Royal Musings is on a week's hiatus, as I am on vacation at the Costa de Stayathome resort. Love the pool, but unfortunately no pool boys to bring me fruity drinks ... saves on tips, though!
Monday, July 26, 2010
On Vacation
Royal Musings is on a week's hiatus, as I am on vacation at the Costa de Stayathome resort. Love the pool, but unfortunately no pool boys to bring me fruity drinks ... saves on tips, though!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thanks to marriage, Louis Bonaparte may rule France
July 23, 1898
A profile of Prince Louis Bonaparte appears in today's Chicago Tribune. The writer, an ex-attache, has known the Prince since he was eight years old. The ex-attache believes that the prince's engagement to Grand Duchess Helen of Russia will bring great success to him. "This incalculable prestige which a match of this kind cannot fail to give him in France, where the classes, the well-to-do bourgeoisie, and the army are yearning for the appearance on the scene of some strong man to preserve them from the encroachments of the masses, and the specter of socialism, anarchy and revolution."
Prince Louis is described as being "so-self contained and self-controlled." He never "speaks a word more than he intends, and he weighs carefully every utterance before it is made." The prince has a "generous and a warm heart," and he has managed to "keep his name entirely free from any taint of scandal," unlike his elder brother, the "disreputable Prince Victor Bonaparte.
Another point in the prince's favor is how he has behaved toward his parents He holds his mother and father in "high filial regard and respect." His elder brother, Victor, was ,for several years before his father's death, "in open personal and political opposition," and was sued by the late Prince Napoleon's "most bitter enemies."
Prince Louis has served with the Russian army and with the Italian cavalry. He was granted a commission in the Russian army because the Russian czar liked him and considered him family. This was in direct contrast to how Alexander III treated the Duke of Orleans.
Prince Louis, 24is treated "as a near and dear relative" of the Romanovs, and is often invited to family events in St. Petersburg.
Thus, the impending marriage between Prince Louis and Grand Duchess Helen Vladimirovna comes as no surprise.
Grand Duchess Helen is an "exceedingly beautiful and brilliant girl." This may be a love match. If Prince Louis does "nourish at the bottom of his heart any ambitions with regard to the French throne he could not possibly have played his cards more cleverly than by first identifying himself with the Czar's army and then marrying into the Czar's family."
A husband of a Russian Grand Duchess will place Louis "in the circle of the sovereign houses beyond question."
Earlier this year, there were press reports that Prince Louis Napoleon was going to marry Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.
A profile of Prince Louis Bonaparte appears in today's Chicago Tribune. The writer, an ex-attache, has known the Prince since he was eight years old. The ex-attache believes that the prince's engagement to Grand Duchess Helen of Russia will bring great success to him. "This incalculable prestige which a match of this kind cannot fail to give him in France, where the classes, the well-to-do bourgeoisie, and the army are yearning for the appearance on the scene of some strong man to preserve them from the encroachments of the masses, and the specter of socialism, anarchy and revolution."
Prince Louis is described as being "so-self contained and self-controlled." He never "speaks a word more than he intends, and he weighs carefully every utterance before it is made." The prince has a "generous and a warm heart," and he has managed to "keep his name entirely free from any taint of scandal," unlike his elder brother, the "disreputable Prince Victor Bonaparte.
Another point in the prince's favor is how he has behaved toward his parents He holds his mother and father in "high filial regard and respect." His elder brother, Victor, was ,for several years before his father's death, "in open personal and political opposition," and was sued by the late Prince Napoleon's "most bitter enemies."
Prince Louis has served with the Russian army and with the Italian cavalry. He was granted a commission in the Russian army because the Russian czar liked him and considered him family. This was in direct contrast to how Alexander III treated the Duke of Orleans.
Prince Louis, 24is treated "as a near and dear relative" of the Romanovs, and is often invited to family events in St. Petersburg.
Thus, the impending marriage between Prince Louis and Grand Duchess Helen Vladimirovna comes as no surprise.
Grand Duchess Helen is an "exceedingly beautiful and brilliant girl." This may be a love match. If Prince Louis does "nourish at the bottom of his heart any ambitions with regard to the French throne he could not possibly have played his cards more cleverly than by first identifying himself with the Czar's army and then marrying into the Czar's family."
A husband of a Russian Grand Duchess will place Louis "in the circle of the sovereign houses beyond question."
Earlier this year, there were press reports that Prince Louis Napoleon was going to marry Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.
Prince sells washing machines
July 23, 1946
Even princes have to work, especially if they live in exile. Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, a nephew of the Duchess of Kent, was discovered today in Bristol "selling washing machines for a living, according to the Associated Press.
"Great future in them," the prince, a strapping 24 year old, told reporters. "After all, I have to earn my living, and this is an up and coming industry.
The Yugoslav royal family came to England during the war, but the monarchy was formally abolished on November 29, 1945, when Premier Marshall Tito established a republic.
Prince Alexander, "now a 200 pound 6 footer, is the son of Prince Paul, the former Prince Regent for the then minor King Peter. He has been using the name "Mr. Alexander."
The prince's boss, Maj. Beddington Behrens, chairman of a London distributing firm, hired him "nearly two years ago."
Behrens said: "He's doing a great job.
Prince Alexander is the eldest of three children of Prince Paul and Princess Olga, who is the Duchess of Kent's eldest sister. Prince Paul is the first cousin of the late King Alexander, who was assassinated in 1934 at Marseilles.
Even princes have to work, especially if they live in exile. Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, a nephew of the Duchess of Kent, was discovered today in Bristol "selling washing machines for a living, according to the Associated Press.
"Great future in them," the prince, a strapping 24 year old, told reporters. "After all, I have to earn my living, and this is an up and coming industry.
The Yugoslav royal family came to England during the war, but the monarchy was formally abolished on November 29, 1945, when Premier Marshall Tito established a republic.
Prince Alexander, "now a 200 pound 6 footer, is the son of Prince Paul, the former Prince Regent for the then minor King Peter. He has been using the name "Mr. Alexander."
The prince's boss, Maj. Beddington Behrens, chairman of a London distributing firm, hired him "nearly two years ago."
Behrens said: "He's doing a great job.
Prince Alexander is the eldest of three children of Prince Paul and Princess Olga, who is the Duchess of Kent's eldest sister. Prince Paul is the first cousin of the late King Alexander, who was assassinated in 1934 at Marseilles.
Croy engagement announced
July 23, 1926
The engagement of Princess Dorothee de Croy, daughter of Princess Guillaume de Croy of Chateau de Bellignies, near Bavay, France, and Louis C. Olry Lusson. Jr., was announced to day by Mr. and Mrs. Louis C Olry Lusson of Ardmore, near Philadelphia. according to the AP.
Mr. Lusson met his future wife on a tour of France last year with his parents. He is at present visiting Dorothee and her family at the de Croy home.
The wedding will take place onf August 11 at the de Croy chateau in northern France.
The engagement of Princess Dorothee de Croy, daughter of Princess Guillaume de Croy of Chateau de Bellignies, near Bavay, France, and Louis C. Olry Lusson. Jr., was announced to day by Mr. and Mrs. Louis C Olry Lusson of Ardmore, near Philadelphia. according to the AP.
Mr. Lusson met his future wife on a tour of France last year with his parents. He is at present visiting Dorothee and her family at the de Croy home.
The wedding will take place onf August 11 at the de Croy chateau in northern France.
Duke of Spoleto grave after car crash
July 23, 1926
The Duke of Spoleto, a cousin of King Victor Emanuele of Italy, is in serious condition following a automobile accident near the Swiss-Italian frontier. He was taken unconscious to a hospital at Bescia. His condition is described as grave, according to the New York Times. His companion, an Italian countess, was "only slightly injured.
The duke, who is also known as Prince Aimone, is the younger son of the Duke and Duchess of Aosta. The name of the Italian countess was not made known.
The Duke of Spoleto, a cousin of King Victor Emanuele of Italy, is in serious condition following a automobile accident near the Swiss-Italian frontier. He was taken unconscious to a hospital at Bescia. His condition is described as grave, according to the New York Times. His companion, an Italian countess, was "only slightly injured.
The duke, who is also known as Prince Aimone, is the younger son of the Duke and Duchess of Aosta. The name of the Italian countess was not made known.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Garden Party at Buckingham Palace
Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP, and his mother, Anne Grainger, were among the guests at yesterday's Buckingham Palace, hosted by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Anne Grainger is the granddaughter of the late Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, and the Earl of Athlone (ne Prince Alexander of Teck.) Ian is Anne's eldest son from her marriage to David Liddell-Grainger, who died in 2007.
Liddell-Grainger was the owner of Ayton Castle, and held the Scottish feudal barony of Ayton, which his father, Henry Liddell-Grainger, had bought for £90,000 (along with Ayton Castle and the estate) in 1895 from Alexander Harold Mitchell-Innes.
Feudal baronies are not to be confused with the fifth grade of the peerage (barons and, in Scotland, Lords of Parliament.) Feudal baronies are legitimate,and can be bought and sold. The holders are not called Lord. Feudal baronies are not considered peerages.
Ian, however, did not inherit Ayton Castle and its properties. His father did not leave anything to his children by his former wife, Anne, but to his son, David, whose mother, Christine, Lady de la Rue, was his longtime companion. They finally married in 1996.
Ian, as David's eldest son, inherited the Ayton barony, despite the fact that the property was inherited by his younger half-brother.
Anne Grainger is the granddaughter of the late Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, and the Earl of Athlone (ne Prince Alexander of Teck.) Ian is Anne's eldest son from her marriage to David Liddell-Grainger, who died in 2007.
Liddell-Grainger was the owner of Ayton Castle, and held the Scottish feudal barony of Ayton, which his father, Henry Liddell-Grainger, had bought for £90,000 (along with Ayton Castle and the estate) in 1895 from Alexander Harold Mitchell-Innes.
Feudal baronies are not to be confused with the fifth grade of the peerage (barons and, in Scotland, Lords of Parliament.) Feudal baronies are legitimate,and can be bought and sold. The holders are not called Lord. Feudal baronies are not considered peerages.
Ian, however, did not inherit Ayton Castle and its properties. His father did not leave anything to his children by his former wife, Anne, but to his son, David, whose mother, Christine, Lady de la Rue, was his longtime companion. They finally married in 1996.
Ian, as David's eldest son, inherited the Ayton barony, despite the fact that the property was inherited by his younger half-brother.
Russian Empress says no to cigarettes in her presence
July 22, 1898
The Daily Telegraph today has a dispatch from St. Petersburg, "which says the ladies of the Russian court are greatly upset at the fact that the Czarina has forbidden cigaret smoking in her presence."
The dispatch, which was reported by the Chicago Daily Tribune, adds that the ladies have petitioned Her Imperial Majesty "to withdraw the prohibitory ukase, pointing out that the ladies smoke cigarets at all the courts of Europe." The petition adds that many of the crowned heads and "Princesses of the blood royal," including the Dowager Queen Maria Cristina of Spain, the Empress of Austria, the Queen of Roumania, the Queen of Portugal and the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, while, "they allege, the greatest devotee of all is Princess Henry of Prussia," Empress Alexandra's older sister.
The Daily Telegraph today has a dispatch from St. Petersburg, "which says the ladies of the Russian court are greatly upset at the fact that the Czarina has forbidden cigaret smoking in her presence."
The dispatch, which was reported by the Chicago Daily Tribune, adds that the ladies have petitioned Her Imperial Majesty "to withdraw the prohibitory ukase, pointing out that the ladies smoke cigarets at all the courts of Europe." The petition adds that many of the crowned heads and "Princesses of the blood royal," including the Dowager Queen Maria Cristina of Spain, the Empress of Austria, the Queen of Roumania, the Queen of Portugal and the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, while, "they allege, the greatest devotee of all is Princess Henry of Prussia," Empress Alexandra's older sister.
Veterans march pass Marie's coffin
July 22, 1938
More than 10,000 persons, "a large number of them invalids and war veterans, marched past the coffin of Queen Marie today in Bucharest." According to the New York Times report, "shop windows, homes and street lamps throughout the city were draped in her honor."
Queen Marie of Yugoslavia, daughter of Queen Marie, and Prince Paul, the Prince regent of Yugoslavia, will arrive tomorrow. The Duke and Duchess of Kent and Prince Kyril of Bulgaria are expected to attend the funeral. It is not known "who will represent Germany."
The Duke of Kent is the representing the British sovereign, King George VI. Queen Marie of Romania, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was a British princess by birth.
On Sunday, a moment of silence will be observed throughout the country when the Queen's coffin is placed in the royal mausoleum.
The AP is reporting that Queen Marie left King Carol her Balcic castle on the Black Sea. Her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, the former wife of King George II of Greece, will inherit property and a hunting lodge at Skorovistea.
Queen Marie of Yugoslavia received "the famous Copaceni castle near Bucharest," and Princess Ileana, the youngest daughter, "was left a feudal mountain stronghold dating back to the thirteenth century, at Bran, Transylvania."
Prince Nicholas, who has lived in exile, has inherited a palace in Venice, which "his mother bought only a few weeks ago when she knew death was near."
More than 10,000 persons, "a large number of them invalids and war veterans, marched past the coffin of Queen Marie today in Bucharest." According to the New York Times report, "shop windows, homes and street lamps throughout the city were draped in her honor."
Queen Marie of Yugoslavia, daughter of Queen Marie, and Prince Paul, the Prince regent of Yugoslavia, will arrive tomorrow. The Duke and Duchess of Kent and Prince Kyril of Bulgaria are expected to attend the funeral. It is not known "who will represent Germany."
The Duke of Kent is the representing the British sovereign, King George VI. Queen Marie of Romania, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was a British princess by birth.
On Sunday, a moment of silence will be observed throughout the country when the Queen's coffin is placed in the royal mausoleum.
The AP is reporting that Queen Marie left King Carol her Balcic castle on the Black Sea. Her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, the former wife of King George II of Greece, will inherit property and a hunting lodge at Skorovistea.
Queen Marie of Yugoslavia received "the famous Copaceni castle near Bucharest," and Princess Ileana, the youngest daughter, "was left a feudal mountain stronghold dating back to the thirteenth century, at Bran, Transylvania."
Prince Nicholas, who has lived in exile, has inherited a palace in Venice, which "his mother bought only a few weeks ago when she knew death was near."
Germany will not recognize Lithuanian action
July 22, 1918
The New York Times is reporting on dispatch to the Exchange Telegraph in Copenhagen on the selection of Duke Wilhelm of Urach as king of Lithuania. This action has "aroused strong criticism in Germany."
The Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, according to the dispatch, states that Wilhelm's section "was made by the State Council without asking the permission of Germany." The dispatch further points out that Lithuania's Independence "was accepted by Germany only on condition that the creation of a monarchy be effected according to the wishes of Germany.
The Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung is an official organ of the German government. The report adds that Germany will not permit Lithuania "to come to any decision on the crown independently of Germany."
Duke Wilhelm will be known as King Medove of Lithuania.
Rains prevent duke from taking pictures
July 22, 1910
The Duke of Montpensier, brother of the Duke of Orleans, returned today from a trip to Mexico with "his moving-picture machine and operator, but with no records of the big game." The New York Times reports that the duke had planned to "hunt with his fun and cinematograph" when he left New York City two months ago. The Duke, now staying at the Hotel Knickerbocker, said the rainy season had "interfered with his hunting in the mountains," and the "only thing that he shot were some wild ducks."
"I was very much disappointed in not being able to hunt big game in the wilds of Mexico, but it rained incessantly there after my arrival, and the mountain roads were so slippery as to be impassable.
"President Diaz had arranged a big hunt for me, but the weather played havoc with all our plans, and the only shooting I did was near the capital, when I bagged small game such as ducks. Once I rode on horseback out of the city, spending twelve hours in the saddle, but all the game seemed to have sought cover from the rain except the ducks, which, as everyone knows, like the water.
"I brought back with me, however, about 1,000 yards of films, which consist mostly of pictures of Mexican cowboys using the lasso, riding on bulls, and scenes in and around Mexico City. I showed them one afternoon at a private entertainment at the capital, which was attended only by the President, the Government officials and their wives. I am a great admirer of President Diaz, and took team with him on several occasions.
"While I enjoyed my visit to Mexico, I must say that the hotels down there are not very inviting. The poorest hotel in New York would be the best in Mexico City. The service is atrocious. If you order a cup of tea they have to sen out for it, and sometimes it takes an hour. Although I met many beautiful señoritas at the homes of their parents, I did not see what I would call pretty women down there. One never sees pretty women in public as one does in New York or Paris."
Albert and Charlene set the date
The Prince of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock will be married on July 9, 2011. The date was announced earlier today by the Palace's press office. The civil marriage, required by Monaguesque law, will take place at the palace on July 8.
No, the palace did not announce the bridesmaids, the gown, or who will be attending!
No, the palace did not announce the bridesmaids, the gown, or who will be attending!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
ones that got away
This is an article that I wrote for Majesty magazine some years ago:
Before the Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, he was rumoured to be on the verge of marriage with pretty Americans, British aristocrats and foreign princesses. In one instance, he was reported engaged to a princess he barely knew. In June 1977, the Daily Express splashed “Charles to Marry Astrid - Official.” The article was written by the paper’s normally reliable political editor, who said the engagement would be announced on the following Monday. Charles and Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg “fell for each other at that first meeting,” which allegedly had taken place the year before. The Luxembourg Princess was Roman Catholic, and “a novel constitutional arrangement” would allow the sons to be raised Anglican, and any daughters would be Catholic.
The story was false. Downing Street and Special Branch officers were able to provide the mole with inaccurate, but plausible, information about the Prince of Wales’s engagement that would be leaked to the paper. The plot worked, and the source was discovered, and “discreetly retired.”
Yet, the story would not die, and the palace was obliged to release another statement: “They are not getting married this Monday, next Monday, the Monday after, or any other Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. They do not know each other and people who do not know each other do not get engaged. The Royal Family do not go in for arranged marriages.”
Not knowing each other has never stopped the media from reporting the possibility of a royal engagement.
Queen Victoria encouraged marriages outside the traditional royal caste. She wrote to her eldest daughter: “that if no fresh blood was infused occasionally the races would degenerate finally - physically and - morally - for . . . all the Protestant Royal Families were related to each other and so were the Catholic ones!"
It was also a change acknowledged by King George V and Queen Mary. On July 17, 1917, the king wrote in his diary: "I've also informed the [Privy] Council that May and I decided some time ago that our children would be allowed to marry into British families. It was quite a historic occasion."
Then, as now, the American media, hungered for news of Britain’s royal family. The New York Times eagerly published reports about the British royal romances. In February 1909, it was reported that Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh, a niece of King Edward VII, was going to marry to King Manoel of Portugal. But Beatrice, a younger sister of Queen Marie of Roumania, was already engaged to Prince Alfonso de Orléans-Borbon, a first cousin of King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
Manoel was determined to marry an English princess. The New York Times noted that negotiations were “in progress during King Manoel’s visit at Windsor with a view to his securing an English bride.” The princess in question was Princess Patricia of Connaught, “the living embodiment of sweet English girlhood.” Patricia was at the castle to meet Manuel, as was Princess Alexandra of Fife, “the other English princess in the running.” Although some favored Princess Alexandra, the elder the two daughters of Princess Louise, the King’s sister, she “is still a child, and the yea and nay ordained by Scripture forms her sole contribution to conversation.” Patricia, having already turned down King Alfonso XIII of Spain, was not interested in marrying a king. Manoel returned home without an English bride. A year later, he lost his throne in a revolution.
In 1910, Princess Alexandra of Fife was linked to Prince Christopher of Greece. A headline, “Anglo-Grecian Romance,” touted the engagement as Christopher had spent several weeks as a guest of her parents at Mar Lodge in Scotland. It was noted that Christopher “conceived a very obvious passion for the daughter of the house.” This was not the story as related by Prince Christopher in his memoirs. Christopher, a nephew of Queen Alexandra, assumed that a marriage “would meet with everyone’s approval”, as Louise’s younger sister, Victoria, had promised “to arrange everything.”
They “got engaged on the sly,” but waited four days before approaching her parents. The Duke of Fife would “dispel any illusion” that Christopher would have in marrying his daughter.
In the early part of the 20th century, most of the press attention was centred on the Prince of Wales, but his younger siblings also received news coverage about possible marriages. In February 1926, the New York Times noted “the engagement of Prince Henry, third son of King George, to Lady Mary Scott, a younger daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch, it is understood, will be announced soon after the period of court mourning for Dowager Queen Alexandra, which ends tomorrow.”
This marriage will “undoubtably prove a popular match in Great Britain, where, since the war, there has been a strong sentiment in favor of royal Princes marrying the daughters of British houses instead of foreign princes.”
Tomorrow came and went, and no engagement was announced. Three years later, Prince Henry, who had been created the Duke of Gloucester, was expected to announce his engagement the duke of Buccleuch’s youngest daugher, 23- year old Lady Angela Scott, a “pretty brunette who loves open air life and is a good rider to the hounds.” The engagement was “likely to be announced soon,” after King George recovered from an illness. The King recovered, but no announcement.
It was another Scott sister, Lady Alice who married Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, in 1935.
When Princess Ingrid of Sweden arrived unexpectedly in London in 1932, she quickly “became the most talked about girl in Great Britain.” Some assumed that Ingrid was going to marry King George V’s fourth son, Prince George, Ingrid, whose mother was a British princess, often spent time in England with her grandfather, the Duke of Connaught. This time, Ingrid joined Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and her husband, Lord Athlone, and the Prince of Wales and Prince George for an “intimate dinner” at George’s York House apartment. The news of their dinner together only “strengthened rumors of an impending announcement” of Princess Ingrid’s engagement to Prince George.
Ingrid’s father and stepmother were expected to arrive in London a week later, and “it is believed that the engagement will be officially announced soon thereafter.” The stories ceased after Ingrid had returned to Sweden. A year later, the paper reported that “there was a persistent rumor in English society that a marriage is being arranged” between Prince George, youngest son of the King, and an American heiress Grace Vanderbilt, daughter of General and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt of New York.
But it was the August 19, 1934 headline that really caught the attention of reporters on both sides of the Atlantic. “Prince George of Britain Sought as Husband for Greek Princess by King of Yugoslavia.” The Greek princess in question was Princess Marina, the youngest of three daughters of Prince and Princess Nicholas. “The friendly matrimonial intrigue was directed by King Alexander “who wished to see Prince George marry the 27-year-old Princess Marina.”
On 26 August, Prince George, then in Salzburg, attending a music festival with Prince and Princess Paul and Princess Marina, told a reporter:“There is no truth at all in these rumors.”
There are times when no means yes. The official announcement came two days later. The couple were married in November 1934.
The oft-rumored relationship between the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Greece was one of the rare occasions when the media was nearly always right.
In his diary in 1941, the American-born Chips Channon wrote: “....Philip of Greece was there. He is extraordinarily handsome .... He is to be our Prince Consort, and that is why he is serving in our Navy.” He was spot on, three years before the newspapers began serious speculation about then Princess Elizabeth’s marriage. In September 1945, a New York Times headline read: “Greek Prince’s Name Linked to Elizabeth.” The Palace denied that report, just as they denied a report a week earlier that the princess was going to marry the 41-year-old Prince Charles of Belgium. The paper also published a profile of Elizabeth’s future: “Marriage a la Mode Finding a husband today is a problem even for “the most eligible girl in the world.”
“Time and time again stories have circulated in the press at home and abroad hinting at impending engagements,” wrote Harry Vosser in 1945. “No doubt there will be many more before the engagement of Princess Elizabeth is officially announced from Buckingham Palace. “
Vosser also offered a list the names who were linked “with the world’s most eligible girl.” The first name on the list was 23-year-old Prince Philip. Rumours of the marriage “circulated in diplomatic circles”, but were denied by the Palace. The tale “sprang from the fact that before the war Prince Philip spent a lot of time in Britain and during the war spent many leaves at Windsor Castle.” Other candidates included “an unspecified American,” whose marriage “would strengthen the bonds between the United States and Britain; The Duke of Rutland; the Earl of Euston, and the aforementioned Prince Charles of Belgium.
The rumours about Philip persisted through 1946. “Despite denials, Princess Elizabeth is believed engaged,” headlined one article in November of that year. One month later, a front page story declared “Princess Elizabeth and Philip to Wed; Troth Delayed.” Their intention to “marry was confirmed by sources with close contacts with both the Government and palace, not withstanding official denials that they are engaged.” The delay, according to report, was blamed on the political situation in Greece. The paper also reported that the prince would become a British subject the following February and would renounce his right to the Greek throne. At that time, the Princess would be in South Africa with her parents and younger sister.
The official announcement came on July 9, 1947. “Everyone has been gossiping and speculating about this royal romance for months. Royalty live like goldfish in a Bowl and there was not a shopgirl or clerk who could not have told you long ago that Elizabeth was in love with her cousin Philip and that she was determined to marry him,” was the comment in The New York Times front page story.
The late Princess Margaret would also be the subject of marital interest. In 1948, rumours of Margaret’s engagement to Prince Georg of Denmark, “became stronger” after he had been assigned “at his own request” as a military attache at the Danish Embassy in London. For some months, he had been seen “frequently in the company of Princess Margaret.” It was understood, at least according to the report, that the engagement would not be announced until after Margaret’s 18th birthday in August of that year. Prince Georg, who was ten years Margaret’s senior, was married in 1950 to Margaret’s cousin, Anne Bowes Lyon.
Although Britons “were all aflutter” with newspaper reports in 1952 that Margaret was planning to marry the Earl of Dalkeith, Buckingham Palace issued a statement denying the story. “Therefore there is nothing to be said except that this young man has been invited to Windsor. Thus, a dinner invitation does not mean an engagement will follow.
The Princess would also be linked to a German prince, Henry of Hesse, in 1959, after she spent time with him during a five-day Roman holiday. “Protocol offices and British diplomats were aflutter and romantic Romans were delighted” by the alleged romance. Henry, a distant cousin, was a successful artist and scenic designer. The prince was merely acting as Margaret’s host, as she was already involved in a relationship with Antony Armstrong-Jones.
The late Duke of Windsor was perhaps subjected to more rumours about marriages than any other royal. Nearly every eligible European princess from Astrid of Sweden to Beatriz of Spain was considered fair game. According to one recent biographer, the Prince of Wales “had never given serious thought to marriage with a suitable royal princess.” Although King George V and Queen Mary had approved of their children marrying non-royals, apparently the word never got to David. He did have a serious relationship in 1918 with Lady Rosemary Leveson-Gower, although Queen Mary had cautioned him against marrying her. A year later, when Rosemary’s engagement was announced, David wrote to his then mistress, Freda Dudley Ward: “I can”t help feeling a little sad .... she was the only girl I felt I ever could marry & I knew it was défendu (forbidden) by my family.”
Queen Mary”s opposition was due to “a taint of blood in her mother’s family.”
King George V was not known as a great communicator, especially with his children, and it was not until 1932, when he asked David if he had ever thought about marrying an English woman. The Prince of Wales replied “that he had never supposed it would be possible.”
In a New York Times editorial, “Whom will the Prince choose,” the writer weighed carefully the options available to the heir to the throne, and concluded that “the idea of limiting the Prince’s choice to the circle of the blood royal is generally poohed-poohed.”
The Prince of Wales”s important relationships were sadly confined to married women, although at the time, the British press remained reverential in its coverage of the royal family. It would have been unthinkable at that time to have reported on the Prince’s mesalliances.
In 1919, reports of the “impending engagement” of the Prince of Wales and Princess Jolana of Italy were “unfounded.” The Prince of Wales, then on a visit to Paris, wrote to Freda Dudley Ward: “French papers are full of my engagement to the Queen’s [of Italy] eldest girl being as good as official today!!!! .... it naturally infuriates me particularly as the girl has a face like a bottom.”
As early as 1916, the New York Times wrote that the Prince of Wales was to “seek the hand” of Princess Jolanda. This rumour came as a surprise to the Italians because it “was supposed that the British prince would marry one of the daughters if Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.” A year later, the Prince “answered for himself the question whom he will marry.” One London paper’s story, which was reported in the New York Times, said that David “has decided to ask for the hand of his first cousin, Princess Maud.” In 1920, the American paper republished comments from a Times editorial suggesting that it was time for the Prince of Wales to marry, preferably an English girl. At the time, the favourite was a war widow, 31-year-old Lady Joan Mulholland, a lady-in-waiting to the Prince’s sister, Mary, and “the prettiest woman at court.” The second choice was Lady Dorothy Cavendish, a daughter of the Duke of Devonshire. She appeared as a possible candidate because :”the Prince is said to have paid her attention during his Canadian trip.”
“As matters stand, she need not be of royal blood. But she must be of royal demeanor. She must know by instinct what to do and when and how.... She must dazzle without being dazzled, “was the view of the author of a 1922 profile “The Prince, Prize Matrimonial. In January 1922, a newspaper headline read: “Prince of Wales to Wed Daughter of Scotch Earl.” The engagement would be made official in the “next two to three days,” and it was noted that the young woman in question, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, 22, was once “reported engaged to the Duke of York.”
This was a case of right girl, wrong prince. A few months later, Lady Elizabeth became engaged to the Duke of York.
Although the future Edward VIII never made an effort to give up his married mistresses, marry and produce and heir, newspapers continued to report on romances that never were, and never would be. When he visited Wales in May 1934, it was reported that there would be a “forthcoming announcement” of an “engagement with a young lady not unconnected with Wales.” The prince had stayed with Lord and Lady Blythswood, the parents of a comely daughter, the Hon. Olive Douglas-Campbell. Lady Blythswood was rather blunt about the story: “There is no truth whatever in the rumour.”
Three years before her alleged engagement to Prince George, Princess Ingrid of Sweden’s engagement to the Prince of Wales was “forecast” to be imminent. The Princess and her father and stepmother, had dined with the Prince of Wales, and “belief is growing in some quarters here that announcement of the engagement” would be made in “the next two weeks.”
It was also reported that the Prince of Wales was going to marry Princess Astrid of Sweden, “one of the prettiest girls in Europe, a keen sportswoman and a delightful dancer.” Astrid had visited England as a guest of Queen Alexandra, but David “hardly went near her.” Infanta Beatriz of Spain, whose grandmother, Princess Beatrice, was Queen Victoria’s youngest child, was also rumoured to be the princess-most-likely to marry the Prince of Wales. Her father, King Alfonso XIII, would not allow her to visit London because "of rumors linking her with the Prince."
Even after succeeding to the throne -- and most of the world was aware of his relationship with Wallis Simpson - the media still offered hope of a royal marriage. “King Edward VIII may don his crown of England next May with a second cousin kneeling at his side,” reported the New York Times on July 4, 1936. The two Princesses, “both talented and beautiful,” were named as the favourites to marry the king were Princess Frederika of Hanover, a granddaughter of the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Princess Alexandrine Louise of Denmark. Some months earlier, Alexandrine’s father, Prince Harald had “vigorously denied” the story, although the rumours persisted until August 1936 when Alexandrine’s engagement to a Count Luitpold zu Castell-Castell was announced. The other “co-favourite” Princess Frederika married then Crown Prince Paul of Greece in January 1938.
In view of the Duke of Windsor’s eventual marital partner, the American-born Wallis Warfield Simpson, it is rather amusing to note that in 1919 a New York Times headline read: “Suggests Wales Wed an American.” The newspaper was reporting on several stories published in the British press that suggested the Prince of Wales should marry an American woman. “The fact is that there is a keen desire that the Prince shall be allowed to choose for himself a British wife “ if not an American. His marriage with a British bride would be exceedingly popular. If he should choose an American bride, the enthusiasm on both sides of the Atlantic would be unbounded and the dramatic possibilities would be opened up. The example would be infectious, and there is no telling where the consequences would end.”
The “dramatic possibilities” led to the King’s abdication in December 1936. The consequences culminated with his marriage to a twice divorced American woman.
Before the Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, he was rumoured to be on the verge of marriage with pretty Americans, British aristocrats and foreign princesses. In one instance, he was reported engaged to a princess he barely knew. In June 1977, the Daily Express splashed “Charles to Marry Astrid - Official.” The article was written by the paper’s normally reliable political editor, who said the engagement would be announced on the following Monday. Charles and Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg “fell for each other at that first meeting,” which allegedly had taken place the year before. The Luxembourg Princess was Roman Catholic, and “a novel constitutional arrangement” would allow the sons to be raised Anglican, and any daughters would be Catholic.
The story was false. Downing Street and Special Branch officers were able to provide the mole with inaccurate, but plausible, information about the Prince of Wales’s engagement that would be leaked to the paper. The plot worked, and the source was discovered, and “discreetly retired.”
Yet, the story would not die, and the palace was obliged to release another statement: “They are not getting married this Monday, next Monday, the Monday after, or any other Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. They do not know each other and people who do not know each other do not get engaged. The Royal Family do not go in for arranged marriages.”
Not knowing each other has never stopped the media from reporting the possibility of a royal engagement.
Queen Victoria encouraged marriages outside the traditional royal caste. She wrote to her eldest daughter: “that if no fresh blood was infused occasionally the races would degenerate finally - physically and - morally - for . . . all the Protestant Royal Families were related to each other and so were the Catholic ones!"
It was also a change acknowledged by King George V and Queen Mary. On July 17, 1917, the king wrote in his diary: "I've also informed the [Privy] Council that May and I decided some time ago that our children would be allowed to marry into British families. It was quite a historic occasion."
Then, as now, the American media, hungered for news of Britain’s royal family. The New York Times eagerly published reports about the British royal romances. In February 1909, it was reported that Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh, a niece of King Edward VII, was going to marry to King Manoel of Portugal. But Beatrice, a younger sister of Queen Marie of Roumania, was already engaged to Prince Alfonso de Orléans-Borbon, a first cousin of King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
Manoel was determined to marry an English princess. The New York Times noted that negotiations were “in progress during King Manoel’s visit at Windsor with a view to his securing an English bride.” The princess in question was Princess Patricia of Connaught, “the living embodiment of sweet English girlhood.” Patricia was at the castle to meet Manuel, as was Princess Alexandra of Fife, “the other English princess in the running.” Although some favored Princess Alexandra, the elder the two daughters of Princess Louise, the King’s sister, she “is still a child, and the yea and nay ordained by Scripture forms her sole contribution to conversation.” Patricia, having already turned down King Alfonso XIII of Spain, was not interested in marrying a king. Manoel returned home without an English bride. A year later, he lost his throne in a revolution.
In 1910, Princess Alexandra of Fife was linked to Prince Christopher of Greece. A headline, “Anglo-Grecian Romance,” touted the engagement as Christopher had spent several weeks as a guest of her parents at Mar Lodge in Scotland. It was noted that Christopher “conceived a very obvious passion for the daughter of the house.” This was not the story as related by Prince Christopher in his memoirs. Christopher, a nephew of Queen Alexandra, assumed that a marriage “would meet with everyone’s approval”, as Louise’s younger sister, Victoria, had promised “to arrange everything.”
They “got engaged on the sly,” but waited four days before approaching her parents. The Duke of Fife would “dispel any illusion” that Christopher would have in marrying his daughter.
In the early part of the 20th century, most of the press attention was centred on the Prince of Wales, but his younger siblings also received news coverage about possible marriages. In February 1926, the New York Times noted “the engagement of Prince Henry, third son of King George, to Lady Mary Scott, a younger daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch, it is understood, will be announced soon after the period of court mourning for Dowager Queen Alexandra, which ends tomorrow.”
This marriage will “undoubtably prove a popular match in Great Britain, where, since the war, there has been a strong sentiment in favor of royal Princes marrying the daughters of British houses instead of foreign princes.”
Tomorrow came and went, and no engagement was announced. Three years later, Prince Henry, who had been created the Duke of Gloucester, was expected to announce his engagement the duke of Buccleuch’s youngest daugher, 23- year old Lady Angela Scott, a “pretty brunette who loves open air life and is a good rider to the hounds.” The engagement was “likely to be announced soon,” after King George recovered from an illness. The King recovered, but no announcement.
It was another Scott sister, Lady Alice who married Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, in 1935.
When Princess Ingrid of Sweden arrived unexpectedly in London in 1932, she quickly “became the most talked about girl in Great Britain.” Some assumed that Ingrid was going to marry King George V’s fourth son, Prince George, Ingrid, whose mother was a British princess, often spent time in England with her grandfather, the Duke of Connaught. This time, Ingrid joined Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and her husband, Lord Athlone, and the Prince of Wales and Prince George for an “intimate dinner” at George’s York House apartment. The news of their dinner together only “strengthened rumors of an impending announcement” of Princess Ingrid’s engagement to Prince George.
Ingrid’s father and stepmother were expected to arrive in London a week later, and “it is believed that the engagement will be officially announced soon thereafter.” The stories ceased after Ingrid had returned to Sweden. A year later, the paper reported that “there was a persistent rumor in English society that a marriage is being arranged” between Prince George, youngest son of the King, and an American heiress Grace Vanderbilt, daughter of General and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt of New York.
But it was the August 19, 1934 headline that really caught the attention of reporters on both sides of the Atlantic. “Prince George of Britain Sought as Husband for Greek Princess by King of Yugoslavia.” The Greek princess in question was Princess Marina, the youngest of three daughters of Prince and Princess Nicholas. “The friendly matrimonial intrigue was directed by King Alexander “who wished to see Prince George marry the 27-year-old Princess Marina.”
On 26 August, Prince George, then in Salzburg, attending a music festival with Prince and Princess Paul and Princess Marina, told a reporter:“There is no truth at all in these rumors.”
There are times when no means yes. The official announcement came two days later. The couple were married in November 1934.
The oft-rumored relationship between the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Greece was one of the rare occasions when the media was nearly always right.
In his diary in 1941, the American-born Chips Channon wrote: “....Philip of Greece was there. He is extraordinarily handsome .... He is to be our Prince Consort, and that is why he is serving in our Navy.” He was spot on, three years before the newspapers began serious speculation about then Princess Elizabeth’s marriage. In September 1945, a New York Times headline read: “Greek Prince’s Name Linked to Elizabeth.” The Palace denied that report, just as they denied a report a week earlier that the princess was going to marry the 41-year-old Prince Charles of Belgium. The paper also published a profile of Elizabeth’s future: “Marriage a la Mode Finding a husband today is a problem even for “the most eligible girl in the world.”
“Time and time again stories have circulated in the press at home and abroad hinting at impending engagements,” wrote Harry Vosser in 1945. “No doubt there will be many more before the engagement of Princess Elizabeth is officially announced from Buckingham Palace. “
Vosser also offered a list the names who were linked “with the world’s most eligible girl.” The first name on the list was 23-year-old Prince Philip. Rumours of the marriage “circulated in diplomatic circles”, but were denied by the Palace. The tale “sprang from the fact that before the war Prince Philip spent a lot of time in Britain and during the war spent many leaves at Windsor Castle.” Other candidates included “an unspecified American,” whose marriage “would strengthen the bonds between the United States and Britain; The Duke of Rutland; the Earl of Euston, and the aforementioned Prince Charles of Belgium.
The rumours about Philip persisted through 1946. “Despite denials, Princess Elizabeth is believed engaged,” headlined one article in November of that year. One month later, a front page story declared “Princess Elizabeth and Philip to Wed; Troth Delayed.” Their intention to “marry was confirmed by sources with close contacts with both the Government and palace, not withstanding official denials that they are engaged.” The delay, according to report, was blamed on the political situation in Greece. The paper also reported that the prince would become a British subject the following February and would renounce his right to the Greek throne. At that time, the Princess would be in South Africa with her parents and younger sister.
The official announcement came on July 9, 1947. “Everyone has been gossiping and speculating about this royal romance for months. Royalty live like goldfish in a Bowl and there was not a shopgirl or clerk who could not have told you long ago that Elizabeth was in love with her cousin Philip and that she was determined to marry him,” was the comment in The New York Times front page story.
The late Princess Margaret would also be the subject of marital interest. In 1948, rumours of Margaret’s engagement to Prince Georg of Denmark, “became stronger” after he had been assigned “at his own request” as a military attache at the Danish Embassy in London. For some months, he had been seen “frequently in the company of Princess Margaret.” It was understood, at least according to the report, that the engagement would not be announced until after Margaret’s 18th birthday in August of that year. Prince Georg, who was ten years Margaret’s senior, was married in 1950 to Margaret’s cousin, Anne Bowes Lyon.
Although Britons “were all aflutter” with newspaper reports in 1952 that Margaret was planning to marry the Earl of Dalkeith, Buckingham Palace issued a statement denying the story. “Therefore there is nothing to be said except that this young man has been invited to Windsor. Thus, a dinner invitation does not mean an engagement will follow.
The Princess would also be linked to a German prince, Henry of Hesse, in 1959, after she spent time with him during a five-day Roman holiday. “Protocol offices and British diplomats were aflutter and romantic Romans were delighted” by the alleged romance. Henry, a distant cousin, was a successful artist and scenic designer. The prince was merely acting as Margaret’s host, as she was already involved in a relationship with Antony Armstrong-Jones.
The late Duke of Windsor was perhaps subjected to more rumours about marriages than any other royal. Nearly every eligible European princess from Astrid of Sweden to Beatriz of Spain was considered fair game. According to one recent biographer, the Prince of Wales “had never given serious thought to marriage with a suitable royal princess.” Although King George V and Queen Mary had approved of their children marrying non-royals, apparently the word never got to David. He did have a serious relationship in 1918 with Lady Rosemary Leveson-Gower, although Queen Mary had cautioned him against marrying her. A year later, when Rosemary’s engagement was announced, David wrote to his then mistress, Freda Dudley Ward: “I can”t help feeling a little sad .... she was the only girl I felt I ever could marry & I knew it was défendu (forbidden) by my family.”
Queen Mary”s opposition was due to “a taint of blood in her mother’s family.”
King George V was not known as a great communicator, especially with his children, and it was not until 1932, when he asked David if he had ever thought about marrying an English woman. The Prince of Wales replied “that he had never supposed it would be possible.”
In a New York Times editorial, “Whom will the Prince choose,” the writer weighed carefully the options available to the heir to the throne, and concluded that “the idea of limiting the Prince’s choice to the circle of the blood royal is generally poohed-poohed.”
The Prince of Wales”s important relationships were sadly confined to married women, although at the time, the British press remained reverential in its coverage of the royal family. It would have been unthinkable at that time to have reported on the Prince’s mesalliances.
In 1919, reports of the “impending engagement” of the Prince of Wales and Princess Jolana of Italy were “unfounded.” The Prince of Wales, then on a visit to Paris, wrote to Freda Dudley Ward: “French papers are full of my engagement to the Queen’s [of Italy] eldest girl being as good as official today!!!! .... it naturally infuriates me particularly as the girl has a face like a bottom.”
As early as 1916, the New York Times wrote that the Prince of Wales was to “seek the hand” of Princess Jolanda. This rumour came as a surprise to the Italians because it “was supposed that the British prince would marry one of the daughters if Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.” A year later, the Prince “answered for himself the question whom he will marry.” One London paper’s story, which was reported in the New York Times, said that David “has decided to ask for the hand of his first cousin, Princess Maud.” In 1920, the American paper republished comments from a Times editorial suggesting that it was time for the Prince of Wales to marry, preferably an English girl. At the time, the favourite was a war widow, 31-year-old Lady Joan Mulholland, a lady-in-waiting to the Prince’s sister, Mary, and “the prettiest woman at court.” The second choice was Lady Dorothy Cavendish, a daughter of the Duke of Devonshire. She appeared as a possible candidate because :”the Prince is said to have paid her attention during his Canadian trip.”
“As matters stand, she need not be of royal blood. But she must be of royal demeanor. She must know by instinct what to do and when and how.... She must dazzle without being dazzled, “was the view of the author of a 1922 profile “The Prince, Prize Matrimonial. In January 1922, a newspaper headline read: “Prince of Wales to Wed Daughter of Scotch Earl.” The engagement would be made official in the “next two to three days,” and it was noted that the young woman in question, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, 22, was once “reported engaged to the Duke of York.”
This was a case of right girl, wrong prince. A few months later, Lady Elizabeth became engaged to the Duke of York.
Although the future Edward VIII never made an effort to give up his married mistresses, marry and produce and heir, newspapers continued to report on romances that never were, and never would be. When he visited Wales in May 1934, it was reported that there would be a “forthcoming announcement” of an “engagement with a young lady not unconnected with Wales.” The prince had stayed with Lord and Lady Blythswood, the parents of a comely daughter, the Hon. Olive Douglas-Campbell. Lady Blythswood was rather blunt about the story: “There is no truth whatever in the rumour.”
Three years before her alleged engagement to Prince George, Princess Ingrid of Sweden’s engagement to the Prince of Wales was “forecast” to be imminent. The Princess and her father and stepmother, had dined with the Prince of Wales, and “belief is growing in some quarters here that announcement of the engagement” would be made in “the next two weeks.”
It was also reported that the Prince of Wales was going to marry Princess Astrid of Sweden, “one of the prettiest girls in Europe, a keen sportswoman and a delightful dancer.” Astrid had visited England as a guest of Queen Alexandra, but David “hardly went near her.” Infanta Beatriz of Spain, whose grandmother, Princess Beatrice, was Queen Victoria’s youngest child, was also rumoured to be the princess-most-likely to marry the Prince of Wales. Her father, King Alfonso XIII, would not allow her to visit London because "of rumors linking her with the Prince."
Even after succeeding to the throne -- and most of the world was aware of his relationship with Wallis Simpson - the media still offered hope of a royal marriage. “King Edward VIII may don his crown of England next May with a second cousin kneeling at his side,” reported the New York Times on July 4, 1936. The two Princesses, “both talented and beautiful,” were named as the favourites to marry the king were Princess Frederika of Hanover, a granddaughter of the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Princess Alexandrine Louise of Denmark. Some months earlier, Alexandrine’s father, Prince Harald had “vigorously denied” the story, although the rumours persisted until August 1936 when Alexandrine’s engagement to a Count Luitpold zu Castell-Castell was announced. The other “co-favourite” Princess Frederika married then Crown Prince Paul of Greece in January 1938.
In view of the Duke of Windsor’s eventual marital partner, the American-born Wallis Warfield Simpson, it is rather amusing to note that in 1919 a New York Times headline read: “Suggests Wales Wed an American.” The newspaper was reporting on several stories published in the British press that suggested the Prince of Wales should marry an American woman. “The fact is that there is a keen desire that the Prince shall be allowed to choose for himself a British wife “ if not an American. His marriage with a British bride would be exceedingly popular. If he should choose an American bride, the enthusiasm on both sides of the Atlantic would be unbounded and the dramatic possibilities would be opened up. The example would be infectious, and there is no telling where the consequences would end.”
The “dramatic possibilities” led to the King’s abdication in December 1936. The consequences culminated with his marriage to a twice divorced American woman.
Grand Duke George of Russia ill
July 22, 1898
The Chicago Daily Tribune is reporting that Grand Duke George of Russia, heir presumptive of Nicholas II, "is dangerously ill at the Crimea."
Grand Duke George, who was born in 1871, is Nicholas II's younger brother.
Radziwill necklace goes to Count Potocki
July 21, 1926
By wireless to the New York Times.
A Paris court has awarded the "famous Radziwill emerald necklace," to Count Potocki, "holder of the Lancut estate.
The necklace, valued before the World War at 11,000,000 Francs, has been the subject of "plots, litigation and discussion" since the death of the original owner, the Dowager Princess Antoine Radziwill, widow of a former aide-de-camp of Kaiser Wilhelm I.
She bequeathed the necklace to her son, Prince Stanislaus, with the provision that he died without male issue, "now worth a fortune in paper francs, should go to the holder of the Lancut estate."
Prince Stanislas was killed at the Battle of Manin, fighting the Bolsheviks, in April 1920. He had only one child, a daughter.
Count Potocki filed suit to obtain the "disputed necklace, which had been hidden by Stanislas's widow."
By wireless to the New York Times.
A Paris court has awarded the "famous Radziwill emerald necklace," to Count Potocki, "holder of the Lancut estate.
The necklace, valued before the World War at 11,000,000 Francs, has been the subject of "plots, litigation and discussion" since the death of the original owner, the Dowager Princess Antoine Radziwill, widow of a former aide-de-camp of Kaiser Wilhelm I.
She bequeathed the necklace to her son, Prince Stanislaus, with the provision that he died without male issue, "now worth a fortune in paper francs, should go to the holder of the Lancut estate."
Prince Stanislas was killed at the Battle of Manin, fighting the Bolsheviks, in April 1920. He had only one child, a daughter.
Count Potocki filed suit to obtain the "disputed necklace, which had been hidden by Stanislas's widow."
Countess okay with daughter marrying an American,but not her son!
July 21, 1926
The Countess Juan de Guell, lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, sailed today for San Sebastian on the Spanish mail liner Manuel Arnus, She is traveling with her 15-year-old daughter, Carmen, and her son, Juan.
The Countess was in the United States for a brief visit. She enjoyed her stay, and she gave the impression that she "would be willing to have her daughter marry an American, but would not wish her son to marry one, because American girls were not home-loving," the New York Times reported.
The Countess Juan de Guell, lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, sailed today for San Sebastian on the Spanish mail liner Manuel Arnus, She is traveling with her 15-year-old daughter, Carmen, and her son, Juan.
The Countess was in the United States for a brief visit. She enjoyed her stay, and she gave the impression that she "would be willing to have her daughter marry an American, but would not wish her son to marry one, because American girls were not home-loving," the New York Times reported.
King Alfonso and Queen Victoria leave London
July 21, 1920
King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain "concluded their unofficial visit" to London today and have departed for Paris. Their second son, Infante Jaime, will remain in London "to undergo treatment for his deafness."
There was a "large gathering of prominent persons at Victoria Station to bid the royal party adieu," including King George V and Queen Mary and other members of the royal family, and the Spanish Ambassador, according to the New York Times.
King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain "concluded their unofficial visit" to London today and have departed for Paris. Their second son, Infante Jaime, will remain in London "to undergo treatment for his deafness."
There was a "large gathering of prominent persons at Victoria Station to bid the royal party adieu," including King George V and Queen Mary and other members of the royal family, and the Spanish Ambassador, according to the New York Times.
Queen Alexandra heads for the beer hall
July 21, 1906
By direct wire to the Los Angeles Times in an exclusive dispatch. The British court and British society "are becoming democratic in their diversions." This was evident at Earl's Court the other day when Queen Alexandra came with her nephew, Crown Prince Constantine of Greece and his wife, Sophie; her friends, the Duchess of Portland, lady de Gray and Miss Charlotte Knollys, and for escorts, Count Mensdorff, the Austrian Minister, and King Edward's friend, the Marquise de Soveral, the Portuguese Minister.
The Duchess of Marlborough also joined the party, and "others of the court set were seen to be having a thoroughly hilarious evening in a beer hall, in the thick of the beer drinking crowd, imbibing to their hearts' content and joining in the chorus of the latest comic songs."
By direct wire to the Los Angeles Times in an exclusive dispatch. The British court and British society "are becoming democratic in their diversions." This was evident at Earl's Court the other day when Queen Alexandra came with her nephew, Crown Prince Constantine of Greece and his wife, Sophie; her friends, the Duchess of Portland, lady de Gray and Miss Charlotte Knollys, and for escorts, Count Mensdorff, the Austrian Minister, and King Edward's friend, the Marquise de Soveral, the Portuguese Minister.
The Duchess of Marlborough also joined the party, and "others of the court set were seen to be having a thoroughly hilarious evening in a beer hall, in the thick of the beer drinking crowd, imbibing to their hearts' content and joining in the chorus of the latest comic songs."
State visit invitation to President Obama
Queen Elizabeth II has invited the President of the United States to make a State Visit to the United Kingdom. This will be the second State Visit to the United Kingdom by an American President. The first State Visit was in 2003 by President George Bush.
In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson stayed at Buckingham Palace, but the American president was not on a State Visit. In 1982, President and Mrs. Reagan were guests of the Queen at Windsor, but this visit was not considered a State Visit.
The invitation from the Queen was presented to President Obama by British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday.
The state visit is expected to take place in 2011.
In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson stayed at Buckingham Palace, but the American president was not on a State Visit. In 1982, President and Mrs. Reagan were guests of the Queen at Windsor, but this visit was not considered a State Visit.
The invitation from the Queen was presented to President Obama by British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday.
The state visit is expected to take place in 2011.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A recent interview with Princess Maria Gabriella
In the late 1950s, Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy was considered the princess most likely to marry then Infante Juan Carlos of Spain, the heir in waiting to the Spanish throne. But Maria Gabriella, daughter of the exiled King Umberto III of Italy and Princess Marie Jose of Belgium, was not interested in becoming a queen.
In an interview with the newspaper Diario de Mallorca, the Princess said "I think the monarchy will disappear sooner or later."
The Princess, whose main residence is in Switzerland, spends her vacations at Mallorca, "to regenerate" in the sun.
"In Spain, I am known as the first bride of Don Juan Carlos. I could have been the Queen. We went together, but my boyfriend was young, naive. We met in Portugal, where our families lived in exile. At the time there was not much to do but surf or go horse back riding. I had no vocation, no desire to be Queen. The Shah of Iran also asked me to marry him, but I did not accept. Fortunately."
The Princess also talked about when the royal family went into exile in 1946. "I remember it very well. The year was 1946 and we left Italy on board a warship full of cockroaches. For us children, exile meant the discovery of the world. This was really fund. The result of the referendum did not give a clear victory to the Republicans, but the King did not want a civil war in Italy, so he decided to leave."
Maria Gabriella admitted that there were tense moments in the final hours. We had to leave at night by ship from Naples to avoid a demonstration. Fortunately, Portugal welcomed us into the country. My father lived there until his death."
She added that her father "suffered a lot" during three decades of exile. We loved our country. I was very homesick."
She thinks "the monarchy will disappear sooner or later. King Juan Carlos has done very well, not to mention Queen Sofia. Being Queen is a very difficult job and it takes dedication to service."
Princess Maria Gabriella is an active and vocal supporter of her cousin, the Duke of Aosta, as head of the house of Savoy, despite the fact that she has a brother, Victor Emmanuel.
"My brother did some thing wrong in is life, and is not a good representative of the dynasty."
When asked about the Prince of Asturias, Maria Gabriella said: "I have only met her once on the day of the wedding. I think she is smart. She has a difficult role. That's why I never wanted to marry a king. No compensation."
Princess Maria Gabriella, who has a home in Ibiza, first came to Mallorca in 1966. "I live in Switzerland throughout the year and I need the sun to regenerate and continue working."
http://www.diariodemallorca.es/sociedad-cultura/2010/07/20/creo-monarquias-desaparecer-tarde-o-temprano/588064.html
The princess was married in 1969 to Robert Zellinger de Balkany. They separated in 1976, but did not divorce until 1990. The couple have one daughter, Marie Elizabeth Zellinger de Balkany, who was born in 1972. She is married to Olivier Janssens, and they have two children, Gabriella and Tommaso.
In an interview with the newspaper Diario de Mallorca, the Princess said "I think the monarchy will disappear sooner or later."
The Princess, whose main residence is in Switzerland, spends her vacations at Mallorca, "to regenerate" in the sun.
"In Spain, I am known as the first bride of Don Juan Carlos. I could have been the Queen. We went together, but my boyfriend was young, naive. We met in Portugal, where our families lived in exile. At the time there was not much to do but surf or go horse back riding. I had no vocation, no desire to be Queen. The Shah of Iran also asked me to marry him, but I did not accept. Fortunately."
The Princess also talked about when the royal family went into exile in 1946. "I remember it very well. The year was 1946 and we left Italy on board a warship full of cockroaches. For us children, exile meant the discovery of the world. This was really fund. The result of the referendum did not give a clear victory to the Republicans, but the King did not want a civil war in Italy, so he decided to leave."
Maria Gabriella admitted that there were tense moments in the final hours. We had to leave at night by ship from Naples to avoid a demonstration. Fortunately, Portugal welcomed us into the country. My father lived there until his death."
She added that her father "suffered a lot" during three decades of exile. We loved our country. I was very homesick."
She thinks "the monarchy will disappear sooner or later. King Juan Carlos has done very well, not to mention Queen Sofia. Being Queen is a very difficult job and it takes dedication to service."
Princess Maria Gabriella is an active and vocal supporter of her cousin, the Duke of Aosta, as head of the house of Savoy, despite the fact that she has a brother, Victor Emmanuel.
"My brother did some thing wrong in is life, and is not a good representative of the dynasty."
When asked about the Prince of Asturias, Maria Gabriella said: "I have only met her once on the day of the wedding. I think she is smart. She has a difficult role. That's why I never wanted to marry a king. No compensation."
Princess Maria Gabriella, who has a home in Ibiza, first came to Mallorca in 1966. "I live in Switzerland throughout the year and I need the sun to regenerate and continue working."
http://www.diariodemallorca.es/sociedad-cultura/2010/07/20/creo-monarquias-desaparecer-tarde-o-temprano/588064.html
The princess was married in 1969 to Robert Zellinger de Balkany. They separated in 1976, but did not divorce until 1990. The couple have one daughter, Marie Elizabeth Zellinger de Balkany, who was born in 1972. She is married to Olivier Janssens, and they have two children, Gabriella and Tommaso.
President Roosevelt to welcome royal refugees
July 20, 1940
The Royal Family of Luxembourg will arrive on the cruiser Trenton at Annapolis, Maryland, in Wednesday, and when cruiser reaches Washington, D.C., President Franklin D. Roosevelt will be on hand for a "warm personal welcome," United Press is reporting.
The "royal refugees" do not include Grand Duchess Charlotte, who remains in Lisbon. The remainder of the family, including her husband, Prince Felix, and their six children, are all on board the ship. The Luxembourg government "asked and received haven" in the United States after their country was overrun by the Germany Army. As "recognized ruling heads of a friendly nation," the royal family was invited to come aboard the cruiser, "returning home after completing its tour of duty with the European squadron."
Prince Felix is expected to be the luncheon guest of the President, "perhaps on Thursday."
The Royal Family of Luxembourg will arrive on the cruiser Trenton at Annapolis, Maryland, in Wednesday, and when cruiser reaches Washington, D.C., President Franklin D. Roosevelt will be on hand for a "warm personal welcome," United Press is reporting.
The "royal refugees" do not include Grand Duchess Charlotte, who remains in Lisbon. The remainder of the family, including her husband, Prince Felix, and their six children, are all on board the ship. The Luxembourg government "asked and received haven" in the United States after their country was overrun by the Germany Army. As "recognized ruling heads of a friendly nation," the royal family was invited to come aboard the cruiser, "returning home after completing its tour of duty with the European squadron."
Prince Felix is expected to be the luncheon guest of the President, "perhaps on Thursday."
Zita arrives in America
July 20, 1940
Former Empress Zita of Austria arrived today at La Guardia Field in New York by Dixie Clipper from Lisbon, "a refugee at last from a world that began to crumble under her throne a quarter-century ago," reports the New York Times. Zita, a thin woman of medium height, "with a proud face," and was dressed in black.
She arrived with her daughter, 19-year-old Archduchess Elisabeth, who was dressed in blue.
Zita was greeted by her eldest son, Archduke Otto, "who was just learning to walk when the first World War began," and by another son, Archduke Felix. Each son "bowed stiffly to kiss her hand and then affectionately kissed her cheek."
The former empress and Archduchess Elisabeth were presented with carnation leis by five-year-old Vera Nickich.
Reporters asked Zita about her opinion of the war situation in Europe. She was asked who would win. "Why, the democracies, of course. Oh, I am sure of victory."
During her stay in the United States, Zita will be the guest of Calvin Bullock, a broker, at his country home in Royalstone, Massachusetts. Zita's stay is "quite indefinite," as it "has been everywhere since the end of the World War." She hopes to bring to America her five other children. Her brother, Prince Felix, who is married to Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, is en route to the United States on board the Trenton.
Several hours after her arrival in New York, the "tired, but smiling" former Empress arrived in Royalstone, a small and quiet Massachusetts village. Massachusetts State police escorted "the party the last few miles of the journey" to the village, which has one country store and "serene, tree-shaded streets."
Former Empress Zita of Austria arrived today at La Guardia Field in New York by Dixie Clipper from Lisbon, "a refugee at last from a world that began to crumble under her throne a quarter-century ago," reports the New York Times. Zita, a thin woman of medium height, "with a proud face," and was dressed in black.
She arrived with her daughter, 19-year-old Archduchess Elisabeth, who was dressed in blue.
Zita was greeted by her eldest son, Archduke Otto, "who was just learning to walk when the first World War began," and by another son, Archduke Felix. Each son "bowed stiffly to kiss her hand and then affectionately kissed her cheek."
The former empress and Archduchess Elisabeth were presented with carnation leis by five-year-old Vera Nickich.
Reporters asked Zita about her opinion of the war situation in Europe. She was asked who would win. "Why, the democracies, of course. Oh, I am sure of victory."
During her stay in the United States, Zita will be the guest of Calvin Bullock, a broker, at his country home in Royalstone, Massachusetts. Zita's stay is "quite indefinite," as it "has been everywhere since the end of the World War." She hopes to bring to America her five other children. Her brother, Prince Felix, who is married to Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, is en route to the United States on board the Trenton.
Several hours after her arrival in New York, the "tired, but smiling" former Empress arrived in Royalstone, a small and quiet Massachusetts village. Massachusetts State police escorted "the party the last few miles of the journey" to the village, which has one country store and "serene, tree-shaded streets."
The new Hereditary Princess of Hohenzollern
HSH The Hereditary Princess of Hohenzollern is the former Katharina de Zomer, who was born July 16, 1959. She runs her own casting agency, Nina de Zomer, http://www.ninadezomer.com/
The Princess will be moving to Sigmaringen in September.
The Princess will be moving to Sigmaringen in September.
Hereditary Prince Karl Friedrich of Hohenzollern marries for a second time
The guests were invited for a birthday party at Schloss Umkirch to celebrate the 51st birthday of Nina de Zomer, the girlfriend of Hereditary Prince Karl Friedrich of Hohenzollern. Instead of a birthday party, 120 guests discovered they were attending Karl-Friedrich and Nina's wedding. It turned out to be the best-kept secret.
The couple were married in a civil ceremony at Schloss Umkirch This was followed by a thanksgiving service, which was conducted by Sigmaringen priest Karl-Heinz Berger. Karl-Friedrich had asked the priest to conduct the thanksgiving service. "He would not let this important day for him to pass without thanking God to send a petition to him."
Father Berger added: "If a second marriage is truly lived in faith, then it surely has God's blessing on it."
The palace was illuminated and the reception was held under white tents. Schloss Umkirch was where Prince Karl=Anton of Hohenzollern and Princess Josephine of Belgium were married. The schloss is also the birthplace of Karl-Friedrich's father, Prince Franz. Karl-Friedrich said he was very fond of the schloss. "I have spent many holidays here. For me, this is a very special place."
The couple also chose Umkirch for their marriage, as Karl-Friedrich's first marriage had taken place in Sigmaringen.
The guests included Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Baden, Prince Maximilian zu Fürstenberg, and the Countess of Castell-Rüdenhausen.
Hereditary Princess Katharina wore a white gown and a veil made from Belgian lace. Her bouquet of pink flowers were designed to match the Hereditary Prince's tie.
The Hereditary Prince and Princess of Hohenzollern first met while skiing in Switzerland. They will spend their honeymoon in the south of France.
http://www.schwaebische.de/lokales/sigmaringen/sigmaringen_artikel,-Erbprinzessin-traegt-weissen-Schleier-_arid,4131894.html
http://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/persoenlich/article1573327/Hamburgerin-heiratet-Hohenzollern-Prinzen.html
http://www.schwarzwaelder-bote.de/inhalt.hechingen-erbprinz-von-hohenzollern-heiratet.316e5aa3-ab64-4e63-9646-1ca32bea03c2.html
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sprain for Prince Leopold
July 19, 1880
It was "officially stated" today that "while salmon-fishing" in Quebec, Prince Leopold "met with a slight accident and sprained his leg," the New York Times reports.
In Toronto, a dispatch from Quebec to the Globe reports: "The cause of the early and unexpected return to England of the viceregal party is the indisposition of Princess Louise."
She has been ill since her departure from Quebec for Metapedia "on the salmon-fishing expedition," and has been suffering from "nervousness and sleeplessness." The visit to Metapedia was "was cut short by about a fortnight." The princess's doctors believe that her illness is the result of the accident she suffered last winter in Ottawa, "when she was thrown out of her sleigh, sustaining a cut on the side of her head." The princess's "entire nervous system is upset. She has been advised by her doctors to visit several German spas, after which she will spend some time in England before returning to Canada.
There are no further updates "respecting the health of Prince Leopold." He and his sister, "with their respective staffs, will sail together by the Allan Line steam-ship, Polynesian, on July 31.
It was "officially stated" today that "while salmon-fishing" in Quebec, Prince Leopold "met with a slight accident and sprained his leg," the New York Times reports.
In Toronto, a dispatch from Quebec to the Globe reports: "The cause of the early and unexpected return to England of the viceregal party is the indisposition of Princess Louise."
She has been ill since her departure from Quebec for Metapedia "on the salmon-fishing expedition," and has been suffering from "nervousness and sleeplessness." The visit to Metapedia was "was cut short by about a fortnight." The princess's doctors believe that her illness is the result of the accident she suffered last winter in Ottawa, "when she was thrown out of her sleigh, sustaining a cut on the side of her head." The princess's "entire nervous system is upset. She has been advised by her doctors to visit several German spas, after which she will spend some time in England before returning to Canada.
There are no further updates "respecting the health of Prince Leopold." He and his sister, "with their respective staffs, will sail together by the Allan Line steam-ship, Polynesian, on July 31.
Little Princess goes shopping
July 19, 1930
Princess Elizabeth, the 4-year-old daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, went shopping today in Forfars, Scotland, "carrying her own purse and paying her own bills."
The little princess is staying with her mother, the Duchess of York, at nearby Glamis Castle, and she came to town with her maternal grandmother, the Countess of Strathmore, to " buy a book."
The Associated Press reports that the princess, "after much examination she rejected several, saying: "I've seen that already."
The princess finally found "one that was new to her, and asked the price." "I will take that," and she "produced her purse with dignified self-possession and paid for the book."
The Duchess of York is expecting a second child within a few weeks. If the baby is a boy, he will move ahead of Elizabeth in the line of succession. Another daughter will follow Elizabeth, who is third in line to the throne after her uncle, the Prince of Wales, and her father.
Princess Elizabeth, the 4-year-old daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, went shopping today in Forfars, Scotland, "carrying her own purse and paying her own bills."
The little princess is staying with her mother, the Duchess of York, at nearby Glamis Castle, and she came to town with her maternal grandmother, the Countess of Strathmore, to " buy a book."
The Associated Press reports that the princess, "after much examination she rejected several, saying: "I've seen that already."
The princess finally found "one that was new to her, and asked the price." "I will take that," and she "produced her purse with dignified self-possession and paid for the book."
The Duchess of York is expecting a second child within a few weeks. If the baby is a boy, he will move ahead of Elizabeth in the line of succession. Another daughter will follow Elizabeth, who is third in line to the throne after her uncle, the Prince of Wales, and her father.
Reconciliation for Carol and Helen
July 19, 1930
King Carol II and Queen Helen of Roumania made a rare public appearance together today, as they "rode out to the Curtea de Arges" at a memorial service for Carol's father, King Ferdinand, who died in 1927, according the Associated Press.
Carol and Helen appear, for the time being, has "put the marital troubles, which had separated them since the crown prince chose a path away from the mother of his small son, Michael."
This was the first time the couple had appeared together since Carol's return to Romania. They "were believed by the populace, which awaited such a gesture, to have composed the last of their differences."
The reconciliation was given further credence when Carol and Helen were aboard the private train together with Queen Marie, Prince Nicholas and Princess Ileana, en route to the ceremony. On board, the king called a cabinet meeting to provide for a legal formula to announce the annulment of his divorce from Helen.
The Romanian people have looked forward with anticipation to the public appearance so "that they might accept the fact the many rumors, which had gained circulations regarding the reconciliation."
Friends of the couple had pressed the king and queen to "settle their troubles," and officials close to Carol made it clear that Elena Lupescu "would not come to Rumania to mar their marital happiness."
The announcement of the annulment of the divorce is expect to be made when the couple return to Bucharest. The public hopes "their marital problem will be officially settled in time" for Helen to "share the throne with Carol at the coming state coronation."
King Carol II and Queen Helen of Roumania made a rare public appearance together today, as they "rode out to the Curtea de Arges" at a memorial service for Carol's father, King Ferdinand, who died in 1927, according the Associated Press.
Carol and Helen appear, for the time being, has "put the marital troubles, which had separated them since the crown prince chose a path away from the mother of his small son, Michael."
This was the first time the couple had appeared together since Carol's return to Romania. They "were believed by the populace, which awaited such a gesture, to have composed the last of their differences."
The reconciliation was given further credence when Carol and Helen were aboard the private train together with Queen Marie, Prince Nicholas and Princess Ileana, en route to the ceremony. On board, the king called a cabinet meeting to provide for a legal formula to announce the annulment of his divorce from Helen.
The Romanian people have looked forward with anticipation to the public appearance so "that they might accept the fact the many rumors, which had gained circulations regarding the reconciliation."
Friends of the couple had pressed the king and queen to "settle their troubles," and officials close to Carol made it clear that Elena Lupescu "would not come to Rumania to mar their marital happiness."
The announcement of the annulment of the divorce is expect to be made when the couple return to Bucharest. The public hopes "their marital problem will be officially settled in time" for Helen to "share the throne with Carol at the coming state coronation."
Joachim's suicide a blow to Kaiser and family
July 19, 1920
Former Kaiser Wilhelm II and his family are in mourning following the death of his youngest son, Prince Joachim. The news of the young prince's suicide "was received at Doorn Castle last Saturday night," according to the New York Times. Joachim's death was a "terrific blow" to the Kaiser as Joachim "seemed cheerful and normal" during his most recent visit to Doorn.
The former Kaiserin has not yet been informed of her son's death as she is "suffering from a severe attack of her chronic malady, heart disease." She is said to be "getting weaker hourly."
Wilhelm II is "naturally very depressed." This morning he was seen walking in the grounds of his home with Count von Moltke. Telegrams and letters of sympathy and condolence have been arriving all days from Germany and elsewhere. Former Crown Prince Wilhelm is expected to arrive this evening.
The death of Prince Joachim "came as a great blow" to his eldest brother, as relations between the two "were always of the most friendly nature."
The Duke and Duchess of Brunswick will extend their stay at Doorn. The Duchess is the Kaiser's only daughter, and the one closest in age to Prince Joachim.
Prince Joachim was very popular at Doorn, and "never showed signs of depression in public." He took frequent walks from Doorn into the village, and often stopped to talk to the village children. When the Crown Prince was at Doorn several weeks ago, he and his brother took look walks and drives into the countryside. Wilhelm and Joachim "appeared to enjoy each other's company and to be in good spirits."
Several people, however, noticed that "Joachim when alone would start suddenly to run and then check himself."
The news of Prince Joachim's suicide has caused a "great sensation" in Berlin and their are "diverging versions of how it occurred and what the reasons for it were."
The official statement from Joachim's family is that the Prince "was suffering from nervous collapse caused by the difficulties of a financial settlement with the Prussian State."
Prince Joachim, the family insisted, had "very pessimistic views regarding his future," and he feared that he would lose his home, Villa Liegnitz, which is on the outskirts of Sans Souci in Potsdam.
The failure to reach a settlement increased "Joachim's nervousness," which his family insists was caused by a wound he received in the war.
Prince Joachim's friends disagree with this assessment. They say he "was in perfect physical condition and devoted to all kinds of sports and hunting," and were greatly surprised by the news of his suicide.
Prince Joachim was tall and slender like his eldest brother, "but his features had a somewhat brutal expression, which made it easy to believe rumors that he would occasionally horsewhip his wife, Marie, Prncess of Anhalt."
Prince Joachim and Princess Marie Auguste were married in 1916. The Princess is the mother of his only child, a 4-year-old boy, who lived with his father at Villa Liegnitz.
Princess Marie Auguste fled from the marital home more than a year ago on "account of his cruelty."
Prince Joachim was found on Saturday morning with a wound in his chest by his brother Prince Eitel Friedrich, who ordered the Prince to be taken to a hospital next door to the villa. Prince Joachim "regained consciousness," and the two brothers "were observed to have a long and seemingly grave conversation."
Prince Eitel Friedrich did not deny the conversation but "states that Joachim did not tell him the reasons for his act."
The bullet from Joachim's revolver "entered the chest and grazed the heart and lungs." Doctors were unable to save him, and he died at one o'clock on Sunday.
The Hohenzollern family "tried their utmost of keep the manner of the Prince's death concealed," but the Berlin authorities "refused to comply with their wishes."
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Liechtenstein to stop being a tax haven
An interview with Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein, who is 5th in line to the Liechtenstein, and not the heir.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/offshorefinance/7896504/Liechtensteins-heir-backs-radical-new-tax-plans.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/offshorefinance/7896504/Liechtensteins-heir-backs-radical-new-tax-plans.html
Friday, July 16, 2010
A mule is an animal ... that caters to royalty
July 17, 1926
Crown Prince Gustav Adolf and Crown Princess Louise of Sweden arrived at the Grand Canyon today astride "Bob" and "Flo," "just plain old American mules.
The AP reports that the royal couple "reached the top of the south rim of the Grand Canyon at noon," and were met by automobiles that took them back to the El Tovar hotel.
They traveled "more than thirty miles astride the miles" during a journey that took them along the north rim of the Grand Canyon through the Phantom ranch and up the south rim.
After a short rest, Gustaf Adolf and Louise, will travel to Gallup, New Mexico, where "they will board stages" to visit the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
The Prince and Princess "seemed to enjoy their novel experience of riding muleback."
Crown Prince Gustav Adolf and Crown Princess Louise of Sweden arrived at the Grand Canyon today astride "Bob" and "Flo," "just plain old American mules.
The AP reports that the royal couple "reached the top of the south rim of the Grand Canyon at noon," and were met by automobiles that took them back to the El Tovar hotel.
They traveled "more than thirty miles astride the miles" during a journey that took them along the north rim of the Grand Canyon through the Phantom ranch and up the south rim.
After a short rest, Gustaf Adolf and Louise, will travel to Gallup, New Mexico, where "they will board stages" to visit the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
The Prince and Princess "seemed to enjoy their novel experience of riding muleback."
Duchess of Oporto
July 16, 1920
The American-born Duchess of Oporto sailed today for New York on board te steam, Britannia. The New York Times reports that she will spend a month in the United States, and then return to Naples. Her visit to Italy will be "for the purpose of bringing the body of the late Duke, who died in Naples early this year," to Portugal for reburial in the Pantheon of Portuguese Kings.
The reburial is expected to take place next fall.
The Duke of Oporto was the younger brother of the late King Carlos of Portugal.
Do you know this man: Alexander von Waldenburg
July17, 1908
Do you know where Alexander von Waldenburg is living? If so, please let the German authorities know because he has money coming to him. The Marquise of Fontenoy reports today on Alexander von Waldenburg, 38, a great-grandson of Prince August of Prussia and his "fair friend," Frederica Wichmann, who "at the instance of her royal protector was ennobled and accorded the name of von Waldenburg."
Prince August left two families of illegitimate children. The "major portion of his immense property returned to the reigning house," some estates were left "in trust for his progeny. Some of the property of these estates are going to be sold, and the trust has obtained the permission of all the heirs with the exception of the missing Alexander von Waldenburg, whose last known address was in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York. His "consent is needed to effect the partition," and his expected share of the sale will be about $25,000.
Prince August was the son of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, who was the younger brother of Friedrich the Great. Prince Louis Ferdinand bequeathed his castle, Bellevue, to his son, August, who never married. He lived there "with women who have wrongly described as his morganatic wives." The only woman he "sought to marry" was Mme de Récamier," but they were never wed, and he never married the mothers of his children.
One of the woman was Marie Arndt, "for whom he obtained the title of Baroness von Prillwitz. One of their daughters married Count Heinrich Arnim, who as Germany's ambassador at Paris, "incurred the enmity of Bismarck and died in exile."
Prince August and Fredrica Wichmann had three children, three daughters, who never married and a son, Eduard, who became the head of his father's household. He had two sons and two daughters. The elder of the two sons married a Miss Selina Gregg, daughter of one of King George IV's gentlemen-in-waiting.
The missing Alexander is the eldest son of this marriage.
[Alexander was indeed living on Staten Island. He was located, and he sailed to Germany in late August in order to sign the documents and get his inheritance. He was not, however, the son of Selina Greig, not Gregg, but one of two children from his father's first marriage to Amalie Thien. Alexander was born on February 1, 1870 and died on June 1944. His parents divorced in 1871, not long after the birth of their Flora, on July 14, 1871.
Eduard married Selina Greig in December 1871, They had eight children before getting a divorce in 1892.
Alexander was married three times. His first wife was Berthe Lange, who was the mother of his only child, Ruth-Susanne von Waldenburg, who was born in 1902. He married Mathilde Trager in 1818, but the marriage lasted for two years. In 1920, he married Elisabeth Bergmann. This marriage ended in divorce in 1933.
Ruth-Susanne married on April 16, 1920 to Werner von Bychelberg. This marriage, too. ended in divorce. The couple had two sons, Axel and Harry. Ruth died in 1983.
As Alexander died in Berlin, it seems possible that after receiving his inheritance, he chose to remain in Germany. It also should be noted that Prince August's friend was named Karoline Wichmann, not Frederica.]
Do you know where Alexander von Waldenburg is living? If so, please let the German authorities know because he has money coming to him. The Marquise of Fontenoy reports today on Alexander von Waldenburg, 38, a great-grandson of Prince August of Prussia and his "fair friend," Frederica Wichmann, who "at the instance of her royal protector was ennobled and accorded the name of von Waldenburg."
Prince August left two families of illegitimate children. The "major portion of his immense property returned to the reigning house," some estates were left "in trust for his progeny. Some of the property of these estates are going to be sold, and the trust has obtained the permission of all the heirs with the exception of the missing Alexander von Waldenburg, whose last known address was in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York. His "consent is needed to effect the partition," and his expected share of the sale will be about $25,000.
Prince August was the son of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, who was the younger brother of Friedrich the Great. Prince Louis Ferdinand bequeathed his castle, Bellevue, to his son, August, who never married. He lived there "with women who have wrongly described as his morganatic wives." The only woman he "sought to marry" was Mme de Récamier," but they were never wed, and he never married the mothers of his children.
One of the woman was Marie Arndt, "for whom he obtained the title of Baroness von Prillwitz. One of their daughters married Count Heinrich Arnim, who as Germany's ambassador at Paris, "incurred the enmity of Bismarck and died in exile."
Prince August and Fredrica Wichmann had three children, three daughters, who never married and a son, Eduard, who became the head of his father's household. He had two sons and two daughters. The elder of the two sons married a Miss Selina Gregg, daughter of one of King George IV's gentlemen-in-waiting.
The missing Alexander is the eldest son of this marriage.
[Alexander was indeed living on Staten Island. He was located, and he sailed to Germany in late August in order to sign the documents and get his inheritance. He was not, however, the son of Selina Greig, not Gregg, but one of two children from his father's first marriage to Amalie Thien. Alexander was born on February 1, 1870 and died on June 1944. His parents divorced in 1871, not long after the birth of their Flora, on July 14, 1871.
Eduard married Selina Greig in December 1871, They had eight children before getting a divorce in 1892.
Alexander was married three times. His first wife was Berthe Lange, who was the mother of his only child, Ruth-Susanne von Waldenburg, who was born in 1902. He married Mathilde Trager in 1818, but the marriage lasted for two years. In 1920, he married Elisabeth Bergmann. This marriage ended in divorce in 1933.
Ruth-Susanne married on April 16, 1920 to Werner von Bychelberg. This marriage, too. ended in divorce. The couple had two sons, Axel and Harry. Ruth died in 1983.
As Alexander died in Berlin, it seems possible that after receiving his inheritance, he chose to remain in Germany. It also should be noted that Prince August's friend was named Karoline Wichmann, not Frederica.]
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Prince Radu wins libel battle against Royalty magazine
It is about time. The original report in Royalty magazine was absolutely scurrilous and inaccurate. Unfortunately, the magazine's editors preferred to cozy up to Paul Lambrino.
Here is a story in today's Daily Telegraph about the final outcome.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/lawreports/7892233/Romanian-prince-wins-libel-battle.html
I have a copy of the alleged forged document, which was sent to me by King Michael. He obtained the original from the Prince of Hohenzollern.
Here is a story in today's Daily Telegraph about the final outcome.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/lawreports/7892233/Romanian-prince-wins-libel-battle.html
I have a copy of the alleged forged document, which was sent to me by King Michael. He obtained the original from the Prince of Hohenzollern.
The Duke of Orleans is engaged
July 15, 1896
Prince Louis Philippe Robert, Duke of Orleans, son of the late Count of Paris, and head of the royal house of France, celebrated his engagement today with a formal betrothal at Alesuth castle in Hungary. His fiancee is Archduchess Maria-Dorothea, daughter of Archduke Joseph of Austria. The Duke of Orleans is twenty-seven years old and his bride-to-be is twenty-nine, according to the New York Times' dispatch from Vienna.
Prince Louis Philippe Robert, Duke of Orleans, son of the late Count of Paris, and head of the royal house of France, celebrated his engagement today with a formal betrothal at Alesuth castle in Hungary. His fiancee is Archduchess Maria-Dorothea, daughter of Archduke Joseph of Austria. The Duke of Orleans is twenty-seven years old and his bride-to-be is twenty-nine, according to the New York Times' dispatch from Vienna.
Grand Ducal family arrive in LOndon
July 15, 1946
Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and members of her family arrived tonight at Croydon airport in London, according to Reuter. The family traveled in a Belgian military plane. They are "to spend a month in Scotland."
Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and members of her family arrived tonight at Croydon airport in London, according to Reuter. The family traveled in a Belgian military plane. They are "to spend a month in Scotland."
Luxembourg royal family en route to the USA
July 15, 1940
The State Department said today that seven members of the Luxembourg Royal Family were on their way to the United States, according to the Associated Press. Prince Felix, the husband of Grand Duchess Charlotte, and their six children, along with members of their household, are on board the cruiser Trenton.
Grand Duchess Charlotte, the ruler of the tiny country now under German occupation, is not aboard the ship.
The state department said that the transportation on the Trenton was "granted as a mark of international courtesy to the chief of a state with which the United States always has had friendly relations." The Luxembourg government had made the request of the United States to assist with safe passage for the members of the Grand Ducal family.
Grand Duchess Charlotte and her family have been living in Lisbon, Portugal. She remained behind as her husband and children boarded the Trenton. The six children are, Hereditary Grand Duke Jean, 19; Prince Charles, 13, and Princesses Elisabeth, 18; Marie-Adelaide, 16; Marie-Gabrielle, 15, and Alix, 11.)
Although no reason was given for Charlotte's decision to remain in Lisbon, it seems unlikely that she would have traveled with her six children, including her heir apparent.
The State Department said today that seven members of the Luxembourg Royal Family were on their way to the United States, according to the Associated Press. Prince Felix, the husband of Grand Duchess Charlotte, and their six children, along with members of their household, are on board the cruiser Trenton.
Grand Duchess Charlotte, the ruler of the tiny country now under German occupation, is not aboard the ship.
The state department said that the transportation on the Trenton was "granted as a mark of international courtesy to the chief of a state with which the United States always has had friendly relations." The Luxembourg government had made the request of the United States to assist with safe passage for the members of the Grand Ducal family.
Grand Duchess Charlotte and her family have been living in Lisbon, Portugal. She remained behind as her husband and children boarded the Trenton. The six children are, Hereditary Grand Duke Jean, 19; Prince Charles, 13, and Princesses Elisabeth, 18; Marie-Adelaide, 16; Marie-Gabrielle, 15, and Alix, 11.)
Although no reason was given for Charlotte's decision to remain in Lisbon, it seems unlikely that she would have traveled with her six children, including her heir apparent.
Ferdinand's deafness
July 15, 1910
In her most recent column, the Marquise de Fontenoy discusses that "King Ferdinand of Bulgaria has come almost as deaf as was his mother, the late Princess Clementine of Coburg." The King was recently in Paris, and, although the Paris newspapers, "maintained a discreet silence about the matter during his recent state visit." But his "hardness of hearing was a subject of much comment among the French people" and with foreign diplomats. It was noted that the king "depended a great deal upon his wife," who remained by his side "so as to keep him properly posted as to what people were saying."
Although Queen Eleonore is "not good looking and over 50, she is a perfectly ideal consort in the assistance she renders in this respect." The Queen "is sensible, quiet, collected, and thinks before she speaks." She is a trained nurse, and she is "endowed with a vast amount of patience and of tact."
She made an "excellent impression" during the visit to France, "despite her German birth and bringing up."
The King has inherited his deafness through his mother, a Princess of Orleans. His late uncle, the Prince de Joinville, "was stone deaf," as was another uncle, the Duke de Nemours. His first cousins, the Dukes of Chartres and de Penthievre, are "hard of hearing.
The late Count of Flanders, father of the present king of the Belgians, was also deaf. His mother was a sister of Princess Clementine. His deafness was so intense that "whenever some particularly important secret affecting royalty, or international politics, reached the public," the leak was always traced back to the Count. He and his "clever wife," the Countess of Flanders, would discuss such topics after dinner, "the windows of the dining room opening directly on to the street," so that anyone walking by, "could not help hearing what the count was saying." The Count, like many deaf men, "spoke in a loud and sonorous voice, while the countess was obliged to talk equally loud in her efforts to make him understood."
In her most recent column, the Marquise de Fontenoy discusses that "King Ferdinand of Bulgaria has come almost as deaf as was his mother, the late Princess Clementine of Coburg." The King was recently in Paris, and, although the Paris newspapers, "maintained a discreet silence about the matter during his recent state visit." But his "hardness of hearing was a subject of much comment among the French people" and with foreign diplomats. It was noted that the king "depended a great deal upon his wife," who remained by his side "so as to keep him properly posted as to what people were saying."
Although Queen Eleonore is "not good looking and over 50, she is a perfectly ideal consort in the assistance she renders in this respect." The Queen "is sensible, quiet, collected, and thinks before she speaks." She is a trained nurse, and she is "endowed with a vast amount of patience and of tact."
She made an "excellent impression" during the visit to France, "despite her German birth and bringing up."
The King has inherited his deafness through his mother, a Princess of Orleans. His late uncle, the Prince de Joinville, "was stone deaf," as was another uncle, the Duke de Nemours. His first cousins, the Dukes of Chartres and de Penthievre, are "hard of hearing.
The late Count of Flanders, father of the present king of the Belgians, was also deaf. His mother was a sister of Princess Clementine. His deafness was so intense that "whenever some particularly important secret affecting royalty, or international politics, reached the public," the leak was always traced back to the Count. He and his "clever wife," the Countess of Flanders, would discuss such topics after dinner, "the windows of the dining room opening directly on to the street," so that anyone walking by, "could not help hearing what the count was saying." The Count, like many deaf men, "spoke in a loud and sonorous voice, while the countess was obliged to talk equally loud in her efforts to make him understood."
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Another wakeup and smell the coffee
article about Sarah, Duchess of York
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7890946/Can-it-get-any-worse-for-Fergie.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7890946/Can-it-get-any-worse-for-Fergie.html
Interview with Queen Margherita
July 14, 1906
The Dowager Queen Margherita recently sat down with an English woman reporter, where the topics included sex, the proper way to bring up daughters, being a wife and a mother. The interview was published in the New York Times.
Margherita, the widow of the slain King Umberto I, is an accomplished woman, an "enlightened Shakespearean scholar, who has studied "the women of the Bard of Avon."
This gracious lady gives her views "on the all-important questions of family life."
"I am absolutely opposed to any extravagant theory of what is called the emancipation of women. In whatever condition of life a woman may be placed her first duty is the negative one of not giving up the qualities that distinguish her sex. Poor or rich, high or low, a woman should be so educated as to to contribute to her own needs and requirements and to those of her family.She should not associate unreservedly with men, nor should she meddle in politics, as the word is broadly understood. Above all, she should guard against developing the traits of men. A blending of ancient reserve with modern independence would give us the ideal woman. Let her study, teach, work, shine in society, or stay at home, she should, nevertheless, look to her father, her brother, or her husband for counsel and support in difficulties. Why? Because a woman, as a rule cannot have the wide experience of a man.
"In Latin countries women have been kept in too much subjection to men. But this is gradually disappearing, and during the past twenty years the women of Italy have made great progress."
The Queen is a believer in large families.
"Yes," Queen Margherita said. "How is a nation to progress except through its people? A childless family is incomplete. There is poetry and pathos about childhood which appeal to every right-hearted woman. Most women, though they may not be able to put this idea into words, feel it. They have the maternal instinct. Hence the remoteness of race suicide.
"The woman to whom the blessing of motherhood is denied misses the best in life. I speak not of the necessary exceptions. They may have another mission in life. A holy call may claim their soul and senses all. Unmarried women need not of necessity be unhappy or useless. They may have wide fields of useful activity, and they can make their lives beautiful as well as useful by working for the welfare of others. Altruism is but another name for the charity of Christ, or for the love of humanity, and the greatest thing on earth is love.
"Women show their intellectuality by rearing healthy and great children just as much as they do by writing books or painting pictures.
"The wife who deliberately refuses to bring children into the world must have something wrong with her moral shakeup. Her shirking of the obligation may even amount to a heinous crime. Her action may even me contrary to patriotism. I am very pleased to know that there is a movement in the United States in favor of large families, and that the President has put himself upon record as favoring them. European women have begun to look for light to their sisters of the United States.
"People are still influenced very much by the force of example. I have frequently heard that the good example of Queen Victoria of England has worked untold good for her people. I do think that the force of example is particularly effective for young girls. They are susceptive of the highest powers of imitation. Improve the condition of the women of the country and you elevate that whole section of human race."
The Queen was also asked about her views on culture.
"Religious instruction should be the basis of culture, particularly for those who have to make their way in life.
"Now they can enter the institutes of fine arts and the universities, and almost all walks of life suited to their sex are open to them. As a results, men, even in European countries, are beginning to consider and to respect women, and those who are called the weaker sex are commencing to exercise a stronger influences on society.
"In Italy, a quarter of a century ago women had only needlework and teaching between them which to choose, so that they could scarcely earn a modest living."
Margherita debated the basis of family life. "It is love. This is true regardless of social conditions. Society or the body politic, to be successful, must be founded on love. The body politic is formed from the families of the nation. If these be not individually cemented by love, society cannot hold together. A loveless marriage is a curse; a marriage based upon love is a blessing. From such marriages spring a kind and a capable people. The human family is blessed and cheered by the heard influence of brave spirits whose wellspring of love ever flows fresh, and is never checked by sorrow or disappointment.
"The teaching of woman would not only make her useful to herself and others, but should tend to make her good, kind, loving; should help her fill her life with sincere friendships, intellectual pursuits, charitable interests, and domestic affection, while always preserving that charm or reserve which is the crowning glory of her sex."
The Queen was also asked about the improvement in the tone of society.
"In Italy, at least, I am sure it is. It is more elevated to-day than it was thirty years ago. Then amusements, carnival, and dress were the foremost pleasures of women in position. Now much of their time is given to useful social work, thus greatly ameliorating the condition of the less favored."
She said that the Italians appreciated the Anglo-Saxon women.
"In Italy we appreciate them very much. An English nursery governess was engaged for the King when he was a child. The same has been done for the little Princesses and the baby Prince. English is a familiar language at the Court. Of course, we speak French and German also."
Margherita considered coquetry as "quite reprehensible. The coquette is usually cold-hearted and cold-blooded. She has not capacity for love. She seeks admiration, not affection. She lacks cheerfulness. She plays upon man's vanity."
A lady, she said, "is soft of speech and pleasant of manner. A lady always has perfect control of herself, keeps her engagements, and is not oblivious of her liabilities. She has the courage of her convictions. If there is an occasion for self-denial she is capable of it. She cannot help having nerves, but she should not make a display of them to the discomfort of others, A lady is the complement of the gentlemen as defined by the late Cardinal Newman."
A woman "should help others. The laws of nature and the common teachings of Christianity point to this. She should protect, befriend, and help such enterprises as are worthy of support. She should improve herself mentally and otherwise. A woman can, and ought, to make her conversation deeply interesting. She should read. Personally, I am fond of Shakespeare. A woman of culture should know the classics of her country and of other countries also.
"Should she have a talent for music of the fine arts, why not cultivate it? She should set up lofty ideals. A woman's sunny smile promotes cheerfulness. Every woman has her domestic duties which should not be shirked. It is a most pleasing sight to see a refined woman helping children."
Queen Margherita does not consider marriage to be a hindrance. "The question scarcely admits discussion. For those who have a vocation to the married life, and they constitute a majority, it must be a great help. In fact, it could not be otherwise. A sympathetic woman can do much to encourage and to inspire a man in any work. The encourage of a good woman can do much to encourage and inspire a man in any work. The encouragement of a good woman may prevent a man from losing faith in himself. Happiness helps. A suitable marriage brings happiness. Therefore, it helps. A tasteful and amiable wife is a most valuable aid to any man. She may also be an ornament."
Queen Margherita believes that a woman can be an influence. "Yes; she has always had enormous influence since the world began. It is either for good or evil. If some of the heinous crimes of history can be traced to women, so also can come of the most heroic virtues. Men owe their best qualities to their mothers. When society is correct and courteous it is because of the influence of woman."
Princess von Wrede indicted
July 14, 1906
The Princess von Wrede, who was accused of "stealing silverware from hotels and restaurants," has been indicted and "must stand trial," according to the New York Times' Berlin correspondent. It was believed that the princess "would escape criminal prosecution," as she was regarded as a "kleptomaniac and placed in a sanatorium."
This has all changed due to the indictment.
The Princess von Wrede, who was accused of "stealing silverware from hotels and restaurants," has been indicted and "must stand trial," according to the New York Times' Berlin correspondent. It was believed that the princess "would escape criminal prosecution," as she was regarded as a "kleptomaniac and placed in a sanatorium."
This has all changed due to the indictment.
Princess Lavinia of Yugoslavia
From my book, Queen Victoria's Descendants:
"Following his divorce from Princess Christina, Prince Andrej married Princess Kira of Leiningen, the third child of the 6th Prince of Leiningen and Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia, and yet another descendant of Queen Victoria.
Kira and Andrej were married in September 1963, but the announcement of their marriage was not made until after the birth of their first son, Karl Wladimir, the following March. A second son, Prince Dimitri, was born a year later. A few months after Dimitri's birth, Prince Andrej and Princess Kira adopted a four-year-old girl, Lavinia Maria, who was, in fact, Kira and Andrej's natural daughter, born in 1961 when Andrej was still married to Princess Christina. The adoption was a formality to give the little girl a new surname. Crown Prince Alexander, as Head of the Family, has recognized Lavinia as a Princess of Yugoslavia.
"
and from one of the footnotes:
Lavinia Maria Lane was born at 12 Avenue Road, St. John's Wood, London. No father's name appears on her original birth certificate; her mother's name is given as Kira Lane. She is the natural daughter of Princess Kira of Leiningen and Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia and acknowledged as Prince Andrej's daughter. After the couple's marriage, Lavinia was adopted by her natural parents to avoid a scandal within the family. The adoption became official on November 15, 1965. Kira Karageorgevich, late Lane, formerly Leiningen is the name listed on Prince Dimitri's birth certificate. Both Dimitri and Lavinia were born at l2 Avenue Road, while Prince Karl Wladimir was born at the Royal Northern Hospital, Islington. HRH Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, as Head of the Family, has confirmed that Lavinia Marie (the middle name was changed from Maria to Marie in the adoption because of a misprint on the original certificate) is entitled to the style and title of HRH Princess of Yugoslavia.
Thus, Lavinia is recognized as a member of the Serbian royal family as HRH Princess Lavinia.
"Following his divorce from Princess Christina, Prince Andrej married Princess Kira of Leiningen, the third child of the 6th Prince of Leiningen and Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia, and yet another descendant of Queen Victoria.
Kira and Andrej were married in September 1963, but the announcement of their marriage was not made until after the birth of their first son, Karl Wladimir, the following March. A second son, Prince Dimitri, was born a year later. A few months after Dimitri's birth, Prince Andrej and Princess Kira adopted a four-year-old girl, Lavinia Maria, who was, in fact, Kira and Andrej's natural daughter, born in 1961 when Andrej was still married to Princess Christina. The adoption was a formality to give the little girl a new surname. Crown Prince Alexander, as Head of the Family, has recognized Lavinia as a Princess of Yugoslavia.
"
and from one of the footnotes:
Lavinia Maria Lane was born at 12 Avenue Road, St. John's Wood, London. No father's name appears on her original birth certificate; her mother's name is given as Kira Lane. She is the natural daughter of Princess Kira of Leiningen and Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia and acknowledged as Prince Andrej's daughter. After the couple's marriage, Lavinia was adopted by her natural parents to avoid a scandal within the family. The adoption became official on November 15, 1965. Kira Karageorgevich, late Lane, formerly Leiningen is the name listed on Prince Dimitri's birth certificate. Both Dimitri and Lavinia were born at l2 Avenue Road, while Prince Karl Wladimir was born at the Royal Northern Hospital, Islington. HRH Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, as Head of the Family, has confirmed that Lavinia Marie (the middle name was changed from Maria to Marie in the adoption because of a misprint on the original certificate) is entitled to the style and title of HRH Princess of Yugoslavia.
Thus, Lavinia is recognized as a member of the Serbian royal family as HRH Princess Lavinia.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Grand Duchess Helen to marry a Bonparate
July 13, 1898
Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia continues to shop around for a husband for her only daughter, Grand Duchess Helen. The Marquise of Fontenoy reports today on the possible marriage between Helen and Prince Louis Bonaparte, which she writes "cannot fail to strengthen the bonds of union between France and Russia." Even Germany, which fears stronger ties between the two countries, cannot fail to see the "redeeming points" of the marriage.
Grand Duchess Vladimir is a German Princess by birth, and is "of all the foreign ladies who have married members of the reigning house of Russia the one who has become the least Russianized, and who has remained the most devoted to her native land."
The Marquise also notes that the Grand Duchess, who was born Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, is the only foreign born Grand Duchess "who has obstinately refused under any circumstances to become converted to the Russian religion." This is, in fact, not true. Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg did not convert to the Orthodox church when she married Grand Duke Constantine. Elisabeth continued to worship in the Lutheran church until her death.
Grand Duchess Helen "is a beautiful girl of 17 years of age." She "created a favorable impression upon Queen Victoria," whom she met last spring in Nice. "She is renowned at the Russian court for her high spirit and for her quick temper." She once flung a cup of hot tea "at the head of her governess when in a fit of passion."
The marriage for Prince Louis would be financially advantageous. His father, the late Prince Jerome Napoleon, disinherited his elder son, Prince Victor, in favor of Prince Louis, as Prince Victor was dependent on the "generosity of an elderly woman of stormy antecedents." Prince Louis' income does not exceed $30,000 a year.
The real question is why "is that the Court of Russia should show itself so full of amiability towards a member of the relatively parvenu house of Bonaparte, and so unfriendly, on the other hand to the Duke of Orleans and to members of his family."
The Duke of Orleans applied for a commission in the Russian army, which was refused by the Emperor. He was also asked by the police during his only visit to St. Petersburg.
Prince Louis Bonaparte "has always borne himself with so much dignity, sense of self-respect and discretion." His life has been scandal-free, unlike the Duke of Orleans' unsavoury life. The Duke of Orleans has also "done a good deal of harm in the eyes of the French nation, as well as of Russia," by marrying an Austrian archduchess. Austria is a part of the Triple Allianace, and, thus the marriage is considered an offense to Russia and to France.
Should Prince Louis marry Grand Duchess Helen, and come Emperor of the French, "he would possess advantages inestimably superior to those of either the First or Third Napoleon, or of King Louis Philippe. Prince Louis is related to nearly every reigning house. He is a nephew of King Umberto of Italy and a first cousin of the King of Portugal. Through the House of Württemberg, he is related to Queen Victoria, the German Emperor and the King of Sweden.
Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia continues to shop around for a husband for her only daughter, Grand Duchess Helen. The Marquise of Fontenoy reports today on the possible marriage between Helen and Prince Louis Bonaparte, which she writes "cannot fail to strengthen the bonds of union between France and Russia." Even Germany, which fears stronger ties between the two countries, cannot fail to see the "redeeming points" of the marriage.
Grand Duchess Vladimir is a German Princess by birth, and is "of all the foreign ladies who have married members of the reigning house of Russia the one who has become the least Russianized, and who has remained the most devoted to her native land."
The Marquise also notes that the Grand Duchess, who was born Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, is the only foreign born Grand Duchess "who has obstinately refused under any circumstances to become converted to the Russian religion." This is, in fact, not true. Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg did not convert to the Orthodox church when she married Grand Duke Constantine. Elisabeth continued to worship in the Lutheran church until her death.
Grand Duchess Helen "is a beautiful girl of 17 years of age." She "created a favorable impression upon Queen Victoria," whom she met last spring in Nice. "She is renowned at the Russian court for her high spirit and for her quick temper." She once flung a cup of hot tea "at the head of her governess when in a fit of passion."
The marriage for Prince Louis would be financially advantageous. His father, the late Prince Jerome Napoleon, disinherited his elder son, Prince Victor, in favor of Prince Louis, as Prince Victor was dependent on the "generosity of an elderly woman of stormy antecedents." Prince Louis' income does not exceed $30,000 a year.
The real question is why "is that the Court of Russia should show itself so full of amiability towards a member of the relatively parvenu house of Bonaparte, and so unfriendly, on the other hand to the Duke of Orleans and to members of his family."
The Duke of Orleans applied for a commission in the Russian army, which was refused by the Emperor. He was also asked by the police during his only visit to St. Petersburg.
Prince Louis Bonaparte "has always borne himself with so much dignity, sense of self-respect and discretion." His life has been scandal-free, unlike the Duke of Orleans' unsavoury life. The Duke of Orleans has also "done a good deal of harm in the eyes of the French nation, as well as of Russia," by marrying an Austrian archduchess. Austria is a part of the Triple Allianace, and, thus the marriage is considered an offense to Russia and to France.
Should Prince Louis marry Grand Duchess Helen, and come Emperor of the French, "he would possess advantages inestimably superior to those of either the First or Third Napoleon, or of King Louis Philippe. Prince Louis is related to nearly every reigning house. He is a nephew of King Umberto of Italy and a first cousin of the King of Portugal. Through the House of Württemberg, he is related to Queen Victoria, the German Emperor and the King of Sweden.
Archduchess Elisabeth has returned to Madrid
July 13, 1898
The "threatened uprising against the Spanish dynasty," is the probable reason for the return of Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria to Vienna, according to the Chicago Daily Tribune. It is "understood" that the archduchess "will some day be betrothed to King Alfonso if he is not ousted from the throne."
The "threatened uprising against the Spanish dynasty," is the probable reason for the return of Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria to Vienna, according to the Chicago Daily Tribune. It is "understood" that the archduchess "will some day be betrothed to King Alfonso if he is not ousted from the throne."
Donna Marina Torlonia marries tennis star
July 13, 1940
Donna Marina Torlonia was married today to Frank X. Shields, the American tennis star, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wendell D. Woodbury in North Conway, New Hampshire. Donna Marina is the youngest daughter of the late Don Marino Torlonia, 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi, and his American-born wife, Mary Elsie Moore, a daughter of Charles Moore, a millionaire who made his money in shipping and hardware.
The newlyweds met at a tennis championship in Rome.
The bride is 23, and her husband, whose full name is Francis Xavier Shields, is 30 years old. His first marriage to Rebecca Tenney was dissolved by divorce on June 27 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The marriage was officiated by Rev. H. Raymond Phelts of the North Conway Congregational Church, according to the New York Times.
Mrs. Shields was "introduced into society" during the 1934-35 season. She and her husband departed for a honeymoon cruise aboard the yacht Rampage. They will reside in New York.
Donna Marina Torlonia was married today to Frank X. Shields, the American tennis star, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wendell D. Woodbury in North Conway, New Hampshire. Donna Marina is the youngest daughter of the late Don Marino Torlonia, 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi, and his American-born wife, Mary Elsie Moore, a daughter of Charles Moore, a millionaire who made his money in shipping and hardware.
The newlyweds met at a tennis championship in Rome.
The bride is 23, and her husband, whose full name is Francis Xavier Shields, is 30 years old. His first marriage to Rebecca Tenney was dissolved by divorce on June 27 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The marriage was officiated by Rev. H. Raymond Phelts of the North Conway Congregational Church, according to the New York Times.
Mrs. Shields was "introduced into society" during the 1934-35 season. She and her husband departed for a honeymoon cruise aboard the yacht Rampage. They will reside in New York.
Zita makes demands of Habsburgs
July 13, 1930
Empress Zita of Austria has sent "to every adult member of the Hapsburg family a letter, the publication of which tomorrow in newspapers here will cause a flutter in Little Entente Circles."
The New York Times reports today that the former empress, who signed the letter as Empress and Queen, has, "in a very decided form" requested the members of the Habsburg family declare allegiance to her son, Archduke Otto.
Otto "will come of royal age in November," and the event will be "marked by a ceremony which many Hapbsburgs, in common with leaders of the Legitimist movement in Austria and Hungary, are expected to attended.
As other members of the family may not "find it possible to be present," Zita has issued the following circular letter:
"His Majesty, Emperor and King Otto, will take over, on Nov. 20, the leadership of the Hapsburg family and also all prerogatives connected with this position. As it will not be possible for all members of the Hapsburg family to attend in person his coming of age, all members of the family, whether they intend to be present or not, must return this declaration of allegiance with their signature as soon as possible.
"Every member of the Hapsburg family has absolutely to oblige himself to support with all his powers the restoration, which is being prepared. Zita, Empress and Queen."
The letter was written in German, "a fact which may not commend it to Hungary."
Empress Zita of Austria has sent "to every adult member of the Hapsburg family a letter, the publication of which tomorrow in newspapers here will cause a flutter in Little Entente Circles."
The New York Times reports today that the former empress, who signed the letter as Empress and Queen, has, "in a very decided form" requested the members of the Habsburg family declare allegiance to her son, Archduke Otto.
Otto "will come of royal age in November," and the event will be "marked by a ceremony which many Hapbsburgs, in common with leaders of the Legitimist movement in Austria and Hungary, are expected to attended.
As other members of the family may not "find it possible to be present," Zita has issued the following circular letter:
"His Majesty, Emperor and King Otto, will take over, on Nov. 20, the leadership of the Hapsburg family and also all prerogatives connected with this position. As it will not be possible for all members of the Hapsburg family to attend in person his coming of age, all members of the family, whether they intend to be present or not, must return this declaration of allegiance with their signature as soon as possible.
"Every member of the Hapsburg family has absolutely to oblige himself to support with all his powers the restoration, which is being prepared. Zita, Empress and Queen."
The letter was written in German, "a fact which may not commend it to Hungary."
Princess Malfada expecting
July 13, 1926
Princess Mafalda, second daughter of King Victor Emanuel of Italy and wife of Prince Philipp of Hesse, is expecting her first child. She is due to give birth in July, according to press reports. The Princess, "who was wed last September with great ceremony," is expected to travel to the family's castle at Racconigi. Her mother, Queen Elena, is expected to remain with her until the birth of the child.
Princess Mafalda, second daughter of King Victor Emanuel of Italy and wife of Prince Philipp of Hesse, is expecting her first child. She is due to give birth in July, according to press reports. The Princess, "who was wed last September with great ceremony," is expected to travel to the family's castle at Racconigi. Her mother, Queen Elena, is expected to remain with her until the birth of the child.
Empress Eugenie's will
July 13, 1920
The Will of the late Empress Eugenie of France was made public today. her estate was valued at more than $10,000,000, according to the New York Times. She bequeathed her mansion and estate at Farnborough, in England, to Prince Victor Napoleon and his wife, Princess Clementine of Belgium. She also left a considerable amount of money to Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, who was her goddaughter.
Many of the late Empress' jewels were of a "curious design and are considered almost priceless."
The Will of the late Empress Eugenie of France was made public today. her estate was valued at more than $10,000,000, according to the New York Times. She bequeathed her mansion and estate at Farnborough, in England, to Prince Victor Napoleon and his wife, Princess Clementine of Belgium. She also left a considerable amount of money to Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, who was her goddaughter.
Many of the late Empress' jewels were of a "curious design and are considered almost priceless."
Monday, July 12, 2010
Queen Natalie asked to leave Prussia
July 12, 1888
The North German Gazette reports today that the Serbian government "has applied to the Prussian authorities for assistance in taking the Servian [sic] Crown Prince back to Belgrade. The German news report was published in the New York Times, which noted that "such a request has been acceded to when coming from a private person." In this case, King Milan is exercising his parental authority and sovereign rights "toward his son and subject." The Prussians "have summoned" the Queen "to deliver the Crown Prince to King Milan's plenipotentiaries."
Queen Natalie has refused and has "threatened ti forcibly resist the removal of the Prince."
Members of her household have been armed "for the purpose of offering resistance." The Prussian government desires for the Serbian Queen to leave Germany unless "she is willing to submit to magisterial authority."
The North German Gazette reports today that the Serbian government "has applied to the Prussian authorities for assistance in taking the Servian [sic] Crown Prince back to Belgrade. The German news report was published in the New York Times, which noted that "such a request has been acceded to when coming from a private person." In this case, King Milan is exercising his parental authority and sovereign rights "toward his son and subject." The Prussians "have summoned" the Queen "to deliver the Crown Prince to King Milan's plenipotentiaries."
Queen Natalie has refused and has "threatened ti forcibly resist the removal of the Prince."
Members of her household have been armed "for the purpose of offering resistance." The Prussian government desires for the Serbian Queen to leave Germany unless "she is willing to submit to magisterial authority."
Juliana expects second child
July 12, 1938
After "dismissing rumors without comment for two weeks," Dutch court officials today acknowledged that Crown Princess Juliana is expecting a second baby. The due date has not been announced, but it believed that the Princess will give birth in February.
On January 21 of this year, Crown Princess Juliana gave birth to her first child, Princess Beatrix, who is second in line to the throne. Should the Crown Princess give birth to a son, little Princess will move down a notch in the succession.
The Crown Princess is "reported to be good health," according to the New York Times dispatch. She and her family will spend their August holiday cruising the Baltic Sea.
After "dismissing rumors without comment for two weeks," Dutch court officials today acknowledged that Crown Princess Juliana is expecting a second baby. The due date has not been announced, but it believed that the Princess will give birth in February.
On January 21 of this year, Crown Princess Juliana gave birth to her first child, Princess Beatrix, who is second in line to the throne. Should the Crown Princess give birth to a son, little Princess will move down a notch in the succession.
The Crown Princess is "reported to be good health," according to the New York Times dispatch. She and her family will spend their August holiday cruising the Baltic Sea.
Archduke Leopold spends night in the Tombs
July 12, 1930
Archduke Leopold of Austria, whose caused his $7,500 bail to be "canceled in General Sessions," "so he could be sent to the Tombs and more speedily bring about his trial for alleged participation in the alleged theft of the $400,000 diamond Napoleon necklace," according to the New York York Times.
The necklace belonged to his aunt, Archduchess Maria Theresa.
In an interview in the Tombs reception room, Leopold "expressed satisfaction with his surroundings."
"I am reconciled to my situation," he said. "I had a good night and enjoyed my breakfast of coffee, bread and butter. It was the only thing for me to do to speed my trial. I did no intentional wrong in connection with the sale of the Napoleon necklace to David L. Michel, the Fifth Avenue jeweler, by Colonel Charles L Townsend, who has disappeared."
He said that when he returns to Austria he plans to write a book about his experiences, "particularly in connection with his indictment and his inability to have his trial called as quickly as he desired."
The Archduke spoke from behind a screen that separates prisoners from visitors. He spent the night in a cell with a "Negro hold-up on man on one side of him and a pickpocket on the other."
Late in the afternoon, a well-dressed woman, "who said she was Mrs. Coburn of Sutton Place," drove up to the prison and told the warden "she wanted to call on the Archduke."
She had arrived after regular visiting hours. The warden referred her to the office of the Commissioner of Correction, where she was able to obtain a special pass. She returned to the Tombs, where she visited Leopold. Mrs. Coburn made an inquiry of the archduke's conditions, and "offered to send him meals from outside," but she was told that this was not possible. The warden added that the "Archduke could purchase special meals from the prison commissary."
Archduke Leopold is accused of "having accept $20,000 from the proceeds of the sale of the necklace," which was a gift from Napoleon to his wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
The archduke's actions were defended by Walther Nagelstock, the editor the New Vienna Journal, a conservative newspaper.
"The Hapsburgs have their faults but they are not capable of either theft or fraud. Every Austrian knows that the Hapsburgs have a pride which is inbred in them and would make them utterly contemptuous of either stealing or participation in a fraud. They have been known to commit suicide when in financial or other troubles, but never to yield to stealing or fraud.
"We do not believe in Austria that the Archduke is guilty of the charges made against him," the editor said.
"What amazes me and amazes the Austrians is that the Austrians in America have not come to the defense of the Archduke. After all, he is not only a member of the family which ruled Austria since medieval times, but is an Austrian as well."
[The Tombs was a prison in New York City.]
Archduke Leopold of Austria, whose caused his $7,500 bail to be "canceled in General Sessions," "so he could be sent to the Tombs and more speedily bring about his trial for alleged participation in the alleged theft of the $400,000 diamond Napoleon necklace," according to the New York York Times.
The necklace belonged to his aunt, Archduchess Maria Theresa.
In an interview in the Tombs reception room, Leopold "expressed satisfaction with his surroundings."
"I am reconciled to my situation," he said. "I had a good night and enjoyed my breakfast of coffee, bread and butter. It was the only thing for me to do to speed my trial. I did no intentional wrong in connection with the sale of the Napoleon necklace to David L. Michel, the Fifth Avenue jeweler, by Colonel Charles L Townsend, who has disappeared."
He said that when he returns to Austria he plans to write a book about his experiences, "particularly in connection with his indictment and his inability to have his trial called as quickly as he desired."
The Archduke spoke from behind a screen that separates prisoners from visitors. He spent the night in a cell with a "Negro hold-up on man on one side of him and a pickpocket on the other."
Late in the afternoon, a well-dressed woman, "who said she was Mrs. Coburn of Sutton Place," drove up to the prison and told the warden "she wanted to call on the Archduke."
She had arrived after regular visiting hours. The warden referred her to the office of the Commissioner of Correction, where she was able to obtain a special pass. She returned to the Tombs, where she visited Leopold. Mrs. Coburn made an inquiry of the archduke's conditions, and "offered to send him meals from outside," but she was told that this was not possible. The warden added that the "Archduke could purchase special meals from the prison commissary."
Archduke Leopold is accused of "having accept $20,000 from the proceeds of the sale of the necklace," which was a gift from Napoleon to his wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
The archduke's actions were defended by Walther Nagelstock, the editor the New Vienna Journal, a conservative newspaper.
"The Hapsburgs have their faults but they are not capable of either theft or fraud. Every Austrian knows that the Hapsburgs have a pride which is inbred in them and would make them utterly contemptuous of either stealing or participation in a fraud. They have been known to commit suicide when in financial or other troubles, but never to yield to stealing or fraud.
"We do not believe in Austria that the Archduke is guilty of the charges made against him," the editor said.
"What amazes me and amazes the Austrians is that the Austrians in America have not come to the defense of the Archduke. After all, he is not only a member of the family which ruled Austria since medieval times, but is an Austrian as well."
[The Tombs was a prison in New York City.]
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Zenouska "miffed" by Sarah staff list
Zenouska Mowatt, 20, is rather "miffed to find herself on a list of Fergie's sacked staff."
Zenouska's father, Paul Mowatt, told the Daily Mail's Richard Kay: "To say we're bemused is a bit of an understatement. How can you be sacked from a job you never had? Zen helped out in Fergie's office a couple of Christmases ago and went to New York recently at short notice when somebody was taken ill. But it was never a paid job -- just good will. It's odd to count Zen among Sarah's staff."
Zenouska was recently in Paris where she interned at the Bridgeman Art Library.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1293856/Rothschilds-big-fat-deal-Slim.html
Zenouska's father, Paul Mowatt, told the Daily Mail's Richard Kay: "To say we're bemused is a bit of an understatement. How can you be sacked from a job you never had? Zen helped out in Fergie's office a couple of Christmases ago and went to New York recently at short notice when somebody was taken ill. But it was never a paid job -- just good will. It's odd to count Zen among Sarah's staff."
Zenouska was recently in Paris where she interned at the Bridgeman Art Library.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1293856/Rothschilds-big-fat-deal-Slim.html
Sarah ends staff relationship
Sarah, Duchess of York has laid off all of her staff, including her long time personal assistant, Kate Waddington.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7884031/Duchess-of-York-makes-all-her-staff-redundant-to-help-her-finances.html
The staff was informed of their redundancies by the Duke of York staff. The Duke of York has apparently taken over the duchess' affairs until she is able to get back on her feet.
One of the assistants who is now out of job is Zenouska Mowatt,.daughter of Marina Ogilvy Mowatt, and is, thus, a granddaughter of Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy.
Sarah, Duchess of York, leaves next week for Neckar Island, the private island owned by Sir Richard Branson. Her two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, are expected to join her. One assumes Sir Richard will be paying for the flight.
It appears that the riot act has been read to Sarah. She could not pay her staff. Andrew was not going to pay her staff. She does not need a driver or several personal assistants, let alone a protection officer.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7884031/Duchess-of-York-makes-all-her-staff-redundant-to-help-her-finances.html
The staff was informed of their redundancies by the Duke of York staff. The Duke of York has apparently taken over the duchess' affairs until she is able to get back on her feet.
One of the assistants who is now out of job is Zenouska Mowatt,.daughter of Marina Ogilvy Mowatt, and is, thus, a granddaughter of Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy.
Sarah, Duchess of York, leaves next week for Neckar Island, the private island owned by Sir Richard Branson. Her two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, are expected to join her. One assumes Sir Richard will be paying for the flight.
It appears that the riot act has been read to Sarah. She could not pay her staff. Andrew was not going to pay her staff. She does not need a driver or several personal assistants, let alone a protection officer.
Friday, July 9, 2010
The Bulgarian throne
July 9, 1890
Russia has semi-officially denied that it would "soon propose the Duke of Leuchtenberg for the Bulgarian throne." The duke is not named in the dispatch in the Los Angeles Times. The most likely candidate is Nicholas, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg, first son of Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, and Grand Duchess Maria Nicolaievna of Russia, daughter of Nicholas I.
Russia has semi-officially denied that it would "soon propose the Duke of Leuchtenberg for the Bulgarian throne." The duke is not named in the dispatch in the Los Angeles Times. The most likely candidate is Nicholas, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg, first son of Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, and Grand Duchess Maria Nicolaievna of Russia, daughter of Nicholas I.
Guess who came to dinner tonight?
July 9, 1936
King Edward VIII, "winding up a busy day," hosted a dinner at York House tonight, according to the New York Times.
Earlier today, the King "reviewed troops, granted audiences to diplomats and tried out a new automobile in the rain."
The guest list for the dinner, which was published in the Court Circular, included the Duke and Duchess of York, Sir Samuel and Lady Hoare, Sir Philip Sassoon, Viscount and Lady Willingdon, Lady Diana Coooper, the Winston Churchills, the Earl and Lady Stanhope, and Mrs. Ernest Simpson.
King Edward VIII, "winding up a busy day," hosted a dinner at York House tonight, according to the New York Times.
Earlier today, the King "reviewed troops, granted audiences to diplomats and tried out a new automobile in the rain."
The guest list for the dinner, which was published in the Court Circular, included the Duke and Duchess of York, Sir Samuel and Lady Hoare, Sir Philip Sassoon, Viscount and Lady Willingdon, Lady Diana Coooper, the Winston Churchills, the Earl and Lady Stanhope, and Mrs. Ernest Simpson.
Boris heads for Italy
July 9, 1936
King Boris II of Bulgaria left today for Italy, where he will be staying with the Italian royal family, according to a New York Times dispatch. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Giovanna, the daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele.
Boris is "traveling incognito" but he will "undoubtedly seek means of discussing with Italian statesmen problems of international policy."
King Boris II of Bulgaria left today for Italy, where he will be staying with the Italian royal family, according to a New York Times dispatch. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Giovanna, the daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele.
Boris is "traveling incognito" but he will "undoubtedly seek means of discussing with Italian statesmen problems of international policy."
Holiday time
July 9, 1930
The AP is reporting that the Dowager Queen Marie of Roumania, with Princess Ileana, "left today for the Summer Palace at Sinaia," where they will visit with Queen Helen and Crown Prince Michael.
King Carol II and Prince Nicholas "accompanied them to the station."
It is not known how long Marie and Ileana will remain at Sinaia.
The AP is reporting that the Dowager Queen Marie of Roumania, with Princess Ileana, "left today for the Summer Palace at Sinaia," where they will visit with Queen Helen and Crown Prince Michael.
King Carol II and Prince Nicholas "accompanied them to the station."
It is not known how long Marie and Ileana will remain at Sinaia.
Royal marriage rumors are amusing
July 9, 1928
Dispatches from Sofia "saying that Foreign Minister Briand and Premiere Poincare" were supporting the effort of a French official to arrange a marriage between King Boris of Bulgaria and Princess Francoise, the daughter of the Duke of Guise, has caused much amusement at the Quai d'Orsay today, according to the Associated Press.
Briand is one of the "founders of Socialism in France," and the Duke of Guise is the pretender to the former French throne, "so it would appear that the interests of te two would scarcely be reconciled."
Dispatches from Sofia "saying that Foreign Minister Briand and Premiere Poincare" were supporting the effort of a French official to arrange a marriage between King Boris of Bulgaria and Princess Francoise, the daughter of the Duke of Guise, has caused much amusement at the Quai d'Orsay today, according to the Associated Press.
Briand is one of the "founders of Socialism in France," and the Duke of Guise is the pretender to the former French throne, "so it would appear that the interests of te two would scarcely be reconciled."
Grand Duke Alexander talks of escape
July 9, 1918
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovitch, brother-in-law of the former Emperor, gave a interview at the end of June to a reporter of the Budapest Az Est, according to a telegraph to Dutch newspapers. The interview was reprinted by the New York Times.
The interview took place at Ai-Todor in the Crimea. The Grand Duke related his experiences after Nicholas II's abdication.
"We were for days at Dulbar (near Ai-Todor) at the house of Peter Nicolaievitch, all together. We owe our lives solely to that good and intelligent man. My six sons and myself were on the blacklist. We scarcely hoped to escape with our lives. They took our money and property. Our house in Petrograd was razed.
"Fortunately, I have a property with a vineyard at Ai-Todor,on the produce of which my family and myself can live."
The Grand Duke was asked about the possibility of a "monarchical Constitution again." Alexander was "skeptical," about a restoration, namely with Nicholas II back on the throne. "Certainly not. He is vividly of the old system."
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovitch, brother-in-law of the former Emperor, gave a interview at the end of June to a reporter of the Budapest Az Est, according to a telegraph to Dutch newspapers. The interview was reprinted by the New York Times.
The interview took place at Ai-Todor in the Crimea. The Grand Duke related his experiences after Nicholas II's abdication.
"We were for days at Dulbar (near Ai-Todor) at the house of Peter Nicolaievitch, all together. We owe our lives solely to that good and intelligent man. My six sons and myself were on the blacklist. We scarcely hoped to escape with our lives. They took our money and property. Our house in Petrograd was razed.
"Fortunately, I have a property with a vineyard at Ai-Todor,on the produce of which my family and myself can live."
The Grand Duke was asked about the possibility of a "monarchical Constitution again." Alexander was "skeptical," about a restoration, namely with Nicholas II back on the throne. "Certainly not. He is vividly of the old system."
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Princess Anne to be a grandma
Princess Anne is about to become a grandmother. Her son, Peter Phillips, and his Canadian-born wife, Autumn, confirmed in a statement today that Autumn is expected to give birth in December.
This will be the couple's first child, and the first great-grandchild for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
"Peter and Autumn Phillips are delighted to confirm they are expecting a baby in December. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as well as Autumn's family have been in informed and are delighted with the news."
[Did you expect the Queen to NOT be delighted. The announcement makes no mention of Peter's parents, the Princess Royal, and Mark Phillips. I bet they are delighted, too.]
I love how misinformed Daily Mail writers are these days: "Mr Phillips, who is 11th in line to the throne but does not use a royal title..."
Peter Phillips doesn't use a title because he doesn't have one. When Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were married in 1973, they declined an earldom for Mark, as they wanted their children to not have titles.
Thus, the new baby will be Master or Miss Christian name Phillips.
The Phillips live in Hong Kong, where Peter works for the Royal Bank of Scotland.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1293168/Queen-great-grandmother-time-Peter-Philips-announces-wife-Autumns-pregnancy.html
This will be the couple's first child, and the first great-grandchild for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
"Peter and Autumn Phillips are delighted to confirm they are expecting a baby in December. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as well as Autumn's family have been in informed and are delighted with the news."
[Did you expect the Queen to NOT be delighted. The announcement makes no mention of Peter's parents, the Princess Royal, and Mark Phillips. I bet they are delighted, too.]
I love how misinformed Daily Mail writers are these days: "Mr Phillips, who is 11th in line to the throne but does not use a royal title..."
Peter Phillips doesn't use a title because he doesn't have one. When Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were married in 1973, they declined an earldom for Mark, as they wanted their children to not have titles.
Thus, the new baby will be Master or Miss Christian name Phillips.
The Phillips live in Hong Kong, where Peter works for the Royal Bank of Scotland.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1293168/Queen-great-grandmother-time-Peter-Philips-announces-wife-Autumns-pregnancy.html
Continued difficulties for Ernst Gunther's marriage
July 8, 1898
The Marquise de Fontenoy today reports that "there seems to be no end to the difficulties in connection with the marriage" of Duke Ernst Gunther of Schleswig-Holstein, only brother of the German empress, and Princess Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,
The arrangement has been "broken off and the breach repaired no less than three times," according to the Marquise. The wedding is now set for August 2, but a "bitter controversy has arisen on the subject of religion, a controversy in which the entire German press has taken part."
The Princess is Roman Catholic, and the Duke is a Lutheran. The Catholic Church "will not consent to bless the marriage between a Catholic and a Protestant" unless the couople agree to raise the children in the Roman Catholic faith. Sometimes a compromise can be arranged where the sons are brought up in their father's faith, and their daughters "in the belief of the mother."
This arrangement "exists in the instance of the Lutheran Prince Waldemark of Denmark and his French wife, Princess Marie of Orleans." Their sons are Lutheran, but their only daughter was baptised as a Roman Catholic.
There is a strict rule in the German army, instituted by Wilhelm I, "which prohibits any officer from entertaining any engagement to bring up his children to any other form of religion than that to which he himself belongs."
The Duke of Schleswig-Holstein is an officer in the German army, and subject to its regulations. He has used the military requirements as he "bases his objections" to the Roman Catholic church's insistence that his children be raised Catholic.
It is also possible that Ernst Gunther and Princess Dorothea be married in a Lutheran ceremony in Coburg, and "subsequently the should both appear before the roman Catholic rector of the City of Coburg and declare in the presence of two witnesses that they had been duly married." This action, according to the Roman Catholic sufficient to render the union ecclesiastically valid in its eyes." The couple will not have "received the Catholic sacrament of marriage," but they will be free to bring up their children in the Lutheran faith.
The marriage will take place in Coburg, instead of in Vienna, which has been the bride's home, due to the recent scandal there in connection with Dorothea's mother, Princess Louise.
All charges of forgery have been dropped, and Princess Louise, now released from the insane asylum, is now living quietly in Belgium.
The "forgeries amounted to a total sum of a quarter of a million dollars," and the money lenders "discounted the notes bearing the signatures of Princess Louise of Coburg and her sister, Crown Princess Stephanie of Austria," as they had never had dealings with either women. The money lenders did meet with Louise's chamberlain and lover, Captain von Kegelvich.
The forgeries appear to have been perpetuated by Louise's lover, but it was Louise's estranged husband, Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha who settled all the debts, in order to avoid a further scandal. He paid "under compulsion" from the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, "who was anxious at all costs" to avoid a trial in Vienna, where his daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Stephanie, "would have been compelled to appear as a witness." Princess Louise would have appeared at the trial as a witness or a prisoner.
Prince Philipp found himself in a difficult situation. Franz Joseph "threatened to turn out the entire Coburg clique, bag and baggage, out of Austria unless the matter was settled."
Prince Philippe wrote to his father-in-law, King Leopold II, in vain, for assistance. But the Belgian sovereign "absolutely declined to do a thing in the matter, and even went so far as to vouchsafe the information that he would not contribute a cent even to avoid the disgrace of his daughter's appearance in court" on the charge of forgery.
Leopold has not paid any of Louise's debts, which appear to have been paid in full by Louise's mother-in-law, the elderly Princess Clementine, and by Franz Joseph. Leopold's conduct has not been appreciated by the Viennese court, and he is considered a "most disgraceful character."
As Prince Philipp has settled the forgery debts, he and his family are free to remain in Vienna.
In fac
Haakon says Norwegians want him on the throne
July 8, 1940
King Haakon of Norway, now in exile in Great Britain, "asserted in a broadcast from Buckingham Palace that in refusing to abdicate he felt certain that he was acting 'in conformity with the wishes of the Norwegian people, '" according to an AP dispatch.
"my motto has always been and forever will be everything for Norway.
:It would grieve me deeply if I were to separate from Norway," but he added that he would abdicate only if he believed that "was the wish of Norwegian people and the Norwegian government."
The present German dominated administration in Oslo has demanded the king's resignation, but Haakon said that the government "did not represent the will of the people."
King Haakon of Norway, now in exile in Great Britain, "asserted in a broadcast from Buckingham Palace that in refusing to abdicate he felt certain that he was acting 'in conformity with the wishes of the Norwegian people, '" according to an AP dispatch.
"my motto has always been and forever will be everything for Norway.
:It would grieve me deeply if I were to separate from Norway," but he added that he would abdicate only if he believed that "was the wish of Norwegian people and the Norwegian government."
The present German dominated administration in Oslo has demanded the king's resignation, but Haakon said that the government "did not represent the will of the people."
Opposition grows against Otto in Hungary
July 8, 1930
The New York Times today reports on the "latest developments in Hungary" regarding the status of Archduke Otto, who will soon "come of age." Only a few weeks ago "well-informed circles" in Hungary predicted that Otto, the eldest son of the late Emperor Karl, would be placed in the Hungarian throne after reaching his majority.
This now appears to be unlikely, as there appears to be a "determined resistance" to a monarchy in Hungary.
Opposition to a restoratin comes from two sources in the "Protestant peasants," under the leadershuo of Bishop Desiderius Balthazar, and the "free electors," who were involved in keeping Emperor Karl from regaining his throne.
Captain Julius Gombos, one of Karl's captors in 1921, and now Hungary's Minister of war, was quoted in a newspaper interview stating he was "unalterably opposed to Otto's enthronement."
"I stand fast by what I did in 1921, and I am now and forever against the continuation of the legitimist principle." Gombos said he was for a "free popular choice of King of Hungary." but the time was not right for "such a selection."
"Inherited monarchies are now as antiquated as Parliaments. The best of our citizens should stand at the head of the nation. The fear of a dictatorship is a theme of false democracy. If we made Otto King of Hungary that would only be a beginning. How long would it be before the Austrian legitimists would also undertake a 'putsch' and call Otto back to Vienna? Neither Germany nor Italy, not to speak of the Little Entente, would favor such a development. Another objection against Otto is that he is only 18 years of age. He has had no experience and would be ruled by a court camarilla. In Hungary we need no camarilla, but a strong hand."
The New York Times today reports on the "latest developments in Hungary" regarding the status of Archduke Otto, who will soon "come of age." Only a few weeks ago "well-informed circles" in Hungary predicted that Otto, the eldest son of the late Emperor Karl, would be placed in the Hungarian throne after reaching his majority.
This now appears to be unlikely, as there appears to be a "determined resistance" to a monarchy in Hungary.
Opposition to a restoratin comes from two sources in the "Protestant peasants," under the leadershuo of Bishop Desiderius Balthazar, and the "free electors," who were involved in keeping Emperor Karl from regaining his throne.
Captain Julius Gombos, one of Karl's captors in 1921, and now Hungary's Minister of war, was quoted in a newspaper interview stating he was "unalterably opposed to Otto's enthronement."
"I stand fast by what I did in 1921, and I am now and forever against the continuation of the legitimist principle." Gombos said he was for a "free popular choice of King of Hungary." but the time was not right for "such a selection."
"Inherited monarchies are now as antiquated as Parliaments. The best of our citizens should stand at the head of the nation. The fear of a dictatorship is a theme of false democracy. If we made Otto King of Hungary that would only be a beginning. How long would it be before the Austrian legitimists would also undertake a 'putsch' and call Otto back to Vienna? Neither Germany nor Italy, not to speak of the Little Entente, would favor such a development. Another objection against Otto is that he is only 18 years of age. He has had no experience and would be ruled by a court camarilla. In Hungary we need no camarilla, but a strong hand."
Ferdinand talks of Carol's "moral delinquencies"
July 8, 1926
In a candid interview with the Associated Press, King Ferdinand of Roumania told of the real reason why his eldest son, Carol, renounced his right to the throne. The King said that Carol had "repeated moral delinquencies" and was not "fit ever to become the ruler of his people."
The King acknowledged that he himself had asked his son to renounce the throne, but he asked the reporter "to be excused from discussing in detail the circumstances of the renunciation."
"It is a long and painful story. But I can tell you this, that there were no political motives behind it. It was my own act, provoked by my son's extraordinary conduct. No political leader forced a decision on me.
"Although my action gave deep anguish and pain to the Queen and myself, it had to be done in the interests of my country, the people, the Government and the Crown.
"Carol proved by his repeated moral delinquencies that he was entirely unfitted to assume the duties of a sovereign. Therefore, I demanded his renunciation. I could with propriety have done nothing else."
There was "much secrecy" about Prince Carol's renunciation of his dynastic rights last December. His love affairs "were known to have played a large part in his difficulties with his parents," but many assumed there were also political motives for his renunciation.
His first marriage to Zizi Lambrino, a woman of "humble stock" was annulled, and in 1921, he made a suitable marriage with his second cousin, Princess Helen of Greece. This "marriage did not prove happy and stories were constantly in circulation concerning Carol's escapades."
He appears to now be involved with a Romanian commoner, Elena Lupescu. According to the latest reports, they have bought a villa outside of Paris.
Carol was recently dropped from the royal civil list, although his private income is said to be about $30,000.
In a candid interview with the Associated Press, King Ferdinand of Roumania told of the real reason why his eldest son, Carol, renounced his right to the throne. The King said that Carol had "repeated moral delinquencies" and was not "fit ever to become the ruler of his people."
The King acknowledged that he himself had asked his son to renounce the throne, but he asked the reporter "to be excused from discussing in detail the circumstances of the renunciation."
"It is a long and painful story. But I can tell you this, that there were no political motives behind it. It was my own act, provoked by my son's extraordinary conduct. No political leader forced a decision on me.
"Although my action gave deep anguish and pain to the Queen and myself, it had to be done in the interests of my country, the people, the Government and the Crown.
"Carol proved by his repeated moral delinquencies that he was entirely unfitted to assume the duties of a sovereign. Therefore, I demanded his renunciation. I could with propriety have done nothing else."
There was "much secrecy" about Prince Carol's renunciation of his dynastic rights last December. His love affairs "were known to have played a large part in his difficulties with his parents," but many assumed there were also political motives for his renunciation.
His first marriage to Zizi Lambrino, a woman of "humble stock" was annulled, and in 1921, he made a suitable marriage with his second cousin, Princess Helen of Greece. This "marriage did not prove happy and stories were constantly in circulation concerning Carol's escapades."
He appears to now be involved with a Romanian commoner, Elena Lupescu. According to the latest reports, they have bought a villa outside of Paris.
Carol was recently dropped from the royal civil list, although his private income is said to be about $30,000.
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