Nine Kings in One Photo: 1910 Eve of World War I, Rare Image

[appalachiablue]

- The Nine Sovereigns gathered for the funeral of King Edward VII at Windsor, England, on May 20, 1910.

In May 1910, European royalty gathered in London for the funeral of Britain's King Edward VII. The funeral was the largest gathering of European royalty ever to take place, with representatives of 70 states, and the last before many royal families were deposed in World War I and its aftermath.

Among the mourners were nine reigning kings, who were photographed together in what very well may be the only photograph of nine reigning kings ever taken. Of the nine sovereigns pictured, four would be deposed and one assassinated.

Within five years, Britain and Belgium would be at war with Germany and Bulgaria, in a network of alliances between the powers that formed two coalitions: the Triple Entente—consisting of France, Russia and Britain—and the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, in what was called the Great War 'to end all wars.'

At the end of the First World War, four of the nine empires represented had collapsed: Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Russia. Only five of the nine monarchies represented in the photo still exist today. British King George V of the UK was a grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and the first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

>The funeral of King Edward VII was the last time all of the great European monarchs would meet before the First World War, the very war that ended most of the monarchical lines of Europe for good.

Imagine, they all knew a war was coming, all knew it was going to be between them. Looking at this picture really makes one realize how much the slaughter and waste of the First World War was the result of national egos and vanity embodied by monarchs. And just how arrogant and foolish they were without any sense of honor or duty to their states.

PHOTO: Standing, L to R: King Haakon VII of Norway; Tsar Ferdinand of the Bulgarians; King Manuel II of Portugal and the Algarve; Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Prussia; King George I of the Hellenes; King Albert I of the Belgians. Seated, L to R: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George V of the United Kingdom; King Frederick VIII of Denmark.

There are several family relations in that picture: Frederik VIII of Denmark (bottom R) was the father of Haakon VII of Norway (top L), Wilhelm II of Germany (top, 3rd from R) was first cousin of both George V of the United Kingdom (bottom Ctr), and Queen Maud of Norway who was wife to Haakon VII of Norway and sister to George V of the United Kingdom – which made Haakon VII of Norway and George V of the United Kingdom brothers-in-law. George V of the United Kingdom’s and Queen Maud of Norway’s mother was incidentally Alexandra of Denmark, sister to Frederik VIII of Denmark. This means that Frederik VIII of Denmark was also the uncle of George V of the United Kingdom.

https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/nine-kings-one-photo/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funeral_of_King_Edward_VII

[Shrike47]

1. Several of them appear related. Descendants of Queen Victoria?

[MFM008]

2. Yes

Kaiser and King George were grandsons.
Almost all related by blood somehow.

[appalachiablue]

4. Yes, I just added more info. on relations from the article, TY for mentioning.

[bobbieinok]

3. Unbelievable photo! Thanks for posting

[appalachiablue]

5. Amazing & foretelling photo. Tragic even. *GEORGE III, America's last king*

- King George III of the United Kingdom, coronation portrait 1762. - America's last king -.

George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738[c] – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death in 1820. He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg ("Hanover" in the Holy Roman Empire before becoming King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but unlike his two predecessors, he was born in Great Britain, spoke English as his first language, and never visited Hanover.

His life and with it his reign, which were longer than those of any of his predecessors, were marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms, much of the rest of Europe, and places farther afield in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britain's American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence. Further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

In the later part of his life, George III had recurrent, and eventually permanent, mental illness. Although it has since been suggested that he had the blood disease porphyria, the cause of his illness remains unknown. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established, and George III's eldest son, George, Prince of Wales, ruled as Prince Regent. On George III's death, the Prince Regent succeeded his father as George IV. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom

[brer cat]

6. He who has the most bling wins?

That's an amazing picture. Thanks for posting, appalachiablue.

[appalachiablue]

7. What a group, too bad they didn't change or forsee events!