Thursday, August 22, 2019

70th Birthday of the Head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

HH Duke Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein was born on 22 August 1949 at Schloß Louisenlund, Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein. Christoph was the second child and first son of Duke Peter of Schleswig-Holstein (1922-1980) and Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe (b.1923). Christoph had joined an older sister, Princess Marita (b.1948), and was followed by a younger brother, Prince Alexander (b.1953), and a younger sister, Princess Ingeborg (b.1956).
Duke Christoph and Duchess Elisabeth
In 1981, Duke Christoph married Princess Elisabeth of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b.1957), the second daughter of Prince Dr Alfred of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b.1922) and his wife Irmgard (b.1929; née Baroness Wagner von Wehrborn). The Duke and Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein have four children: Princess Sophie (b.1983), Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ferdinand (b.1985), Prince Constantin (b.1986), and Prince Leopold (b.1991). 
Duke Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein
Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein studied agricultural engineering and obtained a degree in that field. Since 1980, Christoph heads the board of the family foundation that owns the dynasty's ancestral home, Glücksburg Castle. The duke resides in Grünholz near Schwansen where he has business interests in agriculture, forestry and real estate. Christoph is the owner of the Grünholz and Bienebek estates and is one of the largest landowners of Schleswig-Holstein.
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Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Princess Kalina of Bulgaria And Family Considering Move To Bulgaria

Princess Kalina of Bulgaria and her husband Kitín Muñoz are weighing a move from their home in Morroco to the home of the princess's father, King Simeon II.
Along with their son Simeon Hassan, Princess Kalina and Mr Muñoz have made their home in Morocco for the past ten years. Among the reasons that the couple have reportedly cited for a prospective relocation to Bulgaria is to allow the princess and her son to be closer to their father and grandfather, respectively. King Simeon and Queen Margarita have a residence in Sofia.
Kalina of Bulgaria and Kitín Muñoz were married at Tsarska Bistritsa in the Rila Mountains of Bulgaria on 26 October 2002. Almost five years later, on 14 March 2007, the pair welcomed their only child Simeon Hassan, who was born at Sofia, Bulgaria.
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Sunday, August 18, 2019

Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia Interviewed by California News Station

The Crown Prince and Princess of Serbia were interviewed by KTVU Channel 2 recently during a visit to Oakland, California. Alexander and Katherine were invited to the area by Steve Wozniak, one of the co-founders of Apple, after Mr Wozniak had paid a trip to Belgrade. During their stay, Crown Prince Alexander and his wife attended Comic-Con.
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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.
 
 
Princess Christina and Jorge Pérez y Guillermo were married on 28 June 1975. Their civil wedding took place at Baarn and was followed by a religious ecumenical ceremony in the Cathedral of Saint Martin, Utrecht. Jorge Guillermo was a Roman Catholic and an exile from Cuba. Christina gave up her dynastic rights upon her marriage. 
 
 
The couple had three children: Bernardo Federico Tomas Guillermo (b.1977), Nicolás Daniel Mauricio Guillermo (b.1979), and Juliana Edina Antonia Guillermo (b.1981). Christina and Jorge divorced in 1996. Princess Christina retained a residence in Italy as well as in The Netherlands. Per her wishes, she will be cremated.

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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).
 
 
 
 
During the Second World War, the Dutch Royal Family, with Irene's maternal grandmother Queen Wilhelmina at the forefront, was compelled to leave their country for the United Kingdom in the face of Nazi occupation. Princess Irene was christened at Buckingham Palace, where one of her godmothers was Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. As the London Blitz began to take place, it was decided that the Dutch royals would be safer in the Americas, and they duly took up residence in Canada. After the end of the war, the Royal Family returned to The Netherlands.

 
 

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.
 
 
 
 
On 29 April 1964, Princess Irene of the Netherlands married Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. No member of Irene's family attended the ceremony, although they did watch the event at the home of Princess Irene's paternal grandmother Armgard - a power outage in the country prevented the Dutch royals from seeing the end of the service. 
 
 
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
Carlos Hugo and Irene would eventually have four children: Prince Carlos (b.1970), the twins Prince Jaime and Princess Margarita (b.1972), and Princess Carolina (b.1974). Irene and Carlos Hugo became intensely involved in the Carlist movement in Spain; however, once Franco died in 1975 and Juan Carlos became King, the movement rather fractured and so did the couple's married. They divorced in 1981.
 
 

 
 
Princess Irene has for some decades been an advocate for nature conservation. Through her four children, she is now a grandmother of ten. Her ex-husband Carlos Hugo passed away in 2010.
 

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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.

 
 
The engagement of Prince Jacques d'Orléans and Mademoiselle Gersende de Sabran-Pontevès was announced on 5 October 1968. The father of the fiancé granted his son the title "Duc d'Orléans."
 
 
The Duke and Duchess d'Orléans have three children: Princess Diane (b.1970), Prince Charles-Louis (b.1972), and Prince Foulques (b.1974).
 
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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
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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