Curated playlist
Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint James of the Sword
- NapoleonNapoleon crowned himself emperor with a replica of Charlemagne's crown. The pope had just anointed him.
- George VIGeorge VI, known to his family as Bertie, wrote an anguished line in his diary about the day before his brother gave up the crown. He had gone to London to tell his mother, Queen Mary, what had happened. His entry read: "When I told her…
- Nicholas IINicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, carried a large dragon tattooed on his right forearm. The artist was Hori Chiyo, and the tattoo was a souvenir of the young heir's visit to Japan. That same journey nearly ended in disaster. At…
- Francis II, Holy Roman EmperorOn August 6, 1806, Francis II ended the Holy Roman Empire with a single signed declaration. He was its last emperor.
- Ferdinand VIISpain's people called Ferdinand VII "the Desired One" before they came to call him the Criminal King.
- Carl SaganCarl Sagan once asked a librarian for a book on stars and got one about movie stars.
- Napoleon IIINapoleon III escaped a life sentence by walking out of prison dressed as a laborer.
- Louis XVIIILouis XVIII spent twenty-three years as a king without a kingdom. He took the French throne in 1814.
- Edward VIIEdward VII was barely a month old on the 8th of December 1841 when he was created Prince of Wales. He would carry that title until the 22nd of January 1901, a span of 59 years and 45 days. No heir in British history had waited so long, and…
- Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and GothaPrince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha never wore a crown, yet the clerk of the Privy Council, Charles Greville, once wrote of him: "He is King to all intents and purposes." Albert was the husband of Queen Victoria, and Greville's line…
- Carol II of RomaniaCarol II of Romania fled in 1940 as gunmen fired on his train. It carried 30 truckloads of his fortune.
- Alexander III of RussiaAlexander III of Russia answered an Austrian ambassador's threat by twisting a silver fork into a knot.
- Alexander I of RussiaAlexander I of Russia died in 1825, but a legend says he faked it. The story claims he became a Siberian hermit.
- Frederick William IIIFrederick William III, King of Prussia, was born in Potsdam on the 3rd of August 1770 into a dynasty celebrated for iron will and military genius. He had neither. A boy so reticent that he habitually omitted personal pronouns from his…
- Nicholas I of RussiaOn his first full day as tsar in 1825, Nicholas I ordered troops to crush a revolt.
- Leopold II of BelgiumLeopold II of Belgium was the second king of the Belgians, and in 1908 he lost the Congo. The entire archive of the Congo Free State was then burned. Leopold told an aide that, although the colony had been taken from him, "they have no…
- Charles IV of SpainNapoleon forced Charles IV of Spain and his son to abdicate at Bayonne in 1808.
- ChulalongkornKing Chulalongkorn of Siam abolished slavery without a civil war. He avoided the bloodshed he linked to America's.
- Alexander II of RussiaOn the morning a bomb killed him, Alexander II signed a step toward representative government.
- Haile SelassieIn 1992, the bones of Haile Selassie I were found beneath a concrete slab on the grounds of a palace. The man buried there had been born Tafari Makonnen. He had ruled Ethiopia as emperor from 1930 to 1974. How does a ruler of such rank end…