Love and divorce
From Norway we hear of the separation and pending divorce between Princess Märtha Louise and her husband of fourteen years, author Ari Behn. Although not too common within the European Royal families, in recent years there has been an alarming increase in these unhappy events. In England it started off with Princess Margaret in 1978, followed by the Princess Royal in 1992, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York in 1996. In Denmark there is Prince Joachim in 2005 and in Holland Princess Irene in 1981 and Princess Christina in 1996. There are for obvious reasons fewer cases of divorce within Catholic families, but even they have had their share. Forgetting about the Monegasques, the recent (2009) divorce of Princess Elena of Spain comes to mind as well as a number of them within the house of Orléans. Among the Orthodox Royal Houses in the Balkans and in Russia, divorce seems to be more common than sticking together in lifelong marriages.
In the 19th century Royal divorces were extremely scarce. Combing the genealogies, one comes up with just a few:
1812 King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden Ω Princess Friederike of Baden
1820 Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich Ω Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
1826 Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Ω Princess Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
1837 Crown Prince Frederik (VII) of Denmark Ω Princess Wilhelmine of Denmark
1843 Prince Gustav Wasa (Sweden) Ω Princess Luise of Baden
1846 Crown Prince Frederik (VII) of Denmark Ω Duchess Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
1848 Duke Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Ω
Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe
1849 Princess Marianne of the Netherlands Ω Prince Albrecht of Prussia
1861 Landgrave Alexis of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld Ω Princess Luise of Prussia
1880 Prince Albert I of Monaco Ω Lady Mary Douglas-Hamilton
Unique in this collection is the 1848 one, where the couple had married in 1841, only to divorce seven years later. Somehow the relation between them must have improved, since they remarried one another in 1854 and had four more children. One wonders what the story might have been there?
Ted Rosvall
In the 19th century Royal divorces were extremely scarce. Combing the genealogies, one comes up with just a few:
1809 Napoleon Ω Josephine
1810 Prince Christian (VIII) of Denmark Ω Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin1812 King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden Ω Princess Friederike of Baden
1820 Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich Ω Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
1826 Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Ω Princess Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
1837 Crown Prince Frederik (VII) of Denmark Ω Princess Wilhelmine of Denmark
1843 Prince Gustav Wasa (Sweden) Ω Princess Luise of Baden
1846 Crown Prince Frederik (VII) of Denmark Ω Duchess Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
1848 Duke Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Ω
Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe
1849 Princess Marianne of the Netherlands Ω Prince Albrecht of Prussia
1861 Landgrave Alexis of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld Ω Princess Luise of Prussia
1880 Prince Albert I of Monaco Ω Lady Mary Douglas-Hamilton
Unique in this collection is the 1848 one, where the couple had married in 1841, only to divorce seven years later. Somehow the relation between them must have improved, since they remarried one another in 1854 and had four more children. One wonders what the story might have been there?
Ted Rosvall