Every date makes its mark in time and many of those milestones are royal. As October gets under way, Royal Central takes a look at the regal anniversaries that fall in this month.
October 1, 1207:
On this day in 1207 King Henry III was born to King John I of England and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême at Winchester Castle in Hampshire, England. The King invested heavily in castles and palaces during his reign but did not travel as much as his predecessors. He married Eleanor of Provence and had five children, including his heir, Edward I. The King died in Westminster and is buried at Westminster Abbey.
October 1, 1919:
On this day in 1919, Princess Charlotte, the daughter of Princess Victoria, The Princess Royal died in Germany. The Princess went on to marry Bernard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and had one daughter, Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen.
October 2, 1452:
On this day in 1452, King Richard III was born in Northamptonshire, England. His short but dramatic reign began when he deposed his nephew, Edward V, and kept him in the Tower of London with his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York. They became known as ‘The Princes in the Tower’ and debate still continues as to whether Richard had the two boys killed – they never emerged from the Tower. Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 but his body was lost until 2012 when it was discovered below a car park in Leicester. In 2015, he was re-interred at Leicester Cathedral.
October 3, 1891:
On this day in 1891, Prince Maurice of Battenberg was born at Balmoral Castle, Scotland. He was the son of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg. The Prince died in World War One and is buried in Ypres, Belgium.
October 7, 1870:
On this day in 1870, Prince Friedrich, the son of Princess Victoria, The Princess Royal was born in Germany. He died sadly at the age of two from a brain haemorrhage, brought on by the haemophilia he had been born with.
October 9, 1937:
On this day in 1937, Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse died in Germany. The Duke was the son of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and a grandson of Queen Victoria. The Duke had three children.
October 9, 1935:
On this day in 1935, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent was born at Belgrave Square, London. He was the son of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. Having inherited the title of Duke of Kent when his father died when Edward was six, he has always maintained a royal position, often carrying out official duties on behalf of his cousin Queen Elizabeth.
October 12, 2018:
On this day in 2018, Princess Eugenie of York married long-term boyfriend Jack Brooksbank at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.
October 12, 1537:
On this day in 1537, King Henry VIII’s long-awaited son, the future Edward VI, was born at Hampton Court Palace. Edward became monarch at the age of nine when his father died in 1547. As he had no heir apparent, he declared Lady Jane Grey as his successor, rather than his Catholic half-sister Mary, who would later become Queen Mary I. This was done on the advice of his power-hungry senior advisor the Duke of Northumberland, who was Lady Jane Grey’s father-in-law. The cause of his death is debated, with suggestions ranging from tuberculosis to poisoning.
October 14, 1633:
On this day in 1633, James II was born at St James’ Palace in London. The King was the son of King Charles I, as well as the younger brother of King Charles II. James married twice – his first marriage produced Mary and Anne who would both take the throne after him. Mary and her husband, William, deposed James in 1688 and he ended up living his final years in exile in France where he died in 1701.
October 15, 1874:
On this day in 1874, Prince Alfred, son of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, was born at Buckingham Palace, London. The Prince later died in mysterious circumstances in Austria-Hungary. The royal was a first cousin of King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II.
October 15, 1839:
On this day in 1839, Queen Victoria proposed to her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. As Victoria was the reigning monarch, it was custom for her to ask Albert for his hand. The couple married on February 10, 1840 and had nine children.
October 19, 1216:
On this day in 1216, King John I died in Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire at the age of 49. He is best known for signing the Magna Carta which was forced on him following the baronial revolt that marked the last years of his reign. According to many historians, King John was a cruel and selfish man and is frequently villainised in popular culture, such as in the Robin Hood stories. John was succeeded by his son Henry III upon his death.
October 24, 1887:
On this day in 1887, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was born at Balmoral Castle, Scotland. The daughter of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg was the Queen Consort of Spain after her marriage to Alfonso XIII of Spain. They had seven children, one of whom was Don Juan de Borbon, the father of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
October 25, 1760:
On this day in 1760, King George II died at Kensington Palace, London at the age of 76. The son of King George I was the second monarch in the House of Hanover and had been born in Germany in 1683. By the time of his death he was the longest-lived monarch that England had witnessed- this feat was later eclipsed by his grandson King George III, would die at the age of 81. The King was married to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha and they had ten children, seven of which lived to adulthood. He died just five days short of his 77th birthday and is buried at Westminster Abbey, London.
October 25, 1154:
On this day in 1154 King Stephen died in Dover, England. The King was born in France between the years of 1092 and 1096 to Stephen, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy, the daughter of William the Conqueror. Stephen married Matilda, Countess of Boulogne and they had five children, he also fathered three illegitimate children with a mistress.
October 26, 1944:
On this day in 1944,Princess Beatrice, the youngest child and ninth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert died at Brantridge Park, Sussex. The Princess married Prince Henry of Battenberg in 1885 and they had four children.
October 27, 1914:
On this day in 1914, Prince Maurice of Battenberg died whilst in combat. The Prince was born at Balmoral Castle, Scotland and was a grandson of Queen Victoria. He was the son of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg. The Prince died in World War One and is buried in Ypres, Belgium.
October 29, 1900:
On this day in 1900, Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein died in Pretoria, South Africa after a bout of malaria. The Prince was born at Windsor Castle, Berkshire in 1867, the son of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.
October 29, 1875:
On this day in 1875, Marie of Romania was born at Eastwell Park, Kent, United Kingdom. She was the daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. As Queen Consort of Romania, she and her husband, King Ferdinand I had six children, including the heir to the Romanian throne, King Carol II.
October 30, 1683:
On this day in 1683, King George II was born in Hanover, Germany to King George I and Sophia Dorothea of Celle. He became king in 1727 following the death of his father. He and his wife Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha had ten children, seven of which lived to adulthood.
