Monday, October 31, 2011

Queen Frederica I?

The Telegraph has an interesting but somewhat misleading article on Friederike von der Osten, the 52-year-old German doctor who if the proposed new law of royal succession were applied retroactively to the descendants of Queen Victoria would be the current Queen of the United Kingdom. Of course, such speculation is essentially meaningless since had her ancestors been living in Britain and occupying the British throne, they surely would not have made all the same marriages, and "Friederike von der Osten" as she actually is would not exist.

Nevertheless as a royal genealogy aficionado I'm always glad to see relatively obscure corners of European royal genealogy explored in the mainstream media. Friederike (b 1959) has three daughters, Felicitas (b 1986 and also quoted in the article), Victoria (b 1989), and Donata (b 1992) von Reiche. She is the first-born child of Princess Felicitas of Prussia (1934-2009), first-born child of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1906-1940), first-born child of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany (1882-1951), first-born child of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941), first-born child of Princess Victoria (1840-1901), first-born child of Queen Victoria (1819-1901).

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