by Alison Weir
1 George Henry Hubert, 7th Earl of Harewood (b. 1923); he married firstly Maria Donata Nanette Pauline Gustava Erwina Wilhelmina (known as Marion) (b.1926), daughter of Erwin Stein, and had issue; they divorced in 1967 (Marion later married the Liberal M.P. Jeremy Thorpe). He married secondly Patricia Elizabeth (b.1926), daughter of Charles Tuckwell, by whom he has issue.
2 Gerald David (b.1924); he married firstly Angela (b. 1919), daughter of Charles Stanley Dowding, and had issue; they were divorced in 1978. He married secondly Elizabeth Colvin, née Collingwood (b.1924), by whom he has issue.
Mary was designated Princess Royal on 1 January, 1932. She died on 28 March, 1965, at Harewood House, Leeds, Yorkshire, and was buried at Harewood.
4 Henry William Frederick Albert
He was born on 31 March, 1900, at York Cottage, Sandringham, Norfolk. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1921, and was created Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster and Baron Culloden on 31 March, 1928. He died on 10 June, 1974, at Barnwell Manor, Northants., and was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Henry married, on 6 November, 1935, at the Private Chapel, Buckingham Palace:
Alice Christabel
She is the daughter of John Charles Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch and 10th Duke of Queensberry, by Margaret Alice, daughter of George Cecil Orlando Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford, and she was born on 25 December, 1901, in London. Since her husband’s death, she has been styled H.R.H. Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.
Issue of marriage:
(i) Miscarriage, late in 1937.
(ii) Miscarriage, Autumn 1938.
(iii) William Henry Andrew Frederick
He was born on 18 December, 1941, at Barnet, Herts. He never married. He was killed on 28 August, 1972, in an air crash at Halfpenny Green, Wolverhampton, Staffs., and was buried at Frogmore, Windsor.
(iv) Richard Alexander Walter George
He was born on 26 August, 1944, at Barnwell Manor, Peterborough, Northants. He succeeded his father as Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster and Baron Culloden on 10 June, 1974.
Richard married, on 8 July, 1972, at the Parish Church of St Andrew, Barnwell, Northants.:
Birgitte Eva
She is the daughter of Asgar Preben Wissing Henrikson by Vivian, daughter of Waldemar Oswald van Deurs of Copenhagen, Denmark, and she was born on 20 June, 1946, at Odense, Isle of Funen, Denmark. Prior to her marriage, she used her mother’s maiden surname ‘van Deurs’.
Issue of marriage:
(a) Miscarriage
This occurred in 1973.
(b) Alexander Patrick Gregers Richard
He was born on 24 October, 1974, at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, and has been styled Earl of Ulster from birth.
(c) Davina Alice Elizabeth Benedikte
She was born on 19 November, 1977, at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, and is styled Lady Davina Windsor.
(d) Rose Victoria Birgitte Louise
She was born on 1 March, 1980, at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, and is styled Lady Rose Windsor.
5 George Edward Alexander Edmund
He was born on 20 December, 1902, at Sandringham, Norfolk. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1923, and was created Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews and Baron Downpatrick on 10 or 12 October, 1934. He was killed on 25 August, 1942, when his R.A.F. plane crashed into a hillside at Borgue or Morven, near Caithness, Scotland, whilst he was on active service during the Second World War. He was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, but his remains were later removed to the Kent Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor.
George married, on 29 November, 1934, at Westminster Abbey, and again – by Greek Orthodox rites – on the same day at the Private Chapel, Buckingham Palace:
Marina
She was the daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark by Helen Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, and she was born on 30 November or 13 December, 1906, at Athens, Greece. She died on 27 August, 1968, at Kensington Palace, London, of a brain tumour, and was buried in the Kent Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor.
Issue of marriage:
(i) Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick
He was born on 9 October, 1935, at 3, Belgrave Square, London. He succeeded his father as Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews and Baron Downpatrick on 25 August, 1942.
Edward married, on 8 June, 1961, at York Minster:
Katharine Lucy Mary
She is the daughter of Sir William Arthrington Worsley, Bt., of Hovingham Hall, Yorkshire, by Joyce Morgan, daughter of Sir John Fowler Brunner, Bt., and she was born on 22 February, 1933, at Hovingham Hall, Yorkshire.
Issue of marriage:
(a) George Philip Nicholas. Born on 26 June, 1962, at Coppins, Iver, Bucks., and has been styled Earl of St Andrews from birth. Married on 9 January, 1988, at Leith Register Office, Edinburgh: Sylvana Palma. She is the daughter of Max Tomaselli and Josiane Demers, and was born on 28 May, 1957, at Placentia, Newfoundland, Canada, and has issue: 1 Edward, Baron Downpatrick; born on 2 December, 1988. 2 Marina Charlotte; born on 30 September, 1992. 3 Amelia, born on 24 August, 1995.
(b) Helen Marina Lucy. Born on 28 April, 1964, at Coppins, Iver, Bucks., and is styled Lady Helen Taylor. Married in 1992 at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, Timothy Taylor and has issue: 1 Columbus (b.1994). 2 Cassius (b.1996).
(c) Nicholas Charles Edward Jonathan. Born on 25 July, 1970, at University College Hospital, London, and is styled Lord Nicholas Windsor.
(d) Stillborn child. Born on 5 October, 1977, at the King Edward VII Hospital for Officers, Marylebone, London.
(ii) Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel
She was born on 25 December, 1936, at 3, Belgrave Square, London. She married Sir Angus James Bruce Ogilvy (b.1928) on 24 April, 1963, at Westminster Abbey, and has issue: 1 James Robert Bruce (b.1964); married to Julia (b.1965), daughter of Charles Rawlinson, and has issue. 2 Marina Victoria Alexandra (b.1966); married to Paul Mowatt (b.1962), and has issue; divorced 1997.
(iii) Michael George Charles Franklin
He was born on 4 July, 1942, at Coppins, Iver, Bucks.
Michael married, on 30 June, 1978, at a civil ceremony at the Rathaus, Vienna, Austria (and in so doing renounced his place in the succession, as his bride is a Roman Catholic):
Marie Christine Anne Agnes Hedwig Ida
She is the daughter of Baron Gunther Hubertus von Reibnitz by Marianne, Countess Szapary, and she was born on 15 January, 1945, at Karlsbad, Bohemia (now Czechoslovakia). She married firstly Thomas Troubridge (b.1939) on 14 September, 1971, at Chelsea Old Church, London, but this marriage was formally annulled by the Roman Catholic Church in May, 1978, on undisclosed grounds.
Issue of marriage:
(a) Frederick Michael George David Louis
He was born on 6 April, 1979, at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, and is known as Lord Frederick Windsor.
(b) Gabriella Marina Alexandra Ophelia
She was born on 23 April, 1981, at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, and is known as Lady Gabriella Windsor.
6 John Charles Francis
He was born on 12 July, 1905, at York Cottage, Sandringham, Norfolk. An epileptic who was kept away from the public eye, he died on 18 January, 1919, at Wood Farm, Wolferton, Norfolk, and was buried in Sandringham Church, Norfolk.
GEORGE V
He died on 20 January, 1936, at Sandringham House, Norfolk, and was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
He was succeeded by his son Edward.
Edward VIII
* * *
FATHER: George V ( see here)
MOTHER: Mary of Teck ( see here, under George V).
SIBLINGS: ( see here, under George V).
EDWARD VIII
Baptised Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, he was born on 23 June, 1894, at White Lodge, Richmond, Surrey. He became Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Lord of the Isles and Baron Renfrew upon his father’s access
ion to the throne on 6 May, 1910. He was made a Knight of the Garter on 23 June, 1910, and was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on the same day, being invested as such on 13 July, 1911, at Caernarvon Castle, Wales. He was made a Knight of the Bath in January, 1936. He succeeded his father as King of Great Britain and Emperor of India on 20 January, 1936. He was never crowned. He abdicated on 11 December, 1936, because he wished to marry a twice-divorced woman, the American Mrs Simpson ( below), and because this could not be consistent with his position as Head of the Church of England, an institution which does not recognise divorce. Edward was created Duke of Windsor on 8 March, 1937, having been so designated since 12 December, 1936. He spent the rest of his life in exile in France, apart from occasional visits to England and America, and a wartime spell as Governor of the Bahamas.
Edward VIII married, after his Abdication, on 3 June, 1937, at Château de Candé, Maine-et-Loire, France:
Bessie Wallis
Known as Wallis, she was the daughter of Teackle Wallis Warfield by Alice M. Montague, and she was born on 19 June, 1896, at Square Cottage, the Monterey Inn, Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. She married firstly Earl Winfield Spencer (1888–1950) on 8 November, 1916, at the Christ Protestant Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.; they were divorced on 10 December, 1927. She married secondly Ernest Aldrich Simpson of New York (d.1958) on 21 July, 1928, at Chelsea Register Office, London; they were divorced on 27 October, 1936. She resumed her maiden name of Warfield on 7 May, 1937, by Deed Poll. Her marriage to the Duke of Windsor has been seen by some as morganatic (i.e. in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772), but this was not so; neither did the fact that she was deprived of the style Her Royal Highness by George VI’s Letters Patent of March, 1937, have any basis in law. She died on 24 April, 1986, at her house in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, and was buried at Frogmore, Windsor. There was no issue of any of her marriages.
EDWARD VIII
He died on 28 May, 1972, at his house in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, of cancer, and was buried at Frogmore, Windsor.
He was succeeded, after his Abdication in 1936, by his brother Albert, who assumed the style George VI.
George VI
* * *
FATHER: George V ( see here).
MOTHER: Mary of Teck ( see here, under George V).
SIBLINGS: ( see here, under George V).
GEORGE VI
Baptised Albert Frederick Arthur George, he was born on 14 December, 1895, at York Cottage, Sandringham, Norfolk. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1916, and was created Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney on 4 June, 1920. He succeeded his brother Edward VIII as King of Great Britain and Emperor of India on 11 December, 1936, and was crowned on 12 May, 1937, at Westminster Abbey. He relinquished the title Emperor of India on 22 June, 1947, when India was granted independence.
George VI married, on 26 April, 1923, at Westminster Abbey:
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite
She was the daughter of Sir Claude George Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, by Nina Cecilia, daughter of the Rev. Charles William Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck, and she was born on 4 August, 1900, either at Belgrave Mansions, Grosvenor Gardens, London, or in a London ambulance on the way to a London maternity home (the available evidence suggests that the Queen Mother herself believed she was born in an ambulance). She was made a Lady of the Garter in 1936. She was crowned Queen Consort and Empress of India on 12 May, 1937, in Westminster Abbey. On the death of the King on 6 February, 1952, she assumed the style of H.M. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. She died on 30 March, 2002, at Royal Lodge, Windsor, and is buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Issue of marriage:
1 Elizabeth II ( see here).
2 Margaret Rose
She was born on 21 August, 1930, at Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland. She married Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon (b.1930), on 6 May, 1960, at Westminster Abbey, and had issue:
1 David Albert Charles, Viscount Linley (b.1961); married to the Hon. Serena Alleyne (b.1970), daughter of Charles Henry Leicester Stanhope, Viscount Petersham, and has issue.
2 Sarah Frances Elizabeth (b.1964); married to Daniel Chatto (b. 1957), and has issue.
Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon were divorced in May, 1978, having lived apart since March, 1976.
Princess Margaret died on 9 February, 2002, at the King Edward VII Hospital, London. She was cremated at Slough Crematorium, and her ashes interred in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.
GEORGE VI
He died on 6 February, 1952, at Sandringham House, Norfolk, of cancer, and was buried in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
He was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth.
Elizabeth II
* * *
By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
FATHER: George VI ( see here).
MOTHER: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon ( see here, under George VI).
SIBLINGS: ( see here, under George VI).
ELIZABETH II
Baptised Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, she was born on 21 April, 1926, at 17, Bruton Street, London. She succeeded her father as Queen of Great Britain on 6 February, 1952, and was crowned on 2 June, 1953, at Westminster Abbey.
Elizabeth II married, on 20 November, 1947, at Westminster Abbey:
Philip
He is the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg) by Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie, daughter of Louis, Prince of Battenberg, Marquess of Milford-Haven, and he was born on 10 June, 1921, at Villa Mon Repos, Isle of Corfu, Greece. On 28 February, 1947, he renounced his Greek nationality and became a British subject, at the same time adopting the surname Mountbatten. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1947, and was created Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich on 19 November, 1947. He was made a Knight of the Thistle in 1952. On 27 February, 1957, he was granted the style of H.R.H. The Prince Philip, with precedence over all other male members of the Royal Family.
Issue of marriage:
1 Charles Philip Arthur George
He was born on 14 November, 1948, at Buckingham Palace. He became Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Lord of the Isles and Baron Renfrew upon his mother’s accession to the throne on 6 February, 1952. He was created Earl of Chester and Prince of Wales on 26 July, 1958, being invested as such on 1 July, 1969, at Caernarvon Castle, Wales. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1968, and a Knight of the Bath in 1976.
Prince Charles married, on 29 July, 1981, at St Paul’s Cathedral, London:
Diana Frances
She was the daughter of Edward John, 8th Earl Spencer, by the Hon. Frances Ruth Burke, daughter of Edmund Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, and she was born on 1 July, 1961, at Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. The Prince and Princess of Wales were divorced on 28 August, 1996. Diana was killed in a car crash on 31 August, 1997, in Paris, and is buried on the island called the Oval at Althorp House, Northants.
Issue of marriage:
(i) William Arthur Philip Louis. Born on 21 June, 1982, at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, and is styled Prince William of Wales.
(ii) Henry Charles Albert David. Known as Harry; born on 15 September, 1984, at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, and is styled Prince Henry of Wales.
2 Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise
She was born on 15 August, 1950, at Clarence House, London. She married Captain Mark Anthony Peter Phillips (b.1948) on 14 November, 1973, at Westminster Abbey, and has issue:
1 Peter Mark Andrew (b. 1977).
2 Zara Anne Elizabeth (b. 1981).
Princess Anne was designated Princess Royal on 1 June, 1987. She was divorced in 1992 and married secondly Commander Timothy Laurence (b.1955) in December, 1992, at Crathie Church, Sc
otland.
3 Andrew Albert Christian Edward
He was born on 19 February, 1960, at Buckingham Palace. He was created Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killalee on 23 July, 1986.
Prince Andrew married, on 23 July, 1986, at Westminster Abbey:
Sarah Margaret
She is the daughter of Major Ronald Ivor Ferguson by Susan Mary, daughter of Fitzherbert Wright of Corbisdale Farm, Ardgay, Co. Ross, and she was born on 15 October, 1959, at 27, Welbeck Street, London, W.1.
Issue of marriage:
(i) Beatrice Elizabeth Mary. Born on 8 August, 1988, at the Portland Hospital, Great Portland Street, London, W.1.
(ii) Eugenie Victoria Helena. Born on 23 March, 1990, at the Portland Hospital.
The Duke and Duchess of York were divorced on 30 May, 1996.
4 Edward Antony Richard Louis
He was born on 10 March, 1964, at Buckingham Palace, and was created Earl of Wessex on 19 June, 1999. Prince Edward married, on 19 June, 1999, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor:
Sophie Helen
She is the daughter of Christopher Bournes Rhys-Jones by Mary O’Sullivan, and she was born on 20 January, 1965, at Oxford.
Issue of marriage:
(i) Miscarriage, December 2001.
Author’s Note