Lord Max Percy to marry Princess Nora of Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg

Published in today's The Telegraph:

"The engagement is announced between Max, younger son of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, and Nora, youngest daughter of Prince and Princess zu Oettingen-Spielberg."

Oh this will be a grand wedding.  I expect the nuptials to place at the bride's home,  Schloss Oettingen.   To be fair,  Alnwick Castle in Northumberland is also rather grand.   So is the Duke's London home, Syon Park.

http://www.oettingen-spielberg.de/
https://www.alnwickcastle.com/
http://www.syonpark.co.uk/

And what a coincidence.  A new exhibit, Fürstenhochzeiten, opens on March 19 and will run through November 1.  The exhibit will be about princely weddings in the Oettingen-Oettingen family,

http://www.oettingen-spielberg.de/images/stories/schlossfuehrungen/sonderausstellung%202017-zum%20drucken%20din%20a%204.pdf


HSH Princess Nora Amelie Claudia Christiana Maria Notgera of Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg is the fourth and youngest child of HSH Albrecht Ernst Otto Joseph Maria Notger, Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg, and his wife, Angela Jank.    Nora was born at West Palm Beach, Florida on June 10, 1990.  She has one older brother,  Franz Albrecht, the Hereditary Prince, and two older sisters,  Theresa and Antonia.

Franz Albrecht's marriage in July 2016 to Baroness Cleopatra von Adelsheim took place at Oettingen.  There were reports that Prince Harry was present for the pre-wedding celebrations.

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-wedding-of-hereditary-prince-of.html

Princess Theresa is married to Carl-Christian Oetker, a scion of the German baking dynasty.

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-wedding-of-princess-theresia-of.html

The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry have been guests of the Prince and Princess's hunting parties at Oettingen.  The Prince and Princess attended the wedding of the Duke of Cambridge.

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2011/05/prince-and-princess-of-oettingen.html

Lord Max Percy was born on May 26, 1990, as the youngest of four children of Ralph, the 12th Duke of Northumberland, and his wife, Jane.  He has two olders, Lady Catherine Valentine and Lady Melissa Percy and one older brother, George, Earl Percy, heir to the dukedom.

Lady Catherine is estranged from her husband, Patrick Valentine, and  Lady Melissa's marriage to Thomas van Straubenzee ended in divorce in 2016, after only three years.

Lord Percy, 32, is unmarried.  [He's my choice for Princess Beatrice.)

This will probably be an ecumenical wedding as the groom is Anglican and the bride Roman Catholic.

Princess Nora has a degree in History of Art and Design from the University of Edinburgh, and owns Tusche London ( Bespoke Design and Sassy Stationary. ) The princess also has a Greeting Card Collection with Pemberly Fox.

http://www.tusche.co.uk/portfolio/

https://www.pemberlyfox.com/nora-oettingen

The newly engaged couple are tenth cousins once removed, through the marriage of Princess Elizabeth of England (1596-1662), daughter of Charles I, and Friedrich V of the Palatine (1596-1632), who was briefly King of Bohemia (the Winter King.)

Lord Max descends the second but eldest surviving son, Karl Ludwig, Elector Palatine, and Princess Nora is a descendant through Princess Sophia, the second to youngest child.     Sophia (later known as Electress Sophia of Hanover) was married to Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, the parents of George I.

Thus, Princess Nora is a descendant of George II, but not from his marriage to Caroline of Ansbach.  She is descends from his mistress Amalie von Wendt, who was created Countess of Yarmouth in her own right. [Amalie was the last mistress of a British sovereign to be given a title in her own right.]

Amalie's aunt, Melusine von der Schulenberg, Duchess of Kendal, was one of George I's mistress, thus maintaining the pleasure of the king was a family business.  Amalie was married to Gottlieb Adam von Wallmoden.  They had two sons, and the second Johann Ludwig, was said to fathered by George II. He never acknowledged the child, but it has been generally assumed that George II fathered Johann Ludwig.

This line of descent is maternal through Nora's mother, Angela Jank, and not through the Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen.   Karl Ludwig's granddaughter, Friederike von Schomberg married the Earl of Holderness.  Their daughter, Louisa, married the Marquess of Lothian.    The descent continues through the Dukes of Richmond and Gordon.    Lady Helen Gordon Lennox married the future 8th Duke of Northumberland in 1911.


The engaged couple recently moved from London to Cape Town, South Africa.