June 9: Today in Royal History

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Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

June 9, 1661 – Birth of Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia in Moscow, Russia
When Feodor’s father Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia died in 1676, he was succeeded by 15-year-old Feodor. Even though Feodor had been well educated and had a fine intellect, he had a debilitating physical condition that prevented him from fully participating in reigning. In 1682, at the age of 20, Feodor died childless and without making an order concerning the succession to the throne. This was eventually resolved by the decision to have two tsars at the same time – Feodor’s brother Ivan V and his half-brother Peter I (the Great) under the regency of Sofia Alexeevna, Feodor’s eldest sister.
Unofficial Royalty: Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia

June 9, 1640 – Birth of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria
Full name: Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician
A contemporary and first cousin of King Louis XIV of France, Leopold was not expected to be the heir of his father’s heir, but his elder brother died from smallpox at the age of twenty-one. When his father died in 1657, seventeen-year-old Leopold succeeded to his father’s Habsburg hereditary lands but was not elected as Holy Roman Emperor until July 18, 1658. Leopold’s reign was dominated by the defense against French expansion under his first cousin King Louis XIV of France.
Unofficial Royalty: Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

June 9, 1672 – Birth of Peter I “the Great”, Emperor of All Russia at the Moscow Kremlin in Moscow, Russia
After the death of their elder half-brother Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia, who was disabled by an unknown disease that left him disfigured and partially paralyzed, Peter and his older half-brother Ivan, who had serious physical and mental disabilities, were co-rulers of Russia. Peter married twice to Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina and then to Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, later Catherine I, Empress of All Russia. Peter had fourteen children but only three survived to adulthood including Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia. Upon his half-brother’s death in 1696, Peter assumed complete authority. Peter is perhaps the greatest Romanov ruler. He is known for his modernization reforms and founding the city of St. Petersburg. Peter was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he wanted Russia to have a seaport to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk on the White Sea to the north and closed to shipping during the winter. Previously titled Tsar of All Russia, Peter was officially proclaimed Emperor of All Russia in 1721.
Unofficial Royalty: Peter I, Emperor of All Russia (the Great)

June 9, 1701 – Death of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, son of King Louis XIII of France and brother of King Louis XIV of France, at the Château de Saint-Cloud in France; buried at the Basilica of St. Denis near Paris
The only sibling of King Louis XIV, Philippe’s careful investment and management of his various estates made him a wealthy man. His wealth was greatly increased when he inherited the fortune of his extremely wealthy paternal first cousin Anne Marie Louise of Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier upon her death. Philippe is acknowledged as the biological and financial founder of the House of Orléans. His descendants include King Felipe VI of Spain, King Philippe of the Belgians, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, Henri, Count of Paris, the Orléanist pretender to the French throne, and Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, the pretender to the Italian throne.
Unofficial Royalty: Philippe I, Duke of Orléans

June 9, 1806 – Birth of Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany
Ludwig was the brother of Prince Alexander, the founder of the Battenberg/Mountbatten dynasty and Marie who married Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. His marriage to Mathilde Caroline of Bavaria was childless and he was succeeded by his nephew Ludwig IV who married Queen Victoria’s daughter Alice.
Unofficial Royalty: Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine

June 9, 1820 – Death of Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange, wife of Willem V, Prince of Orange, at Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, Dutch Republic, now in the Netherlands; first buried at Het Loo Palace, reinterred in 1831 at the new crypt at Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands
Wilhelmina married Willem V, Prince of Orange. In 1795, her husband lost power when the Dutch Republic was threatened by invading French armies. Revolutionary Dutch patriots, now supported by the French Army, replaced the Dutch Republic with the Batavian Republic which remained in power until 1806. Wilhelmina’s family fled to England where they lived in exile until in London in the part of Kew Palace known as the Dutch House with the permission of Willem V’s first cousin King George III. In 1806, Napoleon created the Kingdom of Holland for his brother Louis and the Batavian Republic ended. In 1813, with the help of Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, the House of Orange was restored and Wilhelmina’s son became Willem I, the first King of the Netherlands.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange

June 9, 1923 – Death of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, at Schomberg House, Pall Mall in London, England; buried at Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore in Windsor, England
Helena took a very active role in royal duties and engagements at a time when this was not nearly as common as it is today. In addition, she was very involved in charity work, particularly in the area of nursing. She served as president of the Royal British Nurses Association and was one of the founding members of the British Red Cross.  She was also the founding president of the Royal School of Needlework. Upon her death, Helena was first interred in the Royal Crypt at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. In 1928, her remains, along with those of her husband and infant son Harald were moved to the newly established Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore in Windsor, England.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Helena of the United Kingdom

June 9, 1930 – Birth of Princess Ragnhild of Norway, daughter of King Olav V of Norway, at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway
Full name: Ragnhild Alexandra
Named for another Ragnhild, the wife of Harald Fairhair, the first king of a united Norway who reigned 872 – 930, Ragnhild was the first native Norwegian princess born in Norway in over 600 years. Ragnhild married Erling Lorentzen, a commoner and her former bodyguard. Reportedly, Ragnhild’s grandfather King Haakon VII consented to the marriage only after the intervention of her mother Crown Princess Märtha. Ragnhild lost her style of Royal Highness with the marriage, becoming known instead as Her Highness Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen. The couple settled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and had three children. Ragnhild died in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 16, 2012, following a bout with cancer. Her remains were transferred to Norway where her funeral was held and at her request, Ragnhild was buried at Asker Church in Asker, Norway.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Ragnhild of Norway

June 9, 1946 – Shooting death of King Ananda Mahidol, Rama VIII of Thailand, at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand; his ashes are enshrined in the base of the Buddha statue at Wat Suthat in Bangkok, Thailand
20-year-old King Ananda Mahidol was found shot to death in his bed in the Boromphiman Throne Hall, a residential palace located in the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. He was scheduled to return to the University of Lausanne in Switzerland four days later to begin work on his Ph.D. King Ananda Mahidol was succeeded by his 18-year-old brother Bhumibol Adulyadej who reigned for seventy years. Although three people were tried and executed for King Ananda Mahidol’s supposed assassination, the circumstances of his death have never been fully explained and his death is still seen as a mystery.
Unofficial Royalty: The Mysterious of Ananda Mahidol, King of Thailand
Unofficial Royalty: King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand

June 9, 1993 – Wedding of Emperor Naruhito of Japan, then Crown Prince, and Masako Owada, married at the Kashiko-dokoro, the Shinto shrine of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, on the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan
800 guests were invited, including Imperial Family members, the bride’s relatives, government officials, lawmakers, judges, and industrial leaders. Very few friends of the bride and groom were invited and no foreigners were invited. The groom’s parents, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, were not among the 800 guests. They stayed in their imperial sitting room a few hundred yards from the shrine and waited until midafternoon when the newlyweds visited them to inform them of the morning marriage. Guests did not actually attend the wedding ceremony. They stood in the Imperial Garden for the 10 AM wedding and only saw the bride and groom, accompanied by Shinto ritualists, chamberlains, and ladies-in-waiting, as they slowly walked down a long wooden porch.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Emperor Naruhito of Japan and Masako Owada

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Royal Birthdays & Anniversaries: June 9 – June 15

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Below is a select list of birthdays and wedding anniversaries for current monarchies. It does not purport to be a complete list. Please see the Current Monarchies Index in the heading above for more information on current monarchies.

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Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako; Credit – Imperial Household Agency

31st wedding anniversary of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan; married at the Kashiko-dokoro, the Shinto shrine of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, on the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan on June 9, 1993.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Emperor Naruhito of Japan and Masako Owada

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43rd birthday of Prince Hashim bin Al Hussein of Jordan, son of King Hussein I of Jordan and his fourth wife Queen Noor; born in Amman, Jordan on June 10, 1981
Wikipedia: Prince Hashim bin Al Hussein

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42nd birthday of Princess Madeleine of Sweden, daughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden; born at Drottningholm Palace in Drottningholm, Sweden on June 10, 1982
Full name: Madeleine Thérèse Amelie Josephine
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland

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King Abdullah II of Jordan and Rania al-Yasin; Credit – www.hellomagazine.com

31st wedding anniversary of King Abdullah II of Jordan and Rania al-Yasin; married at the Zahran Palace in Amman, Jordan on June 10, 1993
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of King Abdullah II of Jordan and Rania al-Yasin

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56th birthday of Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein, son of Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein; born in Zurich, Switzerland on June 11, 1968
Full name: Alois Philipp Maria
Unofficial Royalty: Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein

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56th birthday of Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg, wife of Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg; born Sibilla Weiller in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France on June 12, 1968
Full name: Sibilla Sandra Weiller y Torlonia
Sibilla Weiller is a descendant of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg

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59th birthday of Infanta Cristina of Spain, daughter of King Juan Carlos of Spain, in Madrid, Spain on June 13, 1965
Full name: Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad de Borbón y de Grecia
Unofficial Royalty: Infanta Cristina of Spain

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Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and Sofia Hellqvist; Credit – Wikipedia

9th wedding anniversary of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and Sofia Hellqvist, married at the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on June 13, 2015
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist

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Royal News Recap for Friday, June 7, 2024

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Royal News Recaps are published Mondays-Fridays and on Sundays, except for Thanksgiving in the United States, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The Royal News Recap for Sundays will be a weekend recap. If there is any breaking or major news, we will add an update as necessary.

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Netherlands

Saudi Arabia

Spain

United Kingdom

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Disclaimer:Please be advised that any media article titles or content that appear in the Royal News which identify members of royal families with their maiden names, nicknames, incorrect style or title, etc., come directly from the media source and not from Unofficial Royalty. We encourage you to contact the media sources to express your concern about their use of the incorrect name, style, title, etc. Contact information can usually be found at the bottom of each media source’s main page.

June 8: Today in Royal History

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Tomb of Edward the Black Prince at Canterbury Cathedral; Credit – Susan Flantzer

June 8, 1042 – Death of King Harthacnut of England at Lambeth, London, England; buried at Winchester Cathedral in Winchester, England
Harthacnut was the son of Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway and his second wife Emma of Normandy, the widow of Æthelred II the Unready, King of the English. He had two half-siblings who were also Kings of England: Harold Harefoot, King of England and Saint Edward the Confessor, King of England who succeeded him. On June 8, 1042, Harthacnut attended a wedding in Lambeth, London, England. As he was drinking to celebrate the wedding, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, “He died while standing with his drink. Suddenly he fell to the ground with violent convulsions.” Harthacnut was only 23-24 years old. There were unproven suspicions that he was poisoned and there were people who would have benefitted from his death. His death also could have been caused by a stroke due to excessive drinking. A 2015 study speculated that perhaps up to fourteen Danish kings, including Harthacnut, who suddenly died at a relatively young age without being ill, possibly died of Brugada Syndrome, a genetic disorder in which the electrical activity in the heart is abnormal. It increases the risk of abnormal heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death.
Unofficial Royalty: King Harthacnut of England

June 8, 1376 – Death of Edward, Prince of Wales, known as the Black Prince, son and heir of King Edward III of England, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England; buried at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, England
Edward was one of the seven Princes of Wales who never became King. He is best known for his military career in the Hundred Years War. Around 1365, Edward contracted an illness that ailed him until he died in 1376. It was believed that he contracted dysentery, which killed more medieval soldiers than battle, but it is unlikely that he could survive a ten-year battle with dysentery. Other possible diagnoses include edema, nephritis, or cirrhosis. By 1371, Edward could no longer perform his duties and returned to England. In 1372, he forced himself to attempt one final campaign, hoping to save his father’s French possessions, but the prevailing winds off the shores of France prevented the ships from landing and the campaign was aborted. Edward’s health was now completely shattered.  A week before his forty-sixth birthday, Edward died. His father King Edward III died a year later and was succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson King Richard II, the surviving son of Edward the Black Prince.
Unofficial Royalty: Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince)

June 8, 1492 – Death of Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England, wife of King Edward IV of England, at St. Saviour’s Abbey in Bermondsey, London, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Elizabeth Woodville was the mother of Elizabeth of York who married King Henry VII of England. In 1487, two years into the reign of King Henry VII, she retired to Bermondsey Abbey in London, England where she lived for the rest of her life. She was present at the birth of her granddaughter Margaret Tudor at Westminster Palace in November 1489 and at the birth of her grandson, the future Henry VIII, King of England, at Greenwich Palace in June 1491. Elizabeth died at Bermondsey Abbey on June 8, 1492, at the age of 55. With the exception of her daughter Elizabeth, who was awaiting the birth of her fourth child, and her daughter Cecily, her other daughters, Anne, Catherine, and Bridget attended her funeral at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle where Elizabeth Woodville was buried with her husband King Edward IV of England.
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England

June 8, 1671 – Death of Edgar Stuart, Duke of Cambridge, at Richmond Palace in Surrey, England; buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England in a vault under the monument to his great-great-grandmother Mary, Queen of Scots in the south aisle of the Henry VII Chapel
Born on September 14, 1667, Edgar was the youngest of the four sons of the future King James II of England, who was then Duke of York, and his first wife Anne Hyde. At the time of his birth, his three brothers who had been born before Edgar had all died. His only living siblings were his two elder sisters, the future Queen Mary II of England and the future Queen Anne of England, who turned out to be the only surviving children of their parents’ eight children. Until his early death, Edgar was second in the line of succession to the English throne after his father. Edgartown, Massachusetts on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, established in 1642, was named after Edgar when it was incorporated in 1671
Unofficial Royalty: Edgar Stuart, Duke of Cambridge

June 8, 1714 – Death of Dowager Electress Sophia of Hanover, granddaughter of King James I of England and mother of King George I of Great Britain, at Schloss Herrenhausen in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany; initially buried at the Chapel of Leineschloss in Hanover which was destroyed during World War II; in 1957 her remains were moved to the mausoleum of King Ernest Augustus I in the Berggarten of Herrenhausen Gardens.
In 1701, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement, giving the succession to the British throne to Sophia and her Protestant heirs because the Stuarts failed to produce a surviving heir. This act ensured the Protestant succession and bypassed many Catholics who had better claims to the throne.  On  June 5, 1714, 83-year-old Sophia fell ill after receiving an angry letter from Queen Anne of Great Britain. Two days later, while she was walking in the gardens of Schloss Herrenhausen, it began to rain quite heavily and Sophia ran to a shelter where she collapsed. She died the next day. Sophia narrowly missed becoming queen, having died two months before Queen Anne. Sophia’s son George, Elector of Hanover, became King George I of Great Britain, the first monarch of the House of Hanover.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophia, Electress of Hanover

June 8, 1795 – Death of Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, Titular King Louis XVII of France, son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, at the Temple Prison in Paris, France; buried in the cemetery of Ste. Marguerite in Paris, France; his heart was interred at Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France on June 8, 2004
Born in splendor at the Palace of Versailles, Louis-Charles died from tuberculosis at the age of ten, imprisoned at the Temple, the remains of a medieval fortress in Paris, after seeing his father Louis XVI, his mother Marie Antoinette, and his aunt Elisabeth led off to be beheaded. Of all the royal prisoners in the Temple, Louis-Charles’ sister Marie-Thérèse was the only one to survive.
Unofficial Royalty: Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France – Titular King Louis XVII of France

June 8, 2013 – Wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O’Neill at the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
Following a broken engagement in 2010, Princess Madeleine moved to New York to work for the World Childhood Foundation, a charitable organization founded by her mother, Queen Silvia. It was here that she met Mr. O’Neill and the two quickly became a couple.  The Swedish Royal Court announced their engagement in October 2012. Protocol dictates that members of the Royal Family must be Swedish citizens, and may not be involved in positions of responsibility in business. Mr. O’Neill continued working and did not apply for Swedish citizenship. He requested that he not be granted any royal status or title. Princess Madeleine did not take on Mr. O’Neill’s name and remained HRH Princess Madeleine.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O’Neill

June 8, 2014 – Death of Prince Katsura of Mikasa, son of Prince Mikasa of Japan, grandson of Emperor Taishō of Japan, at the University of Tokyo Hospital in Tokyo, Japan; buried at the Toshimagaoka Cemetery in Tokyo, Japan
Prince Katsura was paralyzed from the waist down after suffering from a series of strokes in 1988 and used a wheelchair. Despite vision loss in his right eye, paralysis, and memory issues, he remained active in public life and was president of various charity organizations. He died from a massive heart attack at the age of 66. Since Prince Katsura never married and his two brothers only had daughters, his death marked the end of his father’s branch of the Japanese Imperial Family.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Katsura of Mikasa

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Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, 1st Duke of Southampton, Illegitimate Son of King Charles II of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, 1st Duke of Southampton; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite fathering many illegitimate children with his mistresses, King Charles II of England had no children with his wife Catherine of Braganza. Charles II is an ancestor through his mistresses of many British aristocrats and of several women who married into the British Royal Family. Lucy Walter and Charles II are ancestors of Sarah, Duchess of York and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland and Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York. Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth and Charles II are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla, and Sarah, Duchess of York.

King Charles II of England; Credit -Wikipedia

On June 18, 1662, in London England, Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, 1st Duke of Southampton was born. The surname FitzRoy comes from the Anglo-Norman Fitz, meaning “son of” and Roy, meaning “king”, implying the original bearer of the surname was a child of a king. Charles was the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and one of his mistresses Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland in her own right. Charles’s paternal grandparents were King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France (the daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici). His maternal grandparents were William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison and Mary Bayning.

In 1642, the English Civil War broke out between King Charles I and the Parliamentarian and Puritan forces. When the situation deteriorated in the spring of 1646, the future King Charles II, then Prince of Wales, was sent out of England. The execution of King Charles I on January 30, 1649, made his son Charles the de jure King of England. Until the Stuart Restoration in 1660, when the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland was restored and King Charles II returned to England, he lived in exile in various places.

Charles’ mother Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles’ mother was born in 1640 as Barbara Villiers, the only child of William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison and Mary Bayning. In 1643, Barbara’s father died in the First English Civil War, leaving his 18-year-old widow and his three-year-old daughter in financial difficulty. Barbara’s mother soon married Charles Villiers, 2nd Earl of Anglesey, her late husband’s cousin. The marriage was childless and Barbara’s stepfather died from smallpox in 1661. Barbara was considered one of the most beautiful of the young Royalist women but her lack of a dowry did not help her marriage prospects. In 1659, Barbara married the Roman Catholic Roger Palmer, later 1st Earl of Castlemaine, against his family’s wishes.

At the end of 1659, Roger and his new wife left with other supporters of the exiled Charles, Prince of Wales (the future King Charles II) joining him in the Spanish Netherlands. In 1660, Barbara became King Charles II’s mistress. After years of exile during the Commonwealth, on May 1, 1660, Parliament formally invited Charles, as King Charles II, to be the English monarch in what has become known as the Restoration. On May 23, 1660, Charles landed in Dover, England, and on his 30th birthday, May 29, 1660, King Charles II entered London in a procession.

Besides Charles, Barbara gave birth to five other children and it is surmised that they were all the children of King Charles II. Through their children, Barbara Palmer and King Charles II are the ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York, and their children Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Eugenie. As a reward for Barbara’s services, Charles II created Roger Palmer Earl of Castlemaine in 1661.

The children of Barbara Palmer, probably the children of King Charles II, and therefore, probably the full siblings of Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, 1st Duke of Southampton (all have articles publishing soon):

Barbara Palmer with her son Charles FitzRoy as Madonna and Child; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles, initially known as Charles Palmer, was registered as the son of his mother’s husband the Roman Catholic Roger Palmer, and was styled Lord Limerick, one of Palmer’s subsidiary titles. Thinking the infant was his son, Palmer had him baptized as a Roman Catholic. Within a few days, the infant Charles was re-baptized again as a member of the Church of England at the Church of St. Margaret’s, Westminster with King Charles II as one of his godparents, declaring, “He is my son.”

In 1670, Charles’ mother Barbara Palmer was created Duchess of Cleveland in her own right. The dukedom was created with a special remainder allowing it to be inherited by her first son Charles and his heirs male, despite her son being illegitimate. That same year, King Charles II officially recognized Charles as his son. Charles then used the surname FitzRoy and was styled Earl of Southampton, the subsidiary title of his mother who had been created Duchess of Cleveland in her own right. In 1675, King Charles II created his son Duke of Southampton.

Also in 1670, Charles was betrothed to Mary Wood, the only child and the heiress of Sir Henry Wood, 1st Baronet, Clerk of the Green Cloth, and Mary Gardiner, a daughter of the Royalist Sir Thomas Gardiner of Cuddesdon. Sir Henry served as Treasurer to Queen Henrietta Maria. His wife was a Maid of Honor to Queen Henrietta Maria and one of the four Dressers of King Charles II’s wife Catherine of Braganza. Mary Wood’s mother died of smallpox in 1671 and her father also died the same year. Following her father’s death in 1671, Mary went to live with Charles’s mother Barbara Palmer. In 1679, Charles and Mary were married but a year later, sixteen-year-old Mary died, like her mother, of smallpox. After many legal maneuvers, Mary’s fortune passed to her widower 18-year-old Charles Fitzroy who remained unmarried for fourteen years.

In 1694, 32-year-old Charles married Anne Pulteney, daughter of Sir William Pulteney, a Member of Parliament.

Charles and Anne had six children:

In 1688, the Glorious Revolution forced Charles’s paternal uncle King James II of England to vacate the throne in favor of his daughter (and Charles’s first cousin) Queen Mary II and her husband and first cousin (also Charles’s first cousin) King William III. Unlike his sister Anne, who joined the former King James II in exile in France, Charles remained in England. Despite not following his uncle, Charles, along with several other peers – his brother Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton, his brother George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, his brother-in-law Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield, and his brother-in-law William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth, opposed the offer of the crown to William and Mary. In 1691, Charles was suspected of plotting to restore his uncle, the former King James II, to the throne. After an unsuccessful Jacobite attempt to ambush and kill King William III in 1696, Charles signed the Association of 1696 which pledged loyalty to King William III (Queen Mary died in 1694). Thereafter, although he was partial to his uncle James II, Charles accepted the right of King William III to reign.

When Charles’ mother Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland died on October 9, 1709, aged 68, he became 2nd Duke of Cleveland. On September 9, 1730, 68-year-old Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland died in London, England. He was succeeded by his eldest son William FitzRoy. However, William was childless and when he died in 1774, all his titles became extinct.

Burial site of Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland; Credit – By 14GTR – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=123825812

Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland was buried on November 3, 1730, at Westminster Abbey in the Duke of Ormond’s vault, now the Royal Air Force Chapel, at the east end of Henry VII’s Chapel. Charles’ second wife Anne Pulteney, survived him by sixteen years, dying on February 20, 1746, aged 82, and was interred with her husband. Those interred in the Duke of Ormond’s vault have no monument. Their names were inscribed on a stone over the vault only in the late 19th century when Arthur Stanley, Dean of Westminster viewed the coffins in the vault. Now a carpet with the Royal Air Force insignia permanently covers the stone with the inscription of the names.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Beauclerk-Dewar, Peter & Powell, Roger. (2006). Right Royal Bastards – The Fruits of Passion. Burke’s Peerage & Gentry LLC.
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020). Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Mistress of King Charles II of England. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/barbara-palmer-1st-duchess-of-cleveland-mistress-of-king-charles-ii-of-england/
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2016). King Charles II of England. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/
  • Fraser, Antonia. (2002). King Charles II. Phoenix.
  • Weir, Alison. (2008). Britain’s Royal Families – The Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books.
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_FitzRoy,_2nd_Duke_of_Cleveland

Royal News Recap for Thursday, June 6, 2024

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Royal News Recaps are published Mondays-Fridays and Sundays, except for Thanksgiving in the United States, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve. The Royal News Recap for Sundays will be a weekend recap. If there is any breaking or major news, we will add an update as necessary.

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Bhutan

Jordan

Luxembourg

Monaco

Netherlands

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

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June 7: Today in Royal History

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Statue of Robert the Bruce in Stirling, Scotland; Credit – By Ally Crockford – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28842870

June 7, 1329 – Death of Robert I, King of Scots (Robert the Bruce) at the Manor of Cardross, near Dumbarton, Scotland; buried at Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, Scotland
Robert the Bruce is a Scottish national hero and was King of Scots during the First War of Scottish Independence.  The Scots refused to tolerate English rule, resulting in the Wars of Scottish Independence, a series of military campaigns fought between Scotland and England, first led by William Wallace and after his execution, led by Robert the Bruce. Robert the Bruce as Earl of Carrick and 7th Lord of Annandale, held estates and property in Scotland, a barony and some minor properties in England, and a strong claim to the throne of Scotland. On March 27, 1306, Robert the Bruce was proclaimed Robert I, King of Scots, and the crown was placed on his head by Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan. According to tradition, the ceremony of crowning the monarch was performed by a representative of Clan MacDuff.
Unofficial Royalty: Robert I, King of Scots

June 7, 1394 – Death of Anne of Bohemia, Queen of England, first wife of King Richard II, at Sheen Palace in Surrey, England; buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England
In June 1394, Anne became ill with the plague while at Sheen Palace with her husband. She died three days later on June 7, 1394, at the age of 28. King Richard II was so devastated by Anne’s death that he ordered Sheen Palace to be destroyed. For almost 20 years it lay in ruins until King Henry V started a rebuilding project in 1414. Richard II gave Anne a magnificent funeral. The funeral procession made its way from Sheen Palace to Westminster Abbey lit by candles and torches made from wax specially imported from Flanders. Those in the procession were dressed all in black and wore black hoods. King Richard was angered when Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel arrived late for the funeral. The king struck the earl in the face with his scepter.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne of Bohemia, Queen of England

June 7, 1840 – Birth of Princess Charlotte of Belgium, Empress Carlotta of Mexico, daughter of King Leopold I of the Belgians, wife of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico (born an Archduke of Austria), at the Royal Castle in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium
Full name: Maria Charlotta Amelia Augusta Victoria Clementina Leopoldina
In 1861, Charlotte’s husband Archduke Maximilian of Austria, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, accepted the offer of becoming Emperor of Mexico. The liberal forces led by Benito Juárez, the former president the French had deposed, refused to recognize his rule. There was continuous warfare between the French troops and the forces of Juárez who wanted a republic. Maximilian was condemned to death by a court of war and on June 19, 1867, he was executed by a firing squad. After her return to Belgium, Charlotte developed a mental illness and was declared insane.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Charlotte of Belgium, Empress Carlotta of Mexico

June 7, 1840 – Death of Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia, in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany; buried in the Mausoleum in the garden of Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin
After the early death at the age of 34 of his first wife Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the mother of his nine children, Friedrich Wilhelm III instituted an order that her family should mourn her death each year on July 19, the anniversary of her death. Luise was buried in the garden of Charlottenburg Palace where her husband had a mausoleum built over her grave. Friedrich Wilhelm III survived his first wife by thirty years and was buried by her side. His second wife Countess Auguste von Harrach survived him by 33 years and is also buried in the mausoleum, although she has no stone or marker.
Unofficial Royalty: King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia

June 7, 1876 – Death of Queen Josefina of Sweden, born Joséphine of Leuchtenberg, wife of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway in Stockholm, Sweden; buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden
Queen Josefina was the daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais, the son of Empress Joséphine (Napoleon Bonaparte‘s first wife) from her first marriage to Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais, who had been guillotined during the French Revolution. Her mother was Princess Augusta of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. In 1823, Josefina married King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway. The couple had five children including two Kings of Sweden and Norway. Josefina brought to Sweden jewelry that had belonged to her grandmother Empress Josephine, still worn by the Swedish and Norwegian royal families. The Cameo Tiara, originally made for her grandmother Joséphine, Empress of the French, was worn by her descendant Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden at her wedding in 2010. Photos of both women wearing the Cameo Tiara are in the article linked below. Josefina survived her husband for 17 years and died in Stockholm on June 7, 1876, at age 69. She remained Roman Catholic, was given a Catholic funeral, and was buried with her husband at Riddarholmen Church.
Unofficial Royalty: Joséphine of Leuchtenberg, Queen Josefina of Sweden

June 7, 1907 – Birth of Prince Sigvard of Sweden, later Sigvard Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, at Drottningholm Palace in Drottningholm, Sweden
Full name: Sigvard Oscar Fredrik
Sigvard lost his style His Royal Highness and his title of Prince of Sweden when he married a commoner. In 1951, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg conferred on him the title of Count of Wisborg. Sigvard died in 2002, in Stockholm, Sweden. He was 94 years old, and for the last eight years of his life, he was the eldest living great-grandchild of Queen Victoria and her longest-lived descendant.
Unofficial Royalty: Sigvard Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg

June 7, 1960 – Birth of Prince Radu of Romania, husband of Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania, born Radu Duda in Iaşi, Romania
Radu Duda is the husband of Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania, the eldest of the five daughters of the late former King Michael I of Romania who abdicated in 1947 when Romania ceased to be a monarchy. Margareta and Radu live at the Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest, Romania, and undertake public engagements in Romania and in other countries that help contribute to the successful modernization of Romania, reconcile with the past, and link Romania to other countries.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Radu of Romania

June 7, 1969 – Birth of Prince Joachim of Denmark, son of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark
Full name: Joachim Holger Valdemar Christian
Joachim is the younger of the two sons of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. In 1995, he married Alexandra Manley. The couple had two sons and divorced in 2005. Joachim married Marie Cavallier in 2008 and they have one son and one daughter. In September 2020, Prince Joachim started work as the defense attaché at the Danish Embassy in Paris, France. With the appointment, Joachim received the permanent rank of brigadier general. During the summer of 2023, Joachim and his family moved to Washington, DC in the United States where he will become defense attaché at the Danish Embassy.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Joachim of Denmark

June 7, 2002 – Death of Princess Lilian of Belgium, Princess de Réthy, born Lilian Baels, second wife of King Leopold III of the Belgians, at the Château d’Argenteuil, near Waterloo, Belgium; buried at Royal Vault at the Church of Our Lady in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium
Despite surviving her husband by nearly 20 years, it was at his funeral that Princess Lilian made her last official public appearance. She spent the remaining years of her life pursuing her interests in medicine (having established a Cardiology Foundation in 1958 following her son Alexandre’s heart surgery the previous year in the United States) and editing her husband’s memoirs “Pour l’Histoire” (For History), published in 2001.  Princess Lilian’s funeral was held at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, attended by the entire Belgian royal family except for her elder daughter Marie-Christine, who had completely severed all ties with her family. Princess Lilian was interred in the Royal Crypt, beside her husband and his first wife Queen Astrid, who tragically died at a young age in a car accident.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Lilian, Princess de Réthy

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Royal News Recap for Wednesday, June 5, 2024

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Royal News Recaps are published Mondays-Fridays and Sundays, except for Thanksgiving in the United States, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve. The Royal News Recap for Sundays will be a weekend recap. If there is any breaking or major news, we will add an update as necessary.

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Denmark

Greece

Jordan

Monaco

Spain

United Kingdom

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Disclaimer: Please be advised that any media article titles or content that appear in the Royal News that identify members of royal families with their maiden names, nicknames, incorrect style or title, etc., come directly from the media source and not from Unofficial Royalty. We encourage you to contact the media sources to express your concern about their use of the incorrect name, style, title, etc. Contact information can usually be found at the bottom of each media source’s main page.

June 6: Today in Royal History

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Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Empress of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

June 6, 1625 – Death of Anna Maria von Boskowitz and Černahora, Princess of Liechtenstein, wife of Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein in Plumov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic; buried in the Old Crypt at the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, then in Moravia, now in the Czech Republic
In 1590, Anna Maria married Baron Karl von Liechtenstein, the future first Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein. Anna Maria and Karl had four children including Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein. Anna Maria died, aged 50, on June 6, 1625, in Plumov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. She was buried in the Old Crypt at the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, founded by Karl’s younger brother Maximilian and his wife Katharina, Anna Maria’s sister.
Unofficial Royalty: Anna Maria von Boskowitz and Černahora, Princess of Liechtenstein

June 6, 1710 – Death of Louise de La Vallière, Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of  Vaujours, mistress of King Louis XIV of France, at Notre-Dame-des-Champs, a Carmelite convent in the Faubourg Saint-Jacques in Paris, France, as Sister Louise de la Miséricorde; buried in the convent cemetery
Louise was the mistress of King Louis XIV of France from 1661 until 1667. By 1670, having been forced to remain at court and live with Louis XIV’s new mistress Madame de Montespan, Louise became ill and at one point was near death. Upon recovering, she sought solace in religion, and the following year, decided to leave court and enter a convent. However, Louis XIV forced her to return for several years. Finally, in 1674, she was permitted to leave the court and entered the Carmelite convent in Faubourg-Saint-Jacques. She took her vows the following year, becoming Sister Louise de la Miséricorde.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise de La Vallière, Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of  Vaujours

June 6, 1714 – Birth of King José I of Portugal at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
Full name: José Francisco António Inácio Norberto Agostinho
To strengthen an alliance with Spain, a double marriage between Portugal and Spain was arranged between José and Mariana Victoria of Spain, daughter of Felipe V, King of Spain, and between José’s elder sister Barbara and Felipe V’s son and heir Fernando, Prince of Asturias, later Fernando VI, King of Spain. José and Mariana Victoria had four daughters including his successor Maria I, the first reigning Queen of Portugal.
Unofficial Royalty: King José I of Portugal

June 6, 1772 – Birth of Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Empress of Austria, second wife of Emperor Franz I of Austria, at the Royal Palace of Naples in the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily
Maria Theresa married her double first cousin Archduke Franz of Austria, later Emperor of Austria. This was Franz’s second marriage and the only one of his four marriages that resulted in surviving children. Seven of their twelve children survived to adulthood. Among the children of Franz and Maria Theresa were: Marie-Louise, the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte; Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria; and Maria Leopoldina, the wife of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil. Maria Theresa’s twelfth child lived only three days and Maria Theresa also died, a week later due to birth complications at the age of 34.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Empress of Austria

June 6, 1836 – Death of King Anton of Saxony in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany; buried in the Wettin Crypt at the Dresden Cathedral
Anton became King of Saxony, upon the death of his elder brother King Friedrich August I, who had only one surviving child, a daughter. Anton also had no male heirs. His first marriage was childless and the one son and three daughters from his second marriage either died at birth or died in infancy. Anton was succeeded by his nephew King Friedrich August II.
Unofficial Royalty: King Anton of Saxony

June 6, 1872 – Birth of Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, at the Neues Palais in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany
Full name: Victoria Alix Helene Luise Beatrice
A grandchild of Queen Victoria, Alix is best remembered as Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Empress of Russia, who transmitted hemophilia to her only son and who was assassinated along with her husband Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, and five children during the Russian Revolution.
Unofficial Royalty: Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia

June 6, 1934 – Birth of King Albert II of Belgium at Stuyvenberg Castle in Brussels, Belgium
Full name: Albert Félix Humbert Théodore Chrétien Eugène Marie
In early July 2013, King Albert announced his intention to abdicate, citing health reasons. On July 21, 2013, Belgium’s National Day, he signed the formal document of abdication and was succeeded by his son, King Philippe.
Unofficial Royalty: King Albert II of Belgium

June 6, 2012 – Death of Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, son of Prince Mikasa of Japan, at the Sasaki Institute Kyoundo Hospital in Tokyo, Japan; buried at the Toshimagaoka Imperial Cemetery in Tokyo, Japan
Tomohito was the grandson of Emperor Taishō, the nephew of Emperor Hirohito (Shōwa), and the first cousin of Emperor Akihito.  He had serious health issues. In 1991, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer which went into remission. Over the years, Tomohito was treated sixteen times for various forms of cancer including larynx cancer, throat cancer, and recurrences of the cancers. He died from multiple organ failure due to the cancers.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Tomohito of Mikasa

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Royal News Recap for Tuesday, June 4, 2024

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Royal News Recaps are published Mondays-Fridays and Sundays, except for Thanksgiving in the United States, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve. The Royal News Recap for Sundays will be a weekend recap. If there is any breaking or major news, we will add an update as necessary.

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Belgium

Japan

Jordan

Monaco

Multiple Monarchies

Netherlands

Norway

United Kingdom

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Disclaimer: Please be advised that any media article titles or content that appear in the Royal News that identify members of royal families with their maiden names, nicknames, incorrect style or title, etc., come directly from the media source and not from Unofficial Royalty. We encourage you to contact the media sources to express your concern about their use of the incorrect name, style, title, etc. Contact information can usually be found at the bottom of each media source’s main page.