Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Princess Hubertus of Prussia has died


HRH Princess Hubertus of Prussia died on October 10, 2009, at Schloss Löwenstein, Kleinheubach, the home of her daughter, Anastasia, the Princess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. She was 89 years old, and the last surviving daughter-in-law of Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Princess Hubertus was born HSH Princess Magdalene Reuss on August 20, 1920, at Leipzig, the elder daughter of Prince Heinrich XXXVI Reuss and his wife, Princess Hermine of Schönburg-Waldenburg. The princess married Prince Hubertus of Prussia on June 5,1943 at Schloss Prillwitz, Mecklenburg.

Prince Hubertus, the third son of the former Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia, was married twice. His first wife was Baroness Maria Anna von Humboldt-Dachdroeden, whom he married on December 29, 1941. The marriage was dissolved by divorce a year later.

Prince Hubertus, who had served in the German military, and his wife settled briefly in Silesia. However, with the advancing Red Army, Prince and Princess Hubertus, and their infant daughter, Anastasia, were forced to flee to the west. They were able to find a home with the Prince and Princess of Ysenburg-Büdingen. The Princess was a cousin of Princess Hubertus.

In 1947, Prince Hubertus found work managing several wineries. That same year, Princess Hubertus gave birth to a second daughter, Marie Christine.

After receiving a British exit permit from Germany in January 1950, Prince Hubertus, then only 40, moved to South-West Africa to begin a new life as a sheep farmer. He had chosen the former German colony because it "was a haven of rest far distant from the political turmoil in Germany." Prince Hubertus found that the "spirit of imperial days survives among the German element in the former colony."
 
The prince had leased a sheep farm near Windhoek, and it was reported in March 1950 that his wife and children planned to join him in the summer. The ranch was previously owned by Hubertus's grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and was inherited by Hubertus' British-based younger brother, Prince Friedrich.
 
In early April 1950, Prince Hubertus was stricken with appendicitis. Complications followed, and he died from peritonitis. Princess Hubertus was at her husband's bedside when he died.

The princess raised her two daughters, Princess Anastasia and Princess Marie Christine, in Germany. In 1965, Princess Anastasia married the then Hereditary Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. A year later, Princess Marie Christine was killed in an auto accident.

Princess Hubertus will be buried next to her husband at Burg Hohenzollern. She is survived by her daughter, Anastasia, and son-in-law, Aloys Konstantin, 9th Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenburg, four grandchildren, Carl-Friedrich, Hubertus, Christina Maria, and Dominik, and eight great-grandchildren.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Simeon confirms separation

King Simeon of Bulgaria has confirmed the separation of the Prince and Princess of Preslav. In a statement released to the media, the king said "that we regret the decision that the couple have lived separately for some time."
The separation between Prince Kyril, a London financier, and his wife, Rosario, a art expert and Valentino's muse, is described as temporary. The king hopes that the couple, who have two daughters and one son, will be able to work out their problems.
The Prince and Princess live in London.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

I've joined the global epidemic!

I hate my couch. I really hate my couch. Really. I hate my couch. The couch is comfortable, and it provides a great view for my pink 32 inch HDTV. Unfortunately, thanks to that nasty H1N1 virus, aka Swine flu, I have spent a lot of time on the couch, snuggled under my Washington Nationals blankies, with my cell phone and a large glass filled with peach mango juice (replete with a straw to help with sipping because my throat was so sore)since Wednesday. 

The incubation period is less than a day from the time of infection, so the mean germ likely hit me at the gym on Tuesday night. I went to the doctor on Thursday and was given the official test. Let me just say that my flu shot (for the seasonal flu), which I received a few weeks ago, was largely painless in comparison to the giant Q-Tip that the nurse shoved up my right nostril to my eyeballs. That's how they test for H1N1. The snot swab. I know I like to be positive (and my blood type is B Positive), and I hate to fail tests, but this would have been one test I would have preferred to not have passed. 

After my doctor gave me the results and the prescription for Tamiflu, he hurried out the door, saying he was getting married in nine days! I feel a little better right now. Every part of my body hurts from all the coughing. I have been fever-free since last night, but I am told that I have to be fever-free for 48 hours to be considered better -- or able to ESCAPE.

 Friends have been leaving food and juice bottles at my door, knocking at the door, and running down the stairs. Thank you, I mutter, as I close the door, and head back to the hated couch. I get lots of phone calls, even one from my minister. I did get a little concerned today when I noticed an ambulance pull up in front of the house. Turns out my neighbor across the hall had fallen down her stairs and needed to be taken to the hospital. 

 My throat remains a little sore, but this too should pass. I am getting lots of rest, drinking lots of liquids, and reading and watching TV. I have several new royal DVDs that I shall be watching tomorrow. The cats are playing nursemaids. When I am on the couch, one or two or three (never all four) join me for a snuggle. Who needs a blanket. I think they miss having the couch to themselves. 


 After I got my first flu shot, I was put on the list for the H1N1 shot. I am now auto-immuned to H1N1, although I would have preferred the shot (or the jab as the British call shots). It would have cost a lot less than my illness. My health insurance covers the cost of the flu shot, but the flu costs include the co-payment to the doctor, as well as the costs for Tamiflu and the cough medicine. Ah well, back to the couch ... and yes, my TV is pink.

The Prince and Princess of Preslav have separated

Spanish media are reporting that the Prince and Princess of Preslav have separated after twenty years of marriage. The prince -- HRH Prince Kyril of Bulgaria, the second son of King Simeon and Queen Margarita and his wife, the former Rosario Nadal y Fuster-Puigdorfila.

Rumors about a crisis in their marriage first surface in August when Princess Rosario did not accompany her husband, Prince Kyril to the baptism of Crown Prince Pavlos of the Hellenes's youngest child, Prince Aristide Stavros. Prince Kyril was one of the infant prince's godfathers. The Greek Orthodox baptism took place in Greece on August 6.

Friends say that the separation is only temporary and there are no plans for a divorce. But it appears that the couple have been living separate lives for some time.
The couple first met on a beach more than 25 years ago when Rosario was sixteen.
The couple have three children: Princess Mafalda, 15, Princess Olimpia, 13, and seven-year-old Prince Tassilo. The three children attend the Lycée Francais in London, where the couple live. Princess Rosario, who is a godmother to Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway, and Irene Urdangarin, is best known as Valentino's Muse.
Just a month ago, the couple were named as the best dressed couple by the Spanish edition of Vanity Fair magazine.
Prince Kyril is a Principal with GLG Partners. He has a degree in Physics from Princeton University.

http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=37563288&ric=GLG&previousCapId=4662526&previousTitle=GLG%20Partners%2C%20Inc.
In January, British tabloids were reporting that actor Hugh Grant was dining with a long term friend, Rosario Saxe-Coburg, which is the name that the Spanish-born art adviser uses professionally."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1028954/From-heiress-princess-Now-Hugh-Grant-steps-royalty.html

The family spent their summer holidays at their vacation home at Campos, Majorca.

Duke of Vendome wants to be king

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6868831.ece

Philip: not so remote

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6868862.ece

Willem-Alexander acted like a spoiled child over African home

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/6284941/Dutch-Crown-Prince-Willem-Alexander-accused-over-Mozambique-villa.html

Prince William lends assistance to World Cup bid

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/6292128/Prince-William-wants-to-score-winning-goal-for-England.html

Thursday, October 8, 2009

da oink oink flu

There will be no postings for the next few days. I woke up yesterday, feeling crummy, achy, feverish. I crawled into work but managed to stay for only a few hours, before heading home.

My temperature went up to 103 last night. I went to the doctor today, and he took a nose swab. Yup. I have the porky flu. Several weeks ago, I had the flu shot for the regular flu, and was on the list to get the swine flu shot later this month. Don't need it now.

Now back to bed.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Russian throne and female succession


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Every so often, I look at the searches to see how people are coming to Royal Musings. One search caught my attention: why women are not allowed to succeed to the throne in Russia.

The poser of the search (using Google) led to a post on Royal Musings, which presumably did not answer the question. In case, the poster is continuing to search, here is the answer.

Succession to the throne of imperial Russia is rooted in semi-salic conditions. Women could succeed but only after all the men.

Here are the appropriate rules for succession, which will be found in the Fundamental Laws.

25. The Imperial Throne of All the Russias is hereditary within the Imperial House presently reigning.

26. Inseparable from the Imperial Throne of All the Russias are the Thrones of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Finland.

27 Both sexes have the right of succession to the Throne; but this right belongs by preference to the male sex according to the principle of primogeniture; with the extinction of the last male issue, succession to the Throne passes to the female issue by right of substitution.
 
28 Accordingly, succession to the Throne belongs in the first place to the eldest son of the reigning Emperor, and after him to all his male issue.
 
29 With the extinction of this male issue, succession passes to the branch of the second son of the Emperor and his male issue; with the extinction of the second male issue, succession passes to the branch of the third son, and so forth.
 
30 When the last male issue of the Emperor's sons is extinct, succession remains in the same branch, but in the female issue of the last reigning Emperor, as being nearest to the Throne, and therein it follows the same order, with preference to a male over the female person; but the female person from whom this right directly proceeds never loses this right.
 
31 With the extinction of this branch the succession passes to the female issue of the branch of the eldest son of the Emperor-Progenitor, wherein the nearest relative of the last reigning Emperor in the branch of this son succeeds, the eldest in this descending line, or if unavailable, in a collateral line, and if this relative is lacking, then the male or female person who takes her place by substitution, with preference, as above, for a male over a female person.
 
32 When these branches too are extinct, succession passes to the female issue of the other sons of the Emperor-Progenitor, following the same order, and after that to the male issue of the eldest daughter of the Emperor-Progenitor; and when that too is extinct, to her female issue, following the order established for the female issue of the Emperor's sons.
 
33 With the extinction of the male and female issue of the eldest daughter of the Emperor-Progenitor, succession passes first to the male and then to the female issue of the second daughter of the Emperor-Progenitor, and so forth.
 
34 A younger sister, even if she has sons, does not deprive her elder sister of her right, even if the latter is unmarried; but a younger brother succeeds before his elder sisters.
 
35 When the succession reaches a female branch which is already reigning on another throne, it is left to the person who succeeds to make a choice of faith and throne and, together with that person's heir, to renounce the other faith and throne, if such a throne is tied by Law (with a religious denomination); if there is no renunciation of faith, the succession passes to the person next in order.
 
36 Children born of a marriage between a person of the Imperial Family and a person not of corresponding dignity, that is not belonging to any royal or sovereign house, have no right of succession to the Throne.
 
37 As the rules on the order of succession, enunciated above, take effect, a person who has a right to succeed is free to abdicate this right in those circumstances in which an abdication does not create any difficulty in the following succession to the Throne.

38 Such an abdication, when it has been made public and becomes law, is henceforth considered irrevocable.
 
39 An Emperor or Empress succeeding to the Throne undertakes, at accession and anointment, to solemnly observe the aforesaid laws on succession to the Throne. If you liked this article, perhaps you could buy me a coffee



I highly recommend reading Brien Horan's article

Lord Harewood dead at 83

October 6, 1929

The 5th Earl of Harewood died today at his home, Harewood House, near Leeds, reports United Press.
The earl, who was 83 years old, became seriously ill last night and "grew steadily worse today." His wife, the Countess of Harewood, Lord Lascelles and his two sons, and the Earl's two younger children, the Viscountess Boyne and the Hon. Edward Lascelles, were at his bedside when he died at 4.p.m.
Lord Lascelles, who is married to the King's only daughter, Princess Mary, succeeds to the earldom. His wife will be known as Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood. The couple's eldest son, George, will be styled as Viscount Lascelles.
The Earl had long suffered from lung trouble.

Belgian Queen intercedes on behalf of Louise

October 6, 1923

Queen Elisabeth's intercession on behalf of Princess Louise of Belgium has helped to lift the ban "that existed for more than twenty years against the return of the eldest daughter of King Leopold to her native land." reports the New York Times. Princess Louise, the former wife of Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, will now be allowed to return to live in Belgium.
She will also receive a generous annuity. She received the first installment earlier this week, which will allow the princess to pay for a burial and memorial for Count Geza Mattachich, who was her companion for more than twenty seven years.

The princess married Prince Philipp, her second cousin in 1875. They had two children, Leopold, who died in 1916 after a prostitute threw acid in his face, and Dorothea. Her affair with the Croatian count began in 1895 after a chance meeting at the Prater in Vienna. Two years later, Louise, who was physically and emotionally abused by her husband, fled the marital home with her lover. She took her daughter with her. Prince Leopold sided with his father, as he feared for his own inheritance. The Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, who was engaged to Princess Dorothea, demanded that his fiancee also break contact with Princess Louise.
After years of scandal, which included time spent in an asylum, Louise can now live quietly in her home country.

Italian government censors news about Princesses' illness

October 6, 1923

The Rome correspondent for London's Daily Mail newspaper reports that the Italian government "has ordered a strict censorship placed on the news of the illness of the Princesses Mafalda and Giovanna." The official reason given for this decision is that it is "desired to prevent false rumors from alarming the people," but the Mail's correspondent suggests that the princesses' father, King Victor Emanuel "resents discussion of the royal family's affairs by the newspapers."

Prince Max of Saxony: missionary




October 6, 1907

The Marquise de Fontenoy reports that Prince Maximilian of Saxony "has applied for and received leave of absence from the great Catholic University of Fribourg in Switzerland, where he holds the professorship of canon law and of divinity." The Prince plans a long journey to Asia, "which is to extend over a period of a couple of years," to undertake missionary work. The prince has already done work with the poor in London's slums.

There is an attempt to link the Prince's trip with his brother, King Friedrich August's decision to convert to Lutheranism, and to remarry. The king cannot "contract another matrimonial alliance without deserting the church of Rome," as the Vatican has declined to annul his marriage to the former Archduchess Luisa of Austria, who is now known as the Countess of Montignoso.

Prince Max, "having done all in his power" to prevent the king's decision to join the Lutheran church, has decided that he does not wish to be in Europe when "it takes place, lest he should be called upon as a priest to raise his voice in public condemnation of the king."

It is true that "efforts have been made in many influential quarters to persuade" the king to remarry, "even at the cost of his conversion to that Lutheran church to which the vast majority of his subjects belong."

A chance for reconciliation with his former wife is now impossible, as she was recently married in a civil ceremony to her Italian companion, Sgr. Toselli. The civil ceremony is a legal wedding, but, according to the Roman Catholic church, Luise is still Friedrich August's wife.

The king does not need an heir, as he has four sons by his former wife. But remarriage would end the king's "domestic sorrow to which he has been subjected."

Alice and Andrew married today

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 October 6, 1903

The civil marriage of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg took place today at noon at Darmstadt. The witnesses for the couple were King George of Greece and Prince Louis of Battenberg, the bride's father.

The New York Times reports that the ceremony took place "at the Old Palace in the presence of a glittering assemblage of 200 sovereigns, princes, diplomats and Cabinet Ministers."


Embed from Getty Images

The religious weddings will take place tomorrow at the castle's chapel. They will be married twice: first, according to the rites of the Lutheran church, and then in a Greek Orthodox service.

Nicholas and Alexandra, the Russian emperor and empress, were the "leading personages" at today's ceremony. They have "frequently been seen" in the last few days making purchases in local Darmstadt shops. The Emperor's gift to the bride is valued at $500,000. Alice has also received "precious gifts" from other guests. One Frankfurt jeweler reports receiving orders "for jewelry in connection with the wedding valued at $250,000."

Princess Alice is the daughter of Prince and Princess Louis of Battenberg. Princess Louis is the eldest sister of Empress Alexandra. The groom, who is the son of King George and Queen Olga of the Hellenes, is a nephew of Queen Alexandra and the Dowager Empress of Russia.