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The Duke of SaxeCoburg was the brother-in-law to Queen Victoria of Great Britain. At least I think that is correct -- Prince Albert, the consort of Victoria, was the son of the Duke of SaxeCoburg and his elder brother was for a time the Duke. In Great Britain the SaxeCoburgs now go by the name of Windsor.

At the time of the consulship of Ernst Raven, the Germain duchies were independent and the dukes were treated as separate sovereigns. Eventually the duchies were absorbed into the German state.

I'm well aware of who the House of Saxe Coburg was. I'm even aware that Edward VII was the only monarch from the Saxe Coburg house, that they changed their name to Windsor during WWI because of anti-German sentiment, and that another famous member of the House was Lord Louis Mountbatten. I'd post more information but I'm handicapped, remember?

Regardless, it still gets back to the question of whether or not the counsel also applied for exequatur from the U.S. government. The other counsels did not apply for an exequatur from the Davis regime. Clearly they did not view it as a legitimate government. If the government of Saxe Coburg applied for an exequatur for Mr. Raven only from the Davis regime then that may be the indication of recognition that you guys have been searching in vain for. But if the government of Saxe Coburg applied for an exequatur from both the Davis regime AND the Lincoln administration then its more an indication of them recognizing that the rebellion had muddied the waters and that they were just covering all their bases to ensure that Mr. Raven could carry on his duties of looking after the interests of the German nationals in Texas.

Prince Albert, the consort of Victoria, was the son of the Duke of SaxeCoburg and his elder brother was for a time the Duke. In Great Britain the SaxeCoburgs now go by the name of Windsor.

Hmm. I thought the Windsors were Hanovers. At least, I think I've seen the Georgian kings styled "the House of Hanover", from their style as the Elector of Hanover. George II fought in Germany in 1757 (the last time a British monarch appeared on the field in person) under his butterscotch-colored banner as the Elector of Hanover; and flags of the Georgian period sometimes show a butterscotch-colored flag with the Grand Union quartered (as in one representation of the signing of the Declaration of Independence) as a British color, representing the personal union in George I, II, and III (and perhaps IV?) of Hanover (and Hesse and Nassau) and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

I'll grant you that Victoria's children might perhaps rightfully have been called Saxe-Coburg; but withal, she was still a Hanoverian queen. Either way, the family changed its name during the Great War, just as the Mountbattens did during WW2 to expunge their Nazi family links (which Fleet Street still tries to dredge up).

Some knowledgeable Tory, please help me out if you know better.