It is said that Queen Victoria wanted to pay hommage to her husband with a series of Kings Alberts - Albert Edward, Albert Victor, Edward Albert and Albert Frederick.
Instead, There was a succession of Edwards and Georges
But a monarch does not always reign using his given name. Queen Victoria of Great Britain, after all, was christened as Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent.
Because their given name was Friedrich Wilhelm and not just Friedrich
The only exception was Friedrich III.
I personally have a hard time in understanding why some kings called themselves just Friedrich, while others used Friedrich Wilhelm. It's not so much that I have issues with double regnal names: it's the prerogative of each sovereign to decide how to call himself. There was no principle to prevent the current British queen from adopting "Mary Elizabeth" as her regnal name.
It's just that it becomes an encumbrance to keep track of the Prussian kings, since the double regnal name contained something used as a single regnal name. It would be easier if Friedrich had been a single regnal name, while the double regnal name had been, say, Georg Wilhelm. Then the kingdom would have had Friedrich I, Friedrich II, Georg Wilhelm I, Georg Wilhelm II, etc.
Message Thread | This response ↓
« Back to index