British monarchy, (marriage and family)

British monarchy, (marriage and family) is concerned with British monarchs and the cousin relationships between the royal consorts, and their spouses. The British royal cousin marriages are considered an example of endogamy, or the practice of marrying within a specific class and social group, often for financial gain or influence in affairs of state. The handful of first-cousin marriages was not out of the norm for their time. The marriage practices of the British monarchs is often incorrectly compared with other royal families in Europe such as the Hapsburgs which were very inbred. There has never been a genetic disease in the British royal family that is related to cousin marriages.

Unknown Family Relationship

In only two cases (first wife of James II and of Edward VIII) is the familial relationship completely unknown. Neither woman was queen consort (one died before her husband became king, and the other married after he abdicated). Both marriages were considered scandalous for their time. The first wife of James II was the only daughter of a wealthy man, but with no pedigree. The marriage did produce two future sovereign queens. Edward VIII married Wallis Simpson, and cited his desire to marry the twice divorced American woman as the reason for his abdication in 1936.

First Cousin Marriages

Richard III was portrayed by Shakespeare in Act IV, scene III of the play, "Richard III," as planning to [...] his present wife, Anne Neville, and plotting to marry his teenage niece, Elizabeth of York, and stop the War of the Roses. However, this proposed marriage seems to have been a rumor that Shakespeare used to make Richard III seem particularly evil, and there have been no marriages in British royalty closer than first cousin.

1. 1472: The first royal marriage of first cousins once removed was between Richard III and Anne Neville. The marriage is famously depicted by Shakespeare as one of the most twisted in all of history. Richard III is depicted as wooing Anne after [...] her first husband and her father; and he would take her in her heart's extremest hate, with curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes. This marriage produced one son who died young.
2. 1554: The next royal marriage of first cousins once removed was between Mary I, and the King of Spain, Phillip II of the House of Habsburg. It was one of the most despised relationships in British history. The couple barely saw each other, and after Mary's death, the Spanish king would launch the Spanish Armada against England. There was no issue from this marriage. Their common ancestor was the Catholic Monarchs who were the grandparents of Mary I, and the great grandparents of Phillip II.
3. 1677: The initial first-cousin marriage (with no generations removed) was the marriage of William and Mary. It was a stable marriage, despite William's having at least one acknowledged mistress and numerous rumors of homosexual affairs. There was no issue from this marriage. There common grandparents were Charles I of England and his wife Henrietta Maria of France.
4. 1682: The next first-cousin marriage of George I was pre-arranged and ended in divorce 12 years later. The couple hated each other. George had his ex-wife/cousin imprisoned for the last three decades of her life for infidelity. The daughter of George I also married her only first cousin. As a result, all the legitimate descendants of the mother of George I are identical to the descendants of George I. So the entire line of succession to the British throne is descended from this cousin marriage. There are over 5000 descendants alive in the beginning of the 21st century.
5. 1795: The pre-arranged marriage of George IV to his first cousin was disastrously unhappy. The couple despised each other and separated shortly after the birth of their only child, a daughter who died in childbirth, eventually paving the way for Victoria to succeed to the throne.
6. 1840: Queen Victoria's marriage to her first cousin had virtually no strategic or economic advantage, and was purely based on the attraction between the couple and the desire of Victoria to break out the strict and elaborate set of rules designed by her mother concerning her upbringing. This marriage produced 9 children, and 40 grandchildren and over 1000 total descendants who constitute a sizable portion of the royalty in Europe over the last century and a half. The deadly genetic disease, hemophilia – which started with Victoria – is unrelated to the first-cousin marriage.

Of the four first-cousin marriages (no times removed), only the marriage of George I and Sophia Dorothea of Celle was a parallel cousin marriage. The fathers of the couple,George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg, were brothers. Both brothers were alive when George imprisoned his ex-wife. The other three royal-cousin marriages were of cross cousins, where the parents who were siblings were brother and sister.

All Marriages of Sovereigns

The table shows the closest cousin relationship (1st, 2nd, 3rd, ...) between the sovereigns and their spouses. If the cousin relationship is once removed, a yes is in the appropriate column.

Other Royal Marriages

Marriages not of monarchs but other closely related people to the monarch. The marriages from previous centuries are shown to connect missing generations.

Windsor Marriages

• The most recent common ancestor of George VI of the United Kingdom and his wife Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was Henry VII who had died over 400 years before their marriage. When the future king married his 13th cousin on 26 April 1923 his older brother, Edward VIII, the heir apparent was still only age 28 and was still expected to marry and succeed to the throne. However, shortly after the marriage, Edward began to openly talk about his desire to abdicate and make his brother the sovereign, which he actually did 13 years later. This marriage was the most distant family relationship that produced a child that also became a sovereign. It was also the first time since James II that a sovereign married a spouse of primarily British descent. It was also the first time since Henry VIII that a sovereign married someone who was more distantly related than 3rd cousin once removed (not including Edward VIII, marrying Wallis Simpson after his abdication).

• The most recent common ancestor of Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip was Christian IX of Denmark who had died in 1906. The table above list the closest familial relationship, but sometimes more distant relationships are better known. Queen Elizabeth II, and her consort, Prince Philip are also 3rd cousins from their descent from Queen Victoria who died in 1901.

• Charles first proposal and the only one before Diana, was to his 2nd cousin, Amanda Knatchbull. She and her husband were invited to his eventual marriage to Camilla Shand in 2005.

• Charles and Diana's most recent common ancestor was William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire and his wife, who died in the last half of the 18th century. Since they both had well documented pedigrees, they have hundreds of known ancestors in common before that time.

• Charles and Camilla's most recent common ancestor is James I who died in 1625.

• Kate Middleton may be a descendant of Mary Boleyn via her daughter, Catherine Carey. Kate Middleton’s 7Xgreat-grandfather William Davenport (d. 1723) may be a son born in 1679 to Henry Davenport of Hollon. If this relationship probes accurate (DNA confirmation may be required)then Kate is descended from Mary Boleyn. Prince William of Wales is also descended from Mary Boleyn via both her son Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon and her daughter. Both of Mary Boleyn's children are rumored to be the illegitimate children of Henry VIII.

• Prince Arthur of Connaught was a first cousin to George V. He married his first cousin once removed, Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife on 15 October 1913, and the couple had a son, Alistair, 9.8 months later. Alistair was born 9th in line to the throne and died 12th in line in 1943. He is the last child born to a couple consisting of first cousins once removed in the British royal family.