April 30, 1383: Birth of Lady Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford.

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2nd Duke of Buckingham, Countess of Stafford, Elizabeth Woodville, English Nobility, Henry Stafford, House of Plantagenet, House of Stafford, King Edward III of England, King Richard II of England, Kings and Queens of England, Lady Anne of Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock

Lady Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford (April 30, 1383 – October 16, 1438) was the eldest daughter and eventually sole heiress of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester by his wife Eleanor de Bohun.

Lady Anne was born on April 30, 1383 and was baptised at Pleshey, Essex, sometime before 6 May. Her uncle, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, (third son of King Edward III), ordered several payments to be made in regards to the event. She was the granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

Coat of Arms of Lady Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford.

Family

Father

Her father was Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (January 7, 1355 – September 8 or 9, 1397). He was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.

In 1377, at the age of 22, Thomas of Woodstock was knighted and created Earl of Buckingham. On June 22, 1380 he became Earl of Essex Jure uxoris (in right of his wife). In 1385, he received the title Duke of Aumale, and at about the same time was created Duke of Gloucester.

Thomas married Eleanor de Bohun, the elder daughter and co-heiress with her sister, Mary de Bohun, of their father Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford. Thomas of Woodstock and his wife Eleanor had:

1. Humphrey, 2nd Earl of Buckingham (c. 1381 – 1399). English peer and member of the House of Lords. Died unmarried.
2. Anne of Gloucester (c. 1383 – 1438) who married three times.
3. Joan (1384–1400), who married Gilbert Talbot, 5th Lord Talbot (1383–1419) and died in childbirth.
4. Isabel (12 March 1385/1386 – April 1402), a nun of the Order of Minoresses
Philippa (c. 1388), died young

Thomas of Woodstock was the leader of the Lords Appellant, a group of powerful nobles whose ambition to wrest power from Thomas’s nephew, King Richard II of England, culminated in a successful rebellion in 1388 that significantly weakened the king’s power. Richard II managed to dispose of the Lords Appellant in 1397, and Thomas was imprisoned in Calais to await trial for treason.

During that time he was murdered, probably by a group of men led by Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, and the knight Sir Nicholas Colfox, presumably on behalf of Richard II. Thomas was buried in Westminster Abbey, first in the Chapel of Saint Edmund and Saint Thomas in October 1397, and two years later reburied in the Chapel of Saint Edward the Confessor. His wife was buried next to him.

As he was attainted as a traitor, his dukedom of Gloucester was forfeit. The title Earl of Buckingham was inherited by his son, who died in 1399 only two years after Thomas’ own death.

Mother

On Lady Anne’s maternal side she was also a descendant of the Kings of England.

Lady Anne’s mother was Eleanor de Bohun (c. 1366–1399) the elder daughter and co-heiress (with her sister, Mary de Bohun), of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (1341–1373), by his wife Joan Fitzalan, a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster.

Lady Anne’s grandmother, Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel (sometimes called Eleanor Plantagenet; 1318-1372) was the fifth daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth.

Her great-grandfather, Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster (c. 1281-1345) was a grandson of King Henry III of England (1216–1272) via his son, Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster; and was one of the principals behind the deposition of King Edward II (1307–1327), his first cousin.

Marriages

Lady Anne married three times. Her first marriage was to Thomas Stafford, 3rd Earl of Stafford (c. 1368 – July 4, 1392) who was the second son—but the senior surviving heir—of Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford and Philippa de Beauchamp, daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick. The marriage occurred around 1390. He died on July 4, 1392. He is interred in Westminster, and was interred in Stone, with his father; his widow, Anne, with whom he had had no children, married his youngest brother Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford.

On June 28, 1398, Anne married Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford (March 2, 1378 – July 14, 1403). They had three children together:

1. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, who married his second cousin, Anne, daughter of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, and Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland. Joan was a daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his third wife Katherine Swynford.
2. Anne Stafford, Countess of March, who married Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March. Edmund was a great-grandson of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence (the third son, but the second son to survive infancy, of the English king Edward III and Philippa of Hainault). Edmund and Anne had no children. She married secondly John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter (d. 1447), and had one son, Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter (d. 1475), and a daughter Anne, who married John Neville, 1st Baron Neville de Raby.
3. Philippa Stafford, died young.

In about 1405, Anne married William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (d. 1420), son of Sir William Bourchier and Eleanor of Louvain, by whom she had the following children:

1. Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex. He married Isabel of Cambridge, daughter of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Anne de Mortimer. Isabel was also an older sister of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York.
2. Eleanor Bourchier, Duchess of Norfolk, married John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk.
3. William Bourchier, 9th Baron FitzWarin
4. Cardinal Thomas Bourchier
5.John Bourchier, Baron Berners. John was the grandfather of John, Lord Berners, the translator of Froissart.

Lady Anne died on October 16, 1438 aged 55 and was buried in Llanthony Secunda Priory, Gloucester.

On Anne’s death, in 1438, the title of Earl of Buckingham (as well as her other titles) passed to her son Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford, who in 1444 was created Duke of Buckingham by King Henry VI. his title remained in the Stafford family until the attainder and execution of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, in 1521, Anne’s great-great grandson.

As we have seen Lady Anne was not only a granddaughter of a King of England, she was related to many noble families of England, her descendants continued that trend. They were among England’s noble families as well has being related to England’s Royal Family.

Descendants
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Son

Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 6th Earl of Stafford, KG (December 1402 – July 10, 1460). Humphrey Stafford married Lady Anne Neville, daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland and Lady Joan Beaufort. Joan Beaufort (c. 1379-1440), was the youngest of the four legitimised children and only daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (third surviving son of King Edward III), by his mistress, later wife, Katherine Swynford. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, was killed during the Battle of Northampton on July 10, 1460.

Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham

Grandson

Humphrey Stafford (c. 1425 – c. May 22, 1458), generally known by his courtesy title of Earl of Stafford, was the eldest son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Lady Anne Neville (d. 1480). Stafford married Lady Margaret Beaufort, daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and Lady Eleanor Beauchamp. By her father, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a niece of Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots and a cousin to Lady Margaret Beaufort (mother of King Henry VII of England). Humphrey Stafford Predeceased his father. Lord and Lady Stafford had a single son, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1455–1483).

Great-Grandson

Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (September 4, 1455 – November 2, 1483). He inherited his title, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, after his grandfather, the 1st Duke of Buckingham, was killed during the Battle of Northampton on July 10, 1460. In February 1466, at age 10, he was married to Catherine Woodville, sister of Edward IV’s queen, Elizabeth Woodville, and daughter to Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers. [I will write more on him tomorrow].

Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

Great-Great Grandson

Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (February 3, 1478 – May 17, 1521) was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Katherine Woodville, and nephew of Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV. Thus Edward Stafford was a first cousin once removed of King Henry VIII. Buckingham was one of few peers with substantial Plantagenet blood and maintained numerous connections, often among his extended family, with the rest of the upper aristocracy, which activities attracted Henry VIII’s suspicion.

During 1520, Buckingham became suspected of potentially treasonous actions and Henry authorised an investigation. The King personally examined witnesses against him, gathering enough evidence for a trial. The Duke was finally summoned to Court in April 1521 and arrested and placed in the Tower. He was tried before a panel of 17 peers, being accused of listening to prophecies of the King’s death and intending to kill the King. Buckingham was executed on Tower Hill on 17 May 17, 1521. Buckingham was posthumously attainted by Act of Parliament on July 13, 1523, disinheriting most of his wealth from his children.

Great-Great-Great Grandson

Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford (September 18, 1501 – April 30, 1563). After the execution for treason in 1521 and posthumous attainder of his father Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, with the forfeiture of all the family’s estates and titles, he managed to regain some of his family’s position and was created Baron Stafford in 1547. However, his family never truly recovered from the blow and thenceforward gradually declined into obscurity, with his descendant the 6th Baron being requested by King Charles I in 1639 to surrender the barony on account of his poverty.

April 30, 1245: Birth of King Philippe III of France.

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Edward I of England, Henry III of England, Isabella of Aragon, Kings and Queens of France, Louis IX of France, Louis of France, Marie of Brabant, Philip III of France, Philip the Bold, Philip the Fair, The Eighth Crusade at Tunis

Philippe III (April 30, 1245 – October 5, 1285), called the Bold was King of France from 1270 to 1285.

Philippe was born in Poissy to King Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence, the eldest of four daughters of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy.

King Philippe III “The Bold” of France

Margaret of Provence younger sisters (thus aunts of Philippe III) were Queen Eleanor of England (wife of King Henry III of England), Queen Sanchia of Germany (wife of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, brother was Henry III of England. Richard was elected in 1256 as King of Germany by a majority of the seven electoral princes, with the title of King of the Romans, a preparatory step in being named Holy Roman Emperor by the pope).

Margaret’s youngest sister was Queen Beatrice of Sicily (was ruling Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1245 until her death, as well as Countess of Anjou and Maine, Queen of Sicily and Naples by marriage to Charles I of Naples).

Becoming Heir to the Throne

As a younger son, Philippe was not expected to become King of France. He had an elder brother Prince Louis (1244-1260). Philippe’s elder brother fell ill after Christmas 1259 and died shortly after New Year, aged fifteen, a month before his sixteenth birthday. At the death of his elder brother Louis Philippe became the heir to the throne. He was then 15 years old and had less skill than his brother, being of a gentle character, submissive, timid and versatile, almost crushed by the strong personalities of his parents.

His mother Margaret made him promise under a solemn oath to remain under her tutelage until the age of 30, but his father King Louis IX preferring to improve his son through education. Pope Urban IV released Philippe from his oath on June 6, 1263.

Marriages of Philippe III

On May 6, 1262, Philippe married Isabella, daughter of King James I of Aragon and his second wife Yolande of Hungary. They had four sons:

Louis (1265–1276)
Philippe IV “the Fair” (1268–1314), King of France
Robert (1269–1271)
Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325)

Isabella accompanied her husband on the Eighth Crusade against Tunis. On their way home, they stopped in Cosenza, Calabria. Six months pregnant with her fifth child, on January 11, 1271 she suffered a fall from her horse. After they had resumed the trip back to France, Isabella gave birth to a premature stillborn son.

She never recovered from her injuries and the childbirth, and died seventeen days later, on January 28. Her death was a devastating emotional blow to her husband, especially since she had been pregnant. Philippe took the bodies of Isabella and their stillborn son and, when he finally returned to France, buried them in the Basilica of St Denis. Isabella’s tomb, like many others, was desecrated during the French Revolution in 1793.

After death of Isabella, King Philippe married Marie of Brabant on August 21, 1274. Marie was daughter of the late Heinrich III, Duke of Brabant, and Adelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant. They had three children: Louis (1276-1319), Blanche (1278-1305) and Margaret (1282-1318). Margaret became Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I of England.

Marriage of Philip and Marie of Brabant, Queen of France

Philippe III was under the strong influence of his mother, Margaret of Provence, and his minion, surgeon and chamberlain (Chambellan) Pierre de La Broce. Not being French, Marie stood out at the French court.

Marie was the step-mother to Philippe’s children. Philippe’s eldest son with his first wife Isabella of Aragon was also named Prince Louis (1264-1276), not to be confused with Philippe III’s elder brother, also named Louis. He died under suspicious circumstances.

Following Louis’ death, Pierre de la Broce, Philippe’s chamberlain, accused Mary of Brabant, Philippe’s second wife, of poisoning Louis. However, by 1277, suspicion had also fallen on Pierre de la Broce, who was then tried for treachery, and hanged at Montfaucon. Despite that, it is widely believed Louis was poisoned, by orders of his stepmother, Marie of Brabant. At Louis death at the age of 12, his younger brother Philippe, succeeded him as heir apparent.

Kingship

Philippe’s father, King Louis IX, died on August 25, 1270 in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philippe, who was accompanying him, returned to France to claim his throne and was anointed at Reims in 1271.

Coronation of Philippe III in Reims.

Philippe III proved indecisive, soft in nature, and timid. The strong personalities of his parents apparently crushed him, and policies of his father dominated him. People called him “the Bold” on the basis of his abilities in combat and on horseback, and not on the basis of his political or personal character.

Philippe III was pious but not cultivated. He followed the suggestions of others, first of Pierre de La Broce and then of his uncle King Charles I of Naples, Sicily, and Albania.

Philip III made numerous territorial acquisitions during his reign, the most notable being the County of Toulouse, which was annexed to the Crown lands of France in 1271. Following the Sicilian Vespers, a rebellion triggered by Pedro III of Aragon against Philippe’s uncle Charles I of Naples. Philippe led an unsuccessful Aragonese Crusade in support of his uncle. Philippe III was forced to retreat and died from dysentery in Perpignan in 1285. He was succeeded by his second surviving son as King Philippe IV the Fair, who was crowned King of France on January 6, 1286 in Reims.

After the death of Philippe III in 1285, his second wife Queen Marie lost some of her political influence, and dedicated her life to their three children.

Marie lived through Philippe IV’s reign and she outlived all her children. She died in 1322, aged 67, in the monastery at Les Mureaux, near Meulan, where she had withdrawn to in 1316.

The Life of Edward II, King of England and Lord of Ireland. Part VI.

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Abdication, Charles IV of France, Earl of Lancaster, Hugh Despenser The Elder, Isabella of France, King Edward II of England, Parliament, Roger Mortimer, Westminster Abbey

Fall from power (1326–1327)

Isabella, with Edward’s envoys, carried out negotiations with the French in late March. The negotiations proved difficult, and they arrived at a settlement only after Isabella personally intervened with her brother, King Charles IV of France. The terms favoured the French Crown: in particular, Edward would give homage in person to Charles for Gascony. Concerned about the consequences of war breaking out once again, Edward agreed to the treaty but decided to give Gascony to his son, Edward, and sent the prince to give homage in Paris.

Edward now expected Isabella and their son to return to England, but instead she remained in France and showed no intention of making her way back. Until 1322, Edward and Isabella’s marriage appears to have been successful, but by the time Isabella left for France in 1325, it had deteriorated. Isabella appears to have disliked Hugh Despenser the Younger intensely, not least because of his abuse of high-status women. Isabella was embarrassed that she had fled from Scottish armies three times during her marriage to Edward, and she blamed Hugh for the final occurrence in 1322.

When Edward had negotiated the recent truce with Robert the Bruce, he had severely disadvantaged a range of noble families who owned land in Scotland, including the Beaumonts, close friends of Isabella’s. She was also angry about the arrest of her household and seizure of her lands in 1324. Finally, Edward had taken away her children and given custody of them to Hugh Despenser’s wife.

By February 1326, it was clear that Isabella was involved in a relationship with an exiled Marcher Lord, Roger Mortimer. It is unclear when Isabella first met Mortimer or when their relationship began, but they both wanted to see Edward and the Despensers removed from power. Edward appealed for his son to return, and for Charles IV to intervene on his behalf, but this had no effect.

During August and September 1326, Edward mobilised his defences along the coasts of England to protect against the possibility of an invasion either by France or by Roger Mortimer. Roger Mortimer, Isabella, and thirteen-year-old Prince Edward, accompanied by King Edward’s half-brother Edmund of Woodstock, landed in Orwell on September 24, with a small force of men and met with no resistance. Instead, enemies of the Despensers moved rapidly to join them, including Edward’s other half-brother, Thomas of Brotherton; Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, who had inherited the earldom from his brother Thomas; and a range of senior clergy.

London descended into anarchy, as mobs attacked Edward’s remaining officials and associates, killing his former treasurer Walter Stapledon in St Paul’s Cathedral, and taking the Tower and releasing the prisoners inside. Edward continued west up the Thames Valley, reaching Gloucester between October 9 and 12; he hoped to reach Wales and from there mobilise an army against the invaders. Mortimer and Isabella were not far behind.

Charles IV, King of France

Edward’s authority collapsed in England where, in his absence, Isabella’s faction took over the administration with the support of the Church. Her forces surrounded Bristol, where Hugh Despenser the Elder had taken shelter; he surrendered and was promptly executed. Edward and Hugh the Younger fled their castle around November 2, leaving behind jewellery, considerable supplies and at least £13,000 in cash, possibly once again hoping to reach Ireland, but on 16 November they were betrayed and captured by a search party north of Caerphilly. Edward was escorted first to Monmouth Castle, and from there back into England, where he was held at the Earl of Lancaster’s fortress at Kenilworth. Edward’s final remaining forces, by now besieged in Caerphilly Castle, surrendered after five months in April 1327.

Isabella and Mortimer rapidly took revenge on the former regime. Hugh Despenser the Younger was put on trial, declared a traitor and sentenced to be disembowelled, castrated and quartered; he was duly executed on November 24, 1326.

Queen Isabella

Edward’s position, however, was problematic; he was still married to Isabella and, in principle, he remained the king, but most of the new administration had a lot to lose were he to be released and potentially regain power.

There was no established procedure for removing an English king. Adam Orleton, the Bishop of Hereford, made a series of public allegations about Edward’s conduct as king, and in January 1327 a parliament convened at Westminster at which the question of Edward’s future was raised; Edward refused to attend the gathering. Parliament, initially ambivalent, responded to the London crowds that called for Prince Edward to take the throne.

Shortly after this, a representative delegation of barons, clergy and knights was sent to Kenilworth to speak to the king. On January 20, 1327, the Earl of Lancaster and the bishops of Winchester and Lincoln met privately with Edward in the castle. They informed Edward that if he were to resign as monarch, his son Prince Edward would succeed him, but if he failed to do so, his son might be disinherited as well, and the crown given to an alternative candidate.

In tears, Edward agreed to abdicate, and on January 21, Sir William Trussell, representing the kingdom as a whole, withdrew his homage and formally ended Edward’s reign. A proclamation was sent to London, announcing that Edward, now known as Edward of Caernarvon, had freely resigned his kingdom and that Prince Edward would succeed him. The coronation took place at Westminster Abbey on February 2, 1327.

The Life of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth (1649-1685)

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1st Duke of Monmouth, Duke of York, English Civil War, Illegitimate, James Scott, King Charles II of England, King James II of England, Lucy Walter, Rebellion, Royal Bastard

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch (April 9, 1649 – July 15, 1685) was a Dutch-born English nobleman. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland with mistress Lucy Walter

During the summer of 1648, Charles, Prince of Wales was in exile as the English Civil War was being played out. The Prince of Wales captivated by Lucy Walter, who was at The Hague for a short while about this time. He was only eighteen, and she is often spoken of as his first mistress, but they may have had a tryst as early as 1646.

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch

Charles moved to The Hague during 1648, during the Second English Civil War, where his sister Mary and his brother-in-law William II, Prince of Orange, were providing more support to his father Charles I‘s cause than his French relations.

James was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, then spent his early years in Schiedam.

There is some question to whether or not Prince Charles was the father of James Scott. Research by Hugh Noel Williams suggests that Charles had not arrived at The Hague until the middle of September 1648 – seven months before the child’s birth, but that he had met Lucy in July. Some voices later whispered that in the summer of 1648 Lucy had been the mistress of Colonel Robert Sidney, a younger son of the Earl of Leicester. When the child grew to manhood, those loyal to the Duke of York (whom the exclusionists wished to replace as heir to the throne) publicly put about the story that they saw a semblance to Sidney.

Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland. Father of The Duke of Monmouth.

These voices may have been encouraged by the Duke of York himself, brother of King Charles II, who was afraid of any of the acknowledged fourteen royal bastards’ possible claims to the throne, Charles having no legitimate surviving children. In 2012, a DNA test of Monmouth’s patrilineal descendant the 10th Duke of Buccleuch showed that he shared the same Y chromosome as a distant Stuart cousin; this is evidence that Charles II was indeed Monmouth’s father.

Lucy Walter, mistress of King Charles II and Mother of the Duke of Monmouth.

As an illegitimate son, Monmouth was ineligible to succeed to the English or Scottish thrones, unless he could prove rumours that his parents had married secretly. Monmouth came to maintain that his parents were married and that he possessed evidence of their marriage, but he never produced it. Charles II, as King, later testified in writing to his Council that he had never been married to anyone except his queen, Catherine of Braganza.

On February 14, 1663, at the age of 13, shortly after having been brought to England, James was created Duke of Monmouth, with the subsidiary titles of Earl of Doncaster and Baron Scott of Tynedale, all three in the Peerage of England, and on 28 March 1663 he was appointed a Knight of the Garter.

On April 20, 1663, just days after his 14th birthday, he was married to the heiress Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch. James took his wife’s surname upon marriage. The day after his marriage, the couple were made Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, Earl and Countess of Dalkeith, and Lord and Lady Scott of Whitchester and Eskdale in the Peerage of Scotland. Monmouth, as he became known, was popular, particularly for his Protestantism, whereas the official heir presumptive to the throne, the King’s brother James, Duke of York, had openly converted to Roman Catholicism.

In 1665, at the age of 16, Monmouth served in the English fleet under his uncle, Prince James, the Duke of York in the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In June 1666, he returned to England to become captain of a troop of cavalry. On September 16, 1668 he was made colonel of the His Majesty’s Own Troop of Horse Guards. He acquired Moor Park in Hertfordshire in April 1670.

James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, commanding the English against the Dutch in 1672, by Jan Wyck

In June of this 1679. It was at about this time that he was first seriously proposed as the rightful heir to the Crown, despite the obvious problem of his illegitimacy, and his father’s refusal to acknowledge that he had married Lucy Walter. Monmouth may have come to sincerely believe that his parents had been married.

Rebellion

As his popularity with the masses increased, Monmouth was obliged to go into exile in the Dutch United Provinces in September 1679. Following the discovery of the so-called Rye House Plot in 1683, which aimed to assassinate both Charles II and his brother James, Monmouth, who had been encouraged by his supporters to assert his right to the throne, was identified as a conspirator. On King Charles II’s death in February 1685, Monmouth led the Monmouth Rebellion, landing with three ships at Lyme Regis in Dorset in early June 1685, in an attempt to take the throne from his uncle, James II-VII.

He published a “Declaration for the defence and vindication of the protestant religion and of the laws, rights and privileges of England from the invasion made upon them, and for delivering the Kingdom from the usurpation and tyranny of us by the name of James, Duke of York”: King James II and VII responded to this by issuing an order for the publishers and distributors of the paper to be arrested.

Coat of Arms of the 1st Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch: The royal arms of King Charles II differenced with a baton sinister argent overall an inescutcheon of pretence of Scott (Or, on a bend azure a mullet of six points between two crescents of the field).

Monmouth declared himself as the rightful King at various places along the route including Axminster, Chard, Ilminster and Taunton. The two armies met at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685, the last clear-cut pitched battle on open ground between two military forces fought on English soil: Monmouth’s makeshift force could not compete with the regular army, and was soundly defeated.

Capture

Following the battle a reward of £5,000 was offered for his capture. On 8 July 1685, Monmouth was captured and arrested near Ringwood in Hampshire,

Following Monmouth’s capture, Parliament passed an Act of Attainder, 1 Ja. II c. 2:

Treason. ¶Whereas James Duke of Monmouth has in an hostile Manner Invaded this Kingdome and is now in open Rebellion Levying Warr against the King contrary to the Duty of his Allegiance, Bee it enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majestie by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spirituall and Temporall and Commons in this Parlyament assembled and by the Authoritie of the same, That the said James Duke of Monmouth Stand and be Convicted and Attainted of High-Treason and that he suffer Paines of Death and Incurr all Forfeitures as a Traitor Convicted and Attainted of High Treason.

The King took the unusual step of allowing his nephew an audience, despite having no intention of extending a pardon to him, thus breaking with a longstanding tradition that the King would give an audience only when he intended to show clemency. The prisoner unsuccessfully implored his mercy, and even offered to convert to Catholicism, but to no avail. The King, disgusted by his abject behaviour, coldly told him to prepare to die, and later remarked that Monmouth “did not behave as well as I expected”. Numerous pleas for mercy were addressed to the King, but he ignored them all, even that of his sister-in-law, the Dowager Queen Catherine.

James II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland. Uncle of The Duke of Monmouth.

Monmouth was beheaded by Jack Ketch on July 15, 1685, on Tower Hill. Shortly beforehand, Bishops Turner of Ely and Ken of Bath and Wells visited the Duke to prepare him for eternity, but withheld the Eucharist, for the condemned man refused to acknowledge that either his rebellion or his relationship with Lady Wentworth had been sinful.

It is said that before laying his head on the block, Monmouth specifically bade Ketch finish him at one blow, saying he had mauled others before. Disconcerted, Ketch did indeed inflict multiple blows with his axe, the prisoner rising up reproachfully the while – a ghastly sight that shocked the witnesses, drawing forth execrations and groans. Some say a knife was at last employed to sever the head from the twitching body. Sources vary; some claim eight blows, the official Tower of London fact sheet says it took five blows, while Charles Spencer, in his book Blenheim, puts it at seven.

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch

Monmouth was buried in the Church of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London. His Dukedom was forfeited, but his subsidiary titles, Earl of Doncaster and Baron Scott of Tindale, were restored by King George II on March 23, 1743 to his grandson Francis Scott, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch (1695–1751).

April 29, 2011. 9th Wedding anniversary of Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

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Carole Middleton, Catherine Middleton, Charles Prince of Wales, Diana Princess of Wales, Michael Middleton, Prince William Duke of Gloucester, royal wedding, The Duchess of Cambridge, The Duke of Cambridge, Westminster Abbey

On November 16, 2010, Clarence House announced that Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton were to marry; the couple had become engaged in Kenya in October. The engagement ring given by William to Catherine had belonged to his mother.

Prince William was born at Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, London, at 9:03 pm on June 21, 1982 as the first child of Charles, Prince of Wales—heir apparent to Queen Elizabeth II—and Diana, Princess of Wales. His names, William Arthur Philip Louis, were announced by Buckingham Palace on June 28. He was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 4 August, the 82nd birthday of his paternal great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on January 9, 1982 into an upper-middle-class family. She was baptised at St Andrew’s Bradfield, Berkshire, on 20 June 1982. She is the eldest of three children born to Michael Middleton (b. 1949), and his wife, Carole (née Goldsmith; b. 1955), a former flight dispatcher and flight attendant, respectively, who in 1987 founded Party Pieces, a privately held mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations with an estimated worth of £30 million.

The wedding took place on April 29, 2011 in Westminster Abbey, London. A few hours before the ceremony, HM The Queen conferred on HRH Prince William the new titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus.

The couple have three children:

HRH Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge; born July 22, 2013
HRH Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge; born May 2, 2015
HRH Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge; born 23 April 2018

The Life of Edward II, King of England and Lord of Ireland. Part V.

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Hugh Despenser The Elder, Hugh Despenser the Younger, King Edward II of England, Kings and Queens of England, Roger Mortimer, The Earl of Lancaster, The Earl of Pembroke

The Despenser War

The long-threatened civil war finally broke out in England in 1321, triggered by the tension between many of the barons and the royal favourites, the Despenser family. Hugh Despenser the Elder had served both Edward and his father, while Hugh Despenser the Younger had married into the wealthy de Clare family, became the King’s chamberlain, and acquired Glamorgan in the Welsh Marches in 1317.

In early 1321, Lancaster mobilised a coalition of the Despensers’ enemies across the Marcher territories. Edward and Hugh the Younger became aware of these plans in March and headed west, hoping that negotiations led by the moderate Earl of Pembroke would defuse the crisis. This time, Pembroke made his excuses and declined to intervene, and war broke out in May.

The Earl of Lancaster held a high-level gathering of the barons and clergy in June which condemned the Despensers for having broken the Ordinances. Edward attempted reconciliation, but in July the opposition occupied London and called for the permanent removal of the Despensers. Fearing that he might be deposed if he refused, Edward agreed to exile the Despensers and pardoned the Marcher Lords for their actions.

Afterwards Edward began to plan his revenge. With the help of Pembroke, he formed a small coalition of his half-brothers, a few of the earls and some of the senior clergy, and prepared for war. In December, Edward led his army across the River Severn and advanced into the Welsh Marches, where the opposition forces had gathered..The coalition of Marcher Lords crumbled and the Mortimers surrendered to Edward.

Edward punished Lancaster’s supporters through a system of special courts across the country, with the judges instructed in advance how to sentence the accused, who were not allowed to speak in their own defence. Many of these so-called “Contrariants” were simply executed, and others were imprisoned or fined, with their lands seized and their surviving relatives detained.

The Earl of Pembroke, whom Edward now mistrusted, was arrested and only released after pledging all of his possessions as collateral for his own loyalty. Edward was able to reward his loyal supporters, especially the Despenser family, with the confiscated estates and new titles.

April 28, 1573: Birth of Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulême.

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Charles de Valois, Count d'Alais, Duc d’Angoulême, Henry III of France, Henry IV of France, Illegitimate, King Charles IX of France, Louis-Emmanuel de Valois, Marie Touchet, The Bastille

Charles de Valois (April 28, 1573 – September 24, 1650) was a French royal bastard, Comte d’Auvergne, Duc d’Angoulême, and memoirist.

Charles de Valois, Duc d’Angoulême

Charles de Valois was the illegitimate son of King Charles IX of France and Marie Touchet. He was born at the Château de Fayet in Dauphiné in 1573. His father, dying in the following year, commended him to the care and favour of his younger brother and successor, King Henri III of France who faithfully fulfilled the charge.

His mother then married François de Balzac, marquis d’Entragues. One of their daughters (Charles’s half-sister) named Catherine Henriette afterwards became the mistress of King Henri IV of France and Navarre, first French King of the House of Bourbon.

Marie Touchet, mother of Charles de Valois

Charles de Valois was carefully educated and was destined for the Knights of Malta. At the early age of sixteen he attained one of the highest dignities of the order, being made Grand Prior of France. Shortly after he came into possession of large estates left by his paternal grandmother Catherine de’ Medici, from one of which he took his title of count of Auvergne.

King Charles IX of France, father of Charles de Valois

In 1589 Henri III was assassinated, but on his deathbed he commended Charles to the good-will of his successor Henri IV. Under King Henri IV, Charles de Valois was made colonel of horse, and in that capacity served in the campaigns during the early part of the reign. But the connection between the king and Madame de Verneuil appears to have been very displeasing to Charles, and in 1601 he engaged in the conspiracy formed by the Dukes of Savoy, Biron and Monsieur de Turenne, one of the objects of which was to force Henri to repudiate his wife and marry the marchioness.

The conspiracy was discovered; Biron and Bouillon were arrested and Biron was executed. Charles was released after a few months’ imprisonment, chiefly through the influence of his half-sister, his aunt, the Duchess of Angoulême and his father-in-law.

Charles de Valois then entered into fresh intrigues with the court of Felipe III of Spain, acting in concert with Madame de Verneuil and her father d’Entragues. In 1604 d’Entragues and he were arrested and condemned to death; at the same time the marchioness was condemned to perpetual imprisonment in a convent. She easily obtained pardon, and the sentence of death against the other two was commuted into perpetual imprisonment. Charles remained in the Bastille for eleven years, from 1605 to 1616. A decree of the parlement (1606), obtained by Marguerite de Valois, deprived him of nearly all his possessions, including Auvergne, though he still retained the title.

The Bastille (Painting from the French Revolution)

In 1616 charles was released, was restored to his rank of colonel-general of horse, and dispatched against one of the disaffected nobles, the duke of Longueville, who had taken Péronne. Next year he commanded the forces collected in the Île-de-France, and obtained some successes.

In 1619 he received by bequest, ratified in 1620 by royal grant, the duchy of Angoulême. Soon after he was engaged on an important embassy to the Holy Roman Empire, the result of which was the treaty of Ulm, signed July 1620. In 1627 he commanded the large forces assembled at the siege of La Rochelle; and some years after in 1635, during the Thirty Years’ War, he was general of the French army in Lorraine. In 1636 he was made lieutenant-general of the army. He appears to have retired from public life shortly after the death of Richelieu in 1643.

Personal life

In 1591 he obtained a dispensation from the vows of the Order of Malta, and married Charlotte, daughter of Henri, maréchal d’Amville, afterwards Duke of Montmorency and his first wife. They had had three children:
* Henri
* Louis-Emmanuel de Valois, Count d’Alais, who succeeded his father as duke of Angoulême and was colonel-general of light cavalry and governor of Provence; his daughter Marie Françoise de Valois married Louis, Duke of Joyeuse;
* François, who died in 1622.

His first wife died in 1636, and in 1644 he married Françoise de Narbonne, daughter of Charles, baron of Mareuil. She had no children and survived her husband until 1713.

Louis-Emmanuel de Valois, Count d’Alais

The Duke was the author of the following works:

Mémoires, from the assassination of Henri III. to the battle of Arques (1589–1593) published at Paris by Boneau, and reprinted by Buchon in his Choix de chroniques (1836) and by Petitot in his Mémoires (1st series, vol. xliv.)
Les Harangues, prononcées en assemblée de MM. les princes protestants d’Allemagne, par Monseigneur le duc d’ Angoulême (1620). A translation of a Spanish work by Diego de Torres.

To him has also been ascribed the work, La générale et fidèle Relation de tout ce qui s’est passé en l’Isle de Ré, envoyée par le Roy à la Royne sa mère (Paris, 1627).

Charles de Valois, Duc d’Angoulême died aged 77 on September 24, 1650.

Life of Edward II, King of England and Lord of Ireland. Part IV.

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Battle of Bannockburn, Earl of Pembroke, Elizabeth de Burgh, King Edward II of England, King Philip IV of France and Navarre, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of France, kings and queens of Scotland, Robert I of Scotland, Robert the Bruce

Reactions to the death of Gaveston varied considerably. Edward was furious and deeply upset over what he saw as the murder of Gaveston; he made provisions for Gaveston’s family, and intended to take revenge on the barons involved. The earls of Pembroke and Surrey were embarrassed and angry about Warwick’s actions, and shifted their support to Edward in the aftermath.

Edward II, King of England and Lord of Ireland.

To Lancaster and his core of supporters, the execution had been both legal and necessary to preserve the stability of the kingdom. Civil war again appeared likely, but in December, the Earl of Pembroke negotiated a potential peace treaty between the two sides, which would pardon the opposition barons for the killing of Gaveston, in exchange for their support for a fresh campaign in Scotland. Lancaster and Warwick, however, did not give the treaty their immediate approval, and further negotiations continued through most of 1313.

Meanwhile, the Earl of Pembroke had been negotiating with France to resolve the long-standing disagreements over the administration of Gascony, and as part of this Edward and Isabella agreed to travel to Paris in June 1313 to meet with Philippe IV. The meeting between the two kings proved a spectacular visit, including a grand ceremony in which the two kings knighted Philippe IV’s sons and 200 other men in Notre-Dame de Paris, large banquets along the River Seine, and a public declaration that both kings and their queens would join a crusade to the Levant.

Philippe IV, King of France and Navarre

On his return from France, Edward found his political position greatly strengthened. After intense negotiation, the earls, including Lancaster and Warwick, came to a compromise in October 1313, fundamentally very similar to the draft agreement of the previous December. Edward’s finances improved, thanks to parliament agreeing to the raising of taxes, a loan of 160,000 florins (£25,000) from the Pope, £33,000 borrowed from Philip, and further loans organised by Edward’s new Italian banker, Antonio Pessagno.[160] For the first time in his reign, Edward’s government was well-funded.

Battle of Bannockburn

By 1314, Robert the Bruce had recaptured most of the castles in Scotland once held by Edward, pushing raiding parties into northern England as far as Carlisle. In response, Edward planned a major military campaign with the support of Lancaster and the barons, mustering a large army between 15,000 and 20,000 strong.

Robert I, King of Scotland

Edward II and his advisors were aware of the places the Scots were likely to challenge them and sent orders for their troops to prepare for an enemy established in boggy ground near the River Forth, near Stirling. The English appear to have advanced in four divisions, whereas the Scots were in three divisions known as ‘schiltrons’, which were strong defensive squares of men with pikes.

Location of the battlefield

The exact site of the Battle of Bannockburn has been debated for many years, but most modern historians agree that the traditional site, where a visitor centre and statue have been erected, is not correct.

A large number of alternative locations have been considered but modern researchers believe only two merit serious consideration:

An area of peaty ground outside the village of Balquhiderock known as the Dryfield, about .75 miles (1.21 km) east of the traditional site.

The Carse of Balquhiderock, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast of the traditional site. This location is accepted by the National Trust as the most likely site.

The battle began on June 23 and lasted two days. As the English army attempted to force its way across the high ground of the Bannock Burn, which was surrounded by marshland. Skirmishing between the two sides broke out, resulting in the death of Sir Henry de Bohun, whom Robert killed in personal combat. Edward continued his advance the following day, and encountered the bulk of the Scottish army as they emerged from the woods of New Park.

His cavalry found it hard to operate in the cramped terrain and were crushed by Robert’s spearmen. The English army was overwhelmed and its leaders were unable to regain control. The English were gradually pushed back and ground down by the Scots’ schiltrons. The English longbowmen attempted to support the advance of the knights but were ordered to stop shooting, as they were causing casualties among their own.

Edward stayed behind to fight, but it became obvious to the Earl of Pembroke that the battle was lost and he dragged the king away from the battlefield, hotly pursued by the Scottish forces. Edward only just escaped the heavy fighting, making a vow to found a Carmelite religious house at Oxford if he survived.

Aftermath

The defeat of the English opened up the north of England to Scottish raids and allowed the Scottish invasion of Ireland. In exchange for the captured nobles, Edward II released Robert’s wife Elizabeth de Burgh, sisters Christina Bruce, Mary Bruce and daughter Marjorie Bruce, ending their 8-year imprisonment in England. These finally led, after the failure of the Declaration of Arbroath to secure Scotland’s independence by diplomatic means, to the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton in 1328. Under the treaty the English crown recognised the full independence of the Kingdom of Scotland, and acknowledged Robert the Bruce, and his heirs and successors, as the rightful rulers.

After the fiasco of Bannockburn, the earls of Lancaster and Warwick saw their political influence increase, and they pressured Edward to re-implement the Ordinances of 1311. Lancaster became the head of the royal council in 1316, promising to take forward the Ordinances through a new reform commission, but he appears to have abandoned this role soon afterwards, partially because of disagreements with the other barons, and possibly because of ill-health. Lancaster refused to meet with Edward in parliament for the next two years, bringing effective governance to a standstill.

Edward’s difficulties were exacerbated by prolonged problems in English agriculture, part of a wider phenomenon in northern Europe known as the Great Famine. It began with torrential rains in late 1314, followed by a very cold winter and heavy rains the following spring that killed many sheep and cattle. The bad weather continued, almost unabated, into 1321, resulting in a string of bad harvests. Revenues from the exports of wool plummeted and the price of food rose, despite attempts by Edward’s government to control prices. Edward called for hoarders to release food, and tried to encourage both internal trade and the importation of grain, but with little success.

April 27, 1650: Birthday of Princess Charlotte-Amalie of Hesse-Cassel

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Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt, Catherine Amalie of Hesse- Cassel, Christian V of Denmark and Norway, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Norway, Princess Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Roskilde Cathedral

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Cassel (April 27, 1650 – March 17, 1714) was queen-consort of Denmark and Norway by marriage to King Christian V.

Early years

Charlotte Amalie was born in Cassel, Hesse, of the Holy Roman Empire. Her parents were Landgrave Wilhelm VI of Hesse-Cassel and his consort Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg.

Charlotte Amalie was raised in the Reformed faith. She was well educated in French, Italian, geography, and philosophy. French was to be her preferred written language, while she spoke German with her more intimate friends. Her mother was a religiously strict adherent of the Reformed Church, and politically oriented toward Brandenburg, both views which were to be shared by her daughter.

On June 15, 1667 in Nykøbing Slot, Charlotte Amalie married Crown Prince Christian of Denmark. The marriage was arranged by Queen Sophie Amalie of Denmark, (Born Princess Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the daughter of Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt). She desired a daughter-in-law that she could control and expected this to be the case for a princess of Hesse elevated to the status of queen, and a member of the reformed church, who would be religiously isolated in Lutheran Denmark.

Christian was sent to meet her in Hesse already in 1665, but the negotiations were drawn out because of religious concerns. In the marriage contract, she was not required to convert and she secured the right to keep her faith after her wedding to Christian, who as ruler of Denmark would become the head of the state Lutheran Church, a term which was contested and met some resistance before it was accepted. She did keep her faith after wedding.

Charlotte Amalie became queen of Denmark upon the accession of Christian to the throne in 1670. Her Reformed faith caused the Lutheran clergy to oppose her anointing as queen. She could not be anointed as a member of the Reformed faith because the ceremony would require a Lutheran communion, which she refused. As queen, she chose the motto L’homme propose, Dieu dispose.

King Christian V did not wish his wife to play a political role in government similar to his mothers during his father’s reign, and further more disliked her Pro-Brandenburg sympathies, and therefore took care to remove Charlotte Amalie from exerting any influence in state affairs. She was nevertheless regarded as a potential power holder at court.

Christian V, King of Denmark and Norway

The relationship between Charlotte Amalie and Christian V are described as a mutually respectful friendship, and while not a love affair, they enjoyed each others company and seemingly coexisted harmoniously. In 1672, the king entered in to a permanent love affair to Sophie Amalie Moth, who after the fall of Peder Griffenfeld four years later was made the official mistress in Denmark, a public adultery which caused an embarrassing situation for Charlotte Amalie.

Nevertheless, “no mistress could deprive her of her position as queen, and she understood to defend it”; Charlotte Amalie made the most of her position as queen, both in public representational life as well as in her private interaction with the king. It is noted how she was always at the king’s side, making use of her rank as queen and accompanying him on journeys, hunting and in warfare, and how she could play cards with him late in to the evenings, developing a comfortable and respectful relationship.

Reportedly, she grieved over her son’s bigamy, but there is no record of her having expressed any criticism of it to him. She is known as the protector of the famous Marie Grubbe after Grubbe’s divorce and remarriage to her lover, which had made her an outcast. Charlotte Amelie gave refuge to the couple on her own domains.

Charlotte Amalie died of scarlet fever on March 27, 1714 in Charlottenborg, “heartily grieved by many”. She was buried in Roskilde Cathedral.

Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, Princess of of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

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Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Prince Andrew of Greece., Prince Ernst II of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg, Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg, Princess Alice of Battenberg, Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, Princess of of Hohenlohe-Langenburg., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

From the Emperor’s Desk: Sorry I’m late with this. April 18th was the 115th anniversary of the birth of Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, born Princess of Greece and Denmark. April 24th 1981 was the 39th anniversary of her death.

Princess Margarita with her mother Princess Alice and sister Princess Theodora, c. 1912.

Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark (April 18, 1905 – April 24, 1981) was the eldest child and daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. She was born at the Royal Palace in Athens. She was the first great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and the eldest sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. She also had three sisters: Theodora, Margravine of Baden; Cecilie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine; and Sophie, later Princess Georg of Hanover.

Marriage and children

Margarita married Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg on April 20, 1931 in Langenburg, Germany.

Prince Gottfried was a son of Prince Ernst II of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria through her second son, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his wife, Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, a daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

In descent from Queen Victoria, Prince Gottfried was a second cousin once removed of Princess Margarita and in descent from Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, they were third cousins.
Gottfried succeeded his father as reigning Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg on December 11, 1950.

Six children were born of their marriage, all of whom were styled as His/Her Serene Highness:

* Stillborn daughter (born and died December 3, 1933)
* Prince Kraft Alexander Ernst Ludwig Georg Emich (June 23, 1935 – March 16, 2004); succeeded his father as The Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
* Princess Beatrix Alice Marie Melita Margarete of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (June 10, 1936 – November 15, 1997)
* Prince Georg Andreas Heinrich of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (born November 24, 1938) married Luise, Princess of Schönburg-Waldenburg on September 9, 1968.
* Prince Rupprecht Sigismund Philipp Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (April 7, 1944 – April 8, 1978)
* Prince Albrecht Wolfgang Christoph of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (April 7, 1944 – April 23, 1992) married Maria-Hildegard Fischer on 23 January 1976. They have one son:

All of Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg’s children are first cousins to the Children of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom: The Prince of Wales, The Princess Royal, The Duke of York and The Earl of Wessex.

Death

Princess Margarita died aged 76 on April 24, 1981 in Langenburg, Germany.She survived her husband by 21 years.