Seventy-Fifth Birthday of Crown Prince Nikola of Montenegro

Prince Mihailo and Princess Geneviève of Montenegro

On 7 July 1944, Prince Nicholas (Nikola) Michael Francis of Montenegro was born at Saint-Nicolas-du-Pelem, as the only child of Prince Michael (Mihailo) of Montenegro and his wife Geneviève. Prince Mihailo (1908-1986) and Geneviève Prigent (1919-1990) had married at Paris on 27 January 1941. The pair were interned in Germany from 1941 until 1943 by the Nazis; when they were released, they returned to France, where their son was born. In 1947, Mihailo, Geneviève, and Nikola moved to Yugoslavia as Mihailo had accepted a position in Tito's Foreign Ministry - a position he left  in 1948. The family then returned to Paris, where Mihailo and Geneviève's marriage ended. 

Crown Prince Nikola of Montenegro

Upon the couple's divorce in 1949, their son Nikola was raised by his mother and rarely saw his father. Geneviève worked as an orthoptist and raised Nikola as a single mother at Trebeurden. In 1964, Nikola became a student at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris; in 1971, he obtained a diploma in Architecture and admitted to the Société Française des Architectes.

Crown Princess Francine of Montenegro

Crown Prince Nikola and Crown Princess Francine of Montenegro

Nikola and Francine of Montenegro with their children Altinaï and Boris

On 27 November 1976, Prince Nikola of Montenegro married Francine Navarro (b.Casablanca 27 January 1950), daughter of Antoine Navarro (1922-1989) and Rachel Wazana (1930-2011). Francine studied law and later worked for many decades as a designer at the fashion house that she co-founded, Petrovitch & Robinson. Nikola forged his career as an architect. Nikola and Francine have two children: Princess Altinaï (b.1977; married to Anton Martynov) and Prince Boris (b.1980; married to Véronique Haillot Canas da Silva). Crown Princess Francine passed away in 2008, aged fifty-eight.

Hereditary Prince Boris and Hereditary Princess Véronique of Montenegro with eldest daughter Princess Milena

Crown Prince Nikola of Montenegro with his daughter Princess Altinaï

The family returned to Montenegro in 1989 for the reburial of Nikola's great-grandfather and great-grandmother, King Nikola I and Queen Milena of Montenegro. In 2011, Crown Prince Nikola and his family were granted special status by the Montenegrin government; the legislation that was approved by the nation's parliament provides the family with an annual allowance as well as a residence in the country. Crown Prince Nikola now divides his time between Montenegro and France. 

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Photos from the Christening of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor

Buckingham Palace has released two photographs from Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor's christening, which took place at the Private Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Photographer Chris Allerton said: "I am honoured to take the official photographs at the christening of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, and to once again, be part of such a special and joyous occasion for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex." The celebration is thought to have been attended by fewer than 25 people. The Sunday Times has reported that Charlie van Straubenzee, a close friend of the Duke of Sussex, is one of Archie's godparents.

Seated (left to right): The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke of Sussex, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, The Duchess of Sussex, The Duchess of Cambridge ​Standing (left to right): The Prince of Wales, Ms Doria Ragland, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes, The Duke of Cambridge

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The British Royal Born on 4 July Whose Godfather Was President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Report from The Observer on 19 July 1942

Report from The Guardian on 5 August 1942

Report from The Guardian on 13 August 1942

Prince Michael George Charles Franklin of Kent was born during the Second World War on 4 July 1942, at Coppins, Buckinghamshire. Michael was the third child of Prince George, Duke of Kent, a son of King George V and Queen Mary, and of Princess Marina, a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. When Prince Michael of Kent was baptised on 4 August 1942, his godparents were King George VI, Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands, King Haakon VII of Norway, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Duke of Gloucester, Crown Princess Frederica of Greece, Lady Patricia Ramsay (née Connaught), and the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven.

Michael joined two older siblings: brother Prince Edward (b.1935) and sister Princess Alexandra (b.1936). Prince Michael's father the Duke of Kent was killed in an airplane crash on 25 August 1942: his son was just seven weeks old. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, raised her three children as a widow; financial circumstances were sometimes tight. Prince Michael attended Eton before enrolling at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. The prince then went on to have a military career lasting some twenty years.

In 1978, Prince Michael of Kent married Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz (b.1943). The couple have two children: Lord Frederick Windsor (b.1979) and Lady Gabriella Kingston (b.1981; née).

We wish Prince Michael many happy returns!

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Prince Hubertus zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Son of Alfonso and Ira, Marries Simona Gandolfi

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Prince Hubertus zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (b.1959), the only surviving son of Princess Ira von Fürstenberg (b.1940) and the late Prince Alfonso zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1924-2003), married his longtime companion Simona Gandolfi in June 2019 in Vaduz, the capital of the Principality of Liechtenstein. Princess Ira could not attend the wedding of her son, as she was in London on a promotional tour for the new book on her life.

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Hubertus and Simona have been together for twenty-five years; they first met in Nicaragua. Source: LA BODA DE HUMBERTUS DE HOHENLOHE Y SIMONA GANDOLFI

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Princess Marie Louise of Baden - The 50th Birthday of a Little Known Royal

Max and Valerie of Baden with their eldest children Marie Louise and Bernhard

Today, Marie Louise of Baden celebrates her fiftieth birthday. Princess Marie Louise Elisabeth Mathilde Theodora Cecilie Sarah Charlotte of Baden was born on 3 July 1969 at Salem; the princess is the eldest daughter of Prince Max and Princess Valerie, Margrave and Margravine of Baden. Marie Louise has three younger brothers: Hereditary Prince Bernhard (b.1970), Prince Leopold (b.1971), and Prince Michael (b.1976).

Mr Richard Dudley Baker and Princess Marie Louise of Baden

In September 1999 at Salem, Princess Marie Louise of Baden married Richard Dudley Baker (b.1936). The couple have one daughter Sophia (b.2001). The Bakers reside in the United States.

Princess Marie Louise of Baden with Queen Sofía of Spain

 

 

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Diamond Wedding Anniversary for Albert and Paola of Belgium

Sixty years ago today, on 2 July 1959, the Prince of Liège and Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria were married at the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula in Brussels. The groom Albert was the son of King Léopold III of the Belgians and the late Queen Astrid (née Sweden). The bride was the daughter of Princess Luisa Ruffo di Calabria (née Gazelli dei Conti di Rossana) and the late Prince Fulco Ruffo di Calabria. Albert and Paola eventually had three children: Philippe, Astrid, and Laurent. Albert II succeeded as King of the Belgians after the death of his older brother Baudouin in 1993. In 2013, King Albert II abdicated in favour of his son Philippe.

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+ Fürst Ferdinand zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein (1942-2019)

Fürst Ferdinand zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein

(1942-2019)

It is with regret that we announce the passing of Fürst Ferdinand zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein. After a long illness, he succumbed yesterday at hospital in Schwäbisch Hall.

The late Fürst Ferdinand zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein and

his eldest son Hereditary Prince Maximilian.

Ferdinand zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein was born at Bartenstein, the family estate, on March 6, 1942. He was the only son of Karl, 8th Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein (1905-1950) and of his wife the former Baroness Clara von Meyern-Hohenberg (1912-2001). Ferdinand had two older sisters, both surviving him: Franziska (b. 1937), married firstly to Alexander Frowein, and secondly to Baron Maximilien de Watteville-Berckheim (1940-2013); and Henriette (b. 1938), married since 1964 to Count Hans Veit zu Toerring-Jettenbach (b. 1935), Head of House.

Grand Duke Ferdinando IV of Tuscany.

Among Ferdinand's most illustrious ancestors was Archduchess Anna of Austria-Tuscany (1879-1961), one of the children of Grand Duke Ferdinando IV of Tuscany (1835-1908) and his second wife, the former Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma (1849-1935). Among Archduchess Anna's siblings were two notorious 'black sheep': Archduchess Louise, who married and bolted King Friedrich August III of Saxony, and Archduke Leopold Ferdinand, who renounced his titles and adopted the name 'Leopold Wolfling', ending his days as a grocer in Vienna. Needless to say, Archduchess Anna's descendants were far more conventional than her siblings.

Archduchess Anna of Austria-Tuscany.

Archduchess Anna married Johannes, 7th Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein (1863-1921) in 1901, before the shenanigans of her sister Louise ruined the marital opportunities of her younger sisters. The couple had six children: Maria Rosa (1903-1999), who married (and divorced) Josef Hugo Waldenmeier (1879-1961); Fürst Karl; Fürst Albrecht zu Hohenlohe-Jagtsberg (1906-1996), who married Countess Theresa von Geldern-Egmont, founder of the line of HOHENLOHE-JAGTSBERG; Elisabeth (1907-1927); Margarethe (1909-1985), married to Raffaele Corsi di Turri dei Baroni di Turri (1908-1990); and Friedrich (1910-1985), who married Marie Claire Buet de Villars (1916-2012). When it came time to find a consort, Fürst Ferdinand didn't look faraway. In 1971, at Oettingen, he married Princess Franziska zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg (1947-2011). She was the first child of Fürst Alois zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg (1920-1975), and of his wife, the former Countess Elisabeth zu Lynar (1922-2005). Franziska's siblings included, among others: Alexandra (b. 1948), who married Fürst Hubertus Fugger von Babenhausen (b. 1946); Fürst Albrecht (b. 1951), married to the former Angela Jank (b. 1951), close friends of the Prince of Wales; and Margarita (1957-2000), who was married to Prince Franz Lobkowicz (b. 1957).

Schloß Bartenstein.

As the only son of his father, Ferdinand inherited the family's estates in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. These properties, located mainly in a region called Hohenloher-Land, were administered from Schloß Bartenstein, the family seat.

The late Fürst Ferdinand zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein.

Soon after their honeymoon, Ferdinand and Franziska set about to building a family of their own. The couple eventually had five children: Maximilian (b. 1972), who married Cristina Vozzi Castriota Scanderberg; Felix (b. 1973), married to doña Cristina Gutiérrez-Maturana-Larios y Kalachnikof (a daughter from the complicated second marriage of the late Spanish aristocrat the Marqués de Paul); Alice (b. 1978), who married Prince Christian zu Sayn-Wittegenstein-Berleburg; Margherita (b. 1979); and Georgina (b. 1982), who married Count Clemens Douglas. Fürstin Franziska predeceased her husband in 2011. For the ancestors' list of the late Fürst Ferdinand, I recommend the following link as it takes you to an excellent genealogical study composed by the very talented François Guyard... https://gothanjou.blog/2019/07/02/les-maisons-du-gotha-hohenlohe-bartenstein-2/?fbclid=IwAR2KSmIG6aX-ZKIO8TBJPHwX9oQjulTI1ZCOEcmGca_W1krNkFFwoq6m2Ho Our sincere condolences to the princely family...RIP...

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