Duke Eugen Eberhard of Württemberg (1930-2022)

Duke Alexander, Duchess Sophie, and Duke Eugen attend the wedding of Duchess Fleur, 2003.
Photograph (c) Seeger-Presse / Sandra Zellner.

Ivaylo Schalafoff, the Executive Director of the King Boris and Queen Giovanna Royal Heritage Fund, has announced that Duke Eugen of Württemberg died this afternoon (26 July), aged ninety-one. Eugen was a first cousin of the late Duke Carl of Württemberg, the Head of the Royal House, as well as first cousin of King Simeon II of Bulgaria.

Eugen's mother Princess Nadejda of Bulgaria, 1916.

The engagement of Albrecht Eugen of Württemberg and Nadejda of Bulgaria is announced in January 1924.

Newlyweds: Duke Albrecht Eugen of Württemberg and Princess Nadejda of Bulgaria.

On 2 November 1930, Duke Eugen Eberhard Albrecht Maria Joseph Ivan Rilsky Robert Ulrich Philipp Odo Carl Hubert of Württemberg was born at Karlsruhe. Eugen was the third child and second son of Duke Albrecht Eugen of Württemberg (1895-1954) and Princess Nadejda of Bulgaria (1899-1958), who married in 1924. Eugen joined two older siblings, and was followed by two younger siblings: Duke Ferdinand (1927-2020), Duchess Margarethe (1928-2017; married to François Luce de Chevigny), Duke Alexander (b.1933), and Duchess Sophie (b.1937; married and divorced Antonio Manuel Rôxo de Ramos-Bandeira). The family became known as the "Black Württembergs" as the children of Albrecht Eugen and Nadejda all had dark hair, which put them in contrast with their first cousins, the children of Albrecht Eugen's brother Philipp.

Duke Albrecht of Württemberg and Archduchess Margarete Sophie of Austria
Image (c) ALAMY

Eugen's paternal grandparents were Duke Albrecht of Württemberg (1865-1939) and Archduchess Margarete Sophie of Austria (1870-1902). The duke's maternal grandparents were King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (1861-1948) and Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma (1870-1899). 

Duke Alexander, Duchess Sophie, and Duke Eugen in Coburg, 2001.

Duke Eugen and his brother Duke Alexander at the wedding of Prince Karl Emich zu Leiningen, 2008.

 

Duke Eugen worked as a banker and he lived in Frankfurt. 

 

Duchess Sophie, Antonio Manuel Rôxo de Ramos-Bandeira, Duke Ferdinand, Duchess Margarethe, Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaria, Duchess Alexandra and Duke Eugen Eberhard, 1969. 

On 31 August 1962 at Mondsee, Duke Eugen of Württemberg civilly married Archduchess Alexandra of Austria (b.1935), a daughter of Archduke Anton of Austria and Princess Ileana of Romania. The couple's religious wedding followed on 3 September 1962. Eugen and Alexandra did not have children, and the pair's union was dissolved by divorce on 6 April 1972 at Frankfurt. The Holy See annulled their marriage on 7 November 1973.

 

 

May the Duke Rest In Peace.

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.

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