The Family of Friedrich Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

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Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Caroline Matilde of Schleswig-Holstein, Emperor Wilhelm II, Frederick Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, King Christian IX of Denmark, Prince Harald of Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Wilhelm Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

From the Emperor’s Desk: Yesterday I did a blog entry of Prince Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. I had done a blog entry of her sister Princess Alexandra Victoria a short while ago. Today I am doing an entry of their entire family.

Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (12 October 12, 1855 – January 21, 1934), was born in Kiel, Duchy of Holstein, the eldest son of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe and a nephew of King Christian IX of Denmark.

Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Albert of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (February 26, 1869 – April 27, 1931), was a grandson of Queen Victoria. He was the second son of Victoria’s daughter Princess Helena by her husband Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

In 1921, Prince Albert succeeded his childless cousin Duke Ernst Gunther of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. This was the senior branch of the House of Oldenburg, to which the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, the Emperor of Russia, the King of Denmark, the King of Norway, the King of the Hellenes, the King of the United Kingdom and the Grand Duke of Oldenburg belonged.

Duke Albert was succeeded by his distant cousin Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (who happened to be also the husband of a daughter of Albert’s uncle Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg).

Issue

Marriage and Issue

Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

Friedrich Ferdinand married Princess Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, second daughter of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and his wife Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, on March 19, 1885 at Primkenau. Princess Caroline Mathilde was the younger sister of Prince Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg the wife of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Friedrich Ferdinand and Caroline Mathilde had six children:

Victoria Adelaide

1. Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (December 31, 1885 – October 3, 1970) was the last Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the wife of Duke Charles Edward from their marriage on October 11, 1905 until his abdication on November 14, 1918. Victoria Adelaide is the maternal grandmother of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. She was a niece of German Empress Augusta Victoria.

Princess Alexandra Victoria

2. Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (April 21, 1887 – April 15, 1957) Alexandra Victoria’s first husband was her first cousin Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia, the son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and his wife Augusta Victoria, a sister of Alexandra Victoria’s mother.

They married on October 22, 1908 (birthday of Empress Augusta Victoria) at the Royal Palace of Berlin. The marriage was arranged by the Emperor and Empress, but it was relatively happy.

Princess Helena Adelaide and Prince Harald of Denmark

3. Princess Helena Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (June 1, 1888 – June 30, 1962). She was a princess of Denmark through her marriage within the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg to her cousin Prince Harald of Denmark, the third son and fourth child of King Frederik VIII of Denmark and his wife, Lovisa of Sweden, and thus brother to King Christian X of Denmark and King Haakon VII of Norway.

Princess Helena was a Nazi sympathiser during World War II and was after the war exiled from Denmark, but eventually allowed to return, where she died.

Princess Adelaide Louise

4. Princess Adelaide Louise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (October 19, 1889 – June 11, 1964). She was the Princess of Solms-Baruth through her marriage to Friedrich III, Prince of Solms-Baruth.

On December 31, 1920, Hereditary Prince Friedrich’s father died, and Friedrich became head of the house of Solms-Baruth.

Prince Friedrich III died on September 12, 1951 in Windhoek, Namibia. Princess Adelaide died on June 11, 1964 in Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.

Wilhelm Friedrich and Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

5. Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, from 1934 Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (August 23, 1891 – February 10, 1965), was the sixth Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Head of the House of Oldenburg from January 21, 1934 until his death on February 10, 1965.

Wilhelm 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, on February 5, 1916 at Coburg. Friedrich and Marie Melita had four children.

Princess Caroline Mathilde

6. Princess Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (May 11, 1894 – January 28, 1972) was a member of the House of Solms Baruth and Countess of Solms Baruth through her marriage to Count Hans of Solms-Baruth, younger brother of Prince Friedrich III of Solms Baruth, the husband of Caroline Mathilde’s elder sister Adelaide. Solms-Baruth was one of the many minor states of the Holy Roman Empire, located in Lower Lusatia. It had lost its independence in the German Mediatization of 1806.

Princess Sophie, Crown Princess of Greece: Conversion to Orthodoxy.

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Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Conversion, Crown Prince Constantine of Greece, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Germanus II, Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, Greek Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Athens and Head of the Autocephalous Greek Church, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Sophie of Prussia

From the Emperor’s Desk: I wanted to include this story in my History of The Kingdom of Greece when talking about King Constantine I. However, this is a story about his wife, Princess Sophie, therefore I wanted to write about it as a separate piece.

Princess Sophia of Prussia (June 14, 1870 – January 13, 1932) was Queen of the Hellenes from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922 as the wife of King Constantine I of the Hellenes.

Princess Sophie of Prussia

A member of the House of Hohenzollern and child of German Emperor Friedrich III, King of Prussia, Princess Sophia received a liberal and Anglophile education, under the supervision of her mother Victoria, Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

On October 27, 1889, more than a year after the death of her father, she married her third cousin Crown Prince Constantine, heir apparent to the Greek throne.

After the birth of her eldest son, future King George II of the Hellenes, Crown Princess Sophia decided to embrace the faith of her subjects and to convert from Lutheranism to Greek Orthodoxy.

Having requested and received the blessing of the Empress Dowager (her paternal grandmother Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) and her maternal Queen Victoria, the Crown Princess informed her in-laws of her intention and asked Queen Olga for instruction in orthodoxy.

Crown Princess Sophie of Greece and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece

The Greek royal family was delighted by the news, because the announcement of the conversion would be popular among the Greeks but King George insisted that Germanus II, Metropolitan of Athens and Head of the Autocephalous Greek Church, would instruct Sophie in the Orthodox faith, rather than his wife.

Of Russian origin, Queen Olga (born Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia) was considered by some Greek nationalists as an “agent of the Pan-Slavism” and the King therefore preferred that Germanus II would guarantee the task that could otherwise create difficulties for the Crown.

Crown Princess Sophie of Greece

Though the news of her conversion was greeted calmly by most members of her family, Sophia feared the reaction of her brother Emperor Wilhelm II, who took his status as Head of the Prussian Union of Churches very seriously and hated disobedience more than anything.

Crown Princess Sophia and Crown Prince Constantine took a trip to Germany for the occasion of the wedding of her sister Princess Victoria of Prussia to Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe in November 1890.

The Crown Princess personally announced to her brother her intentions to change her religion. As expected, the news strongly displeased the Emperor and his wife, the very pious Empress Augusta Victoria.

Crown Princess Sophie of Greece and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece

The Empress even tried to dissuade her sister-in-law to convert, triggering a heated argument between the two women. Empress Augusta Victoria later claimed that this caused her to go into premature labor, and deliver her sixth child, Prince Joachim, too early.

Emperor Wilhelm II, meanwhile, was so angry that he threatened Sophia with exclusion from the Prussian royal family. Pressed by her mother to appear conciliatory, Crown Princess Sophia ended up writing a letter to her brother explaining the reasons for her conversion but the Emperor would not listen, and for three years he forbade his sister to enter Germany.

Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Augusta Victoria of Germany with Crown Prince Wilhelm

Upon receiving his reply Crown Princess Sophie sent a telegram to her mother: “Received answer. Keeps to what he said in Berlin. Fixes it to three years. Mad. Never mind.”

Crown Princess Sophia officially converted on May 2, 1891; however, the imperial sentence was ultimately never implemented. Nevertheless, relations between Wilhelm and Sophia were permanently marked by Sophia’s decision. Indeed, the Emperor was an extremely resentful man and he never stopped making his sister pay for her disobedience.

The Life of Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

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Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Duke Johann II the Younger of Schleswig-Holstein, German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Empire, House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, King Christian III of Denmark and Norway, Kingdom of Denmark, Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (April 21, 1887 – April 15, 1957).

House of Glücksburg

The family takes its ducal name from Glücksburg, a small coastal town in Schleswig, on the southern, German side of the fjord of Flensburg that divides Germany from Denmark. In 1460, Glücksburg came, as part of the conjoined Dano-German duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, to Count Christian of Oldenburg whom, in 1448, the Danes had elected their king as Christian I, the Norwegians likewise taking him as their hereditary king in 1450.

Princess Alexandra Victoria’s birthplace Grünholz Castle, photographed in 2010.

In 1564, King Christian I’s great-grandson, King Frederik II, in re-distributing Schleswig and Holstein’s fiefs, retained some lands for his own senior royal line while allocating Glücksburg to his brother Duke Johann the Younger (1545–1622), along with Sønderborg, in appanage. Johann’s heirs further sub-divided their share and created, among other branches, a line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg Dukes at Beck (an estate near Minden bought by the family in 1605), who remained vassals of Denmark’s kings.

The House of Augustenburg

The House of Augustenburg was a branch of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg of the House of Oldenburg. The line descended from Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, who was the the third son of Johann II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg and Elisabeth of Brunswick-Grubenhagen.

Duke Johann II was the fourth child and third son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and his wife, Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg.

Like all of the secondary lines from the Sonderburg branch, the heads of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg were first known as Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein and Dukes of Sonderburg. The family took its name from its ancestral home, Augustenborg Palace in Augustenborg, Denmark.

Ernst Günther, a member of the ducal house of Schleswig-Holstein (its branch of Sønderborg) and a cadet of the royal house of Denmark, was the third son of Alexander, 2nd Duke of Sonderborg (1573–1627), and thus a grandson of Johann II the Younger (1545–1622), the first duke, who was a son of King Christian III of Denmark.

Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia

Ernest Günther had a castle built in the years after 1651, which received the name of Augustenborg in honor of his wife, Auguste. She was also from a branch of the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein as a daughter of Philip (1584–1663), Duke of Glücksburg. As that castle became the chief seat of their line, the family eventually used the name of Augustenborg as its branch name. As they were agnates of the ducal house, the title of duke belonged to every one of them (as is the Germanic custom).

The Dukes of Augustenburg were not sovereign rulers—they held their lands in fief to their dynastically-senior kinsmen, the sovereign Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein—who were the Oldenburg Kings of Denmark.

Princess Alexandra Victoria was born on April 21, 1887 at Grünholz Castle in Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia as the second-eldest child and daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and his wife Princess Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, a great-niece of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Paternal Ancestry

Alexandra Victoria’s father, Friedrich Ferdinand, was the second-eldest son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Cassel and an elder brother of Christian IX of Denmark.

Princess Augusta Victoria’s father, Friedrich Ferdinand had succeeded to the headship of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the title of duke upon the death of his father on November 27, 1885.

Augusta Victoria’s paternal grandmother, Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Cassel, was the daughter of Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel (1744 – 1836) and his wife Princess Louise of Denmark (1750 – 1831). Her elder sister Marie Sophie of Hesse-Cassel (28 October 1767 – 21 March 1852) became Queen consort of Frederik VI of Denmark.

Therefore Augusta Victoria’s paternal great-grandmother, Princess Louise of Denmark, was the daughter of was King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and Princess Louise of Great Britain.

Maternal Ancestry

Augusta Victoria’s mother was Princess Caroline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1860 – 1932) and she was the second-eldest daughter of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Princess Caroline Mathilde had a sister, Princess Augusta Victoria, who married Emperor Wilhelm II; who are Prince August Wilhelm’s parents.

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (20 July 1835 – 25 January 1900) was Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, a niece of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, first cousin of King Edward VII, and the mother-in-law of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. She is the most recent common matrilineal ancestress (directly through women only) of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Felipe VI of Spain.

Princess Alexandra Victoria and her son Prince Alexander Ferdinand of Prussia

Marriages and issue

Alexandra Victoria’s first husband was her first cousin Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia, the son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and his wife Augusta Victoria Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, a sister of Alexandra Victoria’s mother.

They married on October 22, 1908 at the Royal Palace of Berlin. The marriage was arranged by the Emperor and Empress, but it was relatively happy. Alexandra was a great favorite of her mother-in-law, especially since the Empress was also her own aunt.

A contemporary of the court, Princess Catherine Radziwill, commented that Alexandra “had always shown herself willing to listen to her mother-in-law. She is a nice girl – fair, fat, and a perfect type of the ‘Deutsche Hausfrau’ dear to the souls of German novel-writers”. Another contemporary wrote that the marriage had been a love match, and that Alexandra was a “charmingly pretty, bright girl”.

The couple had planned to take up residence in Schönhausen Palace in Berlin, but changed their mind when August Wilhelm’s father decided to leave his son the Villa Liegnitz in the Sanssouci Park in Potsdam. Their residence developed into a meeting place for artists and scholars.

Alexandra Victoria and August Wilhelm had one son:

Prince Alexander Ferdinand of Prussia (December 26, 1912 – June 12, 1985).

During the First World War, August Wilhelm was made district administrator (Landrat) of the district of Ruppin; his office and residence was now Schloss Rheinsberg. His personal adjutant Hans Georg von Mackensen, with whom he had been close friends since his youth, played an important role in his life. These “pronounced homophilic tendencies” contributed to the failure of his marriage to Princess Alexandra Victoria. They never undertook a formal divorce due to the opposition of August Wilhelm’s father, Kaiser Wilhelm II.

After the fall of the German monarchy in 1918, the couple divorced on March 16, 1920.

Arnold Rümann

Her second husband was Arnold Rümann, whom she married on January 7, 1922 at Grünholz Castle. In 1926, Alexandra moved for a time to New York City, where she worked as a painter. She and Arnold were divorced in 1933.

Later life

After World War II, Alexandra lived in a trailer near Wiesbaden, where she earned a living as a portrait and landscape painter. She died on April 14, 1957 in a hotel in Lyons, France.

On This Day in History: October 22….

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Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Holy Roman Empress, Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria, Peter I the Great, Prince of Orange, Tsar and Emperor of Russia, Willem IV

From the Emperor’s Desk: Today is my birthday and we’ll examine different lives and events in Royal History on this date.

1383 – The male line of the Portuguese House of Burgundy becomes extinct with the death of King Fernando, leaving only his daughter Beatrice. Rival claimants begin a period of civil war and disorder.

1721 – Russian Empire is proclaimed by Tsar Peter I after the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War.

Peter I the Great, Tsar and Emperor of Russia

Soon after peace was made with Sweden, he was officially proclaimed Emperor of All Russia. Some proposed that he take the title Emperor of the East, but he refused. Gavrila Golovkin, the State Chancellor, was the first to add “the Great, Father of His Country, Emperor of All the Russias” to Peter’s traditional title Tsar following a speech by the archbishop of Pskov in 1721.

Peter’s imperial title was recognized by Augustus II of Poland, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, and Fredrik I of Sweden, but not by the other European monarchs. In the minds of many, the word emperor connoted superiority or pre-eminence over kings. Several rulers feared that Peter would claim authority over them, just as the Holy Roman Emperor had claimed suzerainty over all Christian nations.

Births

Pre-1600

955 – Qian Weijun, king of Wuyue (d. 991)

1071 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 1126)

1197 – Juntoku, Japanese emperor (d. 1242)

king (d. 1750)

1689 — João V (October 22, 1689 – July 31, 1750), known as the Magnanimous and the Portuguese Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Braganza who ruled as King of Portugal during the first half of the 18th century. João V’s reign saw the rise of Portugal and its monarchy to new levels of prosperity, wealth, and prestige among European courts.

João V’s reign saw an enormous influx of gold into the coffers of the royal treasury, supplied largely by the royal tax on precious metals) that was received from the Portuguese colonies of Brazil and Maranhão.

Disregarding traditional Portuguese institutions of governance, João V ruled as an absolute monarch. In keeping with a traditional policy pursued by previous monarchs of the House of Braganza and which stressed the importance of relations with Europe, João V’s reign was marked by numerous interventions into the affairs of other European states, most notably as part of the War of the Spanish Succession.

Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria

1701 – Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria (Maria Amalie Josefa Anna; October 22, 1701 – December 11, 1756) was Holy Roman Empress, Queen of the Germans, Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary and Croatia, Electress and Duchess of Bavaria etc. as the spouse of Emperor Charles VII. By birth, she was an Archduchess of Austria, the daughter of Emperor Joseph I and Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Maria Amalia had seven children, only four of whom lived through to adulthood, including Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria.

1781 – Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France (d. 1789) Louis Joseph Xavier François (October 22, 1781 – June 4, 1789) was Dauphin of France as the second child and first son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. As son of a king of France, he was a fils de France (“Child of France”). Louis Joseph died at the age of seven from tuberculosis and was succeeded as Dauphin by his four-year-old brother Louis Charles.

1858 – Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (October 22, 1858 – April 11, 1921) was the last German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to Wilhelm II, German Emperor.

Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

Augusta Victoria was born at Dolzig Castle, the eldest daughter of Friedrich VIII, future Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a great-niece of Queen Victoria, through Victoria’s half-sister Feodora. Augusta Victoria grew up at Dolzig until the death of her grandfather, Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, in 1869. The family then moved to Castle Primkenau and the estate her father had inherited. She was known within her family as “Dona.”

1859 – Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria (October 22, 1859 – 23 November 23, 1949), was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a General of Cavalry. Following his marriage to Infanta María de la Paz of Spain, the third surviving daughter of Queen Isabella II of Spain and her husband Infante Francisco of Spain. He was also created an Infante of Spain.

Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria, Infante of Spain

Prince Ludwig Ferdinand was the eldest son of Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (1828–75) and Infanta Amalia of Spain (1834–1905). He was a paternal grandson of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and his wife Princess Therese of Saxe-Altenburg. His maternal grandparents were Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain and his wife Princess Luisa Carlotta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Ludwig Ferdinand’s paternal uncles were King Maximilian II of Bavaria, King Otto I of Greece and Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria. His maternal uncle was King-Consort Francisco of Spain (1822–1902) and maternally his first cousin was King Alfonso XII of Spain (1857–85), two years his senior. Ludwig Ferdinand was born in Madrid, but his younger siblings in Bavaria, where they had returned. Ludwig II, Otto I and Ludwig III, Kings of Bavaria, were his first cousins. Alfonso XIII (reigned 1885–1931) was a first cousin’s son.

Deaths

741 – Charles Martel, Frankish Mayor of the Palace (b. 688)

842 – Abo, Japanese prince (b. 792)

1383 – Ferdinand I of Portugal (b. 1345)

1751 – Willem IV, Prince of Orange, Hereditary Stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands. (September 1, 1711 – October 22, 1751). As Prince of Orange he was ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau within the Holy Roman Empire.

Willem IV, Prince of Orange, Hereditary Stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands

Willem was born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, the son of Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange, head of the Frisian branch of the House of Orange-Nassau, and of his wife Landgravine Marie Louise of Hesse-Cassel (or Hesse-Cassel). He was born six weeks after the death of his father.

Willem succeeded his father as Stadtholder of Friesland and also, under the regency of his mother until 1731, as Stadtholder of Groningen. In 1722 he was elected Stadtholder of Guelders. The four other provinces of the Dutch Republic:, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and Overijssel had in 1702 decided not to appoint a stadtholder after the death of the last stadtholder Willem III, (William III-II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland) issuing the history of the Republic into a period that is known as the Second Stadtholderless Period.

In 1747 those four provinces also accepted Willem IV as their stadtholder, becoming the first Hereditary Stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

On March 25, 1734 Willem IV married, at St James’s Palace, Anne, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

1761 – Ludwig Georg, Margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1702)

2002 – Queen Geraldine of Albania (b. 1915)

December 7, 1807: Birth of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

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Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Emich Charles of Leiningen, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

Princess Feodora of Leiningen (Anna Feodora Auguste Charlotte Wilhelmine; December 7, 1807 – September 23, 1872) was the only daughter of Emich Charles, Prince of Leiningen (1763–1814), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786–1861). Feodora and her older brother Charles, 3rd Prince of Leiningen, were maternal half-siblings to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. She is a matrilineal ancestress (through women only) of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and of Felipe VI of Spain.

Princess Feodora of Leiningen

Her mother was widowed in 1814 and on May 29, 1818, her mother remarried to Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III. The following year, when the duchess’s pregnancy was reaching full term, the household moved so that the new potential heir to the British throne could be born in Britain.

Feodora enjoyed a very close relationship with her younger half-sister Victoria, who was devoted to her, although Victoria resented the fact that Feodora was one of only a few other children with whom she was allowed regular interaction. Despite their closeness, Feodora was eager to leave their residence at Kensington Palace permanently, as her “only happy time was driving out” with Victoria and her governess Baroness Louise Lehzen, when she could “speak and look as she liked”.

Marriage and later years

In early 1828, Feodora married Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1794–1860), at Kensington Palace. The match was arranged by Queen Adelaide of Great Britain, as Prince Ernst I was her first cousin. Prior to that, she had only met him twice. After their honeymoon, she returned to the German Confederation, where she lived until her death in 1872.

The prince had no domain, however, as the principality had been mediatised to Württemberg in 1806. The couple lived in a large and uncomfortable castle, Schloss Langenburg.

Feodora maintained a lifelong correspondence with her half-sister Victoria and was granted an allowance of £300 (equivalent to £27,652 in 2019) whenever she could visit Britain. She was a member of the royal party at Victoria’s coronation in 1838.

Princess Feodora of Leiningen

Feodora’s youngest daughter, Feodora, the Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, died in early 1872 of scarlet fever. Feodora died later that year on September23, 1872. On hearing of Feodora’s death, Victoria wrote:

“Can I write it? My own darling, only sister, my dear excellent, noble Feodore is no more! She is at rest & in peace since 2 this morning. What a fearful loss! Darling precious sister, whom I hoped so to go & see! The kind Empress Augusta telegraphed the news to me in a most feeling manner, & I got the telegram just after I came back from Abergeldie, where I had gone to see the preparations for Bertie’s welcome. This was to have been & is still a day of rejoicing for all the good Balmoral people, on account of dear Bertie’s first return after his illness, & I am here in sorrow & grief, unable to join in the welcome. God’s will be done, but the loss to me is too dreadful! I stand so alone now, no near & dear one nearer my own age, or older, to whom I could look up to, left! All, all gone! How good & wise, beloved Feodore was, so devoted to me, so truly pious & religious. She is gone to that world she was so fit for & entered it, just sleeping away. What a blessed end! but what a loss to those who are left! She was my last near relative on an equality with me, the last link with my childhood & youth.”
— Queen Victoria in her journal (23 September 1872)

Princess Feodora of Leiningen

Issue

Feodora and Ernest had six children (three sons and three daughters):

Charles Ludwig II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (October 25, 1829 – May 16, 1907), succeeded his father on April 12, 1860, but abdicated his rights on April 21, to marry unequally. He married Maria Grathwohl on February 22, 1861. They had three children. His male issue was created Prince of Weikersheim on 18 July 1911 by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (November 8, 1830 – February 27, 1850) died at the age of 19.

Hermann, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (August 31, 1832 – March 9, 1913) married Princess Leopoldine of Baden on September 24, 1862. They had three children.

Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (December 11, 1833 – December 31, 1891) married Lady Laura Seymour on January 24, 1861. They had four children.

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (July 20, 1835 – January 25, 1900) married Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg on September 11, 1856. They had five children.

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein by marriage, a niece of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, first cousin of King Edward VII, and the mother-in-law of German Emperor Wilhelm II through her daughter, Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (October 22, 1858 – April 11, 1921) whom she married on February 27, 1881. They had seven children.

Wilhelm II of Germany was also Queen Victoria’s eldest grandchild.

Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (July 7, 1839 – February 10, 1872) married Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen on October 23, 1858. They had three sons.

These Dates in History, October 22nd…

Tags

Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Infante of Spain, John V of Portugal, Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria, Maria Amalia of Austria, October 22nd, Peter the Great of Russia

From the Emperor’s Desk: Today is my birthday and we’ll examine different lives and events in Royal History on this date.

1383 – The male line of the Portuguese House of Burgundy becomes extinct with the death of King Fernando, leaving only his daughter Beatrice. Rival claimants begin a period of civil war and disorder.

1721 – Russian Empire is proclaimed by Tsar Peter I after the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War.

Emperor Peter I the Great of Russia

Soon after peace was made with Sweden, he was officially proclaimed Emperor of All Russia. Some proposed that he take the title Emperor of the East, but he refused. Gavrila Golovkin, the State Chancellor, was the first to add “the Great, Father of His Country, Emperor of All the Russias” to Peter’s traditional title Tsar following a speech by the archbishop of Pskov in 1721.

Peter’s imperial title was recognized by Augustus II of Poland, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, and Fredrik I of Sweden, but not by the other European monarchs. In the minds of many, the word emperor connoted superiority or pre-eminence over kings. Several rulers feared that Peter would claim authority over them, just as the Holy Roman Emperor had claimed suzerainty over all Christian nations.

Births

Pre-1600

955 – Qian Weijun, king of Wuyue (d. 991)

1071 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 1126)

1197 – Juntoku, Japanese emperor (d. 1242)

king (d. 1750)

1689 — João V (October 22, 1689 – July 31, 1750), known as the Magnanimous and the Portuguese Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Braganza who ruled as King of Portugal during the first half of the 18th century. João V’s reign saw the rise of Portugal and its monarchy to new levels of prosperity, wealth, and prestige among European courts.

João V’s reign saw an enormous influx of gold into the coffers of the royal treasury, supplied largely by the royal tax on precious metals) that was received from the Portuguese colonies of Brazil and Maranhão.
Disregarding traditional Portuguese institutions of governance, João V ruled as an absolute monarch. In keeping with a traditional policy pursued by previous monarchs of the House of Braganza and which stressed the importance of relations with Europe, João V’s reign was marked by numerous interventions into the affairs of other European states, most notably as part of the War of the Spanish Succession.

Maria Amalia of Austria, Holy Roman Empress

1701 – Maria Amalia of Austria (Maria Amalie Josefa Anna; October 22, 1701 – December 11, 1756) was Holy Roman Empress, Queen of the Germans, Queen of Bohemia, Electress and Duchess of Bavaria etc. as the spouse of Emperor Charles VII. By birth, she was an Archduchess of Austria, the daughter of Emperor Joseph I and Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Maria Amalia had seven children, only four of whom lived through to adulthood, including Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria.

1781 – Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France (d. 1789) Louis Joseph Xavier François (October 22, 1781 – June 4, 1789) was Dauphin of France as the second child and first son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. As son of a king of France, he was a fils de France (“Child of France”). Louis Joseph died at the age of seven from tuberculosis and was succeeded as Dauphin by his four-year-old brother Louis Charles.

Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, German Empress and Queen of Prussia

1858 – Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (October 22, 1858 – April 11, 1921) was the last German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to Wilhelm II, German Emperor.

Augusta Victoria was born at Dolzig Castle, the eldest daughter of Friedrich VIII, future Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a great-niece of Queen Victoria, through Victoria’s half-sister Feodora. Augusta Victoria grew up at Dolzig until the death of her grandfather, Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, in 1869. The family then moved to Castle Primkenau and the estate her father had inherited. She was known within her family as “Dona.”

1859 – Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria (October 22, 1859 – 23 November 23, 1949), was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a General of Cavalry. Following his marriage to Infanta María de la Paz of Spain, the third surviving daughter of Queen Isabella II of Spain and her husband Infante Francisco of Spainhe was also created an Infante of Spain.

Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria, Infante of Spain

Prince Ludwig Ferdinand was the eldest son of Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (1828–75) and Infanta Amalia of Spain (1834–1905). He was a paternal grandson of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and his wife Princess Therese of Saxe-Altenburg. His maternal grandparents were Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain and his wife Princess Luisa Carlotta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Ludwig Ferdinand’s paternal uncles were King Maximilian II of Bavaria, King Otto I of Greece and Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria. His maternal uncle was King-Consort Francisco of Spain (1822–1902) and maternally his first cousin was King Alfonso XII of Spain (1857–85), two years his senior. Ludwig Ferdinand was born in Madrid, but his younger siblings in Bavaria, where they had returned. Ludwig II, Otto I and Ludwig III, Kings of Bavaria, were his first cousins. Alfonso XIII (reigned 1885–1931) was a first cousin’s son.

Deaths

741 – Charles Martel, Frankish king (b. 688)

842 – Abo, Japanese prince (b. 792)

1383 – Ferdinand I of Portugal (b. 1345)

1751 – Willem IV, Prince of Orange, Hereditary Stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands. (September 1, 1711 – 22 October 22, 1751). As Prince of Orange he was ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau within the Holy Roman Empire.

Willem was born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, the son of Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange, head of the Frisian branch of the House of Orange-Nassau, and of his wife Landgravine Marie Louise of Hesse-Cassel (or Hesse-Cassel). He was born six weeks after the death of his father.

Willem succeeded his father as Stadtholder of Friesland and also, under the regency of his mother until 1731, as Stadtholder of Groningen. In 1722 he was elected Stadtholder of Guelders. The four other provinces of the Dutch Republic:, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and Overijssel had in 1702 decided not to appoint a stadtholder after the death of the last stadtholder Willem III, (William III-II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland) issuing the history of the Republic into a period that is known as the Second Stadtholderless Period. In 1747 those four provinces also accepted Willem IV as their stadtholder, becoming the first Hereditary Stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

On March 25, 1734 Willem IV married at St James’s Palace Anne, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach.

1761 – Louis George, Margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1702)

2002 – Queen Geraldine of Albania (b. 1915)