The Royal Connection We All Missed on 1923
The first season of 1923 has come to a close, but with another season of the hit Yellowstone prequel already in the works fans are already looking through this season's episodes for clues to what the future could hold for the Duttons. One secret even eagle-eyed fans may have missed? There's a royal connection on the show, and it could have implications for former big game hunter Spencer.
When Alexandra, who would become Spencer's wife toward the end of the season, was first introduced in episode two, she was in Africa celebrating her engagement to Young Arthur (Rafe Soule), the son of Arthur, the Earl of Sussex. Though Alex quickly abandoned her would-be groom in favor of the dashing Dutton hunter, royally-inclined fans may have picked up on the somewhat familiar Sussex title—Prince Harry, after all, is the Duke of Sussex.
In fact, the Earl of Sussex has been a real title at various points in British history—one last created in the 1870s for Queen Victoria's son, Prince Arthur. Yes, while a number of details from the series don't jive with history, it appears that Alex's almost-husband on 1923 may have been at least partially based on Prince Arthur of Connaught, Queen Victoria's grandson.
Born in 1883 (another ironic Yellowstone-verse connection) Prince Arthur of Connaught was the second child and only son of Queen Victoria's seventh son, Prince Arthur (his sister, Margaret, would go on to become Crown Princess of Sweden and the grandmother of current reigning monarchs Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark). Over the course of his life, he took on a number of royal and political duties, even serving as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 1920 to (you guessed it) 1923. Though many details of his life don't match up with the Young Arthur in the show, the parallels do appear to suggest that showrunner Taylor Sheridan was at least aware of the Victorian connection.
In fact, that royal relation could be two-fold. The real Prince Arthur of Connaught did actually marry a woman named Alexandra, albeit in 1913—one with her own connection to Queen Victoria. Lady Alexandra Duff, later Princess Alexandra, the Duchess of Fife, was the granddaughter of King Edward VII, making her the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria as well. While it's not clear whether 1923's Alexandra takes any inspiration from her besides the name, it's nonetheless an interesting bit of alternate history background for the show's mercurial aristocrat.
Though the series doesn't play up the apparent regal connections of the family, considering that Young Arthur came to a swift and unpleasant end at the hands of Spencer in an ill-fated duel at the end of the season, the possibility remains that the newly-parted Alex and Spencer could be in for some royally big trouble when the show returns.
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