Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a
marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
between people of unequal
social rank
A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, inc ...
, which in the context of
royalty or other
inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spouse, or any children born of the marriage. The concept is most prevalent in German-speaking territories and countries most influenced by the customs of the German-speaking realms.
Generally, this is a marriage between a man of high birth (such as from a
reign
A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Andorra), of a people (e.g., the Franks, the Zulus) or of a spiritual community (e.g., Catholicism, Tibetan Buddhism ...
ing,
deposed or
mediatised dynasty) and a woman of lesser status (such as a daughter of a
low-ranked noble family or a commoner).
[Webster's Online Dictionary](_blank)
. Retrieved 2008-07-10.[ Diesbach, Ghislain de. ''Secrets of the Gotha'' (translated from the French by ]Margaret Crosland
Margaret Crosland is a Canadian former figure skater from Calgary, Alberta. She is the 1958 and 1959 Canadian national champion. She started skating at age 7, and was coached by the Swiss Olympian Hans Gerschwiler. She represented the Glencoe ...
). Chapman & Hall, Ltd., London, 1967. pp. 18, 25–26, 35, 179–182, 186–187. Usually, neither the bride nor any children of the marriage have a claim on the bridegroom's
succession rights, titles, precedence, or
entailed property. The children are considered legitimate for all other purposes and the prohibition against
bigamy
In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. ...
applies.
[" Hugh Chisholm, editor. ]Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. S ...
. Volume 18. ''Morganatic Marriage''. University Press, 1911, p. 835. In some countries, a woman could also marry a man of lower rank morganatically. As a result of the above, a king deciding to enter into a morganatic marriage who does not have children from a previous marriage thereby gives up the chance of being succeeded by his own children and accepts that succession would pass to his other relatives.
German background
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the heads of both ruling and formerly reigning German dynasties initially continued the practice of rejecting dynastic titles and/or rights for descendants of "morganatic" unions, but gradually allowed them, sometimes retroactively, effectively de-morganatizing the wives and children. This was accommodated by
Perthes' ''
Almanach de Gotha
The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First publish ...
'' (which categorised German princely families by rank until it ceased publication after 1944) by inserting the offspring of such marriages in a third section of the almanac under entries denoted by a symbol (a dot within a circle) that "signifies some princely houses which, possessing no specific princely
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
, have passed from the first part, A, or from the second part into the third part in virtue of special agreements."
['']Almanach de Gotha
The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First publish ...
'' (Gotha: Justus Perthes
Johann Georg Justus Perthes (11 September 1749, Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt – 2 May 1816, Gotha, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg) was a German publisher and founder of the publishing house that bears his name. Life
He was born in the Thuringian t ...
, 1944), pages 43, 363–364, 529. French The ''
Fürst
' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German word for a ruler and is also a princely title. ' were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of ...
liche Häuser'' ("Princely Houses") series of the ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels'' ("Genealogical Manual of the Nobility") has followed this lead, likewise enrolling some issue of unapproved marriages in its third section, "III B", with a similar explanation: "Families in this section, although verified, received no specific
decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...
, but have been included by special agreement in the 1st and 2nd sections".
[''«Die in dieser Abteilung nachgewiesenen Familien besitzen kein besonderes Diplom, sondern sind nach besonderer Übereinkunft aus der 1. und 2. Abteilung übernommen worden.»'' ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XIV. C.A. Starke Verlag, 1991, p. 565. .]
Variations of morganatic marriage were also practised by non-European dynasties, such as the
Royal Family of Thailand, the polygamous
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
as to their non-principal wives, and other families of Africa and Asia.
Etymology
''Morganatic'', already in use in English by 1727 (according to the ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
''), is derived from the
medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
''morganaticus'' from the
Late Latin
Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...
phrase ''matrimonium ad morganaticam'' and refers to the gift given by the groom to the bride on the morning after the wedding, the
morning gift
Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...
, i.e.,
dower. The Latin term, applied to a Germanic custom, was adopted from the
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
term ''*morgangeba'' (modern German ''Morgengabe''), corresponding to Early English ''morgengifu''. The literal meaning is explained in a 16th-century passage quoted by
Du Cange
Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange (; December 18, 1610 in Amiens – October 23, 1688 in Paris, aged 77), also known simply as Charles Dufresne, was a distinguished French philologist and historian of the Middle Ages and Byzantium.
Life
Educat ...
as, "a marriage by which the wife and the children that may be born are entitled to no share in the husband's possessions beyond the 'morning-gift'".
Philological Society
The Philological Society, or London Philological Society, is the oldest learned society in Great Britain dedicated to the study of language as well as a registered charity. The current Society was established in 1842 to "investigate and promot ...
. A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. ''Morganatic''. Clarendon Press, 1908. p. 663.
The ''morning gift'' has been a customary property arrangement for marriage found first in early medieval German cultures (such as the
Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
) and also among ancient Germanic tribes, and the church drove its adoption into other countries in order to improve the wife's security by this ''additional'' benefit. The bride received property from the bridegroom's clan. It was intended to ensure her livelihood in widowhood, and it was to be kept separate as the wife's discrete possession. However, when a marriage contract is made wherein the bride and the children of the marriage will not receive anything else (other than the dower) from the bridegroom or from his inheritance or clan, that sort of marriage was dubbed as "marriage with only the dower and no other inheritance", i.e., ''matrimonium morganaticum''.
Examples
Royal men who married morganatically:
*
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; ; xng, Temüjin, script=Latn; ., name=Temujin – August 25, 1227) was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in history a ...
followed the contemporary tradition by taking several morganatic wives in addition to his principal wife, whose
property passed to their youngest son, also following tradition.
* King
Erik XIV of Sweden married the servant
Karin Månsdotter
Karin Månsdotter (in English Catherine; 6 November 1550 – 13 September 1612) was first a mistress of King Eric XIV of Sweden and then briefly queen as his wife.
Early life
Karin was born in Stockholm to a soldier and later prison guard na ...
twice - once morganatically in 1567, and again although not morganatically in 1568.
*
Ludwig Wilhelm, Duke in Bavaria
Ludwig may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Ludwig (surname), including a list of people
* Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and co ...
and actress
Henriette Mendel
Henriette Mendel, Baroness von Wallersee (July 31, 1833 – November 12, 1891) was a German actress, and the mistress and, later, morganatic wife of Ludwig Wilhelm, Duke in Bavaria. By him she was the mother of Countess Marie Larisch von Moe ...
. She was created Baroness von Wallersee, and their daughter,
Marie Louise, Countess Larisch von Moennich
Countess Marie Louise Larisch von Moennich (also known as Countess Marie Louise Larisch-Wallersee and Countess Marie Larisch) (24 February 1858 – 4 July 1940) was
the niece and confidante of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She involved in the Ma ...
, was a confidante of Empress
Elisabeth ("Sissi") of Austria.
* Archduke
Ferdinand II of Austria, ruler of the
Tirol, first married
Philippine Welser, a
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. ...
e of a wealthy family in 1557. Their children were given the title Margrave von Burgau, the issue of Ferdinand's second (and equal) marriage being of archducal rank and preferred for purposes of inheritance.
*
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
en, Victor Emmanuel Maria Albert Eugene Ferdinand Thomas
, house = Savoy
, father = Charles Albert of Sardinia
, mother = Maria Theresa of Austria
, religion = Roman Catholicism
, image_size = 252px
, succession1 ...
in 1869 married morganatically his principal mistress
Rosa Teresa Vercellana Guerrieri. Popularly known in
Piedmontese as "Bela Rosin" (Little Rosa the Beautiful), she was born a commoner but made Countess di Mirafiori e Fontanafredda in 1858.
*
Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine in 1851 married morganatically
Countess Julia von Hauke
Julia, Princess of Battenberg (previously Countess Julia Therese Salomea von Hauke; – 19 September 1895) was the wife of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the third son of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse. The daughter of a Polish general o ...
. Instead of being part of the
House of Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...
to which their father belonged, their
patrilinear descendants were created
Princes of Battenberg, whose branch living in
Britain later became
House of Mountbatten.
* Late in his life, the widowed ex-king
Fernando II of Portugal married the opera singer
Elise Hensler, who was created Countess von Edla.
* In 1917, the grandson of
Fernando II of Portugal,
Afonso, Duke of Porto
Infante D. Afonso of Braganza, Duke of Porto (; 31 July 1865 in Palace of Ajuda, Lisbon – 21 February 1920 in Naples, Italy) was a Portuguese Infante of the House of Braganza,"While remaining patrilineal dynasts of the duchy of Saxe-Cobur ...
, the last
Prince Royal of Portugal, married the twice-divorced American socialite
Nevada Stoody Hayes
Nevada Stoody Hayes (21 October 1870 – 11 January 1941), sometimes called Nevada of Braganza, was an American socialite who became the wife of Infante Afonso of Braganza, Duke of Porto, whose nephew, Manuel II, was the last king of Portugal. S ...
.
* A list of
morganatic branches of the Russian Imperial Family
* The 1900 marriage of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
Fr ...
, whose subsequent assassination triggered World War I, to
Countess Sophie Chotek von Wognin was morganatic at the insistence of the Austrian Emperor
Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until ...
.
* Danish astronomer and nobleman
Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...
married Kirsten Jørgensdatter morganatically in 1572. He was allowed to do so because he was close friends with
King Frederick II. The king was sympathetic, as he was unable to marry his love due to class differences.
Royal women who married morganatically:
*
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
Marie Louise (12 December 1791 – 17 December 1847) was an Austrian archduchess who reigned as Duchess of Parma from 11 April 1814 until her death. She was Napoleon's second wife and as such Empress of the French and Queen of Italy from their ...
(by birth an
archduchess of the Imperial
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
, and by her first marriage a French empress) married morganatically twice after the death of her husband,
the emperor Napoleon I. Her second husband was
Count Adam Albert von Neipperg. After his death, she married
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...
Charles-René de Bombelles, her chamberlain, in 1834.
* Queen
Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies ( it, Maria Cristina Ferdinanda di Borbone, Principessa delle Due Sicilie, es, link=no, María Cristina de Borbón, Princesa de las Dos Sicilias; 27 April 1806 – 22 August 1878) was Queen of Spain from 182 ...
, regent of Spain after her husband's (
Ferdinand VII) death while their daughter,
Isabella II
Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868.
Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successi ...
, was a minor. She married
Agustín Fernando Muñoz y Sánchez, 1st Duke of Riánsares
''Don'' Agustín Fernando Muñoz y Sánchez (4 May 180811 September 1873), 1st Duke of Riánsares, 1st Marquis of San Agustín, 1st Duc de Montmorot, was the second and morganatic husband of Maria Christina, Regent of Spain.
Early life
Muñoz was ...
, who was one of her guards in a secret marriage.
* Princess
Stéphanie of Belgium, the widow of
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, married
Count Elemér Lónyay de Nagy-Lónya et Vásáros-Namény after the death of her first husband. In 1917, Emperor
Charles I of Austria
Charles I or Karl I (german: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria, hu, Károly Ferenc József Lajos Hubert György Ottó Mária; 17 August 18871 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV, ), King of Croati ...
conferred upon
Lónyay a
non-dynastic title of Prince (''
Fürst
' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German word for a ruler and is also a princely title. ' were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of ...
'').
History
Denmark
Succession to the Danish throne followed the specifications of the ''
Lex Regia'' until the
Danish Act of Succession
The Act of Succession of 27 March 1953 ( da, tronfølgeloven) was adopted after a 1953 referendum in Denmark and dictates the rules governing the succession to the Danish throne. The 1953 referendum changed the act so that it became possible for ...
was passed in 1953. Prominent morganatic marriages include the 1615 marriage of King
Christian IV of Denmark
Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mona ...
to
noblewoman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
Kirsten Munk. Kirsten was titled "Countess of Schleswig-Holstein" and bore the King 12 children, all styled "Count/Countess of Schleswig-Holstein".
King Frederick VII married the ballerina
Louise Rasmussen
Louise Christine Rasmussen, also known as ''Countess Danner'' (21 April 1815 – 6 March 1874), was a Danish ballet dancer and stage actor. She was the mistress and later the morganatic spouse of King Frederick VII of Denmark. She was not a queen ...
, who was raised to the rank of "Countess Danner" in 1850. There were no children of this marriage. When
Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg.
A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein- ...
's brother,
Prince Julius of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
married Elisabeth von Ziegesar in 1883, the king granted her the title "Countess af
Røst".
Until 1971, Danish princes who married women who did not belong to a royal or noble family were refused the sovereign's authorization, renouncing their right of succession to the throne and royal title (
Prince Aage of Denmark
Prince Aage, Count of Rosenborg, (Aage Christian Alexander Robert; 10 June 1887 – 19 February 1940) was a Danish prince and officer of the French Foreign Legion. He was born in Copenhagen the eldest child and son of Prince Valdemar of Denmark a ...
morganatically
eloped with Matilda Calvi, daughter of Count Carlo Giorgio di Bergolo, in January 1914 but renounced his dynastic rights and titles subsequently).
They were granted the non-royal prefix of "Prince" and their descendants bear the title
Count af Rosenborg in the
Danish nobility
Danish nobility is a social class and a former estate in the Kingdom of Denmark. The nobility has official recognition in Denmark, a monarchy. Its legal privileges were abolished with the constitution of 1849. Some of the families still own and ...
.
Neither of the children of
Queen Margrethe II has married a person of either royal birth or of the titled aristocracy. Members of the Royal Family may still lose their place in the line of succession for themselves and their descendants if they marry without the monarch's permission.
France
Morganatic marriage was not recognized as a concept in French law.
[de Montjouvent, Philippe. Le comte de Paris et sa descendance. ''Introduction sur la Maison royale de France''. Du Chaney Eds, Paris, 1998, p. 11. French. .] Since the law did not distinguish, for marital purposes, between ruler and subjects, marriages between royalty and the noble heiresses to great
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
s became the norm through the 16th century, helping to aggrandize the
House of Capet
The House of Capet (french: Maison capétienne) or the Direct Capetians (''Capétiens directs''), also called the House of France (''la maison de France''), or simply the Capets, ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most ...
while gradually diminishing the number of large domains held in theoretical vassalage by nobles who were, in practice, virtually independent of the French crown: by the marriage of
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...
to the future
King Henry II in 1533, the last of these provinces, the
county of Auvergne, came to the crown of France.
Antiquity of nobility in the legitimate male line, not noble
quarterings, was the main criterion of rank in the ''
ancien régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
''.
[de la Roque, Gilles-Andre. Traite de la Noblesse. ]
Du Gentilhomme de nom et d'armes
'. Etienne Michalet, Paris, 1678, pp. 5, 8-10. Unlike the status of a British peer's wife and descendants (yet typical of the nobility of every
continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
an country), the legitimate children and male-line descendants of any French nobleman (whether titled or not, whether possessing a
French peerage or not) were also legally noble ''ad infinitum''.
Rank was not based on hereditary titles, which were often assumed or
acquired by purchase of a noble estate rather than granted by the Crown. Rather, the main determinant of relative rank among the French nobility was how far back the nobility of a family's male line could be verifiably traced.
Other factors influencing rank included the family's history of military command, high-ranking offices held at court and marriages into other high-ranking families. A specific exception was made for bearers of the title of duke who, regardless of their origin, outranked all other nobles. But the ducal title in post-medieval France (even when embellished with the still higher status of "peer") ranked its holder and his family among France's nobility and not, as in Germany and Scandinavia (and, occasionally, Italy,
viz. Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Sa ...
,
Medici
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...
,
Este,
della Rovere,
Farnese and
Cybo-Malaspina
The House of Cybo, Cibo or Cibei of Italy was the name of an old and influential aristocratic family from Genoa of Greek origin that ruled the Duchy of Massa and Carrara.
History
They came to the city in the 12th century. In 1528 the Cybos fo ...
) among Europe's
reign
A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Andorra), of a people (e.g., the Franks, the Zulus) or of a spiritual community (e.g., Catholicism, Tibetan Buddhism ...
ing dynasties which habitually
intermarried with one another.
Once the
Bourbons
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spani ...
inherited the throne of France from the
House of Valois
The Capetian house of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the f ...
in 1589, their
dynasts married daughters of even the oldest ducal families of France — let alone noblewomen of lower rank — quite rarely (viz.,
Anne de Montafié in 1601,
Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency in 1609 and, in exile from revolutionary France,
Maria Caterina Brignole
Maria Caterina Brignole (or Marie-Christine de Brignole; 7 October 1737 – 18 March 1813) was Princess consort of Monaco by marriage to Honoré III, Prince of Monaco.
She separated from her husband in 1770: he died in 1795, and in 1798 sh ...
in 1798). Exceptions were made for equal
royal intermarriage
Royal intermarriage is the practice of members of ruling dynasties marrying into other reigning families. It was more commonly done in the past as part of strategic diplomacy for national interest. Although sometimes enforced by legal requiremen ...
with the ''
princes étrangers'' and, by royal command, with the so-called ''
princes légitimés'' (i.e., out-of-wedlock but
legitimised descendants of
Henry IV and
Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
), as well as with the nieces of Cardinal-prime ministers (i.e.,
Richelieu,
Mazarin). Just as the French king could authorize a royal marriage that would otherwise have been deemed unsuitable, by 1635 it had been established by
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...
that the king could also legally void the canonically valid,
equal marriage of a French dynast to which he had not given consent (e.g.,
Marguerite of Lorraine, Duchess of Orléans).
[Blet, Pierre. Le Clergé de France et la Monarchie, Etude sur les Assemblées Générales du Clergé de 1615 à 1666. Université Grégorienne, Rome, 1959, pp. 399-439.][Degert, (Abbé). "Le mariage de Gaston d'Orléans et de Marguerite de Lorraine," ''Revue Historique'' 143:161-80, 144:1-57. French.]
Moreover, there was a French practice, legally distinct from morganatic marriage but used in similar situations of inequality in status between a member of the royal family and a spouse of lower rank: an "openly secret" marriage. French kings authorized such marriages only when the bride was past child-bearing or the marrying prince already had dynastic heirs by a previous spouse of royal descent. The marriage ceremony took place without
banns, in private (with only a priest, the bride and groom, and a few legal witnesses present), and the marriage was never officially acknowledged (although sometimes widely known). Thus, the wife never publicly shared in her husband's titles, rank, or coat of arms.
[Pothier, Robert. Traité des successions, Chapitre I, section I, article 3, § 4. French.] The lower-ranked spouse, male or female, could only receive from the royal spouse what property the king allowed.
In secret marriage, Louis XIV wed his second wife,
Madame de Maintenon Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ( ...
, in 1683 (she was nearly 50, so no children were likely);
Louis the Grand Dauphin wed
Marie Émilie de Joly de Choin in 1695; Anne Marie d'Orléans (''
La Grande Mademoiselle
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'') wed
Antoine, Duke de Lauzun in 1682; and
Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans wed the
Marquise de Montesson in 1773. The mechanism of the "secret marriage" rendered it unnecessary for France to legislate the morganatic marriage ''per se''.
Within post-monarchical dynasties, until the end of the 20th century the heads of the Spanish and Italian Bourbon branches, the Orléans of both France and Brazil, and the Imperial Bonapartes have, in exile, exercised claimed authority to exclude from their dynasty descendants born of unapproved marriages — albeit without calling these marriages "morganatic".
German-speaking Europe
The practice of morganatic marriage was most common in the
German-speaking parts of Europe, where equality of birth (''Ebenbürtigkeit'') between the spouses was considered an important principle among the reigning houses and high nobility.
The German name was ''Ehe zur linken Hand'' ("marriage by the left hand") and the husband gave his left hand during the wedding ceremony instead of the right.
Perhaps the most famous example in modern times was the 1900 marriage of the heir to the throne of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
,
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
F ...
, and Bohemian aristocrat
Countess Sophie Chotek von Chotkowa. The marriage was initially resisted by
Emperor Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until h ...
, but after pressure from family members and other European rulers, he relented in 1899 (but did not attend the wedding himself). The bride was made
Princess
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subs ...
(later
Duchess) of
Hohenberg, their children took their mother's new name and rank, but were excluded from the imperial succession. The
Sarajevo assassination
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range while b ...
in 1914, killing both the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, triggered the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
Although the issue of morganatic marriages were ineligible to succeed to their families' respective thrones, children of morganatic marriages have gone on to achieve dynastic success elsewhere in Europe.
Descendants of the 1851 marriage of
Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine to the German-Polish noblewoman
Countess Julia von Hauke
Julia, Princess of Battenberg (previously Countess Julia Therese Salomea von Hauke; – 19 September 1895) was the wife of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the third son of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse. The daughter of a Polish general o ...
(created Princess of
Battenberg) include
Alexander, sovereign prince of Bulgaria, queen-consorts of Spain (
Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) was Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII from their marriage on 31 May 1906 until 14 April 1931, when the Spanish Second Republic was proclaimed. A Hessi ...
) and of Sweden (
Louise Mountbatten
Louise Alexandra Marie Irene Mountbatten (born Princess Louise of Battenberg; 13 July 1889 – 7 March 1965) was Queen of Sweden from 29 October 1950 until her death in 1965 as the wife of King Gustaf VI Adolf. Born a princess of the German ...
), and, in the female line,
Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person ...
(through his paternal grandmother,
Alice of Battenberg
Princess Alice of Battenberg (Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie; 25 February 1885 – 5 December 1969) was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II, and the paternal grandmother of King Charles II ...
).
Likewise, from the morganatic marriage of
Duke Alexander of Württemberg and
Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (created Countess von Hohenstein) descends
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King- ...
, who became Britain's queen in 1911 as the consort of
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
.
Occasionally, children of morganatic marriages have overcome their non-dynastic origins and succeeded to their family's realms.
Margrave Leopold inherited the throne of Baden, despite being born of a morganatic marriage, after all dynastic males of the
House of Zähringen
The House of Zähringen (german: Zähringer) was a dynasty of Swabian nobility. The family's name derived from Zähringen Castle near Freiburg im Breisgau. The Zähringer in the 12th century used the title of Duke of Zähringen, in compensation ...
died out. The son of
Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden, by his second wife
Louise Caroline Geyer von Geyersberg, who belonged to the minor nobility, Leopold became a prince in 1817, at the age of 27, as the result of a new law of succession. Baden's grand-ducal family faced extinction, so Leopold was enfranchised by international treaty and married to a princess, ascending the throne in 1830. His descendants ruled the grand duchy until the abolition of the monarchy in 1918.
Other reigning German families adopted similar approaches when facing a lack of male heirs. In 1896 the Princely
House of Schwarzburg, with the Sondershausen branch numbering two elderly childless princes and Rudolstadt just one childless prince, recognised
Prince Sizzo von Leutenberg, morganatic son of
Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (6 November 1793 – 28 June 1867) was a sovereign prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
Biography
He was born in Rudolstadt the second son of the reigning prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Louis ...
, as a Prince of Schwarzburg and heir to the two principalities.
The senior line of the dynasty ruling the
Principality of Lippe
Lippe (later Lippe-Detmold and then again Lippe) was a historical state in Germany, ruled by the House of Lippe. It was located between the Weser river and the southeast part of the Teutoburg Forest.
It was founded in the 1640s under a sep ...
was bordering on extinction as the 20th century approached, prompting a succession dispute between the
Lippe-Biesterfeld
The House of Lippe-Biesterfeld was a comital cadet line of the House of Lippe (a German dynasty reigning from 1413 until 1918, of comital and, from 1789, of princely rank).
The comital branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld ascended the throne of the Prin ...
and
Schaumburg-Lippe
Schaumburg-Lippe, also Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807, a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bü ...
branches of the dynasty which evoked international intervention and troop movements. It centered on whether some ancestresses of the Biesterfeld branch had been legally dynastic; if so, that line stood next to inherit the princely crown according to primogeniture. If not, the Biesterfelds would be deemed morganatic and the Schaumburg-Lippes would inherit the throne. Lippe's Parliament was blocked from voting on the matter by the German Empire's ''
Reichstag'', which instead created a panel of jurists selected by the King of Saxony to evaluate the evidence concerning the historical marital rules of the House of Lippe and render a decision in the matter, all parties agreeing to abide by their judgment. In 1897 and 1905 panels ruled in favour of the dynasticity of the challenged ancestresses and their descendants, largely because, although neither had been of dynastic rank, the Lippes had historically accepted such marriages for the junior lines when approved by the Head of House.
[" Hugh Chisholm, editor. ]Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. S ...
. Volume 16. ''Lippe
Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe.
...
''. University Press, 1911, pp. 740-741.[Velde, Francois. Heraldica.org. ]
The 1895-1905 Succession Dispute
'' 2 December 2005. Retrieved 2012/5/2.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a few families considered in Germany to be morganatic were considered for crowns elsewhere, constituting unexpected rehabilitation of their status.
The first of these was
Prince Alexander of Battenberg, who in 1877 was agreed upon by the
Great Powers
A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power in ...
as the best candidate for the new throne of Bulgaria. He was, however, unable to hold onto his crown, and was also unable to obtain the hand in marriage of
Princess Viktoria of Prussia
Princess Friederike Amalia Wilhelmine Viktoria of Prussia (12 April 1866 – 13 November 1929) was the second daughter of Frederick III, German Emperor and his wife Victoria, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. Born a member of th ...
despite the efforts of her
imperial mother and
grandmother
Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic gra ...
.
Wilhelm, Duke of Urach
Count Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Ferdinand of Württemberg, 1st Duke of Urach (6 July 1810 – 17 July 1869), was the son of Duke Wilhelm of Württemberg (1761–1830), younger brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg, by his morganatic wif ...
(1864–1928), whose father was the morganatic son of a Württemberg prince, had the distinction of being under consideration for the crowns of five realms at different times: that of the
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...
in the 1890s, as the senior
agnate by primogeniture when it became likely that
King William II would die without male descendants, leaving as heir
Duke Albrecht of Württemberg
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
, a more distantly related, albeit dynastic, royal kinsman; the
Principality of Albania in 1913; the
Principality of Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque dialect, Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riv ...
at turn of the 20th century, as the next heir by
proximity of blood following the
Hereditary Prince Louis, until the
Monaco succession crisis of 1918
The Monaco succession crisis of 1918 arose because France objected to the prospect of a German national inheriting the throne of the Principality of Monaco. Prince Albert I had only one legitimate child, the Hereditary Prince Louis, then heir a ...
was resolved as the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
ended; the prospective
Grand Duchy of Alsace-Lorraine in 1917; and his abortive election by the ''
Taryba
The Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Taryba, german: Litauischer Staatsrat, pl, Rada Litewska), after July 11, 1918 the State Council of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Valstybės Taryba) was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place betwe ...
'' as King Mindaugas II of Lithuania in July 1918. In the event, Duke Wilhelm obtained none of these thrones.
Relying upon the ''
Almanach de Gotha
The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First publish ...
'' to
gazette
A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.
In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspaper ...
dynastic events, Germany's deposed heads of state continued to notify its editors of changes in family members' status and traditional titles.
In 1919 the morganatic wife and children of
Prince Oskar of Prussia, the counts and countesses von Ruppin, were upgraded to princes and princesses of Prussia by the exiled
Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1928
Georg, Count von Carlow, morganatic son of Duke George Alexander of Mecklenburg and commoner Natalia Vanljarskaya, became a duke of Mecklenburg and heir to his uncle
Duke Charles Michael. In 1949, and again in 1999, various morganatic members of the
Bavarian Royal House were recognised as princes and princesses of Bavaria, with the current head of the house,
Franz, Duke of Bavaria
Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern (born 14 July 1933), commonly known by the courtesy title Duke of Bavaria, is the head of the House of Wittelsbach, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria. His great-grandfather Ki ...
, being among the beneficiaries of his father's ruling, having been born of a marriage initially deemed morganatic.
[de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. ''Le Petit Gotha''. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, p. 37 (French) ]
In the former Royal Family of Saxony
Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen adopted and designated as his heir his nephew
Alexander de Afif, thus bypassing his
agnatic
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
cousin's morganatic son,
Prince Rüdiger of Saxony, and his three sons.
Luxembourg
When the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
found itself without a male heir at the beginning of the 20th century, the morganatic
counts von Merenberg proposed themselves as heirs, being the last legitimate descendants in the
male line
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...
of the
House of Nassau
The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count ...
.
Grand Duke William IV, however, chose to confirm the law of succession stipulated in 1815 by the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...
to allow a female descendant in the Nassau male line to become successor to the throne (his own daughter
Marie-Adélaïde) instead.
[Velde, Francois. Heraldica.org. ]
Succession in Nassau and Luxemburg
'. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 2012/5/2.
Russia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he was fathered by her l ...
promulgated a strict new
house law
House law or House laws (''Hausgesetze'') are rules that govern a royal family or dynasty in matters of eligibility for succession to a throne, membership in a dynasty, exercise of a regency, or entitlement to dynastic rank, titles and styles ...
for Russia in 1797, eliminating the sovereign's right to designate the heir to the throne, but requiring that dynasts be born of authorized marriages.
[Beeche, Arturo. ''The Grand Dukes.']
Eurohistory.com
, Berkeley, California, 2010. pp. vi-x, 24, 158. . In 1820 a new law also stipulated that only children of Romanovs born of marriages with persons of equal status, i.e., members of a "royal or sovereign family", could transmit succession rights and titles to descendants.
Alexander III forbade Romanov morganatic marriages altogether by issuance of ''
ukase
In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader ( patriarch) that had the force of law. "Edict" and " decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concep ...
'' #5868 on 24 March 1889 amending article #63 of the Statute on the Imperial Family in the
Pauline laws
The Pauline Laws are the house laws of the Romanov rulers of the Russian Empire. The name comes from the fact that they were initially established by Emperor Paul I of Russia in 1797.
Paul I abolished Peter the Great's law that allowed each rei ...
. By ''ukase'' #35731, dated 11 August 1911, Nicholas II amended the amendment, reducing application of this restriction from all members of the Imperial Family to grand dukes and grand duchesses only. This decree allowed marriages of the
princes and princesses of the Blood Imperial with non-royal spouses, on the
conditions that the emperor's consent be obtained, that the dynast renounce his or her personal succession rights, and that the Pauline laws restricting succession rights to those born of equal marriages continue in force.
An early victim of the Pauline laws was
Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich, grandson of
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
, and viceroy of Poland. On 20 March 1820 his marriage to Princess
Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Coburg, 23 September 1781 – Elfenau, near Bern, Switzerland, 12 August 1860), also known as Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia (russian: Анна Фёдоровна), was a German princess of the duc ...
was annulled to allow him to morganatically wed his longtime mistress,
Countess Joanna Grudna-Grudzińska, in Warsaw on 24 May 1820, who was elevated to the title "Princess Łowicza" upon marriage, which produced no children.
[Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Pierre le Grand, Tsar de Russie''. Sedopols, Paris, 1983. pp.43, 127. French. ]
![Princess Catherine Dolgorukov](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Princess_Catherine_Dolgorukov.jpg)
One emperor,
Alexander II, married morganatically in 1880. Princess
Ekaterina Mihailovna Dolgorukova
Princess Catherine Dolgorukova (; 15 February 1922) was a Russian aristocrat and the daughter of Prince Michael Dolgorukov (from Rurik dynasty) and Vera Vishnevskaya.
Catherine was a long-time mistress of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and late ...
, Alexander's second bride, had previously been his long-term mistress and the mother of his three
legitimised children, the
princes and princesses Yurievsky.
[Willis, Daniel. The Descendants of King George I of Great Britain. Clearfield, Baltimore, 2002. pp. 114, 580, 601, 607, 717. .]
Beginning a novel tradition, one of that couple's daughters, Princess Olga Aleksandrovna Yurievskaya (1873–1925), in 1895 married the child of an 1868 morganatic marriage in the
House of Nassau
The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count ...
,
George, Count von Merenberg (1871–1965).
His mother was a daughter of renowned author
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
but, despite being of noble birth, she could not in 1868 dynastically marry the
younger brother
Younger Brother is an electronic duo formed in 2003 by Simon Posford and Benji Vaughan. Their debut album '' A Flock of Bleeps'' was released in 2003, followed by '' The Last Days of Gravity'' in 2007 and ''Vaccine'' in 2011.
After making a ...
of a then-exiled
Duke of Nassau.
The count filed a futile suit to establish that his morganatic status in Germany should not exclude him from succession to the
throne of Luxembourg after the last male of the
House of Orange
The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...
, King
William III of the Netherlands
William III ( Dutch: ''Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk''; English: ''William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis''; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in ...
, died in 1890 and it became apparent that the House of Nassau faced the imminent extinction of its male members, as well, upon the eventual death of
Grand Duke William IV.
Olga's brother,
Prince George Aleksandrovich Yurievsky (1872–1913), in 1900 wed Countess Alexandra von Zarnekau (1883–1957), daughter of the morganatic marriage of the Russo-German
Duke Constantine Petrovich of Oldenburg
Duke Constantine Frederick Peter of Oldenburg (german: Herzog Konstantin Friedrich Peter von Oldenburg; russian: Константин Петрович Ольденбургский, tr. ; 9 May 1850 – 18 March 1906) was a son of Duke Peter Georgi ...
with Agrafena
Djaparidize.
Merenberg's sister,
Sophia (1868–1927), likewise contracted a morganatic marriage in 1891, with
Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (Russian: Михаил Михайлович; 16 October 1861 – 26 April 1929) was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.
He was raised in the ...
, whose cousin,
Emperor Nicholas II banished them to England, unwittingly saving the couple from the maelstrom of the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
which proved fatal to so many
Romanovs
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...
.
[Crawford, Rosemary and Donald. "Michael and Natasha". Scribner, New York, 1997. pp. 111, 131, 147, 182, 204, 228, 389. .] She and her children were made ''counts de Torby'', her younger daughter,
Countess Nada (1896–1963) marrying, in 1916
Prince George of Battenberg, future
Marquess of Milford Haven and scion of the
House of Battenberg
The Battenberg family is a non-dynastic cadet branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, which ruled the Grand Duchy of Hesse until 1918. The first member was Julia Hauke, whose brother-in-law Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse, Grand Duke Louis III of ...
, a morganatic branch of the grandducal
House of Hesse
The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...
which had settled in England and inter-married with descendants of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
.
Less fortunate among the Romanovs was
Grand Duke Paul Aleksandrovich, who went into exile in Paris to marry a commoner,
Olga Valerianovna Karnovich in 1902.
Paul returned to serve in the Russian army during the First World War, and Nicholas II rewarded his uncle's loyalty by elevating Olga and her children as Princess and Princes Paley in 1915.
Paul's patriotism, however, sealed his fate, and he died at the hands of Russia's revolutionaries in 1919. One of his daughters,
Princess Irene Pavlovna Paley (1903–1990), was married while in exile in 1923, to her cousin,
Prince Theodor Aleksandrovich of Russia, (1898-1968).
Nicholas II forbade his brother,
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia (russian: Михаи́л Алекса́ндрович, r=Mikhail Aleksandrovich; 13 June 1918) was the youngest son and fifth child of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and youngest brother of Nicholas ...
, from marrying twice-divorced
noblewoman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
Natalya Sergeyevna Wulfert (''née'' Sheremetevskaya), but the couple eloped abroad in 1911.
The Tsar refused his brother's request to grant the bride or their son,
George Mikhailovich (1910–1931) a title, but
legitimated George and incorporated him into the
Russian nobility
The Russian nobility (russian: дворянство ''dvoryanstvo'') originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population) in the Russian Empire.
Up until the February Revolutio ...
under the surname "Brassov" in 1915: nonetheless he and his mother used the
comital title from 1915, only being granted a princely prefix in exile by
Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia in 1928.
In the throes of the First World War, Nicholas II allowed his sister
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia to end her loveless marriage to her social equal,
Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg
Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg (21 November 1868 – 11 March 1924) was the first husband of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, the youngest sister of Tsar Nicholas II.
Biography
Early life
He was born in Saint Petersburg in the ...
, and quietly marry commoner Colonel
Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky
Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky (5 November 1881 – 11 August 1958) was the second husband of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, the sister of Tsar Nicholas II and daughter of Tsar Alexander III.
He was born into a military landowning f ...
.
Both Michael's and Olga's descendants from these marriages were excluded from the succession.
After the murder of Nicholas II and his children, the Imperial Family's morganatic marriages restricted the number of possible claimants.
Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich
Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia (russian: Кирилл Владимирович Романов; ''Kirill Vladimirovich Romanov''; – 12 October 1938) was a son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Emperor A ...
, Nicholas's cousin, proclaimed himself as Emperor in exile.
Controversy accompanied the marriage of his son
Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich to
Princess Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Mukhransky, a descendant of the deposed Royal House of Georgia.
After the annexation of Georgia in 1801, Leonida's family were deemed ordinary nobility in Imperial Russia rather than royalty, leading to claims that her 1948 marriage to Vladimir (who, however, also belonged to a deposed dynasty by then) was unequal and should be considered morganatic.
As a result, some factions within Russia's monarchist movement did not support the couple's daughter,
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, as the rightful heir to the Romanov dynasty.
Sweden
King
Eric XIV of Sweden married
Karin Månsdotter
Karin Månsdotter (in English Catherine; 6 November 1550 – 13 September 1612) was first a mistress of King Eric XIV of Sweden and then briefly queen as his wife.
Early life
Karin was born in Stockholm to a soldier and later prison guard na ...
, a farmer's daughter, in 1568.
Transkei
Standards of social classification and marital rules resembling the traditions of
dynastic Europe can also be found in a number of sovereign nations in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. Here, a number of its constituent sovereign nations have legalized
traditional authority
Traditional authority is a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a regime is largely tied to tradition or custom. The main reason for the given state of affairs is that " things have always been that way".Reinhard Bendi ...
as manifested in the recognized hereditary transmission of
chieftaincy
A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribe
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia.
Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as ...
in historically relevant regions of the continent (e.g., the
Asantehene
The is the title for the monarch of the historical Ashanti Empire as well as the ceremonial ruler of the Ashanti people today. The Ashanti royal house traces its line to the Oyoko (an ''Abusua'', or "clan") Abohyen Dynasty of Nana Twum and th ...
of
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...
).
An example of the form that morganatic unions tend to take amongst African royalty can be found in the biography of
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...
, the late leader of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
. Mandela, a
nobleman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...
by birth of the
Xhosa Thembus that reside in the
Transkei
Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...
region of the Cape coast, was nevertheless unable to ascend the throne of the ''Kumkani'' (or king) of the entire Thembu tribe, even though he descended in the legitimate, male line from the holders of this title. Nearly two centuries ago,
Ngubengcuka (d. 1832), who ruled as the ''Kumkani'' of the Thembu people, married and subsequently left a son named Mandela, who became Nelson's grandfather and the source of his surname. However, because Mandela was only the
Inkosi's child by a wife of the ''Ixhiba'' lineage, a so-called "Left-Hand House", the descendants of his
cadet branch
In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, t ...
of the Thembu royal family remain ineligible to succeed to the Thembu throne,
which is itself one of the several traditional seats that are still officially recognized by South Africa's government. Instead, the Mandelas were given the
chiefdom
A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...
of
Mvezo and made hereditary counsellors to the ''Kumkani'' (i.e.,
privy counsellors) in deference to their royal ancestry. Following the loss of this chiefdom (which has since been restored to the family) in the
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
era,
the Mandelas retained their positions as nobles of the Transkei. This status entailed, however, a degree of subjugation to the head of the dynasty, in particular in the matter of marital selection, which proved so onerous an issue to Nelson Mandela that it prompted the departure to
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
that eventually led to his political career. Like the
House of Battenberg
The Battenberg family is a non-dynastic cadet branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, which ruled the Grand Duchy of Hesse until 1918. The first member was Julia Hauke, whose brother-in-law Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse, Grand Duke Louis III of ...
in Europe, Mandela's family has since rehabilitated
its dynastic status to some extent: Mandela was still in prison when his daughter
Zenani was married to
Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini in 1973, elder brother of both King
Mswati III of Swaziland There have been three leaders of Swaziland with the name Mswati.
* Chief Mswati I, c. 1480 – c. 1520
* King Mswati II, 1840–1868
* King Mswati III, since 1986
See also
*List of monarchs of Eswatini
This article lists the monarchs ('' Ngwen ...
and Queen
Mantfombi,
Great Wife
Great Wife, otherwise appearing in West Africa as Senior Wife, is an honorific applied to contemporary royal and aristocratic consorts in states throughout modern Africa (e.g., Mantfombi Dlamini of eSwatini, who once served as the chief consort of ...
of
Goodwill Zwelithini
King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu (27 July 1948 – 12 March 2021) was the reigning King of the Zulu nation from 1968 to his death in 2021.
He became King on the death on of his father, King Cyprian Bhekuzulu, in 1968 aged 20 years. P ...
, King of the Zulus.
Travancore and Cochin
In the erstwhile
princely state
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...
of
Travancore
The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. A ...
, in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, the male members of the
Travancore Royal Family were, under the existing matrilineal
Marumakkathayam
Marumakkathayam was a system of matrilineal inheritance prevalent in regions what now form part of the southern Indian state Kerala. Descent and the inheritance of property was traced through females. It was followed by all Nair castes, Ambalav ...
system of inheritance and family, permitted to contract marriages with women of the
Nair
The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom hist ...
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultur ...
only. These were morganatic marriages called
Sambandhams wherein the children gained their mother's caste and family name, due to
Marumakkathayam
Marumakkathayam was a system of matrilineal inheritance prevalent in regions what now form part of the southern Indian state Kerala. Descent and the inheritance of property was traced through females. It was followed by all Nair castes, Ambalav ...
. Although they could not inherit the throne, they did receive a title of
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
,
Thampi (son of the Maharajah) and Kochamma (daughter of the Maharajah). These were the members of the
Ammaveedu
Ammaveedus were the residences of the consorts of the Maharajahs of Travancore in Trivandrum. The descendants of the Maharajahs were considered as members of these Ammaveedus, with a status subordinate only to royalty. The chief four Ammaveedus ar ...
s and their titles ensured a comfortable lifestyle and all other luxuries. The descendants of these Ammaveedu members were simply called Thampi and Thankachi and they didn't get any other distinguishing privileges.
The Cochin Royal family also followed the system of
Marumakkatayam
Marumakkathayam was a system of matrilineal inheritance prevalent in regions what now form part of the southern Indian state Kerala. Descent and the inheritance of property was traced through females. It was followed by all Nair castes, Ambal ...
. Traditionally the female members of the family married Namboodiri Brahmins while male members marry ladies of the Nair caste. These wives of the male members are not royalty or didn't receive any royal titles or power, per the matrilineal system but instead get the title of Nethyar Amma. Their position ceases when the Maharaja dies. The children born to Neytharammas will be known by their mother's caste and hold no key royal titles. Currently the family marries mostly within the Kerala Kshatriya class.
United Kingdom
The concept of morganatic marriage has never clearly existed in any part of the United Kingdom, and historically the English crown descended through marriages with commoners as late as the 17th century. Only two of the six marriages
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
made to secure an heir were with royal brides, and
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile;Although spelling of the family name is usually modernised to "Woodville", it was spelt "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton, but her tomb at St. George's Chapel, Wind ...
, queen of
Edward IV of England
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in Englan ...
, was also a commoner.
Another link in the English succession involving marriage with a commoner was between
John of Gaunt
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...
and
Katherine Swynford
Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster (born Katherine de Roet, – 10 May 1403), also spelled Katharine or Catherine, was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth (but third surviving) son of King Edward III.
Daughte ...
. When they married after co-habiting for several years all children born previously were subsequently legitimated by Act of Parliament.
King Henry IV later declared that they could not inherit the crown, but it is not clear that he had the right to do this. This marriage was important, as
King Henry VII
Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.
Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, ...
was descended from it, but Parliament still declared that he was king, so some issues remained unresolved.
The marriage of
George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
as Prince of Wales to
Maria Fitzherbert
Maria Anne Fitzherbert (''née'' Smythe, previously Weld; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837) was a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV of the United Kingdom). In 1785, they secretly contracted a marriage that was ...
in 1785 is frequently referred to as morganatic: it was in fact doubly in breach of law, as a marriage to a Catholic and one not having been sanctioned by the king.
As in nearly all European monarchies extant in the 21st century, most approved marriages in the
British royal family are with untitled commoners
[Willis, Daniel A., ''The Descendants of King George I of Great Britain'', Clearfield Company, Baltimore, 2002, pp. 48–54 and ''passim''. .] and have been for several generations. In 1923, the future
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...
(then second in line to the throne as
Duke of York
Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was ...
), was the first future British monarch to marry a non-princess or prince since 1659 when the future
James VII & II eloped with
Anne Hyde
Anne Hyde (12 March 163731 March 1671) was Duchess of York and Albany as the first wife of James, Duke of York, who later became King James II and VII.
Anne was the daughter of a member of the English gentry – Edward Hyde (later created ...
. Wives of British peers are entitled to use the feminine form of their husbands' peerages under
English common law
English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures.
Principal elements of English law
Although the common law has, historically, be ...
, while wives of royal princes share their husbands' styles by custom unless the Sovereign formally objects.
[ Somervell, Sir Donald. Memorandum, Attorney General to Home Secretary, 14 April 1937, National Archives file HO 144/22945.]
For example,
Catherine Middleton
Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...
, a commoner, became the
Duchess of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...
upon her marriage on 29 April 2011 to
Prince William, who had been created
Duke of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...
that morning.
Camilla Parker Bowles
Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the ac ...
, second wife of
Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
(as he was at the time), legally held the title "
Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton).
The title was fi ...
" but at the time that the engagement was announced it was declared that she would be known by the title "
Duchess of Cornwall" and, in Scotland,
Duchess of Rothesay
Duke of Rothesay ( ; gd, Diùc Baile Bhòid; sco, Duik o Rothesay) is a dynastic title of the heir apparent to the British throne, currently William, Prince of Wales. William's wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, is the current Duchess of Ro ...
(derived from other titles her husband holds as
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
) in deference, it has been reported, to public feelings about the title's previous holder, the Prince's first wife
Lady Diana Spencer. It was simultaneously stated that at such time, if any, that her husband accedes to the throne, she will be known as "
Princess Consort" rather than "Queen", although as the king's wife she would legally be queen.
However in her 2022
Accession Day message, Queen Elizabeth II stated that it was her "sincere wish" for Camilla to be “known as Queen Consort” upon Charles's accession to the throne.
Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
On 16 November 1936
Edward VIII
Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...
informed Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...
that he intended to marry the American divorcée
Wallis Simpson
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...
, proposing that he be allowed to do so morganatically and remain king.
[HRH The Duke of Windsor. ''A King's Story''. 1951. London: Cassell and Co., p. 332.] Baldwin expressed his belief that Mrs. Simpson would be unacceptable to the British people as queen due to her status as a divorcee, which contradicted Church of England doctrine at the time, but agreed to take further soundings. The prospect of the marriage was rejected by the
British Cabinet.
[Bloch, Michael (1982). ''The Duke of Windsor's War''. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. , p. 346] The other
Dominion
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
governments were consulted pursuant to the
Statute of Westminster 1931
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Commonwealth realms and the Crown.
Passed on 11 December 1931, the statute increased the sovereignty of the ...
, which provided in part that "any alteration in the law touching the Succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
." Baldwin suggested three options to the prime ministers of the five
Dominion
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
s of which Edward was also king:
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
and the Irish Free State. The options were:
# Edward and Mrs. Simpson marry and she become queen (a royal marriage);
# Edward and Mrs. Simpson marry, but she not become queen, instead receiving some Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title (a morganatic marriage); or
# Abdication for Edward and any potential heirs he might father, allowing him to make any marital decisions without further constitutional implications.
The second option had European precedents, including Edward's own maternal great-grandfather,
Duke Alexander of Württemberg, but no unambiguous parallel in British constitutional history. William Lyon Mackenzie King (Prime Minister of Canada), Joseph Lyons (Prime Minister of Australia) and J. B. M. Hertzog (Prime Minister of South Africa) opposed options 1 and 2. Michael Joseph Savage (Prime Minister of New Zealand) rejected option 1 but thought that option 2 "might be possible ... if some solution along these lines were found to be practicable" but "would be guided by the decision of the Home government". Thus the majority of the Commonwealth's prime ministers agreed that there was "no alternative to course (3)". On 24 November, Baldwin consulted the three leading opposition politicians in Britain: Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition Clement Attlee, Liberal Party (UK), Liberal leader Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso, Sir Archibald Sinclair and Winston Churchill. Sinclair and Attlee agreed that options 1 and 2 were unacceptable and Churchill pledged to support the government.
The letters and diaries of working-class people and ex-servicemen generally demonstrate support for the King, while those from the middle and upper classes tend to express indignation and distaste. ''The Times'', ''The Morning Post'', the ''Daily Herald (United Kingdom), Daily Herald'', and newspapers owned by Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley, Lord Kemsley, such as ''The Daily Telegraph'', opposed the marriage. On the other hand, the ''Daily Express, Express'' and ''Daily Mail, Mail'' newspapers, owned by Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Lord Beaverbrook and Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, Lord Rothermere, respectively, appeared to support a morganatic marriage. The King estimated that the newspapers in favour had a circulation of 12.5 million, and those against had 8.5 million.
Backed by Churchill and Beaverbrook, Edward proposed to broadcast a speech indicating his desire to remain on the throne or to be recalled to it if forced to abdicate, while marrying Mrs Simpson morganatically. In one section, Edward proposed to say:
Baldwin and the
British Cabinet blocked the speech, saying that it would shock many people and would be a grave breach of constitutional principles.
Ultimately, Edward decided to give up the throne for "the woman I love," whereupon he and his descendants were deprived of all right to the Crown by Parliament's passage of His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. He was created Duke of Windsor on 8 March 1937 by his brother, the new
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...
. He would marry Wallis Simpson in France on 3 June 1937, after her second divorce became final. In the meantime, however, letters patent dated 27 May 1937, which re-conferred upon the Duke of Windsor the "title, style, or attribute of Royal Highness", specifically stated that "his wife and descendants, if any, shall not hold said title or attribute". This decree was issued by the new king and unanimously supported by the Dominion governments. The king's authority to withhold from the lawful wife of a prince the attribute hitherto accorded to the wives of other modern British princes was addressed by the Crown's legal authorities: On 14 April 1937, Attorney General for England and Wales, Attorney General Sir Donald Somervell, Baron Somervell of Harrow, Donald Somervell submitted to Home Secretary Sir John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, John Simon a memorandum summarising the views of Lord Advocate Thomas Cooper, 1st Baron Cooper of Culross, T. M. Cooper, Parliamentary Counsel Sir Granville Ram, and himself:
#We incline to the view that on his abdication the Duke of Windsor could not have claimed the right to be described as a Royal Highness. In other words, no reasonable objection could have been taken if the King had decided that his exclusion from the lineal succession excluded him from the right to this title as conferred by the existing Letters Patent.
#The question however has to be considered on the basis of the fact that, for reasons which are readily understandable, he with the express approval of His Majesty enjoys this title and has been referred to as a Royal Highness on a formal occasion and in formal documents. In the light of precedent it seems clear that the wife of a Royal Highness enjoys the same title unless some appropriate express step can be and is taken to deprive her of it.
#We came to the conclusion that the wife could not claim this right on any legal basis. The right to use this style or title, in our view, is within the prerogative of His Majesty and he has the power to regulate it by Letters Patent generally or in particular circumstances.
The new King's firm view, that the Duchess should not be given a royal title, was shared by Queen Mary and George's wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth. The Duchess bitterly resented the denial of the royal title and the refusal of the Duke's relatives to accept her as part of the family.
[Philip Ziegler, Ziegler, Philip (2004]
"Windsor, (Bessie) Wallis, duchess of Windsor (1896–1986)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, , retrieved 2 May 2010 (subscription required) In the early days of George VI's reign the Duke telephoned daily, importuning for money and urging that the Duchess be granted the style of Royal Highness, until the harassed King ordered that the calls not be put through. However, within the household of the Duke and Duchess, the style "Her Royal Highness" was used by those who were close to the couple.
Morganatic vs. invalid
The Royal Marriages Act of 1772 made it illegal for all persons born into the
British royal family to marry without the permission of the sovereign, and any marriage contracted without the sovereign's consent was considered invalid. This led to several prominent cases of British princes who had gone through marriage ceremonies, and who cohabited with their partners as if married, but whose relationships were not legally recognised. As a result, their partners and children (which would be considered illegitimate) held no titles, and had no succession rights. This differs from morganatic marriages, which are considered legally valid.
England/Scotland
James II/VII and Anne Hyde
It has been suggested that William III of England, William, Prince of Orange, expected to have a strong claim to the throne of England after the James II of England, Duke of York during the reign of Charles II of England, Charles II.
[Van der zee and Van der zee, 1688: ''A Revolution in the family''. Viking, Great Britain: 1988. p 52] In fact, the Duke's two daughters from his first marriage, Queen Mary II of England, Princess Mary and Queen Anne of Great Britain, Princess Anne, were considered to have the stronger claim by the English establishment. William's expectation was based on the continental practice of morganatic marriage, since the mother of both princesses,
Anne Hyde
Anne Hyde (12 March 163731 March 1671) was Duchess of York and Albany as the first wife of James, Duke of York, who later became King James II and VII.
Anne was the daughter of a member of the English gentry – Edward Hyde (later created ...
, was a commoner and a lady-in-waiting to William's mother, Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, Princess Mary. It was through his mother, a sister of Charles II and the Duke of York, that William claimed the throne, because, to his mind, the son of a princess had a stronger claim than the daughter of a commoner. It was to shore up his own claim to the throne that he agreed to marry his first cousin, Princess Mary. When James II fled at the Glorious Revolution, William refused to accept the title of king consort (which Philip II of Spain had been granted under Mary I of England, Queen Mary I in the 1550s) and insisted on being named King in his own right. The compromise solution involved naming both to the crown as had rarely happened in the past (see for example Henry II of England, King Henry II and his son Henry the Young King, Young King Henry, who ruled England simultaneously).
See also
* Agnatic seniority
* Clandestinity (canon law)
* ''Lex Canuleia''
Unequal marriage
*Concubinage
*Courtesan
*Gold digger
*Hypergamy
*Inter-caste marriage
*Marriage 'à la façon du pays', Marriage ''à la façon du pays''
*Misyar marriage, ''Misyar'' marriage
*''Plaçage''
*Signare
*Sugar baby
*War bride
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morganatic Marriage
Morganatic marriage,
Monarchy
Social divisions