The Coburgs - The Story of the Rise of a Great Royal House #226783

To the house of saxe-coburg-gotha belong the kings of England and Belgium, the Tsar of Bulgaria, and the ex-king of Portugal. The Coburgs are allied with half the reigning families of Europe. Less than a hundred years ago their name was un known outside their tiny patrimonial duchy in the heart of Saxony. It is interesting to trace their rise from obscurity to world-wide eminence. The ducal families were so large and the revenues so slender that the younger children were all turned adrift as in the fairy-tales, to seek their fortunes. The wars which followed the French Revolution gave these noble adventurers their chance. One of them — delightfully enough, the youngest of the brothers — v won the heart and hand of the Princess of England. Naturally, in consequence of this alliance his family rose in the social scale. Every one was anxious to be connected with so desirable a family. Queens and princesses sought their hand, and when thrones fell vacant, Coburg princes were called upon to fill them. And the Coburg head seemed to fit any crown.