royal wedding celebration

Princes William and Harry have often been referred to as "The Heir and the Spare." Throughout history, the British line of succession has been somewhat precarious.

1. How many English monarchs since the Norman Conquest have been directly succeeded by their firstborn son?
Relatively few. William the Conqueror himself was succeeded by his third son, William II, who seized the throne while his oldest brother wasn't looking. (The second son had died as a teen while hunting in the New Forest, which seems to have been a very deadly place.)

The first firstborn son to succeed the English throne was Henry III who followed his father King John 150 years after the conquest. Then, Henry III was succeeded by his own firstborn son Edward I.

The others were Edward II to Edward III; Henry V to Henry VI; Edward IV to Edward V; George I to George II; George III to George IV; and George V to Edward VIII.

The only time a reigning queen has been succeeded by her firstborn son was when Queen Victoria was succeeded by her son Edward VII. In fact, that is the only time an English queen has ever been succeeded by her own child. Let's see if Elizabeth II becomes the second to do so or if, as some suggest, Charles will be skipped over for his son, William--an unlikely occurrence by my estimation.

So, out of 43 monarchs, only nine were succeeded by their firstborn sons.

[Others offered by respondents included Henry IV to Henry V, but Henry actually had an earlier son named Edward who died after four days. Another suggestion, Henry VIII was suceeded by his first surviving son, Lady Jane Seymour's child, Edward VI; but Henry had several sons by his first two wives, including two who lived long enough to be named Henry, one of whom was even named Prince of Wales. And, in the case of Charles I to Charles II, not only was there an infant older brother named Charles James, but Charles II technically did not succeed his father directly because of the interregnum following the Civil War.]


2. How many English monarchs since the Norman Conquest have been directly succeeded by their firstborn daughter?
This list is of course much shorter since there have been so few reigning queens. However, only one-third of six queens were the firstborn daughters AND directly followed their fathers. Mary II succeeded her father James II after the Glorious Revolution of 1688; she reigned jointly with her husband/cousin William III. The only other firstborn daughter to directly succeed her father is the current Queen Elizabeth II who followed her father George VI.

It could be argued that Mary I was the firstborn daughter of Henry VIII since her only older sister was stillborn. However, she succeeded her brother Edward VI rather than her father.

Finally, several respondents also point to the case of Empress Matilda, who became known as the "Lady of the English." She was the firstborn daughter of Henry II, who had the barons swear allegiance to her as his heir. However, she was out of the country when he died and her cousin Stephen usurped the throne. Stephen and Matilda fought a nasty back-and-forth war for many years. At one point, Matilda did seize control of London and could have been proclaimed queen, but she didn't take care of that business quickly enough. The Londoners were stunned by her high-handedness and soon kicked her out of the city. Ultimately, the conflict was resolved when Stephen agreed to make Matilda's son Henry his heir. [Read my post about Empress Matilda at Princess Palace.]


3. Which English king had the most children become an English monarch?
King Henry VIII literally moved heaven to try to have a living male heir. In his efforts, he married six women, separated the Church of England from the Church in Rome, and fathered only three children who lived beyond early infancy. All three of these children eventually succeeded to the throne. They were, in order of their reigns, Edward VI (the last born), Mary I and Elizabeth I.

Another monarch who technically had three children accede was Henry II. In an effort to ensure an uncontested succession for his son, Henry II (who remember only became king after a bitter war between his mother and her cousin) decided to have his oldest living son crowned king during his own lifetime. This son, also called Henry, was not given a regnal number but he did become known as the Young King. While Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine had a huge and healthy brood of children, they led risky lives on the battlefield and in the tournaments. Young King Henry died of dysentery contracted on the battlefield while fighting his father. Leaving no heirs of his own, his place was taken by the next son Richard who was decidedly not crowned during his father's lifetime--partly because he was also warring against his father--but he did succeed him upon his death. When Richard, who spent a matter of only days with his wife, also died without heirs, the throne skipped over the children of the next brother Geoffrey (who died in a tournament) to Henry's youngest son King John. John made Geoffrey's son disappear and kept his daughter imprisoned to solidify his grasp on the throne. So, Henry II did have three regal offspring: Henry, Richard the Lion Heart and King John. [Thanks for the tip, Yvonne Strongman, V.C.R.E.]


4. Which kings were immediately succeeded by their grandchild?
In England, the Prince of Wales has twice predeceased his father but left a living heir to succeed. It first happened when the long-lived Edward III's celebrated son Edward the Black Prince died at the age of 46, leaving behind a 13-year-old son who became Richard II ten years later. It was Richard's death without children that eventually sparked the Wars of the Roses among the descendants of Edward III's other sons.

It happened once again almost 400 years later when the not nearly so beloved Frederick Prince of Wales died at age 44, having fathered nine children, including the future George III who became king nine years later upon the death of his grandfather George II. George II and Frederick had despised each other. Hate, in fact, would not be too strong of a word. The enmity between them was strengthened by the distance placed between them by George's father George I. When the Hanoverian George I became King of England, he allowed his only son, whom he did not like, to come to England, but he forced him to leave his oldest son and heir in Germany. By the time, George II became king, his family had been without the truculent Frederick for so long that George delayed bringing the young man across the Channel. The two were never able to heal their relationship.


5. Which 20th century British monarchs were not firstborn children?
Three of the five 20th century British monarchs were not firstborn children. Edward VII, while the oldest son, was the second child of Queen Victoria. His successor was his second-born son George V and George V's second son succeeded as George VI when the firstborn Edward VIII abdicated.

One other 20th century monarch was the firstborn (and only legitimate) child of her father, the Duke of Kent, but she was the third child of her mother, Victoire of Saxe-Coburg. Although she may not seem very 20th century, Queen Victoria did not die until January 1901 so she just barely qualifies. [Thanks for that one goes to Ella Kay, V.C.R.E.]

Marlene Eilers Koenig had a life-changing experience at the tender age of 12. While exploring a biography of Queen Victoria, she encountered the queen’s family tree and became immediately and permanently fascinated. From that moment, she began her own investigation into the queen’s vast progeny, trawling books and articles, eventually writing to and even phoning descendants. Over many years, she earned the trust and respect of the people she was researching, many of whom actively assisted her in her quest.

Eventually the research project morphed into a book project and Koenig found herself knee-deep in the kind of struggles faced by many first-time writers. “At first, it was very hard,” she recalls. When her first publisher went out of business, she was left was with unpublished manuscript. That’s when she met George Tantzos who connected her with Atlantic International Publications. Koenig’s first book, Queen Victoria’s Descendants, was published in 1987 as a comprehensive guide that sought not only to include all of the descendants in a genealogical volume but also to tell their real stories.

In the mean time, Koenig had launched another major project also borne from her consuming interest in royal history: Royal Book News, a subscription newsletter in which she reviews as many royal books as she can get her eyes on. In the last two and half decades, she has read and reviewed nearly every royal tome produced in English. In January 2011, she transitioned the labor-intensive and budget-busting printed publication to a more cost-effective blog, having first tested the effectiveness of the blogosphere for a couple of years with Royal Musings, a daily compendium of royal news stories from that date in history mixed with other commentary and observations.

In all of her writings and interviews, Koenig is ruthlessly honest in expressing her opinions about poorly researched books and articles about royalty. She is still ticked off that Kitty Kelley cited her in the ‘tell-all’ book, The Royals. Kelly attended a lecture Koenig had presented at the Smithsonian, but Koenig insists, “she learned nothing.” Koenig has also been loudly critical of the deluge of publications following the death of Diana Princess of Wales and the more recent announcement of Prince William’s engagement by authors she calls “hack writers” who rely on unsubstantiated claims, rumors, and speculation. She includes people like Lady Colin Campbell in this group, but asserts that others, like Andrew Morton, clearly use meticulous research.

And, Koenig is one who knows about meticulous research. She has amassed an extensive list of contacts among royal insiders and royals themselves as well as a personal library that includes more than a thousand royal books. She also maintains news clippings about European royals that date back to the turn of the last century. In fact, when European History Journal recently contacted her to write about the 2011 engagement of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, she was able to begin her research by thumbing through her files at home, where she found original articles about the prince’s birth and the weddings of both his parents and grandparents, among other useful items.

She believes a personal library is critical for a royal expert. “I can pull from personal resources,” she says. “I can easily discover what Queen Victoria had to say about a particular event. You need to have access to material.”

Koenig is frustrated about the lack of English translations of excellent biographies and histories written in other languages, but she says the most difficult thing about her royal avocation is finding time for it outside of her full-time job as a librarian and her other obligations. Nevertheless, she has had a prolific career as a royal expert. In addition to writing, editing or contributing to several books—including last year’s The Grand Dukes, Sons and Grandsons of Russia’s Tsars—she has composed numerous articles for Atlantis, European History Journal, Majesty, Royalty Digest and Royalty. She’s been interviewed as a royal expert by ABC, BBC, CBC, CNN, and NBC as well as the Washington Post, New York Times, and London Daily Telegraph. All of this while still maintaining Royal Book News and adding daily postings on Royal Musings.

Her outspokenness has earned her some vociferous criticism, especially on the message boards. She was one of the first people to point out some of Diana’s less charming characteristics and to criticize Sarah Duchess of York. Since both formerly royal women have a broad base of extremely loyal supporters, Koenig has taken many hits for not being in love with them, too. Nevertheless, she says this has never hindered her ability to find publishers.

Koenig has also had run-ins with people asserting spurious descent from Queen Victoria. Decades of in-depth research on the topic has provided her with more than sufficient credentials to support or denounce such claimants.

In fact, she has continued to maintain such excellent relationships with undoubted descendants of the late queen that she is often invited to royal events and she is on several royal Christmas card lists. Just this week, she posted a copy of the Christmas card she received from the Prince and Princess of Venice on Royal Musings.

As for the changing atmosphere surrounding royalty over the course of her observations, Koenig doesn’t really see a difference in tone from today’s royal coverage. “If you look at the sons of King George III, there was certainly a lot of gossip and speculation about them, although they obviously didn’t have photographers following them around.” She is more concerned about the media outlets that are no longer covering royal news. For instance, “The New York Times doesn’t cover royalty the way it used to; royalty used to be front-page news, but it isn’t any more.”

One reason for her concern is that Koenig believes there is more than just romantic mystique behind royal traditions. “In Europe, among the most stable and wealthiest nations are the ones with monarchies. There seems to be something positive about having a head of state who is tied to history and tradition over one who is elected.”

So, Koenig will continue to share her royal fascination through meticulous research and forthright commentary. In addition to the Arts Journal assignment, she is currently working with publisher Ted Rosvall on a book about the descendants of Danish King Christian IX, who happens to share many descendants with the woman who launched Koenig’s royal career, Queen Victoria. Having published a new edition of Queen Victoria’s Descendants in 1997 and a companion book of updates in 2004, Koenig has continued to maintain her interest in the topic, periodically updating her information although she admits that some of the younger descendants are less interested in her project than their forebears.

Now well beyond her girlhood, Marlene Eilers Koenig has built a solid career as a royal expert by surrounding herself quite literally with Queen Victoria’s descendants. Few people have changed their own lives so completely by turning a page in a book.