Kingdom
of Finland
House
of Hesse
Finland had declared independence from Russia on December 6, 1917, leading to a debate on
whether the new state should declare itself a republic or remain a monarchy. At the time of its Declaration of Independence,
monarchists were a minority in the Finnish Eduskunta (Parliament), and Finland was declared a republic. However, after the
Finnish Civil War, and while the pro-republic Social Democratic Party was mostly excluded from the Eduskunta, Frederick
was elected to the throne of the Kingdom of Finland on October 9, 1918. A primary motive for his election was the belief
that, being the brother of William II of Germany, his kingship would solidify Finland's alliance with Germany and thereby
afford protection against the Russians.
The adoption of a new constitution
had been delayed by the Civil War, and the legitimacy of the royal election was based upon the Constitution of Sweden of 1772,
adopted under King Gustav III, when Finland had been a part of Sweden. The same constitutional document had also served as
the basis for the rule of the Russian Tsars, as grand dukes of Finland, during the nineteenth century when the weakening Sweden
lost Finland to the Russian Empire.
The reaction of the Bolshevik regime in Russia was thus crucial. Great Britain, the United States, Germany, France
and the other Scandinavian countries were initially reluctant to recognize the newly independent Finland, waiting for the
Russian reaction. When Lenin's government recognized Finland's independence, Germany, in addition to France and the other
Scandinavian countries quickly followed suit.
Governmental archives reveal that
the monarchical designation of the king was intended, at least tentatively, to be His Majesty Charles I, King of Finland and
Karelia, Duke of Åland, Grand Prince of Lapland, Lord of Kaleva and the North." ( Kaarle I, Suomen ja Karjalan kuningas,
Ahvenanmaan herttua, Lapinmaan suuriruhtinas, Kalevan ja Pohjolan isäntä ).
On November 11, 1918, the
armistice between the warring factions of World War I, was signed, and only two days earlier William II had abdicated and
Germany was declared a republic. Germany's defeat in the war and the stated fact that none of the Allies of World War
I would ever accept a German-born prince as the king of Finland, led Frederick to renounce the throne on December 14,
1918, without having ever set foot on his "kingdom." He had hesitated previously due to the circumstances of
his election, where approximately 40 percent of the members of the Parliament had boycotted the election.
The Genealogy of The Royal
House
FRIEDRICH KARL Ludwig Konstantin, CHARLES I OF FINLAND
Elected King of Finland, from October 9th to December 14th, 1918,
and Landgrave of Hesse, head of the Electoral House
of Hesse from
15
Mar 1925 (Schloß Panker, Holstein 1 May 1868-Kassel 28 May
1940); m.Berlin 25 Jan 1893 Margarethe Pss of Prussia (Neues
Palais, nr Potsdam 22 Apr 1872- Schönberg
bei Kronberg,
Taunus
22 Jan 1954). see: Landgraviate of Hesse
Friedrich Wilhelm Sigismund Viktor (Frankfurt 23
Nov 1893-k.a.Kara Orman, Romania 12/13 Sep 1916)
Maximilian
Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Eduard (Schloß
Rumpenheim 20 Oct 1894- k.a.St.Jean-Chapelle 13 Oct 1914)
PHILIPP, de jure King
of Finland, Landgrave of Hesse, became
head of all the House of Hesse 30 May 1968 (Schloß Rumpenheim
6 Nov 1896-Rome 25 Oct 1980); m.Racconigi 23 Sep 1925 Mafalda
Pss of Savoy (Rome 19 Nov 1902-d.in Buchenwald
concentration
camp 28
Aug 1944)
MORITZ Friedrich Karl Emmanuel Humbert, de jure
King of Finland, Landgrave of Hesse, b.Racconigi 6
Aug 1926; m.Kronberg (civ) 1 Jun1964 (rel) 3 Jun
1964 (div 1974) Tatiana Pss zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-
Berleburg (b.Gießen 31 Jul 1940)
Mafalda
Margarethe, b.Kiel 6 Jul 1965; m.1st Kronberg 6 Jul 1989
(div) Enrico dei Conti Marone Cinzano (b.Turin 5 Apr 1963); m.2d
Lütjenburg 19 Dec 1991 (div 1999) Carlo Galdo
(b.Naples 26 Mar 1954);
m.3d
Rome 14 Jul 2000 (rel) Palazzo Grotta Pallotta 28 Sep 2000
Ferdinando dei Conti Brachetti-Peretti (b.Rome 13 Jan 1960)
Tatiana Marie Galdo,
b.20 Jan 1992
Polissena Galdo,
b.30 Sep 1993
Cosmo Maria Tebaldo Maurizio
Enrico
Brachetti-Peretti,
b.Rome 11 Jan 2000
4h) Briano Maria Tebaldo Brachetti
-Peretti, b.Rome 16 Apr 2002
Heinrich Donatus Philipp Umberto, Hereditary Pr
of Hesse,
b.Kiel 17 Oct
1966; m.Wiesbaden 25 Apr 2003 (rel) Kronberg
17 May 2003 Floria Gfn von Faber-Castell (b.Düsseldorf 14
Oct 1974) Elena Elisabeth Madeleine, b.Kiel 8 Nov 1967
Philipp Robin, b.Kiel 17 Sep 1970; m.Hamburg 5 May 2006
(rel) Panker 10 Jun 2006 Laetitia Bechtolf (b.Wedel 5 May 1978)
Heinrich
Wilhelm Konstantin Victor Franz (Rome 30
Oct 1927-Langen, Hessen [or, Frankfurt] 18 Nov 1999)
Otto Adolf (Rome 3 Jun 1937-Hannover 3 Jan 1998);
m.1st
(morganatically)
(civ) Munich 5 Apr 1965 (rel) Trostberg, Upper
Bavaria 6 Apr 1965 (div 1969) Angela von Doering (Goslar 12
Aug 1940-Hannover 11 Apr 1991); m.2d (morganatically) Latrup
-Matrum 28 Dec 1988 (div 1994) Elisabeth Bönker
(b.Rumburg, Czechoslovakia 31 Jan 1944)
Elisabeth
Margarethe Elena Johanna Maria Jolanda Polyxene,
b.Rome 8 Oct 1940; m.Frankfurt (civ) 26 Feb 1962 (rel)
28 Feb 1962 Friedrich Carl Gf von Oppersdorff
(Oberglogau 30 Jan 1925-Gravenbruch 11 Jan 1985)
Wolfgang
Moritz (Schloß Rumpenheim 6 Nov 1896-Kronberg,
Taunus 12 Jul 1989); m.1st Salem 17 Sep 1924 Marie Alexandra Pss
of Baden (Salem 1 Aug 1902-k.in air raid at Frankfurt 29 Jan 1944);
m.2d Frankfurt 7 Sep 1948 Ottilie Moeller
(Frankfurt 24 Jun 1903-Kronberg 4 Nov 1991)
Richard
Wilhelm Leopold (Frankfurt
14
May 1901-Frankfurt 11 Feb 1969)
Christoph Ernst August (Frankfurt 14 May 1901-k.a.in
the Apennines 7 Oct 1943); m.Kronberg 15 Dec 1930
Sophie Pss of Greece and Denmark (Corfu 26 Jun
1914- Neuhaus bei Schliersee 24 Nov 2001)
Christina
Margarethe, b.Kronberg 10 Jan 1933; m.1st Kronberg 2
Aug 1956 (div 1962) Andreas Pr of Yugoslavia (Veldes, Krain 28 Jun
1929-Irvine, California 7 May 1990); m.2d London 3 Dec 1962 (div
1986) Robert van Eyck (The Hague 3 May 1916-Ashford
19 Dec 1991)
1g) Helene Sophie van Eyck, b.London 25 Oct 1963; m.Hastings 24
Jan 1986 Roderick Alan Harman (b.Chang-chou, China
18 Jul 1942)
Alexandra Sophia Harman,
b.St.Leonard's-on-Sea 26 Jul 1986
Pascale Olivia Harman, b.St.
Leonard's-on-Sea 19 Mar 1989
Mark
Nicholas van Eyck, b.Oxford 16 Feb 1966; m.London
13 Jun 1992 Joanne Marea Green (b.Timaru NZ 11 Oct 1961)
Dorothea Charlotte Karin, b.Schloß Panker
24 Jul
1934; m.(civ)
Schliersee, Upper Bavaria 31 Mar 1959
(rel) Munich 1 Apr 1959 Friedrich Pr zu Windisch-Grätz
(Heiligenberg, Baden 7 Jul 1917-Gersau 29 May 2002)
Karl Adolf Andreas, b.Berlin
26 Mar 1937; m.The
Hague
(civ) 26 Mar 1966 (rel) 18 Apr 1966 Yvonne Gfn
Szapáry von Muraszombath, Széchysziget
u.Szapár (b.Budapest 4 Apr 1944)
Christoph, b.Munich 18 Jun 1969
Irina Verena, b.Munich 1 Apr 1971; m.(civ) Berlin
30 Apr 1999 (rel) Heusenstamm 29 May 1999
Alexander Gf von Schönburg-Glauchau
(b.Mogadishu, Somalia 15 Aug 1969)
Rainer Christoph Friedrich,
b.Kronberg 18 Nov 1939
Clarissa
Alice, b.Kronberg 6 Feb 1944; m.
Paris 20 Jul 1971 (div 1976) Claude Jean Derrien
(b.Boulogne-sur-Seine 12 Mar 1948)
Johanna von Hessen,
b.Munich 25 Aug 1980
