The Death of Elisabeth de Massy, First Cousin and Confidante of Prince Albert II of Monaco

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Yesterday, 11 June, the Prince's Palace of Monaco announced the death of Elisabeth-Anne de Massy, who passed away on Wednesday, 10 June, at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre in Monte Carlo. She was seventy-two years-old.

Elisabeth was the first cousin of Princess Caroline of Hannover, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco (Elisabeth's goddaughter). Prior to the death of her uncle Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 2005, Elisabeth de Massy was fifteenth in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne.

Aleco Noghès with his son Christian and daughter Elisabeth 

The De Massy children with their uncle Rainier

Prince Rainier and Princess Grace with Princess Antoinette and her three children: Elisabeth, Christian, and Christine.

 

Elizabeth-Ann Charlotte Mary Kathleen Dévote Grimaldi was born on 3 July 1947 in Monte Carlo to Princess Antoinette "Tiny" of Monaco (28 December 1920 – 18 March 2011) and Alexandre-Athenase "Aleco" Noghès (15 June 1916 – 16 February 1999), an attorney and international tennis champion. Elisabeth's parents were not married when she was born. Elisabeth was joined by a younger brother and sister: Christian (b.1949) and Christine (1951 – 1989). Princess Antoinette of Monaco and Alexandre-Athenase Noghès married in Genoa, Italy, on 4 December 1951; the month before, on 15 November 1951, Princess Antoinette was created Baroness of Massy by her brother Prince Rainier III. Her children's surnames were then changed from "Grimaldi" to "de Massy." The Noghès/Monaco union was of short duration, and the couple divorced in 1954. Antoinette retained custody of her children and limited their contact with their father Aleco.

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In her early years, Elisabeth lived with her family at the Villa les Glycines (built in 1910 by Walter Williams, the first winner of the Monaco Grand Prix) and then at the Villa Mereze. Given the rather turbulent nature of the household of Princess Antoinette, the one calming fixture in her children's youth was their nanny, Kathleen Wanstall, who had also been the nanny of Princess Antoinette and Prince Rainier.

Antony Noghès

Count Pierre de Polignac

Princess Charlotte of Monaco

Elisabeth de Massy was the paternal granddaughter of Antony Noghès (1890 – 1978), the founder of the Grand Prix de Monaco, and Marie Markellos-Petsalis. Elisabeth's maternal great-grandparents were Count Pierre de Polignac (1895 – 1964) and Princess Charlotte of Monaco (1898 – 1977 ).

Wedding of Elisabeth de Massy and Baron Bernard Taubert-Natta

Nicolai de Lusignan

On 19 January 1974 in Geneva, Elisabeth de Massy married Baron Bernard Alexandre Taubert-Natta (Geneva 2 July 1941 – Geneva 13 April 1989). The couple had one son, Baron Jean-Léonard Taubert Natta (b.Geneva 3 June 1974). Elisabeth and Bernard divorced on 30 October 1980. In September 1982, Elisabeth de Massy suffered an intestinal haemorrhage. On 18 October 1984 in London, Elisabeth married choreographer Nicolai Vladimir Costello (b.24 December 1943; uses the surname "de Lusignan"). Elisabeth and Nicolai had one daughter, Mélanie-Antoinette Costello de Lusignan (b.Monaco 18 January 1985); they divorced on 28 March 1985.

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Elisabeth was the only one of Princess Antoinette's two surviving children to successfully navigate the complicated dynamic that existed between Antoinette and her brother Rainier. She was a support to her mother as well as to her uncle and her paternal first cousins. In 1963, one of Princess Stéphanie's godparents was her first cousin Elisabeth. When Stéphanie married Daniel Ducruet in 1995, Elisabeth was one of the forty guests at her goddaughter/cousin's wedding.

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On 17 November 1995, Elisabeth de Massy was made Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles. Elisabeth served as the President of the Monegasque Tennis Federation and the Monte Carlo Country Club. In 1984, she was appointed vice-president of the Society for the Protection of Animals – Abri de Monaco and, the following year, she became vice-president of the Canine Society of Monaco. In 2009, Elisabeth was appointed Commander of the Order of Grimaldi. For many years, the discreet baroness accompanied her cousin Prince Albert II as a stand-in "First Lady of Monaco."

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Elisabeth de Massy is survived by her son Jean-Léonard, her daughter-in-law Suzanne, her grandson Melchior, and her daughter Mélanie-Antoinette.

May She Rest In Peace.

The Duchess of Sussex Delivers Graduation Address to Immaculate Heart High School

 

Yesterday, the Duchess of Sussex delivered a moving message to the 2020 graduating class of Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. Immaculate Heart High Schoolwas founded in 1906 by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a Catholic religious order of women who trace their origin to Olot, Spain.

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The duchess recalled the words of her teacher, Ms. Maria Pollia, who is a theology teacher at the institution. Pollia told the young Rachel Meghan Markle: "Always remember to put others needs above your own fears." The Duchess of Sussex remarked that her teacher's words had stuck with her always, and that this missive had especially been on her mind during these past couple of weeks.

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The full text of the address given by the Duchess of Sussex is as follows:

Immaculate Heart High School, graduating class of 2020, for the past couple of weeks, I've been planning on saying a few words to you for your graduation, and as we all have seen over the last week, what is happening in our country and in our state and in our hometown of LA has been absolutely devastating. 

And I wasn't sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing. And I was really nervous that I wouldn’t, or that it would get picked apart, and I realized: The only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. 

Because George Floyd's life mattered, and Breonna Taylor's life mattered, and Philando Castile's life mattered, and Tamir Rice's life mattered, and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know. Stephon Clark. His life mattered. 

And I was thinking about this moment when I was a sophomore in high school. I was fifteen, and as you know, sophomore year is the year that we do volunteer work, which is a prerequisite for graduating. And I remember my teacher at the time, one of my teachers, Ms. Pollia, said to me before I was leaving before a day of volunteering: 'Always remember to put others needs above your own fears.' And that has stuck with me through my entire life, and I have thought about it more in the last week than ever before.

The first thing I want to say to you is that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present. I was eleven or twelve years old when I was just about to start Immaculate Heart Middle School in the fall, and it was the LA riots, which were also triggered by a senseless act of racism. 

I remember the curfew and I remember rushing back home and on that drive home seeing ash fall from the sky and smelling the smoke — and seeing the smoke billow out of buildings and seeing people run out of buildings carrying bags and looting, and I remember seeing men in the back of a van just holding guns and rifles. And I remember pulling up to the house and seeing the tree that had always been there completely charred. And those memories don't go away. 

I can’t imagine that at seventeen or eighteen years-old, which is how old you are now, that you would have to have a different version of that same type of experience. That’s something you should have an understanding of — but an understanding of as a history lesson, not as your reality. So I am sorry that in a way we have not gotten the world to the place that you deserve it to be.

The other thing, though, that I do remember about that time was how people came together. And, we are seeing that right now. We are seeing that from the sheriff in Michigan or the police chief in Virginia. We are seeing people stand in solidarity. We are seeing communities come together and to uplift. You are going to be part of this movement. I know that this is not the graduation that you envisioned, and this is not the celebration that you imagined. But I also know that there is a way for us to reframe this for you and to not see this as the end of something, but, instead, to see this as the beginning of you harnessing all of the work, all of the values, all of the skills, that you have embodied over the last four years, and now you channel that. Now all of that work gets activated. Now you get to be part of rebuilding. And I know that sometimes people how many times do we need to rebuild. Well, you know, we are going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuild. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we. 

You are going to lead with love. You are going to lead with compassion. You are going to use your voice. 

You are going to use your voice in a stronger way than you have ever been able to, because most of you are eighteen, or you are going to turn eighteen, so you are going to vote. You are going to have empathy for those who don’t see the world through the same lens that you do — because with as diverse, and vibrant, and opened-minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that black lives matter. So I am already excited for what you are going to do in the world. 

You are equipped, you are ready, we need you, and you’re prepared. I am so proud to call each of you a fellow alumni, and I am so eager to see what you are going to do. Please know that I am cheering you on all along the way. I am exceptionally proud of you. I am wishing you a huge congratulations on today: the start of all the impact you are going to make in the world as the leaders which we all so deeply crave. Congratulations, ladies, and thank you in advance.

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Meghan Markle married Prince Harry of Wales, the second son of the Prince of Wales, in 2018. Prince Harry was created the Duke of Sussex upon his marriage. In 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed the arrival of their son Archie. The family currently live in Los Angeles. 

An Engagement in the Princely House of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg

 

Princess Amelie zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg and Benedikt Schmid von Schmidsfelden recently announced their engagement. Amelie and Benedikt are both descendants of Empress Maria Theresia of Austria. Indeed, the pair are fifth cousins; their common ancestors are Archduchess Leopoldina of Austria-Este (1776-1848; granddaughter of Empress Maria Theresia) and her second husband Count Ludwig von Arco (1773-1856).

Princess Amelie zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg
Photograph (c) Alamy / Albert Nieboer Photography

Princess Amelie (b.15 August 1990) is the second child of Fürst Ludwig zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg (b.1951) and Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg-Wolfegg-Waldsee (b.1962). Amelie has an older sister, Princess Sophie, and a younger brother, Hereditary Prince Ludwig. The princess has been working for a bank in Zurich for three years.

Benedikt Schmid von Schmidsfelden
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Benedikt Schmid von Schmidsfelden (b.27 May 1991) celebrated his twenty-nineth birthday a few days ago. He descends from an Austrian noble family near Melk. Benedikt is the youngest of four children; his parents are Wieland Schmid von Schmidsfelden and Elisabeth "Lilly" von Lennkh zu Burgheim and Gansheim. The young man works in Munich in the automotive parts supply industry.

Amelie and Benedikt met three years ago at the wedding of mutual friends. The couple will marry on 29 May 2021 at Wertheim. 

Happy Birthday Your Majesty: 80 Years of King Constantine II of Greece

Today, His Majesty King Constantine II of Greece celebrates his eightieth birthday.

 

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Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Frederica with their children Princess Sophia and Prince Constantine

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Prince Constantine of Greece and Denmark was born at Psychiko Palace, Greece, on 2 June 1940. Crown Princess Frederica recalled: "My two elder children, Sophie and Constantine, were born in my sitting-room in our small house. My parents came for Sophie's birth but, when Tino was born, the war had already started and they could not come. Palo [Paul] stayed with me all the time and held my hand. The Prime Minister sat downstairs with the King, because it was the custom that the Prime Minister should be in the house." The Acropolis was floodlighted in celebration of the prince's birth, and guns were fired in salute throughout the country. The baby boy was named after his paternal grandfather King Constantine I of Greece. The prince was the first son and second child of Crown Prince Paul of Greece and Crown Princess Frederica (born Princess of Hannover), who wed in 1938. Constantine joined an older sister, Princess Sophia (b.1938); he was followed by a younger sister, Princess Irene (b.1942). At the time of his arrival, Constantine's uncle George II was King of Greece; the infant prince was second in the line of succession after his father Paul.

 

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King George II of the Hellenes passed away at Athens on 1 April 1947 at the age of fifty-six. He was succeeded by his last surviving brother, who became King Paul I. At the time, the new Crown Prince Constantine of Greece was only six years-old. The crown prince accompanied his father during the funeral of his uncle. Constantine had been educated at a preparatory school and later a boarding school, the Victoria College of Alexandria, Egypt, where his classmates included King Hussein of Jordan. A fellow student recalled him as "a good chap, a young man with all the right instincts. He was at his best on the playing fields." Constantine was also a pupil at Anavryta, a secondary school established at Sygnros in Kifissia; the prince attended this institution for nine years. Crown Prince Constantine served in all three branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces and attended the requisite military academies. The Greek heir also attended the NATO Air Force Special Weapons School in Germany, as well as the University of Athens, where he undertook courses in the school of law.

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The Greek Royal Family in 1959
Left to right: Crown Prince Constantine, Princess Irene, Queen Frederica, King Paul, Princess Sophia, and Prince Michael.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Dean Loomis

 

When Crown Prince Constantine came of age in 1958, he swore allegiance to his father and to the Greek people. Given this occasion, on 2 June 1958 King Paul delivered this address to his only son:

Constantine, 

God has graciously destined you to reign over this glorious, gallant and noble Nation of ours. 

This sacred favour given to you, is an outstanding mark of honour and a legacy of great responsibility.  

As from this day, you shall be my partner in the endeavour to further the progress and well-being of my people. 

I am confident that your love of the Greek People, equal as it is to my own profound affection for them, will bring you as great happiness as it brings to me. In paying the price of their glorious history and enduring the consequences of their age-long struggles even to this day, in defence of mankind, the Greek People have not as yet been able to develop their capabilities to the full and achieve the standard of well-being to which they are justly entitled. For this very reason, they deserve every mark of affection and regard and every act of sacrifice on your part. 

Be a just, kind and indefatigable worker for the advance and glory of Greece.
Uphold steadfastly the Democratic Principles of our institutions and the Constitutional Liberties of our People. 

Devote your life to the happiness of the Country. There is no task more noble and more important than this. Always remember that it is preferable that the King should suffer than that the suffering should fall on the Nation and the Country. Endeavour to show yourself worthy of the Greek Soldier whose leader you will be in the future. When the time comes, you will take your place at the head of the Greek Armed Forces, the bearers of a heroic and glorious tradition. 

Keep them devoted to duty and battle-worthy, the guardians of our tradition, respected by our friends and feared by our foes, the priceless jewel of a proud Nation.
May they never be forced to strike. 

Be the protector and guardian of our Holy Church.
Draw your strength from the love between you and your people.
Redress offence by pardon,
Discord by unity,
Error by truth,
Doubt by faith. 

I pray that you and my People may know days of glory in the noble struggle for progress and civilisation. 

May God Almighty make you an instrument of peace and always keep guard over Greece and over your, Constantine, my son.  

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In 1959, at the age of nineteen, Constantine met his future wife, his third cousin Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, aged thirteen, on a state visit to Denmark. Anne-Marie was the third and last daughter of King Frederik IX of Denmark and Queen Ingrid. Constantine and Anne-Marie met a second time in Denmark in 1961, when Constantine declared to her parents his intention to marry Anne-Marie; at this point King Frederik briefly locked Constantine in the toilet. They met again in Athens in May 1962 at the marriage of Constantine's sister Princess Sofia of Greece and Denmark to Prince Juan Carlos of Spain at which Anne-Marie was a bridesmaid: and again in 1963 at the centenary celebrations of the Greek monarchy.

Crown Prince Constantine of Greece and Danish yachtsman Paul Elvstrøm at the Rome Olympics in 1960

Brothers-in-law engaged in martial arts: Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and King Constantine II of Greece in 1966
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When he was on a tour of the United States, Constantine spent time with his cousin King Simeon II of Bulgaria, who at that time was a student at the military school at Valley Forge. The two royals were pulled over by a policeman. Though neither Constantine nor Simeon had identification on them, they presented themselves as "Crown Prince of Greece" and "King of Bulgaria." Needless to say, they were briefly arrested before the Greek embassy intervened and verified their identities. In 1960, aged twenty, Crown Prince Constantine won an Olympic gold medal in sailing, which was the first Greek gold medal in sailing since the Stockholm 1912 Summer Olympics. He was also a strong swimmer and had a black belt in karate.

 

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Aged sixty-two, King Paul I of Greece died at Athens on 6 March 1964, and Constantine succeeded to the throne.

On 18 September 1964, King Constantine of Greece and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark were wed at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Athens. The couple had five children: Princess Alexia (b.1965), Crown Prince Pavlos (b.1967), Prince Nikolaos (b.1969), Princess Theodora (b.1983) and Prince Philippos (b.1986). In 1967, following political instability, the King and Queen, with their two eldest children, fled from Greece to Rome, where they lived for a time. In 1974, the Greek monarchy was abolished. Eventually, the royal family settled in London - their residence in the United Kingdom lasted for many decades. In 2013, King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie returned to live in Greece.

We wish His Majesty many happy returns of the day!

A Romanian Royal Baby on the Horizon!

Today, 1 June, Nicholas of Romania announced that his wife Alina-Maria is expecting their first child in November. The proud parents-to-be chose a very apt day to announce the pregnancy - 1 June is Ziua Copilului (Children's Day) in Romania!

This will be the first child for the couple. Nicholas of Romania and Alina-Maria Binder were civilly married on 6 October 2017 and religiously married on 30 September 2018. Nicholas is the son of Princess Helen of Romania and the late Dr. Robin Medforth-Mills. Alina is the daughter of Heinz Binder and Rodica Iancu. The couple lives in Bucharest.

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Our best wishes to Nicholas and Alina on this very happy news!

For more about the ancestry of Nicholas of Romania, please visit this page: Heirs of Europe - Romania

The Count of Paris on USA Protests: "The loss of George Floyd's life is far more serious than any material degradation."

Prince Jean d'Orléans, Count of Paris, has issued a number of statements on the condition of the statue of King Louis XVI of France in Louisville, Kentucky. During a protest in that city, a hand was removed from the statue.

George Floyd in 2016

Protests have taken place around the United States of America following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 25 May 2020. Mr Floyd worked as a restaurant security guard until his job was terminated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. George Floyd, who was forty-six years-old, is survived by two daughters.

 

On 29 May, the Count of Paris took to Twitter with the following words: "The hand of Louis XVI is the one that helped the US people to gain its freedom. I strongly regret this act of disrespect towards our common history. #louisxvi #louisville #Minneapolisprotest #Louisvilleprotests" Today, 30 May, Prince Jean issued another statement on the situation: "The loss of George Floyd's life is far more serious than any material degradation. Few people knowthat Louis XVI abolished torture in 1780. I'm convinced Louis would have been on George's side. #georgefloyd #kentucky #louisville"

Princess Béatrice d'Orléans Has Recovered From Coronavirus

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According to an interview given to Vanitatis, Princess Béatrice d'Orléans has stated that she is well and fully recovered after dealing with a mild case of the novel coronavirus.

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The princess, who is seventy-eight years-old, developed a minor form of the disease and recovered from it while resting at her residence in Marbella. When she discovered she had COVID-19, Béatrice was in Brussels with her daughter Princess Adélaïde and her grandchildren. However, as the closing of borders between E.U. member nations became imminent, Princess Béatrice made the choice to return to her home in Spain as she preferred to be in solitary confinement in her own house. Her doctors have confirmed that she is now back to a perfect state of health.

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Princess Béatrice d'Orléans was born Béatrice Pasquier de Franclieu; she married Prince Michel d'Orléans, Count of Érveux, in 1967. The couple had four children: Princess Clotilde, Princess Adélaïde, Prince Charles-Philippe, and Prince François. Béatrice and Michel divorced in 2012. A recipient of the Légion d'honneur, the princess has worked in public relations and in the world of fashion.

Source: Beatriz de Orleans pasó el coronavirus sola en su casa: "Tengo anticuerpos para regalar"