a wealthy man but his wealth was greatly increased when he inherited the fortune of his extremely wealthy paternal first cousin Anne Marie Louise of Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier upon her death in 1693. Philippe is acknowledged as being not only the biological founder of the House of Orléans but as its financial founder.
Unofficial Royalty: Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
September 21, 1693 – Birth of Countess Maria Anna Katharina of Oettingen-Spielberg, the third of the four wives of Josef Johann Adam, Prince of Liechtenstein, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria
On August 3, 1716, in Vienna, Maria Anna married Josef Johann Adam. Josef Johann Adam and Maria Anna had five children including Josef Johann Adam’s successor Johann Nepomuk Karl, Prince of Liechtenstein. Maria Anna died on April 15, 1729, at the age of 35, and was buried at the Parish Church of St. Nicholas at Glogów, in Silesia, now in Poland. The church was destroyed in 1945 and the tomb was not preserved.
Unofficial Royalty: The Four Wives of Josef Johann Adam, Prince of Liechtenstein
September 21, 1706 – Birth of Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia, second wife of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia, in Langenschwalbach in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, now in Hesse, Germany
Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the second of the three wives, all of whom died young, of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. Polyxena and Carlo Emanuele III had six children including her husband’s successor Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia. Polyxena was active in charity work, founding a home for young mothers in Turin. She worked with Italian architect Filippo Juvarra, the architect of the great Basilica of Superga in Turin, to remodel and renovate several buildings.
Unofficial Royalty: Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia
September 21, 1788 – Birth of Wilhelmine of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, wife of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, in Karlsruhe, Margraviate of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Full name: Wilhelmine Luise
In 1804, Wilhelmine married her first cousin, the future Ludwig II of Hesse and by Rhine, and they had five children including Prince Alexander whose morganatic marriage created the Battenberg/Mountbatten family, and Marie who married Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. Wilhelmine’s marriage was never happy, and she separated from her husband after the birth of their first three children. Wilhelmine had a large garden built on a hill in Darmstadt called the Rosenhöhe. She added several buildings, including a summer residence and a tea house. When her daughter Elisabeth died, Wilhelmine decided to have a mausoleum built in the park instead of using the traditional grand ducal tomb in the Darmstadt Stadtkirche. It is because of this that the Rosenhöhe has become the traditional burial site for the Grand Ducal Family.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelmine of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine
September 21, 1819 – Birth of Louise Marie Thérèse of France, Duchess of Parma and Regent of Parma, wife of Carlos III, Duke of Parma, at the Élysée Palace in Paris, France
The granddaughter of King Charles X of France, Louise Marie Thérèse was the wife of Carlos III, Duke of Parma and Regent for their son Roberto I, Duke of Parma until the Duchy of Parma was abolished during the Italian unification movement. In 1845, Louise Marie Thérèse married the future Carlo III, Duke of Parma and the couple had four children. In 1854, Louise Marie Thérèse’s husband was assassinated and she became Regent for their six-year-old son Roberto. After the Duchy of Parma was abolished, Louise Marie Thérèse took her children to Venice, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, now in Italy where she spent the rest of her life in exile.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise Marie Thérèse of France, Duchess of Parma, Regent of Parma
September 21, 1845 – Birth of Ernst August II, the last Crown Prince of Hanover in Hanover, Kingdom of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
The only son of King Georg V of Hanover, Ernst August was the last Crown Prince of Hanover, as well as the last to hold the British Dukedoms of Cumberland and Teviotdale. Ernst August became Crown Prince of Hanover upon his father’s accession in November 1851. However, in 1866, Hanover was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. The family went into exile in Austria but spent much of their time in Paris. In 1878, Ernst August married Princess Thyra of Denmark, the daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and the couple had six children. Upon his father’s death in June 1878, Ernst August inherited his titles, becoming the 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, and Earl of Armagh in the United Kingdom, as well as head of the House of Hanover. He was also made a Knight of the Order of the Garter by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, his father’s first cousin. However, Ernst August was removed from the roll of the Order of the Garter in 1915, and in 1917 was stripped of his title of Prince of the United Kingdom. As a result of the Titles Deprivation Act, in 1919 he was stripped of his British peerages for bearing arms against Great Britain during World War I. The titles – Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale – remain in abeyance, and his direct descendants could petition to have them restored. To date, no such petition has been made.
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst August II, Crown Prince of Hanover
September 21, 1957 – Death of King Haakon VII of Norway, born Prince Carl of Denmark, at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway; buried at the Royal Mausoleum at Akershus Fortress in Norway
A Danish prince who became King of Norway and one of a few elected monarchs, Prince Carl of Denmark was the son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark and Princess Louise of Sweden. He married his first cousin Princess Maud of Wales, the daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Upon the dissolution of the Union between Sweden and Norway, Carl was elected King of Norway and took the name Haakon. During World War II, King Haakon and his son fled to the United Kingdom where he maintained a government in exile. Haakon continued to broadcast speeches to the Norwegian people. Despite pressure from Hitler, Haakon refused the Norwegian Parliament’s request to abdicate. Following the war, King Haakon and his family returned to Norway, exactly five years after the date they had been evacuated to the United Kingdom.
Unofficial Royalty: King Haakon VII of Norway
September 21, 1962 – Death of Princess Marie Bonaparte, Princess George of Greece in Saint-Tropez, France; buried at Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece
Marie came from an immensely wealthy family. Her maternal grandfather François Blanc was the principal developer of Monte Carlo and the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. He had amassed a large fortune that passed to his children upon his death, and Marie inherited a large amount of money upon her mother’s death. Following her father’s death, she inherited over 60 million francs. In 1907, Marie married Prince George of Greece, the son of King George I of Greece. As part of the marriage agreement, Marie retained sole control over her fortune, with Prince George refusing any financial settlement or allowance. The couple had two children. In the years that the Greek Royal Family was in exile, Marie used her wealth to support many of them. She provided the use of several of her homes in France and paid for education and living expenses. Those who benefited from Marie’s generosity included Prince Andrew of Greece and his family, including the young Prince Philip, the future husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Marie Bonaparte, Princess George of Greece
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