2 new QVDs: Princess Feodora zu Leiningen and Caspian Prinz von Preussen

@ Svenja/Castleholic

It is a girl for the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Leiningen as Princess Viktoria Luise gave birth to  Feodora. on August 16th in Frankfurt-am-Main.  This is the second daughter of the Hereditary Prince and Princess.   Their first child, Alexandra, was born on February 28, 2020.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2020/03/another-qvd.html

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 The name honors Queen Victoria's older half-sister, HSH Princess Anna Feodora Auguste Charlotte Wilhelmine (1807-1872), who was the second child of Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld and Emich Carl of Leiningen, who died in 1814.  

Three years after her husband's death, the widowed Princess of Leiningen married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (1767-1820), fourth son of King George III.   The future Queen Victoria was born on May 24, 1819.   

 Princess Feodora married  Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1794–1860) in Kensingtom Palace.  This marriage had been largely arranged by the Prince's first cousin, Queen Adelaide, the consort of King William IV.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-marriage-of-princess-feodore.html

Feodora and her husband were the parents of six children, the youngest of whom was named Feodora (1839-1872). She married  Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen.  

Three of Feo's granddaughters were also named for her:  HSH Feodora Viktoria Alberta of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1866 -1932), daughter of HSH Hermann, Prince of Leiningen, Countess Feodora (Feo) Georgina Maud Gleichen (1861 – 1922), daughter of HSH Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Count Gleichen and HH Princess Feodora Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1874-1910), daughter of Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg who was the wife of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenberg.   Neither Countess (later Lady) Feodora nor Princess Feodora of Schleswig-Holstein married.

Primces Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Emich, 5th Prince of Leiningen

In July 1894,  Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg married her second cousin Emich 5th Prince of Leiningen (1866-1939)   Prince Emich was born at Osborne House in 1866.  One of his godparents was his great-aunt, Princess Feodora, the Dowager Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

The new Princess Feodora has four lines of descent from Queen Victoria.  She is also descended from Victoria's two half-siblings,  Carl, Prince of Leiningen, and Princess Feodora.

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

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

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

On August 21, 2021,  Viktoria Luise's sister-in-law, Princess Angelina, wife of Prince Joachim Albrecht, gave birth to a son, Caspian Friedrich Joachim Albrecht.

He was born in Berlin.   This is the second child for the couple.  They have a daughter, Georgina Angelina Sylvia Ehrengard, who was born September 17, 2018 in Berlin.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-marriage-of-prince-joachim-of.html

Princes Marie of Liechtenstein (1940-2021)

 

Death of Count Riprand von und zu Arco-Zinneberg

@American Assets Corporation

Count Riprand Franz Maria von und zu Arco-Zinneberg died today, August 24, 2021, from cancer in a hospital in Salzburg, Austria  He was 66 years old and had been battling the disease since 2019.

The count was born on July 25, 1955, the second son and youngest child of Count Ulrich von und zu Arco-Zinneberg and Countess Maria Theresia of Preysing-Lichtenegg-Moos.  He was a  great-grandson of the last Bavarian King, Ludwig III, and his wife, Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria.  

Ludwig's youngest child, Princess Gundelinde was Riprand's maternal grandmother.

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2010/03/princess-gundelinde-of-bavaria.html

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 Count Riprand was married to HI & RH Archduchess Maria Beatrix Anna Felicitas Zita Charlotte Adelheid Christina Elisabeth Gennara of Austria, the eldest child of HI & RH Archduke Robert of Austria and Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta.  Their civil wedding took place in St. Martin Im Innkreis, Austria on March 31, 1980.  The religious service was celebrated on April 26  in the cathedral at Chartres, France. Their wedding was the Point de Vue's cover story for the May 16, 1980 issue.

Maria Beatrix is the granddaughter of the last Emperor of Austria, Karl I, and his wife, Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma.  She and her late husband are 5th cousins as both are descendants of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (1756-1825).

The Count and Countess were included in a New York Times article, The Royal Treatment, which was published on April 25, 2010, and featured interviews with Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Prince Philippos of Greece, Archduke Geza of Austria, Prince Peter of Yugoslavia, and Count Riprand and his wife, all of whom were living in the New York metropolitan area.   In 2010, the Arcos were living in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Maria Beatrix told reporter Christine Haughney that her family connections with Riprand made marriage "easier when you have a lot of common values."

The couple arrived in the United States in 1983 and soon settled in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they raised their six daughters.  In 1989, the couple began "buying shopping centers from their kitchen table" in their Charlotte home.  Count Riprand noted that they owned a 15th-century castle near Munich on the Danube and a summer home in the Dominican Republic, but "these properties were paid through their hard work in business," and not with an inherited fortune. 

"People love their dreams and they romanticize things.  There is a great discrepancy between the cliches and the reality," he said.

The Count and his wife were the parents of six daughters: Countess Anna Theresa (1981), who married Colin McKenzie in September 2018, Countess Margherita (1983), H IH Olympia, Princes Napoleon (1988), the wife of HIH, Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoleon, Countess Maximiliana (1990), Countess Marie Gabrielle (1992), and Countess Giorgiana  (1997).

Marie Gabrielle is a trained opera singer and sings professionally as Marie Gabriele Arco.   Margherita, Maximiliana, and Giorgiana all live in London and work for Free Architect Film, Tristan Capital Partners, and Trends & Culture, respectively.

https://www.mariegabriellearco.com/bio

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https://www.vhlf.org/board-of-directors/riprand-graf-arco-zinneberg/

https://www.arcobraeu.de/en/familienchronik-1

Count Riprand graduated with a master’s degree in Civil Engineering and Architecture from the Technische Universität München and spent many years in the United States where he and his wife raised their daughters in Connecticut.   In 1986, he founded the American Asset Corporation, which has offices in New York City and North Carolina, and remained as Chairman until his death.  Archduchess Maria Beatrix remains a partner in the firm.

https://www.aacusa.com/

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 He and his wife divided their time between New York City and Austria and Germany, where they owned several residences including Arco Palace in Munich and Schloss Moos.  The family brewery, Arco Bräu, is based in Moos, Bavaria, and is run by their eldest daughter, Anna Theresa. 

Count Riprand inherited the brewery and estate in 2003 which was left to him by his mother, Countess Maria-Theresia von und zu Arco-Zinneberg, born Countess von Preysing-Lichtenegg and Moos. She was the granddaughter of King Ludwig III.

"Moos is my home", the count once said as the "Arcobräu brewery has always been close to his heart, according to PNP newspaper.

The Count had also "declared that only one of his daughters would inherit the traditional fortune so that it would be preserved."

Count Riprand is survived by his wife, their six daughters, two sons-in-law, and one granddaughter, Josephine McKenzie (2019).

https://www.pnp.de/lokales/landkreis-deggendorf/osterhofen/Riprand-Graf-Arco-Zinneberg-verstorben-4083835.html

https://www.pnp.de/nachrichten/bayern/Riprand-Graf-von-und-zu-Arco-Zinneberg-ueberraschend-verstorben-4083889.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2019/10/prince-jean-christophe-napoleon-weds.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2019/03/exclusive-royal-engagement-countess.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2018/10/photos-wedding-of-countess-anna-theresa.html

Princess Marie's state funeral

 

@Princely Family of Liechtentstein

The Princess of Liechtenstein's state funeral will take place in the St. Florin's Cathedral in Vaduz on August 28. The  Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra, along with the choir and soloists, will provide musical accompaniment in honor of the late princess, who died at age 81 on August 20, following a stroke.  

The funeral will take place at 2 p.m. and will be limited to invited guests.   It will be televised on Landeskanal and live-streamed on the www.landeskanal.li website.

Thursday, August 26; 6.30 p.m .: Transfer to Vaduz Cathedral

Thursday, August 26; from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Laying out in Vaduz Cathedral with the option of entering it in the condolence book

Friday, August 27, 2021; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.: Laying out in Vaduz Cathedral with the option of entering it in the condolence book

Friday, August 27, 2021; 19 o'clock: Rosary prayers in the churches of Liechtenstein parishes

Sunday, September 5, 2021, and Sunday, October 3, 2021, at 9.30 a.m .: Commemorative masses on the 7th or 30th in the Vaduz Cathedral

The Princess of Liechtenstein (1940-2021)

 

@Princely House of Liechtenstein

An announcement from the Princely House:

"Her Serene Highness Princess Marie von und zu Liechtenstein died on 21 August 2021 at 4:43 pm in the hospital in Grabs. After her health steadily deteriorated following a stroke on 18 August 2021, she passed away today in the presence of her family and after receiving the Holy Sacraments of the Last Supper, peacefully and with great trust in God."

From the Princely family's website

"Princess Marie, wife of Prince Hans-Adam II, was born in Prague as the fourth of seven children of Count Ferdinand Carl Kinsky von Wchinitz and Tettau and Countess Henriette, née Countess von Ledebur-Wicheln.

Her family was expelled from what was then Czechoslovakia in 1945 and fled to Germany. Princess Marie attended elementary school in Ering am Inn from 1946 to 1949. She then entered the boarding school of the Lioba sisters in the Wald monastery in Württemberg for eight years and graduated from the Realgymnasium.

 Princess Marie completed a language study trip to England. She then attended the Academy for Commercial Graphics at the University of Munich for six semesters and graduated with a diploma. After another, shorter language stay in Paris, she worked as a commercial artist in a print shop in Dachau until her engagement in 1965."

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She was born in Prague on April 14, 1940, and died in a hospital in Grabs, Switzerland.  She was 81 years old. 

Princess Marie Aglaë Bonaventura Theresia married the then Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam II at St. Florin's in Vaduz on July 30, 1967. They have four children: Hereditary Prince Alois (1968), Prince Maximilian (1969), Prince Constantin (1972), and Princess Tatjana (1973).   She is survived by her husband, Prince Hans Adam II, their children, and 15 grandchildren: TSH Prince Josef Wenzel, Princess Marie Caroline, Prince Georg, Prince Nikolaus, Prince Alfons, Prince Moritz, Princess Georgina, Prince Benedikt of Liechtenstein and Lukas, Elisabeth, Marie, Camilla, Anna, Sophie, Maximillan von Lattorf.

https://www.volksblatt.li/nachrichten/Liechtenstein/Vermischtes%20highlighted/vb/284878/trauer-um-furstin-marie

This image and all that follow are from the Marlene A Eilers Koenig collection

In August 1989, I had a private tour of part of Schloss Vaduz   The Prince of Liechtenstein (Franz Josef invited me, but when I finally was able to visit, I was told that I could not meet with the Prince.  I did not know and was not told that he was unwell.  The tour did place with the Prince's secretary. I met the then Hereditary Prince and Princess and Prince Alois and their dog as I walked across the courtyard.)   Franz Josef II died on November 13, 1989, 13 days after the death of his wife Princess Gina.

http://www.luxarazzi.com/2013/06/luxarazzi-101-princess-marie-of.html?m=1

The wedding of Benedikt von Doderer and Elisabeth von Brauchitsch

The newlyweds

 Benedikt von Doderer and Elisabeth von Brauchitsch were married on August 14 at St. Salvator at the Heilig Kreuz monastery in Polling, Bavaria.  Both are members of German noble families.  Benedikt is the managing director of CBVD GmbH, a consulting company in Bavaria.

Carl Benedikt Christian Herbert Alexander von Doderer was  born in April 1964, the son of Christian Herbert Richard and Baroness Stephanie  von Wechmar.  Elisabeth-Catharina Susanne Maria Hulda Christiane von Brauchitsch, who was born in 1990, is the daughter of Constantin Bernhard Hellmuth Gerd von Brauchitsch and Baroness Christiane von Künsberg.

Archduchess Pilar of Austria & her husband, Vollrad von Poschinger

The Prince of Thurn un Taxis

Princess Isabelle of Hohenberg, Frau Bagusat (left)

HSH Princess Antonia of Thurn und Taxis   (left) and HSH Princess Christa of Thurn und Taxis

The guest list included members of German noble and princely families including HSH The Prince of Thurn und Taxis, HSH Princess Antonia of  Thurn und Taxis, HSH Prince  Philipp  of  Oettingen - Wallerstein,  Vollrad von Poschinger and his wife, HI & RH Archduchess  Pilar of Austria, Count Niklas of Salm Reifferschaidt, HSH Princess Marie-Antoinette of Fürstenberg, Frau Bagusat, who was accompanied by her son, Franziskus Bagusat and his wife, Princess Isabelle of Hohenberg.

The wedding reception was planned by Hohenberg Events, a company owned by Isabelle's brother,    Isabelle's brother Georg, Prince of Hohenberg.

Thanks to a dear friend who sent me these photos to use here.  The copyright is retained by the photographer.

Princess of Liechtenstein suffers a stroke

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A release from the Princely House of Liechtenstein:

"The Princely House regrets to announce that HSH the Princess suffered a stroke yesterday. She is receiving care in the hospital. The Princely Family asks for your understanding that no further information will be given at this time."

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Marie, 81, is the wife of the Sovereign Prince, HSH Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein.  She was born in Prague on April 14, 1940 as Countess Marie Aglaë Bonaventura Theresia Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau.  She married Prince Hans Adam in Vaduz on July 30, 1967.

The couple have four children:  Hereditary Prince Alois, Prince Maximilian, Prince Constantin, and Princess Tatjana

 

HI & RH Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria (1939-2021)

Archduchess Maria Magadalena of Austria, Baroness von Holzhausen  (1939-2021) @Marlene Eilers Koenig

HI & RH Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria, Princess of Tuscany died on August 18 at Salzburg, Austria.  She was born on October 2, 1939, at Schloss Mondsee, the 5th of six children of  HRH Princess Ileana of Romania and  HI & RH Archduke Anton of Austria, Prince of Tuscany.

Archduchess Maria Magdalena was 81 years old.

She  married Baron Hanns Ulrich von Holzhausen in Mondsee, Austria in  August 1959.  Maria Magdalena, who was known as Magi, is survived by her husband, and their three children, Baron Johan, Baron Georg,  and Baroness Alexandra, Mrs. Ferch, and eight grandchildren.  She is also survived by two siblings,  Archduchess Alexandra and Archduke Dominic.

Marlene Eilers Koenig Collection

80th birthday of Archduke Anton of Austria in 1981:   Archduke Dominic, Archduchess Maria Magdalena, Arxhduke Anton, Archduchesd Alexandra, Archduchess Elisabeth and Archduke Stefan 
Marlene Eilers Koenig Collection

Archduchess Elisabeth,  Archduke Dominic and Archduchess Maria Magdalena (Castle Bran)

@Castle bran

The Archduchess and two of her siblings, Archduke Dominic and Archduchess Elisabeth  (1942-2019) became the owners of Bran Castle in Brasov, Romania, which had been owned by their late mother, Princess Ileana.  After a five-year legal, the castle was returned to Ileana's children in 2006.  Ileana's two other surviving children, Archduchess Alexandra and Archduke Stefan, the latter of whom lived in the United States, renounced their claims to the property.

In 1997 Archduchess Maria Magdalena attended her 40th high school reunion at Notre Dame de Sion High School in Kansas City, Missouri.  She was a pupil at the school from 1953 until 1957.  After graduation, she returned to Austria to live.  

The school was run by a Roumanian nun, Mother Irene, who, with the help of Princess Ileana, had escaped Roumania after the Communist takeover.   In 1953, the Princess was touring the United States, where she spoke about communism in Roumania and her life as a princess; and, it was during a stop in Kansas City, where Ileana ran into Mother Irene.  The Roman Catholic nun, eager to repay the princess for her kindness, offered scholarships to Maria Magdalena and Elisabeth.   

Maria Magdalena's class was small, with only 14 students. "We always felt that we belonged in Europe.  But I loved being here, especially in Kansas City because of all the wonderful people I met.  We couldn't have afforded the school; we were refugees.  It was very kind and generous of Mother Irene," she told the Kansas City Star.

She married Baron Hanns von Holzhausen two years later and lived in Salzburg where they raised their three children.

https://www.romaniajournal.ro/society-people/archduchess-maria-magdalena-granddaughter-of-king-ferdinand-and-queen-mary-dies/

Queen Victoria - Alfred - Marie - Ileana - Maria Magdalena

https://www.romaniaregala.ro/jurnal/arhiducesa-maria-magdalena-a-austriei-in-memoriam/

Interview with long forgotten Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich

August 12, 1911

The New York Times reports today on one of the "strangest tales of secret murder and banishment" that has hit the Russian Imperial Family.   Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich is the "lost and forgotten member of the house that has ruled Russia with an iron hand" for several hundred years.  For the past thirty years. the Grand Duke has lived in exile, "guarded day and night by a detachment of soldiers." 

Nicholas has, however, found contentment and comparative happiness in his banishment.  He has reconciled himself to his "desolate environment" and wants to be alone, "to live his life of simplicity with those he lives."

In St. Petersburg, his name is never spoken.  Officially he is"dead."   Nicholas had incurred Alexander III's displeasure, and he "disappeared as if by magic."  His offense was the "harboring of revolutionary ideas."   Nicholas was 30 years old when he was banished to Orenburg, for an "indefinite exile."  He lived "under guard" in modest quarters.  His identity was kept secret.

 

It was is Orenburg when he met the "charming daughter" of the local Police Commissioner.   It was only after Nicholas "wooed and wed" the charming young woman did his identity become known.    This marriage took place without the Emperor's knowledge, and was, of course, morganatic.

 Alexander III's wrath knew no bounds.  He banished Nicholas to the wilds of Turkestan, and "issued an order" that Nicholas's name is struck from the family roll.  Nicholas and his wife have apparently remained in Turkestan, largely forgotten by the Romanovs and the Russian public.

An American, Capt. Harvey, who was recently in Odessa, confirmed that the Grand Duke has never been permitted to leave Turkestan.   He knows this because several weeks ago, he met the Grand Duke while on a hunt in Russian Turkestan, near Tashkent "before the British frontier."

Nicholas addressed the American in Russian.  Harvey replied in English, which "brought a quick response in that language.  The two men "fell into conversation," and Harvey "was graciously invited to spend the night."

Harvey was curious about his host's identity, after being taken to Nicholas' home on the edge of town: a "spacious park in the middle of which stood a palace worthy of any potentate."  The palace was well hidden by forests.   As they reached the terrace,  Nicholas' wife came out to greet them.

In the evening, Harvey rose to leave, but his host and hostess would not allow it and insisted he stay the night.   "Besides I fear your exit from the park gates would be hard after dark," Nicholas said.   

Harvey asked why, and Nicholas responded:  "Because there is a strong guard outside."    He "quickly changed the subject."

The American then thought he had been kidnapped and would be held to ransom, but his host was "calmly smoking," and his wife's "eyes were downcast."   Harvey thought it "weird and uncanny."

Dinner was served "in a spacious dining room," the food and wine were excellent."   Nicholas talked of everything but himself, and his wife said very little.  After she had gone inside,  Nicholas turned to his guest: "You are wondering what it all means.   I am the Grand Duke Nicolai Konstantovich."

Capt. Harvey, who knew a bit about the Imperial family," sputtered ''But-but-you-he-died thirty years ago!"

"That's what my cousin, Alexander III, circulated in Petersburg, and in a way it is true.  Politically, I died thirty years ago.  My existence came to a sudden end.  You will no longer find my name in the lists of the Czar's uncles, cousins, and brothers.  At the age of 30, I was brought here to the wilds of Turkestan at the behest of the Dowager Empress, Alexander II's widow.  Alexander III, my first cousin, would have given me other punishment for my liberal ideas; the present Czar, his son, has forgotten all about me -- so much the better.

"I have not spoken to a foreigner since I left St. Petersburg.  I cannot say how glad I was to meet you in the forest this afternoon, for, when a young man, I had what was then called 'Western ideas.'   They nearly brought me solitary confinement for life in a cell of Schusselberg Palace, for I proclaimed my views in the drawing rooms of St. Petersburg, regardless of the fact that my father had been exiled for that very offense.  So the Czar determined to get rid of me, as his father had rid himself of my father before me.

"At first Alexander III thought to send me to a dungeon of one of our castles and keep there for life -- not much of a life for a young man of 30, with a taste for shooting and outdoor life. Even today, after thirty years of exile, I believe my cousin thought he was doing the best thing for the country when he sent all who had Western ideas to Siberia."

It was Alexander's mother who persuaded him to send Nicholas to Turkestan.  "There was no railway station thirty years ago, so Turkestan was as remote as the north pole today.  Most of my fortune was confiscated, but the Dowager Empress helped me in this as well, and after a year's good behavior, I was allowed to enjoy a comfortable revenue.

Nicholas noted that he was watched closely by the Governor-General of Tashkent. The Governor was under strict orders to not allow Nicholas to leave the house or grounds. 

But "after some years I built this house, in the pattern of the one I was born in.  It helped me to forget many weary days.  Of course, no letters were allowed to reach more from the outer world, and I learned I had by the Czar's orders been struck off the lists of his relatives and army; and the mention of my name was forbidden."

Capt. Harvey said he had been in the area for more than a month and had never heard the Grand Duke's name mentioned.

"The fact that I am forgotten has for a long time been in my favor.  Gradually, the military surveillance has ceased, except that nobody is allowed to leave my park gates after nightfall.  A picket of soldiers is always stationed there.  Had you left us when you wished, you would have been arrested and taken before the Governor-General.  The present Czar, who has forgotten my existence and is probably quite as reactionary in his ideas as his father who exiled me, might have been reminded of my presence and made things uncomfortable for me.  I wish to remain forgotten at Court."

Nicholas paused to reflect on his "shadowy Court life."   "On the other side of the Atlantic, you know what freedom means.  I hoped, as did my father before me, that Russia would know, too.  Like him, I was born too early.  My son, who has not the right to be called a Romanoff, may live to see it.  He is a woodsman like myself and has gone hunting, otherwise, you would have met him.  My daughter is married to an officer here.  They are as happy as I have been in my marriage."

Captain Harvey left the next morning.  Later that day, he had lunch at a local hotel with an official he knew, and after several glasses of wine, and "a little diplomatic questioning," the official confirmed Grand Duke Nicholas' story.  He also learned that Nicholas' father, Grand Duke Konstantine Nicolaivich, spent the final fifteen years of his life in exile, "for holding too liberal views about the Government."   Konstantine's wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, was never permitted to "share her husband's exile in the Crimea."  She remained at her villa at Petrovsk.   It was only during her final illness that Konstantine was permitted to visit her.   He died not long afterward.

Nicholas II ordered Konstantine's home in Crimea to be "searched for revolutionary documents," but before the soldiers arrived, the place "was burned down, it was said, by a trusty servant who had pledged his word to guard the secrets of his dying master."

For more about the scandal that sent Nicholas to Tashkent, please see  The Scandalous Mrs. Blackford, an  American woman who was involved with the Grand Duke, and played a role in the scandal that led to Nicholas' banishment.)

Grand Duke Georg and Victoria Romanovna sign their wedding banns

 

HIH Grand Duke George of Russia and Victoria Romanovna Bettarini signed their marriage banns yesterday in St. Petersburg

The couple will be married on October 1 at St Isaac's Cathedral in St Petersburg.   Their civil wedding, which is required by Russian law, will take place on September 24 in Moscow.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2021/01/official-engagement-of-grand-duke-george.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2021/01/more-on-grand-duke-georges-bride.html

Archduchess Elisabeth sentenced to jail

 August 5, 1921

Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, the granddaughter of the late Emperor Franz Josef, has been sentenced to ten days in jail, according to a special cable from the New York Times.  She has defied an order to surrender her four children to the police.   Her estranged husband, Prince Otto of Windisch-Graetz granted custody of the couple's four children pending a final ruling in their divorce proceedings.

She is the only daughter of the late Archduke Rudolf, who "perished in the mysterious tragedy of Mayerling."

Elisabeth was barely 19 when she gave her heart to Prince Otto.  This "fact was the beginning of her history of tears."   Her grandfather, the elderly Emperor, refused to consent to the marriage.  The young archduchess was "wise for her generation."  She managed to secure the support of her aunt, Archduchess Valerie, and Katharina Schratt, who was the Emperor's longtime companion.

Franz Josef had hoped his darling Erzsi would marry Prince Albert of Belgium or Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany.  Elisabeth, however, was determined to marry Otto though he was of a lesser rank, a serene highness.  The three women "won the old man over," and he gave his consent to the marriage.   

Otto may not have been as enamored with Erzsi as she was with him and was said to be "dumbfounded" when he learned that he was engaged to Elisabeth.  He had been preparing to marry a Countess von Schönborn when he was told to end that engagement.

  Elisabeth, as required, renounced her right to the throne, before the wedding, which took place on January 23, 1902.   

The couple has four children, Franz Josef, 17,  Ernst, 16, Rudolf, 14, and 12-year-old Stephanie.

The romance faded quickly, which was compounded by the world war and the fall of the Austrian monarchy.  Fidelity was not a hallmark of this marriage as Elisabeth and Otto were unfaithful.  During the War, Elisabeth had an affair with Egon Lerch, an Austrian submarine captain.

When the police came to her home to issue the judge's order, Elisabeth "barricaded herself in her house with a bodyguard of big dogs.   When the officer demanded she surrender her children, Elisabeth told him:  "You are a pig and you have been sent here by a pig. If you try to get in I will give you to my dogs to eat."

She responded to the summons with a letter but did not report to the court.  The Magistrate found Elisabeth to be in contempt of court and sentenced her to ten days in jail.

The main topic of conversation in Vienna centers on whether or not Erzsi will be arrested and sent to jail.

If you like this article you can buy me a cup of coffee

Royal treasures removed from Tatoi

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 Many items were removed last night from Tatoi, the former royal summer home.  The removal of art and other treasures was deemed to be precautionary as the fire in Varybobi did not reach Tatoi.

The transfer was undertaken by  Greece's Civil Protection department in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Special care was taken for the "preventive transfer and removal' of the valuable items.

Unfortunately, the fire was unable to be contained and has reached Tatoi.   One news report states: "The fire is very big, it is constantly spreading, it is moving northwest. and has reached the royal estate of Tatoi."   The fire brigade reports that the fire is "very close to the containers that were placed to store the palace objects."

In the 1880s, the Danish-born King George I of the Hellenes bought the estate with private funds.  A fire destroyed the house in 1916.  After King Constantine I and his family went into exile in 1917, Tatoi fell into disrepair and was not returned to the King -- George II - until 1936.

King George II was in exile during the Second World War.  He regained Tatoi after he returned to Greece in 1946.  Following his death, the estate passed to his brother, King Paul, who died in 1964.  Paul's only son, King Constantine II, who left Greece in 1967 after a failed coup, remained the owner of the property until 1994 when Andreas Papapandreou's government confiscated it.

In 2003, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the former king had remained the owner of the property, but could not force the Greek government to return it.  But they were able to require the government to pay Constantine a paltry 12 million Euros, as he received only 12 percent of the Tatoi's value.   Constantine used the money to seed the Anna-Maria Foundation, which assists Greeks who have suffered losses during natural disasters.

It was not until 2019 that the Ministry of Culture finally announced plans for Tatoi's reservation including using the house as a museum of the Greek Royal Family. 

Twenty members of the Greek Royal Family are buried in the Mausoleum and cemetery adjacent to the house.

Greek TV has reported that Prince Nikolaos, Constantine's second son, who lives in Athens with his wife, Tatiana, was at Tatoi earlier today