A Very Unique Lady: Princess Hetty of Auersperg (1933-2019)

Princess Henriette of Auersperg was born on 2 September 1933 at Sankt Johann im Pongau, Salzburg, as the eldest child of Prince Alois of Auersperg (1897-1984) and Countess Henriette Larisch von Moennich (1903-1994). Known as "Hetty," the little girl was followed by two brothers: Prince Alfred (1936-1992) and Prince Luitpold (1937-1985). The future was to have a great deal of interesting experiences in store for Hetty. For a spell, the young princess worked as a secretary.

Alfie of Auersperg and Sunny Crawford wed in 1957

 

Sunny von Bülow

On 20 July 1957, Hetty's brother Alfred "Alfie" married Martha "Sunny" Sharp Crawford (1932-2008), daughter of utilities magnate George Crawford. Sunny had been Alfie's tennis instructor at a Swiss resort. The couple had two children: Princess Annie-Laurie "Ala" (b.1958) and Alexander (b.1959). After Alfie and Sunny's divorce in 1965, Sunny reportedly gave Alfie $3.5 million as a settlement. Sunny went on the marry Claus von Bülow (1926-2019) in 1966, with whom she had one daughter, Cosima (b.1967). Hetty Auersperg was subpoenaed in the 1982 trial of Claus von Bülow, who was charged with the attempted murder of Hetty's former sister-in-law.

Announcement of the engagement between Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach and Princess Henriette
Article (c) The Pittsburg Press of 23 December 1968

 

Arndt and Hetty at the 1968 New Year's Eve party on the Kitzbühel estate of US millionaire Matthew Taylor Mellon

 

In December 1968, it was announced from Munich that Princess Henriette of Auersperg was engaged to Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach, who was considered West Germany's most eligible bachelor as the heir to the Krupp arms dynasty. Four years younger than his betrothed, Arndt had been born on 24 January 1938 at Berlin as the only child of Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (1907-1967) and Anneliese Bahr (1909-1998). Arndt's parents had married in 1937 to the great disappointment of his paternal grandparents Gustav and Bertha Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach; Bertha especially considered the union a mésalliance - she offered Anneliese a significant sum of money to have an abortion when Bertha discovered her daughter-in-law was with child. In the face of such opposition, Alfried and Anneliese's marriage quickly crumbled, and they divorced in 1941. At the time that Hetty and Arndt's engagement was made public, it was reported that Hetty had been until then a particularly close, "seemingly permanent companion," to Prince Johannes of Thurn and Taxis (1926-1990).

 

Hetty and Arndt at their civil wedding

 

The engaged couple at the pre-wedding press conference

 

The religious wedding of Arndt and Hetty at Schloß Blühnbach

 

The tall blue-eyed princess with blonde hair wed her "prince charming" in a civil ceremony on 1 February 1969 at Werfen bei Salzburg. The couple celebrated their religious wedding on Valentine's Day 1969 (14 February) at Schloß Blühnbach, the Krupp property that was formerly owned by Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.  The ceremony was Roman Catholic, the faith of the bride; Arndt was still Lutheran, though he converted to Catholicism later in life. Hetty let Arndt plan the entire ceremony, from choosing the 300 strong guest list to selecting the bride's wedding outfit, a Pongauer Dirndl. Hetty was quoted as saying: "His taste is perfect. Leaving all major decisions to Arndt is the way we plan to run our marriage." Amongst the guests were were members of the Liechtenstein, Furstenberg, Hohenberg, Hohenlohe, and Thurn and Taxis families - American actor George Hamilton was also present.

Arndt and Hetty at Gstaad

Hetty and Arndt beside the pool of their villa in Marrakech

 

The glittering princess with her husband

 

Arndt and Hetty

 

Aware of the nature of their marriage of convenience, Arndt and Hetty quickly and happily began living mostly separate lives. Hetty was drawn to the family's thirty-four-room villa at Marrakech. Arndt preferred Palm Beach and then getting away to a little house on the Isle of Sylt, off the German coast. The couple would typically spent August to October of every year at Schloß Blühnbach, where they enjoyed hunting and entertaining their international set of friends. In a 1985 Palm Beach Post interview with Arndt, it was noted that "the Princess is an avid sportswoman, and when not in Blühnbach is on the ski slopes of Gstaad or St Moritz. Their mutual respect and compatibility permits them a personal freedom that has cemented a happy marriage of fourteen years! Each Valentine anniversary, the Baron deluges the Princess with her favourite flower...Lilies-of-the-Valley." Arndt went on to say of his wife: "She is exactly the opposite of me. She likes skiing, golfing, all kinds of outdoor things. She very reluctantly goes to parties, I must say. You see, she's very natural. She doesn't wear lipstick or anything."

 

The funeral of Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach

 

Aged forty-eight, Arndt died on 8 May 1986 in the intensive care unit of a private hospital at Munich. He had been suffering from lymph node cancer since 1979 and had dealt with cirrhosis of the liver as a result of his alcoholism. Not surprisingly, Arndt and Hetty never had children. A widow at fifty-two, Hetty never remarried. 

 

Princess Hetty of Auersperg

 

Long after her husband's death, Hetty granted an interview in 2012 with Express from her home at Marrakech. She recalled when she had initially met Arndt after she approached the Krupp heir for a job: "Why not marry me? You lead your life, and sometimes we bring ours together." he responded. And, marry him she did. Hetty remembered: "I know of some marriages where the husband is homosexual or bisexual. That is not necessarily the worst thing. We had a partnership. Arndt was not jealous. I could do whatever I wanted. We were a good team. I really liked Arndt." 

 

Death notice of Henriette von Bohlen und Halbach (née Princess of Auersperg)

 

Hetty survived her husband by thirty-three years. Her nephew Prince Alexander of Auersperg and her nieces Princesses Ala and Cecile announced that their beloved aunt had died on 30 May 2019 at St Johann in Tirol. Hetty was eighty-five years-old. 

 

Princess Hetty of Auersperg

 

May She Rest In Peace.

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On This Day In History: The Death of Prince Ludwig, The Last of the Hesse and by Rhine

Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duchess Eleonore, and Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus and Prince Ludwig

 

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine with their two sons

 

Eleonore with Georg Donatus and Ludwig

 

Prince Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig of Hesse and by Rhine was born on 20 November 1908 as the second son of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine (25 November 1868–9 October 1937) and his second wife Grand Duchess Eleonore (17 September 1871–16 November 1937; née Solms-Hohensolms-Lich). Ludwig joined an older brother, Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus (8 November 1906–16 November 1937). From his father's first marriage to Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1876-1936), Ludwig had one half sister, Princess Elisabeth (1895-1903), who he never met as a result of her untimely death.

Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

 

Together with his brother Georg Donatus, who was two years older, Prince Ludwig grew up alternately at Schloß Wolfsgarten and the Neuen Palais in Darmstadt. At the time of the First World War, he began to be privately tutored. Ludwig, in the family circle called "Lu," was like his brother almost entirely educated at home. Ludwig finished his primary studies in 1926. Then Ludwig went on to study archeology and art history with a specialisation in ornamentation at the Universities of Darmstadt, Lausanne and Munich.

Announcement of the Hesse/Geddes engagement on 17 July 1937

 

Prince Ludwig and his fiancée the Hon. Margaret Geddes

Embed from Getty Images

 

Report on the death of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine on 10 October 1937

After graduating, the trained art historian served as an attaché at the German Embassy in London. In Upper Bavaria, Ludwig met Margaret Campbell Geddes (18 March 1913-26 January 1997), the daughter of British diplomat and professor Sir Auckland Campbell Geddes (1879-1954) and American Isabella Gamble Ross (1881-1962). After having met in 1936, Ludwig and Margaret announced their engagement on 16 July 1937. The wedding was postponed after Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig died on 9 October 1937. At this point, it was decided that Ludwig and Margaret should marry on 20 November 1937, the groom's twenty-ninth birthday.

However, further tragedy was to intervene. On 16 November, Eleonore, along with her son Georg Donatus, his pregnant wife Cecilie and his two sons, went to London by plane in order to attend Ludwig's wedding. The plane crashed near Oostende in Belgium and all the passengers were killed. The only one of Georg Donatus and Cecilie's children not aboard the flight was their daughter Johanna.

 

Embed from Getty Images

 

In London, it was decided that Prince Ludwig and Margaret Geddes should marry without delay in the face of this loss. The couple were married on 17 October 1937, a day after the plane crash, in quiet wedding ceremony at St Peter's Church, Eaton Square. Ludwig's best man was Lord Louis Mountbatten. The wedding was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Kent, Princess Olga of Yugoslavia (née Greece), Countess Elisabeth of Törring-Jettenbach (née Greece), the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, Lady Louis Mountbatten, and Mr and Mrs von Ribbentrop. After the marriage, Ludwig and Margaret traveled to Ostend to see the remains of the groom's family. Ludwig never completely recovered from the death of his family; it was later remarked that "a disciplined sadness marked him."

 

Princess Johanna of Hesse and by Rhine

Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret with their niece/adopted daughter Princess Johanna

 

After the accident, Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret adopted Johanna, their orphaned niece, and planned to raise her as their own daughter. Sadly, Johanna developed meningitis and died twenty months later at the age of two and a half on 14 June 1939. The little girl's maternal grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece (née Battenberg), said later that the unconscious Johanna so closely resembled her mother at the same age that it felt like losing her daughter Cecilie all over again. Following Johanna's death, she was buried with her parents and brothers at the Rosenhöhe.

 

Peter Pears, Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine, Princess Margaret of Hesse and by Rhine, and Benjamin Britten

Lu and Peg of Hesse

 

Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret "Peg" were never able to have children of their own. After the end of World War II, the couple engaged in the reconstruction of Darmstadt, supporting such institutions as Alice Hospital, the Eleonorenheim and the Red Cross. As a lover of classical music, the prince promoted the Ansbach Festival and the Aldeburgh Festival. As a friend of the British musician Benjamin Britten, Ludwig translated his lyrics and invited the English composer come to Wolfsgarten, where parts of Britten's opera Death in Venice were created.

 

Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine in later life

Lu and Peg of Hesse with The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh 

 

In 1964, Ludwig became of the godfathers of Prince Edward, youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. Ludwig died in 1968 at the age of 59 years. The funeral service took place on 6 June 1968 at Darmstadt in the presence of the European royals and aristocrats. Ludwig is buried together with his wife Margaret (1913-1997) in a simple grave at the Rosenhöhe, in the immediate vicinity of his parents and his brother's family.

The late Landgraf Moritz of Hesse as a young man

In 1960, Prince Ludwig adopted Prince/Landgraf Moritz of Hesse-Kassel (1926-2013), in whose person the two separate lines of the House of Hesse were reunited from the first time since 1567 after Prince Ludwig's death in 1968.

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Memories of the Past Decade: Radu Duda Announces Candidacy for the Romanian Presidency

Radu Duda of Romania: When an Actor turned Prince runs for President

Ten years ago, Prince Radu of Romania (né Duda) announced his candidacy for the Romanian Presidency in a press conference at Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest on 9 April 2009. Radu was accompanied by his wife Princess Margarita. The couple had married in 1996.

On 23 April 2009, King Michael of Romania gave a speech in support of his son-in-law's political aspirations. Some suspected that the king did so reluctantly as he had always sought to remain above the political fray. The king delivered his address from Elisabeta Palace. In full, the speech read as follows:

I spent half a century in exile together with my family and another ten years in government imposed restrictions in our own country. For us these were the most terrible years and perhaps for the country were even worse. Our whole life was dedicated to serving the country as we always wished to see her powerful, prosperous and proud within Europe. During these more than six decades all good hopes of the Romanian people were shattered, one by one. […] The right deed comes at the right time for the country. I believe that this moment has arrived. My Family through its presence in the democratic elections for the institution of the Chief of State strives to unite and restore to a state of health contemporary Romania. We want to prove how the people should be properly served. I am fully confident that Prince Radu has the capacity to bear forward this important responsibility and high ideal. 

Romania faces difficult times. I appeal to you all in supporting this important step forward for Romania. In these moments the country needs you united and generous, cohesive and responsible. 

Let us together give Romania hope in this difficult year! 

So help us God! 

Mihai R.

Radu Duda announces his bid for the Romanian Presidency in April 2009

In September 2009, Radu quit the presidential race. He attributed this decision to a lack of broad support from the political establishment, other groups and the business community in Romania. The Royal Forums elaborated:

The Prince said he was very sad to make the decision but had ‘hopes for the future’. He maintained that the election campaign was not a fair race but merely a fight between different political clans: “Most Romanian politicians act as though the state and public institutions are personal goods. The current president began the process of privatization of the Romanian state. The next president will continue it.” 

Radu Duda announced his intention to fun for Presidency in April and registered as an independent candidate, without links to or support of any political party. At the time, Prince Radu declared that should he be successful, he would not seek to restore the Monarchy. 

Former King Michael of Romania supported both his son-in-law’s campaign and his decision to end it.

Source: Prince Radu Duda drops bid for Presidency

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On This Day In History: The Marriage of Queen Victoria's Parents

The Duke of Kent and Strathearn

The Duchess of Kent and Strathearn (née Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld)

On 29 May 1818 at Amorbach, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, and Princess Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld were wed. This was the first marriage for Prince Edward (2 November 1767-23 January 1820), who was the fourth son and fifth child of King George III of the United Kingdom (1738-1820) and Queen Charlotte (1744-1818; née Mecklenburg-Strelitz). It was the second marriage for Princess Viktoria (17 August 1786-16 March 1861): she married her first husband, Emich Carl, Prince of Leiningen, on 21 December 1803 at Coburg. Viktoria was widowed when Emich Carl died in 1814, leaving behind Viktoria and their two children, Carl (1804-1856) and Feodora (1807-1872). Princess Viktoria was the fourth daughter and seventh child of Duke Franz Frederick Anton of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1750-1806) and his second wife Countess Augusta of Reuß-Ebersdorf (1757-1831).

The Dowager Duchess of Kent with her daughter Princess Victoria

Report on the christening of Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent Article (c) The Times of London (25 June 1819)

Princess Victoria of Kent, aged four

The couple's only child was born almost a year to the day after their marriage. On 24 May 1819, Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent entered the world at Kensington Palace. The princess was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace. She was baptised Alexandrina after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. For the rest of her life, she would be known by her second name, Victoria. 

The Duke of Kent

Aged fifty-two, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, died of pneumonia on 23 January 1820 at Woolbrook Cottage, Sidmouth. He was buried at St George's Cathedral, Windsor. Edward died six days before his father King George, who passed away on 29 January 1820.

The Dowager Duchess of Kent with her grandchildren Prince Alfred and Princess Alice

The Dowager Duchess of Kent in 1860, one year before her death

Princess Viktoria, the Dowager Duchess of Kent, survived her husband by over forty years. At the age of seventy-four, the duchess drew her last breath on 16 March 1861 at Frogmore House, Windsor. The Dowager Duchess of Kent is buried at the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum at Frogmore, Windsor.

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The Prince of Venice Announces Cancer Diagnosis

Embed from Getty Images

Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice, has made it public knowledge that he is suffering from cancer: the exact kind is not specified. The forty-six year-old prince stated that he was originally diagnosed in 2011. However, he has had a recurrence of the disease and decided to share this development with others.

Photo from the Instagram of Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia

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All In The Family: The Princely Pleß Stepmother Who Married Her Stepson

doña Clothilde de Silva y González de Cándamo

Announcement of the marriage between Prince Hans Heinrich XV of Pleß and Clotilde de Silva y González Article (c) Chicago Tribune (24 January 1925)

Hans Heinrich and Clotilde of Pleß are married at London Article (c) The Philadelphia Inquirer (25 January 1925)

On 25 January 1925 at London, Prince Hans Heinrich XV of Pleß (1861-1938) took as his second wife doña Clothilde de Silva y González de Cándamo (1898-1978), the daughter of José de Silva y Borchgrave d'Altena (1866-1938), Marques de Arcicollar, and Clotilde González de Cándamo y Asencios (1870-?). Clotilde was thirty-seven years younger than her husband Hans Heinrich.

Prince Hans Henrich XV and Princess Daisy of Pleß

Sketch of Princess Daisy of Pleß by John Singer Sargent

Hans Henrich, Daisy, and their three sons

Hans Heinrich XV had formerly been married to Mary-Theresa "Daisy" Cornwallis-West (1873-1943), the noted diarist. The couple had wed in 1891 and divorced in 1922. Hans Heinrich and Daisy had three sons: Hans Heinrich XVII (1900-1984; married twice with no issue), Alexander "Lexel" (1905-1984; once engaged to Princess Ileana of Romania), and Bolko (1900-1936). Princess Daisy of Pleß was a confidante of both King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

Prince Hans Heinrich and Princess Clotilde of Pleß

Hans Heinrich, Clotilde, and their dogs

During the union of Hans Heinrich XV and Clotilde, two children arrived: Beatrix (b.1929) and Konrad (1930-1934). The marital bond between Prince Hans Heinrich and Princess Clotilde of Pleß gradually deteriorated: their marriage was annulled in 1934 in Germany, and the divorce of the couple was recognised in March 1936 by Poland, where the Pleß family had immense holdings. Reportedly, it was Clotilde who filed for divorce from Hans Heinrich.

Count Bolko of Hochberg

The funeral of Bolko on 6 July 1936

Pictured: Hans Heinrich XV of Pleß in a wheelchair being followed by his ex-wife/daughter-in-law Clotilde and his son Lexel at the funeral of his youngest son Bolko

Shortly after her divorce from Hans Heinrich, Clotilde married her stepson Count Bolko of Hochberg. The couple were wed on 5 July 1934 at Mittenwald. They had two children in swift succession: Gioia (b.11 October 1934) and Bolko (b.3 April 1936). Sadly, Bolko left behind his wife and surviving children when he died at the age of twenty-five on 22 June 1936 at Pleß. Bolko had been detained by the Gestapo on unspecific charges in March 1936.

Prince Hans Heinrich XVII of Pleß

Prince Alexander of Pleß

Bolko's father Prince Hans Heinrich XV of Pleß died on 31 January 1938 at Paris at the age of seventy-six. His mother Princess Daisy died on 29 June 1943 at Waldenburg, aged seventy. Bolko's widow (and former stepmother) Clotilde passed away at Munich on 12 December 1978 at the age of eighty. Hans Heinrich XV was succeeded as Prince of Pleß by his two eldest sons, Hans Heinrich XVII (2 February 1900-26 January 1984) and Lexel (1 Feb 1905-22 February 1984).

The children of Bolko and Clotilde (l to r): Bolko Jr., Beatrix, and Gioia.

Prince Bolko and Princess Elisabeth of Pleß

Countess Felicitas of Hochberg

Upon the death of Lexel in February 1984, Count Bolko of Hochberg (b.1936), only son of Count Bolko of Hochberg and doña Clotilde de Silva y González, inherited the title Prince of Pleß. Prince Bolko has one daughter, Countess Felicitas of Hochberg (b.1965) from his first marriage to Ruth Marie Therese Reuther (18 May 1940-13 November 2013). Prince Bolko wed again in 2013 to Elisabeth Malisse. The heir to the princely Pleß title is Count Peter of Hochberg (b.1956)

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Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia Remarries

Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia (b.1943) has married for a second time. The prince recently wed his long-time partner Nadia Nour. The information was made public on the Instagram account of Franz Wilhelm's son, Grand Duke George of Russia.

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поздравляю моего отца, который недавно женился на этой прекрасной даме. Congratulations to my father that recently got married to this beautiful lady#wedding#princefranzwilhelmofprussia#hoenzollern#history#europeanroyalfamilies#royalfamilyofgermany#kaiser#prussia#princeofprussia#Пруссия#принц #принцФранцВильгельмПрусский#congratulations#celebration#гогенцоллерны

A post shared by Georgyi M. Romanoff Романов (@grand_duke_george_of_russia) on May 23, 2019 at 1:51pm PDT

Franz Wilhelm is the eldest son of the late Prince Karl Franz Josef of Prussia (1916-1975) and Princess Henriette of Schönaich-Carolath (1918-1972). Franz Wilhelm was married from 1976-1985 to Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia (b.1953), with whom he has one son, Grand Duke George (b.1981).

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Mas que agradecido a mis primos , Sus Altezas Reales los Principes de Prusia, Nadia Nour von Preusen y Franz Willhelm von Preusen por haberme acompañado en la inauguración de la tienda @carta_dalviero de mi Gemelo mayor Alvaro. 👑🙏🌹⚜️😘 Extremely grateful to my cousins , Their Royal Highnesses the Princes of Prussia, Nadia Nour von Preusen and Franz Willhelm von Preusen for accompanying me in the inauguration of my dear friend Alvaro #royalhighnesses #HRH #prussia #preußen #prusse #princes #principes #family #royalconnections #inauguration #style #elegance #class #estilo #clase #elegancia #classe #mystyle#menstyle #beardsofinstagram #beardstyle #inauguracion #picoftheday #antiquedealersofinstagram

A post shared by Dr. Karim Gaafar Talkhan (@otros_tiempos) on May 12, 2019 at 8:34am PDT

The prince and princess form a discreet couple, who royal watchers will have seen attending Gotha events several times in recent years. Prince Franz Wilhelm and Princess Nadia were present for the wedding of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia and Princess Sophie (née Isenburg) in 2011. They also attended the wedding of Hereditary Prince Ferdinand of Leiningen and Hereditary Princess Viktoria Luise (née Prussia) in 2017. At both events, Franz Wilhelm's ex-wife Grand Duchess Maria of Russia and their son Grand Duke George were present: it seems that all parties get along very well. We wish Prince Franz Wilhelm and Princess Nadia of Prussia much happiness!

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