Questions tagged [royalty]
For questions about historical kings, queens, princes(ses) and their family.
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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....
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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....
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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 ...
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Did Catherine of Aragon use the title Princess of Wales before she was married to Prince Arthur?
In several historical fiction books that I've read about Catherine of Aragon, she uses the title Princess of Wales as a child. I can't remember if the books were claiming that she used this title ...
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Why were the Hecatomnid rulers of Caria permitted to marry their siblings?
Hecatomnus of Caria had three sons and two daughters. The elder two sons married a daughter each, and all five children would rule, successively, the state which their father founded.
Why was this ...
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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 ...
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What is the oldest European royal house?
What is the oldest European royal or princely house, either enthroned or dethroned, that patrilineally survives nowadays?
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When did England make a statute that barred foreigners from inheriting the throne?
According to Iain Moncreiffe in his book The Highland Clans, he says this.
“By the fourteenth century it had become common law (in both England and Scotland) that a person who was not born in the ...
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Did Richard II of England willingly abdicate the throne to Henry of Bolingbroke?
The Wikipedia article for Richard II explains that there are contradictory accounts of what happened when Henry of Bolingbroke usurped Richard II's throne in 1399.
According to the official record (...
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Did Richard II of England officially name Roger Mortimer or Edmund Mortimer as his heir?
Richard II of England was childless which was one of the causes of the future War of the Roses between the House of Lancaster and the House of York.
When Henry IV deposed Richard II in 1399, he ...
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Did people ever pour drinks on the floor to reject a toast or indicate an end to civilities?
In a fantasy book called "Jack of Shadows" by Roger Zelazny I read this:
A disgraced member of a ruling party is being forced to ceremonially drink to the coronation of the new king, but instead ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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What were the last words of Charles the First, and Oliver Cromwell's response after his execution?
I need to know what Charles the First's last words were and preferably what Oliver Cromwell said afterwards.
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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) ...
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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:
...
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Why did Odoacer choose to be king Instead of emperor?
After deposing Romulus Augustulus in 476 AD, Odoacer became the king of Italy. Why did he choose not to be the next emperor of the Roman Empire? The Roman people were still around, and the Senate ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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When did medieval monarchs start being depicted with ermine fur garments?
Probably all medieval monarchs wore fur garments when the weather was cold enough.
But what seems to be the normal medieval picture of monarch in civilian dress was to wear a long robe with a cloak ...
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Was the name "William the Conqueror" (or its translation) actually used in William's lifetime?
More generally, what early records do we have of his name? Who called him "William the Bastard" (French Guillaume le Bâtard) - was this mostly his Anglo-Saxon enemies?
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What 17C protocol left a princess standing whilst commoners sat?
I am reading WILLIAM AND MARY by John Van Der Kiste 2008, 2011, in which he relates William III's reluctant plans to remarry after Mary II's death. This was to ensure the Protestant succession after ...
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Who was the first monarch? [closed]
I would like to understand how monarchs actually came about.
Who was the first ever monarch (king or queen) of any country, ever? What date did they become monarch and how was it even decided to take ...
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What was the most recent Catholic coronation ceremony of a king?
What was the most recent Catholic coronation ceremony of a king*?
Karl of Austria's, December 1916?
*excluding popes, who are both civil kings and heads of the Catholic Church
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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 ...
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