November 9, 1841: Birth of Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India.

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Albert Edward, King Edward VII of Great Britain, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Scotland, Windsor Castle

Edward VII (November 9, 1841 – May 6, 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from January 22, 1901 until his death in 1910.

The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was heir apparent to the British throne and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political power, and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, but despite public approval his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

In September 1861, Edward was sent to Germany, supposedly to watch military manoeuvres, but actually in order to engineer a meeting between him and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Denmark (future King Christian IX of Denmark) and his wife Louise of Hesse-Cassel. The Queen and Prince Albert had already decided that Edward and Alexandra should marry.

They met at Speyer on September 24 under the auspices of his elder sister, Victoria, who had married the Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia in 1858. Edward’s sister, acting upon instructions from their mother, had met Alexandra at Strelitz in June; the young Danish princess made a very favourable impression. Edward and Alexandra were friendly from the start; the meeting went well for both sides, and marriage plans advanced.

Alexandra of Denmark

Edward married Alexandra of Denmark at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 10 March 1863. He was 21; she was 18. The couple established Marlborough House as their London residence and Sandringham House in Norfolk as their country retreat. They entertained on a lavish scale. Their marriage met with disapproval in certain circles because most of Queen Victoria’s relations were German, and Denmark was at loggerheads with Germany over the territories of Schleswig and Holstein.

When Alexandra’s father inherited the throne of Denmark in November 1863, the German Confederation took the opportunity to invade and annex Schleswig-Holstein. The Queen was of two minds as to whether it was a suitable match, given the political climate. After the marriage, she expressed anxiety about their socialite lifestyle and attempted to dictate to them on various matters, including the names of their children.

The Prince and Princess of Wales

During Queen Victoria’s widowhood, Edward pioneered the idea of royal public appearances as they are understood today—for example, opening the Thames Embankment in 1871, the Mersey Tunnel in 1886, and Tower Bridge in 1894, but his mother did not allow him an active role in the running of the country until 1898.

Edward was regarded worldwide as an arbiter of men’s fashions. He made wearing tweed, Homburg hats and Norfolk jackets fashionable, and popularised the wearing of black ties with dinner jackets, instead of white tie and tails. He pioneered the pressing of trouser legs from side to side in preference to the now normal front and back creases, and was thought to have introduced the stand-up turn-down shirt collar, created for him by Charvet.

A stickler for proper dress, he is said to have admonished Lord Salisbury for wearing the trousers of an Elder Brother of Trinity House with a Privy Councillor’s coat. Deep in an international crisis, Salisbury informed the Prince that it had been a dark morning, and that “my mind must have been occupied by some subject of less importance.”

The tradition of men not buttoning the bottom button of waistcoats is said to be linked to Edward, who supposedly left his undone because of his large girth. His waist measured 48 inches (122 cm) shortly before his coronation. He introduced the practice of eating roast beef and potatoes with horseradish sauce and yorkshire pudding on Sundays, a meal that remains a staple British favourite for Sunday lunch. He was not a heavy drinker, though he did drink champagne and, occasionally, port.

When Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominions. He chose to reign under the name of Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use, declaring that he did not wish to “undervalue the name of Albert” and diminish the status of his father with whom the “name should stand alone.”

The numeral VII was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the national church, in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had “been excluded from Scotland by battle”. J. B. Priestly recalled, “I was only a child when he succeeded Victoria in 1901, but I can testify to his extraordinary popularity. He was in fact the most popular king England had known since the earlier 1660s.”

Edward habitually smoked twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day. In 1907, a rodent ulcer, a type of cancer affecting the skin next to his nose, was cured with radium. Towards the end of his life he increasingly suffered from bronchitis.

He suffered a momentary loss of consciousness during a state visit to Berlin in February 1909. In March 1910, he was staying at Biarritz when he collapsed. He remained there to convalesce, while in London Asquith tried to get the Finance Bill passed. The King’s continued ill health was unreported and he attracted criticism for staying in France while political tensions were so high. On April 27 he returned to Buckingham Palace, still suffering from severe bronchitis. Alexandra returned from visiting her brother, King George I of Greece, in Corfu a week later on May 5.

On 6 May, the King suffered several heart attacks, but refused to go to bed, saying, “No, I shall not give in; I shall go on; I shall work to the end.” Between moments of faintness, his son the Prince of Wales (shortly to be King George V) told him that his horse, Witch of the Air, had won at Kempton Park that afternoon. The King replied, “Yes, I have heard of it. I am very glad”: his final words. At 11:30 p.m. he lost consciousness for the last time and was put to bed. He died 15 minutes later.

His funeral, held on 20 May 1910, marked “the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last.” A royal train conveyed the King’s coffin from London to Windsor Castle, where Edward was buried at St George’s Chapel.

Birth of Princes Beatrice of the United Kingdom: April 14, 1857

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Duke of Edinburgh, House of Battenberg, King Edward VII of Great Britain, Prince Henry of Battenberg, Princess Beatrice, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain

On this date in History: April 14th 1857 the birth of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, (April 14, 1857 – October 26, 1944) the fifth daughter and youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Prince Albert with Princess Beatrice.

The birth caused controversy when it was announced that Queen Victoria would seek relief from the pains of delivery through the use of chloroform administered by Dr John Snow. Chloroform was considered dangerous to mother and child and was frowned upon by the Church of England and the medical authorities. Queen Victoria was undeterred and used “that blessed chloroform” for her last pregnancy. A fortnight later, Queen Victoria reported in her journal, “I was amply rewarded and forgot all I had gone through when I heard dearest Albert say ‘It’s a fine child, and a girl!” Albert and Queen Victoria chose the names Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore: Mary after Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, the last surviving child of King George III of the United Kingdom; Victoria after the Queen; and Feodore after Feodora, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the Queen’s older half-sister. She was baptised in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace on June 16, 1857. Her godparents were the Duchess of Kent (maternal grandmother); the Princess Royal (eldest sister); and the Prince Friedrich of Prussia (her future brother-in-law).

Queen Victoria with Princess Beatrice

Beatrice’s childhood coincided with Queen Victoria’s grief following the death of her husband Albert, the Prince Consort on December 14, 1861. As her elder sisters married and left their mother, Queen Victoria came to rely on the company of her youngest daughter, whom she called “Baby” for most of her childhood. Beatrice was brought up to stay with her mother always and she soon resigned herself to her fate. Queen Victoria was so set against her youngest daughter marrying that she refused to discuss the possibility.

Queen Victoria came to rely upon her youngest daughter, who had declared from an early age: “I don’t like weddings at all. I shall never be married. I shall stay with my mother.” As her mother’s secretary, she performed duties such as writing on the Queen’s behalf and helping with political correspondents. These mundane duties mirrored those that had been performed in succession by her sisters, Alice, Helena and Louise.

Princess Beatrice as a teenager

Although the Queen was set against Beatrice marrying anyone in the expectation that she would always stay at home with her, a number of possible suitors were put forward before Beatrice’s marriage to Prince Henry of Battenberg. One of these was Louis-Napoléon, the French Prince Imperial, son and heir of the exiled Emperor Napoleon III of France and his wife, Empress Eugénie. After Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon was deposed and moved his family to England in 1870. After the Emperor’s death in 1873, Queen Victoria and Empress Eugénie formed a close attachment, and the newspapers reported the imminent engagement of Beatrice to the Prince Imperial. These rumours ended with the death of the Prince Imperial in the Anglo-Zulu War on June 1, 1879. Queen Victoria’s journal records their grief: “Dear Beatrice, crying very much as I did too, gave me the telegram … It was dawning and little sleep did I get … Beatrice is so distressed; everyone quite stunned.”

After the death of the Prince Imperial, the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) suggested that Beatrice marry their sister Alice’s widower, Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. Alice had died in 1878, and the Prince argued that Beatrice could act as replacement mother for Ludwig’s young children and spend most of her time in England looking after her mother. He further suggested the Queen could oversee the upbringing of her Hessian grandchildren with greater ease. However, at the time, it was forbidden by law for Beatrice to marry her sister’s widower. This was countered by the Prince of Wales, who vehemently supported passage by the Houses of Parliament of the Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill, which would have removed the obstacle. Despite popular support for this measure and although it passed in the House of Commons, it was rejected by the House of Lords because of opposition from the Lords Spiritual. Although the Queen was disappointed that the bill had failed, she was happy to keep her daughter at her side.

Princess Beatrice in her twenties.

Other candidates, including two of Prince Henry’s brothers, Prince Alexander (“Sandro”) and Prince Louis of Battenberg, were put forward to be Beatrice’s husband, but they did not succeed. Although Alexander never formally pursued Beatrice, merely claiming that he “might even at one time have become engaged to the friend of my childhood, Beatrice of England”, Louis was more interested. Queen Victoria invited him to dinner but sat between him and Beatrice, who had been told by the Queen to ignore Louis to discourage his suit. Louis, not realising for several years the reasons for this silence, married Beatrice’s niece, Princess Viktoria of Hesse and by Rhine (daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse – Paternal grandmother of the Duke of Edinburgh). Although her marriage hopes had been dealt another blow, while attending Louis’s wedding to Princess Victoria at Darmstadt, Beatrice fell in love with Prince Henry, Louis’ younger brother, who returned her affections.

Prince Henry of Battenberg.

When Beatrice, after returning from Darmstadt, told her mother she planned to marry, the Queen reacted with frightening silence. Although they remained side by side, the Queen did not talk to her for seven months, instead communicating by note. Queen Victoria’s behaviour, unexpected even by her family, seemed prompted by the threatened loss of her daughter. The Queen regarded Beatrice as her “Baby” – her innocent child – and viewed the physical sex that would come with marriage as an end to innocence.

Subtle persuasions by the Princess of Wales and the Crown Princess of Prussia, who reminded her mother of the happiness that Beatrice had brought the Prince Consort, induced the Queen to resume talking to Beatrice. Queen Victoria consented to the marriage on condition that Henry give up his German commitments and live permanently with Beatrice and the Queen.

Wedding of Prince Henry of Battenberg and Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom.

Beatrice and Henry were married at Saint Mildred’s Church at Whippingham, near Osborne, on July 23, 1885. Beatrice, who wore her mother’s wedding veil of Honiton lace, was escorted by the Queen and Beatrice’s eldest brother, the Prince of Wale. Princess Beatrice was attended by ten royal bridesmaids from among her nieces: Princesses Louise (18), Victoria and Maud of Wales; Princesses Irene and Alix of Hesse and by Rhine; Princesses Marie, Victoria Melita and Alexandra of Edinburgh; and Princesses Helena Victoria and Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein. The bridegroom’s supporters were his brothers, Prince Alexander of Bulgaria and Prince Franz Joseph of Battenberg.

The addition of Prince Henry to the family gave new reasons for Beatrice and the Queen to look forward, and the court was brighter than it had been since the Prince Consort’s death. Even so, Henry, supported by Beatrice, was determined to take part in military campaigns, and this annoyed the Queen, who opposed his participation in life-threatening warfare. Conflicts also arose when Henry attended the Ajaccio carnival and kept “low company”, and Beatrice sent a Royal Navy officer to remove him from temptation. On one occasion, Henry slipped away to Corsica with his brother Louis;the Queen sent a warship to bring him back. Henry was feeling oppressed by the Queen’s constant need for his and his wife’s company.

Despite suffering a miscarriage in the early months of her marriage, Beatrice gave birth to four children: Alexander, called “Drino”, was born in 1886; Ena in 1887; Leopold in 1889 and Maurice in 1891. Following this, she took a polite and encouraging interest in social issues, such as conditions in the coal mines. However, this interest did not extend to changing the conditions of poverty, as it had done with her brother, the Prince of Wales.

Henry, increasingly bored by the lack of activity at court, longed for employment, and in response, the Queen made him Governor of the Isle of Wight in 1889. However, he yearned for military adventure and pleaded with his mother-in-law to let him join the Ashanti expedition fighting in the Anglo-Asante war. Despite misgivings, the Queen consented, and Henry and Beatrice parted on December 6, 1895; they would not meet again. Henry contracted malaria and was sent home. On January 22, 1896, Beatrice, who was waiting for her husband at Madeira, received a telegram informing her of Henry’s death two days earlier.

Princess Beatrice in old age.

Beatrice remained at her mother’s side until Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901. Beatrice devoted the next 30 years to editing Queen Victoria’s journals as her designated literary executor and continued to make public appearances. She died at 87, outliving all her siblings, two of her children, and several nieces and nephews including George V and Wilhelm II. In the case of Wilhelm II Beatrice was only 1 year, 9 months, 13 days older than her nephew.

She died at Brantridge Park, the home of her niece, Princess Alice of Albany and her husband, the Earl of Athlone, at the time serving as Governor General of Canada. Osborne House, her mother’s favourite home, is accessible to the public. Her Osborne residences, Osborne and Albert Cottages, remain in private ownership after their sale in 1912. At her death, Beatrice was the only surviving child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The future Elizabeth II, Beatrice’s great-grandniece, was eighteen years of age at that time.

Royal Grief: Part III

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Death, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, grief, King Edward VII of Great Britain, Nellie Clifden, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria, United Kingdom

With the death of Prince Alfred, reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on July 30, 1900, his older brother, Prince Albert-Edward, The Prince of Wales, slipped into a depression over the death of his brother. Six months later would come an even larger and more life changing loss. On January 22, 1901 the Prince of Wales’ mother, Queen Victoria, passed away after a reign of 63 years  making him King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

I could find no recording of the grief he must have felt at the time. Was he conflicted? The new king, aged 59, had waited his entire life for this moment. On the one hand it was his mother that died. On the other hand he now could assume the role for which he was born into, which he had been waiting all of his life. I am sure the moment was bitter sweet.

Their relationship, mother and sun, was not easy. Queen Victoria had an almost worshipful view of her Husband, Prince Albert, and had hoped and expected that her son and heir would be a carbon copy of esteemed husband. She was very disappointed in him. In 1861, shortly before his death, Prince Albert confronted his son, the Prince of Wales, after his affair became public.

The Prince of Wales attended manoeuvres in Ireland, during which he conducted a three-day affair with actress, Nellie Clifden. Prince Albert, clealrly ill, was angered and disgusted with his sons behavior and visited Albert-Edward at Cambridge to reprimand him. Two weeks after the visit Albert died on December 14, 1861. Queen Victoria was inconsolable, wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life and blamed her son, Albert-Edward for his father’s death.  She wrote to her eldest daughter, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, “I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder.”

Though relations did improve between mother and son, she was was very relieved when the Prince of Wales recovered from a bout of typhoid (which took the life of Prince Albert) in 1871, but she often refused to give her son proper work as heir to the throne feeling that he was not up to the task.

Upon succeeding to the throne Prince Albert-Edward chose to reign under the name Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward the name his mother had desired him to use^. declaring that he did not wish to “undervalue the name of Albert” and diminish the status of his father with whom the “name should stand alone”.

Part IV tomorrow! I promise!!

 

Happy Birthday, Queen Victoria

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George III, King Edward VII of Great Britain, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert, Prince Edward, Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria of Great Britain, The Duke of Kent

On this date 1819, birth of the future Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. She was christened HRH Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent and was the only child of HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III, and HSH Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne at the age of 18 upon the death of her uncle, King William IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, King of Hanover. At this time since women were barred from the throne of Hanover, her uncle, HRH The Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale became King Ernst-August of Hanover.

In 1840 Queen Victoria married her first cousin HSH Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. They had nine children and his death in 1861 put Queen Victoria in mourning for the rest of her life. She oversaw the British Empire at its zenith. In 1876 she was proclaimed Empress of India. She died on January 22, 1901 having reigned for 63 years and 216, the longest reigning British monarch. She was succeeded by her eldest son the Prince of Wales as King Edward VII of the united Kingdom of Great Britain.

English or German? Part II

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10th Duke of Beaufort, 1st Duke of Westminster, Duke of Clarance and Avondale, Earl of Eltham, Henry Somerset, Hugh Grosvenor, King Edward VII of Great Britain, King George V of Great Britain, Kingdom of Württemberg, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Lady Margaret Grosvenor, Lord Cambridge, Marquess of Cambridge, Mary of Teck, Prince Adolphus of Teck, Prince Albert-Victor of Wales, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Mary, Queen Victoria of Great Britain, Royal Military College, Sandhurst, The Duke of Cambridge, Wellington College, World War I

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prince Ernst-August II of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland

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Austria, Christian IX of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland, Emperor Alexander III of Russia, German Empire, Gmunden, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King Edward VII of Great Britain, King Frederik VIII of Denmark, King George I of Greece, Prince Ernst-August II of Hanover, Prussia, Queen Victoria, Titles Deprivation Act, World War I

I wanted to revive an old feature, where I would focus on one monarch or prince/princess. The problem with that in the past was that it was difficult for me to keep it brief. I ended up writing way too much for a blog post. So, I will revive this feature and see if I can keep it brief!!

HRH Prince Ernst-August II of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland. He was born in 21 September 1845 the eldest son of King Georg V of Hanover and Marie of Saxe-Altenburg. He was the grandson of Queen Victoria’s uncle, King Ernst-August I of Hanover. Prince Ernst-August’s father, Georg V of Hanover, lost the throne when it was annexed to Prussia in the 1866 war against Austria. As a descendant of King George III of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover, Prince Enrst-August II was heir to the vacant throne of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick as well as a British Prince and as Duke of Cumberland he was a British Peer.

Because of Hanover’s annexation to Prussia Ernst-August had long deep-seated prejudice and hatred toward all things Prussian and the House of Hohenzollern. For that reason he took Princess Thyra of Denmark as his wife. Thyra was the youngest daughter of  Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. The Danish Royal Family lost a war against Prussia in 1864 so they all shared a common hatred of Prussia. This marriage also made him the brother-in-law to King Frederik VIII of Denmark, King Edward VII of Great Britain, Emperor Alexander III of Russia and King George I of Greece.

Queen Victoria appointed the Duke of Cumberland a colonel in the British Army in 1876 and promoted him to major-general in 1886, lieutenant-general in 1892 and general in 1898. After his time in the British Army he lived in Gmunden, Upper Austria. Although he never renounced the succession to the thrones of Hanover and Brunswick Ernst-August II was eventually reconciled to Prussia when his eldest surviving son, Ernst-August III, married Princess Victoria-Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II in 1913. That same year his son was created the reigning Duke of Brunswick by Wilhelm II.

As a British and German Prince, Ernst-August II lost his British peerage in 1917 when all German relatives of the British Royal Family lost their British titles during World War I when King George V issued the Titles Deprivation Act. Prince Ernst August, the former Crown Prince of Hanover and former Duke of Cumberland, died of a stroke on his estate at Gmunden in November 1923. He was 78 years old.

Royalty and Upstate New York

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and Conesus Lake, Canadice Lake, Canandaigua, Canandaigua Lake, Cayuga Lake, Charles Blondin, Constellation Brands, Finger Lakes Region, Hemlock Lake, Honeoye Lake, Keuka Lake, King Edward VII of Great Britain, Louis Philippe, New York, Nik Wallenda, Otisco Lake, Owasco Lake, Seneca Lake, Skaneateles Lake, The Beatles

The other day a local TV station had a trivia question concerning the Beatles. What was the closest they came to Rochester NY? The answer was Toronto in 1964 which is located right across Lake Ontario. We had some other close calls with the Beatles here in Upstate NY in the past. I remember reading that John Lennon owned some farm land near Syracuse. Ringo Starr and his all-star band played at the local performing arts center and he was once a spokesperson for our local winery (Constellation Brands) in the 1990s. I don’t think George Harrison or Paul McCartney ever played in Rochester but I may be wrong about that.

All of this thinking about the Beatles (my favorite band) and their brushes with Upstate NY, specifically the Finger Lakes Region where I live, got me to thinking about the Royals that have been through our area. I was surprised to realize that there were more than I thought. I live about 90-100 miles away from Niagara Falls so that is the place most royals have visited. However, the Falls are not the only place royals have visited. I also wanted to discover if any royals visited closer to where I live? I live in Canandiagua NY which is situated on the shore of one of the Finger Lakes, Canandaigua Lake, which is a 16 mile long and 1 ½ mile wide glacial lake. Here is a little info on the Finger Lakes from Wikipedia:

The Finger Lakes 

The Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and narrow (resembling fingers), and are oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in America. Both are close to 40 miles (64 km) from end to end, and never more than 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide. Cayuga is the longest (38.1 miles, 61 km) and Seneca the largest in total area. Seneca is the deepest (618 feet, 188 m), followed by Cayuga (435 feet, 133 m), with their bottoms well below sea level. These largest lakes resemble the others in shape, which collectively reminded early map-makers of human fingers. Oneida Lake is generally not considered one of the Finger Lakes, but it is sometimes called the “thumb.” The eleven Finger Lakes from east to west are: Otisco Lake, Skaneateles Lake, Owasco Lake, Cayuga Lake, Seneca Lake, Keuka Lake, Canandaigua Lake, Honeoye Lake, Canadice Lake, Hemlock Lake, and Conesus Lake.

Louis-Philippe, King of the French (1830-1848)

My research has been a bit inconclusive as to whether or not any royals have been in the Finger Lakes Region. The royal who may have come closest to my home town was, surprisingly, not a British prince, but a future King of France; Prince Louis-Philippe Duc d’Orleans in the 1790s. Louis Philippe visited the United States for four years as an exile during the time of the French Revolution. He spent time in Philadelphia where his brothers Antoine and Louis-Charles were staying. He visited New York City where he stayed at the Somerindyck family estate on Broadway and 75th Street with other exiled French princes. Louis-Philippe visited Boston where he also taught French for a short period and lived over what is now the Union Oyster House, Boston’s oldest restaurant. During his time in the United States the future King of the french met with American politicians including George Clinton, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington.

I am not sure how close he came to Canandaigua but it is known that he visited Niagara Falls. Canandaigua was founded in 1790 and at the time of Louis-Philippe’s visit the town was the sole stopping point on the way to the west here in Upstate NY. So it is logical to deduce that if he came to Niagara Falls he must have passed through my home town. I will have to get off my duff one of these days to check the records at our local historical society to see if there is any indication my hunch may be true.

There have been many British royals to have visited the falls the majority of them coming over to visit, or only visitng the Canadian side. In 1860 HRH Prince Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) visited the Falls. Albert Edward’s visit was the first tour of North America by an heir to the British throne. While at the falls he watched Charles Blondin traverse Niagara Falls by high wire. I recently saw on TV daredevil Nik Wallenda walk across Niagara Falls on a high wire. So if the Prince of Wales saw anything close to what I witnessed on TV he really had a treat.

The Prince of Wales at Niagara Falls. 

The closest a royal came to my area that I am certain of was when HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York came to Rochester NY in 1995. He was in attendance for The Ryder Cup (officially the Ryder Cup Matches) which is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. That year it was held at the Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester. Sadly, I did not go. I am not a fan of golf.

I guess the closest the royals will come to my area is Niagara Falls. But who knows? We are a nice tourist destination and I wonder if any exiled or former royals have ever traveled up to this area? My quest for this information will continue!

HRH Princess Margaret of Connaught, Princess of the United Kingdom, Crown Princess of Sweden

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Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg, Crown Princess of Sweden, HRH Princess Margaret of Connaught, King Carlos and Queen Amélie of Portugal, King Edward VII of Great Britain, King Manuel II of Portugal, Prince Gustaf Adolph of Sweden, Princess of the United Kingdom, Princess Victoria Patricia of Connaught, Queen Victoria

For the next few days I will focus on other royals that I find interesting and will provide some biographical information and the reasons why I find them interesting.

HRH Princess Margaret of Connaught, Princess of the United Kingdom, Crown Princess of Sweden

Born: January, 15 1882. Died: 1 May 1920. She was the daughter of HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. Her father, the Duke of Connaught, was the third son and seventh child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

From many of the pictures I have seen Princess Margaret was very beautiful. Along with her sister, Princess Victoria Patricia, she was considered one of the most eligible princesses in all of Europe. She had a deep interest in the visual arts including, drawing, painting and photography.

Her uncle, King Edward VII of Great Britain, wanted her to marry a king or a crown prince. In 1905 the Duke and Duchess of Connaught visited Portugal and the court of King Carlos and Queen Amélie (born a princess of Orléans) where Margaret and her sister met with Luís Filipe, Duke of Braganza, and Prince Manuel (future King Manuel II). However, nothing came of these meetings.

The Duke and Duchess of Connaught continued their travels and in Cairo, Egypt Princess Margaret met Prince Gustaf Adolph of Sweden, grandson of King Oscar II of Sweden. The intent on this meeting was for Princess Victoria Patricia and Prince Gustaf Adolph to meet. However, for Princess Margaret and Prince Gustaf Adolph it was love at first sight. The prince proposed that evening and the couple were married June 15, 1905 at St, George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. This rapid romance and marriage may seem strange in our time but this was the common practice back then.

Princess Margaret became Crown Princess of Sweden in 1907 upon the death of King Oscar II of Sweden and the accession of Gustaf Adolph’s father as King Gustaf V of Sweden. Although the union was a happy one they had five children (four sons and one daughter) it seems Margaret was unhappy in Sweden. When World War I broke out Princess Margaret was supportive and active in the Red Cross.

In 1920, while pregnant with her sixth child, Princess Margaret under went a mastoid operation, developed a fever and died at the age of 38.

I find myself attracted to her story because it is a life of an artistic princess that held so much promise that ended in tragedy. Incidentally, Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg who passed away on May 5 of this year, was Princess Margret’s last surviving child.

https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/count-carl-johan-bernadotte-of-wisborg-1916-2012/