Royal uncle-niece marriages happened several times over the years. These marriages often happened for strategic reasons, such as land or power, but also because of rank and status. There simply weren’t enough others of high enough rank for marriage. The offspring of such marriages often suffered from genetic abnormalities, such as the famous Habsburg jaw. Quite often, these children did not survive to adulthood.
Here are five more of those marriages:
21. María Amalia of Spain & Infante Antonio Pascual of Spain
María Amalia of Spain was born on 9 January 1779 as the daughter of the future King Charles IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma. Her mother had arranged for her to marry her first cousin, the future King Louis I of Etruria, but he preferred her younger sister, Maria Luisa. The groom had to be replaced quickly, and finding one of suitable rank proved to be a challenge. Therefore, a marriage was arranged with her uncle, Infante Antonio Pascual of Spain, who was 24 years older than her. They married in a double wedding with her sister and her previous fiance. She died in childbirth with their first child on 22 July 1798. Her son was stillborn.
22. Countess Louise Auguste Henriette of Stolberg-Stolberg & Joseph Christian Ernest Louis, Count of Stolberg-Stolberg
Countess Louise of Stolberg-Stolberg was born on 13 January 1799 as the only child of Frederick Charles August Alexander, Hereditary Count of Stolberg-Stolberg and Countess Marianne Diderica Frederica Wilhelmine von der Marck. Her parents divorced the same year she was born, and both remarried twice. Her father had no sons and died in 1805, leaving his younger brother, Joseph, as the next Count of Stolberg-Stolberg. On 22 May 1819, Louise married her uncle, who was 28 years older than her. They went on to have five children together, including her heir, Alfred. Louise was widowed in 1839. Louise died on 15 August 1875, having outlived not only her husband but also two of her children.
23. Princess Sophie of Sweden & Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
Princess Sophie of Sweden was born on 21 May 1801 as the daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and Frederica of Baden. Her father was deposed as King of Sweden in 1809. On 25 July 1819, Sophie became engaged to her half-grand-uncle, Prince Leopold. Leopold had been born of a morganatic marriage, but the male line of the dynastic Badens was dying out, leaving only the morganatic line. In 1817, Leopold and his siblings became Princes and Princesses of Baden. Sophie was a descendant of the main Baden line through her mother, and the marriage was arranged to strengthen Leopold’s claim. He succeeded as Grand Duke of Baden in 1830. Leopold was 11 years older than Sophie. He and Sophie went on to have eight children together. Their eldest son became Grand Duke after his father, but he was deemed mentally unfit, and their second son became regent and the eventual Grand Duke. Leopold died in 1852, while Sophie died on 6 July 1865.
24. Herodias & Herod II
Herodias was a Princess of Judea during the time of the Roman Empire. Herodias married her half-uncle, Herod “Without-Land”, and gave birth to a daughter named Salome. Her husband’s brother, Herod Antipas, fell in love with her, and they both divorced their spouses to marry one another in 27 A.D. Herodias died sometime in 40 A.D.
25. Salome & Philip the Tetrarch
Herodias’s daughter, Salome, eventually married her uncle, Herod Phillip II, the ruler of Trachonitis. They remained childless, and her husband died in 34 C.E. Salome then married her cousin, Aristobulus, the King of Armenia Minor. They had three sons together: Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus. Queen Salome may have died between 54 and 61 C.E.
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