Royal Assassinations

[Prince_Christopher]

I was thinking about assassinations and realized that the Russian royal family had of course had more assassinations than any other family.

But excluding the 1918 murders, the Romanovs run a tight race with the Hapsburgs.

Romanov:
Peter III, Paul, Alexander II, Grand Duke Serge

Hapsburg:
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the Duchess of Hohenberg, Emperor Maximilian, Empress Elisabeth

Am I leaving any out?

Can anyone think of any other assassinated royals?  All that comes to my mind is:

King George I of Greece

[David_Pritchard]

Your Russian list is a bit light. Here are more to be added:

Emperor Ivan VI
Tsarevich Aleksei Petrovich

If one were to include pre-Romanov royals the list would grow:

Grand Duke Dmitri Ivanovich (son of Ivan IV)
Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich (son of Ivan IV)
Tsar Theodore II (son of Tsar Boris Gudenov)
Vladimir Duke of Staritsa (grandson of Tsar Ivan III)
Eudoxia Duchess of Staritsa (married to Vladimir)

[grandduchessella]

Can anyone think of any other assassinated royals?  All that comes to my mind is:

King George I of Greece

Portugal: Carlos I & CP Luis (at the same time)

Serbia: Draga & Alexander

Yugoslavia: Alexander I

Italy: King Humbert

Failed attempts:

Queen Victoria--multiple attempts
Edward VII (when Prince of Wales) Alexandra was with him
Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh--attempt in Australia
Wilhelm I of Germany--shot in the back but survived
Alfonso XIII--several attempts besides the wedding attempt
Constantine I--fire set at Tatoi

[Prince_Christopher]

Good lists David and Grandduchessella, I'd totally forgotten about all those early Russians.

Most of the victims seem to be reigning monarchs.  What about lesser royals?  Can anyone think of any?

[Caleb]

There is a question if King Ananda Mahidol (King Rama VIII), who was the older brother & predecessor of the current King Bhumibol, was assasinated. Supposedly he was found shot dead in his bedroom. The death of King George V could probably be called an "assasination" in a sense. Queen Min of Korea was also assasinated. The king of Nepal, along with his family were assasinated.  

[aussiechick12]

There is a question if King Ananda Mahidol (King Rama VIII), who was the older brother & predecessor of the current King Bhumibol, was assasinated. Supposedly he was found shot dead in his bedroom. The death of King George V could probably be called an "assasination" in a sense. Queen Min of Korea was also assasinated. The king of Nepal, along with his family were assasinated.  

Why could George V be called an "assasination"? How did he die?

[Grace]

It is said that King George V received a lethal dose of a narcotic drug by his personal doctor, Lord Dawson of Penn, during his final illness in 1936.  This was supposedly with the sanction of Queen Mary, though I don't know if other members of the RF at the time knew of it.

[Benjamin]

Duc de Berry in 1820
Emperor Maximilian of Mexico in 1867
Prince Cyrill of Bulgaria in 1945

[grandduchessella]

George V's death would more correctly be called euthenasia rather than an assassination.

One of the main components of assassination as a term is that there is a political benefit that is the primary impetus behind the attack. This wasn't a factor in GV's death--those in senior positions probably dreaded the outcome of his death, the ascension of EVIII. Similarly, the death of Maximilian of Mexico would probably be more accurately described as an execution rather than an assassination.

As for more minor members of royal families, it is surprising that more of them weren't targeted. You'd think they'd make prime targets as they probably had less security than monarchs.

Prince Alfred was one of the few I could think of (save for GD Serge) who had an attempt made. His was by a Fenian while he was in Australia. I think he was shot between the shoulder blades.

Of course, in modern times, Earl Mountbatten of Burma was assassinated by the IRA.

[Prince_Christopher]

As for more minor members of royal families, it is surprising that more of them weren't targeted. You'd think they'd make prime targets as they probably had less security than monarchs.

Just what I was thinking.  Most of the victims were either reigning monarchs or their heirs.

[Caleb]

On the grounds of non-royals, yet prominant political figures:
U.S. Presidents:
Abraham Lincoln (1865)
William McKinley (1901)
John F. Kennedy (1963)
Also there was the failed assasination attempt on Ronald Regan
Other political figures
Peter Stolypin (1913)
Mayor Carter Harrison of Chicago (1893)

[bel air]

prince Chirstopher, let me add two more Romanov relations to the list, and pose this as a question for all? I recently came across the name of a comtesse de Beauharnais, a descendant of Grand Duchess Maria Nicolaevna and the Duke of Leuchtenburg. Apparently, she and her son returned to Russia in 1930, and were executed in 1937. I recall a similar fate at approximately the same time for a prince Sviatopolk-Mirsky. Can anyone elaborate for me? Thank you!

[Robert_Hall]

Greece- George I 1913
France- Henri IV 1610
Sweden- Gustav III 1792
Bulgaria- Boris III 1943 [?]
Saudi Arabia- Faisal 1975
Iraq- Faisal III 1958
Jordan- Abdullah I 1951
Ethiopia- Haile Selassie 1975
Thailand- there have been several in the country's hidtory but Ananada 1946 the most recent [?]
England/UK- Edaward II 1327
 Charles I 1649 [?]
The Lao 1978 and Buthan royal  2001 families
 Any number of Ottoman Sultans and Chinese Emperors
 Those are the ones that come to mind at the moment

[Robert_Hall]

And the brutal murder/assasination of the Korean Queen in 1895

[ilyala]

Your Russian list is a bit light. Here are more to be added:

Emperor Ivan VI
Tsarevich Aleksei Petrovich

If one were to include pre-Romanov royals the list would grow:

Grand Duke Dmitri Ivanovich (son of Ivan IV)
Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich (son of Ivan IV)
Tsar Theodore II (son of Tsar Boris Gudenov)
Vladimir Duke of Staritsa (grandson of Tsar Ivan III)
Eudoxia Duchess of Staritsa (married to Vladimir)

we don't know for sure if dmitri ivanovich died assasinated. he could have had an epilepsy crisis, the way the official version says. there is no proof of anything.

i think that the minor princes were not assasinated as much because they didn't matter as much.

on the uk list i think we can safely add richard 2nd and henry 6th who both died in prison after being dethroned. also the princes in the tower, while no-one knows what actually happened to them, i think we can safely say they were assasinated.

charles 1st of england was not assasinated, he was executed.

if we count executed people we can think of the french king louis xvi. also henry 4th of france died assasinated. also henry 3rd.