Count Folke "Ockie" Bernadotte Turns 90!

Count Ockie and Countess Christine Bernadotte.

On 8 February 1931, Count Folke "Ockie" Bernadotte af Wisborg was born at Pleasantville, New York, as the second son of Count Folke Bernadotte af Wisborg (1895-1948) and his wife Countess Estelle (1904-1984; née Manville). Ockie Bernadotte made his entrance to the world at the home of his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. H. Edward Manville. He joined an older brother, Count Gustaf Eduard (1930-1936). Upon the birth of their second child, Folke and Estelle received congratulations from King Gustaf V of Sweden and other members of the royal family. 

Prince Oscar Bernadotte.

Princess Ebba Bernadotte.

Count Ockie Bernadotte (b.1931) is the paternal grandson of Prince Oscar of Sweden (1859-1953), Duke of Gotland, who married Ebba Henrietta Munck af Fulkila (1858-1946) in 1888. As a result of this marriage, Oscar gave up his royal and ducal title as well as his rights of succession and was created Prince Bernadotte and Count af Wisborg. The latter title, Count(ess) Bernadotte af Wisborg, is borne by the descendants of Oscar and Ebba. Count Ockie Bernadotte is the maternal grandson of Hiram Edward Manville (1872-1944), the president of the Johns-Manville Corporation, and his wife Henrietta Estelle Romaine (1878-1947). 

Countess Estelle Bernadotte.

Count Folke and Countess Estelle with their sons Gustaf Eduard and Ockie, 1934.

Count Folke and Countess Estelle with their sons Ockie and Bertil on Rhodes, February 1948. Photograph (c) Getty Images/Frank Scherschel.

In 1928, Count Folke Bernadotte, son of Prince Oscar and Princess Ebba Bernadotte, married Estelle Romaine Manville, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. Edward Manville. Folke and Estelle had four sons: Count Gustaf Eduard (1930-1936), Count Folke "Ockie" (b.1931), Count Frederik (1934-1944), and Count Bertil (b.1935). Ockie's father Folke was a Swedish diplomat. During World War II, Count  Folke Bernadotte negotiated the release of around 31,000 prisoners from German concentration camps, including 450 Danish Jews from the Theresienstadt camp. In May 1948, Folke Bernadotte was unanimously chosen to be the United Nations Security Council mediator in the Arab–Israeli conflict of 1947–1948. The count, aged fifty-three, was assassinated at Jerusalem in September 1948. In 1973, his widow Countess Estelle Bernadotte married Carl Erik Sixten Ekstrand (1910-1988).

Ockie Berndotte and Christine Glahns.

The cover of Svansk Damlidning: Count Ockie and Countess Christine.

Count Ockie and Countess Christine Bernadette af Wisborg. 

On 2 July 1955, Count Folke "Ockie" Bernadotte af Wisborg married Christine Glahns (b.1932) at Grangärde. The couple have four children, two daughters and two sons: Countess Anne Christine (b.1956; married Per Larsen), Count Carl Folke (b.1958; married Birgitta Elisabeth Larsson), Countess Maria Estelle (b.1962; married Umberto Ganfini), and Count Gunnar Fredrik (b.1963; married Karin Lindsten). 

We wish Count Ockie many happy returns of the day!

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The 70th Birthday of the Fürst zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg

Fürstin Angela and Fürst Albrecht zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg at the wedding of Prince Manuel of Bavaria, 2003.  Photograph (c) Seeger-Press/Nieboer.

On 7 February 1951, Prince Albrecht Ernst Otto Joseph Maria Notger zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg was born at Munich. The prince was the eldest son and third child of Fürst Alois zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg (1920-1975) and Fürstin Elisabeth (1922-2005; née Countess zu Lynar), who had married in 1946. Albrecht has four sisters: Princess Franziska (1947-2011; married Fürst Ferdinand zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein), Princess Alexandra (b.1948; married Fürst Hubertus Fugger von Babenhausen), Princess Gabriele (b.1953; married Peter Gollwitzer), and Princess Margarita (1957-2000; married Prince Franz von Lobkowicz). Upon the death of his father in 1975, Albrecht succeeded as Fürst zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg. 

Left to right: Duke Philipp of Württemberg, Fürstin Angela, the late Duke Friedrich of Württemberg, and Fürst Albrecht at the wedding of Duchess Fleur of Württemberg, 2004. Photograph (c) Seeger-Press/Kirkham. 

In 1980, Fürst Albrecht married Angela Jank (b.1951). The Fürst and Fürstin have four children: Hereditary Prince Franz-Albrecht (b.1982; married Baroness Cleopatra von Adelsheim von Ernest), Princess Theresa (b.1984; married Carl-Christian Oetker), Princess Antonia (b.1987), and Princess Nora (b.1990; married Lord Max Percy). 

From left to right: Prince Leopold of Bavaria, Hereditary Carl-Eugen zu Oettingen-Wallerstein, Fürst Moritz zu Oettingen-Wallerstein, and Fürst Albrecht zu Oettingen-Spielberg surround the coffin of Duke Albrecht of Bavaria. Photograph (c) Seeger-Press.

The Oettingen-Spielbergs are a steady presence at Gotha events, both on the Continent and in the United Kingdom. The fürst was among the chief mourners at the funeral of Duke Albrecht of Bavaria. In 2011, Fürst Albrecht and Fürstin Angela attended the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. When their only son Franz-Albrecht married model/noblewoman Cleopatra in 2016, Prince Harry (now Duke of Sussex) was in attendance. 

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The 70th Birthday of Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium, Aunt of the Belgian King

 

 

Embed from Getty Images

On 6 February 1951, Princess Marie-Christine Daphné Astrid Elisabeth Léopoldine of Belgium as born at Laeken as the second child and eldest daughter of King Léopold III of the Belgians (1901-1983) and his second wife Mary Lilian Baels (1916-2002; created Princess de Réthy). As such, Marie-Christine (who sometimes goes by her middle name: Daphné) is the half-sister of King Albert II of the Belgians (b.1934) and the late Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg (1928-2005; née Belgium) and King Baudouin of the Belgians (1930-1993); these three were the children of Léopold III and his first wife Queen Astrid (1905-1935; née Sweden).

Since 1980, Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium has lived in the United States of America. She now is a resident of Sequim, Washington; the town has a population of less than 7,000 people. The princess resides there with her second husband, Jean-Paul Gourgues; the couple celebrated their thirtieth wedding anniversary on 28 September of this year.

 

The only member of Marie-Christine's family to remain in contact with her is Princess Marie-Esmeralda (b.1956), Marie-Christine's only full sister. In regards to her sister, Esmeralda has stated: "Marie-Christine does not want any more contact. Not with the family, not with the friends of the past. It is her choice. She says she has a new life. This situation has been going on for three or four years now. It makes me sad, but I respect her decision. I tried, but she really does not want anything else. I cannot force her. "

Princess Marie-Christine of Belgium and her first husband Paul Druker (1981)
Photograph (c) UPC

Marie-Christine has been estranged from the Belgian royal family for most of her adult life; the princess did not attend the funerals of her parents or of her brother Prince Alexandre (1942-2009). She had a difficult relationship with her mother, the Princess de Réthy, who was a rather strong character. In 1981, Princess Marie-Christine was very briefly married to Canadian Paul Druker (1937-2008). In 1989, the princess married her second husband Jean-Paul, a native of Bordeaux.

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The 40th Anniversary of the Death of Queen Frederica of Greece

Queen Frederica of Greece in mourning for her husband King Paul. 

Queen Frederica of Greece.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Evening Standard.

Queen Frederica of Greece.

Queen Frederica of Greece.

 

On 6 February 1981 at 11:30pm, Queen Frederica of Greece died at Madrid after suffering heart failure following eyelid surgery. She was sixty-three years-old. The queen was survived by her three children: Queen Sofía of Spain, King Constantine II of the Hellenes, and Princess Irene of Greece. 

The infant Princess Frederica of Hannover.

Princess Viktoria Luise holding her daughter Princess Frederica.

The Duke and Duchess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg with their five children in 1927.
Photograph (c) Smith Archive / Alamy Stock Photo.

Princess Frederica with her mother Princess Viktoria Luise.

On 18 April 1917, Princess Friederike Luise Thyra Viktoria Margarete Sophie Olga Cecile Isabelle Christa of Hannover, Duchess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg was born at Blankenburg, Harz. The princess was the first and only daughter of Prince Ernst August of Hannover (1887-1953) and his wife Princess Viktoria Luise (1892-1980; née Prussia). Frederica had four brothers: Prince Ernst August (1914-1987), Prince Georg Wilhelm (1915-2006), Prince Christian (1919-1981), and Prince Welf (1923-1997). Frederica's family moved to Austria when she was still an infant, and she grew up there, in Gmunden. She was educated by her mother and an English governess until, at the age of seventeen, she was sent to school in England. While there, she attended the wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece. Further studies took Frederica to Florence. It was there that she met her future husband for the first time. At the home of Queen Mother Helen of Romania, Princess Frederica of Hannover was introduced to Crown Prince Paul of Greece, Helen's brother. Upon meeting Paul, Frederica recalled: "I lost my head and my heart." 

Prince Ernst August and Princess Viktoria Luise of Hannover with their son-in-law and daughter Crown Prince Paul and Crown Princess Frederica of Greece.

The marriage of Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover.
Photograph (c) Hulton Deutsch.

Crown Prince Paul and Crown Princess Frederica of Greece.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Imagno.

King George VI of the United Kingdom gives his consent to the marriage between Princess Frederica of Brunswick-Luneburg and Prince Paul of Greece, December 1937.
Image from The London Gazette.

 

Princess Frederica of Hannover married Crown Prince Paul of Greece (1901-1964) at Athens on 9 January 1938. The crown prince was the third son of King Constantine I of the Hellenes (1868-1923) and his wife Queen Sophie (1870-1932; née Princess of Prussia). Paul and Frederica were first cousins once removed; the pair were descendants of Queen Victoria. At the time of her marriage to the Greek heir, Frederica was thirty-fourth in the line of succession to the British throne.

Frederica of Greece with her children Sophia, Constantine, and Irene.

The King and Queen of Greece with their three children.

Queen Frederica of Greece with Princess Sophia, Crown Prince Constantine, and Princess Irene.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Genevieve Naylor.

During the early years of their marriage, Paul and Frederica resided at a villa in Psychiko. The couple had three children: Princess Sophia (b.1938; later Queen Sofía of Spain), Prince Constantine (b.1940; later King Constantine II of the Hellenes), and Princess Irene (b.1942).

 

King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece.

King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece.

The King and Queen of Greece with their children.

 

In 1947, Paul succeeded his brother George II as King of the Hellenes. Political instability in Greece led to the Greek Civil War, which lasted from 1947-1949. As the granddaughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II, the queen was persistently attacked by political opponents of the monarchy for her ancestry. Queen Frederica attended the wedding of her husband's cousin Prince Philip to Princess Elizabeth (future Queen of the United Kingdom). While at the festivities surrounding the marriage, Frederica sat next to Winston Churchill at a dinner. Churchill asked the queen: "Wasn't your grandfather the Kaiser?" Her Majesty retorted that he was indeed her grandfather and that "If you had Salic Law in England, my father would be your King today!" Standing five feet three inches tall, Frederica was remembered by many who encountered the queen for "her informal manner, easy smile, curly brown hair, and laughing eyes." Like so many consorts, Frederica was an iron first within a velvet glove. A woman of immense internal strength and willpower, the queen did all she could to protect what she believed to be the best interests of her husband and her son. 

 

King Constantine II of Greece with Queen Mother Frederica at the funeral of King Paul.

King Constantine II of Greece with Queen Mother Frederica at the funeral of King Paul.
Pictured behind them is Princess Irene.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Jack Garofalo.

King Constantine II of Greece with his mother Queen Frederica at the funeral of King Paul.
Photograph (c) Getty Images / Keystone.

 

King Paul of Greece died on 6 March 1964, aged sixty-two. He had been suffering from cancer, and, during his final days, his wife became ill with a case of pneumonia. Frederica became a widow at forty-six. After her son King Constantine II married his cousin Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark in September 1964, Queen Mother Frederica stepped back from most of her public duties in favour of her daughter-in-law. Alas, Frederica remained a figure of controversy: she was accused in the Greek press of being the éminence grise behind the throne.

 

Queen Mother Frederica of Greece with her daughter Princess Sofía and grandchildren, 1968.
Infanta Pilar is pictured in the background.

Frederica with her granddaughters Infanta Elena and Infanta Cristina.

Queen Anne-Marie and King Constantine II of Greece, Princess Irene, Queen Mother Frederica, and Princess Sofía and Prince Juan Carlos of Spain, La Zarzuela, 1968.

 

In 1967, the Greek royal family left the country following Constantine II's failed counter-coup against the military dictatorship. The family first settled in Rome and then in London. Frederica accompanied her son into exile. The queen mother often visited her daughter Sofía and family in Madrid. Along with her daughter Irene, Frederica spent a great deal of time in Madras, India. The queen mother was extremely interested studying Indian culture. In 1976, Queen Sofía of Spain and her children flew to India as Queen Frederica was reported to be in delicate health. 

 

 

After her death in 1981, Queen Mother Frederica of Greece was buried next to her husband King Paul at Tatoi.

A POET AMONG THE ROMANOVS Starts Selling on Amazon Today!

A POET AMONG THE ROMANOVS has arrived at Eurohistory's headquarters!

Our next book, A POET AMONG THE ROMANOVS, by Jorge F. Sáenz is selling now. We just received the physical copies of this gem of a princely biography, which we will soon have in the hands of happy owners. Clients can either purchase their copy at our website at http://eurohistory.com or they can purchase the book on AMAZON starting today! Purchase the Book at Eurohistory: Purchase A POET AMONG THE ROMANOVS at Eurohistory.com Purchase the Book on Amazon: Purchase A POET AMONG THE ROMANOVS on Amazon About the Book:

A Poet Among The Romanovs: Prince Vladimir Paley 1897-1918.

Prince Vladimir Paley, first cousin of the last tsar, was a poet among the Romanovs. The rules of the Imperial Family prevented him from being considered a member of the dynasty due to the unequal marriage of his parents. This circumstance could have saved his life. Instead, when he was requested by the Bolsheviks to denounce his father, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, young Prince Vladimir chose love, loyalty, honor, and affection. His only crime was being related to a dynasty of which he had not even been an official member. This is the compelling story of a young man, and a talented poet, who in different circumstances would have attained great heights. Destiny, however, played a sad role in bringing a brutal and early death to a promising life.

Jorge F. Sáenz brings to life the previously unknown figure of Prince Vladimir Paley. In doing so, Mr. Sáenz adds to a long and distinguished list of historical studies he has written over the last thirty years. His books number well over a dozen, most of them focusing on various aspects of Costa Rica’s history and unique democratic traditions, that make the country a bastion of democracy in Latin America. His study of the life of Prince Vladimir Paley was first published as a biographical essay in Eurohistory — The European Royal History Journal. The success of this essay led to the story of Vladimir Paley becoming a full-on book. Mr. Sáenz is a career diplomat for Costa Rica, as well as a distinguished law professor at the University of Costa Rica. 

EUROHISTORY is pleased to announce the hardback publication of this rare and uniquely extraordinary work of royal biography! This book was first published in paperback nearly 20 years ago. The UPDATED and EXPANDED hardback edition contains more information than the original, as well as a new 24-page photo section different than the few images included in the original paperback edition!

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Too Little, Too Late: Response to Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy's Apology to Italian Jewish Population

Benito Mussolini and King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy.

Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy.

Last week, Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, grandson of King Umberto II of Italy and great-grandson of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy, issued a televised apology based on a letter he wrote to the Jewish population of Italy:

I am writing to you with an open heart a letter that is certainly not easy, a letter that may surprise you and that perhaps you did not expect. Yet know that for me it is very important and necessary, because I believe that, once and for all, the time has come to come to terms with the History and the past of the Family that I am here today to represent, in the name of that Royal House that contributed significantly to the unification of Italy, a name that I proudly bear. 

 

I am writing to you, Jewish brothers, on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, a symbolic date chosen in 2000 by the Parliament of the Italian Republic, to commemorate the perpetual memory of a tragedy that saw six million European Jews perish at the hands of the Nazi-Fascist madness, including 7,500 of our Italian brothers and sisters. To these sacred Italian victims, I today wish to officially and solemnly ask for forgiveness on behalf of my whole family. I decided to take this step, a duty for me, so that the memory of what happened remains alive, so that the memory is always present. 

 

I condemn the racial laws of 1938, of which still today I feel all the weight on my shoulders and with me the whole Royal House of Savoy and I solemnly declare that we do not recognize ourselves in what Vittorio Emanuele III did: a painful signature, from which we dissociate ourselves firmly, an unacceptable document, an indelible shadow for my family, a wound still open for the whole of Italy. I condemn the racial laws in memory of my glorious ancestor King Carlo Alberto who on 29 March 1848 was among the first sovereigns of Europe to give Italian Jews full equality of rights. 

 

I condemn the racial laws in memory of the numerous Italian Jews who fought with great courage on the battlefields of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as true Patriots. I condemn the signing of the racial laws in memory of the visit to the new Synagogue in Rome that my great-grandfather Vittorio Emanuele III made in 1904, after which on 13 January of the same year he said he was in favour of the birth of the Jewish state and he expressed himself: "Jews, for us, are Italians, in all respects." I want history not to be erased, history not to be forgotten, and history always has the opportunity to tell what happened to all those who desire the truth. The victims of the Holocaust must never be forgotten and for this reason, even today, they cry out to us their desire to be rightly remembered. 

 

Even my House suffered personally, albeit for political reasons, and was deeply wounded in the dearest affections: how could we forget the tragic end of my aunt Mafalda of Savoy, who died on 28 August 1944 in the Buchenwald concentration camp after terrible agony? How could I forget that my aunt Maria of Savoy was also deported with her husband and two of their children to a concentration camp near Berlin? Both were also daughters of the same Vittorio Emanuele III. 

 

I am writing to you, Jewish brothers, with vivid and profound emotion in the stabbing memory of the sweep of the Ghetto which took place on 16 October 1943. I am writing to you Jewish brothers, in the anguished memory of the too many victims that our beloved Italy lost. I am writing to you this letter of mine, sincerely felt and desired, which I address to the whole Italian community, to retie those unfortunately broken threads, so that it may be a first step towards that dialogue that today I wish to resume and follow personally. 

 

With all my sincere brotherhood,

 

Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia

Front page of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on 11 November 1938: 

"The laws for the defence of the race approved by the Council of ministers."

 

The first and most impactful of the Leggi Razziali (Racial Laws) was the Regio Decreto of 17 November 1938. This decree restricted the civil rights of Italian Jews, banned their books, and excluded them from public office and higher education. Additional laws stripped Italian Jews of their assets, restricted travel, and allowed for their confinement as political prisoners.

The Jewish Community of Rome issued the following statement after learning of Emanuele Filiberto's letter:

What happened with the racial laws, at the height of a long collaboration with a dictatorship, is an offence to Italians, Jews and non-Jews, which cannot be erased and forgotten.

The silence on these facts of the descendants of that house, which lasted more than eighty years, is a further aggravating circumstance.

The descendants of the victims have no authority to forgive and it is not up to Jewish institutions to rehabilitate people and facts whose historical judgment is engraved in the history of our country.

Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy with his parents, Vittorio Emanuele and Marina.

 

In 2007, Emanuele Filiberto and his father Vittorio Emanuele initiated a request that the Italian government pay them financial damages of 260 million euros well as grant them restitution of all properties and assets that had been confiscated from the Royal House of Savoy after the abolition of the monarchy. Their claim of financial damages was centred on their having suffered "moral injustice" during exile. The Italian government rejected their request.

For more coverage of this story, please visit this article: 'Too little, too late': Dethroned Italian prince criticized over apology for King's role in rubber-stamping fascist laws

 

The 1950s Hanoverian Financial Spat: Ernst August Versus His Mother Viktoria Luise

In 1956, a row between Dowager Duchess Viktoria Luise of Brunswick, born a Princess of Prussia as the only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II, and her children erupted into public view. 

Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, Dowager Duchess of Brunswick.

The issue began in 1953 upon the death of Prince Ernst August of Hannover, last reigning Duke of Brunswick. In his will, the duke stipulated that his widow Viktoria Luise should receive an annual allowance of 40,000 marks ($9,520). The will contained a further clause that if disputes arose, then a German noble should be appointed as a mediator between the parties. At the time of the duke's death, the Dowager Duchess of Brunswick was living with her eldest son and his wife, Prince Ernst August and Princess Ortrud, at Schloß Marienburg. 

An issue over the financial situation of Princess Viktoria Luise soon emerged; her son was opposed to keeping his mother in the style to which his late father had decided she deserved to be kept. Ernst August acted on behalf of his four siblings: Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hannover (married to Princess Sophie of Greece), Queen Frederica of Greece (married to King Paul of Greece), Prince Christian of Hannover, and Prince Welf Heinrich of Hannover. Margrave Berthold of Baden, husband of Princess Theodora of Greece, was named as the "noble intermediary." Ernst August decided that the family's income streams could not support his mother's annual allowance, which was cut by 2/3. The dowager duchess was thus to receive 12,000 marks ($2,856) per year; this move was approved by Berthold of Baden. Viktoria Luise protested but to no avail.

Prince Ernst August of Hannover.

In early 1956, Ernst August and Ortrud moved out of Schloß Marienburg. The prince informed his mother that she needed to vacate the residence as well; he maintained that the castle was too expensive to keep up. Viktoria Luise refused and remained in place at her three-room apartment suite in the castle. In response, Ernst August had the gas and electricity to Marienburg shut off. Ernst August then proceeded to sell family heirlooms to a museum, which fetched 2.5 million marks ($59g5,000). Viktoria Luise responded that this influx of cash should allow her son to increase her annual allowance; Ernst August replied by saying that this was not the case, as gobbled had eaten up a great deal of the income from the sale. 

Queen Frederica and King Paul of Greece visited Schloß Marienburg for a three-day stay in September 1956. The queen's mother was still in residence; however, due to Frederica siding with her brother in the financial dispute, mother and daughter did not meet. In fact, it was reported that King Paul specifically asked the West German Government and the State of Lower Saxony not to invite his mother-in-law to any events at which he and his wife would be present. 

Due to his mother's reluctance to leave Marienburg, Ernst August launched an appeal with the courts alleging that Viktoria Luise was "suffering from a nervous strain and delusions." The Dowager Duchess of Brunswick willingly submitted to examinations by two psychiatrists, who found her to be of sound mind. As a result, Viktoria Luise asked for police protection to prevent her son from having her forcibly evicted from the family home. 

Unsurprisingly, due to all of the discord, Viktoria Luise left Schloß Marienburg in November 1956. Taking her personal furniture with her, the Dowager Duchess moved to a ten-room country house in Brunswick. Her son further requested that a number of East German refugees who were living at Marienburg be removed. Ernst August then proceeded with a legal action to have his mother turn over jewellery that the prince felt should be held in trust by him as the Head of the Hanoverian Royal House. 

A press conference took place in December 1956. The rather unusual ordeal was attended by representatives of Ernst August and his siblings, Viktoria Luise, and Berthold of Baden as mediator. It was noted that an agreement between the children and their mother was not likely.