English/British Historical Royal Scandals

[EmpressRouge]

Alix and Minnie never forgave their youngest sister, Thyra, for allowing her son to marry a Prussian - and the daughter of the much hated Wilhelm no less! Thyra seems to be the forgotten sister, with Alix and Minnie being so beautiful, glamorous and beloved in their adopted countires and being so close with one another. After the scandal of having a child out of wedlock with a commoner, Thyra was always in the shadow of two sisters that made fabulous marriages (although she did have a chance to become Queen of the Netherlands).

[CarolinaLandgrave]

Thyra had a chance to become Queen of the Netherlands? How did Queen Louise ever let that slip through her fingers????? Even with the illegitimate child she had (in Greece, correct??)

[jonnydep]

the dutch suitor was none other than king william III, not even the prospect of the dutch crown could compenstate for the fact that the widowed king was thirty-six years older than the princess, thyra refused him......

[CarolinaLandgrave]

Ahhh..... I guess even a mother's pushing doesn't make up for the fact that he was old enough to be her father.... and I guess Thyra had some gumption to resist and give up a throne...
But thanks for that info, Johnny - I did not know that William III was in the running for the hand of Thyra

[EmpressRouge]

The recently widowed William was looking for a second wife but was famously bad tempered. He and his first wife, Sophie of Wuttemberg had an unhappy marriage. He was not only rejected by Thyra but also by Pauline, his second wife, Emma's sister.

[CarolinaLandgrave]

He must have been a real ornery rascal!!

[Vasillisos Markos]

Originally Posted by CarolinaLandgrave

Thyra had a chance to become Queen of the Netherlands? How did Queen Louise ever let that slip through her fingers????? Even with the illegitimate child she had (in Greece, correct??)

Queen Alexandra had an illegitimate niece or nephew born in Greece?

[CarolinaLandgrave]

Princess Thyra had a child, a daughter, before she married

[Vasillisos Markos]

Where was this child born? Any idea who the father may have been? Just curious . . .

[jonnydep]

sometime in 1870, thyra fell in love with a danish army officer named wiilliam frimann marcher.....it is rumoured that she gave birth to his daughter around christmas 1871 in athens.

marcher was not allowed to see the princess nor the newborn child and after a heated discussion with her father the king, marcher hanged himself in january 1872.......

what become of this daughter, i have no knowledge !!

[Vasillisos Markos]

Jonnydep,

Thanks for the additional information. I googled the name of Marcher and discovered this link:

Princess Thyra of Denmark: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

According to this source, the child was born in Denmark, named Maria, adopted by a couple from Odense, renamed Kate, and died in 1964.

What I find remarkable, considering the mores and dictates of society, was how Thyra managed to meet and have intercourse without being discovered. Kudos to her for pulling it off (no pun intended) but how sad that she could not marry, that the child was put up for adoption, and that her lover killed himself.

[Furienna]

Vasilios, you took the words right out of my mouth. I too was surprised, that a princess in the 19th century was able to be alone with a man before marriage. I thought they were too heavily supervised. It sure is a sad story, anyway.

[Zonk]

Thyra was not the first unfortunately.

There was a sister of King George III, Caroline Mathilde of Denmark who was married to the King of Denmark and had an affair, right under her husbands nose and had a daughter with her lover. That was a big scandal at the time. And then another one of his George's daughters, her name escapes me at the moment.

[CarolinaLandgrave]

George III's daughter....
Sophia or Amelia, I think, Zonk.

[jonnydep]

Originally Posted by Vasillisos Markos

...According to this source, the child was born in Denmark, named Maria, adopted by a couple from Odense, renamed Kate, and died in 1964.

you are very welcome....
and thanks for the wonderful link !!
its somewhat odd we have now two differant birthplaces for the child though. my source (for athens) is the book "little mother of russia" by coryne hall.

i even have a third birthplace stated in the book "northern crowns" by john van der kiste......rumpenheim, a family home of the hesse-cassel family !!. this author also states that marcher had shot himself !!

the mind boggles !!

[jonnydep]

back in 1861, the baron stockmar, the mentor of the coburgs, had expressed his doughts concerning the proposed match between the prince of wales and princess alexandra of denmark.

he wrote a letter to the queen and prince albert, where by he stated that "one of the heads of the family was insignificant and a imbecile and the other is of lax principles and has the charcteristics of an intriguer !! "

queen victoria (who liked unearthing wickedness) assumed that baron was inferring to hidden scandals within the glucksburg and the hesse-cassel families.

the queen was later appalled to discover the following rumours.....
1, prince christian was involved in a financial scandal.
2, princess louise had had a illegitimate child.
3, princess alexandra had many flirtations with young army officers, one of whom was removed in consequence.

the queen asked for the rumours to be checked and had surprising results...
1, yes prince christian had been in financial difficultries in 1856, due to him playing the part of the heir to the danish throne on a pittance, his income was only £800 a year, the danish royal family had helped him out !!
2, the illegitimate child was traced to the bed of princess louise's sister, marie, later princess of dessau. btw its worth noting that her mother, the landgravine of hesse-cassel had encouraged her in her passion for a groom, with disastrous results....could queen louise have done the same with princess thyra's romance with marcher ?
3, yes the sum of alexandra's flirtations was that one young army officer had fallen violenty in love with the princess and it had been thought wiser to post him away........

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by jonnydep

sometime in 1870, thyra fell in love with a danish army officer named wiilliam frimann marcher.....it is rumoured that she gave birth to his daughter around christmas 1871 in athens.

Minnie's book has some of this knowledge as well. "Little Mother of Russia" by Coryne Hall.

Originally Posted by Zonk

Thyra was not the first unfortunately.

My friend Peter (Kurth, author of Anastasia the Riddle of Anna anderson) said it was not uncommon for the nobility and royalty to have children out of wedlock, they just couldn't TALK about it. Or acknowledge it. That was a big social taboo.

[CarolinaLandgrave]

You always have the BEST info, JonnyDep

[Katrianna]

Originally Posted by CarolinaLandgrave

You always have the BEST info, JonnyDep

I wholeheartedly agree, fascinating information jonnydep.

[Vasillisos Markos]

Surely there must have been some confederates who assisted these royal women with their assignations. Someone who could explain an absence or perhaps a flushed face . . . . :-)