Breaking News: Andrew to Step down from official duties

HRH The Duke York makes it official. In an unprecedented move, the Duke of York, eighth in line to the throne, is stepping down from all official duties. This is being done with the permission of the Queen

 Chris Ship, the ITV Royal Correspondent, has provided information on patronages, as well as the Duke's office.

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-11-20/how-the-duke-met-the-queen-today-and-why-he-ll-be-out-of-the-public-eye-for-some-time/


However, it must be noted that the Sovereign Grant did not cover the Duke's engagements or his office.    Please see this link for more information.


https://thedukeofyork.org/other/faqs/ This article sets the stage for how Andrew was sent to the woodshed. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2019/11/20/prince-andrew-quits-public-life-prepares-give-evidence-epstein/

Rather than start new posts, I will continue to update this post/

November 21.

The Outward Bound Trust has accepted the Duke of York's resignation as Patron.  He had succeeded his father, HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, earlier this year.  Princess Beatrice is one of the Board's Trustees.

The Duke  also stepped down as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield and the The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions has announced that he is no longer president of their group.

For the time being, Andrew will continue with Pitch@Palace, but this will be done privately, although of number of businesses will no longer support the charity.  Several sponsors, including Standard Chartered and KPMG have announced that they have withdrawn their support for the organization.

The Fallout begins for the Duke of York

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Sky News is reporting that the accounting firm, KPMG, will not be renewing its support of the Duke of York's Pitch@Palace


Astra Zeneca, another Pitch@Palace partner stated earlier today: Another partner "Our three year partnership with pitch@palace is due to expire at the end of this year and is currently being reviewed."

The Duke of York is Patron of the Outward Bound Trust, which will be holding an "additional" board meeting later this week, where they will review Andrew's patronage of the charity.

I expect more to follow.


https://news.sky.com/story/prince-andrew-kpmg-not-renewing-sponsorship-of-dukes-scheme-11864315

UPDATE:   Princess Beatrice, a trustee of the Outward Bound Trust, will not attend the board meeting due to a conflict of interest.  “We wouldn’t be having the meeting if there weren’t concerns. We are taking this super-seriously,' said the charity's chief executive,  Nick Barrett.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2019/11/18/businesses-charities-abandon-prince-andrew-fallout-car-crash/


Huddersfield and London Metropolitan universities have stated that they are reviewing Andrew's position as Chancellor.   More information in the article below.

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-11-19/prince-andrew-charities-universities-sponsors-reviewing-ties-over-jeffrey-epstein-interview/

The Duke of York talks - and it is not a good thing

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The Duke of York must retire as an active member of the Royal Family.  He has no business carrying out official engagements and heading patronages.

Earlier tonight the Duke of York gave an ill-conceived interview to BBC Newsnight.   He is not worthy of representing the Queen and the United Kingdom. 

This is a link to the interview with BBC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKQi3wzNFGQ

The Duchess of Cambridge at the opening of the Nook

all three photos  @Ken Stone

The Duchess, who is the Patron of EACH (East Anglia Children's Hospices), today opened The Nook, a state-of-the-art hospice.  EACH  raised £10,0000 to built the Nook.


https://www.each.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/details/hrh-the-duchess-of-cambridge-opens-the-nook


Thank you to Ken Stone for allowing me to use the photos.

A baby for the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Leiningen

@Ulrike Bartsch

The Hereditary Princess of Leiningen has confirmed to the German magazine that, yes, she is expecting a baby in February.   A triple descendant of Queen Victoria.

Princess Viktoria Luise von Preussen, only daughter of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and his second wife, Ehrengard von Reden, married Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen at Amorbach in September 2017.

https://www.bunte.de/royals/royals-weltweit/deutscher-adel/ferdinand-viktoria-luise-zu-leiningen-das-erbprinzenpaar-erwartet-sein-erstes-kind.html#h=topBar_2.

I broke the story of their engagement, which was the first between two descendants of Queen Victoria since 1981 when Ferdinand's parents. Andreas, Prince of Leiningen, married Princess Alexandra of Hanover.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/03/breaking-news-hereditary-prince.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-civil-marriage-of-hereditary-prince.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-royal-marriage-princess-viktoria.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/two-sisters-grand-duchesses-maria-and.html


https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/ferdinand-and-viktoria-luises-wedding.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/viktoria-luise-and-ferdinand-of.html

Flora Ogilvy to marry Tim Vesterberg

@Cepe Smith (who took the photo of the announcement)

@james Ogilvy

Today's The Times includes an engagement announcement.  Miss Flora Alexandra Ogilvy is engaged to marry Timothy Vesterberg, a Swede.   The couple have been dating for more than a year.

Flora is the eldest of two children of James Ogilvy and Julia Rawlinson.  She was born at Edinburgh on December 15, 1994.  She has a younger brother, Alexander.

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Flora is 53rd in line to the British throne.  Her father is the elder of two children of HRH Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy, and the late the Sir Angus Ogilvy, second son of David, the 7th Earl of Airlie and Lady Alexandra Coke.

https://thetab.com/uk/2019/10/15/who-is-flora-ogilvy-the-young-royal-bristol-grad-taking-over-the-art-world-128771

A graduate of Bristol University, Flora runs  her own company, Arteviste.

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http://www.arteviste.com/our-founder

Tim Vesterberg is the son of Bo Patrik and Carina Margareta Vesterberg.  He was born at Stockholm on August 1, 1993.   A former ice hockey player in Sweden,  Tim now works in London as a financier.  He is an Investment Professional with Icon Infrastructure LLP.  He has a BA from the Stockholm School of Economics and previously worked for Citigroup.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-vesterberg-a581198b/?originalSubdomain=uk

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/32071/tim-vesterberg


Here is a link to Flora's Instagram, which has her engagement photo, taken by her father.  https://www.instagram.com/p/B4zJr2WlDI6/

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Earl of Dalhousie puts castle up for sale

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<>James Ramsay, the 17th Earl of Dalhousie, announced in February that would sell the family home, Brechin Castle and the surrounding gardens in Angus, Scotland.
He said that he and his wife would move into a smaller house on the estate once the castle has been sold.

"We have therefore taken the decision to put the house and gardens up for sale and my wife and I will move to another smaller house on the estate once the sale is complete.

“The rest of the estate at Brechin, Edzell and Invermark, and all our business enterprises, including Brechin Castle Centre and Peggy Scotts (a restaurant), as well as our farming operation, forestry, game and property letting, will continue to operate as at present and, other than those who are employed at Brechin Castle itself, there will be no change in our present staffing, which now numbers around 90 full and regular part time staff.“Indeed, we will continue to explore opportunities to expand and diversify the family business.”

Brechin Castle has been in the Dalhousie family for 250 years.

James Hubert Ramsay was born on January 17, 1948.   He is the third child and eldest son of Simon Ramsay,  16th Earl of Dalhousie and Margaret Stirling of Keir.    He married Marilyn Butter on October 3, 1973.  They have three children, Lady Lorna Lefebreve, Lady Alice Dickinson and Simon, Lord Carnegie, who is married to an American, Kaitlin Kubinsky.

Lord Dalhousie has five grandsons.  Lord Ramsay's son, the Hon. William Fox Ramsay, is second in line to the earldom.

Lady Dalhousie is the second of five children of Myra Alice Wernher and Major Sir David Butter.  She is the granddaughter of Sir Harold Wernher, Bt and Countess Anastasia Torby (styled as Lady Zia Werhner, after her marriage) and a great-granddaughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Countess Sophie von Merenberg.  One of her godparents was her great-aunt, Nada, Marchioness of Milford Haven.

Lord Dalhousie is also chief of the Clan Ramsay, and since 2009, Lord Steward of the Household.   The position is a personal appointment by the Sovereign.  He succeeded the Duke of Abercorn in the position.  The Duke of Abercorn's late wife, Sacha, was the Countess of Dalhousie's first cousin.

Another family home, Dalhousie Castle, was sold in 1977.  The castle and estate had been in the family for eight centuries.  It is now a luxury hotel.

Savills is seeking offers of over £3,000,000.

https://assets.savills.com/properties/GBEDRUEDR190005/EDR190005_EDR19000266.PDF

https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle-2-15039/clan-chief-puts-family-castle-on-market-after-250-years-due-to-high-running-costs-1-4869589


https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbedruedr190005

Earl of Southesk engaged to marry

The Earl of Southesk is engaged to marry Camille Ascoli, daughter of Roberto Ascoli and  Valérie Marie Christine Ledoux.   The future countess has an Italian father and an French mother.  She born on June 6, 1990 at Paris.

@Arisaig Partners

Lord Southesk, the eldest of three sons of the 4th Duke of Fife and his wife, the former Caroline Bunting, was born on October 8, 1989.

Since April 2013,  Lord Southesk, who uses the name Charlie Carnegie, is the head of Thematic Research with Arisaig Partners and is based in Hong Kong.  He has a First Class Hons International Business (MA) degree from the Edinburgh University.  He is based in the firm's Hong Kong office.

Camille Ascoli has a MA in French and Italian from Oxford University.  Her father, who is originally from Milan, Italy, has been based in Hong Kong for many years.   The future countess has worked for Loréal since 2014 and has held positions with the company in Milan and Hong Kong.  Since September 2018, she has been Senior Product Brand Manager, based in London.

Lord Southesk is a descendant of Queen Victoria through her eldest son, King Edward VII's eldest daughter, Princess Louise, Princess Royal, who married Alexander Duff, Earl of Fife.(1849-1912).  Queen Victoria bestowed a dukedom of Alexander on the day of his wedding to Louise, thus becoming the Duke of Fife and the Marquess of Fife. 

He is also a descendant of William IV through his natural daughter, Elizabeth FitzClarence, who married the 18th Earl of Erroll.  Their daughter, Lady Agnes Hay married James Duff, who were the parents of Alexander Duff, who married Princess Louise.

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Princess Louise and the Duke of Fife had three children:  a stillborn son (Alistair) in 1890;  Lady Alexandra (1891-1959) and Lady Maud (1893-1945).  In  November 1905, King Edward VIII named Louise as Princess Royal and created Alexandra and Maud as Princesses with the rank of Highness.    Five years earlier, Queen Victoria recreated the Dukedom of Fife to allow for the Duke's daughters and their male heirs to succeed.  The secondary title was changed to Earl of Macduff.

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In 1912,  Lady Alexandra succeeded her father as the 2nd Duchess of Fife.  A year later,she married her mother's first cousin, HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught.  Although she was a peeress in her own right, she was styled as HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught.   The couple had one son, Alistair (1914-1943), who was heir to the Fife and Connaught dukedoms.  Prince Arthur died in 1938, thus predeceasing his father, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, who died in 1942.

The Connaught and Strathearn dukedom became extinct in 1943 following the death of Alexandra's only son, Alistair, 2nd Duke of Connaught.

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Princess Maud, married in 1923 to Charles, Lord Carnegie (1893-1992), heir apparent to the Earl of Southesk.  Following her marriage, she was styled as the Lady Maud Carnegie, until her husband succeeded to the earldom, when she became the Countess of Southesk.  Her first cousin, King George V, had not agreed with his father's decision to elevate Alexandra and Maud to princesses. So when Maud married, he suggested that she drop the title of Princess and the HH, and return to the style of a Duke's daughter, as the Lady Maud Carnegie.

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Maud's only son, James Carnegie, styled as Lord Carnegie from his father's accession to the earldom until the death of his Aunt Alexandra, when he succeeded as the 3rd Duke of Fife in 1959.  Three years earlier, he had married the Hon. Caroline Dewar.  This marriage ended in divorce in 1966.  The couple had three children: stillborn (1958), Lady Alexandra (1959) and David (1961), who is the present Duke of Fife and Earl of Southesk.

In 1992, the 3rd Duke of Fife also succeeded to his father's earldom, as the 11th Earl of Southesk.  Shortly after the Lord Southesk's death, the family announced that the Duke's heir, David, the Earl of Macduff, would be styled as the Earl of Southesk, as a courtesy title.   David's eldest son, Charles, was styled as Lord Carnegie.   The Duke of Fife is the actual Earl of Southesk, however, but due to the inheritance of the Southesk estate,  the heir to the Dukedom will be styled, not as the Earl of Macduff, but as the Earl of Southesk.

Times.  March 3, 1992

The family estate is Kinnaird Castle in Brechin, Scotland.

https://kinnairdcastle.co.uk/

http://www.arisaig-partners.com/Team/Heads-of-Research


https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-carnegie-b35a4939/

Victoria and Albert at Osborne

Last week, English Heritage hosted a fabulous conference (November 6-8) at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.  Let's just say I would have enjoyed this conference immensely.  A dear friend, Katrina Warne did go to the conference.  The attendees had Osborne to themselves.



"It was an extremely interesting conference which featured a variety on papers on different aspects of the lives of Victoria, Albert & their family at Osborne. The speakers came from English Heritage, The Royal Collection & Historic Royal Palaces amongst other authoritative speakers.  The conference was held in the Durbar Room of the house. The food served at the meals was food that Queen Victoria would have recognised as she had eaten it herself at various stages of her life. There were tours of the house & garden. It is hoped that at some point the papers given will be published."

all photos @Katarina Warne

I have a pdf for the actual program, but cannot get it to be a link so here is a link to the draft program, which will give some information about the presentations.  I wish I could have popped over to Osborne

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/victoria-and-albert-at-osborne-tickets-59085059002

The marriage of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg

November 5, 1919

Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg married Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma today at the Cathedral in Luxembourg's capital, reports the Times.

Charlotte, "slender, fair and blue-eyed, looking very beautiful in her white bridal robe, heavily embroidered in silver," was escorted to the altar by her widowed mother, Grand Duchess Marie Anne.

Wearing morning dress, Prince Felix was accompanied by two of his brothers, Prince Sixtus and Prince Xavier, both of whom wore Belgian military uniforms.

Prince Sixtus and the bride's sister, Prince Hilda, were the witnesses. 

The guest listed was limited to members of the bride and groom's families, including  Princesses Elisabeth of Luxembourg, Princess Sophie of Luxembourg, Princess Henriette of Bourbon-Parma, Prince Gaetan of Bourbon-Parma, Prince Louis of Bourbon Parma, Prince Rene of Bourbon-Parma, Princess Isabelle and Princess Maria Antonia of Bourbon-Parma.

Two the bride's sisters were not present for the wedding. Former Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide is now living in a monastery in Italy.  Princess Antonia has been engaged to marry former Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria since August 1918.  This engagement has caused great controversy due to Luxembourg's position as an occupied nation during the war.

all three photos: Marlene A. Eilers Koenig collection

The wedding day was "marred by thick persistent rain and the foggy, cheerless atmosphere" outside the cathedral.

Prince Felix and Grand Duchess Charlotte became engaged on October 6, 1918, as the Great War was coming to an end.  Luxembourg, which had been occupied by Germany for most of the war, would once again be a free  nation, where the citizens would vote to continue the monarchy, after Charlotte's older sister, Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide, abdicated on January 14, in her sister's favor.

Because Felix was an Austrian citizen, the Allied powers were concerned about the marriage.  The day before the wedding, a special bill was introduced in Parliament that would provide citizenship to Prince Felix. It passed later that day after a "stormy discussion."

Grand Duchess Charlotte is 23 and Prince Felix is 26.  He is the brother of former Empress Zita of Austria, the consort of Emperor Karl. 

The bride and groom are first cousins as their mothers,  Marie Anne (Maria Ana) and Maria Antonia of Portugal, two of seven children of King Miguel I of Portugal, who reigned from 1828 to 1834) and Princess Adelheid of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.    Maria Ana married Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg and Maria Antonia was the second wife of the late Grand Duke Roberto I of Bourbon-Parma.

The civil wedding took place earlier today at the Grand Ducal Palace.   Following the Roman Catholic ceremony a gala dinner was held at 7 p.m., at the palace.

Another nice mail call

A lovely thank you from the Prince and Princess of Castell-Rüdenhausen

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-prince-of-castell-rudenhausen.html

Mail Call

In case you have not heard --  my Washington Nationals won the World Series on October 30.  I have been on cloud nine for nearly a week, but now I have bronchitis, so resting at home.


Look what the mailman brought a few days ago.

HRH Princess Armgard von Preussen

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Princess Armgard of Prussia, the widow of Prince Wilhelm Karl died at Holzminden on November 1 at the age of 93.

Armgard Else Helene von Veltheim was born February 26, 1926 at Destedt, the only daughter of  Friedrich Bertram Hans von Veltheim and Ottonie Luise Sophie von Alvensleben,  She married HRH Prince Wilhelm-Karl Adalbert Erich Detloff of Prussia on March 1, 1952 at Destedt.

Prince Wilhelm-Karl was the fourth and youngest child of Prince Oskar of Prussia and Countess Ina-Marie von Bassewitz,  Prince Oskar was the fifth of seven children of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

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 Princess Armgard is survived by her three children, Princess Donata, 67, Prince Wilhelm-Karl, 64, and Prince Oskar, 60, and three grandchildren: Prince Oskar, Princess Wilhelmine and Prince Albert of Prussia, the children of Prince Oskar and his wife, Auguste.

The funeral will take place at Holzminden on November 11.


https://www.tah.de/lokales/lokalnachrichten/news-single/abschied-von-prinzessin-armgard-von-preussen.html

both photos from the 1980s - sent to me by the late Prince Wilhelm Karl.

Andreas von Bismarck (1979-2019)

@terrot

Sad to report the death of Andreas von Bismarck, the CEO of Terrot, a knitting machine manufacturer in Chemnitz, Germany. 

Andreas was died unexpectedly on October 31.  He was 40 years old.

He was a founding member of the association, Economy for a Cosmopolitan Saxony.

Andreas was named as Managing director of Terrot on February 22, 2008.  According to Terrot's official press release,  Andreas "modernized the company with great success and prudence and brought it to commercial success."

@Stig Nielsen

  After his military service with 2nd Military Batallion in Berchtesgaden, he studied business and law at Georg-August University and Humbolt University in Berlin.  He was also the Business Director of the Kira Auguste Prinzessin von Preußen Musik und Kultur Stiftung, which was founded after the death of his mother-in-law, Princess Kira of Prussia (1943-2004), the fourth child and second daughter of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia and Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia.

Andreas Felix Paul von Bismarck was born at Munich on January 31, 1979.  He was the son of the late Hans Maximilian Günther von Bismarck and Cornelie Enole Dorothee von Schwerin.  He is survived by his wife, Kira-Marina Liepsner, whm he married in 2005, and their two daughters, Luise, 17, and 12-year-old Sophie, along with his mother and his sister, Ines.

Charles and Camilla: A History of their Romance

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I did not want to say anything until the article was published but BBC's History Extra magazine commissioned me to write an article on the early years of Charles and Camilla's romance.


The article was posted earlier today. The article was fact checked by their staff -- a good thing.

I am so chuffed and honored to have been asked.  I hope it leads to more commissions.

https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/prince-charles-camilla-history-relationship-young-why-marry-diana-crown-netflix/