Princess Palace

The Angel of Prussia

2026-03-09T22:31:00.006-04:00

By Johann Friedrich August Tischbein
via Wikimedia Commons

There he was. The "Monster". The man who had bedeviled her country. The man who had forced her family from their home. Their five young children ripped from everything they had ever known. She was not here by choice. She would rather have never seen this bogeyman in person. And, yet, she believed she might make a difference, that she might save Prussia.

Beautiful Queen Louise of Prussia was 31 years old on the hot July day in 1807 when she stood face-to-face with Napoleon. The early months of her ninth pregnancy were hidden beneath the high waist of her fashionable gown, but no doubt the heat of that stormy summer and her pregnancy brought an additional glow to her already pretty face. Her beauty combined with her intelligence and charm were meant to distract the man who had crowned himself an emperor from dismantling Prussia after he destroyed the Prussian forces with surprisingly little effort.

Born on March 10, 1776, Louise of Mecklenburg-Stelitz had encouraged her husband, King Frederick William III of Prussia to declare war on the power-hungry French emperor, but he had hesitated. Frederick William believed that peace was the most important thing for people. As Napoleon waged war across Europe, Frederick William sought to stay out of the fight. Later, he wondered whether to fight with France or against. By the time he finally acted, the French had grown far too strong. Almost immediately, the Prussian army was destroyed at the Battle of Jena-Auerstädt. Napoleon quickly occupied Berlin and the royal family hastily fled into Russian territory placing themselves under the good graces of Emperor Alexander I, who also felt the sting of France that year.

By summer, Napoleon summoned Frederick William to discuss terms at Tilsit, well within Russian territory. Frderick William, who loved his bright and beautiful wife, thought she could persuade Napoleon to show mercy to Prussia. And so, Louise made her case and perhaps flirted a bit with 37-year-old emperor. He wrote to his wife Josephine that she was a bit coquettish. However, he was impressed, as he later admiringly called her the "only real man in Prussia" and "my beautiful enemy." She calmly asked him to be lenient with her country and to give the monarchy a chance to rebuild so that her children would have a nation to inherit with pride.

Charmed though he was by this unexpected diplomacy, Napoleon was implacable. He showed no kindness to the Prussians, who could have fought on his side instead of against him. He stripped away all territory west of the Elbe River and Prussia's vast Polish territories, demanded financial indemnity, and forced the Prussians to pay the costs of the occupying French forces.

Louise and Frederick William with five of their children

by Heinrich Anton Dähling via Wikimedia Commons

Although she had failed in her mission, it was a moment of triumph for Louise. Already admired by the nation for her modesty and virtue, her bravery placed her among the pantheon of beloved royal women.

Unfortunately, her earthly glory was shortlived. Just three years after that fateful meeting, Louise died at the age of 34. No doubt worn by the stresses of war and defeat, the exhaustion of 10 pregnancies in 15 years, and the deaths of three of her children, Louise died in Frederick William's arms after an illness.

In memory of the woman he had decided to marry on first sight when she was just 17 and he was shy young man of 23, Frederick William created the Order of Louise, a chivalric honor reserved for women. Until the end of the Prussian (and then German) monarchy it was presented to female members of the family and foreign consorts and Queens Regnant.

Louise's legacy stretches far beyond the Order of Louise. Two of her sons became Kings of Prussia, with the second later becoming the first Emperor of Germany, for Prussia had been restored to power and glory after Napoleon's eventual defeat. Her daughter Charlotte married Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, changing her name to Alexandra. More broadly, she remains deeply revered in Germany and beyond. General Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher captured the national grief when he declared upon her death, "our angel is in heaven." Her admirers have continued to praise her over the centuries. Even seventy years after her death, a statue of her was raised in Berlin. In 1923, that admiration grew to cultlike status as the Queen Louise League, with an attached children's branch called Children Circle, was created to promote German nationalism. The league was initially welcomed by the growing Nazi movement but was eventually disbanded with its members integrated into organizations the Nazi party could more directly control.

Over the last century, Louise's story has been retold in many books and films, whether historical or fictional in nature. Today, she is compared to Princess Diana. Not only did she die tragically young like Diana, but one of Louise's first public acts confirmed her as a princess of the people. As a 17-year-old bride arriving to the joyful acclaim of the crowds in Berlin, Louise was noticed to bend down and pick up a child for a kiss. "All hearts go out to meet her!" it was declared.

Thoughout her life and well beyond, only Napoleon's heart has been immune to Louise.

More About Louise
Consort Profile: Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on The Mad Monarchist
Death of the Most Famous Prussian Monarch on Deutschland Museum
Louise and Napoleon on Heritage History
Louise of Prussia on Heritage History
Louise zu Mecklemburg-Stelitz on Napoleon & Empire
Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Patriotic Queen of Prussia on Quello che Piace a Valeria
Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia on Unofficial Royalty
Luise, regierende Königin von Preussen (dedicated website)
Napoleon Bonaparte and Queen Louise of Prussia on Arrayed in Gold
Napoleon's Beautiful Enemy on Arrayed in Gold
The Life and Death of Louise of Prussia Part One on History of Royal Women
The Life and Death of Louise of Prussia Part Two on History of Royal Women
Queen Louise on Her-storic Royal Dress
Queen Louise on History's Women
Queen Louise on Napoleon.org
Queen Louise of Prussia on Louisa's Place
Queen Louise of Prussia, Part 1 - Mother of Her Nation on Napoleonic Impressions
Queen Louise of Prussia, Part 2- Standing Up to Napoleon on Napoleonic Impressions

Provocative Portraits

2026-03-06T10:34:00.000-05:00

As it turns out, 19th Century men also liked sexy portraits of their wives. Thankfully, renowned royal portraitist Franz Xaver Winterhalter was around to capture that perfect, provocative image before photographs and selfies pushed portrait painting into a different realm. Winterhalter usually painted his royal ladies in grand style, looming large and gorgeous amidst a dramatic setting. For these two paintings, however, he evoked a more intimate image.

Still a newlywed in 1843, Queen Victoria commissioned this portrait for her beloved husband Prince Albert's 24th birthday present. The surprise was greatly appreciated, as Victoria recorded in her journal, "he thought it so like, & so beautifully painted. I felt so happy & proud to have found something that gave him so much pleasure." The painting hung in his writing room at Windsor so that he could look at as he worked. It was also recreated in miniature so that he could carry it with him.

Two decades later, Winterhalter painted a similarly personal portrait of 25-year-old Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Like Victoria and Albert, she and Emperor Franz Joseph were a love match. It is not surprising then that he also kept this portrait in his study so he could look at her when he worked. He had a great need to be able to see her image because, while Victoria and Albert were nearly inseparable, Elisabeth was always restless and frequently traveled leaving her husband at home alone. His loneliness for her was permanently imposed when she was assassinated by an anarchist in 1898. He outlived her by 18 years, but had this portrait to help him remember his beautiful and beloved wife.

A Princess Who Made Her Own Choices

2026-03-02T01:38:00.001-05:00

via Wikimedia Commons

The violet-eyed Princess could not take her eyes off of the handsome young Grand Duke with the piercing light blue eyes. Victoria Melita had always been high-spirited and a bit of a tomboy, but she was on her best behavior on this trip to her mother's homeland for her aunt's funeral in St. Petersburg, Russia. Not quite 15 years old, she was trying to be on her best behavior, but something abour her cousin Kirill Vladimirovich made her heart flutter. He could hardly be more handsome and how dashing--he was, after all, preparing to enter the Imperial Navy the following year, after his 15th birthday.

In that, he was like her beloved father, Prince Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. A sailor prince whose naval career had caused his second daughter to be born on the Mediterranean island of Malta (and inspired her name, Victoria Melita), Alfred had since been landlocked as the heir to his father's patrimony in Saxe-Coburg, deep in the heart of Germany. Victoria Melita, affectionately called Ducky in the family, was a challenge to her mother, the imperious Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, who had been delighted to remove her daughter's from the English influences of their father's homeland when they moved to Germany. Now, she was focused on finding sons-in-law that would put her daughter's in positions of power and keep them out of England.

However, a match with Kirill was impossible, no matter how dreamy he might be. He was too far from a throne. More importantly, the Russian Orthodox Church forbade marriage between first cousins. Any thought of Kirill had to be wiped from Ducky's mind. In this, Maria had an unlikely ally: her mother-in-law, Queen Victoria, who would adamantly (but sometimes unsuccessfully) oppose Russian marriages for any of her granddaughters.

And so, Ducky was dragged back to Germany while Kirill went off to the Navy while Mama and Grandmama searched for a more suitable suitor. In fact, Victoria has already started her planning just weeks earlier when Ducky visited her at a her Scottish home in Balmoral at just the same time as another grandchild, Prince Ernest Louis, heir to the Grand Duke of Hesse, also in Germany. He was the only surviving son of Victoria's second daughter Princess Alice. As it turns out, Ducky's English and German relatives had no qualms about marriage among first cousins. Victoria and Albert had been first cousins themselves. The fact that Victoria Melita and Ernest Louis were born on the 25th of November must be a sign of their compatibility. Never mind that neither was very keen on the other. Nevertheless, the two dutiful grandchildren were persuaded to stand together before an altar in 1894. She was 17. He was 25 and had by then succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt and by Rhine.

Victoria Melita and Elisabeth

by C Ruf via Wikimedia Commons

The newlyweds were immediately fruitful with their daughter, Elisabeth, born just 11 months after the wedding. The couple also engaged in a boisterous social life throwing parties from which anyone over 30 was banned. They filled their circle with progressives and artists and insisted on informality. As a couple, however, they had no spark. Ducky found Ernie cold and undemonstrative. The only thing she enjoyed less about life in Hesse than her husband was probably being his consort. The lively teenager did not feel at all compelled to take up the duties of leading a nation, which often included spending time with people who were far less jolly than she. Ernie was impatient with her attitude. She responded with shouting, throwing both tantrums and tea trays. As with other unhappy royal brides, she escaped outside to ride her beloved horse and to travel internationally while Ernie preferred staying home with their daughter.

When Ducky's Uncle Tsar Alexander III died, the pair traveled together to Russia for the coronation of her cousin Tsar Nicholas II and Ernie's sister, the new Empress Alexandra. Ernie described the coronation as "the most splendid ceremony I have ever seen." Ducky, however, found something else even more splendid: Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, whose time in the Navy had no doubt added more charm and maturity. Ducky and Cousin Kirill rekindled their childhood flirtation before reality dragged them back into their separate lives.

Ducky escaped Hesse the next year for an extended visit to her older sister, Missy, better known then as Crown Princess Marie of Romania. When she returned north, she allegedly discovered Ernie bedding a male servant. The couple tried to keep up the pretence of their marriage, especially since Grandmama Victoria strictly forbade a divorce, but neither was happy. Ernie would later describe their life together as misery with both staying together mostly for their daughter's sake. Some joy returned when Ducky fell pregnant but a devastating stillbirth in May 1900 sent both careening once again into their separate, unhappy corners. Queen Victoria's death in January 1901 relieved a lot of the opposition to divorc and the two officially split later that year.

Ducky went to live with her mother, splitting their time between Coburg and the French Riviera. Five-year-old Elisabeth spent half the year with Ducky and half with Ernie, but she was often unhappy with her mother, who had never had as strong of a bond with her as Ernie had. In October 1903, Ernie took eight-year-old Elisabeth with him to visit his sister Empress Alexandra of Russia and her family at an imperial hunting lodge. While the grown-ups spent the days hunting, Elisabeth and her cousins, the young Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia played games and roamed through the forest. Perhaps after drinking from a contaminated water source in the forest, Elisabeth fell ill with typhoid fever. By the time a telegraph reached Ducky, the little girl was already dead. At the white funeral Ernie arranged for their daughter, Ducky removed her Hessian medallion and placed it on the tiny coffin, making her last break with the marriage that had made her so unhappy.

In the meantime, Kirill's interest in Ducky was growing, to his family's horror. Not only were they scandalized by her divorce, they were still deadset against marriage among cousins. His desperate mother even encouraged him to assuage his longing by taking Ducky as a mistress, but not as a wife. While serving in the Russo-Japanese war, Kirill's ship hit a mine. He suffered debilitating burns and injuries and was sent home. His near death experience led him to make a momentous decision. Both he and Ducky had tried living by others' rules, now they would live by their own.

Kirill and Victoria

by Eduoard Uhlenhuh via Wikimedia Commons

In October 1905, Victoria Melita married Kirill in a simple Orthodox ceremony in her mother's home in Coburg. The marriage was almost more shocking than her divorce had been. Not only had she not sought permission from her uncle King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, as required for a royal princess, but Kirill had not obtained permission from his cousin the Tsar. As the fourth in line for the Russian throne, this decision was monumental. Nicholas II stripped him of his titles and military rank and forbade the newlywed to return to Russia. They lived between Coburg, where their daugther Maria was born in 1907, and Paris, where daughter Kira was born in 1909.

By this time, the Tsar relented in his anger and restored Kirill's titles and rank. Ducky was created Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna and launched herself as a social hostess between their homes in St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo. She continued her love of riding and indulged in painting, gardening and home decoration while Kirill took up auto racing. She still enjoyed traveling abroad, especially during the bleak Russian winters opting to spend time with her mother in France or her sister Marie in Romania, far to the south.

The family was summering on their yacht in the Baltic in 1914, stopping off in Riga for one of Kirill's auto races, when the First World War broke out. While Kirill served in Poland on the staff of the commander of the Russian Army, Victoria took on work as a nurse, as so many royal women did. Perhaps drawing on her husband's love of automobiles, she even created a motorized ambuland unit. She sometimes traveled to Romania to assist her sister with war victims. In Russia, however, familial tensions were rising due to the influence of Gregory Rasputin over Nicholas and Alexandra, who believed he could relieve the hemophiliac suffering of their son Tsarevich Alexei. After Imperial relatives murdered Rasputin, the couple joined in requests for leniency for the perpetrators, but Nicholas was unyielding.

The pair remained publicly loyal to the Tsar but they were privately very worried about the future of the monarchy and the dynasty. When the February Revolution of 1917 led to the Tsar's abdication, Kirill and Victoria Melita were secretly siding with the mob that surrounded their palace in St. Petersburg. Kirill and his naval unit swore allegiance to the new Provisional Government. He hoped to preserve the monarchy but many relatives viewed this act as treason. Kirill was forced to resign while Ducky wrote to her sister Marie that they were losing everything.

Now in the early stages of her final pregnancy, 40-year-old Ducky knew they had to escape Russia. The Provisional Government agreed to let them go to Finland, which was a quasi-independent Russian territory at the time. In August 1917, their son Vladimir Kirillovich was born in Finland, but they were rapidly running out of sustenance. By the following summer, when their Russian relatives were being massacred back home, they had been reduced to begging for baby food from family outside of the former empire. Ducky had pleaded with her cousin, now King George V, to send more help for the Romanovs and the Provisional Government, but he had refused. That was a blow that would not heal.

In 1919, after the war, the desperate family went first to her mother in Germany and then on to Switzerland. Later, she inherited her mother's homes in France and Coburg, where Ducky showed an interest in the emerging Nazi party due to its strong stance against the Bolsheviks.

After nursing Kirill through a breakdown in 1923, the couple focused on their dynastic aspirations. While many refused to believe rumors about the murders of the Tsar and his immediate family, Kirill felt it was important to accept them. Once Nicholas' only brother was declared legally dead, he decided to act. Much to the dismay of many Romanovs, he made himself the head of the family and "Guardian of the Throne" and raised his children from Princesses and Prince to Grand Duchesses and Grand Duke. When Germany began strenghthening its relationship with Soviet Russia, the family moved permanently to France.

There, they lived among many British ex-pats and maintained their imperial pretenses. They enjoyed throwing parties and socializing, but their romance came to a shuddering halt when Ducky discovered that his sojourns to Paris were for adultery. She did not seek a divorce as she had with her first husband, but she was devastated. When she suffered a stroke at the age of 59, it was her sister Marie she was glad to see, not her husband. She died surrounded by family and was buried at Coburg. After the fall of the USSR, she and Kirill, who died just two years after her, were among the many Romanovs to be re-interred in St. Petersburg, due in large part to the efforts of their granddaughter, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, who today styles herself as Head of the Imperial House of Romanov.

A Powerful Young Woman Who Never Wore a Crown

2026-02-14T00:30:00.002-05:00

Ingeborg's seal

via Wikimedia Commons

Scandinavia was a fairly brutal place in the Middle Ages. The daughter of King Håkan V of Norway would experience this firsthand. Unlike most women of the era, she would hold significant power. However, she would endure terrible deaths of the men in her life.

Ingeborg Håkansdotter was born in 1301 and her fate was determined by the time she was a year old: she was engaged to marry 19-year-old Erik Magnusson, younger brother of King Birger of Sweden. When the brothers had a falling out, the engagement was broken. When they made up, it was reinstated. (Historically, multiple sons guaranteed a king's lineage would hold the throne. However, multiple brothers often meant a king would spend his life battling against the spare heirs.)

In 1312, Erik and his younger brother Valdemar traveled to Norway for a double wedding. Erik married 11-year-old Ingeborg Håkansdotter while Valdemar married her 15-year-old cousin Ingeborg Eriksdotter. The two cousins returned to Sweden with their husbands and began a journey into power as allies. Both gave birth to sons in 1316. Eriksdotter's son would die young, but Håkansdotter's son Magnus would become the primary focus for both women in future years. Ingeborg also had a daughter, Euphemia, in 1317.

Despite their young ages and frail female status, both Ingeborgs were empowered by their husbands to rule their territories were while the two brothers were away once again fighting against their older brother King Birger. A reconciliation was proposed with the king invited Erik and Valdemar to join him for a feast. Birger, however, had other ideas. He captured his troublesome siblings and imprisoned them. Within weeks, both were dead, probably from starvation.

As Birger and his son Magnus Birgersson battled against the ensuing rebellion from the murdered brothers, their young widows consolidated their power. Birger was defeated by an army led by Canute Porse and in July 1319, the Swedish Council elected three-year-old Magnus Eriksson King of Sweden to prevent Birger and his son from regaining power. Both men died soon thereafter. The death of King Håkan of Norway the following month brought another crown to the little King Magnus. Ingeborg, at the age of 18, was the mother of the King of Sweden and Norway. She was named Regent for her son in Norway and she and her cousin Ingeborg sat on his council in Sweden.

Canute Porse became one of Ingeborg's chief advisors and her lover, much to the disgust of others on the council. Canute, after all, was a Dane! A foreigner whispering advice into the ear of the King's mother was not acceptable. During this time, Ingeborg also had a lot of power in her own fiefdoms and she sought to extend her territories into neighboring Scania, which was then part of Denmark. She betrothed her daughter Euphemia to Albert II Duke of Mecklenburg in return for his military support against Scania. When Canute Porse and Ingeborg invaded Scania with authorization only from Norway's council but not from Sweden's and then Mecklenburg withdraw his support, Ingeborg's days as a political leader were rapidly drawing to a close. Many of her decisions were seen as arbitrary, poorly advised by foreigners (including Canute), or too self-interested (as if powerful men of the era were not self-interested...) Norway and Sweden removed her and Canute from power but the couple stayed together and even married. They had two sons before Canute died leaving Ingeborg a widow once again at the age of 29. She continued to hold control over vast amounts of territory and strategic fortresses.

The following year, 15-year-old King Magnus was declared of age to rule on his own. Ingeborg no longer attempted to exert regal power, but she continued to support her son and was sometimes present on state occasions. In 1350, she lost both of her sons by Canute to the plague. They were young adults but left no heirs. Her grandchildren by Magnus both became kings, splitting the personal union of Sweden and Norway with Sweden going to the oldest Eric XII and Norway to the youngest, Håkan VI. One of her grandchildren by Euphemia would also wear the Swedish crown as King Albert.

Ingeborg died in 1361.

More About Ingeborg
All These Ladies Named Ingeborg on The Freelance History Writer
Ingeborg Håkansdotter on Svenskt Kvinnobiografiskt Lexicon
Ingeborg Haakansdotter on Meet the Middle Ages
Queens Regent - Ingeborg of Norway on The History of Royal Women

Farewell Princess Desiree of Sweden

2026-01-28T07:23:00.000-05:00

By SCANPIX via Wikimedia Commons

The 1950s was a heyday for glamorous princesses. Like never before, these beautiful young women were constantly in the public eye, whether representing their monarchs or entertaining with their friends. The most famous was, of course, Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister Princess Margaret along with their younger cousin Princess Alexandra, but Europe was bursting with others. The number of royal princesses born in the 1930s and 1940s outnumbered their royal brothers. Greece boasted two princesses to one prince with the same ratio in Norway. Belgium had an even split: three princesses and three princes. Denmark had three princesses and no princes while The Netherlands had only princesses--four of them!

Sweden also had four princesses and they had one baby brother. Known collectively as the "Haga Princesses" after their childhood home, Princesses Margaretha, Birgitta, Desiree and Christina grew up in a close and loving family. Legally, as women, they were barred from inheriting the throne. So, when the third girl, Desiree, was born on June 2, 1938, there was likely some disappointment that she was not a boy at last. Nevertheless, Desiree, like her sisters became very popular in Sweden and beyond.

The birth of baby brother Carl Gustav in 1946 relieved the looming succession crisis and gave his big sisters an object of adoration. The family's joy, however, was eclipsed just eight months later when their father was killed in a plane crash while returning from a personal visit to The Netherlands. Desiree was eight years old. Their mother, the former Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg, was left to bring up the five children on her own. The princesses were mostly educated at home in small classes with girls of the same age before enrolling at Franska Skolan in Stockholm where classes were taught in French.

Princess Desiree (far right) with her siblings and parents

By Ateljé Jaeger via Wikimedia Commons

Desiree showed an early love of the arts, taking both ballet and piano lessons. She particularly enjoyed drawing and needlework, and later enrolled in a degree program in textiles at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts, and Design to learn more about embroidery and weaving. Like most Scandinavians, she enjoyed outdoor sports, excelling at skiing. She studied French in Switzerland. But, Desiree's love for children guided her career choices. After completing a course in infant care, she worked as a preschool teacher and completed internships at a playhouse, a children's hospital and a school for blind children. She was a natural with the youngsters who liked her very much.

At the same time, Desiree had become one of the popular princesses of the 1950s. Her sisters' and her every move was documented in the press. A fact that enabled their grandfather, King Gustav VI Adolf, to expand Swedish interests around the world. Once, while on a goodwill visit to the United States, Desiree drew particular interest because of her attention to a child. When a young four-year-old girl asked the princess for a kiss, Desiree blushingly obliged.

Kisses were likely on Desiree's mind back home, too. While public rumors circulated that Desiree might marry Constantine of Greece (who actually later married her first cousin, Princess Anne Marie of Denmark), Desiree had found love closer to home. She has fallen for Greger "Teddy" Lewenhaupt, an older brother of one her brother's friends. The two were perhaps moving toward an engagement when Teddy was killed in a skiing accident in 1960. The 22-year-old princess had lost someone she loved to tragedy once again.

Her heartbreak began to heal in the next year when she caught the attention of her friend Irma's brother, Niclas Silfverschiold. Four years older than Desiree, Niclas had already completed studies at an agricultural college, served as an officer in the Swedish Army and had taken over the headship of his family and their properties upon his father's death in 1955. He held both Koberg Castle in Vastergotland and Gasevadholm Castle in Halland. The couple were married June 5, 1964 in a royal wedding at Storkyrkan in Stockholm. Desiree wore the same wedding dress her older sister, Brigitta, had worn three years earlier. She also wore the same tiara, the Swedish Cameo Tiara, that has come to be known as the traditional bridal tiara in the Swedish Royal Family. Its most recent wedding appearance was on Desiree's niece and goddaughter, Crown Princess Victoria, at her own wedding in 2010.

Because Niclas was merely a baron and not a prince, Desiree surrendered her royal status to marry him. She was however granted the courtesy of being called "Princess Desiree, Baroness Silfverschiold" for the rest of her life. After their marriage, the couple focused on family life and running the Silfverschiold estates. Desiree rarely took on public duties for the next six decades, although she did appear at large family events and sometimes attended Nobel Prize events, dressed in gala attire with other members of her family.

Embed from Getty Images

Desiree's focus, however, was on motherhood. She and Niclas welcome three children in quick succession. Carl was born nine months after their wedding; Christina 18 months after him; and Helene 24 months after her. While the public might still have thrilled at any news or sightings of her, Desiree was very clear on what was important to her. Once, when her grandfather was still king, he asked what jewelry she would like for her birthday. Desiree requested a tractor instead because "Niclas needs it for farming."

Princess Desiree & Baron Niclas Silfverschiold

By Frankie Fouganthin via Wikimedia Commons

When Sweden finally introduced a law to allow women to inherit the throne, Desiree and her sisters were still barred because the succession was limited only to the descendants of their brother, King Carl XVI Gustaf. Desiree likely was unbothered by this decision. As she said in an interview in 2008, "I now see myself only as a mother and wife and do not attach much importantce to my princessship." She went on to explain, "In principle, I think it is wrong to rely on origins and kinship."

Baron Niclas Silfverschiold passed away at age 82 in 2017. Princess Desiree died at home, surrounded by family, on January 21, 2026 at the age of 87. She is the second Haga Princess to pass; Princess Birgitta died in December 2024, also at the age of 87.

Princess Desiree is survived by her three children and five grandchildren.

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More about Desiree
Heartbreak for the Swedish Royal Family on Tatler
The King of Sweden's Sister, Princess Desiree, Dies on Royal Central
Princess Desiree, Baroness Silfverschiold on The Royal Watcher
Princess Desiree Did Not Want to Rely on Her Royal Title on Sweden Herald
Princess Desiree Has Passed Away on Swedish Royal Court (Official Page)
Princess Desiree of Sweden, Baroness Silfverschiold on Unofficial Royalty
Princess Desiree of Sweden Dies at Age of 87 on Town & Country
Princess Desiree of Sweden, A Haga Princess on History of Royal Women
Princess Desiree of Sweden Has Died on The Royal Watcher

The First Isabella of Denmark

2026-01-17T19:05:00.004-05:00

Attributed to the workshop of Pieter van Coninxloo

via Wikimedia Commons

The ultimate power couple of the 16th Century are remembered as Philip the Handsome and Juana the Mad. Their union would unite the farflung European territories of the Holy Roman Empire with the growing global empire of Spain. When Philip died young and Juana's father declared her insane to gain control of her Kingdom of Castile, their children were torn between powerful grandfathers, King Ferdinand of Aragon and Emperor Maximilian. Born in 1501, their third child, Isabella of Austria, was about six years old. She and some of her five siblings were left to the care of their powerful aunt, Margaret of Austria, at her court as Governor of the Hapsburg Netherlands.

Like her mother and aunts on both sides (including the famous Catherine of Aragon), Isabella was very well-educated for a girl of her time. She learned both Greek and Latin and was tutored in the Bible. However, it was her family not her brains that attracted potential suitors. Both her wealth and her connections brought hopeful bridegrooms sniffing around Isabella and her sisters. Not surprisingly all four of them would marry kings. When Christian II of Denmark was selected for Isabella, it was hoped the marriage would push Imperial Hapsburg interest into the northern reaches of the continent, providing more access to trade in the Baltic Sea. At the age of 12, Isabella was married by proxy with her grandfather standing in for her groom. It would be more than a year before she would travel to Denmark along stormy seas. Like so many royal brides before and since, Isabella barely survived the turmoil of the voyage. The convoy of ships was scattered in the maelstrom and the one carrying Isabella nearly shipwrecked.

The barely 14-year-old bride was delighted to meet her 34-year-old husband and the retinue of more than 1,000 people he assembled to greet her. She had fallen in love with his portrait and was likely thrilled by his larger-than-life presence. He showed her the proper respect by having her crowned queen immediately. However, he refused to break from Dyveke Sigbritsdatter, the king's beloved mistress, despite pressure from Isabella's family. It wasn't until after Dyveke's unexpected death in 1517 that Isabella conceived her first child, a boy named John. After that, she delivered new children about every 12-18 months although twin boys born in 1519 both died as babies and her last child was stillborn.

Christian and Isabella, depicted on the altarpiece at Elsinore

from Wikimedia Commons

Her husband's rule over the Kalmar Union (a personal alliance of Denmark, Sweden and Norway under one monarch) was turbulent. He was at almost constant war with Sweden. At one point, he imprisoned several Swedish noblewomen. His determination to starve them to death was halted only by the please for his good wife Isabella, or so the story goes.

Nevertheless, Christian had consolidated his power enough to call a meeting in Stockholm with promises of amnesty for the Swedish leaders in November 1520. Over the course of three days, at least 100 people were executed in an event known as the Stockholm Bloodbath. The massacre earned Christian a new title, "Christain the Tyrant." By 1523, the Swedes finally overthrew their tyrant and ended the Kalmar Union by electing Gustavus Vasa as their new king.

Things were better but not by much in the joing kingdom of Denmark and Norway. His dictatorial ways won him few friends. When he decided that Dyveke had been poisoned, he had a man re-tried and executed after he had already been found innocent. When Christian then took action to decrease the power of the aristocracy, they rose against him in 1523 and sent him into exile offering Denmark and Norway to his uncle, the new King Frederik I. He had lost centuries of Scandinavian union and the crowns of three nations in just one year.

As for Isabella, also known as Elisabeth of Denmark, the people thought she was the opposite of terrible. Instead, they called her "the mother of the people." The new King Frederik even offered to let her stay behind and promised her the income of Dowager Queen. But, Isabella was loyal to her husband. He had, after all, left Denmark under her authority while he was in Sweden. She responded to Frederik, "Wherever my king is, there is my kingdom."

Isabella, Christian and their three surviving children traveled around Europe trying to raise money and support for Christian's restoration. They started in Germany, with Isabella appealing directly to her family. They even went to England where Isabella's aunt, Catherine of Aragon, was still married to King Henry VIII. They returned to Germany and then to the Low Countries, where Isabella had grown up.

Along the way, 24-year-old Isabella became ill. She never fully recovered as their journeys continued. By January of 1526, she declined, dying on January 19 near Ghent, where she was buried at St. Peter's Cathedral. In the late 19th century, she was moved to St. Canute's Cathedral in Odense. Her death caused some controversy as rumors spread that the granddaughter of "The Catholic Kings" of Spain had taken communion in both the Catholic and her husband's new Protestant rituals, an assertion that has not been fully proven.

Isabella's children were taken by her family to ensure they were raised Catholic. Her son John died several years later. Both of her daughters, Dorothea and Christina, grew up and married, but only Christina had children. Through her, Isabella is an ancestress to much of royal Europe including today's Princess Isabella of Denmark, who many believe was named for her.

In 1531, Christian, having returned to Catholicism, finally raised support from Isabella's brother, Emperor Charles V to invade Norway. He failed to capture Oslo and was captured himself. Despite promises of safe passage from his uncle King Frederik, he was imprisoned for 27 years in Denmark. His a gentile confinement, wherein he was allowed to entertain and to hunt to take part in other gentlemanly pursuits. When Frederik died, a small group launched a failed attempt to restore Christian. He remained safely in his captivity and lived until 1559. He had never remarried and was buried with Isabella. He returned with her to Denmark in 1883.

More About Isabella
The Habsburg Sisters Part 11: Isabella von Habsburg on Maidens and Manuscripts
Isabella, Archduchess of Austria, Infanta of Castile and Aragon on Unofficial Royalty
Isabella of Austria on The Creative Historian
Isabella of Austria: The Humble & Dutiful Princess Part One on The History of Royal Women
Isabella of Austria: A Queen with Historic Patience Part Two on The History of Royal Women
When Isabella of Austria Became Elisabeth of Denmark on Stolen Moments

Farewell Princess Irene

2026-01-15T21:10:00.002-05:00

By Javier Gaya via Wikimedia Commons

The Spanish and Greek royal families are mourning the loss of their beloved Aunt Pecu. Princess Irene of Greece died at the age of 83 in her apartment at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid. Irene was born May 11, 1942 as the youngest child of the future King Paul of the Hellenes and the former Princess Frederica of Hanover. She was descended from Queen Victoria, the Russian tsars, and the oldest monarchy in Europe, Denmark. However, she entered the world far from the palaces of her many royal relatives. She arrived on what would have been a fall day in South Africa, where her family had fled following the Nazi invasion of Greece during World War II.

When Irene was two, the family moved to Egypt for a while before returning across the Mediterranean to Greece before her father ascended the throne in 1947. Irene and her siblings, Sofia and Constantine, were a happy threesome. As they grew, their dynastically minded mother became concerned about their futures and wished to see them appropriately married to other royals. And so, it is said, Queen Frederica came up with the idea for the "Cruise of the Kings". Ostensibly created to promote tourism in the Greek isles, the matchmaking stunt brought together royals and their offspring from Greece, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Yugoslavia. Since Irene was only 12 that summer, it is not surprising that she did not make a match, but her sister Sofia did meet her future husband, Prince Juan Carlos of Spain. It was that connection that would eventually lead Irene to build her life in Spain, too.

As Irene entered adulthood, her life entered a turbulent phase. Sofia married Juan Carlos, surrendered her right to the Greek throne and moved to Spain. Their father King Paul died leaving Irene as the Crown Princess and heiress to their brother, the new King Constantine II of Greece, until the following year when the first of Constantine's five children was born. The instability of the Greek government that was a repeating motif throughout the 20th Century reared its head in the new reign. The turbulence of a coup and a countercoup ended in a military junta and the royal family escaping by plane to Rome in late 1967.

The 25-year-old Princess Irene spent the next several years traveling with her mother. The pair even spent an extended period in India studying Hinduism. Rumors of royal romance had popped up on occasion. Would she marry a French prince? Or perhaps the Norwegian Crown Prince? Despite the media hype, and perhaps Queen Frederica's wishes, Irene never married anyone. She focused her life on her music as a classical pianist, even performing at London's Royal Festival Hall. She showered love on her nieces and nephews. She also dedicated herself to making the world a better place for people and animals. Since her name means "peace", it is fitting that she founded a charitable organization in 1986 called World in Harmony, with a goal of building support for people in need and safeguarding the welfare of animals.

With her mother's death in 1981, Irene made Spain her permanent home to be near her sister's family. The sisters remained close throughout their lives. Three years ago, they lost their brother and they traveled to Greece to bid him farewell. In Irene's final days, Sofia was at her side, even declining to attend an event where the popular former Queen of Spain was due to receive an award and another where she was to be presented with an honorary degree.

She will be laid to rest at the Royal Burial Grounds at Tatoi in Greece with her brother and their parents.

Irene was perhaps the modern equivalent of the "Renaissance man". She lived on three continents. She studied archeology in Germany, philosophy in India, and music wherever she was. She rescued animals and people. When the European Court of Human Rights awarded her more than half a million dollars of compensation for lost property in Greece, she donated it all to charity.

The Next-to-Last Imperial Romanov

2026-01-11T00:36:00.004-05:00

Princess Vera Constantinovna in 1926
via Wikimedia Commons

Her father's study was familiar and comfortable. Nine-year-old Princess Vera Constantinovna would often sit with him as he wrote his poems and his plays under the pen name, "K.R." -- his initials, Konstantine Romanov. As the youngest of his nine children, he welcomed her presence on this summer day, a quiet moment away from the war that had taken his son Prince Oleg from them the year before.

Suddenly, Vera became frightened, her beloved father was gasping for breath unable to speak. Panic-stricken, the little girl rushed to her mother, the former Princess Elizabeth of Saxe-Altenburg. Shoving aside heavy potted plants that blocked the nearest doorway, she ran from the room, but by the time Vera and Elizabeth returned, Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich, grandson of Tsar Nicholas I and cousin of Tsar Nicholas II, was dead from a heart attack at the age of 64. His death in 1915 spared him the tragedy and struggles his family would face over the next several years.

As the youngest child and baby girl (her only other surviving sister, Princess Tatiana, was 16 years her senior), Princess Vera had lived a peaceful and sheltered life within the wealthy palaces of the Imperial Romanov Family. Just two years younger than Tsarevich Alexei and five years younger than Grand Duchess Anastasia, Vera was a frequent playmate of the Tsar's children. Their mother, Empress Alexandra was among her godparents, so she held a special place in the Imperial household.

Like her Imperial cousins, Vera's mother was also German so she often found herself visiting family in Germany. In 1914, she was in Altenburg with her nearest brother, Prince George, and their parents when World War I started and they found themselves behind enemy lines. The German Empress Augusta Victoria intervened to allow them to return to Russia, where Vera's oldest brothers were already joining the fight. By the end of year, Prince Oleg was wounded and died from his wounds. Among his last words, he expressed happiness that his death would be good for Russia, "It will encourage the troops to know that the Imperial House is not afraid to shed its blood." With their father's unexpected death the following year, Vera's life soon began a rapid descent into uncertainty.

As the failing Russian war effort devolved into revolution, young Vera found herself behind enemy lines in her own country. For the first couple of years, Elizabeth and her younger children survived by selling family jewelry and heirlooms. As the Provisional Government began to fail, all protections for the Romanovs were lost. Elizabeth, Vera and George moved from their palace into an apartment while four of her adult brothers were imprisoned. In July 1918, three of the brothers were among the Romanovs assassinated at Alapaevsk with Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, the sister of Empress Alexandra. (For Elizabeth Feodorovna's story, see my post The Last of the Romanovs Part 3.) For the rest of her long life, Princess Vera was tormented by nightmares that she, like her brothers, was standing with her back to a pit waiting to be shot.

The murder of her sons at last convinced Elizabeth that she had to flee Russia. With an invitation from her distant cousin, Queen Victoria of Sweden, Elizabeth, Vera, and George traveled by boat through Finland to Sweden. Before long, however, the family could no longer afford to live in Sweden and were allowed to relocate to Belgium. Unfortunately, the group struggled with illness. Once the war had ended, Elizabeth returned to her birthplace in Altenburg. Suffering from tuberculosis, Vera was not able to join her for some time. But, their reunion would be relatively short-lived: Elizabeth succumbed to cancer in 1927 at the age of 62. Vera was not yet 21 years old, living alone in a foreign country with her brother, George. When he decided to move to the United States in 1929, Vera was truly on her own as another World War loomed.

Vera was able to work as a translator at a prisoner of war camp but lost her job because the Nazis discovered that she was trying to help the prisoners. She remained in Germany throughout the war, but she faced even greater dangers as the Nazis began to lose and the Soviets started to invade Germany. A Romanov Princess would find no safety under the Soviet control of what soon be East Germany. Like thousands of other refugees, Princess Vera walked 150 miles to Hamburg in the Western zone. She once again put her language skills to work as a translator for a succession of different institutions over the next several years.

By 1951, she decided to leave Europe, moving to the United States, although her brother George had died there several years earlier. She worked in aid of Russian immigrants and refugees in New York for 20 years. For the next 30 years, she lived in peaceful retirement, dying on January 11, 2001 at the age of 94, reminding us that her playmates, Anastasia and Alexei, might well have survived into this century had they not been slaughtered as children in revolutionary Russia. Among the Romanovs who were able to escape Russia, Vera was the next-to-last to die. The last was her niece, Princess Catherine Ivanovna, who died at the age of 91 in 2007 in Uruguay.

Although she did not hold any particular awe for the glories of her family's imperial past (in fact, she thought it was odd that the Orthodox Church made saints of her "martyred" brothers and relatives), Princess Vera always treasured Russia in her heart, proclaiming, "I did not leave Russia. Russia left me."

For more about Princess Vera and her immediate family's escape from Russia, see my post The Last of the Romanovs Part 4.

Royal Ladies of the United Kingdom

2026-01-03T17:21:00.004-05:00

The British Royal Family is probably the best-known royal family in the world. Most people can probably name a couple of its members, some can name several, but very few know who everyone is. In the United Kingdom, the members of the "Royal House" or "Royal Family" are not as definitively established as in some other countries. Various Letters Patent have outlined who is entitled to royal titles: specifically, the children of the monarch, male-line grandchildren, and the children of the oldest son of the Prince of Wales. However, these guidelines are not always employed. So, we tend to include members of the King Charles' family on his mother's side who are first- or second-generation descendants of a monarch. In recent years, distinction has been drawn between "working royals" and "nonworking royals".

Here is a quick guide to the women who are members of the British Royal Family and what makes them "royal":

by Isaac Maynes of DCMS
via Wikimedia Commons

Her Majesty The Queen

Birth Name: Camilla Rosemary Shand
AKA: Camilla Parker Bowles
Birth: July 17, 1947 in London
Former Title: The Duchess of Cornwall (Prior to her husband's accession, she chose to use one of his lesser titles rather than be called The Princess of Wales, out of respect to the memory of his former wife, Diana)
Spouse: His Majesty The King (Charles III)
Former Spouse: Andrew Parker Bowles
Children: Tom Parker Bowles and Lara Lopes by her first husband. The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Sussex are her stepchildren.
Areas of Interest: health, literacy, victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence, animals (particularly rescue dogs), empowering women, and the arts
Royal Connection: Spouse of King Charles III
Working Royal? Yes

From UK Government
via Wikimedia Commons

Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales

Birth Name: Catherine Elizabeth Middleton
Birth: January 9, 1982 in Reading, England
Education: University of St Andrews (where she met her husband)
Former Career: fashion accessories buyer, web/print marketing
Other Titles: The Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Chester, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus
Spouse: His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales (Prince William)
Children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis of Wales
Areas of Interest: early childhood, mental health, sport and outdoors, visual arts
Royal Connection: Daughter-in-law of King Charles III
Working Royal? Yes

Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Wales

Birth Name: Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge
Birth: May 2, 2015
Known Interests: piano, sport, Taylor Swift
Royal Connection: Male-line granddaughter of King Charles III
Working Royal? No but maybe in adulthood

From UK Home Office

via Wikimedia Commons

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal

Birth Name: Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise of Edinburgh
Birth: August 15, 1950 in London
Notable Achievements: Olympic equestrian athletes (1972 Calgary Games) and 1971 Gold Medalist in European Eventing Championships
Other Title: The Princess Anne
Current Spouse: Sir Timothy Laurence
Former Spouse: Mark Phillips
Children: Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips Tindall
Areas of Interest: International Olympic Committee, Save the Children, sport, sciences, people with disabilities
Royal Connection: Daughter of Queen Elizabeth II
Working Royal? Yes

by UKinUSA

via Wikimedia Commons

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh

Birth Name: Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones
Birth: January 20, 1965 in Oxford, England
Education: West Kent College, Tonbridge
Career: Led her own firm, RJH Public Relations
Other Titles: Countess of Wessex, Countess of Forfar, Viscountess Severn
Spouse: His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Edward)
Children: Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James Earl of Wessex
Areas of Interest: children, preventable blindness, gender equality, people with disabilities, and agriculture
Royal Connection: Daughter-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II
Working Royal? Yes

by Richard Gough
via Wikimedia Commons

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester

Birth Name: Birgitta Eva Van Deurs Henrikssen
Birth: June 20, 1946 in Odense, Denmark
Education: Diploma in Commercial and Economic Studies, Copenhagen
Former Career: Secretary, Royal Danish Embassy London
Other Titles: Countess of Ulster, Baroness Culloden
Spouse: His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester (Prince Richard)
Children: Alexander Earl of Ulster, The Lady Davina Windsor, The Lady Rose Gilman
Areas of Interest: lawn tennis, youth, Parkinson's research, the arts, St. Paul's Cathedral
Royal Connection: Granddaughter-in-law of King George V (father-in-law was The Prince Henry The Duke of Gloucester)
Working Royal? Yes

By LancasterII

via Wikimedia Commons

Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy

Birth Name: Princess Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel of Kent
Birth: December 25, 1926 in London, England
Career/Education: trained as a nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London but did not practice
Late Spouse: Sir Angus Ogilvy, KVCO, PC
Children: James Ogilvy, Marina Ogilvy
Areas of Interest: mental health care, palliative care, international aid, medical research
Royal Connection: Male-line granddaughter of King George V (through The Prince George, The Duke of Kent)
Working Royal? Yes

From the Office of the
Governor General New Zealand
via Wikimedia Commons

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex

Birth Name: Rachel Meghan Markle (Meghan)
Birth: August 4, 1981 in Los Angeles
Education: Northwest University
Career: actress, lifestyle influencer, activist
Other Titles: Countess of Dumbarton, Baroness Kilkeel
Spouse: His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex (Prince Harry)
Former Spouse: Trevor Engelson
Children: Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet of Sussex
Areas of Interest: gender equality, mental health, gun safety, lifestyle/fashion, economic development
Royal Connection: Daughter-in-law of King Charles III
Working Royal? No

Her Royal Highness Princess Lilibet of Sussex

Birth Name: The Lady Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor
Birth: June 4, 2021 in Santa Barbara, California
Royal Connection: Male-line granddaughter of King Charles III
Working Royal? No

By ITU Pictures
via Wikimedia Commons

Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice

Birth Name: Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary of York
Birth: August 8, 1988 in London
Education: Goldsmiths, University of London
Career: Vice President of Partnerships and Strategy, Afiniti
Philanthropic Interests: dyslexia, children, anti-bullying
Distinction: 1st British royal woman to earn a university degree; 1st British royal to complete a marathon
Spouse: Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
Children: Sienna and Athena Mapelli Mozzi; Wolfie Mapelli Mozzi is her stepson
Royal Connection: Male-line granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II (through the former Prince Andrew)
Working Royal? No

by Mark Jones

via Wikimedia Commons

Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie

Birth Name: Princess Eugenie Helena Victoria of York
Birth: March 23, 1990 in London
Education: Newcastle University
Career: Vice President of Partnerships and Strategy, Afiniti
Philanthropic Interests: anti-slavery, sustainable development,
Spouse: Jack Brooksbank
Children: August and Ernest Brooksbank
Royal Connection: Male-line granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II (through the former Prince Andrew)
Working Royal? No

The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor

Birth Name: The Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor
Birth: November 8, 2003 in Surrey, England
Education: University of St Andrews
Career: studying English
Title?: Her Royal Highness Princess Louise of Edinburgh (Although provided for by Letters Patent in 1917, her parents chose to style their children as children of an Earl. As an adult, she could opt to use her "rightful" royal title.)
Interests: equestrian sports, carriage driving, outdoor sports
Royal Connection: Male-line granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II (through The Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh)
Working Royal? No

by Mark Jones
via Wikimedia Commons

Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent

Birth Name: Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz
Birth: January 14, 1945 in Karlsbad, Greater German Reich (now Czech Republic)
Education: Northwest University
Career: author, interior designer
Spouse: His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent
Former Spouse: Thomas Troubridge
Children: Lord Frederick Windsor, Lady Gabriella Kingston
Areas of Interest: cheetah conservation, natural history
Royal Connection: Granddaughter-in-law of King George V (father-in-law was Prince Michael of Kent)
Working Royal? No

Surrounded by Tragedies: A Lesser-Known Victoria

2025-12-06T13:16:00.003-05:00

The Hesse sisters: (from left) Irene, Victoria, Elizabeth
and Alix
By Carl Backofen via Wikimedia Commons

When the Bolsheviks wreaked their vengeance on the Romanov Dynasty in 1919 Russia, the Imperial Family was literally decimated. Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses and Princes galore were slaughtered indiscrimanantly. Even the Czar's five children and their pet dog were viciously murdered.

While the surviving Romanovs fled from Russia using any means they could, in faraway England, a princess was deeply aggrieved. Two of her sisters, the famously beautiful Ella and Alix, were among the Romanov carnage. Their big sister Victoria was powerless to save them.

Born in 1863 at Windsor Castle, Princess Victoria of Hesse was the first child of Queen Victoria's second daughter, Princess Alice, who had married the future Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine just nine months earlier. As the oldest child, Victoria was very caring toward her younger siblings, which eventually included four sisters and two brothers. Her role grew even stronger as tragedies started to impact the happy family. The first occurred when her youngest brother Friedrich died at age two. The toddler fell from a window while playing with his brother. He survived the fall but could not recover from uncontrolled internal bleeding due to the hemophilia he, like so many of his royal cousins, had inherited. The distraught family had managed to move on without little Frittie, as they called him, when a wave of diptheria hit the household. Fifteen-year-old Victoria grew ill first. Each of her siblings sickened one by one, except for Princess Elizabeth, who had been sent to their grandmother.

Princess Alice, who was both a devoted mother and a trained nurse, labored day and night caring for ailing children, always careful not to touch them in order to avoid the disease herself. Within 10 days, four-year-old Princess Marie succumbed, choking to death from the growth in her throat before Alice could get to her. Alice hid her grief in order to keep the traumatic news from her other young patients. When she finally told her son, Prince Ernest, his devastation overwhelmed her. She kissed the sobbing boy to soothe him. In less than two weeks, at the age of 35, Alice became the first of Queen Victoria's children to predecease her. (See my post Kiss of Death.)

Now recovered, Princess Victoria no doubt felt the loss of her mother and her baby sister very deeply, but she was a creature of duty. She took her role as oldest daughter quite seriously and would try her best to guide her younger siblings in the following years. She had to grow up quickly, assuming the role of first lady at her father's court and acting as hostess and taking on official duties. As she would later admit, her childhood ended with her mother's death. She had some help, though, as Grandmother Victoria became determined to mother the Hessian children from afar. Letters constantly flowed from Britain to Germany and back and as frequently as possible, Victoria and her siblings were often with Victoria at her homes in England, Scotland and on the Isle of Wight. In many ways, Princess Victoria was raised more English than German despite her father's role on the Continent despite her main home in Darmstadt, where English nannies led the nursery.

The extensive and intermingled royal families frequently gathered not just in Britain but across Europe for various weddings, births, coronations, and funerals. Victoria undoubtedly encountered the handsome Battenberg princes on many occasions before she decided to marry the oldest one, Prince Louis. Despite being her father's cousin, her father did not approve of the match. The Battenberg princes, you see, had been born of a misalliance. It had been quite a scandal when their father, Prince Alexander of Hesse and By Rhine, eloped with his sister's lady-in-waiting Countess Julia von Hauke, who was a ward of Russian Tsar Nicholas I. The Tsar has planned for Alexander to marry his daughter and forbade the match and kicked Alexander out of the Russian military. The couple escaped to Breslau and married just six months before their first child, Marie, was born. In short order, four boys joined the nursery.

Despite the Tsar's rage, Alexander's brother, Grand Duke Ludwig II, forgave the couple although he would only recognize the match as morganatic. Initially, he granted Julia the title Countess of Battenberg and granted her children rank commiserate with her rather than their princely father. When young Count Louis of Battenberg was four years old, Julia was granted the rank and style Her Serene Highness. Although her children were still barred from the Hessian succession, they also became Serene Highnesses with princely titles.

By Alexander Bassano in the National Portrait Gallery

via Wikimedia Commons

Prince Louis was a favorite of Victoria's mother Princess Alice, who encouraged him to join the British Royal Navy. At age 14, he was admitted to the Navy despite some physical limitations (like a small chest and some less-than-perfect vision) that would have prevented young men with less exalted sponsors from success. By the time he married Victoria, he had sailed in the late Admiral Nelson's flagship, accompanied the Prince and Princess of Wales on a cruise in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, served in the North American and West Indies fleet, accompanied the Prince of Wales to India, and served with the Duke of Edinburgh during the Russo-Turkish War (with his brother Prince Alexander fighting on the other side). After that, he served alongside the Prince of Wales' sons Prince Albert Victor and Prince George on a cruise around the world, with ports in South Africa, South America, Australia, and Asia. Then, he went to Bulgaria, where his brother Alexander has been made the Sovereign Prince, and went with him on a tour of the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Land.

It is little wonder that the young and somewhat sheltered Princess Victoria was enamored with the handsome and worldly prince. Victoria's father's objections could not withstand pressure from her grandmother Queen Victoria who had already allowed one of her daughters to marry into the Scottish nobility. If she determined that the Battenbergs were good enough for her granddaughter, Grand Duke Ludwig could hardly raise concerns. Grand Duke Ludwig still managed to cause disruption during Louis and Victoria's wedding celebrations while all of the family, including Queen Victoria, were gathered. He hypocritically married a mere countess, Alexandrine von Hutten-Czapska.

After the wedding, the 21-year-old bride and 30-year-old groom lived primarily in England, where Louis continued to advance up the ranks in his naval career. They immediately started their family. Princess Alice was born at Windsor Castle nine months after the wedding. Princess Louise arrived four years later followed by Prince George three years after her. Their fourth and final child, Prince Louis, was born eight years after George. He was therefore only a toddler when his big sister Alice married into the Greek Royal Family.

Victoria and Louis on Malta with their two
eldest children, Alice (standing) and Louise
possibly by Richard Ellis via Wikimedia Commons

The family also had a home in Germany and would winter in Malta when the elder Prince Louis was with the Mediterranean fleet. Like her mother before her, Victoria was a hands-on mother. She not only nurtured and cared for her young ones, with help from a nursery staff of course, but also gave them lessons, earning a compliment from her youngest child, who later called her "an encyclopedia." The younger Prince Louis, later known as Earl Mountbatten of Burma, credited her with teaching them hard work and recalled that she was more outspoken than other royals and also said she was free from prejudice.

As Victoria's siblings married and had children, this meant frequent visits to Germany, where Irene had married Prince Heinrich of Prussia, and to Russia, where Elizabeth had married a Grand Duke and Alix had married the Tsar. In fact, Victoria was on an extended visit to Russia with her daughter Louise in 1914 when the first World War started. The pair hurried from deep within the nation, where they had seen both the school at Alapayevsk and the Ipatiev House, which would have a much darker meaning later. They rushed to St. Petersburg and escaped into Finland. From thence, they went to Sweden and on to Norway where the caught the last ship to Britain.

Back home, Louis had been promoted to First Sea Lord in 1912. As the top commander of the British Navy, he had spent years preparing for a potential war against his homeland. When the war finally came, his four decades of service in the British armed forces, his close connections to the British Royal Family, and his family's residency in England, did nothing to protect him from the anti-German sentiment that stirred across the country. With the start of the war, he was forced into retirement. In 1917, when the British Royal Family changed its name to Windsor to emphasize its Britishness over Germanic roots, the Battenbergs did likewise. Their name was anglicized to Mountbatten and they surrendered their princely titles. Victoria's cousin, King George V, created Louis Marquess of Milford Haven. Their eldest son took on his secondary title of Earl of Medina. Their unmarried children became Lady Louise Mountbatten and Lord Louis Mountbatten. Only their eldest child, Alice, who had married Prince Andrew of Greece in 1903 was unaffected by the change.

But, the war was to have a far worse impact on the family the following summer. As Russia withdrew from the war effort to focus on its internal Revolution, Victoria's sisters Elizabeth and Alix (now known as Alexandra) were trapped behind the lines and captured by the Bolsheviks. For two months, Elizabeth and several Romanov relatives were imprisoned at the school in Alapayevsk that Victoria had visited before the war. On July 18, 1918, they were taken to a mine and beaten. They were thrown alive into the mine shaft with grenades thrown after them. After a time, the assassins could hear Elizabeth leading them in signing hymns. Another grenade was thrown in followed by wood that was set alight.

In the nearby town of Yekaterinburg, a perhaps even more horrifying massacre had taken place at the Ipatiev House, which Victoria had also seen on her last fateful visit to Russia. There, Alexandra, her husband, and their five children aged 13 to 22, together with several trusted supporters and their pet dog were shot down by firing squad and the women were mercilessly bayonetted when the bullets failed to kill them. Their bodies were disposed of in the forest in another mine shaft.

The violent slaughter of two beloved sisters, four nieces, and a young nephew must have been incredibly devastating for Victoria, the big sister who had mothered them after the early death of their mother. It is impossible to even imagine how she must have felt, safe in her English home far from the madness that destroyed so many of her beloved relatives. Alexandra's family would not be found for many years, but Elizabeth's was recovered more quickly. Several years after the way, in 1921, Victoria and Louis accompanied her earthly remains to Jerusalem where she was reburied at the Church of Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives. Decades later, Elizabeth, Alexandra, Nicholas and the five children were all recognized as saints of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Closer to home, Victoria's family was thriving. George had married and presented to two grandchildren: Tatiana and David. Alice had given birth to four Princesses of Greece and Denmark: Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie and Sophie before finally being delivered of a son, Prince Philip, in 1921. Young Louis married in 1922 and welcomed two daughters, Patricia and Pamela, in quick succession. Finally, Louise married the widowed Crown Prince of Sweden in 1922 becoming a beloved stepmother to his five children.

By Philip de Laszlo via Wikimedia Commons

Victoria's growing family was still touched by grief. Late in the summer of 1921, her husband grew ill with influenza and died from heart failure that September. The following year, Alice and her family had to be rescued by the British Navy from yet another uprising in Greece. Within a decade, Alice's husband had taken up residence with his mistress and Alice's behavior grew increasingly disturbing. Among other things, she believed she was receiving divine messages, which led Victoria to have her institutionalized. She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Nine-year-old Philip became Victoria's ward. He spent the rest of his childhood shuttled among his sisters (who had all married into German houses soon after their mother's hospitalization), his mother's brothers, and boarding schools. But, he remembered his grandmother very fondly, recalling that she knew how to handle children with a perfect balance of "the rational and the emotional."

In her widowhood, Victoria's cousin, King George V, had granted her Apartment 7 at Kensington Palace. Her close ties to many of Europe's reigning and exiled royal families earned her a place as a wise and respected materfamilias. But, the 1930s brought more heartache. First, the family was touched by scandal when Victoria's daughter-in-law Nadejda Marchioness of Milford Haven and her granddaughter Margarita's husband Gottfried were both named as lovers of Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt in the famous American custody battle over "Little Gloria." Then, in 1937 true tragedy struck when Victoria's granddaughter Cecilie died in a plane crash with her husband, mother-in-law, two young sons, and an infant, whose birth occurred in the crash. A year later, Victoria lost her oldest son George to bone cancer.

The onset of World War II saw the bombing of Kensington Palace and Victoria joined other members of the British Royal Family at Windsor for a time, while her son Louis and grandsons David and Philip fought in the British Navy against their German cousins. Princess Alice who had recovered enough to be freed from the sanatorium, had returned to Greece and worked for the Red Cross looking after orphans and the poor. Her efforts to protect Greece's Jewish population would later earn her Israel's designation as Righteous Among the Nations. For the time being, however, she had no contact with her family, including her worried mother. Only Louise was safe in neutral Sweden, where she was able to pass letters among family members on either side of the war.

Victoria's children and grandchildren survived the war without further loss and the family emerged into a bright spotlight when her youngest grandson Prince Philip married Princess Elizabeth, the heiress to the British throne. By then in her 80s, Victoria lived long enough to witness the christening of Philip's firstborn child, who now serves as King Charles III.

A lifelong smoker, Victoria died from bronchitis at Kensington Palace at the age of 87, having survived her husband by nearly 30 years. She left behind only one of her six younger siblings, three surviving children (one of whom, Louis, would be assassinated in 1979), eight surviving grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren. She is buried on the Isle of Wight, where, as a motherless young girl, she had spent many holidays with the grandmother for whom she was named.

More About Victoria
Eyewitness Accounts - 1914 Trip to Russia - Victoria Remembers on Alexander Palace Time Machine
The Life of Princess Victoria of Hesse and By Rhine on Queen Victoria's Roses
Princess Victoria of Hesse and By Rhine on Crowns Tiaras and Coronets
Princess Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven on Royal Watcher Blog
Queen Victoria's Journal - The Wedding of Princess Victoria of Hesse and Prince Louis of Battenberg on Queen Victoria's Roses
Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine - Conclusion on European Royal History

The Princess of Downton Abbey

2025-09-14T15:42:00.004-04:00

The popular Downton Abbey series of period television shows and movies has been known to feature royals throughout its run. The first film, 2019's simply titled Downton Abbey, built the main storyline around the Crawley family and their servants preparing for a visit from King George V and Queen Mary. The latest film, Downton Abbey: Grand Finale, features a much less well-known royal. In the film, she is referred to only as Princess Arthur of Connaught but in real life, she bore many titles and was positioned at the center of several royal families, not just the British one.

At her birth in 1891, Lady Alexandra Victoria Alberta Edwina Louise Duff was yet another great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. However, she already bore several distinctions. She was the first of Victoria's direct descendants who was not born as a prince or princess. Albeit, she was the first living grandchild of the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra; her older brother had been stillborn the year before. She was fifth in line to the throne after her grandfather, her uncle Albert Victor (who would die the next year), her uncle George and her mother.

Baby Alexandra's mother was the oldest daughter of Edward and Alexandra (known as Bertie and Alix in the family), Princess Louise, who would later bear the title Princess Royal. Louise had married a nobleman, Alexander Duff 6th Earl of Fife, who was 18 years older than her and a good friend of her father. Upon the marriage, Queen Victoria elevated the groom to Duke of Fife. The couple's second daughter, Lady Maud, was born two years after Alexandra. The family lived a relatively quiet life adjacent to the more public-facing members of the family.

After 10 years of marriage, Queen Victoria paid the family a great honor. When she had first created Alexander Duke of Fife, the creation limited the title's descent only to male heirs. By 1900, it was fairly clear that the title would likely become extinct. So, Queen Victoria re-created the title again, this time allowing it to go to a female heir. Thus, seven-year-old Lady Alexandra Duff became one of those rare creatures among the British aristocracy: the heiress of a noble title in her own right.

Alexandra between her parents, Louise
and Alexander, with sister Maud, 1902
By Alexander Corbett via Wikimedia Commons

A few years later, Alexandra and Maud would be elevated even further. Their grandfather had succeeded Queen Victoria in 1901. It seemed to rankle him that any of his grandchildren did not have princely titles. In the modern British Royal Family, titles are only granted to male-line descendants of the monarch. His son and heir George's children had titles and his daughter Maud's newborn son was born a Prince of Denmark, but King Edward's daughter Louise's children were merely ladies. On November 9, 1905, at the same time that he created Louise Princess Royal, he granted her daughters the rank and style of Highness and Princess, with precedence above all others except Royal Highnesses. Thus, 14-year-old Lady Alexandra Duff became Her Highness Princess Alexandra. She and her sister are often referred to as Princess of Fife, but this is not technically correct since their status does not come from their father but from their maternal grandfather.

The next time Princess Alexandra made headlines was in 1910. Her mother's cousin, the handsome and poetic Prince Christopher of Greece, had spent some time visiting with the wealthy Fife family. The 19-year-old princess and 22-year-old prince apparently developed a passionate affection for each other and may even have become unofficially engaged. The royal romance sparked the rumor mills at home and abroad, even prompting an announcement by The New York Times. However, perhaps under pressure from her disapproving parents, the romance ended. Christopher later shared the young couple was not very heartbroken, having been more in love with love than with each other. The papers found other alleged suitors for Alexandra, including the King of Portugal. Alas, papers of the time often published such romantic nonsense.

The Fife family were tightly knit and spent most of their time away from the court or from Bertie's Marlborough House set. They gave Louise's poor health as the reason for their limited forays into royal duties. When they traveled abroad, it was often for the benefit of her health. Choosing the dry Egyptian climate over the wet winters of England and Scotland. In late 1911, their annual escape to Egypt led to high drama. The family was aboard the SS Delhi when it shipwrecked during a terrible storm off the north African coast. The passengers were rushed into a rescue boat but that boat was overcome by the rough seas and sank. Despite wearing a life vest, Alexandra went under the waves and took in great gulps of water. She likely would have drowned had she not been pulled to safety. Her parents and sister were also dragged from the waves. Once ashore, they had to walk four miles through the storm to find refuge at a lighthouse. They then endured a 10-mile ride on donkeys to the British Legation at Tangier. At first, all seemed well with the family reporting back to Britain and to journalists that they had suffered no lasting harm. However, as they traveled along to Egypt and sailed up the Nile, it became clear that the 71-year-old Duke was not recuperating after all. He had developed pleuriscy. He died in Egypt on January 29, 1912 and Alexandra became the 2nd Duchess of Fife. As such, she was one of the largest landowners in Scotland -- the title came with 250,000 acres and 14 country houses.

Prince and Princess Arthur of
Connaught on their wedding day
from Hans van Marwijk via Wikimedia Commons

The following year, the still grieving family were delighted to welcome a new member when Alexandra married her mother's cousin Prince Arthur of Connaught, only son of Queen Victoria's third son, at Chapel Royal in St. James's Palace. With this, her title and status were raised once again. Despite the fact that she was higher in the line of succession than her husband, he was a male-line descendant. Thus, she became Her Royal Highness Princess Arthur of Connaught. She was usually referred to this way rather than with her own title as Duchess of Fife.

Arthur held a prominent position within the British Royal Family. After the death of King Edward in 1910 and accession of Alexandra's uncle King George V, Arthur and his father, who was also named Arthur, were the only adult royal princes. As his bride, Alexandra took on a much more public role than she had previously held.

The couple's only child Prince Alaistair of Connaught was born 10 months after the wedding, just 12 days after the start of World War I. The war, of course, separated the family, who had taken up residence in Mayfair. Prince Arthur served with the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium. Back home, Alexandra followed the same route as many of her female relatives on both sides of the war: she became a nurse at St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington. (From the 1970s, most members of the British Royal Family have been born there.)

The war had a direct impact on the family. Cousin King George V did not agree with the expansion of royal titles that his father had implemented for the Fife girls. The war only excerbated his concerns that the public would grow tired of too many royals, especially as the family's ties to German royals were called into question. In 1917, the King officially changed the House of Saxe-Coburg to the House of Windsor and re-christened his British-dwelling cousins who had Germanic names and titles to British names and titles. The Battenbergs became the Mountbattens. The Tecks became the Cambridges. He also limited princely titles to the children and male-line grandchildren of the monarch. While he did not undo his father's creation of Alexandra and her sister as Princesses, as many other princes and princesses who could be demoted to lower titles, were demoted. This included Alexandra's son, Prince Alastair of Connaught. From then on, he was known by his mother's secondary title as Earl of Macduff.

By Alexander Corbett via Wikimedia Commons

After the war, Alexandra continued her nursing career, specializing in gynecology. She was well-respected in her field. She won a prize for a paper on preeclampsia and earned a certificate of merit. Her nursing career was interrupted from 1920 to 1923 when her husband served as Governor General of South Africa. The family was popular there, especially Alexandra, who found many ways to support nursing, hospitals and childcare there. But, she missed her hands-on work.

When they returned to Britain, Alexandra eagerly returned to her chosen career although with a degree of anonymity. She switched her specialization to the operating theater and became known as Nurse Marjorie, first at University College Hospital and later at Charing Cross Hospital. One patient's father, gave the anonymous royal a sixpence to thank her for helping his daughter. The coin became a treasured keepsake for the princess. In 1925, her uncle King George V honored her with the Royal Red Cross Badge in recognition of her service to nursing.

During the late 1920s, Alexandra's mother Louise Princess Royal became very ill. She suffered for several years with gastric hemorrhaging and then heart disease. Her death in 1931, with daughters Alexandra and Maud, at her side was seen as a relief by many in the family. She undoubtedly benefited in those final years from Alexandra's expertise as a nurse.

Like his wife, Prince Arthur also took an interest in hospitals, serving the chairman of Middlesex Hospital's Board of Directors. He held several other leadership roles, particularly across Berkshire, where King George appointed him High Steward in 1935. The family attended the coronation of Alexandra's cousin King George VI in 1937 but they had little time left together. Arthur developed stomach cancer and passed away in 1938 at the age of 55. Alexandra was 47 and their son Alastair was 24. Four years later, when Alexandra's father-in-law died, Alastair became the 2nd Duke of Connaught.

Undaunted, Alexandra continued her nursing work. By the outbreak of World War II in 1939, she was offered the position of matron in a country hospital, but she preferred to be closer to the troops. She accepted a role at the Second British General Hospital, working with the servicemen who were being evacuated from Dunkirk.

Alexandra with baby Alastair
from Bain News Service in the US Library of Congress
via Wikimedia Commons

She then financed and equipped her own nursing home, the Fife Nursing Home, and personally ran it for over a decade. Although she was fully engaged in her passion for nursing and health care, Alexandra was still not exempt from more personal tragedy. Her only child Alastair had graduated Sandhurst in 1935 and entered full-time Army service, including time in Palestine and in Egypt where his maternal grandfather had died three decades earlier. During World War II, he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Earl of Athlone, a royal relative serving as Governor General in Canada. On April 26, 1943, Alastair was found dead in or near his room at the Governor General's official residence of Rideau Hall. Reported at the time as death from natural causes, the truth has never been publicly clear. Early reports said he had died of hypothermia from an open window. Later reports agreed that hypothermia had killed him but only because he had fallen from his window after drinking heavily. Whatever actually happened, his mother was almost certainly devastated to lose her only child at the age of 28. Two and a half years later, her only sibling, Maud, passed away from bronchitis.

Throughout the 1940s, Alexandra increasingly suffered from crippling rheumatoid arthritis, which eventually left her bedbound. She closed her nursing home and focused on writing in the 1950s. She shared her work privately. One volume focused on her nursing career, while another detailed her family's horrific shipwreck. She passed away in February 1959 at the age of 67. Her titles passed to her sister Maud's only child, James Carnegie, who became the 3rd Duke of Fife. The title is currently held by his son.

Princess Arthur's depiction in Downton Abbey: Grand Finale takes place at a moment when she did have a quite prominent role in the royal family. Set in June 1930, two months before the birth of Princess Margaret, Alexandra was still in the Top Ten of the Line of Succession, which looked like this:

1. The Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII and then The Duke of Windsor)
2. The Duke of York (later George VI)
3. Princess Elizabeth of York (later Elizabeth II)
4. The Duke of Gloucester
5. The Prince George (later The Duke of Kent)
6. The Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood (later The Princess Royal)
7. Viscount Lascelles
8. The Honourable Gerald Lascelles
9. The Princess Royal
10. Princess Arthur of Connaught

Princess Arthur AKA Princess Alexandra AKA 2nd Duchess of Fife was 17th in line at the time of her death. She lived during six reigns, those of her great-grandmother Victoria, her grandfather Edward VII, her uncle George V, her cousins Edward VIII and George VI, and her first cousin once removed Elizabeth II.

Through her husband, whose sister Margaret married the future King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden, she is a great-aunt to the current Royal Houses of Sweden, Denmark, and Greece. Through her mother, she is cousin once and twice removed (respectively) to the King of Norway and to King Charles III.

More about Alexandra

Alexandra, the Princess Who Might Have Been Queen of Portugal on Royal Musings
Christopher of Greece to Marry Alexandra of Fife on Royal Musings
The Marriage of Prince Arthur of Connaught and the Duchess of Fife on Royal Musings
Princess Alexandra 2nd Duchess of Fife on Alchetron
Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife on 1066
Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife on Royal Watcher Blog
Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife: A Champion of Nursing on Royal Splendor
Relatively Royal: Meet the Fifes on Esoteric Curiosa
Wedding of Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Alexandra Duchess of Fife on Royal Watcher Blog

Farewell Katharine Kent: The Princess from Yorkshire

2025-09-06T16:33:00.002-04:00

Katharine Duchess of Kent

from the Queensland State Archives via Wikimedia Commons

Six centuries had passed since a royal wedding was held at York Minster. As five future monarchs and representatives from eight royal families gathered at the church, a shy young local woman arrived on her father's arm to become the first untitled woman to become a British Royal Highness in centuries. Her very grand mother-in-law is said to have disapproved of the love match. Princess Marina, the widowed Duchess of Kent, was the granddaughter of a Greek King and great-granddaughter of a Danish King and Russian Czar. Her late husband was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria and the youngest surviving child of King George V. Her new daughter-in-law's grandfathers were mere baronets.

Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley was born in 1933 at her father's ancestral estate of Hovingham Hall in North Yorkshire. The only daughter of Sir William Worsley 4th Baronet and Joyce Brunner, she grew up in the countryside and did not attend school until the age of 10. In the midst of World War II, the lonely young girl was sent to Queen Margaret's School just outside of Kent. There she discovered a love of music that would come to define her life. Her musical talent led her to apply for the Royal Academy of Music but she failed to gain admission. Instead, she went to a finishing school for young ladies, living with her older brothers who were students at nearby Oxford University.

Katharine's parents helped her secure work as a nursery school teacher and she became a fixture on the local social scene, which welcomed a Prince into its midst when The Queen's younger cousin was based at Camp Catterick as part of his Army service.

Born in 1935, Prince Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick was sixth in line to the throne at the time of his birth. He was still in the top ten when he met the blonde beauty who would become his wife. Edward's father, Prince George The Duke of Kent was the last British Prince to marry a royal when he wed Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark in 1934. After Edward, the couple welcomed two more children, Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael. Like so many families, the Kents met tragedy in World War II. Prince George was killed in an airplane crash while on active duty in 1942. Six-year-old Prince Edward became the new Duke of Kent. Ten years later, the teenager represented his branch of the family as he walked behind the funeral cortege of his uncle King George VI and a year later paid homage to his cousin Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation.

By the time Edward met Katharine, he had completed his education at the same schools his first cousin twice removed Prince Harry would later attend (Ludgrove, Eton and Sandhurst) and launched what would be a 20-year career in the British Army, eventually retiring as a lieutenant colonel. His mother, who is known to have looked down upon her sisters-in-law Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Alice Duchess of Gloucester, because they were daughters of a mere earl and duke respectively, initially tried to separate the young couple. Edward was sent to Germany in hopes his ardor would cool. Meanwhile, Katharine and a friend traveled through Mexico by bus. At the end of her journey, a bouquet of flowers from Edward greeted her. Princess Marina finally accepted the inevitable and announced the couple's engagement.

Embed from Getty Images

They were married on June 8, 1961. Katharine became not just Royal Highness but also an Army wife, following her husband to postings in Hong Kong and Germany. Their first child, George Earl of St. Andrews, was born in June 1962. Daughter Lady Helen Windsor arrived in April 1964 as the third of four royal babies born that year. (The others were, in order of birth: James Ogilvy, son of Katharine's sister-in-law Princess Alexandra; Prince Edward Duke of Edinburgh, son of Queen Elizabeth II; and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, daughter of Princess Margaret.) In 1970, their son Lord Nicholas was born.

The 1970s, however, turned out to be a decade of great sorrow for the quiet Duchess of Kent. She lost her fourth pregnancy in 1975 after contracting rubella. In 1977, her son Patrick was stillborn. These tragedies combined with the deaths of both of her parents heralded a very difficult period in her life. She was hospitalized with "nervous exhaustion" and later became one of the first British royals to publicly discuss her struggles with mental health.

In public, Katharine became well-known for her role at Wimbledon, awarding the Ladies' Singles championship for decades. Her royal patronages focused largely on organizations that helped the young or the elderly. And, she was always a familiar face at royal balcony appearances and royal family celebrations. Privately, she was a well-loved member of the extended British Royal Family, participating in royal Christmas with the Queen until the family became too large to gather together in one palatial estate.

However, Katharine's mental and physical health took its toll. In addition to the depression she had suffered, she also struggled with the Epstein-Barr virus, myalgic encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome) and celiac disease. Already introspective, she turned to religion to cope and eventually made the decision to convert to Catholicism in 1994. Under the laws of succession at the time, her husband might have lost his place in the Line of Succession for being married to a Catholic. Queen Elizabeth, in a show of love and support for her cousins, decided that this rule would not apply because Katharine was not Catholic at the time of their marriage. Besides being a cherished family member, the Kents had also proven themselves as excellent "working royals", carrying on royal duties well past the age when other Britons retire. Later, her youngest son and two of her grandchildren also converted and surrendered their places in the Line of Succession, which still bars actual Catholics but not the spouses of Catholics.

By 2002, after 40 years as a royal, Katharine decided to discontinue use of "Her Royal Highness." Always modest, she has already ended the tradition of making Wimbledon competitors genuflect to the royal box. By the time she was in 70s, she had withdrawn from royal duties, appearing only on large ceremonial occasions or public family events.

Instead, she focused on her love of music. Throughout her life, she had continued to pursue her own musical interests, including singing in several choirs. In her "retirement", she became a music teacher at a primary school where only the headmistress knew who "Mrs. Kent" really was. She also opened her own small music studio teaching private lessons. In 2004, she co-founded Future Talent, a private organization that provides instruments, lessons, and other opportunities to children from low-income backgrounds.

Largely absent from public life, Katharine's last royal appearance was as a guest at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. She was one of the few guests invited to Prince Philip's covid-era funeral in 2021. The death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022 left Katharine as the oldest living member of the British Royal Family, but she did not attend the funeral nor the coronation of King Charles III that followed. She was last scene seated in a wheelchair outside of the Kent's home at Wren Cottage, Kensington Palace, as her husband received birthday greetings on October 9, 2024.

Katharine Kent, or HRH The Duchess of Kent, passed away peacefully at home at the age of 92 on September 4, 2025. Her funeral will be held at Westminster Cathedral on September 16. It will be the first Catholic funeral in the royal family in centuries. She will then join her husband's parents and other members of the extended royal family in the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, Windsor.

In addition to her 89-year-old husband, who is now the oldest living member of the British Royal Family, she is survived by her children, and 10 grandchildren. Born between 1989 and 2014, the grandchildren are Edward Baron Downpatrick (who will eventually succeed to the Kent title after his father and grandfather), Lady Marina Windsor, Lady Amelia Windsor, Cassius Taylor, Columbus Taylor, Eloise Taylor, Estella Taylor, Albert Windsor, Leopold Windsor, and Louis Windsor.

MORE ABOUT KATHARINE DUCHESS OF KENT

Duchess of Kent: Death and Funeral on Gert's Royals
Duchess of Kent Has Died on The Royal Watcher
The Duchess of Kent's Secret Double Life on Royal Central
Fresh Fashion Forever: 90 Years of the Duchess of Kent's Elegant Style on Tatler
The Jewels of the Duchess of Kent on The Royal Watcher
Katharine Duchess of Kent: A Quiet Pearl on Timeless Pearl
The Music Loving Duchess on BBC
A Piece for the Duchess of Kent's 90th Birthday on Maddy Chassar Hesketh
Wedding of Prince Edward Duke of Kent and Katharine Worsley on Unofficial Royalty

Queens of Britain Series: Queen Anne

2025-02-16T17:10:00.004-05:00

By Michael Dahl via Wikimedia Commons

The second daughter of a second son. It had happened before when Queen Elizabeth became the last of Tudor monarchs. Now, a century after Elizabeth's death her cousin many times removed was ascending the throne as the last of the Stuart monarchs. Queen Anne's life had been less tragic and terror-filled than Elizabeth's but her rise to the throne was perhaps even more complicated.

Anne was born five years after the restoration of the monarchy. Her grandfather King Charles I had been beheaded in the midst of a civil war. Then followed a 10-year interregnum ruled by the Puritanical Cromwell's while the royal family wandered the Continent in exile. For Anne, however, those were just stories. The monarchy of her childhood was dominated by her bon vivant uncle King Charles II, who is remembered as the "Merry Monarch." However, it was still a monarchy torn by religion. Anne's father James Duke of York was Catholic. Uncle Charles was officially Protestant and, for the sake of the longevity of the crown, he insisted that Anne and her older sister Mary be raised as Protestants. Since Charles' wife Queen Catherine had no children (See my post Catherine: An Unhappy Queen), Charles knew that one of James' children would eventually ascend to the throne. He believed in order to avoid another civil war, the monarch needed to be Protestant.

Anne's father had other ideas. After her mother died when Anne was still a little girl, he married a Catholic princess and tried to have sons who would supplant his daughters in the line of succession. He was initially unsuccessful.

In the meantime, Anne was being moved from place to place, primarily because of her health. She had been sent to France to live with her grandmother, Queen Henrietta Maria. A French-born princess, Henrietta Maria opted to stay in her birth country rather than live in the country that had beheaded her husband. After the queen died, Anne was left in the care of her father's sister Henrietta Anne who had married the French king's brother. When Henrietta Anne died suddenly, young Anne returned to England to join her sister Mary in the care of the Edward and Frances Villiers. A year later, her mother died. Then, her father remarried. Then, Mary married and left to live in Holland. Anne was 12 years old and she was fairly alone except for a dear friend she had made, Sarah Jennings, who was five years her senior.

Anne's relationship with Sarah would come to be one of the defining elements of Anne's life, her reign, and even her memory today. The two were very close throughout their youth. They wrote to each other using the sobriquets Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Morley. Anne thought this would make them more equal. It seems, however, that Sarah often had the upper hand. She married the military genius John Churchill, who defended Anne's father in the Monmouth Rebellion but later stood against him in the Glorious Revolution and won his lasting fame in the Battle of Blenheim, for which Anne would create him Duke of Marlborough.

The question of Anne's own marriage arose early as it often did for princesses. At first, it was thought that she would marry her second cousin Prince George of Hanover. As a descendant of King James I, George, like Mary's husband, William of Orange, was in the British Line of Succession. In fact, he was the next male after William. However, King Charles' preference for French alliances caused a change of plan. Mary's marriage into the Dutch naval superpower had made France uncomfortable. Charles needed an ally to counterbalance any possible future problems with the Dutch. Denmark was selected and Anne was offered to the Danish king's younger son, Prince George. The match infuriated William of Orange but ultimately delighted Anne, despite George's well-earned reputation for dullness and his complete lack of ambition.

The newlyweds fell immediately to the chief task of royal marriages: baby making. Anne would have 17 pregnancies in as many years. The first, a stillborn daughter, devastated the young couple. The birth of their daughter Mary 13 months later and Anne Sophia 11 months after that brought them great joy. Early the next year, Anne suffered a miscarriage. Shortly after that George and both of their tiny daughters were stricken with smallpox. Anne, who had survived smallpox as a child, nursed them all. George slowly recovered but the babies died within a week of each other. (See my post The Daughters of Queen Anne.) The couple was distraught at this tremendous double lost followed by another miscarriage that fall and a stillbirth the following spring. Finally, just a few days before their sixth wedding anniversary in the summer of 1689, their son William was born.

By then, the entire landscape of the British monarchy had changed, in part due to Anne's interference. Many Protestant leaders were concerned when Anne's Catholic father James acceded the throne in 1685. The fact that his heirs, Mary and Anne, were both Protestants married to Protestants kept their worries at bay. Eventually, they thought, he will die and Protestants will reign again. James, however, had made different plans. He had remarried a young Catholic princess Mary of Modena in an attempt to beget male heirs who would supersede his daughters in the Line of Succession. Mary's first 10 pregnancies resulted in stillbirths or babies who died young. When her eleventh pregnancy was announced in 1688, something seemed different. Especially to Anne. She and others started rumors that the King was planning to foist a false heir on Britain in order to maintain Catholic control. Anne even claimed that the Queen was not really pregnant. As evidence, she said her stepmother would not allow her to touch her pregnant belly as she had done in the past. By the time, Mary gave birth to a healthy son in June 1688, the conspiracy theories grew to include accusations of an infant being smuggled into the birth chamber in a warming pan. (See my post When Protestant Princesses Have Catholic Daddies.)

By the end of the next year, Parliament had invited William of Orange to invade and James had fled the country. Parliament deemed his departure an abdication and offered a joint throne to Anne's older sister Mary and William under certain conditions. The most important of these was that Parliament would now and always hold the upper hand in governance. Another condition was that either spouse would reign to the end of life regardless of who died first and that Anne would be their heir, unless Mary had a surviving child, which she never did.

During William and Mary's reign, their relationship with Anne became strained. In the beginning, they rewarded her loyalty by making her husband Duke of Cumberland and her best friend Sarah's husband Earl of Marlborough. However, they tried to prevent her from having too much financial independence. They also began to fear that the Marlboroughs were supporting the Jacobites, supporters of King James and his return to power. Despite this, Anne grew even closer to Sarah and would not comply with Mary's order to dismiss her from her household. When Sarah was dismissed by the Lord Chamberlain, Anne left the royal palace. Courtiers were forbidden from visiting her. When she then gave birth to another dead baby, Mary went to her but berated her for her defiance. That was the last time the sisters would ever see each other. Mary died a year and a half later.

Mary's death led to reconciliation with King William, who never remarried. He accepted Anne and her son William as his heirs. After William died at age 11 in 1700, he began to worry about the future of the monarchy. The Jacobites were still strong and would spend another half century attempting to bring James II or his son or grandson to the throne. With such a threat to the Protestant throne, the Act of Settlement of 1701 was adopted. It determined that the throne would bypass all of the potential heirs who were Catholic and settled the succession on Sophia Electress of Hanover and her descendants. Sophia was a granddaughter of King James I in the female line and matriarch of a family with two more generations of Protestant male heirs.

From the Almanac Royal Amsterdam
via Wikimedia Commons

The following year, William died and the 37-year-old Anne became Queen with Prince George as consort. Her long history of troubled health reared its head on her coronation day with an attack of gout that required her to be carried to the ceremony.

Anne showered her lifelong friend Sarah's and her husband with honors. Always tempestuous, Sarah controlled the Queen's household and served as a chief advisor. After Prince George's death, Sarah attempted to exert even more control, even removing portraits of George against Anne's wishes. Sarah's haughty ways continued to disturb others and eventually became more than even Anne could tolerate. When Anne showed favor befriend Sarah's cousin Abigail Masham, the two had a final blowout in 1711. Although frequently portrayed as a girl fight or even a spat between lovers, the row had much deeper roots in Anne and Sarah's political differences and Sarah's presumption to dictate to the Queen.

Today, Anne is one of the least well-remembered monarchs but her reign was active and full of historic events. Perhaps the most important of these was the 1707 Acts of Union that united all of the nations of the British Isles into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. As the last Stuart monarch, it is perhaps fitting that she was the first to be Queen of a united Scotland and England rather than serving as Queen of each.

She also had to face some karma from her early denials about her younger half-brother, Prince James Francis Stuart. When their father died in 1701, the King of France had pronounced James as his rightful successor. By 1708, the "Old Pretender" as he came to be called, had raised an army and attempted an invasion that was deflected by Anne's forces. Anne's government later had James exiled from France as a condition of a peace treaty between the countries.

Anne also was a patron of the arts and sciences. She supporting the work of some of the most famous men of the age, including Isaac Newton and George Frederick Handel.

By 1713, Anne's health was rapidly declining. Some say she forced herself to stay alive long enough to prevent her cousin Electress Sophia from succeeding her. Whether true or not, Sophia died in May 1714 and Anne suffered a final stroke less about eight weeks later. She was succeeded by Sophia's oldest son, King George I, whom Anne had never allowed to visit Britain. He beheld his new kingdom for the very first time six weeks later.

QUEENS OF BRITAIN SERIES
Boudica, Queen of the Iceni
Empress Matilda
Margaret Maid of Norway
Lady Jane Grey
Queen Mary I
Queen Elizabeth I
Mary Queen of Scots
Queen Mary II
Queen Anne
Queen Victoria - coming soon
Queen Elizabeth II - coming soon

MORE ABOUT ANNE
10 Surprising Facts About Queen Anne on Historical Medallions
The Death of Queen Anne on The National Archives
It's Not That Easy Being Queen on Tom Reeder's Blog
Mary II and Queen Anne: The Representations of Two Sisters on Team Queens
Queen Anne on The British Monarchy
Queen Anne on Historic Royal Palaces
Queen Anne on Historic UK
Queen Anne is Dead! on Untold Lives Blog
Queen Anne and the Favourite on Royal Museums Greenwich
Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill's Last Stand-Off at Kensington Palace on Historic Royal Palaces
Queen Anne's Love Life on University of Cambridge Museum & Botanic Gardens
The Stuart Dynasty - William, Mary, and Anne on A Royal Heraldry

Royal Ladies of 2024

2025-01-01T15:50:00.005-05:00

Embed from Getty Images

In a year that started with surprise announcements about cancer diagnoses for both the King of England and his daughter-in-law the Princess of Wales, 2024 not surprisingly was one of the most up-and-down years for our royal ladies in recent history. Amidst illnesses, deaths, and a disturbing (possibly criminal) scandal, the year was brightened with a wedding, a few births and pregnancy announcements, and one joyful accession.

Chemotherapy for Catherine

The biggest royal story of the year arguably was the illness of Catherine Princess of Wales and the world's overwrought response to it. Following a scheduled abdominal surgery in early January, a long leave from duties was announced. Then, Kensington Palace shared that the post-surgery discovery of cancer cells would necessitate chemotherapy and a much-extended medical leave. Simultaneously, King Charles was diagnosed with prostate cancer and withdrew temporarily from public-facing duties. With two major royals out of public view, the media and public began to wildly speculate on the condition of each, but focused mostly on Catherine. With theories ranging from a lazy princess who wasn't really sick to one who had actually been murdered by her husband, KP's various responses or lack of responses only furthered the crazy conspiracy theories. Beginning in the summer, Catherine undertook a few public appearances and shared gratitude for the end of her treatment with a produced family video. The holidays saw the return of her now traditional carol service and Christmas day walkabout with the family. Here's hoping the rumormongers are lot quieter in 2025.

The Last Reigning Queen

Denmark's new King Frederik and Queen Mary with their children.

From left: Isabella, Christian, Frederik, Mary, Vincent and Josephine.
Photo: Dennis Stenild, Kongehuset

January saw the abdication of the last reigning queen as Denmark's Queen Margrethe II handed over the crown to her son King Frederik X and his consort the Tasmanian-born Queen Mary. (See my post The Last Queen, For Now.) All of Europe's monarchies are now headed by men, but this is a short-lived period as the heirs in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain are women and the #2 in line in Norway and Sweden are also female. Margrethe had reigned since her father's death in 1972 and celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 2022.

The Danish abdication and succession also brought one more historic moment: Queen Mary is only the second European Queen Consort to be born on another continent. (See my post A New Queen Mary.) The first was Argentinian-born Queen Maxima who acceded with her husband in The Netherlands in 2013. There are two other current consorts born outside of Europe but with lower ranking: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, born in Cuba, and Princess Charlene of Monaco, born in Rhodesia now called Zimbabwe. This leaves Asia as the only continent not currently represented in a European reigning couple.

Royal Marriages

We are currently in a period where most of the unmarried royal ladies are a bit young for a trip to the altar just yet, but we did celebrate one long-awaited marriage in 2024 when Princess Theodora of Greece married American Matthew Kumar on September 28. Their engagement had been announced in 2018, but their wedding was postponed twice -- once due to the Covid pandemic and then due to the death of her father, former King Constantine II in 2023. At 41 years old, Theodora is one of the oldest royal brides to make a first marriage. The ceremony was a true family celebration with Theodora carrying on the tradition of women in her family of wearing a veil of Irish lace and the Khedive of Egypt tiara, both of which have been passed down from her great-grandmother British Princess Margaret of Connaught, who was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria who married a future King of Sweden.

In Norway, the King's daughter Princess Martha Louise married for the second time. Always walking a line between what is acceptable for a princess and what is not, Martha Louise has been chided over the years for using her title for personal profit and for advocating fringe spiritual beliefs. Choosing American Durek Verrett, a self-proclaimed Shaman, caused huge controversy. Although he has a significant following, mainstream people have described him as a conspiracy theorist and even a conman. Nevertheless, the wedding went forward on August 31 with her royal relatives in attendance.

In the meantime, another Greek princess announced the end of her marriage. The second of Theodora's three brothers, Princess Nikolaus, and his wife Princess Tatiana announced their separation after 14 years. The couple had no children. Venezuelan-born Tatiana is an author, event planner and entrepreneur, who shares her love of cuisine and travel via her social media channels.

Royal Mothers

After several years of royal baby booms, the last few years have been relatively quiet. 2024 is no exception with only two new babies and two announced pregnancies expecting delivery in the new year. In Luxembourg, Princess Alexandra and her husband Nicolas Bagory welcomed a daughter named Victoire in May, just 13 months after the wedding.

Proud grandmother Queen Rania showed off Princess Iman on social media throughout the year.

In Jordan, King Abdullah and Queen Rania excitedly shared the birth of their first grandchild, Princess Iman bint Hussein, in August. The family shared photos of practically the entire family holding the newborn, who is the daughter of Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa, also 13 months after their wedding. The Jordanian King and Queen also marked 25 years on the throne in 2024.

Meanwhile, we have two more royal babies to look forward to in 2025 as both Britain's Princess Beatrice and Sweden's Princess Sofia announced pregnancies. This will be Sofia's fourth child. After a trio of boys, she may be wishing for a girl this time. As for Beatrice, she has a stepson with her husband and a little girl waiting to welcome their new sibling. Beatrice's plans to celebrate Christmas with her husband's family in Italy were apparently curtailed due to doctor's cautions in what may be her final trimester. Sofia, in the meantime, was featured in Vogue with photos taken before her bump was showing, but she and bump appeared to be in blooming health at the Nobel Prize celebrations in December. Her baby is said to be due in the spring.

In Norway, another royal mother was suffering due to one of her children. After years of rumors and innuendo, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's oldest child, Marius Borg Høiby, was arrested following reports of domestic violence. Her son from a previous relationship, Marius was a toddler when his mother married Crown Prince Haakon. During his childhood, he was regularly featured in photos with the royal family and appeared at family occasions. As he entered adulthood, it was officially clarified that he is not a member of the Norwegian Royal Family and wished to live a life out of public view. However, his behavior has attracted a lot of public attention, especially in 2024, with several women coming forward with accusations of sexual assault, domestic abuse, and drug abuse. Mette-Marit skipped a trip to the Summer Olympics in the wake of the scandal. Her own choices drew negative criticism when it was revealed that she had personally "cleaned up" Marius' home prior to his surrender to police. Both the King and Crown Prince have publicly acknowledged the family's personal struggles, but it looks like 2025 is going to bring more to light as the 27-year-olds court cases move forward.

Sad Farewells

On February 27, Buckingham Palace announced the death of Thomas Kingston, husband of Lady Gabriella, the only daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Although it was soon clear that he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the conspiracy theorists online drew connections to Catherine of Wales' absence from public life, alleging that William Prince of Wales had killed both Catherine and Thomas in a fit of jealous rage. The outrageous allegations could only have piled on to the family's pain. An inquest into the death later concluded that his suicide was likely due to an adverse reaction from medication, as Gabriella herself testified. The couple had celebrated their wedding at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle in 2019.

Earlier in February, the pretender to the Italian throne, Prince Vittorio Emanuele, passed away, leaving behind his wife of 52 years. Marina Ricolfi Doria had been an internationally ranked water skiier before her marriage. Their only child, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, succeeded his father as Head of the House of Savoy and as a claimant to the Italian throne.

The death of Prince Michael of Greece in July widowed the former Marina Karella after 49 years of marriage. Having made an "unequal marriage", Michael's wife was not granted royal status. However, their daughters, Alexandra and Olga, are both Princesses of Greece. They both appear to have inherited equally from their artist mother and their historian father.

The Swedish King and his sisters in 2017. From left: Margareta, Carl Gustaf, Birgitta, Desiree

and Christina. Photo: Jonas Berg/The Royal Court of Sweden

With a number of royal ladies now in their 80s and 90s, the next few years may see the loss of many of them. On December 4, Princess Birgitta of Sweden passed away in her home on Mallorca at age 87. She was the second of King Carl XVI Gustaf's four older sisters. (See my post Farewell Princess Birgitta.) She was the only one of the King's sisters to retain her royal styling as she was the only one to make an "equal marriage", a standard that is no longer required today.

In June, King Mohammed VI of Morocco's mother, Princess Lalla Latifa, died. The only wife of King Hassan II, she was the mother of five children. After Hassan's death in 1999, she married her late husband's Chief of Security. Her exact birthdate is unknown, but she was about 80 when she passed.

One of longest-lived royal ladies in history passed away in November. Japan's Yuriko Princess Mikasa was 101 years old. The wife of World War II-era Emperor Hirohito's youngest brother, Yuriko outlived her husband by eight years and was the last surviving member of that generation of the Imperial Family. She is survived by her two daughters, 80-year-old Yasuko and 73-year-old Masako. All three of her sons predeceased her.

As 2025 dawns, let us hope we and our royal ladies have a year filled with more laughter than tears.

Farewell Princess Birgitta (1937-2024)

2024-12-04T18:47:00.000-05:00

By Frankie Fouganthin via Wikimedia Commons

On December 4, 2024, we received the sad news that Princess Brigitta of Sweden passed away at her home on Mallorca. She was 87.

Although Birgitta Ingeborg Alice was the second child of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and his wife Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, she was never in the Swedish Line of Succession. Until 1980, no women were allowed to accede to the Swedish throne. When the law was changed to include women, it was limited to the descendants of her brother, King Carl Gustaf, and their uncle, Prince Bertil. She and her sisters, however, were in the British Line of Succession as granddaughters of Princess Margaret of Connaught, who had married the future King Gustaf VI Adolf. Margaret was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. At the time of her death, Birgitta was around #200 in the British succession.

Birgitta is the first of the Haga Princesses to pass away. She and her three sisters--Margaretha, Desiree, and Christina--were known by this collective name after Haga Palace, where they were born and grew up. Born between 1934 and 1943, the princesses finally had a little brother, the current king, in 1946. Nine months later, their father died in a plane crash. Birgitta had celebrated her 10th birthday one week earlier.

Birgitta (center) surrounded by her parents, sisters, and

baby brother shortly before her father's tragic death.
By Ateljé Jaeger via Wikimedia Commons

The princesses grew up in the royal spotlight. In 1960, Birgitta and Desiree were sent on an official visit to the United States in honor of their grandfather's 50th anniversary on the throne. They spent 10-days being feted. Their older sister Margaretha and cousins Astrid of Norway and Margarethe of Denmark had visited the U.S. West Coast just a few months earlier.

In 1961, Birgitta was the first of the sisters to marry. She was also the only one to make a so-called "equal marriage", choosing a husband of princely rank. She and Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern had three children: Carl Christian in 1962, Desiree in 1963, and Hubertus in 1966. Later, they had four grandchildren. The couple separated in 1990 but remained married until his death in 2016. He continued to live in homeland of Germany while she made her home in Spain.

Because Birgitta married a prince, she is the only one of her sisters who retained the style of a Royal Highness and continued to be an official member of the Swedish Royal House.

Birgitta was a sporty person. She even trained a gymnastics instructor and was well-known for her love of golf.

Queens of Britain Series: Mary II

2024-11-29T21:17:00.008-05:00

By Willem Wissing via Wikimedia Commons

"Honor thy father." The fifth of the Bible's Ten Commandments was a difficult one for the very pious Mary Princess of Orange. As the eldest daughter of James Duke of York, she had grown up in a privileged but unusual family situation. Her uncle was King Charles II, who had no legitimate children. Thus, her father was the heir to the throne. For most of her life, Mary was second in the line of succession, moving to third for brief periods when younger brothers supplanted her but then died young.

Mary's relationship with her father was complicated by religion. Both of her parents had converted to Catholicism, but Uncle Charles had insisted that their children be raised as Protestants. Mary and her siblings were removed from the Yorks' authority and raised by Protestant caregivers. Although eight children were born to the couple, Mary and Anne, five years her junior, were the only ones to live more than a few years. They saw their parents only occasionally and both became very staunch Protestants. (See my post When Protestant Daughters Have Catholic Daddies.)

The British Royal Family was very small at this time: King Charles II and Queen Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of York, Anne and Mary, and Queen Henrietta Maria, their grandmother and the widow of the executed King Charles I. Henrietta Maria's youngest daughter had married into the French Royal Family and her eldest daughter had married into the Dutch. Initially, King Charles wanted young Mary to marry the French heir but British politicians bewailed a Catholic marriage and it was determined that she would marry her first cousin, the Dutch Prince William of Orange.

Mary sobbed for an entire day and throughout the wedding. She was only 15 and William was nearly 12 years her senior. Although he was fourth in line to the British throne after Mary and Anne, he was not popular with his young cousins. Anne even compared him to a notorious Greek monster.

Now Princess of Orange, Mary journeyed to the continent and was welcomed with fanfare at The Hague. She quickly became pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage that may have left her barren. She is thought to have had one or two additional but unsuccessful pregnancies. Her childlessness was painful to her all of her life. Nevertheless, her relationship with William began to flourish. Although visually mismatched -- Mary was young, lovely, and tall while William was comparatively old, unattractive, and short -- the couple formed a good partnership with Mary serving as a devoted wife. She even became jealous when she heard a rumor that he had a mistress.

For his part, William was often away at war. His renown and prowess as a soldier was to become important as things started shifting in Britain. When King Charles died in 1685, Mary's father became King James II. His queen, however, was not her mother. She had died when Mary was nine. A few years later, James had remarried a Catholic princess, Mary of Modena, who was only four years older than his daughter, in an attempt to beget sons. The birth of sons would displace Mary and her sister Anne in the line of succession as boys took precedence over girls at that time. So far, Mary of Modena had delivered 10 children, many of whom were stillborn. One little girl, Isabel, had lived four years but the others all died within a few weeks of birth.

All of that changed in 1688 when it was announced that the queen was expecting her eleventh child. Mary and her sister Anne openly questioned whether their stepmother was even pregnant. Other prominent Protestants also spread rumors that the pregnancy was fake and that the Catholic king was preparing to foist a false Catholic heir upon the nation and prevent the crown from going to his Protestant daughter. When a baby boy was born, some suggested that an infant had been secreted into the queen's delivery room in a warming pan.

Whether the infant was a true child of the king or not, the Protestant leadership and Parliament were ready to prevent the continuation of a Catholic monarchy. They invited Mary's husband William to gather his army and invade in the name of his wife's claim to the throne. With the threat from his son-in-law matching the mood of much of his country, James fled to France. Parliament determined that his departure equaled abdication both for him and his Catholic descendants. Mary was invited to assume the throne.

Ceiling painted by Sir James Thornhill,
photographed by James Brittain

Mary herself insisted that she should serve jointly with her husband. Even though she had not wanted to marry William in the beginning, 11 years of marriage had changed her mind. She also believed that a wife should not be superior to her husband. So it was that Britain's first and only joint monarchs were crowned together as King William III and Queen Mary II. Termed the "Glorious Revolution" or the "Bloodless Revolution", the accession of William and Mary permanently changed the relationship between the Crown and Parliament. From thenceforth, the monarch ruled only by the consent of the governed and no longer had the power to act without Parliamentary approval. This was also the moment when all Catholics were banned from inheriting the British throne. Mary and her reign may be one of the least well-remembered and least celebrated of Britain's reigning queens, but it could be said that her leadership has had the most important and lasting impact on the British monarchy.

William was firmly established as the "lead" monarch with Mary remaining out of governance unless he was away at war, which he often was. Mary became a kind of summer queen, only governing when he was on campaign, often fighting her father.

For the most part, Mary preferred to focus on the promotion of the Anglican Church and gardening. Her strong religious fervor is what led her to charter a new college in the Virginia colony that would train Anglican ministers in the New World. To this day, it is known as the College of William and Mary. Her love of gardens also created legacies for her in the gardens of Het Loo in The Netherlands and Hampton Court Palace in London.

Her reign as queen was short-lived. Mary was struck by a particularly deadly strain of smallpox in 1694. She was 32. Her enemies said her early death was punishment for breaking the Commandment about honoring your father. Nevertheless, the decisions she had made ensured that her father, his sons, and his sons' descendants never again ruled in Britain. Instead, she was succeeded by her co-monarch William, the husband she had chosen to support over her father.

William deeply mourned Mary. He wore her wedding ring on a ribbon around his neck for the rest of his life. He never remarried and, upon his death in 1701, the throne passed to his cousin, Mary's younger sister Anne, as Mary had agreed at the time of their unprecedented, revolutionary accession.

MORE ABOUT MARY
The Death of Queen Mary on Madam Gilfurt
Displaying Queen Mary II's Exoticks Collection on Historic Royal Palaces
King William III: The Glorious Revolution and His Reign with Mary II on Hattons of London
Mary II on Culloden Battlefield
Mary II on The Stuart Successions Project
Mary II and Queen Anne: The Representations of Two Sisters on Team Queens
A Monarch a Month by Ten Hour Stitcher
Monarch of the Month: Queen Mary II on An Historian about Town
Queen Mary II: A Short Reign, a lasting legacy for us on W&M News Archive
The Stuart Dynasty - William, Mary, and Anne on A Royal Heraldry
Who Should Sit on the Throne? on The History of Parliament
William III and Mary II: England's Only Joint Sovereigns on Historic Royal Palaces
William & Mary on The Seventeenth Century Lady

Queens of Britain Series: Mary Queen of Scots

2024-11-17T12:52:00.012-05:00

By François Clouet via Wikimedia Commons

Child kings are relatively common across European history. A couple of kings were proclaimed from the moment of their births. A child queen, like reigning queens in general, is something much more rare. The two most prominent, Mary Queen of Scots and Christina of Sweden, both led rather unusual lives and each made the decision to abdicate at a young age. (Read my post Abdicating Queens.)

The turbulent life and reign of Mary Queen of Scots reverberates through history and has generated an important segment of tourism across several areas of Scotland. If you can't find a walking tour or spot that references her, you probably never left your inn. For Mary, the tumult started before she was week old. In the space of just 44 years, she was orphaned, was queen regnant of Scotland, queen consort of France, thrice widowed, possibly raped, witnessed a dear friend's brutal murder, perhaps had a husband murdered, abdicated, abandoned her only child, and ultimately was executed by someone she hoped she could trust.

Let's start at the very beginning. The course of the Scottish monarchy was perhaps a touch more volatile than most monarchies of the pre-modern era. The nearly constant warfare often led to the early death of kings and accession of youngsters. Mary's father, King James V of Scotland, was the product of an attempt at peace between England and Scotland. His mother was Margaret Tudor, older sister of England's King Henry VIII. The peace was very short-lived. James ascended the throne at 17 months old when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden. Like his uncle, he was something of a Renaissance man. Also like his uncle, he was not very successful at creating male heirs. His first wife, 16-year-old French princess Madeleine of Valois died within months of their wedding. A year later, he married another French princess Marie of Guise. Marie gave birth to two princes, James Duke of Rothesay and Robert Duke of Albany. However, the two boys died within 14 hours of each other when James 11 months old and Robert just nine days.

James and Marie were distraught but still young. The loss of infants was fairly common in those days. When Marie became pregnant again a year later, they likely thought this would be the first of several more children. James was away at war when Marie went into labor earlier than expected. Alas, he never even met her. He died following defeat at Solway Moss. Some say he suffered a nervous breakdown; others that he drank contaminated water. The outcome was the same: his six-day-old daughter was proclaimed the first-ever Queen of Scotland.

Named Mary for her mother, the infant queen was the center of conflict from the beginning. The struggle for control of baby Mary and the kingdom was primarily between the Catholic Cardinal Beaton and the Protestant Earl of Arran. Arran served as regent for most of Mary's childhood until her mother Marie of Guise was proclaimed regent 11 years later. By then, Mary was living in France being raised at the French court alongside her future husband, the Dauphin Francis.

The first suitor for Mary had actually been Uncle Henry VIII's much longed-for heir Edward. Despite a treaty stating that the two children would marry, Scotland was not keen on the idea, preferring to maintain its longstanding alliance with France against England. Once Henry became aware of their intent, he renewed English attacks on Scotland in what became known as the War of the Rough Wooing. He failed and five-year-old Mary sailed off to France with a retinue of four noble girls also named Mary.

There, she was under the direct care of her future mother-in-law Catherine de Medici along with Catherine's 10 children. Like her Tudor cousins, Mary was red-haired. She grew to be nearly six foot tall. After 10 years in France, she and Francis were finally wed. The next year, his father died in a jousting accident and the Queen of Scotland was crowned Queen of France. Her double crown was to be short-lived. Francis died in the 17th month of his reign.

By Francois Clouet in the Royal Collection

via Wikimedia Commons

At 18, Mary returned to Scotland as a widow. The country had changed during her absence. John Knox and the Protestants had gained tremendous power and did not welcome the return of a Catholic queen. With her mother's death the previous year, the young woman was left to navigate dangerous waters with few true allies. Her illegitimate half-brother James Earl of Moray was a Protestant leader at court and her chief advocate. Mary adopted tolerance toward Protestants despite her own staunch religious beliefs. This may have been because she did not have enough power to oppose the Protestants or it may have been because she had her eyes on another prize: England.

By now, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I was firmly in control in England and she had been refusing to marry and beget her own heir. Catholics in England, who saw Elizabeth as illegitimate, already believed Mary was the rightful English queen. She definitely had genealogy in her favor: as the senior descendant of King Henry VIII's older sister, she had the strongest dynastic claim even though Margaret Tudor had surrendered accession rights for her descendants when she married into Scotland. With this close blood between them, Elizabeth was inclined to keep a close eye on Mary, who could pose a strong threat against her.

Unlike Elizabeth, Mary was eager to marry and have children. She was besieged by suitors but ultimately fell sway to the handsome and dashing Henry Stuart Lord Darnley. From the beginning, it was a dangerous liaison. Not only were both of them volatile; they both had claims to both thrones of England and Scotland. Henry's mother was the daughter of Margaret Tudor by a second marriage, making him the most senior male in line for the English crown. On his father's side, Henry was descended from King James II of Scotland. At the time of Mary's accession, there had been a small potential that the throne could have gone to Henry's father. The marriage greatly angered Elizabeth--to have two potential heirs marry each other added to the fact that they were both Catholic felt very dangerous to her. She had Henry's mother Margaret Douglas, who lived most of her life in England, arrested.

Initially, the couple seemed to be very passionate but it soured quickly. Darnley was ambitious and jealous. He wanted to control Mary and Scotland, but Mary refused to name him King. It took little to stoke his anger especially when he was drunk, which he often was. When rumors arose that Mary was having an affair with his former friend and confidante David Rizzio, Darnley was enraged. He ordered a raid on Mary's suite where her entourage, including Rizzio, were dining. Rizzio initially hid behind Mary, but he was dragged away and stabbed over 50 times. One of Darnley's co-conspirators held the queen at gunpoint during the attack. Mary was six months pregnant when she experienced this violence.

Mary officially accepted Darnley's protestations of innocence. Their son James was born but their marriage remained rocky. Divorce was discussed and the couple were separated. Aware that the Catholic Church would not grant a divorce without delegitimizing her son, Mary convinced Darnley to return to Edinburgh. He was staying at the other end of the town from her when his house suddenly exploded. His strangled body was later found outside. Many believed Mary had ordered his murder, just 11 months after Rizzio was slaughtered, but the evidence is impossible to know definitively, even today.

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was immediately suspected of leading the murder plot. An early supplicant for Mary's hand in marriage before she married Darnley, Bothwell pressed his suit harder now. He kidnapped Mary and raped her, forcing her to become his wife. Or so one version of the story goes. In another version, Mary had colluded with him all along and willingly joined forces with him to strengthen her position in the wake of Darnley's death. Whichever version is true, the newly married couple was quickly besieged by opposing lords. Within a couple of months, Mary was captured and imprisoned at Lochleven, where she miscarried twins. A month later, she was forced to abdicate in favor of her son, whom she would never see again. The new King James VI was 13 months old.

Bothwell fled to Denmark. Mary escaped Lochleven after a nearly a year and managed to raise an army but was defeated. In desperation, she made her way to England, intending to get her cousin Queen Elizabeth to help her recapture her throne. Elizabeth had no such intention.

Instead, Elizabeth kept her elegant confinement at various stately homes for the next 19 years, never deigning to meet her. She kept her spies busy making sure that Mary was not plotting against her until finally, at last, they had evidence of Mary consorting with Catholics to have Elizabeth assassinated. During her trial, Mary asserted that she was not subject to English judgement because she was a foreign Queen but her protestations fell on deaf ears, particularly since the evidence against her was damning.

Mary was executed at Fotheringhay on February 7, 1587. Her beheading was one of the bloodiest on record, requiring three strikes to finish the deed. Altogether, Mary spent only 12 years in Scotland. Adding insult to injury, she was not returned to France as requested but was buried with Protestant rights at Peterborough Cathedral.

Nineteen years later, her son succeeded Elizabeth as King of England. Although he expressed little affection for the mother who had abandoned him and whom he had never known, he had her body moved to Westminster Abbey in London to be buried among the monarchs of England. In the end, she did get the English throne for her descendants. Every British monarch since Elizabeth has been descended from Mary Queen of Scots.

MORE ABOUT MARY
The Bloody Death of Mary Queen of Scots on Historic Environment Scotland
Encountering Mary Queen of Scots on University of St Andrews Special Collections
The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots on University of Oxford
In the Footsteps of Mary Queen of Scots on Tweed Valley Blogger
Mary Queen of Scots website
Mary Queen of Scots: Martyr, Monarch, Mystery on Scotland's Wild
Mary Queen of Scots: a Remarkable Life in History on Scotland's Wild
Murder Most Foul on Medieval Manuscripts
Principal Players: Influential and Detrimental People in the Life of Mary Queen of Scots on The Thistle & The Rose
The Tragedies of Mary Queen of Scots on Mercat Blog
What Did Mary Queen of Scots Really Look Like on Royalty Now

The Many Loves of Prince Eddy

2024-10-05T18:30:00.005-04:00

Albert Victor of Wales Duke of Clarence

by Alexander Bassano via Wikimedia Commons

Rich. Handsome. Charming. Heir to the British Empire. Prince Albert Victor of Wales was the world's most eligible bachelor in the late 19th century. He appeared to have his pick of the royal brides across Europe. Nevertheless, when his grandmother Queen Victoria decided it was time for him to marry, the task took longer and caused more heartache than she could have imagined.

With nine children and dozens of grandchildren, Victoria relished her role as both matriarch and matchmaker. Feeling herself an expert on both duty and romance, she never hesitated to offer unsolicited advice to all of her offspring. Whether summoning them to join her at one of her many homes for in-person instruction or mailing them pages and pages of written expectations, she rarely hesitated to let them know what she thought they should do.

Victoria ultimately had grandchildren serving as monarchs or consorts in Germany, Greece, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The British throne, however, was obviously the most important to her. She had fretted over finding a successful match for her eldest son, Bertie, the future King Edward VII. His marriage to the beautiful and loving Princess Alexandra of Denmark might have been troubled by his infidelities, but Alexandra was a popular and gracious Princess of Wales and mother of six. She was barely 19 when she gave birth prematurely to Prince Albert Victor in 1864. He grew up in a rambunctious and close-knit family full of fun and hijinks thanks to his lively parents.

As an eventual king, Albert Victor, called Eddy in the family, was subjected to the usual assortment of tutors expected to prepare him for the role. That's where the troubles began. Eddy was not only lethargic; he was not bright. At all. His little brother Georgie, 17 months younger was included in his studies. Moderately smarter and more attentive, Georgie did not inspire Eddy to greater academic achievements. The family decided the navy was the best solution. Both boys were sent to sea when Eddy was 13 and Georgie was 11. As teens, they were even sent on a five-continent tour around the globe. None of this really helped Eddy advance either. Six years later, the boys were finally separated. Eddy was sent to Cambridge University while Georgie remained in the navy. Eddy was excused from exams, but he did not excuse himself from the fun of student life during his two years at university. After that, he moved on to the army. He hated it, but he still had plenty of time for polo and socializing.

Grandmama Queen was not overly concerned with Eddy's lack of academic accomplishment preferring to focus on his kindness and charm. By now in his mid-20s, Eddy was gaining a reputation that was kept from Victoria. Not only had he likely already contracted a venereal disease and had been involved with "questionable" young women (two of whom committed suicide), but he was also implicated in the Cleveland Street scandal, an investigation into a male brothel that offered young boys for some highly placed London gentlemen. To be fair, the Prince was never officially investigated and to this day no direct proof has ever been produced.

Eddy's father, himself no stranger to sexual scandals, was aware of the investigation. So, when Queen Victoria decided that the thing that would "make" Eddy was a wife, Bertie readily agreed. Eddy would need another paragon like his mother. The search for the ideal bride did not start far from home.

Alix of Hesse

via Wikimedia Commons

Princess Alix of Hesse

Alix of Hesse was a favorite granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was the youngest surviving child of Victoria and Albert's second daughter Princess Alice, who had died nursing her youngsters through diptheria when Alix was only six. (Read about this tragedy in my post The Kiss of Death.) Victoria appointed herself as a foster mother to her Hesse grandchildren, which included four girls and one boy. (Another little boy, who had hemophilia, had died in an accidental fall, and the youngest girl succumbed to diptheria a month before Alice.) Alix was considered to be one of the most beautiful princesses of the day. She was also sweet and quiet. Her first cousin Eddy, eight years her senior, found her to be lovely in every way. Everyone agreed that the 17-year-old would be a perfect future queen for Eddy. Well, almost everyone.

When marriage was suggested to Eddy, he immediately obliged by falling in love with darling Alix. Queen Victoria immediately invited the princess to join her for the summer in 1889. Eddy feared that their shared grandmother's interference might actually scare off Alix by placing too much emphasis on his future position. He wrote to Alix's brother-in-law Louis of Battenberg, "I will do all I can to persuade Alicky that I love her for herself."

Unfortunately for the lovesick Eddy, he had lost the race long before he got to the starting line. Alix had given her heart away when she was only 12 when she attended her sister Elizabeth's wedding to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia. Grandmama Queen had battled Elizabeth over her choice of groom, fearing that Russia was too unstable for her granddaughter. Sergei's father, Tsar Alexander II, had been assassinated the year before the wedding. She would have preferred Ella, as she was called, to have married her besotted cousin Wilhelm of Germany, another grandson who was a future monarch in need of a good wife to "make him" -- though for different reasons than Eddy.

During the engagement and wedding celebrations, the very young Alix had met Sergei's sweet and quiet nephew, Nicholas, heir to the Russian autocracy. Nicky noticed Alix too. The 16-year-old was immediately in love. They were both far too young to make any commitments, but he did give her a bracelet and two began corresponding. Ella, once again defying Grandmama Queen, encouraged their puppy love. She took every opportunity to invite Alix to Russia and she gave Nicholas a small portrait of Alix with their brother.

Victoria could not have imagined that the one person most opposed to the proposed engagement with Eddy was Alix herself. Always sweet and demure, Alix proved stronger and more self-determined than Grandmama could have imagined. Not only did she firmly, but gently, decline the greatest position that could have been offered her as future Queen and Empress of the British Empire--breaking Eddy's heart in the process--she remained determined to marry Nicholas. It was a decision that would ultimately cost her her life along with the lives of the five children they had together. (See my post, The Last Romanov Ladies, Part I.)

Margaret of Prussia

by Alexander Bassano via Wikimedia Commons

Margaret of Prussia

Heartbroken Eddy was sent off to India while Victoria reconsidered his options. Perhaps a less attractive cousin would not think so highly of herself and be more grateful for Grandmama's advice than the Hesse princesses.

In May1890, Victoria rewarded Eddy with the title Duke of Clarence. She also rewarded him with the offer of new potential bride. She wrote to Eddy to extol the virtues of his Cousin Mossy, aka Princess Margaret of Prussia, youngest daughter of Victoria's firstborn child, Vicky Princess Royal. By this time, Vicky was the Dowager Empress of Germany, her beloved husband having died of cancer less than a year after inheriting the throne. At 18, Mossy knew her place in the pecking-order of princesses. She might be the daughter and sister of emperors, but she lacked the sparkling beauty that helped attract a good match. By the late 19th century, high status was no longer enough for a princess--treaties were not built on royal marriages any more. To put it simply, Mossy was mousy.

Nevertheless, Mossy "had a great love of England," Victoria assured the new Duke of Clarence. Never one to mince her words, Victoria admitted that Mossy might not be "regularly pretty" but she had a nice a figure and was nice.

Bertie approved. This time, however, Eddy was less obliging. He was not going to fall for the "nice personality" of Cousin Mossy. Fortunately for him, his mother Alexandra, who hated all things German, made sure to stop this latest proposed romance before Mossy even arrived in Britain.

Helene of Orleans

via Wikimedia Commons

Helene of Orleans

In fact, Alexandra and her three daughters had already launched a plan of their own. Without telling the Queen, who had already voiced concerns about Princess Helene of Orleans, Eddy's oldest sister Louise invited the French princess to stay at her marital home just when Eddy was coming to visit. Tall and gorgeous, Helene was lively and spontaneous. She fit right in with the Wales family. As the daughter of a pretender to the French throne, 18-year-old Helene had been born in England but raised in France until her father was exiled once again in 1886. With her older sister Amelie already married to the heir to the Portuguese throne, Helene had good prospects on the international marriage market even if her family no longer had a throne.

With both mother's encouraging the couple, Eddy and Helene spent much of the summer of 1890 together at Louise's homes in England and in Scotland. Amidst the shooting parties, balls, and parties, the couple became very fond of each other. Eddy wrote his brother Georgie that Helene was "everything that is nice in a girl" and that "she really likes me." This was an exhilarating new feeling for Eddy. Where Alix had been shy and quiet, Helene was warm and reciprocal. He need not fear another rejection as she confidently declared that she had been in love with him for years. Soon the young couple exchanged engagement rings.

Now, how to tell Grandmama. Eddy's mother once again hatched a plan. She knew her mother-in-law very well. Underneath all of those imperial admonitions, beat the heart of a true romantic. Alexandra told the young couple to declare their love in front the Queen and fling themselves on her mercy. As soon as it could be arranged, the party from Louise's Scottish house paid a visit to the Queen at Balmoral. As their guests, they brought the Orleans princess and her family with them. That afternoon, as was her habit, Queen Victoria retired to her private sanctuary for a respite from a castle full of people. Soon, she had a message that her most important grandchild wished to see her.

Eddy and Helene came in together hand in hand. With tears in their eyes, they declared their love for each other. Beautiful Helene begged for the Queen's blessing, "Oh! Do help please do!" Eddy added his own plea, promising to be "grateful to you to the end of my life."

Victoria was moved. Here, at last, was Prince Eddy showing initiative and here was the young woman who had inspired him to do it. If Helene could achieve that, she must indeed be the right bride for the future king. When Victoria announced her consent, Alexandra feigned surprise at the impulsive couple, writing the Queen that the couple must have been more deeply attached than she could have imagined.

There was just one problem. A huge problem. The very reason Victoria had sought to prevent Eddy from ever thinking about Helene in the first place. The marriage was illegal.

Since 1689, Catholics had been barred from sitting on the British throne. In 1701, the Act of Settlement further confirmed that a British monarch could not be married to a Roman Catholic. Helene was Catholic.

The answer seemed simple to Victoria, Eddy, Bertie and Alexandra: Helene must convert to the Church of England. Helene herself, after days of thought, had promised Eddy that she would before they declared themselves to the Queen. However, she neglected to consult her father, the Comte de Paris, on this point. Well aware of the concern, the Comte had already been seeking legal advice to try to work around this issue. His daughter's conversion was not an option that he would consider. The prospect of another daughter on another throne was no replacement for her eternal soul or for the loss of support from the Catholic community. Faced with no other alternative, the Comte pressured Helene to break her promise to Eddy.

Helene herself was troubled by her conscience. Would she truly be risking damnation for the sake of love? Unconvinced by her father and the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Helene sought out the highest authority. Chaperoned by friends of her parents, she undertook a personal pilgrimage to Rome and sought a private audience with Pope Leo XIII. Following that conversation in November, Helene wrote to Eddy to decline his marriage proposal.

Eddy declared that he would never love another woman. He even threatened to give up his right to the throne. For months, he anguished hoping that Helene would change her mind. Finally in May 1891, she wrote to consider the religious and political consequences they would face. Mature beyond her years, she advised him to "do your duty as an English prince and forget me." When Eddy appealed one last time to Queen Victoria to use her influence to change Helene's mind, Grandmama was saddened to break his heart one more time, telling him he "must have the courage to renounce the idea forever."

Mary of Teck

from the Royal Collection via Wikimedia Commons

Mary of Teck

Despite Eddy's "violent" emotions over the loss of Helene, the search for his bride carried on without him. (Eddy fell in love again that summer with Lady Sybil St. Erskine, a match that never would have been considered for someone of his exalted status.) Bertie unsuccessfully suggested Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg, but that thought went nowhere. Victoria, for her part, went digging a little deeper in the cousin closet. If the decidedly plain Mossy would be appropriately grateful to wed a future King-Emperor, what about a princess who had no prospects whatsoever?

Victoria's first cousin, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, had a daughter who could fit that bill perfectly. Although Mary Adelaide was a granddaughter of King George III, she has married "beneath" herself. As handsome as he was poor by royal standards, Francis of Teck was the product of a morganatic marriage. His father, a scion of the royal House of Wurttemberg, had surrendered his rights to the throne in order to marry a mere countess. Francis had served well in the Imperial Austrian Army and had been granted the style of a Serene Highness before marrying a Royal Highness. Nevertheless, his family were largely dependent on the generosity of Queen Victoria providing them with homes free of rent while the British government gave Mary Adelaide a small annual income. The first of their four children and only daughter Princess Victoria Mary of Teck was born in Kensington Palace, in the very room where Queen Victoria had been born 48 years earlier. Calm, quiet, shy and always appropriate, the new little Princess was always called May.

The colorful, loud, and outgoing Mary Adelaide adored entertaining lavishly and generally living beyond her means--much like the Hanoverians who came before her and Victoria. She was nevertheless popular with the public who loved her personality and her sincere devotion to charitable causes. By the time May was 16, pressure from the creditors forced the Tecks to flee to the continent in some disgrace. After years of living abroad, they returned to Britain.

The time in Europe had helped to expand May's cultural education. She remained devoted to the arts and to museums for the rest of her life. She also was fluent in German, French, and English. Though she was never considered a beauty, she had a fresh prettiness and slim figure. All of these fine qualities did little to attract a husband. To be fair, a couple of unattractive, low-status princes had made advances early on, but May had turned them down. Now, at the age of 24, the likelihood of her finding a marriage partner was almost zero.

Suddenly, however, the Tecks were invited to the Waleses at Sandringham early in 1891. Then, Queen Victoria requested May's photograph. Then, that fall, May and her oldest brother (without their parents) were invited to visit the Queen at Balmoral. No one really consulted Eddy or May, but behind the scenes Bertie, Victoria, and their staff were making arrangements. Victoria determined that May would make a "good sensible wife." She was not a beauty like Alix or Helene but she pretty with charming manners. Plus, she was more mature, more worldly and more steady. Most importantly, May had a great deference for the Crown. The Queen was assured that both Eddy and May would do as they were expected.

Perhaps exhausted by the drama of his thwarted love matches, Eddy proposed to May in early December 1891 while both families were visiting a country house. The couple dutifully set for engagement portraits. By the time May returned to London, she was besieged by throngs of people longing to see the woman who had won the prince's heart. Newspapers around the world speculated on their romance.

There was a whirlwind of preparations for an early spring wedding that preoccupied much of May's time. The couple and their families were often together over the holiday season. In fact, the Tecks were at Sandringham after the New Year when Eddy started feeling ill. Despite a flu epidemic, Eddy continued to participate in the lively outdoor activities that were always part of a Wales house party. Then, one day, he was too ill to go out. Doctors were called. The family and May attended his sick room but his flu worsened into pneumonia. The whole country was hushed as they awaited news of their bright young prince, praying for his recovery. May sat quietly beside him as he, in his delirium called out for Helene.

On January 14, days before his 28th birthday and weeks before his wedding, Eddy was gone. May laid her planned bridal bouquet on his coffin and bid farewell to the man she did not love and the crowned future that had been hers for just a moment.

Sixteen months later she married a man she would love. Seventeen years after that, she would become Queen. (See my post, Royal Love Triangle: Eddy, Georgie and Mary)

Queens of Britain Series: Elizabeth I

2024-07-31T21:14:00.007-04:00

Portrait after Levina Teerlinc at National Portrait
Gallery via Wikimedia Commons

For the last 400 years, Queen Elizabeth I has been celebrated as Gloriana and Good Queen Bess. Her comparatively placide 45-year reign followed the political and religious tumult of her father's and siblings' reigns and preceded the political and religious unrest of her Stuart successors, who would actually lose the monarchy within two generations.

The First Elizabethan Age was marked by England's rise as an empire, including the triumph over the Spanish Armada and a series of religious compromises that prevented the kind of warfare that continued to rock her contemporaries on the Continent. Brilliant at using diplomacy, symbolic artistic depiction, and the stagecraft of majestic pageantry, Elizabeth the real person is elusive.

Her rise to the throne was rarely a certainty until the very moment of her succession. Her childhood and young adulthood consisted of cycles of abandonment and real danger. Throughout all of it, Elizabeth developed a level of cautious circumspection that neither of her parents ever displayed.

Born 10 months after her father King Henry VIII married his second wife Anne Boleyn was a cherished disappointment. Both parents adored her, but the fact that she was not a boy placed the couple in a precarious position. Henry had spent years attempting to annul his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon because he was convinced God was unhappy with that union. The evidence of God's disapproval was that he and Catherine had only a female child. The birth of another female child to his second wife was not what he expected. By the time Elizabeth was two, the second marriage had soured to the point that Henry was willing, nay eager, to believe trumped accusations of adultery. In a space of just 15 days, Anne was arrested, tried, and beheaded.

In the runup to Anne's execution, it was determined that she had bewitched the King and therefore their marriage was invalid. Like Catherine of Aragon's daughter Mary before her, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. She was not yet three years old. Less than two weeks later, Henry married again to Jane Seymour, who presented him with the much-desired son before dying of childbed fever.

The young Elizabeth was raised by primarily by governesses and tutors while her father made his way through more wives. The central figure of her childhood was governess Kat Ashley, who remained a close friend and companion until her own death in 1565. The little girl has a very advanced education, especially for a girl, but the daughters of the Tudor Dynasty were all similarly learned. Elizabeth knew nine modern and ancient languages. By the end of her life, she may also have added the national languages of her kingdom to the list: Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and Scottish.

Princess Elizabeth

presumably by William Scrots via Wikimedia Commons

Her father's final wife, Catherine Parr, sought to unite the royal children into a family. Both Mary and Elizabeth were welcomed under her care along with Jane Seymour's son Edward. When Henry VIII died a few years later in 1547 and young Edward became King, 13-year-old Elizabeth remained in Catherine's care at first, even after Catherine married Thomas Seymour. Thomas' attentions to the precocious and blossoming adolescent quickly grew to a state that we would call "inappropriate" today. He would come to her chamber in his nightclothes, frequently tickled her and slapped her playfully on her bottom. At first, Catherine would sanctioned and even joined in the horseplay, even holding Elizabeth down once while Thomas cut the young girl's dress to shreds. Once Catherine found the two in an embrace, her eyes were opened to the danger of the situation. Whether she blamed Thomas or Elizabeth is unknown, but it was Elizabeth who was sent away.

When Catherine died after childbirth a few months later, Kat Ashley suggested Elizabeth might marry Thomas herself. Elizabeth declared that she would not. It was not long until Thomas, who schemed to take control of his nephew King Edward's governance, found himself without a head.

Elizabeth lived with her own household at Hatfield House for the rest of her Protestant brother's reign and through the turbulent nine days of her cousin Lady Jane's brief stint on the throne. When her older half-sister Mary reasserted her right to the throne, Elizabeth rode into London at her side.

Not surprisingly, their unity was short-lived. Always cautious, the Protestant Elizabeth conformed to Mary's demands that she worship as a Catholic. However, the English people had grown increasingly Protestant. As Mary began persecuting Protestants and married the Catholic King Philip II of Spain, her opponents focused on Elizabeth. This placed the young woman in danger. Mary could not trust her. After Wyatt's rebellion in 1554, Mary imprisoned her innocent half-sister first in the Tower of London and then in Woodstock. With no evidence against her, Elizabeth was granted mercy and recalled to court to witness the birth of Mary's first child in 1555. This was the first of two false pregnancies for Mary, who died in November 1558 after naming Elizabeth her heir.

The 25-year-old Queen Elizabeth showed wisdom beyond her years. In one of her first acts, she signaled her intention to put aside religious persecutions. Officially Protestant, she mixed a bit of Catholicism into her personal religious observations. Most importantly, however, she saw the futility and high cost of religious strife.

The next greatest question of Elizabeth's reign was whom she would marry. It was almost inconceivable that a woman would remain single or that she would attempt to rule without a husband. Her two immediate predecessors were both married. It is hard to know Elizabeth's true intentions but she used the possibility of her marriage as a lynchpin in her governance and her foreign policy. She would string along potential suitors in negotiations, sometimes for years. The one man she might have married was her longtime friend Robert Dudley, whom she is thought to have loved. However, his first wife's death under mysterious circumstances -- some even accused Elizabeth of having her murdered -- made the choice too politically controversial. Nevertheless, she prevented him from remarrying for years. When she discovered he had secretly married Lettice Knollys, she was enraged. She never forgave Lettice, but she remained fond of Robert, whom she had created Earl of Leicester.

On the foreign marriage mart, she turned down a proposal from Mary's widower but held out her potential hand to the King of Sweden, the King of Denmark, an Austrian archduke, the future King of France, and that French king's younger brother. The last of these, Francois Duke of Anjou might have been the most serious. Elizabeth was already in her 40s at this point and the duke was two decades younger. It is unlikely that creating an heir featured much in her decision-making.

By Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
via Wikimedia Commons

In 1563, after Elizabeth suffered a serious bout of smallpox that left her scarred and might have killed her, Parliament pushed her to name an heir. She steadfastly refused to do so and attempted to exert strong amount of control over any cousins who might potentially succeed her, including the reigning Queen of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots. When Mary abdicated her own throne and fled to England seeking Elizabeth's protection, Elizabeth had her kept under house arrest and later, with good cause, accused her of treason and had her executed. (See my post Killing Queens: A Bloody Tudor Heritage)

Instead, Elizabeth came to be celebrated as The Virgin Queen, whether technically true or not. She also gained the nickname Gloriana, in her later reign, as England began to exert its place around the expanding globe. Spain had dominated the expansion of overseas territories for most of the first century after the Spanish monarch's sponsored the voyages of Christopher Columbus. The riches they brought back from the New World had made Spain a formidable power. Elizabeth authorized privateers to harass the Spanish ships and redirect their wealth into her coffers. In 1588, Elizabeth's former brother-in-law King Philip set out to use his power to bring England to its knees. A bit of bad weather helped the English defeat the large Spanish Armada.

This pivotal moment in history helped set England on the path to becoming the British Empire, upon which the sun never set. Under Elizabeth, the first English colonies were established in Virginia, named in honor of the Virgin Queen. The creation of the East India Company also spurred more English exploration and trade across Asia.

Back home, the relative stability and increasing wealth of the nation helped to spur a great cultural revival. Poets and playwrights abounded. Spenser, Marlowe, and Shakespeare all rose to prominence.

Elizabeth's 44-year reign was the third longest up to that point in history. Basking in the praise of her courtiers and the strength of her political power, she continued to refuse to name an heir almost to the very last moment. It was only after her advisor Robert Burghley persuaded King James VI of Scotland to appeal to Elizabeth's vanity that she finally agreed for James to be her successor. James was Mary Queen of Scots son and a grandson of her aunt Margaret Tudor, who had married King James V of Scotland.

The Tudor dynasty that had gained the throne through violence and bloodshed in 1485 ended in 1603 with a peaceful transfer of power to the king of an enemy nation. Finally, the crowns of England and Scotland were on the head of a single monarch. Amazingly, it was an achievement gained not by war nor by marriage, but by one woman's steadfast refusal to marry and her ability to build a nation that was both rich and powerful.

MORE ABOUT ELIZABETH
Elizabeth I on British Monarchy
Queen Elizabeth I Facts and Myths on Royal Museums Greenwich
Why Was Queen Elizabeth I So Important? on English Heritage

Queens of Britain Series: Mary I

2024-06-30T20:34:00.008-04:00

By Master John via Wikimedia Commons

In their seventh year of her marriage to King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon gave birth to healthy baby girl whom they named Mary in 1516. Five years earlier, their only other child to survive pregnancy and birth died in infancy. A happy, bonnie baby, Mary delighted both of her parents. Precocious like both of them with reddish gold hair, Mary shared her parents love of learning and music. Before she was five, she was entertaining diplomats with musical performances. By nine, she knew French, Latin, Greek, and her mother's native Spanish. Still young and handsome, King Henry doted on her and often bragged of her accomplishments.

In her early years, Henry negotiated royal marriages for her with France and then the Holy Roman Empire and then France again. As a princess, a diplomatic marriage would have been her expected path. But, as the years passed and it became clear that Queen Catherine, who was six years older than Henry, would have no other children, Mary's destiny changed.

Mary became the first female heir to be treated as Princess of Wales, although she was never officially granted the title. In clear preparation for eventual succession to the throne, the nine-year-old princess was sent to Welsh Marches with her own household to rule over the principality as had happened with many male heirs before her. Although a female heir was very rare in English history, with only the disputed Empress Matilda as a predecessor, women were not uncommon in her mother's homeland. A daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, Queen Catherine would not have questioned the fitness of a woman for the crown. Petronilla had been the first female monarch in Aragon four centuries earlier and Urraca had been the first queen in Castile and Leon a few decades before that.

All seemed set for Mary to eventually succeed King Henry VIII. She would marry and have children and the Tudor Dynasty would have a bright and glorious future.

History went in a different direction.

While Mary was far away in the Welsh borderlands, her father began to question everything. Why had he had no sons? Had he actually sinned by marrying Catherine, who was his older brother Arthur's widow? Was the lack of sons God's punishment for lying with his "sister"? As Catherine lost her youthful bloom and became even more religiously devout, Henry met a flirtatious and lively young woman who reminded him of his youth. Anne Boleyn.

Soon, Henry became convinced that his soul and his kingdom were in danger because of his "incestuous" marriage to Catherine. Surely Catherine would agree as well? She did not. Didn't Henry remember that she had sworn that she and the 15-year-old Arthur had never lain together as husband and wife? Didn't Henry recall that he had received a dispensation from the Pope to marry Catherine, you know, just in case Arthur really had consummated the marriage? Wasn't that enough to assuage such guilt and cleanse such sin?

It wasn't.

When Catherine refused to grant Henry an annulment, he spent years exploring every path he and his councilors could devise to try to force it. When at long last, they settled upon the idea that the King of England should not be subject to the Pope in Rome, Henry thought he had found his solution. He, who had earned the title "Defender of the Faith" because of his defense of the papacy against the Lutheran reformers, declared himself Head of the Church of England. He divorced Catherine and married Anne.

The impact on Mary was devastating. Because her father believed he had never actually married her mother, he declared Mary a bastard and removed her from the line of succession. His bright, beautiful young daughter whom he had raised to rule was cast aside. Now called The Lady Mary, her household was dismissed and, by the end of the year, the 17-year-old Mary was sent to live in the household of her new baby half-sister Elizabeth, Henry's daughter by Anne Boleyn. Convinced of her true place in the world, Mary refused to acknowledge Anne and Elizabeth. As punishment, Henry stopped speaking to her and refused to allow her to visit her ailing mother. The strain took a terrible toll on Mary's own health. She was not even able to attend Catherine's funeral when she died in early 1536.

By then, Anne Boleyn has suffered a couple miscarriages and another young woman had caught Henry's eye. Within a year, Henry had beheaded Anne on trumped-up adultery charges, declared their marriage void, added Elizabeth to his list of bastards, and married Jane Seymour. The speed of these changes must have been dizzying to Mary. However, Jane sought to reconcile the young woman with her father. Initially, Mary still refused to acknowledge her illegitimacy and her parents' invalid marriage, but she was eventually bullied into it.

With her acquiescence, The Lady Mary was welcomed back to Henry's good graces. When her half-brother Edward was born in 1537, Mary was named godmother. Then, when Queen Jane died from childbed fever, Mary acted as chief mourner. She was still illegitimate and still barred from the succession, but she was again "loved" by her increasingly mercurial father. She was once again granted her own household and budget. Marriages were even discussed with foreign princes, but nothing came of them.

Over the next few years, Mary's life was relatively calm--although her former governess was executed on charges of treason due to the actions of her son. Henry's fourth marriage ended in a peaceful annulment and the fifth with another beheading for adultery (this time at least the charges were more accurate). With his sixth marriage to Catherine Parr, Mary's status improved even more. Catherine was able to convince the king to reinstate both his daughters to the line of succession immediately after their young half-brother Edward.

With Henry's death in 1547, the Catholic Mary inherited many estates. Now in her 30s, she retreated to these as a Protestant Regency Council took control for the nine-year-old King Edward VI. She stubbornly refused to stop practicing her Catholic religion despite laws against it and the young king's insistence. Therefore, she was rarely at court. As Edward's health began to fail, he and his advisors feared what would happen if Mary were to succeed him. Shortly before his death, he, like his father before him, struck Mary and the Protestant Elizabeth from the line of succession in favor of their Protestant cousin Lady Jane Grey. (See my post Queens of Britain Series: Lady Jane Grey)

Mary was at her home at Hunsdon when Edward died and the Privy Council declared Jane queen. Both Elizabeth and Mary were warned to stay away from court, but Mary had no intention of surrendering her rights. She had been the heir to the throne as a child, she had been neglected and restored and rejected. In the end, the 37-year-old exhibited the tenacity of her mother and the self-assurance of her father. She sent orders asserting her claim to the Privy Council and rode for London. An army of supporters formed around her. Nine days later, the Privy Council had deposed Queen Jane and proclaimed Mary the rightful heir. She had not had to fight at all.

In early August, with her sister Elizabeth at her side, Mary arrived in London to public acclaim. Besides restoring Catholicism, one of her first priorities was to find a husband and start a family. She was quickly engaged to her cousin's son, Philip, heir to the Spanish throne. A thwarted uprising by Jane's followers led Philip to insist upon the death of the teenaged claimant. Mary ordered it so. (See my post Killing Queens: A Deadly Tudor Heritage)

Wedding portrait of Philip and Mary
Woburn Abbey Collection

Mary's proposed foreign marriage caused further unrest as some sought to replace her with Elizabeth. Under the laws of the day, a woman's property belonged to her husband. Many did not want Philip's father, the Holy Roman Emperor, to add England to the expansive territories of his Empire. Mary was able to withstand the challenges, ordered more executions, placed Elizabeth under house arrest, and married Philip. She even had him styled King of England and ensured that all documents would bear both their names. However, the terms of the marriage would only be in place during her lifetime. He would not continue to rule England after her death. Perhaps as importantly, England could not be drawn into the Empire's wars.

Philip arrived in England two days before their wedding in July 1554. They had never met before. She was 38. He was 27. His nine-year-old son Carlos by his first wife did not accompany him. Philip's first wife (and double first cousin) Maria Manuela of Portugal had died giving birth to Carlos.

Within weeks, Mary reported feeling nauseated. She was bloated and her period ceased. Everyone rejoiced in her pregnancy. Philip was declared Regent for the child if Mary should die in childbirth. In the spring of 1555, Elizabeth was released from her arrest to attend the imminent birth. But, the child never came. Summer came and Mary's belly went away. The false pregnancy was a terrible blow to the queen, to her marriage, and to the realm. Philip returned to continent to lead his armies while the heartbroken Mary, much like her father, decided her childlessness was God's punishment. Only she was being punished for tolerating heretics in her kingdom.

At the beginning of her reign, Mary had proclaimed tolerance for Protestants. By the end of 1555, she had officially changed her mind. Executions started early in 1556, even burning some, including Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, who repudiated Protestantism. Nearly 300 were executed and Mary earned the moniker "Bloody Mary" by which she is known to history. Such persecutions continued throughout her reign.

In 1556, Philip became King of Spain upon his father's abdication. He did not pay a second visit to England until March 1557. He only came to try to persuade Mary to send troops for his continental wars. Mary immediately wished to support him, but it took four months to convince her councilors. Initially, the English forces were successful but by early 1558 they had lost Calais, England's last stronghold on the Continent.

Mary's reign was fraught with other problems, too, including especially poor weather that ruined the crops and led to famine. The nation's trade also faltered. Despite Spain's growing riches from its territorial subjugation of the old empires of the New World, England did not share in the wealth.

Philip's brief visit in 1557 once again led Mary to believe she was pregnant. Now in her 40s and distraught, she finally recognized Elizabeth as her heir in 1558. She died that May, perhaps from ovarian cancer or uterine cysts, the symptoms of which might have fueled her second false pregnancy.

Mary's reign is largely remembered for her zealous religious persecutions, but they were not really very different from the persecutions taking place on both sides of the Reformation across Europe. Her greatest legacy is that she was the first undisputed woman to sit upon the English throne. She acceded without violence and she was succeeded peacefully by England's second undisputed Queen, who would lead the nation over half a century of unprecedented glory.

QUEENS OF BRITAIN SERIES

Boudica, Queen of the Iceni
Empress Matilda
Margaret Maid of Norway
Lady Jane Grey
Queen Mary I
Queen Elizabeth I
Mary Queen of Scots
Queen Mary II
Queen Anne
Queen Victoria - coming soon
Queen Elizabeth II - coming soon

BLOGS ABOUT MARY
Mary Tudor: Renaissance Queen

MORE ABOUT MARY
Did Queen Mary I Simply Need More Time on The Tudor Chest
England's First Official Queen: Mary Tudor on English Heritage
The Marriage of Queen Mary I and Philip II of Spain on The Tudor Enthusiast
Mary had a little lamb on Medieval Manuscripts Blog
Mary I on British Royal Family
Mary I on History
Mary I and Elizabeth on Norwich School Blog
Mary I Queen of England on Tudor History
Queen "Bloody" Mary I Tudor of England on King's College Women's History
Queen Mary I's Accession on Team Queens
Queen Mary I: The Journey to the Throne on Historic UK
Queen Mary I on Screen on The Tudor Chest
Queen Mary I - Reign of Faith and Fire on Old Royal Naval College Greenwich
Role of a Queen - Mary I and Anne on The National Archives
Was Bloody Mary Really so Bloody? on History Is Now
Was the Reign of Queen Mary I of England Really a Failure? on History Is Now
Why Is Mary I Known as 'Bloody Mary'? on Royal Museums Greenwich

Queens of Britain Series: Lady Jane Grey

2024-05-30T21:48:00.008-04:00

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey

by Paul Delaroche at the National Gallery via Wikimedia Commons

Lady Jane Grey was only 16 years old when the people entrusted to look after her future set her on a path that would lead to her death.

In 1537, Lady Jane was born as the third child of her 20-year-old parents Henry Grey Marquess of Dorset and the former Frances Brandon, who was the oldest child of Princess Mary Tudor. Lady Jane's great-uncle King Henry VIII had resolved all of his problems a few years earlier by divorcing his first wife Catherine of Aragon, who had given him only a daughter, and then beheaded his second wife Anne Boleyn on trumped-up adultery charges. (See my post We Three Queens.)She also had given him only a daughter. In the year of Jane's birth, however, Henry was happily married to the docile Jane Seymour, for whom his new grandniece was named, and his new Queen would deliver him his longed-for son by end of the year. Then, she would promptly die from childbed fever setting a desperate Henry back out in the marriage market where he would eventually add three more wives to his famous collection.

Despite Henry VIII's feverish desire for a male heir, the Tudor Dynasty was replete with females. In addition to Henry's two daughters by Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, respectively, his sisters produced three daughters and only one surviving son. Jane's mother produced two more daughters after her and no surviving sons. The women of the family were educated as well as the men. Jane learned seven languages, including Hebrew, Greek, and Latin so she could read ancient texts in their original languages. She was taught theology, philosophy, rhetoric, logic, and history. Having been born after Great Uncle Henry broke with the Roman Church, she was raised as a Protestant and was personally devout.

After Henry's death, his nine-year-old son succeeded as King Edward VI. Soon after, nine-year-old Jane was sent to live with King Henry's widow, Queen Catherine Parr and her new husband Thomas Seymour, who was a maternal uncle to the new king. The 12-year-old Princess Elizabeth also joined the Seymour household. Under the guidance of the devoutly Protestant Catherine, Elizabeth's and Jane's humanist and religious education was continued with even fervor. Within a couple of years, Catherine tragically died after childbirth and Thomas was soon executed for treason when he tried to oust his own brother from his role as Protector to their nephew the King. Jane returned to the guardianship of her father, who was created Duke of Suffolk at around the same time. Jane found herself more frequently at court, where it was hoped she would find a noble husband.

Meanwhile, the young King Edward had never had very robust health. His reign would last only six years. The Protestant lords who surrounded the young king became concerned about what would happen if he died. All of the descendants of the Tudors were female and/or Scottish. Worse, the most senior, Edward's half-sister Mary was a devout Catholic who would certainly return the nation to Rome. His other half-sister Elizabeth was an unknown quantity as she had kept her personal religious convictions as quiet as possible. Besides, both Mary and Elizabeth has been declared illegitimate by their father, despite being added back into the line of succession before Henry died.

During young Edward's last spring, his chief minister the Duke of Northumberland hatched a plan to maintain his own authority into the next reign. The plan included two parts: convince the Protestant Edward to set aside his sisters as potential heirs and declare his cousin Jane and her male heirs as the future monarchs. Then, Northumberland and Henry Grey set about getting Lady Jane some male heirs by marrying the 16-year-old to his 18-year-old son Guilford Dudley.

Jane and Guilford were married in May 1553 in a joint ceremony that also included the marriages of her sister Katherine to the future Earl of Pembroke and Guilford's sister Katherine to the future Earl of Huntingdon.

On July 6, 1553, the newly wedded teenager was proclaimed Queen when Edward died from tuberculosis. Despite the machinations of her father and father-in-law who had assumed she would be easy to control, Jane immediately showed her mettle by refusing to have her husband proclaimed King next to her.

News necessarily traveled more slowly in those days, but it was not long before Mary Tudor learned of her brother's death and of her cousin's perfidy. As she made her way to London to assert her claim, the people rose with her. For all that had happened across her life to marginalize her and despite any fears of what a truly Catholic monarch could mean, Mary was still the daughter of old King Henry and a true princess in their eyes.

In London, the same Privy Council that had proclaimed Jane Queen just nine days earlier, withered in the face of Mary's advance on London. Jane was deposed. She was arrested along with her husband, her father, and her father-in-law. All were convicted of treason and Northumberland was quickly executed. The newly proclaimed Queen Mary, however, spared the others. Mary had grown up with and remained lifelong friends with Frances Brandon Grey, Jane's mother. Jane's own sweet letter of apology also helped cement Mary's feeling that Jane had been a pawn in the hands of the conniving Northumberland. Sentiment perhaps kept young Jane alive although the three remained separately imprisoned at the Tower of London.

As the long unmarried Mary rushed to find a Catholic royal husband, however, the tide would change quickly. Once she had settled upon her cousin King Philip II of Spain two things began to work against Jane. First, Philip did not relish the idea of a claimant to the throne being kept alive as a potential rallying point for uprisings. Second, there was an uprising. A man named Thomas Wyatt launched (or helped to launch) a rebellion against Mary's proposed marriage to a foreign king. With Jane's father as one of the conspirator's Mary could hardly oppose Philip's assertions that her throne and her own life would always be at risk as long as Jane lived. And, so it was, just six months after she had been proclaimed Queen of England and then deposed, Jane Grey was beheaded at the Tower of London not long after her husband had met the same fate. Their brief, ill-fated marriage found them buried together forever at the Chapel of Peter ad Vincula nine months after the wedding. Her father met the headsman 11 days later, while her mother Frances remained at Queen Mary's side. (For more about the Queens killed by the Tudor monarchs, see my post, Killing Queens: A Bloody Tudor Heritage.)

Over the centuries, Jane's life has been greatly romanticized as the tragic heroine who was thrust into a role she did not choose but for which she paid the ultimate price. Given that she is also remembered for keen intelligence and her pious devotion to Protestantism, Lady Jane probably does not get enough credit for the path she ultimately followed. She would have been as keenly ready for the role as the two female cousins who followed her. The religious and political turmoil of the next decade might have been different, but still turbulent. The only likely conclusion we can draw is that, as a young married woman, she probably would have generated heirs which neither of her successors did. The Stewarts would have stayed in Scotland and union of the English and Scottish thrones would have been delayed or perhaps would never have happened at all. Jane's brief reign is one of the interesting "what if" questions in history.

To this day, her reign remains the shortest in English history.

BLOGS ABOUT JANE
Lady Jane Reference Guide
Lady Jane Grey Revisited

MORE ABOUT JANE
Archive for Lady Jane Grey on Venetian Red
A Genius on the Throne: Lady Jane Grey Remembered on The Gale Review
Jane Grey: The Doomed Queen on Travel Through Time
Lady Jane: Famous Trials at Guildhall on Guildhall Library Blog
Lady Jane Grey on Historic UK
Lady Jane Grey on the Official British Monarchy site
Lady Jane Grey on Royalty Now
Lady Jane Grey, England's Forgotten Queen on Medieval Manuscripts blog
Lady Jane Grey and a Letter to Shock Victorians on a Place for Truth
Lady Jane Grey: The Nine Day Queen on Historic Royal Palaces
Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen on On the Tudor Trail
Lady Jane Grey--Nine Facts about the Nine Day Queen on Odyssey Opera
Lady Jane Grey: Queen of England for Nine Days on Womenary
Lady Jane Grey's Correspondence on The National Archives
Lady Jane Grey's Letters from the Tower on Medieval Manuscripts blog
A Lesson from the Life of Lady Jane Grey on Learning Ladyhood
Meet...Lady Jane Grey on The Box Museum Gallery Archive
Nine Days a Queen and the "Execution of Lady Jane Grey" on Voegelin View
A Tudor Tragedy: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey on The Tudor Chest
Twelve Tips for Writing About Lady Jane Grey on Sharon Kay Penman

Queens of Britain Series: Margaret Maid of Norway

2024-04-28T22:05:00.007-04:00

Margaret Maid of Norway
image of stained glass window on Orkney
by Colin Smith via Wikimedia Commons

After years of negotiation, seven-year-old Queen Margaret finally boarded the ship that would carry her to her kingdom, inherited from her maternal grandfather King Alexander III of Scotland. Young Margaret, better known as the Maid of Norway, had never known her mother or her mother's family. Her mother, Margaret of Scotland, had died shortly after her birth leaving the infant in the care of her father, King Eric II Magnusson of Norway, who found himself a widower and single father at the age of 15.

Although the marriage treaty between Eric and Margaret of Scotland left the bride and her children in the line of succession to the Scottish throne, the baby's royal future was still just a remote chance. King Alexander's teenage son Prince Alexander and his bride were expected to carry on the dynasty. But, when baby Margaret was just seven months old, her uncle Alexander died. The hope that his wife might be pregnant with an heir was soon dashed. At that moment Margaret became the only heir to Scotland. Alexander moved quickly to have his nobles swear allegiance to baby Margaret as his heir.

However, Alexander also tried to stabilize the succession by marrying again. Now in his forties, he had waited a decade after the death of of his first wife, Margaret's grandmother, Margaret of England, sister of King Edward I of England, a decade earlier, he at last remarried. Just six months later, he rode out in a storm to see his young wife. The next morning, he was found along the road, his neck broken in a fall from his horse. The usual wait to see if his new wife would produce a posthumous heir took place, but eventually it was clear that the Maid of Norway was the last survivor of the Scottish House of Dunkeld.

Not quite three years old, Margaret had become the first Queen of Scots, nearly three centuries before the much better-remembered Mary Queen of Scots.

A toddler and a female as monarch was not ideal in the 13th Century. The rivalry between other claimants Robert the Bruce and John Balliol threatened not just the peace of the kingdom but the little queen herself.

Fearful for her safety, Eric kept his daughter in Norway while negotiating a marriage that would not only ensure her well-being but also the well-being of her kingdom and would eventually unite Scotland and England under one ruler. Eric accepted the marriage offer from his late wife's uncle, King Edward I of England, to unite his son Edward of Caenarfon (later King Edward II) to Eric's daughter Margaret. The intended groom was a year younger than his toddler fiancee. Nevertheless, a political match of this magnitude would at last bring some peace to Scotland, which had been battling England for centuries, and eventually, the couple's child would sit on both thrones. The idea had initially been floated by King Alexander before his death, when Margaret's succession was not yet certain.

Once the Scots had been reassured that Scotland would remain independent from England, they ratified the marriage treaty. Once Margaret reached her kingdom, her marriage would be official even though both partners were not yet old enough. Margaret said farewell to her father and set sail for Scotland. The stormy North Sea drove the party far to the north to the island of Orkney, which was still Norwegin territory at the time. When she came to shore, the seven-year-old Queen Margaret was very ill, possibly from severe seasickness. Weak and depleted, she died in the arms of the Bishop who had been sent to look after her. Today, a stained glass window in the Lerwick Town Hall on Orkney remembers her brief and tragic visit.

By the time the Scottish lords who had been gathering in Perth for her coronation, learned of her death, the little body was already on its way back to Norway. Her heartbroken father confirmed her identity before she was buried with her mother. Despite this, a decade later, a "False Margaret" emerged to claim the Scottish throne--she was burned at the stake for her efforts.

In Scotland, Margaret's death set a match that would burn for decades as 13 claimants, including John Balliol and Robert the Bruce, battled for control of the Kingdom, with King Edward I heavily interfering and seeking to assert his authority there.

Many scholars today tend to count Margaret at Scotland's first reigning queen. However, that assertion is disputed because she never actually arrived in Scotland, and more importantly, she was never crowned. As for this blogger, I prefer to give the little Maid of Scotland her due as a Queen.

MORE ABOUT MARGARET
Death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Queen of Scotland on European Royal History
The Death of Margaret, Maid of Norway on BBC Bitesize
The Maid of Norway, The Child Queen of Scots on Fourteenth Century Fiend
The Maid of Norway--The Tragic Story of Scotland's First Queen Regnant on History...The Interesting Bits
Margaret Maid of Norway on BBC Bitesize
Margaret Maid of Norway on Britroyals
Margaret Maid of Norway on Royal.UK
Margaret (Maid of Norway) on ScotClans
Margaret (Maid of Norway) on Time Ref
Margaret Maid of Norway on Timewise Traveller
Margaret 'the Maid of Norway' on English Monarchs
Margaret the Maid of Norway on Rex Factor
Margaret the Maid of Norway on Visit Heritage
Margaret Maid of Norway and Queen of Scotland on Medievalists
Margaret Maid of Norway, Queen of Scots on Kyra Cornelius Kramer
Margaret, Maid of Norway: How Scotland's Fate Took a Tumble from a Horse and Fell into the Delicate Hands of a Child on The Scotsman
Margaret, Tragic Queen of Scotland, Maid of Norway on Owlcation
Queen Margaret, Maid of Norway on Undiscovered Scotland
Queens Regnant: Margaret, Maid of Norway on History of Royal Women
Unlucky Princesses: Margaret, Maid of Norway on The Creative Historian

Queens of Britain Series: Empress Matilda

2024-03-24T10:01:00.008-04:00

Welcome to the Queens of Britain series. In 2024, the blog will spotlight the reigning queens from the island of Great Britain. Check back each month to learn about the women who led their nations.

Her moment had finally arrived. The day she had planned for since she was a young woman, but she couldn't seize the reins her father had left her. How she must have cursed the pregnant belly that kept her trapped on the wrong side of the English Channel while her cousin usurped her place.

The English crown had not been Matilda's original destiny. Like so many princesses, she had been sent as a tiny girl to a distant land to serve as a political pawn. Her father, King Henry I, was the youngest son of a bastard who had asserted his tenuous claim to the English throne in a military power move that we remember today as the Norman Conquest. As the third king of a young dynasty, Henry I had married Edith of Scotland, a descendant of England's revered King Alfred the Great as well as the King of Scotland's daughter. Taking the more Norman-sounding name of Matilda upon her marriage, she also named her daughter Matilda while her son was named William Adelin after the Conqueror. The couple had produced a healthy heir as well as a daughter who could extend their political power and military might.

So, it was no surprise that the King and Queen welcomed envoys from the future Holy Roman Emperor who asked for Princess Matilda as an imperial bride. Little Matilda was only eight years old the last time she saw her mother and sailed away to Germany to meet her 24-year-old fiance. Since she was so young, she was raised in a separate household and trained in the language and traditions of her intended husband. She was nearly 12 when Emperor Henry V finally married her.

Matilda was 14 when she accompanied her husband in the fight against the Pope, who had excommunicated him. Despite her youth, she was fully imbued with political power. Once they reached Rome, Matilda was formally crowned as Empress. A couple years later, Henry left her as his regent in his Italian territories while he returned to Germany to deal with issues there. After a couple of years, they were reunited but still had no children. When he died of cancer, Matilda was 23. Her childlessness left her in a politically ambiguous state. It was not long before she decided to leave Germany forever and pursue another opportunity that fate had presented her.

Her family had been rocked by tragedy. First, her mother had died in 1118. Then, two years later, her only legitimate sibling, Prince William Adelin had died in a tragic shipwreck. With no legitimate sons to succeed him, King Henry remarried the young Adeliza of Louvain (see my post The Not-So-Wicked Stepmother) but that marriage remained childless. Running out of options, Henry summoned Empress Matilda back to England and Normandy to proclaim her as his heir. The move was unprecedented; no woman had assumed kingship before. However, Henry was a powerful king and the nobles swore their allegiance to his daughter.

As for Matilda, despite her glorious title and her now glorious future, she still had no authority over her life. Hoping to get grandsons to eventually succeed himself, he forced Matilda into another marriage, this time to a mere count. Geoffrey of Anjou was considered a handsome man. More importantly, his French territories bordered Henry's Norman lands, providing more military might for Henry and for Matilda in the future. Matilda was unimpressed. She had been married to one of the most powerful men of the error and reigned with him as an Empress. Worse than that, perhaps, Geoffrey was only 15 while Matilda was 26 when they married in the summer of 1128. Worse still, the couple really did not like each other and was not long before they started living separately. Realizing this would prevent the birth of a male heir, King Henry forced them back together. Their first son was finally born in March 1133. Not surprisingly, he was called Henry. A year later, her second son Geoffrey's birth nearly killed Matilda.

The couple spent all of these years living in Anjou and Normandy. They began to be concerned that they were losing English support and demanded that the King give them authority in Normandy. He refused. Geoffrey and Matilda, united by ambition, joined a rebellion in southern Normandy. During this struggle, the 67-year-old king died from a sudden illness at the end of 1136. Matilda and Geoffrey moved immediately to secure their power in Normandy, but then they paused while Matilda awaited the birth of their third and final child, William.

In England, Henry's nephew Stephen wasted no time asserting his claim as an adult male heir even though his royal descent was through the female line, Henry's sister Adela. Stephen secured the support of many nobles, including Matilda's powerful older but illegitimate brother Robert of Gloucester. Then, Stephen got his own brother, Henry Bishop of Winchester, to crown him as king. For most people, the fact that he was male gave him a strong enough claim over Matilda. The fact that he was in England did not hurt his cause. Then, once he was anointed and crowned, his reign was sealed by God himself.

Stephen had grown up in his uncle King Henry's court. His military prowess had been well-rewarded by the king with riches and lands. He was well-liked among the Anglo-Norman nobility. And, he was a man. He quickly gathered a following and secured England as his own. At this time, the English and Norman titles had gone through several contested successions from William the Conqueror's defeat of Harold Godwinson to the battle between William's two eldest sons that split the two countries apart until his third son King Henry reunited them by force. The need for might to make right led many to doubt the ability of a woman to lead.

Stephen almost immediately faced ambushes from either end of the kingdom from both Scotland and Wales, losing territory to both. Securing Normandy was an even bigger challenge. Geoffrey had successfully launched a scorched earth strategy that allowed him to keep moving forward without having to hold or administer the land he captured. As Stephen lost support of more and more Norman nobles, partly because Stephen had spent the treasury and could not reward his allies nor pay his mercenaries. At one point, his army even split in half and battled itself, nobles versus mercenaries. Most critically, he lost the support of Matilda's illegitimate half-brother Robert of Gloucester, who held extensive land and wealth on both sides of the Channel.

King David of Scotland continued invading from the north, pushing all the way to York, claiming he did so in support of his niece Empress Matilda. Robert's declaration for Matilda started a rebellion in Kent and across southwest England. Meanwhile, he remained in Normandy, helping Matilda build an invasion force. They finally invaded England, which had descended into chaos and civil war, in the summer of 1139. Matilda's stepmother invited her to land at Arundel Castle, where Stephen encircled them while Robert led forces northward. Stephen, however, was unsure how to deal with two such highly ranked ladies and eventually allowed Matilda to leave and rejoin Robert, who was fighting in the west. (See my post Royal Escape Artist).

Matilda's influence was growing, extending across the southwest in Devon and Cornwall up to the Welsh marshes and Herefordshire. The two sides skirmished back and forth until another defection from Stephen's side gave Matilda a powerful upper hand. In February 1141, Robert of Gloucester captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln. With her rival in custody, Matilda pushed forward with a deal she had made with his brother Bishop Henry. In return for control of the church, the Bishop gave her the nearly empty treasury and excommunicated any of Stephen's supporters who refused to change sides. On April 7, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other leading clergy declared Matilda "Lady of the English" and began making plans for her coronation.

Matilda made her way to London to be crowed in June, but tensions in the city were still high. The historians of the day--all male, of course--alleged that Matilda grew even more pompous than she usually was. In becoming a female King, she was no longer behaving in accordance with her gender role. Just before her planned crowning, the Londoners rose up against her, forcing her faction to flee to Oxford. As some turncoats turned back to Stephen's cause and Stephen's wife, Queen Matilda, led his supporters and soon captured Robert of Gloucester. Queen Matilda and Empress Matilda agreed to exchange their high value prisoners, returning Stephen to his wife and Robert to his sisters. Shortly thereafter, the church leaders changed their minds again and re-crowned Stephen on Christmas 1141.

Robert of Gloucester crossed the channel to assist Count Geoffrey against the Anglo Norman nobles battling to maintain their own power. This left Matilda alone at Oxford Castle, which Stephen soon besieged. By the first snows of late 1142, Matilda executed another bold plan, sneaking out of the castle and crossing a frozen river in the dead of night. (See my post Royal Escape Artist).

With Robert's return to England in 1143, Matilda's position improved for a bit, but the civil war soon devolved into back-and-forth struggles, with various nobles switching from one side to the other, temporarily boosting whoever they newly supported. As for Matilda, she could never quite consolidate her power. The war between the cousins limped along during the rest of the decade as various nobles decamped to join the Second Crusade or made peace locally to protect their own land and power. Neither Stephen nor Matilda were greatly esteemed.

However, the war had dragged on long enough that Matilda's son Henry had grown into a strong teenage commander. Matilda returned to Normandy while Henry led the efforts in England. Henry secured the support of the French king for Henry while Count Geoffrey convinced the Pope to endorse Henry before Geoffrey died in 1151. Matilda had effectively vacated her claim to her son.

In 1153, Empress Matilda returned to England but by then only Stephen and Henry were interested in the fight. Everyone else pushed for a truce that was brokered by the church. Henry recognized Stephen as king in return for being named as Stephen's heir. It was an uneasy peace that may not have lasted had Stephen not died the following year.

Initially, Henry and Matilda issued charters jointly, with Matilda primarily administering Normandy while Henry focused on his father's Angevin lands, England, and the powerful Aquitaine that he had acquired by marrying the dynamic former French queen consort, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Like many leaders of the day, Matilda focused on the church in her later years, but never fully yielded her royal authority. As Henry and Eleanor took on more and more power, Matilda passed away in 1167, leaving everything to the church. She was 65 years old.

QUEENS OF BRITAIN SERIES

Boudica, Queen of the Iceni
Empress Matilda
Margaret Maid of Norway
Lady Jane Grey
Queen Mary I
Queen Elizabeth I
Mary Queen of Scots
Queen Mary II
Queen Anne - coming soon
Queen Victoria - coming soon
Queen Elizabeth II - coming soon

MY OTHER POSTS ABOUT MATILDA

The Not-So-Wicked Stepmother
Royal Escape Artist
Today's Princess

MORE ABOUT MATILDA

9 Times Empress Matilda was a Total Badass on Love British History

Great by Birth: Empress Matilda on Plantagenet Lions

Lady of the English on The Mad Monarchist

The Empress Matilda on Dangerous Women

Empress Matilda on Emily Kittel-Queller

The Empress Matilda on History Is Important

Empress Matilda on Meandering through Time

Empress Matilda on Sagas of She
Empress Matilda on Sheroes of History

Empress Matilda and 'The Anarchy' on The Historic England Blog

The Empress Matilda: England's First 'She-Wolf'? on Conor Byrne Historian

Empress Matilda, Lady of the English on Oxford Castle & Prison

Empress Matilda, Lady of the English on Riot Room

Empress Matilda, Lady of the English on Unofficial Royalty

Empress Matilda, Lady of the English on Medievalists
Empress Matilda, Lady of the English on Royal Central

Empress Matilda's Bling on Living the History

Empress Maud on Historic UK

Historic Figures: Matilda on BBC History

King Stephen | Stephen vs Empress Matilda on Visit Heritage

Matilda: An Empress in the Thames Valley on Reading Museum

Queens of Britain Series: Boudica

2024-01-31T23:30:00.010-05:00

Welcome to the Queens of Britain series. In 2024, the blog will spotlight a different reigning queen from the island of Great Britain. Check back each month to learn about the women who led their nations.

Boadicea and Her Daughters, statue by Thomas Thornycraft

Image by Luke McKernan via Wikimedia Commons

The Celtic queen raises her spear and commands her rearing horses toward the Palace of Westminster. Behind her, her ravaged daughters kneel on the armed chariot, urging their mother toward revenge. The trio seems to thrust out of their bronze casing still seeking justice for their people.

Boadicea and Her Daughters, a sculpture by Thomas Thornycraft, has stood across the Thames facing the center of British power since 1902, but their story stretches deep into British history and folklore to a moment in time when it was Britain that was under the foot of a foreign imperial conqueror and a mere woman pushed back against the might of Rome.

Long before English was a language, the Queen of the Iceni tribe in East Anglia was a woman called Boudica or Boadicea or Buddug. However you choose to spell her name today, it is synonymous with British national pride. Every schoolchild learns her story.

Boudica ruled jointly with her husband King Prasutagus. At that time, in the first century, Britain was divided among various tribes. The Iceni controlled a large area that today is identified as Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Lincolnshire. A fierce warrior people, they trained their women as well as their men to fight with weapons.

As the Romans ran roughshod over Britons, they kept the powerful Prasutagus as an ally. This far north of Rome's power base, it was easier for the Empire to have some client-kings who would do their bidding when required in exchange for limited autonomy. During the king's lifetime the Iceni were left in peace and they were also disarmed. With only daughters to succeed him, Prastagus wanted to ensure the safety of his people after his death. He decided the best way to do this would be make Roman Emperor Nero co-heir with the girls. Nero would receive half his kingdom while his daughters kept the other half.

Whether Boudica agreed with this bright idea or bitterly discouraged her husband is lost to history. However, it was Boudica and her daughters who had to face the consequences. The Romans did not recognize female inheritance or property ownership. Once the king died, the Roman military governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus absorbed the Iceni territories into the Roman province of Britannia and unleashed his armies to raid and plunder the villages. They also required the Iceni to repay loans they had received from previous Roman leaders. Boudica objected, believing that their service to Rome had been their repayment.

To add terror to the violence, the Romans publicly raped Boudica's virgin daughters and they flogged the queen herself.

Boudica was not terrified. She was enraged and determined to have her revenge. Taking advantage of Suetonius' absence while he was fighting the Welsh and far-ranging scattering of other Roman troops, she organized the combined forces of the Iceni, the Trinobantes, and other British tribes to rebel against the imperial overlords. The 120,000 Britons first attacked the Roman colony at Camulodunum (now Colchester), where the Britons had been forced to finance and build a temple to Emperor Claudius. Their resounding victory and slaughter of all Romans at the site caused Suetonius to rush to Londinium, the modern site of London, but he soon realized he would be unable to defend it. He abandoned the post leaving a just a detachment of the Ninth Legion to face the onslaught of Boudica and her allies. She defeated the mighty Romans and burned both Londinium and Verulamium (the modern site of St. Albans), located 25 miles away. As many as 80,000 were killed by the rebelling Britons. Roman historian Cassius Dio later reported that women's breasts were cut off and sewn to their mouths by rejoicing by the victors.

Despite being heavily outnumbered, Suetonius gathered 10,000 troops in the Midlands and prepared for the attack from a British force estimated to have grown to 230,000. Boudica drove her war chariot with her daughters around her gathered army. According to legend, she exhorted the men to "win the battle or perish." And, perish they did. Despite their massive numbers, the Britons were lightly armed and took a strategically poor position in a narrow gorge with their supply wagons blocking any retreat. They fell prey to Rome's military superiority, which included javelins and cavalry, and experience. The Romans were able to trap the rebels and brutally slaughter tens of thousands of them. Tacitus recorded that the Romans did not even spare women or the animals pulling the wagons. The Queen (and probably her daughters) died soon thereafter, perhaps from suicide by poisoning.

The ferocity and early success of the rebellion nearly led Rome to abandon Britain. Their shame was all the greater because they had been brought to their knees by a woman--in Rome, women were not permitted a public life of any kind, much less to be trained as warriors. However, Suetonius' ultimate victory guaranteed the success of the occupation, which continued another 350 years until Rome itself was falling.

Over the two millennia since she nearly drove the Romans out of Britain, Boudica has been a powerful symbol of the British people, even as the makeup of those people changed over the centuries. She has been celebrated as cultural icon across the centuries and even served as a rallying point for the suffragettes in the early 20th century.

Interestingly, Boudica (by any of its various spellings) may not have been the Queen's personal name. It may instead have been a title. According to some linguists, it likely mean "victorious".

Queens of Britain Series

MORE ABOUT BOUDICA
11 Facts About Boudica, Warrior Queen of the Iceni on Mental Floss
The Ancient Sources for Boudica on Warwick Classics Network
Boudica on English History
Boudica on Historic UK
Boudica on Warwick Classics Network
Boudica & Britain in The Roman Empire on PBS
Boudica: A British Queen, Mother, Warrior, and Folk Hero on The Curious Rambler
Boudica: Celtic War Queen Who Challenged Rome on History Net
Boudica: The Headhunter Queen on Rejected Princesses
Boudica and the Iceni Revolt on Roman Britain
Boudica: Queen, Mother, Warrior, Folk Hero on Medium
Boudica: scourge of the Roman empire on History Extra
Boudica and The Slaughter at Camulodunum on Historic UK
Boudica: Warrior Queen on Honey Grail
Boudica the warrior queen on aeon
Boudica: Warrior queen of the Iceni on LiveScience
Boudica's Revolt: When Britannia's Warrior Queen Took on Rome on The Collector
Boudicca: The Celtic Queen Who Unleashed Fury on the Romans on Ancient Origins
The Celtic Queen Boudica as a Historiographical Narrative by Rachel L. Chenault
Queen Boudica on Study
Queen Boudica, A Life in Legend on History Today
Who Was Boudica? on History
Who was the Celtic warrior Queen Boudica, and what did she look like? on Royalty Now

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