1.
House of Wettin
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The House of Wettin is a dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors and kings that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, the Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the family became the rulers of medieval states. Other states they gained were Meissen in 1089, Thuringia in 1263, the family divided into two ruling branches in 1485 by the Treaty of Leipzig, the Ernestine and Albertine branches. The older Ernestine branch played a key role during the Protestant Reformation, many ruling monarchs outside Germany were later tied to its cadet branch, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The Albertine branch, while less prominent, ruled most of Saxony, agnates of the House of Wettin have, at various times, ascended the thrones of Great Britain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland, Saxony, and Belgium. Only the British and Belgian lines retain their thrones today, the oldest member of the House of Wettin who is known for certain is Theodoric I of Wettin, also known as Dietrich, Thiedericus, and Thierry I of Liesgau. He was most probably based in the Liesgau, around 1000, the family acquired Wettin Castle, which was originally built by the local Slavic tribes, after which they named themselves. Wettin Castle is located in Wettin in the Hassegau on the Saale River, around 1030, the Wettin family received the Eastern March as a fief. The prominence of the Wettins in the Slavic Saxon Eastern March caused Emperor Henry IV to invest them with the March of Meissen as a fief in 1089. The family split into two ruling branches in 1485 when the sons of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony divided the territories hitherto ruled jointly, as Albert ruled under the title of Duke of Saxony, his possessions were also known as Ducal Saxony. The older Ernestine branch remained predominant until 1547 and played an important role in the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, Frederick III appointed Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon to the University of Wittenberg, which he had established in 1502. The Ernestine predominance ended in the Schmalkaldic War, which pitted the Protestant Schmalkaldic League against the Emperor Charles V, although itself Lutheran, the Albertine branch rallied to the Emperors cause. Charles V had promised Moritz the rights to the electorship, after the Battle of Mühlberg, Johann Friedrich der Großmütige, had to cede territory and the electorship to his cousin Moritz. Although imprisoned, Johann Friedrich was able to plan a new university and it was established by his three sons on 19 March 1548 as the Höhere Landesschule at Jena. On 15 August 1557, Emperor Ferdinand I awarded it the status of university, the Ernestine line was thereafter restricted to Thuringia and its dynastic unity swiftly crumbled, dividing into a number of smaller states, the Ernestine duchies. In the 18th century, Karl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, established what was to become known as Weimar Classicism at his court in Weimar, notably by bringing Johann Wolfgang von Goethe there. The Ernestine Wettins, on the hand, repeatedly subdivided their territory
2.
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is a German dynasty, the line of the Saxon House of Wettin that ruled the Ernestine duchies including the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Due to anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom during World War I, George V changed the name of his branch from Saxe-Coburg, the same happened in 1920 in Belgium, where it was changed to van de Belgen or des Belges. The first duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was Ernest I, who reigned from 1826 until his death in 1844 and he had previously been Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld from 1806 until the duchy was reorganized in 1826. Ernsts younger brother Leopold became King of the Belgians in 1831, léopolds only daughter, Princess Charlotte of Belgium, was the consort of Maximilian I of Mexico, known as the Empress Carlota of Mexico, in the 1860s. Ernsts nephew Ferdinand married Queen Maria II of Portugal, and his descendants continued to rule Portugal until that became a republic in 1910. Ernest Is second son, Prince Albert, married Queen Victoria in 1840, in 1826, a cadet branch of the house inherited the Hungarian princely estate of Koháry, and converted to Roman Catholicism. Its members managed to marry a princess of Brazil, an archduchess of Austria, a royal princess of the French, a royal princess of Belgium. A scion of this branch, also named Ferdinand, became Prince, and then Tsar, of Bulgaria, according to the House law of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha the full title of the Duke was, There were two official residences, in Gotha and Coburg. Therefore, the ducal court, including the Court Theater, had to move twice a year, from Gotha to Coburg for the summer. For the Court Theater, two almost identical buildings had to be built in 1840 in Gotha and Coburg and thereafter maintained at the same time. In 1893, the duke died childless, whereupon the throne would have devolved, by male primogeniture. However, as heirs to the British throne, Alberts descendants consented, therefore, the German duchy became a secundogeniture, hereditary among the younger princes of the British royal family who belonged to the House of Wettin, and their male-line descendants. Instead of the future Edward VII of the United Kingdom inheriting the duchy, it was diverted to his brother, Prince Alfred. Upon the latters death without surviving sons, it went to the youngest grandson of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, Prince Charles Edward, Charles Edwards uncle Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and his male line had renounced their claim. Although senior by birth, they were not acceptable to the German Emperor as a member of the British military or unwilling to move to Germany. The current head of the branch is Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg. The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry is the Catholic cadet branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and it was founded with the marriage of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, second son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, with Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág. In Portugal, the royal house is usually not distinguished from the House of Braganza
3.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
4.
Commonwealth realm
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Subsequently, India and Pakistan and Ceylon became Dominions. By the early 1950s, in order to reflect the equality between the countries in that group, each came to be known as a realm. The word was used in Britains proclamation of Elizabeth II as queen in 1952 and was adopted for the modern royal styles and titles under the legislation enacted by the individual countries. The principle was applied to countries as they became Commonwealth realms. The phrase Commonwealth realm, though used officially, is not a statutory term, the number of independent countries in the Commonwealth of Nations all sharing the same person as monarch reached 18 between 1983 and 1987. The Commonwealth realms are, for purposes of international relations, sovereign states, political scientist Peter Boyce called this grouping of countries associated in this manner, an achievement without parallel in the history of international relations or constitutional law. Since each realm has the person as its monarch, the diplomatic practice of exchanging ambassadors with letters of credence. Diplomatic relations between the Commonwealth realms are thus at a cabinet level only and high commissioners are exchanged between realms, a high commissioners full title will thus be High Commissioner for Her Majestys Government in. Opinion on the prospect of the coming to fruition is mixed. This means that in different contexts the term Crown may refer to the extra-national institution associating all 16 countries, from a cultural standpoint, the sovereigns name and image and other royal symbols unique to each nation are visible in the emblems and insignia of governmental institutions and militia. By 1959, it was being asserted by Buckingham Palace officials that the Queen was equally at home in all her realms and this convention was first applied to the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936. For expediency and to avoid embarrassment, the British government had suggested that the Dominion governments automatically regard the monarch of the UK, whoever this may be, as their monarch also. Sir Maurice Gwyer, first parliamentary counsel in the UK, reflected this position and these changes came into effect on 26 March 2015. Agreement among the realms does not, however, mean the succession laws cannot diverge, the parliament of South Africa, however, passed its own legislation—His Majesty King Edward the Eighths Abdication Act, 1937—which backdated the abdication there to 10 December. The Irish Free State recognised the kings abdication with the Executive Authority Act 1936 on 12 December, according to Anne Twomey, this demonstrated the divisibility of the Crown in the personal, as well as the political, sense. For E H Coghill, writing as early as 1937, it proved that the convention of a line of succession is not of imperative force. It is generally agreed that any alteration of succession by the UK would not have effect in all the realms. Following the accession of George VI to the throne, the United Kingdom created legislation that provided for a regency in the event that the monarch was not of age or incapacitated
5.
George V
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George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From then on, his rank was largely honorary
6.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
7.
Germans
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Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe, who share a common German ancestry, culture and history. German is the mother tongue of a substantial majority of ethnic Germans. The English term Germans has historically referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages, before the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany in 1990, Germans constituted the largest divided nation in Europe by far. Ever since the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire, of approximately 100 million native speakers of German in the world, roughly 80 million consider themselves Germans. Thus, the number of Germans lies somewhere between 100 and more than 150 million, depending on the criteria applied. Today, people from countries with German-speaking majorities most often subscribe to their own national identities, the German term Deutsche originates from the Old High German word diutisc, referring to the Germanic language of the people. It is not clear how commonly, if at all, the word was used as an ethnonym in Old High German, used as a noun, ein diutscher in the sense of a German emerges in Middle High German, attested from the second half of the 12th century. The Old French term alemans is taken from the name of the Alamanni and it was loaned into Middle English as almains in the early 14th century. The word Dutch is attested in English from the 14th century, denoting continental West Germanic dialects, while in most Romance languages the Germans have been named from the Alamanni, the Old Norse, Finnish and Estonian names for the Germans were taken from that of the Saxons. In Slavic languages, the Germans were given the name of němьci, originally with a meaning foreigner, the English term Germans is only attested from the mid-16th century, based on the classical Latin term Germani used by Julius Caesar and later Tacitus. It gradually replaced Dutch and Almains, the latter becoming mostly obsolete by the early 18th century, the Germans are a Germanic people, who as an ethnicity emerged during the Middle Ages. Originally part of the Holy Roman Empire, around 300 independent German states emerged during its decline after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ending the Thirty Years War and these states eventually formed into modern Germany in the 19th century. The concept of a German ethnicity is linked to Germanic tribes of antiquity in central Europe, the early Germans originated on the North German Plain as well as southern Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the number of Germans was significantly increasing and they began expanding into eastern Europe, during antiquity these Germanic tribes remained separate from each other and did not have writing systems at that time. In the European Iron Age the area that is now Germany was divided into the La Tène horizon in Southern Germany and the Jastorf culture in Northern Germany. By 55 BC, the Germans had reached the Danube river and had either assimilated or otherwise driven out the Celts who had lived there, and had spread west into what is now Belgium and France. Conflict between the Germanic tribes and the forces of Rome under Julius Caesar forced major Germanic tribes to retreat to the east bank of the Rhine, in Roman-held territories with Germanic populations, the Germanic and Roman peoples intermarried, and Roman, Germanic, and Christian traditions intermingled. The adoption of Christianity would later become an influence in the development of a common German identity
8.
House of Hanover
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Upon Victorias death, the British throne passed to her eldest son Edward VII, a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha through his father. The House of Hanover was formally named the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Hanover line, the senior branch became extinct in 1884, and the House of Hanover is now the only surviving branch of the House of Welf, which is the senior branch of the House of Este. The current head of the House of Hanover is Ernst August, George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, is considered the first member of the House of Hanover. When the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was divided in 1635, George inherited the Principality of Calenberg and his son, Christian Louis inherited the Principality of Lüneburg from Georges brother. Calenberg and Lüneburg were then shared between Georges sons until united in 1705 under his grandson, also called George, who subsequently became George I of Great Britain, all held the title Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. George died in 1641 and was succeeded by, Christian Louis, 1st son of Duke George, Prince of Calenberg and he relinquished Calenburg when he became Prince of Lüneburg. George William, 2nd son of Duke George, Prince of Calenberg and he relinquished Calenburg when he became Prince of Lüneburg on the death of his brother, Christian Louis. John Frederick, 3rd son of Duke George, Prince of Calenberg, Ernest Augustus, 4th son of Duke George, Prince of Calenberg. He became Prince of Calenberg on the death of his brother John Frederick and he was elevated to prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire in 1692. Ernest Augustuss wife, Sophia of the Palatinate, was declared heiress of the throne of England by the Act of Settlement of 1701, Sophia was at that time the senior eligible Protestant descendant of James I of England. George Louis, son of Duke Ernest Augustus and Sophia, became Elector and Prince of Calenberg in 1698 and he inherited his mothers claim to the throne of Great Britain when she died in 1714. George Louis became the first British monarch of the House of Hanover as George I in 1714, George I, George II, and George III also served as electors and dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, informally, Electors of Hanover. From 1814, when Hanover became a kingdom, the British monarch was also King of Hanover, in 1837, however, the personal union of the thrones of the United Kingdom and Hanover ended. After the death of William IV in 1837, the kings of Hanover continued the dynasty. The 1866 rift between the House of Hanover and the House of Hohenzollern was settled only by the 1913 marriage of Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia to Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick. At the end of the Thirty Years War, the Peace of Westphalia awarded the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück alternately to a Catholic bishop, since the treaty gave cadets priority over heirs and reigning princes, Osnabrück became a form of appanage of the House of Hanover. In 1884, the branch of the House of Welf became extinct. By a law of 1879, the Duchy of Brunswick established a council of regency to take over at the Dukes death
9.
Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
10.
Albert, Prince Consort
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Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the husband of Queen Victoria. He was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europes ruling monarchs, at the age of 20, he married his first cousin, Queen Victoria, they had nine children. He was heavily involved with the organisation of the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Queen came to depend more and more on his support and guidance. Albert died at the young age of 42, plunging the Queen into deep mourning for the rest of her life. Upon Queen Victorias death in 1901, their eldest son succeeded as Edward VII, Albert was born at Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg, Germany, the second son of Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Alberts future wife, Victoria, was earlier in the same year with the assistance of the same midwife. Albert was baptised into the Lutheran Evangelical Church on 19 September 1819 in the Marble Hall at Schloss Rosenau with water taken from the local river, in 1825, Alberts great-uncle, Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, died. His death led to a realignment of Saxon duchies the following year and Alberts father became the first reigning duke of Saxe-Coburg, Albert and his elder brother, Ernest, spent their youth in a close companionship marred by their parents turbulent marriage and eventual separation and divorce. After their mother was exiled from court in 1824, she married her lover, Alexander von Hanstein, Count of Polzig and she presumably never saw her children again, and died of cancer at the age of 30 in 1831. The brothers were educated privately at home by Christoph Florschütz and later studied in Brussels, like many other German princes, Albert attended the University of Bonn, where he studied law, political economics, philosophy and the history of art. He played music and excelled at sport, especially fencing and riding and his tutors at Bonn included the philosopher Fichte and the poet Schlegel. By 1836, the idea of marriage between Albert and his cousin, Victoria, had arisen in the mind of their ambitious uncle Leopold, at this time, Victoria was the heiress presumptive to the British throne. Her father, Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, the son of King George III, had died when she was a baby. Her mother the Duchess of Kent, was the sister of both Alberts father—the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha—and King Leopold. Leopold arranged for his sister, Victorias mother, to invite the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander, second son of the Prince of Orange. Victoria was well aware of the matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. Alexander, on the hand, she described as very plain. Victoria wrote to her uncle Leopold to thank him for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me and he possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy
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