The wedding of Princess Mafalda, second daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele and Queen Italy, and Prince Philipp of Hesse will take place at Racconigi on September 23, reports the Associated Press.
Court circles are now telling the story of the young couple's romance. It was a "bright Saturday afternoon" several years ago at a "magnificent Roman villa" where a beautiful princess and a handsome young prince were first introduced. Their "mutual interest" grew rapidly, and their romance began.
Prince Philipp, a nephew of former Kaiser Wilhelm II, is "blond, with clean-cut northern features, tall and erect." His demeanor shows a "severely aristocratic carriage," while Princess Mafalda is "dark-haired," with a "glowing olive complexion, slight in figure and with a grace and charm of manner denoting perfect breeding.:
After their introduction, they met for a series of meetings. Philipp would come to Italy as a "guest of the Italian court," and would single out Mafalda for "special attention." He would return home to Germany "determine to upset the venerable tradition that all European royal marriages must be dictated by the parents for political purposes."
When European gossips "connected her name" with heirs to European royal houses, she answered "resolutely:" "I don't want to be a queen."
After Philipp and Mafalda met at Bordighera, it became apparent to her family that she was in love with the German prince. Her father thought it was time to speak to her.
"Do you think such a marriage will make you happy?" he asked.
Mafalda answered: "I do." She told her parents that she loved Philipp and "shared with him a desire for the simple life," filled with the arts, especially music.
The king gave his consent. "Your happiness is mine."
6 comments:
Was Mafalda aware of Philipp's sexuality do you think?
Of course she did ... it was not a romantic marriage,
Were her remains ever identified and returned, or was she tossed into one of those horrible mass graves? I would hope her corpse got special treatment, since she was a high profile political prisoner.
If only she didn't travel to Bulgaria! Maybe she wouldn't have been captured.
After the air raid and her death, her remains were placed with other bodies. A priest smuggled out her body, and buried in a wooden coffin with no name. in 1951, Italian sailors, who were at Buchenwald, provided information on where she was buried. The remains were dug out and brought to Kronberg, where she was reburied.
That would be an interesting follow-up article to read. Has that been published?
about the wedding or her death. YOu can use the search box to find other articles I have written since 2009. type mafalda
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