Tagged: royalty

More pretenders, part 2: the United Baltic Duchy

Here’s another potential post-World War I Eastern European monarchy snuffed out in the cradle. If such a thing is imaginable, it was even less existent than the Finnish and Lithuanian kingdoms.

The situation began with the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3rd, 1918. Under this treaty, the new Bolshevik government in Russia essentially cut their losses on the war and ceded territory conquered by the Central Powers (Germany, Austria and the Ottoman Empire) to end the war on the Eastern Front. The German-controlled territory, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea, was known as the Ober Ost, and included at its north end three governates of the Russian Empire: Courland (modern southern and western Latvia), Livonia (northeastern Latvia and southern Estonia) and Estonia (northern Estonia).

The local authorities moved quickly to establish government. Courland declared itself the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia on March 8th, and Livonia and Estonia formed the Duchy of the Baltic State on April 12th. Both declared personal union with the Kaiser, i.e. Wilhelm II was the Duke of the two new duchies. Germany recognized the two as one United Baltic Duchy On September 22nd, which would thereafter be a constituent state of the German Empire, like Prussia or Bavaria. On November 5th a Regency Council was formed, which met at Riga and elected Duke Adolph Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin as the new Duke.

Adolph Frederick led a pretty remarkable life. The son of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin by his third wife, Adolph Frederick traveled to Africa and led several expeditions to explore Lake Chad and the Congo river basin. He was governor of the German Togoland colony from 1912 to 1914, and did well enough to be invited to come back and visit when Togo declared independence in 1960. He was a member of the International Olympic Committee for 30 years and chaired the West German Olympic Committee. He died in 1969, aged 96.

Adolph Frederick was a direct descendant of George I of Great Britain:

George I > Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover> Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia > Margravine Friedrike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt> Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Württemburg > Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia > Paul Frederick, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin> Francis Frederick II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin > Duke Adolph Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

At any rate, it didn’t last. One of the first effects of Germany’s defeat on November 11th was the cancellation of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and modern Latvia declared itself independent on November 18th. The Regency Council lasted until November 28th, when it quietly dissolved and Adolph Frederick withdrew his candidacy to pursue his African business interests. The German occupation handed over power in Estonia to a provisional government, which then had to contend with an invasion from the Soviets, who were hoping for an easy conquest. The Estonians fought back, however, and expelled all Soviet troops by February 24th, 1919.

Under most Germanic succession, inheritance would be limited to males in Adolph Frederick’s family. However, not only did he have no sons, the last male member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin died on July 31st, 2001, aged 91. However, Adolph Frederick did have one daughter, Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who is (as of September 2012) still alive and 94 years old. If we were to assume some modernization along the lines of the laws of succession to the British throne, she would be the current pretender, and her heir would be her eldest son, Prince Heinrich VIII Reuss of Köstritz, followed by Heinrich VIII’s son Heinrich XX. (The Reuss family name every male child “Heinrich”,
starting over around the start of each century. The highest-ever was Heinrich LXXII [1797-1853], or, in English, “Henry the Seventy-Second”. ) If we went so far as to employ a Swedish-style succession of gender equality, the heir to the current pretender would be the Duchess’s daughter Princess Feodora Reuss of Köstritz, and Feodora’s heir would be her son Count Constantin of Stolberg-Wernigerode.

A set of lists I made: The royalty of Europe as they are related to the Queen

Maybe you already know this, but almost every royal person in Europe is related.

It’s not as bad as it once was – nobody’s suffering from any inbreeding – but the marriages of yesteryear have made one big multicultural family.

Since I am a Canadian, I want to look at  these relations as they apply to my Queen, Elizabeth II.

Every royal family in Europe but two — those of King Nikola I of Montenegro (1910-18) and Zog I of Albania (1928-1939) — is related somehow to the British/Canadian/Australian/&c. royal family. Some are descendants of the British royal family; some share common ancestors with it. I’ll be going over them here, ending the lines at the current holder of the title or pretender to the throne.

So let’s start with a refresher:

The UK

George I > George II > Frederick, Prince of Wales > George III > Prince Edward, Duke of Kent > Victoria > Edward VII > George V > George VI > Elizabeth II.

The country with the closest royal family to ours is

Norway

Edward VII > Princess Maud > Olaf V > Harold V.

Victoria wasn’t called “the Mother of Europe” for nothing. Her lines of descent link to:

Sweden

Victoria > Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught > Princess Margaret of Connaught > Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden > Charles XVI Gustaf.

Denmark

Victoria > Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught > Princess Margaret of Connaught  > Princess Ingrid of Sweden > Margaret II.

Spain

Victoria > Princess Beatrice > Princess Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg > Don Juan de Borbón, Count of Barcelona > Juan Carlos I > Felipe VI.

Romania

Victoria > Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh > Princess Marie of Edinburgh > Carol II > Michael I.

Greece

Victoria > Victoria, Princess Royal > Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany > Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia > Frederika of Hanover > Constantine II.

Yugoslavia

Victoria > Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh > Princess Marie of Edinburgh > Princess Maria of Romania > Peter II >  Crown Prince Alexander.

Germany

Victoria > Victoria, Princess Royal > Wilhelm II of Germany > Crown Prince Wilhelm > Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia > Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia > George Frederick, Prince of Prussia.

The only other incumbent European royal family directly descended from a British king is

The Netherlands

George II > Anne, Princess Royal  > William V, Prince of Orange > William I > William II > William III > Wilhelmina > Juliana > Beatrix > William-Alexander.

Russia

The most famous line of descent between Buckingham Palace and the Winter Palace is probably

Victoria > Princess Alice > Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine,

the last Czarina, who gave her son haemophilia and fell under the spell of Rasputin. Nicholas II, the last Czar of All the Russias, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, was a direct descendant of George I:

George I > Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover> Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia > Margravine Friedrike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt> Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Württemburg > Nicholas I > Alexander II > Alexander III > Nicholas II.

Since the death in 1992 of the pretender Vladimir Cyrillovich, Grand Duke of Russia, the rightful heir to the throne of Russia is in dispute. These disputes largely revolve around the legitimacy of the marriages of various heirs, and whether their children are allowed to inherit the throne. Since no official body exists anymore to settle these matters, they are unlikely to be permanently settled. Many experts claim the heir ought to be Vladimir Cyrillovich’s daughter Maria, a descendant of Queen Victoria:

Victoria > Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh > Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh > Vladimir Cyrillovich, Grand Duke of Russia > Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia.

However, The Romanov Family Association, which represents most members of the Russian imperial family, maintains the real heir is Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia, descended from an all-male line from Nicholas I:

George I > Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover> Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia > Margravine Friedrike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt> Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Württemburg > Nicholas I > Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia > Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia > Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia > Prince Nicholas Romanovich of Russia.

Upon the more-than-likely event that the 90-year-old Nicholas, or his 84-year-old brother Dmitri, both of whom are childless, die without heirs, the next in line is Prince Andrew Romanov, an artist who lives in California and is the grandson of Nicholas II’s sister:

George I > Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover> Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia > Margravine Friedrike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt> Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Württemburg > Nicholas I > Alexander II > Alexander III > Grand Duchess Xenia of Russia > Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia > Prince Andrei Andreyevich of Russia.

Albania

There were two monarchies in Albania in the 20th century: a Principality from 1914 to 1925, and a Kingdom from 1928 to 1939. The Principality was created soon after Albania’s independence from the Ottoman Empire and Prince William of Wied was chosen as its Prince, ruling as Vidi I. He was overthrown in 1925 and a republic was proclaimed. Vidi was a descendant of George II:

George II > Anne, Princess Royal  > William V, Prince of Orange > King William I of the Netherlands > Prince Frederick of the Netherlands > Princess Marie of the Netherlands > Vidi I > Crown Prince Carol Victor.

Vidi’s only son Carol Victor died childless in 1973 (Vidi’s daughter Marie Eleonore died childless in 1956), ending the Albanian branch of the House of Wied-Neuwied.

The Kingdom of 1928 was ruled by the House of Zogu, founded when Ahmed Zogu proclaimed himself Zog I and overthrown when Albania was invaded by Italy. The current pretender, Leka II, is an Albanian civil servant. The Windsor family is not related in any way to the House of Zogu.

Now we get into kinfolk relations of the Royal Family, starting with King Christian IX of Denmark, nick-named “The Father-in-Law of Europe”. He was the father of Queen Alexandra:

Christian IX > Princess Alexandra of Denmark > George V

Through Christian IX the Royal Family relates to the families of:

Belgium

Christian IX > King Frederick VIII of Denmark > Princess Ingeborg of Denmark > Princess Astrid of Sweden > Albert II > Philippe.

Luxembourg

Christian IX > King Frederick VIII of Denmark > Princess Ingeborg of Denmark > Princess Astrid of Sweden > Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium > Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.

Next comes Queen Victoria’s maternal grandfather, Francis Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Cobourg-Saalfield:

Francis Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Cobourg-Saalfield > Princess Marie Luise Victoria of Saxe-Cobourg-Saalfield  > Victoria

Francis is the shared ancestor to the families of:

Bulgaria

Francis Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Cobourg-Saalfield > Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha > Prince August of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha > Ferdinand I > Boris III > Simeon II.

Austria-Hungary

Francis Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Cobourg-Saalfield > Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha > Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal > Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony > Charles I > Archduke Otto von Habsburg > Archduke Karl von Habsburg.

Portugal

Francis Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Cobourg-Saalfield > Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha > Ferdinand II > Louis I > Charles I > Manuel II.

Manuel II, the last king of Portugal, died childless, and the pretenders to the Portuguese throne have since been descendants of King Miguel I. By coincidence, the current pretender is a descendant of Francis’s:

Francis Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Cobourg-Saalfield > Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha > Princess Victoria of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha > Prince Gaston, Count of Eu > Pedro of Alcântara, Prince of Grão Para > Princess Francisca of Orléans-Braganza > Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza.

Thirdly, we have Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach:

Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach > John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach > Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach > Frederick, Prince of Wales

His descendants include:

Liechtenstein

Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach > Princess Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach > Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt > Landgravine Karoline Luise of Hesse > Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden > Princess Caroline of Baden > Princess Sophie of Bavaria > Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria > Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria > Franz Josef II > Hans Adam II

Monaco

Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach > Princess Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach > Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt > Landgravine Karoline Luise of Hesse > Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden > Charles, Grand Duke of Baden > Princess Marie Amelie of Baden > Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton > Louis II > Princess Charlotte of Monaco > Ranier III > Albert II

Italy

Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach > Princess Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach > Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt > Landgravine Karoline Luise of Hesse > Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden > Princess Caroline of Baden > Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria > Princess Elisabeth of Saxony > Princess Margherita of Savoy > Victor Emmanuel III > Humbert II > Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples

And the only 20th-century monarchy unrelated to the Windsor family:

Montenegro

The House of Petrović-Njegoš were the Prince-Bishops of Montenegro from 1696 and Princes of Monaco from 1852. Prince Nikola I was proclaimed King in 1910, but was overthrown when Montenegro became part of Yugoslavia in 1918.