November 15, 1863: Death of King Frederik VII of Denmark and the succession of King Christian IX.

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Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, House of Oldenburg, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, King Christian IX of Denmark, King Constantine II of Greece, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Frederik VII of Denmark, King Harald V of Norway, King Philippe of Belgium, London Protocol, Louise of Hesse-Cassel, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

King Frederik VII (October 6, 1808 – November 15, 1863) was King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg and the last king of Denmark to rule as an absolute monarch. During his reign, he signed a constitution that established a Danish parliament and made the country a constitutional monarchy.

Marriages

King Frederik VII’s first two marriages both ended in scandal and divorce. He was first married in Copenhagen on November 1, 1828 to his second cousin Princess Wilhelmine Marie of Denmark, a daughter of King Frederik VI of Denmark by his wife and first cousin Princess Marie Sophie of Hesse-Cassel. Her father Frederik VI was the only son of King Christian VII of Denmark.

They separated in 1834 and divorced in 1837. On June 10, 1841 he married for a second time to Duchess Caroline Charlotte Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the daughter of Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and his consort Princess Marie of Hesse-Cassel.

King Frederik VII of Denmark

Very early on, the marriage proved to be a very unhappy one, due in large part to The Crown Prince (as Frederik VI was then) displayed a very bad temperament, excessive drinking and shameless womanizing. Princess Caroline Mariane, who was described as incurably shy and nervous, lacked the ability to serve as a calming influence over her consort. After a visit to her parents in Germany in 1844, Caroline Mariane refused to return to Denmark. The divorce was completed in 1846.

On August 7, 1850 in Frederiksborg Palace, he morganatically married Louise Christina Rasmussen, whom he created Landgravine Danner in 1850 a milliner and former ballet dancer who had for many years been his acquaintance or mistress, the natural daughter of Gotthilf L. Køppen and of Juliane Caroline Rasmussen. This marriage seems to have been happy, although it aroused great moral indignation among the nobility and the bourgeoisie.

After three marriages without any issue it created a succession crisis as there was no clear heir to succeed King Frederik VII.

Also at stake was the future of the duchies of Schleswig (a Danish fief) and of Holstein and Lauenburg (German fiefs) which were joined by personal union with the Kingdom of Denmark. However, since Frederik VII of Denmark was childless, a change in dynasty was imminent and the lines of succession for the duchies and Denmark diverged.

London Protocol.

On May 8, 1852, after the First War of Schleswig, an agreement called the London Protocol was signed. This international treaty was the revision of an earlier protocol, which had been ratified on August 2, 1850, by the major German powers of Austria and Prussia.

The second London Protocol was recognised by the five major European powers—Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, and the United Kingdom—as well as by the Baltic Sea powers of Denmark and Sweden. The aim of this Protocol was to determine the future of the Schleswig-Holstein duchies and find a suitable heir to the Danish throne.

The Protocol affirmed the integrity of the Danish federation as a “European necessity and standing principle”.

That meant that, contrary to the Protocol, the new king of Denmark would not also be the new Duke of Holstein and Lauenburg. So for this purpose, the line of succession to the duchies was modified. Further, it was affirmed that the duchies were to remain as independent entities, and that Schleswig would have no greater constitutional affinity to Denmark than Holstein did.

In 1851, Russian Emperor Nicholas I had recommended that Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (born 1818) should be advanced in the Danish succession.

Prince Christian was a younger son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Glücksburg.

Christian grew up in the Duchy of Schleswig as a Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448. Following the early death of the father in 1831, Christian grew up in Denmark and was educated at the Military Academy of Copenhagen. After unsuccessfully seeking the hand of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in marriage, he married his double second cousin, Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel, in 1842.

Prince Christian of Glücksburg had also been a foster grandson of the royal couple King Frederik VI and Queen Marie Sophie, and thus was well known at the royal court. Prince Christian was a nephew of Queen Marie Sophie and descended from a first cousin of Frederik VI. He was brought up as a Dane, having lived in Danish-speaking lands of the royal dynasty and never bore arms for German interests against Denmark, as had other princes of the House of Glücksburg and the House of Augustenburg.

King Christian IX of Denmark

A further justification for this choice was Christian’s marriage in 1842 to Louise of Hesse-Cassel, who was a daughter of the closest female relative of Frederik VII. Louise’s mother and elder siblings renounced their rights to the Danish throne in favor of Louise and her husband.

Being of the House of Glücksburg made him a relatively attractive royal candidate from the Danish viewpoint since, as a descendant of Frederik III, he was eligible to succeed in Denmark, although not first-in-line. He was also, but separately, eligible to inherit the dual duchies, but was not first-in-line

This proposal to have Prince Christian was confirmed by the London Protocol on 8 May 1852, when Prince Christian was chosen to follow Frederik VII’s aging uncle Ferdinand in the line of succession.

The decision of the London Protocol was implemented by the Danish Law of Succession of July 15, 1853 entitled Royal Ordinance settling the Succession to the Crown on Prince Christian of Glücksburg. This designated him as second-in-line to the Danish throne, following the elderly Prince Ferdinand. Consequently, Prince Christian and his family were granted the titles of Prince and Princess of Denmark and the style of Highness.

Frederick VII died in Glücksburg on November 15, 1863 following an attack of erysipelas and was interred in Roskilde Cathedral. Prince Christian took the throne as King Christian IX.

In November 1863, Friedrich of Augustenborg claimed the twin-duchies in succession to Frederik VII of Denmark, who also was the last king of Denmark who, by primogeniture, was also sovereign Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, but whose death extinguished the patriline of Denmark’s hereditary Oldenburg kings. The resulting divergence of hereditary claims to the duchies eventually developed into the Second War of Schleswig.

Christian IX’s six children with Louise married into other European royal families, earning him the sobriquet “the father-in-law of Europe”. Among his descendants are Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Philippe of Belgium, King Harald V of Norway, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, former King Constantine II of Greece, and King Felipe VI of Spain.

Happy Birthday to His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain

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House of Bourbon, Infanta Leonor, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Kingdom of Spain, Princess of Astuiras, Queen Sofia of Spain

Felipe VI (Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is the King of Spain. He ascended the throne on June 19, 2014 upon the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos I.

His mother is Queen Sofía, born Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark, she is the first child of King Paul of Greece and Frederica of Hanover. King Felipe VI has two elder sisters, Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, and Infanta Cristina.

His full baptismal name, Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos, consists of the names of the first Bourbon king of Spain (Felipe V), his grandfathers (Infante Juan of Spain and King Paul of Greece), his great-grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and de Todos los Santos (“of all the Saints”) as is customary among the Bourbons.

His godparents were his paternal grandfather Juan and his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain.

Additionally, he is the third cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, King Harald V of Norway, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

In 2004, Felipe married TV news journalist Letizia Ortiz with whom he has two daughters, Infanta Leonor, Princess of Astuiras (his heir presumptive) and Infanta Sofía.

In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces with military rank of Captain General, and also plays the role of the supreme representation of Spain in international relations.

Upon ascending the throne, Felipe assumed the same titles held by his father. If the former Kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre had separate naming styles, he would also be known as Felipe V of Aragon and Felipe VIII of Navarre along with Felipe VI of Castile.

Soon I will post a blog entry on the history titles of the Spanish monarch.

Happy 83rd birthday to Queen Sofía of Spain.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 20, 1685: Death of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor.

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Empress Maria-Theresa of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Holy Roman Empire, House of Habsburg, King Carlos II of Spain, King Felipe VI of Spain, Pragmatic Sanction, War of the Austrian Succession, War of the Spanish Succession

Charles VI (October 1, 1685 – October 20, 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I. Archduke Charles was the second son of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and of his third wife, Princess Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, Archduke Charles was born on October 1, 1685. His tutor was Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein.

Following the death of Carlos II of Spain, in 1700, without any direct heir, Charles declared himself King of Spain—both were members of the House of Habsburg. The ensuing War of the Spanish Succession, which pitted France’s candidate, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, Louis XIV of France’s grandson, against Austria’s Charles, lasted for almost 14 years. The Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of England, Scotland, Ireland and the majority of the Holy Roman Empire endorsed Charles’s candidature.

Carlos III, as he was known, disembarked in his kingdom in 1705, and stayed there for six years, only being able to exercise his rule in Catalonia, until the death of his brother, Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor; he returned to Vienna to assume the imperial crown.

Not wanting to see Austria and Spain in personal union again, the new Kingdom of Great Britain withdrew its support from the Austrian coalition, and the war culminated with the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt three years later. The former, ratified in 1713, recognised the Duke of Anjou as King Felipe V of Spain; however, the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Milan, the Austrian Netherlands and the Kingdom of Sardinia – all previously possessions of the Spanish—were ceded to Austria.

To prevent a union of Spain and France, Felipe was forced to renounce his right to succeed his grandfather’s throne. Charles was extremely discontented at the loss of Spain, and as a result, he mimicked the staid Spanish Habsburg court ceremonial, adopting the dress of a Spanish monarch, which, according to British historian Edward Crankshaw, consisted of “a black doublet and hose, black shoes and scarlet stockings”.

Charles’s father and his advisors went about arranging a marriage for him. Their eyes fell upon Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the eldest daughter of Louis Rudolph, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and his wife Princess Christine Louise of Oettingen-Oettingen. On August 1, 1708, in Barcelona, Charles married her by proxy. 

Succession to the Habsburg dominions

When Charles succeeded his brother in 1711, he was the last male Habsburg heir in the direct line. Since Habsburg possessions were subject to Salic law, barring women from inheriting in their own right, his own lack of a male heir meant they would be divided on his death.

The Pragmatic Sanction of April 19, 1713 abolished male-only succession in all Habsburg realms and declared their lands indivisible, although Hungary only approved it in 1723.

Charles had three daughters, Maria Theresa (1717-1780), Maria Anna (1718-1744) and Maria Amalia (1724-1730) but no surviving sons.

When Maria Theresa was born, he disinherited his nieces and the daughters of his elder brother, Emperor Joseph I, Maria Josepha and Maria Amalia. It was this act that undermined the chances of a smooth succession and obliged Charles to spend the rest of his reign seeking to ensure enforcement of the Sanction from other European powers.

In total, Great Britain, France, Saxony-Poland, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Venice, States of the Church, Prussia, Russia, Denmark, Savoy-Sardinia, Bavaria, and the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire recognised the sanction. France, Spain, Saxony-Poland, Bavaria and Prussia later reneged. Charles died in 1740, sparking the War of the Austrian Succession, which plagued his successor, Maria Theresa, for eight years.

At the time of Charles’ death, the Habsburg lands were saturated in debt; the exchequer contained a mere 100,000 florins; and desertion was rife in Austria’s sporadic army, spread across the Empire in small, ineffective barracks. Contemporaries expected that Austria-Hungary would wrench itself from the Habsburg yoke upon his death.

Despite the predicaments faced by Charles, the territorial extent of his Habsburg lands was at its greatest since the days of his cognatic ancestor Emperor Charles V, reaching the Southern Mediterranean and including the Duchy of Milan.

The Emperor, after a hunting trip across the Hungarian border in “a typical day in the wettest and coldest October in memory”, fell seriously ill at the Favorita Palace, Vienna, and he died on October 20, 1740 in the Hofburg. In his Memoirs Voltaire wrote that Charles’ death was caused by consuming a meal of death cap mushrooms. Charles’ life opus, the Pragmatic Sanction, was ultimately in vain.

Maria Theresa was forced to resort to arms to defend her inheritance from the coalition of Prussia, Bavaria, France, Spain, Saxony and Poland—all party to the sanction—who assaulted the Austrian frontier weeks after her father’s death. During the ensuing War of the Austrian Succession, Maria Theresa saved her crown and most of her territory but lost the mineral-rich Duchy of Silesia to Prussia and the Duchy of Parma to Spain.

This date in History: November 22, 1975. Juan Carlos becomes the King of Spain.

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Alfonso XIII of Spain, Fransisco Franco, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Kingdom of Spain, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen Sofia of Spain

Juan Carlos I (Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born January 5, 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from November 1975 until his abdication in June 2014.

Juan Carlos was born to Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in Rome, Italy, where his grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain and other members of the Spanish royal family lived in exile following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. He was baptized as Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias. He was given the name Juan Carlos after his father and maternal grandfather, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Generalísimo Francisco Franco, the Spanish head of state who initiated the civil war by means of a coup d’état against the constitutional republic in 1936, took over the government of Spain after his victory in the Spanish Civil War in 1939, and in 1947 Spain’s status as a monarchy was affirmed and a law was passed allowing Franco to choose his successor. Juan Carlos’s father, Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona was the third son of King Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenie (daughter of Princess Beatrice, the fifth daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) who had renounced his claims to the throne in January 1941. Juan was seen by Franco to be too liberal and in 1969 was bypassed in favour of Juan Carlos as Franco’s successor as head of state.

Juan Carlos spent his early years in Italy and came to Spain in 1947 to continue his studies. After completing his secondary education in 1955, he began his military training and entered the General Military Academy at Zaragoza. Later, he attended the Naval Military School, the General Academy of the Air, and finished his tertiary education at the University of Madrid.

In 1962, Juan Carlos married in Athens Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark daughter of King Pavlos of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover (granddaughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II) first in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Church of St. Denis, followed by a Greek Orthodox ceremony at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. She converted from her Greek Orthodox religion to Roman Catholicism. The couple had two daughters and a son together: Elena, Cristina, and Felipe.

Due to Franco’s declining health, Juan Carlos first began periodically acting as Spain’s head of state in the summer of 1974. Franco died in November the following year and Juan Carlos became king on November 22, 1975, two days after Franco’s death, the first reigning monarch since 1931; although his exiled father, Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona did not formally renounce his claims to the throne in favor of his son until 1977.

Expected to continue Franco’s legacy, Juan Carlos, however, soon after his accession introduced reforms to dismantle the Francoist regime and begin the Spanish transition to democracy. This led to the approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum, which re-established a constitutional monarchy. In 1981, Juan Carlos played a major role in preventing a coup that attempted to revert Spain to Francoist government in the King’s name. In 2008, he was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America.

Hailed for his role in Spain’s transition to democracy, the King and the monarchy’s reputation began to suffer after controversies surrounding his family arose, exacerbated by an elephant-hunting trip he undertook during a time of financial crisis in Spain where he broke his hip and was with his alleged mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Abdication

Spanish news media speculated about the King’s future in early 2014, following public criticism over his taking an elephant hunting safari in Botswana and an embezzlement scandal involving his daughter Cristina, and her husband Inaki Urdangarin. The King’s chief of staff in a briefing denied that the ‘abdication option’ was being considered. On the morning of June 2, 2014, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made a televised announcement that the King had told him of his intention to abdicate. Later, the King delivered a televised address and announced that he would abdicate the throne in favour of the Prince of Asturias.

Royal officials described the King’s choice as a personal decision which he had been contemplating since his 76th birthday at the start of the year. The King reportedly said, “No queremos que mi hijo se marchite esperando como el príncipe Carlos.” (English: “I do not want my son to wither waiting like Prince Charles.”) As required by the Spanish constitution, any abdication would be settled by means of an organic law. A draft law was passed with 299 in favour, 19 against and 23 abstaining.

On June 18, he signed the organic law passed by parliament several hours before his abdication took effect. The Prince of Asturias was enthroned on June 19, 2014, as King Felipe VI of Spain and the new Kings daughter, Leonor became the new Princess of Asturias.

Juan Carlos thus became the fourth European monarch to abdicate in just over a year, following Pope Benedict XVI (February 28, 2013), Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (April 30, 2013), and King Albert II of Belgium (July 21, 2013).

Since his abdication King Juan Carlos has retained, by courtesy, the title and style of King that he enjoyed during his reign.

Absolute Primogeniture and future Queen Regnants in Europe: Part II.

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Duchess of Brabant, Duke of Cambridge, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Philippe of the Belgians, Lenor of Spain, Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, Princess Amalia of Nassau, Princess Carlotte of Cambridge, Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Elisabeth, Princess of Asturias, Princess of Orange, Willem-Alexander of the netherlands

Part II

Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange was born on December 7, 2003 in the HMC Bronovo in The Hague, the first child of the then Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima (now King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima).

The Netherlands is used to female monarch. Since Queen Wilhelmina ascended the throne in 1890 with the death of her father, King Willem IV, until the accession of King Willem-Alexander in 2013 upon the abdication of his mother his mother Queen Beatrix, the Netherlands has had women reigning queens for a total of 123 years. Once Willem-Alexander’s reign ends and Princess Catharina-Amalia becomes queen the Netherlands will once again have a queen reigning over the nation.

The monarchy of the Netherlands passes by right of succession to the heirs of King Willem I of the Netherlands. The heir is determined through two mechanisms: absolute cognatic primogeniture and proximity of blood. The Netherlands established absolute cognatic primogeniture instead of male preference primogeniture by law in 1983. Proximity of blood is a topic for another day.

Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant was born October 25, 2001 and is the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. The eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, she acquired her position after her grandfather King Albert II abdicated in favour of her father on 21 July 2013.

In 2003, ten years prior to Elisabeth’s birth, a new act of succession was put into effect which introduced absolute primogeniture, meaning that Elisabeth comes first in the line of succession because she is the eldest child. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Belgium’s first queen regnant. The Belgian monarchy descends from the German House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha whose succession was governed by Salic-Primogeniture which also became the rules governing the succession to the Belgian throne. In 1991 the act of succession was passed which established absolute (gender-neutral) primogeniture, altering the order of succession from “eldest son” to “eldest child”. This is the first example of a crown going from Salic-Primogeniture to absolute cognatic primogeniture.

Leonor, Princess of Asturias born 31 October 2005, is the heir presumptive to the throne of the Kingdom of Spain as the elder child of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. In addition to the official title of Princess of Asturias, she bears the historical titles of Princess of Girona, Princess of Viana, Duchess of Montblanc, Countess of Cerveraand Lady of Balaguer. If Leonor ascended the throne, she would be Spain’s first queen regnant since Isabella II, who reigned from 1833 to 1868.

The Spanish monarchy is the only existing European monarchy that doesn’t operate under absolute cognatic primogeniture. Instead the Spanish monarchy operates under a system of male-preference cognatic primogeniture, meaning that Leonor, as the elder of Felipe’s two daughters, is first in line to inherit the throne. Under the current law, however, if her father has a legitimate son while still being king, Leonor would be displaced in the line of succession and again become an infanta. There have been discussions about changing the succession law to absolute primogeniture, allowing for the inheritance of the eldest child, regardless of sex; however, the birth of Leonor, followed by that of her younger sister Sofía, stalled these plans. Despite a change from male-preference to absolute primogeniture for Spanish titles of nobility in 2009, as of 2019 no legislation has been passed affecting the succession to the throne.

This concludes the women who will be Queen Regnants in the future. Since the majority of the European monarchies have changed their succession laws to absolute cognatic primogeniture, I’d like to mention three princesses that were effected by this change.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Succession to the throne was governed by Salic law, as dictated by the Nassau Family Pact, first adopted on 30 June 1783. The right to reign over Luxembourg was until June 2011 passed by agnatic-cognatic primogeniture within the House of Nassau, as stipulated under the 1815 Final Act of the Congress of Vienna and as confirmed by the 1867 Treaty of London. The Nassau Family Pact itself can be amended by the usual legislative process, having been so on 10 July 1907 to exclude the Count of Merenberg branch of the House, which was descended from a morganatic marriage.

An heir apparent may be granted the style ‘Hereditary Grand Duke’. The current heir apparent is Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume. In June 2011, agnatic primogeniture was dropped in favour of absolute primogeniture, allowing any legitimate female descendants within the House of Nassau to be included in the line of Succession.

Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, born 16 February 1991 is the fourth child and only daughter of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. She has three older brothers: Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Prince Félix, and Prince Louis, and one younger: Prince Sébastien. She was excluded from the line of succession from birth until 2011, when absolute primogeniture was adopted in respect to Grand Duke Henri’s descendants, she is currently fifth in the line. Prince Louis gave up his place in the line of succession when he married Tessy Antony.

Princess Amalia of Nassau was born June 15, 2014 the eldest child of Prince Félix and Princess Claire of Luxembourg. She is the only granddaughter and third grandchild of Grand Duke Henri. She is currently third in the line of succession, behind her paternal uncle Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and her father. She has a brother, Prince Liam of Nassau. She was the first princess of Luxembourg to be born with hereditary rights to the crown after the change to absolute cognatic primogeniture in 2011.

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge was born May 2, 2015 is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. She is fourth in the line of succession to the British throne. Prince Charlotte is fourth in the line of succession to the British throne, after her grandfather, father, and elder brother. Due to the implementation of the Perth Agreement, which replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture, she did not move down the line of succession when her younger brother, Prince Louis of Cambridge, was born on April 23, 2018; this makes her the first elder sister of a British prince to be ranked above him in the line of succession.

King Felipe VI of Spain & The Kaisers Daughter: Did they Meet, Part II.

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Duke of Kent, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, George III, Juan Carlos of Spain, King Felipe VI of Spain, rince Edward

In 2012 I did a post about royals from different eras who actually did meet. As I look at genealogy charts it is easy to associate a particular person with one era. However, since many of these royals have lived long lives they often overlap with royals from other eras. I think of Queen Victoria who died in the arms of her son, Edward VII, and her grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1901, yet also remember she was born in the last years of the reign of her grandfather King George III who died in 1820! No, Queen Victoria was never presented to her grandfather who was blind and suffering from dementia at the time.

Incidentally, George III, who was born in 1738, was a third cousin to King Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia. This made Kaiser Wilhelm II a great-great grandson to both King George III of Great Britain and King Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia. Continuing this theme of royals that knew each other and overlap, the Kaiser’s daughter, Princess Victoria-Louise, Duchess of Brunswick, has a unique connection to the knew king of Spain, Felipe VI. First of all, the Duchess of Brunswick is the Spanish king’s great grandmother. Princess Victoria-Louise married her Hanoverian cousin, Ernst-August of Hanover, in 1913 when the last gathering of European royals occurred before World War I.

Husband and wife were cousins through their descent from King George III of Great Britain. Victoria-Louise was descended from George III through her father, the Kaiser, whose grandmother, Queen Victoria, was the granddaughter of King George III, via George III’s 4th son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.  Ernst-August of Hanover traces his lineage to George III via George’s 5th son, King Ernst-August I of Hanover (1837-1851). The king of Hanover had a son, Georg V (1851-1866), who lost his throne in the war between Austria and Prussia in 1866. Georg V had a son, Ernst-August, Crown Prince of Hanover, who resumed his British title, Duke of Cumberland, and married Princess Thyra of Denmark (sister to Edward VII’s spouse, Alexandra of Denmark) and it was their son, Ernst-August, who married the Kaiser’s daughter in 1913. Ernst-August was given the Duchy of Brunswick to repair the rift between the two families when Hanover lost its throne in the Prussian war.

Ernst-August, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Victoria-Louise had one daughter, Fredericka of Hanover, who married King Pavlos of Greece in 1938. They had three children. The eldest son is Constantine II, who was King of Greece from 1964-1973 and now lives in exile in Britain. Their eldest child was Princess Sophia who married Juan Carlos de Bourbon in 1962. Juan-Carlos was the King of Spain from 1975 until June of last year, 2014. His son, King Felipe VI, was born in 1968. Princess Victoria-Louise of Prussia was therefore the great-grandmother of Spain’s current king, Felipe VI. Since Victoria Louise lived till 1980 and was the longest surviving child of Kaiser Wilhelm II, she did meet and get to know her great-grandson. In her memoir, The Kaiser’s Daughter, there is a picture of Victoria Louise with her grandchildren (Sophia of Spain and Constantine II of Greece) and great grand children…including Spain’s new king, Felipe VI.

It is amazing how we can span the doors of time to our modern Spanish king and the old German Empire of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Survival of Monarchies

Tags

20th Century, Absolute Monarchy, Austrian Empire, Emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, German Empire, King Felipe VI of Spain, King of Hungary, King of Prussia, Kingdom of England, Monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, World War I, World War ii

This is an introduction to a new series.

Emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria, King of Hungary.
Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, King of Prussia
Emperor Nicholas II of Russia
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Queen Wilhelmina V of the Netherlands.
King Christian IX of Denmark
King Alfonso XIII of Spain
King Carlos I of Portugal and the Algarves
King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway
King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy
King Otto of Bavaria
King Albrecht of Saxony
King Wilhelm II of Württemberg
King George I of Greece
King Alexander I of Serbia
King Carol I of Romania

King Leopold II of Belgium
Grand Duke Friedrich of Baden
Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mechlenburg-Schwerin
Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Grand Duke Ernst-Ludwig of Hesse and By Rhine
Grand Duke Adolphus of Luxembourg

Duke Carl-Eduard of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Prince Johann II of Liechtenstein
Prince Albert I of Monaco
Pope Leo XIII Sovereign of the Vatican City

Prince-Grand Master Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

 

This is a list of the monarchs who were on their throne on January 1, 1901 the day the 20th century began. By the end of the 20th century this list would be much shorter. The majority of thrones were lost after World War I and then again after World War II. This series is going to examine a hypothesis that I have. It seems the more autocratic and Conservative a monarchy was the more difficult it was for them to change and adapt to the changes within their nations. On the other hand, the more Liberal a state was, where the monarch ruled with a constitution, the more adaptable they were and willing to adjust to the changes within their nations and thus survive.

I will be examining the two more liberal monarchies, The United Kingdom and Denmark, to see how these more Liberal states survived, and I will examine the three large Empires of Europe, Germany, Austria and Russia to see how these Conservative regimes collapsed. I will start at a point in their histories where each state was more autocratic and conservative and how they each adapted or resisted the changing social and political movements that happened in European history.

Next Friday I will begin this series with England/The United Kingdom

I will leave you with a list of monarchies that thrive as of July, 2014.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
King Felipe VI of Spain
King Philippe of Belgium
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
King Harald V of Norway
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg
Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein
Prince Albert II of Monaco
Pope Francis, Sovereign of the Vatican City

Prince-Grand Master Matthew Festing of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta