# Foreign-Born Monarchs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654 "2010-02-04T06:50:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/21 "2010-02-05T01:23:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I don’t think anyone is **ever** born in Vatican City. I’m sure no pope ever has been. (Some were born in Rome, however.) Back when the Pope controlled some real territory, many popes would have been born in the Papal States. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/22 "2010-02-05T01:25:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think anyone is ever born in Vatican City. I’m sure no pope ever has been. (Some were born in Rome, however.) I’m sure several were born in the Papal States, though. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/23 "2010-02-05T01:42:44Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Working from that list, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein was born in Zurich. I wonder how many of the leaders of Liechtenstein were born in the country. Since after World War II at least , I imagine that any potential heir to the throne would be born in a neighbouring country in a larger or fancier hospital. I just looked up the main hospital in the capital of Liechtenstein, Vaduz, and I see that they have a list of ( as far as I can tell ) all babies born in the hospital: it’s less than one per day. [http://www.landesspital.li/Services/Babyliste/tabid/1153/Default.aspx](http://www.landesspital.li/Services/Babyliste/tabid/1153/Default.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/24 "2010-02-05T03:13:00Z")
[James I of England](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_I_of_England) was born in Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/25 "2010-02-05T04:08:53Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [James I of England](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_I_of_England) was born in Scotland. See post 2. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/26 "2010-02-05T04:20:07Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > I’m sure there are a few. But I don’t think Vatican City extends citizenship on people born there and no women can be citizens of VC. Vatican City citizenship is granted to employees of the Vatican City, their spouses, and their parents and children who live with them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/27 "2010-02-05T04:24:22Z")
Here’s an interesting note. In Republics, Presidents are the equivalent of Monarchs as Heads of State. Of Israel’s nine Presidents, only two have been born in what is now Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/28 "2010-02-05T04:45:59Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > You could PROBABLY count William III, since he was a Prince of Orange, and maybe James I of England, as he was born and raised in Scotland. (Although since he was also King of Scotland, that might not count) Charles I was also [born in Scotland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England#Early_life). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/29 "2010-02-05T04:55:41Z")
And in Scotland, King Charles II, King James VII, King William II, Queen Mary II, and Queen Anne were all born in foreign countries. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/30 "2010-02-05T05:01:10Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [William the Conqueror](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_conqueror) was born in Normandy. [/QUOTE] His son [William II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II_of_England), his grandson [Stephen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_of_England) and his great-grandson [Henry II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England) were also born in France. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/31 "2010-02-05T05:34:54Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Slight correction. > > George I of Greece (né Prince William of Denmark) was Philip’s grandfather. :smack: I knew that. Queen Victoria almost WASN’T born in England, as her parents were living abroad at the time, but they hurried back to England late in her mother’s pregnancy, in order for her to be born on native soil. However, it wouldn’t have mattered, since at the time NONE of George III’s grandchildren were suitable heirs. All of them were bastards and/or children of morganatic marriages. There was a large race to produce an heir amoung her father, Edward, and his brothers. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/32 "2010-02-05T06:29:03Z")
How about Monarchs who never even set foot in the country they “ruled”? When Scotland’s King Alexander III died at a youngish age (his horse fell off a cliff in the dark), all three of his children were already dead and the throne passed to his granddaughter Margaret (daughter of Norway’s King, great granddaughter of 4 different Kings) who sailed for Scotland but died en route at the age of seven. (This story has complications. The baby Margaret was bethrothed to England’s future Edward II; Alexander III’s second wife was pregnant upon his death. And, of course the death of the seven-year old Queen led to a succession crisis which was parodied in Mel Gibson’s _Braveheart_.) > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Catherine the Great was originally German, and only became the ruling monarch after murdering her husband According to Wikipedia, she was elected Empress _before_ the death of Peter III. And while it’s certainly true that Catherine and her lover(s) didn’t mourn Peter’s passing, unless you want to move this to GD or the Pit, I hope you retract your unsubstantiated claim that Catherine murdered Peter. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/33 "2010-02-05T06:53:55Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Vatican City citizenship is granted to employees of the Vatican City, their spouses, and their parents and children who live with them. I imagine there are also women religious who have VC citizenship. It’s not exactly Mount Athos. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/34 "2010-02-05T07:33:41Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Queen Victoria almost WASN’T born in England, as her parents were living abroad at the time, but they hurried back to England late in her mother’s pregnancy, in order for her to be born on native soil. The same holds true for Ferdinand I of Aragon, “the Catholic King”. His father, Juan II, had remarried after the death of his first wife, Queen Blanca of Navarre. Ferdinand’s mother spent a lot of the pregnancy at the Royal Palace in Olite (according to legend, it was because she was fond of ice cream, which was available in Olite but not in the Aljafería, the royal palace in Aragon’s capital of Saragossa) but hurried to cross the border when she felt the baby coming. That’s why Sos is now known as “Sos del Rey Católico:” it happened to be the Aragonese village that was closest to Olite, so it’s where Ferdinand was born. The refusal of Juan to let his son by Blanca inherit the throne of Navarre, subsequent murder of said son, and later invasion by Ferdinand using troops loaned by his wife Isabel I of Castille is the reason why many Navarrese are known to curse Sos heartily on occasion… sometimes I wonder why aren’t there more historic dramas, maybe it’s because the plots would be hard to follow? There’s times when it seems half the royals in Europe were each other’s cousins and hell-bent on cousinicide. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/35 "2010-02-05T13:23:11Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > For Sweden, Karl XIV Johan was born in Pau, in Pyrenean France. [Fredrik I](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_I_of_Sweden) was born in Kassel in Germany. [Adolf Fredrik](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Frederick_of_Sweden) was born in Gottorp in Germany. [Oscar I](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_I_of_Sweden) was born in Paris. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/36 "2010-02-05T15:45:50Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > His son [William II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II_of_England), his grandson [Stephen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_of_England) and his great-grandson [Henry II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England) were also born in France. But in portions of France that were considered under English rule, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/37 "2010-02-05T16:07:01Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Emperor Norton I was born in London. That’s “His Imperial Highness Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico” sirrah! /Raises a glass To the Emperor! ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/38 "2010-02-05T16:10:48Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > But in portions of France that were considered under English rule, IIRC. Yes, at that period large parts of what is now France were part of the realm of the King of England. So it’s a bit like the Queen of Canada having been born in England: she is the sovereign of multiple realms and (being human) could only have been born in one of them. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/39 "2010-02-05T16:26:32Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > The [Co-Princes of Andorra](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Co-Princes_of_Andorra) have probably never ever been born in Andorra. Most co-princes of Andorra have probably never even _been_ to Andorra. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654/40 "2010-02-05T16:30:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Emperor Napoleon I of France became King of Italy, and gave thrones to a number of brothers incl. those of Naples and Sicily, Spain, Holland and Westphalia, and also named his infant son King of Rome. Napoleon himself almost wasn’t born in France. His birthplace, Corsica, was ceded to France by the Republic of Genoa just months before he was born. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-born-monarchs/527654.md?page=3)