Swedish Crown Princely Couple Positive for COVID-19

Victoria and Daniel.

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel have tested positive for COVID-19. The royal couple tested positive on the one year anniversary of the first Swedish death from the novel coronavirus. The Swedish Royal House announced the news on social media, stating that the couple are showing "slight symptoms" and that they are quarantining with their children Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar at home. 

The crown princess is forty-three years-old; the prince is forty-seven. Prince Daniel suffered from a congenital ailment causing impaired renal functioning. Three months after his engagement to Crown Princess Victoria, Daniel underwent a kidney transplant in May 2009. His father was the donor. The operation was a success.

A Century Since the Marriage of Crown Prince Carol of Romania and Princess Helen of Greece

Newly-married Crown Prince Carol and Crown Princess Helen of Romania with their sisters Princess Ileana of Romania and Princess Katherine of Greece.

One hundred years ago today, on 10 March 1921, Crown Prince Carol of Romania and Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark married at Athens. The civil ceremony took place at the Royal Palace; this was followed by the Greek Orthodox religious ceremony at the Metropolitan Cathedral. The couple's siblings, Crown Prince George of Greece and Princess Elisabeta of Romania, had married on 27 February 1921 in Bucharest. George and Elisabeta returned to Athens for the wedding of Carol and Helen. 

Crown Prince Carol and Crown Princess Helen of Romania enter Bucharest, 1921.

Carol of Romania and Helen of Greece were second cousins, both being great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Carol was the grandson of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and later of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was the father of Carol's mother Queen Marie of Romania. Helen was the granddaughter of Empress Victoria of Germany, who was the mother of Helen's mother Queen Sophie of Greece. In 1920, Helen met Carol for the first time when his mother Queen Marie extended an invitation to Helen and her sister Irene to visit Romania. On 24 October 1920, Carol's grandmother Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, died in Zurich. The next day, 25 October, Helen's adored brother King Alexander of Greece died in Athens. As Helen and Irene were still in Bucharest, Queen Marie offered to take the sisters as well as their brother George, recently engaged to Marie's daughter Elisabeta, to Switzerland. The queen was to attend her mother's funeral in Switzerland, while the Greek siblings went to join their parents in Lucerne. Shortly before the Royal Train's departure from Romania, Carol decided to go with his mother and cousins. Helen later recalled in the biography Queen Helen of Rumania by Arthur Gould Lee: "I was attracted to him and felt that later I could come to love him. But what really made me say 'yes' was the thought of Alexander. All through the exile my one hope had ben to go back to the country we both loved, but now he was no longer there I felt I could not face Athens and Tatoi again. To marry Carol and go to Rumania, and not to have to live in the place that would constantly wound me with memories, seemed in these days of sorrow a kind of deliverance. From the beginning, my father had said that I myself must decide, and he never let me feel that he was against the marriage. It was my mother who was so upset, chiefly because of the differences of upbringing and background and also because she was in despair at the idea of losing me so soon after the grievous loss of Alexander. But I insisted, and for some time my mother tried pleading with me, and using every argument to induce caution. I little realised then how true were her warning words. Had I listened, I would have been spared years of misery. As it was, the engagement was duly announced." 

Crown Princess Helen and Prince Michael of Romania, 1922.

After their marriage, Carol and Helen returned to Romania. On 25 October 1921, the couple's only child, Prince Michael (the future King Michael of Romania) was born at Peles Castle. By 1924, the marriage of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess had irretrievably broken down. Their union was dissolved by divorce in 1928. Carol later remarried and died in exile in 1953; Helen never remarried and devoted the rest of her life to supporting her son and his family. Queen Mother Helen of Romania died in 1982.

The Ruby Wedding Anniversary of the Prince and Princess of Ligne

Today, the Prince and Princess de Ligne celebrate their Ruby wedding anniversary. On 10 March 1981, Prince Michel de Ligne and Princess Eleonora of Orléans and Bragança married at Rio de Janeiro. The groom was the son of Prince Antoine de Ligne and Princess Alix of Luxembourg. The bride was the daughter of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans and Bragança and Princess Maria of Bavaria. Fourth cousins once removed, Michel de Ligne (b.1951) and Eleonora of Orléans and Bragança (b.1953) both descend from King Francesco I of the Two Sicilies. 

The Prince and Princess de Ligne with son Prince Henri, daughter Princess Alix, and son-in-law Count Guillaume de Dampierre, 2016. Photograph (c) Alamy.

Prince Michel and Princess Eleonora de Ligne have two children: Princess Alix (b.1984) and Hereditary Prince Henri (b.1989). In 2016, Princess Alix de Ligne married Count Guillaume de Dampierre. Prince Michel and Princess Eleonora de Ligne live at Chateau de Beloeil in Belgium. 

Our congratulations to the Prince and Princess on their 40th Wedding Anniversary!

The 85th Birthday of Fürst Wittekind zu Waldeck und Pyrmont

Fürst Wittekind of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Today, Fürst Wittekind zu Waldeck und Pyrmont celebrates his eighty-fifth birthday.

Hereditary Prince Josias zu Waldeck und Pyrmont and Duchess Altburg of Oldenburg.

Prince Wittekind Adolf Heinrich Georg-Wilhelm zu Waldeck und Pyrmont was born on 9 March 1936 at Arolsen. The prince was the only son and fourth of five children of Prince Josias zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (1896-1967) and his wife Duchess Altburg of Oldenburg (1903-2001), who married in 1922. Wittekind has four sisters: Princess Margarethe (1923-2003; married Count Franz August zu Erbach-Erbach), Princess Alexandra (1924-2009; married Fürst Botho zu Bentheim und Steinfurt), Princess Ingrid (b.1931), and Princess Guda (b.1939; married 1st Fürst Friedrich Wilhelm zu Wied, married 2nd Horst Dierkes). 

 

The wedding of Countess Cecilie von Goëß-Saurau and Fürst Wittekind zu Waldeck und Pyrmont.

On 1 April 1988 at Frohnleiten, Styria, Fürst Wittekind zu Waldeck und Pyrmont civilly married Countess Cecilie von Goëß-Saurau (b.Frohnleiten 23 August 1956). Wittekind and Cecilie's religious wedding took place on 19 May 1988 at Arolsen. Fürstin Cecilie zu Waldeck und Pyrmont is a daughter of Count Carl-Anton von Goëß-Saurau (1921-2015) and his wife Baroness Maria Mayr von Melnhof (1921-1996), who wed in 1948. Cecilie of Waldeck and Pyrmont is a cousin of Count Moritz von Goëß, the husband of Duchess Fleur of Württemberg. 

 

The three princes Waldeck-Pyrmont.

 

Wittekind and Cecilie have three sons. Hereditary Prince Carl Anton of Waldeck-Pyrmont was born at Arolsen on 25 December 1991. The hereditary prince was followed by twin sons: Prince Josias and Prince Johannes were born at Arolsen on 7 July 1993. 

 

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Fürstin Cecilie, and Fürst Wittekind of Waldeck-Pyrmont.

 

Fürst Wittekind of Waldeck-Pyrmont is the second cousin of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands (b.1938; former Queen). Wittekind and Beatrix are both great-grandchildren of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

 

 

 

Many happy returns of the day to Fürst Wittekind!

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are Expecting a Daughter!

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

It has been announced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting a baby girl. The second child and first daughter of the Sussexes will be eighth in the line of succession to the British throne. Prince Harry of Wales, later Duke of Sussex, is the second son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and his late first wife Lady Diana Spencer. In May 2018, Prince Harry married Rachel Meghan Markle. In May 2019, the Duke and Duchess welcomed the arrival of their first child, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. The Duchess of Sussex suffered a miscarriage in Summer 2020. Baby Girl Sussex is expected in Summer 2021.

Our congratulations to the Duke and Duchess as well as their son on this happy news!

Russian Imperial Wedding in October 2021 at St Petersburg

From the Chancellery of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia

The Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, has the honour and pleasure to announce that the wedding of Her son and heir, H.I.H. Grand Duke George of Russia, and His fiancée, Miss Victoria Romanovna (Rebecca Virginia) Bettarini, will take place on October 1, 2021, in St. Petersburg.

Alexander N. Zakatov
Director
Chancellery of Her Imperial Highness
Moscow, March 5, 2021

Photograph (c) Lodovico Colli di Felizzano

The announcement from the Imperial Chancellery.

Photograph (c) Vlada Krassilnikova for Paris Match.

Our congratulations to the happy couple on this wonderful news!

The 60th Birthday of the Duke of Fife, Cousin of the Queen

David Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife.

 Today, His Grace The Duke of Fife celebrates his sixtieth birthday.

 

Charles Carnegie, Duke of Fife, in 1985.
Photograph by Allan Warren.

Born on 3 March 1961 at London, David Charles Carnegie was the only son of Charles Carnegie (1929-2015), 3rd Duke of Fife, and his former wife the Hon. Caroline Dewar (b.1934), who married in 1956. David has one elder sister: Lady Alexandra Carnegie (b.1959; married Mark Etherington). David's parents Charles and Caroline divorced in 1966. 

On 16 June 1987 at London, David Carnegie, then Earl of Macduff, married Caroline Anne Bunting (b.13 November 1961), daughter of Martin Brian Bunting and Veronica Mary Cope. David and Caroline have three sons: Lord Charles Duff Carnegie (b.1989; now Earl of Southesk; married Camille Ascoli), Lord George William Carnegie (b.1991), and Lord Hugh Alexander Carnegie (b.1993).

Princess Eugenie of York and the Duke of Fife.
Photograph (c) Alamy.

After the death of his father in 2015, David succeeded as the 4th Duke of Fife. The Duke and Duchess of Fife live at Elsick House, which is the family home of the ducal family.

The Duke of Fife with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Photograph (c) Getty Images.

The Duke of Fife is the paternal grandson of Charles Carnegie (1893-1992), 11th Earl of Southesk, and Princess Maud of Fife (1893-1945). The duke is also the paternal great-grandson of Alexander Duff (1849-1912), 1st Duke of Fife, and Princess Louise of Great Britain (1867-1931). Owing to his descent from Queen Victoria, the Duke of Fife is in line to the succession of the British throne. He is a second cousin once removed of HM The Queen.

Many happy returns of the day to His Grace!