Moniek Bloks's Blog, page 157

Elizabeth I: The Making of a Queen by Laura Brennan Book Review

One of the best-known Queens in history is Queen Elizabeth I of England, without a doubt. Many books have already been written about her and embarking on adding to that collection must be a daunting task. Laura Brennan’s new book doesn’t necessarily long to add to the pile of biographies already written about her and it doesn’t pretend to want to.

Elizabeth I: The Making of a Queen focusses on events that helped shape the course of Elizabeth’s and these events are thus not always about her. The first part of the book focusses heavily on the life of her father while the latter part includes things like the assassination of William the Silent. The writing style is easy to follow and, except for a few errors, seems to be well-researched. However, it can be rather disappointing if you’re expecting a biography about Elizabeth.

Elizabeth I: The Making of a Queen by Laura Brennan is available now in both the UK and the US,

The post Elizabeth I: The Making of a Queen by Laura Brennan Book Review appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Maria Luisa of Parma – A much-maligned Queen (Part two)

Read part one here.

In 1802, Maria Luisa’s son the Prince of Asturias married his first cousin Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, but there were to be no grandchildren from this marriage for Maria Luisa. One might expect Maria Luisa to be more sympathetic, but she wrote after one of Maria Antonia’s miscarriages, “I have just been present at the miscarriage of my daughter-in-law. She had some pain and a little blood flowed, but not even as much as one day of my menstrual flow. The fetus was smaller than a grain of aniseed, and the umbilical cord was as thin as a cobweb. The King had to put on his glasses to see it…”1 In 1806, Maria Antonia died of tuberculosis, leaving the Prince of Asturias free to marry again – although he would not do so until 1816. Her youngest surviving daughter María Isabella also married in 1802 – to the future King Francis I of the Two Sicilies (brother of Maria Antonia). María Isabella was only 12 years old at the time, but it was a political match, and the union proved to be fruitful – producing 12 children.

The years of Napoleon also influenced Charles and Maria Luisa’s throne. In late 1807, their son Ferdinand became embroiled in the El Escorial Conspiracy, and he was arrested. He later submitted to his parents, but this would not be the end of it. The popularity of Charles, Maria Luisa and their first minister had plummeted and on 19 March 1808, Charles abdicated in favour of Ferdinand. The public was overjoyed at the overthrow of the unpopular first minister. Maria Luisa wrote, “My son is very evil-minded, his nature is bloodthirsty, he has never shown his father or me any affection, his advisers thirst for blood… They wish to do us all the harm possible, but the King and I have more interest in saving the life and honour of our innocent friend [Godoy] than ourselves.”2 Meanwhile, Ferdinand was popular but more was to come.

Napoleon took full advantage of the precarious situation and condemned Ferdinand while praising Godoy. He had no intention of recognising Ferdinand as King of Spain. During the following turmoil, he too abdicated the throne under pressure from Napoleon – who then installed his older brother Joseph as King of Spain. Maria Luisa was horrified and exclaimed, “What a horrible outcome! What will they say about us in Spain?”3 Godoy duly followed the monarchs into exile, but Charles and Maria Luisa never saw Ferdinand again. They were essentially state prisoners in France, though they had (part of) a château assigned to them – Napoleon still wanted to use the château and park for hunting. Ferdinand was kept under guard at the Château de Valençay.

At the end of the year, they moved to Marseilles, where they would spend the next four years. The prefect of Marseilles wrote, “the King was a tall and handsome old man, paralyzed with gout; a good, honest man, he was simple, unaware of things, and resigned to his fate. The Queen was small and ugly; she had a lot of black, curly hair, and was bedecked with many jewels, chains, and feathers. Her skin was coarse, but she showed off her beautiful arms with pleasure, though she did hide her fat legs. She was not lacking in talent and dignity.”4 In 1812, they requested permission to relocate to Rome where their daughter Maria Luisa was living. Napoleon was getting ready to invade Russia and was glad to be rid of them.

Life in Rome was possibly as monotone as it was in Marseille, but at least their daughter was also there. The fall of Napoleon would at least see their son restored the throne in 1813. Charles and Maria Luisa were becoming older now and were becoming increasingly frail. Maria Luisa spent long hours in bed due to a nervous fatigue while Charles barely ate or slept. Maria Luisa wrote, “It won’t stop raining. I live in utter solitude. Now old and crippled, my nerves torture me, and I can see that my days are numbered.”5 She began to suffer from headaches, bloody noses, incessant sneezing and stomach cramps.

On 2 January 1819, Maria Luisa received the sacraments and communion. A few hours later, she died at the age of 67. At her bedside were her daughters Maria Luisa and María Isabella, several grandchildren and Godoy himself. He wrote, “My protectress no longer lives. Her Majesty the Queen died at a quarter past ten at night on the second of January.”6 Her funeral was attended by 21 cardinals and she received a service befitting a Queen partly at the Pope’s expense.

Just 17 days later, her husband Charles also died.

The post Maria Luisa of Parma – A much-maligned Queen (Part two) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Maria Luisa of Parma – A much-maligned Queen (Part one)

Maria Luisa of Parma was born on 9 December 1751 as the daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma, himself the second son of King Philip V of Spain from his second marriage to Elisabeth Farnese, and Louise Élisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of King Louis XV of France and Marie Leszczyńska. She had an elder sister named Isabella who would have been Holy Roman Empress if she had lived longer and an elder brother named Ferdinand who would succeed their father as Duke of Parma.

Isabella married Archduke Joseph of Austria in 1760 when Maria Luisa was just 9 years old. When Isabella died in 1763, there were some rumours that Maria Luisa would take her sister’s place. However, on 29 June 1765, Maria Luisa left Parma to marry her first cousin, Charles, Prince of Asturias. They were married on 9 December, her 14th birthday. She immediately became the first lady of the land as her father-in-law had been widowed in 1760. During the first years of her marriage, Maria Luisa suffered at least three miscarriages before giving birth to a son named Carlos Clemente, who died before his third birthday. The wife of first minister Manuel de Godoy estimated that Maria Luisa was pregnant around 24 times, and thus suffered several stillbirths, miscarriages and eventually had seven children who survived beyond infancy.

She was later described as, “of an ardent and voluptuous nature with a figure, if no longer beautiful, yet still attractive. She possessed an extraordinary liveliness and grace in her movement, a disposition that seemed kind and affectionate, and an unusual ability to win hearts. This has been perfected by a fine upbringing and the cultivation of social graces… Although only 14 at the time of her marriage, it was precisely this background which allowed her to wield a decisive influence over a young husband of Carlos’ character, completely innocent and totally ignorant when it came to love, brought up like a novice and only seventeen, simple and upright, kind to the point of being weak.”1

She was received kindly by her new father-in-law, who at first seemed to appreciate the lively character of his daughter-in-law. However, the many losses she suffered, especially the sons, made him angry. Her first son to survive to adulthood was born in 1784 – the future King Ferdinand VII. As Princess of Asturias, she was often secluded in her rooms with her husband, who only left her to go hunting with his father. Their relationship was reportedly good, and she dominated her husband from early on. He was not interested in politics, while Maria Luisa was interested in state affairs – though both were kept from the government by King Charles III.

As her beauty faded as she aged, so did her reputation. At the age of 38, Maria Luisa was already described as having an unhealthy complexion and “false teeth of an old woman.”2 Juan Escoiquiz wrote of her, “She combined a mind that was naturally vicious and incapable of affection, selfishness carried to an extreme, a cunning astuteness, an incredible gift for hypocrisy and pretence, and a talent completely ruled by her passions which continuously sought means to satisfy them. She considered any really useful or serious work as an insufferable torture. The ignorance which resulted from this lack of application barred any path towards improvement and ended in misfortune of her husband and their subjects. She was thus obliged to entrust the reins of government to a totally inexperienced favourite. As long as he [Godoy] knew how to take advantage of his complete ascendancy over her, in the absence of true love, this ensured the dominion of vice over her corrupted soul.”3

There is no direct evidence that she ever had affairs but during her lifetime rumours often ran wild. When King Charles III died in 1788, her husband became King Charles IV of Spain, and she became his Queen. While she reportedly dominated her husband, she was reportedly dominated by the first minister Manuel de Godoy. Abbé Muriel wrote that she might have been a good Queen, “if, like other queens, she had been upright, well brought up, and had good sense; but unfortunately she was ruled by the passions and weaknesses of her sex, and possessed none of its virtues.”4 Several of her children were rumoured to have been fathered by Godoy. The Marqués de Villa-Urrutia wrote that Maria Luisa was born with, “special aptitudes and robust appetites, which marriage aroused but could not satisfy because her inherited blood, fervid and excited, which coursed through her veins demanded more than the conjugal duty of a gentle husband.”5 Looks like the Marqués conveniently forgot that as her husband was also her first cousin, they had pretty similar inherited blood!

The first of Maria Luisa and Charles’s children to marry was their eldest surviving daughter Carlota Joaquina, who married the future King John VI of Portugal in 1785. It took another decade before another royal wedding – two even! – took place. Maria Amalia had been meant to marry her maternal first cousin Louis, hereditary Prince of Parma but he preferred her younger sister Maria Luisa. As if that wasn’t humiliating enough, surely the younger sister could not marry before the elder, and so a replacement had to be found. On 25 August 1795, the sisters were married in a double wedding. Maria Amalia ended up marrying her uncle, Antonio Pascual, Infante of Spain, who was 24 years older than she was. Both couples remained in Spain for some time. Tragically, Maria Amalia’s life would be cut short at the age of 19 – she died in 1798 after a complicated labour. The child died as well.

The family of Charles IV by Francisco de Goya. (public domain)

The famous family painting from 1800 therefor does not feature Maria Amalia, but it does include her sister Maria Luisa with her newborn son (born 1799) in her arms on the right. That same year, Charles and his wife Maria Luisa entered into a treaty with Napoleon Bonaparte, then the First Consul of France, that would create a new throne for their daughter Maria Luisa and her husband Louis – from Tuscany was born the Kingdom of Etruria. In return, they promised the Louisiana Territory to France. The new Kingdom would not last long, but it would live longer than its first King. Louis died on 27 May 1803, six months after his wife had given birth to their second child. In 1807, the territory of the Kingdom was annexed by France.

Part two coming soon.

The post Maria Luisa of Parma – A much-maligned Queen (Part one) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

The Child of the Sun: Royal Fairy Tales and Essays edited by Silvia Irina Zimmermann Book Review

*contains affiliate links*

Elisabeth of Wied and her successor as Queen as Romania Marie of Edinburgh were both avid writers. Elisabeth wrote under the name Carmen Sylva while Marie  Silvia Irina Zimmermann from the Carmen Sylva research centre at the Fürstlich Wiedisches Archiv has published many of their works, though mostly in German. The Child of the Sun is one of the few English publications, no doubt aided by the fact that Marie wrote in her mother tongue of English.

The Child of the Sun has collected some of two Queens’ tales and essays and comes with an impressive introduction into their lives. This wonderful book gives a lovely glimpse into the lives of two very different women with a likeminded passion. Hopefully, more of these collections will also be released in English!

The Child of the Sun: Royal Fairy Tales and Essays edited by Silvia Irina Zimmermann is available now in both the UK and the US.

 

The post The Child of the Sun: Royal Fairy Tales and Essays edited by Silvia Irina Zimmermann Book Review appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Maria de Molina – In the service of God and the King (Part two)

Read part one here.

Infante Henry even suggested that Maria should remarry – in particular to Infante Peter, the brother of King James II of Aragon, who actively supported Sancho’s nephews for the throne still. Maria told him that she needed no protector, nor did she wish to share her regency with a husband as she was perfectly capable of governing the Kingdom. In the fall of 1301, while she was staying in Segovia, “letters from the court of Rome arrived granting legitimisation to the King and his brothers and sisters.”1 It was a huge relief for her and it came just in time for her son’s 16th birthday and his majority.

On 23 January 1302, Ferdinand married 13-year-old Constance of Portugal, and he was soon influenced by the wrong people – his uncle Infante John and Juan Núñez II de Lara. Maria withdrew to Valladolid as he had “chosen the false road in which he travels.”2 Just a short while later, Maria was also completely supplanted by her daughter-in-law as Ferdinand affirmed, “King Fernando, reigning in one with the Queen doña Constanza my wife.”3 Infante John and Juan Núñez II de Lara continued to conspire against Maria to separate her permanently from her son. Ferdinand naively believed false accusations his mother and appointed both men as his chief advisers. Maria wisely remained patient and silent.

Maria reappeared on the political stage a few years later and Ferdinand “would notice that thanks to doña Maria the sovereignty of his kingdom was preserved, and had been gravely threatened” by his imprudent counsellors.4 Slowly mother and son came together again.

Ferdinand and Constance went on to have two surviving children together, a daughter named Eleanor was born in 1307, followed by another short-lived daughter named Constance in 1308. A son and heir named Alfonso was born in 1311. Tragically, Ferdinand died at the age of 27 in September 1312 from tuberculosis – leaving one-year-old Alfonso as the next King. Once more, Maria was called to the regency. She wrote to King James II of Aragon, “Despite the death of my son… I’ll always work in the service of God and for the King don Alfonso… I’ll fight to do what I can so there is peace.”5 In the spring of 1313, Maria summoned a cortes where her grandson could be proclaimed King and the matter of the regency could be settled.

Maria and Constance were the first to arrive in April. The cortes settled the regency on Maria and Infante Peter, her second surviving son with the stipulation that the regency was reevaluated every two years. The boy King would be in the care of his mother at Ávila. This situation seemed to work until Constance died suddenly on 17 November 1313. The raising of her grandson now also fell back to Maria.

As she grew older, Maria grew tired and overwhelmed with the tasks before her. In 1319, Peter was killed in battle, but Maria’s reaction to her son’s death was not recorded. She had certainly lost one of her most faithful supporters. With continued plotting for the regency, it was perhaps no surprise that Maria herself became ill in April 1321. Realising that she was dying, she began to prepare for death and hoped the requests in her last will and testament would be honoured. On 29 June, she dictated, “In the name of God and Saint Mary… how I doña Maria, for the Grace of God, queen of Castile and León and señora of Molina, being in my understanding which God wanted me to give, and being suffering of the body and in my good memory, I order my soul to Jesus Christ… make my senior executors Infante don Felipe, my son, and doña Maria, my niece, wife of the late Infante Juan…”6

She asked that her executors take particular care in the guardianship and raising of the King.  She then made a confession, received all the sacraments and dressed in the habit of the friar preachers. She died on 1 July 1321 at the age of 62 and was buried in the Santa María la Real de las Huelgas.

The post Maria de Molina – In the service of God and the King (Part two) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Maria de Molina – In the service of God and the King (Part one)

Maria de Molina was born in 1259 as the daughter of Alfonso of León, Lord of Molina – the son of King Alfonso IX of León and his second wife Queen Berengaria of Castile – and his third wife, Mayor Alfonso de Meneses. She had two surviving half-sisters from her father’s first two marriages and a full brother.

Maria’s early life is shrouded in mystery. We do not know her exact birthdate, nor the place of her birth. Although now known to history as Maria de Molina, she was baptised as Maria Alfonso de Meneses, but she would be granted the lordship of Molina in 1293. As the granddaughter of a King and Queen, she was raised by a nurse (ama) called Maria Dominguez and a governess (aya) called Maria Fernández Coronel. Maria would later also entrust her own first child to her governess. Not much is known about her exact education, but she was certainly able to read and write Latin and/or Castilian.

In July 1282, Maria married her first cousin-once-removed Infante Sancho, the second son of King Alfonso X of Castile and Yolanda of Aragon. There were several problems right from the start. First, they did not have the necessary dispensation for their consanguinity and second, Sancho was already pre-contracted to Guillerma de Moncada. It is unclear why this came to be, but it certainly caused difficulties for them in the road ahead. However, Maria knew very well that they had married without the necessary dispensation and she knew it would not be an easy road. It would take until 1301 to finally obtain the necessary dispensation.

Sancho’s elder brother, Ferdinand de la Cerda, died in November 1275, leaving behind two young sons. King Alfonso X summoned the Cortes to have Sancho, instead of his young grandson, recognised as heir to the throne. He may have been pressured into this by his brother Manuel. Sancho was an adult and could prove his worth in battle, while his nephew was barely five years old. However, the law was not on Sancho’s side and eventually, King Alfonso X disavowed Sancho as the heir and restored his grandson Infante Alfonso de la Cerda as the true heir. Sancho continued to squabble with his father, and King Alfonso X tried to placate him by dividing his Kingdom and giving them both a part of it. Sancho was not happy with this at all and rejected the proposal.

Shortly before his wedding to Maria, Sancho summoned an assembly which various of his supporters, such as his brother John, Peter and James, but also his mother Yolanda, attended. Sancho attempted to depose his father, declaring him unfit to rule. The assembly was the start of a two-year struggle for control of the Kingdom, and before King Alfonso X died on 4 April 1284, he officially disinherited Sancho. Nevertheless, Sancho assumed the throne as King Sancho IV of Castile as his young nephews continued to seek the support of the Aragonese and French Kings (their mother was a French Princess). They never did manage to reclaim their rights. When Maria and Sancho received the news that Alfonso had died, they dressed in mourning clothes. The following day, they attended mass, following which Sancho proclaimed himself King and recognised Maria as his Queen. Their first child, a daughter named Isabella, had been born in 1283 and he declared her his heir. The future Ferdinand IV of Castile was born to them in 1285, replacing Isabella as the heir. At least five more children followed, of which three survived to adulthood.

Maria became Sancho’s trusted advisor and partner. She gave birth to her sixth child in Seville, which was then the centre of the military operations. Then came the untimely death of Sancho on 25 April 1295. He was just 36 years old. Sancho appointed Maria as regent for their nine-year-old son. He “appointed guardian of the child Fernando to the noble companion of his life, which she shared with hardships and bitterness, always comforting him with her advice, his their (sic) happy interventions, discretion and tact.”1 At the time, they still did not have the required dispensation for their marriage, and there were still several contenders for the throne.

Soon after Sancho’s death, Ferdinand – dressed in royal purple – was brought before the high altar of the Cathedral of Toledo, where he was received as King and Lord in the presence of his mother, great-uncle Infante Henry, the Archbishop of Toledo and other important churchmen. Maria convened a royal council as soon as the nine days of mourning were over in order to consolidate her son’s position. She also abolished a tax hoping to gain the people’s favour. When Infante Henry went rogue and demanded to be made regent, Maria knew she needed to summon Ferdinand’s first cortes. Infante Henry’s plotting to prevent the cortes saw Maria forced to defend her position as regent and her son’s position. She was eventually forced to share the regency with Henry. The following cortes acknowledged Ferdinand as King. Nevertheless, she still had to deal with shifting loyalties.

Part two coming soon.

The post Maria de Molina – In the service of God and the King (Part one) appeared first on History of Royal Women.

The Year of the Duchess of Windsor – Meeting the Prince of Wales

Ever since arriving in London, Wallis Simpson had wanted to meet the Prince of Wales. She accomplished this fairly easily through her friendship with Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness. Thelma was the Prince’s current fling and was unhappily married to Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness. They eventually divorced in 1933 and Thelma became known as Thelma, Viscountess Furness as the divorced wife of a peer.

Wallis had met Thelma through her friends Benny and Consuelo Thaw, who happened to be Thelma’s sister. In early January 1931, Consuelo invited Wallis to the Furness home at Melton Mowbray for a week away. The Prince of Wales and Thelma would both be there, but Consuelo couldn’t make it. Convention demanded that one married couple should act as chaperones and Consuela asked if the Simpsons would be able to help out. Wallis nervously accepted the invitation as it could prove to be an excellent step up the social ladder for both her and Ernest. Wallis spent the entire Friday on her hair and nails and battling an inconvenient cold.

In her memoirs Wallis wrote, “So one Friday afternoon Ernest and I met Benny Thaw at St Pancras station, where we board the train for Melton. I had never felt worse in my life. Possibly from the onslaught of excitement, I had come down with a dreadful cold. My head was stuffed up; my body ached; my voice rasped in my ears. In my despair I saw nothing but disaster ahead: a sniffling chaperon boring the Prince and the other guests.”1 On the train, Wallis demanded Benny teach her how to curtsey properly.

A waiting car drove them from the station to the house where they were met by Thelma’s stepdaughter Averill. The rest of the party had been delayed by the fog on the road. For two hours, they waited as Wallis desperately wanted to crawl under the covers. Around 7 in the evening, Thelma appeared with the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince George – later the Duke of Kent – who would not be staying. She curtsied to both of them before having tea. Wallis later wrote, “I remember thinking, as I studied the Prince of Wales, how much like his pictures he really was – the slightly wind-rumpled golden hair, the turned-up nose, and a strange, wistful, almost sad look about the eyes when his expression was in repose. But I was surprised on seeing him for the first time to discover how small he was.”2 After a late dinner and playing cards – Wallis lost £8 – the evening came to an end. She slept in the following morning.

At lunch, Wallis was seated next to the Prince, and he later recalled that they discussed the differing British and American attitudes to central heating. Wallis remained petrified of leading the conversation astray, having been instructed that royalty must be allowed to lead any conversation. That same evening, she regained the £8 she lost and some more. Benny, Wallis and Ernest were up early the following morning to take the train back to London. Wallis later wrote of the weekend, “I decided that the Prince was truly one of the most attractive personalities I had ever met. He had a rare capacity for evoking an atmosphere of warmth and mutual interest, and yet it was hardly bonhomie. […] I had been fascinated by the odd and indefinable melancholy that seemed to haunt the Prince of Wales’s countenance; his quick smile momentarily illuminated but never quite dispelled this look of sadness.”3

Wallis and the Prince of Wales would not meet again until several months later.

The post The Year of the Duchess of Windsor – Meeting the Prince of Wales appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Maria Clementina Sobieska – The Jacobite Queen

Maria Clementina Sobieska was born on 18 July 1702 as the daughter of James Louis Sobieski, the son of King John III of Poland and Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d’Arquien, and Countess Palatine Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuburg. She was one of their three surviving children out of seven.

At the age of 16, Clementina was betrothed to James Francis Edward Stuart, the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Jacobite pretender since his father’s death in 1701. At that time, she was described as a “petite, piquant-faced, high-spirited creature; fittingly devout, impressively well-connected and gratifyingly rich.”1 King George I, who had succeeded James’s elder half-sister Anne in 1714, was not amused and James feared he would “move heaven and earth” to prevent the marriage. The Sobieskis were not only closely allied to the ruling houses of Austria, Spain and Bavaria, but Clementina might also produce yet another generation of Stuarts to continue the rivalry.

When Clementina and her entourage claimed to be setting off on a pilgrimage, King George asked Emperor Charles VI to prevent them from leaving the Holy Roman Empire. Charles was torn and delayed answering George, perhaps hoping to give them enough time to get out. However, Clementina’s mother remained in Augsburg to get her jewellery reset and missed the window to get out. Charles now had no choice, and they were arrested at Innsbruck and taken to Schloss Ambras. They were held there from October 1718 until Clementina was rescued by an Irish captain called Charles Wogan in April 1719. In the meantime, George had offered to increase Clementina’s already substantial dowry by another £10,000 if someone else would marry her. Clementina switched places with a maid named Jeanneton and was whisked away. The rescue party had to quickly make the 200-mile journey to the border of the Papal States. The switcheroo at the Schloss was discovered, and her mother feigned surprise at the rescue, waving around a farewell letter that Clementina had written. During the confusion of her escape, the maid managed to get away.

On 30 April 1719, Clementina finally made her way across the border, but her groom was not there to await her. He was in Spain, making yet another attempt at winning the crown that would make them King and Queen of Great Britain. James had realised he needed a foreign ally and Spain was one of the options left to him. He was once more defeated. On 9 May, the proxy wedding between Clementina and James took place in Bologna. She wore a plain white dress, a white coiffe and pearls as she became the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland in the eyes of their supporters. She arrived in Rome a week later where an apartment had been prepared for her in the Ursuline Convent on the Via Vittoria. She was treated like a monarch by the Pope and even granted a pension equal to that of James. She was finally summoned by James to meet him at Montefiascone and arrived there on 2 September to meet him for the very first time. They were married in person that very same day by the Bishop of Montefiascone.

The wedding ceremony (public domain)

Within six months, Clementina was pregnant with her first child. On 31 December 1720, Clementina gave birth to Charles Edward Stuart, who became known as Bonnie Prince Charlies or The Young Pretender. He was baptised with an hour of his birth by the same bishop who had married his parents. The birth of an heir was widely celebrated by the Jacobite supporters, and James named his son Prince of Wales. A second son named Henry Benedict Stuart was born on 6 March 1725, and he was made Duke of York. By then, James and Clementina had grown apart. A member of their household reported, “Their tempers are so very different that though in the greatest trifles they are never of the same opinion, the one won’t yield an inch to the other.”2

James paid Clementina little attention, and Clementina was expected to entertain herself. She cared little for her children and reportedly jealous of the attention that James paid them. They also quarrelled over the education of their sons. Eventually, she had enough, and at the end of 1725, she packed her bags and took up residence in the convent of St Cecilia in the Trastevere – leaving her young sons behind. For two years, she dragged herself from church to church before eventually returning to James in early 1728. She had turned into a recluse and was only interested in religion. She shut herself up in her rooms – all dark – in the Palazzo Muti. She hardly ever dressed and had only her maids as companions. If she did leave her rooms – only to go to mass – she wore black and carried a prayerbook. She began to fast and often suffered from malnutrition. While her relationship with James and her sons calmed down, she took little interest in them and only sometimes did they come together for music.

The frequent fasts were soon taking a toll on her body, and she died on 18 January 1735 (N.S 29 January 17353). She was still only 32 years old. She was given a full state funeral in St. Peter’s Basilica. She was dressed in gold, velvet and ermine with a crown on her head and a sceptre in her hand and she was carried in a procession through the streets of Rome. After the Requiem Mass, she was redressed in the habit of a Dominican nun, and her body was encased in three coffins before being interred in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica.4 Her heart was removed and enshrined in a green marble urn at the Santi Apostoli, also in Rome.5

The post Maria Clementina Sobieska – The Jacobite Queen appeared first on History of Royal Women.

A look at Japan’s Princess Kako

Japan’s Princess Kako of Akishino was born as the second child of the now Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko; Kako Naishinnō was born at the Imperial Household Hospital in Tokyo on 29 December 1994. Her older sister is Princess Mako (b. 1991), and her younger brother is Prince Hisahito (b. 2006).

Embed from Getty Images

Kako followed her sister to Gakushuin Primary School and later to Gakushuin Girls’ Senior High School where she graduated in 2013. Her university education was at Gakushuin University, from 2013 to 2014 during which time she partook in a homestay programme in the United States; however, she left the university and transferred to the International Christian University, from which Princess Mako graduated. The Princess transferred because she wanted to “study English and a wide range of subjects.”

Kako also studied abroad, like her uncle Emperor Naruhito, in the United Kingdom. The Princess, who speaks English, Japanese and Japanese sign language, studied at the University of Leeds in 2017 and 2018; while there, she focused on performing arts and psychology.

Embed from Getty Images

Kako graduated from the International Christian University in March 2019 with a degree from the Division of Arts and Sciences.

Her Imperial Highness took part in figure skating from a young age and ranked in her age division. While in primary school, she skated for the Meiji-Jingu Gaien Figure Skating Club and competed in the Spring Cup Figure Skating Competition where she placed first in her division.

Kako is known to be very close with her mother and spent hours by her side in the hospital after the birth of her younger brother when she was 12. Crown Princess Kiko had to have a caesarean due to partial placenta previa. She was said to have visited every day and would do her homework in her mother’s room.

After becoming an adult (the age of majority in Japan is 20), Princess Kako began to represent the Imperial Family at official functions. She has undertaken solo visits to Austria and Hungary and accompanied her parents to Thailand when she was younger.

Embed from Getty Images

Princess Kako, like her older sister and cousin, Princess Aiko (the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako), she is not in the line of succession. Japan does not allow women to reign in their own right or head their own branches of the family. Upon marriage to a commoner, female members of the family must relinquish their titles and roles in the Imperial Family. This has led to dwindling numbers in the Imperial Family, and the line of succession only has three people: her father, younger brother and 85-year-old great-uncle Prince Hitachi.

The Japanese government is considering allowing female members of the family to head their own branches and give them government roles upon their marriages; however, nothing has been officially decided.

The post A look at Japan’s Princess Kako appeared first on History of Royal Women.

Shivakiar Ibrahim – Almost a Queen

Shivakiar Ibrahim was born on 25 October 1876 as the daughter of Prince Ibrahim Fahmi Pasha, a member of the Muhammad Ali dynasty of Egypt, and Najivan Hanim. Her great-great-grandfather was Muhammad Ali Pasha, who is considered to be the founder of modern Egypt.

Unfortunately, very little is known about her youth. On 30 May 1895, she married her first cousin once removed Prince Ahmed Fuad, who became King of Egypt in 1922. They were married at the Abbasiya Palace in Cairo. Shivakiar came from a rich family, while at the time, Prince Fuad was almost bankrupted by his gambling debts. It turned out to be quite an unhappy marriage. Their first child was a son named Ismail, who was born at the end of 1896. He tragically died before his first birthday, on  6 July 1897. A daughter named Fawkia Hanim was born on 6 October 1896. They were divorced in May 1898, and he remarried to  Nazli Sabri in 1919.

Shivakiar did not remain unmarried for quite as long. Her second husband was Raouf Thabet Bey, whom she married on 14 March 1900. They divorced three years later without having had children. Her third husband was Seyfullah Yousri Pasha, whom she married on 2 January 1904. A daughter named Lutfia Hanim was born to them in 1905, followed by a son named Wahid Yousri Bey. They were divorced as well – in 1916. Her fourth husband was Selim Khalil Bey, whom she married on 5 July 1917. A son named Muhammad Wahideldin Selim was born in 1918. They were divorced on 2 March 1925. She married her fifth and final husband Ilhami Hussein Pasha in 1927, and they remained married until her death.

Shivakiar was known for her charitable works, and she was the president of ‘Mar’al-Guedida’ (New Woman), which trained young women for things like nursing and dress-making. Her palace in Cairo was known to be a great gathering place of important society. She was the author of several books, most notably Mon pays: la renovation de l’Egypte, Mohammed Aly which was published in 1933.

Shivakiar died on 17 February 1947 at the age of 70. Sadly, we know very details about her life, and she did not leave any memoirs. Those certainly would have been quite something!

The post Shivakiar Ibrahim – Almost a Queen appeared first on History of Royal Women.