Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Debrett's moves online


Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage

This is not a surprise.  Publishing a 3000 page tome is expensive as is the research, which would include sending forms to families, hoping for a response and monitoring the hatch, match and dispatch columns in The Times & The Telegraph.

In the 1980s through the late 1990s, I edited Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage's section on the living descendants of Queen Victoria.

The 150th (and final print) edition was published early this year.  The first Debrett's was published in 1769 by John Debrett. 


https://www.debretts.com/product/debretts-peerage/


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/28/death-blue-bloods-red-book-debretts-moves-online/?fbclid=IwAR3F5XkRZrXLsLR9EAd37OppsKNQr2OlhQmFeQ4aEpaSer0deB5xJ6H1mrU

Monday, July 29, 2019

Buckingham Palace stands up for Chips



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July 29, 1969

Princess Anne received a "gentle rebuke" today from Buckingham Palace, which "sizzled into the defense of the time-honored British chip," reports the Associated Press.

Anne, the 18-year-old daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, tasted a chip on a naval ship and told the cook: "You'll have to come to Buckingham Palace.  We don't have any chips there."

Chips are French fried potatoes "which combine with cod to make up a British favorite known as fish and chips."

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The average Briton, who sensed a "note of longing" in Anne's voice, wondered if the royal family "disclaims the British chip. doused with salt and vinegar and preferably eaten out of an old newspaper."

A palace spokesman said: "I think that what the princess said was just one of those remarks. It's not a case of chips with everything, but certainly I'm sure the royal family does have chips with meals occasionally.

"There must be about 120 ways of doing potatoes and there are all sorts of chips -- long ones, little ones, round ones, and so on.  You can take it that the royal family does have chips."

The death announcement of Georg Friedrich Duke of Hohenberg


The official announcement of the death of HH The Duke of Hohenberg

Saturday, July 27, 2019

A lovely Mail call

Look what the mailman brought today ... a super image of the Duchess of Cornwall.





Friday, July 26, 2019

Missing from Twitter

If you follow me on Twitter (@royalmusing) you may have noticed that I have not tweeted all day.

When I got up this morning, while eating breakfast and watching the Today Show, I checked into Twitter and found out I had been suspended for a week due to a tweet that was deemed to be hateful.  Excuse me.

Most of my tweets are about royalty or the Washington Nationals,  cats, especially Sienna and Harper,  Lutheranism and liberal politics.  This tweet turned up on my timeline .

Tatum is a police officer in Arizona, well known for his incendiary speech.  He had made claims about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar that are not fact-based and he used a doctored video to make his non-factual point.  Others pointed out that the video was doctored.  There are also tweets similar to my comment.





Hate?  Where?  It is a statement of fact that the majority of mass shootings are by white men with guns.  It is also true that the majority of domestic terrorism cases are by white supremacists.   This was recently acknowledged by FBI director Christopher Wray.


Please do not respond with political comments.  I wanted my Twitter followers that my voice has been suspended for a week but I have a friend who will tweet out posts for me.

My first appeal was denied.  I have sent about a half dozen further appeals with documented evidence of the other poster's hate tweets.  I included citations and links to articles that back up my statement and I also cut and pasted other tweets that were similar to mine.   

The Death of the Duke of Hohenberg

Private collection


HH Georg Friedrich Maximilian Jaroslav Petrus Canisius Markus Hubertus Maria, Duke of Hohenberg has died at the age of 90.  He was the second son of  Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg and Countess Eleonore von Waldburg zu Wolfegg u.Waldsee.

His death was announced by his younger son, Prince Maximilian, who is head of Group Identity and Communication for the Italian bank, UniCredit, in Milan. 


In 1977,  Georg Friedrich succeeded his older brother, Franz, as head of the house of Hohenberg. as Franz and his wife, Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg, were the parents of two daughters.

Duke Georg Friedrich was born at Schloss Arstetten on April 25, 1929, nearly 15 years after the assassination of his grandfather, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and the murder of his wife, Sophie, the Duchess of Hohenberg.  The death of Franz Ferdinand was one of the major catalysts that led to the World War I.

He was an diplomat and served as Austrian ambassador to several countries.  His final post was as Ambassador to the Holy See when John Paul II was Pope.

Georg's Friedrich marriage to Princess Elisabeth of Auersperg-Bruenner at Schloss Wald on September 8, 1960.   He is survived by his wife, three children, Nikolaus, who succeeds as Duke of Hohenberg,  Princess Henriette and Prince Maximilian, seven grandchildren:  Prince Karl, Princess Johanna, Princess Theresa, Princess Sophie, Prince Nikolaus, Princess Luisa and Prince Leopold.

This photo was taken in 1958 after the engagement of Duke Franz and Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg.  All six Hohenberg brothers.    In order of birth,  Duke Franz,  Duke Georg,  Princes Albrecht  , Johannes, Peter and Gerhard   Marlene A. Eilers Koenig collection

I expect there will be news articles on Duke Georg Friedrich's death in the days to come, as well as, perhaps, a death notice.

https://royalbooknews.blogspot.com/2019/05/hitler-and-habsburgs-by-james-longo.html

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

The Prince of Bismarck is dead


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The German magazine Bunte is reporting the death of HSH Herbord Ivar Ferdinand,  Prince von Bismarck.   He  was 88 years old.

Bunte states that the prince died on July 23 at St. Adolf-Stift in Reinbeker following complications from surgery.  He was the great-grandson of Otto von Bismarck, the first German chancellor.

Prince Ferdinand was the second of six children of Otto Christian Archibald Prince von Bismarck and Ann-Mari Tengbom.  He was born at London on November 22, 1930.


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Most of his childhood was spent in Sweden, where his mother was born.   He attended Schloss Salem, the boarding school near Lake Constance.   After graduation, he attended university, where he studied law and economics.    He received his law degree in 1967, and practiced law in Friedrichsruh.  The family estate is Schloss Friedrichsruh, which has been the home of the Bismarcks since Otto von Bismarck.

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Ferdinand, then styled as Count Ferdinand von Bismarck-Schönhausen, succeeded as Prince in 1975, following the death of his father.


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He married a Belgian, Elisabeth Lippens in 1960.   He is survived by his wife, three children. Carl-Eduard, who succeeds as the Prince von Bismarck, Count Gregor and Countess Vanessa and eight grandchildren, Count Alexei and Countess Grace von Bismarck-Schönhausen, Counts Leon and Otis and Countess Wilhelmina von Bismarck-Schönhausen  Marina von Bismarck-Schönhausen and Laszlo and Cosmo Weiner and two great-grandchildren, Heidi and Otto Swindle, the children of Marina von Bismarck, who is the natural daughter of Count Gregor, and her husband Michael Swindle.

He is also survived by his four young siblings, Count Carl, Count Maximilian, Countess Gunilla and Count Leopold.  His older sister, Countess Mari-Ann died in 1981.


Ferdinand's  second son, Count Gottfried, died from a cocaine overdose in London on July 2, 2007.


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The new Prince Bismarck, who has been married four times, has continued the family political tradition.  He is a member of of Germany's CDU party.   Alexei and Grace are his children by his third wife,  Natalie Barlman.



Otto von Bismarck was created Prince in 1871.


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https://www.bunte.de/royals/royals-weltweit/deutscher-adel/ferdinand-von-bismarck-88-der-fuerst-ist-tot.html#h=topBar_2

https://www.welt.de/newsticker/dpa_nt/infoline_nt/boulevard_nt/article197428641/Ferdinand-von-Bismarck-gestorben.html

Monday, July 22, 2019

Grand Duke Michael leaves estate at $371,515

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July 22, 1919


Grand Duke Michael of Russia, a grandson of Nicholas I , who died in London on April 26 at the age of  67, died intestate, reports the New York Times.

The Grand Duke, a widower, left $371,515 in property.

In 1891, he married Countess Sophie von Merenberg, the daughter of Prince Nikolaus of Nassau and Natalia Alexandrovna Puhskina,  the daughter of the Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin.  Prince Nikolaus' marriage was unequal, which meant that his wife and children could not bear his titles.  Michael's marriage to Sophie,  was also morganatic.  This marriage led to Michael being stripped of military rank and sent into exile to live with Sophie, who was created Countess Torby by her uncle, Grand Duke Adolph of Luxembourg.

The Countess Torby died in September 1927.

The Grand Duke and his family lived in England for many years.  He was "famous for entertaining on a grand scale at his York Terrace and Kenwood homes in London."

The Russian Revolution in 1917 led to the loss of the Grand Duke's Russian properties and his appanage.  He had to give up the lease on Kenwood House and move into smaller accommodations.  The Grand Duke, a second cousin of the late Nicholas II, and the Countess Torby, remained close friends of King George V and Queen Mary.

The couple were the parents of three children:  Countess Anastasia, now known as Lady Zia Wernher, married Major Harold Wernher in 1917, Countess Nada is the wife of 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven (ne Prince George of Battenberg) and Count Michael, who is unmarried.


https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2014/05/grand-duke-mikhail-mikhailovich-of.html


http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/royal-death-countess-torby.html


http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/05/financial-difficulties-today-for-grand.html


A highly recommended book about Grand Duke Michael and his family and the Wernhers.


Sunday, July 21, 2019

Prince George turns 6

Time flies  .. Prince George of Cambridge will celebrate his sixth birthday tomorrow.  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their three children are on holiday, most likely in Mustique.

These three photos, which were released by Kensington Palace, were taken by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge.


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Friday, July 19, 2019

A summer photo shoot

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima and their three daughters, Amalia, Princess of Orange, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane, pose for a new series of family photographs outside their  home, Het ten Bosch.




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Thursday, July 18, 2019

Exclusive: The cutest little Prince

@HRH Crown Prince Alexander


Can we have a collective ahhhhhhhh  .. so cute.  HRH Prince Stefan of Serbia, only child of TRH Prince Philip and Princess Danica of Serbia, now approaching 17 months old .. and already driving his Grandpa's car.

Thank you to Crown Prince Alexander for allowing me to use your photograph for use exclusively on Royal Musings.


Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Princess Auguste, younger sister of Danish queen is dead

July 17, 1889

Princess Auguste Sophie Friederike Marie Caroline Julie of Hesse-Cassel, the younger sister of Queen Louise of Denmark, died today at Copenhagen.  She was 65 years old.

The Princess was the fifth of six children of Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel and Princess Charlotte of Denmark.   She was born at Copenhagen on October 23, 1823.  She married Baron Karl Friedrich von Blixen-Finecke, a Swedish-Danish nobleman, at Schloss Panker on May 28, 1854.

She is survived by her sons: Vilhelm Carl Ferdinand Christian Fredrik Hilda Rudolf Gustaf(1857)  and  Vilhelm Carl Anna Otto Gunnar Axel  von Blixen-Finecke (1863). 

The Dowager Baroness was close to her sister and kept in touch with her nieces and nephews.  In December 1875,  the Princess of Wales, the wife of the heir to the British throne, and the eldest daughter of Queen Louise and King Christian IX, visited Auguste at her home in Helsingör.

Baron Axel accompanied his cousin, the Crown Prince of Denmark to  Windsor Castle in May 1887 as the guest of the Prince and Princess of Wales.  He had the "honour of dining with the Queen and the Royal Family."


[In the early 1890s,  Baron Gustav served as an adjutant to Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden --King  Gustav V.  He shared an interest in photography with Crown Princess Victoria.  He carried her equipment during a trip to Cairo.  Apparently more than the negatives were exposed during their time together in the photography tent.  Baron Gustav, who never married, was dismissed from his position.]

Olga and Paul arrive in London for a private visit

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July 17, 1939

Prince Paul, the Regent of Yugoslavia, and his wife, Princess Olga, have arrived in London for what has been described as a "private visit," according to the New York Times.   They were greeted at the station by the Duke and Duchess of Kent who Princess Olga's youngest sister.

The couple will be saying goodbye to the Duke and Duchess of Kent, who will be heading to Australia in the autumn, as the Duke of Kent will become the Governor-General.

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 To "avoid arousing the Germans," Prince Paul did not receive an official welcome to the United Kingdom.    No British government officials were at the train station to meet the royal couple.    They have been invited to stay at Buckingham Palace, the invitation being described as "merely a matter of family courtesy."

However, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and several of his cabinet members did attend a "private dinner" for Prince Paul and Princess Olga at Buckingham Palace.

It is understood that Paul will have "several important talks" during his visit.

Government officials are "well aware" of Paul's "pro-German and violently anti-Soviet" reputation.  They also respect his position as an "able statesman who can understand the growing power of the 'peace front.'"    Prince Paul and Princess Olga paid an official visit to Germany in June, where they met Adolf Hitler.


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Yugoslavia has not joined the Axis, which is seen as a "good omen," despite pressure from Berlin and Rome.

Prince Paul is a first cousin of King Alexander of Yugoslavia, who was assassinated in Marseilles in 1934.  He is one of three regents for Alexander's young son,  King Peter II, who is 15 years old, and too young to reign on his own.

Paul's true importance has less to do with the Regency and more with his position as the "virtual ruler of Yugoslavia.   This is why his visit is seen with "unusual importance."


Shots fired at Archduke Franz Ferdinand


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July 17, 1909

The New York Times' London bureau received a dispatch earlier today from Vienna regarding a shooting incident that involved Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austrian throne.


The Archduke was on  a train that was bringing him back from a visit to Romania when "four shots were fired at the royal compartment, passing the frontier, one of which narrowly missed the Archduke."

The train "immediately stopped" and a search carried out to find the shooter.  A local landowner, who was carrying a gun, was arrested.  He told the police that he was "merely shooting at bears" and he did not know that his shots had hit the train.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Happy 74th birthday Crown Prince Alexander


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One of my favorite royals. Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia, celebrates his 74th birthday today, July 17.   I have had the pleasure of knowing the Crown Prince and his family since the 1980s and I have had the honor of being invited to Belgrade for four occasions: the Crown Prince's 60th birthday, his 25th wedding anniversary, the state funerals of King Peter II, Queen Alexandra, Queen Marie and Prince Andrej, and Prince Philip's wedding,  Sadly, I had to send my regrets for Philip's marriage.

The Crown Prince's office puts put a year in review video each year on the Crown Prince's birthday.

Queen Elizabeth II is the the Crown Prince's godmother.



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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x8XOFHtIrQ&feature=youtu.be


https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/07/son-for-peter-and-alexandra.html

Monday, July 15, 2019

Mail call

In this week's mail: thank yous from the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Stefan zur Lippe.






it is Amazon Prime Day -- today and tomorrow. I treated myself to this little device.  You can as well.  I hope that when you shop for Prime Deals, please consider starting your search and purchases using the search boxes on the right of the blog posts.  Full transparency: I make a few pennies per sale.  Thanks



Princess Stephanie of Windisch Graetz (1939-2019)


Private collection


HSH Princess Stéphanie Marie Eva of Windisch-Graetz died on July 12 at St. Pierre Hospital in Brussels.  She was 79 year old.

Stéphanie was born at Brussels on July 17, 1939, the elder of two children of  Prince Franz Josef of Windisch-Graetz (1904-1981) and Countess Ghislaine d'Arschot Schoonhaven (1912-1997).





She was the granddaughter of Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria (1883-1963) and Prince Otto of Windisch-Graetz (1873-1952.)  This marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1948 and Erzi, as she was known to her family, married Austrian  Socialist politician Leopold Petznek shortly after her divorce.  Due to her left wing leanings, Erzi was known as the Red Archduchess.

Thus, Stephanie was a great-granddaughter of Archduke Rudolf and Princess Stephanie of Belgium and a great-great-granddaughter of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria and King Leopold II of the Belgians.

Her engagement to Dermot Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, a Captain in the Grenadier Guards (1935-2009), was announced on October 3, 1966. They were married in London on February 16, 1967 and were divorced in 1973.

(Dermot married for a second time to Sally Leigh (nee Creer) on March 11, 1976).

Princess Stéphanie is survived by her two sons,  Henry Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell (and his wife, Lisa Abadjian) and Alexander Windisch-Graetz (and his wife, Ann Charlotte Le Sellier de Chezelles), five grandchildren, Eléonore and Bryan Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell and Elisabeth-Marie, Otto and Hermine Windisch-Graetz.

In 2011, Alexander  changed his surname to Windisch-Graetz.

Princess Stephanie was a gifted photographer who often shot her portraits using candle light.

https://www.lalibre.be/lifestyle/people/cousine-d-albert-ii-la-princesse-stephanie-de-windisch-graetz-est-decedee-5d2b79b6f20d5a58a82b7d27


https://www.google.com/search?q=princesse+stephanie+de+windisch+graetz&sa=N&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS659US659&biw=942&bih=891&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=R3orWNiajdM4aM%253A%252CzBMHweT9p1SJeM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTlCjjOuE8IEdE__DnE0-NdazEWmQ&ved=2ahUKEwiTq4OLx7fjAhVYaM0KHfWmAQ84ChD1ATABegQIBhAG#imgrc=wcKt_jv_xw2RzM:&vet=1


Georg Friedrich seeks right to live in Cecilienhof


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Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, the head of the house of Hohenzollern, has filed a claim with Germany, "demanding a permanent right of residency for his family in Cecilienhof, now a museum or one of two other palaces formerly occupied by his family," reports the Irish Times.

Cecilienhof, which was built in 1917, was named for Georg Friedrich's great-grandmother, Crown Princess Cecilie, the wife of Crown Prince Wilhelm, eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who abdicated in November 1918 as the German Empire had collapsed from the weight of its defeat and the changing political tide that was steamrolling through Europe.

The palace was the site where the Allied nations, celebrating their victory over Germany and fascism, held the Potsdam Conference in 1945, where President Harry S. Truman, Prime Minister Clement Atlee and Josef Stalin met to finalize the establishment of a post-World War II, which included the division of Europe and the path toward what would be known as the Cold war.

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 After the conference was over, Soviet troops used Cecilienhof as a clubhouse.  Potsdam was in the eastern sector of Germany, later the German Democratic Republic.

The palace is now open to the public, as a part of the Preussische-Schlösser und Gärten in Berlin-Brandenburg.

Georg Friedrich has been involved in "discreet talks" for five years but "negotiations  have reached an impasse."   He has canceled "long-term loans of family art works in Berlin and Potsdam."  He has also demanded the return of the "family library and 1000 letters" to and from his great-great-grandmother, Empress Auguste Viktoria, the consort of Wilhelm II.

The letters were  found during a "recent renovation" of the Neues Palais, also in Potsdam.

Prince Georg Friedrich, 43, succeeded his grandfather, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. as head of the Imperial House.

http://www.potsdam-park-sanssouci.de/cecilienhof-palace.html

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/the-fall-of-the-house-of-hohenzollern-1.3956448?mode=amp&fbclid=IwAR1DAHQQLzah7WgGYNZctdec-99zat5tZo_uSZqK7nDBxS8_XoPq-J-UiZE

https://www.dw.com/en/german-kaisers-heir-wants-seized-artifacts-back/a-49576011-0

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/15/descendants-german-kaisers-bid-reclaim-artworks-palaces/

https://www.spsg.de/en/palaces-gardens/object/cecilienhof-palace/

Crown Princess Victoria celebrates her 42nd birthday at Solliden

Today- July 14 - Crown Princess Victoria celebrated her 42nd birthday with her annual appearance at Solliden on Oland. The Swedish royal family have their summer residence at Solliden. The Crown Princess was accompanied by her husband, Prince Daniel and their two children, Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar and the King and Queen. In the evening, the Crown Princess was the guest of honor the annual birthday concert at Borgholm's Idrottsplats.

 The royal guests arrived by carriages from Solliden.


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I attended the concert and the birthday celebrations in 2017.



Friday, July 12, 2019

Two missing princesses .. in the Vatican

In the last few days,  news organizations, including the the New York Times, have reported on the opening of two tombs in the Vatican City's Teutonic Cemetery.

In June, 1983, 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican City employee vanished while walking home in Rome.  There are numerous theories about her death, the most recent being was that she was buried in a tomb in the cemetery.  According to Emanuela's brother, the tomb could be identified by an a statue of an angel pointing to a cemetery.

This led officials to the tomb of Princess Sophie of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein, the eldest of seven children of Ludwig Leopold, Prince of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein and Countess Polyxenia of Limburg-Stirum. 

Sophie was born at Schillingsfürst on December 13, 1758.  She died at Rome on January 13, 1836.  She did not marry.

The present head of the Hohenlohe-Bartenstein is descendant of Sophie's younger brother. Karl Joseph.



The tomb of Duchess Charlotte Friederike of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was also opened.  She was the seventh surviving child of  Duke Friedrich Franz I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Friedrich Franz was created Grand Duke in 1815.

Charlotte was born at Ludwigslust on December 4,1784.  She married her first cousin, Prince Christian Frederik of Denmark (1786-1848), the son of  Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark and Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Christian was visiting Mecklenburg when he met and fell in love with Charlotte.  They were married two years later at Ludwigslust on June 21, 1806.

 Less than a year after the wedding,  Charlotte gave birth to the couple's first child, a son, Christian Frederik at Schloss Plön  on April 8, 1807.  The infant prince lived for only a few hours.

A second son, Frederik Carl Christian, was born at Copenhagen on October 8, 1808. 

Charlotte and Christian settled into a homes in Amalienborg and Sorgenfri.  IThe marriage was not a happy one.  Within two years of marriage, there were reports that the capricious Charlotte was having an affair with her singing teacher, the Swiss-born Edouard Du Puy.    She was forced to leave the court.  Christian divorced her in 1810 and she was sent to live at Horsens.  She would never see her son again.

Charlotte lived for several years in a palace in Horsens.  She also had a home in Aarhus, where she had an active social life, as well as several affairs with Danish officers.    In 1929, she moved to Karlsbad, Germany, remaining there for a year before settling in Rome.  She was baptized as a Lutheran, but converted to the Roman Catholic faith some years later. 

She died at Rome on July 13, 1840 and was buried in the Teutonic Cemetery, which was the final resting places for persons of Germanic origin.

Christian succeeded to the Danish throne in 1839.  He died in 1848 and he was succeeded by his son Frederik VII.   Christian VIII married for a second time to Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, whose mother was Princess Louisa Augusta of Denmark.  This marriage was childless.

KIng Frederik VII was the last of the Oldenburg dynasty  He died on November 15, 1863.  His first two marriages to Princess Vilhelmine of Denmark and Duchess Caroline Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, were dissolved by divorce.

His third marriage to a commoner Louise Rasmussen was morganatic.

Frederik did not have children.  The Danish throne passed to a kinsman, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the Oldenburg dynasty. 

The Vatican authorized permission for the two tombs to be open.   Emanuela's remains were not found, but adding to the mystery, officials learned that the remains of Princess Sophie or Duchess Charlotte were not in their respective tombs.

A Vatican spokesman issued a statement several hours after the tombs were opened:   “There were no human remains nor funerary urns.”

Princess Sophie's tomb was "completely empty" and Duchess Charlotte's had "no human remains."

The Vatican has no explanation for the two empty tombs.


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/11/world/europe/italy-vatican-emanuela-orlandi.html?searchResultPosition=3

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

The Queen in Cambridge & Duchess of Gloucester in London





A special thank you to Ken Stone and his camera for allowing to use his photos from yesterday in Cambridge, where HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, welcomed HM The Queen to the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge.  The Duchess, who is married to the queen's first cousin, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, is the patron of the hospital.





@ Ken Stone

@Ken Stone

@Ken Stone

@ Ken Stone

In London earlier today, the Duchess was present for the Royal Academy of Music's graduation ceremony.   She is the President of the Royal Academy of Music.  Queen Elizabeth II is the Patron.


@Ken Stone

@Ken Stone

@Ken Stone

Meanwhile in Norway




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Lovely new family snaps of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway and their two children, Princess Ingrid and Prince Sverre Magnus at their country home in Dvergsoya.

I wonder how Crown Princess Mette-Marit's health is faring as there as not been an update in some months.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2018/10/crown-princess-mette-marit-of-norway.html


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the Royal Box at Wimbledon

The Duchess of Cornwall was in the Royal Box at Wimbledon today.  She was joined by the Duke of Kent and his daughter, Lady Helen Taylor, and her husband Tim Taylor, the Countess of Wessex and the Prince of Monaco.

Mike and Zara Tindall were at Wimbledon as well,  but they were sitting in Centre Court.

The Countess of Wessex was accompanied by her goddaughter, Amelia Etherington, daughter Mark and Lady Alexandra Etherington.  Lady Alexandra is the daughter of the late 3rd Duke of Fife, a grandson of Princess Louise, daughter of Edward VII, and the elder sister of the 4th Duke.

The Duke of Kent is the President of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.


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