Since King Edward VIII and his wife Alexandra of Denmark were the great-grandparents of Queen Elizabeth II, the late queen was once again connected to her husband, Prince Philip, through their fascinating family tree. It may seem unlikely that the 19th-century King of Denmark would be connected to the British Royal Family, but there is a connection courtesy of the wife of the British King, Edward VII, also known as Bertie.īertie’s wife was Alexandra of Denmark – the daughter of King Christian IX. Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark was the son of George I of Denmark (Prince Philip’s grandfather), who himself was the son of Christian IX, King of Denmark. While Philip’s mother was the link to the Hesse sisters and back to Queen Victoria, his father was a link to another royal family tree. Philip’s father was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. Prince Philip was a prince in his own right, before he met his future wife who would become the Queen of England. Yet there is another link in their family trees. The above family tree reveals their joint connection to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert – their shared great-great-great-grandparents. What’s curious about the link between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip is that they were connected as distant cousins in two ways. This meant that a couple could be related as cousins but may have never met, or at least, did not share a common childhood or social circle when growing up.
It may have been acceptable in the past because royal individuals were often raised many miles from their more distant relatives, sometimes they would live in a completely different country for their entire childhoods. Not only was this accepted as a normal occurrence, it was a shrewd way to keep the power and regal lineage within a close family group. In centuries past, the various royal dynasties of Europe would often orchestrate marriages between the families, resulting in cousins and distant relatives being joined in holy matrimony. Yet the history of royals and their marriage partners reveals a great number of alliances that saw one cousin (or second cousin) wed to another. This interesting fact from the British Royal Family Tree is often surprising to many modern minds. Alice, Arthur, Albert the Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), Leopold (in front of the Prince of Wales), Louise, the Queen with Beatrice, Alfred, Victoria the Princess Royal and Helena (1857) – Caldesi and Montecchi (fl.1857-67), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons So, Queen Elizabeth II was also a great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria, making the couple third cousins. The father of both kings (Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather) was King George V, and his father – King Edward VII (nicknamed Bertie, after his father) was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Queen Elizabeth II, or Princess Elizabeth as she was before her marriage to Prince Philip, was the daughter of George VI who famously stepped up as King of England when his brother Edward abdicated the throne in 1936. Her mother (Prince Philip’s grandmother) was Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, one of the famous Hesse Princesses, known as The Four Graces.Īnd her mother (Prince Philip’s great-grandmother), was Princess Alice of the United Kingdom – the third child of Queen Victoria.Īs a result of this family lineage, Prince Philip was a direct descendant of Queen Victoria. Prince Philip’s mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg. The reason that the couple moved in the same social circles was partly due to their shared heritage. The couple were married in 1947, after a long and devoted courtship, but the couple met for the first time, many years before, when the future Queen of England was just 8 years old. Almost as impressive as her seventy-year reign was her 73-year marriage to her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The late Queen Elizabeth II was known for her record-breaking reign as the sovereign of Great Britain. Both Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh, Were Descended From Queen Victoria.Interesting Facts From The British Royal Family Tree
Here are some of a few fascinating facts from the British Royal Family Tree. These marriages have led to a fascinating collection of royal family trees that have some curious and intriguing connections. The great royal families of the world have traditionally made strategic marriages and alliances in order to strengthen their sovereign claims and boost their political might.