The 85th Birthday of King Simeon II of Bulgaria

The infant prince Simeon.

 

Today, King Simeon II of the Bulgarians celebrates his eighty-fifth birthday!

 

King Boris III and his son Crown Prince Simeon.

 

Born on 16 June 1937, Prince Simeon of Bulgaria (later King) was the second child and only son of King Boris III of Bulgaria and Queen Giovanna (born Princess of Savoy). Simeon joined an older sister, Princess Marie Louise (b.1933). In her memoirs, Queen Giovanna recalled: "The spring of 1937 was unusually mild. The birth of my son seemed to add something to the good weather. There was a lull in the unsettled and complex Bulgarian internal situation, like a kind of divine truce. All Bulgarians, even the enemies, were happy for a time, open to some unknown hope, to the anticipation of something new, lacking clear contours, but no less real. Simeon's birth came to break the chain of internal dramatic moments." Simeon's birth was announced to the population of Sofia by a 101 gun salute fired over the sky of the Bulgarian capital at 6:40am on the day of his birth. The park of the royal palace quickly filled with people. Queen Giovanna wrote: "In the meantime, the voice of the people had given my son a name. The streets were filled with shouts of 'Simeon! Simeon!' even before the palace had made an official announcement." The queen noted that she had initially planned to name her son Borislav, but that the acclamations of the Bulgarians celebrating his arrival settled his name.  

 

 

The mayor of Sofia, Ivan Ivanov, wrote to King Boris congratulating the royal family on this happy occasion: 

 

"Your Majesty,

 

Today's bright June day has brought the greatest joy to the Bulgarian people! Everywhere, in towns and villages, where a Bulgarian heart beats and Bulgarian speech is heard, joy and rapture fill us all. God has not forsaken Bulgaria after all, He loves her. The Bulgarian Kingdom today has its heir apparent! The Bulgarian state, besides its head of state, now also has its successor! The Bulgarian nation goes forward with new hopes and ideals, remembering the glorious times of Boris I and Simeon the Great. Long live Bulgaria! Long live King Boris III! Long live Queen Giovanna! Long live the Bulgarian successor to the throne Simeon, Crown Prince of Turnovo!"

 

The following official Act was drawn up by the government in accordance with the arrival of the heir to the King:

 

"This 16th Day of June in the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty seven, Wednesday, the undersigned Georgi Ivanov Kyoseivanov, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Religious Denominations and the official on the civil status of the members of the Royal Family, with the assistance of Alexander Petrov Ognyanov, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the State Seal of the Kingdom, by virtue of Article 138 of the Persons Act, in the presence of the witnesses Konstatin Georgiev Panov, head of the office of His Majesty the King, and Doctor Vladimir Penev Matev, administrator of the Princess Clementine hospital, drew up the present act concerning the following: at the Sofia Palace this morning at five o'clock, Her Majesty Queen Giovanna was examined by the private medical advisor Prof. Dr. Walter Stöckel, Director of the University Clinic of Obstetrics in Berlin, Doctor Dimiter Stamatov, Regular Professor, Director of the University Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Sofia, and Prof. Dr. Günther Schulze, Chief Physician at the University Clinic in Berlin, who established that the time had come for Her Majesty the Queen to give birth. 

 

For the purpose of greater hygienic safety, the professors Stöckel and Stamatov insisted that the expectant mother be taken to the Princess Clementine hospital where, accompanied by His Majesty the King and the above-mentioned persons, she arrived at five hours and thirty minutes.

 

At five hours and forty-five minutes we were told of the impending delivery of Her Majesty the Queen, immediately after which we proceeded to the above-mentioned hospital which we reached at six o'clock. There we were accommodated in the antechamber of the operating room in which Her Majesty the Queen was and remained waiting for the moment of the birth.

 

At six hours and forty minutes we were invited into the room where, besides Her Majesty the Queen, we also found His Majesty the King and the above-mentioned persons. As soon as we entered, Professor Stöckel showed us a living infant of the male sex, which he had just delivered and which was still tied with the umbilical cord (Funiculus umbillicalis) to the body of the royal mother. The cord was cut in our presence. The birth was normal, without any complications.

 

The newborn infant, which is the second child of His Majesty Boris III, King of Bulgarians, and of Her Majesty Giovanna, Queen of Bulgaria, Princess of Savoy, was given the name Simeon and the title Crown Prince of Turnovo.

 

At eight hours and thirty minutes Her Majesty the Queen and the newly born Prince were taken to the Sofia Palace, accompanied by His Majesty the King, and the professors Stöckel, Stamatov, and Schulze.

 

In confirmation of the above said, we sign the present act together with the above-mentioned witnesses and professors."

King Boris and Queen Giovanna with their children.

 

Crown Prince Simeon was christened into the Orthodox faith on 12 July in the Saints Peter and Paul palace chapel with water from the River Jordan. In addition to the King and Queen, the christening of the heir of the throne was attended by his sister Princess Marie Louise and by his uncle Prince Kyrill and his aunt Princess Eudoxie. To commemorate the Simeon's birth, an amnesty was granted to 4,000 prisoners, old taxes and fees and fines were cancelled, and the Minister of Education announced that the marks of students would be raised by one grade. Queen Giovanna remembered: "When my son started with his first school efforts, he smiled and said that he would never have this chance."

 

Our best wishes to His Majesty on his birthday!

A Century Since the Birth of Prince Dedo of Saxony

Today marks one hundred years since the birth of Prince Dedo of Saxony.

Prince Dedo in the arms of his mother Princess Sophie with his father Prince Ernst Heinrich behind them. Also pictured are Dowager Grand Duchess Maria Anna of Luxembourg, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg with Prince Jean, Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg, Princess Hilda of Luxembourg, and Crown Princess Antonia of Bavaria, 1922.

Born on 9 May 1922 at Munich, Prince Albrecht Friedrich August Johannes Gregor Dedo of Saxony was the first child and eldest son of Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony and Princess Sophie of Luxembourg. 

Princess Sophie of Luxembourg and Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony on their wedding day, 1921.

Prince Ernst Heinrich, the third son of King Friedrich August III of Saxony and Archduchess Luisa of Austria-Tuscany, and Princess Sophie, the sixth and youngest daughter of Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg and Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal, had married on 12 April 1921 at Schloß Hohenburg.

Princess Sophie with her three sons, 1932.

Prince Dedo of Saxony was joined by two younger brothers: Prince Timo (1923-1982) and Prince Gero (1925-2003). The three brothers lost their mother in 1941, when Princess Sophie died at the age of thirty-nine. Once the Nazis took power in Germany, the Saxon royal family was put under house arrest. With the advance of the Soviet Army on Berlin in early 1945, Ernst Heinrich and his sons came up with a plan to hide some of the royal family's treasures, so that these would not be pilfered by the Soviets. Prince Dedo and his youngest brother Gero spent five nights digging two pits in a forest near Moritzburg Castle; the princes then hid forty crates of the family treasure in these pits. In 1999, Prince Gero recalled the harrowing situation: "After the crates had been unloaded from the vehicle, Dedo had to return to the castle. I dragged the crates to the trench and realised that we had made it too small, which is why I had to put one of the crates upside down. I didn't like doing this but had no other choice due to shortage of time. After I'd carefully covered the trench with earth and trodden it down with my rubber boots, I then raked over the area and covered it with pine needles and leaves." Aside from the Saxon princes, only the forester who worked at Moritzburg Castle was aware of the location of the buried treasure. The Soviets arrived and forced the man to reveal the main hiding pit - a massive amount of the patrimony of the Royal Family of Saxony was taken to Russia. However, in 1996, a couple with a metal detector came across the pit with the remaining crates. The Saxon government negotiated with Prince Dedo and Prince Gero and eventually agreed to return the objets d'art to the princes. "It can only be described as divine providence that this family treasure has returned to our family after so many years," the brothers said in a statement. 

For many decades, Prince Dedo lived in Canada, as did his younger brother Prince Gero, who passed away in Ontario in 2003. Their other brother, Prince Timo, had died in 1982. Prince Dedo died on 6 December 2006 at Radebeul, Germany. He was eighty-seven years-old. Dedo outlived both of his younger brothers. Prince Dedo of Saxony was buried at Sigmaringen, where his father Ernst Heinrich and his brother Gero were also buried. 

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 85th birthday of prince karl of Hesse

Prince Karl of Hesse (1937-2022), Nephew of the Duke of Edinburgh

On 23 March 2022, Prince Karl of Hesse died in Munich. He was eighty-four years-old. The prince was a nephew of the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

 

Princess Sophie of Greece and Prince Christoph of Hesse.

Born on 26 March 1937 at Berlin, Prince Karl Adolf Andreas of Hesse was the first son and third child of Prince Christoph of Hesse (1901-1943) and Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark (1914-2001), who wed in 1930. Christoph and Sophie were second cousins once removed twice over; their common ancestor in the first case was Landgrave Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel and their common ancestor in the second case was Queen Victoria. Prince Karl had four full siblings: Princess Christina (1933-2011; married 1st to Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia; married 2nd to Robert van Eyck), Princess Dorothea (b.1934; married Prince Friedrich Karl zu Windisch-Grätz), Prince Rainer (b.1939), and Princess Clarissa (b.1944; married Claude Jean Derrien). 

 

The family of Princess Sophie.
Front row: Princess Christina of Hesse, Prince Welf of Hanover, Princess Sophie with Princess Friederike, Prince Georg of Hanover, and Princess Clarissa of Hesse.
Back row: Prince Rainer of Hesse, Princess Dorothea of Hesse, Prince Georg Wilhelm, and Prince Karl of Hesse.

In 1946, three years after being widowed, Karl's mother Sophie married Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hannover (1915-2006). Both descendants of Queen Victoria through another line, Sophie and Georg Wilhelm were second cousins; their common ancestor was King Christian IX of Denmark. From this marriage, Karl gained three half-siblings: Prince Welf (1947-1981; married Wibke van Gunsteren), Prince Georg (b.1949; married Victoria Bee), and Princess Friederike (b.1954; married Jerry William Cyr).

 

Princess Alice of Greece and the Duke of Edinburgh arriving at the wedding of Prince Karl.

Karl and Yvonne of Hesse on their wedding day.

The prince and princess on their wedding day.

On 26 March 1966 at The Hague, Prince Karl of Hesse civilly married Countess Yvonne Szapáry von Muraszombath, Széchysziget und Szapár on the prince's twenty-ninth birthday. The couple were religiously wed on 18 April at St. Jacobs Kerk. Among others, their nuptials were attended by King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Princess Alice of Greece, the Duke of Edinburgh, Fürstin Margarita zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Margravine Theodora of Baden, Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, Prince Juan Carlos and Princess Sofía of Spain, and Princess Irene of Greece.

 

Baroness Ursula von Richthofen with bridesmaids on her wedding day in 1933 to her first husband.
Photo (c) Getty Images.

Princess Yvonne (b.1944) was the only child of Count Béla von Muraszombath, Széchysziget und Szapár (1901-1993) and Baroness Ursula von Richthofen (1907-2002; married 1stly to Godert Willem, Baron de Vos van Steenwijk). Princess Yvonne of Hesse is a fourth cousin of Princess Michael of Kent (née Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz); their common ancestors are Count József von Muraszombath, Széchysziget und Szapár (1754-1822) and Countess Johanna von Gatterburg (1779-1812).

Prince Karl of Hesse with his daughter Princess Irina at her wedding, 1999.
Photograph (c) Seeger-Presse

Prince Karl and Princess Yvonne had two children: Prince Christoph (b.1969) and Princess Irina (b.1971). In 1999, Princess Irina married Count Alexander von Schönburg-Glauchau (b.1969), the brother of Fürstin Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.

 

May the Prince Rest in Peace.

100 Years Since the Birth of Princess Fawzia of Egypt, Eventual Queen of Iran

Queen Fawzia of Iran, Princess of Egypt.

Queen Fawzia of Iran in 1942, photographed by Cecil Beaton.

The Queen of Iran.

A century ago today, Princess Fawzia of Egypt was born. She was the daughter, sister, and aunt of successive kings of Egypt. Fawzia was also the first wife of the last Shah of Iran.

Left to right: Princess Faiza, Princess Faika, Princess Fawzia, and Prince Farouk.

A young princess. 

On 5 November 1921, Princess Fawzia bint Fuad of Egypt was born at the Ras el-Tin Palace in Alexandria. The princess was the eldest daughter of Sultan Fuad I of Egypt and Sudan (later King Fuad I of Egypt) and his second wife Nazli Sabri. Princess Fawzia had four full siblings: King Farouk I of Egypt (1920-1965), Princess Faiza (1923-1994), Princess Faika (1926-1983), and Princess Fathia (1930-1976). From her father's first marriage to Princess Shivakiar Ibrahim, Princess Fawzia had two older half-siblings: Prince Ismail (1896-1897) and Princess Fawkia (1897-1974). Princess Fawzia and her younger sisters were raised in the sheltered environment of the Egyptian royal court. In mid-1938, the engagement of Princess Fawzia to Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Shah of Iran was finalised.

Princess Fawzia of Egypt and Crown Prince Mohamed Reza of Iran.

Abdin Palace, Cairo.

A commemorative medallion issued to celebrate the union of the Iranian heir and the Egyptian princess.

On 15 March 1939, Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Shah of Iran and Princess Fawzia of Egypt were married at the Abeen Palace in Cairo. The wedding was the first time that the pair had met one another. Their marriage was a politically-motivated match; love was not a factor. The union of the couple was the culmination of a wish to cement ties between a Sunni Muslim dynasty (Egypt) and a Shi'i Muslim dynasty (Iran) in the region. After their marriage in the Egyptian capital, the couple traveled to Iran, accompanied by the bride's mother Queen Nazli and her sisters. 

The newlyweds.

Left to right: Princess Shams of Iran, Princess Ashraf of Iran, the Duke of Aosta, Queen Nazli of Egypt with her daughter Princess Fawzia, the Countess of Athlone.

Front row, left to right: Princess Ashraf of Iran, Queen Tadj ol-Molouk of Iran, Princess Fawzia, and Princess Shams.

In Tehran, further celebrations surrounding the wedding of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were held. A second marriage ceremony for Mohammed Reza and Fawzia took place at the Marble Palace. The festivities were attended by some foreign royalties, including the Earl and Countess of Athlone as well as the Duke of Aosta. Mohammed Reza spoke Persian and French while Fawzia spoke Turkish and French. Therefore, husband and wife conversed in French.

Crown Prince Mohammed Reza and Crown Princess Fawzia with their daughter Princess Shahnaz.

The Shah and Queen of Iran with their daughter in Tehran. Photographed by Cecil Beaton in the mid-1940s.

Queen Fawzia of Iran and her daughter Princess Shahnaz.

On 27 October 1940 at Tehran, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi of Iran was born as the only child of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Iran. In 1941, Fawzia's father-in-law was deposed, and her husband became the Shah of Iran. With this, Fawzia became the Queen of Iran. However, as is the case with some arranged marriages, the union was not a happy one. Fawzia greatly missed her homeland and suffered from depression as a result of her isolation at the Iranian court. Queen Tadj ol-Molouk did not treat her daughter-in-law very kindly, and Fawzia was not welcomed by her sisters-in-law either. It came as no surprise that Queen Fawzia moved back to Cairo in 1945, where she obtained an Egyptian divorce from the Shah. The termination of the union became final when an Iranian divorce was granted to the Shah and Queen in 1948. After this, Fawzia reverted to her title as Princess of Egypt.

Ismail Chirine and Princess Fawzia, 1949.

Ismail Chirine and Princess Fawzia with their daughter Nadia and their son Hussein.

On 28 March 1949, Princess Fawzia of Egypt married Colonel Ismail Hussein Chirine (1919-1997). The couple had two children: Nadia Chirine (1950-2009; married firstly Yusuf Shabaan; married secondly Mustafa Rashid) and Hussein Chirine (1955-2016). Theirs was a happy coupling. Fawzia remained in Egypt after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952.

Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi and her mother Princess Fawzia of Egypt in the 1970s.

Princess Fawzia with her only son, Hussein Chirine.

Aged ninety-one, Princess Fawzia of Egypt died at Alexandria, Egypt, on 2 July 2013. She was ninety-one years-old. The princess was buried in Cairo next to her second husband.