Prince George of Greece and DenmarkPrince George of Greece and Denmark (Γεώργιος; 24 June 1869 – 25 November 1957) was the second son and child of George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, and is remembered chiefly for having once saved the life of his cousin the future Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II in 1891 during their visit to Japan together. He served as high commissioner of the Cretan State during its transition towards independence from Ottoman rule and union with Greece.
Abdication of Edward VIIIIn early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was in the process of divorcing her second. The marriage was opposed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth. Religious, legal, political, and moral objections were raised. As the British monarch, Edward was the nominal head of the Church of England, which at this time did not allow divorced people to remarry in church if their ex-spouses were still alive.
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of RussiaGrand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (Сергей Александрович; 11 May 1857 – 17 February 1905) was the fifth son and seventh child of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was an influential figure during the reigns of his brother Emperor Alexander III of Russia and his nephew Emperor Nicholas II, who was also his brother-in-law through Sergei's marriage to Elizabeth, the sister of Tsarina Alexandra. Grand Duke Sergei's education gave him lifelong interests in culture and the arts.
MargraveMargrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Empire and the title came to be borne by rulers of some Imperial principalities until the abolition of the Empire in 1806 (e.g., Margrave of Brandenburg, Margrave of Baden).
Abolition of monarchyThe abolition of monarchy and anti-royalism is a legislative or revolutionary movement to abolish monarchical elements in government, usually hereditary. Abolition of absolutist monarchy in favor of limited government under constitutional monarchy is a less radical form of anti-royalism that has succeeded in some nations that still retain monarchs, such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Thailand. Abolition has been carried out in various ways, including via abdication leading to the extinction of the monarchy, legislative reform, revolution, coup d'état, and decolonisation.
Archduchess Marie Valerie of AustriaArchduchess Marie Valerie Mathilde Amalie of Austria (22 April 1868 – 6 September 1924) was the youngest child of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She was usually called Valerie. On 31 July 1890, she married Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria; the marriage caused a rift between her and her siblings as their marriages had to be dynastic, while Marie Valerie's was, as Empress Elisabeth allowed, for love and desire.
Frederick II of DenmarkFrederick II (1 July 1534 – 4 April 1588) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1559 until his death. A member of the House of Oldenburg, Frederick began his personal rule of Denmark-Norway at the age of 24. He inherited a capable and strong kingdom, formed in large by his father after the civil war known as the Count's Feud, after which Denmark saw a period of economic recovery and of a great increase in the centralised authority of the Crown.
House of RomanovThe House of Romanov (also transliterated Romanoff; Romanovy) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanovna, was married to the First Tsar of Russia, Ivan the Terrible. Tsar Nicholas II and his immediate family were executed in 1918, but there are still living descendants. The house became boyars (the highest rank in Russian nobility) of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and later of the Tsardom of Russia under the reigning Rurik dynasty, which became extinct upon the death of Tsar Feodor I in 1598.
