Previous Message
Countess Auguste von Harrach zu Rohrau und Thannhausen was the second and morganatic wife of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. She died in 1873 and he died in 1840 a difference of 33 years.
Princess Catherine Dolgorukova the second and morganatic wife of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was assassinated in 1881 and she died in 1922 a difference of 41 years.
Richilde of Provence was the second wife of the Frankish emperor Charles the Bald. He died in 877 and she died in 910 a difference of 33 years.
Matilda of Ringelheim also known as Saint Matilda, was a Saxon noblewoman. She was marriage to Henry I the Fowler King of East Francia. He died in 936 and she died in 968 a difference of 32 years.
Previous Message
That Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont was widowed early was no surprise, since she married (as his second wife) King Willem III of the Netherlands, who was more than 40 years her senior. The same could be said of her sister Helen, who married Prince Leopold of the United Kingdom, Duke of Albany -- the hemophilic youngest son of Queen Victoria. Although both widows were young enough to catch new husbands, neither remarried. As such, they had long widowhoods (44 and 38 years, respectively).
Emma's Spanish counterpart, who was born Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and became the second queen consort of King Alfonso XII, was also widowed early and found herself serving as regent for a minor sovereign. Her widowhood also lasted 44 years.
Other notable examples of long widowhoods are those of Great Britain's Queen Victoria (39 years) and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (50 years); Infanta Antonia of Portugal (52 years), second wife of Duke Roberto of Parma; Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma (67 years), the last empress of Austria; and Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (43 years), wife of Dom Miguel of Portugal.
Can anybody name additional examples of notable royal women in the last 200 years, who were longtime widows (at least 30 years)?
Message Thread | This response ↓
« Back to index