That’s right. I should have said after Catherine Parr’s death the rest of the reign of Edward VI there was no Queen. Previous Message
Catherine Parr remained her style as Queen Catherine after her final marriage. She died shortly after giving birth of her only child. Previous Message
From the death of Jane Seymour in 1537 to Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne of Cleves left England without a Queen for three years. Henry VIII’s widow, Catherine Parr married 4 months after Henry’s death leaving the rest of Edward VI’s 5 year without a Queen. Previous Message
I've been wondering about kingdoms, past and present, which went through periods without queens. This thread is related to one I posted earlier on another board, about kings without queens. But it's broader, insofar as even a dowager queen is still a queen. So going through the list of kingdom (including empires), I've come up with the following data --
UK: the last time the country had no queen was the reign of King George IV, whose wife (Caroline of Brunswick) was an uncrowned queen who died in 1821, crushed by her disappointed campaign to join him in the coronation ceremony (she got blocked from even entering the hall). He reigned on alone until his death in 1830, and the British have never been without a queen since. Earlier, there was a brief period (1818-1820) when the country had no queen, between the deaths of Charlotte and George III.
Before, his widowed grandfather and namesake, King George II, reigned alone after the death in 1737 of Caroline, never remarrying. So for nearly a quarter of a century, the country had no queen: King George III married in 1761, a year after his accession to the throne.
Earlier, the divorced King George I also reigned alone, 1714-1727. Instead of bringing with him a wife to his new country (the throne of which he inherited, thanks to the 1701 Act of Settlement), he brought with him two ugly and unpleasant mistresses, derided by the British press as the "Elephant" and the "Maypole".
Norway: the country had no queen between the death in 1938 of Maud and the accession in 1991 of King Harald V. I'm less familiar with Norwegian royal history pre-1905.
Sweden: the country had no queen between the death in Louise in 1965 and the marriage of King Carl XVI Gustaf in 1976. It has been stated that his mother, Princess Sybilla, was by default the *First Lady* of the country between 1965 and her death in 1972. Before, the widowed King Gustaf never remarried after the death of his only wife, Victoria, in 1930. So for the next 20 years, the country had no queen.
Denmark: the last time the country had no queen was the eight-year period between the death in 1898 of Louise (consort of King Christian IX) and the accession of King Frederik VIII in 1906. I'm less familiar with Danish royal history pre-Christian IX.
The Netherlands: the country was headed by a queen regnant between 1890 and 2013. There was a brief period between the death in 1877 of Sophie (first wife of King Willem III) and his remarriage in 1879 with Emma, when the country had no queen (his mother, Anna Pavlovna, had died in 1865). Earlier, Queen Wilhelmina (consort of King Willem I) died in 1837, three years before her husband's abdication. So between then and the accession of her son, King Willem II, the country had no queen.
Belgium: the twice-widowed King Leopold I never remarried after the death in 1850 of his second wife, Louise. So the country did not have another queen until his own death in 1865 and the accession of his son, the notorious King Leopold II. Marie-Henriette was his consort from then until her death in 1902. So the country had no queen between then and the succession of his nephew, King Albert I, in 1909. But since then, Belgium has never been without a queen.
Spain: it has been quite some time since the country had no queen, excepting the period between 1931 (when King Alfonso XIII was deposed) and 1975 (when the monarchy was restored). I count Isabel II as a queen until her death in 1904, despite being deposed in 1868, for reasons that she was still styled with the title. Just as a dowager queen is still a queen, an abdicated queen is still a queen.
Russia: there was a brief period between the death in 1880 of Czarina Maria Feodorovna, the first wife of Czar Alexander II, and his assassination in 1881, when the country had no queen. His morganatic second wife was never accorded the title of empress.
Austria: there was no empress between the assassination in 1898 of Elisabeth and the accession in 1916 of Blessed Karl, the last emperor. Does anybody know who the First Lady of the Austro-Hungarian empire was, during that period?
Prussia: between the death in 1705 of Sophia Charlotte, second wife of King Friedrich I, and his remarriage in 1708, the country had no queen. Later, between the death in 1810 of Louise, the first wife of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, and the accession of his son, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV in 1840, the country had no queen.
Saxony: Carola (who died in 1907) was the last queen.
Hanover: King Ernst August never remarried after the death in 1841 of his only wife, Friederike. Earlier in European royal history, the crowns of Hanover and Great Britain were united; so the situation with queens would have been the same. Of course, Hanover was originally an electorate, elevated only later on to a kingdom.
Württemberg: I'm not very familiar with this kingdom; can anybody fill me in on it?
Bavaria: the country had no queen between the death in 1889 of Marie (consort of King Maximilian II and mother of Kings Ludwig II and Otto) and the accession in 1913 of the self-proclaimed King Ludwig III.
Portugal: can anybody fill me in on this?
Italy: ditto
Are all these facts accurate?
Message Thread | This response ↓
« Back to index