Leopold IV of Lippe and his family

Marlene A. Eilers Koenig collection

Leopold IV,  Prince zur Lippe, (1871-1949) was married twice.  His first marriage took place at Rotenburg on August 16, 1901 to  Princess Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1874-1919).  They had five children: Ernst-Leopold (1902-1987), Leopold (1904-1965), Karoline (1905-2001), Chlodwig (1909-2000) and Sieglinde (1915-2008.) 

Bertha  died on February 19, 1919 at Detmold.  Leopold married for a second time on April 26, 1922 to Princess Anna zy Ysenburg und Budingen.  Their only son, Prince Armin, who was born on August 18, 1924), succeed his father as Prince zur Lippe.

In October 1904, the then Count Leopold, regent for Lippe, was named as the legitimate successor to Prince Karl Alexander, who suffered from mental illness.  Leopold had succeeded his father, Count Ernst, who had been regent for Karl Alexander until his death in January 1904.

Sisters

Marlene A Eilers Koenig collection

Princess Hermine and Princess Ida of Reuss, the youngest two children of Heinrich XXII, Prince of Reuss zu Greiz, and Princess Ida of Schaumburg-Lippe.

Hermine was born at Greiz on December 17, 1887.  On January 7, 1907, she married Prince Johann Georg of Schoenaich-Carolath (1873-1920).  Two years after her husband's death, Hermine married Kaiser Wilhelm II, as his second wife.  Hermine died on August 7, 1947 in Frankfurt an der Oder, then under Russian occupation.  Hermine and her first husband had five children: Hans (1907-1943, killed in action), Georg (1909-1927), Caroline  (1910), Ferdinand (1913-1973) and Henriette (1918-1972).  Princess Henriette was the first wife of Prince Karl Franz Josef of Prussia, a grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Prince Hermine's maternal uncle, Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe was married to Wilhelm II's sister, Princess Viktoria.

Ida was born at Greiz on September 4, 1891.  She married at Greiz on November 7, 1907 to Christoh Martin, Prince of Stolberg-Rossla (1888-1949).  She died at Ortenberg on March 29, 1977.  Ida and Christoph were the parents of four children:  Caroline (1912-1996), Heinrich (1914-1974), Johann Martin, Prince of Stolberg-Rossla  (1917-19821), and Marie (1921-1975).

The Stolberg-Rossla line became extinct when Johann Martin died. 

In her autobiography, An Empress in Exile,  Hermine described her youngest sister, as "being a sickly baby, was the spoiled darling of the family."

The Prince of Wales is Romania

The Prince of Wales is on a five-day Private visit to Romania, where he owns a 19th century manor house, in Transylvania.  He arrived in the country on Sunday.  He spent some time with the residents of Saschiz in central Romania, who make and sell home jam and bread. 

He also visited Count and Countess Kalnoky, who manages the Prince's properties in Romania.   Count and Countess Kalnoky were guests at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

http://www.romania-insider.com/prince-charles-of-wales-pays-discreet-visit-to-romania-after-british-royal-wedding/23572/

Young King Peter "believes a revolution is justified"

Embed from Getty Images 

 May 17, 1935

Young King Peter of Yugoslavia is "beginning to think for himself," reports the New York Times. 

His great-aunt, Infanta Beatriz of Spain, recently visited her sister, Dowager Queen Marie, the grandmother of the 12-year-old King.   The conversation "turned on the Spanish revolution" and King Alfonso's exile from the country.

Peter asked, "What is a revolution?"   Infanta Beatriz, a bit embarrassed, responded by saying that a "revolution was a kind of madness that attacked people and drove them to irresponsible actions."

"And it was during a revolution that the Spanish people drove out their king?" Peter asked.  "Why did they do that?
Infanta Beatriz, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, replied: "As I told you because they were mad."

King Peter thought for a few minutes about Aunt Beatriz's remarks and then said: "It seems to me that there is something wrong in what you say.  I think that if people drive away a king he must have done something he should not have done."

Juliana to wed Swedish prince

May 17, 1938

There are news reports today of a possible forthcoming engagement between Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, heir to the throne, and Prince Carl of Sweden, the brother of Queen Astrid of the Belgians and Crown Princess Martha of Norway.

Official announcement from Belgrade

May 17, 1901

There has been an announcement from Belgrade this evening.  The Serbian government has just announced officially that "Queen Draga is not enceinte."

Where's the baby?

Embed from Getty Images 

 May 17, 1901

The current game in Belgrade, according to the Chicago Daily Tribune,  is "Baby, baby, who's got the baby?"  The report is based on diplomatic dispatches from Belgrade.

Queen Draga "was reported to have presented King Alexander with an heir."  The king's loyal subjects "promptly began to bombard the palace with beautiful cradles," baby clothes of the "finest cambric and laces, and all the little knick-knacks that go to make up the trousseau of the babe of the royal house."

But no one has seen a baby.  In fact, there is no baby, and to "make matters worse, this false rumor has put the capstone to a series of extraordinary happenings and rumors" in Belgrade.  Some rumors have reached the "proportions of a scandal."

This non-existent heir is caused all "sorts of royal trouble."   In February, Vienna newspapers proclaimed that Queen Draga was about to give birth.  More recently, the same papers announced the young prince would celebrate his first birthday in June 1902.

It seems more likely that these newspapers have been "imposed upon."  The rumors have also caught the attention of Nicholas II of Russia, who was one of the witnesses at King Alexander's wedding.  He sent a special envoy to Belgrade to investigate the matter.  But this puzzle proved too difficult for the envoy, so he called in three Russian and French specialists to come to Belgrade, and investigate the matter further.

The Viennese newspapers continue to report the story with great relish.  King Alexander also brought in two specialists, one from Vienna and the other from Bucharest.   The British Foreign Office has been inundated with telegrams regarding reports on the mysterious baby.

The Viennese correspondent for London's Daily Telegraph is reporting that Queen Draga's doctors have issued a bulletin stating that "the case is peculiar, and it is not impossible that an heir may be born in October."   But newspapers in Vienna are reporting that Draga was "seriously ill" and she need "protracted treatment."

Other reports hint at a deception perpetrated by Queen Draga.  Several rumors making the rounds in Belgrade is that the queen "failed in a deliberate attempt to foist upon the King the child of her sister as her own."  According to this report,  the King is "furiously angry" with the Queen, and if he can prove she "intentionally deceived him," he will "divorce her and banish her from the country.

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

Prince Philip at 90: ITV interview

Next week, ITV  will be televising an interview with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

The Daily Mail has a few excerpts.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387762/Duke-Edinburgh-Prince-Philip-caring-father-Anne-tells-bedtime-stories.html#

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387453/Prince-Philip-My-sadness-lost-Navy-career-loss-royal-yacht.html#

Fernando Moreno de Borbon y Dos-Sicilies dead at 41

Don Fernando Moreno de Borbon y Dos-Sicilies was killed in a motorcycle accident in Madrid on  May 12.  He was 41 years old.

The fifth of seven children of Princess Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Salerno and Don Inigo Moreno de Arteaga, 8th Marquis de Laula, Don Fernando was born on July 8, 1969. He was not married.

He was fond of hunting, and was involved in the family business, the Flor de Lis, Stud, specializing in the breeding Arabian horses.
http://www.mujerdeelite.com/notas/2777/fallece-un-sobrino-del-rey-juan-carlos.

The funeral was held  in Murcia.  The Prince of Asturias, a childhood friend of Don Fernando, attended
funeral, representing the King.  The Duke and Duchess of Calabria, and their son, Pedro,  also attended, along with Maria Zurita y Borbon, daughter of Infanta Margarita of Spain, and Princess Tessa of Bavaria.

Don Fernando is survived by his parents and his siblings,  Don Rodrigo, Don Alfonso, Doñ Alicia, Doña Beatriz, Doña Clara and Doña Delia.

Bavarian-Brazilian wedding

August 19, 1937

Prince Pierre d'Orleans and Braganza was married today "in the private chapel of Nymphenburg Palace in Munich to Princess Maria of Bavaria, niece of former Crown Prince Rupprecht, reports the New York Times. 

The former Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Bavaria and their sons attended the wedding, along with the "former King Alfonso of Spain and a number of other guests."

The ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Faulhaber, who also read a telegram from Cardinal Pacelli, "containing the Pope's special blessing."

Princess Maria of Orléans & Braganca (1914-2011)

all four images are from my personal collection

Princess Maria of Orléans and Braganca died in her apartment at the Jardim Botanico in Rio di Janeiro on  May 13 , 2011.  According to an official family announcement, Princess Maria died "after a long and happy life" in Brazil.   She was 96 years old.

She was born Princess Maria Elisabeth  Franziska Josepha Therese of Bavaria on  September 9, 1914 at Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich.  She was the second of six children Prince Franz of Bavaria and his wife, Princess Isabella of Croy.

For several years after the first world war,  the princess and her family lived at Sarvar, in Hungary, an estated owned by her grandmother, Queen Maria Theresa of Bavaria, who was born an Archduchess of Austria.  The family returned to Bavaria in 1930.

Maria's older brother, Prince Ludwig, who died in 2008, married his cousin, Princess Irmingard of Bavaria.  Their son, Prince Luitpold, is the future head of the Bavarian Royal Family.  Her younger siblings were Princess Adelgunde (1917-2004), who married Baron Zdenko von Hoenning-O'Carroll,  Princess Eleonore (1918-2009,  who married Count Konstantin von Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchberg, Princess Dorothea (1920), the wife of Archduke Gottfried of Austria, and Prince Rasso (1926). 


On August 19, 1937, she married Prince Pedro Henriques of Orléans and Braganca, the pretender to the Brazilian throne.  The ceremony took place at Schloss Nympenberg, where the guests included the exiled King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg.

The couple lived in France until the establishmnnt of the Vichy government, which persecuted the couple.   The prince and princess and their four children fled to Switzerland until the end of the war, when they were able to sail for Brazil and settle in Petropolis.   In her final years, the princess, a devout Catholic who taught catechism to poor children, moved to her daughter, Isabel's apartment in the Jardim Botanico.

Princess Maria's funeral was held at the Igreja Matriz in Vassouras on May 14..   She is survived by 12 children, 29 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.  She is also survived by two siblings,  Archduchess Dorothea of Austria and Prince Rasso of Bavaria.

The Princess's twelve children are Prince Luiz Gastao (1938), who is the head of the family and the de jure Emperor, Eudes (1939, Bertrand (1941),  Isabel (1944), Pedro de Alcantara (1945),  Fernando, (1948), Antonio (1950), Leonor (1953),  Francisco (1955), Alberto (1957) and twin daughters, Maria Teresa and Maria Gabriela, who were born in 1959.

Princes Eudes,  Pedro, Fernando,  Francisco and Alberto have all married morganatically, and are not in the line of succession,  Maria Teresa and Maria Gabriela's marriages were also morganatic.  Thus, the third son, Prince Bertrand, who is unmarried, is heir to his brother, Luiz.  Second in line is Antonio, who is married to Priness Christine de Ligne.  Their eldest son, Prince Pedro Luiz, was killed in the Air France crash on June 1, 2009. They have three other children, Prince Rafael and Princesses Amelia and Maria Gabriela.    Princess Leonor is married to Michel, the Prince of Ligne, the brother of Princess Christine.

The Princess was buried next to her husband, Dom Pedro Henriques, and her grandson, Pedro Luiz..

Princess Maria was the last surviving member of the Bavarian royal family who was born before 1918.

The princess was a gifted artist, and specialized in porcelain.

Mrs. Lupsecu to remain Bucharest

May 16, 1931

By special cable to the New York Times

Mme Magda Lupescu's "presence is no longer a secret in court circles,"  despite "official efforts to discredit the story."

One of the "principal causes of the recent political crisis" in Roumania was King Carol's "annoyance with the National Peasant Party, whose leaders continue to support Queen Helen.  The King "resented especially their opposition to any coronation ceremony" in which Helen was not involved in.  

King Carol has been supported by Mm. Manoilescu and Argetoianu, both of whom have urged that Helen should leave Roumania.  The two men now have a great influence in the country, and "represent the real power" in Roumania.

Crown Princess Cecilie returns

May 16, 1925


Former Crown Princess Cecilie of Prussia returned to Bremen today and was met by her husband, the former Crown Prince Wilhelm.  Cecilie had been on a visit to Teneriffe and Spain, where "she was entertained by the royal family," according to a wireless report to the New York Times.  The couple's second son, Prince Louis Ferdinand, returned at the same time, "after making a trip through Spain," while his mother visited Teneriffe.

Prince Louis Ferdinand plans to enter the University of Berlin in the Fall.

The Kaiser's sister has six sons

May 17, 1901

Princess Friedrich Karl of Hesse gave birth to a set of twin boys on Tuesday, May 14 in Frankfurt-am-Main.  This is the second set of twin boys for the former Princess Margarete of Prussia, who is the youngest sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II, reports the Chicago Tribune

The 29-year-old princess is the youngest child of Empress Friedrich, who lives at Schloss Kronberg in Taunus, which is not too far from Frankfurt, and the late Emperor Friedrich III.

The marriage between Princess Margarete and Prince Friedrich Karl took place on January 15, 1903.  Ten months later, she gave birth to the couple's first son, Friedrich Wilhelm, on November 23.  Prince Maximilian was born nearly a year later on October 24, 1894.  The first set of twins, Prince Philipp and Prince Wolfgang, were born on November 6, 1896.

The names of the new princes have not been announced.   Prince Friedrich Karl is the younger brother of Alexander Friedrich, Landgrave of Hesse.  The 38-year-old Landgrave is not married.

More wedding details

The only members of the Mountbatten family to attend the wedding were the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, her son and daughter-in-law, Lord and Lady Brabourne, and her sister, Lady Pamela Hicks.  Lord Brabourne, is Prince William's godfather.  None of the other of Lady Mountbatten's children nor the children of Lady Pamela Hicks were invited to the wedding.   Lord and Lady Brabourne are estranged, and did not sit together. 

Ian Liddell-Grainger, a Conservative member of Parliament, was the only descendant of the late Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, to receive an invitation to the wedding.

The dinner-dance hosted by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace was limited to 300 family members and friends.  But the family list did not include all the members of the royal family.  Princess Alexandra, a godmother of William, and her son and daughter-in-law, James and Julia Ogilvy, were among those who received the coveted invitations.  But invitations were not sent to Alexandra's brother, Prince Michael of Kent and his family. 

Prince and Princess Michael, Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor and Lady Gabriella Windsor were guests at a party held that evening at the Chelsea home of Crown Prince and Crown Princess Pavlos of Greece.   Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel, were also invited to this event, as were Prince and Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark.  Prince and Princess Nikolaos were not invited to the royal wedding, but did attend the pre-wedding gala at the Mandarin Hotel.