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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Jessica wants Ludwig to recognize their son

Indonesian celebrity Jessica Iskandar was in court yesterday to give a statement before a judge about her marriage to Hereditary Count Ludwig von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee.

She stated that she and Ludwig signed the marriage documents. She believes Ludwig was not coerced into marrying her, and she hopes the judge will give a fair verdict.  She also said she wanted justice for her son, El Barack Alexander.  "I want his father to be responsible as a father."

The final decision will be handed down on April 14.

http://hiburan.metrotvnews.com/read/2015/03/31/379050/jelang-putusan-jessica-iskandar-minta-ludwig-akui-anaknya

Friday, March 27, 2015

Separation for the Prince and Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

Marlene A Eilers Koenig collection

The Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe has confirmed what has been rumored for sometime.  He and his second wife, Nadja, have been separated for over a year, although they remain good friends.  The Prince told Bunte: "She's a great woman and a mother, and even more valuable friend to me.  Also, because of our daughters we will always be connected with other, and be there for each other."

The couple married in 2007, and have two young daughters, Princess Felipa,,6, and three-year-old Princess Philomena, who live with their mother, a lawyer in Munich.

Speaking from her home in Munich, the Princess said:  "We have decided to not share our lives together as a couple.  Alexander is an important person and advisor in my life and we love our family.  We will be spending a lot of time together with each other."

Prince Alexander divides his time between his home, Schloss Bückeburg and Munich, to spend time with his younger children.  

This is the second failed marriage for Alexander, who was married to Princess Marie Louise "Lily" of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berlerburg from 1993 until 2002.    "With my first wife I managed a peaceful separation.  It's my ambition that I achieve a second."

http://www.bunte.de/deutschland/alexander-fuerst-zu-schaumburg-lippe-ehe-aus-118990.html

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Altenburg



March 26, 1955


Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Altenburg, the last ruler of the German principality, died on March 22 of influenza at his castle Schloß Fröhliche Wiederkunft, in the Soviet Zone, according to West German newspapers today, and reported by the Associated Press.

Ernst Bernhard Georg Johann Karl Friedrich Peter Albert of Saxe-Altenburg was born at Altenburg on August 31, 1877, the fourth child and eldest son of Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg and Princess Adelheid of Saxe-Meiningen.  He succeeded his uncle, Duke Ernst I in 1908.

His first marriage to Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe ended in divorce in 1920.  In 1934, he married a commoner Maria Triebel, who was created Baroness von Riseneck.  She died at Wolfersforf on February 28.

The Duke is survived by his four children,  Charlotte (Princess Sigismund of Prussia), Prince Georg Moritz, Elisabeth, and Friedrich, and two grandchildren, Princess Barbara and Prince Alfred of Prussia.

Prince Georg Moritz, 54, succeeds as head of the house.  Neither he nor his younger brother, Prince Friedrich are married.

Polish prince says Italian sovereigns saved him

March 25, 1940

Prince Leon Radziwill, a member of the Polish princely family, "revealed today" to the New York Times that when he was in a Moscow prince several months ago, he had been sentenced to death, but King Vittorio Emanuele and Queen Elena saved him.

"They sent an emissary by airplane with a written appeal to the Russian dictator and shortly after he arrived we were smuggled out into Rumania," he said.

The Prince and Princess Radziwill are now in Cap Ferrat, as the guests of the Kingsley Macombers at their Villa Sylvia.

The Radziwill estate at Neisweirz, is said "to be larger than Belgium."

"When the Russian Army invaded our chateau," Prince Leon said, "about thirty of us, mostly members of the family, were taken prisoner and sent to Moscow in freight trains. The men were thrown into prison and the Princess and other women were placed in a concentration camp."

Prince Leon, 52, served as an officer in the Polish army, and now would like to join the French forces.  His eighteen-year-old son attends college in Rome.

He married Baroness Olga de Simolin-Wettburg in 1911 at St. Petersburg.  They have two sons, Anton (1912) and Jerzy (1921).

New Succession law is now official

Following the approval of the Succession to the Crown law by the Australia Parliament, the succession to the crown in the United Kingdom and 15 other countries is now gender equal.

This means the heir to the throne will be the first born child, not the first born son.  It does not mean that the Princess Royal and her descendants push ahead of her two younger brothers and their children.  The new law affects only those born after October 2011.

The Royal Marriages Act is no longer valid. Only the first six in line to the throne will need to seek permission to marry.  This would be the time for Princess Beatrice of York to seek permission as she is currently sixth in line to the throne.  She will drop to seventh when the Duchess gives birth to her second child next month.

[Thus, Juliet Nicholson, a great-granddaughter of Princess Patricia of Connaught, was the last person who received permission to marry according to the provisions of the Royal Marriages Act.]

Roman Catholics remained barred from the throne, but members of the Royal family will be able to marry Roman Catholics without losing their own rights.  Those who married Roman Catholics are now back in the line of succession: the Earl of St. Andrews, Prince Michael of Kent,  King Michael of Romania,  Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, among others.

The new succession law applies solely to the Crown, and not to the succession of peerages.



From the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg:

Today the provisions of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 come into force.
The Act removes the male bias in the line of succession, ending the system of male heirs automatically inheriting the throne over female heirs and removing this historic discrimination against women. The Act also ends another long-standing piece of discrimination, the bar on anyone who marries a Roman Catholic from becoming monarch, and replaces the outdated Royal Marriages Act 1772 such that only the first 6 in line to the throne need consent of the monarch to marry.
These changes were agreed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth, Australia, in October 2011. The Government has worked closely with the 15 other countries where the Queen is Head of State to make the necessary arrangements to give effect to the changes. Today these changes have come into effect across every Realm.
During the passage of the legislation, the Advocate General undertook to update Parliament as to how each Realm had given effect to the changes to Royal succession. Six Realms in addition to the United Kingdom chose to legislate for the changes: Australia, Barbados, Canada, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Nine Realms concluded that the legislation was not necessary: Antigua and Barbuda; Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.
The Act reflects this Government’s emphasis on equality by removing centuries of discrimination on both religious and gender grounds. The Act puts in place succession laws that are fit for the 21st century and for a modern constitutional monarchy.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Princess Augusta von Preussen to wed

2011 at Coronation Cup @Cartier

Mr C.W. Helmore and Princess Augusta von Preussen


The engagement is announced between Caspar, younger son of Mr Charles Helmore, of London, and Mrs Rachel Helmore, of Rogate, West Sussex, and Augusta, youngest daughter of Prince Nicholas von Preussen, of Kensington, London, and Victoria, Princess von Preussen, of East Coker, Somerset.
 
Caspar William Helmore was born on January 27, 1987 at St. Thomas' Hospital, London, the son of Charles Patrick  Helmore and Rachel Aykroyd.  He has an older brother, Max.  His parents were married in 1981, and divorced in 2002,
 
Rachel Ayckrod's father, Bertram (1915-1983), was the youngest son of Sir Frederic Alfred Ayroyd, 1st Baronet.  Bertram was married twice.  Rachel is one of three children of Bertram and his second wife, Catalina Marchington.
 
 
Princess Augusta Lily von Preussen was born on December 15, 1986, the third daughter and second youngest child of Prince Nicholas of Prussia and his former wife, the Victoria Mancroft.  She made her debut into society at the Crillon Ball in 2005.
 
Caspar is a discretionary assets manager.  He was a member of Eton College's Class of 2005, as was Thomas Tollemache, a first cousin of the Hon. James Tollemache, who is married to Augusta's oldest sister, Princess Florence..   He received a degree in Modern Languages from Bristol University, and worked for a year on placement in Latin America.  He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
 
Mr. Helmore and Princess Augusta have been a couple for at least four years.


Caspar's grandfather, Patrick, died in a fire in Ireland in 1997.  The late Patrick Helmore was a godfather to the Viscountess Linley.  Caspar's paternal aunt, Lucy Helmore, a model and socialite, has been married twice.  Her first husband was rock musician, Bryan Ferry (they have four sons).  According to press reports she received £10 million as the divorce settlement.  Three years after her divorce in 2003, she married Robin Birley, son of Lady Annabel Goldsmith.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/may/15/lucy-birley-photography-elizabeth-day

A bit about Caspar's four Ferry first cousins: http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-life-of-bryans-boys-meet-the-charming-and-scandalous-ferry-brothers-8543616.html
 

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Royals on the move

 

March 24, 1880


Queen Victoria and her youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice left Windsor Castle earlier today for Germany, reports the New York Times.  Her eldest daughter, Crown Princess Victoria, wife of the Crown Prince of Germany, plans to visit Rome in April.  Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, eldest son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, will arrive in England later today to visit his fiancée, Princess Auguste Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, who is visiting her uncle, Prince Christian, at Cumberland Lodge.

 

Prince Christian is the husband of Queen Victoria's third daughter, Princess Helena.

Duchess of Albany attends course on hygiene

 


March 24, 1890

The Duchess of Albany, daughter-in-law of Queen Victoria,  is attending a "course of lectures on domestic hygiene," reports the Chicago Daily Tribune/

The Duchess is the widow of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, who died in 1884.  The former Princess Helen of Waldeck und Pyrmont was married in 1882 to Queen Victoria's youngest son.  

She is the mother of Princess Alice of Albany and Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, who was born posthumously.

Negotiations on schedule for Patricia of Connaught to marry Alfonso



March 25, 1905


The Daily Mail's Madrid correspondent has "reliably stated that the preliminary negotiations" for the marriage of Princess Patricia, youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, and King Alfonso XIII of Spain were "formally opened" earlier today, reports the Chicago Daily Tribune.

"Well informed courtiers" are assured that the "negotiations are almost certain to succeed."

Friday, March 20, 2015

The Prince of Wales - Washington, D.C. 1990s

Marshall Scholars reception at British Embassy

AIA  Building Museum

Marshall Scholars reception

Building museum

AIA

British embassy 1990
All photos are the copyright of Marlene A. Eilers Koenig

Looking back ... some of my royal photos

These photos were taken during the 1990s.  The copyright belongs to Marlene A. Eilers Koenig.  None of these photos can be reproduced, copied, stored, uploaded to electronic or print sources without my expressed permission. 




Prince and Princess Michael of Kent at the National Symphony ball 1992

Crown Prince Kardam of Bulgaria at the National Symphony Ball

the Prince of Wales at the College of William and Mary 1992



HRH The Princess Royal at the British Ambassador's Residence




HRH Princess Margaret, Sir Robin and Lady Renwick

HRH Prince Michael of Kent on the CNN set of Larry King Live (I was the only photographer present... I worked for CNN at the time)


Lady Linley

Lord Linley signs his book

Again that truly special relationship! President shows off his desk to Charles

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)


 
A newly elected U.S. President has several choices for his desk in the Oval Office.  President Obama chose to use the Resolute desk, a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880.

This is the inscription on the front of the desk:

"H.M.S. RESOLUTE forming part of the expedition sent in search of SIR JOHN FRANKLIN IN 1852, was abandoned in latitude 74° 41' N longitude 101° 22' W[ on 15th May 1854. She was discovered and extricated in September 1855 in latitude 67 degrees N[ by Captain Buddington of the United States Whaler "GEORGE HENRY."
The ship was purchased, fitted out and sent to England as a gift to HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA by the PRESIDENT AND PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES as a token of goodwill & friendship. This table was made from her timbers when she was broken up, and is presented by the QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES as a memorial of the courtesy and loving kindness which dictated the offer of the gift of the "RESOLUTE."


The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at the White House





Not sure if the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall met Bo and Sonny (the press did), but President Obama told the Prince of Wales that the British royal family is more popular in the United States than American politicians.    Veteran photographer Arthur Edwards is one of the pool photographers.  The Prince of Wales told the President that Edwards has been taking pictures of him for more than 35 years.  The President replied: "Awesome."

A truly special relationship

From the British Embassy:

During The Prince of Wales' visit to the US National Archives on Wednesday, the Archivist of the United Stated presented HRH with a copy of a 1957 telegram, requesting engine specifications of an American-built “midget car” for the 8-year-old prince. Staff were “anxious [to] get car ready before Prince Charles returns from school."

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Mount Vernon part 2

If I had to break up the file as some of the photos were appearing super large in the previous post.  These photos are the copyright of Marlene A. Eilers Koenig, and cannot be transmitted or posted in any form, print or electronic without my expressed permission.   The Prince of Wales at Pioneer Farm.   Part 1:

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-prince-of-wales-and-duchess-of_18.html


























































Played Greensleeves for the Prince of Wales





If you liked these photos