A Century Since the Birth of Archduchess Elisabeth, Posthumous Child of Emperor Karl of Austria

A young Elisabeth with her mother and siblings, 1928.

One hundred years ago today marks the birth of Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, the youngest child of the Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria and his wife Empress Zita.

The wedding of Archduke Karl of Austria and Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, 1911.

Archduchess Elisabeth Charlotte Alphonsa Christina Theresia Antonia Josepha Roberta Ottonia Franziska Isabella Pia Marcus d'Aviano of Austria was born at El Pardo on 31 May 1922. Her father Emperor Karl had fallen ill and died from pneumonia on 1 April 1922, almost two months before Elisabeth was born. After his death, Empress Zita was invited by King Alfonso XIII of Spain to live in Spain. This was the reason that Elisabeth was born at the Royal Palace of El Pardo. The archduchess was named after Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph; the name had been chosen by Elisabeth's father before his passing: it was almost as if he was certain that his next child would be a girl. 

 

The eight children of Emperor Karl and Empress Zita standing in order of birth.

 

Elisabeth joined seven older siblings: Archduke Otto (1912-2011; married Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen), Archduchess Adelheid (1914-1971), Archduke Robert (1915-1996; married Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta), Archduke Felix (1916-2011; married Princess Anna-Eugénie von Arenberg), Archduke Carl Ludwig (1918-2007; married Princess Yolande de Ligne), Archduke Rudolph (1919-2010; married 1st Countess Xenia Tschernyschev-Besobrasow; married 2nd Fürstin Anna Gabriele von Wrede), and Archduchess Charlotte (1921-1989; married Duke Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg). 

 

Empress Zita and Archduchess Elisabeth are reunited with Archduke Felix and Archduke Otto in New York, July 1940.

 

Empress Zita and her eight children resided in Spain until 1929; they then relocated to Belgium. In 1940, Empress Zita left Belgium and took her children to the Americas in order to escape the horrors of World War II. The family arrived in the United States, where they spent time at Royalston, Massachusetts, in the home of Calvin Bullock. The family later settled in Quebec, Canada, at the Villa Saint Joseph. While in Quebec, Archduchess Elisabeth attended the Sillery convent.

 

Archduchess Elisabeth and Prince Heinrich on their wedding day, 1949.

 

On 12 September 1949 at Lignières, Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria religiously married Prince Heinrich of Liechtenstein (1916-1991), the son of Prince Alfred of Liechtenstein and Princess Theresia Maria zu Oettingen-Oettingen. The newlyweds honeymooned in the South of France. Elisabeth and Heinrich had five children: Prince Vincenz (1950-2008; married 1st Hélène de Cossé-Brissac; married 2nd Roberta Valeri Manera), Prince Michael (b.1951; married Hildegard Berta Peters), Princess Charlotte (b.1953; married Pieter Kenyon Fleming-Voltelyn van der Byl), Prince Christoph (b.1956), and Prince Karl (b.1957)

 

Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, Princess Heinrich of Liechtenstein, died on 6 January 1993 at Waldstein, Bavaria. She was seventy years-old.

The Current State of the Princely House of Kohary

King Simeon II and Queen Margarita of Bulgaria with Princess Marie-Louise.

On 5 May 2015, King Simeon II issued an ukase from Vrana Palace. In this document, the king ceded the title of Fürstin von Kohary, with the style of Highness, to his sister Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria. 

Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Princess Maria Antonia von Kohary.

In the ukase, His Majesty made reference to his and his sister's descent from Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Princess Maria Antonia von Kohary. Maria Antonia was the only surviving child of Count Ferenc József Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya and his wife Countess Maria Antonia von Waldstein-Wartenberg. On 15 November 1815, Ferenc József was granted the title Fürst von Kohary by the Emperor of Austria. Two weeks later, on 30 November 1815, Ferenc József's daughter Maria Antonia married Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of Duke Franz of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Countess Augusta Reuß zu Ebersdorf. 

The wedding of Princess Maria Luisa and Bronislaw Chrobok.
Photo (c) King Simeon II.

His Majesty decreed that the title is hereditary to the descendants of Princess Marie Louise by her second marriage to Bronisław Chrobok, whom she married in 1969. The princess and Mr Chrobok have two children: Alexandra-Nadejda Chrobok (b.1970) and Pawel (Paul) Alastair Antoni Chrobok (b.1972). In 2001, Alexandra Chrobok married Jorge Champalimaud Raposo de Magalhães (b.1970); the couple have three children: Louis Raposo de Magalhães, Jeanne Raposo de Magalhães and Clémentine Raposo de Magalhães. Pawel Chrobok married Ariana Oliver Mas; the couple have two children: Maya Chrobok (b.2015) and Alexander-Ferdinand Chrobok (b.2017). As a result of this ukase, Alexandra Chrobok became Her Highness Alexandra Chrobok, Princess von Kohary, and Pawel Chrobok became His Highness Pawel Chrobok, Prince von Kohary. The grandchildren of Princess Marie Louise by her second marriage presumably also already bear the style and title His/Her Highness Prince(ss) von Kohary. 

 

Source: https://www.kingsimeon.bg/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Nie_Simeon-II_Kohary.pdf

The 2022 Royal Versailles Ball

Prince Jean-Christophe and Princess Olympia Napoléon.

Photo (c) Rowben Lantion/BFA.com.

 

Last Saturday, 21 May, the Royal Versailles Ball was held at the Palace of Versailles. The Royal Versailles Ball celebrates the historic state visit between Queen Victoria and Emperor Napoléon III in 1855 at Versailles. The Royal Versailles Ball is held to raise money to support UNICEF, Street Child and LEWA Wildlife Conservancy. UNICEF has been vaccinating, educating and protecting children since 1946, Street Child works to provide educational opportunities for vulnerable children in war torn countries and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy protects species through community conservation and education.

 

Professor Kate Williams and Marcus Gibbs.
  Photo (c) Rowben Lantion/BFA.com.

 

Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma.
Photo (c) Rowben Lantion/BFA.com.

Sir Rodney Williams, Governor General of Antigua and Barbuda, and Lady Williams.
Photo (c) Rowben Lantion/BFA.com.

 

The Marquess and Marchioness of Reading.
Photo (c) Rowben Lantion/BFA.com.

 

The Duke of Fife.
Photo (c) Rowben Lantion/BFA.com.

 

Clara Marzloff and Prince Boris of Bulgaria.

Photo (c) Rowben Lantion/BFA.com.

The 80th Birthday of Princess Marie-Cécile of Prussia

Princess Marie-Cécile, 1992.

Today Princess Marie-Cécile of Prussia celebrates her eightieth birthday!

Prince Louis Ferdinand and Princess Kira of Prussia with their children.

Born on 28 May 1942 at Cadinen, Germany, Princess Marie-Cécile Kira Viktoria Luise of Prussia was the first daughter and third child of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1907-1994) and Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (1909-1967). Marie-Cécile had six siblings: Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (1939-2015), Prince Michael (1940-2014), Princess Kira (1943-2004), Prince Louis Ferdinand (1944-1977; married Countess Donata zu Castell-Rüdenhausen), Prince Christian-Sigismund (b.1946; married Countess Nina zu Reventlow), and Princess Xenia (1949-1992).

Crown Prince Wilhelm.

Crown Princess Cecilie.

Grand Duke Kirill.

Grand Duchess Victoria.

The paternal grandparents of Princess Marie-Cécile were Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1882-1951) and Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1886-1956). Her maternal grandparents were Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia (1876-1938) and Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1876-1936).

Princess Marie-Cécile of Prussia, Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg, and Princess Kira of Prussia.

On 3 December 1965 at Berlin, Princess Marie-Cécile of Prussia civilly married Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg (1936-2017), the sixth child and fourth son of Hereditary Grand Duke Nikolaus of Oldenburg and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont. The couple celebrated their religious marriage the following day on 4 December. Marie-Cécile and Friedrich August had three children: Duke Paul-Wladimir (b.1969), Duchess Rixa (b.1970), and Duchess Bibiane (b.1974). Marie-Cécile and Friedrich August divorced on 23 November 1989. In 1991, Friedrich August married Marie-Cécile's widowed sister-in-law Princess Donata. 

Princess Marie-Cécile and her nephew Prince Georg Friedrich attend the funeral of their brother/uncle Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, 2015.
Photo (c) AGE Fotostock.

Our best wishes to the Princess on her birthday!

A Letter from Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, to Lady Harcourt

Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh.

Picture (c) National Portrait Gallery, London.

 

The following are the contents of a letter written by the Princess Mary, daughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte, to Lady Harcourt in 1816. The princess elaborates on how she has decided to wed her first cousin, the Duke of Gloucester. Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, were married for eighteen years before the death of the duke; the couple did not have children.

 

My very dear Lady Harcourt,

I found your most kind and affectionate note on my table late night on my return from Windsor. I never could doubt all your kind feelings on hearing of my intended marriage; and I am unhappy I did not write myself to you, as I look upon you quite as a 2nd mother, & respect you as such; but the real truth is, that, though the Q. and Prince gave their consent on Saturday, & felt satisfied all was settled, I was not quite so myself untill last night. However, I started a subject to the D. of Gloucester that required a very decided answer, before I could make up my mine to change my intention. I got a satisfactory answer last night through the D. of York, therefore I can now say we compleatly understand each other. When I see you I will explain this.

I don't know what other people feel when going to be married, but as yet I have done nothing but cry. I have been half killed with the kindness of the Queen and all my Brothers & Sisters, & such a day as I passed at Windsor yesterday is more than I can describe. That dear Castle, which contains all I value in this world; that dear place, in which I have passed so many happy days; that spot in which my most valuable & respectable Father is incircled. That, Alass, I am not to receive his Blessing and approbation, with those of all the rest of the family, half kills me; and the idea of heaving that House at Moments half breaks my heart. But the D. of Gloucester has so kindly entered into all my feelings, so faithfully promised that I shall be as much with my family as possible, and is so convinced how it is in my power to do my duty as his wife, as well as to do my duty at Windsor (to a certain degree), that it makes me thank God.

His house is so near, only 3 miles, as to admit of all this.

Yours affectionally,

Mary.

Source: The Royal Dukes and Princesses of the Family of George III: A View of Court Life and Manners for Seventy Years, 1760-1830 (Volume 2) by Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald, 1882. 

The Braganzas attend Independence Day Celebrations for East Timor

The Duchess of Coimbra and the Duke of Bragança.

Over the weekend, the Head of the Royal House of Portugal and his daughter traveled to East Timor to commemorate the twenty years of independence of East Timor. Dom Duarte Pio and Infanta Maria Francesca were present in Dili for the celebrations. The Duke of Braganza was a major supporter and campaigner for the independence of East Timor (Timor-Leste), a former Portuguese colony that was annexed by Indonesia in 1975. The country received its independence on 20 May 2002.

Prince Raphaël d'Orléans Baptized in Mallorca

The Duke of Calabria with his godson Prince Raphaël.

On 30 April 2022, Prince Raphaël Léopold Pedro François Marie d'Orléans was baptised at Mallorca. The little prince, who was born on 4 September 2021, is the third child of Prince François and Princess Theresa, Count and Countess of Dreux. Prince Raphaël received as his godparents: Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, Princess Marie-Hélène von Ysenburg und Büdingen, and Regina von Bernewitz. 

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