King Christian IX's Family – Descendants of the Daughters

[Music] king christian ix descendants the children of the daughters [Music] king christian ix of denmark is known as the father-in-law of europe his six children inherited married into or were appointed to monarchies all over the continent between them they gave christian and his queen louisa 39 grandchildren and many more descendants who occupied nine different european thrones denmark of course but also norway belgium the united kingdom greece spain russia romania and luxembourg they spanned 128 years of history prince albert victor being born in 1864 and princess margaret of borbon parma living to see 1992 among them they fought on both sides of two world wars one and lost various thrones married their cousins and had many lurid affairs here are the stories of the children of christian the night's three daughters the children of alexandra queen of the uk christian's eldest daughter married edward prince of wales queen victoria's son and heir alexandra was a loving and dedicated mother much to her strict mother-in-law's consternation victoria frequently criticized alexandra for caring for her children herself rather than handing them off to servants but alexandra ignored the queen and was a well-loved mother and grandmother to the future monarchs of the united kingdom her six children were albert victor second in line to the throne was 13 when he and his brother george were packed up on board the hms britannia to be educated as naval cadets they traveled the world and albert's charm made him popular overseas as he grew he became a playboy like his father he was twice embroiled in scandal once when a homosexual brothel was discovered by police and albert's close friend was exposed as a client later it was speculated that albert might have been jack the ripper the serial killer who mutilated five prostitutes in london and was never identified albert was almost certainly not culpable in either case he became engaged to mary of tech but died of influenza shortly before the wedding he was 28. for many years the popular line on albert was that he was a wastrel who lacked intelligence and that the uk dodged a bullet never having him as king but this story has recently been considered as propaganda coming from his brother george v albert certainly struggled under an abominable tutor who tried to cover up his own shortcomings by claiming the prince was a dull student however shortly before his death the prime minister intended to appoint albert as viceroy of ireland a position requiring tact and diplomacy he was sympathetic to the irish home rule movement and he might have done a great deal for ireland and all of the british empire had he lived to wear the crown george may or may not have been more intelligent than his older brother but he was certainly more serious and boring when albert victor died george took his place in the line of succession he also took his place at the altar and married his brother's fiancee mary of tech he became king george v of the united kingdom in 1910 at the age of 44. in 1914 george's cousin kaiser wilhelm invaded france and britain declared war on germany george made the prudent decision to renounce all his hereditary german titles and change the family name from saxi koberg and gota to the more english-sounding windsor with so few monarchies left after world war one george decreed that his children need not marry foreign royals he signed the home rule bill making ireland its own nation and saw several other parts of the british empire including australia canada and south africa become legally independent they are now the commonwealth they have their own governments but the british monarch is still nominally their head of state george died at 70 after 26 years on the throne the crown went first to his son edward viii who abdicated in order to marry an american divorcee while a simpson and then to his second son george vi who was an admirable leader of his people in world war ii his daughter is the current queen elizabeth ii louise married scotsman alexander duff earl of fife and her grandmother queen victoria promoted him to duke of fife the couple had three daughters the first was stillborn in 1911 louise and her family were sailing to egypt when they were shipwrecked off the coast of morocco they survived the ordeal and were rescued but alexander contracted a chest cold which killed him a few weeks later louise died in 1931 at the age of 63. victoria known as toria was beautiful and had several suitors including king carlos the first of portugal however her mother discouraged her from marrying and she instead remained a companion of her parents when her mother died in 1925 victoria moved to a country house in buckinghamshire where she got involved with village life and was president of the local horticultural society maude was athletic and loved to be outdoors she was nicknamed harry by her family she married her first cousin prince carl the second son of the king of denmark in 1905 the norwegian parliament dissolved their union with denmark and offered the crown to carl who became king hocum vii maude thrived in her role as queen concert of norway she was very involved in charity work especially benefiting children and animals and became a fashion icon with a very slim corseted waist the family embraced the norwegian lifestyle and learned to ski ma died at 68 while visiting the uk through her only child olaf v she is the grandmother of the current king of norway harold v alexander john was born prematurely and died 24 hours after being born edward placed his infant son in his coffin personally with tears rolling down his cheeks the children of maria fiodrovna zarina of russia princess dagmar married the future tsar alexander iii of russia and took the russian name maria both parents were loving and gentle to their six children who grew up with a sense of familial closeness missing in many royal households they were sheltered as much as possible from the near constant fear of assassination their parents faced the family's dining room was blown up and they were all involved in a train wreck which was likely the result of sabotage as they entered adulthood maria's children faced horror and downfall during the russian revolution nikolai fell in love with alex of hess a granddaughter of queen victoria she was not seen as an important enough bride for the future tsar but shortly following his father's death he married her anyway he ascended to the russian throne as tsar nikolai ii at the age of 26 he was ill-suited to the job he took the advice of his uncle and his father's ministers and continued to keep russia under the thumb of imperial power rather than allowing a constitution or other changes the people were beginning to clamor for the disastrous loss of the russo-japanese war damaged his reputation his tsarina alexandra was unpopular as well she was shy and spoke a very poor russian after 10 years of marriage and four daughters she finally gave birth to a son and heir however alexi suffered from hemophilia common in queen victoria's bloodline and many feared that the zarovich would never live to inherit the throne during world war one nikolai took personal command of the russian army but was a terrible military leader his poor decisions led to the deaths of three million russian soldiers while he was away alexandra was left in charge she allowed mystic healer rasputin who seemed to be curing her beloved son increased political power but rasputin was hated by the people and added yet another black mark on the royal family's reputation after the disaster of world war one revolution broke out and the tsar was forced to abdicate he hoped that his family might be allowed asylum in the uk but his cousin king george v feared being associated with a man now labeled a tyrant and refused to intervene nikolai and his family were held under house arrest for several months on july 17 1918 nikolai alexandra and their five children olga tatiana maria anastasia and alexi were taken to the basement and shot to death nikolai was 50. the remains of the family were recovered in 1998 and 2007 and they were reburied in st petersburg alexander maria's second son died of meningitis one month shy of his first birthday his heartbroken mother wrote to her own mother the doctors maintained he did not suffer but we suffered terribly george was named for his mother's elder brother king george the first of greece he outshone his older brother nikolai in many ways he was taller more intelligent and more sociable and he often got away with mischief george had a promising naval career ahead of him until he fell ill with tuberculosis at 19 and continued to suffer from poor health for the rest of his life he left with his older brother and their cousin george of greece on a voyage to asia the young men visited egypt and india on the way to japan george fell ill and had to return home when his brother nikolai became tsar george became zarovic and heir presumptive though he was not able to attend his brother's coronation because of his poor health when george was 28 he went out for a ride on his motorcycle when a local woman found him collapsed on the side of the road bleeding from the mouth and struggling to breathe she held him until he died his brother and mother were particularly devastated at the loss xenia was a shy and creative child she enjoyed making costumes and puppets for her siblings to put on shows at 11 she developed a crush on her 20 year old cousin grand duke alexander mikhailovich when senia was 15 a romance had blossomed and the couple asked permission to be wed but were told to wait until she was older they married when the princess was 19 and had seven children together later in their marriage the couple grew apart and both had numerous affairs eventually alexander moved away to paris danish composer valdemar vater wrote the polka mazurka in her honor xenia was very involved in charity work and was a patron of one of the first child care centers for working-class families in russia she supported tuberculosis hospitals after her brother george died of the disease during world war one she funded a medical train established a hospital and provided artificial limbs for wounded soldiers she warned her brother tsar nikolai against many of the disastrous actions he took leading up to the revolution but he ignored her advice zenyatt saw the writing on the wall and evacuated her family to the crimea when she received the news that her brother and his family had been murdered she was able to escape russia along with her mother and children her aunt queen alexandra sent a british warship to evacuate them to the uk she spent the rest of her life nearly penniless and was allowed to live at frogmore cottage on the windsor estate the current home of the duke and duchess of sussex in the 1920s a woman named anna anderson claimed to be anastasia the youngest daughter of tsar nikolai anderson repeatedly asked for money from the surviving members of the romanov family and tried to vilify xenia in the press anderson was later revealed to have been a fraud xenia died in 1960 at the age of 85. mikael was quiet and good-natured he set out on a career in the army while attending the funeral of queen victoria he met princess beatrice of soxy colberg and gota daughter of victoria's second son alfred they wish to wed but the orthodox church forbid marriages between first cousins mikhail then had a romance with his sister olga's lady in waiting a commoner named dina the family was appalled and threatened miguel with expulsion from the military and set the secret police to follow dina and keep the couple apart eventually she gave up and moved abroad his next lover natalya was the wife of a fellow officer she divorced her husband and moved in with mikhail and the couple had a son george while on holiday in france mikhail and natalya slipped the secret police who had been trailing them travelled incognito to vienna and eloped the tsar was furious and he banished his brother from russia and froze his assets marrying a commoner barred mikhail from the succession and with his own son alexi dangerously ill this left the future of the romanov dynasty in peril the newlyweds and their son lived in france for the next few years but when world war one broke out mikhail wrote to nikolai offering his support and was allowed to return home with his wife and son to serve in the army following the long and brutal war mikhail was one of many members of the family who warned the tsar of the growing unrest in russia but was ignored he pushed for the concession of a constitutional monarchy but both the tsar and the revolutionaries refused to compromise and nikolai was eventually forced to abdicate nikolai feared for the safety of his ailing son so instead named mikael his successor he was proclaimed tsar mikhail ii by royalists but was arrested by the revolutionaries he lived for 15 months under house arrest but in june 1918 was driven to the countryside and shot to death his body was never recovered natalia and george escaped russia and were smuggled to the uk olga had a strange relationship with her mother and longed for independence so at 18 she accepted the proposal of 33 year old duke peter of oldenburg the court was astonished as peter was known to be homosexual olga soon realized that this hasty marriage had been a mistake she spent their wedding night crying while peter was out all night partying the newlyweds moved in with his family who badgered olga for royal favors things improved when they moved into their own palace with separate bedrooms peter was kind and they enjoyed hunting wolves together but she longed for a loving marriage and children she fell in love with an army officer nikolai kulakovsky and asked peter for a divorce he refused but allowed nikolai to move in with olga but the strain and secrecy of the arrangement took their toll and olga suffered a nervous breakdown finally after 15 years of misery her brother the tsar granted her an annulment and she and nikolai married in a small ceremony during world war one olga worked as an army nurse and was awarded the order of saint george for her bravery as the romanovs began to be arrested by revolutionaries olga and her family escaped to the crimea when the tsar was killed most of the romanovs fled but olga and her husband refused to leave russia they were soon forced to flee ahead of the bolshevik army they escaped to a refugee camp in turkey where olga gave birth to her second child the family eventually made it to denmark and had little choice but to move in with olga's mother dowager empress maria olga was back where she started under the thumb of her mother who demanded she be at her beck and call and treated her husband and children coldly after 10 years the dowager empress died and olga used the little money she inherited to buy a farm the family were content to raise animals and live a simple life during german occupation of denmark in world war ii both of olga's sons served as danish spies and were imprisoned by the nazis olga herself supported russians working against communism in the soviet union she began to fear assassination by the soviet government and the family decided to immigrate to canada their sons now married with children of their own came with them and the family bought and worked a farm in ontario olga was also a talented painter grand duchess olga continued to be a draw for visiting royals including queen elizabeth ii who invited her to lunch on the royal yacht in 1959. olga died in 1960 at the age of 78. and was buried next to her husband the children of tura crown princess of hanover at 18 tura gave birth to a daughter out of wedlock who was adopted by a danish family and named kate little else is known about her tura later married ernst auguste crown prince of hanover whose family had been overthrown during the unification of germany the couple settled down in austria and preferred a quiet life at home with their six children who were marie louise married prince maximilian of baden a first cousin of emperor napoleon iii of france they had two children marie alexandra and bertold george wilhelm was a captain in the austrian army on the way to denmark to attend the funeral of his uncle king frederick viii he died in a car crash at the age of 31. alexandra married frederick francis iv grand duke of mecklenburg schwerin settled in germany and had five children never married and was well loved by her nieces and nephews one of whom named his daughter in her honor christian died tragically at 16 from undiagnosed appendicitis ernst august was sent to germany to thank kaiser wilhelm for sending his brother's body home after he died in a car crash in germany while at the imperial court he met and fell in love with the kaiser's only daughter victoria their wedding in 1913 was the last time kaiser wilhelm of germany king george v of the uk and sar nikolai of russia ever met before they went to war ernst's father inherited the duchy of brunswick from a childless cousin and renounced it in favor of his son so ernst and victoria raised their five children in brunswick palace through his father ernst was a great-great-grandson of king george iii of the uk and was therefore also a british prince he had to gain permission from his cousin king george v of the uk to marry the german princess and two imprisoned british spies were released by germany as a wedding present upon his engagement ernst swore loyalty to the german empire and when the war broke out he served as a major general in the german army following the german revolution in 1918 ernst was forced to abdicate the throne along with the rest of the german nobility because of his british familial connections both he and his wife desired reconciliation with the uk as the nazi party began to gain power adolf hitler asked the couple to arrange a marriage between their daughter frederica and edward the prince of wales but they refused as the prince was 23 years older than their daughter frederica instead married her cousin paul and became the queen of greece ernst died in 1953 at the age of 65. in the next episode we'll meet the fascinating children of king christian the ninth's sons among them they defied the nazis served in the french foreign legion won and lost various thrones and foiled assassination attempts if you enjoyed this video please like subscribe comment your thoughts and check out my other royal history videos if you really want to help please consider supporting me on patreon a link is in the description thank you for watching

Channel: Lindsay Holiday

Views: 97,592

Rating: 4.9432287 out of 5

Keywords: history, game of thrones, documentary, royal family, royalty, sex, bbc, the crown, british history, england, scandal, royal wedding, women, incest, europe, historic costumes, feminist, victorian era, Queen victoria, inbreeding, wwi, world war 1, 1800s, princess, duchess, bride, denmark, danish, russia, russian revolution, Scandinavia, nordic, scandinavian, Queen Alexandra of Denmark, Edward vii, queen elizabeth ii, tsar alexander, tsarina maria feodrovna, princess Thyra, love, tiara, christian ix

Id: K3tYS8N1H3s

Length: 22min 17sec (1337 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 25 2020