Today, HRH Princess Micaëla d'Orléans, Dowager Countess of Paris, marks her eighty-first birthday.
The Dowager Countess of Paris was born doña Micaëla Ana María Cousiño y Quiñones de León on 30 April 1938 at Vichy, France. Her parents were Luis Maximiliano Cousiño y Sébire (1895-1970) and his wife doña Antonia Quiñones de Léon y Bañuelos (1895-1982), 4th Marquesa of San Carlos and Grandee of Spain; the couple had married at Paris on 9 June 1922. The Marquesa of San Carlos and her husband were divorced in the late 1940s after having had seven children. Nearly fifteen years separated their first child, don Juan Luis (1923-2017), from their last, doña Micaëla (b.1938).
doña Antonia Quiñones de Léon y Bañuelos, IV marquesa de San Carlos, in 1929
Doña Micaëla Cousiño y Quiñones de León married firstly in a civil ceremony on 12 June 1961 at Saint-Cloud to Jean Marie Maurice Bœuf (b.1934). The couple had one son, Alexis Francis-Bœuf (b.1964). The marriage of Micaëla and Jean ended in divorce in 1966.
Alexis Francis-Bœf with his stepfather and mother, the Count and Countess of Paris, in 2017
Micaëla began her career on the radio in France. Her first husband Jean Bœuf was an employee of Télévision Française. Later, Micaëla worked for an advertising group both in Madrid and in Paris. From 1978 until May 1981, she was responsible for the communications of the minister and the senior directors at the cabinet of minister Raymond Barre.
The Count of Clermont and the Princess of Joinville
On 21 January 1973, Micaëla Cousiño met Prince Henri d'Orléans, Count of Clermont, the eldest son of the Count and Countess of Paris. Henri had been married since 1957 to Duchess Marie-Thérèse of Württemberg and they had five children; however, the couple's union had deteriorated over time. When Henri and Micaëla encountered one another, it was love at first sight. Their devotion to one another was to stand the test of adversity and time.
Henri and Micaëla
In 1984, the Count of Clermont and his wife Marie-Thérèse, who was granted the title Duchess of Montpensier by her father-in-law, were civilly divorced. Prince Henri d'Orléans and doña Micaëla Cousiño y Quiñones de León contracted a civil marriage at Bordeaux on 31 October 1984; this action greatly displeased the groom's father, who sought to disinherit his son for a number of years. However, the Count of Paris and the Count of Clermont were reconciled in 1991; at this time, the Count of Paris granted his daughter-in-law Micaëla the title Princess of Joinville.
The civil marriage of Prince Henri d'Orléans and doña Micaëla Cousiño in 1984
Point de Vue covers the reconciliation of father and son in 1991
In 1999, the Count of Paris died and was succeeded by his eldest son Henri as Head of House France. Henri assumed the title Count of Paris; however, Micaëla chose to remain titled as Princess of Joinville from 1999 until 2003, when her mother-in-law passed away. The "new" Count of Paris and his first wife the Duchess of Montpensier received a religious annulment in 2008 from the Vatican. In light of this, Henri and Micaëla, the Count and Countess of Paris, were joined in a Roman Catholic ceremony on 26 September 2009 at Biarritz.
The Count and Countess of Paris after their religious wedding in 2009
Photograph (c) Alamy
The Count and Countess of Paris with Empress Farah of Iran
After thirty-four years of marriage to his second wife, the Count of Paris died on 21 January 2019 in Paris. His death came exactly forty-six years after he crossed paths with the woman who was to be his partner for the rest of his life. The Countess of Paris was unable to attend the funeral of her husband due to poor health; however, Princess Micaëla did attend a recent requiem mass in memory of her spouse.
The funeral of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg will take place on this Saturday, 4 May, at Notre-Dame Cathedral, Luxembourg.
Many royal houses have already announced that they will be present to pay tribute to the late grand duke, who was well-loved by his people and well-known for his bravery during World War II.
Below is a compilation of those foreign royals who have already established that they will be in attendance on Saturday for the funeral of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg.
Belgium:
TM The King and Queen
TM King Albert and Queen Paola
TI&RH Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz, Archduchess and Archduke of Austria
HRH Prince Laurent
HRH Princess Léa
HRH Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant
Brazil:
HRH Prince Rafael of Orléans-Bragança
HRH The Princess of Ligne
Denmark:
HM The Queen
France:
HRH The Count of Paris
Greece:
HM Queen Anne-Marie
Liechtenstein:
HSH The Hereditary Prince and HRH The Hereditary Princess
Monaco:
HSH Prince Albert II
The Netherlands:
HRH Princess Beatrix
Norway:
TM The King and Queen
HH Princess Astrid
Parma:
TRH The Duke and Duchess of Parma and Piacenza
Portugal:
HRH The Duke of Bragança
Romania:
TRH Crown Princess Margarita and Prince Radu
Spain:
TM King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía
From Sweden:
TM The King and Queen
United Kingdom:
HRH The Princess Royal
TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester
Others:
don Luis Alfonso de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú
On 27 April 1938, King Zog I of the Albanians (né Amet Bej Zogu) married Countess Geraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagy-Appony in a grand ceremony at Tirana. The forty-two year-old groom was born on 8 October 1895 at Burgajet as the son of Xhemal Pasha Zogu (~1860-1911) and his second wife Sadijé Toptani Khanum (1876-1934; titled "Queen Mother of the Albanians" during her son's reign). The twenty-two year-old bride was born at Budapest as the daughter of Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Appony (1873-1924) and his wife Gladys Virginia Steuart (1891–1947; married secondly to Gontran Girault). The union of the Albanian king and Hungarian countess brought an infusion of blue blood into the nascent royal family: Albania had only become a kingdom on 1 September 1928 when the then-President Amet Bej Zogu was proclaimed monarch as Zog I.
Due to their religious faiths, Zog being Muslim and Geraldine being Roman Catholic, the couple settled on a civil marriage. The wedding of the king and queen was recounted in detail by Gwen Robyns, the author of Geraldine of the Albanians - The Authorised Biography:
On the morning of the wedding Princess Geraldine woke at six o'clock despite the fact that she had not gone to bed until late and been given a sedative to make her sleep. Soon everyone was awake at the villa and emotions ran high as - typically Hungarian - first the grandmother, and then her mother and aunts, began to cry.
Geraldine was astonishingly calm as she put on the pearl and diamanté embroidered wedding dress from Worth that had been selected for her. Again she had not been consulted, but the King's taste was so sensitive that its elegant lines flowed over her willowy figure.
It was Madame Girault's romantic wish that she place the wedding veil on her daughter's head and then from a hidden box she disclosed the white gold chain with diamond cross that Geraldine had admired with the King. It was another touch of finesse that made this man so different. At the time it was reported that the bride was taller than the King, but this was merely the height of her coronet of orange blossom, an insignificant fact that still piques her to this day.
As the wedding was to be a civil one only, it was held in the flower-decked hall of the palace. Followed by her six bridesmaids, all in white, Princess Geraldine entered the room to join the King who looked most impressive in his white uniform, his rows of decorations and his sabre. As Princess Geraldine took his arm the King placed on the fourth finger of her right hand a huge blue fourteen carat solitaire diamond ring to match the blue white one he had given her as an engagement ring.
The King's witnesses were Count Ciano and Zog's Turkish brother-in-law, Prince Abid, the Albanian Minister to France. Representing the Queen was Count Charles Apponyi, her guardian and uncle, and Baron Frederick Vilany, Hungarian Minister to Italy. Her train was carried by the King's nephew, Tati. Helqmet Delvina, the white-bearded president of the two Houses of Parliament united the couple by reading from the civil code...
The service lasted three minutes. The king then placed her trembling hand on his arm and led his bride to the balcony to greet the thousands milling in Skanderbeg Square. Again and again they returned to wave to the people who were overjoyed to see their monarch so relaxed and fulfilled. It seemed that a while new era of prosperity was dawning for this nation which had known only turbulence in the past. After this the King led her into the wedding reception, followed by her line of fluttering bridesmaids, the close family and the Court behind. They moved from salon to salon shaking hands and greeting guests. All the Queen remembers today of this part of her wedding was a sea of faces, so many loving faces, and the strange dream-like feeling of receiving reverences from her family...
Queen Geraldine cut the three metre wide wedding cake with the King's sabre and her beloved brother Gyula, just fourteen years of age, made a speech. With the permission of the King, the Apponyi family had arranged to bring to Tirana one of the most famous gypsy orchestras from Budapest to play at the reception. They played Geraldine's favourite tunes until, to the horror of the King, his bride began to cry.
Antoinette de Szinyei-Merse, Geraldine's eventual lady-in-waiting and childhood friend, recalled in her 1940 book Ten Years, Ten Months, Ten Days the various guests who came from abroad to witness the wedding of the King of the Albanians and the Countess Apponyi: "From Hungary, the Duke and Counts Esterházy and Festetich, the Apponyis, Károlyis, Szapárys, Berchtolds, and Edelsheim, the baronial Inkeys and Urbáns. From other countries the Princesses Borghese and Radziwill, the Counts Seeherr-Thoss and Trautenberg, and a great many representatives of Central European aristocracy." The Italian royal family was represented by the Duke of Bergamo.
King Zog and Queen Geraldine on their wedding day
The newlyweds received a treasure-trove of wedding gifts. Admiral Horthy, Regent of Hungary, sent Geraldine a set of china for forty-eight persons that was created by the Herend factory. Baron Villány, the Hungarian Ambassador to Rome, gave the couple a coach complete with Hungarian harness and two silver pure-bred horses from the Hungarian State stud - a coachman was also included: he was to remain on as a part of Geraldine's staff. The German Führer sent the couple a scarlet Mercedes-Benz 540K; ironically, this gift would come in handy when the king and queen and their newborn son had to flee Albania in the vehicle in 1939 after the Italian invasion. The Turkish government sent twenty-four Oriental carpets. President Lebrun of France contributed a white Sèvres porcelain table-piece. Prime Minister Mussolini of Italy promised the king and queen the extravagant gift of a yacht (which had not been constructed in time for the royal nuptials). Lastly, King Zog gave his wife a plethora of jewellery: bracelets, diadems, necklaces, pearls, and solitaire diamonds.
The King and Queen of the Albanians
On 5 April 1939, the King and Queen welcomed the birth of their only child Crown Prince Leka, who was born at the Royal Palace in Tirana. Two days later on Good Friday, 7 April, Italian troops invaded the Kingdom of Albania: Zog and Geraldine dashed into exile with their son. The family first relocated to France, then to England, and then to Egypt, and finally to France. [After King Zog's death, Queen Geraldine and her son Leka and his family moved to Spain, then to South Africa, and then returned to Albania in 2002.]
Statue of King Zog in Tirana
Aged sixty-five, King Zog died at Paris on 9 April 1961. Zog and Geraldine had been married for twenty-three years. After the royal family was able to return to Albania, Queen Geraldine died at Tirana at the great age of eighty-seven, having lived through an unspeakable amount of unfortunate events. The king and queen rest in repose at the Royal Mausoleum in Tirana.
Geraldine of Albania at the 1975 marriage of her son King Leka I to Queen Susan (née Cullen-Ward)
Crown Prince Leka (II) of the Albanians, King Zog and Queen Geraldine's only grandchild, is the current Head of House Albania. Together with his wife, Crown Princess Elia, the couple are dedicated to promoting the welfare of the people of their country. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess reside in Tirana at the Royal Court.
The wedding of Crown Prince Leka and Crown Princess Elia of the Albanians
Photograph (c) Seth B. Leonard
Early this morning (27 April), HI&RH Prince Bertrand, Prince Imperial of Brazil, was admitted to hospital at São Paolo. This forced the prince to miss a meeting of monarchists that he was due to attend later in the day. The reasons for the prince's hospitalisation are unknown. Bertrand was encouraged by doctors to rest at home in order to avoid the necessity of surgery.
Prince Bertrand, Prince Imperial of Brazil
Aged seventy-eight, Prince Bertrand is the heir to his brother, Prince Luíz Gastão, Head of House Brazil. The Secretariat of the Imperial House has released a statement that Bertrand is now recuperating at the residence he shares with his elder brother and feeling much better.
Source: COMUNICADO SOBRE O ESTADO DE SAÚDE DO PRÍNCIPE DOM BERTRAND
On 27 April 1938, King Zog I of the Albanians (né Amet Bej Zogu) married Countess Geraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagy-Appony in a grand ceremony at Tirana. The forty-two year-old groom was born on 8 October 1895 at Burgajet as the son of Xhemal Pasha Zogu (~1860-1911) and his second wife Sadijé Toptani Khanum (1876-1934; titled "Queen Mother of the Albanians" during her son's reign). The twenty-two year-old bride was born at Budapest as the daughter of Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Appony (1873-1924) and his wife Gladys Virginia Steuart (1891–1947; married secondly to Gontran Girault). The union of the Albanian king and Hungarian countess brought an infusion of blue blood into the nascent royal family: Albania had only become a kingdom on 1 September 1928 when the then-President Amet Bej Zogu was proclaimed monarch as Zog I.
Due to their religious faiths, Zog being Muslim and Geraldine being Roman Catholic, the couple settled on a civil marriage. The wedding of the king and queen was recounted in detail by Gwen Robyns, the author of Geraldine of the Albanians - The Authorised Biography:
On the morning of the wedding Princess Geraldine woke at six o'clock despite the fact that she had not gone to bed until late and been given a sedative to make her sleep. Soon everyone was awake at the villa and emotions ran high as - typically Hungarian - first the grandmother, and then her mother and aunts, began to cry.
Geraldine was astonishingly calm as she put on the pearl and diamanté embroidered wedding dress from Worth that had been selected for her. Again she had not been consulted, but the King's taste was so sensitive that its elegant lines flowed over her willowy figure.
It was Madame Girault's romantic wish that she place the wedding veil on her daughter's head and then from a hidden box she disclosed the white gold chain with diamond cross that Geraldine had admired with the King. It was another touch of finesse that made this man so different. At the time it was reported that the bride was taller than the King, but this was merely the height of her coronet of orange blossom, an insignificant fact that still piques her to this day.
As the wedding was to be a civil one only, it was held in the flower-decked hall of the palace. Followed by her six bridesmaids, all in white, Princess Geraldine entered the room to join the King who looked most impressive in his white uniform, his rows of decorations and his sabre. As Princess Geraldine took his arm the King placed on the fourth finger of her right hand a huge blue fourteen carat solitaire diamond ring to match the blue white one he had given her as an engagement ring.
The King's witnesses were Count Ciano and Zog's Turkish brother-in-law, Prince Abid, the Albanian Minister to France. Representing the Queen was Count Charles Apponyi, her guardian and uncle, and Baron Frederick Vilany, Hungarian Minister to Italy. Her train was carried by the King's nephew, Tati. Helqmet Delvina, the white-bearded president of the two Houses of Parliament united the couple by reading from the civil code...
The service lasted three minutes. The king then placed her trembling hand on his arm and led his bride to the balcony to greet the thousands milling in Skanderbeg Square. Again and again they returned to wave to the people who were overjoyed to see their monarch so relaxed and fulfilled. It seemed that a while new era of prosperity was dawning for this nation which had known only turbulence in the past. After this the King led her into the wedding reception, followed by her line of fluttering bridesmaids, the close family and the Court behind. They moved from salon to salon shaking hands and greeting guests. All the Queen remembers today of this part of her wedding was a sea of faces, so many loving faces, and the strange dream-like feeling of receiving reverences from her family...
Queen Geraldine cut the three metre wide wedding cake with the King's sabre and her beloved brother Gyula, just fourteen years of age, made a speech. With the permission of the King, the Apponyi family had arranged to bring to Tirana one of the most famous gypsy orchestras from Budapest to play at the reception. They played Geraldine's favourite tunes until, to the horror of the King, his bride began to cry.
Antoinette de Szinyei-Merse, Geraldine's eventual lady-in-waiting and childhood friend, recalled in her 1940 book Ten Years, Ten Months, Ten Days the various guests who came from abroad to witness the wedding of the King of the Albanians and the Countess Apponyi: "From Hungary, the Duke and Counts Esterházy and Festetich, the Apponyis, Károlyis, Szapárys, Berchtolds, and Edelsheim, the baronial Inkeys and Urbáns. From other countries the Princesses Borghese and Radziwill, the Counts Seeherr-Thoss and Trautenberg, and a great many representatives of Central European aristocracy." The Italian royal family was represented by the Duke of Bergamo.
King Zog and Queen Geraldine on their wedding day
The newlyweds received a treasure-trove of wedding gifts. Admiral Horthy, Regent of Hungary, sent Geraldine a set of china for forty-eight persons that was created by the Herend factory. Baron Villány, the Hungarian Ambassador to Rome, gave the couple a coach complete with Hungarian harness and two silver pure-bred horses from the Hungarian State stud - a coachman was also included: he was to remain on as a part of Geraldine's staff. The German Führer sent the couple a scarlet Mercedes-Benz 540K; ironically, this gift would come in handy when the king and queen and their newborn son had to flee Albania in the vehicle in 1939 after the Italian invasion. The Turkish government sent twenty-four Oriental carpets. President Lebrun of France contributed a white Sèvres porcelain table-piece. Prime Minister Mussolini of Italy promised the king and queen the extravagant gift of a yacht (which had not been constructed in time for the royal nuptials). Lastly, King Zog gave his wife a plethora of jewellery: bracelets, diadems, necklaces, pearls, and solitaire diamonds.
The King and Queen of the Albanians
On 5 April 1939, the King and Queen welcomed the birth of their only child Crown Prince Leka, who was born at the Royal Palace in Tirana. Two days later on Good Friday, 7 April, Italian troops invaded the Kingdom of Albania: Zog and Geraldine dashed into exile with their son. The family first relocated to France, then to England, and then to Egypt, and finally to France. [After King Zog's death, Queen Geraldine and her son Leka and his family moved to Spain, then to South Africa, and then returned to Albania in 2002.]
Statue of King Zog in Tirana
Aged sixty-five, King Zog died at Paris on 9 April 1961. Zog and Geraldine had been married for twenty-three years. After the royal family was able to return to Albania, Queen Geraldine died at Tirana at the great age of eighty-seven, having lived through an unspeakable amount of unfortunate events. The king and queen rest in repose at the Royal Mausoleum in Tirana.
Geraldine of Albania at the 1975 marriage of her son King Leka I to Queen Susan (née Cullen-Ward)
Crown Prince Leka (II) of the Albanians, King Zog and Queen Geraldine's only grandchild, is the current Head of House Albania. Together with his wife, Crown Princess Elia, the couple are dedicated to promoting the welfare of the people of their country. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess reside in Tirana at the Royal Court.
The wedding of Crown Prince Leka and Crown Princess Elia of the Albanians
Photograph (c) Seth B. Leonard
Today, HRH Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark celebrates his thirty-third birthday. Philippos is the third son and youngest child of HM King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes (née Denmark). The prince was born at London on 26 April 1986. Philippos joined four older siblings: Princess Alexia (b.1965), Crown Prince Pavlos (b.1967), Prince Nikolaos (b.1969), and Princess Theodora (b.1983).
Photograph taken on the occasion of the baptism of Prince Philippos
King Juan Carlos of Spain holds his nephew and godson Prince Philippos
The Princess of Wales with her godson Philippos
On 10 July 1986, Prince Philippos was baptised into the Greek Orthodox faith at St Sophia's Cathedral in London. Among his godparents were his uncle King Juan Carlos of Spain, his first cousin twice removed the Duke of Edinburgh, the Princess of Wales, his aunt Princess Benedikte of Denmark, and his first cousin Infanta Elena of Spain.
The King and Queen of the Hellenes with their children
Philippos of Greece was raised in London; he visited Greece for the first time in 1993. As part of his primary education, the prince attended the Hellenic School at London, which was founded by his parents. Philippos went on to study Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, DC; he graduated from Georgetown in 2008 with his bachelors.
Philippos with his family after his graduation from Georgetown University
The Royal Greek Brothers (l to r): Nikolaos, Pavlos, and Philippos
The prince lives in New York City. Since 2014, Philippos has worked as an analyst for Ortelius Capital, "an alternative investment group specializing in hedge funds and private equity." Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark has been in a relationship with Nina Flohr, the only child of Swiss billionaire Thomas Flohr, founder of VistaJet, and his ex-wife Katharina Konecny. Philippos and Nina attended the wedding of Princess Eugenie of York and Mr Jack Brooksbank in 2018.
Prince Philippos and his partner Nina Flohr
Philippos and Nina at the wedding of Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank
Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg on the day in April 1945 when she returned to her people
"Charlotte: A Royal At War is the remarkable story of Grand Duchess Charlotte, daughter of Guillaume IV, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. As the constitutional monarch of the small European country from 1919 to 1964, she faced daunting challenges during the chaotic and frightening years of World War II. Charlotte, however, found the courage to inspire her devastated nation through the power of radio, reaching her people in their darkest hour."
The release poster for the documentary on Grand Duchess Charlotte
