Nobody expected Czar Alexander III of Russia to die so early (aged 49). Indeed, the original plan for his eldest son and heir (the future Czar Nicholas II), who got engaged to Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1894, was to marry in the spring of 1895: that would have given the imperial family the leisure time to organize a grand wedding.
Had the sovereign father managed to hold out another year, the son and bride might have found themselves in the same situation: accession a few months after marriage.
As it was, the early demise of Alexander III and accession of Nicholas II hastened the wedding, which got moved up to November, 1894 -- several weeks after the son became the new czar.
King Wilhelm I. of Württemberg got married in January 1816 to his cousin Grand Duchess Catharina of Russia. In October of that year he succeeded his father as King.
Albert I of Monaco got married (2nd time) one month after his accession.
Don't know what his father thought of his prospective bride.
What European sovereigns did this? I believe the most recent example would be King Constantine II of the Hellenes. Earlier in the 20th century, the Grand Duchess Charlotte married in November, 1919 -- ten months after succeeding to the throne of Luxembourg upon the abdication of her older sister. And Czar Nicholas II of Russia married in November, 1894, several weeks after the death of his father, Czar Alexander III.
The reason for my asking is the complication when it comes to consent for marriages: in the Russian example, the father reluctantly gave consent to his son and heir to propose to Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, before dying unexpectedly early (at the age of 49).
And I believe that in Luxembourg, the Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide was the one who granted consent to the marriage of her sister (who got engaged to their first cousin, Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma, during World War I) -- as opposed to Charlotte herself granting consent to her own marriage. Or am I mistaken about this?
As for Greece: the future King Constantine II began a relationship with Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark early on. So one presumes that his father, King Paul, knew all along and gave consent to the marriage before himself dying unexpectedly early. The historical record has it it that the young couple got engaged in 1963, while the prospective groom was only the crown prince and heir to the throne -- not yet the reigning monarch.
If anything, when it came to consent, there probably were more hurdles to overcome in winning over King Frederik IX of Denmark -- who had reservations over his youngest daughter marrying so young (she was only in her teens). The story of him locking up his future son-in-law in a room, after being put on the spot upon being asked the big question, is famous. No doubt the Danish royal family was almost as disconcerted as the Greek, when in early 1964 King Paul died of stomach cancer -- considering the implications for Anne-Marie: she was a princess who stood to automatically become queen at marriage.
Anyhow, I was wondering if there have been other examples of reigning monarchs who married within months of coming to thrones.
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