So, when was the last time that the Monarch Regnant of the UK (or, to go further back, England) was the grandchild of a couple without a title?
George, in the fullness of time, will become King. One pair of his grandparents are the Middletons. Who may or may not end up with a title but they’ve not got one at the moment and can therefore be called commoners.
So, when was the last time this was true?
Will’s gps were Earl Spencer etc pm the non-Royal side.
Charlie’s Princes etc of Denmark and or Greece?
Brenda’s Earl of Strathmore
George VI Mary of Teck (ie, a princess of the German sort)
George V Danish royal family
Edward VII Dukes of Saxe Coburg
Vicki Saxe Coburgs again
William IV and G IV both Duke Mecklenburg
And so on and on back. When was the last time a pair of grandparents were commoners?
I’m going to run with Edward VI myself (Jane Seymour’s parents were a knight and his wife) unless anyone can show better?
What on earth has you asking such questions?
He has a complete selection of royal memorabilia, Mr Lud, including every souvenir and tea towel created for Princess D and the Queen Mum. He’s totally nuts about royalty
It’s been a bumpy road for Royalists. I won’t bore you with my buffer theory.
In lockdown one’s thoughts turn to the oddest ephemera sometimes. It must be a bit like hallucinations under sensory deprivation.
This is the sort of thing that makes the British so cute to ‘Mericans. This, and gongs.
“can therefore be called commoners”: in the context of a royal family anyone who isn’t royal is a commoner. Lady Diana Spencer was a commoner, the Queen Mum had been a commoner, etc, even though they came from aristocratic families.
That’s why our monarchs-to-be were forever marrying into German royal families that might have reigned over a patch of land so modest that it would qualify a Briton to be described as gentry. Royal – by appointment from God, you see. Such had been the superstition.
Come to think of it, such are the splendid rules of our nobility, in the context of Parliament those two lassies were commoners too. As far as I know neither were commoners in the sense of owning rights to pasture cows on fallow land under the open field system of agriculture.
As for vulgar usage I suspect that Lady Di’s brother is commoner than the Middletons. He certainly looks like an oik to me.
Isn’t Princess Meghan of Hearts next in line?
The Tudor claim to the throne was essentially a mix of make-believe and might-is-right. Why not check Henry VII’s grandparents?
Nope.
WKPD: “Henry’s paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor, originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of Henry V. He rose to become one of the “Squires to the Body to the King” after military service at the Battle of Agincourt.” So not a nobleman.
But “Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V, Catherine of Valois.” And she was French royalty.
…Monarch Regnant…
Doesn’t “Monarch” cover it? You get a “Queen Regnant” (Mrs King) but you don’t get a King Regnant (Mr Queen), you get a Prince.
Queen Victoria if you believe the John Conroy theory.
You’re not quite getting the rules here. Seymour’s parents were commoners. Therefore half the grandparents of Edward VI were…..
Off topic but poor little Spud is feeling sorry for himself [talking about The Guardian newspaper]….
“Richard Murphy says:
Once upon a time they engaged me
And they had a reposting right from here, which they used
And now they ignore emails”
Because he is earlier than the current benchmark, being an ancestor of Edward VI?
Elizabeth 1’s Boleyn parents might count depending on definition. Thomas only became an earl well after Anne’s birth ( might even have been marriage) but Mrs Boleyn was daughter to Earl of Norfolk.
just checked. Thomas Boleyn became Viscount Rochford in 1525 and Earl of Wiltshire in 1529.
Edward V is a candidate as Elizabeth Woodville’s parents were a knight and the daughter of the Count of Luxemburg.
@AndrewC: Do I hear a tiny violin playing?
…
No, it’s just my tinnitus.
Try Queen Anne
I am reliably informed Tim owns one of these:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/norbet/6306829373
John77. Oh yes and Mary 2 as well. Anne Hyde’s dad became Earl of Clarendon afterwards. For some reason I thought their mum was Mary of Modena.
I agree with M’Lud’s original comment. Who gives a fuck? (I know he didn’t actually say that but.)
George I
Just a guess, but son of William III (of William & Mary, Battle of the Boyne fame).. Even if a hereditary stadtholder that is not a noble title in a (Dutch) republic.
(Bends rules. Snap.)
True, dat. Bruv. Phat flavas, innit.
@Andrew C, looks like he has been pitching for a column!
But W III didn’t have a son which is why Anne inherited
PJF:
Wife of a King is Queen Consort, not Queen Regnant. And when the King dies his widow becomes Queen Dowager.