Monthly Archives: August 2012

HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

31 Friday Aug 2012

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Today’s featured monarch is HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. I am going to take a slightly different approach today. I will give some basic biographical infor on Her Majesty and then discuss some other issues related to her.

She was born January 31, 1938 and was named Princess Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, (Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld) the daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. At the time of her birth her grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, was sitting on the throne of the Netherlands. Her mother became Queen of the Netherlands in 1948 when Wilhelmina abdicated the throne making Beatrix heiress presumptive to the throne of the Netherlands. In turn her mother, Juliana abdicated on 30 April 1980, and Beatrix succeeded her as Queen of the Netherlands.

World War II was in full swing when it was time for the young Beatrix to attend school so she was sent to public primary and secondary schools in Canada and in the Netherlands. She received a received a law law degree from Leiden University in 1961 and in 1966, Beatrix married Claus van Amsberg whose family was a member of the untitled nobility. This caused some controversy in the Netherlands because Claus had been part of the Nazi youth organizations such as the Deutsches Jungvolk and the Hitler Youth. However, it must be pointed out that joining these groups was not obligatory. There were protests also because had only been 20 years since the war at that time. Claus did become an able consort. They had three sons. Prince Willem-Alexander the Prince of Orange(1967), Prince Friso (1968) and Prince Constantijn (1969). Prince Claus died in 2002. If her eldest son, The Prince of Orange, becomes King Willem IV of the Netherlands he will be the first male ruler of the Netherlands since the death of King Willem III in 1890. The Queen, as a Constitutional Monarch has little say in the running of the government. However, in 1994 the Minister of Foreign Affairs opened a new Dutch Embassy in the Kingdom of Jordan at Her Majesties request.

Abdication?

The Dutch have a tradition of abdicating the throne although it is not a requirement. Since the creation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Only kings Willem II and Willem III died while still serving as the sovereign. Willem I, Wilhelmina and Juliana have abdicated. I wonder if and when Beatrix will abdicate? I speculate only due to the fact that her mother was 71 when she abdicated and her grandmother was 68 when she abdicated. Right now Her Majesty is 74. Do I think she should abdicate? No1 I actually am not a fan of abdication. No judgment toward those monarchies that do practice this tradition, I just like the idea of a monarch who is monarch for life. From what I understand Her Majesty enjoys being queen and I say that as long as she enjoys her work and as long as she remains healthy I would like to see her remain on the throne. Her son and heir, Prince Willem-Alexander, The Prince of Orange currently has three children below the age of ten and I think it would be better for them to have their father around more in these younger years. When they’re teens then he can be king! 🙂

She has had some difficult times this year with the accident of her son, Prince Friso, who was caught in an avalanche earlier this spring. He is in a coma and only God knows what the future may hold for him. As a parent I am sure that must be one of the hardest things to face.

I have great respect for her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands and long may she reign!

On This Day ~ August 31…

31 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in This Day in Royal History

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Events:

1056 – After a sudden illness a few days previous, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies without children to succeed the throne, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty.
1314 – King Håkon V Magnusson moves the capital of Norway from Bergen to Oslo.
1422 – King Henry V of England dies of dysentery while in France. His son, Henry VI becomes King of England at the age of 9 months.
1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris.

Births:

12 – Gaius Caligula, Roman Emperor (d. 41)
161 – Commodus, Roman Emperor (d. 192)
1602 – Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, wife of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (d. 1675)
1652 – Ferdinand Charles, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (d. 1708)
1880 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (d. 1962)

Deaths:

1158 – Sancho III of Castile (b. 1134)
1372 – Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, English soldier (b. 1301)
1422 – King Henry V of England (b. 1387)
1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales (b. 1961)

HRH Prince Frederick Louis, The Prince of Wales (1707-1751)

30 Thursday Aug 2012

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Poor Fred. It doesn’t seem like many liked him, especially his parents. I always wondered why. He was a man destined to be king but never lived long enough to come into his inheritance. Most remember him as the man hated by his parents and the father of King George III. So today I want to delve a little deeper into who he was.

Prince Frederick Louis, The Prince of Wales 

Friedrich-Ludwig was born on February 1, 1707 in Hanover to the future King George II of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover and his wife Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach. At the time of his birth his grandfather, Georg-Ludwig, was the Elector of Hanover and his great-grandmother, the Dowager Electress Sophia of Hanover, was heir to the throne of Great Britain . Within seven years all that was to change rapidly as Queen Anne died in 1714, Frederick’s great-grandmother died a few weeks prior, and according to the provisions of the Act of Settlement of 1701, his grandfather ascended the British throne as King George I. His parents, who soon became the Prince and Princess of Wales, moved to Britain leaving young Frederick into the care of his grand-uncle Ernest Augustus, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück. Frederick would not see his parents again for 12 years. Frederick arrived in Britain in 1728 the year after his parents became king and queen. By that time he was 21 and an adult who lived a fast life-style of drinking, gambling and consorting with women of questionable reputations. To Frederick his parents were strangers and their abandonment of him, coupled with his life-style, which I am sure they disapproved, left the relationship forever strained and broken.

I do not think that paints the entire picture. The Hanoverian dynasty is notorious for the the monarch and his or her heir not getting along. I think the reasons for that is complex. Sometimes it may have to do with the fact that the heir was living a life-style that was looked down upon by the parent. Frederick Louis, George IV and Edward VII come to mind (yes, Edward VII was not a Hanoverian, but his mother was!) The other reason has to do with politics and power. It wasn’t long before the arrival of King George I that political parties began to form. Often it was pretty well known which party the monarch favored. Therefore the opposition party always sought to win the favor of the heir to the throne. This often created a lot of tension and created much court intrigue and rivalry. There were times when the heir would even set up a rival court to that of their parents.

Frederick’s grandfather created his grandson Duke of Edinburgh, Marquess of the Isle of Ely, Earl of Eltham, Viscount of Launceston and Baron of Snaudon in 1726. In January of 1728 his parents, now King George II and Queen Caroline, asked that Frederick move to Britain and they created him Prince of Wales.

Marriage & Family

One of the things that Frederick’s parents thought would settle him down would be to get married. He had a few mistresses, one being Anne Vane with whom he had had a child. His flaunting of his mistress and their child greatly angered the king and queen.

One of the first available Princesses was Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, the daughter of his brother-in-law/first cousin, King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and Princess Sophia-Dorothea of Great Britain & Hanover. Frederick did approve of this possible union and encouraged his father encouraged the negotiations between George II and the king of Prussia even though he had never met Princess Wilhelmine. George II was not exactly enthusiastic about the match but continued with the negotiations because he felt a continual alliance with the up and coming Prussian state would be beneficial for Britain. However, as the negotiations dragged on Frederick decided to take matters into his own hand. Frederick sent his own personal envoy to the Prussian court to hurry the negotiations. When George II discovered what his son had done he immediately ordered Frederick to leave Hanover and to return to England. Soon after, the negotiations fell through when King Friedrich Wilhelm Frederick stipulated that he would only allow the marriage if Frederick was made Regent in Hanover. This was something George II would never agree to.

Although marrying royalty was the accepted practice in Britain it was not required. However, I ssupect that given the climate of the times it would have been severely frowned upon if a royal married  a member of the British nobility. This did not deter the powerful Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough from trying to arrange a union with with her grand daughter,  Lady Diana Spencer, daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland and Lady Anne Churchill. The alliance would have come with an enormous dowry of £100,000. Although Frederick agreed to the match, he really needed the money, the marriage was vetoed by Prime Minister Robert Walpole and George II. Lady Diana instead married John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford.

Princess Augusta, The Princess of Wales

Soon after these attempts tom find a bride fell through, King George II took one of his many trips to Hanover, a place I think he liked more than England, and while he was there began an affair Amelia-Sophia von Walmoden. The king even wrote to his wife telling her details of the affair and how elated and enraptured he was with his new mistress. While in Hanover he found a suitable bride for his son. His selection was Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, daughter of Duke Friedrich II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1676–1732) and Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (1676–1740). The young 17 year old bride spoke no English was shortly sent to England to marry the 29 year old Prince of Wales. The wedding took place on 27 April 1736, at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace, London.

On This Day ~ August 30…

30 Thursday Aug 2012

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Births:

1334 – King Pedro of Castile (d. 1369)
1808 – Princess Ludovika of Bavaria (d. 1892)
1813 – Princess Mathilde of Bavaria (d. 1862)
1842 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia (d. 1849)
1870 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia (d. 1891)

Deaths:

526 – Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy (b. 454)
1158 – King Sancho III of Castile (b. 1134)
1483 – King Louis XI of France (b. 1423)
1580 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (b. 1528)

Royal Standard ~ Coat of Arms.

29 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by in From the Emperor's Desk

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Another thing that has interested me in royalty is the royal coat of arms and the royal standard. I am a strange American I even fly the royal standard at my home! It is funny on the 4th of July when we celebrate out independence my neighbors are flying the old Star and Stripes but I still fly the royal standard. Yes, I am a little weird.

The royal standard is the flag that is flown wherever the sovereign is in residence. Generally the Royal Standard consists of the images depicted on the Heraldic Shield (Escutcheon) of a Coat of Arms.

The Royal standard has gone through many changes over the centuries. In this post I am going to hit the highlights of the changes to the standards and I am not going to discuss some of the minor tweaks and changes that occurred over the years.

This coat of arms was attributed to King Richard I of England, which replaced an older an older standard with two gold lions rampant on a field of red. Historians debate when this escutcheon came into prominence. Some historians claim that it was Richard’s father, King Henry II of England, who used this as his royal standard. From either the time of Richard I or Henry II this standard was used until 140 when it was changed.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/WmHohenzollern/410px-Royal_Arms_of_England_1340-1367svg.png

When Edward III claimed the throne of France he added the fleurs-de-lis of France on a blue field quartered with the arms of England. This style, with multiple fleurs-de-lis, lasted until 1406 when it was replaced with a shield that had only three fleurs-de-lis, the same number that the Kings of France had begun to use. This standard lasted ..for the most part…until 1603. There were other changes a few monarchs added only to be changed back to the 1406 standard.

[IMG]http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/WmHohenzollern/410px-Royal_Arms_of_England_1340-1367svg.png[/IMG]

This was the Royal Standard of Scotland. A red lion, rampant, on a yellow field within a double royal tressure, flory counter-flory, first used by William I, King of Scots. In 1603 James VI, King of Scots inherited the English throne and quartered the Scottish arms with that of England/France and with the Harp of Ireland. This was used until 1707 when the union of England and Scotland occurred. In 1707 The Royal Arms of England and Scotland were impaled and moved to the first and fourth quarters with France placed in second quarter and Ireland the third quarter.

In 1707 Georg-Ludwig Elector of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg inherited the British throne as King George I and placed his Hanoverian arms in the fourth quarter of the shield. This changed when Hanover became a Kingdom and the arms of Hanover were impaled in the center of the Standard. In 1801 the fleurs-de-lis of France were removed when the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formally established and the Kings of Great Britain gave up their silly claims to the throne of France..

This final change to the royal Standard and Escutcheon happened in 1837 when Hanover was removed. Because Hanover followed the Salic Law which barred women from ruling in their own right. Her uncle, Ernest-August, Duke of Cumberland became the king of Hanover. England was placed in the first and fourth quarter, while Scotland was placed in the second quarter and the Harp of Ireland placed in the third quarter. This has remained unchanged since 1837.

Here is the Royal Standard as it is today. The first example is one which is flown in England, Wales and Ireland. The second example favors Scotland in the First and Fourth quarter and is flown in Scotland. 

 

On This Day ~ August 29…

29 Wednesday Aug 2012

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1350 – Battle of Winchelsea (or Les Espagnols sur Mer): The English naval fleet under King Edward III defeats a Castilian fleet of 40 ships.
1756 – Friedrich II the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years’ War.

Births:

1694 – Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1715)
1728 – Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony, Electress of Bavaria (d. 1797)

Deaths:

886 – Basil I, Byzantine Emperor (b. 811)
1093 – Hugh I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1057)
1123 – King Eystein I of Norway (b. c. 1088)
1395 – Duke Albert III of Austria (b. 1349)
1442 – John VI, Duke of Brittany (b. 1389)
1526 – King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (killed in the Battle of Mohács) (b. 1506)
1543 – Maria of Jülich-Berg, Mother of Anne of Cleves (b. 1491)
1935 – Queen Astrid of the Belgians (b. 1905)

The German System.

28 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by in Kingdom of Europe

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German Titles.

Other than the British Royal Family the German monarchies hold a very great interest for me. Germany has a very rich monarchical history that stretches far back into history. When I tell people that I love German history they look at me as if I am obsessed with World War II and Hitler. I think many Americans fail to realize that German history did not begin with World War II!

The titles and system of the German monarchy is more complex than the British system. So it may take me a while to cover all I want to cover. This will be a brief overview and not as detailed as I would like it to be. For one thing all systems of titles evolved and Germany was no exception. Through the years from the kingdom of the Franks through the period of the Holy Roman Empire, The Confederation of the Rhine and the German Empire the system solidified and also adapted to the changing times. Therefore for the sake of brevity I will cover the titles as they were from the time of the Golden Bull of Karl IV in 1356 which changed the way the Holy Roman Emperor was elected. This system remained in effect until the end of the First German Reich in 1806 and even afterward to some extent.

One of the key points to remember when examining the German system was that it was a feudal system. A top down system (in theory anyway) where the Emperor was supreme and all who held land and titles held them by the grace and authority of the Emperor. Also, those titled nobles were supposed to support the emperor in times of war. This was all in theory for we shall see in practice things worked out differently. Staying with the feudal system for as long as they did left Germany as a loose confederation of states that did not really have a strong centralized government.

Through the next few Tuesdays for this continuing series I will look not only the hierarchy of titles but such concepts and equal marriage and the Higher and Lower Nobility.

Here is the hierarchy of titles:

Emperor
King*
Elector#
Grand Dukes@
Dukes
Margraves
Landgraves
Fürst**
Princes

* Kings were around in the formation of Charlemagne Empire but as the Holy Roman Empire progressed there were no kings ruling within the empire, with the exception of Bohemia which was generally ruled by the Habsburg emperor.

#Electors came into being in 1356 and remained until the empire was dissolved in 1806. One family, the House of Hesse-Cassel, was allowed to retain the title of Elector after the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire and into the period of the Confederation of the Rhine. In 1866 when Germany was in the process of unification they lost this title when their land was annexed to Prussia.

@Grand Dukes also came into being after the Holy Roman Empire and were part of the system of rulers during the Confederation and German Empire Period.

**Fürst is a title similar to a prince but it also was higher than a prince. There is no correct English translation and generally is translated as prince in English.

One of the things I also want to mention and this is what separates the German system from the British system is that the owners of these titles generally held sovereignty and ruled a territory. For example the Duke of Brunswick actually ruled over their small patch of land. However, in Britain, the Duke of Devonshire was not sovereign and his title did not indicate he ruled over any land.

Well, that is my brief introduction to the German system starting next week I will examine each of these titles individually.

 

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