Thursday, January 5, 2017

Remembering Austin Prichard-Levy

Belgrade 2010

Austin Prichard-Levy was the beloved husband of Princess Lavinia of Yugoslavia, and the beloved father of Luca, who will celebrate his 17th birthday on Valentine's Day.

Austin, who died from a massive heart attack, was 63 years old.  He was born Roma, Queensland, on January 20, 1953.  His death took place at his home in London on Monday January 2.

(I learned about the death on Tuesday but waited to post this until after the official announcement was made )

He was the personal manager for the Australian pianist, David Helfgott, whose life was the subject of the Oscar-winning movie, Shine.  His paternal grandmother was the German actress and singer, Margarete Schlegel (1899-1987).  Schlegel's husband was Prussian Jewish-born political economist Hermann Joachim Levy, who was baptized as a Lutheran at age 14.   Their son,  Hermann Martin Heinrich Levy, was baptized as a Roman Catholic.  Professor  Levy was teaching in Britain, having lost his position in Berlin, when his wife and young son fled Nazi Germany to join him in 1938.

I have known Lavinia and her family for many years.  In the early 1990s, I visited her mom, Princess Kira of Leiningen, and Lavinia and her older brothers were also there.  A wonderful modest tea - and lots of conversation.  I was delighted when Lavinia married Austin in 1998.   We kept in touch, and I finally got to meet Austin when we were in Belgrade for Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine's 25th wedding anniversary.

Dear, Dear Lavinia, I know what you are going through ... all my love.




all three photos @Marlene A. Eilers Koenig

2001:  HRH Princess Lavinia

HRH Princess Lavinia and family outside the White Palace in Belgrade in 2001

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/news/11333886/Fancy-living-in-a-Yugoslavian-princesss-home.html

http://davidleser.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Slava-Grigoryan.pdf

5 comments:

BlueSaphire70 said...

Would you consider adding a "Sad" alternative to the comments at the bottom? Sometimes "Interesting", "Funny", and "Cool" don't fit what I would like to express, such as with this post. I would like to say "Sad" to the Princess' bereavement, but I can't. Thanks.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

I have no idea what you are talking about

BlueSaphire70 said...

At the bottom of your posts, there are three little boxes where a person can choose a reaction to the post. The three alternatives are funny, interesting, and cool. I was wondering if you could add another little box to be able to choose "sad" as a reaction, which I have wanted to express whenever the story has been about a sad occurrence. Today's post on the untimely death of Mr. Prichard-Levy would have been such an occasion.

Marymol said...

When your blog is posted, on the screen, each blog post notes that you are the author. Directly below that line is one that says Reactions, which includes three checkboxes. That is what BlueSapphire70 is referencing in their post. Hope that clarifies.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Those were the only options