by Alex David
Charles Beauclerk, Duke of St Albans
(1670-1726)
Illegitimate son of Charles II by Nell Gwyn
Nell Gwyn’s eldest son became a valiant soldier who served under William III during his continental campaigns between 1693-1697. He was however often in financial difficulties as his mother had not been as greedy as other royal mistresses in seeking grants and benefices for him.
A committed Whig and believer in constitutional
monarchy, six of his sons became members of the House of Commons. Over 2,000 people are descended from him today, including the present line of the Dukes of St Albans, a title Charles created especially for him.
Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond and Lennox
(1672-1723)
Illegitimate son of Charles II by Louise de Kerouaille The fourth of Charles II’s sons to bear his own name, this Charles was created a double duke by his father: of Richmond (in England) and of Lennox (in Scotland).
Although intelligent and good-natured, he was also
described as an inveterate turncoat who was both a Tory and a Whig, and a Catholic and an Anglican, as the
situation demanded. He was a patron of the new game of cricket and did much to support the sport in its infancy.
He is an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales and of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. The current line of the Dukes of Richmond and Lennox is descended from him.
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Lady Mary Tudor, Countess of Derwentwater
(1673-1726)
Illegitimate daughter of Charles II by Moll Davis The youngest of Charles’ officially recognised illegitimate children, Mary married Edward Radcliffe, Earl of
Derwentwater, before becoming a widow and marrying
twice more afterwards. Two her sons from her first
marriage were later executed for taking part in different Jacobite rebellions against the House of Hanover: James Radcliffe in 1715 and Charles Radcliffe in 1745.
James Fitzjames, Duke of Berwick
(1670-1734)
Illegitimate son of James II, before his accession, by Arabella Churchill
James II’s most famous illegitimate son was raised abroad in France when his father was Duke of York, and became a celebrated military commander. He joined the army in England after his father became King and was created Duke of Berwick. He was at his father’s side during the crisis of the Glorious Revolution and later commanded James’ troops at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland in 1690. Afterwards he went back to France where he rose through military ranks to become Marshal of France, and fought for Louis XIV against William III in Flanders. A military man to the end, he died in his 60s on a battlefield in Germany when a cannonball sliced his head off his shoulder.
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Petronilla Melusina von der Schulenburg, Countess of Walsingham, Countess of Chesterfield
(1693-1778)
Illegitimate daughter of George I, when Elector of Hanover, by Melusine von der Schulenburg
Petronilla was one of three illegitimate daughters born to George I but never publicly acknowledged by him.
Spirited and opinionated, she was one of the few people who stood up to her father when he disagreed with her.
She married Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, a Whig politician who became famous as a writer of letters and essays. Besides the title carried by her husband, she was also created Countess of Walsingham in her own
right by her father.
George Fitzclarence, Earl of Munster
(1794-1842)
Illegitimate son of William IV, before his accession, by Dorothy Jordan
The eldest of William IV’s 10 illegitimate children, George trained militarily and distinguished himself in the Napoleonic Wars in Spain under the Duke of Wellington.
He also possessed intellectual talents and was a fellow of the Royal Society and Royal Geographical Society. He was however plagued with chronic depression, caused by
unhappiness at his own illegitimate status. William made him Earl of Munster after George pleaded for a title and also made him Privy Councillor, but that did not cure 358
George’s innate unhappiness with his illegitimacy, as he imagined that if he had not been a bastard he could have succeeded to the throne as a king’s eldest son. Five years after his father died he shot himself at the age of 48.
Elizabeth Fitzclarence
(1801-1856)
Illegitimate daughter of William IV, before his accession, by Dorothy Jordan
Elizabeth’s claim to fame are her descendants. After marrying William Hay, Earl of Erroll, in 1820, she had four children. One of them, Agnes, married James Duff, Earl of Fife, and became the mother of Alexander Duff, who in 1889 married back into the Royal Family by marrying Princess Louise, daughter of the future Edward VII. Agnes’
other descendants include historian John Julius Norwich and Prime Minister David Cameron, all of whom can
claim royal descent from William IV.
Adolphus Fitzclarence
(1802-1856)
Illegitimate son of William IV, before his accession, by Dorothy Jordan
Apprenticed into the Royal Navy at a young age,
Adolphus, rose to the position of captain and
commanded several ships. After his accession William IV
made him captain of the Royal Yacht, the Royal George, a 359
position which was later renewed by Queen Victoria at her accession. He reportedly burst into tears when
Victoria confirmed his appointment, saying that as mere bastards he and his siblings ‘did not dare to hope for anything.’
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Kings Who Married With No
Record of Mistresses or
Illegitimate Children
Listed below are the English/British kings since the Norman Conquest of 1066 who were married and for
whom there is no evidence of either mistresses or
illegitimate children, either before or during their marriages.
William I (c.1027/28-1087)
Married to Matilda of Flanders. Nine children.
Henry III (1207-1272)
Married to Eleanor of Provence. Five children.
Edward I (1239-1307)
Married to Eleanor of Castile. Twelve children.
Married to Margaret of France. Three children.
Henry VI (1421-1471)
Married to Margaret of Anjou. One child.
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Charles I (1600-1649)
Married to Henrietta Maria of France. Nine children.
George III (1738-1820)
Married to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Fifteen children.
George V (1865-1936)
Married to Mary of Teck. Six children
George VI (1895-1952)
Married to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Two children.
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English/British Princesses
Who Became
Foreign Queens
Throughout the history of the monarchy daughters, and sometimes granddaughters, of monarchs were often
married to other European rulers as part of diplomatic alliances between countries. Listed in this chapter is a selection of English/British princesses who were married to foreign kings and became Queens Consort of their new countries. They are listed chronologically from the start of their tenures as Queens. Note that the list includes only princesses who were married to kings or emperors.
Those who married rulers of lower rank, like Dukes or Grand Dukes, are not included. English princesses who married Scottish kings before the unification of the two countries are also included, however the first English Queen of Scotland, Sybilla of Normandy, is not included on this list as she was not a princess but an illegitimate daughter of King Henry I. See her entry in Royal Illegitimate Children.
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Matilda, Holy Roman Empress
(1102 - 1167)
Daughter of Henry I
Married Holy Roman Emperor Henry V
Reigned 111
4 to 1125
Matilda was betrothed to Henry V, who was in his 20s, when she was only 8-years-old and was married 4 years later. The marriage was childless. After he died she married Geoffrey Plantagenet and became her father's heir to the throne in England. When her claim to the English throne was denied at Henry I’s death she fought her cousin Stephen for the crown (see Stephen in
Monarchs Facts Sheet). She insisted on being addressed by the title of Empress for the rest of her life even after her first husband died.
Joan, Queen of Sicily
(1165 – 1199)
Daughter of Henry II
Married William II, King of Sicily
Reigned 1177-1189
Joan was married at the age of 12 to William who was 10
years her senior. The marriage was childless, and after she became widowed her brother King Richard I tried to marry her to the brother of the Muslim leader Saladin.
When that plan failed, she re-married to Count Raymond VI of Toulouse but the marriage was unhappy, and she ended her life taking refuge in a nunnery.
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Eleanor, Queen of Castile
(1162 – 1214)
Daughter of Henry II
Married Alfonso VIII, King of Castile
Reigned 1177 to 1214
A capable and cultured woman, Eleanor married the
future King Alfonso VIII of Castile in 1174. She became well-respected in her new kingdom and wielded real
power during her husband’s reign. Their marriage was happy, producing 10 children, and after 40 years together she died of grief 4 weeks after her husband's death.
Joan, Queen of Scotland
(1210 – 1238)
Daughter of King John
Married Alexander II, King of Scotland
Reigned 1211 to 1238
Married when she was only 10 and Alexander was 23
years old, Joan’s tenure as queen was unhappy. Initially because of her young age, and later because of her
inability to bear children, her relationship with her husband was distant and she did not play an important part in Scottish life. She chose to spend much of her time back in England where she died of an illness near London in the arms of her brother King Henry III.
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Isabella, Holy Roman Empress
(1214 – 1241)
Daughter of King John
Married Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II
Reigned 1235 to 1241
Isabella became the third wife of Frederick II, one of the Middle Ages’ most enlightened and remarkable
monarchs, after his first two wives died. Frederick lived mostly in Italy and Isabella travelled widely across the Italian peninsula accompanying him on affairs of state in a marriage that was described as happy. She also died before him, in childbirth, and was his final wife.
Margaret, Queen of Scotland
(1240 – 1275)
Daughter of Henry III
Married Alexander III, King of Scotland
Reigned 1251-1275
Betrothed when both were about 3-years-old to arrange a peace between England and Scotland, Margaret and
Alexander were eventually married when they were 10-11 years of age. Margaret was initially unhappy about her life in Scotland but things improved when her husband achieved his majority. Chroniclers spoke of her beauty, chastity and humility, and she was greatly missed after she predeceased her husband.
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Joan, Queen of Scotland
(1321 – 1362)
Daughter of Edward II
Married to David II, King of Scotland
Reigned 1329-1362
Joan was married at the age of 6 to the 4-year-old David, heir to the Scottish throne, as part of another diplomatic alliance between England and Scotland. They became
King and Queen only a year later and remained married for 33 years. They grew apart however after David was captured by the English in 1346 and spent 11 years
imprisoned in England. During that time he fell in love with a Welsh mistress and after his release he and Joan grew estranged, though they remained married. Her 33-year tenure made her the longest-serving Queen Consort in Scottish history before the unification of Great Britain in 1707.
Philippa, Queen of Portugal
(1360 – 1415)
Daughter of John of Gaunt, granddaughter of Edward III
Married John I, King of Portugal
Reigned 1387-1415
Intelligent and well educated, Philippa married at the late age of 27 but went on to produce 9 children who
established the new Portuguese royal house of Avis. Her children included Prince Henry the Navigator, the father of Portuguese maritime exploration. The marriage also 367
established the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, the oldest foreign alliance in the world still in force today.
Philippa, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden
(1394 – 1430)
Daughter of Henry IV
Married Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Norway
and Sweden
Reigned 1406-1430
On her marriage to Eric of Pomerania Philippa became the first woman to be Queen Consort of all three
Scandinavian kingdoms combined after they were joined in the Kalmar Union in the 1390s. Intelligent and learned, she became more popular than her husband, the rash
and stubborn King Eric, and often she acted as regent in his place, including in 1428 when she led the defence of Copenhagen during a foreign naval attack.
Margaret, Queen of Scotland
(1489 – 1541)
Daughter of Henry VII
Married James IV, King of Scotland
Reigned 1503-1513
The elder sister of Henry VIII, Margaret was the last English princess to become Queen of Scotland. Like her brother she had a taste for marriage and after James IV
died, killed in battle by Henry's army, she re-married to a 368
Scottish nobleman, divorced him, and then remarried again. All throughout she also played a major part in Scottish politics. Strong and determined, her great goal was to bring Scotland and England closer together, and her dream was fulfilled 60 years after her death when her great-grandson King James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne.
Mary, Queen of France
(1496 – 1533)
Daughter of Henry VII
Married Louis XII, King of France
Reigned 1514-1515
The younger sister of Henry VIII, Mary was married for diplomatic reasons at age 18 to the 52-year-old Louis as his third wife. Louis had no sons despite his previous two marriages, and it is said that he exerted himself so much in the bedroom trying to conceive during the short
marriage that he was dead three months after the
wedding. Mary later remarried for love to Charles
Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and through this union she became the grandmother of Lady Jane Grey.
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Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia
(1596 – 1662)
Daughter of James I
Married Frederick, King of Bohemia
Reigned 1619-1620
James I’s only daughter, Elizabeth married in 1613
Frederick V, Elector Palatine of Germany, and in 1619
they were both offered the crown of Bohemia. They took residence in Prague as monarchs but lost their crowns shortly after when Frederick was defeated in battle by the Hapsburg emperor Ferdinand II. Because of their brief reign they were later referred to as the Winter King and Queen, and they subsequently also lost their original Palatine lands in Germany. Elizabeth spent the rest of her life in exile in the Netherlands, a widow for the last 30
years of her life. Her grandson George I later inherited the British throne.
Louise, Queen of Denmark and Norway
(1724 – 1751)
Daughter of George II
Married Frederick V, King of Denmark and Norway
Reigned 1746-1751
Although married as part of a diplomatic alliance
between Britain and Denmark, Louise and her husband grew to enjoy each other’s company, despite Frederick’s infidelities. Louise became a very popular Queen Consort, praised particularly for her efforts to speak Danish and 370
for enlivening life at the royal court after the stern reign of the previous monarch. She was greatly mourned after she died in childbirth, barely five years after becoming Queen.
Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Norway
(1751 – 1775)
Daughter of Frederick Prince of Wales, granddaughter of
George II
Married Christian VII, King of Denmark and Norway Reigned 1766-1772
Christian VII, as the son of Queen Louise of Denmark and Norway (see above), was Caroline’s first cousin once removed. Soon after the wedding it became clear that Christian was mentally ill and their relationship became troubled. As he sank into madness Caroline began an affair with his doctor, Johann Struensee, which enabled Struensee to usurp power and rule Denmark as unofficial regent for over a year. They were eventually both
arrested, Struensee was executed, and Caroline was
handed over to her brother King George III after her marriage was annulled. She ended her short life in exile in Hanover, dying of illness at the age of 23.
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Charlotte, Queen of Wurttemberg
