Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Princess Kalina of Bulgaria And Family Considering Move To Bulgaria
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia Interviewed by California News Station
Thursday, August 15, 2019
The Death of Princess Christina of The Netherlands (1947 - 2019)
Aged seventy-two, Princess Christina of The Netherlands died on Friday, 16 August 2019, at Noordeinde Palace, Den Haag, The Netherlands. She had been suffering from bone cancer. In June 2018, it was announced that the princess had been diagnosed with the illness in November 2017.
Princess Christina, known then as Princess Marijke, was born on 18 February 1947, at Soestdijk Palace, Baarn, The Netherlands. Her mother was the then Princess Juliana, only child and heir presumptive of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. At the time of her birth, she was fifth in the line of succession to her grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina. Her father was Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, a son of Prince Bernhard of Lippe and his wife, Baroness Armgard von Cramm.
Christina has three older sisters: Princess Beatrix, Princess Irene and Princess Margriet. At the age of twenty-one, Christina moved to Canada to study classical music in Montreal. After a few years, she accepted a teaching position at a Montessori school in New York City. It was there that she met her future husband.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
The 80th Birthday of Princess Irene of The Netherlands
Crown Princess Juliana with her daughter Princess Irene |
On 5 August 1939, Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands gave birth to her second daughter at Soestdijk Palace. Crown Princess Juliana had married Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld in 1937. The little princess was named Irene Emma Elisabeth, and at her birth she was third in the line of succession to the Dutch throne after her mother and her elder sister Princess Beatrix (b.1938). Irene was joined by two younger sisters, Princess Margriet (b.1943) and Princess Christina (b.1947).
Princess Irene went on to attend the University of Utrecht. Thereafter, she moved to Madrid to study Spanish. The princess became proficient enough in the language to become an interpreter. It was during her studies in Madrid that Irene met her future husband, Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma. In 1963, Irene left the Dutch Reformed Church and became a Roman Catholic. In February 1964, the engagement between the princess and Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma became known. The match was heavily opposed by the bride's parents and the Dutch government. Concerned about the situation, Queen Juliana did her utmost to deter the union from taking place; however, the queen's efforts were not successful. Irene gave up her right of succession to the throne of The Netherlands before her marriage.
The baptism of Prince Carlos, the first child of Prince Carlos Hugo and Princess Irene |
Carlos Hugo and Irene of Bourbon-Parma with their four children |
Princess Irene of Bourbon-Parma |
Friday, August 2, 2019
The Golden Wedding Anniversary of the Duke and Duchess d'Orléans
On 3 August 1969, Prince Jacques d'Orléans (b.25 June 1941) religiously wed Gersende de Sabran-Pontevès (b.29 July 1942) at Ansouis. The couple's civil marriage had occurred the prior day. Jacques was the eighth child of the late Count and Countess of Paris. Gersende was the only daughter of Foulques de Sabran-Pontevès (1908-1973), 7th Duc de Sabran, and Roselyne Manca-Amat de Vallombrosa (1910-1988). Gersende wore a wedding gown by Yves Saint Laurent.
Jacques d'Orléans and Gersende de Sabran-Pontevès had first met in the Spring of 1968 at the bride's family home, Château d'Ansouis. A petite blonde and a talented pianist, Gersende seems to have quickly attracted the attentions of the Orléans prince. The Count and Countess of Paris then invited Gersende to vacation with their family at Cintra.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Remembering the Remarkable Queen Anne of Romania
Queen Anne looking after King Michael Picture taken at the Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest |
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Remembering the Remarkable Queen Anne of Romania
Queen Anne looking after King Michael Picture taken at the Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest |
Today marks three years since the death of Queen Anne of Romania. After many years of declining health, the Queen died Monday, 1 August 2016, in hospital at Morges, Switzerland, at the age of ninety-two. Himself suffering from cancer, her ninety-four-year old husband King Michael had been visiting her every day.
In 1943, Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma volunteered for military service in the French Army. She served in Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Luxembourg and in liberated Germany, as an ambulance driver. Anne received the French Croix de guerre for her wartime service. In 1944, with the support of several political parties, King Michael of Romania removed (in an event known as King Michael’s Coup) the government of Ion Antonescu, which had aligned Romania with Nazi Germany, after the Axis front in northeastern Romania collapsed in the face of a successful Soviet offensive. The Romanian Army declared a unilateral ceasefire with the Soviet Red Army on the Moldavian front, an event viewed as decisive in the Allied advances against the Axis powers in the European theatre of World War II. It has been suggested that the coup may have shortened World War II by six months, thus saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
Michael and Anne met at London in November 1947. Sixteen days after meeting, Michael proposed to Anne while the couple were out on a drive in Lausanne. She initially declined, but later accepted after taking long walks and drives with him. They married at Athens on 10 June 1948: their union would last sixty-eight years.
In an interview that Queen Anne gave to Romanian TV in the 2000s, she said: "Je suis comme je suis...You can take me or leave me, as they say in English." The interviewer Eugenia Vodă quickly responded: "Well, then, we take you!"
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