History UsefulNotes / OtherRoyalFamilies

AKA The ''other'' Kaiser, he was among Europe's longest reigning monarchs, outliving his contemporary, UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria. Also known for having endured a horrific stream of personal (and ultimately [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI nationwide]]) disasters [[IronWoobie with nigh impregnable stride.]] At the time of his death, Franz Joseph had outlived his only son (who infamously made a suicide pact with his lover), two of his three brothers (the surviving one was openly gay and had no interest in politics), and all of his nephews (one of whom was [[UsefulNotes/FranzFerdinandOfAustria Franz Ferdinand]], whose assassination led to said nationwide disaster). The throne ended up passing to a great nephew, Karl I (or Karl IV in Hungary), who made attempts at brokering peace while trying to keep his crumbling empire together, and also made two failed efforts at restoring the throne in Hungary in the 1920s. He would ultimately become the last Austro-Hungarian monarch and die exiled in Madeira, although his son/heir Otto (noted for holding a seat in the [[UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion European Parliament]] from Germany and being an advocate for European integration) would live on until [[LongRunners 2011]].\\\

His brother, Prince Seeiso, is close mates with the UK's Prince Harry, and the two young heirs jointly co-founded Sentebale, a charity set up to ensure the most vulnerable children in Lesotho get the support they need.

He was unanimously elected as sultan by the royal council a day after the death of his long-reigning predecessor and first cousin, Qaboos bin Said, who had no children and never publicly designated an heir during his 49-year-long reign. Contrary to Qaboos, Haitham has since promulgated a law that designates the sultan's oldest son to be crown prince. Previously, he was the Minister of Heritage and Culture and before that was Minister of Foreign Affairs. Has been described as a sports enthusiast.\\\

His son, Fuad, formally reigned as the last King of Egypt and the Sudan from July 1952 to June 1953, when he was deposed and banished. He lost his Egyptian citizenship between 1958 and 1974, when President Anwar Sadat decided to restore it. He now lives in Switzerland, though he has visited Egypt from time to time.

Prior to his ascension, the King was married to three women, all ending in divorce. With his first wife, Soamsawali Kitiyakara, he had one daughter, Princess Bajrakitiyabha, who is, as of 2022, is in a coma due to a heart condition. With his second wife, Thai actress Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, he had a daughter and three sons, who would have been candidates to the throne. However, Vivacharawongse and her children were banished from Thailand after she divorced Vajiralongkorn in 1996, and they were subsequently written out of the succession. The heir presumptive is Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, the only son of Vajiralongkorn with his third wife, Srirasmi Suwadee.\\\

->'''Heir''': Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, ''Prince of Thailand''

Prior to his ascension, the King was married to three women, all ending in divorce. With his second wife, Thai actress Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, he had a daughter and three sons, who would have been candidates to the throne. However, Vivacharawongse and her children were banished from Thailand after she divorced Vajiralongkorn in 1996, and they were subsequently written out of the succession. The current heir apparent is Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, the only son of Vajiralongkorn with his third wife, Srirasmi Suwadee.\\\

The crown of the Holy Roman Empire was de facto ceded to the Habsburg family, who continued as the Emperors of Austria after the dissolution of the Empire 1806. The most obvious heir of the HRE would be Karl von Habsburg, who could be Charles VIII.

The crown of the Holy Roman Empire was ceded to Habsburg family, who continued as the Emperors of Austria after the dissolution of the Empire 1806. The legitimate heir of the WRE would be Karl von Habsburg, who would be Charles IX.

->'''Claimant''': Karl von Habsburg [[note]] yep, him again; ancestrally styled His Imperial Highness Charles IX, ''Holy Roman Emperor''[[/note]]

The Sultan has [[MassiveNumberedSiblings twelve children]], six with his first (and currently only) wife, four with his second wife, and four with his third wife. The heir apparent is Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah, the eldest son by his first wife.

Rather than reigning over a geographic territory, the Aga Khan is the hereditary Imam of Nizari Ismāʿīlism, a subset a Shia Islam. The current Aga Khan is a businessman -- with an estimated net worth of US$ 13.3 billion -- and philanthropist as well as a racehorse owner and breeder. Originally from Iran, he was a dashing figure in his youth and even represented the country as a downhill skier in the Winter Olympics.\\\

The Sultan has [[MassiveNumberedSiblings twelve children]], six fathered by his first (and currently only) wife, four fathered by his second wife, and four fathered by his third wife. The heir apparent is Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah, the eldest son by his first wife.

Cambodia is a really odd country in that it's a constitutional monarchy in the complete sense, i.e. the king does nothing, but the ''Prime Minister'' (the ex-communist Hun Sen) runs a fairly repressive regime. The only other places in modern history where this arrangement lasted any significant amount of time are UsefulNotes/FascistItaly, UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, and a few stints of dictatorship in Thailand. (Other constitutional monarchies have been authoritarian regimes, of course, but the king tends to have power and ''not'' be a mere figurehead.)

->'''Consort''': Salma Bennani (2001 --)

Despite him being a king, his consort Salma Bennani is styled "Princess" as opposed to "Queen". Speaking of her, in a strange turn of events, after not being spotted by the media between December 2017 and April 2018, it was rumored that she had divorced and had gone into hiding -- the jury's still out on what happened. \\\

!!Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan of {{UsefulNotes/Brunei}}

->'''Consort''': Saleha Mohamed Alam (1965 --)

The Sultan is Sandhurst graduate, has a large car collection, a private zoo, a banquet hall that holds over 5,000 people, and pays an enormous sum of money to keep a [[UsefulNotes/NepaliWithNastyKnives British Gurkha contingent]] permanently based in his country because he's a fan of them. Also his late father Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III and Queen Elizabeth II were good friends.

->'''Reign''': 1998 -- present

->'''Consort''': Suthida Tidjai (2019 --)

He did not immediately become king when his father died on October 13th, but requested time to mourn and only officially took the throne a month and a half later on December 1st. He is seen as eccentric and does not have the widespread adoration that his father held. Which is rather understandable; because Bhumibol ruled for so long, by the time of his death, he is ''the'' king as far as the population's concerned, and they can't imagine anyone else being in the throne (similar to how Elizabeth II was ''the'' monarch of the United Kingdom).\\\
He is also the first king of Thailand in almost a century to practice polygamy. In 2019, he appointed an army officer and his longtime mistress Niramon Ounprom (regal name Sineenat) as his noble consort. Then he abruptly stripped her of her position later the same year, citing her alleged "conflict and disrespect" towards Queen Suthida. [[RelationshipRevolvingDoor And then her titles were restored as if nothing ever happened.]]\\\

->'''Consort''': Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa (2002 --)

Son of King Hussein and his English second wife. Retains significant power in his native country, but the monarchy is constitutional and he shares ''some'' power with Parliament, but like Mohammed VI of Morocco, he expects to be the last monarch with real power. [[JustForFun/OneOfUs An avowed nerd]], he once guest-starred in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''.\\\

->'''Consorts''': multiple (3 wives)

->'''Consort''': Fadha bint Falah bin Sultan Al Hathleen (1985 --)

->'''Consort''': Ahad bint Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Busaidiyah

->'''Consort''': Fadha bint Falah bin Sultan Al Hathleen (1985 -)

->'''Lived''': 1920--1965
->'''Reigned''' 1936--1952
->'''Consorts''': (1) Farida (née Safinaz Zulficar) (1938–1948); (2) Narriman Sadek (1951 — div. 1954)

->'''Consort''': Menen Asfaw

->'''Consort''': Fatimah el Sharif [[note]]Idris married a total of five times, and was in a polygamous marriage between 1911 and 1915, then again between 1955 and 1958. Fatimah el Sharif had been his longest-lasting wife, remaining by him from their union in 1931 until his death, and was considered the only Queen when Libya was a kingdom.[[/note]]

->'''Consort''': Lalla Jeneïna Beya

->'''Consort''': ''Dona'' Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies

->'''Consort''': Charlotte of Belgium
->'''Claimants''': Maximilian von Götzen-Iturbide

The current pretender to the Mexican throne is Maximilian von Götzen-Iturbide, Agustín de Iturbide's great-great-great-grandson and a Hungarian-born businessman currently living in Mexico. His claim is backed up by the Habsburg side, as his great-grandfather and Agustín's great-grandson, Salvador de Iturbide y Marzán, was adopted by Maximilian I.

->'''Consort''': ''Queen'' Humaira Begum

->'''Consorts''': (1) Gobulo Wanrong (1922--1946), (2) Li Shuxian (1962--1967)

->'''Lived''': 1919 — 1980
->'''Reigned''': 1941 — 1979
->'''Consort''': ''Malekeh'' Fawzia (1939--1948), ''Malekeh'' Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari (1951--1958), ''Shahbanu'' Farah Diba (1959--1980)

->'''Lived''': 1874 - 1926
->'''Reigned''': 1907 - 1910

->'''Consort''': ''Queen'' Khamphoui

->'''Lived''': 17 July 1947 — present

->'''Consort''': ''Lady'' Komal Rajya Lakshmi

->'''Consort''': ''Empress'' Nam Phương [[note]]The emperor also kept several other "junior consorts" and mistresses.[[/note]]

->'''Consort''': ''Queen'' Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Appony

->'''Consort''': ''Duchess'' [[UsefulNotes/ElisabethOfAustria Elisabeth in Bavaria]]

->'''Consort''': Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela

->'''Consort''': UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette, ''Archduchess of Austria''

->'''Consorts''': (1) ''Princess'' Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1881–1921); (2) ''Princess'' Hermine Reuss of Greiz (1922–1941)

->'''Lived''': 2 June 1940 -- 10 January 2023

->'''Consort''': ''Princess'' Anne-Marie of Denmark

->'''Consorts''': (1) ''Princess'' Isabella of Parma (1760–1763); (2) ''Princess'' Maria Josepha of Bavaria (1765–1767)

->'''Consort''': ''Queen'' Elena of Montenegro

->'''Consort''': ''Princess'' Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern

->'''Lived''': 1921-2017
->'''Reigned''': 1927-1930 (First reign) , 1940-1947 (Second reign)
->'''Consort:''' Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma

->'''Consort''': ''Princess'' Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (Alexandra Feodorovna)

->'''Consort''': ''Queen'' Alexandra of Greece and Denmark

-->'''Dynasty:''' House of Kalākaua
-->'''Lived:''' 1838-1917
-->'''Reigned:''' 1891-1893
-->'''Consort:''' John Owen Dominis
-->'''Claimant:''' (1) Quentin Kawānanakoa[[note]]the great grandson of Prince David Kawānanakoa[[/note]], (2) Owana Salazar[[note]]ancestrally styled ''"Princess of Hawai'i"''; current head of the House of Laʻanui[[/note]]

Maximilian's wife was Charlotte of Belgium, a second cousin (they were both great-grandchildren of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies). Charlotte was also a first cousin of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, and spent her childhood holidays in Windsor. She shared a mutual hostility with her sister-in-law, UsefulNotes/ElisabethOfAustria (wife of Franz Joseph I), and enjoyed her husband's overseas posting because it allowed her to avoid her presence. Maximilian made her rule Mexico whenever he was on foreign trips, technically making Charlotte the first head of state in the Americas. Charlotte was also known for [[RoyallyScrewedUp suffering from a mental illness]] that got worse as European support for the Mexican conservatives dwindled. She was in Europe when her husband was captured and executed, and was returned back to her native Belgium as her mental state deteriorated. She died in 1927, long outliving her husband. \\\

Second and last Emperor of Mexico. He was one of the younger brothers of Franz Joseph I, the second-to-last Austro-Hungarian Emperor. Originally serving as the commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, he was approached by Mexican conservatives while he was visiting Napoleon III in Paris in 1856. The conservatives were waging a war against Mexican liberals over the 1857 Constitution, and they wanted a European monarch to "retake" Mexico and legitimize their crusade. As Maximilian was a descendant of Carlos I (better known elsewhere as UsefulNotes/CharlesV, Holy Roman Emperor), who was King when Spain colonized Mexico, this made him a good match, not knowing that Maximilian was a committed liberal and sympathized with their opponents more. In 1861, France invaded Mexico to help the conservatives during the war. This pissed off the United States, as it saw Mexico (and the rest of the Americas) as its backyard, but since the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar occurred at the same time, it couldn't stop France from installing Maximilian as Emperor. After the Civil War ended, however, the French saw the American specter in the horizon and decided to bail out of the continent. The conservatives quickly lost the war, and Maximilian was captured by the liberals in Querétaro in May 1867. President Benito Juárez, while sympathetic to Maximilian for his liberal views, still approved for Maximilian's execution a month later, because he wanted to make it clear to Europeans that Mexico would no longer be ruled by them again.\\\

Maximilian's wife was Charlotte of Belgium, a second cousin (they were both great-grandchildren of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies). Charlotte was also a first cousin of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, and spent her childhood holidays in Windsor. She shared a mutual hostility with her sister-in-law, UsefulNotes/ElisabethOfAustria (wife of Franz Joseph I), and enjoyed her husband's overseas posting because it allowed her to avoid her presence. Maximilian made her rule Mexico whenever he was on foreign trips, technically making Charlotte the first head of state in the Americas. Charlotte was also known for [[RoyallyScrewedUp suffering from a mental illness]] that got worse as European support for the Mexican conservatives dwindled. She was in Europe when her husband was captured and executed, and was returned back to her native Belgium as her mental state deteriorated. She died in 1927, having long outlived her husband, whose execution she probably never learned about.\\\

Second and last Emperor of Mexico. He was one of the younger brothers of Franz Joseph I, the second-to-last Austro-Hungarian Emperor. Originally serving as a the commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, he was approached by Mexican conservatives while he was visiting Napoleon III in Paris in 1856. The conservatives were waging a war against Mexican liberals over the 1857 Constitution, and they wanted a European monarch to "retake" Mexico and legitimize their crusade. As Maximilian was a descendant of Carlos I (better known elsewhere as UsefulNotes/CharlesV, Holy Roman Emperor), who was King when Spain colonized Mexico, this made him a good match, not knowing that Maximilian was a committed liberal and sympathized with their opponents more. In 1861, France invaded Mexico to help the conservatives during the war. This pissed off the United States, as it saw Mexico (and the rest of the Americas) as its backyard, but since the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar occurred at the same time, it couldn't stop France from installing Maximilian as Emperor. After the Civil War ended, however, the French saw the American specter in the horizon and decided to bail out of the continent. The conservatives quickly lost the war, and Maximilian was captured by the liberals in Querétaro in May 1867. President Benito Juárez, while sympathetic to Maximilian for his liberal views, still approved for Maximilian's execution to a month later, because he wanted to make it clear to Europeans that Mexico will no longer be ruled by them again.\\\

Maximilian's wife was Charlotte of Belgium, a second cousin (they were both great-grandchildren of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies). Charlotte was also a first cousin to UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, and spent her childhood holidays in Windsor. She shared a mutual hostility with her sister-in-law, UsefulNotes/ElisabethOfAustria (wife of Franz Joseph I), and enjoyed her husband's overseas posting because it allowed her to avoid her presence. Maximilian made her rule Mexico whenever he was on foreign tours, technically making Charlotte the first head of state in the Americas. Charlotte was also known for [[RoyallyScrewedUp suffering from a mental illness]] that got worse as European support for the Mexican conservatives dwindled. She was in Europe when her husband was captured and executed, and was returned back to her native Belgium as her mental state deteriorated. She died in 1927, having long outlived her husband, whose execution she probably never learned about.\\\

It should be noted that while Mexico had two emperors, they were unrelated and ruled at different periods. Before Maximilian, Mexico had installed Agustín de Iturbide as Emperor in 1821, following their Independence War from Spain. Iturbide only ruled for a year before he was deposed by republicans and banished. He made a homecoming a year later... after which he was promptly arrested and executed. Mexico do ''not'' like emperors, to say the least.\\\

Rather than reigning over a geographic territory, the Aga Khan is the hereditary Imam of Nizari Ismāʿīlism, a subset a Shia Islam. The current Aga Khan is a businessman -- with an estimated net worth of US$ 13.3 billion -- and philathropist as well as a racehorse owner and breeder. Originally from Iran, he was a dashing figure in his youth and even represented the country as a downhill skier in the Winter Olympics.

Peter's father, Alexander I, was maternally descended from the House of Petrović-Njegoš, which ruled Montenegro from 1697 to 1918 (the last monarch, Nicholas I of Montenegro, was Alexander I's grandfather). Meanwhile, Peter's mother, Maria, was a sister of Carol II of Romania (father of Nicholas I of Romania), and a descendant of British, Russian, and Portuguese royalty; she was a great-granddaughter of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, Alexander II of Russia, and Maria II of Portugal.\\\

->'''Consort''': ''Duchess'' Elisabeth in Bavaria

Aka the ''other'' Kaiser, he was among Europe's longest reigning monarchs, outliving his contemporary, UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria. Also known for having endured a horrific stream of personal (and ultimately [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI nationwide]]) disasters [[IronWoobie with nigh impregnable stride.]]\\\
Emperor Karl (or Karl IV in Hungary): Franz Joseph's successor and the last Habsburg monarch. Made attempts at brokering peace while trying to keep his crumbling empire together. Made two (failed) efforts at restoring the throne in Hungary in the 1920s. He would die exiled in Madeira, although his son/heir Otto (noted for holding a seat in the [[UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion European Parliament]] from Germany and being an advocate for European integration) would live on until [[LongRunners 2011]].\\\

The penultimate King of Italy. Known in Italian as ''Vittorio Emanuele III''. Famous for his [[TheNapoleon diminutive]] stature and frailty, which many attributed to the Savoyard penchant for inbreeding (his parents, for instance, were first cousins), though he nevertheless lived to 78. His marriage to Elena of Montenegro was partly arranged to prevent inbreeding from ruining the Savoyard gene pool. He inherited the Italian throne after his father, Umberto I, was assassinated by an anarchist. Victor Emmanuel III reigned during both World Wars. Despite being a supporter of democracy, he was helpless to stop the Fascist movement from taking over Italy, and did nothing to stop Benito Mussolini from marching on Rome in 1922 and becoming Prime Minister. During World War II, he switched sides and declared war against Germany, which was ruling the northern half of the country. The Allies pressured him to surrender his duties to his son, Umberto, and he formally abdicated in 1946. However, Umberto II only ruled for a month before the Italians voted to abolish the monarchy. Both father and son were exiled; Victor Emmanuel III moved to Egypt and died a year later, while Umberto II moved to Portugal, where he lived for 37 years, before dying in Switzerland in 1983.\\\

Grand Duchess UsefulNotes/{{Anastasia|NikolaevnaRomanova}} (Romanova): The youngest of Nicholas' four daughters, hence her common moniker "The Last Grand Duchess". When she wasn't found among the executed Romanovs, [[DidAnastasiaSurvive many thought she was alive and a number of movies have been made about her]], and several women claimed to be her. As it turns out, she ''was'' among the executed Romanovs. [[DatedHistory Ah well]]. People thought she was alive ''decades'' before the Romanov burial site was found. The first whispers were as early as 1919. If anything, the "Anastasia lives" trope was far stronger and far more widely believed in the West before the tomb was found than afterwards. (If it matters, it's now thought that Anastasia actually was one of those recovered from the grave; the remains found later on were probably her sister Marie's.)\\\

The heir of the Yugoslavian throne today is Alexander, Peter II's son with Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. Alexandra was the only daughter of King Alexander of Greece, great uncle of Greece's last king Constantine II. It should be noted, however, that [[BalkanizeMe Yugoslavia no longer exists today]], so this is merely a symbolic claim. At best they could be restored to the throne of Serbia, which was what the Karađorđević dynasty ruled over before the end of World War I saw the creation of Yugoslavia.

->'''Claimant''': (1) Vittorio Emanuele, ''Prince of Naples'' (2) Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, ''Duke of Aosta''

There are two claimants to the Italian throne. The first is Umberto II's son, Vittorio Emanuele, who is mostly known today for his controversial remarks and criminal charges of corruption and murder as part of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_Due Propaganda Due]]. The second is Aimone, the current Duke of Aosta and Vittorio Emanuele's third cousin once removed (his great-great-great-grandfather was Victor Emmanuel II, Victor Emmanuel III's grandfather and namesake).

He was a first cousin once removed of King Felipe VI of Spain, a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, and King Harald V of Norway, a third cousin once removed of King Philippe of Belgium, King Frederik X of Denmark, and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, and a fourth cousin once removed of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, and Prince Albert II of Monaco. \\\