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King Gustav I Vasa of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

May 12, 1496 – Birth of King Gustav I Vasa of Sweden at Rydboholm Castle in Lindholmen, Uppland, Sweden
Gustav I Vasa, the first king of the House of Vasa, is considered the founding father of the modern Swedish state. He ranks among Sweden’s greatest monarchs and some argue that he was the most significant ruler in Swedish history. He ended foreign domination in Sweden, centralized and reorganized the government, cut religious ties to Rome, established the Church of Sweden, and founded Sweden’s hereditary monarchy. In the late 1550s, Gustav I’s health declined. He died, aged 64, at Tre Kronor Castle (Three Crowns Castle) which stood on the site of the present Stockholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. The official cause of death was cholera but it may have been dysentery or typhoid.
Unofficial Royalty: King Gustav I Vasa of Sweden

May 12, 1707 – Birth of Countess Maria Anna Kottulinska von Kottulin, the fourth of the four wives of Josef Johann Adam, Prince of Liechtenstein
Maria Anna and Josef Johann Adam were married on August 22, 1729, in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. They had two children who died in infancy.  After Josef Johann Adam died in 1732, Maria Anna married Count Ludwig Ferdinand von Schulenburg-Oeynhausen. Maria Anna, aged 80, died on February 6, 1788, in Vienna, Austria. She was buried at the Mariabrunn Pilgrimage Church in Vienna, Austria but her tomb has not been preserved
Unofficial Royalty: The Four Wives of Josef Johann Adam, Prince of Liechtenstein

May 12, 1874 – Birth of Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria in Salzburg, Austria
Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria, Prince of Tuscany was the Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany from 1921 until he died in 1948.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria

May 12, 1893 – Death of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont in Marienbad, Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic; buried at Princely Burial Crypt in Rhoden, Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont, now in Hesse, Germany
In 1845, Georg Viktor’s father died and his mother Emma served as Regent of the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont until he reached his majority in 1852. In 1853, Georg Victor married Helena of Nassau. Helena proved to be very successful in finding suitable marriages for their children by making contact with various European royal houses. Because of her efforts, the relatively poor House of Waldeck-Pyrmont was linked to the richer ruling dynasties of Würtemberg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Their daughter Emma married King Willem III of the Netherlands and their daughter Helena married Queen Victoria’s son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Georg Viktor and his wife Helena are the ancestors of the Dutch royal family through their daughter Emma and the Swedish royal family through their daughter Helena. Three years after Georg Viktor’s wife Helena died in 1888, he married Louise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. They had one son, Prince Wolrad, who was killed in action during World War I. A year after the birth of his son Wolrad, Georg Viktor, aged 62, died from pneumonia on May 12, 1893.
Unofficial Royalty: Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

May 12, 1937 – Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey in London, England
The coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth was the first coronation to be broadcast on radio and the first coronation to be filmed.
Unofficial Royalty: Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth

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Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

May 11, 1366 – Birth of Anne of Bohemia, Queen of England, first wife of King Richard II of England, in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic
When Richard II was 15, a bride was sought for him, and Anne, daughter of Karl IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, seemed a logical choice as Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire were seen as potential allies against France in the ongoing Hundred Years’ War. Their marriage was childless and Anne died from the plague at the age of 28.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne of Bohemia, Queen of England

May 11, 1857 – Birth of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, at the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg, Russia
Sergei married  Princess Elisabeth “Ella” of Hesse and by Rhine, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria but their marriage was childless. The couple was very close with Sergei’s brother Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna and were often asked to represent them at royal events elsewhere in the world.  In 1891, Alexander III appointed his brother Serge Governor-General of Moscow. In 1905 in Moscow, Sergei was killed when an assassin threw a nitroglycerin bomb into his carriage. The bomb landed in Sergei’s lap and exploded.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia

May 11, 1942 – Birth of Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, daughter of King Paul of Greece, in Cape Town, South Africa
Irene is the younger sister of Queen Sofia of Spain and the late King Constantine II of Greece. She was born in South Africa, where her family lived in exile during World War II. They returned to Greece in 1946, and the following year, Irene’s father became King of Greece. Irene never married and by the time of her mother’s death in 1981, she had spent large amounts of time in Spain, which became her permanent residence. Irene lives in an apartment at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, Spain, the home of her sister Sofia. In 2018, Irene was granted Spanish citizenship by Royal Decree.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark

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Ekaterina Pavlovna of Russia, Queen Catherina of Württemberg; Credit – Wikipedia

May 10, 1403 – Death of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster, 3rd wife of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, a son of King Edward III of England, in Lincoln, England; buried at Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England
Katherine Swynford was the long-time mistress and the third wife of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, the fourth but the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. The descendants of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt are significant in English and Scottish history. The Tudor dynasty was directly descended from their eldest son John Beaufort, great-grandfather of King Henry VII of England, the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Katherine and John of Gaunt are the great-grandparents of King Edward IV and King Richard III from the House of York. Their granddaughter Joan Beaufort married James I, King of Scots, and was an ancestor of the Scots House of Stuart and the English House of Stuart.
Unofficial Royalty: Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster

May 10, 1726 – Death of Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and Nell Gwynne in Bath, England; buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England
Wikipedia: Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans

May 10, 1743 – Death of Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal, mistress of King George I of Great Britain, at her home Kendal House in Isleworth, London, England; buried at Grosvenor Chapel in South Audley Street, London, England
In 1691, Melusine became the mistress of George, Electoral Prince of Hanover, the future Elector of Hanover and King George I of Great Britain. Despite the fact that the future King George I had affairs while he lived in Hanover, when his wife had one, she was divorced, sent off to a German castle for the rest of her life, and her lover disappeared, supposedly murdered. Melusine was more like a wife to George. She accompanied him to London when he became King of Great Britain and became a naturalized British citizen. After George I’s death, Melusine lived out the remainder of her life at her London home in the companionship of a large bird, probably a raven, in which she believed that George’s soul had been reincarnated. Melusine died, aged 75, at her London home Kendal House.
Unofficial Royalty: Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal, mistress of King George I of Great Britain

May 10, 1752 – Birth of Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler, Queen of Saxony, wife of King Friedrich August I of Saxony, in Mannheim, Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler, now in Baden-Württemberg Germany
Full name: Maria Amalie Auguste
At the time of her marriage, Amalie became the Electress of Saxony, the last to hold this title. In addition to three stillborn children, Amalie and her husband had one daughter.  In 1806, Amalie became the first Queen of Saxony when the Electorate of Saxony was elevated to a Kingdom, and her husband assumed the throne as King Friedrich August I.
Unofficial Royalty: Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler, Queen of Saxony

May 10, 1774 – Death of King Louis XV of France at the Palace of Versailles; buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
When he was five years old, Louis XV succeeded his great-grandfather King Louis XIV and reigned as King of France for 59 years. He is the second-longest reigning King of France after his great-grandfather King Louis XIV who reigned for 72 years. In 1725, Louis XV married Maria Leszczyńska, daughter of the deposed King Stanisław I of Poland. The couple had ten children but all their sons predeceased Louis XV and so he was succeeded by his grandson, the ill-fated King Louis XVI. King Louis XV’s reign saw France’s entry in The War of the Austrian Succession in 1740, with France gaining significant amounts of territory.  However, at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Louis returned the lands back to their rightful owners.  For this, he was greatly praised throughout Europe but became very unpopular within his own country.  A few years later, Louis would find France at war with Great Britain in the French and Indian War and soon pulled into the Seven Years’ War. King Louis XV died of smallpox at the Palace of Versailles on May 10, 1774.
Unofficial Royalty: King Louis XV of France

May 10, 1775 – Death of Caroline Matilda of Wales, Queen of Denmark, wife of King Christian VII of Denmark, sister of King George III of the United Kingdom, at Celle Castle in Celle, Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany; buried at Stadtkirche St. Marien in Celle
Soon after her marriage to her first cousin Christian VII, Caroline Matilda discovered he was severely mentally ill. Johann Friedrich Struensee, Christian’s doctor, had some success dealing with the king but he also became the lover of the ill-treated Caroline Matilda, whose marriage was less than satisfactory. When the affair became known, Sturensee was brutally executed and Caroline Matilda’s marriage was dissolved, she lost her title of Queen and was forcibly separated from her children whom she never saw again. She was held in custody for the rest of her life at Celle Castle in the Kingdom of Hanover. Her time in custody proved to be short.  Three years later, Caroline Matilda died of “a putrid fever and sore throat,” probably scarlet fever at the age of 23.
Unofficial Royalty: Caroline Matilda of Wales, Queen of Denmark

May 10, 1788 – Birth of Queen Catherina of Württemberg, second wife of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg, born Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna of Russia at the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, Russia
Catherina was the daughter of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and the sister of Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, and Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. She had a short marriage and two sons with her first cousin Duke Georg of Oldenburg, who died from typhoid fever. She then married the future King Wilhelm I of Württemberg in 1816 and they had two daughters. Despite having a happy marriage, Wilhelm continued his relationships with numerous mistresses, including the Italian Blanche de la Flèche. When Catharina was made aware of this, she drove to Scharnhausen Castle on January 3, 1819, where she found Wilhelm and his mistress together. She quickly returned to Stuttgart and just six days later, 30-year-old Catharina died of complications from pneumonia
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of Württemberg

May 10, 1794 – Execution of Madame Elisabeth of France, sister of King Louis XVI of France, at the Place de la Révolution in Paris; first buried in a common grave at the Errancis Cemetery in Paris, later reburied with other victims of the guillotine in the Catacombs of Paris
Elisabeth was devoted to her brother King Louis XVI and with his permission declined all marriage offers so that she could remain in France. She accompanied her brother and his family to imprisonment in the notorious Temple where they were imprisoned. On May 9, 1794, Elisabeth was transferred to the Conciergerie where she was tried and condemned to be executed the next day.  She was executed by the guillotine at the Place de la Révolution in Paris (now called Place de la Concorde) with 23 other people.  A very religious person, Elisabeth comforted and prayed with several others awaiting execution.
Unofficial Royalty: Madame Elisabeth of France

May 10, 1978 – Birth of Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco, former wife of King Mohammed VI of Morocco, born Salma Bennani in Fez, Morocco
On March 21, 2002, Salma Bennani married King Mohammed VI of Morocco at the Royal Palace in Rabat. She was granted the style Her Royal Highness and the title Princess Lalla. The couple had two children, Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, born in 2003 and Princess Lalla Khadija, born in 2007. A March 2018 article in the Spanish magazine Hola! mentioned that King Mohammed and Princess Lalla Salma had divorced according to sources close to the palace, however, there has been no formal announcement from the royal court.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco

May 10, 2020 – Birth of Prince Charles of Luxembourg, son of Hereditary Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, at the Grand Duchess Charlotte Maternity Hospital in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Full Name: Charles Jean Philippe Joseph Marie Guillaume
Prince Charles is the second in the line of succession to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg after his father.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Charles of Luxembourg

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Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

May 9, 1849 – Birth of Empress Shōken of Japan, wife of Emperor Meiji of Japan, born Lady Masako Ichijō in Heian-kyō, Japan
Lady Masako Ichijō, the third daughter of Tadaka Ichijō, a government minister and the head of the Ichijō branch of the Fujiwara clan, married Emperor Meiji in 1869. The new Empress would be the first Empress Consort of Japan to play a public role but sadly, she had no children. Emperor Meiji had fifteen children by five official ladies-in-waiting but only five children survived to adulthood. The Empress officially adopted Yoshihito, her husband’s eldest surviving son by a concubine, as was the custom. Yoshihito succeeded his father as Emperor and is known as Emperor Taishō, his posthumous name.
Unofficial Royalty: Empress Shōken of Japan

May 9, 1867 – Birth of Marie Juliette Louvet, mistress of Prince Louis II of Monaco, mother of his only child Princess Charlotte of Monaco, grandmother of Prince Rainier III of Monaco, great-grandmother of Prince Albert II of Monaco, in Pierreval, France
Marie Juliette and Prince Louis met while she was working as a hostess in a cabaret in Paris, France. By the following year, she was working as a seamstress in a military barracks in Constantine, Algeria, where Prince Louis was also based. Later that year, Marie Juliette gave birth to the couple’s daughter Charlotte. The couple was not allowed to marry but their daughter Charlotte was later recognized as a member of the Princely Family of Monaco, and in 1919, was formally adopted by Prince Louis, becoming Princess Charlotte of Monaco, Duchess of Valentinois.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie Juliette Louvet

May 9, 1871 – Birth of Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo outside of St. Petersburg, Russia
George was the second surviving son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, and the brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. At birth, George was weak and suffered from respiratory issues, and for a while, his survival was questionable. In childhood, George’s health was problematic and was a great worry to his mother. He later developed tuberculosis which caused his death at the age of 28. In July 1994, George’s remains were exhumed for DNA testing to compare his DNA with the DNA of the suspected remains of Nicholas II and his children. The results proved beyond a doubt that the remains were those of Nicholas II and his children.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia

May 9, 1892 – Birth of Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria, wife of Emperor Karl I of Austria, at the Villa Pianore, Tuscany, Italy
Full name: Zita Maria delle Grazie Adelgonda Micaela Raffaela Gabriella Giuseppina Antonia Luisa Agnese
Zita was the daughter of the deposed Robert I, Duke of Parma and his second wife Maria Antonia of Portugal. She had eleven siblings and twelve half-siblings from her father’s first marriage. In 1911, she married Archduke Karl, who would be the last Emperor of Austria, and the couple had eight children. Karl died in 1922 at the age of 34. Zita never married again and wore black for the 67 years of her widowhood. She died in 1989 at the age of 96.
Unofficial Royalty: Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria

May 9, 1949 – Death of Prince Louis II of Monaco at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco; buried at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco
Because Louis was unmarried and without an heir, the throne of Monaco was likely to pass to his first cousin once removed Wilhelm, Duke of Urach, a German nobleman who was the son of his father’s aunt Princess Florestine of Monaco.  To avoid this, Louis’ father Prince Albert I had a law passed recognizing Louis’ illegitimate daughter Charlotte as Louis’ heir and part of the sovereign family. However, this law was later ruled invalid under earlier statutes. In October 1918, another law was passed allowing for the adoption of an heir with succession rights. Louis legally adopted Charlotte, giving her the Grimaldi surname. Her grandfather created her Princess Charlotte of Monaco and Duchess of Valentinois. Upon Louis’ accession in 1922, Charlotte became the Hereditary Princess of Monaco. She eventually relinquished her succession rights in favor of her son who eventually became Rainer III, Prince of Monaco.
Unofficial Royalty: Louis II, Prince of Monaco

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