The Short-Lived Union of Pierre d'Arenberg and Marie Christine Kraff de Laubarède

Pierre and Marie-Christine in London, 1990.
Photograph (c) Fergus Greer/Tatler.

In 1995, Prince Pierre d'Arenberg, Duke of Arenberg, married Marie Christine Kraff de Laubarède. It is alleged that the couple underwent a civil marriage ceremony in the Philippines; however, it it thought that the marriage was not registered with the French Embassy, for whatever reason. The couple had been together for several years. Pierre was the only child of Prince Charles d'Arenberg, Duke of Arenberg, and Margaret Bedford. Marie Christine was the only child of Leonce Kraffe de Laubarède and Elizabeth Anne Christie-Miller. 

The Arenberg Sisters: Alienor, Lydia, and Dorothée.
Photograph (c) Getty Images/Bertrand Rindoff Petroff.

On 19 August 1995 at London, Princess and Duchess Aliénor Margaretha Elisabeth Louise Marie of Arenberg was born as the only child of Prince Pierre d'Arenburg and Marie Christine Kraff de Laubarède. Pierre and Marie Christine either subsequently divorced or realised that their marriage had not been legally recorded, and the pair parted ways. In 1997, Prince Pierre d'Arenberg married Sylvia de Castellane. Pierre and Sylvia have two daughters: Princess Lydia and Princess Dorothée.