This Day in History

[Susan]

March 20 in royal history:

March 20, 1413 - Death of Henry IV in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster Abbey; buried at Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent

My photo of Henry IV's tomb at Canterbury Cathedral, March 2008


March 20, 1469 - Birth of Cecily of York, daughter of Edward IV, at the Palace of Westminster

March 20, 1811 - Birth of Napoleon II (Francois-Charles-Joseph Bonaparte), son of Napoleon I and his second wife Marie-Louise of Austria, at the Tuileries Palace, Paris, France

March 20, 1816 – Death of Maria I of Portugal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; buried first in the Ajuda Abbey in Rio de Janeiro, since 1821 in the Basílica da Estrela, Lisbon

March 20, 1926 – Death of Lovisa of Sweden, wife of Frederik VIII of Denmark, at Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen; buried at Roskilde Cathedral

March 20, 1934 – Death of Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, wife of William III of the Netherlands, at the Palace Lange Voorhout, The Hague, Netherlands; buried at Nieuwe Kerk, Delft

March 20, 1974 - Kidnap attempt is made on Princess Anne in The Mall near Buckingham Palace

March 20, 1982 - Wedding of Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein and Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg at Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg

March 20, 2004 - Death of Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, formerly Queen Juliana, at the Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, the Netherlands; buried at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft

[Susan]

March 21 in royal history:

March 21, 1795 – Death of Prince Honoré III of Monaco

March 21, 1871 - Wedding of Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, to John Campbell, Lord Lorne later Duke of Argyll, at St. George's Chapel, Windsor
Louise broke with tradition and married a non-royal. Her husband served the crown as Governor General of Canada for 5 years. Louise accompanied him to Canada and Canadians were honored to have their monarch's daughter living in their country.

March 21, 1929 – Wedding Olav V of Norway and Märtha of Sweden at Oslo Cathedral

March 21, 2002 - Wedding of Mohammed VI of Morocco and Salma Bennani at the Dar al-Makhzin, Rabat

March 21, 2004 - Birth of Count Claus-Casimir of Orange-Nassau, son of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands

[Susan]

March 22 in royal history:

March 22, 1421 - Death of Thomas, Duke of Clarence, son of Henry IV, at the Battle of Baugé, France; buried at Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent

March 22, 1759– Birth of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, wife of Charles XIII of Sweden

March 22, 1797 - Birth of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, King of Prussia in Berlin

March 22, 1852 – Death of Marie Sophie of Hesse-Cassel, wife of Frederick VI of Denmark and Norway, at Frederiksberg Palace; buried at Roskilde Cathedral

March 22, 1956 - Birth of Maria Teresa Mestre y Batista, wife of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, in Havana, Cuba

[Susan]

March 23 in royal history:

March 23, 1429 - Birth of Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, at Pont-à-Mousson, Lorraine, France

March 23, 1801 - Murder of Tsar Paul I of Russia at the Mikhailovsky Castle, St. Petersburg; buried at the Fortress of Sts. Peter and Paul

March 23, 1990 - Birth of Princess Eugenie of York at Portland Hospital, London

[Susan]

March 24 in royal history:

March 24, 1275 - Death of Beatrice of England, daughter of Henry III, at London, England; buried at Greyfriars Church, Newgate, London
Beatrice was the second daughter and third child of Henry III and his wife Eleanor of Provence. Beatrice married John of Dreux, Earl of Richmond at age 18 and they had four sons and three daughters.

March 24, 1603 - Death of Elizabeth I at Richmond Palace; buried at Westminster Abbey

March 24, 1628 – Birth of Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of Frederick III of Denmark, at Herzberg Castle, Lower Saxony

March 24, 1866 – Death of Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies, wife of Louis-Philippe I of the French, in exile, at Claremont in Surrey in England; buried first at Weybridge, England, re-buried in 1876 in the Orléans Mausoleum in the Royal Chapel at Dreux

March 24, 1953 - Death of Mary of Teck, wife of George V, at Marlborough House, London; buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle

[Susan]

March 25 in royal history:

March 25, 1005 – Death of Kenneth III of Scotland at the Battle of Monzievaird; buried at Iona

March 25, 1223 – Death of Afonso II of Portugal at Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal; buried at Santa Cruz Monastery

March 25, 1306 - Robert Bruce crowned King of Scots at Scone
Robert the Bruce, descendant of one of the original contestants for the Scottish throne, took up the struggle for Scotland's independence after the death of William Wallace, and had himself crowned King of Scotland. His daughter Marjorie married Walter Stewart, High Steward of Scotland. Their son Robert took Stewart as his surname and became the first monarch of the Royal House of Stewart.

March 25, 1734 – Wedding of Anne, Princess Royal, daughter of George II, and Prince William IV of Orange at Chapel Royal, St. James Palace
The Dutch royals are descendants of Anne and William.

March 25, 1751 – Death of Frederik I of Sweden at Stockholm; buried at Riddarholmen Church, Stockholm

March 25, 1975 - Assassination of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia by his nephew Prince Faisal bin Musaid in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; buried at Al Od Cemetery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
On June 18, 1975, Prince Feisal Musaid was publicly beheaded in Riyadh for the assassination of King Faisal.

[Susan]

March 26 in royal history:

March 26, 1130 – Death of Sigurd I of Norway in Olso

March 26, 1212 – Death of Sancho I of Portugal at Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal; buried at Santa Cruz Monastery

March 26, 1662 – Birth of Marie Louise of Orléans, first wife of Charles II of Spain, at Palais-Royal, Paris, France

March 26, 1687 - Birth of Sophia Dorothea, daughter of George I, at Hanover, Germany
Sophia Dorothea was the only daughter of George I and Sophia Dorothea of Celle. She was 8 years old when her disgraced mother was divorced and banished to a German castle for the rest of her life. She married her first cousin Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia and became Queen of Prussia in 1713. Frederick and Sophia Dorothea had seven sons and seven daughters and were the parents of Frederick the Great. Sophia survived her husband for 17 years, died at the Palace of Monbijou near Berlin and was buried at Potsdam.

March 26, 2005 – Birth of Countess Luana van Oranje-Nassau Jonkvrouwe, van Amsberg, daughter of Prince Johan Friso of the Netherlands

[Susan]

March 27 in royal history:

March 27, 1482 - Death of Mary, Duchess of Burgundy at Wijnendale Castle, Flanders after falling from her horse; buried in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium

March 27, 1615 – Death of Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henri IV of France, in Paris; buried in the Chapel of the Valois at the Basilica of St. Denis

March 27, 1625 - Death of James I at Theobold's Park, Hertfordshire; buried at Westminster Abbey

March 27, 1714 – Death of Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Cassel, wife of Christian V of Denmark and Norway, at Charlottenborg Palace; buried at Roskilde Cathedral

March 27, 1785 - Birth of Louis XVII, pretender to the throne during the French Revolution, at the Palace of Versailles

March 27, 1819 – Birth and death of Princess Charlotte of Clarence, daughter of William IV, at Fürstenhof Palace, Hanover, Germany

March 27, 1837 - Death of Maria Fitzherbert, morganatic wife of George IV, at Brighton, Sussex; buried at St. John the Baptist's Church, Kemp Town, Brighton
George married Mrs. Fitzherbert against the Royal Marriages Act and the Act of Settlement. He was 22 at the time of the marriage and married without his father's permission. In addition, Mrs. Fitzherbert was a Roman Catholic. The marriage was invalid under the term of the Royal Marriages Act.

March 27, 1879 – Death of Prince Waldemar of Prussia, grandson of Queen Victoria, at Potsdam; buried at Friedenskirche, Potsdam, Germany
Prince Waldemar was the son of Victoria, Princess Royal and Kaiser Frederick III of Germany. He died of diphtheria at age 11, three months after his aunt Princess Alice and her daughter Princess May died from the same disease.

[Susan]

March 28 in royal history:

March 28, 1461 – Battle of Ferrybridge, an indecisive battle in the Wars of the Roses

March 28, 1584 - Death of Ivan IV (the Terrible) of Russia in Moscow; buried at the Cathedral of St Michael the Archangel, Moscow

March 28, 1609 – Birth of Frederik III of Denmark and Norway at Haderslevhus Castle

March 28, 1655 – Death of Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, wife of Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, at Nyköping, Sweden; buried at Riddarholm Church in Stockholm

March 28, 1835 – Death of Auguste de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg, first husband of Maria II of Portugal; buried at Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, Lisbon
Auguste died two months after his wedding at age 24.

March 28, 1884 - Death of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, son of Queen Victoria, at Villa Nevada, Cannes, France; buried in the Albert Memorial Chapel at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle

March 28, 1901 – Birth of Märtha of Sweden, wife of Crown Prince Olav (after her death King Olav V), at the Palace of the Hereditary Prince, Stockholm

March 28, 1910 - Birth of Ingrid of Sweden, wife of Frederick IX of Denmark, mother of Margrethe II of Denmark, in Stockholm
Ingrid was a great granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Her mother was Margaret, daughter of Queen Victoria's son Arthur, Duke of Connaught.

March 28, 1965 - Death of Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood, daughter of George V, at Harewood House, Leeds, Yorkshire; buried at Harewood House

[Susan]

March 29 in royal history:

March 29, 1461 – Battle of Towton results in a decisive Yorkist victory

March 29, 1792 – Death of Gustavus III of Sweden, after being shot at a masked ball on March 16, 1792, in Stockholm; buried at Riddarholmen Church

March 29, 1871 - Queen Victoria opens Albert Hall in London

March 29, 1980 - Birth of Prince Hamzah of Jordan, son of King Hussein and his fourth wife Queen Noor, in Amman, Jordan