Please note that we have only included royals from currently reigning royal families, those who actually reigned but were then exiled or exiled/mediatised royals who married a royal from a reigning family.
2015
Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria
Carlos was
the last Infante of Spain during the reigns of his cousin King Juan
Carlos I and King Felipe VI. His father had been heir presumptive
to the Spanish throne between the death of his mother and the birth
in May 1907 of a son to King Alfonso XIII. He was raised together
with Juan Carlos and the two were only 11 days apart in age. In
1965, he married Princess Anne of Orléans with whom he had five
children. He died on 5 October 2015 at the age of 77.
Princess Alya Nur of Liechtenstein
Not much is known about this little girl and her untimely death.
She was born in 2014 as the first child of Prince Rudolf of
Liechtenstein and his wife, Princess Tılsım. Her father is 13th in
line to the tiny principality of Liechtenstein. In December 2015,
Turkish media reported that the little Princess had choked on a
piece of food.
2016
Queen Anne of Romania
Born Anne of
Bourbon-Parma in 1923 as the daughter of Prince René of
Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark, she married King
Michael I of Romania – who reigned from 1927-1930 and 1940-1947 –
in 1948. They went on to have five daughters together in their
exile. Anne died in Switzerland on 1 August 2016, followed by her
husband in 2017.
King Bhumibol of Thailand
King Bhumibol of Thailand was born in 1927 as the youngest son of
Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, the Prince of Songkla, and his wife Mom
Sangwan, later Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother. In
1935, his nine-year-old brother Ananda Mahidol became King Rama
VIII. In 1946, his brother died under unclear circumstances of a
gunshot wound, and Bhumibol succeeded to the throne. In 1950, he
married Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara with whom he had four
children, including his successor King Maha Vajiralongkorn. After
years of ill-health, he died on 13 October 2016 at the age of
88.
Takahito, Prince Mikasa
Takahito, Prince Mikasa was born in 1915 as the fourth and youngest
son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. In 1941, he married
Yuriko Takagi with whom he had five children – of which three
predeceased him. He died at the age of 100 on 27 October 2016 of
cardiac arrest.
2017
Richard, 6th Prince of
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Richard was born in 1934 as the son of Gustav Albrecht, 5th Prince
of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Margareta Fouché d’Otrante. In
1968, he married Princess Benedikte of Denmark, the younger sister
of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. They went on to have three
children together, and they lived in Bad Berleburg, Germany, for
most of the time. He died quite suddenly on 13 March 2017 at the
age of 82.
Infanta Alicia, Duchess of Calabria
Alicia was born in 1917 as the daughter of Elias, Duke of Parma,
and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. She married Infante Alfonso,
Duke of Calabria becoming an Infanta of Spain. They went on to have
three children together, including the aforementioned Carlos. She
died on 28 March 2017 at the age of 99.
King Michael of Romania
King Michael of Romania was born in 1921 as the son of Carol II of
Romania and Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark. He reigned
Romania twice – from 1927 until 1930 – and again from 1940 until
1947. Shortly after being exiled he married the aforementioned Anne
of Bourbon-Parma and they had five daughters together. He
designated his elder daughter as his heir should the monarchy in
Romania ever be restored. He died on 5 December 2017 at the age of
96.
Halaevalu Mata’aho ‘Ahome’e
Halaevalu Mata’aho ʻAhomeʻe was born in 1926 as the daughter of
‘Ahome’e (Manu-‘o-pangai) and his wife, Heuʻifanga Veikune. In
1946, she married a distant relative Crown Prince Tāufaʻāhau of
Tonga, the future King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV. They went on to have
four children together before she was widowed in 2006. She survived
her husband for nearly 11 years – dying on 19 February 2017 at the
age of 90.
2018
Prince Henrik of Denmark
Prince Henrik was born in 1924 as Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde
de Monpezat. In 1967, he married the future Queen Margrethe II of
Denmark, and they went on to have two sons together. He died on 13
February 2018 at the age of 83 after a short illness.
Princess Elisabeth of Denmark
Princess Elisabeth was born in 1935 as the daughter of Knud,
Hereditary Prince of Denmark and Princess Caroline-Mathilde of
Denmark. Before the change in the law that included her first
cousins, including the current Queen Margrethe II, in the line of
succession, her father had been first in line to succeed
Margrethe’s father. Elisabeth never married, and at the time of her
death in 2018, she was 12th in the line of succession. She is
buried beside her longtime companion, Claus Hermansen.
Senteni Masango
Senteni Masango was born in 1981 and she was selected to be a new
bride for King Mswati III of Eswatini during the 1999 Uhmlanga
ceremony. They were married in 2000, and she became his eighth
wife. They had two daughters together. She was found dead on 6
April 2018, and it has been alleged that she committed suicide.
2019
Princess Alix of Luxembourg
Princess Alix was born in 1929 as the fourth daughter and youngest
child of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, and Felix of
Bourbon-Parma. She was the sister of Grand Duke Jean and thus the
aunt of the current Grand Duke. In 1950, she married Antoine, 13th
Prince de Ligne, and they went on to have seven children together.
She died on 11 February 2019 at the age of 89.
Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg
The future Grand Duke Jean was born in 1921 as the eldest son of
Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix. In 1953, Jean married
Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium with whom he had five
children, including his successor Grand Duke Henri. He reigned from
1964 when his mother abdicated until his own abdication in 2000. He
died on 23 April 2019 at the age of 98.
Princess Christina of the Netherlands
Princess Christina was born in 1947 as the daughter of the future
Queen Juliana, who reigned from 1948 until her abdication in 1980,
and Prince Bernhard. Her elder sister Beatrix was Queen of the
Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. She was born
nearly blind because her mother had contracted rubella while
pregnant with her. She married Jorge Guillermo in 1975, and they
went on to have three children together. She renounced her rights
to the succession upon marriage and converted to Catholicism in
1992. They were divorced in 1996. After suffering from bone cancer
for several years, she died on 16 August 2019 at the age of 72.
Norodom Buppha Devi
Buppha Devi was born in 1943 as the daughter of King Norodom
Sihanouk of Cambodia and the Neak Moneang Phat Kanhol. She
half-sister of current King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni. After
returning to Cambodia, she helped to revive the Khmer ballet, and
she also served as Minister of Culture and Fine Arts from 1998
until 2004. She was married four times and had five children. She
died on 18 November 2019 at the age of 76.
Former Queen Dina of Jordan
Dina bint Abdul-Hamid was born in 1929 as the daughter of
Abdul-Hamid bin Muhammad Abdul-Aziz Al-Aun and his wife, Fahria
Brav. In 1955, she married King Hussein of Jordan, and they had one
daughter together before divorcing in 1957. After the divorce, she
was known as Princess Dina Abdul-Hamid of Jordan. In 1970, she
remarried to Asad Sulayman Abd al-Qadir. She died on 21 August 2019
at the age of 89.
Princess Ilona of Liechtenstein
Ilona was born in 1921
in Sárosd, Hungary as Countess Esterházy de Galánth. In 1977, she
married Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein. It was a second
marriage for both of them. She died on 2 August 2019 at the age of
98.
Nothando Dube
Nothando Dube was born in 1988 and was a former Miss Teen
Swaziland. She met Mswati III, the king of Eswatini – the country’s
name changed from Swaziland to Eswatini in 2018 – in 2004, and she
was chosen to be his 12th wife. They were married in 2005 when she
was just 16-years-old. They went on to have three children together
before she was accused of adultery and placed under house arrest.
She died on 8 March 2019 from skin cancer.
Princess Sara Gizaw, Dowager Duchess of
Harar
Born in 1929, Sara was the daughter-in-law of
Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the wife of his second son
Prince Makonnen, Duke of Harar. They had five sons together before
she was widowed in 1957. The Empire came to an end in 1974, and
Sara and other women of the family were imprisoned. Sara was
released in 1988, and she died on 17 February 2019 at the age of
90.
