The 70th Birthday of Princess Laure Napoléon

Princess Laure with her dog on the shores of Lake Geneva.

 

Louis and Alix with their children (left to right) Catherine, Laure, Jérôme, and Charles.

Today, Princess Laure Napoléon celebrates her seventieth birthday!

The Prince and Princess Napoléon with their four children, 1969.

Born on 8 October 1952 at Paris, Princess Laure Clémentine Geneviève Napoléon was the third child and second daughter of Prince Louis Napoléon (1914-1997), Head of the Imperial House of Bonaparte, and his wife Princess Alix (b.1926; née de Foresta), who wed in 1949. Laure's middle names come from her paternal and maternal grandmothers, Princess Clémentine of Belgium and Geneviève Fredet. Laure joined two older siblings, the twins Prince Charles (b.1950; married 1st Princess Béatrice of Bourbon-Two Sicilies; married 2nd Jeanne Françoise Valliccionni) and Princess Catherine (b.1950; married 1st Nicolò San Martino d'Agliè dei Marchesi di Fontanetto; married 2nd Jean-Claude Dualé), and Laure was followed by a younger brother, Prince Jérôme (b.1957; married Licia Innocenti). The princess was raised at the family home in Prangins, Switzerland. On 23 December 1982 at Grenoble, Princess Laure married Jean-Claude Lecomte (1948-2009). The couple had one son, Clément Louis Lecomte (b.1995). In 2005, the princess attended the funeral of her cousin Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg along with her brother Prince Jérôme.

Princess Laure at her christening, November 1952.

Our best wishes to the Princess on her birthday!

The Prince of Prussia Sends Condolences to British Royal Family on Passing of The Queen

HI&RH Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia with HM The late Queen.

In a letter of condolence to the British King Charles III, the head of the House of Hohenzollern, Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia, expressed his family's deep sadness at the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The thoughts and prayers of the members of the House of Hohenzollern are with King Charles, Queen Camilla and the entire British royal family, the prince said.

With her unique personality, her cordiality and her strong sense of duty, which always put the common good above individual interests, Her Majesty was a role model for him personally, according to Prince Georg Friedrich. His grandfather, Prince Louis Ferdinand (1907-1994), always related to him with the greatest respect his conversations with Queen Elizabeth, who, like few others, campaigned for Anglo-German reconciliation after World War II. He himself is deeply grateful to have been able to meet Her Majesty in person, as the head of the House of Hohenzollern. Prince Georg Friedrich and Princess Sophie last met with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during their state visit to Germany in June 2015.

As a sign of respect from his family, Prince Georg Friedrich has ordered that on the day of Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral, the British flag be flown at half-mast from the flag tower of Hohenzollern Castle, the family's ancestral seat. It is the first time the family has honored a foreign head of state in this way.

Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia (b.1976), as well as Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and her husband, Prince Philip (1921-2021, is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria (1819-1901). The German Empress Victoria (1840-1901), mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941), was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria.

Source: https://www.preussen.de

The Birth of Princess Isidora of Serbia

 

Princess Ljubica and Prince Michael of Serbia with their daughter Princess Natalija.

Prince Mihailo and Princess Ljubica of Serbia today welcomed the birth of their second child, Princess Isidora. Princess Isidora joins older sister Princess Natalija, who was born in 2018. The newest Karađorđević is a great-grandchild of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Queen Marie (née Romania); Prince Mihailo, the father of Princesses Natalija and Isidora, is the youngest child of the king and queen's second son, Prince Tomislav. 

The 60th Birthday of Prince Christoph of Bavaria

Princess Gudila and Prince Christoph of Bavaria.

Today Prince Christoph of Bavaria celebrates his sixtieth birthday!

Born on 5 May 1962 at Schloss Leutstetten, Prince Christoph Ludwig Maria of Bavaria is the fifth child and third son of Prince Rasso of Bavaria and Archduchess Theresa of Austria-Tuscany. Christoph has six siblings: Princess Maria-Theresia (b.1956; married Count Tamás Kornis de Göncz-Ruszka), Prince Franz-Josef (b.1957), Princess Elisabeth (b.1959; married Count Andreas von Kuefstein), Prince Wolfgang (b.1960; married 1st Countess Beatrice zu Lodron-Laterano und Castelromano; married 2nd Tatiana Eames), Princess Benedikta (b.1961; married Baron Rudolf von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen), and, lastly, Princess Gisela (b.1964; married Prince Alexander of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen). 

The prince married Countess Gudila von Plettenberg-Lenhausen (b.1962) in a civil ceremony at Munich on 18 August 1994 and in a religious wedding at Lenhausen on 20 August. Prince Christoph and Princess Gudila have three sons and one daughter: Prince Corbinian (b.1996), Prince Stanislaus (b.1997), Prince Marcello (b.1998) and Princess Odilia (b.2002). 

 

Prince Christoph of Bavaria is a certified farmer and forest warden. The prince is the Grand Prior of the Bavarian Order of Saint George as well as a Knight of the Bavarian Order of Saint Hubert.

 

Our best wishes to the Prince on his birthday!

A Romanian Royal Birth!

The happy family.
Photo (c) Felicia Simion.

Prince Nicholas of Romania and his wife Alina-Maria have welcomed the arrival of their first son and second child, Michael (Mihai). Michael was born at Polizu Hospital in Bucharest at 2:05am on Friday, 15 April. On 5 December 2021, Nicholas of Romania announced that his wife Alina-Maria was expecting their second child in Spring 2022. Their first child and daughter, Maria Alexandra, was born on 7 November 2020.

 

 

Nicholas of Romania (b.1985) and Alina-Maria Binder (b.1988) were civilly married on 6 October 2017 in the United Kingdom and religiously married on 30 September 2018 at Sinaia. Nicholas is the son of Princess Helen of Romania and the late Dr. Robin Medforth-Mills. Alina is the daughter of Heinz Binder and Rodica Iancu. Nicholas and Alina live in Bucharest with their family. 

 

King Michael of Romania and his grandson Nicholas.

 

Michael of Romania (b.2022) is a great-grandson of King Michael of Romania (1921-2017) and Queen Anne (1923-2016; born Princess of Bourbon-Parma). Michael is a double descendant of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. 

Our Congratulations to Nicolae and Alina-Maria on this extremely happy news! Long life to Mihai!

 

The 90th Birthday of Princess Isabelle d'Orléans, Countess of Schönborn-Buchheim

Count Friedrich Karl von Schönborn and Princess Isabelle d'Orléans at the funeral of Madame the Countess of Paris, 2003.

Today, Princess Isabelle d'Orléans celebrates her ninetieth birthday!

Isabelle with her grandparents/godparents: Princess Elizabeth of Orléans-Branganza and the Duke of Guise, 1932.

The baptism of Princess Isabelle. From left to right: Princess Isabelle, Countess d'Harcourt; the Count of Paris, Prince Pedro of Orléans-Braganza, the Duchess of Guise, Queen Marie-Amélie of Portugal, the Duke of Guise, and Princess Elizabeth of Orléans-Braganza. In front is the Countess of Paris with little Princess Isabelle. Photo (c) Getty Images / Keystone-France.

Born on 8 April 1932 at Woluwé-Saint-Pierre in Belgium, Princess Isabelle "Isa" Marie Laura Victoire d'Orléans was the first child of Prince Henri and Princess Isabelle, the Count and Countess of Paris. 

Prince Henri, future Count of Paris, with his sister Princess Isabelle. Photo (c) Getty Images / Keystone-France.

The Count and  Countess of Paris with their eleven children. Photo (c) Getty Images / STF.

Isabelle had ten younger siblings. She was followed by Prince Henri (1933-2019), Princess Hélène (b.1934), Prince François (1935-1960), Princess Anne (b.1938), Princess Diane (b.1940), the twins Prince Michel and Prince Jacques (b.1941), Princess Claude (b.1943), Princess Chantal (b.1946), and Prince Thibaut (1948-1983). Princess Isabelle obtained an education in social work and nursing. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Isabelle worked as a volunteer nurse in Paris in addition to working in a psychiatric facility in Brooklyn. 

Princess Isabelle on the cover of Paris Match.

Princess Isabelle and Count Friedrich Karl at home. Photo (c) Getty Images / Jack Garofalo.

In September 1964, Princess Isabelle d'Orléans married Count Friedrich Karl von Schönborn-Buchheim (b.Schönborn 30 March 1938), the second son of Count Georg von Schönborn-Buchheim (1906-1989) and Countess Elisabeth Orssich de Slavetich (1902-1967). The couple had first met in 1954 at a ball. Isabelle's religious wedding was held discretely at Dreux. 

Friedrich Karl and Isabelle with their children. Photo (c) Getty Images / Slim Aarons. 

Count Karl Friedrich and Princess Isabelle have five children: Hereditary Count Damian (b.1965; married Deirdre Mary Ascough), Count Vinzenz (b.1966; married Katharina Maria Christiane Martina Graf (b.1975), Countess Lorraine Marie (b.1968; married Count Wilhelm von Spee), Countess Claire Marie (b.1969; married Wolfgang Liechtenfeld), and Count Melchior Raphael (b.1977; married Bernadette von Mentzingen). 

Princess Isabelle in 2000. Photo (c) Seeger-Presse.

Our best wishes to the Princess on her birthday!

The 7th Duke of Montebello (1939-2022)

Obituary from Sud Ouest.

Maurice Lannes, 7. duc de Montebello, died on 26 March 2022 at Mareuil, France. He was eighty-two years-old.

Born on 2 July 1939 at Biarritz, Maurice Georges Antoine Marie Lannes, Marquis de Montebello ,was the son of Napoléon Lannes, 6. duc de Montebello (1903-1988), and his second wife Princess Diane de Broglie (1903-1987), who married in 1930. Maurice Lannes de Montebello was the great-great-great-grandson of Marechal Jean Lannes (1769-1809), who in 1808 was created 1. duc de Montebello by Emperor Napoléon I.

In 1971, Maurice Lannes de Montebello married Johanna Christina Meyer-Ratken (b.1939). The couple had four children: Jean-Michel Lannes, Marquis de Montebello (1972-2004); Benoît Lannes, Marquis de Montebello (b.1973; now 8th duc de Montebello); Emmanuella Lannes de Montebello (b.1975; married Laurent Colnat), and Désirée Lannes (b.1976; married Michael Drihen).

The funeral of the late duke will take place today, 31 March, at the Église Saint-Laurent de Mareuil with the burial to follow in the church's cemetery. 

For more on the genealogy of the ancestry of the Lannes de Montebello family, you may visit this website:

Lannes de Montebello

The Funeral of Madame the Dowager Countess of Paris

Photo (c) Ancien Ordre de L'Etoile et de Notre-Dame du Mont Carmel.

 

The funeral of Princess Micaëla d'Orléans, Dowager Countess of Paris, took place at the Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois on Tuesday, 22 March. The princess was the widow of Prince Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris, who was Head of the Royal House of France from 1999 until his death in 2019. The couple civilly married in 1984 and religiously married in 2009. Princess Micaëla passed away on 13 March. 

Busts of the late Count and Countess of Paris in the church.
Photo (c) Ancien Ordre de L'Etoile et de Notre-Dame du Mont Carmel.

The funeral mass was attended by the son of the late princess, Monsieur Alexis Francis-Boeuf, as well as by Prince Michel and Princess Barbara d'Orléans, Count and Countess d'Évreux, Prince Charles-Louis and Princess Illéana d'Orléans, Duke and Duchess of Chartres, and by Princess Chantal d'Orléans and her husband François Xavier de Sambucy de Sorgue.

Photo (c) Ancien Ordre de L'Etoile et de Notre-Dame du Mont Carmel.

Archpriest Patrick Chauvet officiated over the funeral mass. 

 

Photo (c) Ancien Ordre de L'Etoile et de Notre-Dame du Mont Carmel.

May the Dowager Countess of Paris Rest in Peace.  

The 90th Birthday of Dowager Fürstin Wilhelmine von Khevenhüller-Metsch

Wilhemine.

Today, Dowager Fürstin Wilhelmine von Khevenhüller-Metsch celebrates her ninetieth birthday!

Wilhelmine's parents: Lazarus and Franziska.

Born on 16 March 1932 at Naklo, Countess Marie Wilhelmina Josefina Theresia Franziska Georgia Henckel von Donnersmarck was the third child and second daughter of Count Lazarus "Lazy" Henckel von Donnersmarck (1902-1991) and Countess Franziska von Eltz (1905-1997), who wed in 1927. Wilhemine had four siblings: Count Carl Josef (1928-2008; married 1stly to Princess Marie Adelaide Pss of Luxemburg; married 2ndly to Claire Regina Barclay-Hoess), Countess Elisabeth (b.1929; married Count Ernst von Waldstein-Wartenberg), Count Heinrich (1935-2005), and Count Winfried (b.1938; married Christine von Arnim). 

Wilhemine and Maximilian on their wedding day.

Photo (c) Keystone Press Agency/Keystone USA via ZUMAPRESS.com.

On 19 January 1956 at Munich, Countess Wilhelmine Henckel von Donnersmarck married Count (later Fürst) Maximilian "Max" von Khevenhüller-Metsch (1919-2010). The couple had met the previous year. They honeymooned in Paris before settling in Madrid, were Max lived. Max and Wilhelmine had six children: Fürst Johannes (1956-2020; married Donna Camilla Borghese dei Principi di Nettuno), Count Bartholomäus (b.1958; married Cristina Sanchez de Movellán y Garcia Ogara), Count Karl (b.1959; married Lelia Gailly de Taurines), Count Georg (b.1960; married Countess Stephanie zu Castell-Castell), and Countess Melanie (b.1967; married Count Hubertus von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldersee), and Countess Isabel (b.1972; married Count Florian von Hartig).

Our best wishes to the Dowager Fürstin on her birthday!

The 70th Birthday of Prince Carlo Alessandro della Torre e Tasso

Principe Carlo Alessandro della Torre e Tasso.

Today, Prince Carlo Alessandro della Torre e Tasso, Duke of Castel Duino, celebrates his seventieth birthday!

Carlo Alessandro's father Raimundo in the late 1930s.

Princess Eugenie of Greece and Denmark with her husband Prince Raimundo della Torre e Tasso, 1953.
Photo (c) Getty Images.

Born on 10 February 1952 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Prince Carlo Alessandro della Torre e Tasso was the only child of Prince Raimundo della Torre e Tasso (1907-1986) and Princess Eugenie of Greece and Denmark (1910-1989). Raimundo and Eugenie married in 1949 and divorced in 1965. This was the second marriage for Princess Eugenie, who from 1938 until 1946 was married to Prince Dominic Radziwill. From his mother's first union, Prince Carlo Alessandro had two half-siblings: Princess Tatiana Radziwill (b.1939; married Jean Henri Fruchaud) and Prince Jerzy Radziwill (1942-2001; married Françoise Lageat).

Prince Alexander von Thurn und Taxis.

 

Prince George of Greece and Princess Marie Bonaparte.

The paternal grandparents of Carlo Alessandro are Prince Alexander von Thurn und Taxis and his first wife Princess Marie de Ligne. The maternal grandparents of the prince are Prince George of Greece and Denmark and Princess Marie Bonaparte. Through his mother Eugenie, Prince Carlo Alessandro is a second cousin of the Prince of Wales. 

Carlo Alessandro and Véronique.

On 10 February 1976 at Saint Tropez, Prince Carlo Alessandro della Torre e Tasso married Véronique Lantz (b.1951). Prince Carlo Alessandro and Princess Véronique have three children: Prince Dimitri (b.1977; married Elinor de Pret Roose de Calesberg), Prince Maximilian (b.1979), and Princess Constanza (b.1989). Prince Carlo Alessandro and Princess Véronique live at the family's ancestral home, the Castello di Duino.

Princess Véronique and Prince Carlo Alessandro, 2017.

Our best wishes to the Prince on his birthday!

Russian Nobility Condemns Usurpation of Imperial Titles by Romanov Morganauts

An invitation to the wedding of Prince Rostislav Romanovsky. 

Yesterday, Prince Rostislav Rostislavovich Romanovsky and his wife held their religious wedding in France. The couple were civilly married two years ago in 2019 during a ceremony in the United Kingdom. On the invitations sent out for the religious wedding and in a related press release, Prince Rostislav Romanovsky is referred to as Son Altesse Impériale (His Imperial Highness). This is a style which the prince does not possess. 

Having learned of the new "imperial" pretensions of Rostislav Romanovsky, last week the Assembly of the Russian Nobility (ARN) sent me a copy of a letter that the organisation is circulating to clarify its stance in regards to the Russian Imperial House and its morganatic relatives. 

The content of the letter is more or less as follows:

Moscow, 6th September 2021

The Russian Nobility Assembly is an Association that gathers in Russia over 12,000 members and has several delegations abroad, and whose members are descendants of Old Noble Families of the Russian Empire and which was restored in 1990 in close cooperation with the Imperial House of Russia, whose Head at the time was His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Vladimir Kyrillovich and after 1992 his daughter and successor Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna as the only legitimate Heir of the Russian Imperial House.

There are many descendants of the Romanov Family who are not members of the historical Dynasty by the laws that were in force at the time of the Russian Empire.

Some of these persons have thus created the Romanov Family Association, which is a private association of members of the Romanov Family.

The Association was intended as a private association in which the Head of the Association is elected through a vote carried out by the members of the Association itself. This is why the Russian Nobility Assembly states that these members are not in any sort of way linked to the historical dynasty institution of the Russian Imperial House.

The Russian Imperial House is an institution that is officially recognised by the Patriarchate of Moscow and all Russias, as well as by the institutions of the Russian Federation, by foreign authorities, as well as by other reining and non-reigning royal families across the world. The Russian Imperial House is also the Fons Honorum for our Association.

The Members of the Russian Nobility Association extend their warmest congratulations on the occasion of the upcoming wedding of Rostislav Romanov but must emphasise that although Rostislav Romanov is a true descendant of the Romanov Family, his marriage is a private event which does not bear any social or dynastic importance. We wish the newlyweds and their 8 year-old son "Многая лета [Many years]!"

Marshall of the Russian Nobility,

Marshall of the Moscow Nobility,

O.V. Sherbachev

To learn more about the Romanovsky wedding, you can read these articles:

Prince Rostislav and Princess Foteini Romanovsky To Religiously Wed On Sunday (10 September) The Religious Marriage of Prince and Princess Rostislav Romanovsky (12 September)

If you would like to learn more about the Assembly of Russian Nobility, you can visit their website: Union of the Descendants of the Russian Nobility - The Assembly of the Russian Nobility