Helen and Michael to spend winter in Italy

January 14, 1927

Semi-official sources in Roumania are reporting today that Princes Helen and her 5-year-old son, Crown Prince Michael, will spend the winter in Rapallo, Italy. It is also believed that she will arrange for a meeting with Prince Carol, where he will be able to see his son.

Marie Adelaide quits throne

January 14, 1919

Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide, in proclamation dated Saturday, has abdicated, according to a dispatch sent to London's Daily Mail. The country of 200,000 remains undecided about offering the throne to one of Marie Adelaide's sisters or establish a republic.

Princess Stephanie faces arrest because she won't leave

January 13, 1941 

 The Justice Department today said that immigration officers have served a deportation order on Princess Stephanie of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, in Palo Alto, California. The princess had arrived in the USA in 1939 and received an extension to her visa. 

A second extension was denied, and she was to have left the country last Saturday. But on January 6, the princess notified immigration officials that she was unable to travel due to "a nervous condition." Two public health officials visited the princess and certified that she was suffering from "hysteria," and was "too ill to travel." 

However, according to the Justice Department's own report, the princess' physician told immigration officials that the princess had been taking sedatives, which had not been prescribed, and which were the cause of her mental and physical condition. He said there was no need for her to take the pills, which appear to have been illegally obtained. The Princess is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday. Bail has been set at $25,000. 

Princess Stephanie has been described as a Nazi sympathizer, although she denies these reports.

 In a statement from her home, where she remains in seclusion, the Princess said: "I am anti-Nazi, Pro-British and Pro-American. London is my home and England is my country." 

 Her lawyer, Stephen Bullock, tells the Los Angeles Times that his client "is not now and was never connected with the Nazi Government."

Ena will not attend Beatriz's wedding

January 13, 1935

Queen Ena of Spain will remain in London, and will not attend her elder daughter, Beatriz's wedding. Infanta Beatriz will be married tomorrow to Don Alessandro Torlonia, in Rome. Although the queen has said that said that she is happy about her daughter's marriage, her decision to not attend will raise more speculation about the state of her own marriage to King Alfonso XIII.
The Queen has been living in a London hotel for several months. King Alfonso will attend his daughter's wedding. His spokesman denies the reports about an official separation from the queen.

It's a girl for Giovanna and Boris

January 13, 1933 

 Queen Giovanna of Bulgaria gave birth to a daughter at 9:30 this morning in Sofia. Both mother and baby are doing well, according to official reports. At 10:30, a twenty-one gun salute announced the birth of a princess.

 At the first shot, school teachers suspended classes, and a national holiday was proclaimed. "As if by magic flags appeared in the windows," and within an hour "the streets outside the palace were filled with cheering crowds." Although a male heir was hoped for, the birth of a princess "postpones the political difficulties that would have arisen," if the queen had given birth to a son. 

There is now nothing to prevent the implementation of an agreement between King Boris III and Pope Pius. When the king married the Princess Giovanna of Savoy in 1930, he agreed that their children would be raised as Roman Catholics. Without this agreement, the Pope would not have permitted Giovanna to marry in the Catholic church. 

The birth of a son would have made the agreement difficult to maintain as the Bulgarian constitution requires that the eldest son be raised Orthodox. King Boris is a member of the Orthodox church. 

The yet-unnamed Princess will be raised as a Roman Catholic. The National Holiday will continue for the next two days.

Grand Duke Serge gives up Moscow Post

January 13, 1905

Grand Duke Serge of Russia has been relieved of his position as Governor General of Moscow, due to health reasons. He will retain his military command of Moscow, according to a new report. There have been threats to the Grand Duke's life since the recent demonstrations in Moscow by socialist and revolutionary groups. Grand Duke Serge has "kept strictly within the bounds of his palace."

Stephanie denies separation rumors

January 13, 1903

The Countess de Lonyay has sent a telegram to the Neues Wiener Journal from Cape Martin, near Mentone, France. The telegram reads: "Stories untrue. Count here. Deny impertinent rumors."

The Countess is the widow of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, and the daughter of King Leopold II of the Belgians.

Oops .. there goes the tree

and no cat to blame

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/4226455/Queens-18ft-Christmas-tree-toppled-at-Sandringham.html

Juan Carlos and Sofia to visit Florida

The King and Queen of Spain will visit Pensacola, Florida, in February, to celebrate the city's 450th anniversary. They will visit on February 18 and 19th.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view/2009_01_12_King_and_queen_of_Spain_to_visit_Pensacola/srvc=home&position=recent

Coburg Prince must find a wife or lose estate

January 12, 1929

Prince Philipp Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha has only seven months left to marry or he will lose an estate of more than 200,000 acres, spread out through all the countries of the former Austro-Hungarian empire. The estate includes "several towns and villages," as well as nearly 100 castles to choose to live in.
Twice the prince has had his wedding date postponed. According to the will of Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Philipp was to have married before his twenty-first birthday. But when he found he could not comply with the conditions, he asked the Hungarian court marshal for an extension until 1926. 

 But when he could not find a suitable bride, he asked for a further extension until August 1929. No further extensions will be granted.

If Prince Philip does not marry a woman of equal rank by August, he will forfeit the estate to Prince Cyril of Bulgaria.

Prince Philipp Josias is described as "quiet, earnest minded and dislikes society." He has a few hobbies, "such as cartooning and composing impromptu pieces on his famous antique piano."

Prince Cyril is "quite different" from his cousin. He is "big-hearted, jolly, and loves dancing and society."

The value of the Coburg estate is "almost inestimable." The Coburg palace in Budapest "alone are rooms full of historic pieces which would fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars in New York."

Prince Philipp Josias will celebrate his 29th birthday on August 18. He is the fifth child and third son of the late Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who died in 1922, and Archduchess Karoline of Austria. Philipp Josias' eldest brother, August, died at the age of thirteen in 1909. His second brother, Prince Rainer is divorced from a Hungarian noblewoman, Edith Karolyi de Karolyi-Patty, by whom he has one son.

The family descends from Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha who married Princess Clementine of Orleans. Their eldest son, Philipp, was married to Princess Louise of Belgium. They had one son, Leopold, who died unmarried in 1916. August and Clementine's second son, Prince August, was married to Leopoldina of Brazil. Prince Philipp Josias is their grandson. 

 Will he find a bride in time to save the family estate from Cyril of Bulgaria, who is the younger son of the former King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, who is the youngest son of Prince August and Princess Clementine?

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/12/prince-philipp-josias-settles-legacy.html

Luxembourg a republic as Grand Duchess retires

January 12, 1919

Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide has stepped down as ruler of tiny Luxembourg, and has retired to a nearby chateau. Following the grand duchess abdication, the country was proclaimed as a republic.

A Protestant chapel for the mother-in-law

January 12, 1907


King Alfonso XIII has authorized the opening of a Protestant chapel in the royal palace for the use of his mother-in-law, Princess Henry of Battenberg. The king gave his permission despite vocal opposition from the Court. Princess Henry is currently a guest of the king, "pending the confinement of the Queen." The princess will now have a place to worship during her stay in Spain.

Princess Stephanie abandoned by husband

Embed from Getty Images 

 January 12, 1903 

 The Chicago Tribune reports today that Countess Lonyay, formerly the Crown Princess Stephanie of Austria, has been deserted by her husband, Count Lonyay, whom she married in 1900. The count abandoned Stephanie at Mentone, France, on January 7. His present whereabouts are unknown, according to the report. Stephanie's marriage to Lonyay was "bitterly opposed" by her father, King Leopold II, and by her father-in-law, Emperor Franz Josef. Viennese dispatches state that the Count "feels humiliated at being obliged to occupy a position secondary to that of his wife." He also fears "financial ruin in consequence of exorbitant expenditure." 

The countess, on the other hand, says she has proof of her husband's infidelity. Several days ago, the countess apparently told her doctor that, "owing to malaria, her husband was suffering from mental depression." It is believed that the couple will now divorce. 

As the widow of Crown Prince Rudolf, Stephanie received an annual income of $125,000 and an apartment in the imperial palace. She was convinced that the Austrian emperor and her father, would "contribute handsomely" to her maintenance, even after her second marriage. She was to be disappointed because the Emperor would only give her $25,000 a year, and King Leopold, who did not approve of her marriage, chose to stop giving her $10,000 a year. Thus, Stephanie, with only one-fifth of her former income, tried to maintain her household, but has "found the task impossible." 

Stephanie also tried to use her daughter, Archduchess Elisabeth, to influence the emperor. The young Archduchess is said to be a favorite of her grandfather. Stephanie wanted to obtain permission to live in one of the imperial palaces, where she would be "out of the reach of the creditors." Franz Josef granted her the use of a palace at Hetezendorff, near Vienna, but "this privilege expired" when Elisabeth married Prince Otto of Windisch-Graetz on January 3, 1902. 

King Leopold III refuses to recognize Stephanie as his daughter, and would not permit her to attend the funeral of her mother, Queen Marie Henriette. The New York Times reports that the story about Stephanie and her husband was first published in Die Zeit, a Viennese paper, and has since been repeated in other newspapers. But the report adds "that it is difficult to ascertain the exact truth of the statement that the Count de Lonyay has actually left the Countess." It has not been easy for the count since his marriage to Stephanie, due to the differences in their social station. 

 It has been noted that when Stephanie has been paying "Imperial visits," her husband "was compelled to wait in a carriage outside." Disputes and arguments, largely over money, started within the first year of the marriage. The Countess appeared unwilling or unable to "conform herself to the life of a simple countess," after years of "expensive traveling." 

 The Count wanted to settle down in Budapest, where he has an estate, but Stephanie insisted on living in London and maintaining an expensive lifestyle. Further problems arose when the count refused to sell his Hungarian estates in order to continue to maintain his wife's imperial lifestyle. It is believed that the Countess has been able to borrow money from her daughter, Elisabeth, but during a recent visit in December to Elisabeth's home in Prague, Stephanie stayed only an hour, as Elisabeth refused to further help her mother. Elisabeth's husband has apparently interfered with his wife's role as an intermediary between Stephanie and the Emperor. 

The former Austrian Crown Princess is described as "imperious, arrogant, and insanely jealous."

Will the Duke of Orleans return to England to live

January 12, 1901

There appears to be a plan for the Duke to Orleans to return to his home, York House, in Twickenham, thanks to the intervention of his mother, the Countess of Paris. The Duke got himself into a bit of hot water, when he "congratulated the designer of the caricatures grossly insulting to Queen Victoria," which had been published in Paris comic papers. The Countess has been in contact with the Queen her son, the Prince of Wales, "in the hope of patching up the matter."

Olympic medalist Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg is in Australia

Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who won an equestrian bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Games, is visiting Australia.

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/danish-princess-visits-hunter/1401931.aspx