January 13, 1883: Birth of Prince Arthur of Connaught.

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Duchess of Fife, George V of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Arthur of Connaught, Prince Royal, Princess Alexandra, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, The Duke of Connaught and Strathern

Prince Arthur of Connaught (Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert; January 13, 1883 – September 1938) was a British military officer and a grandson of Queen Victoria. He served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 20 November 1920 to 21 January 1924.

Prince Arthur was born on January 13, 1883 at Windsor Castle. His father was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His mother was the former Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.

Arthur was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on February 16, 1883, and his godparents were Queen Victoria (his paternal grandmother), the German Empress (his great-great aunt, for whom his paternal aunt Princess Beatrice stood proxy), Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia (his maternal uncle, who was represented by the German Ambassador Count Münster), Princess Henry of the Netherlands (his maternal aunt, who was represented by Countess Münster), the Duke of Cambridge (the Queen’s cousin), and the Duke of Edinburgh (his paternal uncle, whose brother the Prince of Wales represented him).

The Duke and Duchess of Connaught with their children: Prince Arthur, Princess Margaret (taller) and Princess Victoria Patricia

Arthur was the first British royal prince to be educated at Eton College. He was known to his family as “young Arthur” to distinguish him from his father.

Military career

Prince Arthur was educated at Eton College, but left there early to join the Royal Military College, Sandhurst at the age of sixteen years and two months. From there he was commissioned into the 7th (Queen’s Own) Hussars as a second lieutenant in May 1901.

He saw his first active posting the following year. After the end of the Second Boer War in June 1902, most of the British troops left South Africa, but the 7th Hussars were posted there to keep the peace. Prince Arthur and 230 men of his regiment left Southampton in the SS Ortona in October 1902, and arrived at Cape Town later the same month.

Prince Arthur spent several months stationed at Krugersdorp. In 1907, he was promoted to the rank of captain in the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys). He became the honorary Colonel-in-Chief of this regiment in 1920.

During the First World War, Prince Arthur served as aide-de-camp to Generals Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig, the successive commanders of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1919 and became a colonel in the reserves in 1922.

In October 1922, Prince Arthur was promoted to the honorary rank of major general and became an aide-de-camp to his first cousin, King George V.

Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife

Since the king’s children were too young to undertake public duties until after the First World War, Prince Arthur carried out a variety of ceremonial duties at home and overseas.

On October 15, 1913, Prince Arthur married his cousin Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife (May 17, 1891 – February 26, 1959) at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace, London.

Princess Alexandra was the eldest daughter and heir of the Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and Louise the Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark. As such, the couple were first cousins once removed. They had a son, Alastair.

The couple were attended by five bridesmaids: The Princess Mary, Princess Maud of Fife, Princesses Mary, Helena, and May of Teck.

Later life

After the accession of his cousin, King George V, Prince Arthur and his aging father were the most senior male members of the Royal Family over the age of 18 to reside in the United Kingdom. As such, he undertook a wide variety of royal duties on behalf of the King, and acted as a Counsellor of State during periods of the King’s absence abroad.

In 1906, by order of the King, he vested the Meiji Emperor of Japan with the Order of the Garter, as a consequence of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. In 1918, he was a guest aboard the Japanese battlecruiser Kirishima when she voyaged from Japan to Canada. He visited Tokyo and then Nagoya and was welcomed at Tsuruma Park and the Buntenkaku, and then traveled on to Kyoto.

In 1920, Prince Arthur succeeded Viscount Buxton as governor-general and commander-in-chief in South Africa. The Earl of Athlone succeeded him in these posts in 1924. Upon returning to Britain, Prince Arthur became involved in a number of charitable organizations, including serving as chairman of the board of directors of Middlesex Hospital. Like his father, the Duke of Connaught, he was active in the Freemasons, becoming Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire in 1924.

Prince Arthur of Connaught died of stomach cancer at age 55 on September 12, 1938. He is buried in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. One of his last public appearances was at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937. His father, the Duke of Connaught, survived him by four years.

Prince Arthur’s only son, Alistair, who used the courtesy title Earl of MacDuff after 1917, succeeded his paternal grandfather as 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex in 1942.

Although Alistair was born a Prince of the United Kingdom with the style His Highness in 1914 he lost that title in 1917.

In letters patent dated November 20, 1917, George V undertook further restructuring of the royal styles and titles by restricting the titles of Prince or Princess and the style of Royal Highness to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.

This excluded Alastair, who was a great-grandson of a former sovereign but was not the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. It further stated that all titles of “the grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes.”

Happy 40th Birthday to HRH The Duchess of Cambridge

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Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, GCVO (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; January 9, 1982) is a member of the British royal family. Her husband, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, is second in the line of succession to the British throne, making Catherine a likely future queen consort.

Born in Reading, Middleton grew up in Bucklebury, Berkshire. She was educated at St Andrew’s School and Marlborough College before studying art history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where she met William in 2001. She held jobs in retail and marketing and pursued charity work before their engagement was announced in November 2010.

They married on April 29, 2011 at Westminster Abbey. The couple’s children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis of Cambridge—are third, fourth, and fifth in the line of succession to the British throne, respectively.

Since her marriage, the Duchess has undertaken royal duties and engagements in support of the Queen. She holds patronage within over 20 charitable and military organisations, including Action for Children, SportsAid, and the National Portrait Gallery. She undertakes projects through The Royal Foundation, with her charity work focusing on issues surrounding young children, addiction, and art. To encourage people to open up about their mental health issues, the Duchess envisioned the mental health awareness campaign “Heads Together”, launched with the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex in April 2016.

December 18, 1863: Birth of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este

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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este, Assassination, Duchess of Teschen, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Gavrilo Princip, Sarajevo, Sophie Chotek, World War I

Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (December 18, 1863 – June 28, 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo is considered the most immediate cause of World War I.

Franz Ferdinand was born in Graz, Austria, the eldest son of Archduke Charles Ludwig of Austria (the younger brother of Franz Joseph and Maximilian) and of his second wife, Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, was born in Caserta, the daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, the eldest daughter of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg.

In 1875, when he was eleven years old, his cousin Francisco V, Duke of Modena died, naming Franz Ferdinand his heir on condition that he add the name “Este” to his own.

In 1889, Franz Ferdinand’s life changed dramatically. His cousin Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide at his hunting lodge in Mayerling. This left Franz Ferdinand’s father, Archduke Charles Ludwig, as first in line to the throne. Charles Ludwig died of typhoid fever in 1896. Henceforth, Franz Ferdinand became next in line to succeed to the imperial and royal thrones.

In 1894, Franz Ferdinand met Countess Sophie Chotek, a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella, wife of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen. Franz began to visit Archduke Friedrich’s villa in Pressburg (now Bratislava), and in turn Sophie wrote to Franz Ferdinand during his convalescence from tuberculosis on the island of Lošinj in the Adriatic. They kept their relationship a secret, until it was discovered by Isabella herself.

To be eligible to marry a member of the imperial House of Habsburg, one had to be a member of one of the reigning or formerly reigning dynasties of Europe. The Choteks were not one of these families.

Deeply in love, Franz Ferdinand refused to consider marrying anyone else. Finally, in 1899, Emperor Franz Joseph agreed to permit Franz Ferdinand to marry Sophie, on the condition that the marriage would be morganatic and that their descendants would not have succession rights to the throne.

Sophie would not share her husband’s rank, title, precedence, or privileges; as such, she would not normally appear in public beside him. She would not be allowed to ride in the royal carriage or sit in the royal box in theaters.

The wedding took place on July 1, 1900, at Reichstadt (now Zákupy) in Bohemia; Franz Joseph did not attend the affair, nor did any archduke including Franz Ferdinand’s brothers. The only members of the imperial family who were present were Franz Ferdinand’s stepmother, Princess Maria Theresa of Braganza; and her two daughters.

Upon the marriage, Sophie was given the title “Princess of Hohenberg” with the style “Her Serene Highness.” In 1909, she was given the more senior title “Duchess of Hohenberg” with the style “Her Highness.” This raised her status considerably, but she still yielded precedence at court to all the archduchesses. Whenever a function required the couple to assemble with the other members of the imperial family, Sophie was forced to stand far down the line, separated from her husband

The Archduke and his wife visited England in the autumn of 1913, spending a week with George V and Queen Mary at Windsor Castle before going to stay for another week with the Duke of Portland at Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire, where they arrived on November 22. He attended a service at the local Catholic church in Worksop

Franz Ferdinand, like most males in the ruling Habsburg line, entered the Austro-Hungarian Army at a young age. He was frequently and rapidly promoted, given the rank of lieutenant at age fourteen, captain at twenty-two, colonel at twenty-seven, and major general at thirty-one. While never receiving formal staff training, he was considered eligible for command and at one point briefly led the primarily Hungarian 9th Hussar Regiment. In 1898 he was given a commission “at the special disposition of His Majesty” to make inquiries into all aspects of the military services and military agencies were commanded to share their papers with him.

Franz Ferdinand held significant influence over the military, and in 1913 he was appointed inspector general of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces.

On Sunday, June 28, 1914, at about 10:45 am, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The perpetrator was 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young Bosnia and one of a group of assassins organized and armed by the Black Hand.

Earlier in the day, the couple had been attacked by Nedeljko Čabrinović, who had thrown a grenade at their car. However, the bomb detonated behind them, injuring the occupants in the following car. On arriving at the Governor’s residence, Franz angrily shouted, “So this is how you welcome your guests – with bombs!”

The assassinations, along with the arms race, nationalism, imperialism, militarism of Imperial Germany and the alliance system all contributed to the origins of World War I, which began a month after Franz Ferdinand’s death, with Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia. The assassination of Ferdinand is considered the most immediate cause of World War I.

After his death, Archduke Charles became the Heir presumptive Austria-Hungary.

Franz Ferdinand is interred with his wife Sophie in Artstetten Castle, Austria.

Happy 73rd Birthday to HRH The Prince of Wales

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Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George; born November 14, 1948), is the heir apparent to the British throne as the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II.

Charles was born in Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948, during the reign of his maternal grandfather King George VI, as the first child of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was baptised there by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, on December 15, 1948.

The death of his grandfather and the accession of his mother as Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 made Charles the heir apparent. As the monarch’s eldest son, he automatically inherited the titles Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. Charles attended his mother’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953.

Prince Charles was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester by his mother on July 26, 1958. His investiture was not held until July 1, 1969, when he was crowned by his mother in a televised ceremony held at Caernarfon Castle.

The Prince of Wales is both the oldest and the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. He is the oldest Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay. He is also the longest-serving Prince of Wales. He surpassed the record held by Edward VII on September 9, 2017. If he becomes monarch, he will be the oldest person to do so, the current record holder being King William IV, who was 64 when he became king in 1830. Upon the death of his father, Prince Philip, on April 9, 2021, Charles also inherited the title of Duke of Edinburgh.

The Prince of Wales took his seat in the House of Lords in 1970, and he made his maiden speech in June 1974, the first royal to speak from the floor since the future Edward VII in 1884. He spoke again in 1975. Charles began to take on more public duties, founding The Prince’s Trust in 1976, and travelling to the United States in 1981.

He was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun schools, both of which his father attended as a child. He later spent a year at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976.

In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer, with whom he had two sons: William and Henry, the current Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Susex respectively.

In 1996, the couple divorced following well-publicised extramarital affairs by both parties. Diana died as the result of a car crash in Paris the following year. In 2005, Charles married his long-term partner Camilla Parker Bowles. Although legally she is the Princess of Wales out of respect for the late Diana, Princess of Wales she is known as the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Prince of Wales has five grandchildren. The children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The Children of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are Archie and Lillibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

As the Prince of Wales, Charles undertakes official duties on behalf of the Queen. He founded The Prince’s Trust in 1976, sponsors The Prince’s Charities, and is a patron, president, or a member of over 400 other charities and organisations.

As a self-described environmentalist, Charles has spoken publicly about issues such as organic farming and climate change, which has earned him awards and recognition from environmental groups. His support for alternative medicine, including homeopathy, has been the subject of criticism.

His views on the role of architecture in society and the conservation of historic buildings have received significant attention from British architects and design critics. Since 1993, Charles has worked on the creation of Poundbury, an experimental new town based on his architectural tastes. He is also an author or co-author of a number of books.

November 3, 1901: Birth King Leopold III of the Belgians. Part I.

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Leopold III (November 3, 1901 – September 25, 1983) was King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951.

Prince Leopold was born in Brussels, the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of Brabant, heir to the Belgian throne, and his consort, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria. Prince Leopold was born during the lifetime of his grandfather, Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders (March 13, 1837 – November 17, 1905) the third born and second surviving son of Leopold I, King of the Belgians and his wife Louise d’Orléans (1812–1850).

At the time of Prince Leopold’s birth his great uncle, King Leopold II (April 9, 1835 – December 17, 1909) was King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909 and, through his own efforts, the King-Sovereign of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.

King Leopold II was the second King of the Belgians as well as the second but eldest surviving son of King Leopold I and Louise of Orléans. Leopold II succeeded his father on the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned for 44 years until his death—the longest reign of any Belgian monarch.

Prince Leopold’s mother, Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria was the daughter of Prince Charles-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, head of a cadet branch of the Wittelsbach Bavarian royal family, and an ophthalmologist. Duchess Elisabeth was named after her father’s sister, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Sisi, wife of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary. Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Empress Zita, the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, and Felix of Bourbon-Parma, husband of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and brother of Empress Zita, were among Elisabeth’s first cousins.

In 1909 Prince Leopold’s father became King Albert I of the Belgians, and Prince Leopold became Duke of Brabant.

In August 1914, when Belgium was invaded by Germany, King Albert allowed Leopold, then aged twelve, to enlist in the Belgian Army as a private and fight in defence of the kingdom. However, in 1915, with Belgium almost entirely occupied by the Germans, Leopold was sent to join Eton College, while his father fought on in France. After World War I, in 1919, the Duke of Brabant visited the Old Mission and Saint Anthony Seminary in Santa Barbara, California.

Princess Astrid of Sweden

On November 4, 1926 (the day after his 25th birthday) Prince Leopold married Princess Astrid of Sweden in a civil ceremony in Stockholm , followed by a religious ceremony in Brussels on 10 November.

Princess Astrid of Sweden was the third child and youngest daughter of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, and his wife, Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland was the third son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, by his wife, Sophia of Nassau. Princess Ingeborg of Denmark was a daughter of King Frederik VIII of Denmark by his wife, Louise of Sweden. Astrid’s father was a younger brother of King Gustaf V of Sweden; her mother was the younger sister of kings Christian X of Denmark and Haakon VII of Norway.

King Albert I of the Belgians died in a mountaineering accident in eastern Belgium on February 17, 1934, at the age of 58, and he was succeeded by his son as King Leopold III of the Belgians. King Albert I is popularly referred to as the “Knight King” (roi-chevalier or koning-ridder) or “Soldier King” (roi-soldat or koning-soldaat) in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I.

On August 29, 1935, while the King Leopold III and Queen Astrid were driving along the winding, narrow roads near their villa at Küssnacht am Rigi, Schwyz, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, Leopold lost control of the car which plunged into the lake, killing Queen Astrid.

Mary Lilian Baels, Princess of Réthy

On September 11, 1941 King Leopold III married Lilian Baels in a secret, religious ceremony, with no validity under Belgian law. They originally intended to wait until the end of the war for the civil marriage, but as the new Princess of Réthy was soon expecting their first child, the ceremony took place on December 6, 1941. The marriage is considered Morganatic.

Mary Lilian Baels was born in Highbury, London, England, where her parents had fled during World War I. She was one of the nine children of Henri Baels from Ostend and his wife, Anne Marie de Visscher, a member of the Belgian nobility from Dentergem. Lilian was called “Lily” in her family circle.

Happy 83rd birthday to Queen Sofía of Spain.

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German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, King Constantine II of the Hellenes, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, King Paul of the Hellenes, Princess Friederike of Hanover, Princess of Greece and Denmark, Princess Royal, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Sofia of Spain

Queen Sofía of Spain (November 2, 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family, who was Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014 as the wife of King Juan Carlos I.

The Queen is Europe’s most royal person; she has an impresssive lineage (both on her father’s and mother’s side) and she is the (great-) granddaughter, daughter, sister, wife and mother of kings.

Born Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark she is the first child of King Paul of the Hellenes and Frederica of Hanover.

Her father, Paul, was the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia, daughter of German Emperor Friedrich III of Prussia, and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom (herself the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort). Princess Sophia was eleven years younger than her eldest brother, the future German Emperor Wilhelm II.

On January 9, 1938, Paul married Princess Frederica of Hanover, his first cousin once removed through Friedrich III, German Emperor, and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, and second cousin through Christian IX of Denmark.

During most of World War II, from 1941 to 1946, when Greece was under German occupation, Paul was with the Greek government-in-exile in London and Cairo. From Cairo, he broadcast messages to the Greek people.

King Paul returned to Greece in 1946. He succeeded to the throne in 1947, upon the death of his childless elder brother, King George II, during the Greek Civil War (between Greek Communists and the non-communist Greek government). Paul was first cousin to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and maternal grandfather to Spain’s current monarch, King Felipe VI.

Queen Sofía’s mother, Friederike, Princess of Hanover, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland, and Princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the only daughter and third child of Ernst August, then reigning Duke of Brunswick, and his wife Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, herself the only daughter of the German Emperor Wilhelm II. As a descendant of Queen Victoria, Friederike was, at birth, 64th in the line of succession to the British throne.

Queen Sofia is a member of the Greek branch of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty. Her brother is the deposed King Constantine II of the Hellenes her sister is Princess Irene.

Princess Sofía spent some of her childhood in Egypt where she took her early education in El Nasr Girls’ College (EGC) in Alexandria. She lived in South Africa during her family’s exile from Greece during World War II, where her sister Irene was born. They returned to Greece in 1946. She finished her education at the prestigious Schloss Salem boarding school in Southern Germany, and then studied childcare, music and archeology in Athens. She also studied at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. She was a reserve member, alongside her brother Constantine, of Greece’s gold medal-winning sailing team in the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Standing in back: King Paul of the Hellenes. Front L to R: Constantine, Irene, Queen Friederike, Sofía

As her family was forced into exile during the Second World War, she spent part of her childhood in Egypt, returning to Greece in 1946. She completed her secondary education in a boarding school in Germany before returning to Greece where she specialised in childcare, music and archaeology.

Sofía met her paternal third cousin the then Infante Juan Carlos of Spain on a cruise in the Greek Islands in 1954; they met again at the wedding of Prince Edward Duke of Kent, her paternal second cousin, at York Minster in June 1961. Sofia and Juan Carlos married on May 14, 1962, at the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Dionysius in Athens. Her bride’s gown was made by Jean Dessès and she was attended by her sister Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, the groom’s sister Infanta Pilar of Spain, and Sofía’s future sister-in-law Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark (later Queen of the Hellenes), along with Princess Irene of the Netherlands, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess Anne of Orléans and Princess Tatiana Radziwill.

In 1969, Infante Juan Carlos, who was never Prince of Asturias (the traditional title of the Spanish heir apparent), was given the official title of “Prince of Spain” by the Francoist dictatorship. Juan Carlos acceded to the throne in 1975, upon the death of Francisco Franco. Juan Carlos, after his accession to the Spanish throne, returned with his family to the Zarzuela Palace.

The couple have three children: Elena (born December 20, 1963); Cristina (born June 13, 1965); and Felipe (born January 30, 1968). They were born at Our Lady of Loreto Nursing Home in Madrid. Their four grandsons and four granddaughters are Felipe and Victoria de Marichalar y de Borbón, Juan, Pablo, Miguel and Irene Urdangarín y de Borbón, and Infanta Leonor, Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía, all of whom are in the line of succession to the Spanish throne.

Sofia is also a great-granddaughter of the last German Emperor, Wilhelm II, and second cousin of the current Prince of Wales. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom through her father and also a great-great-great-granddaughter through her mother.

Sofia takes special interest in programs against drug addiction, travelling to conferences in both Spain and abroad. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is named after her, as is Reina Sofía Airport in Tenerife.
Sofia is an Honorary Member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and of the Spanish Royal Academy of History. She has received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Rosario (Bogotá), Valladolid, Cambridge, Oxford, Georgetown, Evora, St. Mary’s University (Texas), and New York.

On June 19, 2014, Juan Carlos abdicated in favour of their son Felipe VI.

Following the abdication of her husband as King in 2014, Sofía focused on her sponsoring activities, spending her time between La Zarzuela and, in the Summer months, the Marivent Palace in Palma de Mallorca.

September 7, 1533: Birth of Elizabeth I, Queen of England and Ireland.

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Elizabeth I (September 7, 1533 – March 24, 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from November 17, 1558 until her death in 1603. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor.

Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed when Elizabeth was 2 1/2 years old. Anne’s marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her half-brother Edward VI ruled until his death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane Grey and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, the Roman Catholic Mary and the younger Elizabeth, in spite of statute law to the contrary.

Edward’s will was set aside which did not have the consent of Parliament. Mary became queen, thwarting the attempted usurping of the crown by John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland KG (1504 – 1553) who unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the throne.

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Elizabeth I of England and Ireland

During Mary’s reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

Upon her half-sister’s death in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the supreme governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England.

It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir; however, despite numerous courtships, she never did. She was eventually succeeded by her first-cousin twice-removed, King James VI of Scotland, laying the foundation for the future Kingdom of Great Britain. She had earlier been responsible for the imprisonment and execution of James’s mother, Queen Mary I of Scotland.

In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was “video et taceo” (“I see and keep silent”). In religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. After Pope Pius V declared her excommunicated  in 1570 and released her subjects from obedience to her, several conspiracies threatened her life, all of which were defeated with the help of her ministers’ secret service.

Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the major powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, and Ireland. By the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain.

As she grew older, Elizabeth became celebrated for her virginity. A cult of personality grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. Elizabeth’s reign became known as the Elizabethan era.

The period is famous for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her share of luck.

Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer and a dogged survivor in an era when government was ramshackle and limited, and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. After the short reigns of her half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.

August 4, 1900: Birth of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

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Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (August 4, 1900 – March 30, 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom 1936 to 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the last Empress of India from 1936 until India gained independence from Britain in 1947. After her husband died, she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

Born into a family of British nobility, Elizabeth was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis (later the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in the Peerage of Scotland), and his wife, Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. Her mother was descended from British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, and Governor-General of India Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, who was the elder brother of another prime minister, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

Elizabeth spent much of her childhood at St Paul’s Walden and at Glamis Castle, the Earl’s ancestral home in Scotland. She was educated at home by a governess until the age of eight, and was fond of field sports, ponies and dogs. When she started school in London, she astonished her teachers by precociously beginning an essay with two Greek words from Xenophon’s Anabasis. Her best subjects were literature and scripture. After returning to private education under a German Jewish governess, Käthe Kübler, she passed the Oxford Local Examination with distinction at age thirteen.

Prince Albert, Duke of York—”Bertie” to the family—was the second son of King George V and Mary of Teck. He initially proposed to Elizabeth in 1921, but she turned him down, being “afraid never, never again to be free to think, speak and act as I feel I really ought to”. At the same time, Elizabeth was courted by James Stuart, Albert’s equerry, until he left the Prince’s service for a better-paid job in the American oil business.

In February 1922, Elizabeth was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Albert’s sister, Princess Mary, to Viscount Lascelles. The following month, Albert proposed again, but she refused him once more. Eventually, in January 1923, Elizabeth agreed to marry Albert, despite her misgivings about royal life. Albert’s freedom in choosing Elizabeth, not a member of a royal family, though the daughter of a peer, was considered a gesture in favour of political modernisation; previously, princes were expected to marry princesses from other royal families.

They married on April 26, 1923, at Westminster Abbey. Unexpectedly, Elizabeth laid her bouquet at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior on her way into the abbey, in memory of her brother Fergus. Elizabeth became styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York.

The couple and their daughters Elizabeth in 1926 and Margaret in 1930 and embodied traditional ideas of family and public service. The Duchess undertook a variety of public engagements and became known for her consistently cheerful countenance.

In 1936, King George VI died and within the year Elizabeth’s husband unexpectedly became king when his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth then became queen.

The Duke of York reigned as King George VI and his wife,, now Queen Elizabeth, accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of the Second World War. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. After the war, her husband’s health deteriorated, and she was widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, became the new queen, Elizabeth II.

During her husband’s reign she was known simply as “Her Majesty’ the Queen.” Once her daughter came to the throne has Queen Elizabeth II, her daughter became known as “Her Majesty’ the Queen” since she was the reigning monarch. The normal style for the widow of a king, “Queen Elizabeth”, would have been too similar to the style of her elder daughter, now Queen Elizabeth II. Another title which many widowed Queens are known by, Dowager Queen, did not suit Elizabeth and her bright and jovial personality. Therefore she was offically known as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Popularly, she became the “Queen Mother” or the “Queen Mum”.

After the death of Queen Mary in 1953, Elizabeth was viewed as the matriarch of the British royal family. In her later years, she was a consistently popular member of the family, even when other members were suffering from low levels of public approval.

Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, continued an active public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101 years, 238 days, which was seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret. She was one of the longest-lived members of any royal family.

Happy Birthday HRH Prince George of Cambridge.

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Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Charles, Prince George of Cambridge, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria, the prince of Wales

Prince George of Cambridge (George Alexander Louis; born July 22, 2013) is a member of the British royal family. He is the eldest child of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and third in the line of succession to the British throne behind his grandfather Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and his father. As he is expected to become king one day, his birth was widely celebrated across the Commonwealth realms. George occasionally accompanies his parents on royal tours and engagements.

George was born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, London, at 16:24 BST (15:24 UTC) on July 22, 2013. The birth was uncustomarily announced by press conference instead of through an easel outside Buckingham Palace, though an easel was placed following the birth. The newborn was widely hailed as a future king in the majority of British newspapers. 21-gun salutes signalled the birth in the capitals of Bermuda and New Zealand; the bells of Westminster Abbey and many other churches were rung; and landmarks in the Commonwealth realms were illuminated in various colours, mostly blue to signify the birth of a boy. On 24 July, his name was announced as George Alexander Louis.

George’s father, the Duke of Cambridge, is the elder son of the Prince of Wales, who is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, placing George third in the line of succession to the British throne. Speculation ensued during the pregnancy of the Duchess of Cambridge that the birth would boost the British national economy and provide a focus for national pride.

George was christened by Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace on October 23, 2013, with Oliver Baker, Emilia Jardine-Paterson, Earl Grosvenor, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, Julia Samuel, William van Cutsem and Zara Tindall serving as godparents. The font used at the ceremony was made for Queen Victoria’s first child and the water was taken from the River Jordan. Commemorative coins were issued by the Royal Mint and the Royal Canadian Mint; the first time a royal birth had been marked that way. Prince George’s birth marked the second time that three generations in direct line of succession to the throne have been alive at the same time, a situation that last occurred between 1894 and 1901, in the last seven years of the reign of Queen Victoria.

May 29, 1630: Birth of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland.

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Catherine de Braganza, Charles I of England, Charles II of England and Scotland, English Civil War, Kingdom of Portugal, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Restoration

Charles II (May 29, 1630 – February 6, 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of Scotland, England and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.

Charles II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria de Bourbon France, daughter of King Henri IV of France and Navarre and Marie de Medici.

After Charles I’s execution at Whitehall on January 30, 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War, the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king on February 5, 1649. But England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth, and the country was a de facto republic led by Oliver Cromwell.

Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands.

The political crisis that followed Cromwell’s death in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy, and Charles was invited to return to Britain. On May 29, 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim. After 1660, all legal documents stating a regnal year did so as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649.

Charles’s English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England. Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance.

Marriage

Catherine of Braganza (1638 – 1705) was was born at the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa, as the second surviving daughter of João, 8th Duke of Braganza and his wife, Luisa de Guzmán. Following the Portuguese Restoration War, her father was acclaimed King João IV of Portugal, on 1 December 1640.

King João IV of Portugal, became the first king from the House of Braganza in 1640 after overthrowing the 60-year rule of the Spanish Habsburgs over Portugal and restoring the Portuguese throne which had first been created in 1143.

With her father’s new position as one of Europe’s most important monarchs, Portugal then possessing a widespread colonial empire, Catherine became a prime choice for a wife for European royalty, and she was proposed as a bride for Johann of Austria, François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort, Louis XIV and Charles II.

The consideration for the final choice was due to her being seen as a useful conduit for contracting an alliance between Portugal and England, after the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 in which Portugal was arguably abandoned by France.

Negotiations for the marriage began during the reign of King Charles I, were renewed immediately after the Restoration, and on June 23, 1661, in spite of Spanish opposition, the marriage contract was signed.

Catherine arrived at Portsmouth on the evening of May 13–14, 1662, but was not visited there by Charles until May 20. The following day the couple were married at Portsmouth in two ceremonies – a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service.

The major foreign policy issue of his early reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the Treaty of Dover, an alliance with his cousin King Louis XIV of France. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, and Charles secretly promised to convert to Catholicism at an unspecified future date.

Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it.

In 1679, Titus Oates’s revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charles’s brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, was Catholic. The crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and after the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, some Whig leaders were executed or forced into exile.

Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681 and ruled alone until his death in 1685. He was allegedly received into the Catholic Church on his deathbed.

Traditionally considered one of the most popular English kings, Charles is known as the Merry Monarch, a reference to the liveliness and hedonism of his court. He acknowledged at least 12 illegitimate children by various mistresses, but left no legitimate children and was succeeded by his brother, James.