Archduke Josef Albrecht marries Countess Sophie

 

Archduke Josef Albrecht of Austria and Countess Sophie von Schaesberg were married on August 26, 2023, at St. Johannes Baptist church in Sünching Bavaria

More than five hundred guests attended the "big. colorful family celebration," Countess Sophie, wearing a wedding gown designed by Lorenzo Capile, and her father arrived at church in a carriage shortly before noon.  The wedding ceremony took just over an hour, and at 1:12 p.m. Josef Albrecht and Sophie emerged from the church as husband and wife.   

The couple with their family and guests walked several hundred feet from the church to Sünching Castle for the reception. Sophie's maternal grandfather owns the castle, which he inherited from his grandmother, Countess Seinsheim in 1958.   He lives in the castle with his wife and daughter, Antoinette.

Josef Albrecht, 29, and Sophie, 25, met at a birthday party in Portugal in 2019.  He proposed to Sophie in late 2021 at a Pittsburgh Steelers- Chicago Bears football game.  The Archduke used to play American football.

The bride was given away by her father, Johannes, Count von Schaesberg.  Her sister, Countess Marie-Dorothee von Schaesberg, and Archduke Josef Albrecht's brother Archduke Paul, were the witnesses to the wedding.

Sophie's mother, Baroness Antoinette von Hoenning-O'Carroll, and the Count of Schaesberg are divorced.  Their marriage was annulled in 2011.   Archduke Josef Albrecht is the eldest son of Archduke Josef Karl of Austria and Princess Margarete of Hohenberg.  

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2022/01/an-imperial-engagement.html

The five hundred wedding guests included Princess Luisa of Belgium,  Lord Downpatrick, the Duke and Duchess of Braganza and their son, Infante Afonso, the Prince of Thurn und Taxis and his mother, Princess Gloria, the Hereditary Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Archduke Michael and Archduchess Christina of Austria, the Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, Prince and Princess Dominic of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, Archduchess Maria of Austria (widow of the late Archduke  István of Austria, Prince and Princess Wenzel of Liechtenstein,  Count Paul von Schönborn with his family, the Duke of Croy and his children, Count and Countess Drechsel, the Prince and Princess of Oettingen-Wallerstein,  Princess Reuss, Theodor Ritter Mautner Markhoff and his wife, Marie Antoinette, Archduke Karl of Austria with his wife, Christian, and his three children (from his first marriage), Archduke Ferdinand, Archduchess Eleonore and Archduchess Gloria,  The Duke of Württemberg, the Princess of Castell-Rüdenhausen, the Margrave and Margravine of Meissen and German actor Alexander Held.

The bridesmaids and best men were Clara Jebsen, Countess Marie Dorothee von Schaesberg, Emanuel Mendez de Vigo, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Archduke Frederic of Austria, Baron Johannes Gemmingen Hornberg and Archduke Paul of Austria.  The bride's flower girls and pages were Flora Hagen, Laszlo delle Piane, Sophie Reitzenstein, Count Carl Louis and Count Nikolai von Schaesberg, Constantin, Sophia, and Lucia Yep.

Baron Franz-Ferdinand von Feilitzsch and The Duke of Württemberg 

Archduke Karl and his wife, Christian

The Prince of Thurn und Taxis

Alexander Held, a German actor

the Margrave and Margrave of Meissen

Princess Albrecht of Hohenberg, grandmother of the groom,  Antoinette Countess of Schaesberg and Archduke Josef Karl of Austria

The Prince and Princess of Oettingen Wallerstein

The Prince of Thurn und Taxis with his mother and sister

Father Dichgans is the son of Countess Eleonore of Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchberg and Josef Dichgans.  His maternal grandmother was Princess Eleonore of Bavaria

Archduke Karl of Austria and his wife Christian

The Prince of Thurn und Taxis

Count and Countess von Drechsel

The Prince of Beira with his sister, Infanta Maria Francisca, and her fiance Duarte de Sousa Araújo Martins.

The Duke of Croy with his daughter

The couple will be spending their honeymoon in the United States.  Afterward, they will divide their time between Schloss Sünching and Budapest, where the Archduke works in commodities trade.  Sophie recently completed a computer science degree in Madrid and has plans to work in IT.

The copyright belongs to a friend.   Thank you for allowing me to use the photos.