Mail Call

@Cour grand-ducal/Christian Aschman  All Rights Reserved

Today's mail included this lovely thank you (with a photograph) for the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg's birthday and the mass card for the death of the Prince of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein (which came with a thank you note from the the late Prince's son, Max, now the Prince of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein

Carl Eduard and Victoria Adelheid in 1933

Marlene A Eilers Koenig Collection

I added this postcard to my collection a few years ago.  Not sure where the photograph was taken, but the view is certainly spectacular.  The card is signed by Carl Eduard and Victoria Adelheid in June 1933.

Not sure if the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were certainly posing for the camera, most like for a friend or another family member.

Andrew to give up all patronages

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 Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the Duke of York will give up all of his 250 patronages.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/24/prince-andrew-to-withdraw-from-scores-of-charities


Other members of the Royal Family do not get to raise their hands and say they want this charity or that organization.

It will be up to the individual organizations (their boards, trustees, etc) that will decide if there will be another royal patron.  This will not happen overnight.

The late Diana, Princess of Wales, was Patron of the English National Ballet until her death in 1997.  It was not until June 2001 when the Ballet announced that the Duke of York would be the new patron.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2019/11/25/prince-charles-set-angry-showdown-prince-andrew-ongoing-epstein/amp/?WT.mc_id=tmgliveapp_iosshare_AtczP2kQn70K&__twitter_impression=true

Victoria plans match for grandson

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 November 22, 1889


Prince Ernst Ludwig, the Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, will "attain his majority" on November 25.  He will be traveling to England during the Winter to visit his grandmother, Queen Victoria,  at Osborne and Windsor, and the Prince and Princess of Wales at Sandringham, reports the New York Times.

One British paper, Truth, states that "The Queen is anxious that Prince Ernst should marry one of his English cousins, and if he does so her Majesty will do everything in her power to facilitate the match, as far as pecuniary arrangements are concerned."

The marriage of the Hereditary Grand Duke is a "great object" to the Queen and her family, as he is the only son of the Grand Duke of Hesse and By Rhine, who is said to be not in good health.  Ernst Ludwig's mother, Princess Alice, was Queen Victoria's third child.  She succumbed to diphtheria on December 14, 1878, a month after the death of her youngest daughter, four-year-old Princess Marie, who died from the same disease.

HRH Prince Ernst Ludwig Karl Albert Wilhelm of Hesse and by Rhine was born on November 25, 1868, at the New Palace in Darmstadt.

Princess Maria Isabella to be honored at Imperial Ball

November 22, 1969


HRH Princess Maria Isabella of Savoy-Genoa will be the guest of honor at the 15th Imperial Ball on December 10 at the Plaza Hotel, reports the New York Times. 

The ball will benefit the Hospitalized Veterans Service of the Musicians Emergency Fund.

The 26-year-old Princess is the only child of HRH Prince Eugenio Alfonso Carlo Maria Giuseppe, Duke of Ancona, and his wife, HRH Princess Lucia of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies. 

 She lives with her parents on their coffee plantation in Parana, Brazil.  She is "an expert horsewoman and loves music.    Her father is a cousin of the late King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy.

The Princess's name has not yet been "linked romantically with anyone titled or untitled."

Her full name is Maria Isabella Elena Immacolata Barbara Anna Pace and she was born at Rome on June 23, 1943.

Charlotte dies unhonored

The Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, "once the most feared woman in Germany, and in her younger days beautiful, died a little while ago at Baden-Baden," reports the Washington Post, which received a special cable from the Times (London).

The cable stated that the Duchess died "unwept, unhonored and unsung." 

HRH Princess Viktoria Elisabeth Auguste Charlotte of Prussia was born July 24, 1860, at the Neues Palais, the second child of the then Crown Prince Friedrich of Germany and his British-born wife, Princess Victoria, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

She married Duke Bernhard II of Saxe-Meiningen on February 18, 1878, in Berlin.  It was a double wedding with her second cousin, Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia, to the Hereditary Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg.

Charlotte "once swayed" the court of her older brother, Wilhelm II, who succeeded his father, Friedrich III, in 1888, as she had a "hand in the famous Harden trial, which broke the notorious Eulenburg camarilla."  This action "left open the way for the generals' camarilla, which made the war."

She was seen as the "tool which broke the two successive rings of Count von Waldersee and Eulenburg after their kind opposed the war."

Charlotte was "long banished" from her brother's court, and it was not until a "year or two before the war" that she and Wilhelm  had a "sort of public reconciliation."

The Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen died at Baden-Baden on October 1.  She was 59 years old.   She is survived by her husband,  who renounced his throne in November 1918, and their daughter, Princess Feodora, who was born in 1879.

Princess Feodora married Prince Heinrich XXX Reuss in 1898.  They had no children.

Breaking News: Andrew to Step down from official duties

HRH The Duke York makes it official. In an unprecedented move, the Duke of York, eighth in line to the throne, is stepping down from all official duties. This is being done with the permission of the Queen

 Chris Ship, the ITV Royal Correspondent, has provided information on patronages, as well as the Duke's office.

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-11-20/how-the-duke-met-the-queen-today-and-why-he-ll-be-out-of-the-public-eye-for-some-time/


However, it must be noted that the Sovereign Grant did not cover the Duke's engagements or his office.    Please see this link for more information.


https://thedukeofyork.org/other/faqs/ This article sets the stage for how Andrew was sent to the woodshed. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2019/11/20/prince-andrew-quits-public-life-prepares-give-evidence-epstein/

Rather than start new posts, I will continue to update this post/

November 21.

The Outward Bound Trust has accepted the Duke of York's resignation as Patron.  He had succeeded his father, HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, earlier this year.  Princess Beatrice is one of the Board's Trustees.

The Duke  also stepped down as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield and the The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions has announced that he is no longer president of their group.

For the time being, Andrew will continue with Pitch@Palace, but this will be done privately, although of number of businesses will no longer support the charity.  Several sponsors, including Standard Chartered and KPMG have announced that they have withdrawn their support for the organization.

November 22

More charities are dropping the Duke of York, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the English National Ballet.

Although several news reports have stated that Andrew has stepped down from Pitch@Palace,  Buckingham Palace has denied this, but noted that Andrew will continue to work with his pet project outside the Palace.  How he will do this has not been explained (or thought out) as the organization has lost major sponsors, the most recent is Barclays. 

It is also being reported that Amanda Thirsk will work through January and the moved to a position with Pitch. Stay tuned ... this could change tomorrow.

The Fallout begins for the Duke of York

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Sky News is reporting that the accounting firm, KPMG, will not be renewing its support of the Duke of York's Pitch@Palace


Astra Zeneca, another Pitch@Palace partner stated earlier today: Another partner "Our three year partnership with pitch@palace is due to expire at the end of this year and is currently being reviewed."

The Duke of York is Patron of the Outward Bound Trust, which will be holding an "additional" board meeting later this week, where they will review Andrew's patronage of the charity.

I expect more to follow.


https://news.sky.com/story/prince-andrew-kpmg-not-renewing-sponsorship-of-dukes-scheme-11864315

UPDATE:   Princess Beatrice, a trustee of the Outward Bound Trust, will not attend the board meeting due to a conflict of interest.  “We wouldn’t be having the meeting if there weren’t concerns. We are taking this super-seriously,' said the charity's chief executive,  Nick Barrett.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2019/11/18/businesses-charities-abandon-prince-andrew-fallout-car-crash/


Huddersfield and London Metropolitan universities have stated that they are reviewing Andrew's position as Chancellor.   More information in the article below.

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-11-19/prince-andrew-charities-universities-sponsors-reviewing-ties-over-jeffrey-epstein-interview/

The Duke of York talks - and it is not a good thing

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The Duke of York must retire as an active member of the Royal Family.  He has no business carrying out official engagements and heading patronages.

Earlier tonight the Duke of York gave an ill-conceived interview to BBC Newsnight.   He is not worthy of representing the Queen and the United Kingdom. 

This is a link to the interview with BBC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKQi3wzNFGQ

The Duchess of Cambridge at the opening of the Nook

all three photos  @Ken Stone

The Duchess, who is the Patron of EACH (East Anglia Children's Hospices), today opened The Nook, a state-of-the-art hospice.  EACH  raised £10,0000 to built the Nook.


https://www.each.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/details/hrh-the-duchess-of-cambridge-opens-the-nook


Thank you to Ken Stone for allowing me to use the photos.

A baby for the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Leiningen

@Ulrike Bartsch

The Hereditary Princess of Leiningen has confirmed to the German magazine that, yes, she is expecting a baby in February.   A triple descendant of Queen Victoria.

Princess Viktoria Luise von Preussen, only daughter of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and his second wife, Ehrengard von Reden, married Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen at Amorbach in September 2017.

https://www.bunte.de/royals/royals-weltweit/deutscher-adel/ferdinand-viktoria-luise-zu-leiningen-das-erbprinzenpaar-erwartet-sein-erstes-kind.html#h=topBar_2.

I broke the story of their engagement, which was the first between two descendants of Queen Victoria since 1981 when Ferdinand's parents. Andreas, Prince of Leiningen, married Princess Alexandra of Hanover.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/03/breaking-news-hereditary-prince.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-civil-marriage-of-hereditary-prince.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-royal-marriage-princess-viktoria.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/two-sisters-grand-duchesses-maria-and.html


https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/ferdinand-and-viktoria-luises-wedding.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/09/viktoria-luise-and-ferdinand-of.html

Flora Ogilvy to marry Tim Vesterberg

@Cepe Smith (who took the photo of the announcement)

@James Ogilvy

Today's The Times includes an engagement announcement.  Miss Flora Alexandra Ogilvy is engaged to marry Timothy Vesterberg, a Swede.   The couple has been dating for more than a year.

Flora is the eldest of James Ogilvy and Julia Rawlinson's two children. She was born in Edinburgh on December 15, 1994, and has a younger brother, Alexander.

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Flora is 53rd in line to the British throne.  Her father is the elder of two children of HRH Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy, and the late Sir Angus Ogilvy, second son of David, the 7th Earl of Airlie and Lady Alexandra Coke.

https://thetab.com/uk/2019/10/15/who-is-flora-ogilvy-the-young-royal-bristol-grad-taking-over-the-art-world-128771

A graduate of Bristol University, Flora runs her own company, Arteviste.

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http://www.arteviste.com/our-founder

Tim Vesterberg is the son of Bo Patrik and Carina Margareta Vesterberg.  He was born in Stockholm on August 1, 1993. A former ice hockey player in Sweden, Tim now works as a financier in London. He is an Investment Manager with H.I.G. He has a BA from the Stockholm School of Economics and previously worked for Citigroup.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-vesterberg-a581198b/
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/32071/tim-vesterberg


Here is a link to Flora's Instagram, which has her engagement photo, taken by her father.  https://www.instagram.com/p/B4zJr2WlDI6/

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Earl of Dalhousie puts castle up for sale

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James Ramsay, the 17th Earl of Dalhousie, announced in February that he would sell the family home, Brechin Castle, and the surrounding gardens in Angus, Scotland.
He said that he and his wife would move into a smaller house on the estate once the castle has been sold.

"We have therefore taken the decision to put the house and gardens up for sale and my wife and I will move to another smaller house on the estate once the sale is complete.

“The rest of the estate at Brechin, Edzell, and Invermark, and all our business enterprises, including Brechin Castle Centre and Peggy Scotts (a restaurant), as well as our farming operation, forestry, game and property letting, will continue to operate as at present and, other than those who are employed at Brechin Castle itself, there will be no change in our present staffing, which now numbers around 90 full and regular part time staff.“Indeed, we will continue to explore opportunities to expand and diversify the family business.”

Brechin Castle has been in the Dalhousie family for 250 years.

James Hubert Ramsay was born on January 17, 1948.   He is the third child and eldest son of Simon Ramsay,  16th Earl of Dalhousie, and Margaret Stirling of Keir.    He married Marilyn Butter on October 3, 1973.  They have three children, Lady Lorna Lefebreve, Lady Alice Dickinson, and Simon, Lord Carnegie, who is married to an American, Kaitlin Kubinsky.

Lord Dalhousie has five grandsons.  Lord Ramsay's son, the Hon. William Fox Ramsay is second in line to the earldom.

Lady Dalhousie is the second of five children of Myra Alice Wernher and Major Sir David Butter.  She is the granddaughter of Sir Harold Wernher, Bt, and Countess Anastasia Torby (styled as Lady Zia Werhner, after her marriage) and a great-granddaughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Countess Sophie von Merenberg.  One of her godparents was her great-aunt, Nada, Marchioness of Milford Haven.

Lord Dalhousie is also chief of the Clan Ramsay, and since 2009, Lord Steward of the Household.   The position is a personal appointment by the Sovereign.  He succeeded the Duke of Abercorn in the position.  The Duke of Abercorn's late wife, Sacha, was the Countess of Dalhousie's first cousin.

Another family home, Dalhousie Castle, was sold in 1977.  The castle and estate had been in the family for eight centuries.  It is now a luxury hotel.

Savills is seeking offers of over £3,000,000.

https://assets.savills.com/properties/GBEDRUEDR190005/EDR190005_EDR19000266.PDF

https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle-2-15039/clan-chief-puts-family-castle-on-market-after-250-years-due-to-high-running-costs-1-4869589


https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbedruedr190005

Earl of Southesk engaged to marry

The Earl of Southesk is engaged to marry Camille Ascoli, daughter of Roberto Ascoli and  Valérie Marie Christine Ledoux.   The future countess has an Italian father and an French mother.  She born on June 6, 1990 at Paris.

@Arisaig Partners

Lord Southesk, the eldest of three sons of the 4th Duke of Fife and his wife, the former Caroline Bunting, was born on October 8, 1989.

Since April 2013,  Lord Southesk, who uses the name Charlie Carnegie, is the head of Thematic Research with Arisaig Partners and is based in Hong Kong.  He has a First Class Hons International Business (MA) degree from the Edinburgh University.  He is based in the firm's Hong Kong office.

Camille Ascoli has a MA in French and Italian from Oxford University.  Her father, who is originally from Milan, Italy, has been based in Hong Kong for many years.   The future countess has worked for Loréal since 2014 and has held positions with the company in Milan and Hong Kong.  Since September 2018, she has been Senior Product Brand Manager, based in London.

Lord Southesk is a descendant of Queen Victoria through her eldest son, King Edward VII's eldest daughter, Princess Louise, Princess Royal, who married Alexander Duff, Earl of Fife.(1849-1912).  Queen Victoria bestowed a dukedom of Alexander on the day of his wedding to Louise, thus becoming the Duke of Fife and the Marquess of Fife. 

He is also a descendant of William IV through his natural daughter, Elizabeth FitzClarence, who married the 18th Earl of Erroll.  Their daughter, Lady Agnes Hay married James Duff, who were the parents of Alexander Duff, who married Princess Louise.

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Princess Louise and the Duke of Fife had three children:  a stillborn son (Alistair) in 1890;  Lady Alexandra (1891-1959) and Lady Maud (1893-1945).  In  November 1905, King Edward VIII named Louise as Princess Royal and created Alexandra and Maud as Princesses with the rank of Highness.    Five years earlier, Queen Victoria recreated the Dukedom of Fife to allow for the Duke's daughters and their male heirs to succeed.  The secondary title was changed to Earl of Macduff.

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In 1912,  Lady Alexandra succeeded her father as the 2nd Duchess of Fife.  A year later,she married her mother's first cousin, HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught.  Although she was a peeress in her own right, she was styled as HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught.   The couple had one son, Alistair (1914-1943), who was heir to the Fife and Connaught dukedoms.  Prince Arthur died in 1938, thus predeceasing his father, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, who died in 1942.

The Connaught and Strathearn dukedom became extinct in 1943 following the death of Alexandra's only son, Alistair, 2nd Duke of Connaught.

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Princess Maud, married in 1923 to Charles, Lord Carnegie (1893-1992), heir apparent to the Earl of Southesk.  Following her marriage, she was styled as the Lady Maud Carnegie, until her husband succeeded to the earldom, when she became the Countess of Southesk.  Her first cousin, King George V, had not agreed with his father's decision to elevate Alexandra and Maud to princesses. So when Maud married, he suggested that she drop the title of Princess and the HH, and return to the style of a Duke's daughter, as the Lady Maud Carnegie.

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Maud's only son, James Carnegie, styled as Lord Carnegie from his father's accession to the earldom until the death of his Aunt Alexandra, when he succeeded as the 3rd Duke of Fife in 1959.  Three years earlier, he had married the Hon. Caroline Dewar.  This marriage ended in divorce in 1966.  The couple had three children: stillborn (1958), Lady Alexandra (1959) and David (1961), who is the present Duke of Fife and Earl of Southesk.

In 1992, the 3rd Duke of Fife also succeeded to his father's earldom, as the 11th Earl of Southesk.  Shortly after the Lord Southesk's death, the family announced that the Duke's heir, David, the Earl of Macduff, would be styled as the Earl of Southesk, as a courtesy title.   David's eldest son, Charles, was styled as Lord Carnegie.   The Duke of Fife is the actual Earl of Southesk, however, but due to the inheritance of the Southesk estate,  the heir to the Dukedom will be styled, not as the Earl of Macduff, but as the Earl of Southesk.

Times.  March 3, 1992

The family estate is Kinnaird Castle in Brechin, Scotland.

https://kinnairdcastle.co.uk/

http://www.arisaig-partners.com/Team/Heads-of-Research


https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-carnegie-b35a4939/

Victoria and Albert at Osborne

Last week, English Heritage hosted a fabulous conference (November 6-8) at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.  Let's just say I would have enjoyed this conference immensely.  A dear friend, Katrina Warne did go to the conference.  The attendees had Osborne to themselves.



"It was an extremely interesting conference which featured a variety on papers on different aspects of the lives of Victoria, Albert & their family at Osborne. The speakers came from English Heritage, The Royal Collection & Historic Royal Palaces amongst other authoritative speakers.  The conference was held in the Durbar Room of the house. The food served at the meals was food that Queen Victoria would have recognised as she had eaten it herself at various stages of her life. There were tours of the house & garden. It is hoped that at some point the papers given will be published."

all photos @Katarina Warne

I have a pdf for the actual program, but cannot get it to be a link so here is a link to the draft program, which will give some information about the presentations.  I wish I could have popped over to Osborne

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/victoria-and-albert-at-osborne-tickets-59085059002