HM Queen Margrethe admitted to Rigshospitalet

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 The Press Office for the Danish Royal Family released a statement about Queen Margrethe.

" Her Majesty Queen Margrethe has been admitted to Rigshospitalet this afternoon due to a heart attack. 

Queen Margrethe will be hospitalized over the weekend for observation and further examinations. 

Her Majesty is tired, but in good spirits. 

The Royal House will announce when there is news."

Will the Count of Waldburg-Zeil-Hohenems be forced to sell family properties

 

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 The Austrian business news agency WPA reports that a large share of Count Franz Clemens of Waldburg-Zeil-Hohenems's, assets may be "subject to forced auction."  This is due to debts exceeding 4.7 million Euros ($5,506,755.00).

The Dornbirg District Court in Austria has issued a "legally binding executive order," dated December 12, 2025, with an amendment added on December 17, 2025, in favor of a regional bank in Vorarlberg.  

The order calls for the property to be divided into several parts to be "auctioned off to achieve higher proceeds," according to ORF, an Austrian news agency.    The properties affected by the proposed auction include Schloss Glopper, the forestry estate, woodlands, and the carpentry workshop.  The total land in question is 270 hectares (667 acres), most of which is forestry.

Count Franz Clemens' lawyer, Wilhelm Klagian, spoke with the WPA:  "We are currently in close contact with the bank's legal representatives who are initiating the proceedings, and we are working extensively to sell valuable properties.  This is intended to pay off the debts and avert the forced auction."

As titles are not permitted in Austria, the Prince's legal name is Franz Clemens Waldburg-Zeil.

Hohenems Palace, located in the center of Hohenems, is exempt from the sale.

https://www.palast-hohenems.at/

There are two interested parties seeking to purchase Schloss Glopper.  The castle, owned by the Waldburg-Zeil family since 1843, has been on the market since July 2025.  In 2016, the castle underwent major renovation and was available for rent.

https://www.schloss-glopper.at/en/home

Princess Astrid back in hospital

Princess Astrid at the celebration, several hours before she was admitted to the hospital @detnorskekongehus

 Only hours after taking part in an official engagement on Tuesday, Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner, was taken by ambulance to the Rikshospitalet (National Hospital) in Oslo,  according to the Norwegian magazine, Se og Hor.  The ambulance took the 94-year-old sister of King Harald to the hospital's emergency room.

In March, the Princess was admitted to the same hospital, where she was treated for pneumonia.

Earlier in the day, Princess Astrid attended the 100th anniversary celebration of the Blindern and Vinderen Sanitetsforening (sanitary association).  She has been the organization's patron since 1954. The association "works to improve women's health and living conditions."

The newspaper Dagbladet, which also reported the princess's hospitalization, contacted the Palace for further information, but the Palace has not responded.

HRH The Duke of Gloucester in NYC 1988

Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, and Kip Forbes @Marlene Eilers Koenig

 

I was looking through a photo album, and found this photo.  April 13, 1988, at the Equitable Building in New York City.  This was at a reception following HRH The Duke of Gloucester's speech about English Heritage.  The Duke is the Patron of English Heritage.    He was in New York to launch American Friends of English Heritage.

While covering royal visits to the United States, I attended this event.  I also worked for Associated Press at the time -- as the New York librarian -- and AP did not have a photographer.  I did not have a fancy camera at the time, but this photo was good enough to be wired to the UK.  I shot in color, but most of AP's photos were black and white.  

Now I have to look for my color photos.  

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/american-friends-of-english-heritage/

And now we are six!

 

© Maison du Grand-Duc / Sophie Margue

May 10, 2026

HRH Prince Charles of Luxembourg celebrated his sixth birthday today.  The elder son of Grand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg was born on May 10, 2020, at the Maternité Grande-Duchesse Charlotte in Luxembourg-ville.

Prince Charles is the heir apparent to the Luxembourg throne.  He has one sibling, HRH Prince Francois, who celebrated his third birthday on March 27th.

© Maison du Grand-Duc / Sophie Margue

© Maison du Grand-Duc / Sophie Margue

© Maison du Grand-Duc / Sophie Margue

© Maison du Grand-Duc / Sophie Margue

The Solms-Laubach - Douglas wedding

 

Countess Emma and Count Mauritz 

 It was a marriage where the bride and groom could count(ly) their many family connections.  On April 25, 2026, at the Evangelische Stadtkirche in Laubach, H Ill H Countess Emma Margaretha of Schloss-Laubach married Count Mauritz Douglas.

The 33-year-old bride is the eldest of five children of H. Ill. H. Karl Georg, Count of Solms-Laubach, and his first wife, Julia Willers.  Count Mauritz Otto Wenzel Douglas, 32, is the only child of Swedish Count Archibald Douglas and HI & RH Archduchess Walburg of Austria, daughter of the late HI &RH Archduke Otto of Austria and HSH Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen.

The civil wedding took place on April 24 at Schloss Laubach.  The mayor, Matthias Meyer, officiated at the ceremony.  He posted details about the service on his official Instagram account.  I have translated the message into English.

@buergermeister_fuer_laubach

"It was an honor and a pleasure for me as a registrar, mayor of Laubach, and friend of the family to conduct the wedding of Countess Emma to Solms-Laubach and Count Mauritz Douglas.

Lena had accompanied the civil wedding ceremony beautifully with three piano pieces.

We wish the young couple all the best and love for their journey together."

Countess Emma's 90-year-old grandmother, Princess Madeleine of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who married  Otto, Count of Solms-Laubach, in 1958, was among the guests.  Princess Madeleine's late brother, Richard, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, was married to Princess Benedikte of Denmark.    

Three of Emma's paternal aunts, Countesses Tatiana, Christina, and Maria, are married to Count Patrick von Saurma, Count Kilian von Pezold, and Prince Stephan zur Lippe.  One of Christina's daughters, Helene, is the wife of the Hereditary Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg.

Mauritz is a great-grandson of Austria's last Emperor Karl, who abdicated in 1918, and Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma.

The Prince and Princess Zur Lippe with their family

Helene, Hereditary Princess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg and her sister-in-law, Princess Amelie, Mrs. Schmid von Schmidsfelden

The Prince of Castell-Rüdenhausen with Hereditary Count Philipp and Count Nikolaus of Königsegg-Aulendorf

Gustav, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.  He and the bride are second cousins

Count Mauritz heads to church

The Count and Countess of Neipperg (Archduchess Andrea of Austria) with the Hereditary Count and Countess of Neipperg

The bride's mother, Julia, and Count Archibald Douglas and Archduchess Walburga

The bride's brother, Hereditary Count August

The Count and Countess of Neipperg (Archduchess Andrea of Austria)

Archduchesses Monika and Micaela of Austria, sisters of the mother of the bride

Archduchess Gabriela and her family

The children of Archduke Karl (Archduchess Eleonore, with her husband,  Jerome d'Ambrosio. Archduchess Gloria and Archduke Ferdinand 

The wedding was an ecumenical service as Emma is Lutheran and her husband is a Roman Catholic.  Although neither of Walburga's brothers, Archduke Karl and Archduke Georg, attended the wedding, their children were present.  Other guests included the Margrave of Baden, the Prince and Princess Zur Lippe with their family,  the Prince of Waldburg-Zeil-Hohenems,  the Prince and Princess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg with their family,  the Prince of Solms-Lich,  the Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and his two brothers, 

|After the wedding, the bride and groom, along with their guests, returned to Schloss Laubach for the reception, followed by a gala dinner in the evening.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-countly-engagement-count-mauritz.html

Countess Emma's younger sister, Clara, is preparing for her wedding.  In November 2025, Clara became engaged to Paul von Posern, the second son of Konrad von Posern and Duchess Edwina of Mecklenburg (daughter of Duke Christian Ludwig and Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Barbara of Prussia)

My thanks (many thanks) to the photographer who has allowed me to use these photos. The copyright 

Two Georges Parallel Lives in the Age of the American Revolution

Last week, I went to see The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in the Age of the American Revolution at the Library of Congress (Thomas Jefferson building). I used my phone to take photos, so I can't edit them.  

A large percentage of items, including correspondence (all reproductions) were provided by the Royal Collection and HM King Charles III.

The two men had more in common than you would think.  Both were farmers, both were surveyors, both had difficult childhoods. I spent nearly two hours in the exhibit, going back through for a second time.

According to the Library of Congress, the "exhibition brings together three extraordinary collections — George Washington’s papers from the Library of Congress, George III’s scientific instruments from the Science Museum Group in London, and George III’s papers from the Royal Collection and Royal Archives — for the first time. These materials allow us to examine the parallel lives of these two men, who were born just six years apart. They show how both were shaped by the British Empire, the Enlightenment, and revolution. They reveal their shared interests in science and agriculture and illuminate how they approached the challenges of their time, including war, slavery, politics, and the pressures of public life."

This is a portrait of HRH Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, father of George III.  The portrait was painted by Bartholomew Dandridge (1691-1755).  His youngest brother, Colonel John Dandridge, emigrated from England and settled in Virginia.  John's eldest daughter (and Bartholomew's niece), Martha, married George Washington.  

The exhibit runs through July 4th.

 

The companion book is excellent -- it is not a catalog of the exhibit, but it does include the item on display.  As one would expect from the Library of Congress, the book is well-researched.  True scholarship.

It is available in hardcover and paperback editions.

https://amzn.to/42g2mAv  (US)

And yes, the book is also available through Amazon UK

https://amzn.to/4tSgOuv