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| King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of Belgian at the Vatican, June 1961. |
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| Newspaper headline from 9 June 1961. |
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| Newspaper headline from 26 June 1961. |
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| Newspaper headline from 26 February 1968. |
Saturday, August 22, 2020
The Lost Children of Queen Fabiola and King Baudouin of Belgium
Friday, August 21, 2020
Early reaction from buyers to Eurohistory's The Grand Ducal House of Hesse!
Every time we choose a topic to develop in one of our books, we take a huge risk. Surely, some of our books have been instant hits, others, with more esoteric topics, have taken longer to sell as we introduce these lesser-known royal personages to our avid and knowledgeable readership.
When we first mail out copies, we await with great anticipation the initial reports from those who have pre-ordered the book or bought it immediately after it becomes available on AMAZON. We are aware that some reports may be not frat, some will be amazing. In some instances, initial reaction is simply humbling and amazing!
Well, the first reports are in for The Grand Ducal House of Hesse – and we are simply delighted with them!
"Wow guys...what a treasure...I have all your books and this one really is top three, right up there with Beeche's The Coburgs." – MT, Seattle, WA
"I cannot believe how quickly I got the book. I have not been able to put it down. Where and how do you manage to get the photos?" – CB, Santa Clarita, CA
"well, thanks for disrupting my work today! I ripped the box open, grabbed a coffee and started flipping through the book. By know Ilana and Art must be the world's experts on the Hessians." MS, Irvine, CA
"This must have taken like a long time to put together, well worth the wait, those family trees are so detailed! My one criticism is that I wish it had been even longer book. I lost count of the photos, like 400+. But I still wish you had included more, more, more...hey, maybe a second volume just Hesse-Darmstadt photos? Just saying..." – BZ, Eugene, OR
You can purchase the book on AMAZON:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944207082?ref=myi_title_dp Or by direct order at:
Eurohistory & Kensington House Books
6300 Kensington Avenue
East Richmond Heights, CA 94805
USA
Email: eurohistory@comcast.net or aebeeche@mac.com
Phone: 510.236.1730
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Broken Royal Engagements of Yore: Max of Baden and Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
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| "Royal Cousins End Engagement." The Gazette of Montreal, Quebec (9 Sep. 1961). |
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| Max of Baden and Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg |
On 7 September 1961, Fürst Kraft zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg announced that his sister, Princess Beatrix, and her fiancé, Prince Max of Baden, had broken off their engagement by mutual consent. The cause for the end of the couple was given as personal reasons. It was noted that the prince and princess were the nephew and niece of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
First cousins through their mutual descent from Prince Andreas of Greece and his wife Princess Alice of Battenberg, Max of Baden was twenty-eight at the time while Beatrix zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg was twenty-five. Beatrix was the daughter of Andreas and Alice's eldest daughter Princess Margarita and her husband Fürst Gottfried zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Max was the son of the couple's next daughter Princess Theodora and her husband Margrave Berthold of Baden.
Prince Maximilian "Max" Andreas Friedrich Gustav Ernst August Bernhard of Badenwas born at Salem on 3 July 1933. He was the second child and eldest son of Margrave Berthold of Baden and Margravine Theodora (née Greece), who married in 1931. In September 1966, Max of Baden married Archduchess Valerie of Austria-Tuscany (b.1941), the daughter of Archduke Hubert Salvator of Austria-Tuscany and Princess Rosemary zu Salm-Salm. Margrave Max and Margravine Valerie of Baden have four children: Princess Marie Louise (b.1969), Hereditary Prince Bernhard (b.1970), Prince Leopold (b.1971), and Prince Michael (b.1976).
Princess Beatrix Alice Marie Melita Margarete zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg was born at Schwäbisch-Hall on 10 July 1936. She was the second child and only daughter of Fürst Gottfried zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Fürstin Margarita (née Greece), who married in 1931. Beatrix never married. For many years, she functioned as a secretary and companion to Princess Margaret "Peg" of Hesse at Wolfsgarten. Aged sixty-one, Princess Beatrix died on 15 November 1997 at Schwäbisch-Hall.
The Legacy of Antoine XIV, 14th Duke of Gramont: An Aristocrat Gone Before His Time
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| Armand, Duc de Gramont |
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| Élaine, Duchesse de Gramont |
The young Antoine's paternal grandparents were Armand de Gramont (1879-1962), 12th Duke de Gramont, and Countess Elaine Greffulhe (1882-1958). His maternal grandparents were Gérard Sublet d'Heudicourt (1884-?), Marquis d'Heudicourt de Lenoncourt, and Thérèse Gautier-Vignal (1886-1941).
During the 1970s, Antoine, then Duke de Guiche, became engaged to Lydwine de La Rochefoucauld (b.3 November 1953), daughter Alfred de La Rochefoucauld (1928-2013), Duke de La Roche-Guyon, and Lydie de Jacobé de Haut-de-Sigy (b.1932), who had married in 1952.
On the evening of Friday, 5 September 1975, Antoine and Lydwine were at the beach on Mustang Island, Texas, with the couple they were visiting, Mr and Mrs Paul Davis. At 9:30pm, the group were standing next to their car when they were hit by a vehicle going between 50 and 60 miles per hour and commandeered by fifteen-year old Richard Oakes, who did not have a driver's license and had been drinking. Lydwine died at a local hospital at 10:15pm, both of Antoine's legs were broken and the Davises also sustained injuries. Lydwine had been in Texas as a foreign exchange student; the French consulate in Houston assisted her family with funeral arrangements.
The following week, a lawsuit for $628,000 was filed in a Texas district court against Oakes and Mr and Mrs Roger Wear, who owned the vehicle, on behalf of Alfred and Lydie de La Rouchefoucauld (who sought $128,000 in damages), Antoine de Gramont ($200,000) and Mr and Mr Davis ($150,000 each).
In November 1975, Richard Oakes pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of twenty-one year-old Lydwine.
According to the school friend, Antoine remained immensely affected, both physically and psychologically, by the tragic passing of his fiancée.
On 20 September 2003 at Saint-Hélier, Jersey, Antoine de Gramont civilly married Catherine Françoise Elisabeth Forget (b.17 March 1956). The couple celebrated their religious union at Paris on 11 October 2003. Catherine is the daughter of Jacques Forget and Madeleine Coulon (1925-2011).
On 22 March 2008, the Duke and Duchess of Gramont welcomed the birth of their first child. Antoine de Gramont, Duke of Guiche, was born in the United States. The Duke of Guiche was christened at Saint Germain-l'Auxerrois on 6 September 2008. The godparents of little Antoine were Jacques de Crussol (b.1957), 17th Duc d'Uzès, and Countess Yolaine de La Rochefoucauld (b.1961; née Leclerc de Hauteclocque), the wife of Count Guy-Antoine de La Rochefoucauld (b.1958; now Duke de La Roche-Guyon), who was the brother of little Antoine's father's late fiancée Lydwine.
On the evening of Monday, 17 February 2014, Houston police were called to the Inwood Manor high-rise complex after neighbours heard loud arguing between the Duke and Duchess de Gramont. Catherine de Gramont told authorities that she had left the couple's twelfth-floor apartment during the argument, but heard a gunshot as she walked out the front door. She returned to the apartment and found that her husband was dead from the self-inflicted wound. The shooting/suicide occurred at about 9:00pm. The five year-old son of the couple was sleeping in the apartment while the episode took place. The Duke de Gramont was sixty-two years-old when he passed away.
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| Death notice for Lydwine's father Alfred, Duc de La Roche-Guyon |
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| Antoine and Catherine, Duke and Duchess de Gramont |
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| The Duchess de Gramont, 2011. |
The funeral of Antoine, 14th Duke of Gramont, took place at the Église de la Madeleine at Paris on 6 March 2014. In addition to the duke's widow and young son, the funeral was attended by Prince Jean d'Orléans, then Duke of Vendôme.
In 2018, the Duchess of Gramont was chosen as a godmother for Princess Jacinthe d'Orléans (b.9 October 2018). Princess Jacinthe is the youngest child of Prince Jean and Princess Philomena d'Orléans, the Count and Countess of Paris.
A Noble British Beau for a Royal Greek Princess: Peregrine Pearson and Olympia of Greece
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| Olympia of Greece and Perry Pearson |
Her Royal Highness Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark was born on 25 July 1996 at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, NY. The princess is the eldest child of Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and his wife Crown Princess Marie-Chantal (née Miller). Olympia is the paternal granddaughter of King Constantine II of the Hellenes (b.1940) and his wife Queen Anne-Marie (b.1946; née Denmark). Olympia is the maternal granddaughter of Robert Warren Miller (b.1933) and María Clara "Chantal" Pesantes Becerra (b.1940). In May 2019, Olympia of Greece graduated from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
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| The Hon. Peregrine Pearson |
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Grand Ducal House of Hesse copies on their way...
To their new homes off they go!
After a delivery delay that nearly drove us crazy, the bulk of the printed copies of The Grand Ducal House of Hesse were delivered yesterday at 630pm,!
Immediately, we got to work unloading the massive pallets containing 3000lbs worth of books!
Once the truck was unloaded, Arturo Beéche got busy signing all pressed and Amazon-sold copies ... and then wrapping and packing each one to ready their departure to their new homes today. And as we ship in the USA only via Priority Mail, it will be just a few days before buyers will obtain their copies!
The book is 336 pages, contains over 400 beautiful photographs, and has six [ages of family trees. It promises to become the definitive English language work on the Grand Dukes of Hesse!
You can purchase the book on AMAZON:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944207082?ref=myi_title_dp Or by direct order at:
Eurohistory & Kensington House Books
6300 Kensington Avenue
East Richmond Heights, CA 94805
USA
Email: eurohistory@comcast.net or aebeeche@mac.com
Phone: 510.236.1730
Monday, August 17, 2020
Shipping begins of Eurohistory's Grand Ducal House of Hesse
Today, we received the first shipment of copies of Arturo Beéche and Ilana Miller's newest collaboration, THE GRAND DUCAL HOUSE OF HESSE!
The book is 336 pages, contains over 400 beautiful photographs, and has six [ages of family trees. It promises to become the definitive English language work on the Grand Dukes of Hesse!
You can purchase the book on AMAZON:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944207082?ref=myi_title_dp
Or by direct order at:
Eurohistory & Kensington House Books
6300 Kensington Avenue
East Richmond Heights, CA 94805
USA
Email: eurohistory@comcast.net or aebeeche@mac.com
Phone: 510.236.1730
Arturo Beéche holding the first copy of the book!
The Grand Ducal House of Hesse's Coat of Arms
Hereditary Princess Amalie of Baden (née Hesse-Darmstadt)
Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus and his family...Georg Donatus holding Alexander, Cecilie holding Johanna, Ludwig (1936). Four of the five in this image would perish tragically in an air crash in Steen, Belgium, November 1937.
Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret with their niece Princess Johanna. Sadly, the little princess died in 1939 of meningitis.
Ludwig and Margaret were married for over thirty years, but were childless. He died in 1968, there last Hesse and by Rhine; Peg, as his wife was called, died in 1997.
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