Oldest Royal to Give Birth

[NotAPretender]

With the Countess of Wessex expecting at the age of 42, I began to muse about older royal births.

I remember that Caroline of Monaco gave birth to her youngest at about age 42 or 43. That's about the oldest that I can recall offhand.

Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia gave birth at age 41 to her son Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich of Russia.

Might anyone else have insight?

[LadyK]

well, men don't give birth, otherwise we could list a few of them.....

[Elspeth]

Princess Alice Duchess of Gloucester gave birth to her second son (the present Duke of Gloucester) at the age of 43 (she was born in December 1901, and Prince Richard was born in August 1944).

[NotAPretender]

Yes, I realize I limited the query by stating "Oldest Royal To Give Birth." Fatherhood appears to be available on a timeless scale, whereas motherhood has a sunset horizon.

[Henri M.]

In 1880 Willem III King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg became father to Princess Wilhelmina (grandmother of Queen Beatrix) on the age of 65.

His wife, Queen Emma of the Netherlands, née Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont, was only 20. An age gap of 45 years between husband and wife.

[Mari_*]

Woooow!! Thanks for the info Henri!

[Avalon]

Edward I was 60 when he married his 2nd wife, Marguerite of France (17 then). They had 3 children, the younges of them, Leonore, was born in 1306, when Edward was 67.
Only to add to this, the marriage was actually a happy one - after Edward's death Marguerite refused to marry, saying 'all men died with Edward' (and she had no lovers as well). But instead, she had a great relationships with all of her step-children (and there were 15 of them + 3 of her own).

[NotAPretender]

While it's delightful to have the information regarding the male portion of the reproduction process, I was more interested in the age of those who gave birth - meaning, of course, the female half of the equation.

So to be a bit more clear, can anyone shed light on the eldest royal female to give birth to a child, living or stillborn.

So far, it appears that the Duchess of Gloucester at age 44 was the female royal who gave birth at the most advanced age.

Will the Countess of Wessex be 42 or 43 when she gives birth?

[Elspeth]

The Duchess of Gloucester was not quite 44; she'd have been about 4 months short of her 44th birthday when she gave birth.

[NotAPretender]

Hmm. So it's 43 years, 8 months for the Duchess of Gloucester.

Caroline of Monaco, 42 years & six months.

Sophie Wessex, 42 years & 11+/- months.

[Benjamin]

Clementine d'Orleans, Princess August of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was almost 44 when she gave birth to her last child, who became the 1st King of Bulgaria. The Princess was born on Jun 17, 1817 and Ferdinand was born on Feb 26, 1861.

And Queen Sophie of the Hellenes was almost 43 (a month away) when she had Pss Katherine in 1913.

Pss Maria of Bavaria who married the late head of the Brazilian Imperial Family (b.9 Sep 1914) had her twin girls on 14 Jul 1959 so she was two months away from her forty-fifth birthday.

[michelleq]

Though from a Princely Family;

Princess Angela of Liechtenstein was 43 yrs, 3 months and 15 days when she gave birth to her son Alfons.

[Avalon]

Eleanor of Aquitaine was almost 44 when she gave birth to her youngest child, Prince John.

Queen Sophia of Greece (Sophia of Prussia) was 43 and 6 months old when she gave birth to Princess Katherine.

Elizabeth Woodville was 43 and 4 months old when she gave birth to Princess Briget of York

Eleanor of Castile was 43 when she gave birth to Prince Edward (Edward II)

Caroline of Ansbach was 41, when she gave birth to Princess Louise.

Philippa of Hainault was 41 when she gave birth to Thomas, 1st Duke of Gloucester

[Elspeth]

Eleanor of Aquitaine's actual birthday isn't known, is it? The nearest I could get is that she was born sometime in 1122 and gave birth to John in December 1166.

[Avalon]

Originally Posted by Elspeth

Eleanor of Aquitaine's actual birthday isn't known, is it? The nearest I could get is that she was born sometime in 1122 and gave birth to John in December 1166.

No, the exact Birthday is not known, and even the year is doubted (some suggest she was born in 1120, before her parents were married in 1121). However it is generally assumed she was born in early 1222, since on her 14th birthday the Lords of Aquitaine swore fealty to her (and that was in spring of 1136).

John was born on December 24, 1166. Which makes Eleanor 44 (or nearly 44) at the time of his birthday.

[NotAPretender]

Ah, so it appears that maternal upper limits on age are around 44-45.

Interesting!

I wish the Countess of Wessex Godspeed in her pregnancy.

[HMTLove23]

ROCCO
Dr. Enrico Mentana and his wife, née Donna Michela Rocco dei principi di Torrepadula (b.1960, daughter of Don Giulio Rocco, Principe di Torrepadula and of his second wife, née Maria Bert) had their second child together in Rome on 10 September. They have a son, Giulio, born in Rome on 3 June 2006. (updated 29 Sep 2007)

Michela is 47 years old

from Pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff

[Benjamin]

Pss Luigi of Bourbon-Parma (nee Maria of Savoy; 1914-2001) was two months short of her 47th birthday when she had her last child in 1961.

[kaffir]

Originally Posted by HMTLove23

ROCCO
Dr. Enrico Mentana and his wife, née Donna Michela Rocco dei principi di Torrepadula (b.1960, daughter of Don Giulio Rocco, Principe di Torrepadula and of his second wife, née Maria Bert) had their second child together in Rome on 10 September. They have a son, Giulio, born in Rome on 3 June 2006. (updated 29 Sep 2007)

Michela is 47 years old

from Pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff

As someone who is interested in fertility treatments, is there any confirmation that this is not without use of a donor egg?

[HMTLove23]

GRAMONT

Antoine, 14th Duc de Gramont, Prince de Bidache, etc.(b.Boulogne-sur-Seine 26 Apr 1951), and his wife, née Catherine Forget(b.Dijon 17 Mar 1956), had their first child, Antoine, Duc de Guiche, in the United States on 23 March. (added 2 Apr 2008)


she's 52
I clearly think that she use Fertilty treatments or a surrogant!!!