QVD Engagement - Prince Frederick von Preussen and Mathilda Johnson

Prince Frederick Nicholas Stormont von Preussen and Miss Mathilda Noel Johnson are engaged to be married.   Fritzi, as he is known to family and friends, is the youngest of four children -- and only son - of  HRH (Frederick) Nicholas von Preussen and his former wife, the Hon. Victoria Mancroft, daughter of Stormon Mancroft Samuel Mancroft and Diana Elizabeth Lloyd.

Fritzi was born on June 11, 1990, at the Churchill Clinic in London.  He has three older sisters:  Beatrice, Florence (the Hon. Mrs. James Tollemache), and Augusta (Mrs. Caspar Helmore).

@National Churches Trust   Prince Nicholas and Prince Frederick  (2018)

Miss Johnson is the daughter of Rupert C F Johnson, a company director, and his wife, Simonetta Barber.  She is a mentee at Turning Point Film and is in training for set decorating and costume making.   She was born in London in September 1989.

Her parents live in Sturminster Newton in Dorset.

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 Fritzi is a student at West Dean College, where he is working toward his Graduate Diploma in Conservation of Furniture and Related Objects.

He is a grandson of Prince Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Christoph of Prussia 1911-1966) and Lady Brigid Guinness,  youngest daughter of Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh.   Prince Friedrich was the fourth son of Crown Prince Wilhelm and Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Prince Friedrich was living in Cambridge when the second world war broke out.  In May 1940, he was arrested and interned in the United Kingdom before being sent to an internment camp in Quebec.  In 1947, he renounced his German citizenship, using the Sophia Naturalization act, and acquired British nationality. He adopted the surname von Preussen.  For a brief time, he also used the name, George Mansfield.

The royal title is used socially in the United Kingdom but it is not a recognized title and Prince Friedrich's male-line descendants have the legal surname von Preussen.   Prince Friedrich's marriage to Lady Brigid Guinness was considered equal.  However, Nicholas' marriage to the daughter of a baron was not accepted as equal by the then head of the house of Prussia, HI & RH Prince Louis Ferdinand, the second son of Crown Prince Wilhelm.



Victoria - Victoria - Wilhelm II - Wilhelm - Friedrich - Nicholas - Fritzi

another descendant of Queen Victoria

Amy Rose Lascelles, the youngest of three of the Hon. Jeremy Lascelles and his first wife,  Julie Baylis, and her partner Matthew Michael Bolton, are the parents of a son, Marlow Fox Lascelles Bolton.

The baby was born on July 20 in London.  As his parents are not married, Marlow will not have succession rights to the British throne.

Marlow is a great-great-grandson of Princess Mary, the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, and Henry Lascelles, the 6th Earl of Harewood.

Princess Mary created Princess Royal in 1931, and the Earl of Harewood were married in 1922.  They had two sons,  George, 7th Earl of Harewood (1923-2011), and the Hon. Gerald Lascelles (1924-1998).

George was married twice.  He had three sons by his first wife, Marion Stein: David, 8th Earl of Harewood, the Hon. James Lascelles and the Hon. Jeremy Lascelles.   He also had one son, the Hon. Mark Lascelles, by his second wife, Patricia Tuckwell.

Mr. Bolton is the son of  Kevin Bolton and Patricia Best.  He is the founder and creative director of Mox.


Amy is a jewelry designer.  She specializes in jewelry made from crystals.

https://www.amyrosecrystaljewellery.com/

Jeremy Lascelles has worked in the music industry, first as a musician, and now as an executive in the music industry.  He is the co-founder and chief executive of Blue Raincoat Music.


https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50475324


Victoria - Edward VII - George V - Mary - George - Jeremy - Amy - Marlow

Marlow and Prince George of Cambridge are fourth cousins.

Archduchess Eleonore marries racing car driver

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Archduchess Eleonore of Austria and Jerome d'Ambrosio were married today in a civil ceremony in Monaco.  Eleonore, 26, is the eldest of three children of Archduke Karl of Austria and Baroness Francesca von Thyssen-Bornemisza. 
Karl is the head of the former ruling house in Austria.

The couple had to change their wedding plans due to COVID-19.  They had planned to have their formal wedding, a Roman Catholic service, this year, but the plans have been put on hold until the pandemic restrictions are lifted.

Only close family members were present for the civil marriage, which is the legal marriage in most European countries.  The witnesses for the wedding were Archduchess Gloria, the bride's younger sister, and Jerome d'Ambrosio's sister, Olivia.  

A lunch, attended by family and friends, followed the wedding.  All of the guests were respectful of the social distancing requirements in Monaco.   Eleonore, a professional jewelry designer, and Jerome, a Formula E race car driver, met on a plane, three years ago, flying from London to Nice. 

 

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I cannot believe that this infant is now all grown up and married.

The death of Prince Joachim of Prussia

July 18, 1920


Prince Joachim of Prussia, the sixth and youngest son of former Kaiser Wilhelm II, committed suicide yesterday in Potsdam, reports the New York Times.  He was 29 years old.

It is understood that Joachim had been in "financial straits."   He shot himself at his residence, Villa Liegnitz, and was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died several hours later.

Joachim was suffering from "great mental depression," according to Hohenzollern "intimates."

The only other members of his family in Potsdam is Joachim's elder brother, Prince Eitel Friedrich, who, in an official announcement, stated that his brother was suffering from a "fit of excessive dementia.

He is survived by his estranged wife, Princess Marie Auguste of Anhalt, and a young son, Prince Karl Franz Josef.  Reports of a divorce were incorrect.

Joachim's family was aware of his mental distress.  On May 31, 1918,  he was examined by Professor Robert Gaupp, a highly regarded psychiatrist.   He concluded that Prince Joachim was "incurably ill, both mentally and physically."

The professor's report noted that the Prince spoke too fast and was "extremely easily emotionally and sexually aroused."  He had "violent, uncontrollably exploding outbursts of anger in which all self-control [was] lost."

Wilhelm II's biographer, John Röhl provided detail of the report.  Joachim would feel "unjustly injured" when his "passionate interests" were not met and he would burst into another rage. 

The psychiatrist concluded that Prince Joachim suffered from an "innate abnormal tendency."

Since birth, Joachim had been a constant source of worry for both his parents.

It was difficult for anyone to control Joachim's rages.  His marriage on March 11, 1916, to Princess Marie Auguste of Anhalt, the daughter of Eduard, Duke of Anhalt, was an arranged marriage that collapsed rather quickly. 

The couple's only son, Karl Franz Josef, was born at Potsdam on December 15, 1916. 

In December 1919, Wilhelm's Marshal, Hans von Gontard, told the court physician, Dr. Alfred Haehner, that Joachim was "quite out of control and had beaten his wife, herself just a slip of a girl."

Joachim had not wanted to marry Marie Auguste.  In 1913, he had fallen in love with Princess Elisabeth of Urach (1894-1962), the second daughter of  Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach, and his first wife, Duchess Amalie in Bavaria, and wanted to marry her despite family opposition.  He never stopped accusing his mother of "ruining his life" by not permitting the marriage because Elisabeth was Catholic.

But there were also religious concerns from Elisabeth and her father, both of whom were not willing to have Elisabeth and Joachim's children raised as Lutherans. 

According to the Hohenzollern House Laws,  Princess Elisabeth was considered nicht ebenbürtig -- unequal -- to Joachim.   The lovesick prince fought for more than a year to win approval to marry Princess Elisabeth, but it was not meant to be.  Only a few months before he committed suicide, he told his mother that she "destroyed his happiness."

[Princess Elisabeth married in 1921 to Prince Karl  Aloys of Liechtenstein http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2008/09/elisabeth-of-urachs-wedding.html  ]

Wilhelm showed no compassion when he received word of his son's death.  Röhl wrote that he "reacted with fury" to the news.  The outrage was real as he was angry "that the oaf should have done this, too, to us and especially to his mother."

Auguste Victoria rarely had a moment's peace with her youngest son as he caused her pain and worry for years.   The Kaiser and Dr. Haehner told Dona that her son's death was accidental.  The former Empress knew better.  She had wanted to believe that Joachim's death was an accident, but when Wilhelm came into her room to tell her that Joachim "had an accident," but she interrupted him: "He has shot himself!

all images  Marlene A Eilers Koenig Collection

Prince Eitel Friedrich sent his father a detailed report on Joachim's mental state and his suicide on July 18, 1920.   The original copy is now in the Prussian royal house's archive at Burg Hohenzollern.

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Princess Beatrice's wedding: a nod to her grandmother

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Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi were married yesterday at The Royal Chapel of All Saints, which is located on the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.  Royal Lodge is the resident of the bride's father, the Duke of York.

Although a guest list has not been released it is understood that 20 guests were present for the wedding.  The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were photographed in a car en route to the wedding.  It can also be assumed that the guests included the bride's divorced parents, the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York and her sister, and brother-in-law,  Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.  

Edo's family at the wedding were his Italian-born Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, his mother Nicola, and her third husband,  sculptor David Williams-Ellis. his sister, Natasha and her husband Tod Yeomans and their two children, Coco, and Freddie, 3, and his half brother, Alby Shales, whose father was the late Conservative politician Christopher Shales.

Edo, a London-based property developer, has a four-year-old son, Christopher Woolf, by American Dora Huang.   Christopher, who is known as Wolfie, was his father's best man.  Coco and Freddie were the bridesmaid and page boy respectively.   Princess Eugenie was her sister's maid of honor.

Princess Beatrice wore the Queen Mary Fringe Tiara, becoming the third royal bride to wear this tiara on her wedding day.  Queen Elizabeth II, as Princess Elizabeth, wore the tiara in 1947 when she married Prince Philip.  In 1973,  Princess Anne wore the tiara for her first marriage, to Mark Phillips.

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No one could have predicted that Beatrice would wear a gown worn by her grandmother several times in the 1960s.  The original gown, designed by Norman Hartnell, was first worn by Queen Elizabeth II during her State Visit to Italy in 1961.  She also wore the gown to the premiere of the film Lawrence of Arabia in 1967, and in 1967 to the  State Opening of Parliament.

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The Queen's dresser Angela Kelly and designer Stuart Parvin had three weeks to redesign the dress for Princess Beatrice.

The Duke of York hosted a reception for the bride and groom and their guests after the wedding.

Edo is a member of an Italian noble family that goes back to 1913.   He is a British national by birth and his father is a naturalized British citizen.  Since 1932,  British nationals cannot use foreign titles in the United Kingdom.  Titles of the nobility have not been recognized in Italy since the establishment of the Republic in 1948.   This means that Edo is Mr. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and not Count Edoardo.

After the wedding,  Princess Beatrice, following the tradition of previous royal brides, had her bouquet placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8537155/Beatrice-poses-new-husband-Edoardo-grandparents-socially-distanced-wedding.html

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Happy 75th birthday to Crown Prince Alexander

Alexander was born at Claridge's, in London.  In her memoirs, For the Love of a King,  Queen Alexandra wrote that she wanted to have her child born at the London hotel.  "...the doctors and gynecologists were persuading me to go to the London Clinic to have my baby, which was expected at the beginning of July. Everyone urged me to agree to this, but for once I was thoroughly stubborn. ' I am going to have my baby born in Claridge's', I said, and no arguments would dissuade me."

"It's comfortable, it's central, it has masses of hot water and lots of staff who all know me.  After all, it is my London home."

It was in Suite 212 at 9:15 p.m when Queen Alexandra gave birth to a son, Alexander, who was named in honor of both his grandparents,  King Alexander I of  Yugoslavia and King Alexander of the Hellenes.

The infant prince was baptized on October 24, 1945, at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was officiated by Yugoslav and Greek Orthodox clergy and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Crown Prince Alexander has lived at the Royal Palace in Dedinje, Belgrade, since July 2001, with his second wife, Crown Princess Katherine.  He has three sons,  Hereditary Prince Peter, and the twins Prince Philip and Prince Alexander, and one adorable grandson, Prince Stefan, the son of Prince Philip and Princess Danica.

Happy birthday, Sir ...   

I have had the honor of being a guest at HRH's 60th birthday celebrations in 2005,  the 25th wedding anniversary celebrations in 2010, and the state funeral for King Peter II, Queen Alexandra, Queen Marie and Prince Tomislav in 2013.  

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2020/04/exclusive-interview-with-crown-prince.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI8Leb5gKk8&feature=youtu.be

The following photos were taken by me during visits in 2005, 2010 and 2015 (Crown Prince Alexander's 60th birthday,  25th wedding anniversary, and the state funerals)

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Princess Beatrice and Edo are married

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Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi were married earlier today at the Royal Chapel of All Saints.  This chapel is on the grounds of Royal Lodge in Windsor Park.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, attended the wedding along with the bride's parents,  the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York.


The couple's wedding, which was scheduled to take place on May 29 at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, was postponed due to COVID-19

A photograph will be released on Saturday as the bride and groom do not want to overshadow Captain Sir Thomas Moore's investiture,  according to Buckingham Palace.

From Buckingham Palace: "The private wedding ceremony of Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi took place at 11am on Friday 17th July at The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor.

“The small ceremony was attended by The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and close family. The wedding took place in accordance with all relevant Government Guidelines.”

Prince Ernst August placed in Psych award after altercation

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Prince Ernst August of Hanover was brought to the Vöcklabruck Clinic early morning on July 15 after an altercation with the local police.  The 66-year-old prince was staying at his hunting lodge at Grünau, Upper Austria when he called 911 at 1:00 a.m. and said he was "in an emergency and needed immediate help." 

The police arrived within 20 minutes.  The prince had claimed he was in a ditch and two people were trying to kill him.  He told the police that they would find two people on his property.

 The police found the man and a woman, but Ernst August was nowhere to be located.  He wasn't in a ditch but in his house when the police found him.

Ernst August told the police that the man wanted to kill him three times by not giving him his medication.   [Neither the newspapers nor the police has identified the man and woman.]

 According to the police report, he was "extremely aggressive toward the police and physically attacked them"  with a 12-inch knife sharpener. A police officer knocked the sharpener out of his hand and pushed the prince to the ground.

"A policeman hit me.  I think they were drunk.  They restrained me in the ambulance."

As the police could not rule out self-harm,  Ernst August was taken to the Vöcklabruck Clinic for a psychiatric examination, on the orders of a doctor who arrived shortly after the police.   After a few seconds, the police allowed Ernst August to stand up.  The prince responded by allegedly hitting the officer in the face.  By that time, a doctor had arrived, and he made the decision to send Ernst August to the psychiatric ward.

 "I stood all night.  I told them they don't do that to me.  I am a normal person.  I screamed until I was allowed out."

Prince Ernst August was released after five hours and spoke to a reporter from the Kronen Zeitung, a local newspaper.  He also met again with the police.

The prince is now threatening to file a lawsuit against the police and the clinic. "Suddenly I am the culprit.  I am innocent," he said.  "A police officer hit me.  I think they were drunk, at least, they gave that impression," he told the reporter.

He said he fought back.  "I probably boxed back.   I was amazed.  Such a cheeky lout. They handcuffed me and pulled my pants down.  Then they dragged me across the room."

Authorities are looking at revoking Prince Ernst August's gun license.   He has suffered substance abuse issues for several decades.

This is not how you celebrate the births of your third and fourth grandchildren.

https://www.krone.at/2192509

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2018/03/oh-what-hanover.html

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/07/family-feud-ernst-august-vs-ernst-august.html

15 million and counting

Earlier today,   Royal Musings received its 15th millionth visitor since July 7, 2008, when I announced I would blog ...

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2008/07/royal-musings.html

I am an American royal historian who knows a lot about British and European royalty, especially the descendants of Queen Victoria.  Sometimes way too much information.  This is not acquired overnight.  Years of reading, studying, researching, writing, reading, studying, researching, writing, traveling .... reading.

As I am unable to travel far this year (or go to Nats game), I hope you will like my wildlife photos.  Here in Fairfax County, Virginia, I am blessed to have access to parks, wildlife refuges, wetlands, and gardens all within a 5-20 minute car ride.

Thank to my readers and followers!

Celebratory drinks appreciated but never required ... or expected