Government Gives Royal House of Romania Free Use of Elisabeta Palace for 49 Years

Elisabeta Palace, the headquarters of the Romanian Royal Family in Bucharest

Yesterday, 11 May 2020, the government of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban of Romania gave free use of the Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest to Her Majesty's Household Association (specifically, to the entity called Asociației Casa Majestăţii Sale). The decision was made by the Orban government following the April designation of the association, which is an organisation that runs the affairs of the household of Margarita of Romania, as a "public utility institution." In summary, the Household of the Custodian of the Crown has received free use of the Elisabeta Palace for forty-nine years. This news came after the celebration of 10 May (known as "King's Day" or "Monarchy Day"), at which time Orban sent a warm message to the Custodian of the Crown highlighting the important role that the royal family has had in Romania in the past and in the present.

The Prime Minister's message to the Custodian of the Crown on 10 May 2020.

This step by the Romanian government was taken for several reasons. According to Law no. 406/2001, which was passed in 2001, Elisabeta Palace was given to King Michael of Romania as a residence in his capacity as a former head of state. When the king died in 2017, an issue arose as to the future of the palace, which had been utilised for a number of years as a headquarters for Crown Princess Margarita of Romania. As Margarita was not a former head of state and not entitled to reside at the palace under Law 406/2001, in 2018 the parliament attempted to pass a law allowing for Margarita's continued occupation of the Elisabeta Palace; this legislation was opposed by the Tudose government on the grounds that the Romanian Royal Household was not a public utility institution. The measure did pass the Senate but failed in the Chamber of Deputies. The current prime minister, Ludovic Orban, took the step last month to recognise the Asociației Casa Majestăţii Sale, established in 2009, as a public utility institution, and this allowed the prime minister to take the measures for guaranteeing that Margarita of Romania will be able to retain the Elisabeta Palace as her base of operations in the capital.

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According to recent news reports, the Elisabeta Palace is valued at 44 million lei (just under $10 million). The royal family, headed by Her Majesty Margarita, also owns extensive real estate in Sinaia. Currently, the only members of the royal family to reside in Romania are the following: HM Margarita, HRH Prince Radu, TRH Prince Nicholas and Princess Alina-Maria, and HRH Princess Sophie.

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Unless a successive government tries to intervene in this matter, the Romanian Royal Household will retain the right to use Elisabeta Palace free of charge until 2069. It will be most interesting to see what the future holds for the current and, hopefully, successive royal occupants of the palace.

A Life Cut Short: Princess Maria Galitzine (1988-2020), Descendant of Emperor Karl of Austria

It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Princess Maria Petrovna Galitzine passed away on 4 May. Maria was just short of celebrating her thirty-second birthday on 11 May. The princess died from a heart aneurysm. This information has been provided by someone close to the the Emperor Karl League of Prayer, to which Maria's mother belongs.

Princess Maria Anna and Prince Piotr Galitzine
Photograph (c) The Emperor Karl League of Prayer

On 11 May 1988, Her Serene Highness Princess Maria Galitzine was born at Luxembourg City. Maria was the daughter of Prince Peter (Piotr) Galitzine (b.1955) and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (b.1954). Peter and Maria Anna married in 1981; they have six children: Princess Xenia (b.1983), Princess Tatiana (b.1984), Princess Alexandra (b.1986), Princess Maria (1988-2020), Prince Dimitri (b.1990), and Prince Ionn Teimouraz (b.1992).

Archduke Rudolph of Austria and Queen Fabiola of Belgium in 2001.
Photograph (c) Presse-Foto-Seeger

Maria Galitzine was a paternal granddaughter of Prince Dimitri Vladimirovich Galitzine (1914-1976) and Tatiana Petrovna Lopoukhine (1916-1982). Maria's maternal grandparents were Archduke Rudolph of Austria (1919-2010) and Countess Xenia Tschernyschev-Besobrasow (1929-1968). Therefore, Princess Maria was a great-granddaughter of the Blessed Emperor Karl I of Austria-Hungary and his wife Empress Zita, born a Princess of Bourbon-Parma.

Maria and Rishi on their wedding day.
Photograph (c) Eric Velado

Princess Maria Galitzine civilly married Rishi Roop Singh (b.1978) on 24 September 2017 at Houston, Texas. The couple were united in an Orthodox religious ceremony on 22 April 2018 at Saint Jonah Orthodox Church in Houston. Mr Singh is a son of Mr Paramjet Singh (b.1940) and Mrs Barinderjeet "Bindu" Singh (b.1948). Maria and Rishi welcomed the arrival of their son: Maxim Singh was born on 10 February 2018 at Houston.

May Princess Maria Rest In Peace and May Her Memory Be A Blessing.

A Grand Ducal Heir Has Arrived: The Birth of Prince Charles, First Child of Guillaume and Stéphanie of Luxembourg!

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg on their wedding day.

On Sunday (today), 10 May 2020, the Grand Ducal Court delivered the happy news of the birth of the first child of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg. The hereditary grand duchess was delivered of a son at 5:13am: the new princeling has received the names Charles Jean Philippe Joseph Marie Guillaume. Prince Charles of Luxembourg, who weighed 3.190 kg and is 50 cm long, was born at the Grand Duchess Charlotte Maternity Hospital (Maternité Grande-Duchesse Charlotte). Guillaume and Stéphanie married in October 2012. In December 2019, the Marshall of the Court announced that the couple were expecting their first child.

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg.

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume is the eldest child of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg (b.1956) and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa (b.1956; née Mestre). Guillaume's father succeeded as Grand Duke in 2000. Guillaume is the grandson of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg (1921-2019) and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte (1927-2005; née Belgium) as well as of José Antonio Mestre y Álvarez (1926-1993) and María Teresa Batista y Falla de Mestre (1928-1988).

Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg.

Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie is the youngest child of the late Count Philippe de Lannoy (1922-2019) and Countess Alix (1941-2012; née della Faille de Leverghem). Stéphanie is the granddaughter of Count Paul de Lannoy (1898-1980) and Princess Beatrice de Ligne (1898-1982) as well as of Baron Harold della Faille de Leverghem (1908-1994) and Countess Madeleine de Brouchoven de Bergeyck (1912-1996).

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The Ancestry of the Grand Ducal Heir: Charles

1.Prince Charles of Luxembourg (b.10 May 2020) Parents 2. Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg (b.1982) who married in 2012 3. Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy (b.1984) Grandparents 4. Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg (b.1955) who married in 1981 5. Maria Teresa Mestre (b.1956) 6. Count Philippe de Lannoy (1922-2019) who married in 1965 7. Alix della Faille de Leverghem (1941-2012) Great-Grandparents 8. Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg (1921-2019) who married in 1953 9. Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium (1927-2005) 10. José Antonio Mestre y Álvarez (1926-1993) who married 11. María Teresa Batista y Falla de Mestre (1928-1988) 12. Count Paul de Lannoy (1898-1980) who married in 1921 13. Princess Beatrice de Ligne (1898-1982) 14. Harold della Faille de Leverghem (1908-1994) who married 15. Countess Madeleine de Brouchoven de Bergeyck (1912-1996) Great-Great-Grandparents 16. Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg (1896-1985) who married in 1919 17. Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma (1893-1970) 18. King Léopold III of Belgium (1901-1983) who married in 1926 19. Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905-1935) 20. José Antonio Mestre y Ramos-Almeyda (1897-1961) who married 21. María Narcisa Álvarez y Tabió (1899-1980) 22. Agustín Batista y González de Mendoza (1899-1968) who married 23. María Teresa Falla y Bonet (1898-1973) 24. Count Philippe de Lannoy (1866-1937) who married in 1897 25. Rosalie de Beeckman (1877-1963)

26. Prince Ernest de Ligne (1857-1937)

who married in 1887

27. Diane de Cossé Brissac (1869-1950)

28. Gustave della Faille de Leverghem (1871-1966)

who married

29. Isabelle de Meester (1871-1954)

30. Count Louis de Brouchoven de Bergeyck (1871-1938)

who married

31. Marie Louise Moretus Plantin (1873-1926)

Rest In Peace: Princess Diane of Bourbon-Parma (1932-2020)

Princess Diana of Bourbon-Parma and Prince Franz Joseph of Hohenzollern

Note: Thank you to Alexander Oehmichen, the elder son of the princess, for contacting us to correct the date and place of his mother's passing, as well as to correct the misinformation that was contained at the linked article concerning her cause of death, which was wrongly reported as the coronavirus. 

Princess Diane of Bourbon-Parma passed away at Bad Krozingen on 4 May 2020. She was eighty-seven years-old; she would have celebrated her eighty-eighth birthday later this month.

Princess Margarete of Thurn and Taxis and Prince Gaetano of Bourbon-Parma on their wedding day.

Prince Gaetano and Princess Margarete of Bourbon-Parma.

 

HRH Princess Diane Margherita (Marguerite) of Bourbon-Parma was born on Sunday, 22 May 1932, at Paris. Diane was the only child of HRH Prince Gaetano of Bourbon-Parma (1905-1958) and HSH Princess Margarete von Thurn und Taxis (1909-2006).

Gaetano and Margarete married in 1931; they obtained an Hungarian divorce in 1940 and a (final) French divorce in 1950. 

 

Duke Roberto I of Parma

Prince Alessandro della Torre e Tasso, 1st Duke of Castel Duino

Diane was the paternal granddaughter of Duke Roberto I of Parma (1848-1907) and his second wife Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal (1862-1959). Her father Gaeten was the final and twenty-fourth child of Duke Roberto. Diane's maternal grandparents were Prince Alexander von Thurn und Taxis (1881-1937), Duca di Castel Duino, and Princess Marie de Ligne (1885-1971).

 

Prince Franz Joseph of Hohenzollern and Princess Maria Fernanda of Thurn and Taxis in 1950.
Photograph (c) Alamy / Hannes Betzler/Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo

Princess Diana of Bourbon-Parma arriving at her civil wedding on the arm of her mother Princess Margarete.

 

In 1955, Diane married Prince Franz Joseph of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1926-1996). Their civil marriage took place at London on 15 March 1955, and their religious wedding was held at Krauchenwies on 16 April 1955. Franz Joseph was the son of Fürst Friedrich of Hohenzollern (1891-1965) and Princess Margarete of Saxony (1900-1962). Franz Joseph had married Princess Maria Fernanda of Thurn and Taxis on 15 July 1950; the pair were divorced on 30 October 1951 and had their union dissolved by annulment on 7 December 1954. On 2 June 1957, Diane and Franz Joseph welcomed the arrival of a son: Alexander. On 19 January 1961, Diane and Franz Joseph divorced. Over thirty years later, on 11 May 1992, the couple's marriage was annulled. 

 

 

On 21 March 1961, Princess Diane married Hans Joachim Oehmichen (Barnitz, Kreis Meissen 4 April 1920 - Bad Krozingen 11 July 1995). Diane and Hans welcomed two further children: Gaetano Oehmichen (b.Naples 1 May 1961) and Maria Oehmichen (b.Freiburg, Breisgau 2 June 1964). Alexander, born during his mother's first marriage, was adopted by Herr Oehmichen, who was his biological father. Diane and Hans Joachim contracted a Roman Catholic union on 6 June 1992.

 

Princess Diane of Bourbon-Parma is survived by her three children: Dr. Alexander Oehmichen with his wife Anja, Gaetano Oehmichen with his wife Julika, and Maria Oehmichen. The princess is survived by two grandsons: Philip, Robert, and Richard. Diane was a niece of Empress Zita of Austria-Hungary and Prince Felix of Luxembourg; she was a first cousin of Queen Anne of Romania. 

 

May Princess Diane Rest in Peace.

Source (which contains an incorrect date of death and cause of death): Morta la principessa Diana di Borbone Parma: lutto a Capezzano

Princess Claire of Belgium Recovers from Coronavirus

Princess Claire of Belgium

In a recent interview, Prince Laurent of Belgium gave an update about the goings-on in his family. “We do not know how, but the coronavirus has entered our household,” the prince said in an interview published on 6 May, Wednesday, in Le Soir Mag. “For weeks now, we have hardly gone out—only to shop and for recreation.” The next day it was revealed that Laurent's wife Claire was the family member who had been touched by the virus.

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Princess Claire was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in March. For six months, the princess has been dealing with an undisclosed grave illness, which still lingers and was detected at an early stage. Princess Claire did not require hospitalisation for COVID-19 and was able to recover at home.

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Prince Laurent, Princess Claire, and their three children have been sheltering-in-place at the Villa Clementine at Tervuren. Laurent of Belgium and Claire Coombs married in 2003; the couple's children are Princess Louise (b.2004) and the twins, Prince Nicolas and Prince Aymeric (b.2005). 

Olga Kulikovskaya, Daughter-In-Law of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, Dies at Ninety-Three

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Yesterday the Russian Imperial House announced the death of Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya. Olga was the third wife and widow of Tikhon Nicholaievich Kulikovsky (1917 - 1993), the elder son of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia (1882 - 1960) and her second husband Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky (1881 - 1958). Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya was born Olga Nikolaevna Pupynina on 20 September 1926 at Valevo, Yugoslavia, to Nikolai Nikolaevich Pupynin and Nina Konradovna Kopernitskaya.

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Olga Pupynina studied at the Mariinsky Don Institute of Noble Maidens, which had been evacuated from Novocherkassk during the Russian Revolution to Bila Tserkva, Yugoslavia. During World War II, she was interned at Stuttgart, where she worked in a factory. After the war ended and she was released, Olga moved to Venezuela, before relocating to Canada, where she worked as a translator for the Canadian government. At some point, Olga Pupynina married a Mr Barton. On 8 June 1986, Olga Nikolaevna Pupynina married Tikhon Nicholaievich Kulikovsky (b.Ay-Todor, Crimea 25 August 1917) at Toronto. Olga's husband was a nephew of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (1868-1918). After almost seven years of marriage, Tikhon passed away at Toronto on 8 April 1993. Olga Kulikovskaya was active in promoting the artistic works of the imperial mother-in-law who she never met: Grand Duchess Olga.

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Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, Head of the Imperial House, issued a statement of condolences, which also informed the public of the passing of Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya on 2 May. Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya died sixty years after her mother-in-law Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. The message can be read at the link: An Announcement from the Chancellery of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia concerning the Death of Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya died at her home at Balashikha in the Moscow District. She will be buried next to her husband Tikhon in Toronto, Canada. May She Rest In Peace.

Olga Kulikovskaya, Daughter-In-Law of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, Dies at Ninety-Three

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Yesterday the Russian Imperial House announced the death of Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya. Olga was the third wife and widow of Tikhon Nicholaievich Kulikovsky (1917 - 1993), the elder son of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia (1882 - 1960) and her second husband Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky (1881 - 1958). Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya was born Olga Nikolaevna Pupynina on 20 September 1926 at Valevo, Yugoslavia, to Nikolai Nikolaevich Pupynin and Nina Konradovna Kopernitskaya.

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Olga Pupynina studied at the Mariinsky Don Institute of Noble Maidens, which had been evacuated from Novocherkassk during the Russian Revolution to Bila Tserkva, Yugoslavia. During World War II, she was interned at Stuttgart, where she worked in a factory. After the war ended and she was released, Olga moved to Venezuela, before relocating to Canada, where she worked as a translator for the Canadian government. At some point, Olga Pupynina married a Mr Barton. On 8 June 1986, Olga Nikolaevna Pupynina married Tikhon Nicholaievich Kulikovsky (b.Ay-Todor, Crimea 25 August 1917) at Toronto. Olga's husband was a nephew of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (1868-1918). After almost seven years of marriage, Tikhon passed away at Toronto on 8 April 1993. Olga Kulikovskaya was active in promoting the artistic works of the imperial mother-in-law who she never met: Grand Duchess Olga.

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Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, Head of the Imperial House, issued a statement of condolences, which also informed the public of the passing of Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya on 2 May. Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya died sixty years after her mother-in-law Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. The message can be read at the link: An Announcement from the Chancellery of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia concerning the Death of Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya Olga Nikolaevna Kulikovskaya died at her home at Balashikha in the Moscow District. She will be buried next to her husband Tikhon in Toronto, Canada. May She Rest In Peace.