January 8, 1864: Birth of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale.

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Pope Leo XIII, Prince Albert Victor, Prince Albert-Victor of Wales, Prince of Wales, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, Princess Hélène of Orléans, Princess Margaret of Prussia, Princess of Wales, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, The Duke of Clarence and Avondale

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (January 8, 1864 – January 14, 1892)

Prince Albert Victor was born two months prematurely on January 8, 1864 at Frogmore House, Windsor, Berkshire. He was the first child of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and his wife Princess Alexandra of Denmark.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra, with their new-born son, Albert Victor, 1864

Following his grandmother Queen Victoria’s wishes, he was named Albert Victor, after herself and her late husband, Albert. Albert Victor was known to his family, and many later biographers, as “Eddy”. As a grandchild of the reigning British monarch in the male line and a son of the Prince of Wales, he was formally styled His Royal Highness Prince Albert Victor of Wales from birth.

The Prince and Princess of Wales

When young, he travelled the world extensively as a naval cadet, and as an adult he joined the British Army but did not undertake any active military duties.

Prince Albert Victor’s intellect, sexuality, and mental health have been the subject of speculation. Rumours in his time linked him with the Cleveland Street scandal, which involved a homosexual brothel; however, there is no conclusive evidence that he ever went there, or was indeed homosexual.

Prince Albert Victor of Wales

Some authors have argued that he was the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, or that he was otherwise involved in the murders, but contemporaneous documents show that Albert Victor could not have been in London at the time of the murders, and the claim is widely dismissed.

Though he learned to speak Danish, progress in other languages and subjects was slow. Sir Henry Ponsonby thought that Albert Victor might have inherited his mother’s deafness. Albert Victor never excelled intellectually.

Possible physical explanations for Albert Victor’s inattention or indolence in class include absence seizures or his premature birth, which can be associated with learning difficulties, but Lady Geraldine Somerset blamed Albert Victor’s poor education on Dalton, whom she considered uninspiring.

Prince Albert Victor of Wales

On his return from a tour of India, Albert Victor was created Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Earl of Athlone on May 24, 1890, Queen Victoria’s 71st birthday.

Potential brides

Albert Victor with Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, his fiancée, photographed in 1891

In 1889, Albert Victor’s grandmother Queen Victoria expressed her wish that he marry his paternal cousin Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, who was one of her favorite granddaughters.

Princess Alice of Hesse and by Rhine

In Balmoral Castle, he proposed to Alix, but she did not return his affections and refused his offer of engagement. He persisted in trying to convince Alix to marry him, but he finally gave up in 1890 when she sent him a letter in which she told him “how it grieves her to pain him, but that she cannot marry him, much as she likes him as a Cousin.”

In 1894, she married Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, another of Albert Victor’s cousins. Nicholas’s mother, Princess Dagmar of Denmark and Prince Albert Victor’s mother, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, were sisters.

After her proposed match with Alix fell through, Victoria suggested to Albert Victor that he marry another first cousin, Princess Margaret of Prussia.

Princess Margaret of Prussia was the youngest child of Friedrich III, German Emperor, and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom. As such, she was the younger sister of Emperor Wilhelm II and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Princess Margaret of Prussia

On May 19, 1890, she sent him a formal letter in which she expressed her opinions about Margaret’s suitability to become Queen: “Of the few possible Princess (for of course any Lady in Society would never do) I think no one more likely to suit you and the position better than your Cousin Mossy … She is not regularly pretty but she has a very pretty figure, is very amiable and half English with great love for England which you will find in very few if any others.”

Although Albert Victor’s father approved, Queen Victoria’s secretary Henry Ponsonby informed her that Albert Victor’s mother “would object most strongly and indeed has already done so.” Because of Alexandra’s strong anti-German feelings, which she had after Denmark was defeated in a war against Prussia in 1864, she didn’t want any of her children to marry Germans. Nothing came of Queen Victoria’s suggestion.

Princess Margaret married Prince Friedrich Charles of Hesse (formerly Hesse-Cassel), the elected King of Finland, making her the would-be Queen of Finland had he not decided to renounce the throne on December 14, 1918.

By this time however, Albert Victor was falling in love with Princess Hélène of Orléans, a daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, a pretender to the French throne and his wife Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans was the daughter Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain. Antoine was the youngest son of Louis-Philippe I, the last King of France, and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Infanta Luisa Fernanda was the daughter of King Fernando VII of Spain and his fourth wife Princess Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. All four of her grandparents and seven of her eight great-grandparents were members of the French Royal House of Bourbon.

The Count and Countess of Paris and thier children were living in England after being banished from France in 1886.

Princess Hélène of Orléans

At first, Queen Victoria opposed any engagement because Hélène was Roman Catholic. Once Albert Victor and Hélène confided their love to her, the Queen relented and supported the proposed marriage. Hélène offered to convert to the Church of England, and Albert Victor offered to renounce his succession rights to marry her.

To the couple’s disappointment, her father refused to countenance the marriage and was adamant she could not convert. Hélène travelled personally to intercede with Pope Leo XIII, but he confirmed her father’s verdict, and the courtship ended.

When Albert Victor died, his sisters Maud and Louise sympathized with Hélène and treated her, not his fiancée Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, as his true love. Maud told her that “he is buried with your little coin around his neck” and Louise said that he is “yours in death”. Hélène later became Duchess of Aosta.

By 1891, another potential bride, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, was under consideration. Mary was the daughter of Queen Victoria’s first cousin Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck. Queen Victoria was very supportive, considering Mary ideal—charming, sensible and pretty.

The Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck

On December 3, 1891 Albert Victor, to Mary’s “great surprise”, proposed to her at Luton Hoo, the country residence of the Danish ambassador to Britain. The wedding was set for February 27, 1892.

Just as plans for both his marriage to Mary and his appointment as Viceroy of Ireland were under discussion, Albert Victor fell ill with influenza in the pandemic of 1889–1892. He developed pneumonia and died at Sandringham House in Norfolk on 14 January 14, 1892, less than a week after his 28th birthday.

His parents the Prince and Princess of Wales, his sisters Princesses Maud and Victoria, his brother Prince George, his fiancée Princess Mary, her parents the Duke and Duchess of Teck, three physicians (Alan Reeve Manby, Francis Laking and William Broadbent) and three nurses were present. The Prince of Wales’s chaplain, Canon Frederick Hervey, stood over Albert Victor reading prayers for the dying.

The Duke of Clarence and Avondale

The nation was shocked. Shops put up their shutters. The Prince of Wales wrote to Queen Victoria, “Gladly would I have given my life for his”. Princess Mary wrote to Queen Victoria of the Princess of Wales, “the despairing look on her face was the most heart-rending thing I have ever seen.” His younger brother Prince George wrote, “how deeply I did love him; & I remember with pain nearly every hard word & little quarrel I ever had with him & I long to ask his forgiveness, but, alas, it is too late now!”

The Duke of Clarence and Avondale

George took Albert Victor’s place in the line of succession, eventually succeeding to the throne as George V in 1910. Drawn together during their shared period of mourning, Prince George later married Mary himself in 1893. She became queen consort on George’s accession.

Albert Victor’s mother, Alexandra, never fully recovered from her son’s death and kept the room in which he died as a shrine.

January 7, 1536: Death of Infanta Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England

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Anne Boleyn, Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur Tudor, Infanta Catherine of Aragon, King Fernando II of Aragon, King Henry VIII of England and Scotland, Pope Clement VII, Prince of Wales, Queen Catherine of England, Queen Isabella I of Castile, Queen Mary I of England and Ireland, Thomas Cranmer

Infanta Catherine of Aragon (December 16, 1485 – January 7, 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on June 11, 1509 until their annulment on May 23, 1533. She was previously Princess of Wales as the wife of Henry’s elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.

The daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Fernando II of Aragon. Infanta Catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to Prince Arthur, heir apparent to the English throne.

Infanta Catherine of Aragon

They married in 1501, but Arthur died five months later. Catherine spent years in limbo, and during this time, she held the position of ambassador of the Aragonese crown to England in 1507, the first known female ambassador in European history.

She married Arthur’s younger brother, the recently ascended Henry VIII, in 1509. For six months in 1513, she served as regent of England while Henry VIII was in France. During that time the English crushed and defeated a Scottish invasion at the Battle of Flodden, an event in which Catherine played an important part with an emotional speech about English courage and patriotism.

By 1525, Henry VIII was infatuated with Anne Boleyn and dissatisfied that his marriage to Catherine had produced no surviving sons, leaving their daughter Mary as heir presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the throne.

He sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events that led to England’s schism with the Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters.

Portrait of a noblewoman, possibly Mary Tudor c. 1514 or Catherine of Aragon c. 1502, by Michael Sittow. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

On May 23, 1533 Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, sitting in judgement at a special court convened at Dunstable Priory to rule on the validity of Henry’s marriage to Catherine, declared the marriage unlawful, even though Catherine had testified that she and Arthur had never had physical relations. Five days later, on May 28, 1533, Cranmer ruled that Henry VIII and Anne’s marriage was valid.

Until the end of her life, Catherine would refer to herself as Henry’s only lawful wedded wife and England’s only rightful Queen, and her servants continued to address her as such. Henry refused her the right to any title but “Dowager Princess of Wales” in recognition of her position as his brother’s widow.

Catherine went to live at The More Castle, Hertfordshire, late in 1531. After that, she was successively moved to the Royal Palace of Hatfield, Hertfordshire (May to September, 1532), Elsyng Palace, Enfield (September 1532 to February 1533), Ampthill Castle, Bedfordshire (February to July, 1533) and Buckden Towers, Cambridgeshire (July 1533 to May 1534).

She was then finally transferred to Kimbolton Castle, Cambridgeshire where she confined herself to one room, which she left only to attend Mass, dressed only in the hair shirt of the Order of St. Francis, and fasted continuously.

King Henry VIII of England and Ireland

While she was permitted to receive occasional visitors, she was forbidden to see her daughter Mary. They were also forbidden to communicate in writing, but sympathisers discreetly conveyed letters between the two.

Henry offered both mother and daughter better quarters and permission to see each other if they would acknowledge Anne Boleyn as the new Queen; both refused.

In late December 1535, sensing her death was near, Catherine made her will, and wrote to her nephew, the Emperor Charles V, asking him to protect her daughter.

Catherine died at Kimbolton Castle on January 7, 1536. The following day, news of her death reached the king. At the time there were rumours that she was poisoned, possibly by Gregory di Casale.

Queen Catherine of England

According to the chronicler Edward Hall, Anne Boleyn wore yellow for the mourning, which has been interpreted in various ways; Polydore Vergil interpreted this to mean that Anne did not mourn. Chapuys reported that it was King Henry who decked himself in yellow, celebrating the news and making a great show of his and Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth, to his courtiers.

This was seen as distasteful and vulgar by many. Another theory is that the dressing in yellow was out of respect for Catherine as yellow was said to be the Spanish colour of mourning. Certainly, later in the day it is reported that Henry and Anne both individually and privately wept for her death. On the day of Catherine’s funeral, Anne Boleyn miscarried a male child.

Queen Mary I of England and Ireland

Rumours then circulated that Catherine had been poisoned by Anne or Henry, or both. The rumours were born after the apparent discovery during her embalming that there was a black growth on her heart that might have been caused by poisoning. Modern medical experts are in agreement that her heart’s discolouration was not due to poisoning, but to cancer, something which was not understood at the time.

Her daughter Mary would become the first undisputed English queen regnant in 1553.

December 16, 1485: Birth of Infanta Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England.

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Arthur Tudor, Infanta Catherine of Aragon, Kimbolton Castle, King Fernando II of Aragon, Prince of Wales, Princess of Wales, Queen Isabella I of Castile, Queen Mary I of England, Queen of England, Thomas Cromwell

Infanta Catherine of Aragon (December 16, 1485 – January 7, 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on June 11, 1509 until their annulment on May 23, 1533. She was previously Princess of Wales as the wife of Henry’s elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.

The daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Fernando II of Aragon, Infanta Catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to Prince Arthur, heir apparent to the English throne.

Infanta Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England

They married in 1501, but Arthur died five months later. Catherine spent years in limbo, and during this time, she held the position of ambassador of the Aragonese crown to England in 1507, the first known female ambassador in European history.

She married Arthur’s younger brother, the recently ascended King Henry VIII, in 1509. For six months in 1513, she served as regent of England while Henry VIII was in France. During that time the English crushed and defeated a Scottish invasion at the Battle of Flodden, an event in which Catherine played an important part with an emotional speech about English courage and patriotism.

By 1525, Henry VIII was infatuated with Anne Boleyn and dissatisfied that his marriage to Catherine had produced no surviving sons, leaving their daughter Mary as heir presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the throne.

King Henry VIII sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events that led to England’s schism with the Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters.

In 1533 their marriage was consequently declared invalid and Henry VIII married Anne on the judgement of clergy in England, without reference to the pope. Catherine refused to accept Henry as supreme head of the Church in England and considered herself the king’s rightful wife and Queen, attracting much popular sympathy.

Portrait by Juan de Flandes thought to be of 11-year-old Catherine. She resembles her sister Joanna of Castile.

Despite this, Henry acknowledged her only as dowager Princess of Wales. After being banished from court by Henry, Catherine lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, dying there in January 1536 of cancer. The English people held Queen Catherine in high esteem, and her death set off tremendous mourning. Her daughter Mary would become the first undisputed English Queen Regnant in 1553.

Catherine commissioned The Education of a Christian Woman by Juan Luis Vives, who dedicated the book, controversial at the time, to the Queen in 1523.

Portrait of a noblewoman, possibly Mary Tudor c. 1514 or Catherine of Aragon c. 1502, by Michael Sittow. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Such was Catherine’s impression on people that even her adversary Thomas Cromwell said of her, “If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History.”

She successfully appealed for the lives of the rebels involved in the Evil May Day, for the sake of their families, and also won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor. Catherine was a patron of Renaissance humanism, and a friend of the great scholars Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More.

Happy 74th Birthday to His Majesty, the King

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Camilla Parker Bowles, coronation, Duke of Edinburgh, King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Lady Diana Spencer, Prince of Wales, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, The Princes Trust, Westminster Abbey Birthday

King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was born at 21:14 (GMT) on November 14, 1948, during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI. He was the first child of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (later Queen Elizabeth II), and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His parents would have three additional children, Anne (born 1950), Andrew (born 1960) and Edward (born 1964). On 15 December 1948, at four weeks old, he was christened in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher.

In February 1952, upon the death of his grandfather and the accession of his mother as Queen Elizabeth II, Charles became the heir apparent. Under a charter of King Edward III in 1337, and as the monarch’s eldest son, he automatically assumed the traditional titles of the Duke of Cornwall and, in the Scottish peerage, the titles Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. On June 2, 1953, Charles attended his mother’s coronation at Westminster Abbey.

Charles was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on July 26, 1958, by his mother though his investiture was not held until July 1, 1969, when he was crowned by his mother in a televised ceremony held at Caernarfon Castle.

He took his seat in the House of Lords in 1970, and he made his maiden speech in June 1974, the first royal to speak from the floor since the future Edward VII in 1884. He spoke again in 1975. Charles began to take on more public duties, founding the Prince’s Trust in 1976, and travelling to the United States in 1981.

Charles first met Lady Diana Spencer in 1977 while he was visiting her home, Althorp. He was the companion of her elder sister, Sarah, and did not consider Diana romantically until mid-1980. While Charles and Diana were sitting together on a bale of hay at a friend’s barbecue in July, she mentioned that he had looked forlorn and in need of care at the funeral of his granduncle Lord Mountbatten.

Soon, according to Charles’s chosen biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby, “without any apparent surge in feeling, he began to think seriously of her as a potential bride”, and she accompanied Charles on visits to Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House.

Charles proposed to Diana in February 1981; she accepted and they married in St Paul’s Cathedral on 29 July 29 of that year. The couple lived at Kensington Palace and at Highgrove House, near Tetbury, and had two children: Princes William (b. 1982) and Henry (known as “Harry”) (b. 1984). Charles set a precedent by being the first royal father to be present at his children’s births.

In December 1992, British prime minister John Major announced the couple’s legal separation in Parliament. Charles and Diana divorced on August 28, 1996, after being formally advised by the Queen in December 1995 to end the marriage. The couple shared custody of their children. Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31 of the following year; Charles flew to Paris with Diana’s sisters to accompany her body back to Britain.

The engagement of Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles was announced on February 10, 2005; he presented her with an engagement ring that had belonged to his grandmother. The Queen’s consent to the marriage (as required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772) was recorded in a Privy Council meeting on March 2.

The marriage was scheduled to take place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, with a subsequent religious blessing at St George’s Chapel. The venue was subsequently changed to Windsor Guildhall, because a civil marriage at Windsor Castle would oblige the venue to be available to anyone who wished to be married there.

Four days before the wedding, it was postponed from the originally scheduled date of April 8 until the following day in order to allow Charles and some of the invited dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the service of blessing and later held a reception for the newlyweds at Windsor Castle. The blessing, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, was televised.

In 2008, The Daily Telegraph described Charles as the “hardest-working member of the royal family”. He carried out 560 official engagements in 2008, 499 in 2010, and over 600 in 2011.

During his time as Prince of Wales, Charles undertook official duties on behalf of the Queen. He officiated at investitures and attended the funerals of foreign dignitaries. Charles made regular tours of Wales, fulfilling a week of engagements each summer, and attending important national occasions, such as opening the Senedd. The six trustees of the Royal Collection Trust met three times a year under his chairmanship.

In May 2022, Charles attended the State Opening of Parliament and delivered the Queen’s Speech on behalf of his mother as a counsellor of state for the first time.

Charles acceded to the British throne on September 8, 2022, following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Charles was the longest-serving British heir apparent, surpassing Edward VII’s record on April 20, 2011. When he became monarch at the age of 73, he was the oldest person to do so, the previous record holder being William IV, who was 64 when he became king in 1830.

Plans for Charles’s coronation have been made for many years, under the code name Operation Golden Orb. Reports before his accession suggested that Charles’s coronation would be simpler and smaller in scale than his mother’s in 1953, with the ceremony expected to be “shorter, smaller, less expensive and more representative of different faiths and community groups – falling in line with the King’s wish to reflect the ethnic diversity of modern Britain”. Nonetheless, the coronation will be a Church of England ceremony and will require a coronation oath, the anointment, the delivery of the orb and the enthronement.

There had been speculation as to what regnal name Charles would choose upon his succession to the throne. In 2005, it was reported that Charles had suggested he might choose to reign as George VII in honour of his grandfather George VI, and to avoid associations with previous royals named Charles.

Charles’s office said at the time that no decision had yet been made. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Clarence House confirmed that Charles would use the regnal name “Charles III”.

King Charles III gave his first speech to the nation on September 9 at 18:00 BST, in which he mourned his late mother and proclaimed his elder son, William, Prince of Wales.

On September 10, 2022, Charles was publicly proclaimed King of the United Kingdom by the Accession Council. The ceremony was televised for the first time. Attendees included Queen Camilla, The Prince of Wales, then-British prime minister Liz Truss, and her predecessors John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson. Charles was also proclaimed king of each of his other realms by the relevant privy or executive council.

The coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla is due to take place on May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey.

Are Diana Supporters Stuck In the Past?

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Diana, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, Lady Diana Spencer, Moving On, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla

From the Emperor’s Desk: I tend not to address to much controversy or even controversial topics. However, I want to address one and that is connected to the hatred toward Queen Camilla from people who loved and admired Diana, Princess of Wales. I see this brought up again and again across social media.

My educational background isn’t just in European History, I have a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling. So today I am wearing that hat.

For people that are upset over Queen Camilla’s role in the demise of the marriage of Diana and Charles, her death is keeping people stuck.

The tragic death of Diana has prevented some people from moving on. They’re stuck back in the past of the divorce between Diana and Charles.

Diana was in a relationship when she died so it looks like she had moved on. But had she lived, she most likely would have remarried and would be having a very meaningful life right now. If that had happened…Diana living a full life… I’m sure all those who loved and admired her would have been able to have closure and move on. They would be able to let go of their anger and resentments towards Camilla, because with Diana alive and happy, there would be no reason to hold onto their anger and resentments.

Also, even though Diana never did live a full life, or longer life, still is not justification for holding onto anger and resentments towards Camilla. The main reason being holding on to anger hurts nobody but yourself. There is an old saying that anger is like holding a hot coal in your hand, it only Burns you. Also, another old saying is, that hanging onto resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. Again hanging onto anger and resentment will only harm yourself. Aren’t you important enough to let go of the resentment?

Many divorced couples, though not all, do have a reconciliation where the ex-wife and ex-husband forgive one another and even form a friendship. I know that happened with my ex-wife and I. I firmly believe that Charles and Diana would have arrived at that point too….but sadly her death prevented that which is another component keeping people stuck. If people witnessed Diana and Charles putting the past behind them and moving forward then those who supported Diana would be able to do the same.

So sadly, because people never saw Diana move on and have a full life, many are stuck back in the past unable to move forward. That’s not a good place to be.

October 13, 1453: Birth of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

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3rd Duke of York, Battle of Tewkesbury, Edward of Westminster, King Edward IV of England, King Henry VI of England, King Louis XI of France, Margaret of Anjou, Prince George Duke of Clarence, Prince of Wales, Richard of York, The Earl of Warwick

Edward of Westminster (October 13, 1453 – May 4, 1471), also known as Edward of Lancaster, was the only son of King Henry VI of England and Margaret of Anjou. He was killed aged seventeen at the Battle of Tewkesbury.

Early life

Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster, London, the only son of King Henry VI of England, Lord of Ireland and his wife, Margaret of Anjou. Margaret was born at Pont-à-Mousson in Lorraine, a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, east of France ruled by a cadet branch of the Capetian French kings, the House of Valois-Anjou. Margaret was the second daughter of René, King of Naples, and of Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine.

At the time of Edward’s birth, there was strife between Henry’s supporters and those of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, who had a superior claim to the throne and challenged the authority of Henry’s officers of state. Henry was suffering from mental illness, and there were widespread rumours that the prince was the result of an affair between his mother and one of her loyal supporters.

Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, were both suspected of fathering Prince Edward; however, there is no firm evidence to support the rumours, and King Henry himself never doubted the boy’s legitimacy and publicly acknowledged paternity. Edward was invested as Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle in 1454.

War over the English throne

In 1460, King Henry was captured by the supporters of the Duke of York at the Battle of Northampton and taken to London. The Duke of York was dissuaded from claiming the throne immediately, but he induced Parliament to pass the Act of Accord, by which Henry was allowed to reign but Edward was disinherited, as York or his heirs would become king on Henry’s death.

Queen Margaret and Edward had meanwhile fled through Cheshire. By Margaret’s later account, she induced outlaws and pillagers to aid her by pledging them to recognise the seven-year-old Edward as rightful heir to the crown. They subsequently reached safety in Wales and journeyed to Scotland, where Margaret raised support, while the Duke of York’s enemies gathered in the north of England.

After the Duke of York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield, the large army which Margaret had gathered advanced south. They defeated the army of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, one of York’s most prominent supporters, at the Second Battle of St Albans.

Warwick had brought the captive King Henry VI in the train of his army, and he was found abandoned on the battlefield. Two of Warwick’s knights, William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville, and Sir Thomas Kyriell, who had agreed to remain with Henry VI and see that he came to no harm, were captured. The day after the battle, Margaret asked Edward what death the two knights should suffer. Edward readily replied that their heads should be cut off.

Exile in France

Margaret hesitated to advance on London with her unruly army, and subsequently retreated. They were routed at the Battle of Towton a few weeks later. Margaret and Edward fled once again, to Scotland. For the next three years, Margaret inspired several revolts in the northernmost counties of England, but was eventually forced to sail to France, where she and Edward maintained a court in exile. (Henry VI had once again been captured and was a prisoner in the Tower of London.)

In 1467 the ambassador of the Duchy of Milan to the court of France wrote that Edward “already talks of nothing but cutting off heads or making war, as if he had everything in his hands or was the god of battle or the peaceful occupant of that throne.”

After several years in exile, Margaret took the best opportunity that presented itself and allied herself with the renegade Earl of Warwick. King Louis XI of France wanted to start a war with Burgundy, allies of the Yorkist King Edward IV. He believed if he allied himself to restoring Lancastrian rule they would help him conquer Burgundy.

As a compliment to his new allies Louis XI made young Edward godfather to his son Charles. Prince Edward was married to Anne Neville, Warwick’s younger daughter, in December 1470, though there is some doubt as to whether the marriage was ever consummated.

Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury

The Earl of Warwick returned to England and deposed Edward IV, with the help of Edward IV’s younger brother, George, Duke of Clarence. Edward IV fled into exile to Burgundy with his youngest brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, while the Earl of Warwick restored Henry VI to the throne.

Prince Edward and Margaret lingered behind in France until April 1471. However, Edward IV had already raised an army, returned to England, and reconciled with his brother George, Duke of Clarence. On the same day Margaret and Edward landed in England (April 14), Edward IV defeated and killed the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet.

With little real hope of success, the inexperienced Prince Edward and his mother led the remnant of their forces to meet Edward IV in the Battle of Tewkesbury. They were defeated and Prince Edward of Westminster was killed.

According to contemporary sources, Edward was overtaken and slain in the battle during the rout of the Lancastrians, with some accounts attributing the deed to George, Duke of Clarence, to whom the prince appealed to for help. Paul Murray Kendall, a biographer of Richard III, accepts this version of events. Another version states that Clarence and his men found the grieving prince near a grove following the battle, and immediately beheaded him on a makeshift block, despite his pleas.

Another account of Edward’s death is given by three Tudor sources: The Grand Chronicle of London, Polydore Vergil, and Edward Hall. It was later dramatised by William Shakespeare in Henry VI, Part 3, Act V, scene v.

Their story is that Edward was captured and brought before the victorious Edward IV and his brothers and followers. The king received the prince graciously, and asked him why he had taken up arms against him. The prince replied defiantly, “I came to recover my father’s heritage.” The king then struck the prince across his face with his gauntlet hand, and his brothers killed the prince with their swords.

However, none of these accounts appear in any of the contemporaneous sources, which all report that Edward died in battle.

Edward’s body is buried at Tewkesbury Abbey. His widow, Anne Neville, married the Duke of Gloucester, who eventually succeeded as King Richard III in 1483.

July 22, Birth of Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway. Part I.

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Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Dowager Princess of Wales, Elector of Hanover, Frederick-Louis, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, King George II of Great Britain, King George III of Great Britain, Prince of Wales, Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Princess Louise Anne of Great Britain

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (July 22, 1751 – May 10, 1775) was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1766 to 1772 by marriage to King Christian VII.

Caroline Matilda was born in on July 22, 1751 as the ninth and youngest child of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, daughter of Friedrich II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1676–1732) and Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (1679–1740).

Princess Louise Anne (seated) and Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain

Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover and Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, the daughter of Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach. Her father was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and the ruler of one of the smallest German states. Frederick Louis was the father of King George III.

Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales father died suddenly on March 31, 1751 about three months before Caroline Matilda’ birth; thus she was a posthumous child. She was born at Leicester House, London, a large aristocratic townhouse in Westminster, where her parents had lived, since the King had banished his son from court in 1737.

At birth, she was given the style and title Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline Matilda, as daughter of the Prince of Wales, though by the time of her birth that title had passed to her brother George (who became King George III in 1760).

Caroline Matilda grew up in the large group of siblings, and during the remaining years of the reign of her grandfather, King George II, her mother, Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales, chose to live in seclusion with her children, devoting herself to their care, and bringing them up away from the English court.

Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain

As a consequence, Augusta was to be criticised for her manner of raising her children, as she isolated them from the outside world into a secluded family environment, seldom meeting people outside the family.

Marriage

In 1764, four years into the reign of her brother as King George III of Great Britain and Ireland, Elector of Hanover; a marriage was suggested between the Danish House of Oldenburg and the British House of Hanover, specifically between Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark, and a British princess.

The Danish Crown Prince was the oldest surviving son of King Frederik V and his first wife Princess Louise of Great Britain sister to King George III and in consequence, the Danish Crown Prince and Caroline Matilda were first cousins.

The marriage was considered suitable because the British and Danish royal families were both Protestant and of the same rank, and thus had the same status as well as religion. Additionally, the deceased Queen Louise had been very popular in Denmark.

Princess Louise Anne of Great Britain

Initially, the marriage negotiations were intended for, Princess Louise Anne, eldest unmarried daughter of the former Prince of Wales; but after the Danish representative in London, Count von Bothmer, was informed of her weak constitution, her younger sister Caroline Matilda was chosen for the match instead. The official betrothal was announced on 10 January 1765.

On January 14, 1766, in the middle of preparations for the wedding, King Frederik V died and his 17-year-old son became King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway.

Christian VII, King of Denmark and Norway

On October 1 of that year in the royal chapel of St James’s Palace (or according to other sources, in Carlton House) the marriage was celebrated by proxy, the groom being represented by the bride’s brother Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany.

Two days later, Caroline Matilda departed from Harwich for Rotterdam, and three weeks later she crossed the River Elbe and arrived in Altona, in the then Danish Duchy of Holstein. There she left her British entourage and was welcomed by her appointed Danish courtiers.

Twelve days later, Caroline Matilda arrived in Roskilde, where she met her future husband for the first time. She held her official entry into the Danish capital on November 8 to great cheers from the population.

Already the same day a second wedding ceremony with the groom present took place in the Royal Chapel at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. Marriage celebrations and balls lasted for another month. On May 1, 1767, Christian VII and Caroline Matilda were crowned King and Queen of Denmark and Norway in the chapel of Christiansborg Palace.

The young Queen at the Danish court was described as particularly temperamental, vivid and charming. She was thought too plump to be described as a beauty, but she was considered attractive: it was said of her that “her appearance allowed her to avoid criticism of women, but still captivate the male eye.”

However, her natural and unaffected personality was not popular at the strict Danish court, despite the fact that originally she was warmly received in Copenhagen. The weak-willed, self-centred, and mentally ill Christian VII was cold to his wife and not in a hurry to consummate the marriage.

The reason for this attitude towards his wife could be that the King was actually forced to marry by the court, who believed that marriage would lead to improvement in his mental problems; in addition, part of the court felt that Christian VII preferred the company of men to women.

Despite rumours of homosexuality, the King had a mistress with whom he began a relationship in Holstein in the summer of 1766, and often visited courtesans in Copenhagen, of which the most famous was Anna Katrina Bentgagen, nicknamed Støvlet-Cathrine.

June 15, 1330: Birth of Edward of Woodstock, The Black Prince

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Edward III of England, Edward of Woodstock, Joan of Kent, Palace of Westminster, Pedro of Castile, Philippa of Hainult, Prince of Wales, The Black Prince, Treaty of Brétigny

Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (June 15, 1330 – June 8, 1376).

Edward, the eldest son of Edward III of England, Lord of Ireland and ruler of Gascony, and Queen Philippa, was born at Woodstock in the County of Oxfordshire, on June 15, 1330. His father, Edward III, had been at loggerheads with the French over English lands in France and also the kingship of France; Edward III’s mother, Queen Isabella of France was a daughter of the French king Philippe IV of France, thus placing her son in line for the throne of France.

England and France’s relations quickly deteriorated when the French king threatened to confiscate his lands in France, beginning the Hundred Years War. His mother was Queen Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault, who married Edward III when his mother, Queen Isabella, arranged the marriage between them

Despite never being King, Edward nevertheless earned distinction as one of the most successful English commanders during the Hundred Years’ War, being regarded by his English contemporaries as a model of chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his age.

Edward was made Duke of Cornwall, the first English dukedom, in 1337. He was guardian of the kingdom in his father’s absence in 1338, 1340, and 1342. On May 12, 1343, Edward III created the duke Prince of Wales in a parliament held at Westminster, investing him with a circlet, gold ring, and silver rod. Edward was knighted by his father at La Hougue in 1346.

In 1346, Prince Edward commanded the vanguard at the Battle of Crécy, his father intentionally leaving him to win the battle. He took part in Edward III’s 1349 Calais expedition. In 1355, he was appointed the king’s lieutenant in Gascony, and ordered to lead an army into Aquitaine on a chevauchée, during which he pillaged Avignonet and Castelnaudary, sacked Carcassonne, and plundered Narbonne.

The next year (1356) on another chevauchée, he ravaged Auvergne, Limousin, and Berry but failed to take Bourges. He offered terms of peace to King Jean II of France, who had outflanked him near Poitiers, but refused to surrender himself as the price of their acceptance. This led to the Battle of Poitiers, where his army routed the French and took King Jean II prisoner.

Edward married his cousin, Joan, Countess of Kent (1328–1385), on October 10, 1361. She was the daughter and heiress of Edmund, Earl of Kent, the younger son of King Edward I by his second wife Margaret of France.

They had two sons, both born in Aquitaine:

Edward, born at Angoulême on July 27, 1364, died immediately before his father’s return to England in January 1371, and was buried in the church of the Austin Friars, London.

Richard, who succeeded his grandfather as King Richard II.

The year after Poitiers, Edward returned to England. In 1360, he negotiated the Treaty of Brétigny. He was created Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony in 1362, but his suzerainty was not recognised by the lord of Albret or other Gascon nobles.

He was directed by his father to forbid the marauding raids of the English and Gascon free companies in 1364. He entered into an agreement with Kings Pedro of Castile and Charles II of Navarre, by which Pedro covenanted to mortgage Castro de Urdiales and the province of Biscay to him as security for a loan; in 1366 a passage was secured through Navarre.

In 1367 he received a letter of defiance from Enrique of Trastámara, Pedro’s half-brother and rival. The same year, after an obstinate conflict, he defeated Enrique at the Battle of Nájera.

However, after a wait of several months, during which he failed to obtain either the province of Biscay or liquidation of the debt from Don Pedro, he returned to Aquitaine. Prince Edward persuaded the estates of Aquitaine to allow him a hearth tax of ten sous for five years in 1368, thereby alienating the lord of Albret and other nobles.

Prince Edward returned to England in 1371, and the next year resigned the principality of Aquitaine and Gascony. He led the Commons in their attack upon the Lancastrian administration in 1376.

From the period of the Good Parliament, Edward knew that he was dying. His dysentery became violent, and he often fainted from weakness, so that his household believed that he had already died.

He left gifts for his servants in his will and took leave of the King his father, asking him that he would confirm his gifts, pay his debts quickly out of his estate, and protect his son Richard. In his last moments, he was attended by the Bishop of Bangor, who urged him to ask forgiveness of God and of all those he had injured. He “made a very noble end, remembering God his Creator in his heart”, and asked people to pray for him.

His death took place in the Palace of Westminster. He was buried with great state in Canterbury Cathedral on September 29, and the directions contained in his will were followed at his funeral and in the details of his tomb. It has a bronze effigy beneath a tester depicting the Holy Trinity with his heraldic achievements – his surcoat, helmet, shield and gauntlets – hung over the tester; they have been replaced with replicas, and the originals now reside in a glass-fronted cabinet within the Cathedral.

June 10, 1713: Birth of Princess Caroline Elizabeth of Great Britain

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Caroline Elizabeth of Great Britain, Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Elector of Hanover, Horace Walpole, King George II of Great Britain, Prince of Wales

Princess Caroline Elizabeth of Great Britain (June 10, 1713 – December 28, 1757) was the fourth child and third daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his wife Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

Early life

Princess Caroline was born at Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover, Germany, on June 10, 1713. Her father was Georg August, Hereditary Prince of Hanover, the eldest son of Georg Ludwig, Elector of Hanover. Her mother was Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, daughter of Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach. Johann Friedrich of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was a member of the House of Hohenzollern.

As a granddaughter of the Elector of Hanover, she was styled Princess Caroline of Hanover at birth. Under the Act of Settlement 1701, she was seventh in the line of succession to the British throne. She was baptised the day after her birth at Herrenhausen Palace.

In 1714, Queen Anne died, and Caroline’s grandfather became George I and her father the Prince of Wales. At the age of one year, Caroline accompanied her mother and elder sisters, the Princesses Anne and Amelia, to Great Britain, and the family resided at St James’s Palace, London.

She was then styled as a Princess of Great Britain. A newly attributed list from January–February 1728 documents her personal expenses, including charitable contributions to several Protestant groups in London.

In 1722, at the direction of her mother, she was inoculated against smallpox by variolation, an early type of immunisation popularised by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Charles Maitland.

Princess Caroline was her mother’s favourite, and became known as “the truth-telling Caroline Elizabeth” (or “the truth-loving”). When any disagreement took place among the royal children, her parents would say, “Send for Caroline, and then we shall know the truth!”

According to Dr. John Doran, “The truth-loving Caroline Elizabeth was unreservedly beloved by her parents, was worthy of the affection, and repaid it by an ardent attachment. She was fair, good, accomplished, and unhappy.”

Later life

According to popular belief, Caroline’s unhappiness was due to her love for the married courtier Lord Hervey. Hervey, who was bisexual, may have had an affair with Caroline’s elder brother, Prince Frederick, and was romantically linked with several ladies of the court as well.

When Hervey died in 1743, Caroline retired to St. James’s Palace for many years prior to her own death, accessible to only her family and closest friends. She gave generously to charity.

Princess Caroline died, unmarried and childless, on December 28, 1757, aged 44, at St James’s Palace. She was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Horace Walpole, of the death of Princess Caroline, wrote: “Though her state of health had been so dangerous for years, and her absolute confinement for many of them, her disorder was, in a manner, new and sudden, and her death unexpected by herself, though earnestly her wish. Her goodness was constant and uniform, her generosity immense, her charities most extensive; in short, I, no royalist, could be lavish in her praise.”

May 24, 1819: Birth of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Empress of India

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Duke of Kent, Empress of India, George III of the United Kingdom, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; May 24, 1819 – January 22, 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20, 1837 until her death. On May 1, 1876, she adopted the additional title of Empress of India. Known as the Victorian era, her reign of 63 years and seven months was longer than that of any of her predecessors. It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III and Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the fourth daughter and seventh child of Franz Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf.

After both her father the Duke of Kent and his father, King George III, died within a week of one another in January 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father’s three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue (King George IV died 1830, Frederick, Duke of York died 1827, King William IV died 1837).

The United Kingdom was an established constitutional monarchy in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, she attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

In February of 1840 Queen Victoria married her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the second son of Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet “the grandmother of Europe” and spreading haemophilia in European royalty. After Albert’s death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances.

As a result of her seclusion, republicanism in the United Kingdom temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration.

In July 1900, Victoria’s second son Alfred (“Affie”) died. “Oh, God! My poor darling Affie gone too”, she wrote in her journal. “It is a horrible year, nothing but sadness & horrors of one kind & another.”

Following a custom she maintained throughout her widowhood, Victoria spent the Christmas of 1900 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Rheumatism in her legs had rendered her lame, and her eyesight was clouded by cataracts.

Through early January, she felt “weak and unwell”, and by mid-January she was “drowsy … dazed, [and] confused.” She died on Tuesday January 22, 1901, at half past six in the evening, at the age of 81. Her son and successor, King Edward VII, and her eldest grandson, German Emperor Wilhelm II, were at her deathbed. Her favourite pet Pomeranian, Turi, was laid upon her deathbed as a last request.

On January 25, King Edward VII, Wilhelm II and her third son, Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught, helped lift her body into the coffin. Her funeral was held on Saturday 2 February 2, in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and after two days of lying-in-state, she was interred beside Prince Albert in Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park.

With a reign of 63 years, seven months and two days, Victoria was the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen regnant in world history until her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II surpassed her on September 9, 2015. She was the last monarch of Britain from the House of Hanover. Her son and successor Edward VII belonged to her husband’s House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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When Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, her eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominio. 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”.