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| @Marlene A. Eilers Koenig |
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| All photos. @ Marlene A Eilers Koenig |
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| Trooping the colour |
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| @Josh Shiner |
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| @josh Steiner |
Valerie was born on July 30, 1986, in Munich. She has a twin sister, Viktoria. Another sister, Theresa, married Prince Francois of Orléans in the same church on July 26, 2014. Theresa and Valerie wore the same tiara.
Valerie is the 6th of eight children to marry. Her elder brother, Alexander, and her twin sister, Viktoria, have not married.
Count Johann Jakob is the son of son of Count Karl von und zu Eltz gennant Faust von Stromberg and Countess Sophie Shottgotsch gennant Semperfrei von und zu Kynast und Greiffenstein. He was born in 1979.
In 2018, he assumed responsibility for the family estate, including Burg Eltz. He is the 34th generation to live at Burg Eltz.
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| HSH Prince Peter of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn with his fiancée, Yurina Hattpri-Roche |
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| Countess Lidvine von Preysing- Lichtenegg-Moos, the groom's paternal aunt |
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| The Prince of Monaco |
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| HSH Princess Amélie, Mrs. von Einsiedel and Count Karl von und zu Eltz |
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| TSH Prince and Princess Inigo of Urach |
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| The Prince of Thurn und Taxis |
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| TSH Prince and Princess Casimir of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn with their young daughter, HSH Princess Annuciata. Casimir and the groom are second cousins. |
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| Prince Ludwig and Princess Sophie-Alexandra of Bavaria |
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| on the right Count Clemens Moy de Son and his wife, Duchess Katharina von Oldenburg |
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| TSH Prince and Princess Karl Anselm of Urach |
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| HSH The Duke and Duchess of Urach |
Jakob's grandmother, Baroness Ladislaja Mayr von Meinhof was the sister of Princess Marianne of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn on May 4th. HSH The Prince of Monaco and the new countess are fifth cousins.
1863 Count Wilhelm of Württemberg, 1st Duke of Urach, married HSH Princess Florestine of Monaco, daughter of HSH Florestan I, Prince of Monaco.
The newlyweds will live at Burg Eltz in Wierschem, Germany. In August 2024, Countess Valerie, 38, took a career break and "full-time parenting." The couple has a 9-month-old son, Karl.
https://burg-eltz.de/en/homepage
Florestan I - Charles III - Albert I - Louis II - Charlotte - Rainier III - Albert
Florestan I - Florestine - Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach, Eberhard - Iniga - Amélie - Valerie
Valerie is a descendant of Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg.
Adolf - Guillaume IV - Elisabeth - Iniga - Amélie - Valerie.
The bride and groom are fifth cousins and descendants of Constantin, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, and Princess Agnes of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Jakob descends from their son, Karl, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, and Valerie is a descendant of Karl's sister, Adelheid, who married King Miguel I of Portugal.
The photos were taken by a friend, who is the copyright holder. Without the copyright holder's permission, these photos cannot be reproduced, used, or republished.
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| @Lady Violet Manners |
Lord George Carnegie and Matilda St Aubyn were married on June 7 at St. Paul's Church in Ashford Hill, Berkshire. Lord George is the second of three sons of the Duke and Duchess of Fife.
The new Lady George is wearing the Fife Fringe tiara, which is usually displayed at Kensington Palace. The tiara was a gift from the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra to their eldest daughter, Princess Louise, when she married Alexander Duff, 6th Earl of Fife, in July 1889.
Louise's grandmother, Queen Victoria, at the wedding breakfast, created Lord Fife as the 1st Duke of Fife. This is not the same as the Fife Tiara, which is given to the nation in lieu of taxes. Both tiaras are on display at Kensington Palace. The Duke of Fife has loaned the Fringe tiara to the palace. Both tiaras can be used by members of the Fife family.
Please see Court Jeweller's excellent article for more information about Princess Louise's tiaras.
In 2020, Camille Ascoli wore the Fife Fringe tiara when she married the Earl of Southesk, Lord George's older brother.
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| Fife Fringe Tiara @Marlene Eilers Koenig |
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-earl-of-southesk-gets-married.html
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2024/07/a-qvd-engagement-carnegie-st-aubyn.html
Lady George, known as Tilly, is a BACP psychotherapist in London.
On August 30, 2025, the Duke and Duchess of Fife's youngest son, Lord Hugh, will marry Catherine Morgan. She, too, may wear the Fife Fringe tiara.
Victoria - Edward VII - Louise - Maud - James - David - George
In Italy on June 7, HRH Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia married Freiherr Leonard von Stenglin. Wilhelmine "Mimi" Auguste Donata Maria Armgard is the daughter of HRH Prince Oskar of Prussia and his wife, Auguste Zimmerman von Siefart. She was born in Munich on July 7, 1995.
Leonard Louis William Christian Freiherr von Stenglin is the son of Freiherr Stephan von Stenglin and Elisabeth von Warburg. He was born on January 5, 1991, in Arlington, Virginia. In the early 1990s, his father was a Senior Advisor at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C., and is now President of the Regional Administration of the Deutsche Bundesbank (Bremen, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt
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After earning degrees from the University of Passau and the University of St. Andrews, the latter with a master's in management, Leo is currently a part of eBay with their Strategy and Operations department in Berlin.
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| @Politico |
Princess Wilhelmine received a BA in Social Sciences from Humboldt University in Berlin and a master's in Security and Diplomacy from Tel Aviv University. She worked for the German Parliament for two years as spokesperson for Alexander Graf von Lambsdorff, then a member of Parliament.
The princess is now the security and defense editor at Table Media. Before this position, she interned with Politico.
https://www.politico.eu/staff/wilhelmine-von-preussen/
Princess Wilhelmine and Freiherr Leonard are third cousins through the marriage of Count Karl von Bassewitz-Levetzow (1855-192) and Margarete von der Schulenburg (1864-1940).
Leo is the great-grandson of their eldest daughter, Countess Alexandrine von Bassewitz (1886-1967) and Freiherr von Stenglin (1877-1957). Their son, Freiherr Christian von Stenglin (1914-2002) and his wife, (1919-2005) were the parents of Freiherr Stephan von Stenglin (1956), who married Elisabeth von Warburg (1957-2023).
The death notice for Leonard's mother, who died in 2023.
Princess Wilhelmine is a great-granddaughter of Countess Alexandrine's younger sister, Countess Ina-Marie von Bassewitz (1888-1973), who married HRH Prince Oskar of Prussia (1888-1958).
Prince Oskar was the fifth son of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Oskar and Ina-Marie's youngest child, Prince Wilhelm Karl Wilhelm Karl (1922-2007) married Armgard von Veltheim (1926-2019). Wilhelm Karl and Armgard's youngest son, Prince Oskar (1959) and his wife, Auguste (1962) are the parents of Princess Wilhelmine.
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| The marriage in 1992 of Auguste Zimmerman von Siefart and HRH Prince Oskar of Prussia @HRH Prince Wilhelm Karl of Prussia |
Victoria - Victoria - Wilhelm II - Oskar - Wilhelm Karl - Oskar - Wilhelmine
Lady Violet Manners will marry Viscount Garnock later this month, most likely on June 21st, as Belvoir Castle will be closed from the 16th through the 23rd.
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| @Lady Marina Windsor/Instagram |
Earlier today, Lady Marina Windsor announced her engagement to Nico Julian Macauley on her Instagram account.
Lady Marina and Mr. Macauley have been dating for at least two years. I reported on their relationship in April 2024.
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2024/04/lady-marina-and-nico-what-is-next-step.html
The bride-to-be is the second of three children of the Earl and Countess of St. Andrews. Lord St. Andrews is the eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.
She has two siblings: Edward, who bears the courtesy title of Baron Downpatrick, and Lady Amela Windsor, a model.
Lady Marina Charlotte Alexandra Katharine Helen Windsor was born on September 30, 1992, at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge, England. Her baptism occurred at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace on January 21, 1993. Her godparents are Marchioness of Lothian, Katherine Ruth Panter, William Hanbury-Tenison, and Sasha Poklewski-Koziell.
At the baptismal ceremony, Lady Lothian was styled as Lady Ralph Kerr. Her husband was the heir presumptive to his brother, Michael, 13th Marquess of Lothian, who died in 2008. As the Marquess had no sons, the title passed to his brother, Ralph, now the 14th Marquess of Lothian.
Sasha Poklewski-Koziell is the daughter of the late Vincent Poklewski-Koziell, one of the Duke of Kent's closest friends. Vincent's mother was the "ravishingly pretty" Baroness Zoia de Stoeckl, a maid of honor to Empress Alexandra as a young woman. Zoia and her husband, Alfons Poklewski-Koziell, settled in England, where they became friends with Princess Marina, who in 1934 married Prince George, Duke of Kent.
[Zoia's autobiography, Not all Vanity, is highly recommended.]
Lady Marina, named for her paternal grandmother, and Nico announced their engagement on the 64th wedding anniversary of her paternal grandparents.
Nico has his own connection to Princess Marina. He is a great-grandson of William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose, whose youngest child, Hon. Diana Berry, married William Perine Macauley. Diana's oldest sister, Sheila, Countess of Birkenhead, served as the Duchess of Kent's lady-in-waiting from 1949 until July 1953.
He was born on April 6,1993, at the Portland Hospital in London and is the eldest child of William Francis Macauley and Nicola Jane Thompson. Nico's family is Roman Catholic. Marina, baptized in the Church of England, became a Roman Catholic when she was confirmed in a Catholic ceremony in 2008.
PRINCESS LJUBICA PRESENTED HER BOOK "FIGHT FOR THE INSCRIPTION" AT THE ROYAL PALACE
Belgrade, 5 June 2025 – HRH Princess Ljubica last night presented to the public her first literary work, a children's book titled "The Struggle for the Inscription," at the Royal Palace in Belgrade. The book, intended for ages 7 to 11, emphasizes the protection of the environment, cultural and historical heritage, and personal and collective identity as its main motif.
(Explanatory note – In Serbia, the word “Zapis”, which is translated as “inscription” or “record”, refers to a tree with a sign of a cross carved in it, which in the old times served as a church, a gathering point for prayer).
The promotion of the book, which reminds us of how important the preservation of the tradition and legacy of our ancestors is, was held at the Royal Palace, a building that is one of the strongest symbols and guardians of the tradition of the Serbian people and the Royal Family Karađorđević. The presentation of the work in the Palace Cinema was attended by HRH Hereditary Prince Filip, HRH Princess Danica, and HRH Prince Alexander, as well as HRH Prince Mihailo, HRH Princess Linda, TRH Princesses Natalia and Isidora, and numerous other guests. HRH Crown Prince Alexander and HRH Crown Princess Katherine are very sorry that due to urgent obligations abroad, they could not attend in person, but the greeting letter of the Crown Prince, as the Head of the Royal Family, was read at the beginning of the program.
“The Tree of Inscription is one of the strongest links that connects us with our elders, with their legacy that continues today. For our people, it is as great a sanctuary as built temples, a place of prayer and spiritual, but also a national gathering. Numerous Trees of Inscription throughout Serbia remind us of the old times when our ancestors gathered under them, offered their prayers to the Lord, carefully restored the carved cross, and guarded it as if it were somebody dearest to them,” said Crown Prince Alexander.
His Royal Highness’s words are connected to the basic story of the book “The Fight for the Inscription”: “When a human axe threatens to cut down a centuries-old Inscription-Tree – a sacred tree in the heart of a Šumadija village – the entire forest world rises to its feet. But the real battle is not fought in the forest but in the heart of a man who realizes that, without thinking, he has sided with those who destroy, instead of those who build.
The Fight for the Inscription is a poetic, layered story in verse, intended for children, and with them for all of us who want our children to grow up to be good people. This is a story about the power of unity, about the danger of forgetting, about a heritage that lives on as long as we are willing to preserve it. And perhaps its most important message is also the simplest: if we lose our roots – we have lost ourselves.”
Speaking about her inspiration while writing and the motives that guided her while creating her literary debut, Princess Ljubica emphasized: “This was an extremely emotional evening for Mihailo and me because we were finally able to launch a project that we had been working on for a very long time and that I personally care about very much. It was my first book, my first journey into the literary world, so it was really very important to me that it happened right here and with the support of the Crown Prince and, of course, the rest of the family, who were at the presentation.
I hope this book will contribute to future generations, and we will all try to work together to preserve our roots and promote our heritage as something that we should all be proud of and carry with us, wherever we are.”
“Although originally intended for children, this book reminds both adults and children of some timeless values that we often forget in the modern world, and which are of exceptional importance for our people and their traditions, but also for their survival. While we preserve the Trees with Inscription, we also preserve the spirit of our ancestors and maintain that unbroken chain of our existence” concluded the Crown Prince in his greeting letter. In addition, he emphasized that he is very proud of all the activities that his cousins, Prince Mihailo and Princess Ljubica, carry out for the benefit of our Homeland and that this is a wonderful example of fulfilling the most important duty of the Royal Family of Serbia, to always be at the service of our people and to preserve our national heritage " which is deeply embedded in the foundations of our Serbia, without which we have no future".
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| all photos courtesy of HRH Crown Prince Alexander |
Mr. Dragan Reljic, Director of the Foundation of King Peter I in Oplenac, also addressed those present at the promotion with appropriate words. Ms. Ivona Popović, a teacher from Sremska Mitrovica, illustrated this work.
All proceeds from the book's sale will go to the Roots Foundation, which funds projects for children and youth.
