© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

May 8, 1670 – Birth of Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and Nell Gwynne
Wikipedia: Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans (Unofficial Royalty article coming soon)

May 8, 1893 – Death of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe in Bückeburg, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in Lower Saxony, Germany; buried in the Princely Mausoleum at the St. Martin Church in Stadthagen, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
Adolf married his maternal first cousin Princess Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont. The couple had eight children including Adolf’s successor Georg, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe who married Princess Viktoria of Prussia, daughter of Friedrich III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. On November 21, 1860, upon the death of his father Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumberg-Lippe, Adolf became the reigning Prince of Schaumberg-Lippe. After a reign of 33 years, Adolf I, Prince of Schaumberg-Lippe died at the age of 75, on May 8, 1893.
Unofficial Royalty: Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe

May 8, 1935 – Birth of Princess Elisabeth of Denmark, daughter of Hereditary Prince Knud of Denmark, at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Full Name: Elisabeth Caroline-Mathilde Alexandrine Helena Olga Thyra Feodora Estrid Margarethe Désirée
Princess Elisabeth was the first cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.  She never married, perhaps to retain her position within the Danish Royal Family. Until her death in 2018, she was the last person in the line of succession to the Danish throne. Elisabeth had a long-term relationship with Claus Hermansen, a videographer, until he died in 1997. She served as Patron of several organizations in Denmark and was usually seen at most State events.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Elisabeth of Denmark

May 8, 1941 – Death of Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia, wife of King Milan of Serbia, at the Monastery of Saint-Denis near Paris, France; buried at the Cemetery of Lardy in Seine et Oise, France
After the horrendous assassination of her son Alexander I, King of Serbia and his wife in 1903, Natalija was the only member of the Obrenović dynasty. She donated the Obrenović inheritance to the University of Belgrade and churches and monasteries in Serbia. Natalija became a nun and died at the age of 81 at the Monastery of Saint-Denis near Paris, France.
Unofficial Royalty: Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia

May 8, 2003 – Birth of Crown Prince Moulay Hassan of Morocco, son of King Mohammed VI of Morocco, at the Royal Palace in Rabat, Morocco
Crown Prince Moulay Hassan of Morocco is the heir apparent to the throne of Morocco. He is the eldest child and the only son of King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Salma Bennani, now known as Princess Lalla Salma. The Crown Prince was named after his paternal grandfather King Hassan II of Morocco.
Unofficial Royalty: Crown Prince Moulay Hassan of Morocco

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia;  Credit – Wikipedia

May 7, 1682 – Death of Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia in Moscow, Russia; buried at the Cathedral of the Archangel 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 really 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

May 7, 1718 – Death of Maria Beatrice of Modena, Queen of England, second wife of King James II of England, at Château St. Germain-en-Laye near Paris, France; buried at the Abbey of Visitation of St. Mary in Chaillot, France, her remains were lost when the convent was looted and destroyed during the French Revolution but her viscera were found and were reburied at the Chapel of the College of the Scots in Paris
15-year-old Maria Beatrice became the second wife of 40-year-old James, Duke of York, brother of King Charles II of England. Between 1675 and 1684, Maria Beatrice had ten pregnancies and gave birth to five live children, all of whom died young. After her husband, who had converted to Catholicism, succeeded to the throne as King James II of England, Maria Beatrice gave birth to a son who survived. Fearful of a return to Catholicism, some members of Parliament began what is called the Glorious Revolution. King James II was overthrown and the family fled to France. After her husband’s death, Maria Beatrice began to periodically stay at the Convent of the Visitations in Chaillot, France, where she befriended Louise de La Vallière, one of Louis XIV’s mistresses who had become a nun.  She was buried at the Convent of the Visitations in Chaillot, a place she greatly loved.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Beatrice of Modena, Queen of England

May 7, 1767 – Birth of Princess Frederica of Prussia, Duchess of York, wife of Prince Frederick, Duke of York, at Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Germany
Full name: Friederike Charlotte Ulrike Katharina
Frederica was the only child of the future King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and his first wife and first cousin, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Her mother was placed under house arrest as a prisoner of the state when she became pregnant with the child of her lover, a musician named Pietro. She remained imprisoned until her death, 71 years later. Frederica’s marriage to Frederick, Duke of York was unsuccessful. Frederick was unfaithful and the couple was unable to have children. In 1794, the couple separated and Frederica lived out her life at Oatlands Park in Weybridge, Surrey, England. Frederick and Frederica remained on good terms and the couple never caused any scandal.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Frederica of Prussia, Duchess of York

May 7, 1818 – Wedding of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, son of King George III of the United Kingdom, and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany
The groom was 44 and the bride was 20.  Despite the age difference, the marriage was a happy one and Adolphus was very much in love with Augusta.  The couple lived in the Kingdom of Hanover from 1818 – 1837 while Adolphus served his father and then his two brothers, King George IV and King William IV, as Viceroy of Hanover. Upon their return to England, Adolphus and Augusta lived at Cambridge House and later at St. James’s Palace, both in London.  Adolphus and Augusta are ancestors of the British Royal Family through their daughter Mary Adelaide, the mother of Queen Mary, wife of King George V.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, Duchess of Cambridge

May 7, 1895 – Death of Susanna Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, at her home in Hereford Gardens, London, England; buried in the Innes-Ker family crypt at the Bowden Kirk, in Bowden, Roxburghshire, England
Born Susanna Stephania Dalbiac, she was the daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir James Dalbiac, a British Army officer and Member of Parliament. She married James Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe.
Unofficial Royalty: Susanna Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

King Edward VII of the United Kingdom; Credit – Wikipedia

May 6, 1685 – Birth of Sophie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Queen in Prussia, third wife of Friedrich I, King in Prussia, at Grabow Castle in Grabow, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany
Sophie Luise and her husband had no children. Being so much younger than her husband, and close in age to his children, Sophie struggled to find acceptance at the Prussian court. It did not help that her predecessor, Friedrich’s second wife Sophie Charlotte of Hanover, was greatly loved and admired by the Prussian people, and many saw Sophie Luise as a poor replacement. Sophie Luise became deeply religious and her devotion became obsessive and manic. During his final illness, her husband Friedrich awoke to find his wife standing before him, covered in blood and screaming at him. She had crashed through a glass door in a fit of hysteria while running from her apartments to his, apparently to confront him. Sophie Luise had no recollection of the event. Her husband sent her back to Mecklenburg to be with her family. She lived the rest of her life with her widowed mother.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Queen in Prussia

May 6, 1737 – Death of Lady Barbara FitzRoy, never publically acknowledged by King Charles II of England as his child by Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, died and buried at the English Priory of St. Nicholas in Pontoise, Normandy, France where she was a nun
Her mother claimed that she was Charles II’s daughter but she may have been the child of her mother’s second cousin and lover, John Churchill, later 1st Duke of Marlborough.
Wikipedia: Barbara FitzRoy (Unofficial Royalty article coming soon.)

May 6, 1747 – Birth of Georg I, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in Hesse, Germany
In 1784, Georg married Augusta of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. They had had thirteen children but seven of their children died either in childhood or in their early twenties. In 1812, after the death of his childless elder brother, 65-year-old Georg succeeded him. Because of his age and perhaps illness, Georg knew that he would not be able to reign for long and died less than a year later.
Unofficial Royalty: Georg I, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

May 6, 1769 – Birth of Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy
In 1790, when Ferdinando’s father Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Leopold II, he abdicated the throne of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in favor of his second son Ferdinando who officially became Grand Duke of Tuscany. Ferdinando’s elder brother Franz would succeed to the Habsburg hereditary titles and be elected Holy Roman Emperor upon his father’s death in 1792.  In 1790, Ferdinando married his double first cousin Luisa of Naples and Sicily, and they had five children. Luisa died in childbirth delivering a stillborn son in 1802. Twenty years after Luisa’s, death Ferdinando married Maria Ferdinanda of Saxony but the couple had no children. Ferdinando I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, aged 55, died three years later.
Unofficial Royalty: Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany

May 6, 1882 – Birth of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia at the Marmorpalais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Friedrich Wilhelm Victor August Ernst
The last German Crown Prince and Crown Prince of Prussia, Wilhelm married Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1905 and the couple had six children. After the German defeat in World War I, Wilhelm and Cecilie went into exile in the Netherlands with much of the rest of the German imperial family following the ending of the monarchy in 1918. Shortly afterward, the marriage of Cecilie and Wilhelm became a marriage in name only. When his father, the former Wilhelm II, German Emperor, died in 1941, Wilhelm became Head of the House of Hohenzollern.
Unofficial Royalty: Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany

May 6, 1910 – Death of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom at Buckingham Palace in London, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
The habits of Edward VII, known in the family as Bertie, did not keep him in the best of health.  He ate too much and usually smoked twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day.  He began to suffer from chronic bronchitis. In March 1910 while vacationing in Biarritz, France, Bertie collapsed and remained in Biarritz to recuperate. On April 27, 1910, he returned to Buckingham Palace but his condition worsened.  After waiting 59 years to become king and reigning for just nine years, he lapsed into a coma and died peaceably just before midnight on May 6, 1910, at the age of 68.
Unofficial Royalty: King Edward VII of the United Kingdom

May 6, 1954 – Death of Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Crown Princess of Germany, wife of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, in Bad Kissingen, Germany; buried in the grounds at Hohenzollern Castle, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
In 1905, Cecilie married Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, the son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, and had six children. Shortly after the end of World War I and the fall of the German monarchies, the marriage of Cecilie and Wilhelm became a marriage in name only. After the death of her husband in 1951, Cecilie moved to an apartment in the Frauenkopf district in Stuttgart, Germany. That same year, her memoirs were published and she made a visit to England where she attended the christening of her granddaughter and enjoyed a final visit with Queen Mary. Later that year, her sister Queen Alexandrine of Denmark died and Cecilie never fully recovered from the loss. Cecilie died on what would have been her husband’s 72nd birthday.
Unofficial Royalty: Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Crown Princess of Germany

May 6, 1960 – Wedding of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom and Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey
In 1958, Margaret met Antony Armstrong-Jones (Tony) at a dinner party. A few months later, Tony was chosen to photograph Margaret. A relationship developed and in 1960, Margaret’s sister consented to the marriage. The couple had one son and one daughter. However, Margaret and Tony’s marriage was anything but calm and peaceful. The two very strong personalities, often at odds, led to volatile rows and many affairs for both of them. The couple divorced in 1978. Tony married again, but Margaret did not.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom and Antony Armstrong-Jones

May 6, 2019 – Birth of Prince Archie of Sussex, son of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, at Portland Hospital for Women and Children in London, England
Archie is the elder of the two children of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Under the 1917 Letters Patent, Archie was entitled to the style and title His Royal Highness Prince, when his grandfather King Charles III succeeded to the throne.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Archie of Sussex

May 6, 2023 – Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey in London, England
Unofficial Royalty: Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany; Credit – Wikipedia

May 5, 1316 – Death of Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, Countess of Holland, Countess of Hereford, daughter of King Edward I of England, in Quendon, Essex, England; buried at Waltham Abbey in Essex, England
Elizabeth died in childbirth giving birth to her tenth child who died shortly after birth.
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, Countess of Holland, Countess of Hereford

May 5, 1572 – Death of Lady Margaret Erskine, mistress of James V, King of Scots
James V, King of Scots had several mistresses. Lady Margaret Erskine was his favorite and the mother of the most important of his nine illegitimate children, James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray. James was an advisor to his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as Regent of Scotland for his nephew, the infant King James VI, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570.
Unofficial Royalty: Lady Margaret Erskine, mistress of James V, King of Scots

May 5, 1582 – Death of Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier, Princess of Orange, third wife of Willem I, Prince of Orange (the Silent) in Antwerp (now in Belgium); buried at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp but her tomb has not survived
Charlotte and Willem I, Prince of Orange had six daughters. After an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Willem on March 18, 1582, Charlotte took great care of her wounded husband. Exhausted from caring for Willem, she fell ill with pneumonia and a high fever and died.
Unofficial Royalty: Saxony, Charlotte de Bourbon-Monpensier, Princess of Orange

May 5, 1705 – Death of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria; buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna 
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

May 5, 1724 – Birth of Bernardina Christina of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, wife of Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, in Weimar, then in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, now in the German state of Thuringia
In 1744, in Eisenach, 20-year-old Bernardina Christina married 23-year-old Johann Friedrich, who had become the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt just two months earlier. Bernadina Christina and Johann Friedrich had six children but only two daughters survived childhood. Bernadina Christina was active in charitable causes. In 1756, she founded the Bernardina Abbey for noblewomen in Rudolstadt. However, she did not live to see the inauguration of the abbey in 1757. On June 5, 1757, aged 33, Bernadina Christina died in Rudolstadt, then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia.
Unofficial Royalty: Bernardina Christina of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

May 5, 1747 – Birth of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, and Grand Duke of Tuscany, in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard
Leopold was the ninth of the sixteen children and the third but the second surviving of the five sons of Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right. When Leopold’s father became Grand Duke of Tuscany, it was decided that the second son would inherit that title and territory. However, Karl Joseph, the second son, died from smallpox at the age of fifteen, and Leopold, the third son became the second surviving son and the heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In 1764, Leopold married Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain, daughter of Carlos III, King of Spain. The couple had sixteen children. Just days after, Leopold’s wedding, his father suddenly died and Leopold became Grand Duke of Tuscany. Leopold was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1790 after the death of his childless brother Joseph. At that time, he abdicated the throne of Tuscany in favor of his second son Ferdinand. After only seventeen months as Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II died suddenly and unexpectedly on March 1, 1792, aged 44, in Vienna, Austria.
Unofficial Royalty: Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany

May 5, 1821 – Death of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, on the island of St. Helena, originally buried on St. Helena, re-interred at St Jerome’s Chapel in Paris in 1840, and finally at Les Invalides in Paris in 1861
Napoleon died at his second place of exile, the island of Saint Helena, a British possession, in the Atlantic Ocean and was buried in a nameless tomb in the Valley of the Willows on St. Helena. In 1840, Louis Philippe I, King of the French, received permission from the British to return Napoléon’s remains to France.  He was interred at St. Jerome’s Chapel, where his remains stayed until the tomb designed by Louis Visconti was completed. On April 2, 1861, Naploéon’s coffin was transferred to a huge tomb made of red quartzite on a green granite base under the dome of Les Invalides in Paris, France.
Unofficial Royalty: Napoleon I, Emperor of the French

May 5, 1826 – Birth of Eugénie de Montijo, Empress of the French, wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, in Granada, Spain
Full name: María Eugenia Ignatia Augustina Palafox de Guzmán Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick
In 1849, Eugénie first met her future husband Prince Louis Napoléon, the nephew of Emperor Napoleon I and the grandson of Empress Joséphine, the first wife of Napoleon I. At the time, he was president of the French Second Republic. His attempts to seduce her failed, as she insisted on marriage before any physical relationship. Louis Napoleon became Emperor Napoleon III in December 1852. The following month, on January 22, 1853, he announced his engagement to Eugénie and the couple married a week later. The couple had one son, Louis Napoléon, Prince Imperial who died fighting in the Zulu War in South Africa in 1879.
Unofficial Royalty: Eugénie de Montijo, Empress of the French

May 5, 1827 – Death of Friedrich August I, King of Saxony in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany; buried at the Dresden Cathedral
Friedrich August I was the first King of Saxony, reigning from 1806 to 1827. His family had been rulers of the Electorate of Saxony of the House of Wettin and held the title of Elector for several centuries. In 1769, Friedrich August married Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and they had one daughter. As he had no male heirs, Friedrich August was succeeded by his younger brother Anton.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich Augustus I, King of Saxony

May 5, 2012 – Death of Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg, son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught, in Ängelholm, Sweden; buried in the Royal Cemetery in Haga Park, Solna, Sweden.
The youngest surviving child of King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden and Margaret of Connaught, Carl Johan was the last of Queen Victoria’s great-grandchildren at the time of his death in 2012. Carl Johan was the uncle of both King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Unofficial Royalty: Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg

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.