Fürst Albrecht of Hohenberg (1931-2021), Grandson of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Fürst Albrecht of Hohenberg died on 25 February 2021. He was ninety years-old.

Duke Max and Duchess Elisabeth of Hohenberg.

Fürst Albrecht Philipp Leopold Josef Andreas Hubertus Maria of Hohenberg was born on 4 February 1931 at Artstetten as the third child and third son of Duke Maximilian of Hohenberg (1902-1962) and Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee (1904-1993). Duke Maximilian of Hohenberg, Georg Friedrich's father, was the second child and first son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Albrecht had two older brothers, Franz Ferdinand (1927-1977; married Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg), and Georg (1929-2019; married Princess Eleonore von Auersperg-Breunner), and three younger siblings:  Johannes (1933-2003), Peter (1936-2017), and Gerhard (1941-2019).

 

Fürst Albrecht, his niece Fürstin Anita, and his wife Fürstin Leontine.

On 11 April 1962 at Vienna, Fürst Albrecht of Hohenberg married Countess Leontine von Cassis-Faraone (b.3 August 1933), the daughter of Count Leo August von Cassis-Faraone and Wilhelmina Fentener van Vlissingen. Albrecht and Leontine had four children: Fürstin Margarete (b.1963; married Archduke Josef Carl of Austria), Fürst Leo Johannes (b.1964; married Rosalind Roque Alcoforado), Fürstin Johanna (b.1966; married Count Andreas Henckel von Donnersmarck), and Fürstin Katharina (b.1969; married Carlos Manuel Méndez de Vigo y Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg). 

 

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg, and their four children.

 

Albrecht's passing leaves two surviving grandchildren of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg: Albrecht's first cousins Countess Sophie von Nostitz-Rieneck, Baroness von Gudenus (b.1929) and Fürst Ernst of Hohenberg (b.1944). 

 

May Albrecht Rest in Peace.

Aristocratic Engagement With Royal Antecedents: Capt Frederick Wellesley & Capt Katherine Lambert

Lord Frederick Wellesley.

 

Lord Frederick Wellesley pictured behind Prince Jean Christophe Napoléon.

 

Lord Frederick Wellesley.

On 25 February 2021, Nicholas Lambert placed the following announcement in The Telegraph announcing the engagement of his daughter:

The engagement is announced between Captain Frederick Wellesley, The Blues and Royals, younger son of the Duke and Duchess of Wellington, and Captain Katherine Lambert, Royal Engineers, elder daughter of Mr and Mrs Nicholas Lambert.

 

The Duke and Duchess of Wellington with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Born on 30 September 1992 at London, Lord Frederick Charles Wellesley is the fifth and youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Wellington. Frederick's parents are Charles Wellesley, 9th Duke of Wellington (b.1945), and Princess Antonia of Prussia (b.1955). Through his mother, he is a grandson of Prince Friedrich of Prussia, the subject of a recent article in the European Royal History Journal, and his wife Lady Brigid Guinness, of the Earls of Iveagh. Frederick Wellesley has four elder siblings: Arthur Wellesley, Earl of Mornington (b.1978; married Jemma Kidd); Lady Honor Wellesley (b.1979; married the Hon. Orlando Montagu); Lady Mary Wellesley (b.1986); and Lady Charlotte Wellesley (b.1990; married Alejandro Santo Domingo). Lord Frederick Wellesley studied at Eton and then went on to the Royal Academy Sandhurst. In 2016, he joined the Blues and Royals, where he has achieved the rank of captain. 

 

King James: the common ancestor of Frederick and Katherine.

 

Born on 25 July 1992, Katherine Emma Lambert is the daughter of Nicholas Thomas Lambert (b.1957) and Fiona Jane Burn, who married in 1989. Katherine Lambert attended the Royal Academy Sandhurst; she joined the Royal Engineers, where she has achieved the rank of captain. Katherine and Frederick are thirteenth cousins through their mutual descent from King James VI and I of Scotland and England and Ireland.

 

 

Our congratulations to the happy couple and their families!

The American Ancestry of Princess Geraldine of Albania

Princess Geraldine of Albania, held by her father Crown Prince Leka, in front of a picture of her great-grandmother Queen Geraldine of Albania.
Photograph (c) Alamy/David Niviere.

Crown Prince Leka of Albania and his wife Crown Princess Elia welcomed the birth of their first child Princess Geraldine on 22 October 2020. The infant princess is the great-granddaughter of Queen Geraldine of Albania, who was born Countess Géraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagy-Appony on 6 August 1915, and who passed away on 22 October 2002 at Tirana.

Gladys Virginia Stewart.

It is through Princess Geraldine's great-grandmother and namesake that American blood courses through the veins of the newest member of the Albanian royal family. Queen Geraldine of Albania was the daughter of Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Appony (1873–1924) and his wife Gladys Virginia Stewart (1891–1947), who married on 29 July 1914. The count and countess had three children: Countess Geraldine (later Queen of Albania), Countess Virginia (1916-2002; married in 1937 to András Baghy; married in 1947 to Joseph Blackburn; married in 1971 to József Máriássy), and Count Gyula (1923-1946). Following the death of her first husband in 1924, his widow Gladys married French soldier Gontran Girault (1882-1964) on 14 May 1926. The couple had three children: Sylviane Girault (b.Mehun-sur-Yèvre, Centre-Val de Loire, France 3 August 1927; married in 1955 to Maurice Muselier [1907-1989]), Guy Girault (b.1930), and Patricia Girault (b.1932). Aged fifty-six, Gladys Stewart Girault died on 19 November 1947 at Aix-en-Provence.

Mary Virginia Ramsay Harding and her granddaughter Geraldine, the future Albanian queen.

Gladys Virginia Stewart, Princess Geraldine of Albania's great-great grandmother, had been born on 18 July 1891 as the only child of John Henry Stewart (1831-1892), the son of David Stewart and Margaret Heighe, and his wife Mary Virginia Ramsay Harding (1871-1946). John Stewart and Mary Virginia Harding were married on 29 June 1890 at New York. In 1889, at the age of eighteen, Mary Virginia Harding authored a novel, The Soul of Lady Agnes. At the time of his marriage, John H. Stewart was the United States Consul to Antwerp, Belgium. After the death of Mr. Stewart, in July 1893 his widow became the guardian of their daughter Gladys. On 10 July 1902, Mary Virginia Ramsay Harding (widow Stewart) married Gustaf Victor Theodor Stråle af Ekna (1864-1935) at St. Helier's, Isle of Jersey. Gustaf/Gustave de Straele (Stråle af Ekna) was reportedly a chamberlain to the King of Sweden. Mary Virginia Harding Stråle af Ekna died before 1955, when she was buried in New York. 

The wedding notice of Edward Learned Harding and Lucy Booker Ramsey.
From the Spirit of the Age of Raleigh, NC (30 July 1856).

The obituary of Lucy Ramsey Harding.
From The News and Observer of Raleigh, NC (26 December 1906).

Mary Virginia Harding, the great-great-great grandmother of Princess Geraldine, was the daughter of Edward Learned Harding (1822-1885) and Lucy Booker Ramsey (1839-1906), the daughter of Walter J. Ramsey (d.1856). Edward L. Harding, a clothing merchant, and Lucy B. Ramsey were married on 22 July 1856 at Raleigh, North Carolina, by the Reverend N. F. Reid. After the death of her husband, Lucy Ramsey Harding moved to France, where she died in 1906. 

 

The Death of the Duchess de Plasencia (1957-2021)

La Duquesa de Plasencia.

 

Don Carlo Ruspoli, Duca di Morignano, and Doña María da Gracia de Solís-Beaumount y Téllez-Girón, Duquesa de Plasencia. 

On 20 February 2021, Doña María de Gracia, Duchess de Plasencia died at Madrid. She was sixty-three years-old. The duchess had been a nurse with the Spanish Red Cross and was a Dame of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta as well as of the Constantinian Order of Saint George. María de Gracia was a second cousin once removed of Doña Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, Duchess de Medinaceli (1917-2013).

The wedding of the Duchess de Osuna and Don Pedro de Solís-Beaumont, 1946.

 

Doña Angela, Duchess de Osuna, with her daughters Doña María de Gracia, Duchess de Plasencia, and Doña Angela, Duchess de Arcos.

Doña María de Gracia de Solís-Beaumont y Téllez-Girón was born at Madrid on 12 March 1957. She was the younger daughter of Don Pedro de Solís-Beaumont y Lasso de Vega (1916-1959) and Doña Angela María Téllez-Girón y Duque de Estrada, Duchess de Osuna, etc. (1925-2015), who married in 1946. María de Gracia had one older sister: Doña Angela de Solis-Beaumont y Téllez-Girón, Duchess de Arcos (b.1950). In 1963, María de Gracia's mother remarried Don José Maria de Latorre y Montalvo (1925-1991). From this marriage, María de Gracia had two half-sisters: Doña María del Pilar de Latorre y Téllez-Girón, Duchess de Uceda (b.1965), and Doña María de la Asunción de Latorre y Téllez-Girón Montalvo, Duchess de Medina de Rioseco (b.1968). 

The Duchess de Plasencia with her mother the Duchess de Osuna.
Photograph (c) Don Carlo Ruspoli.

Doña María de Gracia Ruspoli y Solís-Beaumont, Marquesa del Villar de Grajanejos.

On 11 October 1975, Doña María de Gracia de Solís-Beaumont y Téllez-Girón married Don Carlo Ruspoli, Duca di Morignano (b.1949). The Duke di Morignano and the Duchess de Plasencia had one child: Doña María de Gracia Ruspoli y Solís-Beaumont (b.Madrid 16 June 1977), Marquesa del Villar de Grajanejos. On 28 November 2009, the Marchioness del Villar de Grajanejos married Don Javier Isidro González de Gregorio y Molina (b.Madrid 7 November 1971). Doña María de Gracia and Don Javier have two children: Doña María de Gracia González de Gregorio y Ruspoli (b.2015) and Doña Blanca Micaela González de Gregorio y Ruspoli (b.2018).

The Duchess de Plasencia and the Duke di Morignano.

 

María de Gracia de Solís-Beaumont y Téllez-Girón, Duchess de Plasencia, is survived by her husband Carlo, her daughter María de Gracia and her son-in-law Javier, and her granddaughters María de Gracia and Blanca.

 

May the Duchess Rest in Peace.

A Right Royal Riddle: Who Am I?

A Gotha Quiz: Who Am I?

By Darren Shelton for the European Royal History Journal.

The man history named as my father was extremely flamboyant, a trait which eventually cost him dearly. 

 

Many at the time felt that my true father was the man who taught my 'official' parents the art of lovemaking. My arrival after many years of what appeared a barren marriage helped to confirm this.

 

I eventually succeeded as king at a young age. Time was to prove that ruling was not my forte. My wife came from a family that was successful in establishing her siblings on other thrones. 

 

My son was to eventually marry a woman from the same house as his mother. Through my daughter-in-law, my descendants had imperial connections, albeit due to adoption.

 

Due to my ineptness, my son was forced to live a life of much reduced circumstances.

 

As can be expected, I died a broken man.

 

Who am I?

The answer will be posted tomorrow.

+++++++

 

 

I am King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (1778 – 1837).

A Name for the Brooksbank Baby Boy

Mr Jack Brooksbank, Master August Brooksbank, and Princess Eugenie.

 

This from the Royal Family today: 

 

Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank have announced that they have named their son August Philip Hawke Brooksbank. 

 

The couple have been touched by the well wishes they have received on the birth of their first child, and are delighted to share this first photograph as a family.

 

August in February.

 

Little August Brooksbank was born at London on 9 February 2021. He is the first child of Jack Brooksbank and Princess Eugenie, who married in 2018. The couple have named their son in honor of his maternal great-grandfather Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b.1921); they have also named him in honor of two of the baby’s 5 x great-grandfathers: Rev. Edward Hawke Brooksbank (1789-1883) on father Jack’s side and Baron Auguste Louis von Senarclens de Grancy (1794-1871) OR Prince Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819-1861; the Prince Consort) on mother Eugenie’s side.

 

Happy parents: Jack and Eugenie with their son.

 

Master August Brooksbank is eleventh in the line of succession to the British throne.

An American Bride for Lord Stormont, Heir to the Earl of Mansfield

William, Viscount Stormont.

Photograph (c) Robert Ormerod.

Charlotte Clune.
Photograph from LinkedIn.

On 20 February 2021, the engagement was announced between William Murray, Lord Stormont (b.1 November 1988) and Charlotte Clune (b.December 1989).

 

William Philip David Mungo Murray, Viscount Stormont, is the eldest son of Alexander Murray, 9th Earl of Mansfield, 8th Earl of Mansfield (b. 17 October 1956), and his wife Sophia Mary Veronica Ashbrooke (b.22 January 1959), who married in 1985. Lord Stormont's paternal grandparents are William David Mungo James Murray, 7th Earl of Mansfield, 8th Earl of Mansfield (7 July 1930-21 October 2015) and Pamela Joan Foster, who married on 19 December 1955. Lord Stormont's maternal grandparents are Philip Biden Derwent Ashbrooke (d.1993) and Veronica Philippa Stourton (b.31 October 1929), who married on 23 October 1954.

 

Charlotte Nevling Clune is the daughter Jonathan Edward Clune (b.17 December 1952) and his wife Sarah Gordon Potter (b.17 August 1950), who married on 10 September 1983 at the First Congregational Church, Deep River, CT. Charlotte's paternal grandparents are Edward Conrad Clune (17 November 1921-14 March 2004) and Margaret Mary Fagan (14 April 1916-June 1990), who married on 19 June 1950. Charlotte's maternal grandparents are Edward Barrie Vernon Potter (9 December 1920-8 May 2010) and Gloria Gordon (15 June 1927-29 October 2009), who married on 1 October 1949.

 

Our best wishes to the happy couple!

Princess Mechtilde zu Leiningen, Frau Bauscher (1936-2021)

Princess Mechtilde zu Leiningen and her husband Karl-Anton Bauscher speak with Hereditary Prince Kraft zu Hohenlohe-Oehringen at the funeral of Fürst Kraft zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, 2004.

On 12 February 2021, Mechtilde Bauscher died at Bamberg. She was eighty-five years-old. 

Princess Mechtilde's mother Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna.

Born at Würzburg on 2 January 1936, HSH Princess Mechtilde Alexandra zu Leiningen was the fifth child and third daughter of Fürst Karl zu Leiningen (1898-1946) and his wife Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia (1907-1951). Karl and Maria, who married in 1925, had seven children born during their union: Fürst Emich (1926-1991; married Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg), Prince Karl Wladimir (1928-1990; married Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria), Princess Kira-Melita (1930-2005; married Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia), Princess Margarita (1932-1996; married Fürst Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern), Princess Mechtilde, Prince Friedrich (1938-1998), and Prince Peter-Viktor (1942-1943).

The death notice of Mechtilde Bauscher (née Princess zu Leiningen).

On 25 November 1961 at Amorbach, Princess Mechtilde zu Leiningen married Karl-Anton Bauscher (b.Grafenwöhr 26 August 1931), an engineer and the son of Rudolf Schöll and Hedwig Fischer. The Bauschers had three sons: Dr. Ulf Bauscher, Berthold Bauscher, and Johann Bauscher. Mechtilde and her family were very close to Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his family.

May the Princess Rest in Peace. 

The Duke of Roxburghe, One of Britain's Most Eligible Bachelors, Turns 40

His Grace the 11th Duke of Roxburghe.

 

Guy and Virginia, Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe, with their children.

On 18 February 1981, Charles Robert George Innes-Kerr, Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford, was born at Edinburgh to Guy and Jane, the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe. Charles' parents, Guy Innes-Ker, 10th Duke of Roxburghe (1954-2019) and Lady Jane Grosvenor (b.1953; daughter of the Duke of Westminster), had wed in 1977. Guy and Jane had three children: Lady Rosanagh (b.1979; married James Walter Grimston, Viscount Grimston), Charles (the heir), Lord Edward (b.1984; married Celia Brook). Guy Roxburghe and Jane Grosvenor divorced in 1990. In 1992, the 10th Duke of Roxburghe married Virginia Mary Williams-Wynn, with whom he had two further children: Lady Isabella (b.1994), and Lord George (b.1996).

 

Charles Innes-Ker, Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford, and the Hon. Charlotte Aitken.
Photograph (c) Ikon Pictures/REX/Shutterstock.

 

Charles Innes-Ker was educated at Eton College and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and dated Lord Beaverbrook’s daughter, the Hon. Charlotte Susanna Aitken (b.1982), for many years. On 22 July 2011, the couple were married at London. The wedding announcement placed in The Telegraph by the bride's father read as follows:

 

The marriage took place on Friday, July 22, at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London, between Charles, eldest son of the Duke of Roxburghe and Lady Jane Dawnay, and Charlotte, elder daughter of Lord and Lady Beaverbrook. Dom Edward Corbould officiated, assisted by the Rev Anthony Hogg. 

The bride was attended by Isabel Sanderson, Iris Goldsmith, Emilia Methven, Frankie Goldsmith, Milo Methven and Ben Way. Mr Freddy Galliers-Pratt was best man.

Sadly, the union of the Marquess and Marchioness of Bowmont and Cessford was not of long duration. Charles and Charlotte were divorced in June 2012.

 

Charles Innes-Ker and Morvarid Sahafi.
Photograph (c) Dominic O'Neill.

 

After a relationship of several years, in April 2016, Charles welcomed the birth of a daughter, Eugenie, with his partner Morvarid Sahafi, a fashion designer. Alas, the couple parted ways in 2019, which was the same year that Charles succeeded as 11th Duke of Roxburghe upon the death of his father Guy, who had been battling cancer. 

 

Father and son: Guy and Charles Innes-Ker.
Photograph (c) Rex Features.

 

The Duke of Roxburghe's primary residence is Floors Castle.

In January 2021, the engagement was announced between the Duke of Roxburghe and Annabel Green.

 

We wish His Grace many happy returns of the day!

 

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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Admitted to Hospital

 

HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London yesterday evening. Born on 10 June 1921, the duke is ninety-nine years-old. The Duke of Edinburgh is expected to remain in hospital for a number of days. 

 

We send HRH our best wishes for a speedy recovery!

The Bourbon-Parma Family Welcomes a Baby Boy!

The Bourbon-Parma Family Welcomes a Baby Boy!

 

Prince Joseph and Princess Anna Louise of Bourbon-Parma on their wedding day.

 

On 21 January 2021, Joseph de Bourbon de Parme and his wife Anna Louise welcomed the birth of their first child, a son named Arthur. 

 

Prince Philippe and Princess Annette of Bourbon-Parma with their sons Jacques and Joseph.

 

Joseph and Anna Louise married in 2018. Joseph (b.1989) is the younger son of Prince Philippe of Bourbon-Parma (b.1949) and his wife Annette Smith (b.1955), who married in 1979. Joseph has an elder brother, Jacques (b.1986). Anna Louise (b.1988) is the daughter of Leo Budd and Lilla Vibeke Bøgeløv.

 

Prince Jacques of Bourbon-Parma and Countess Birgitte of Holstein-Ledreborg on their wedding day.
Photograph (c) Getty Images/Keystone-France.

 

Arthur de Bourbon de Parme (b.2021) is the paternal great-grandson of Prince Jacques of Bourbon-Parma (1922-1964) and Countess Birgitte of Holstein-Ledreborg (1922-2009). 

 

Source: Descendants of King Christian IX of Denmark

The 70th Birthday of Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium, Aunt of the Belgian King

 

 

Embed from Getty Images

On 6 February 1951, Princess Marie-Christine Daphné Astrid Elisabeth Léopoldine of Belgium as born at Laeken as the second child and eldest daughter of King Léopold III of the Belgians (1901-1983) and his second wife Mary Lilian Baels (1916-2002; created Princess de Réthy). As such, Marie-Christine (who sometimes goes by her middle name: Daphné) is the half-sister of King Albert II of the Belgians (b.1934) and the late Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg (1928-2005; née Belgium) and King Baudouin of the Belgians (1930-1993); these three were the children of Léopold III and his first wife Queen Astrid (1905-1935; née Sweden).

Since 1980, Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium has lived in the United States of America. She now is a resident of Sequim, Washington; the town has a population of less than 7,000 people. The princess resides there with her second husband, Jean-Paul Gourgues; the couple celebrated their thirtieth wedding anniversary on 28 September of this year.

 

The only member of Marie-Christine's family to remain in contact with her is Princess Marie-Esmeralda (b.1956), Marie-Christine's only full sister. In regards to her sister, Esmeralda has stated: "Marie-Christine does not want any more contact. Not with the family, not with the friends of the past. It is her choice. She says she has a new life. This situation has been going on for three or four years now. It makes me sad, but I respect her decision. I tried, but she really does not want anything else. I cannot force her. "

Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium and her first husband Paul Druker (1981)
Photograph (c) UPC

Marie-Christine has been estranged from the Belgian royal family for most of her adult life; the princess did not attend the funerals of her parents or of her brother Prince Alexandre (1942-2009). She had a difficult relationship with her mother, the Princess de Réthy, who was a rather strong character. In 1981, Princess Marie-Christine was very briefly married to Canadian Paul Druker (1937-2008). In 1989, the princess married her second husband Jean-Paul, a native of Bordeaux.

______________

 

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The 40th Anniversary of the Death of Queen Frederica of Greece

Queen Frederica of Greece in mourning for her husband King Paul. 

Queen Frederica of Greece.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Evening Standard.

Queen Frederica of Greece.

Queen Frederica of Greece.

 

On 6 February 1981 at 11:30pm, Queen Frederica of Greece died at Madrid after suffering heart failure following eyelid surgery. She was sixty-three years-old. The queen was survived by her three children: Queen Sofía of Spain, King Constantine II of the Hellenes, and Princess Irene of Greece. 

The infant Princess Frederica of Hannover.

Princess Viktoria Luise holding her daughter Princess Frederica.

The Duke and Duchess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg with their five children in 1927.
Photograph (c) Smith Archive / Alamy Stock Photo.

Princess Frederica with her mother Princess Viktoria Luise.

On 18 April 1917, Princess Friederike Luise Thyra Viktoria Margarete Sophie Olga Cecile Isabelle Christa of Hannover, Duchess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg was born at Blankenburg, Harz. The princess was the first and only daughter of Prince Ernst August of Hannover (1887-1953) and his wife Princess Viktoria Luise (1892-1980; née Prussia). Frederica had four brothers: Prince Ernst August (1914-1987), Prince Georg Wilhelm (1915-2006), Prince Christian (1919-1981), and Prince Welf (1923-1997). Frederica's family moved to Austria when she was still an infant, and she grew up there, in Gmunden. She was educated by her mother and an English governess until, at the age of seventeen, she was sent to school in England. While there, she attended the wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece. Further studies took Frederica to Florence. It was there that she met her future husband for the first time. At the home of Queen Mother Helen of Romania, Princess Frederica of Hannover was introduced to Crown Prince Paul of Greece, Helen's brother. Upon meeting Paul, Frederica recalled: "I lost my head and my heart." 

Prince Ernst August and Princess Viktoria Luise of Hannover with their son-in-law and daughter Crown Prince Paul and Crown Princess Frederica of Greece.

The marriage of Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover.
Photograph (c) Hulton Deutsch.

Crown Prince Paul and Crown Princess Frederica of Greece.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Imagno.

King George VI of the United Kingdom gives his consent to the marriage between Princess Frederica of Brunswick-Luneburg and Prince Paul of Greece, December 1937.
Image from The London Gazette.

 

Princess Frederica of Hannover married Crown Prince Paul of Greece (1901-1964) at Athens on 9 January 1938. The crown prince was the third son of King Constantine I of the Hellenes (1868-1923) and his wife Queen Sophie (1870-1932; née Princess of Prussia). Paul and Frederica were first cousins once removed; the pair were descendants of Queen Victoria. At the time of her marriage to the Greek heir, Frederica was thirty-fourth in the line of succession to the British throne.

Frederica of Greece with her children Sophia, Constantine, and Irene.

The King and Queen of Greece with their three children.

Queen Frederica of Greece with Princess Sophia, Crown Prince Constantine, and Princess Irene.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Genevieve Naylor.

During the early years of their marriage, Paul and Frederica resided at a villa in Psychiko. The couple had three children: Princess Sophia (b.1938; later Queen Sofía of Spain), Prince Constantine (b.1940; later King Constantine II of the Hellenes), and Princess Irene (b.1942).

 

King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece.

King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece.

The King and Queen of Greece with their children.

 

In 1947, Paul succeeded his brother George II as King of the Hellenes. Political instability in Greece led to the Greek Civil War, which lasted from 1947-1949. As the granddaughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II, the queen was persistently attacked by political opponents of the monarchy for her ancestry. Queen Frederica attended the wedding of her husband's cousin Prince Philip to Princess Elizabeth (future Queen of the United Kingdom). While at the festivities surrounding the marriage, Frederica sat next to Winston Churchill at a dinner. Churchill asked the queen: "Wasn't your grandfather the Kaiser?" Her Majesty retorted that he was indeed her grandfather and that "If you had Salic Law in England, my father would be your King today!" Standing five feet three inches tall, Frederica was remembered by many who encountered the queen for "her informal manner, easy smile, curly brown hair, and laughing eyes." Like so many consorts, Frederica was an iron first within a velvet glove. A woman of immense internal strength and willpower, the queen did all she could to protect what she believed to be the best interests of her husband and her son. 

 

King Constantine II of Greece with Queen Mother Frederica at the funeral of King Paul.

King Constantine II of Greece with Queen Mother Frederica at the funeral of King Paul.
Pictured behind them is Princess Irene.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Jack Garofalo.

King Constantine II of Greece with his mother Queen Frederica at the funeral of King Paul.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Keystone.

 

King Paul of Greece died on 6 March 1964, aged sixty-two. He had been suffering from cancer, and, during his final days, his wife became ill with a case of pneumonia. Frederica became a widow at forty-six. After her son King Constantine II married his cousin Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark in September 1964, Queen Mother Frederica stepped back from most of her public duties in favour of her daughter-in-law. Alas, Frederica remained a figure of controversy: she was accused in the Greek press of being the éminence grise behind the throne.

 

Queen Mother Frederica of Greece with her daughter Princess Sofía and grandchildren, 1968.
Infanta Pilar is pictured in the background.

Frederica with her granddaughters Infanta Elena and Infanta Cristina.

Queen Anne-Marie and King Constantine II of Greece, Princess Irene, Queen Mother Frederica, and Princess Sofía and Prince Juan Carlos of Spain, La Zarzuela, 1968.

 

In 1967, the Greek royal family left the country following Constantine II's failed counter-coup against the military dictatorship. The family first settled in Rome and then in London. Frederica accompanied her son into exile. The queen mother often visited her daughter Sofía and family in Madrid. Along with her daughter Irene, Frederica spent a great deal of time in Madras, India. The queen mother was extremely interested studying Indian culture. In 1976, Queen Sofía of Spain and her children flew to India as Queen Frederica was reported to be in delicate health. 

 

 

After her death in 1981, Queen Mother Frederica of Greece was buried next to her husband King Paul at Tatoi.