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Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom; Credit – Wikipedia

April 21, 1509 – Death of King Henry VII of England at Richmond Palace in Richmond, Surrey, England; buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England
King Henry VII was the son of Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, who died three months before his son’s birth, leaving a 13-year-old pregnant widow Lady Margaret Beaufort. Henry’s father Edmund Tudor was the eldest child of Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois, widow of King Henry V of England. His mother Lady Margaret Beaufort was the only child of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso. Through her father, Lady Margaret was a descendant of King Edward III of England. At the time of Henry’s birth, the Wars of the Roses, the fight for the English throne between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, was two years old. His mother was a descendant of the House of Lancaster. In 1470, after the Lancastrian King Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London, Henry’s uncle Jasper Tudor left England for France and took his nephew Henry with him to keep him safe. In 1485,  Henry Tudor sailed to Wales with a small French and Scottish force. He then marched towards England accompanied by his uncle Jasper Tudor and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. On August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the last king of the House of York and the Plantagenet dynasty, King Richard III of England, lost his life and his crown. The battle was a decisive victory for the House of Lancaster, whose leader 28-year-old Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became the first monarch of the House of Tudor. In 1486, King Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, King Edward IV’s eldest child, thereby uniting the House of York and the House of Lancaster. Henry and Elizabeth had seven children including King Henry VIII of England. Through their daughter Margaret Tudor, they are the ancestors of the British royal family and many other European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry VII of England

April 21, 1673 – Birth of Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empress, wife of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, in Hanover, then in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, now in the German state of Lower Saxony
When the future Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I began having affairs at the age of 15, his mother thought the pious Roman Catholic Wilhelmine Amalie, who was five years older than Joseph, would be a positive influence on Joseph and he would then stop having affairs. The couple married in 1699, and had three children but their only son died from hydrocephalus before his first birthday. Joseph did not stop his affairs, and the affairs combined with the death of his only son took a toll on his marriage. In 1705,  Joseph succeeded his father in the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Holy Roman Emperor. Six years later, Joseph died from smallpox. In 1722, after both her daughters had married, Wilhelmine Amalie retired to the convent she had founded for the Salesian nuns, the Monastery of the Visitation of Mary in Vienna where she died eleven days before her sixty-ninth birthday.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empress

April 21, 1767 – Birth of Elisabeth of Württemberg, Archduchess of Austria, first wife of the future Emperor Franz I of Austria, in Treptow an der Rega in Brandenburg-Pomerania, now Trzebiatów, Poland
Full name: Elisabeth Wilhelmine Luise
At the age of 15, Elisabeth went to Vienna, Austria to prepare to become the bride of Archduke Franz, the nephew of Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph II. The Protestant princess was educated by nuns at the Church and Monastery of the Visitation and she converted to Roman Catholicism. Elisabeth married Archduke Franz (the future emperor) in 1788 but died two years later in childbirth after giving birth to a daughter who lived only four months.
Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth of Württemberg, Archduchess of Austria

April 21, 1815 – Birth of Louise Rasmussen, Countess Danner, former mistress and morganatic third wife of King Frederik VII of Denmark, in Copenhagen, Denmark
Louise, a dancer with the Danish Royal Ballet, became acquainted with the son of King Christian VIII, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, who had already divorced two wives. Louise and Frederik had a relationship during the 1840s. In 1848, Frederik’s father died and he succeeded to the Danish throne as King Frederik VII. Upon becoming king, Frederik wished to marry Louise but the government was not in favor of the marriage. In 1849, King Frederik VII signed a new constitution, changing the monarchy from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. The signing of the new constitution made Frederik so popular that the government granted him permission to morganatically marry Louise Rasmussen. Louise was not queen consort and was officially styled as Countess Danner. The marriage appears to have been a happy one but had much opposition and Louise was treated poorly in social circles. Frederik and Louise did not have any children. Frederik died in 1863 and Louise survived him by eleven years, dying in Genoa, Italy on March 6, 1874, at the age of 58. While King Frederik VII was buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place of the Danish Royal Family, Louise was not accorded a resting place near her husband. She was buried in a burial mound in the castle garden of her home Jægerspris Castle.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise Rasmussen, Countess Danner

April 21, 1829 – Birth of Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, Queen Victoria’s Mistress of the Robes 1870–1874
Born Anne Hay-Mackenzie, the only child of John Hay-Mackenzie of Newhall and Cromarty, she married George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland. In 1870, she succeeded her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, as Mistress of the Robes, and served until 1874. The position had also previously been held by her mother-in-law Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland four different times between 1837 and 1861.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland

April 21, 1843 – Death of Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex, son of King George III of the United Kingdom, at Kensington Palace in London, England; buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London, England
Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex is infamously known for making two marriages in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772. In 1793, a very pregnant Miss Augusta Murray and Mr. Augustus Frederick (the Duke of Sussex). Augusta gave birth to a son a month later. King George III was greatly angered by the marriage, and it was declared null and void in August 1794. Despite this, Augustus and Augusta continued to live together. Another child, a daughter was born in 1801. The two children, deemed illegitimate, used the last name D’Este as both their parents were descendants of the House of Este. After the death of Augusta in 1830, Augustus married again in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act, to a widow, Lady Cecilia Buggin. Because marriage was not considered legal, Cecilia could not take the style and title Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex, so instead, she assumed the surname Underwood, her mother’s maiden name, and was known as Lady Cecilia Underwood. The couple lived at Augustus’ apartments in Kensington Palace. Despite all of this, Augustus was respected by his niece Queen Victoria. He was given the honor of giving her away at her wedding. As a token of her gratitude, Queen Victoria created Augustus’ wife Cecilia Duchess of Inverness in her own right in 1840. On April 21, 1843, Augustus died from erysipelas at the age of 70. Because Augustus feared that his second morganatic wife would not be allowed to be buried in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, he left instructions that he be buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in Kensal Green, London, England, where his wife was later buried.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex

April 21, 1865 – Birth of Archduke Otto Franz of Austria, father of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, in Graz, Austrian Empire, now in Austria
Otto Franz of Austria was the father of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, and the brother of the ill-fated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination in 1914 was one of the causes of World War I. Otto Franz married Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony and the couple had two sons. By 1900, it was clear that Otto Franz had contracted syphilis and he withdrew from public life. He was in agonizing pain for the last two years of his life and was forced to replace his nose with a rubber prosthetic due to the facial deformity caused by syphilis. On November 1, 1906, Archduke Otto Franz, aged forty-one, died.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduke Otto Franz of Austria

April 21, 1892 – Death of Alexandrine of Prussia, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, wife of Grand Duke Paul Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in Schwerin, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany; buried at Schwerin Cathedral
In 1822, Alexandrine married the future Grand Duke Paul Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and they had three children. Her husband became Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1837. He died five years later and was succeeded by the couple’s son Friedrich Franz II. At the time of her death, Alexandrine had been widowed for fifty years, lived through the reign of her son, and saw her grandson succeed to the Grand Ducal throne of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was also the last living grandchild of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and had seen the Prussian throne held by her father, two brothers, a nephew, and a great-nephew.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexandrine of Prussia, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

April 21, 1918 – Death of Friedrich II, Duke of Anhalt at Ballenstedt Castle in the Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; initially buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; in 1958, under Communist East Germany, all remains of members of the House of Anhalt were reburied in the Ziebigker Cemetery in Dessau in a common grave; in 2019, Friedrich’s remains were reinterred in the Marienkirche in Dessau, the traditional burial site of the Dukes of Anhalt-Dessau
In 1889, Friedrich married Princess Marie of Baden but the couple had no children. Friedrich became the reigning Duke of Anhalt upon his father’s death in January 1904. He established a Court Theatre which would become very well-known throughout Europe and attracted some of the leading singers and musicians from around the world. Friedrich died on April 21, 1918, aged 61. In 1958, the remains of members of the House of Anhalt were removed from the Ducal Mausoleum secretly by night for political reasons. Dessau was then in Communist East Germany.  All the remains were reburied in the Ziebigker Cemetery in Dessau in a common grave, marked only by a simple wooden cross. In 2019, Friedrich’s remains were moved a second time and reinterred in the Marienkirche in Dessau, the traditional burial site of the Dukes of Anhalt-Dessau dating back to the 15th century. The Marienkirche was destroyed during World War II and has since been rebuilt.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich II, Duke of Anhalt

April 21, 1926 – Birth of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom at 17 Bruton Street in London, England
Full name: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
Destined to become the longest-reigning British monarch, Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York was born at 2:40 am on April 21, 1926, at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London, the home of her maternal grandparents. She was the daughter of the future King George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (at the time, the Duke and Duchess of York), and was named in honor of her mother, her great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra, and her grandmother, Queen Mary. Her paternal grandparents were King George V and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, and her maternal grandparents were Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th and 1st Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. At the time of her birth, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the British throne, following her uncle The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor), and her father. She succeeded to the throne upon the death of her father on February 6, 1952. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, marking seventy years on the throne. Queen Elizabeth II died at 96 at Balmoral Castle, her home in Balmoral, Scotland, on September 8, 2022. She is the longest-reigning British monarch having surpassed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria on September 9, 2015. Queen Elizabeth II had reigned for 25,782 days or  70 years, 214 days. Only King Louis XIV of France, (reigned May 14, 1643 to September 1, 1715, for 26,407 days or 72 years, 110 days) has reigned longer. (Note: Lengths of reign are from a list of monarchs of states that were internationally sovereign for most or all of their reigns and have verifiable reigns by an exact date.)
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

April 21, 1992 – Death of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia, son of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in Miami, Florida; buried in the Grand Ducal Mausoleum at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia, the first Romanov to be buried in Russia since the Russian Revolution
Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia was the pretender to the throne of Russia from 1938 – 1992.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia

April 21, 2007 – Birth of Princess Isabella of Denmark, daughter of King Frederik X of Denmark, at Copenhagen University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark
Full name: Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe
Denmark changed its succession law in 2008 to absolute primogeniture where the succession passes to the eldest child of the sovereign regardless of gender. Males and females have equal succession rights. This means that King Frederik X’s second-born child Isabella is second in the line of succession to the Danish throne after her elder brother Christian and is ahead of her younger brother Vincent.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Isabella of Denmark

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Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, Credit – Wikipedia

April 20, 1690 – Death of Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, Dauphine of France at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France; buried at the Basilica of St. Denis in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France
Maria Anna Victoria was the wife of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the eldest son and heir of King Louis XIV of France. Married in 1680, Maria Anna Victoria and Louis, Dauphin of France had three sons including Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin, second in the line of succession after his father, and Philippe, Duke of Anjou, later King Felipe V of Spain. The births of her three sons and at least six miscarriages caused Maria Anna Victoria’s health to deteriorate. Maria Anna Victoria died aged twenty-nine. An autopsy revealed several internal disorders that completely vindicated her complaints of chronic and severe illness. It is also probable that Maria Anna Victoria had tuberculosis. King Louis XIV outlived both his son Louis, Dauphin of France and his grandson Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin. When he died in 1715, King Louis XIV was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV of France, the son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, Dauphine of France

April 20, 1808 – Birth of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, in Paris, France
Born: Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, later Napoleon III of the French, was the son of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland (younger brother of Emperor Napoleon I) and Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Emperor Napoleon I’s first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais and her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais who was beheaded during the French Revolution.  Elected to the presidency of the French Second Republic in 1848, Louis-Napoléon seized power by force in 1851, when he could not constitutionally be reelected, and later proclaimed himself Emperor of the French. After being turned down by Princess Carola of Vasa (daughter of the deposed Swedish King Gustaf IV Adolf), and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (a niece of Queen Victoria), Napoleon III married Eugénie de Montijo, Countess of Teba and Marquise of Ardales in 1853. The couple had one son, Napoléon, Prince Imperial who died unmarried in 1879 while fighting in the Anglo-Zulu War. In July 1870, France entered the Franco-Prussian War. Without significant allied support, and with unprepared and limited forces, the French army was quickly defeated. Napoleon III was captured at the Battle of Sedan and quickly surrendered. As word reached Paris, the Third Republic was declared on September 4, 1870, ending, for the last time, the French monarchy. Louis-Napoléon and his family went into exile in England. After falling ill in the summer of 1872, and undergoing two operations, he died at the age of 64.
Unofficial Royalty: Napoleon III, Emperor of France

April 20, 1836 – Death of Prince Johann I Josef of Liechtenstein in Vienna, Austria; buried at Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Brno, now in the Czech Republic
Because he had an elder brother and was not expected to succeed to the throne of Liechtenstein, Johann Josef chose a military career in the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire, of which Liechtenstein was a constituent state. In 1792, Johann Josef married Landgravine Josefa of Fürstenberg-Weitra, and the couple had fourteen children. Upon the death of his childless brother Alois I, Prince of Liechtenstein in 1805, Johan Josef became the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein. As Prince of Liechtenstein, Johann Josef carried out progressive reforms, and in 1818, however, he approved a new constitution that limited the power of the monarch. He established modern practices in agriculture and forestry and reorganized the government administration to meet modern needs. On April 20, 1836, Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein, aged 75, died at Liechtenstein Palace in Vienna, Austria.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Johann I Josef of Liechtenstein

April 20, 1839 – Birth of King Carol I of Romania at Sigmaringen Castle  in Sigmaringen, Principality of Hohenzollern, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg
Born: Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, he was elected by the Romanian government to become the new Ruling Prince in 1866 after Ruling Prince Alexander Ioan Cuza was forced to abdicate. He took on the more Romanian spelling of his name – Carol. In 1881, the Romanian parliament declared Romania a Kingdom, and he became King Carol I. He married  Princess Elisabeth of Wied and they had one daughter who died in childhood from scarlet fever. After a reign of 48 years, Carol I died at the age of 75 and was succeeded by his nephew, King Ferdinand I, the second son of his elder brother Leopold.
Unofficial Royalty: King Carol I of Romania

April 20, 1884 – Birth of Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at Eastwell Park in Kent, England
Full name: Beatrice Leopoldine Victoria
Beatrice was the daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia. She married Infante Alfonso d’Orleans-Bourbon of Spain, the first cousin of Alfonso XIII, King of Spain who had married Beatrice’s first cousin Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. After the Spanish monarchy was overthrown, the country was thrown into the Spanish Civil War. Beatrice’s second son Alonso was killed in action during the Spanish Civil War, and the family lost their properties. Initially exiled to England, Beatrice and Alfonso eventually returned to Spain in 1937 and settled at a new estate El Botánico in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where they would live for the rest of their lives.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Galliera

April 20, 1929 – Death of Prince Heinrich of Prussia, son of Friedrich III, German Emperor, grandson of Queen Victoria, at Herrenhaus Hemmelmark in Eckernförde, Germany;  buried at Herrenhaus Hemmelmark
Prince Heinrich was the son of Victoria, Princess Royal and Friedrich III, German Emperor, and Queen Victoria’s grandson. He married his first cousin Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, Irene was a hemophilia carrier having inherited the gene from her mother Princess Alice who had inherited it from her mother Queen Victoria. Nine of Queen Victoria’s descendants were afflicted with hemophilia and two of them were Heinrich and Irene’s sons. At the age of 15, Heinrich started his career in the  German Imperial Navy.  In 1909, he was promoted to Grand Admiral (Großadmiral), the highest rank in the German Imperial Navy. At the beginning of World War I, Heinrich was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet. He was charged with preventing the Russian Navy from attacking the German coast and was successful. At the end of World War I, and with the abdication of his brother Wilhelm as German Emperor and King of Prussia, Heinrich left the navy. After the dissolution of the German monarchies, Heinrich and his family lived at Hemmelmark, an estate in Eckernförde in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where he died at the age of 66, on April 20, 1929.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Heinrich of Prussia

April 20, 1947 – Death of King Christian X of Denmark at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Christian X was related to many European royals through his paternal aunts and uncles. Among his first cousins were Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, King Constantine I of Greece, King George V of the United Kingdom, and Maud of Wales, Queen of Norway who married his brother Carl who became King Haakon VII of Norway. In 1898, Christian married Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The couple had two sons including Frederik IX, King of Denmark. In 1940, during World War II, Germany occupied Denmark. Unlike King Haakon VII of Norway (Christian’s brother, born Prince Carl of Denmark) and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, both of whom went into exile during the German occupation of their countries, King Christian remained in Denmark. He is remembered for his daily horse ride without a guard through the streets of Copenhagen during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, a symbol of Danish sovereignty. After a fall from his horse in October 1942, Christian was more or less an invalid for the rest of his life. King Christian X died at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen on April 20, 1947, aged 76.
Unofficial Royalty: King Christian X of Denmark

April 20, 1960 – Death of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, at Wilderness House, a grace and favor house, on the grounds of Hampton Court Palace in England; buried at the Cimetière de Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in France
Xenia was the daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and the sister of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. In 1894, Xenia married Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, known as Sandro, the son of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia who was a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, and they had one daughter and six sons. Xenia was one of the fortunate Romanovs who survived the Russian Revolution. She left Russia for good aboard the British battleship HMS Marlborough with her mother Empress Maria Feodorovna (born Dagmar of Denmark), her five youngest sons, her daughter Irina and Irinia’s husband Prince Felix Yusupov. Xenia settled in England where she was granted management letters for the properties of her brother Nicholas in England which gave her an income of 500 pounds sterling per year. By 1925, Xenia’s financial situation was desperate and her first cousin King George V allowed her the use of Frogmore Cottage, a grace and favor house, in Windsor Great Park. In March 1937, King George VI, Xenia’s first cousin once removed, granted her the use of Wilderness House, a grace and favor house, on the grounds of Hampton Court Palace where she died on April 20, 1960, at the age of 85.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia

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Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands;  Credit – Wikipedia

April 19, 1390 – Death of Robert II, King of Scots at Dundonald Castle in Ayshire, Scotland; buried at Scone Abbey in Scone, Scotland
The first monarch of the House of Stewart, Robert II, King of Scots was the only child of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland and Marjorie Bruce, the daughter of Robert I the Bruce, King of Scots. Fortunately, Robert II’s reign was more peaceful than previous reigns. Hostilities with England were renewed in 1378 and continued intermittently for the rest of Robert II’s reign. In 1384, when Robert II became senile, he left the administration of the kingdom to his eldest son John, Earl of Carrick, who succeeded him as Robert III, King of Scots.
Unofficial Royalty: Robert II, King of Scots

April 19, 1658 – Death of Kirsten Munk, Countess of Schleswig-Holstein, morganatic second wife of King Christian IV of Denmark, at Boller Castle in Horsens, Denmark; buried at Saint Canute’s Cathedral in Odense, Denmark
When widower King Christian IV became attracted to 18-year-old Kirsten, her astute mother did not want her daughter to become Christian’s mistress, and instead negotiated a morganatic marriage between Christian and her daughter due to Kirsten’s status as a noble. Kirsten received properties in her name and was assured of a widow’s pension. Christian IV and Kirsten’s ten children were styled Count and Countess of Schleswig-Holstein and did not have succession rights. On April 19, 1658, Kirsten died at Boller Castle, her estate near Horsens on Jutland in Denmark at the age of 60. Her remains were brought to the city of Odense, now in Denmark but then occupied by Kirsten’s son-in-law Count Corfitz Ulfeldt and the Swedish army. There Kirsten was given a splendid funeral at St. Canute’s Cathedral where she was also buried.
Unofficial Royalty: Kirsten Munk, Countess of Schleswig-Holstein

April 19, 1680 – Death of Maria Hedwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, first wife of Bernhard I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen in Ichtershausen Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; first buried in the crypt of the city church in Meiningen, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, before being moved to the castle church at Elisabethenburg Palace in Meiningen
In 1671, Marie Hedwig married Bernhard I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. The couple had seven children. In 1680, Marie Hedwigs’s husband Bernhard and his six brothers, who collectively governed the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, concluded a treaty of separation, with each brother getting a portion of the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha Altenburg and becoming a Duke. One of the seven new duchies was the Duchy of Saxe-Meinigen and Bernhard became the first Duke of Saxe-Meinigen. However, the principality’s coat of arms featured a black hen, which was seen at the time as a symbol of magic and witchcraft. Marie Hedwig made it clear that she would not move to the “land of the black hen”. Nine weeks before the planned move, Marie Hedwig died after giving birth to her youngest child just a few weeks earlier.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Hedwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

April 19, 1689 – Death of Queen Christina of Sweden in Rome, Italy; buried at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy
Christina, Queen of Sweden was the only surviving child of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and became Queen of Sweden at the age of six upon his death in battle. Christina caused a scandal when she decided not to marry, and then when she abdicated her throne and subsequently converted to Roman Catholicism. She left Sweden and lived most of the rest of her life in Rome where she played a prominent role in the city’s cultural life. Christina is one of three women interred in the crypt at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Christina of Sweden

April 19, 1733 – Death of Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Orkney, mistress of King William III of England, at her London, England home in Albemarle Street; buried at Taplow Court, in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England
Born Elizabeth Villiers, she was the first cousin of another royal mistress, Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, born Barbara Villiers, a mistress of King Charles II of England.  Within a year of the death from smallpox of Queen Mary II, his wife and first cousin, William III ended his relationship with Elizabeth Villiers, motivated by the wishes of his wife expressed before her death. He arranged for Elizabeth to marry one of his regimental commanders and thereafter ignored her. Both Elizabeth and her husband went from serving the Stuart monarchs to serving the Hanoverian monarchs.
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Orkney, mistress of King William III of England

April 19, 1793 – Birth of Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Karl Leopold Joseph Franz Marcellin
Ferdinand was developmentally delayed and suffered from epilepsy, hydrocephalus, neurological problems, and a speech impediment. His epilepsy caused him to have as many as twenty seizures per day, and this severely restricted his ability to rule with any effectiveness.  Ferdinand abdicated the throne in favor of his nephew Franz Joseph during the Revolutions of 1848.
Unofficial Royalty: Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria

April 19, 1822 – Death of Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, at Rundāle Palace in Rundāle, Russian Empire, now in Latvia; buried in the Zubov family crypt at the Coastal Monastery of Saint Sergius in Strelna near St. Petersburg, Russia
Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov was the last lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia. There was a thirty-eight-year age difference between Platon and Catherine. He was also one of the conspirators in the assassination of Catherine II’s son and successor Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, and was one of the fourteen people present at Paul’s murder.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia

April 19, 1876 – Birth of Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands, born Prince Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, husband of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, in Schwerin, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Full name: Heinrich Wladimir Albrecht Ernst
Heinrich was the youngest of the four children of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and his third wife Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Among his half-siblings were Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, father of Alexandrine, Queen of Denmark and Cecile, last Crown Princess of Prussia, and Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Maria Pavlovna of Russia) who married Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia. Their son Kirill became a pretender to the Russian throne after the assassination of his cousin Nicholas II of Russia.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Prince of the Netherlands

April 19, 1902 – Death of Heinrich XXII, 5th Prince of Reuss of Greiz, in Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz, now in Thuringia, Germany; first buried in the Waldhaus Mausoleum in Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz, 1969 remains cremated and buried at the Neue Friedhof (New Cemetery) in Greiz, Thuringia, Germany; 1997 remains moved to Stadtkirche St. Marien in Greiz, Thuringia, Germany
When Heinrich XXII was thirteen-years-old, his father Heinrich XX, 4th Prince of Reuss of Greiz died. He then succeeded his father as the 5th Prince Reuss of Greiz. Heinrich XXII’s mother Caroline Amalie was Regent of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz from 1859 until 1867. In 1872, Heinrich XXII married Princess Ida of Schaumburg-Lippe, and they had one son and five daughters including Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz, the second wife of the former German Emperor and King of Prussia, Wilhelm II. Heinrich XXII, 5th Prince of Reuss of Greiz died from heart disease on April 19, 1902, aged 56, in Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz. Heinrich XXII’s disabled son Heinrich XXIV succeeded him nominally as the 6th Prince Reuss of Greiz. However, two regents from the House of Reuss-Gera (also called the Younger Line) successively ruled the Principality of Reuss-Greiz for the disabled Heinrich XXIV: Heinrich XIV, 4th Prince Reuss of Gera from 1901 – 1913, and then his son Heinrich XXVII, 5th and last Prince Reuss of Gera from 1913 – 1918, when the monarchy was abolished in 1918 at the end of World War I.
Unofficial Royalty: Heinrich XXII, 5th Prince of Reuss of Greiz

April 19, 1956 – Wedding of Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco
Grace Kelly was a well-known film actress before her marriage and she won an Academy Award for Best Actress for The Country Girl which also starred Bing Crosby and William Holden. Since much of Grace and Rainier’s lives were in the public eye, a private courtship was something of a task, especially considering the distance between the United States and Monaco. After meeting the Prince in Monaco during the Cannes Film Festival in May 1955, Grace corresponded with Rainier until he made a trip to the United States in December of that year. He asked Grace to marry him over the Christmas holiday, and on January 5, 1956, their engagement was announced in a press conference held at her family’s home in Philadelphia.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly

April 19, 1968 – Birth of King Mswati III of Eswatini at Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital in Manzini, then in Swaziland
Born: Prince Makhosetive Dlamini
King Mswati is one of many sons fathered by King Sobhuza II, who married 70 wives who gave him 210 children between 1920 and 1970.  King Sobhuza II died in 1982, at the age of 83, having reigned for 82 years. Kings cannot appoint their successors, nor is there a line of succession. A traditional council called the Liqoqo decides which of the wives shall be “Great Wife” and “Indlovukati” (She-Elephant / Queen Mother) after the death of a king. The “Great Wife” must be of good character and cannot be one of the first two wives (known as ritual wives) chosen for the king by the national councilors. The son of this “Great Wife” will automatically become the next king. 14-year-old Mswati was selected to be the next king.
Unofficial Royalty: King Mswati III of Eswatini

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Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart, daughter of the deposed King James II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

April 18, 1712 – Death of Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart, daughter of the deposed King James II of England, at the Château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France; buried at the Chapel of Saint Edmund in the Church of the English Benedictines in the Rue St. Jacques in Paris, France
Louisa and her brother James Francis Edward both fell ill with smallpox.  Her brother recovered, but Louisa’s condition became steadily worse, resulting in her death. Louisa was buried with her father at the Chapel of Saint Edmund in the Church of the English Benedictines in the Rue  St. Jacques in Paris, France.  In 1793, the Chapel of Saint Edmund and all the English Benedictine buildings were destroyed by a mob along with the remains of King James II and his daughter Louisa Maria Teresa.  Some of their remains were discovered after the French Revolution and reburied in 1824 at the Parish Church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France
Unofficial Royalty: Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart

April 18, 1713 – Death of Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, first wife of Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, in Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, now in Thuringia, Germany; buried in the Castle Church at Elisabethenburg Palace in Meiningen
Dorothea Maria’s marriage to her first cousin Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen was a happy one, and both she and her husband shared the same interests in music and the arts. The couple had five children. She devoted much of her time to charitable works including supporting the orphanage in Meiningen. Because of a condition referred to as facial fluxes, probably a nervous condition, she spent much of her time living in the countryside. Sadly, Dorothea Maria died at the age of 39.
Unofficial Royalty: Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

April 18, 1824 – Birth of Woldemar, Prince of Lippe in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Full name: Günther Friedrich Woldemar
In 1858, Woldemar married Princess Sophie of Baden but their marriage was childless. He succeeded his childless elder brother Leopold III, Prince of Lippe upon his death in 1875. Apart from his grandmother Princess Pauline, who served as Regent for eighteen years for her son Leopold II until he reached his majority, no other Prince of Lippe dealt with government affairs as successfully as Woldemar did. Woldemar and his elder brother Leopold were the only ones of eight siblings who married and neither had any children. Woldemar died in 1895, aged 70. His only surviving brother Alexander suffered from mental illness and had been declared incapacitated and therefore, was incapable of governing. A regency was necessary during the reign of Alexander. This created a succession crisis. After the death of Woldemar’s successor and brother Alexander and the extinction of the Lippe-Detmold line, the throne of the Principality of Lippe went to Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld who would be the last Prince of Lippe.
Unofficial Royalty: Woldemar, Prince of Lippe

April 18, 1861 – Birth of Eduard, Duke of Anhalt in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Full name: Eduard Georg Wilhelm
Eduard, Duke of Anhalt ruled for less than five months, just before World War I and the German Empire ended.  He was succeeded by his son Joachim Ernst. As Joachim Ernst was not yet of age, Eduard’s brother Aribert served as Regent. With the German Empire crumbling at the end of World War I, Aribert, who had served as Regent for only two months, abdicated on Joachim Ernst’s behalf on November 12, 1918.
Unofficial Royalty: Eduard, Duke of Anhalt

April 18, 1865 – Birth of Johanna Loisinger, morganatic wife of Prince Alexander of Battenberg, former Prince of Bulgaria, in Preßburg, Hungary, now Bratislava, Slovakia
Full name: Johanna Maria Louise
Johanna was an opera singer who sang soprano operatic roles in Prague and Opava (now in the Czech Republic), in Linz, Austria, and at the court theater in Darmstadt in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (now in Hesse, Germany).  She was one of the best-known singers of Mozart’s music of her time.  After her husband’s death, Johanna and her children moved to Vienna, Austria where she was active in Viennese musical life and was involved in building the Academy Mozarteum in Mozart’s birthplace, Salzburg, Austria. Johanna served as president of the Vienna Mozart Society, the Vienna Concert Association, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
Unofficial Royalty: Johanna Loisinger, Countess von Hartenau

April 18, 1890 – Birth of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, at her father’s palace on the English Embankment in St. Petersburg, Russia
A first cousin of both Nicholas II, the last Emperor of All Russia and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Maria Pavlovna made an unsuccessful marriage to Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland, son of King Gustav V of Sweden. She left her husband and son and returned to Russia which caused a great scandal in Sweden. The marriage was officially dissolved and Maria’s son Lennart remained in his father’s custody, was raised primarily by his paternal grandmother Queen Victoria of Sweden, and rarely saw his mother during his childhood.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the Younger) of Russia

April 18, 1905 – Birth of Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the Royal Palace in Athens, Greece
One of the four elder sisters of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1931, Margarita married Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and the couple had five children. Although Margarita and her sisters were not invited to their brother Philip’s wedding in 1947 due to the strong anti-German sentiment so soon after World War II, she and Philip remained close. In 1950, she was named as one of the godparents of Philip’s daughter Princess Anne. In 1953, Margarita, her surviving sisters, and their mother were prominent guests at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

April 18, 1917 – Birth of Princess Frederica of Hanover, wife of King Paul I of Greece, in Blankenburg am Harz in the Duchy of Brunswick, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Full name: Frederica Louise Thyra Victoria Margaret Sophie Olga Cecily Isabelle Christina
Frederica’s father Prince Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick was the senior male-line descendant of King George III of the United Kingdom via his son Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover and Duke of Cumberland. Her mother Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia was the only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Frederica is the maternal grandmother of Felipe VI, the current King of Spain.
Unofficial Royalty: Frederica of Hanover, Queen of Greece

April 18, 1969 – Birth of Sayako Kuroda, born Princess Nori of Japan, daughter of Emperor Akihito of Japan, at the Aoyama Detached Palace in Tokyo, Japan
At the time of her marriage in 2005, she left the Imperial Family and took the surname of her husband as required by Imperial Household Law.
Unofficial Royalty: Sayako Kuroda, formerly Princess Nori of Japan

April 18, 2007 – Birth of Prince Lerotholi Seeiso of Lesotho, heir apparent and son of King Letsie III of Lesotho, in Maseru, Lesotho
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Lerotholi Seeiso of Lesotho

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