Monday, March 7, 2011

Royal Princesses "no longer object of Diplomatic barter"

March 7, 1927

The Associated Press reports today on the rumors swirling around Princess Giovanna of Italy, and her future husband.  There appears to be "Cupid's quartet of young noblewoman competing " for Giovanna's fair hand.  Here in Monte Carlo, there is "endless speculation" on who will be the first royal bride of 1927.

Twenty-year old Princess Giovanna, third daughter of King Victor Emmanuele, is "perhaps the most sought after queen of tomorrow."  She has been reported "engaged many times," but the Princess has said nothing, not even to friends, about the man who will "win the race in the end."

Archduke Albrecht of Austria, pretender of the Hungarian throne, is described as "the most hopeful of all the suitors, though his efforts are no more serious than those of Prince Wilhelm, the 21-year-old son of the former German Crown Prince.  Prince Albrecht, the son of former Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, is also seen as a possible candidate, although there are many who might object to Princess Giovanna's marriage to a German prince.
Bulgaria's King Boris III has also been "mentioned as a suitor."  

Princess Hilda of Luxembourg, a younger sister of the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. "is one of the wealthiest" of young royal women, having inherited from her grandfather, Grand Duke Adolphe.   The princess has been persistently wooed by Prince Sigismund of Prussia, nephew of former Kaiser Wilhelm II, but Hilda has been unresponsive to his overtures.  She has threatened to "enter a convent" if Prince Sigismund "did not desist."
More recently Hilda was linked to Duke Philipp of Württemberg.  There was talk of an official engagement, but Grand Duchess Charlotte's advisers made it clear that "there was too much opposition" in Luxembourg" to allow for Hilda's marriage to a German.

Other eligible royal princesses include the "beauty of the Balkans," Princess Ileana of Roumania, who accompanied her mother, Queen Marie, to the United States;  Princess Marie José of Belgium, who attended school in England, is considered a possible bride for the Prince of Wales; and, the "most interesting eligible princess" is 22-year-old Princess Irene of Greece, who was "once reported engaged to the Duke of Apulia," a cousin of Italy's king; and the final eligible princess is Princess Eudoxia, one of two sisters of King Boris.

Before the war "diplomats had a great deal to do with royal matches," but today "Cupid has as strong a footing in court circles as anywhere."   Three or four weddings "of princesses in their teens or early twenties" are expected to take place the year.

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