English or German? Part IV

In looking at the complex nationality of HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, I discussed how he became a Prince of Greece and Denmark. In this section I want to back up a little and discuss the paternal house that he came from, the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (generally abbreviated to House of Glücksburg) is a German ducal house that is itself a collateral branch of the House of Oldenburg. In 1448 Count Christian I of Oldenburg was elected to the Danish throne. Although the main line ruled Denmark, there were various branches of the House of Oldenburg that descended from the Danish kings. The progeniture of the Glücksburg line was  Johann II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, fifth son of King Christian III of Denmark and his wife Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg.

Johann II’s son, Duke Alexander of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, was himself the progenitor of the two main lines of dukes of Schleswig-Holstein. An elder son was Ernest Günther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and the another son was August Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. In 1816 Duke Friedrich Wilhelm became the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Beck was replaced with Glücksburg  the elder Glücksburg line went extinct in 1779.

 Duke Friedrich Wilhelm married Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel and through her mother, Princess Louise of Denmark, she was the grandaughter of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and his wife Princess Louise of Great-Britain (daughter of King George II). Thiers fifth son, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg–Glücksburg, was elected King of Denmark according to the London Protocol of 1853 (that in and of itself deserves another series all on its own). Therefore, although the House of Glücksburg is a direct male-line descendant of King Christian I of Denmark, Christian I and his descendants were of German descent.

This does make the current Duke of Edinburgh German. As we saw in Part III the Greek throne was occupied by a Danish prince who was, as Part IV demonstrates, technically belonging to a German Ducal house. In Part V I will examine the Duke of Edinburgh’s as well as the matrilineal line, the House of Battenberg-Hesse and By Rhine.

Taking a break.

Every few months I like to take a break from writing to keep myself fresh. I will betaking this week off from posting and I will be back on Moday September, September 23rd!

English or German? Part III

One of the members of the British Royal Family that fits the topic of this series is HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Just what is his nationality? German, Greek, Danish, English? He is an interesting case. HRH The Duke of Edinbugh was born a Prince of Greece and Denmark at Mon Repos, Corfu to HRH Prince Andreas of Greece and Denmark and HSH Princess Alice of Battenberg, on June 10, 1921. How did a prince get to be a prince of Greece and Denmark?

By the 15th century the majority of the Greek Islands came under the control of the Ottman Empire. Previously, Greece had been a conglomerate of kingdoms and independant city states until it became first part of the Roman Empire, then under the Eastern Roman Empire, or what is commonly called the Byzantine Empire, before being taken over by the Ottomans. As the Ottoman Empire continued to weaken and its states sought independence or were conquered by European States, the Greek states rebelled in 1821 and soon had their independence.

With the Treaty of London of 1832 Greece became amonarchy. The first candidate selected was Prince Dom Pedro of Braganza, Prince Royal of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (future King Pedro IV of Portugal and later the first Emperor of Brazil). Dom Pedro turned down the offer. The throne of Greece went to Prince Otto of Bavaria, son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Otto ruled Greece for 30 years until he was deposed in a coup in 1862 due to his unwelcomed influence in Greek Politics.

The Greek government still desired to continue as a monarchy. The pro-British Greek government desired that Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, should take the Greek throne. Eventually Prince William of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was selected the next king of Greece. Prince William was the second son of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel (within a few months after his son became King of Greece, Prince Christian became King Christian IX of Denmark). Prince William also retained his Danish title and his descendants have been both princess of Greece and Denmark. five boys and three girls.  

Prince William chose the name George and became King George I of the Hellenes. In 1867 King George married Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia in the chapel of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg Russia. The couple had eight children, five boys and three girls. The seventh child and and the fourth boy was Prince Andreas, born in 1882. In 1902 Prince Andreas attended the coronation of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. While in London Prince Andreas met Princess Alice of Battenberg, great-niece to the newly crowned king and the daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and By Rhine (herself a granddaughter of Queen Victoria),

The couple fell in love and married in October of 1903 in Darmstadt, Germany. Between 1905 and 1914 Prince and Princess Andreas had four girls; Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie and Sophie. Seven years would lapse before the birth of the fifth and last child, Prince Philippos in 1921. 

Continued in Part IV…

Buckingham Palace: The House no one loves?

When people think of the British monarchy Buckingham Palace is one of the first things to come to mind. It is so associated with the British Monarch. While St. James Palace, just a stone’s throw down the Mall, is still the offical residence for the British Court, Buckingham Palace is the official London residence for the monarch and has been since 1837. The strange truth is despite being the monarchs official London home, not many members of the royal family have really ever cared for the place.

The House that was later to become Buckingham Palace was constructed in 1705 by John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby (1648-1721). At first it was not a palace, just a mansion known as Buckingham House. In 1761 King George III purchased the house for his wife as a private residence that, at the time, was some distance from central London. After Queen Charlotte moved in it became known as The Queen’s House.

In the early 19th century the future George IV hired architechs, John Nash and Edward Blore, to expand the House. They built wings branching out from the central house and created a courtyard. The expensive and elaborate expansion turned Buckingham House into Buckingham Palace. However, King George IV never lived there having died in 1830 prior to its completion.

King William IV, brother and successor to George IV, did not care for Buckingham Palace and tried on several occassions to give it to the government for their usage but they refused the offers. William IV never did live there, prefering to stay at either Windsor or Kensington Palace. It wasn’t until 1837 when William IV’s niece, Queen Victoria, became the first British monarch to make Buckingham Palce its home. In 1847 as the royal family had grown in size the front wing of the Palace was constructed, including the famous Balcony. This new wing took three years to be completed.

After the death of Prince Albert, The Prince Consort, Buckingham Palace was all but abandoned. Queen Victoria spent most of her time living in seculsion at either Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle or Osborne House as she had grown to loath Buckingham Palce. State or offical Banquets were still occasionally held at Buckingham Palace, often with the Prince of Wales presiding. The Prince of Wales lived down the Mall at Marlborough House.

Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. King Edward VII moved into Buckingham Palace and did some redecorating and renovation to bring the Palce into the 20th century. However it has been said that Edward VII much preffered his estates at Sandringham to Bucking ham Palce.

The same can be said of his son, George V, who always felt more at home at York Cottage on the Sandringham grounds while his wife preffered Marlborough House where she and her husband had lived while they were Prince and Princess of Wales. The exterior front wing of the Palace was remodeled in 1913 and has retained that look ever since. The current occupant of Buckingham Palce, Queen Elizabeth II, is said to preffer Windsor Castle over her London residence.

There has even been rumor and speculation that Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, may select Windsor Castle as his offical residence. Personally, this seems highly unlikely but one never does know. Royal residences have changed throughout the centuries. At one time The Tower of London was the official home of the English monarchs. Hampton Court and even Kensington Palce were also the official home of the monarch. St. James’s Palace was also the official home of the King of Great Britain for many years. Even though the Royal Family seems to prefer Windsor Castle, a future King Charles III will probably use Buckingham Palce as his main residence.

Buckingham Palace has become the central focus of the royal family. So despite that the royal family may not always come to love the palace as their home it does provide a practicle central location from which the people can view their monarch and share in the joys and the sorrows with the royal family.

English or German? Part II

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In Part one we looked at the Cambridge-Teck family and how that even though they were technically a minor German royal family they were born and bred in England. The children of Princess Mary-Adelaide of Cambridge and Franz, Duke of Teck a morganatic scion of the House of Württemberg were all born at Kensington Palace and raised in England. As was had seen in Part one, the eldest daughter, Princess Victoria-Mary, known as May, grew up to become engaged to Prince Albert-Victor of Wales, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (second in line to the British Throne) until his untimely death in 1892. After a suitable mourning period May became engaged to Prince Albert-Victor’s brother, Prince George, Duke of York who became King George V of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1910. May chose to be called Queen Mary and became the role model of a dedicated and dignified queen. She was born during the reign of Queen Victoria in 1867 and lived to see her own granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, ascend the throne before she passed away in 1953.

Queen Mary’s eldest brother was born HSH Prince Adolphus of Teck. He was educated at Wellington College and then joined the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. At the age of 19, he joined the 17th Lancers,, the regiment of his maternal uncle, HRH Prince George, The Duke of Cambridge, who was the commander-in-chief of the British Army from 1856-1895. Prince Adolphus was promoted Lieutenant in 1893 and transferred to the 1st Life Guards and raised in rank to that of Captain in 1895. In 1897 Queen Victoria created him Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) and in 1901 King Edward VII promoted him to Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).

1894 Prince Adolphus married Lady Margaret Grosvenor, daughter  Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster Lady Constance Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, (herself the fourth daughter of the 2nd Duke of Sutherland). Prince and Princess Adolphus of Cambridge had four children, Prince George born in 1895, Princess Mary in 1897 (she later married Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort of the old Plantagenet line), Princess Helena in 1899 and Prince Frederick in 1907.

In 1900 Prince Franz, Duke of Teck died and Prince Adolphus as the second Duke of Teck and he and his wife were styled HSH The Duke and Duchess of Teck. In 1911 his brother-in-law, King George V, as a gift to mark his own Coronation, granted his cousin the style His Highness. In 1914 with the outbreak of World War I the Duke of Teck returned to military service first serving as a military secretary at the War Office and later as military secretary to the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Forces (B.E.F.) in France, Sir Douglas Haig, with the rank of brigadier general.

In 1917 there was a lot of anti-German feelings in Britain and King George V changed the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor and further renounced all German titles for himself and members of the British royal family. In response to this the Duke of Teck relinquished his title of Duke of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style His Highness. Adolphus, along with his only surviving brother, Prince Alexander of Teck, adopted the name Cambridge, after their grandfather, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850). The Children of Adophus Cambridge also lost their German princely titles and adopted the surname Cambridge. Shortly thereafter King George bestowed his brother-in-law Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Eltham, and Viscount Northallerto. These titles were all in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. His elder son took the title Earl of Eltham as a courtesy title, while the younger children became Lord/Lady (Christian Name) Cambridge.

After the war Lord Cambridge made his home in Shropshire after at Shotton Hall near Shrewsbury and had an active socail life. In 1923 he was offered the vacant throne of the Kingdom of Hungary (long-held by the Habsburg family) but he gave this offer no serious consideration. Lord Cambridge died, aged 59, after an intestinal operation in October 1927 at a Shrewsbury nursing home, The was ist Marquess of Cambridge was first buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, and later transferred to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. His elder son, the Earl of Eltham, succeeded him as Marquess of Cambridge.

English or German? Part I.

The descendants of Queen Victoria, specifically her grandchildren and beyond, married into many foreign courts. If you just examine a genealogy chart you would think that many of her descendants that married or were born into foreign royal courts stayed there their entire lives. Such is not the case. It is interesting to see that many members of the Royal family, or the queen’s extended family, that carried foreign royal titles actually were born and raised and lived the majority of their lives in England.

This is not just limited to the descendants of Queen Victoria, the Cambridge/Teck family is another example. Let us begin with this family. Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, tenth child and seventh son of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Adolphus-Frederick married Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel. They had three children. George, Augusta and Mary Adelaide. I already did a blog post on Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge who became a successful British subject.

Augusta of Cambridge, the middle daughter, actually went the other direction that the subject of this blog post. Augusta lived most of her life in Germany. She was born in Hanover when her father was acting as viceroy to his brothers, George IV and William IV who were also Kings of Hanover. She married her cousin Grand Duke Friedrich-Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz allowing her to spend the majority of her life in Germany despite being a British Princess. She did maintain a residence in London and spent part of the year there as her health permitted. Despite living abroad she did keep in close contact with her English relatives, specifically her niece, Queen Mary.

This brings us to Mary Adelaide, youngest daughter of Adolphus-Frederick, Duke of Cambridge. Mary grew up with a weight problem and the Cambridge family did not have a lot of money. Therefore it was a challenge to find a suitable mate for Mary-Adelaide. Finally, at the relatively older age of 33 Mary-Adelaide wed Prince Franz of Teck. He was the son of Duke Alexander of Württemberg and Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde. Despite being an Hungarian countess the marriage with Alexander was unequal and therefore morganatic. This meant that their children could not carry the Württemberg name nor enjoy succession rights in that kingdom. Thier son Franz (Francis) was created first, Prince of Teck and later Duke of Teck. In truth he was a penniless prince and even though Mary Adelaide did not have much wealth herself, his morganatic status in Germany meant that his prospects for finding a spouse in a country dedicated to equal marriages among their royals and aristocrats was very slim.

Mary-Adelaide and Francis of Teck married on 12 June 1866 at St. Anne’s Church, Kew in Surrey. They had one daughter and three sons: Victoria-Mary, Adolphus, Francis and Alexander. Despite being minor German Royals through their father they all spent the majority of their lives living in England. Victoria-Mary, known as May within the family, spent may years growing up at the court of her mother’s first cousin, Queen Victoria. She captured Queen Victoria’s eye to the point where, despite her morganatic status, Queen Victoria arranged that May of Teck would marry her grandson, and second in line to the throne, Prince Albert-Victor, Duke of Clarence, the son of Albert-Edward (King Edward VII) and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. After Albert-Victor’s untimely death from influenza in 1892 Queen Victoria did not want to lose Princess May so she arranged, after a suitable time, that she would marry Albert-Victor’s brother, George, Duke of York, who became King George V in 1910.

Despite having a German title, Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria-Mary of Teck, the future Queen Mary, consort of King George V, was in all purposes 100% English being born and raised in that country.

That is all for today, stay tuned for Part II!