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January 13, 1735 – Death of Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia, second wife of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia, at the Royal Palace of Turin in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin
Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg was the second of the three wives, all of whom died young, of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. Polyxena and Carlo Emanuele III had six children including her husband’s successor Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia. She was active in charity work, founding a home for young mothers in Turin. Polyxena worked with Italian architect Filippo Juvarra, the architect of the great Basilica of Superga in Turin, to remodel and renovate several buildings. In 1733, Polyxena gave birth to her last child Prince Carlo of Savoy, Duke of Chablais, who lived a little over five months. She fell seriously ill in June 1734 and died on January 13, 1735, aged 28.
Unofficial Royalty: Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia

January 13, 1797 – Death of Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern, Queen of Prussia, wife of King Friedrich II of Prussia; at the Stadtschloss in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany; buried at the Berlin Cathedral
In 1733, Elisabeth Christine married Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia. The marriage had been arranged between the groom’s father, King Friedrich Wilhelm I in Prussia, and the bride’s uncle, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. They had no children and basically lived separate lives until their deaths. In 1740, Elisabeth’s father-in-law died and her husband succeeded him. Despite their separation, the new King understood the importance of court life and ensured that Elisabeth Christine had a very prominent and official role. While Friedrich II rarely attended any court functions, Elisabeth Christine was always there, even often representing him at his own birthday celebrations. Beloved by the people of Prussia, Elisabeth Christine became a symbol of strength during the Seven Years’ War. Further endearing herself to the Prussian people was her charity work. She donated the majority of her allowance to charitable causes each year. Widowed in 1786, the Dowager Queen continued to have a very prominent role at court and was often consulted on matters of etiquette and court life. Eleven years after the death of her husband, Elisabeth Christine died at the age of 82.
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern, Queen of Prussia

January 13, 1883 – Birth of Prince Arthur of Connaught, grandson of Queen Victoria, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Full name: Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert
Prince Arthur was the son of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia. Like his father, Arthur had a military career. He was on active duty during the Second Boer War. During World War I, Prince Arthur served as aide-de-camp to General Sir John French and General Sir Douglas Haig. He was Governor-General of South Africa from 1920 – 1923. Prince Arthur married his first cousin once removed Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, the elder daughter of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and a grandchild of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. The couple had two daughters. In 1938, Prince Arthur died of stomach cancer at the age of 55. As Prince Arthur predeceased his father The Duke of Connaught, Arthur’s son Alastair became heir to the dukedom.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Arthur of Connaught

January 13, 1897 – Death of Arcadie Claret, mistress of Leopold I, King of the Belgians in Monheim am Rhein, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of in North Rhine-Westphalia
Arcadie Claret was the mistress of Leopold I, King of the Belgians, the uncle of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, from around 1842 until the King’s death in 1865. Because their relationship became publicly known and widely discussed in the press, Leopold arranged a marriage between Arcadie and Ferdinand Meyer, his Master of the Stable and friend. This marriage of convenience provided some relief from the intense speculation about Arcadie and her relationship with Leopold. Arcadie and Leopold had two sons together, although both were registered as the children of her husband, and given the surname Meyer. Following King Leopold’s death in December 1865, Arcadie no longer found herself no longer welcome within the royal family. Within days of his death, she and her sons left Brussels and settled at her castle in Monheim. Arcadie lived a quiet and private life in Monheim for the next 31 years before dying there on January 13, 1897, at the age of 71.
Unofficial Royalty: Arcadie Claret, Mistress of Leopold I, King of the Belgians

January 13, 1905 – Death of Alexander, Prince of Lippe at the St Gilgenberg Sanatorium near Bayreuth, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Bavaria, Germany; buried in the family mausoleum in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
As the fifth of the six sons of Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, Alexander was not expected to succeed to the throne. He served as a captain in the army of the Kingdom of Hanover, and in 1851, when he was 20 years old, he had a fall from his horse. Over the subsequent years, he developed the first signs of a mental disorder. In 1870, due to the worsening of his mental disorder, Alexander was legally declared incapacitated. The following year, it became necessary to place Alexander in the St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium, a private sanatorium for men with nervous and mental disorders, near Bayreuth, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, where he spent the remainder of his life. When Alexander’s father Leopold II died in 1851, he was succeeded by his eldest son as Leopold III. The childless Leopold III died in 1875 and he was succeeded by his next brother Woldemar who was also childless. During Woldemar’s reign, Alexander became Woldemar’s only surviving brother, the last of the line of the House of Lippe, and therefore his heir. When Woldemar died in 1895, his incapacitated brother Alexander succeeded him as Prince of Lippe, with a regency. There was a huge disagreement about who should be regent and who should be Alexander’s successor, so huge that Wilhelm II, German Emperor became involved. (Read more about it in Alexander’s article.) Alexander probably knew nothing about the dispute. He remained at the St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium but was able to attend concerts and plays, and spent his time playing chess, copying pictures from illustrated newspapers, listening to music, and playing chess. However, Alexander did know his rank and position and insisted on the proper etiquette. He died at the sanatorium at the age of 73.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexander, Prince of Lippe

January 13, 1932 – Death of Sophie of Prussia, Queen of Greece, wife of King Constantine I of Greece, at Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany; first buried in the Greek Orthodox Church in Florence, Italy, in 1936, after the restoration of the Greek monarchy, her remains were buried in the mausoleum at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace in Greece
Sophie was the daughter of Victoria, Princess Royal and Friedrich III, German Emperor and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1889, she married the future King Constantine I of Greece, and they had six children and all three of their sons became King of Greece. The Greek, Romanian, Serbian, and Spanish Royal Families descend from their marriage. In 1913, Constantine’s father King George I of Greece was assassinated and he acceded to the Greek throne as King Constantine I. Due to much political turmoil, Constantine was forced to abdicate in 1917, restored to the throne in 1920, and then forced to abdicate a second time. Sophie and Constantine lived the rest of their lives in exile. Constantine died in 1923 in Palermo, Italy from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 54. Sophie spent her last years at her villa in Florence, Italy. She died at the age of 61, on January 13, 1932, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where she had been undergoing treatment for cancer.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophie of Prussia, Queen of Greece

January 13, 2017 – Death of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, former husband of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom, in Kensington, London, England; buried at St. Baglan’s Church in Llanfaglan, Wales
Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon was a gifted artist and photographer. In 1960, he married Princess Margaret, the younger daughter of King George VI and the sister of Queen Elizabeth II. The couple had two children. The marriage, while happy at the beginning, quickly turned sour. Both were rumored to have had affairs, and often battled publicly. After the couple’s divorce in 1978, Lord Snowdon remained close to the British Royal Family. Lord Snowdon married Lucy Mary Lindsay-Hogg (née Davies) and they had one daughter. This marriage would also end in divorce after it was revealed that Snowdon had fathered a son with another woman. At Princess Margaret’s funeral in 2002, he was among the leading mourners, alongside the couple’s children, Queen Elizabeth II, and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. When Lord Snowdow died at the age of 86, his son David succeeded him as 2nd Earl of Snowdon.  His former sister-in-law Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh along with their sons the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex and their grandson the Duke of Cambridge attended the memorial service for Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon on April 7, 2017, at the Church of St Margaret in Westminster, London, England on the grounds of Westminster Abbey.
Unofficial Royalty: Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon

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