Thomas of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands
| Thomas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Duke of Hanover Grand Duke Emeritus of the Luxembourgers Prince of the Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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King of the British and of the People of his other Realms
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| Reign | 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coronation | 20 March 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Charles III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Alexandra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Ministers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| King of the Dutch Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inauguration | 1 January 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Charles III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Alexandra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 December 1953 Balmoral Castle, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Christy Turlington (m. 1995) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issue | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| House | Amsterdam-Windsor (until 2007) Hanover (from 2007) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Charles III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Lauren Bacall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Protestant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years of service | 1979-1997 (active service) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Battles/wars | The Troubles Falklands War Multinational Force in Lebanon Gulf War | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas (English: Thomas William Frederick Francis Albert Charles; German: Thomas Wilhelm Friedrich Franz Albrecht Carl; Dutch: Thomas Willem Frederik Frans Albert Karel; born 17 December 1953) was King of the British, King of the Dutch, and Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers from 15 January 1997 to 13 October 2017.
A decorated Royal Navy officer in his youth, Thomas initially served in the country's naval forces for an almost two-decades-long period during which he saw involvement in a number of notable conflicts, namely the Falklands War, The Troubles conflict in Northern Ireland, and the Gulf War in which a US-led coalition successfully repelled Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein from neighbouring Kuwait. During this period, he also embarked on a sporadic and short-lived acting career under the alias of Richard Hill which saw him mainly feature in a minor capacity such as the late-1970s television series Charlie's Angels where he played the love interest of Jaclyn Smith's Kelly Garrett, and 1986's action film Top Gun in which he played a British-born naval aviator Lieutenant Benedict "Bulldog" Bates.
On January 1997, Thomas ascended to the throne upon his father's abdication. In his early years, he came to acquire a reputation as a vocal figure for reform in the United Kingdom with his most notable successes being the lifting of restrictions on marriages between royals and Catholic spouses, the enforcement of absolute primogeniture in the country's succession laws, and the creation of the United Kingdom Supreme Court. In addition, Thomas was also somewhat of a fierce critic of the controversial Iraq War, a conflict he privately opposed, and a major proponent of expansion for the country's healthcare system, the National Health Service. Later, on October 2017, following a health crisis in the final year of his reign, an ageing Thomas ultimately abdicated the throne in favour of his daughter, who subsequently ascended to the throne as Queen Alexandra, while otherwise styling himself as Duke of Hanover, as well as being given the title Grand Duke Emeritus in Luxembourg. Following his abdication, the Duke has since come to devote himself to both philanthropic and entrepreneurial causes.
In his youth, Thomas was initially romantically involved with the American actress Jaclyn Smith, with who he had two children, William and Jacqueline, the former who later went on to become one of the world's most-talented and successful footballers of all time. On December 1995, he married the American supermodel Christy Turlington, with who he had five children including the reigning Queen Alexandra.
As one of the major shareholders of the multi-billion dollar holding company Atlantic Connection, Thomas is estimated to be worth around $24.2 billion, making him one of the richest monarchs in the world.
Early Life
Thomas was born on 17 December 1953 to the then Charles, Prince of Wales and Lauren, Princess of Wales, formerly known as Lauren Bacall, during the reign of his grandfather, King Frederick. His godparents, in a manner previously unknown to that of his predecessors, consisted of both British and American nationals, whilst also including both members of royalty and non-royalty, such as his great-uncle and aunt, Prince Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Princess Astrid of Sweden, then-British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, then-New York governor and his namesake Thomas E. Dewey, and American Hollywood figures, actor Frank Sinatra, and actress Katharine Hepburn.
Christened Thomas William Frederick Francis Albert Charles upon his birth, his given name was derived from the Republican politician and New York governor Thomas E. Dewey, a two-time presidential nominee and who is both his godfather and a close friend of his father's. On the other hand, his middle names were reportedly chosen in honour of his maternal grandfather William Perske, the American singer Frank Sinatra, and his own father himself.
Prince of the Welsh
Soon after his birth, Thomas, being his father's heir apparent to the throne was immediately made Duke of Cornwall, which lasted until January 1st the following year, when he was then formally Prince of the Welsh by his father's behest. Notably, Thomas became the first heir apparent in British history to have ever used the princely title's much older styling, as his predecessors have all used the more common styling of Prince of Wales as opposed to Prince of the Welsh.
Mirroring that of his own father's upbringing, Thomas' upbringing in Buckingham Palace was reportedly said to had been somewhat restrictive in the early years, as a consequence of fringe rumours espousing harmful plots targeting the royal family. Nevertheless, the prince was able to benefit from both of his parents' much modern and liberal parenting style, with his father in particular emphasising qualities of "individuality, self-dependent, and survivability" in the young prince, while his mother generally added onto the efforts of Thomas' father in "liberalising" the young Prince of the Welsh.
The American Prince
As his parents had previously been involved in the Hollywood industry as actors themselves, Thomas also grew up with a firm passion for American movies and films, an interest helped by his parents' convenient associations with various Hollywood celebrities. At the same time, he also became fond of locally-made British films as well, with the famed English actress Audrey Hepburn, being a personal favourite and later a close friend of his.
In particular, due to his parents' close association to the American actress Katharine Hepburn, who had consistently been a close friend of the royal couple, and also the prince's own godmother, Thomas would also occasionally spend some time living under the actress's care at her family residence in Fenwick, Connecticut. Later on, in his memoirs, Thomas himself described his time of living in Hepburn's family home as a "wholly wild, and fascinating experience". He also generally described the actress in a wholly positive light, having written in one instance, "While there were some minor, and understandable blunders from her, I could feel that we generally appreciated and cared for one another". Moreover, when living at the actress's Connecticut family home, Thomas was said to have generally fancied "dipping his toes every morning on the shores of the cold water", whilst also having much interest in sports such as golf and tennis, an interest made convenient with the presence of nearby golf courses and alike.
Interestingly, the supposed state of their "mother and son" relationship proved quick to gain a sizable degree of notoriety among the local community, so much so that Thomas was initially mistaken to be an alleged secret lovechild between Hepburn and her known romantic partner at the time, namely the actor Spencer Tracy, although these were quickly refuted by Hepburn's own family members, who were already aware of the royal family's connections to the actress. Nevertheless, when the two were mostly apart, both Thomas and Hepburn maintained their lifelong friendship through the extensive use of telephones, and to a certain extent, an exchange of gifts, particularly during Christmas or during their own respective birthday celebrations. In later years, Thomas himself would often refer to Hepburn as "my mother on the other side of the pond" and sometimes as "my great Aunt Kate".
Moreover, while pursuing his university studies in the United States, Thomas himself largely lived together with the actress, who essentially acted as the prince's de facto guardian overseeing his welfare and security while the latter was preoccupied with his academic studies, with Thomas himself having enrolled at the prestigious Yale University under the alias George White. Eventually, in 1975, Thomas graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in international relations, making him the first royal to ever earn an academic degree. Since then, one former educator of his at the university later recounted Thomas as a "bright and energetic young student always on the verge of asking important questions whenever possible". Similarly, a former friend of Thomas' at the university described the royal as "very unassuming, talkative, and intelligent young man".
Military Career
In 1979, Thomas attended the Britannia Royal Navy College in Dartmouth, after which he was subsequently commissioned as a midshipman in the Royal Navy. However, with the exception of a few months or so, during which he played a largely minor role in The Troubles conflict in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland, the prince would largely see minimal combat throughout most of his career in the Royal Navy. At the same time, in benefiting from the fact that he was less likely in general to ever see active combat, the prince, who in his capacity as a Royal Navy officer opted to otherwise embark on a long naval trip aboard, which he later did so onboard the Royal Navy flagship HMS Lauren, thereby allowing him to personally visit a number of countries located east of the European continent, namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Australia, and Japan.
Eventually, in 1982, with the onset of the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina, an opportunity for the prince to see his first active combat in the years since he was commissioned in the Royal Navy finally came about. However, the controversial decision to have Thomas on board the British task force sent to the Falkland Islands was initially met with considerable opposition by both the prince's father, King Charles III and then-Prime Minister Edward Heath, both of who were said to have opposed the prince's involvement in the conflict out of the need to protect the heir to the British throne. However, after a brief, but overall contentious argument between Thomas himself and the prime minister, it was ultimately decided that the prince would be allowed to set sail on board the task force headed for the Falkland Islands, in exchange for the prince agreeing to be under strict supervision by a fellow Royal Navy officer, who in a later interview claimed that the prime minister ordered him to "protect the prince at all costs" and "have him be the first to be evacuated in case the ship sinks by enemy fire". Regardless of this, with the conclusion of the war, Thomas was subsequently granted his first promotion as an officer in the Royal Navy, having been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Then, he subsequently joined an international peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which earned him another promotion, this time to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
From 1990 to 1991, Thomas would see his final active combat experience as a Royal Navy officer, when he was deployed to the Middle East as part of an international coalition force, which in the span of a few months, managed to successfully push Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein out of neighbouring Kuwait. For his actions during the conflict, he was promoted to the rank of Commodore. Later on, shortly after his ascension to the throne, he promptly resigned his commission in the Royal Navy, although he was nonetheless made an Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom as the ceremonial head of the Royal Navy itself.
Reign
Early Years
Upon his father's abdication on January 1997, Thomas automatically ascended to the throne. Despite his longstanding ceremonial status, Thomas, in a manner similar to that of his father and predecessor, Charles III, also partook to some degree in the country's political affairs whilst adhering to his position as a constitutional monarch.
Among others, the most notable instance was the passing of the Succession to the Crown Act 1995, a law actually passed roughly two years prior to his ascension to the throne, but in which Thomas himself had a rather prominent role shaping it. Spurred by the opposition against his marriage to his Catholic-born wife, Thomas, in conjunction with a number of sympathetic politicians, campaigned for the removal of the longstanding restrictions on marriages between members of the royal family and Roman Catholic individuals, which he famously called an "immoral relic of the past" while also arguing that it would clash with the modernising image of the United Kingdom, particularly one that will host an ever-increasing number of religious minorities. Meanwhile, in addressing concerns over the potential of having a Catholic monarch due to the lifting of the restrictions, Thomas asserted that the British monarch, as per longstanding convention, will generally remain an Anglican Protestant regardless of marriage to a Roman Catholic spouse, stating, "There's a clear and implicit difference between marrying a Catholic and being a Catholic, which I hope the Parliament will soon realise and therefore take it upon themselves to correct this grievous injustice in a modern and increasingly tolerant country".
Eventually, via votes from both Conservative and Labour parliamentarians, the bill proposed, which also included ending Hanover's longstanding semi-Salic succession laws, was successfully passed into law, thereby ensuring that Thomas would be allowed to marry his wife for as long as he remained a Protestant and that Hanover, in the event of the birth of a female heir, would not come to separate from the United Kingdom once again, hence securing a firm continuation of the union for the foreseeable future.
In addition to this, Thomas was also a leading voice for the eventual creation of the United Kingdom Supreme Court, a concept he first publicly suggested in an interview with Sky News just several months into his reign. In the interview, Thomas questioned the fact that the country's "highest court" is none other than the House of Lords, the upper chamber of parliament, stating, "I'm not personally one for one too many radical changes to a system or the like but it is quite surprising and at times rather downright strange that unlike in other countries that are also constitutional monarchies just like us, our highest court is also what makes up the country's parliament, something that is perhaps not necessarily a proud distinguishing feature but rather a strange and puzzling anomaly that is best solved in the near future".
In advocating based on the basic principles of separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and the judiciary, Thomas would later vocally call for the establishment of a "supreme court" in a model much similar to that found in other Western countries but stressed that unlike the United States Supreme Court, which he came to describe as a "somewhat flawed institution marred by partisan politics" based on his past years living in the United States, its British counterpart must "remain absolutely free of any partisan politics and interests to the very core so as to truly ensure a fair and independent judiciary and not one that simply swings in one direction whenever convenient". Eventually, after about a decade or so, the United Kingdom Supreme Court was established on October 2009 with Lord Phillips serving as its first president.
9/11 & Iraq War
In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, he publicly expressed his "greatest sympathies with the American people", stating that "innocent citizens should never be the target of such a heinous act of terror intended to promote a malicious goal". That same year, as head of state, he oversaw the Blair administration's participation in the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which effectively toppled the predominant Taliban regime in the country. Just a couple of years later, the United Kingdom would also participate in the controversial 2003 invasion of Iraq, which in addition to sparking nationwide protests over the perceived justification for the invasion, also proved to be a source of controversy for the royal family themselves, when the King's sister, Catherine, Princess Royal infamously posed nude on the cover of a British Vogue magazine, in an act of personal protest against the invasion itself. The princess's manner of protest, which included draping herself with a Union Jack flag, as well as having herself leaning against a British Challenger 2 battle tank promptly became the source of condemnation and rebuke by a number of military officials, who dubbed her manner to be "treasonous", while some sectors of the public dubbed the princess's manner of protest to be "shameful" and "unpatriotic". In response, the King himself was said to have afterwards reluctantly rebuked his sister himself in order to preserve the royal family's prestige and standing among the British public, while rumours allege that he had otherwise been privately supportive and approving of his sister's act of protest against the invasion.
End of the Amsterdam-Windsor Monarchy
On 1 May 2007, a date that was deliberately chosen given that it marks the three hundredth anniversary of the former House of Hanover, Thomas, by way of a royal proclamation, announced that the current royal family name of the "House of Amsterdam-Windsor" would be officially reverted back to the "House of Hanover", thereby effectively ending what was then the eighty three-year-long reign of the Amsterdam-Windsor monarchy, which began in 1924 with King Frederick's decision to change the family name in order to appease nationalist and anti-German sentiments in the aftermath of the First World War.
In implementing the change, Thomas remarked, "As of now, it has roughly been ninety years long since the First World War had begun, the very conflict that led to my grandfather changing the family name to an entirely new one in order to appease the nationalist few. Since then, and until now, my family has been effectively robbed of its own true identity, and is instead being forced to assume an entirely new identity for reasons that are not necessarily of my family's fault. Therefore, from this point on, my family will effectively and officially reclaim the true and pure identity that it once held dear as the House of Hanover, not the House of Amsterdam-Windsor".
Final Years
With the onset of the financial crisis of 2007-2008, a global recession that was considered to be the most serious recession since the Great Depression Thomas personally had the tax rate for himself as the British monarch raised to a slightly higher amount, so as to contribute more financially to efforts in mending the recession's immediate effects. Evidently, in an interview with the BBC around that same time, he remarked, "When the Second World War happened, my father broke royal convention and decided to go to war against Japan in the Pacific while my grandparents chose to bravely face the German bombings head-on, thus putting them both in grave danger just as the average soldier and citizen". He promptly declared that "while I would not be the King of England to face an armed invasion of our country, I would also not be the one to sit back and watch my own people face the hardships alone, for that is what Louis XVI of France did, and in the end, as we all know it, he ultimately lost his head". At the same time, in a manner deemed unconventional by many as the country's head of state, Thomas also openly encouraged the government under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown to pursue aggressive economic policies meant to combat the recession's immediate effects, declaring that "if God wills it, the United Kingdom would be the first country in the world to escape this burgeoning recession". Nonetheless, Brown himself was subsequently voted out of office in the 2010 general election, which saw him being replaced with the current Conservative prime minister David Cameron, with who he was said to have later developed a close working relationship, one that continued well under his successor, the reigning Queen Alexandra.
He later openly praised the historic legalisation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, as well as the Conservative government's healthcare and welfare reforms. Meanwhile, the last few years of his reign would come to be marked by three separate and notable referendums, with the first being a referendum on the method of electing Members of Parliaments at future general elections, the second concerning potential Scottish independence, while the third one otherwise revolved around the status of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union. All three referendums went in the government's favour each time, while Thomas himself, who in contrast to the demeanour shown during his previous years, largely kept silent on the respective outcomes of each of the three separate referendums. At around the same time, both his father and his mother would each respectively pass away on March 2011 and August 2014. In one interview conducted sometime after his abdication, he went on to describe the last few years of his reign as "both eventful and also emotional in nature".
Abdication
In the final year of his reign, despite already being sixty-seven years of age, Thomas was consistently described as being a "generally healthy, and well-conditioned man", as he was notably credited for almost regularly playing a game of polo with the palace staff and his close associates during his free time, leading him to be known as the Polo King among his close circles. However, on October 6th, having just gone back to his chambers alongside his wife, the King unexpectedly collapsed onto his bed while the latter had gone inside the chambers' bathroom. Around a minute later, royal doctors were immediately summoned following signs of a weakened pulse, leading him to be transferred instead to a special room for an operation. At the same time, by his own wife's insistence, any knowledge of the incident was kept secret from spreading outside of the palace itself, as to not force an immediate return for their daughter, Alexandra from her university. Following an initially successful operation, he was declared to be in a "mildly stable" condition but soon afterwards, subsequent operations were also conducted which lasted until just hours before his daughter Alexandra's return from her university, during which he was declared to had fully recovered from his illness, which was subsequently noted to have been a stroke but was otherwise kept secret from public knowledge.
In light of the incident, Thomas began seriously contemplating an abdication, during which he made it known to the then Prime Minister David Cameron, who he had specifically invited to Buckingham Palace for the matter. Discussions between the two would continue until December 10th when in a coordinated manner, Thomas first declared his abdication at 10:30 AM in a BBC broadcast from Buckingham Palace before an Act of Parliament was granted royal assent by the King himself, thereby effectively formalising his abdication. In his abdication speech, Thomas chose not to publicly disclose the details of his illness leading to his abdication, having instead chosen to cite "ill-health and inability to sustain the continuation of royal duties" as his primary reasons for abdication. He subsequently attended the coronation of his daughter and successor, Queen Alexandra who then granted her father the title of Duke of Hanover following his abdication.
Post-Abdication
Atlantic Connection
Following his abdication, Thomas began taking a more active role in overseeing the interests of the American-British multibillion-dollar holding company Atlantic Connection which holds considerable stakes in various industries through its many subsidiary companies. Having inherited his late father's shares in the company upon the latter's passing in March 2011 to become one of the company's select few biggest shareholders, Thomas has overseen some further expansion of the company's portfolio since assuming his position on the board of directors, with his particular interest being in sports. To that end, the company established the Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC in 2014, and National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights in 2017.
As one of Atlantic Connection's biggest shareholders, Thomas has at times advocated for the company to pursue a "green and sustainable" strategy regarding its long-term future, stating, "Above all, there is the undeniable issue of climate change that regardless of everyone's opinions on it will ultimately bring only bad luck and terrible fortunes for all of humanity. At the same time, a solution rooted in both compromise and sustainability must and can be achieved so as to ensure that the company, in its current position, will be one of the foremost leaders in traversing a new and inclusive era where both consumers and companies can co-exist in peace while also providing mutual benefit for each other".
Marriage
Katharine Houghton
Due to his parents' rather hands-off approach in regard to his potential choice of marriage, Thomas himself thus became consequently linked to a number of important women of the time, all of which were mostly either of American or British nationalities. During the early 1970s, Thomas was at first popularly associated with the young and rising actress Katharine Houghton, who he had personally known through his father's close friend, namely the actress Katharine Hepburn, Houghton's own aunt, with who Charles was also closely familiar. Even so, in a manner apparently mimicking that of his father's previous romantic relationship with Hepburn decades prior, the two generally dated in secrecy, with Thomas himself being the one mostly travelling in private to Houghton's Connecticut residence as the risks of the latter being spotted in public instead with the British royal back in his native home country were deemed to be great of a concern for either side. However, amidst the overwhelmingly positive encouragement in favour of a marriage between the two and despite the eight-year age difference between them, neither Thomas nor Houghton ultimately agreed to ever seek such an option, with Houghton herself eventually marrying actor Ken Jenkins in 1970. Ultimately, despite this setback, Houghton, in "inheriting" her aunt's close ties with the British royal family, has since continued to remain close with Thomas and the royal family as a whole, as evidenced by the actress being chosen as a godparent for Thomas' seven children.
Jaclyn Smith
Prior to his marriage to the American supermodel Christy Turlington, from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Thomas engaged in a lengthy romantic affair with American actress Jaclyn Smith, with the affair resulting in two children, William and Jacqueline.
Sometime in 1977, Thomas, who had then been residing in the United States for a while, first came into contact with the American actress who, in that year, had been steadily rising in prominence thanks to her role in the popular crime drama show, Charlie's Angels, in which she had a major role alongside fellow actresses Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Soon enough, Thomas, having been of a somewhat regular watcher of the show, decided to personally meet Smith himself, an endeavour in which he proved successful when the prince was personally invited by one of the show's executive producers Aaron Spelling, who subsequently arranged a meeting between the prince and the actress while the latter was in the midst of shooting for an episode of the show's second season.
In any case, the arranged meeting proved to be an instant success, with Smith, a divorcee since her marriage to her first husband and actor Roger Davis, ended roughly two years ago, falling instantly for the British prince and heir to the throne, who she later described as "very easy-going" and "impeccably charming" in their first encounter. Soon afterwards, the two began a longstanding and passionate affair which would last throughout the following decade, although this relationship, upon the behest of Thomas himself, was kept largely secret from the media and the public, and its knowledge is restricted to only a select few, which included Smith's co-stars Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, both of who agreed to remain silent on the affair and to never disclose it to the public, out of respect for the couple's privacy. On the other hand, the couple's relationship also allowed Thomas to appear on the show himself at the invitation of the show's producers, who, reportedly with the couple's own agreement and supervision, gave the prince the role of Patrick Williams, a retired US Navy officer and briefly a romantic interest of Smith's character Kelly Garrett. At the same time, in order not to deliberately reveal his true identity, Thomas was otherwise cast in the show under a made-up alias, that being Frank Clarke which, according to Thomas himself, was a combination of the first name of popular American singer Frank Sinatra, and the surname which ironically belongs to that of an alias made up by his own father when the latter was a Hollywood actor, that being Robert Clarke.
Then, roughly two years into their relationship, the couple would welcome their first child together, which is also Smith's firstborn child, that being a son, William, who was born on 11 May 1979, a circumstance which led to the show temporarily halting its production for a few months or so, in order to give much-needed time for Smith to raise her firstborn son with the help of Thomas himself who, despite the accompanying risks and potential scandal should his affair with the actress ever be discovered and publicised, opted to remain close with his romantic partner. Later, in a 2005 interview with Larry King, the prince said, "Frankly, when Will was born, we initially had little idea in going forward with our relationship, and were kind of a little freaked out at the beginning, but then, we just soldiered up and decided that with what we have now, we are just going to do the best we could". A few years later, on 22 June 1983, the couple would welcome a daughter, Jacqueline, named after her own mother, albeit in a slightly varied manner, and who was popularly referred to by her parents as "Jack" or "Jackie" in order to better distinguish the latter from her similarly-named mother.
Eventually, despite the two enjoying a mutually happy relationship, the couple later parted ways mutually just a few months prior to Thomas' later marriage to his wife, thereby ending their almost nineteen-year-long relationship, although Thomas, despite his romantic partner's well-to-do status, continued to provide some unofficial form of "spousal aid" in the years that followed, which lasted well until both William and Jacqueline themselves graduated from their universities, at which point they are expected to be self-sufficient despite their father's immense wealth. Meanwhile, following an almost decade-long period of "separation", during which the two largely devoted themselves to their respective spouses, with Smith later marrying her husband Brad Allen in 1997, the two later reconnected with one another in around 2004, when the career of their son, William with the English football club Manchester United, brought Smith's family over to the United Kingdom, where they have since been permanently residing in, with Jaclyn and their two children together, as a result of Thomas' own intervention and personal behest, being immediately granted British citizenship not long afterwards. It was said that in addition to taking up permanent residence in the many apartments of Buckingham Palace itself, Jaclyn herself also currently maintains a personal terrace of her own in London, which is said to be within walking distance from the palace itself.
Caroline Kennedy
Due to his father's strong and close ties to the prominent Kennedy family, it was even rumoured at some point by some media outlets that Thomas was supposedly planning on marrying the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, who Thomas had first met while accompanying his father to the state funeral of Kennedy's father, who on November 1963, was mortally wounded from assassination while in the city of Dallas, Texas. Ultimately, perhaps due to Kennedy's deeply entrenched and longstanding Catholic faith, coupled with the overwhelming publicity and media coverage that would be expected from a hypothetical marriage involving an heir to the British throne and a member of the prominent Kennedy family, no marriage proposals were ever brought forward by either side, although the two families, even to this day are said to have nonetheless remained in close contact with one another, with Thomas himself later enlisting Kennedy's uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy as one of his groomsmen for his wedding to the American supermodel Christy Turlington.
Incidentally, it was later reported that for a while, Kennedy's firstborn son Jack Schlossberg was romantically involved with Thomas' eldest daughter by his wife, the reigning Queen Alexandra. In the end, the relationship, despite frequent comparisons to that between Caroline's brother John Jr. and wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, proved to be short-lived, with the couple themselves mutually agreeing to terminate the relationship over challenges posed particularly by their respective careers which often kept them physically apart from one another.
Christy Turlington
Around March 1994, while accompanying his sister, the Princess Royal to an exclusive gala in Paris, France, Thomas was first introduced to the American supermodel Christy Turlington by the Princess Royal, who prior to that event, had been a close friend of the famed American supermodel, due to the two women sharing a common profession in modelling. Soon afterwards, according to the couple's close circles, the two were able to immediately "hit it off" immediately after being introduced to each other, so much so that according to one version in particular, Turlington herself soon afterwards "tightly hugged" and "incessantly thanked" the Princess Royal for having paired the two together at the start. However, despite a largely positive start, the two did not immediately seek to begin a relationship although they nonetheless maintained frequent contact with one another throughout the following months. Eventually, following a series of further romantic outings afterwards, along with an introduction of Turlington to Thomas' parents, the King and Queen, the couple finally sought to establish a serious romantic relationship, which would often be filled by spending private time together at often little-known or somewhat isolated but beautiful spots, due to the couple's mutual insistence on avoiding the paparazzi, who it was feared might prematurely leak their relationship to the public.
In the end, around December of that same year, the couple's relationship would finally become public knowledge when in a speech marking his forty-fourth birthday that month, Thomas personally revealed his relationship with the American supermodel to the public for the first time ever, with the revelations quickly catching both the British public and government by surprise, given that they were largely unaware beforehand of the couple's extremely secretive relationship.
Almost immediately, Turlington's status as a fashion model, coupled with her Catholic faith, quickly made the revelation a source of controversy, with socially-conservative critics accusing the American supermodel of a "lack of a proper character and image for a queen consort", while others also expressed their worry over the latter's Roman Catholic upbringing, which meant that such a marriage between the two would come into direct conflict and opposition with the Act of Settlement 1701, which legally disqualifies any member of the royal family who either converts to or marries a partner of the Roman Catholic faith. In response, through an op-ed that he wrote for the BBC, Thomas publicly accused his critics of "social bigotry", stating, "Regardless of who my future wife was in the past, it cannot be ignored that my own mother, who I love dearly to the end, was also of a background that one would not necessarily expect for a wife of the king. The daughter of a pair of Jewish Romanian immigrants, my mother bravely faced those prejudicial people who wished to prevent her from seeking happiness in marrying my father until they all finally relented and allowed her to do so as she wishes. Yet, it seems that just a few decades later, such a conflict appears to be inevitable once again, which says a lot about the society of this country as a whole".
Eventually, sometime afterwards, both then-Prime Minister John Major and then-Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey jointly agreed to approve such a union under the strict condition that Turlington herself would ultimately convert to Anglicanism in order to avoid any further complications. Moreover, Thomas' own father, King Charles III also personally came out in support of the union, claiming that "it is wrong for me to say that having a Catholic-turned-Anglican convert as my very own daughter-in-law would be something entirely strange or a new concept for myself, for my own beloved wife is a Jew, an identity that no one shall absolutely be able to take away". Meanwhile, rumours of the couple's incompatibility also began to surface, with some media outlets likening the couple to actor Richard Gere and fellow supermodel Cindy Crawford, both of who were married to one another for approximately four years from 1991 to 1995, before eventually divorcing just a few months prior to Thomas and Turlington's own marriage that same year. Moreover, much like Gere and Crawford, both Thomas and Turlington possessed a significant age difference between themselves as well, with Turlington being sixteen years younger than her husband, despite marrying at a slightly later age compared to Crawford, who at the age of twenty-five, married her own husband, who is seventeen years her senior.
On 14 June 1995, the couple were wedded in a private and intimate ceremony at Oheka Castle, New York, with the ceremony attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Prime Minister John Major and President Bill Clinton, as well their closest friends and relatives. Described by the New York Times as the "wedding of the century", the ceremony featured an appropriately star-studded lineups of groomsmen and bridesmaids consisting of the likes of Senator Ted Kennedy, actors Hugh Grant, George Clooney, Pierce Brosnan, singer Frank Sinatra Jr., along with fellow well-known supermodels such as Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, and Elle Macpherson. In addition to this, a number of Thomas' comrades from the Royal Navy were also in attendance and who later took part in the saber arch wedding tradition. Meanwhile, whilst Turlington donned an elaborate white lace gown, Thomas otherwise wore his Royal Navy officer's uniform which he paired with an officer's cap and a ceremonial sword carried at waist-level.
For the first couple of weeks, the couple largely resided at the family home of actress Katharine Hepburn, herself being a close friend and "aunt" of Thomas', at Fenwick, Connecticut before proceeding to spend the rest of their month-long vacation period in Hawaii in relative secrecy, with the couple's presence on the island being voluntarily kept secret by the state government.
In just a year into their marriage, the couple would welcome the birth of their first child together, the reigning Queen Alexandra, although this was in turn followed by a roughly three-year long period during which the couple chose to live separately from one another, so as to accommodate for Turlington's decision to focus on her university studies back in the United States, which in turn led to rumours falsely claiming that the couple's marriage was in an allegedly terrible state with several media outlets beginning to claim, often without basis, that both Thomas and Turlington have begun seeing another romantic partner in order to supposedly make up for their temporary separation at the time. Nonetheless, it was also during this time period that Thomas' father-in-law Dwain Turlington passed away in 1997 at the age of sixty-four from lung cancer, just a year after the birth of the latter's granddaughter. Eventually, following Turlington's graduation from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study in New York in 1999, the two would finally begin to live together, initially as a family of three at the main royal residence of Buckingham Palace. Then, in the following year, Thomas' wife gave birth to their only son, Richard, followed by another daughter, Nicole in 2003. The year afterwards, the couple welcomed a pair of twins, Elle and Vivian, both of who were respectively named after the two female characters from the 2001 film Legally Blonde, namely Elle Woods and Vivian Kensington, played by actresses Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair respectively.
Given the couple's unique dynamic, their relationship has consequently made them a subject of comparison to a few other prominent couples, them being former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife, the Italian-born singer and model Carla Bruni. Evidently, a photograph of the two couples standing side by side in front of the Élysée Palace during a state visit by Thomas to France during Sarkozy's presidency in 2011, quickly gained much media attention, with copies of the original photograph itself said to be later auctioned at prices reaching up to €150,000 (£130,714). Similarly, the couple was also later frequently compared to former President of the United States Donald Trump and wife Melania Trump, a model of Slovenian descent prior to her marriage to her husband and subsequent ascendancy to the position of First Lady of the United States during her husband's presidency, with media outlets often noting the similar age gap between Thomas and Trump with their respective wives, and the fact that both of their wives once actively worked in the modelling industry. Ironically, Thomas himself has otherwise appeared critical of the comparisons, stating, "While I would personally have nothing much to say about Melania, I would say that between her husband and myself, a few differences should be made clear, them being that I'm not a serial cheater and I'm absolutely not a bigoted and frankly racist man ever in my entire life".
On 14 December 2005, the couple privately celebrated their tenth anniversary together by visiting the Scottish Highlands up north where the royal couple reportedly stayed at a private cabin for a week-long period, during which the two generally explored the rugged and hilly terrain of the area while also personally meeting with nearby local residents.
Personal Information
A noted collector of cars, Thomas is known to have possessed a modest collection of both vintage and luxury vehicles, some of which includes the iconic Jaguar E-Type, along with several others such as the Aston Martin Vantage, Dodge Challenger, Ferrari F40, and the Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R.
In a 2006 interview with the BBC, Thomas revealed that had it not been for his royal background, he would have preferred to play professional football in his youth, a career he ultimately never pursued owing to an inherent sense of nervousness originating from him likely being the only royal in a football team filled mostly by individuals of commoner background. Nonetheless, Thomas himself is said to be a lifelong fan of Manchester United, which he once unsuccessfully attempted to purchase from the Glazer family amidst protests and dissent over the latter's ownership of the English football club.
Titles & Honours
- 17 December 1953 - 1 January 1954 His Royal Highness The Prince of Orange, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Cornwall
- 1 January 1954 - 15 January 1997 His Royal Highness The Prince of the Welsh, Prince of Orange, and the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
- 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017 His Majesty The King of the British, King of the Dutch, and the Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers
- 14 October 2017 - Present His Royal Highness The Duke of Hanover, Grand Duke Emeritus of the Luxembourgers, and Prince of the Netherlands
Honours
National & Commonwealth
United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Williamite Order
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Family Order of King Thomas
- United Kingdom - Recipient of the Royal Family Order of King Charles III
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Charles III
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Guelphic Order
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Order of St. George
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Order of the British Empire
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Distinguished Service Order
Canada - Sovereign of the Order of Canada
Australia - Sovereign of the Order of Australia
New Zealand - Sovereign of the Order of New Zealand
Barbados - Sovereign of the Order of Barbados
Saint Lucia - Sovereign of the Order of St Lucia
Solomon Islands - Sovereign of the Order of Solomon Islands
Belize - Sovereign of the Order of Belize
Antigua and Barbuda - Sovereign of the Order of Antigua and Barbuda
St Christopher and Nevis - Sovereign of the Order of St Christopher and Nevis
Grenada - Sovereign of the Order of Grenada
Tuvalu - Sovereign of the Order of Tuvalu
Puerto Rico - Sovereign of the Order of Puerto Rico
Foreign
Spain - Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Norway - Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St Olav- Norway - Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Olav V
- Norway - Recipient of the Royal House Centenary Medal
- Norway - Recipient of the King Harald V Silver Jubilee Medal
Sweden - Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim- Sweden - Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Sword
Denmark - Knight of the Order of the Elephant- Denmark - Grand Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog
Germany - Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Japan - Collar and Grand Order of the Order of the Chrysanthemum- Japan - Golden Medal of Merit Japanese Red Cross
- Japan - Golden Medal of Honorary Member of Japanese Red Cross
France - Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour
Malaysia - Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm
China - Recipient of the Order of Friendship
Republic of China - Recipient of the Order of Brilliant Jade
Military Appointments
United Kingdom
3 June 1979 - 28 May 1980: Officer Cadet, Royal Navy
28 May 1980 - 25 June 1982: Midshipman, Royal Navy
25 June 1982 - 11 January 1984: Lieutenant, Royal Navy
11 January 1984 - 5 May 1985: Lieutenant Commander, Royal Navy
5 May 1985 - 15 June 1991: Captain, Royal Navy
15 June 1991 - 14 December 1995: Commodore, Royal Navy
14 December 1995 - 15 January 1997: Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Lord High Admiral, Royal Navy
13 October 2017 - Present: Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
25 June 1982 - 3 June 1986: Colonel, British Army
3 June 1986 - 12 November 1990: Brigadier, British Army
3 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Major General, British Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces
13 October 2017 - Present: Field Marshal, British Army
5 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Air Marshal, Royal Air Force
15 January 1997 - Present: Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Canada
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Air Force
Australia
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force
New Zealand
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Ancestry
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