The Kingdom of Ireland: Part IV

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Constitution, Constitutional Monarchy, Irish Free State, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Kingdom of Ireland, President of Ireland, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Under the constitution of the Irish Free State The King of the United Kingdom was the their Head of State as that constitution established the Irish Free State as a constitutional monarchy. However, with the new constitution of 1936 until April 1949 it was unclear whether the Irish state was a republic or a form of constitutional monarchy and (from 1937) whether its head of state was the President of Ireland or King George VI.

The exact constitutional status of the state during this period has been a matter of scholarly and political dispute. The Oireachtas removed all references to the monarch from the revised constitution in 1936, but under statute law the British monarch continued to play a role in foreign relations, though always on the advice of the Irish government. The state did not officially describe itself as the Republic of Ireland until 1949, when it passed legislation giving itself that description.

Background

The state known today as Ireland is the successor-state to the Irish Free State which was established in December 1922. The Irish Free State was governed, until at least 1936, under a form of constitutional monarchy. Under the Free State’s constitution the King had a number of nominal duties, including exercising the executive authority of the state, appointing the cabinet and promulgating the law. However, all of these were delegated to the Governor-General of the Irish Free State, and in 1927 the King’s title within Great Britain and Northern Ireland was changed by proclamation under the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act passed by the Westminster Parliament to “George V, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India”.

King’s title in the Irish state

The King’s title in the Irish Free State (1922–1937) and in Ireland (1937–1949) was the same as it was elsewhere in the Commonwealth, being:
* 1922–1927: By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India
* 1927–1948: By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India
* 1948–1949: By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith.

Edward VIII and the abdication crisis

Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India

In January 1936, George V died and was succeeded by his eldest son, who became Edward VIII. The new King’s reign lasted only eleven months, and he abdicated in December of that year and was succeeded by his brother Prince Albert, Duke of York, who took the name George VI. The parliaments of independent members of the British Commonwealth were required to ratify this change in monarch, and the pro-republican government of the Irish Free State decided to use this opportunity to drastically change the constitution.

Immediate post-abdication reforms (1936–37)

The day after the abdication was announced on December 12, 1936, the Free State constitution was amended to remove all mention of the King and abolish the office of governor-general. The following day, a separate statute permitted the King to sign international treaties and to accredit diplomatic representatives, where authorised by the Irish government.

In 1937 a new Constitution was adopted establishing the monarch’s diminished role, transferring many of the functions performed by the King until 1936 to a new office of President of Ireland, who was declared to “take precedence over all other persons in the State”. However, the 1937 constitution did not explicitly declare that the state was a republic, nor that the President was head of state, and it allowed for the King to have a role in the state’s external affairs. The state’s ambiguous status ended in 1949, when the Republic of Ireland Act ended the King’s remaining role in external affairs and declared that the state was a republic.

The status of the Head of the Irish State from 1936 to 1949 was largely a matter of symbolism and had little practical significance. This was because the roles of both the King and the President of Ireland were merely ceremonial, being exercisable only “on the advice” of the government (Cabinet). However, one practical implication of explicitly declaring the state to be a republic in 1949 was that it automatically led to the state’s termination of membership of the then British Commonwealth, in accordance with the rules in operation at the time.

Constitution of 1937

The Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, filled the gap left by the abolition of the governor-general by creating the post of a directly elected president. The President of Ireland was henceforth responsible for the ceremonial functions of dissolving the legislature, appointing the government, and promulgating the law. Unlike most heads of state in parliamentary systems, the President was not even the nominal chief executive. Instead, the role of exercising executive authority was explicitly granted to the government—in practice, to the Taoiseach. The constitution also, like the 1922 constitution that preceded it, contained many provisions typical of those found in republican constitutions, stating, for example, that sovereignty resided in the people and prohibiting the granting of titles of nobility.

George VI, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India

Nonetheless the government of Éamon de Valera, despite its long-term goal of republicanising the Irish state, consciously chose not to declare a republic and decided to name the state simply Éire (or Ireland), rather than the “Republic of Ireland” or the “Irish Republic”. Thus the new constitution did not explicitly declare that the President would be head of state, providing merely that he would “take precedence over all other persons in the State”. Nor did the new document mention the word republic. Most crucially, Article 29 of the new constitution mirrored Article 51 of its predecessor, by permitting the state to allow its external relations to be exercised by the King.

Nonetheless from 1936 until 1949 the role of the King in the Irish state was invisible to most Irish people. The monarch never visited the state during that period and, due to the abolition of the office of governor-general, had no official representative there. The President, on the other hand, played a key role in important public ceremonies.
Asked to explain the country’s status in 1945, de Valera insisted that it was a republic.

Republic of Ireland Act

The Republic of Ireland Act 1948, which came into force on April 18, 1949, the 33rd anniversary of the beginning of the Easter Rising, was remarkable in that it purported to reform the state into a republic without making any change to the constitution, the ambiguous provisions of which remained unaltered. The Republic of Ireland Act contained three major provisions; it declared that: the External Relations Act was repealed, the state was a republic, and the external relations of the state would henceforth be exercised by the President. The act also had the effect of automatically terminating the state’s membership of the Commonwealth.

Soon after President Seán T. O’Kelly signed the act into law, he commemorated his new status as the clear and unambiguous Irish head of state with state visits to the Holy See and France. A visit to meet George VI at Buckingham Palace was also provisionally planned, but timetabling problems with the President’s schedule prevented the meeting.

Outside the Irish state, “Great Britain, Ireland” was not officially omitted in the royal title until 1953 in the reign of Elizabeth II. Then, each Commonwealth realm adopted a unique title for the monarch. No mention of Ireland was made in any except in the title within the United Kingdom and its dependent territories: it was changed from “of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Queen” to “of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen”.

In 1962 the Republic of Ireland officially repealed Crown of Ireland Act of 1542.

Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories.

The Kingdom of Ireland: Part III

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British Dominion, Government of Ireland Act, Irish Free State, King George V of the United Kingdom, Kingdom of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Home-rule movement

From the Act of Union on January 1, 1801, until December 6, 1922, the island of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. During the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the island’s population of over 8 million fell by 30%. One million Irish died of starvation and/or disease and another 1.5 million emigrated, mostly to the United States.

From 1874, and particularly under Charles Stewart Parnell from 1880, the Irish Parliamentary Party gained prominence. This was firstly through widespread agrarian agitation via the Irish Land League, that won land reforms for tenants in the form of the Irish Land Acts, and secondly through its attempts to achieve Home Rule, via two unsuccessful bills which would have granted Ireland limited national autonomy.

In April 1916, Irish republicans launched the Easter Rising against British rule and proclaimed an Irish Republic. Although it was crushed after a week of fighting, the Easter Rising and the British response led to greater popular support for Irish independence. In the December 1918 election, the republican party Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland. On January 21, 1919 they formed a breakaway government (Dáil Éireann) and declared Irish independence.

In May 1921, Ireland was partitioned under British law by the Government of Ireland Act, which created Northern Ireland. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire (or ‘truce’) on July 11, 1921. The post-ceasefire talks led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921. This ended British rule in most of Ireland and, after a ten-month transitional period overseen by a provisional government, the Irish Free State was created as a self-governing Dominion on December 6, 1922.

In accordance with the treaty, on December 6 1922 the entire island of Ireland became a self-governing Dominion called the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann). Under the Constitution of the Irish Free State, the Parliament of Northern Ireland had the option to leave the Irish Free State one month later and return to the United Kingdom. During the intervening period, the powers of the Parliament of the Irish Free State and Executive Council of the Irish Free State did not extend to Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland exercised its right under the treaty to leave the new Dominion and rejoined the United Kingdom on December 8, 1922. It did so by making an address to the King requesting, “that the powers of the Parliament and Government of the Irish Free State shall no longer extend to Northern Ireland.” Northern Ireland remained within the United Kingdom.

Representative of the Crown

The office of Governor-General of the Irish Free State replaced the previous Lord Lieutenant, who had headed English and British administrations in Ireland since the Middle Ages. Governors-General were appointed by the King initially on the advice of the British Government, but with the consent of the Irish Government. From 1927 the Irish Government alone had the power to advise the King whom to appoint.

George V, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India.

The Irish Oath of Allegiance was fundamentally different. It had two elements; the first, an oath to the Free State, as by law established, the second part a promise of fidelity, to His Majesty, King George V, his heirs and successors. That second fidelity element, however, was qualified in two ways. It was to the King in Ireland, not specifically to the King of the United Kingdom. Secondly, it was to the King explicitly in his role as part of the Treaty settlement, not in terms of pre-1922 British rule.

The sudden abdication of Edward VIII in December 1936 was quickly used to redefine the Royal connection. Nevertheless, the Fianna Fáil government still desired to replace the constitutional document they saw as having been imposed by the British government in 1922.

The King was the same individual who held the position of King of the United Kingdom. Until 1927 he reigned in the Irish Free State as “King in Ireland”. However, from 1927 onwards he technically reigned in Free State on a separate throne as “King of Ireland”. The Oireachtas was dissolved by the King acting on the ‘advice’ of the Executive Council. Members of either house had to take an oath of fidelity to the King known as the “Oath of Allegiance” before taking their seats. The King was the third component and constitute part of the Oireachtas in the same manner as in the Parliament of the United Kingdom

The process of Royal Assent was abolished by the Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936. The Act was the last to receive Royal Assent. The new Act instead required that the Ceann Comhairle sign bills into law. Under the new 1937 Constitution of Ireland, which came into force almost exactly one year later, the role of signing bills into law was given to the President of Ireland. This in particular is one of the reasons why there is some confusion in who was the Irish head of state from 1936 to 1949.

Part IV will address the confusion of who was the Head of State in Ireland during 1936 to 1949.

January 25, 1858: The wedding of Princess Victoria, Princess Royal and Prince Friedrich of Prussia at the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace in London.

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Frederick III of Germany, Kingdom of Prussia, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, royal wedding, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland., Victoria Princess Royal

Victoria, Princess Royal (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa; November 21, 1840 – August 5, 1901) was German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Friedrich III. She was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was created Princess Royal in 1841. She was the mother of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

In the German Confederation, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and his wife Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach were among the personalities with whom Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were allies. The British sovereign also had regular epistolary contact with her cousin Augusta since 1846. The revolution that broke out in Berlin in 1848 further strengthened the links between the two royal couples by requiring the heir presumptive to the Prussian throne to find shelter for three months in the British court.

In 1851, William returned to London with his wife and two children (Friedrich and Louise), on the occasion of The Great Exhibition. For the first time, Victoria met her future husband, and despite the age difference (she was 11 years old and he was 19), they got along very well. To promote the contact between the two, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert asked their daughter to guide Frederick through the exhibition, and during the visit the princess was able to converse in perfect German while the prince was able to say only a few words in English. The meeting was therefore a success, and years later, Prince Friedrich recalled the positive impression that Victoria made on him during this visit, with her mixture of innocence, intellectual curiosity and simplicity.

It was not only his encounter with little Victoria, however, that positively impressed Frederick during the four weeks of his English stay. The young Prussian prince shared his liberal ideas with the Prince Consort. Frederick was fascinated by the relationships among the members of the British royal family. In London, court life was not as rigid and conservative as in Berlin, and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s relationship with their children was very different to Wilhelm and Augusta’s relationship with theirs.

After Friedrich returned to Germany, he began a close correspondence with Victoria. Behind this nascent friendship was the desire of Queen Victoria and her husband to forge closer ties with Prussia. In a letter to her uncle, the king of the Belgians, the British sovereign conveyed the desire that the meeting between her daughter and the Prussian prince lead to a closer relationship between the two young people.

In 1855, Prince Friedrich made another trip to Great Britain and visited Victoria and her family in Scotland at Balmoral Castle. The purpose of his trip was to see the Princess Royal again, to ensure that she would be a suitable consort for him. In Berlin, the response to this journey to Britain was far from positive. In fact, many members of the Prussian court wanted to see the heir presumptive’s son marry a Russian grand duchess. King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who had allowed his nephew to marry a British princess, even had to keep his approval a secret because his own wife showed strong Anglophobia.

At the time of Friedrich second visit, Victoria was 15 years old. A little shorter than her mother, the princess was 1.50 m tall (4 feet 11 inches) and Queen Victoria considered her far from the ideal of beauty of the time. Queen Victoria was concerned that the Prussian prince would not find her daughter sufficiently attractive. However, when I look at pictures of the Princess Royal at this time, personally I think she’s very pretty.

Nevertheless, from the first dinner with the prince, it was clear to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert that the mutual sympathy of the two young people that began in 1851 was still vivid. In fact, after only three days with the royal family, Friedrich asked Victoria’s parents permission to marry their daughter. They were thrilled by the news, but gave their approval on condition that the marriage should not take place before Vicky’s seventeenth birthday.

Once this condition was accepted, the engagement of Victoria and Frederick was publicly announced on May 17, 1856. The immediate reaction in Great Britain was disapproval. The English public complained about the Kingdom of Prussia’s neutrality during the Crimean War of 1853-1856. The Times characterized the Hohenzollern as a “miserable dynasty” that pursued an inconsistent and unreliable foreign policy, with the maintenance of the throne depending solely on Russia. The newspaper also criticised the failure of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV to respect the political guarantees given to the population during the revolution of 1848. In the German Confederation, the reactions to the announcement of the engagement were mixed: several members of the Hohenzollern family and conservatives opposed it, and liberal circles welcomed the proposed union with the British crown.

Convinced that the marriage of a British princess to the second-in-line to the Prussian throne would be regarded as an honour by the Hohenzollerns, Prince Albert insisted that his daughter retain her title of Princess Royal after the wedding. However, owing to the very anti-British and pro-Russian views of the Berlin court, the prince’s decision only aggravated the situation.

The question of where to hold the marriage ceremony raised the most criticism. To the Hohenzollerns, it seemed natural that the nuptials of the future Prussian king would be held in Berlin. However, Queen Victoria insisted that her eldest daughter must marry in her own country, and in the end, she prevailed. The wedding of Victoria and Friedrich took place at the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace in London on January 25, 1858.

The long reigns of Louis XIV of France & Navarre and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

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Anne of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Empire, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Kingdom of France, Longest reign, Louis XIII of France, Louis XIV, Philip III of Spain, Queen Elizabeth II, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Today is the anniversary of the death King Louis XIV of France and Navarre.

Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715), known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil), was King of France and Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death on September 1st 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV’s France was a leader in the growing centralisation of power.

Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, the eldest daughter of King Felipe III of Spain and his wife Margaret of Austria (the daughter of Archduke Carl II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I).

Since the anniversary of his birth is on September 5, I will do a more in depth analysis of his life then. Until then I want to mention an interesting bit of trivia concerning the longest reign of Louis XIV and the long reign of the United Kingdom’s current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

Louis XIV reigned from May 14, 1643 to September 1, 1715 totaling 72 years, 3 months, 18 days on the throne. In order for Queen Elizabeth II to beat that record by one day (72 years, 3 months 19 days) and become longest reigning monarch in European history, she will need to remain on the throne until May 26, 2024, which is 4 years, 8 months and 25 days away.

At that time Elizabeth II will be 98 years, 1 month and 5 days old. Considering Her Majesty’s health is robust, this is entirely within the realm of possibility! Long may she continue to reign!

On this Date in History: Assassination of King George I of the Hellenes.

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Alexandros Schinas, Assassination, Christian IX of Denmark, George I of Greece, King George I of the Hellenes, Kingdom of Greece, Kingdom of the Hellenes, Otto of Greece, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

George I of Greece (1863-1913) was originally a Danish prince, the second son and third child of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (future King Christian IX of Denmark) and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel. George was born on December 24, 1845 at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, right next to the Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen.

King George I of the Hellenes

Until his accession in Greece, he was known as Prince Wilhelm, the namesake of his grandfathers Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel. George was destined for a career in the Royal Danish Navy. He was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the unpopular former king Otto (second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghause).

Otto, King of Greece

His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Second French Empire and the Russian Empire. He married the Russian grand duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, and became the first monarch of a new Greek dynasty.

George and his family, 1862: (back row left to right) Crown Prince Frederick, Christian IX, George; (front row left to right) Dagmar, Valdemar, Queen Louise, Thyra, Alexandra

The death of Britain’s Queen Victoria on January 22, 1901 left King George as the second-longest-reigning monarch in Europe. His always cordial relations with his brother-in-law, the new King Edward VII, continued to tie Greece to Britain. This was abundantly important in Britain’s support of King George’s second son Prince George as Governor-General of Crete. Nevertheless, Prince George resigned in 1906 after a leader in the Cretan Assembly, Eleftherios Venizelos, campaigned to have him removed.

As a response to the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, Venizelos’s power base was further strengthened, and on October 8, 1908 the Cretan Assembly passed a resolution in favor of union despite both the reservations of the Athens government under Georgios Theotokis and the objections of the Great Power. The muted reaction of the Athens Government to the news from Crete led to an unsettled state of affairs on the mainland.

King George I of the Hellenes

In August 1909, a group of army officers that had formed a military league, Stratiotikos Syndesmos, demanded, among other things, that the royal family be stripped of their military commissions. To save the King the embarrassment of removing his sons from their commissions, they resigned them. The military league attempted a coup d’état, and the King insisted on supporting the duly elected Hellenic Parliament in response. Eventually, the military league joined forces with Venizelos in calling for a National Assembly to revise the constitution. King George gave way, and new elections to the revising assembly were held in August 1910. After some political maneuvering, Venizelos became prime minister of a minority government. Just a month later, Venizelos called new elections for December 11, 1910, at which he won an overwhelming majority after most of the opposition parties declined to take part.

Venizelos and the King were united in their belief that the nation required a strong army to repair the damage of the humiliating defeat of 1897. Crown Prince Constantine was reinstated as Inspector-General of the Army, and later Commander-in-Chief. Under his and Venizelos’s close supervision the military was retrained and equipped with French and British help, and new ships were ordered for the Hellenic Navy. Meanwhile, through diplomatic means, Venizelos had united the Christian countries of the Balkans in opposition to the ailing Ottoman Empire.

When the Kingdom of Montenegro declared war on Turkey on October 8, 1912, it was joined quickly by Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece in what is known as the First Balkan War. George was on vacation in Denmark, so he immediately returned to Greece via Vienna, arriving in Athens to be met by a large and enthusiastic crowd on the evening of 9 October. The results of this campaign differed radically from the Greek experience at the hands of the Turks in 1897. The well-trained Greek forces, 200,000 strong, won victory after victory. On November 9, 1912, Greek forces commanded by Crown Prince Constantine rode into Thessaloniki, just a few hours ahead of a Bulgarian division. Three days later King George rode in triumph through the streets of Thessaloniki, the second-largest Greek city, accompanied by the Crown Prince and Venizelos.

Assassination of George I by Alexandros Schinas as depicted in a contemporary lithograph

As he approached the fiftieth anniversary of his accession, the King made plans to abdicate in favor of his son Constantine immediately after the celebration of his golden jubilee in October 1913. Just as he did in Athens, George went about Thessaloniki without any meaningful protection force. While out on an afternoon walk near the White Tower on March 18, 1913, he was shot at close range in the back by Alexandros Schinas, who was “said to belong to a Socialist organization” and “declared when arrested that he had killed the King because he refused to give him money.” George died instantly, the bullet having penetrated his heart. The Greek government denied any political motive for the assassination, saying that Schinas was an alcoholic vagrant. Schinas was tortured in prison and six weeks later fell to his death from a police station window.

The King’s body was taken to Athens on the Amphitrite, escorted by a flotilla of naval vessels. For three days the coffin of the King, draped in the Danish and Greek flags, lay in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Athens before his body was committed to a tomb at his palace in Tatoi. Crown Prince Constantine succeeded his father as the new king of the Hellenes.

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Consorts, Happy Birthday, Kingdom of Greece, Prince Philip, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The Duke of Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Happy Birthday HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

Exerts from Wikipedia

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, 10 June 1921) is the husband and consort of Queen Elizabeth II.

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born in Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu on 10 June 1921, the only son and fifth and final child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Philip’s four elder sisters were Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie, and Sophie. He was baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church. His godparents were Queen Olga of Greece (his paternal grandmother) and Alexandros S. Kokotos (the Mayor of Corfu).

A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was an infant. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the British Royal Navy in 1939, aged 18. From July 1939, he began corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he had first met in 1934. During the Second World War he served with the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets.

After the war, Philip was granted permission by King George VI to marry Elizabeth. Before the official announcement of their engagement in July 1947, he abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles and became a naturalised British subject, adopting the surname Mountbatten from his maternal grandparents. He married Elizabeth on 20 November 1947. Just before the wedding, he was created Baron Greenwich, Earl of Merionethand Duke of Edinburgh. Philip left active military service when Elizabeth became monarch in 1952, having reached the rank of commander, and was formally made a British prince in 1957.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth have four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He has eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Through a British Order in Council issued in 1960, descendants of Philip and Elizabeth not bearing royal styles and titles can use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, which has also been used by some members of the royal family who do hold titles, such as Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

A keen sports enthusiast, Philip helped develop the equestrian event of carriage driving. He is a patron, president or member of over 780 organisations and serves as chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for people aged 14 to 24. He is the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the oldest-ever male member of the British royal family. Philip retired from his royal duties on 2 August 2017, at the age of 96, after having completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952.

Happy Birthday Your Majesty!

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Duke of Edinburgh, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II, the prince of Wales, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Today is the 92nd birthday of Her Majesty, The Queen.

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms.

Elizabeth was born in London as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and she was educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1947, she married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, with whom she has four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Andrew, Duke of York; and Edward, Earl of Wessex.

Happy 92nd Birthday Your Majesty, long may you reign!

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Her Majesty’s Sapphire Jubilee

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King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria, Royal Family, Sandringham Estate, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In a few short weeks, on February 6, 2017, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will celebrate 65 years on the throne technically inaugurating 2017 as her Sapphire Jubilee Year. In September 2015 she surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in world history. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch and head of state following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. Her Majesty became Queen on February 6, 1952 when her father, King George VI, passed away in his sleep at the Sandringham estate.

From what I have read there will be no official celebration for her Sapphire Jubilee and I for one think this is a good idea. On April 21 of this year Her Majesty will also be 91 and although this dedicated monarch will continue to carry out her royal duties there are already signs that she will be slowing down a bit as she hands off some of her duties to other members of the Royal Family. I think this is a good idea. After a long battle with a severe cold, which can be be quite serious for the elderly, I would like to see Her Majesty slow down a bit and take care of herself. I do not want to see her abdicate and nor will she ever, I just would like to see her slow down a little.

 

 

 

Kate Middleton? NO, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge!

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Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Prince William, styles, The Duchess of Cambridge, titles, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

After more than five years of marriage to HRH The Duke of Cambridge, his wife, the former Kate Middleton, is still often called Kate Middleton or many other incorrect titles. Her correct title, simply is, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge. I swear if by some unfortunate tragedy the Duke of Cambridge were to wake up tomorrow to find that he is the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain the press and others would still call his wife Kate Middleton!

She is a Princess of the United Kingdom via her marriage to HRH The Duke of Cambridge, but because she was not born a member of the royal family she is not entitled to be called Princess Catherine. That right is reserved for women who are the daughter of the sovereign or the granddaughter of the sovereign in the male line. (an exception has been made for little Princess Charlotte of Cambridge who is a great-granddaughter of the sovereign in the male line…more on that in another post).

This was the same case/situation for the late Diana, Princess of Wales (her correct title after the divorce). While Diana was married to HRH The Princes of Wales her correct title was, again simply,  HRH The Princess of Wales. Since Diana was not born either as daughter of the sovereign or the granddaughter of the sovereign in the male line it was not correct to call her “Princess Diana.”

The press never got that right and that is why they and others flounder in what to call the wife of the Duke of Cambridge…Duchess Kate: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (this way of referring to her indicates she is divorced for that is how Diana was referred to after her divorce): Princess Catherine: Princess Kate and a combination of all the above. All are wrong. Her correct style is, Her Royal Highness, and her correct title is…The Duchess of Cambridge. That is it! If you have a peerage title you are known by that peerage title (along with the style His or Her Royal Highness in the case of the royal family members that hold peerage titles) and not your first name. If you are a wife of a peer you take the feminine form of your husband’s title…in the case of the lovely lady formerly known as Kate Middleton, the title is Duchess of Cambridge.

In the future HRH The Duchess of Cambridge will be known as HRH The Princess of Wales when her father-in-law (the current Prince of Wales) becomes king and eventually invests his son as Prince of Wales. Further in the future, and God willing, when the Duke of Cambridge becomes King, as King William V of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (assuming he doesn’t select another regnal name) and the simple correct way to refer to him will be, His Majesty the King, and his his wife’s correct style and tittle will be Her Majesty The Queen. So lets stop calling her Kate Middleton.

Maybe tomorrow or very soon I will write a post on the history of titles and their correct forms and usage.

Kingdom of Scotland

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Aberdeenshire, Alba, Balmoral Castle, Dál Riata, Education Act 1496, Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth II, Garden Party, James IV, James VI of Scotland, Kenneth MacAlpin, King Cináed I of Scotland, King of Scots, Kingdom of Northumbria, Kingdom of Strathclyd, Picts, Queen Victoria, Referendum Bill, Royal Deeside, Scotland, Scottish Government, The Honors of Scotland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland., University of Aberdeen, University of Glasgow, University of St Andrews

The Honors of Scotland

Today I want to look at the Kingdom of Scotland. I have always had a warm spot in my heart for Scotland. Although I became interested in royalty by examining the kings and queens of England I quickly learned that Scotland had its own kings and queens, its own traditions and its own identity. I feel that in some ways the identity of the Scottish monarchy has been lost, engulfed and out shined by its bigger brother. Those are feelings attitudes that I can relate to. I was watching the show Monarchy, the Royal Family at Work last night and they were showing guests at a Garden Party where one English lady spoke about being nervous meeting the “queen of England.” As I said in another post Her Majesty is neither the queen of England nor the queen Scots as these ceased to be separate sovereign states in 1707. She is the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Scotland existed from 843 until 1707 as its own sovereign state. Scotland, known as Alba in more distant history, was united by King Cináed I of Scotland (Kenneth MacAlpin) in 843. Cináed united the clans of the ancient kingdoms of Dál Riata and the Picts. The Kingdom of Strathclyde and the northern regions of the English Kingdom of Northumbria was incorporated into Scotland at a later date. Sadly too many people get their image of Scotland from such movies as Braveheart which depicted Scotland as a nation of warring primitive clans. While warring clans is a part of their history, Scotland also had a rich culture and by the fifteenth century Scotland was very advanced in areas such as educational systems with the founding of the University of St Andrews in 1413, the University of Glasgow in 1450 and the University of Aberdeen in 1494, and with the passing of the Education Act 1496 under James IV, King of Scots.

When James VI of Scotland inherited the throne from Elizabeth I of England in 1603 and moved south to London, Scotland lost its epicenter and part of its identity as a separate sovereign state. Its unique identity was lost in 1707 with the union with England. The monarchs of Great Britain payed little head to Scotland unless it was needed such as the times of the English Civil Wars of the mid 17th century. The monarchs making their home in London did not have much of a presence in Scotland until the reign of Queen Victoria who purchased Balmoral Castle located at Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1852 and has been a favorite retreat for the royal family ever since.

In the fall of 2014 the Scottish Government will vote on a Referendum Bill seeking independence from the United Kingdom. From what I have read they will continue to have Elizabeth II be their head of state, as Elizabeth, Queen of Scots. Whatever the outcome I do want to continue to raise awareness of people to the uniqueness and splendor of Scotland.