Saturday, March 28, 2020

HSH Prince Nicolaus zu Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1925-2020)


@Nikolaus zu Bentheim

HSH Prince Nicolaus Moritz Casimir zu Bentheim-Tecklenburg died on March 26 at his home in Herzebrock-Clarholz. He was 95 years old.

Prince Nicolaus was the second child of HSH Adolf Moritz Casimir Karl Adalbert Hugo Arthur, 5th Prince of Bentheim-Tecklenburg, and HSH Princess Amélie of Schönburg-Waldenburg.   He was born at Rheda on March 12, 1925.   He married Countess Franziska von Hoyos, Baroness von  Stichtenstein (1921-2009) on September 15, 1951 at Werenwag bei Hausen.   The marriage was childless.

He served in the German military and was taken prisoner by the Allies.  After his release, he studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy for two years, graduating in 1947.   His first job was as an assistant designer for the State Opera in Munich.

After a trip to Italy in 1949,  he returned to Germany to attend the Cologne School of Art.  He and his wife lived in Rome for more than 30 years where he painted and also worked as a graphic and trade fair designer.

http://www.spechtart.de/reiner_kuhn_7_zu_bentheim.html

https://www.kunstverein-gt.de/rueckblick-2/2009-nicolaus-zu-bentheim/

The prince, who used the name Nicolaus zu Bentheim, was known for his surrealist paintings.

Prince Nicolaus is survived by his younger sister, Princess Gustava, Countess von Hothenthal and Prince Heinrich, and numerous nieces and nephews, including HSH Moritz, 7th Prince of Bentheim-Tecklenburg.

http://fuerstenhaus-bentheim.de/nicolaus-prinz-zu-bentheim-tecklenburg/?utm_content=buffer7781c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Friday, March 27, 2020

Trooping the Colour 2020 - won't be traditional



@Marlene A Eilers Koenig


“In line with Government advice, it has been agreed that The Queen’s Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, will not go ahead in its traditional form.”

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma (1933-2020)




HRH Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma died today at the Hôpital Cochin Paris. She was 86 years old.   The cause of death was COVID-19. The announcement was made by her younger brother, HRH Prince Sixte Enrico of Bourbon-Parma.  The princess had become ill eight days earlier and was admitted to the hospital yesterday.  She was in excellent health only ten days earlier and had been caring for her two sisters with the help of a nurse.   Princess Maria Teresa remained in the apartment in quarantine for a week before being transferred to the hospital.  She was infected by the nurse who cared for her sisters.

Princess Maria Teresa (Marie Thérèse Cécile Zita Charlotte) was born on July 28, 1933, at Paris, the third of six children of HRH Prince Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza and Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset.

The princess never married.  She is survived by four of her siblings:  HRH Princess Francoise (Princess Edouard Lobkowicz), TRH Princess Cecilie, Princess Marie des Neiges, and Prince Sixte Enrique of  Bourbon-Parma, and six nieces and nephews,  Prince Carlos Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, HRH Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma, HRH Princess Margarita of Bourbon-Parma, HRH Princess Maria-Carolina of Bourbon-Parma (the children of the late HRH Prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma and Piacenza) and HRH Princess Irene of the Netherlands) and HSH Prince Charles-Henri Lobkowicz and HSH Princess Marie Gabrielle Lobkowicz, a nun with Little Sisters of the Poor in the United States.)
TRH Prince Sixte Enrico and Princess Maria Teresa,  courtesy of HRH Prince Sixte Enrico

The Princess lived in Madrid since she was 28 years old.  She was a passionate supporter of Carlism and was nicknamed the Red Princess because she espoused leftist causes.  Empress Zita of Austria (nee Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma) was her aunt and her godmother.

In 2014, she spoke with the French newspaper, Liberation. The Princess said her father never reigned in Spain, but "fought all of his life to put his dynasty back in the throne."  She shared with her late brother, Carlos Hugo and his wife, Princess Irene, in the "oppression of financial capitalism,"  and became an "effervescent activist of this leftist Carlism, which dreamed of an oxymoronic socialist monarchy."

 


Princess Maria Teresa said: "For us, the socialist idea was not the class struggle but the permanent search for consensus."

Her passion for Carlism never came to fruition.  In the late 1970s, she pursued a decorate in Hispanic Studies at the Sorbonne, and then a doctorate in Sociology in Madrid.  One of her dissertation subjects was "Religious overdetermination in the political field in Ireland" and the only royal highness to subscribe to Liberation, a left-wing French newspaper.

She lived alone.  According to her sister, Cecile,  Marie Teresa enjoyed her independence.  No affairs.   Cecile responded: "She has a very high requirement. If an opportunity had arisen, she would have seized it. But nothing in line with her aspirations has distracted her from her independence cult. ”

https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2014/07/23/maria-teresa-de-bourbon-parme-princesse-rouge_1069044

In an interview with L'Eventail, also in 2014, to promote her book, Les Bourbon Parme, une famille engagée dans l'histoire,  the princess said of her support for Carlism.  "Through Carlism, I tried to evoke the problem of Spain and in the broader sense that of Europe. We have been very involved, my brother Charles-Hugues, my sisters Cécile and Marie-des-Neiges, in the rebirth of this movement which I hesitate to call "party" because it is a word that does not suit all-to -fact. If you call it that, it is very old because it dates back to 1833. Since its creation, it has consistently defended certain claims. The movement still exists as a party, but when my brother succeeded my father and was considered a legitimate king, we obviously had to leave him. Today, it is my nephew Charles-Xavier who embodies continuity. He also wrote a document when King Juan-Carlos abdicated, not a criticism but rather a proposal for a solution to the expectations of Spanish society."

https://www.eventail.be/component/k2/1594-marie-therese-de-bourbon-un-militantisme-royal#

Princess Maria Teresa wrote seven books, all on Carlism and her family. None have been translated into English.

The funeral will take place on Friday, March 27.  The official announcement was released by her nephew, the Duke of Parma and does not include her eldest sister, Francoise, and her children and her younger brother, Sixte Enrico.  This is due to several decades-long estrangement between the three princess and their late brother, Carlo Hugo, and Princess Francoise and Prince Sixte largely due to political issues.

 



Archduke Karl fully recovered from Covid-19


From Archduke Karl:

"I have just received a notification that the quarantine has been lifted after a negative corona test. After being infected with the Covid 19 virus, I am officially healthy again after almost three weeks.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who sent me wishes for recovery through various channels. Even if this removes the domestic quarantine for me, it is not a return to normal life for me either. The location makes it necessary to stay at home. This is the best way to curb the spread of the virus.

In all organizations in Austria in which I hold a management function, the events have been canceled for the next two months. Including the VI. Otto von Habsburg symposium, which should be devoted to the topic of "freedom".

Now we have to take responsibility in freedom, take care of ourselves and thus our fellow human beings and stay at home."

https://www.paneuropa.at/karl-von-habsburg-offiziell-von-corona-genesen/

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Breaking News Prince Albert of Monaco tests positive for COVID-19




AP reporting that Prince Albert II of Monaco has tested positive for COVID-19.

The palace states that the 62-year-old sovereign is doing well and still working at his desk.



Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Three Brazilian Princes test positive for COVID-19


 

Prince Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza, Prince Imperial of Brazil, announced earlier today that three of his younger brothers,  Prince Antonio, 70,  Prince Francisco, 64,  and Prince Alberto, 62,  have all tested positive for COVID-19 and are all undergoing treatment, according to Pro Monarquia, the official organization for the Imperial house of Brazil.

" We are experiencing the outbreak of one of the biggest epidemics in our history. In Brazil, this epidemic is growing and tends to contaminate a very large number of Brazilian people. He even reached the Imperial family: my brother, Antonio, who follows me in the line of succession, my brothers Alberto and Francisco, have all been tested positive for the coronavirus," Dom Bertrand said in a statement. "Do not get obsessed with the coronavirus, on the contrary. With all prudence and tranquility. We have to act with prudence, know where to be, what to do, what are the remedies, when to see the doctor. Let us know how to trust, more than ever, in Divine Providence."

 Prince Antonio is in the hospital.  Prince Alberto's wife, Maritza, also as the virus.


The 79-year-old Prince Bertrand is the heir apparent to his older brother, 81-year-old Prince Luiz.  The elderly princes are the sons of the late Prince Pedro Henrique (1909-1981) and Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria (1911-2011).  They married in 1937 and were the parents of thirteen children.

Prince Antonio is second in line to the Vassouras branch of the Imperial house.  He is married Princess Christine de Ligne, daughter of the late Antoine, 13th Prince of Ligne and the late Princess Alix of Luxembourg, youngest daughter of the late Grand Duchess Charlotte.   (Christine's brother, Michel, the 14th Prince of Ligne, is married to Antonio's sister, Princess Eleonora.)

Prince Antonio and Princess Christina had four children:  Prince Pedro, who died in the Air France crash in June 2009,  Princess Amelia, Prince Rafael, and Princess Maria Gabriela.

Princes Francisco and Alberto renounced their rights to the throne when he made non-dynastic marriages.   Prince Francisco and his wife, Claudia Regina Godinho, are the parents of three daughters.   Prince Alberto is married to Maritza Ribas Bockel and they have two sons and two daughters.

Princess Beatrice cancels wedding reception






The Telegraph is reporting that that Princess Beatrice and Edo Mapelli Mozzi have canceled their Buckingham Palace wedding reception on May 29.  The garden reception was to have taken place after the private wedding at the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2020/03/18/princess-beatrice-forced-scale-back-wedding-coronavirus-fears/

“Princess Beatrice and Mr Mapelli Mozzi are very much looking forward getting married but are equally aware of the need to avoid undertaking any unnecessary risks in the current circumstances.

“In line with government advice for the UK and beyond, the couple are reviewing their arrangements for 29th May.

“They are particularly conscious of government advice in relation to both the wellbeing of older family members and large gatherings of people.

“Therefore, the planned reception in the Buckingham Palace Gardens will not take place.

“The couple will carefully consider government advice before deciding whether a private marriage might take place amongst a small group of family and friends.”

Monday, March 16, 2020

My latest article for BBC History Extra




Would like to share with you my most recent article for BBC History Extra -

Working royals.

https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/working-royals-harry-meghan-history-what-might-happen-next-careers-jobs-work-queen-money/?fbclid=IwAR3cyiCNEvj_6xpyLMzD69XCKt9BCbAv9mBodgZdwCAkNYHS0PY1VbKi_D0

The first article was on Charles & Camilla.  I have another commission, but won't say anything until it is published.



Archduke Karl tests positive for Covid-19




Archduke Karl of Austria, the 59-year-old head of the House of Habsburg, has tested positive for the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

From his home in Lower Austria, the archduke told a reporter from the Austrian newspaper,  Krone, that he said felt weak, but was optimistic.   "Don't panic, the Austrian authorities are acting  excellently," he said.  "I am doing reasonably well.  You feel a little depressed like a fly, but the symptoms do not go away quickly."

He believes he caught the infection in Geneva, as many of the attendees were from Milan.

"I had cough and lung problems, which I reported to the local officials," Karl said.  "A team in protective suits  did the five minute test."

 The day after, a policeman gave the archduke the news that the test was positive."

Karl is at his home and offered his thanks to "everyone who looked after me very nicely and correctly."

The archduke travels the world as a cultural officer. He is quick to offer appreciation for Austria's professionalism in dealing with the coronavirus.  The reporter asked him if he was worried or fearful?

"I am in contact with the family, the three children and friends over the phone and the computer.  Business as usual, that is, a normal working day."  But for the archduke, noted:  "Not really, as I am usually not at home for so long."

https://www.krone.at/2113988

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Two new QVDS in the Leiningen family.



Well, two new QVDs in the Leiningen family.

HSH The Hereditary Princess of Leiningen gave birth to a daughter, HSH Princess Alexandra Viktoria Luise Ehrengard, on February 28, 2020, at Frankfurt-am-Main,  the day before Leap Year.   The confirmation is from the mother.

The former Princess Viktoria Luise von Preussen, the daughter of the late HRH Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and Ehrengard von Reden, married HSH Hereditary Prince Ferdinand of Leiningen.

Princess Alexandra is a four-time descendant of Queen Victoria.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-hereditary-prince-and-princess-of.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/viktoria-luise-and-ferdinand-of.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/two-sisters-grand-duchesses-maria-and.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-royal-marriage-princess-viktoria.html

HSH Princess Isabelle of Leiningen, the wife of HSH Prince Hermann zu Leiningen, gave birth to a son, Leopold Konstantin Rainer Andreas was born on October 16, 2019, at Coburg.

The infant prince was baptized on January 5, 2020, at Amorbach's Lutheran church.

The godparents were Leopold Ferch,  HSH Princess Cecilia of Leiningen, daughter of HSH Prince Karl-Emich of Leiningen and his first wife, the late HSH Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Ohringen, and Count Konstantin von Schönborn.

Leopold Ferch is the eldest child of Baroness Alexandra von Holzhausen (daughter of HI &RH Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria, Princess of Tuscany) and Christian Ferch.

Hereditary Prince Ferdinand and Prince Hermann are the sons of HSH Andreas, Prince of Leiningen, and his wife, HRH Princess Alexandra of Hanover.


https://www.amorbach-evangelisch.de/taufe-des-kleinen-prinzen-leopold-konstantin-rainer-andreas


http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/03/leiningen-princely-weddings.html

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/03/prince-hermann-zu-leiningen-weds.html


http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-wedding-of-prince-hermann-princess.html


Thursday, March 12, 2020

Queen Margrethe II cancels 80th birthday celebrations




A release from the Danish royal house regarding Queen Margrethe II's 80th birthday celebrations, which have been canceled.

The Queen's 70th birthday celebrations were also

"Her Majesty The Queen has returned this evening from her annual winter holiday in Norway. In light of the spread of COVID-19 and the consequences of this for the society, The Queen has decided to cancel all of the Royal Danish House’s planned activities and events in connection with the upcoming 80th birthday in April. The royal family’s participation in other items on the official program in the coming weeks is also cancelled.

About the current crisis, The Queen states:

“Denmark and the international community stand in a very difficult situation right now.  We all have a special responsibility to show consideration for each other and together contribute to helping Denmark successfully get through the very big challenges the country faces. I therefore appeal that we all follow the government’s and the authorities’ directions and take care of each other.

I would like to direct a heartfelt thank you to the Danish healthcare personnel and the authorities, institutions, businesses and individuals displaying great decisive action and care for the Danish people so that we, together, can get through this difficult time.”

Upon arriving home in Denmark, The Queen has, as planned, taken up residence at Fredensborg Palace, where The Queen will remain for the time being."



Ten years ago,  a number of Queen Margrethe II's invited guests for her 70th birthday celebrations were unable to fly in for the birthday celebrations due to the ash from a volcano in Iceland, which led to closed airspace throughout the world.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Edward and Sophie in West Mersea











all photos @Ken Stone


Thank you to Ken Stone for allowing me to use his photos of TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex in West Mersea today.

It is the Earl of Wessex's 56th birthday.

The photos are the copyright of Ken Stone, and may not be reproduced without his permission.



Monday, March 9, 2020

Twins in the summer for Christian and Alessandra of Hanover





HRH Princess Alessandra of Hanover is pregnant with twins,  according to reports Bunte.  The Peruvian-born designer lives in Madrid with her husband, HRH Prince Christian of Hanover, younger son of Prince Ernst August of Hanover and his first wife, Chantal Hochuli.

The babies are expected sometime this summer. 

The first pregnancy report came from the Spanish magazine, Hola. 

 https://www.bunte.de/royals/royals-weltweit/deutscher-adel/alessandra-christian-von-hannover-bunte-exklusiv-sie-bekommen-zwillinge.htm



https://www.hola.com/actualidad/20200309162615/alessandra-de-osma-embarazada/

Prince Max Emanuel of Thurn und Taxis (1935-2020)



HSH Price Max Emanuel Maria Albert Paul Isabella Klemens Lamoral of Thurn und Taxis was the eldest son of HSH Prince Raphael Rainer Karl Maria Joseph Antonius Ignatius Hubertus Lamoral (1906-1993) and HSH Princess Margarete  Charlotte Klementine Maria Alexandra Melanie of Thurn und Taxis (1913-1997).

Prince Max Emanuel was married twice.  Both marriages were considered non-dynastic.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Mail Call

Finally caught up on all the Christmas and post-Christmas cards .. and now I can put them away in albums!