This Day in History

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Fri December 18th, 2009, 12:37 am

Today in royal history:

December 18, 1626 - Birth of Queen Christina of Sweden

December 18, 1724 - Birth of Princess Louisa, daughter of George II, at Leicester House, St. Martin's, London

December 18, 1818 Birth of Prince Charles III of Monaco, son of Prince Florestan I

December 18, 1863 - Birth of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I

December 18, 1941 - Birth of Prince William of Gloucester, son of Henry, Duke of Gloucester, in Barnet, Hertfordshire, England

December 18, 2004 Death of Princess Takamatsu of Japan, wife of Prince Takamatsu, at St. Luke's Medical Center Tokyo, Japan; buried at Toshimagaoka Cemetery in Tokyo

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Sat December 19th, 2009, 1:13 pm

Today in royal history:

December 19, 1154 - Coronation of Henry II
Henrys wife Eleanor of Aquitaine was crowned on December 25, 1158 at Worcester Cathedral. Eleanor was pregnant with Henry the Young King at the time of her husband's coronation.

December 19, 1683 - Birth of Phillip V, first Bourbon king of Spain

December 19, 1751 - Death of Princess Louisa, daughter of George II, wife of King Frederik V of Denmark, at Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral
Louisa died at age 27 after undergoing painful surgery for a rupture, similar to the surgery that had killed her mother Caroline of Ansbach.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Sun December 20th, 2009, 1:28 am

Today in royal history:

December 20, 860 - Death of King Ethelbad of Wessex; buried at Sherborne Abbey, Dorset

December 20, 1904 Death of Alexandrine of Baden, wife of Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

December 20, 1902 - Birth of Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of George V, at York Cottage, Sandringham, Norfolk

December 20, 1963 - Birth of Infanta Elena of Spain, daughter of King Juan Carlos

December 20, 1981 Birth of Princess Akiko of Japan

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Mon December 21st, 2009, 1:42 am

Today in royal history:

December 21, 69 - Vespasian becomes the fourth Roman emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors

December 21, 1549 - Death of Marguerite of Angouleme, wife of Henry II of Navarre, at Odos, France

December 21, 1800 Birth of Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, wife of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Louise was the mother of Prince Albert, Queen Victorias husband.

December 21, 1818 Birth of Amalia of Oldenburg, wife of King Otto of Greece

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Tue December 22nd, 2009, 1:39 am

Today in royal history:

December 22, 1748 – Death of Prince Johann Nepomuk Karl of Liechtenstein; buried at Liechtenstein Crypt in Vranov nearby Brno, Czech Republic

December 22, 1925 – Death of Marie Alice Heine, second wife of Prince Albert I of Monaco, in Paris; buried at Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Tue December 22nd, 2009, 11:00 pm

Today in royal history:

December 23, 1230 - Death of Berengaria of Navarre, wife of Richard I, at L'Epau Abbey, Le Mans, Anjou, France; buried at Le Mans Cathedral, Le Mans, Anjou

December 23, 1777 - Birth of Tsar Alexander I of Russia

December 23, 1910 - Birth of Maria de las Mercedes of the Two Sicilies, mother of Juan Carlos I of Spain

December 23, 1933 - Birth of Emperor Akihito of Japan

December 23, 1943 - Birth of Silvia Renate Sommerlath, wife of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

December 23, 1975 Birth of Prince Ali of Jordan, son of King Hussein and his third wife Queen Alia

Sheramy · Post by **Sheramy** » Wed December 23rd, 2009, 3:17 pm

On 23 December 1888, Vincent van Gogh went to the brothel at No. 1, Rue du Bout d'Arles in the town of Arles, asked for the prostitute named Rachel, and gave her a piece of his ear wrapped in newspaper.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Thu December 24th, 2009, 1:55 pm

Today in royal history:

December 24, 1167 - Birth of King John at Beaumont Palace, Oxford, England

December 24, 1588 Birth of Constance of Austria, second wife of Sigismund III Vasa of Poland and Sweden

December 24, 1598 - Birth of Margaret, daughter of James I, at Dalkeith Palace, Scotland

December 24, 1634 Birth of Mariana of Austria, second wife of her maternal uncle Philip IV of Spain

December 24, 1660 - Death of Mary, Princess Royal, daughter of Charles I, wife of William II of Orange, mother of King William III, at Whitehall Palace, London; buried at Westminster Abbey
Mary was the eldest daughter and third child of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France. She was the first princess to use the style Princess Royal. It is thought that her mother suggested the style in imitation of the style of the eldest daughters of French kings, Madame Royale. Mary married William II of Orange. While pregnant with her first child, William became ill with smallpox and died. Mary's son William was born on her 19th birthday and grew up to marry his first cousin Mary. William and Mary later reigned in Great Britain as King William III and Queen Mary II. Mary, the Princess Royal died at Whitehall Palace of smallpox and was buried in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey. William III also lost his wife Mary II to smallpox.

December 24, 1813 Death of Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan

December 24, 1837 Birth of Elisabeth of Bavaria, wife of Franz Josef I of Austria

December 24, 1845 Birth of George I of Greece, born Prince William of Denmark

December 24, 1879 Birth of Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, wife of Christian X of Denmark

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Fri December 25th, 2009, 2:20 am

Merry Christmas...today in royal history:

December 25, 800 - Coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III

December 25, 1066 - Coronation of William the Conqueror
Williams wife Matilda of Flanders was crowned on May 11, 1068 at Winchester Cathedral.

December 25, 1153 - Treaty of Westminster signed allowing Stephen to keep the crown of England under the condition that Henry Anjou, son of Stephen's cousin Empress Maud, becomes his heir.

December 25, 1461 Birth of Christina of Saxony, wife of King Hans of Denmark, Norway and Sweden

December 25, 1901 - Birth of Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott, wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, at Montagu House, London

December 25, 1926 - Death of Emperor Taisho of Japan at the Imperial Palace at Hayama, in Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu; buried at the Musashino Imperial Mausoleum near Tokyo

December 25, 1936 - Birth of Princess Alexandra of Kent at 3 Belgrave Square, London, England

December 25, 1969 Birth of Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, son of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Sun December 27th, 2009, 10:06 pm

Today in royal history:

December 27, 1683 Death of Maria Francisca of Savoy, wife of Afonso VI of Portugal and Pedro II of Portugal, in Lisbon; first buried at the Convent of the Francesinhas, moved in 1912 to the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora

December 28, 1694 - Death of Queen Mary II at Kensington Palace; buried at Westminster Abbey
Queen Mary II died of smallpox. She had jointly reigned with her husband (and first cousin) King William III. Sadly, Williams father died of smallpox 8 days before his birth and his mother died of smallpox when he was just 10. William continued his reign until his death in 1702 when he was succeeded by Mary's younger sister Anne.

December 28, 1757 - Death of Princess Caroline, daughter of George II, at St. James Palace; buried at Westminster Abbey

December 28, 1920 Birth of Princess Antoinette of Monaco, sister of Prince Rainier III

December 28, 1945 - Birth of King Birendra of Nepal
King Birendra was killed during the shooting of the Nepalese Royal Family in June, 2001.

December 28, 1947 - Death of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, in exile at Alexandria, Egypt; buried in the Cathedral of St. Catherine, Alexandria

December 28, 1952 Death of Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, wife of Christian X of Denmark, in Copenhagen; buried at Roskilde Cathedral