Questions tagged [royalty]

For questions about historical kings, queens, princes(ses) and their family.

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5 votes
1 answer
296 views

Who was Déū Singh Baru, final raja of Nuwakot, Kakani?

A stone inscription was recently found in Nepal, specifically in the area of Nuwakot, Kakani. The first part of the inscription's heading reads देउ सिंह बरू, which can be anglicized to Déū Singh Baru. ...
1 vote
1 answer
182 views

How much did Queen Elizabeth I spend on her wardrobe over her reign?

Queen Elizabeth I of England had over 2000 expensive bejeweled gowns when she died. While she was thrifty by refurbishing her gowns when possible and giving some away to maids as payment what would ...
4 votes
2 answers
985 views

Was there any Egyptian Pharaoh that was considered the one and only god that ancient Egyptians worshiped during his life?

I found the following verses in the Quran (the holy book of Islam): Quran 79:24 And said (the king pharaoh), "I am your most exalted lord." Quran 28:38 And king Pharaoh said, "O eminent ...
1 vote
1 answer
235 views

Was there a British Royal tradition associated with the name Elizabeth?

My high school history teacher once told me that apperently there was a tradition (superstition?) among the various Royal Families of the United Kingdom that the British Empire would last "from ...
7 votes
6 answers
8k views

What name is taken if a man marries into a noble house?

In regards to marrying into noble houses, if a noble man marries a noble woman from a different house, I would assume one of two things happens: The woman takes the man's name and the two houses ...
1 vote
3 answers
5k views

How well did King Harald V of Norway know FDR's dog Fala?

My question: How long did the Norwegian prince and his mother stay at the White House? I've found online sources that detail he spent the war in Washington DC, but no dates for staying at the White ...
2 votes
0 answers
167 views

Did James I of England have both male and female lovers?

I've read multiple biographies of James, and there is no consensus on whether he was bisexual. He had four children with his wife, Ann of Denmark, but he also had many repeated male favorites, some of ...
0 votes
1 answer
930 views

Did Princess Diana ever talk about her alleged Armenian descent?

The Englishwoman Princess Diana (1961-97), born Diana Spencer, was the fourth-greats granddaughter - through a line of matrilineal descent in every step - of Eliza Kewark. Kewark lived in Bombay, ...
9 votes
1 answer
2k views

By what legal mechanism was Catherine Howard deprived of her title of Queen of England?

To the best of my knowledge, under English (and later British) law, a peerage can only be revoked via a conviction for treason by a bill of attainder. Peerages have sometimes been surrendered ...
1 vote
1 answer
183 views

When and where was William the Conqueror baptized or christened?

Encyclopedias give his birth as "about" 1028, but is there any information extant about when and under what circumstances he was made a Christian? A quick search turns up a print in the New ...
0 votes
0 answers
99 views

Can anyone identify the uniform my great uncle (child in the front of the photo) is wearing or any others in the pic?

Family photo taken on a family trip to Europe, possibly Belgium in 1918.
1 vote
2 answers
714 views

Are there any examples of two medieval kingdoms trying to unify but eventually failing to do so?

Recently, I started to read about history as a hobby like I used to when I was a kid. I realized that reading about "generic history" does not do it for me anymore. Instead I have some ...
10 votes
1 answer
3k views

What's the reason behind the 17th century tradition of British monarchs being depicted on coins facing in the opposite direction to their predecessor?

I have just been informed that on Britain's new currency King Charles III will be depicted facing the opposite direction from Queen Elizabeth II. There are plenty of articles on google claiming to ...
2 votes
0 answers
166 views

What was in those documents Victoria snuck away from Wilhelm II to London in 1888?

Victoria, Princess Royal, and German Empress for less than a hundred days in 1888, saw the signs of death for her husband, Emperor Friedrich III, and apparently both did not trust either Bismarck or ...
2 votes
2 answers
188 views

Are state funerals always held on a Monday?

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest on Monday. I'm interested to know if state funerals are specifically held on a Monday, or this one just happens to be. Searching around, I can find ...
1 vote
0 answers
305 views

Is the House of Odon considered historical or mythological?

I have just been on wikipedia looking through King Charles III's ancestry from father to father and it brought me to Elimar I, Count of Oldenburg whom had a wife that claimed he was descended from ...
2 votes
0 answers
213 views

Where were the early kings of Scotland buried?

According to tradition and to most historians until recently, many of the early Scottish kings were buried on the island of Iona. For example, the 2004 Oxford Dictionary of National Biographypaywall ...
27 votes
2 answers
7k views

Who said "If I want the opinion of the middle classes, I'll ask Her Majesty"?

The notion that the British royal family are not necessarily at the apex of British society in terms of good breeding, sophistication or taste, is an old one. I'm sure that I once read a piece that ...
41 votes
1 answer
21k views

Did Chinese emperors wear a rectangular hat with suspended gems?

The mythical Jade Emperor is sometimes depicted as wearing a mortarboard hat with strings of jewels suspended from its edges: According to Shen Yun's post: Hanging from the front and back of the ...
3 votes
2 answers
393 views

What honorifics and forms of address were appropriate for 17th century Spanish nobility?

My world has a country that is based in quite a few regards on Spain during the 17th/18th century. I would like the readers to feel the honor and prestige of that culture by accurately mimicking ...
7 votes
3 answers
4k views

How did cadet branches start?

In what ways could a cadet branch come into life? Why would a younger sibling in a royal or noble house start his own as a cadet branch? This information is for personal, non-historical, writing; ...
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

Who is this, probably royal, teenager?

This photo was found in the same envelope as a photo of the Prince Imperial, Louis Napoleon, (recently identified on this site by Evargalo) and various other European royals. The photos (seven in all) ...
3 votes
2 answers
393 views

Were Ferdinand and Isabella the most important royal couple?

Ferdinand and Isabella ruled Aragon and Castile jointly from 1474 to 1504, a thirty-year period during which the modern country of Spain was born, ships they commissioned discovered and explored the ...
5 votes
6 answers
870 views

Who is the youngest monarch to have issue?

I came across a 14-year-old duke having a child in the 15th century with his wife, (formerly) Queen Isabella. The duke would end up with a son who became Louis XII, but that is just the back-story to ...
68 votes
5 answers
18k views

Why didn't Roman emperors have harems?

Harems were common in the Orient; the Chinese emperor, the Ottoman sultan, and the Mongol emperor all had many wives. Roman Emperors did not have a similar custom. Why is the harem common in the ...
6 votes
2 answers
323 views

What materials would have been used in the ancient Mesopotamian crown?

To provide context, I'm working on a project involving artwork for the Enuma Elish, and I've gotten to a sort of crown initially on my portrayal of Absu. I know that gold was available to the ancient ...
3 votes
3 answers
9k views

When and how did the British Monarchy stop claiming Divine Right

Traditionally most royal families justify their rule by "divine right". When and how did this stop being the case for the British royal family? (This question evolved a lot, check edits to get a ...
16 votes
4 answers
22k views

Who was the last English king whose first language was French?

What I remember from my college course is that whenever a delegation of barons came to discuss their grievances in English, the King would hear them out politely without understanding a word, conclude ...
-2 votes
2 answers
730 views

Why was Edward I of England the first Edward?

Why is Edward I of England given the numeration "I", when he was preceded by Edward the Confessor and Edward the Martyr. Did numerations only begin with William I?
5 votes
1 answer
707 views

What was Prince Philip’s surname (prior to Mountbatten)?

Prince Philip took the surname of Mountbatten when he became a naturalised British citizen in 1947. His name prior to that was Schleswig Holstein Sonderburg Gluckburg. Did he use the full name while ...
13 votes
2 answers
4k views

Did Augustus the Strong sleep with his own daughter?

I'm working my way through Robert Massie's voluminous biography of Peter the Great at the moment. It's truly a pleasure to read; one really does have the sensation of stepping into Peter's world. ...
-5 votes
1 answer
217 views

Are the Windsors English? [closed]

I have had some confusion about this. In the express. Co. UK Article about the name change of the British Royal Family it said: "For example, Queen Elizabeth I had no heirs and the crown passed ...
2 votes
3 answers
333 views

What is the origin of the first dynasty in Scotland?

Who gave anyone the authority to appoint themselves and hence start a royal line? I assume today's royalty come from this royal line The standard answer is Kenneth Macalpine as far as I can see with ...
2 votes
0 answers
183 views

Did the Duke of Cambridge wear rouge?

I'm looking for evidence that the Prince George, Duke of Cambridge - Queen Victoria's cousin and the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army - enhanced his complexion by the judicious and semi-discreet ...
37 votes
3 answers
5k views

Who is this young 'Prince'?

The photo below was found in an envelope among a bundle of family photos which were recently handed down on the English side of my family. Aside from the photo itself, the only clues are as follows: ...
17 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why did Peter the Great change his daughters' title to Tsesarevna?

Having won the Great Northern War in 1721, Peter the Great promoted himself from Tsar to Emperor. At the same time, he seems to have changed the title used by his daughters from Tsarevna to Tsesarevna....
30 votes
6 answers
142k views

Is there a reason for a Queen's husband not to be referred to as King?

While watching the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II events going on recently, I noticed that the Queen's husband is referred to as 'Prince'-- not 'King'. Upon researching further, I found that ...
15 votes
6 answers
961 views

Were there any well known royal dynasties that did not in some way cite religious mandate for their rule?

Most of the royal rulers in the last 2000 years seemed to be strongly relying - as one of the sources of their power - on the notion that they hold "divine rule"/"sanction of god"/"mandate of heaven" ...
-6 votes
1 answer
948 views

What statuses did Black Africans have in the court and royal family of Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and do their descendants survive? [closed]

What positions and statuses did Black Africans hold in Germany in the court culture of Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and later courts? According to Germany and the Black Diaspora: Points of ...
2 votes
0 answers
207 views

Did anybody expect that Edward VIII would abdicate?

King Edward VIII abdicated in December of 1936, less than a year after he ascended in January, to marry divorcee (and still-married) Wallis Simpson. But before his ascension (i.e. during the reign of ...
0 votes
1 answer
382 views

How did 15th century royals identify themselves in England/Spain?

I'm studying the customs of medieval Europe to gather information for a novel I'm writing and a question has arisen about how the nobles, especially the royal family, identified themselves. Did they ...
11 votes
3 answers
8k views

Was Princess Elizabeth a van/ambulance driver/mechanic during WW2?

Wikipedia says of Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II), In February 1945, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service as an honorary second subaltern with the service number ...
-2 votes
1 answer
255 views

Was there ever a queen or female ruler who killed her child to preserve her power? [closed]

I vaguely remember hearing about a Queen who had her child killed (or attempted to) so that she could keep the throne. Thanks To add extra details, I believe it was an infant who would be King once ...
26 votes
8 answers
8k views

Has there ever been a true kidnapped princess from anywhere in the world?

I'm not a historian, although hopefully not totally ignorant of history, which perhaps will prove false here. I am a curious consumer of popular culture. Ever since I was young I have played video ...
11 votes
1 answer
18k views

How did Mehmed II die?

The different Wikipedias offer different stories. English Wikipedia claims poison as a likely cause of death: In 1481 Mehmed marched with the Ottoman army, but upon reaching Maltepe, Istanbul he ...
33 votes
4 answers
13k views

What is the oldest European royal house?

What is the oldest European royal or princely house, either enthroned or dethroned, that patrilineally survives nowadays?
23 votes
3 answers
5k views

How did succession in Anglo Saxon England work?

I heard that the Witan would elect an Ætheling to be King after the previous King died and it typically followed primogeniture. Was primogeniture a requirement for succession or did the Witan have the ...
3 votes
1 answer
198 views

How was St Edwards Crown fixed after Blood flattened it?

In 1671 Thomas Blood tried to steal the crown jewels. To do this he flattened the crown with a mallet. There are many sources that said he did flatten it but I cannot find anything about the aftermath....
4 votes
1 answer
187 views

Did Charles IV of Spain legally change Spanish succession law in 1789?

In 1713, Salic law was introduced to Spain. In 1830, Ferdinand VII who did not have any sons declared that his daughter Isabella was the next in line, instead of his brother Carlos. Carlos and his ...
4 votes
3 answers
537 views

Did the Third Rome theory help make Michael Romanov tsar?

Rome fell apart as the Middle Ages began, and Constantinople, the "Second Rome", was conquered as they ended. Afterwards, a famous religious argument or school of thought in Russia maintained that ...