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

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Duke of Clarence, Duke of Kent, Empress of India, Kensington Palace, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, King George III of the United Kingdom, King George IV of the United Kingdom, King William IV of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Edward, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, The Prince Regent, 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 in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days is known as the Victorian Era and was longer than any of her predecessors. She is the second longest reigning British Monarch. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.

Victoria’s father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of see Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Until 1817, King George’s only legitimate grandchild was Edward’s niece Princess Charlotte of Wales, the daughter of George, Prince Regent (who would become George IV).

Charlotte’s death in 1817 precipitated a succession crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent and his unmarried brothers to marry and have children. In 1818, the Duke of Kent married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl (1804–1856) and Feodora (1807–1872)—by her first marriage to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen. Her brother Leopold was Princess Charlotte’s widower and later the first King of Belgium. The Duke and Duchess of Kent’s only child, Victoria, was born at 4:15 a.m. on May 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace in London.

Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on June 24, 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace. She was baptised Alexandrina after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina (or Georgiana), Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of Kent’s eldest brother, the Prince Regent.

At birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after the four eldest sons of George III: George, Prince Regent (later George IV); Frederick, Duke of York; William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV); and Victoria’s father, Edward, Duke of Kent. Prince George had no surviving children, and Prince Frederick had no children; further, both were estranged from their wives, who were both past child-bearing age, so the two eldest brothers were unlikely to have any further legitimate children.

William and Edward married on the same day in 1818, but both of William’s legitimate daughters died as infants. The first of these was Princess Charlotte, who was born and died on March 27, 1819, two months before Victoria was born. Victoria’s father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old. A week later her grandfather, King George III, died and was succeeded by his eldest son as George IV. Victoria was then third in line to the throne after Frederick and William. She was fourth in line while William’s second daughter, Princess Elizabeth, lived, from December 10, 1820 to March 4, 1821.

After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 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. Victoria, a constitutional monarch, attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Their 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, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died in 1901 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son King Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

May 6: King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

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Charles III of the United Kingdom, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm II, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, May 6, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

From the Emperor’s Desk: Along with today’s coronation of King Charles III, May 6th was the birthday of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany and Prussia, the date of the death of his wife, Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and the date of the death of King Charles III’s great-great grandfather King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

Also, on Monday I will post my thoughts and feelings about the coronation.

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Edward VII (Albert Edward; November 9, 1841 – May 6, 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from January 22, 1901 until his death on May 6, 1910.

Prince Albert Edward was born at 10:48 a.m. on November 9, 1841 in Buckingham Palace. He was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on January 25, 1842. He was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the royal family throughout his life.

As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth. As a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on December 8, 1841, Earl of Dublin on January 17, 1850.

Albert Edward married Princess Alexandra of Denmark at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on March 10, 1863. He was 21; she was 18. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (later King Christian IX of Denmark) and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel.

He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

As king, Edward VII played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He re-instituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised.

He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called “Peacemaker”, but his relationship with his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, was poor. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward’s reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam turbine propulsion and the rise of socialism.

He died on May 6, 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. King Edward VII was succeeded by his only surviving son, King George V.

Edward VII’s great-nephew was…

Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia (May 6, 1882 – 20 July 1951)

Wilhelm was born on May 6, 1882 as the eldest son of the then Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, and his first wife, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. He was born in the Marmorpalais of Potsdam in the Province of Brandenburg, where his parents resided until his father acceded to the throne. When he was born, his great-grandfather Wilhelm I was the German Emperor and his grandfather Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm was the heir apparent, making Wilhelm third in line to the throne.

As Emperor Wilhelm II’s heir, he was the last Crown Prince of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia.

Wilhelm became crown prince at the age of six in 1888, when his grandfather German Emperor Friedrich III died and his father became Emperor. He was Crown Prince for 30 years until the fall of the empire on November 9, 1918. During World War I, he commanded the 5th Army from 1914 to 1916 and was commander of the Army Group German Crown Prince for the remainder of the war.

Wilhelm married Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (September 20, 1886 – May 6, 1954) in Berlin on 6 June 1905. After their marriage, the couple lived at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin in the winter and at the Marmorpalais in Potsdam, later on at Cecilienhof in Potsdam. Cecilie was the daughter of Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1851–1897) and his wife, Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (1860–1922). Their eldest son, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, was killed fighting for the German Army in France in 1940.

After his return to Germany in 1923, he fought the Weimar Republic and campaigned for the reintroduction of the monarchy in Germany. After his plans to become president had been blocked by his father, Wilhelm supported Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, but when Wilhelm realised that Hitler had no intention of restoring the monarchy, their relationship soured.

Wilhelm became head of the House of Hohenzollern on June 4, 1941 following the death of his father and held the position until his own death on July 20, 1951.

Countdown to the Coronation III: The Imperial State Crown

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From the Emperor’s Desk: Although St. Edward’s Crown is the focal point of the coronation, the Imperial State Crown also plays a role in this ancient ceremony.

A State Crown has existed in various forms since the 15th century. The current version was made in 1937 and is worn by the monarch after a coronation (St Edward’s Crown having been used to crown the monarch) and used at the State Openings of Parliament.

The crown is adorned with 2,901 precious stones, including the Cullinan II diamond, St Edward’s Sapphire, the Stuart Sapphire, and the Black Prince’s Ruby.

St Edward’s Crown, used to crown English monarchs, was considered to be a holy relic, kept in the saint’s shrine at Westminster Abbey and therefore not worn by monarchs at any other time. Instead, a “great crown” with crosses and fleurs-de-lis, but without arches (an open crown), was a king’s usual headgear at state occasions until the time of Henry V, who is depicted wearing an imperial crown of state with gold arches (a closed crown).

Arches were a symbol of sovereignty, and by this point in history, the king of England was being celebrated as rex in regno suo est imperator – an emperor of his own domain – owing obedience to no one but God, unlike some continental rulers, who owed fealty to more powerful kings or the Holy Roman Emperor.

Henry VII or his son and successor Henry VIII may have commissioned a more elaborate version of the state crown which is first described in detail in an inventory of royal jewels in 1521, and again in 1532, 1550, 1574 and 1597, and was included in a painting by Daniel Mytens of Charles I in 1631.

The Tudor Crown had more pearls and jewels than its medieval predecessor, and the centre petals of each of the fleurs-de-lis had images of Christ, the Virgin Mary and St George. The crown weighed 3.3 kg (7 lb 6 oz) and was set with 168 pearls, 58 rubies, 28 diamonds, 19 sapphires and 2 emeralds. Following the abolition of the monarchy and the execution of Charles I in 1649, the Tudor Crown was broken up by Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum, and its valuable components were sold for £1,100.

Restoration to present day

Upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, a new state crown was made for Charles II by Sir Robert Vyner. About 10 versions of the crown have existed since the restoration. The one made for Queen Victoria in 1838 is the basis for today’s crown. Made by Rundell and Bridge in 1838 using old and new jewels, it had a crimson velvet cap with ermine border and a lining of white silk. It weighed 39.25 troy ounces (43.06 oz; 1,221 g) and was decorated with 1,363 brilliant-cut, 1,273 rose-cut and 147 table-cut diamonds, 277 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 4 rubies, and the Black Prince’s Ruby (a spinel).

At the State Opening of Parliament in 1845, the Duke of Argyll was carrying the crown before Queen Victoria when it fell off the cushion and broke. Victoria wrote in her diary, “it was all crushed and squashed like a pudding that had sat down”.

The gems in the crown were remounted for the coronation of George VI in 1937 by Garrard & Co. The crown was adjusted for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, with the head size reduced and the arches lowered by 25 mm (1 inch) to give it a more feminine appearance.
Description

Notable stones are St Edward’s Sapphire on the top cross, reputedly taken from the ring of Edward the Confessor when he was re-interred at Westminster Abbey in 1163, and the Black Prince’s Ruby (a large spinel) on the front cross. In 1909, the 104-carat (21 g) Stuart Sapphire, set in the front of the crown, was moved to the back and replaced by the 317-carat (63 g) Cullinan II. Below the monde hang four pearls, three of which are often said to have belonged to Queen Elizabeth I, but the association is almost certainly erroneous.
Usage

The crown is worn by the monarch on leaving Westminster Abbey at the end of his or her coronation. It is usually also worn at State Openings of Parliament, although Elizabeth II wore a hat in March 1974, June 2017 and December 2019 after snap general elections, and in October 2019 she wore the State Diadem, while the Imperial State Crown was carried beside her.

Usually, it is taken to the Palace of Westminster under armed guard in its own carriage and placed in the Robing Room, where the monarch dons the robes and puts on the crown before giving the monarchs speech to Parliament. If a State Opening occurs before a coronation, the crown is placed on a cushion beside the monarch.

In 1689, one week after being proclaimed king, William III wore his crown in Parliament to pass the Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689.

However, what is interesting is that wearing the Imperial State Crown for the State Opening of Parliament is a recent Twentieth Century development that began only as recently as George V (1910-1936). After the World War I which saw the toppling of many European thrones and with a country that was war weary, his advisers decided to brighten up the ceremony surrounding the event to increase visibility and respect for the monarchy, and one way this was achieved was by wearing the Imperial State Crown during the reading of the Monarch’s Speech.

Queen Victoria and Edward VII and monarchs before them did not wear a crown during the State Opening of Parliament. This makes the opening of the movie, “The Madness of King George III” (known simply as “The Madness of King George” in the United States) which depicts the king wearing a crown at the opening of Parliament very inaccurate. In her seclusion Queen Victoria rarely opened Parliament herself, but on those rare occasions she did open Parliament, Victoria wore her small diamond crown whilst Edward wore a plumed hat.

When not in use, the Imperial State Crown is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.

The Imperial State Crown was also removed from the Tower of London to be altered for King Charles III. The Arches were lowered for Queen Elizabeth II to give the crown a more feminine look. I am very interested to see what modifications were made for King Charles III.

March 17, 1886: Birth of Princess Patricia of Connaught, Lady Patricia Ramsey

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Alexander Ramsay, Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Lady Patricia Ramsey, Prince Arthur, Princess Margaret Louise of Prussia, Princess Patricia of Connaught, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Patricia of Connaught (March 17, 1886 – January 12, 1974) was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Upon her marriage to Alexander Ramsay, she relinquished her title of a British princess and the style of Royal Highness.

Princess Patricia – “Patsy” to family and friends – was born on 17 March 1886, St Patrick’s Day, at Buckingham Palace in London. Her father was Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her mother was Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.

Her mother, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia was the daughter of Prince Friedrich Charles of Prussia (1828–1885), the son of Prince Charles of Prussia (1801–1883) and his wife Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1808–1877).

The Connaught Family. Princess Patricia is the young girl in front

Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia’s mother was Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt (1837–1906), daughter of Leopold IV of Anhalt-Dessau. Her father, a nephew of the German Emperor Wilhelm I, distinguished himself as a field commander during the Battle of Metz and the campaigns west of Paris in the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War. Her father was a double cousin of the German Emperor Friedrich III, the husband of her sister-in-law, Victoria, Princess Royal.

Princess Patricia had two elder siblings, Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Margaret of Connaught, later Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden.

She was baptized Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth at St Anne’s Church in Bagshot on 1 May 1886. Her godparents were Queen Victoria (her paternal grandmother); Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (her paternal granduncle, who was represented by her paternal uncle Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein); the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg (her maternal aunt); Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (her first cousin, for whom the German Ambassador, Count Hatzfeldt, stood proxy); Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (her paternal aunt); and Prince Albert of Prussia (her mother’s first cousin once removed, for whom her maternal uncle the Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg stood proxy). She was named Victoria after Queen Victoria; Patricia, after St Patrick, the saint of her birthday; and Helena, in honour of her father’s sister Princess Helena of the United Kingdom.

Princess Patricia of Connaught, Lady Patricia Ramsey

She grew up as a member of the Royal Family. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousins the Duke and Duchess of York (future King George V and Queen Mary) on 6 July 1893.

Princess Patricia travelled extensively in her early years. Her father, the Duke of Connaught, was posted to India with the army, and the young Princess spent two years living there. Connaught Place, the central business locus of New Delhi, is named for the Duke. In 1911, the Duke was appointed Governor General of Canada. Princess Patricia accompanied her parents to Canada, and she became popular there. Her portrait appears on the one-dollar note of the Dominion of Canada with the issue date 17 March 1917.

Sisters Margaret (sitting) and Patricia of Connaught

She was named Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry on February 22, 1918 and held that appointment until her death. The regiment named for her was privately raised by Andrew Hamilton Gault, of Montreal, at his own expense; it was the last privately raised regiment in the British Empire. Princess Patricia personally designed the badge and colours for the regiment to take overseas to France, and at her wedding in 1919, the regiment attended and played their march specially. As the regiment’s Colonel-in-Chief, she played an active role until her death.

The question of Patricia’s marriage was the subject of much speculation in the Edwardian era, as she was considered one of the most beautiful and eligible royal princesses of her generation. She was matched with various foreign royalties, including King Alfonso XIII of Spain, Infante Luís Filipe, the Prince Royal of Portugal, the future Grand Duke Adolph Friedrich VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Grand Duke Michael of Russia, younger brother of Emperor Nicholas II.

Wedding of Princess Patricia of Connaught and Commander Alexander Ramsey

In the end, Patricia chose a commoner and married naval Commander (later Admiral) Alexander Ramsay (May 29, 1881 – October 8, 1972), one of her father’s aides-de-camp and third son of the 13th Earl of Dalhousie, at Westminster Abbey on February 27, 1919.

On the occasion of her marriage, Princess Patricia of Connaught was permitted by Royal Warrant to relinquish the style of Royal Highness and the title of Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She was granted by Royal Warrant of 25 February 1919 the style of Lady Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth Ramsay, with special precedence immediately before the Marchionesses of England.

Alexander Ramsay and Patricia had one child:

Alexander Ramsay of Mar (December 21, 1919 – December 20, 2000), married in 1956 to Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun.

Despite relinquishing her royal title, Lady Patricia remained a member of the British Royal Family, remained in the line of succession, and attended all major royal events, including weddings, funerals, and the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and of Queen Elizabeth II in 1937 and 1953, respectively. She rode in the carriage processions with other members of the Royal Family at the funerals of George V in 1936 and of King George VI.

Commander Alexander Ramsey

At the coronations, she proceeded in state from Buckingham Palace with other members of the Royal Family and took part in the procession of princes and princesses of the blood royal, attended by a train-bearer and an officer to carry her coronet. She also attended royal garden parties and participated in state visits, her attendance being recorded in the Court Circular together with other members of the Royal Family.

Lady Patricia was an accomplished artist specializing in watercolours. She was made an honorary member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. Much of her work was inspired by her travel in tropical countries. Her style was influenced by Gauguin and Van Gogh,[citation needed] because she had studied under Archibald Standish Hartrick who had known the artists.

Death

Lady Patricia died at Ribsden Holt, Windlesham, Surrey, on 12 January 1974, eight weeks before her 88th birthday and fifteen months after her husband. Probate of her estate was granted in London on April 17, 1974 and it was valued at £917,199 (equivalent to £7 million in 2022).

Lady Patricia and Admiral Alexander Ramsay are buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, directly behind the Royal Mausoleum of her grandparents Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, in Windsor Great Park.

History of the Title Duke of Edinburgh

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Duke of Edinburgh, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, King George I of Great Britain, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Peerage of Great Britain, Peerage of the United Kingdom, Prince Alfred, Prince Edward, Prince Frederick Louis, Prince Philip, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produce any revenue for the title holder.

1726 Creation

HRH Prince Frederick Louis, Duke of Edinburgh

The title was first created in the Peerage of Great Britain on July 26, 1726 by King George I of Great Britain, who bestowed it on his grandson Prince Frederick Louis, who also became Prince of Wales the following year.

The subsidiary titles of the dukedom were Marquess of the Isle of Ely, Earl of Eltham, in the County of Kent, Viscount of Launceston, in the County of Cornwall, and Baron of Snowdon, in the County of Caernarvon, all of which were also in the Peerage of Great Britain.

The marquessate was gazetted as Marquess of the Isle of Wight, apparently erroneously. In later editions of the London Gazette the Duke is referred to as the Marquess of the Isle of Ely.

After Prince Frederick Louis was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester and had inherited all the other titles associated with the Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester titles: Duke of Cornwall (as heir to the throne in England) titles: Duke of Rothesay (heir apparent to the King of Scots), High Steward of Scotland and Lord of the Isles, he still remained Duke of Edinburgh.

Upon Frederick Louis death in 1751 the titles were inherited by his son Prince George. When Prince George became King George III in 1760, the titles merged in the Crown and ceased to exist.

1866 Creation

HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh

Queen Victoria re-created the title, this time in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, on 24 May 1866 for her second son Prince Alfred, instead of Duke of York, the traditional title of the second son of the monarch. The subsidiary titles of the dukedom were Earl of Kent and Earl of Ulster, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

When Alfred became the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1893, he retained his British titles. His only son that survived birth, Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, committed suicide in 1899, so the Dukedom of Edinburgh and subsidiary titles became extinct upon the elder Alfred’s death in 1900.

1947 Creation

HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

The title was created for a third time on November 19, 1947 by King George VI, who bestowed it on his son-in-law Philip Mountbatten, when he married Princess Elizabeth. Subsequently, Elizabeth was styled “HRH The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh” until her accession in 1952.

The subsidiary titles of the dukedom were Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich, of Greenwich in the County of London; all these titles were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Earlier that year, Philip had renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles (he was born a Prince of Greece and Denmark, being a male-line grandson of King George I of the Hellenes and male-line great-grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark) along with his rights to the Greek throne. In 1957, Philip became a Prince of the United Kingdom in his own right.

Upon Philip’s death on April 9, 2021, his eldest son Charles, Prince of Wales, succeeded to all of his hereditary titles. Upon Charles’s accession to the throne on September 8, 2022, the peerages merged in the Crown and ceased to exist.

2023 Creation

HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh

It was announced in 1999, at the time of the wedding of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, that he would eventually follow his father as Duke of Edinburgh.

It was expected that a new, fourth creation would be bestowed on Prince Edward after the third creation reverted to the Crown when Charles III acceded to the throne. In July 2021, The Times reported that Charles had decided not to give the title to his brother upon accession. Clarence House stated that “all stories of this nature are speculation, no final decisions have been taken” and declined to comment further.

The title was created for a fourth time on March 10, 2023 by King Charles III, who bestowed it on his brother Prince Edward, when he turned 59. The title will be held by Prince Edward for his lifetime, as a non-hereditary peerage title.

The Life of Princess Victoria of Baden, Queen of Sweden. Part I.

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German Emperor Wilhelm I, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, House of Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, King Carl XIV of Sweden and Norway, King Gustaf IV Adolph of Sweden, King Gustaf V of Sweden, Princess Royal, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of Baden

Victoria of Baden (August 7, 1862 – April 4, 1930) was Queen of Sweden from December 8, 1907 until her death in 1930 as the wife of King Gustaf V. She was politically active in a conservative fashion during the development of democracy and known to be pro-German during the First World War.

Princess Victoria was born at Karlsruhe Palace, Baden. Her parents were Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, and Princess Louise of Prussia, the second child and only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm I and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. She was the younger sister of German Emperor Friedrich III, and aunt of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Princess Victoria of Baden

Victoria was named after her aunt by marriage, Victoria, the Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Victoria was tutored privately in the Karlsruhe Palace, by governesses and private teachers, in an informal “Palace School” with carefully selected girls from the aristocracy. She was given a conventional education for her gender and class with focus on art, music and languages, and could play the piano, paint and speak French and English.

Victoria was given a strict and Spartan upbringing with a focus on duty. Among other things, her mother ordered her to sleep on hard mattresses by an open window. Such spartan methods were recommended at the time as beneficiary and something that would harden the child’s future health; but it is believed, that this had bad consequences for Victoria’s health later in life.

Photograph of Crown Prince Gustav, c. 1897

Victoria was given her confirmation in 1878. After this, she made her debut in adult social life and marriage prospects were discussed.

On September 20, 1881 in Karlsruhe Princess Victoria married Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden and Norway, the son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway and Sofia of Nassau.

Her grandparents parents German Emperor Wilhelm I and Empress Augusta were present at the wedding, and the marriage was arranged as a sign that Sweden belonged to the German sphere in Europe.

Princess Victoria of Baden and Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden

The marriage was popular in Sweden where she was called “The Vasa Princess”, because of her descent from the old Vasa dynasty, and she received a very elaborate welcome on the official cortege into Stockholm October 1, 1881.

Victoria of Baden’s father, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, was the son of Princess Louise of Sweden who in turn was the daughter of King Gustaf IV Adolph of Sweden and his wife Frederica of Baden.

This means Princess Victoria brought in the blood of the old Swedish Royal Family. Victoria’s husband, King Gustaf V of Sweden, was the great-grandson of King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden and Norway of the House of Bernadotte. In 1810, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was unexpectedly elected the heir-presumptive (Crown Prince) to the childless King Carl XIII of Sweden, (uncle of the deposed King Gustaf IV Adolph. Jean Baptiste assumed the name Carl Johan.Upon Carl XIII’s death on February 5,1818, Crown Prince Carl Johan ascended the Swedish throne as King Carl XIV Johan. In Norway he was known as King Carl III. He was initially popular in both countries.

Princess Victoria of Baden and Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden

With the election of Jean Baptiste Bernadotte to the Swedish throne this created a new Swedish Dynasty that had no relationship by blood to any previous Swedish Dynasty. With the marriage of Princess Victoria of Baden to the future King Gustaf V of Sweden she brought into the Swedish Royal Family the blood of the previous Swedish Dynasties making her descendants and the current King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden a descendant of the older Swedish Royal Dynasties.

Sadly, Victoria and Gustaf were brought together by their families and their marriage was reported not to have been a happy one. Their marriage produced three children. In 1890–1891, Victoria and Gustaf travelled to Egypt to repair their relationship, but it did not succeed, allegedly due to Victoria’s interest in one of the courtiers, and she repeated the trip to Egypt in 1891–1892.

After 1889, the personal relationship between Victoria and Gustaf is considered to have been finished, in part, as estimated by Lars Elgklou, due to the bisexuality of Gustaf.

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

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

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

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

Princess Sophie of Prussia

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

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

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

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

Crown Princess Sophie of Greece and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece

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

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

Crown Princess Sophie of Greece

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

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

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

Crown Princess Sophie of Greece and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece

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

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

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

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

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

February 10, 1840: Marriage of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

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Duke of Kent and Strathearn, King William IV of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince Edward, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Royal Marriage, The Prince Consort

From the Emperor’s Desk: I took a short break so I am posting the anniversary of this event today.

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; May 24, 1819 – January 22, 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was the second longest reign in British history and was known as the Victorian Era.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who was born in Coburg on August 17, 1786 in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and was named Marie Louise Victoire.

She was the fourth daughter and seventh child of Franz Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf. One of her brothers was Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and another brother, Leopold, future king of the Belgians, married, in 1816, Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only legitimate daughter of the future King George IV, and heiress presumptive to the British throne.

After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, Princess Victoria 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.

Though Victoria was now Queen, as an unmarried young woman she was required by social convention to live with her mother, despite their differences over the Kensington System and her mother’s continued reliance on Conroy.

Her mother was consigned to a remote apartment in Buckingham Palace, and Victoria often refused to see her. When Victoria complained to Melbourne that her mother’s proximity promised “torment for many years”, Her first Prime Minster Lord Melbourne sympathised but said it could be avoided by marriage, which Victoria called a “schocking [sic] alternative”.

Prince Albert was born on August 26, 1819, at Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg, within the German Confederation, and the second son of Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

In 1825, Albert’s great-uncle, Friedrich IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, died without a direct heir which led to a realignment of the Saxon Duchies the following year and Albert’s father became, Ernst I, the first reigning duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Albert and his elder brother, Ernst, spent their youth in close companionship, which was marred by their parents’ turbulent marriage and eventual separation and divorce. After their mother was exiled from court in 1824, she married her lover, Alexander von Hanstein, Count of Pölzig and Beiersdorf.

She presumably never saw her children again, and died of cancer at the age of 30 in 1831. The following year, their father married his niece, his sons’ cousin Princess Marie of Württemberg; their marriage was not close, however, and Marie had little—if any—impact on her stepchildren’s lives.

Princess Marie of Württemberg was a daughter of Duke Alexander of Württemberg and Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (her husband’s sister).

The idea of marriage between Albert and his cousin, Victoria, was first documented in an 1821 letter from his paternal grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf), who said that he was “the pendant to the pretty cousin”. By 1836, this idea had also arisen in the mind of their ambitious uncle Leopold, who had been King of the Belgians since 1831.

King Leopold arranged for his sister, Victoria’s mother, to invite the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his two sons to visit her in May 1836, with the purpose of meeting Victoria. King William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander, second son of the Prince of Orange (future King Willem II of the Netherlands) and Grand Duchess Anna Paulovna of Russia.

Victoria was well aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. She wrote, “[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful.” Alexander, on the other hand, she described as “very plain”.

Victoria wrote to her uncle Leopold to thank him “for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert … He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy.” Although the parties did not undertake a formal engagement, both the family and their retainers widely assumed that the match would take place.

Victoria showed interest in Albert’s education for the possible future role he would have to play as her husband, but she resisted attempts to rush her into wedlock. Victoria had only gained her freedom from the oppressive “Kensington System” under which she was raised, when she assumed the throne.

Albert returned to the United Kingdom with his brother Ernst in October 1839 to visit the Queen, with the objective of settling the marriage.

Albert and Victoria felt mutual affection and the Queen proposed to him on October 15, 1839. Victoria’s intention to marry was declared formally to the Privy Council on November 23, and the couple married on February 10, 1840 at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace.

Just before the marriage, Albert was naturalised by an Act of Parliament.

In the German Confederation, Albert was styled “His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha”. He was granted the style of Royal Highness on February 6, 1840.

From February 6, 1840 until June 25, 1857 Albert was known in the United Kingdom as HRH Prince Albert without any territorial designation. Queen Victoria’s attempts to create her husband King Consort or granting him a Peerage title was met with resistance by her Prime Minsters and Parliament. Eventually, on June 25, 1857 Queen Victoria granted her husband the title of Prince Consort.

Victoria was love-struck. She spent the evening after their wedding lying down with a headache, but wrote ecstatically in her diary:

I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert … his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness – really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband! … to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before – was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life!

Albert became an important political adviser as well as the Queen’s companion, replacing Melbourne who had been the dominant influential figure in the first years of her reign.

February 6, 1952: Death of King George VI of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India.

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Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, Duke of York, Emperor of India, King George V of the United Kingdom, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Prince Albert of York. King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Princess Mary of Teck, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; December 14, 1895 – February 6, 1952) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from December 11, 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first Head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949.

King George VI of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India

The future George VI was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

His father was Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V), the second and only surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Princess of Denmark).

His mother, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary), was the eldest child and only daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck.

Queen Victoria with her great-grandchildren. In front is Prince Albert.

Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge was a daughter of Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge the tenth child and seventh son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte (born a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz).

King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (right) together with his son Prince George, the Prince of Wales, later George V (left), and his grandsons, Prince Edward of Wales, later Edward VIII, and Prince Albert of Wales, later George VI.

Prince Adolphus Frederick was married to Princess and Landgravine Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, third daughter of Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Cassel, and his wife, Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen. Through her father, Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, was a great-granddaughter of King George II of Great Britain, her grandmother being George II’s daughter Mary.

Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge

This made Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge a first cousin to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, Duchess of Cambridge

Prince Albert’s birthday, December 14, 1895, was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Prince George, Duke of York (George V)

Victoria Mary of Teck, Duchess of York (Queen Mary)

Uncertain of how the Prince Consort’s widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been “rather distressed”. Two days later, he wrote again: “I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her.”

Albert and Elizabeth, Duke and Duchess of York

The Queen was mollified by the proposal to name the new baby Albert, and wrote to the Duchess of York: “I am all impatience to see the new one, born on such a sad day but rather more dear to me, especially as he will be called by that dear name which is a byword for all that is great and good.”

Consequently, he was baptised “Albert Frederick Arthur George” at St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham on February 17, 1896. Formally he was His Highness Prince Albert of York; within the royal family he was known informally as “Bertie”. On May 28, 1898 Queen Victoria issued Letters Patent elevating the styles of the children of the Duke of York (including Prince Albert) from His/Highness to His/Her Royal Highness.

Albert and Elizabeth, Duke and Duchess of York

The Duchess of Teck did not like the first name her grandson had been given, and she wrote prophetically that she hoped the last name “may supplant the less favoured one”. Albert was fourth in line to the throne at birth, after his grandfather, father and elder brother, Edward.

His father ascended the throne as King George V in 1910. As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at the time of thier Coronation

Prince Albert spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Prince Edward, the heir apparent. Albert attended naval college as a teenager and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York.

He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923. Lady Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in the Peerage of Scotland, and his wife, Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. Her mother was descended from British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, and Governor-General of India Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, who was the elder brother of another prime minister, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he engaged speech therapist Lionel Logue to treat his stammer, which he learned to manage to some degree.

King George VI and his daughters The Princess Margaret and The Princess Elizabeth

His elder brother ascended the throne as King Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but Edward abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert thereby became the third monarch of the House of Windsor, taking the regnal name George VI to show continuity within the Monarchy.

In September 1939, the British Empire and most Commonwealth countries—but not Ireland—declared war on Nazi Germany. War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively. King George VI was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people and his popularity soared.

King George VI and his daughters The Princess Elizabeth and The Princess Margaret

Buckingham Palace was bombed during the Blitz while the King and Queen were there, and his younger brother the Prince George the Duke of Kent was killed on active service. King George VI became known as a symbol of British determination to win the war. Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, but the British Empire declined.

Ireland had largely broken away, followed by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1948. King George VI relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth.

King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

King George VI was beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign and died of a coronary thrombosis in 1952. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

King Charles III of the United Kingdom is his grandson.

History of the Kingdom of Greece. Part IV. King George I.

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Argos, Corinth, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, King George I of the Hellenes, King Otto of Greece, Prince Alfred of the United Kingdom, Prince of Wales, Prince Wilhelm of Denmark, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Sparta, Tripolitsa

Following the overthrow of the Bavarian-born King Otto of Greece in October 1862, the Greek people had rejected Otto’s brother and designated successor Luitpold, although they still favored a monarchy rather than a republic.

Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, the United Kingdom, rallied around Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. British prime minister Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were “panting for increase in territory”, hoping for a gift of the Ionian Islands, which were then a British protectorate.

The London Conference of 1832, however, prohibited any of the Great Powers’ ruling families from accepting the crown, and in any event, Queen Victoria was adamantly opposed to the idea.

The Greeks nevertheless insisted on holding a plebiscite in which Prince Alfred received over 95% of the 240,000 votes. There were 93 votes for a Republic and six for a Greek national to be chosen as king. Former King Otto received one vote.

With Prince Alfred’s exclusion, the search began for an alternative candidate. The French favored Henri d’Orléans, duc d’Aumale, while the British proposed Queen Victoria’s brother-in-law Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her nephew Prince Leiningen, and Archduke Maximilian of Austria, among others.

Eventually, the Greeks and Great Powers winnowed their choice to Prince Wilhelm of Denmark, who had received six votes in the plebiscite. Aged only 17, he was elected King of the Hellenes on March 30, 1863 by the Greek National Assembly and he chose to reign under the regnal name of George I.

Prince Alfred of the United Kingdom

Paradoxically, he ascended a royal throne before his father, who became King Christian IX of Denmark on November 15 the same year. There were two significant differences between George’s elevation and that of his predecessor, Otto. First, he was acclaimed unanimously by the Greek Assembly, rather than imposed on the people by foreign powers. Second, he was proclaimed “King of the Hellenes” instead of “King of Greece”, which had been Otto’s style.

His ceremonial enthronement in Copenhagen on June 6 was attended by a delegation of Greeks led by First Admiral and Prime Minister Konstantinos Kanaris. At the ceremony, it was announced that the British government would cede the Ionian Islands to Greece in honor of the new monarch.

The new 17-year-old king toured Saint Petersburg, London and Paris before departing for Greece from the French port of Toulon on October 22, aboard the Greek flagship Hellas.

He arrived in Athens on October 30, 1863, after docking at Piraeus the previous day. He was determined not to make the mistakes of his predecessor, so he quickly learned Greek. The new king was seen frequently and informally in the streets of Athens, where his predecessor had only appeared in pomp.

King George found the palace in a state of disarray, after the hasty departure of King Otto, and took to putting it right by mending and updating the 40-year-old building. He also sought to ensure that he was not seen as too influenced by his Danish advisers, ultimately sending his uncle, Prince Julius, back to Denmark with the words, “I will not allow any interference with the conduct of my government”. Another adviser, Count Wilhelm Sponneck, became unpopular for advocating a policy of disarmament and tactlessly questioning the descent of modern Greeks from classical antecedents. Like Julius, he was dispatched back to Denmark.

King George I of the Hellenes

From May 1864, George undertook a tour of the Peloponnese, through Corinth, Argos, Tripolitsa, Sparta, and Kalamata, where he embarked on the frigate Hellas. Proceeding northwards along the coast accompanied by British, French and Russian naval vessels, the Hellas reached Corfu on June 6 for the ceremonial handover of the Ionian Islands by the British High Commissioner, Sir Henry Storks.

Politically, the new king took steps to conclude the protracted constitutional deliberations of the Assembly. On October 19, 1864, he sent the Assembly a demand, countersigned by Konstantinos Kanaris, explaining that he had accepted the crown on the understanding that a new constitution would be finalized, and that if it was not he would feel himself at “perfect liberty to adopt such measures as the disappointment of my hopes may suggest”.

It was unclear from the wording whether he meant to return to Denmark or impose a constitution, but as either event was undesirable the Assembly soon came to an agreement.

On November 28, 1864, he took the oath to defend the new constitution, which created a unicameral assembly (Vouli) with representatives elected by direct, secret, universal male suffrage, a first in modern Europe.

A constitutional monarchy was set up with George deferring to the legitimate authority of the elected officials, although he was aware of the corruption present in elections and the difficulty of ruling a mostly illiterate population. Between 1864 and 1910, there were 21 general elections and 70 different governments.

Internationally, George maintained a strong relationship with his brother-in-law the Prince of Wales, who in 1901 became King Edward VII, and sought his help in defusing the recurring and contentious issue of Crete, an overwhelmingly Greek island that remained under Ottoman Turk control.

Since the reign of Otto, the Greek desire to unite Greek lands in one nation had been a sore spot with Great Britain and France, which had embarrassed Otto by occupying the main Greek port of Piraeus to dissuade Greek irredentism during the Crimean War.

During the Cretan Revolt (1866–1869), the Prince of Wales unsuccessfully sought the support of the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Derby, to intervene in Crete on behalf of Greece. Ultimately, the Great Powers did not intervene, and the Ottomans put down the rebellion.