EUROHISTORY: Royal Gatherings, The Hague, November 8-9, 2014

EUROHISTORY: Royal Gatherings, The Hague, November 8-9, 2014

Our second royalty conference, ROYAL GATHERINGS, will take place on November 8-9, 2014, in The Hague's elegant Park Hotel, with views of the royals gardens of Noordeinde Palace!

Eurohistory and Hoogstraten English Bookstore, joined by Rosvall Royal Books, present to guests the following schedule and lectures:

Saturday, November 8

 9:15-10:00am – Opening and introductions

10:00-10:45am – APAPA: King Christian IX of Denmark and His Descendants, by Coryne Hall

10:45-11:00am – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

11:00-11:45am – Anna of Hannover, by Bearn Bilker

11:45-12:00 – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

12:00-2:00pm – LUNCH (The area around the hotel is filled with unique restaurants and the shop at Hoogstraten English Bookstore will be open for attendees to peruse and find books for their personal libraries)

2:00-2:45pm– Queen Wilhelmina and Her British Governess, by Renny van Heuven

2:45-3:00pm – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

3:00-3:45pm – Notabilities: Royalty and Celebrities in the late 19th Century, by Ted Rosvall

3:45-4:00pm – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

4:00-4:45pm – Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna: Aunt Miechen, by Galina Korneva

4:45-5:00pm – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

5:00-5:30pm – Authors Coryne Hall, Galina Korneva, Tatiana Cheboksarova, Bjarne Steen Jensen, Ted Rosvall, Susan Symons and Arturo E. Beéche will be available for signing your books.

Sunday, November 9

9:15-10:00am – Opening words, coffee

10:00-10:45am – The Royal House of Bavaria, by Coryne Hall

10:45-11:00am – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

11:00-11:45am – Royal Jewels, by Bjarne Steen Jensen

11:45-12:00 – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

12:00-2:00pm – LUNCH (The area around the hotel is filled with unique restaurants and the shop at Hoogstraten English Bookstore will be open for attendees to peruse and find books for their personal libraries)

2:00-2:45pm – Schloß: The Fascinating Royal History of 25 German Castles, by Susan Symons

2:45-3:00pm – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

3:00-3:45pm – The Lesser-known Coburgs, by Arturo E. Beéche

3:45-4:00pm – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

4:00-4:45pm – The Vladimir Villa in Tsarskoe Selo, by Galina Korneva

4:45-5:00pm – Question and Answer (coffee and tea available at the back of the conference room)

5:00-5:30pm – Authors Coryne Hall, Galina Korneva, Tatiana Cheboksarova, Bjarne Steen Jensen, Ted Rosvall, Susan Symons and Arturo E. Beéche will be available for signing your books.


Space is limited. We have 6 remaining spots. If interested, do not hesitate to contact us. Also, you can print the form attached and send it to us at: books@eurohistory.com or aebeeche@mac.com

 

 

Peter returns to Belgrade

Embed from Getty Images

October 13, 1934

King Peter II of Yugoslavia arrived at the Belgrade train station at 9:00 a.m., and the young monarch "made his solemn entry into his forefathers' capital," reports the New York Times.

Members of the Regency, Cabinet, Parliament and local city officials and a large crowd had gathered outside the railroad station.   Many also thought that "in a few days"  King Alexander's body will also arrive at the railroad station.

Many were in tears when the 11-year-old monarch emerged from the train.  When he passed the "guard of honor," he said in a loud voice: "God keep you, heroes."  He kissed the hand of the Patriarch and was presented the traditional bread and salt on a silver salver by the Mayor of Belgrade.

Members of the Regency, headed by Prince Paul, walked to the car to greet the young king, who was dressed in the "school suit usual among English boys, with a long gray overcoat and a gray hat.  He was followed by his mother, Queen Marie; his grandmother, Dowager Queen Marie of Romania; his aunt, Archduchess Ileana, wife of Archduke Anton of Austria; Prince Arsene, the late King Peter I's brother and father of Prince Paul, one of the three Regents, and Princess Helen of Russia, the late King Alexander's sister.

Peter was taken to the royal palace at Dedinje, just outside Belgrade, where he met his brothers, Prince Tomislav and Prince Andrej, for the first time since their father's death.   He "kissed them repeatedly, all weeping so long and so loudly that those present could not restrain their tears."

King Peter told his brothers they "must keep up their spirits" and not "give trouble to their mother."   He will remain at Dedinje, where members of the royal family will "discuss details" for Alexander's funeral.  Nearly 900,000 people from throughout Yugoslavia are expected to come to Belgrade.  Special train fares will be "granted" to those who want to attend.

Danes worry over illness of Queen Louise

October 13, 1924

Dowager Queen Louise of Denmark is seriously "ill with pneumonia, following an attack of bronchitis," reports the Associated Press.  She spent a "sleepless night."  There is concern for her health, as the Queen contracted pneumonia last year.

Despite her poor health, Queen Louise has insisted that her daughter-in-law, Queen Alexandrine, "proceed with her postponed visit to Germany."

Kaiser will announce his renunciation to declare war

October 13, 1918

German Emperor Wilhelm II intends to announce new reforms that will include "a renunciation of the right to declare war," states the Frankfurter Zeitung and reported by the New York Times.

Austrian newspapers received in Berne, Switzerland, states that "Germany and Austria-Hungary are in complete accord concerning the evacuation of conquered territory."

These statements are in response to the American President Woodrow Wilson.

Prince Oleg dies from wound

October 13, 1914

Prince Oleg of Russia died in a hospital at Vilna last night from the "result of wounds received in a brilliant cavalry attack during the recent fighting, reports the New York Times.

he report is based on a dispatch from Petrograd to the London Morning News.

Prince Oleg was the fourth son of Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantovich.

The "official account" published several days ago noted that the Prince, in a cavalry charge, was slightly wounded in the leg. But another bullet "inflicted" more serious injuries that caused his death.

Prince Oleg is the first member of the Imperial family to "give his life for Russia.  He was a "young man of high promise."   He was 21 years old.

Grand Duke Konstantine is at Vilna, and the body of his son will be taken to the family estate near Moscow for internment.

Peter arrives in Paris, grief-stricken

October 10, 1934

The young King Peter received a warm welcome tonight in Paris, but "he was not the one for whom such great and joyous preparations had been made in recent weeks," reports the New York Times.''

He was a "grief-stricken boy, " accompanied by his grandmother, the Dowager Queen Marie of Romania, and who wanted nothing more than to be with "his mother and comforted by her.

The 11-year-old  British school boy is understandably "forlorn and unhappy," as his father, King Alexander of Yugoslavia, was assassinated yesterday in Marseilles.

He traveled from England with his grandmother by boat, crossing the Channel, and arriving in Calais.  The ferry was cleared of all persons, apart from the crew.  "Solid phalanxes of policemen lined the way to the train and the special car" that would take the young king and grandmother to Paris.   The train was heavily guarded.

The train was scheduled to arrive at the Gare de Nord at 8:46 p.m., and a "great crowd" gathered "both inside and outside the station," as French officials, including the Air Minister and the Prefect of Police were waiting to greet the young monarch.

But it was a carefully orchestrated ruse.  When the train stopped at Villiers-le-Bel, a small suburb, King Peter emerged and quickly got into a waiting car.

Before the crowds at the Gare du Nord realized they had been "fooled," King Peter was already safe in his suite at the Hotel Ritz.  Queen Marie remained on the train to the Gare du Nord, where she "quietly descended," and after the crowd had left, she was driven to the Hotel Ritz to rejoin her grandson.

King Peter's mother, Queen Marie, will join him tomorrow in Paris, where she will remain as she is undergoing a "surgical operation," which had been planned for sometime and "apparently cannot be postponed."


King Peter is unlikely to return to Sandroyd School, where he had been a student for a mere 13 days.

Alfonso strips cousin of rights

October 10, 1924

King Alfonso XIII, as head of his house, had been "obliged to take the decision of depriving" his cousin, Prince Luis Fernando of Bourbon Orleans "of all his rights as an Infante of Spain."

Prince Luis is the second son of Infante Don Antonio, Duke of Galliera, and Infanta Eulalia of Spain, Alfonso's aunt.

The French Government recently "found it necessary" to expel Prince Luis from its territory.

The royal decree "depriving" Luis of his privileges "on account of bad conduct" was published earlier today in the Madrid Gazette

Secretary Lansing discusses rumors of Kaiser's abdication

October 10, 1918

Secretary of State Robert Lansing, who is attending the centennial of the Auburn Theological Seminary, spoke to the New York Times today about the rumor from Stockholm that the German Emperor, Wilhelm II, had abdicated.

He said: "That has been current for some time. Unless we know in whose favor the Kaiser is abdicating, the story has no significance whatever.  If it is simply setting up one of his sons in his place the situation would not be changed in the least, but if he should abdicate in favor of a democratic Germany it would mean something."

Will names three regents for Peter

October 9, 1934

Alexander I of Yugoslavia's will, found after his assassination, appoints three people as members of the regency council to serve until Peter II reaches his majority.

The three members are Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, Alexander's first cousin.

Former Minister of Education Stankovich

and Governor Banterovitch of Zagreb.

Prince Paul is 41 years old.  He was born in St. Petersburg, and spent his childhood there.  When he turned 17, his Russian relatives decided that he should be educated in England.  He attended Christ Church at Oxford, where he was a fellow undergraduate of the Prince of Wales.

A popular member of Oxford and London society, Prince Paul received his degree in 1921.  Two years later, he married Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark.  The Duke of York was his best man.

Slaying casts pall on Marina's wedding

October 9, 1934

A cloud has been thrown over the preparations for the wedding next month of Britain's Prince George and Princess Marina of Greece.

King Alexander of Yugoslavia, who was assassinated earlier today in Marseilles, was recently revealed as the "man who played the most important part in promoting the royal match," reports the Chicago Daily Tribune.

In August Prince George and Princess Marina were the guests of King Alexander at one of his palaces.  He "entrusted the actual negotiations to his cousin Prince Paul," who is married to Marina's older sister, Princess Olga, and who is fluent in English.

Earlier today, King George V conferred the title Duke of Kent on his youngest son.   

The wedding will take place at Westminster Abbey on November 29.  It is not expected that the "mourning of the British royal family" will cause a postponement of the wedding.

Princess Marina will have eight bridesmaids, including: Princess Ingrid of Sweden, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, Princess Eugenie of Greece, Princess Katherine of Greece, and Grand Duchess Kira of Russia.  

Princess Elizabeth, the eight-year-old daughter, of the Duke and Duchess of York, is also expected to be one of Marina's attendants as is Princess Irene of Greece.

The newly weds will spend their honeymoon in England, and join King George and Queen Mary and other members of the royal family for Christmas at Sandringham.

BULLETIN: Alexander of Yugoslavia assassinated

October 9, 1934


King Alexander of Yugoslavia, the 46 year old "dictatorial ruler," and France's Foreign Minister Louis Barthou, were shot to death today in Marseilles, only five minutes after the King arrived.

The alleged assassin is named Petrus Kalemen, 35, a native of Zagreb, and is said to be a Croatian, although this has not been confirmed.

The bullets "mowed down a policeman, "gravely wounded a French General riding in the official automobile with the king and foreign minster."  Twelve others were wounded before the alleged assassin was "himself killed, reports the Associated Press.

The new king is Alexander's 11-year-old son, Crown Prince Peter.  A regency will "rest the shape of the policies that may alter the makeup of continental Europe."

Sixteen years ago, Alexander, who led his armies "through three victorious wars" was hailed by his people as "the Liberator."

But in the intervening years "factionalism blocked" the king from his self-appointed task of unifying his heterogeneous nation hemmed in by unfriendly neighbors."

In January 1929, Alexander "discarded Parliamentary government," and declared himself as a dictator.  Many in his country looked upon him, no longer the liberator, but the Tyrant.  The people of Yugoslavia, include Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and Dalmatians, Bosnians and Herzegovinians, with deeply divided religious beliefs: Moslem, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.

In 1920, during a visit to Sarajevo the King nearly lost his life when a bomb was "placed in his path by an assassin seeking to avenge" Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Alexander's successor, Peter, is a student at the Sandroyd school in Surrey, which he entered only two weeks ago.    He was playing in a football game with his classmates at the very moment of his father's assassination.

The news of the tragedy was received in London shortly before 5 p.m., and the Yugoslav Legation immediately telephoned the school, reports the New York Times.  After the boys had returned for the "traditional afternoon tea," the school's headmaster took Peter aside to break the news of his father's death to him.

Crown Prince Peter arrived in England in September with his English tutor, C.C. Parrot.  This was his first trip outside of Yugoslavia. He speaks English and three other languages.

A special police guard has been placed by the school.  He may leave for France tomorrow with his grandmother, Dowager Queen Marie of Romania, who is in London.  She will leave "early tomorrow" to join her daughter, Queen Marie, in France.

Infant Alexis rouses loyalty

October 9, 1904

The infant Tsarevich Alexis carried out his first "patriotic duty," having accompanied his parents, the Emperor and Emperor of Russia, to inspect the fleet at Reval before its departure, reports the Chicago Tribune.

The sight of Empress Alexandra carrying the infant heir "stirred every fiber, loyalty, patriotism, and devotion," of the entire fleet, from the admiral to the cabin boys.

The presence of the "young Empress" served to "complete the happiness of everyone.  There has never been a more "touching appeal" than that of Nicholas II and his young son "engaging his men to fight for Russia.

The 80th anniversary of the assassination of Alexander I

Crown Prince at the Commemorative ceremony on 80th Anniversary of assasination of HM King Alexander I in Marseille

@royalfamily.org

 Marseille, 9 October 2014 – Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine, together with Mr Dragomir Acovic, Chairman of the Crown Council, attended today in Marseille a Commemorative ceremony on 80th Anniversary of tragic assasination of HM King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and French Foreign Minister Mr Louis Barthou. Crown Prince Alexander II was a guest of the French Government, and his host was HE Mr Harlem Désir, Secretary of State for European Affairs. Commemoration was attended by Serbian official delegation, led by Mr Radoslav Pavlovic, councilor tp the President of Serbia.

@royalfamily.org

Crown Prince addressed his hosts and great number of citizens in fluent French saying:“Political history of Serbia, and then Yugoslavia of the first half of 20th century was marked by an efforts of then regent and after a King Alexander Karadjordjevic. He took responsibility for the destiny of Serbia in the eve of the Great War, and ran the state with wisdom during four years of fighting, suffering and exile, and gave huge contribution to the fact that a new state has been founded above all on tradition of Serbian democracy and political tradition. Efforts of King Alexander I the Unifier, as his contemporary have called him, to build a common state of South Slavic people on Serbian tradition of Parliamentary democracy of French type, were the root cause of his tragic death. By bravely fighting all attempts to undermine the state foundations on national or ideological basis, the King became a symbol of the state. All enemies of Yugoslavia, in Zagreb, Moscow or Rome, saw him as a major obstacle for destruction or division of the state. King Alexander tried that Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians first, and then Yugoslavia, keep alliances made during the war, with France above all. The death of King Alexander and Louis Barthou marked without any doubt of policy based on experience from the Great War. Policy of backing down to totalitarian regimes in the heart of Europe and in the East led to a new war, whose first victim was the King and Unifier of Yugoslavia, Alexander Karadjordjevic.”

Crown Prince Alexander II, Minister Désir and Mr Pavlovic laid wreaths on the monument to King Alexander and Louis Barthou and that put flowers on the plaques at very place of assassination and toured a Museum where burial mask of HM King Alexander I, grandfather of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II, has been kept.

@royalfamily.org

Crown Prince Alexander II was welcomed by great number of Serbs who live in France, together with many French citizens who still cherish friendship between our two countries and keep memories of late King Alexander I.

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander II will lay a wreath at the tomb of his grandfather, King Alexander I at the Royal Mausoleum of St. George Church in Oplenac this evening on 6 pm, and after that on 7 pm he will officially open an exhibition at the Royal Palace in Belgrade, on the 80th Anniversary of assassination of HM King Alexander I the Unifier.

  
 

Palace confirms what we already knew:

The Princess of Monaco is expecting twins at the end of the year!

The Palace's press office release a statement earlier today largely confirming what was already known.

"Le Prince et la Princesse de Monaco sont heureux de confirmer l'attente de jumeaux pour la fin de l'année."

On May 30, Derek Watts, a South African reporter, and a friend of Mike Wittstock, father of Princess Charlene, sent out this tweet:" My old bulawayo schoolmate mike wittstock has phoned to say his daughter is pregnant with twins. Congrats princess charlene and albert!"

This comment was never refuted by the palace.

Succession to the throne is male primogeniture.  If Charlene has a girl, then a boy, the boy is the Hereditary Prince.  If she has two girls, the elder will be the Hereditary Princess, but if Charlene has another child, and it is a boy, the boy will move ahead of his two older sisters.
http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2014/05/twins-for-albert-charlene.html

Queen Mary approves design for Marina's gown

October 8, 1934

Queen Mary has approved the design for the wedding gown of Princess Marina of Greece, reports the Associated Press.

Princess Marina, the youngest daughter of Prince and Princess Nicholas, will marry Prince George in November.

The gown will be made from a "silver and white brocade with a flower design," and will feature a  15-feet train.  The sleeves of the gown will be "long, in medieval style."

Marina will wear a "handsome lace and white tulle veil, a treasured possession of the Greek Royal Family."  The veil was worn by her mother, Grand Duchess Helen of Russia, when she married Prince Nicholas, and by her elder sister, Princess Paul of Yugoslavia..