Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Part III. Conclusion.

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Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Ernst II, Grand Duchess Maria, Malta, Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Royal Navy, Victoria Melita of Edinburgh

Flag rank

Alfred was stationed in Malta for several years and his third child, Victoria-Melita, was born there in 1876. Promoted rear-admiral on December 30, 1878, he became admiral superintendent of naval reserves, with his flag in the corvette HMS Penelope in November 1879.

Promoted to vice-admiral on November 10, 1882, he became Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet, with his flag in the armoured ship HMS Minotaur, in December 1883. He became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, with his flag in the armoured ship HMS Alexandra, in March 1886, and having been promoted to admiral on October 18, 1887, he went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in August 1890. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on June 3, 1893.

The Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Percy Scott wrote in his memoirs that “as a Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of Edinburgh had, in my humble opinion, no equal. He handled a fleet magnificently, and introduced many improvement in signals and manoeuvring.” He “took a great interest in gunnery.” “The prettiest ship I have ever seen was the [Duke of Edinburgh’s flagship] HMS Alexandra. I was informed that £2,000 had been spent by the officers on her decoration.”

Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

On the death of his uncle, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on August 22, 1893, the duchy fell to the Duke of Edinburgh, since his elder brother (the Prince of Wales) had renounced his right to the succession before he married. Alfred thereupon surrendered his British allowance of £15,000 a year and his seats in the House of Lords and the Privy Council, but he retained the £10,000 granted on his marriage to maintain Clarence House as his London residence. At first regarded with some coldness as a “foreigner”, he gradually gained popularity. By the time of his death in 1900, he had generally won the good opinion of his subjects.

Alfred was exceedingly fond of music and took a prominent part in establishing the Royal College of Music. He was a keen violinist, but had little skill. At a dinner party given by his brother, he was persuaded to play. Sir Henry Ponsonby wrote: ‘Fiddle out of tune and noise abominable.’

He was also a keen collector of glass and ceramic ware, and his collection, valued at half a million marks, was presented by his widow to the Veste Coburg, the enormous fortress on a hill top above Coburg.

Later life

Alfred and Maria’s only son, Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, became involved in a scandal involving his mistress and apparently shot himself in January 1899, in the midst of his parents’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebrations at the Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha. He survived, but his embarrassed mother sent him off to Meran to recover, where he died two weeks later, on February 6, His father was devastated.

The Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

The Duke of Saxe-Coburg died of throat cancer on July 30, 1900 in a lodge adjacent to Schloss Rosenau, the ducal summer residence just north of Coburg. He was 55 years old and was buried at the ducal family’s mausoleum in the Friedhof am Glockenberg in Coburg.

He was succeeded as the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by his nephew, Prince Charles-Edward, Duke of Albany, the posthumous son of his youngest brother, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.

He was survived by his mother, Queen Victoria, who had already outlived two of her children, Alice and Leopold. She died six months later.

August 6, 1844: Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Part II. Marriage.

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Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Edinburgh, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Emperors of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and by Rhine, Marie of Hesse and By Rhine, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Marriage

During a visit to her maternal relatives, the Princes of Battenberg, at Jugenheim in August 1868, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, then fifteen years old, met Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son, was a shy and handsome young man, with a career in the British navy. He was visiting his sister, Princess Alice, who was married to Maria Alexandrovna’s first cousin, Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

Alfred’s voyage around the world with the Royal Navy kept him away, traveling for the next two years. Maria and Prince Alfred saw each other again in the summer 1871, when Emperor Alexander II and his wife visited the Battenbergs again at their schloss, Heiligenberg. The Emperor and his wife were accompanied by seventeen-year-old Maria and her two elder brothers.

Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia

Alfred also happened to be there, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales. During that summer, Maria and Alfred felt attracted to each other, spending their days walking and talking together. They had a common love of music; Alfred was an enthusiastic amateur violinist, while Maria played the piano. Although they wished to marry, no engagement was announced, and Alfred returned to England.

Their parents were against the match. Emperor Alexander II did not want to lose his daughter, to whom he was deeply attached. He presented his daughter’s youth as the main obstacle and suggested a waiting period of at least one year before any definitive decision should be taken. The Emperor also objected to a British son-in-law, due to the general anti-English feeling in Russia following the Crimean War.

The Empress regarded the British customs as peculiar and the English people as cold and unfriendly. She was convinced that her daughter would not be happy there. However, marriage negotiation began in July 1871, only to be stalled in 1872.

Queen Victoria was also against the match. No British prince had ever married a Romanov, and she foresaw problems with Maria’s Orthodox religion and Russian upbringing. The Queen considered that Russia was generally “unfriendly” towards Britain. Victoria was also suspicious about Russian moves in the direction of India.

The Queen was dismayed, therefore, when she heard that official negotiations had restarted in January 1873. There were rumors going about St Petersburg that Maria Alexandrovna had compromised herself with Prince Golitsyn, the Emperor’s aide-de-camp, and her family were anxious to see her settled.

Alfred refused to believe those rumors and he was prepared to fight to marry the woman he loved. Queen Victoria therefore swallowed her pride and said nothing. Both mothers continued to look for other partners for their children, but Alfred and Maria would not have anyone else.

Marie liked neither the Prince of Württemberg nor the Prince of Mecklenburg-Strelitz that were presented to her as alternatives. As the Empress failed to find a German prince acceptable for her daughter, a meeting among Alfred, the Empress and her daughter took place in Sorrento, Italy in mid April 1873.

The reunion did not go as planned because Marie came down with fever and Alfred could spend only a short time with her. That year, there was an Anglo-Russian dispute over the Afghan border. The Queen’s ministers thought that a marriage might help to ease the tension between the two countries, if only by putting the monarchs into closer contact with one another.

In June 1873, Emperor Alexander II joined his wife and daughter at Ems, and Alfred was invited to meet them at Jugenheim. Alfred arrived in early July. On July 11, he Officially asked for Maria Alexandrovna’s hand In marriage and she accepted him. He was nearly twenty-nine; she was nineteen. He sent a telegram from Germany back to his mother: “Maria and I were engaged this morning. Cannot say how happy I am. Hope your blessing rests on us.”

The Queen sent her congratulations, but confined her misgivings to her diary on July 11, 1873: “Not knowing Marie, and realizing that there may still be many difficulties, my thoughts and feelings are rather mixed.” When breaking the news to her eldest daughter, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, Queen Victoria simply said: “The murder is out.”

On January 23, 1874, the Duke of Edinburgh married the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the second (and only surviving) daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Wilhelmine of Baden, at the Winter Palace, St Petersburg.

To commemorate the occasion, a small English bakery made the now internationally popular Marie biscuit, with the Duchess’ name imprinted on its top. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh made their public entry into London on March 12, The marriage, however, was not a happy one, and the bride was thought haughty by London Society.

Maria, the new Duchess of Edinburgh, was surprised to discover that she had to yield precedence to the Princess of Wales and all of Queen Victoria’s daughters and insisted on taking precedence before the Princess of Wales (the future Queen Alexandra) because she considered the Princess of Wales’s family (the Danish royal family) as inferior to her own. Queen Victoria refused this demand, yet granted her precedence immediately after the Princess of Wales. Her father gave her the then-staggering sum of £100,000 as a dowry, plus an annual allowance of £32,000.

For the first years of her marriage, Maria Alexandrovna lived in England. She neither adapted to the British court nor overcame her dislike for her adopted country. She accompanied her husband on his postings as an Admiral of the Royal Navy at Malta (1886–1889) and Devonport (1890–1893). The Duchess of Edinburgh travelled extensively through Europe. She visited her family in Russia frequently and stayed for long periods in England and Germany attending social and family events.

Genealogy of Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1899-1967)

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Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Alfred of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein, Ernst II of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg, Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Peter of Schleswig-Holstein, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Edward Duke of Kent, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Wilhelm Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein

Yesterday I wrote about the death of Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Today I’d like to examine the genealogy of her daughter, Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2020/04/16/april-16-1942-death-of-princess-alexandra-of-edinburgh-and-saxe-coburg-and-gotha-prince-of-hohenlohe-langenburg-by-marriage/

Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (Marie Melita Leopoldine Viktoria Feodora Alexandra Sophie; January 18, 1899 – November 8, 1967) was the Duchess consort of Schleswig-Holstein as the wife of Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. She was the eldest daughter of Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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Ancestors: Part I.

Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg descended twice from Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786 – 1861), mother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

Her first line of descent was through Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld’s first marriage to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen (1763-1814). Their daughter, Princess Feodora of Leiningen (1807-1872) was a half sister to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Princess Feodora married in early 1828 at Kensington Palace to Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1794–1860) The match was arranged by Queen Adelaide of the United Kingdom (Consort of King William IV), as Prince Ernst I was her first cousin. Prior to that, she had only met him twice.

Princess Feodora of Leiningen

Their son was Hermann, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1832-1913). On September 24, 1862 at Karlsruhe, Prince Hermann married Princess Leopoldine of Baden, the fourth and youngest daughter of Prince William of Baden (1792-1859) and Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Württemberg (1802-1864). They had three children (one son and two daughters).

Their eldest son was Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1863 – 1950) and he married Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on April 20, 1896. They have five children, among them was Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

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Ancestors Part II.

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn

Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg’s second line of descent from Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was through her second marriage to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, (1767 – 1820). He was the fourth son and fifth child of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Victoria and Edward were married on May 29, 1818 at Schloss Ehrenburg, Coburg, in a Lutheran rite, and again on July 11, 1818 at Kew Palace, Kew, Surrey.

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Their only child was Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819-1901). On February 10, 1840 Queen Victoria married her maternal first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819 – 1861) the second son of Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, (later Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had nine children, four sons and five daughters. Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 1844 – 1900) was their second son and fourth child. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1866 until he succeeded his paternal uncle Ernest II as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the German Empire.

On January 23, 1874, the Duke of Edinburgh married the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the second (and only surviving) daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Wilhelmine of Baden, at the Winter Palace, St Petersburg.

Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the fourth child and third daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. On April 20, 1896 Princess Alexandra married Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1863 – 1950). Alexandra’s grandmother, Queen Victoria, complained that she was too young. Alexandra’s father objected to the status of his future son-in-law. The House of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg was mediatized – a formerly ruling family who had ceded their sovereign rights to others while (in theory) retaining their equal birth.

Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was their eldest daughter.

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Marriage and Descendants

On February 5, 1916 at Coburg, Marie Melita married her second cousin, Wilhelm Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1891 – 1965) the only son of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

Wilhelm Friedrich’s mother, Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1860 – 1932) was the second-eldest daughter of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Princess Karoline Mathilde was the younger sister of Augusta Victoria and both sisters were also descendants of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld’s first marriage to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen. Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg was the wife of German Emperor Wilhelm II who was also the eldest grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Prince Wilhelm Friedrich’s father, Friedrich Ferdinand, was the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and a nephew of Christian IX of Denmark. (The Augustenburg and Glücksburg families were collateral branches of the House of Schleswig-Holstein, which itself was a branch of the even larger Danish-German House of Oldenburg).

Upon the death of his father in 1885, Wilhelm Friedrich succeeded to the headship of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the title of duke. As mentioned above, Friedrich married his second cousin, Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, daughter of Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Friedrich and Marie Melita had four children.

Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (Friedrich Ernst Peter; 1922 – 1980); was the third and youngest son of Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife, Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. As we have seen he was a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria through her second son, Prince Alfred. Prince Peter was the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Head of both the House of Glücksburg and the entire House of Oldenburg from February 10, 1965 until his death on September 10, 1980.

Prince Peter married Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe, daughter of Prince Stephan Alexander Viktor of Schaumburg-Lippe and his wife, Duchess Ingeborg Alix of Oldenburg, on October 9, 1947 in Glücksburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Peter and Marie Alix had four children, all of whom bore the style Highness.

Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Duke of Glücksburg

There eldest son is Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, born August 22, 1949 and has been the head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (commonly known as the House of Glücksburg) and, by agnatic primogeniture, he has been Head of the entire House of Oldenburg since 1980. He is the current titular Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Duke of Glücksburg. He is a male-line descendant of Christian I of Denmark, and is also descended cognatically from numerous more recent monarchs, including Queen Victoria, Emperor Alexander II of Russia and several more recent Danish kings.

Christoph married Princess Elisabeth of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b. 1957), daughter of Prince Alfred of Lippe-Weissenfeld and Baroness Irmgard Julinka Wagner von Wehrborn, at Glücksburg civilly on September 23, 1981 and religiously on October 3. Christoph and Elisabeth have four children:

Their eldest son is His Highness Prince Friedrich Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein (born July 15, 1985 in Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany) is the heir apparent of Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, current head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein, the senior extant line of the House of Oldenburg.

As a 4th-great-grandson of Queen Victoria, Friedrich Ferdinand is in the line of succession to the British throne. He is heir-apparent to the headship of a Royal House that includes Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Harald V of Norway, the deposed King Constantine II of Greece and, patrilineally, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

April 16, 1942: Death of Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg by marriage.

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Alexandra of Edinburgh, Alexandra of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg, Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Alfred Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Ernst II, Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Alexandra Louise Olga Victoria; September 1, 1878 – April 16, 1942).

Princess Alexandra was born on September 1, 1878 at Rosenau Castle, Coburg. Her father was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her mother was Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, a daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom as well as of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

Nicknamed ‘Sandra’ by her family, Alexandra spent her childhood first in England and between 1886 and 1889 in Malta, where her father was serving with the British Royal Navy. In 1889 the family moved to Coburg, Germany since her father, Alfred, was the heir apparent to the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

In 1893, her great-uncle, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (brother of her paternal grandfather, Prince Albert) died without issue. Since Albert was dead, and her uncle, The Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) had renounced his claim to the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the vacant duchy fell to Alexandra’s father, the Duke of Edinburgh. Thus, Princess Alexandra was both a British princess and a Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. She was a bridesmaid at the 1885 wedding of Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter The Princess Beatrice to Prince Henry of Battenberg.

She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of York on 6 July 1893. Throughout her life, Alexandra was usually overshadowed by her two eldest sisters, Marie and Victoria Melita. Alexandra, was considered by some individuals as being less beautiful and more subdued than her sisters, was plain, placid and not as brilliant. This author personally disagrees with that assessment.

Princess Alexandra with her three sisters. From left to right, Princess Beatrice, Princess Victoria Melita, Princess Alexandra, and Queen Marie of Romania.

During Alexandra’s formative years, her father, occupied with his career in the Navy and later as a ruler in Coburg, paid little attention to his family. It was Alexandra’s mother who was the domineering presence in their children’s life. The duchess believed in marrying her daughters young, before they began to think for themselves.

At the end of 1895, she arranged Alexandra’s engagement to Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (September 16, 1863 – December 11, 1950). Alexandra’s grandmother, Queen Victoria, complained that she was too young. Alexandra’s father objected to the status of his future son-in-law. The House of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg was mediatized – a formerly ruling family who had ceded their sovereign rights to others while (in theory) retaining their equal birth.

It was not considered a brilliant match, but they were also related. Ernst was a grandson of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Queen Victoria’s half-sister. The wedding took place on April 20, 1896 in Coburg, Germany. Together, they had five children.

Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Alexandra lived for the rest of her life in Germany. At the death of her father in 1900, Alexandra’s husband was appointed regent of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg during the minority of the new Duke, Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany who was her first cousin. Alexandra’s only brother, Alfred, had died in 1899. During World War I, she worked as a Red Cross nurse. In February 1916 her eldest daughter was married at Coburg to Prince Friedrich of Gluckburg and she became a grandmother when the couple’s first child, Prince Hans of Glucksburg was born in May 1917. On her thirty-fifth wedding anniversary in April 1931, her son Gottfried married Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, the eldest child and daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. She was the first great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria, and the eldest sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

In the years preceding World War II, Alexandra was an early supporter of the Nazi Party, which she joined on May 1, 1937, together with several of her children. She died in Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany in 1942.

Failed Engagement of Marie of Edinburgh and George of Wales

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Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Arranged Marriage, Carol I of Romania, Duchess of Edinburgh, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Ferdinand of Romania, George of Wales, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Marie of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Victoria Mary (May) of Teck

Marie of Edinburgh (Marie Alexandra Victoria; October 29, 1875 – July 18, 1938) Born into the British royal family, she was titled Princess Marie of Edinburgh at birth. Her parents were Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (later the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia.

Marie of Edinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1866 until he succeeded his paternal uncle Ernst II as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the German Empire. Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and his first wife, Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. She was the younger sister of Alexander III of Russia and the paternal aunt of Russia’s last emperor, Nicholas II.

George of Wales

Marie of Edinburgh grew into a “lovely young woman” with “sparkling blue eyes and silky fair hair”; she was courted by several royal bachelors, including Prince George of Wales, the second son of Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII), and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. As a young man destined to serve in the navy, Prince George served for many years under the command of his uncle, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who was stationed in Malta. There, he grew close to and fell in love with his cousin, Princess Marie of Edinburgh. It was Prince George’s desire to marry Princess Marie.

Marie of Edinburgh

Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh all approved of the match but the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh did not. The Princess of Wales disliked the family’s pro-German sentiment. The Danish Royal Family had been strongly anti-German ever since Denmark ‘s war with Prussia in 186?

The Duchess of Edinburgh did not wish for her daughter to remain in England, which she resented. The Duchess of Edinburgh never liked her husbands native land. She felt ill treated there. This dislike of England began when the Duchess, the only daughter of Alexander II of Russia, resented the fact that, as the daughter of an Emperor and wife of a younger son of the British sovereign, she had to yield precedence to George’s mother, the Princess of Wales, whose father, Christian IX, had been a mere minor German prince before being called unexpectedly to the throne of Denmark.

Another reason the Duchess of Edinburgh was against the idea of the marriage between George and Marie was due to the fact that they were first cousins. Although first cousin marriages were acceptable in many European Royal Houses, first cousin unions were not allowed in the Russian Empire because it was against the teachings of the Russian Orthodox Church. Thus, when George officially proposed to her, Marie informed him that the marriage was impossible and that he must remain her “beloved chum”. Queen Victoria would later comment that “Georgie lost Missy by waiting & waiting”.

Ferdinand and Marie as Crown Prince and Princess, 1893

Around this time, King Carol I of Romania was looking for a suitable bride for his son and heir, Crown Prince Ferdinand. As a young kingdom King Carol was looking for a princess with strong connections throughout Europe’s Royal Families in order to secure the succession and assure the continuation of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Possibly motivated by the prospect of removing tensions between Russia and Romania on the subject of control over Bessarabia, the Duchess of Edinburgh suggested that Marie meet Crown Prince Ferdinand.

Marie and Ferdinand first became acquainted during a gala dinner and the pair conversed in German. She found him shy but amiable, and their second meeting went just as well. Once the pair were formally engaged, Queen Victoria wrote to another granddaughter, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, that “[Ferdinand] is nice & the Parents are charming–but the country is very insecure & the immorality of the Society at Bucharest quite awful. Of course the marriage will be delayed some time as Missy won’t be 17 till the end of October!”

Marie in traditional Romanian dress.

German Empress Victoria, Marie’s aunt, and Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, wrote to her daughter, Crown Princess Sophia of Greece, that “Missy is till now quite delighted, but the poor child is so young, how can she guess what is before her?” In late 1892, King Carol visited London in order to meet the Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Victoria, who eventually agreed to the marriage and appointed him a Knight of the Garter. On January 10, 1893, Marie and Ferdinand were married at Sigmaringen Castle in three ceremonies: one civil, one Catholic (Ferdinand’s religion) and one Anglican.

On October 11, 1914, Ferdinand and Marie were acclaimed as King and Queen of Romania in the Chamber of Deputies, one day after Ferdinand’s uncle, Carol I, died without surviving issue.

Though rejected Prince George of Wales still sought the hand of an eligible princess.

Victoria Mary of Teck

In November 1891, George’s elder brother, Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale and second in line to the British throne after his father the Prince of Wales, became engaged to his second cousin once removed Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. Known as “May” within the family. Her parents were Prince Francis, Duke of Teck (a member of a morganatic, cadet branch of the House of Württemberg), and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a male-line granddaughter of King George III and a first cousin of Queen Victoria.

On January 14, 1892, six weeks after the formal engagement, Albert Victor died of pneumonia, leaving George second in line to the throne, and likely to succeed after his father. George had only just recovered from a serious illness himself, after being confined to bed for six weeks with typhoid fever, the disease that was thought to have killed his grandfather Prince Albert. Queen Victoria still regarded Princess May as a suitable match for her grandson, and George and May grew close during their shared period of mourning.

George and Mary on their wedding day

George was created Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney by Queen Victoria on 24 May 1892. A year after Albert Victor’s death, George proposed to May and was accepted. They married on July 6, 1893 at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace, London. Throughout their lives, they remained devoted to each other. George was, on his own admission, unable to express his feelings easily in speech, but they often exchanged loving letters and notes of endearment.

On the death of Queen Victoria on January 22, 1901, George’s father ascended the throne as King Edward VII. George then inherited the title of Duke of Cornwall, and for much of the rest of that year, he was known as the Duke of Cornwall and York. Later that year, on November 9, 1901, George was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester by his father.

George V, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Emperor of India.

On 6 May 1910, Edward VII died, and became King George V. George had never cared for double names and therefore disliked his wife’s habit of signing official documents and letters as “Victoria Mary” and insisted she drop one of those names. They both thought she should not be called Queen Victoria, and so she became Queen Mary.

The life of Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh, Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duchess of Galliera.

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Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón, Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Beatrice of Edinburgh, Carlos IV of Spain, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Galliera, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Fernando VII of Spain, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, Infante of Spain, Isabella II of Spain, Louis Philippe, Princess Beatrice, Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Beatrice Leopoldine Victoria; April 20, 1884 – July 13, 1966) was a member of the British royal family. Her father was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, (reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) the second son of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort. Her mother was Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the only surviving daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. She was called “Baby Bee” by her family.

Beatrice spent much of her early years in Malta, where her father was serving in the Royal Navy. Along with her elder sister Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, she was a bridesmaid at the wedding of their paternal cousins the Duke and Duchess of York (the future King George V and Queen Mary) on July 6, 1893.

On the death of Prince Alfred’s uncle, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, on August 22, 1893, the duchy was inherited by the Duke of Edinburgh, since the Prince of Wales, the Duke’s elder brother and future King Edward VII, had renounced his right to the succession. The Duke and Duchess, with their five surviving children, travelled shortly afterwards to Coburg to take up residence.

Marriage prospects

In 1902, Princess Beatrice had a romance with Russian Grand Duke Michael, the younger brother of Emperor Nicholas II, and at that time the heir presumptive to the Imperial Throne. She began receiving letters from him in September 1902 and, although he was a Russian Grand Duke and she now a German Princess, they corresponded in English, and he nicknamed her “Sima”.

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia

However she was prevented from marrying the Grand Duke as the Russian Orthodox Church forbade the marriage of first cousins. Although such marriages had been allowed previously in the House of Romanov (Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna, whose hand was denied to Napoleon I, was twice allowed to wed first cousins; her descendants became the Russian branch of the Dukes of Oldenburg), the devout Emperor Nicholas II, official head of Russia’s church, refused to relax the rules for the sake of his brother.

In November 1903, Michael wrote to Beatrice telling her that he could not marry her. The situation was aggravated by a letter Beatrice then received from her elder sister Victoria Melita (“Ducky”), in which Michael was blamed for having callously initiated the doomed romance. Years later, ironically, or hypocritically, Ducky, having divorced her first cousin Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and By Rhine, was told that remarriage to another first cousin, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, would likewise be forbidden by the Tsar, she refused to take no for an answer; the couple eloped and went into exile. The humiliated Beatrice was sent to Egypt to recover from heartbreak, but pined and wrote reproachful letters to Michael until 1905.

Beatrice was then rumoured to be intending to marry King Alfonso XIII of Spain, but this proved to be a false rumour also as he married her cousin Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg in 1906. It was at their wedding that Beatrice met another cousin of King Alfonso, Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón (November 12; 1886 – August 10, 1975), Infante of Spain, 5th Duke of Galliera. The Spanish government objected to an infante’s proposed match with a British Princess who, unlike Queen Victoria Eugenie, had not agreed to convert to Roman Catholicism: the King was obliged to make clear that, should the wedding take place, the couple would have to live in exile.

Genealogy of her husband.

Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón, Infante of Spain, Duke of Galliera (November 12, 1886 – August 6, 1975), was the elder son of Infante Antonio, Duke of Galliera and his wife, Infanta Eulalia of Spain.

Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón, Infante of Spain, Duke of Galliera

His father, Infante Antonio, was the only surviving son of Prince Antoine of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier, and his wife Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain, the youngest daughter of King Fernando VII of Spain and his fourth wife Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies. Infante Antonio’s father, Prince Antoine, was the youngest son of King Louis Philippe of France and his wife Maria Amelia Teresa of the Two Sicilies.

Infanta Eulalia of Spain

His mother, Infanta Eulalia of Spain, was the youngest of the five children born to Queen Isabella II of Spain and Francis de Assisi de Borbón, Duke of Cadiz, the second son of Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain, (himself the son of the youngest son of Carlos IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma) and of his wife (and niece), Princess Luisa Carlotta of Naples and Sicily.

Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón, Duke of Galliera was also first cousin of Alfonso XIII of Spain.

Nonetheless, Beatrice and Alfonso married in a Roman Catholic and Lutheran ceremony at Coburg on July 13, 1909. The couple settled in Coburg until, in 1912, Alfonso and Beatrice were allowed to return to Spain and his rank of Infante was restored. In August 1913, Beatrice was received into the Roman Catholic Church.

The couple had three sons:
* Alvaro Antonio Fernando Carlos Felipe (April 20, 1910 – August 22, 1997)
* Alonso María Cristino Justo (May 28, 1912 – November 18, 1936); Killed in action during the Spanish Civil War
* Ataúlfo Carlos Alejandro Isabelo (October 20, 1913 – October 4, 1974)

Princess Beatrice and her eldest son, Infante Alvaro of Spain

Scandal and exile

During King Alfonso XIII’s unhappy marriage, he had numerous affairs and dalliances, some of which produced illegitimate children. He allegedly also made advances toward Princess Beatrice, which she rebuffed. The King expelled her and her husband from Spain, under the pretext of sending Infante Alfonso on a mission to Switzerland. At the same time, the King’s circle of friends, who despised both Beatrice and Queen Ena, started to spread malicious rumours, saying that Beatrice had been expelled because of her bad behaviour, which was not true.

The family moved to England, where their three sons were educated at Winchester College. The Spanish royal family eventually relented, and Beatrice and her family were allowed to return to Spain where they established their home at an estate in Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

The 1930s were an unhappy time for the family, as the collapse of the Spanish monarchy and the subsequent civil war led to the loss of much of the family’s wealth. After the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, King Alfonso and his family fled into exile in Italy. In the years that followed, the political situation in Spain worsened as various groups wrestled for power. By the late-1930s, the conflicts had erupted into all-out civil war. Beatrice and Alfonso lost their estate during the war and the couple’s middle son, Alonso, was killed fighting the Republicans.

Later life

Beatrice died at her estate of El Botánico in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on July 13, 1966. Her husband survived her by nine years. Their son Ataulfo died, unmarried, in 1974. Their only grandchildren are the children of Prince Alvaro. At the time of her death, Beatrice was the last surviving child of Prince Alfred and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna.

On this date in History: June 10 1897. The birth of Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia.

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Alexander I of Yugoslavia, Alexander III of Russia, Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Czar Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna, King Ferdinand of Romania, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Russian Empire, Russian Imperial Family, Russian Revolution

Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia (June 10, 1897 – July 17, 1918) was the second daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, and Princess Alix of Hesse and By Rhine. She was born at the Peterhof, Saint Petersburg.

She was better known than her three sisters during her lifetime and headed Red Cross committees during World War I. Like her older sister Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, she nursed wounded soldiers in a military hospital from 1914 to 1917, until the family was arrested following the first Russian Revolution of 1917.

According to sources, Peter I of Serbia wanted Tatiana as a bride for his younger son, Prince Alexander (future Alexander I of Yugoslavia). In January 1914, the Serbian prime minister Nikola Pašić delivered a letter to Czar Nicholas II in which King Peter expressed a desire for his son to marry one of the Grand Duchesses. Nicholas II replied that he would allow his daughters to decide whom to marry, but he noticed that the Serbian prince Alexander often gazed upon Tatiana during a family dinner. Marriage negotiations ended due to the outbreak of World War I. Tatiana exchanged letters with Alexander during World War I and Alexander was distraught when he learned of her death.

Russian Imperial Family meets the Romanian Royal Family.

Instead of marrying Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia married Princess Maria of Romania on June 8, 1922. Princess Maria of Romania was a second cousin of Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia. Marie of Romania was the daughter of King Ferdinand of Romania and Marie of Edinburgh. Marie of Romania was named after her maternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, (the second and only surviving daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and his wife Marie of Hesse and by Rhine). Marie of Romania and was known as Mignon in the family to distinguish her from her mother, Marie of Edinburgh the daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and the aforementioned Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Sisters, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna (left) and Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia.

The murder Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia, by communist revolutionaries on July 17, 1918 resulted in her being named as a passion bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church. She was a younger sister of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia and an elder sister of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russiaand Tsarevich Alexei of Russia. All sisters were falsely rumored to have survived the assassination and dozens of impostors claimed to be surviving Romanovs. Author Michael Occleshaw speculated that a woman named Larissa Tudor might have been Tatiana; however, all of the Romanovs, including Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, were killed by the Bolsheviks.

The death of Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

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Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Emperor Alexander III of Russia, German Empire, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Prince Alfred Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

On this date in history: February 6, 1899. The death of Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, at the age of 24.

HRH Prince Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Prince Alfred of Edinburgh was born on October 15, 1874 at Buckingham Palace, London. His father was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, was a daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.

He was a grandson of both Queen Victoria and Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

The exact circumstances of Alfred’s death are not known, and varying accounts have been published. His sister Marie’s memoirs simply say his health “broke down”, and other writers have said that he had “consumption.” The Times published an account stating he had died of a tumor, while the Complete Peerage gives the generally accepted account that he “shot himself.

Various authors have speculated on reasons why he might have killed himself, and one author, Frank Bush, claimed to have been a descendant of a secret marriage between Alfred and Mabel Fitzgerald, granddaughter of the 4th Duke of Leinster, and claimed that friction between Alfred and his family over the “secret marriage” was the cause of the suicide. Despite the lack of documentary evidence, and the lack of contemporary reference, other authors have repeated Bush’s assertion that Alfred and Mabel married, including John van der Kiste and Bee Jordaan in Dearest Affie, and the assertion is repeated as fact in the official family history (Das Haus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha).

According to theory, Alfred shot himself with a revolver while the rest of the family was gathered for the anniversary celebration. He survived and was looked after at Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha (Thuringia) for three days before being sent to theMartinnsbrunn Sanatorium in Gratsch near Meran in the County of Tyrol (Austria-Hungary, now Italy). Alfred died there at 4:15 pm on February 6, 1899, aged 24 years. He was buried in the ducal mausoleum of the Friedhof am Glockenberg [de], Coburg, Bavaria (southern Germany).

Later in 1899 Alfred’s uncle the Duke of Connaught and his son Prince Arthur of Connaught renounced their succession rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. As a result, his first cousin Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, became heir presumptive.

The death of Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Alfred Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Death, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

On this date in history: February 6, 1899. The death of Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, at the age of 24.

Prince Alfred of Edinburgh was born on October 15, 1874 at Buckingham Palace, London. His father was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, was a daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.

He was a grandson of both Queen Victoria and Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

The exact circumstances of Alfred’s death are not known, and varying accounts have been published. His sister Marie’s memoirs simply say his health “broke down”, and other writers have said that he had “consumption.” The Times published an account stating he had died of a tumor, while the Complete Peerage gives the generally accepted account that he “shot himself.

Various authors have speculated on reasons why he might have killed himself, and one author, Frank Bush, claimed to have been a descendant of a secret marriage between Alfred and Mabel Fitzgerald, granddaughter of the 4th Duke of Leinster, and claimed that friction between Alfred and his family over the “secret marriage” was the cause of the suicide. Despite the lack of documentary evidence, and the lack of contemporary reference, other authors have repeated Bush’s assertion that Alfred and Mabel married, including John van der Kiste and Bee Jordaan in Dearest Affie, and the assertion is repeated as fact in the official family history (Das Haus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha).

According to theory, Alfred shot himself with a revolver while the rest of the family was gathered for the anniversary celebration. He survived and was looked after at Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha (Thuringia) for three days before being sent to theMartinnsbrunn Sanatorium in Gratsch near Meran in the County of Tyrol (Austria-Hungary, now Italy). Alfred died there at 4:15 pm on February 6, 1899, aged 24 years. He was buried in the ducal mausoleum of the Friedhof am Glockenberg [de], Coburg, Bavaria (southern Germany).

Later in 1899 Alfred’s uncle the Duke of Connaught and his son Prince Arthur of Connaught renounced their succession rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. As a result, his first cousin Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, became heir presumptive.

Election of the King of the Hellenes.

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Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Christian IX, Christian IX of Denmark, Election, Ernest II Duke of Save-Coburg-Gotha, George I of Greece, King George I of the Hellenes, Kingdom of Greece, Kingdom of the Hellenes, Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto of Greece, Plebiscite, Queen Victoria

On this date in History: March 30, 1863. Prince Wilhelm of Denmark was elected as King of the Hellenes (Greece).

George I (born Prince Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; 24 December 24, 1845 – March 18, 1913) was King of the Hellenes (Greece) from 1863 until his assassination in 1913.

George was born at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, right next to the Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen. He was the second son of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (Christian IX of Denmark) and Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. Although his full name was Prince Christian Wilhelm Ferdinand Adolf Georg of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, until his accession in Greece, he was known as Prince Wilhelm the namesake of his paternal and maternal grandfathers, Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel.

Although he was of royal blood, his family was relatively obscure and lived a comparatively normal life by royal standards. In 1853, however, George’s father was designated the heir presumptive to the childless King Frederik VII of Denmark, and the family became princes and princesses of Denmark. George’s siblings were Frederik (who succeeded their father as King of Denmark), Alexandra (who became wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and the mother of King George V), Dagmar (who, as Empress Maria Feodorovna, was consort of Emperor Alexander III of Russiaand the mother of Emperor Nicholas II), Thyra (who married Prince Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale) and Valdemar.

King of the Hellenes

Following the overthrow of the Bavarian-born King Otto of Greece (son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen) in October 1862, the Greek people had rejected Otto’s brother and designated successor Leopold, although they still favored a monarchy rather than a republic. Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, Great Britain, rallied around Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. British prime minister Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were “panting for increase in territory”, hoping for a gift of the Ionian Islands, which were then a British protectorate.

The London Conference of 1832, however, prohibited any of the Great Powers’ ruling families from accepting the crown, and in any event, Queen Victoria was adamantly opposed to the idea. The Greeks nevertheless insisted on holding a plebiscite in which Prince Alfred received over 95% of the 240,000 votes. There were 93 votes for a Republic and 6 for a Greek.King Otto received one vote. Prince Alfred was also the designated heir to his uncle, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha should the Duke remain childless.

With Prince Alfred’s exclusion, the search began for an alternative candidate. The French favored Henri d’Orléans, duc d’Aumale, while the British proposed Queen Victoria’s brother-in-law Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her nephew Prince Leiningen, and Archduke Maximilian of Austria, among others. Eventually, the Greeks and Great Powers winnowed their choice to Prince William of Denmark, who had received 6 votes in the plebiscite.

Aged only 17, he was elected King of the Hellenes on March 30, 1863 by the Greek National Assembly under the regnal name of George I. Paradoxically, he ascended a royal throne before his father, who became King Christian IX of Denmark on November 15 of the same year. There were two significant differences between George’s elevation and that of his predecessor, Otto. First, he was acclaimed unanimously by the Greek Assembly, rather than imposed on the people by foreign powers. Second, he was proclaimed “King of the Hellenes” instead of “King of Greece”, which had been Otto’s style.

His ceremonial enthronement in Copenhagen on 6 June was attended by a delegation of Greeks led by First Admiral and Prime Minister Constantine Kanaris. Frederick VII awarded George the Order of the Elephant, and it was announced that the British government would cede the Ionian Islands to Greece in honor of the new monarch.

King George I is the paternal grandfather of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, husband of HM Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.