Archduke Albrecht and wife make first appearance together

August 26, 1930 

 Archduke Albrecht of Austria and his bride, Irene, made their first public appearance together this morning, when they played tennis, on Margaret Island, "in the middle of the Danube. The New York Times reports that one Budapest newspaper tells how Albrecht after he had arrived in Brazil, wrote to his mother, Archduchess Isabella, "saying he was going to the wilds of the Brazilian forests." 

This was a ruse, as the Archduke "caught the next boat to England," where his future bride was waiting for him. After their marriage in Brighton, the newlyweds traveled to Vienna and left there on August 19 for Budapest. When they arrived in Budapest, Albrecht went to visit his mother, and "showed her the marriage certificate.

 Archduchess Isabella expressed "bitter disappointment at his gratitude for all her efforts to secure for him the Hungarian throne." A "violent scene" followed. Eventually, the Archduchess was reconciled with her son, but Albrecht's father, Archduke Friedrich "still refuses" to see him. Albrecht first cabled the news of his marriage to King Alfonso and to the former Empress Zita of Austria. He hopes to enlist Alfonso's aid "in securing a declaration of nullity of his wife's former marriage from the Pope."

 Hungarian common law does not recognize "the disadvantages attaching to a morganatic marriage." It is also impossible for Hungary to "enforce the provisions of the Habsburg family law." It is understood that Albrecht will "bow to any decision of the former Empress Zita regarding title and name." But it is unlikely that she will respond to Albrecht, "as his marriage has removed the only rival to her son Otto's candidature for the throne."

 Archduke Albrecht is one of Europe's wealthiest young men. His father owns more than 60,000 acres of valuable cornland in Hungary, and also has estates in Poland, Yugoslavia, Roumania, and Austria. The family's greatest wealth comes from "Archduchess Isabella's collection of jewels." Archduke Albrecht and his bride are planning to live on one of his estates in Budapest. The marriage between Albrecht and Irene Hudnay took place at the register office in Brighton, England, on August 16. The registrar said that the bride is a "tall and very pretty woman." 

The couple stayed at a local hotel for the two-week "statutory notice of marriage." Both looked "extremely happy." No family members attended the ceremony. After the ceremony, the couple took a plane from the airport at Croydon.