The 80th Birthday of Prince Rémy of Bourbon-Parma

Prince Guy, Princess Maria, Prince Rémy, Princess Chantal, and Prince Louis of Parma.

On 14 July 1942 at Cannes, Prince Rémy François Xavier Louis Robert Victor of Bourbon-Parma was born as the second son and child of Prince Louis of Bourbon-Parma (1889-1967) and Princess Maria of Savoy (1914-2001), who wed in 1939. Rémy has three siblings: Prince Guy (1940-1991; married Brigitte Peu-Duvallon), Princess Chantal (b.1946; married 1st Panayotis Skinas; married 2nd François-Henri des Georges), and Prince Jean (b.1961; married Virginia Roatta).

The paternal grandparents of Prince Rémy were Duke Roberto I of Parma (1848-1907) and his second wife Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal (1862-1959). Rémy's maternal grandparents were King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy (1869-1947) and Princess Elena of Montenegro (1873-1952).

Princess Aude and her father Prince Rémy.

In 1973, Prince Rémy of Bourbon-Parma married Laurence Dufresne d'Arganchy (b.1951). The couple divorced in 1983, after having had two children: son Prince Tristan (b.1974) and Princess Aude (b.1977). In 2003, Prince Rémy married Madame Elisabeth Tardif. 

Our best wishes to the Prince on his birthday!

The 70th Birthday of Archduchess Alexandra of Austria

On 10 July 1952 at Beloeil, Archduchess Alexandra Maria Anna Philippa Othonia of Austria was born as the second child and first daughter of Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria (1918-2007) and Archduchess Yolande (b.1923; née Princess de Ligne), who wed in 1950. Archduchess Alexandra had an older brother and two younger siblings: Archduke Rudolph (b.1950; married Baroness Marie Hélène de Villenfagne de Vogelsanck), Archduke Carl Christian (b.1954; married Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg), and Archduchess Constanza (b.1957; married Fürst Franz Josef von Auersperg-Trautson). 

The Riesle/Habsburg family.

Archduchess Alexandra of Austria and Héctor Guillermo Riesle Contreras (b.1943), the son of Oscar Riesle and his wife Ventura Contreras, were married in civil and religious ceremonies in September 1984 in Belgium. Héctor Riesle Contreras, the husband of the archduchess, was the former Chilean ambassador to Belgium and the Holy See. In April 1974, Héctor Riesle presented his credentials to Pope Paul VI: 

Hector Riesle, a thirty-one year-old former professor of legal history and philosophy, presented his credentials to Pope Paul as the first ambassador nominated by the Chilean junta. In his brief address, Riesle noted that Chile "having recently suffered the greatest crisis in its history, now looks to the future with renewed hope." After mentioning that the Government of Chile is determined to achieve national unity on the basis of solidarity of free men, the new ambassador stated that his government was well aware that this will be impossible without a moral renewal comprising "freedom, responsibility, respect, understanding and brotherhood, cemented in the natural and inviolable rights of the human person." Riesle closed his remarks with a special greeting to the Pope from the government junta. Seizing on Riesle's description of the recent crisis, in his reply, Pope Paul recalled his interest in and preoccupation for Chile, "We have not ceased and will not cease to follow with the same lively and paternal solicitude the problems and the difficulties still existing."

The couple have three children: Felipe Riesle de Habsburgo-Lorena (b.1986; married Pilar García-Huidobro Echeverría), Sofia Riesle de Habsburgo-Lorena (b.1987; married Rodrigo Risopatrón Montero), and Constanza Riesle de Habsburgo-Lorena (b.1989; married Sebastián Prieto Donoso). 

To learn more about the charitable activities of Archduchess Alexandra within the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, please read this article: Faces of the Fund: Interview with Alexandra de Habsburgo-Lorena de Riesle

Our best wishes to Archduchess Alexandra on her birthday!

Other sources:

Habsburg Descendant Engaged to Great-Nephew of Dowager Countess of Paris

https://www.pliniocorreadeoliveira.info/UK_740421_resisting.htm

“Change Direction”: Influencing the National Church through the Vatican during the Pinochet Dictatorship in Chile

The Passing of Princess Sixtina of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1933-2022)

 

The obituary of the princess.

Princess Sixtina of Waldeck-Pyrmont died on 18 May 2022. She was eighty-eight years-old.

Sixtina's parents: Fürst Wolff-Heinrich and Fürstin Irma zu Stolberg.

The commemorative coin celebrating the marriage of Fürst Wolff Heinrich and Fürstin Irma zu Stolberg.

Princess Irma with her two eldest children: Princess Sixtina and Prince Johann.

Born at Stolberg on 4 November 1933, Princess Irmgard Sixtina Juliana zu Stolberg was the first child of Fürst Wolff-Heinrich zu Stolberg (1903-1972) and his wife Fürstin Irma (1910-1994; née Erfert), who wed in 1932. Sixtina was joined by three younger siblings: Prince Johann (1935-1964), Fürst Jost-Christian (b.1940; married Sylvianne Janssens van der Maelen), and Princess Sophie Charlotte (b.1943; married Fürst Friedrich Wilhelm zu Wied). 

Fürst Georg II zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (1789-1845)

Fürstin Emma zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (1802-1858; née Princess of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym)

On August 1961, Princess Sixtina married Prince Georg-Friedrich of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1936-2020), the second child of Prince Georg zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (1902-1971) and Countess Ingeborg von Platen Hallermund (1902-1991). Georg-Friedrich and Sixtina were third cousins; they both were great-great-grandchildren of Fürst Georg II zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (1789-1845) and Princess Emma of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym (1802-1858). Georg-Friedrich and Sixtina had three children: Princess Henriette (b.1963), Princess Isabelle (b.1965), and Prince Philipp (b.1967).

Princess Henriette zu Waldeck und Pyrmont with her husband Count Hermann zu Castell-Rüdenhausen as well as Princess Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis.
Photograph (c) Presse-Foto-Seeger.

In August 1989, Princess Christine Henriette Bathildis zu Waldeck und Pyrmont married Count Hermann zu Castell-Rüdenhausen (b.1963). The couple have three children: Countess Annabell (b.1991), Countess Cecily (b.1992), and Count Casimir (b.1994). Hermann is a younger brother of the late Countess Donata zu Castell-Rüdenhausen (1950-2015), wife of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1944-1977) and Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg (1936-2017). Henriette, who studied geography at university, is thus an aunt-by-marriage of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, the Head of House Prussia.

Georg-Friedrich and Sixtina's second daughter Princess Marie Isabelle zu Waldeck und Pyrmont has made her career as an employment and occupational therapist. In December 1989, Isabelle changed her surname to be simply "Waldeck." She has one son, Constantin.

Philipp-Heinrich, the only son of Georg-Friedrich and Sixtina, has never married and has no children. He is currently fourteenth in the line of succession to the Head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

 

May the Princess Rest in Peace.

Rüdiger Prinz von Sachsen (1953-2022), Great-Grandson of Last King of Saxony

Rüdiger von Sachsen with his grandson Moritz at the wedding of Rüdiger's son Daniel, 2011.

Photo (c) Zoonar / Türpe Tuerp / AGE Fotostock.

On 29 March 2022, Rüdiger Prinz von Sachsen died at his home near Moritzburg after suffering a heart attack. He was sixty-eight years-old.

Prince Timo of Saxony and Margrit Lucas on their wedding day, 1952.

Born on 23 December 1953 at Mülheim an der Ruhr, Rüdiger Karl Ernst Timo Ali Prinz von Sachsen was the first child and only son of Prince Timo of Saxony (1923-1982) and his first wife Margrit Lucas (1932-1957), who wed in 1952. Rüdiger was followed by younger sister Iris (b.1955). Rüdiger and Iris were raised by their maternal family following the tragically early death of their mother Margrit.

Left to right: Prince Dedo, King Friedrich August III, Princess Sophie with Prince Timo, and Prince Ernst Heinrich in 1925.

Rüdiger's paternal grandparents were Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony (1896-1971) and his first wife Princess Sophie of Luxembourg (1902-1941). His paternal great-grandparents were King Friedrich August III of Saxony and Archduchess Louisa of Austria as well as Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg and Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal. Rüdiger was the only male-line great-grandson of King Friedrich August III of Saxony. 

Astrid and Rüdiger with their three sons in 1980.

In 1974, Rüdiger married Astrid Linke (1949-1989). The couple had three sons: Daniel (b.1975; married Sandra Scherer), Arne (b.1977; married Sarah Schneider), and Nils (b.1978; married Jedida Taborek). In 2004, Rüdiger married Diana Dorndorf (b.1958); the couple later separated.

Rüdiger with his uncle Prince Dedo of Saxony in Dresden, 2008.
Photo (c) Imago.

Rüdiger Prinz von Sachsen is survived by his three sons and daughters-in-law and his grandchildren.

May Rüdiger Rest in Peace.

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.  

Princess Elisabeth of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1933-2022)

Princess Elisabeth of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke Carl of Württemberg, and Princess Marie-Thérèse d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier in 2000.
Photo (c) Seeger-Press.

According to the Annuario della Nobiltà Italiana, Princess Elisabeth of Bourbon-Two Sicilies died on Saturday, 29 January, at the age of eighty-eight.

The Royal Family of Württemberg gather in 1973 to celebrate the 80th birthday of Duke Philipp.
Photo (c) William Mead Lalor Collection.

The Württemberg siblings in 2006: (left to right) Margravine Helene Pallavicini, Princess Marie Christine of Liechtenstein, Duke Carl of Württemberg, Princess Elisabeth of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and Duke Ludwig of Württemberg.

Duchess Elisabeth Maria Margarethe Alix Helene Rosa Philippine Christine Josepha Therese vom Kinde Jesu of Württemberg was born at Stuttgart on 2 February 1933 as the second daughter and third child of Duke Philipp of Württemberg (1893-1975) and his second wife Archduchess Rosa of Austria-Tuscany (1906-1983), who wed in 1928. Elisabeth had an older half-sister, Duchess Marie Christine (b.1924; married Prince Georg of Liechtenstein) from her father's first marriage to Archduchess Helena of Austria-Tuscany (1903-1924), the sister of Elisabeth's mother. Elisabeth had five full siblings: Duchess Helene (1929-2021; married Markgraf Federico Pallavicini), Duke Philipp (1930-2019; married twice), Duchess Marie-Thérèse (b.1934; married Prince Henri d'Orléans, Count of Clermont), Duke Carl (b.1936; married Princess Diane d'Orléans), and Duchess Marie Antoinette (1937-2004). 

 

A young Prince Antonio.

The wedding of Prince Antonio of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg.

Prince Antonio of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg on the cover of Bunte

Princess Elisabeth and Prince Antonio with their son Prince Francesco, 1960.

In July 1958, Duchess Elisabeth married Prince Antoine (Antonio) of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1929-2019), the only child of Prince Gabriele of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1897-1975) and his first wife Princess Malgorzata Czartoryski (1902-1929). Elisabeth and Antonio had four children: Prince Francesco (b.1960; married Countess Alexandra von Schönborn-Wiesentheid), Princess Maria Carolina (b.1962; married Andreas Baumbach), Prince Gennaro (b.1966), and Princess Annunziata (b.1973; married Count Carl Fredrik Creutz).

 

Prince Antonio and Princess Elisabeth at the wedding of their niece Duchess Fleur.
Schloß Altshausen, 2003.

Prince Jean d'Orléans with his aunts Princess Elisabeth and Princess Marie-Christine at the wedding of Duchess Fleur.
Schloß Altshausen, 2003.

Prince Antonio and Princess Elisabeth with Margravine Helene at the wedding of Duchess Fleur.
Schloß Altshausen, 2003.

Princess Elisabeth is survived by her four children and by seven grandchildren.

May the Princess Rest In Peace.