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Nicholas II of Russia with his mother; Credit – Wikipedia
May 18, 1152 – Wedding of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine at Bordeaux Cathedral in Bordeaux, Duchy of Aquitaine, now in France
Unofficial Royalty: Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of England
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry II of England
The young Henry, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, and Count of Nantes, was busy fighting the terrible civil war between his mother Matilda and her first cousin King Stephen of England over the throne of England. Henry II was two years old when this civil war started and it was to affect his childhood as England did not see peace for 18 years. Around 1151, Henry was probably secretly planning his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, then still the wife of King Louis VII of France. Eleanor, eleven years older than Henry, was the Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, and marriage to her would greatly increase Henry’s lands. Eleanor had failed to give Louis any sons and Louis had the marriage annulled. 19-year-old Henry married 30-year-old Eleanor eight weeks later.
May 18, 1797 – Wedding of Charlotte, Princess Royal, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom, and King Friedrich I of Württemberg, at the Chapel Royal, St. James Palace in London, England
The living conditions of King George’s six daughters came to be known as “the Nunnery.” None of the daughters were allowed to marry at the age when most princesses would marry. Charlotte was one of the three who eventually did marry. At the age of 31, Charlotte married 49-year-old Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of Württemberg, the future King of Württemberg. He was a widower with three children. His first wife had been Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, niece of King George III, and there were some issues with this marriage that concerned King George III. Only after persistent requests and pleadings from Russian and Brunswick royals and British officials did the king consent to the marriage. After Charlotte delivered a stillborn daughter, the marriage remained childless.
Unofficial Royalty: Charlotte, Princess Royal, Queen of Württemberg
Unofficial Royalty: King Friedrich I of Württemberg
May 18, 1797 – Birth of King Friedrich August II of Saxony in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, now in Saxony, Germany
Full name: Friedrich August Albrecht Maria Clemens Joseph Vincenz Aloys Nepomuk Johann Baptista Nikolaus Raphael Peter Xavier Franz de Paula Venantius Felix
Friedrich August’s reign was relatively uneventful. He typically deferred to his ministers to make any decisions. Friedrich August preferred to spend his time developing his collection of fossils and other items, establishing a vast natural history collection. In this quest, he traveled extensively, including a visit to the United Kingdom in 1844 where he was a guest of Queen Victoria.
Unofficial Royalty: King Friedrich August II of Saxony
May 18, 1829 – Death of Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony, Queen of Spain, third wife of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Spain; buried at the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real in Spain
Full name: Maria Josepha Amalia Beatrix Xaveria Vincentia Aloysia Franziska de Paula Franziska de Chantal Anna Apollonia Johanna Nepomucena Walburga Theresia Ambrosia
Because he had no surviving children from his first two marriages, Ferdinand VII was under much pressure to produce an heir. He married the nearly 16-year-old Maria Josepha Amalia on October 20, 1819. There were rumors that Maria Josepha Amalia’s devout Roman Catholicism caused her to believe that sexual relations between spouses was wrong and that it took Pope Pius VII to convince her that such relations were permissible. Nevertheless, the marriage remained childless and Maria Josepha Amalia died of a fever at the age of 25.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony, Queen of Spain
May 18, 1868 – Birth of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, Russia
Nicholas was raised with his brother George who was three years younger. They were raised in a relatively simple manner considering their status. George and Nicholas slept in cots, woke up at 6:00 AM, took cold baths, and ate simple, plain meals. Their rooms were furnished with simple furniture. Both brothers were fluent in Russian, English, French, German, and Danish. The boys enjoyed shooting and fly fishing with their English tutor.
Unofficial Royalty: Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia
May 18, 1869 – Birth of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria
Full name: Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand
Rupprecht was Crown Prince of Bavaria from 1913 until the end of the Bavarian monarchy in 1918. From his father’s death in 1921, he became the pretender to the former Bavarian throne and Head of the House of Wittelsbach. Through his direct descent from King Charles I of England, he also became heir to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland in the Jacobite Succession.
Unofficial Royalty: Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria
Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne
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