Alfonso confers with sons

August 12, 1936

King Alfonso XIII of Spain, who gave yup his throne "in a rebellion without bloodshed five years ago," is in Dellach, Austria, where he conferred with his two sons tonight. The Associated Press reports that the King is debating his chances of returning to power in the midst of the present civil war."
The King's two younger sons, Jaime and Juan, were called here by Alfonso. There are also rumors that Alfonso "might discuss a plan of action" with Marie, the Queen Mother of Roumania. Queen Marrie is at a villa less than a half mile from the Dellach hotel, where Alfonso has been staying. The villa is "closely guarded," but it is believed that the Queen is staying with her daughter, Princess Ileana, and Archduke Anton, Ileana's husband.
Juan, who bears the title Prince of Asturias, is the heir to Spanish throne. His "conference with his father was deemed so important" that a memorial service for the late youngest son, Gonzalo, "was postponed until tomorrow."
The former king himself gave few clues about his plans. "As long as the disturbances continue I cannot discuss my plans."

King Edward meets Franz Joseph

August 12, 1908

The New Times reports today that King Edward VII arrived at Ischl, Austria, this morning from Kronberg to meet with Emperor Franz Joseph. The Austrian emperor welcome the British king at the railroad station "with full military honors." This is the first time Franz Joseph has greeted a fellow sovereign in such a "ceremonious manner."
The King and the Emperor drove from the railroad station to the Hotel Elisabeth, where thirty rooms had been reserved for Edward and his suite. The two monarchs spent about an hour talking before Franz Joseph left.
Not long afterward, King Edward visited the imperial villa at Ischl "for the purpose of tendering his formal congratulations" on the occasion of Franz Joseph's Jubilee. The two monarchs dined together for lunch, and were joined by a number of Archdukes and Archduchesses and several diplomats.
This afternoon, Franz Joseph, accompanied by King Edward, took his first ride ever in a motor car for a tour of the Ischl area. On returning to the villa, Franz Joseph "expressed his delight at the novel experience."

An interview with the Princess Royal

On the occasion of the Princess Royal's 60th birthday:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7939555/In-praise-of-the-Princess-Royal-Anne-at-60.html

A new son for the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Bentheim-Tecklenburg

The Hereditary Princess of Bentheim-Tecklenburg gave birth to her fourth child and second son on August 10. The German newspaper, Die Glocke, reports that the couple are "delighted with the birth of Carl-Emich Maximilian Moritz Casimir Arnold," who was born at the Evangelischen Krankenhaus Lippstadt.
"Mother and child are healthy and doing well," says the proud father, Hereditary Prince Maximilian of Bentheim-Tecklenburg at his home, Schloss Rheda.
At birth, the baby weighed 7.48 lbs and was 21 inches tall.
The couple met in Great Britain, where Maximilian received an undergraduate degree from University of Cambridge. He has a post-graduate degree from the London School of Economics, specializing in economics and a minor in Art history. It was in Oxford, where he met his future wife, Marissa Fortescue, who had a degree in theology from Oxford and a post-graduate degree in art history from the Cortauld Institute in London.
They were married on September 30, 2000 in a Lutheran ceremony at Schloss Rheda. Little Carl-Emil joins Prince Moritz Friedrich Carl, 7, Princess Luise Helene Agnes Delia,5, and Princess Anna Amalia Elisabeth, who celebrates her third birthday in October.
The Hereditary Princess is the niece of the 6th Earl Fortescue. She is the great-niece of Graham Pilcher, whose wife is the famed novelist, Rosamund Pilcher.

http://www.die-glocke.de/gl/cgi/news/shownews.php?id=22294

Crown Prince loves his Mama

August 10, 1890

I am going to assume that following meant something very different in 1890, and Crown Prince Victor Emmanuel did not have an Oedipus complex.

According to the Chicago Daily Tribune, the Crown Prince of Italy is a devoted lover of his beautiful and clever mother." When he is away from her, he "sends two long telegrams of her each day beside writing her a letter. Like Queen Margherita, the Crown Prince "speaks and writes fluently French, English and German."
Queen Margherita and King Umberto are first cousins. Victor Emmanuele, Prince of Naples, is their only child. He will celebrate his 21st birthday in November.

Carol will be king without Helen

August 10, 1930

The "reconciliation negotiation" between King Carol and his former wife, Helen took "a startling turn" when the "prodigal king decided that the coronation" will take place in September without Princess Helen, according to the Chicago Tribune press service.
After receiving the news from the king, Premier Maniu refused "to organize the coronation festivities and threatened to resign." King Carol came up with a compromise to crown Helen as queen "without the annulment of the divorce," but the premier stated the "crowning would be impossible without official reconciliation."
A coronation of a divorced king would be seen as "socially uncomfortable" since "most of the foreign royal guests will refuse to participate."
Carol is hoping to receive the support of his brother-in-law King Alexander of Yugoslavia, and will visit him at Belgrade in September.

Duke Carl Alexander is a priest

August 10, 1926


The AP is reporting that Duke Carl Alexander, the youngest son of Duke Albrecht of Württemberg, was ordained as a priest today "in the presence of his family." He was born on March 12, 1896, and was "formerly an army officer."

Bavarian duke en route to America

August 10, 1910


A Bavarian duke is heading to America. Duke Franz Josef in Bavaria is a passenger on board the steamer, Kronprinzessin Cecilie, which sailed today for New York, reports the New York Times. Duke Franz Josef is the youngest son of Duke Karl Theodore. He was born in 1888.

Royal Twins

it was announced last week that the Crown Princess of Denmark is pregnant with twins. She is due to give birth in January.
Twins run in families. Twins are genetic. I was a twin, and twins run through my ancestral lines.
Queen Margrethe II's first cousin, Count Christian af Rosenborg, is the father of twins daughters, Camilla and Josephine. The former Prince Flemming of Denmark, who was created Count af Rosenborg, when he married Ruth Nielsen, was the father of twin sons, Axel and Birger.

The Luxembourg royal family has two sets of twins: Prince Jean and Princess Margaretha, the children of Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte. Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte's youngest son, Prince Guillaume, is the father of a set of twins: Leopold and Charlotte. Prince Laurent and Princess Claire of the Belgiums have twin sons, Aymeric and Nicolas.

The late Princess Margarete of Prussia and her husband, Friedrich Karl, Landgraf of Hesse, were the parents of two sets of twin sons: Philipp and Wolfgang, who were born in 1896, and Richard and Christoph, who were born in 1901. Philipp's grandson, Hereditary Prince Heinrich Donatus, and his wife, Floria, are the parents of Paulina and Moritz, born in 2007.

Earlier this year, the Countess of Mornington, the wife of Earl of Mornington, whose grandfather is the Duke of Wellington, gave birth to Mae and Arthur. Mae was born first, but Arthur is the eventual heir to the Wellington Dukedom. Lord Mornington's mother, Princess Antonia of Prussia, is a twin. She has a brother, Prince Rupert. In May, Doña Margarita, the wife of Don Luis Alfonso de Borbon y Martinez-Bordiu, gave birth to twin sons, Luis and Alfonso.

Princess Maria Pia of Italy and her first husband, Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, are the parents of two sets of twins, Dimitri and Michel and Serge and Helene. It is understood that the second set of twins were actually fathered by Prince Michel de Bourbon-Parma, Maria Pia's second husband. Maria Pia was still married to Alexander when the twins were born, which makes them members of the Yugoslav royal family. (A moot point as the male line descendants of the late Prince Paul have never had dynastic rights in Serbia/Yugoslavia.)
Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and his first wife, Maria da Gloria, are the parents of twin sons: Philip and Alexander.
Other royal twins include:

Prince Caspar and Prince Christian of Waldeck und Pyrmont
Prince Jaime and Princess Margarita of Bourbon-Parma
Prince Gundakar and Princess Dietmut of Liechtenstein
Archduchesses Monika and Michaela, daughters of Archduke Otto
Prince Umberto and Princess Sofia of Bulgaria
Prince Jacques and Prince Michel of France
Duke Huno and Duke Johann of Oldenburg
The Hon. Timothy and the Hon. Nicholas Knatchbull
Princess Marie-Gabrielle and Princess Marie-Charlotte of Bavaria
Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern, and Prince Franz Joseph of Hohenzollern
Benedikta and Adelgunde of Hohenzollern, twin daughters of Prince Friedrich
Berengar and Marina Patterson, twin children of Princess Viktoria Marina of Prussia, and her American husband, Kirby Patterson.
Christian and Phiilipp Prinz von Preussen, the sons of Prince Adalbert of Prussia, who is the nephew of Princess Viktoria Marina.
Prince Franz Wilhelm and Prince Franz Joseph of Prussia (the latter lived for only 23 days)
Prince Albrecht and Prince Ruprecht of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Prince Josias and Prince Johannes of Waldeck und Pyrmont

Friedrich II of Baden is dead

Embed from Getty Images

August 9, 1928 

 By wireless to the New York Times. 

 The former Grand Duke Friedrich II, the last ruler of Baden, died this morning at Badenweiler. He was 71 years old, and "almost blind." 

 Friederich probably was "the most liberal and popular ruler during the monarchic period of his day. At the time of his birth, his father, Grand Duke Friedrich I, "issued a general amnesty for political prisoners of the revolution of 1848." 

The young Friedrich studied at Heidelberg and Freiburg, before entering military service. He rose to the rank of Commanding General of the Eighth Army Corps. He retired from active service in 1902. He remained popular, even after abdicating in 1918. On the occasion of his 70th birthday, Baden's republican government "sent an address of devotion to him." 

Friedrich succeeded to the throne of Baden, "one of the most progressive states in Germany, on September 28, 1907. He succeeded his father, who was the first to assume the title Grand Duke, as "his predecessors had been called Electors."

 Friedrich II was one of the first rulers "to submit to the popular demand" as a "wave of revolution" swept through Germany. The provisional government of Baden, which accepted Friedrich's abdication, "issued a proclamation in which homage was paid to the Duke's patriotism." 

He was the subject of an assassination attempt in 1913. A man, "variously described as a maniac, anarchist and criminal," lunged at the Grand Duke with a dagger at a railroad station. Friedrich used the "hilt of his sword to ward off the blow." His assailant was arrested. 

Friedrich, a grandson of the German Emperor Wilhelm I, was married to Princess Hilda of Nassau, a sister of the late Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg. Friedrich's sister is Queen Victoria of Sweden.

A Hohenzollern- Austrian marriage?

Embed from Getty Images

August 9, 1908 

 Today the Marquise de Fontenoy focuses on the announcement of the engagement between Princess Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern and Archduke Karl of Austria, who will celebrate his 21st birthday next week. 

He reached his legal majority three years ago when he turned eighteen. The archduke is the eldest son of the late Archduke Otto and is seen as the heir to the Austrian throne. His father's elder brother, Archduke Franz Ferdinand's marriage is morganatic and he has pledged to "refrain from any attempt to alter the succession in favor of his morganatic son." 

 Thus, young Archduke Karl is "destined in the ordinary course of events to become emperor of Austria and King of Hungary." Princess Augusta Victoria is the daughter of Prince Wilhelm, the head of the Roman Catholic house of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. 

It is a senior, but a non-reigning branch of the House of Hohenzollern. Wilhelm's younger brother, Ferdinand, is the Crown Prince of Roumania. The relationship between Kaiser Wilhelm II and his Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen cousins is said to be strained. 

A marriage between Karl and Augusta Victoria, a goddaughter of Empress Augusta Victoria, "cannot fail to still further cement the bonds of the triple alliance."

Interview with Archduchess Francesca of Austria

Embed from Getty Images 

 The Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin Issue 31 (2010) features an interview with Archduchess Francesca of Austria. 

This is a translation of parts of the interview, which is rather long. Francesca, 52, checks her Blackberry and says, Oh shit! You have to settle back and just do what Francesca does. 

She talks about her "fairly dysfunctional family." "My father was rather difficult with me. I think he felt threatened because we were so much alive. He knew no other strong man in his environment. "

 On age, she says: "The older I get, the more worried I get about losing contact with young, innovative people." 

Francesca is married to Archduke Karl of Austria. She says "We are happily married, but it is every man for himself."

 In normal people, such talk is shocking, but for Francesca, who was born Francesca Anne Dolores Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza, the daughter of billionaire art collector Hans Heinrich "Heini" von Thyssen-Bornemisza. She is described as the Peggy Guggenheim of the 21st century, one of the most important patrons of contemporary art. She is more a midwife than a collector of contemporary art. A good example of her work is on Eminonu Square, one of the busiest places in Istanbul, overlooking the Golden Horn. A 17-ton 20-meter sculpture, The Morning Line, is a crystalline structure, which was specially commissioned by the archduchess. Thirty different artists took part in its creation. She heads the Vienna-based Thyssen-Bornemiza Contemporary Art foundation. 

She is able to bring people together in collaborations of modern contemporary art. Although she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she was not happy as a child. Her father and mother, a Scottish model who was Heini's third wife, were divorced when Francesca was seven. She was soon sent off to boarding school/ "I was incredibly insecure as a child." She moved to London, where she studied "a bit, modeled a bit, took acting lessons, and dabbled as a background singer. 

She was also the It girl of the 1980s with fashionable and spectacular parties taking place at her carriage house in Kensington. Guests included Michael Douglas, Iggy Pop, Grace Jones, politicians, fashion students, football players, and even one or two Lords. She was photographed topless and one famous shot showed Francesca at a soiree with a naked butt. Francesca was introduced to the Dalai Lama, who congratulated her on her wealth. Great karma, girl! So she put her money to work by organizing a Tibetan art exhibit dedicated to the reconstruction of the war-torn countries of the former Yugoslavia. 

It was in Croatia where she met her future husband, Archduke Karl, heir to the former ruling dynasty in Austria. They were married in 1993. She carried a Bible and a bridal bouquet in her hands ... and then the mandatory three children including the heir Ferdinand Zvonimir. 

The marriage caused a scandal within the Habsburg family: marriage to a commoner and a punk brat! Francesca admits to loving tradition. She lives in a Viennese apartment, on one floor of a palace. The home is filled with art and "creative chaos." The works on display include three walls of Olafur Eliasson, a photo of David Bowie, the Lucien Freud portrait of her father, and in the salon next room, the drums belonging to her twelve-year-old son. Francesca said the Habsburg were "great innovators. I think you have a better view into the future if you have a clear understanding of the past." 

She hesitated: "My father always said that the privilege of wealth is freedom. There are an unbelievable number of people who are trapped by their money and lifestyle." Francesca and Karl have lived apart since 2003, but they remain good friends. 

She does not think about another marriage. After her father's death, Francesca inherited 33 American impressionist paintings, which she auctioned and she reinvested the money back into contemporary art. "I do not like it when people are impressed with who I am. Conversely, I am not impressed with who they are.... Experiments never fail. Each experiment is part of a learning process. This has taken my fear in front of failure." At last, Francesca has made sense of everything: money, the name is finally useful instead of just damn enjoyable. She has a talent for bringing people together, which is essential for the succession and independence of the Foundation. "I am a chameleon. I fit in everywhere." 

 She has plans to move the foundation from the Palais Fürstenberg to a 3000 square feet former bread factory on the outskirts of Vienna, where she wants to set up a creative think tank and exhibits. 

A look at Ernst Gunther of Schleswig-Holstein

Embed from Getty Images

John Röhl's authoritative biography of Kaiser Wilhelm II includes an account of Ernst Gunther and his relationship with his sister, Augusta Viktoria, and brother-in-law, Wilhelm II.

The relationship proved to be "problematic" after the Duke's secondment to the General Staff in "the summer of 1890 had already attracted criticism. A year later, outrage grew when the Kaiser promoted his brother-in-law to captain on the General Staff.

"The person in question is utterly lacking in both training and competence," was the comment about Ernst Gunther's promotion. Others on the General Staff thought that the Kaiser should promote his brother-in-law as a "fully-fledged General staff officer" was seen as a "slap in the face."

Ernst Gunther, despite this promotion, "always felt slighted" by Wilhelm and by other members of the German royal family "and by other royals of his own rank."

He was not invited to the wedding of his cousin, Princess Marie Louise, to Prince Aribert of Anhalt.

He was considered "unusually immature and conceited." Empress Friedrich thought him a "most foolish young man." The Kaiser's younger sister, Moretta, described him as "an idiot."

The young duke accompanied the Kaiser and Kaiserin on a visit to England in July 1891, where h was seen to be arrogant, rude, and his behavior was outrageous.
When Dona married the future Kaiser, Ernst Gunther received a "donation of a million marks, along with his annual appanage of 300,000. He also had a "private income of about 200,000." Yet Ernst Gunther was always in debt, partially due to "ill-advised building projects." Even after he reached the rank of major, he was "still up to his ears in debt."

Apparently, the "greatest embarrassment for Dona and Wilhelm was Ernst Gunther's 'obsessive and tempestuous' search for a wife. In 1890, he visited his Uncle Christian and Aunt Helena, hoping to find an English bride. He knew he would not be acceptable for the daughters of the Prince and Princess of Wales, but he was eager to marry "one of the daughters of the country, provided she was well brought up..."

Princess May of Teck, the daughter of Queen Victoria's first cousin, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, was suggested as a possible bride, but when Dona found out, she was horrified. She would not allow her brother to make "such a mésalliance."

In 1893, Ernst Gunther "horrified" his brother-in-law and sister by proposing to Laetitia, Duchess of Aosta, a widow. The proposal took place in Paris, but thanks to the intervention of Count Münster, the German Ambassador, the engagement with the Bonaparte princess was quickly ended. A year later, the duke "tried his luck" with Princess Helene of Orléans.

Dona was in tears at the thought of this marriage. The Kaiser, under any circumstances, would approve a marriage with a member of the House of Orléans, and considered the arrangement to be an intrigue by the Orléans family who wanted "to make themselves a good name through the House of Hohenzollern."

Prince Philipp zu Eulenberg despaired and described Ernst Gunther as "like a rutting stag in spring. Perhaps even stupider."

Bernhard von Bülow saw Helene as a "perfidious princess," and dangerous. Ernst Gunther would be "wax in her hands." The Orléans family were zealous Roman Catholics, and they would "create a focus of anti-national ultramontane elements in Berlin."

The Kaiser made it clear that he never gave his consent to the marriage, and he would never receive Ernst Gunther and his wife or allow them to live in Prussia, "in particular Schleswig-Holstein."

In the end, the fear was for naught. On June 25, 1895, Princess Helene married the Duke of Aosta.

Ernst Gunther turned his attention to 18-year-old Johanna von Spitzemberg, who was not of royal birth. The Duke was determined to marry the young noblewoman. Philipp zu Eulenberg sent a telegraph to the Kaiser in Palermo. No surprise here: the Kaiser was furious. Johanna was the niece of Baron Axel von Varnbüler, Württemberg's envoy.

The Kaiser telegraphed in response: "Please warn Axel at once. His niece is too good for such a wretch." Eventually, the Kaiser called upon Johanna's uncle to help end the affair. At the same time, Wilhelm II continued to arrange a marriage between his brother-in-law and Countess Anna Görtz, but this arrangement came to naught as well.

It was in August 1898 that Ernst Gunther married sixteen-year-old Princess Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. This marriage was also seen to be "problematic." Prince Henry of Prussia, the Kaiser's younger brother, wrote from Russia that he was glad that his mother had not attended the wedding of that "d--d fool to a child."

The outrage was made greater because the engagement coincided with Princess Dora's mother, Princess Louise, being sent to an asylum, and Louise's lover being arrested for fraud.

Despite all his attempts to marry, Ernst Gunther's life edged from scandal to scandal. He had connections with "ladies of the demi-monde.  His marriage to  Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was not a success. Dora was too young to understand how to be a wife to such an unsuitable man. She was an eventual heiress to the entailed estate of her father, Prince Philipp, who had inherited great wealth from his parents, Prince August and Princess Clementine of Orleans.

If you liked this post, perhaps you can buy me a latte

Queen Louise is ill

August 6, 1898

The New York Times reports that the Berlin Correspondent for the Sunday Times says that "private advice from Copenhagen say that the condition of Queen Louise of Denmark is most serious."

Wilhelm's stepdaughter to marry his grandson

August 6, 1940

Former Kaiser Wilhelm II today announced the engagement of his grandson, Prince Karl Franz Joseph of Prussia with his stepdaughter, Princess Henriette of Schoenaich-Carolath. The betrothal took place recently "without festivities" at the Wilhelm's home at Doorn.
Prince Karl Franz Joseph is the only child of the late Prince Joachim, the Kaiser's sixth son, and Princess Marie Auguste of Anhalt. Princess Henriette is the youngest daughter of Wilhelm's second wife, Hermine.