November 17, 1558: Death of Mary I, Queen of England and Ireland. Part II.

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Carlos I of Spain, Charles V Holy Roman Empire, Felipe II of Spain, King of Naples, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Ireland, Mary I of England, Mary Tudor, Philip II of Spain

Infante Felpie of Spain was unhappy at the conditions imposed on him in his marriage to Queen Mary, but he was ready to agree for the sake of securing the marriage. He had no amorous or romantic feelings toward Mary and sought the marriage for its political and strategic gains; Felipe’s aide Ruy Gómez de Silva wrote to a correspondent in Brussels, “the marriage was concluded for no fleshly consideration, but in order to remedy the disorders of this kingdom and to preserve the Low Countries.”

To elevate his son to Mary’s rank, Felipe’s father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ceded to Felipe the crown of Naples as well as his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Therefore, Mary became Queen of Naples and titular Queen of Jerusalem upon marriage.

Their wedding at Winchester Cathedral on July 25, 1554 took place just two days after their first meeting. Felipe could not speak English, and so they spoke in a mixture of Spanish, French, and Latin.

False Pregancy

In September 1554, Mary stopped menstruating. She gained weight, and felt nauseated in the mornings. For these reasons, almost the entirety of her court, including her doctors, believed her to be pregnant. Parliament passed an act making Felipe regent in the event of Mary’s death in childbirth.

In the last week of April 1555, Elizabeth was released from house arrest, and called to court as a witness to the birth, which was expected imminently. According to Giovanni Michieli, the Venetian ambassador, Felipe may have planned to marry Elizabeth in the event of Mary’s death in childbirth, but in a letter to his brother-in-law, Maximilian of Austria, Felipe expressed uncertainty as to whether his wife was pregnant.

Thanksgiving services in the diocese of London were held at the end of April after false rumours that Mary had given birth to a son spread across Europe. Through May and June, the apparent delay in delivery fed gossip that Mary was not pregnant. Susan Clarencieux revealed her doubts to the French ambassador, Antoine de Noailles.

Mary continued to exhibit signs of pregnancy until July 1555, when her abdomen receded. Michieli dismissively ridiculed the pregnancy as more likely to “end in wind rather than anything else”. It was most likely a false pregnancy, perhaps induced by Mary’s overwhelming desire to have a child.

Elizabeth remained at court until October, apparently restored to favour. In the absence of any children, Philip was concerned that one of the next claimants to the English throne after his sister-in-law was the Queen of Scots, who was betrothed to the Dauphin, François of France. Felipe persuaded his wife that Elizabeth should marry his cousin Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, to secure the Catholic succession and preserve the Habsburg interest in England, but Elizabeth refused to comply and parliamentary consent was unlikely.

In the month following her accession, Mary issued a proclamation that she would not compel any of her subjects to follow her religion, but by the end of September 1553, leading Protestant churchmen—including John Bradford, John Rogers, John Hooper, Hugh Latimer, and Thomas Cranmer—were imprisoned.

Mary’s first Parliament, which assembled in early October, declared the marriage of her parents valid and abolished Edward’s religious laws. Church doctrine was restored to the form it had taken in the 1539 Six Articles of Henry VIII, which (among other things) re-affirmed clerical celibacy. Married priests were deprived of their benefices.

Mary had always rejected the break with Rome instituted by her father and the establishment of Protestantism by her brother’s regents. Philip persuaded Parliament to repeal Henry’s religious laws, thus returning the English church to Roman jurisdiction. Reaching an agreement took many months and Mary and Pope Julius III had to make a major concession: the confiscated monastery lands were not returned to the church but remained in the hands of their influential new owners. By the end of 1554, the pope had approved the deal, and the Heresy Acts were revived.

Under the Heresy Acts, numerous Protestants were executed in the Marian persecutions. Around 800 rich Protestants, including John Foxe, fled into exile. The first executions occurred over a period of five days in early February 1555: John Rogers on February 4,:Laurence Saunders on February 8, and Rowland Taylor and John Hooper on February 9. Thomas Cranmer, the imprisoned archbishop of Canterbury, was forced to watch Bishops Ridley and Latimer being burned at the stake.

Cranmer recanted, repudiated Protestant theology, and rejoined the Catholic faith. Under the normal process of the law, he should have been absolved as a repentant. Mary, however, refused to reprieve him. On the day of his burning, he dramatically withdrew his recantation. In total, 283 were executed, most by burning. The burnings proved so unpopular that even Alfonso de Castro, one of Felipe’s own ecclesiastical staff, condemned them and another adviser, Simon Renard, warned him that such “cruel enforcement” could “cause a revolt”.

Mary persevered with the policy, which continued until her death and exacerbated anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish feeling among the English people. The victims of the persecutions became lauded as martyrs.

November 17, 1558: Death of Mary I, Queen of England and Ireland. Part I.

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Henry VII of England, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Ireland, Lady Jane Grey, Lord Gilford Dudley, Mary I of England, Mary Tudor, Parliament, Philip II of Spain, Wyatt’s Rebellion

Mary I (February 18, 1516 – November 17, 1558), also known as Mary Tudor and “Bloody Mary” by her Protestant opponents, was the Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death. She is best known for her vigorous attempt to reverse the English Reformation, which had begun during the reign of her father, Henry VIII. Her attempt to restore to the Church the property confiscated in the previous two reigns was largely thwarted by parliament, but during her five-year reign, Mary had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions.

Mary was born at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, England. She was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon to survive infancy. Her mother had suffered many miscarriages. Before Mary’s birth, four previous pregnancies had resulted in a stillborn daughter and three short-lived or stillborn sons, including Henry, Duke of Cornwall.

Despite his affection for Mary, Henry VIII was deeply disappointed that his marriage had produced no sons. By the time Mary was nine years old, it was apparent that Henry and Catherine would have no more children, leaving Henry without a legitimate male heir. In 1525, Henry sent Mary to the border of Wales to preside, presumably in name only, over the Council of Wales and the Marches.

She was given her own court based at Ludlow Castle and many of the royal prerogatives normally reserved for the Prince of Wales. Vives and others called her the Princess of Wales, although she was never technically invested with the title. She appears to have spent three years in the Welsh Marches, making regular visits to her father’s court, before returning permanently to the home counties around London in mid-1528.

Throughout Mary’s childhood, Henry negotiated potential future marriages for her. When she was only two years old, she was promised to François, the infant son of King François I of France, but the contract was repudiated after three years. In 1522, at the age of six, she was instead contracted to marry her 22-year-old first cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

However, the engagement was broken off within a few years by Charles with Henry’s agreement. Cardinal Wolsey, Henry’s chief adviser, then resumed marriage negotiations with the French, and Henry suggested that Mary marry the Dauphin’s father, King François I himself, who was eager for an alliance with England.

A marriage treaty was signed which provided that Mary marry either François I or his second son Henri, Duke of Orleans, but Wolsey secured an alliance with France without the marriage. In 1528 Wolsey’s agent Thomas Magnus discussed the idea of her marriage to James V of Scotland with the Scottish diplomat Adam Otterburn.

Accession

On July 6, 1553, at the age of 15, Edward VI died from a lung infection, possibly tuberculosis. He did not want the crown to go to Mary, because he feared she would restore Catholicism and undo his reforms as well as those of Henry VIII, and so he planned to exclude her from the line of succession.

Contradicting the Succession Act, which restored Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession, Edward named Dudley’s daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey, the granddaughter of Henry VIII’s younger sister, Mary, as his successor.

On July 10, 1553, Lady Jane was proclaimed queen by Dudley and his supporters, and on the same day Mary’s letter to the council arrived in London. By July, 12, Mary and her supporters had assembled a military force at Framlingham Castle, Suffolk. Dudley’s support collapsed, and Jane was deposed on July 19. She and Dudley were imprisoned in the Tower of London. Mary rode triumphantly into London on August 3, 1553, on a wave of popular support. She was accompanied by her half-sister Elizabeth and a procession of over 800 nobles and gentlemen.

Mary understood that the young Lady Jane was essentially a pawn in Dudley’s scheme, and Dudley was the only conspirator of rank executed for high treason in the immediate aftermath of the coup. Lady Jane and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, though found guilty, were kept under guard in the Tower rather than immediately executed, while Lady Jane’s father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, was released.

At age 37, Mary turned her attention to finding a husband and producing an heir, which would prevent the Protestant Elizabeth (still next-in-line under the terms of Henry VIII’s will and the Act of Succession of 1544) from succeeding to the throne. Edward Courtenay and Reginald Pole were both mentioned as prospective suitors, but her cousin Charles V suggested she marry his only son, Infante Felipe of Spain. Felipe had a son from a previous marriage and was heir apparent to vast territories in Continental Europe and the New World. As part of the marriage negotiations, a portrait of Felipe, by Titian, was sent to her in the latter half of 1553.

When Mary insisted on marrying Felipe , insurrections broke out. Thomas Wyatt the younger led a force from Kent to depose Mary in favour of Elizabeth, as part of a wider conspiracy now known as Wyatt’s rebellion, which also involved the Duke of Suffolk, the father of Lady Jane. Mary declared publicly that she would summon Parliament to discuss the marriage, and if Parliament decided that the marriage was not to the advantage of the kingdom, she would refrain from pursuing it. On reaching London, Wyatt was defeated and captured. Wyatt, the Duke of Suffolk, his daughter Lady Jane, and her husband Guildford Dudley were executed.

Mary was—excluding the brief, disputed reigns of the Empress Matilda and Lady Jane Grey—England’s first queen regnant. Further, under the English common law doctrine of jure uxoris, the property and titles belonging to a woman became her husband’s upon marriage, and it was feared that any man she married would thereby become King of England in fact and in name. While Mary’s grandparents, Fernando and Isabella, had retained sovereignty of their own realms during their marriage, there was no precedent to follow in England.

Under the terms of Queen Mary’s Marriage Act, Felipe was to be styled “King of England”, all official documents (including Acts of Parliament) were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple, for Mary’s lifetime only. England would not be obliged to provide military support to Felipe’s father in any war, and Felipe could not act without his wife’s consent or appoint foreigners to office in England.

The reign of Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland (1689-1694)

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Glorious Revolution, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Ireland, kings and queens of Scotland, Mary II of England, William III and Mary II

From the Emperor’s Desk: A few days ago I compared the joint rule of Mary I of England and Felipe II of Spain with that of William III and Mary II. Today I’d like to examine the reign of Mary II as co-sovereign with her husband.

Mary II (April 30, 1662 – December 28, 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, King William III-II, from 1689 until her death. Popular histories usually refer to their joint reign as that of William and Mary.

Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Although their father James, Duke of York, was Roman Catholic, Mary and her younger sister Anne were raised as Anglicans at the wishes of their uncle, King Charles II. Charles lacked legitimate children, making Mary second in the line of succession.

William and Mary were first cousins. Her father, James, Duke of York (later King James II-VII) and William’s mother, Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange were siblings, the son and daughter of King Charles I of England.

William and a tearful Mary were married in St James’s Palace by Bishop Henry Compton on November 4, 1677. The bedding ceremony to publicly establish the consummation of the marriage was attended by the royal family, with the King himself drawing the bedcurtains. Mary accompanied her husband on a rough sea crossing back to the Netherlands later that month, after a delay of two weeks caused by bad weather. Rotterdam was inaccessible because of ice, and they were forced to land at the small village of Ter Heijde, and walk through the frosty countryside until met by coaches to take them to Huis Honselaarsdijk.

She was devoted to her husband, but he was often away on campaigns, which led to Mary’s family supposing him to be cold and neglectful. Within months of the marriage Mary was pregnant; however, on a visit to her husband at the fortified city of Breda, she suffered a miscarriage, which may have permanently impaired her ability to have children. She suffered further bouts of illness that may have been miscarriages in mid-1678, early 1679, and early 1680. Her childlessness would be the greatest source of unhappiness in her life.

Charles II died in 1685 and James took the throne as James II-VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, making Mary heir presumptive. James’s attempts at rule by decree and the birth of his son, James Francis Edward Stuart, led to his deposition in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the adoption of the English Bill of Rights.

Mary was upset by the circumstances surrounding the deposition of her father, and was torn between concern for him and duty to her husband, but was convinced that her husband’s actions, however unpleasant, were necessary to “save the Church and State”.

William and Mary became king and queen regnant. The Bill of Rights also confirmed the succession to the throne. Following the death of either William III or Mary II, the other was to continue to reign. Next in the line of succession would be any children of the couple, to be followed by Mary’s sister Anne and her children. Last in the line of succession stood any children William III might have had from any subsequent marriage. Mary completely refrained from interfering in political matters, as had been agreed in the Declaration and Bill of Rights, and as she preferred. However, she did act on her own accord when William III was out of the country.

William III and Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland

Mary mostly deferred to William, a renowned military leader and principal opponent of Louis XIV, when he was in England. She did, however, act alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful, firm, and effective ruler.

From 1690 onwards, William was often absent from England on campaign, each year generally from the spring until the autumn. In 1690, he fought Jacobites (who supported James) in Ireland. William had crushed the Irish Jacobites by 1692, but he continued with campaigns abroad to wage war against France in the Netherlands.

Whilst her husband was away, Mary administered the government of the realm with the advice of a nine-member Cabinet Council. She was not keen to assume power and felt “deprived of all that was dear to me in the person of my husband, left among those that were perfect strangers to me: my sister of a humour so reserved that I could have little comfort from her.”

Anne had quarrelled with William and Mary over money, and the relationship between the two sisters had soured. When her husband was away, Mary acted on her own if his advice was not available; whilst he was in England.

Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland

However, she proved a firm ruler, ordering the arrest of her own uncle, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, for plotting to restore James II to the throne. In January 1692, the influential John Churchill, 1st Earl of Marlborough, was dismissed on similar charges; the dismissal somewhat diminished her popularity and further harmed her relationship with her sister Anne (who was strongly influenced by Churchill’s wife, Sarah). Anne appeared at court with Sarah, obviously supporting the disgraced Churchill, which led to Mary angrily demanding that Anne dismiss Sarah and vacate her lodgings.

Mary was tall (5 foot 11 inches; 180 cm) and apparently fit; she would regularly walk between her palaces at Whitehall and Kensington. In late 1694, however, she contracted smallpox. She sent away anyone who had not previously had the disease, to prevent the spread of infection. Anne, who was once again pregnant, sent Mary a letter saying she would run any risk to see her sister again, but the offer was declined by Mary’s groom of the stole, the Countess of Derby.Mary died at Kensington Palace shortly after midnight on the morning of December 28, at the young age of 32.

William, who had grown increasingly to rely on Mary, was devastated by her death, and told Burnet that “from being the happiest” he was “now going to be the miserablest creature on earth”. While the Jacobites considered her death divine retribution for breaking the fifth commandment (“honour thy father”), she was widely mourned in Britain.

William & Mary proclaimed joint sovereigns.

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Felipe II of Spain, Glorious Revolution, King William III of England, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Ireland, kings and queens of Scotland, Queen Mary I of England, the Netherlands, William and Mary

On this date in History: February 13, 1689. William III-II and Mary II were created joint sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland.

William III (Dutch: Willem; November 4, 1650 – March 8, 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1672 and King of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II. He is sometimes informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as “King Billy.”

William III-II, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic. King of England, Ireland and Scotland.

Mary II (April 30, 1662 – December 28, 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband and first cousin, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death; popular histories usually refer to their joint reign as that of William and Mary. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the adoption of the English Bill of Rights and the deposition of her Roman Catholic father, James II and VII. William became sole ruler upon her death in 1694. He reigned as such until his own death in 1702, when he was succeeded by Mary’s sister Anne.

Mary II, Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

William summoned a Convention Parliament in England, which met on January 22, 1689, to discuss the appropriate course of action following James’s flight. William felt insecure about his position; though his wife preceded him in the line of succession to the throne, he wished to reign as king in his own right, rather than as a mere consort. The only precedent for a joint monarchy in England dated from the 16th century, when Queen Mary I married Felipe II of Spain. Felipe II remained king only during his wife’s lifetime, and restrictions were placed on his power.

William, on the other hand, demanded that he remain as king even after his wife’s death. When the majority of Tory Lords proposed to acclaim her as sole ruler, William threatened to leave the country immediately. Furthermore, Mary, remaining loyal to her husband, refused.

The House of Commons, with a Whig majority, quickly resolved that the throne was vacant, and that it was safer if the ruler were Protestant. There were more Tories in the House of Lords, which would not initially agree, but after William refused to be a regent or to agree to remain king only in his wife’s lifetime, there were negotiations between the two houses and the Lords agreed by a narrow majority that the throne was vacant. The Commons made William accept a Bill of Rights, and, on February 13, 1689, Parliament passed the Declaration of Right, in which it deemed that James, by attempting to flee, had abdicated the government of the realm, thereby leaving the throne vacant.

The Crown was not offered to James’s infant son, who would have been the heir apparent under normal circumstances, but to William III-II and Mary II as joint sovereigns. It was, however, provided that “the sole and full exercise of the regal power be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the names of the said Prince and Princess during their joint lives.”

William III-II and Mary II were crowned together at Westminster Abbey on April 11, 1689 by the Bishop of London, Henry Compton. Normally, the coronation is performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, but the Archbishop at the time, William Sancroft, refused to recognise James’s removal.

William also summoned a Convention of the Estates of Scotland, which met on March 14, 1689 and sent a conciliatory letter, while James sent haughty uncompromising orders, swaying a majority in favour of William. On April 11 the day of the English coronation, the Convention finally declared that James was no longer King of Scotland. William II and Mary II were offered the Scottish Crown; they accepted on May 11.

Charles II: Anniversary of his birth and restoration.

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Charles I of England, Charles II, Charles II of England and Scotland, Declaration of Breda, English Civil War, Henri IV of France, Henrietta Maria de Bourbon, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Ireland, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Louis XIII of France, Louis XIV, Oliver Cromwell

On this date in history: May 29, 1630. The birth of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland. On this date in history, May 29, 1660 the restoration of Charles II.


The future Charles II was born at St James’s Palace on May 29, 1630. His parents were Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland) and Henrietta Maria de Bourbon of France, the youngest daughter of Henri IV, King of France and Navarre and Marie de’ Medici. This made Henrietta Maria the sister of the French king Louis XIII and aunt of Louis XIV. Charles was their second child. Their first son was Charles James, Duke of Cornwall born and died on March 13, 1629.


Charles was baptized in the Chapel Royal, on June 27, 1630 by the Anglican Bishop of London, William Laud. The three kingdoms were experiencing great religious diversity at this time. England was predominantly Anglican, while Scotland was staunchly Presbyterian and Ireland was dominantly Catholic. He was brought up in the care of the Protestant Countess of Dorset, though his godparents included his maternal uncle Louis XIII and his maternal grandmother, Marie de’ Medici, the Dowager Queen of France, both of whom were Catholics. With his mother being Catholic this would heavily influence Charles throughout his life.

Upon his birth Charles automatically became inherited the titles Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay. When he became eight he was designated Prince of Wales, though he was never formally invested. Despite never being formally vested with that title he was officially referred to as the Prince of Wales and is counted as one of the 21 heirs to the throne that borne that prestigious title.


At the end of the Second English Civil (1648–1649) his father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on January 30, 1649. Shortly thereafter the monarchy was officially abolished in England. Charles was publicly proclaimed King Charles II of Scotland on February 5, 1649 in Edinburgh. On the Isle of Jersey on February 17, 1649 in the Royal Square in St. Helier the former Prince of Wales was proclaimed King. Despite the Parliament of Scotland proclaiming Charles II king, England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth, and the country was a de facto republic, led by Oliver Cromwell.


The new king was still willing to fight for his crown. The Parliamentary Army proved to be the greater force and Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. Life was difficult for the king-in-name-only as finances were slim and he relied on the good graces of others.


A political crisis followed the death of Cromwell in 1658. Cromwell’s son, Richard, ruled as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. Richard’s regime soon collapsed and as the three kingdoms teetered on the brink of anarchy, General George Monck, Governor of Scotland under the Cromwells, believed the only one that could restore order was the King. Monck marched south with his army from Scotland and communications with Charles began.

On April 4, 1660, Charles II released the Declaration of Breda, which made known the conditions of his acceptance of the Crown of England, Scotland and Ireland. Monck organised the Convention Parliament, which met for the first time on April 25, 1660. On May 8, 1660, the Convention Parliament declared that King Charles II had reigned as the lawful monarch since the execution of Charles I in January 1649. Charles returned from exile on May 23, 1660. On May 29, 1660, the populace in London acclaimed him as king. It was his 30th Birthday. A new era had begun.

The Royal Wedding

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Actress, American, Edward III of England, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Ireland, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Prince Henry of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, Robert II of Scotland, Royal Family, royal wedding, the prince of Wales

The Royal Wedding between HRH Prince Henry of Wales and Ms Meghan Markle will be this Saturday May 19, 2018 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. This will be a first in the British Royal Family. She will be the first American to marry into the British Royal Family. She is also divorced but she isn’t the first member of the Royal Family to marry someone that has been divorced. Meghan will also be the first member of the Royal Family who will be of mixed race. Meghan is half white and half African American. However, she is not the first member of the British Royal Family of African ancestry. A little more on that later. Personally I am very happy that she will be accepted into the the Royal Family for the days of racism are over.

Here is some background information on Meghan Markle.

Rachel Meghan Markle was born August 4 1981 (ironically the same birthdate as Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon [4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002]) in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Doria Loyce Ragland, a social worker and yoga instructor, lives in View Park–Windsor Hills, California. Her father, Thomas Markle Sr., who lives in Rosarito, Mexico, is a Daytime Emmy Award-winning retired lighting director, whose profession resulted in his young daughter often visiting the set of Married…with Children. Markle’s parents divorced when she was six years old. She has two older paternal half-siblings, Thomas Markle Jr. and Samantha Grant.

Describing her ancestry, Markle said: “My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I’m half black and half white. … I have come to embrace [this and] say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident, mixed-race woman.” Her mother is descended from Africans enslaved in Georgia, and her father from Dutch, English, and Irish settlers.

It also appears that Meghan and Prince Harry have common ancestry. Among her father’s ancestors are Captain Christopher Hussey, King Robert I of Scotland, Sir Philip Wentworth and his wife, Mary Clifford, a descendant of King Edward III of England.

After graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in theatre and international studies in 2003, she played small roles in several American television series. From 2011 to 2018, she portrayed Rachel Zane on the legal drama series Suits. Markle’s film credits include Remember Me and Horrible Bosses.


Markle began a relationship with actor and producer Trevor Engelson in 2004. They married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on September 10, 2011, and divorced in August 2013.

Beginning in June 2016, Markle has been in a relationship with Prince Harry, met on a blind date that a mutual friend set up. The press began to report the relationship in October 2016. On November 8, 2016, the British royal family’s communications secretary released an official statement that addressed a “wave of abuse and harassment” directed toward Markle. The statement described sexism, racism and defamatory stories directed at her, including an unspecified “smear on the front page of a national newspaper”. During a September 2017 interview with Vanity Fair, Markle spoke in public for the first time about her love for Prince Harry.

Later that month, they made their first public appearances together at an official royal engagement at the Invictus Games in Toronto. 
Markle’s engagement to Prince Harry was announced on November 27, 2017. By then, she had met Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s paternal grandmother, several times. The ring Harry gave Markle consists of a large central diamond from Botswana, with two smaller diamonds from the jewellery collection of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. Following the engagement, Markle announced she would retire from acting.

As I said earlier, Meghan may be the first member of the Royal Family of direct mixed race, she is not the first member of the Royal Family to have African ancestry, that distinction goes to Her Serene Highness Princess (Sophia) Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King George III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of Hanover.

HSH Princess Sophia Charlotte was born on May 19, 1744. (May 19 is also the date of the wedding) She was the youngest daughter of Duke Karl-Ludwig-Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1708–1752; known as “Prince of Mirow”) and of his wife Princess Elisabeth-Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1713–1761). Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a small north-German duchy in the Holy Roman Empire.


According to Mario de Valdes y Cocom, Charlotte may have had African ancestry, via descent from Margarita de Castro e Souza, a 15th-century Portuguese noblewoman, who traced her ancestry to King Afonso III of Portugal (1210–1279) and one of his mistresses, Madragana (c. 1230–?).

In a 2009 episode of the PBS TV series, Frontline, Valdes speculated that Scottish painter Allan Ramsay emphasized the Queen’s alleged “mulatto” appearance in his portrait of her to support the anti-slave trade movement, and noted that Baron Stockmar had described the Queen as having a “mulatto face” in his autobiography and that other contemporary sources made similar observations.

Critics of Valdes’s theory point out that Margarita’s and Madragana’s distant perch in the queen’s family tree – nine and 15 generations removed, respectively – makes any African ancestry that they bequeathed to Charlotte negligible and even doubt whether Madragana was black. In addition, Charlotte shared descent from Alfonso and Madragana with a large proportion of Europe’s royalty and nobility.

The House of Windsor has never denied Queen Charlotte’s claimed African ancestry. David Buck, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson, was quoted by the Boston Globe as saying “This has been rumoured for years and years. It is a matter of history.

incidently, Prince Harry is descended twice from Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, via her two sons, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. She is his 6x Great-Grandmother from the former Duke of Kent and a 5x Great-Grandmother from his descent from the former Duke of Cambridge.

Tomorrow, or maybe a day or two later, I will discuss the possible future title for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.