Review: Royal Gatherings, Volume 1: 1859-1914

The very talented and well respected royal biographer, Coryne Hall, has written a rather nice review of our last book, Royal Gatherings, Volume 1: 1859-1914.

http://royalreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2013/01/review-royal-gatherings-volume-1-1859.html

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0985460318

Royal Funeral: Margarita of Baden

The earthly remains of Princess Margarita of Baden were laid to rest at Salem today.

May she rest in peacce...

http://www.suedkurier.de/region/bodenseekreis-oberschwaben/salem/Trauerfeier-fuer-Prinzessin-Margarita-von-Baden;art372491,5876981

Abdication: Queen Beatrix Renounces Throne

AMSTERDAM—Dutch Queen Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, announced she was abdicating in favour of her son, Prince Willem-Alexander, who will become king on April 30.

Willem-Alexander, 45, is married to Princess Maxima Zorrigueta and has three young children. Decades of grooming for the throne involved shaking off his image as a beer-drinking fraternity boy whose blunt comments upset the press and politicians.

Beatrix said in a television broadcast to the nation that she was stepping down because she felt her son was ready to take her place on the throne.

A constitutional monarchy, the Netherlands had reduced the involvement of the Royal House in politics, a role long seen more as a formality than a position of power.

In the past, the Queen took part in forming government coalitions by appointing a political mediator, raising questions about behind-the-scenes influence on the democratic process.

That role was scrapped before the last election, which took place in September 2012.

It was widely rumoured that Queen Beatrix was no fan of anti-immigrant, eurosceptic politician Geert Wilders. She alluded in speeches to the need for tolerance and multi-culturalism, comments that were seen as criticisms of Wilders' anti-Islamic views.

Wilders' poor showing at the last election and loss of influence in politics, could well have contributed to her decision to abdicate.

Queen Beatrix, who remains very popular with the Dutch, became the sixth monarch of the House of Orange in 1980 following the abdication of her mother, Queen Juliana, who reigned for 31 years.

Juliana was 73 years old and in deteriorating mental health when she abdicated but Beatrix has remained active and in good health despite some setbacks.

The queen was emotionally shaken when a man drove his car into a Queen's Day procession in 2009.

Her middle son, Prince Johan Friso, has been in a coma ever since he was buried in an avalanche while skiing last year.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1320984--dutch-queen-beatrix-expected-to-announce-her-abdication-in-televised-speech-report

Press Release: Crown Prince Alexander Addresses Criticism

Official Statement about the Legal Transfer of HM King Peter II to Serbia

Belgrade, 25 January 2013 - The following statement has been prepared by the Office of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander to respond to some reckless statements and misleading information published in the press in Serbia and commented on line.

The exhumation and transfer of HM King Peter II was strictly done following legal advice and according to the appropriate rules and regulations as relate to these matters in the State of Illinois, United States where King Peter II was buried in 1970.

This is to confirm that under Illinois State law whatever notice was required was fully observed. According to that law Crown Prince Alexander, as HM King Peter II only immediate heir, had proper and full authority to initiate and complete the exhumation and transfer of the remains of the late King Peter II as advised by his Chicago based legal counsel Thomas J. Karacic.

According to United States laws, Princess Eva Marie Karageogevitch’s authority as executor of the estate of King Peter II fully expired at the time the estate was closed by a state court in 1980 and she was, therefore, at that time totally legally discharged from any further responsibility and duties.

The Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of the Mid-West United States, which is the administrative authority of the cemetery in Libertyville Illinois, had notice and concurred with the proceedings.  The United States Ambassador in Serbia and the Serbian Ambassador in the United States both also had knowledge of the entire proceedings.

The focus of the move of HM King Peter II was intended to be on the return and welcome of the remains of to Serbia, to the Royal Palace Chapel in Dedinje and HM King Peter II final rightful resting place at the Royal Mausoleum at Oplenac. An important aspect of all of this will be the long overdue State Funeral of HM King Peter II, later this year, as befitting a former Head of State. As HM King Peter II was a Head of State of an Allied country during World War II those countries will now be able to send their official Royal, civil and military representatives to HM King Peter II official funeral later this year.

Royal Funeral: Margarita of Baden

The Royal Family attends HRH Princess Margarita of Baden Memorial Service

Belgrade, 24 January 2013 – Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander, Crown Princess Katherine, Prince Philip, Princess Katarina (daughter of Princess Margarita and Prince Tomislav), Prince Nikola (son of Princess Margarita and Prince Tomislav) with his daughter Maria, Victoria de Silva (granddaughter), to both of them HRH Crown Princess Katherine was a godmother, and Sir Desmond de Silva, attended the memorial service for HRH Princess Margarita, formerly married to HRH Prince Tomislav, today in the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Sava in London.

The funeral was also attended by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (uncle of HRH Princess Margarita), Sir Brian McGrath, HM Queen Anna Marie of Greece, HRH Princess Sarvath of Jordan and her two daughters, Prince Max and Princess Valerie of Baden, Prince Ludwig and Princess Mandi of Baden Prince Bernhard of Baden and Princess Stephanie Prince Leopold of Baden of Baden, Prince Michael of Baden, Prince Berthold of Baden, Princess Marie Louse of Baden, His Excellency Dr Popovic, Ambassador Republic of Serbia, and many other distinguished guests.

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander II delivered a speech and said: “I first met Margarita when I was a young boy after her marriage to my uncle Prince Tomislav, the middle brother my father King Peter II. I would stay with my uncle and aunt at their farm in Sussex and we would were very close. I learnt a lot about Yugoslavia and our Royal House from my uncle while my aunt Margarita offered me practical advice about problems I was likely to encounter in life.They were very good to me and helped me grow up. Margarita was like a mother to me, having married a then Yugoslav Prince …”, concluding with “Margarita became interested in all things Yugoslav, especially in the Serbs and the Serbian orthodox church. She was very approachable – she was a real Serbian people’s princess. My family and I and the Serbian people shall miss her greatly. May dear Margarita rest in peace!

Royal Birth: Twin Boys born to Princess Sophie of Prussia

Princess Sophie of Prussia, consort of Prince Georg Friedrich, Head of House Prussia, delivered twin sons on January 20 at Bremen, Germany.

Born Princess Sophie of Isenburg, she married Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia in a beautiful ceremony at Potsdam in August 2011. A galaxy of royalty was present on that sunny day to join the happy couple on their special day.

Twins are not uncommon in House Prussia, particularly among descendants of Kaiser Wilhelm II and his wife, the former Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

The twins, Carl Friedrich and Louis Ferdinand, are doing well, as is their mother.

Various articles from the German Press:

http://www.maerkischeallgemeine.de/cms/beitrag/12457480/62249/Dem-Prinzen-Georg-Friedrich-von-Preussen-sind-Zwillinge.html

http://www.swp.de/hechingen/lokales/hechingen/Zwei-Buben-fuer-das-Preussen-Paar;art1158605,1814451

©Eurohistory

Obit: Princess Margarita of Baden

The Telegraph has put out an obituary of Princess Margarita of Baden.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/royalty-obituaries/9814461/HRH-Princess-Margarita-of-Baden.html

Her religious funeral takes place on January 24.

A private memorial is scheduled at Schloß Salem for January 28.

©Eurohistory

Prince Harry in Afghanistan: "I Killed Taliban."

LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Harry says he killed Afghan insurgents during sorties against the Taliban while on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan where he was a gunner in Apache attack helicopters.

Queen Elizabeth's 28-year-old grandson, third in line to the British throne, will return home later this week after a 20-week posting with NATO forces at the Camp Bastion military base in the southern province of Helmand.

Asked before he left Afghanistan if he had killed insurgents during his tour, he said: "Yeah, so, lots of people have. ... Yes, we fire when we have to, take a life to save a life, but essentially we're more of a deterrent than anything else.

"If there's people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we'll take them out of the game, I suppose," the second son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana said in one of several interviews released to the media.

The Taliban had said it would do its utmost to kidnap or kill Harry during his tour, and an Afghan insurgent warlord labelled him a drunken "jackal" out to kill innocent Afghans.

His base was attacked on his birthday last September, but it was never clear if he was the target or if the Taliban raid, in which two U.S. marines were killed, was in response to a film which was seen as insulting to the Prophet Mohammad.

Known in the military as Captain Harry Wales, he was deployed to Afghanistan four months ago, shortly after pictures of him frolicking naked with a nude woman at a hotel in Las Vegas were published around the world.

"I probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down," he said of the Vegas incident. "But it was probably a classic example of me being too much army, and not enough prince."

Continue reading:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/21/prince-harry-says-he-kill_n_2521647.html

Prince Harry of Wales.

©CNN

King Peter II Returns to Serbia!

HM King Peter II Returns Home after 72 Years

Belgrade, 18 January 2013 – HRH Crown Prince Alexander said today how proud he and his family are that his father King Peter II of Yugoslavia is finally returning home. The Crown Prince also said that this is a very moving event and of great historical importance for the people of Serbia. King Peter will finally join his ancestors in the Royal Family Mausoleum in Oplenac. In the interim His Majesty will lay in peace in the Royal Chapel of the Royal Palace in Dedinje Belgrade.

His Royal Highness wishes to warmly thank H.E. President Tomislav Nikolic of Serbia, the Government of Serbia and the Commission for Reburial of the Royal Family for all their wonderful support and advice. The final date for the internment in Oplenac will be decided later this year dependent on coordination with the Serbian Orthodox Church, H.E. President Tomislav Nikolic of Serbia, the Government of the Republic of Serbia and Royal Houses.

King Peter II of Yugoslavia was the firstborn son of King Alexander I and Queen Maria of Yugoslavia. King Peter II was born in Belgrade 6 September 1923 his Godparents were King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Mother of Great Britain). His education commenced at The Royal Palace in Belgrade after which he went to Sandroyd School in England, which he left after his father's assassination in Marseille in 1934. Since King Peter II was 11 years old and underage at the time of his father’s assassination, a regency was formed consisting of three regents including his great uncle Prince Paul of Yugoslavia.

In 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia found itself surrounded by countries that had joined the Axis as allies of Nazi Germany. Prince Paul's decision in 1941 to sign a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany resulted in severe protests in the country and this led to a government crisis and a coup d’état by Yugoslav officers on 27 March 1941. As a result of the coup, King Peter II was proclaimed of age.

The Yugoslav Army was unprepared to resist the ensuing invasion by Nazi Germany and Yugoslavia was occupied within eleven days. King Peter II was forced to leave the country along with the Yugoslav Government - initially to Greece, Palestine and then to Egypt. King Peter II joined other monarchs and leaders of Nazi occupied Europe in London in June 1941.

Despite the collapse of the Yugoslav army two rival resistance entities were formed. The first resistance entity was the loyalist one led by Yugoslav Army Colonel Dragoljub Mihailovic who was later promoted to General and made the Minister of Defence of the Yugoslav government in exile. The other resistance entity was that of the Partisans led by Josip Broz - later known to the world as Tito. A bitter civil war followed during the Nazi occupation.

The Allies, having initially supported General Mihailovic later threw their support behind Tito. The Partisans entered Belgrade in 1944 in the wake of Soviet tank brigades and established a Government. In November 1945, the monarchy was illegally abolished without a referendum and Yugoslavia remained a totalitarian single party state under the League of Communists for more than four decades.

King Peter II never abdicated. Initially King Peter II lived in exile in London with his wife (he married the Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark in 1944, she was the daughter of King Alexander of the Hellenes and Aspasia Manos) and his son Crown Prince Alexander was born in 1945.

King Peter II spent the last years of his life in America. After a long and grave illness, King Peter II died 3 November 1970 in Denver Hospital Colorado, and he was buried at the St. Sava Monastery Church in Libertyville (north of Chicago) Illinois. He was the only King buried in the United States. 

 Young King Peter II of Yugoslavia

King Peter II of Yugoslavia and his cousin Prince Alexander 

King Peter II of Yugoslavia, Prince Alexander follows 

 King Peter II of Yugoslavia with Margravine Theodora of Baden,

the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Alice of Greece

Wedding of King Peter II of Yugoslavia and Princess Alexandra of Greece.

King George VI and King George II of Greece surround them.

+Princess Margarita of Baden (1932-2013)

HRH Princess Margarita of Baden died in Farnham in the evening of January 15. Her death brought to an end a long illness that had seriously undermined the princess' health.

Margarita was born at Schloß Salem on July 14, 1932. She was the firstborn child of Margrave Berthold of Baden and of his wife, the former Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark. Berthold, the well-respected Head of the Grand Ducal House of Baden, was the only son of Margrave Max of Baden (Imperial Germany's last chancellor) and of his wife Princess Marie Louise of Cumberland, eldest daughter of the Duke of Cumberland, Ernst August of Hannover, and of his Danish wife, Princess Thyra. Princess Theodora was the second daughter of Prince Andreas of Greece and Denmark and of his wife, the former Princess Alice of Battenberg, the parents of three other daughters and a son, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. She was the eldest granddaughter of both sets of grandparents.

The princess was raised at Schloß Salem, where her family sponsored a renowned educational center built along the progressive policies proposed by Kurt Hahn, a widely respected educator of Jewish extraction. Berthold and Hahn were the heart of the Salem School, both also standing as bulwarks against the National Socialist overtake of Germany. Eventually, Hahn was forced to leave Germany and seek refuge in England, where he founded Gordonstoun, the school attended by Prince Philipp and the Prince of Wales.

After their daughter Margarita's birth, Berthold and Theodora had two more children: Maximilian (Max), born in 1933, and Ludwig, born in 1937.

The Badens experienced increasing pressure to join the nascent Nazi Party, as some of their other cousins and friends had. Berthold, however, stood steadfast and declined all pressure to betray his conscience.

After the end of the war, the Badens reestablished contacts with their English family. Although they were not invited to the wedding of Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth in 1947, they were part of the official coronation celebration for Queen Elizabeth in 1953.

Wanting to study nursing, Princess Margarita relocated to London in the 1950s. It was while there that she met Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia (1928-2000), the second son of the late King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and of his wife, the former Princess Marie of Romania.  Both Tomislav and Margarita were descendants of Queen Victoria. The wedding date was announced from Salem on April 8, 1957, and the wedding date set for June 6.

The wedding festivities provided the extended Gotha with another opportunity to gather and repair links damaged by the debacle of the Second World War. Present at Schloß Baden to witness the ceremony were, among many others: the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Marie of Yugoslavia, Queen Frederica of Greece, King Umberto II of Italy, King Simeon of Bulgaria, King Peter II of Yugoslavia, The Earl and countess Mountbatten of Burma, and even the elderly Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna Jr., who by then lived at Schloß Mainau, her son Lennart's island paradise on Lake Konstanz.

Tomislav and Margarita settled in the UK, where he owned a fruit farm. It was there that their two children were born: Nicholas in 1958, and Katerina the following year. Margarita remained close to her English family and she was frequently a guest of The Queen and Prince Philip.

Unfortunately, the marriage that had began with such promise of mutual happiness experienced much turmoil. Tomislav's financial situation was terribly unstable and the fruit farm a source of much worry and concern. In the end the enterprise was closed. Margarita tried as much as she could to lend a hand, but eventually the writing was on the wall. In 1982 their marriage ended in divorce and most ungraciously, Tomislav remarried his lady friend later that same year. He went on to have two sons with Ms Linda Bonney, his second wife.

Princess Margarita remained living in London, where her two children were raised under the kind support of their royal cousins. She never remarried. Margarita's links to the English royal family were not affected by her divorce, which had not been the case with many others who had incurred in such course of action.

In 1987 Princess Katerina married a prominent lawyer of Sri Lanka extraction, Desmond de Silva, with whom he had one daughter. Five years later Prince Nicholas married a Yugoslav-born lady by the name of Ljiljana Licánin, by whom he had a daughter, Marija, in 1993. Nicholoas is estranged from his wife. Victoria de Silva and Marija of Yugoslavia are Princess Margarita's only grandchildren. She also has a great-grandson from her granddaughter Marija.

It was common to see Margarita attend various family gatherings in Germany, from weddings, to baptisms and even some funerals. She traveled frequently from her London residence and she was always seen sporting a nice smile and a twinkle in her eye. I met Princess margarita a few times and she always seemed to have a good time, even when condemned to a wheelchair. In fact, once at Schoß Langenburg I helped carry the princess, who was seated in her wheelchair. "Your poor man, to come from so far to help carry me," she said. "Madame," I replied, "to me, it is a pleasure to be able to help you and not a bother whatsoever."

I last saw Princess Margarita at Schloß Salem in 2007. It was far too busy for us to sit and chat. But she nodded and smiled when I asked if I could take some pictures. Her smile, I will never forget. It beamed and made any room shine with light. that twinkle, she never lost.

My condolences to her brothers and the entire family...May She Rest in Peace...

 Princess Margarita of Baden

 Prince Tomislav, Princess Margarita and Prince Nicholas of Yugoslavia

 Wedding of Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia and

Princess Margarita of Baden

The Duke of Edinburgh with Prince Tomislav and Princess Margarita

of Yugoslavia. Behind Prince Philip is Margravine Theodora of Baden. 

From left: Hereditary Prince Max, Prince Ludwig and Princess Margarita of Baden. 

Prince Tomislav and Princess Margarita

of Yugoslavia. 

Margrave Berthold and Margravine Theodora of Baden with their

 children: Margarita, Max and Ludwig.

The baptism of Princess Margarita of Baden, September 1932.

Princess Margarita of Baden with ehr sister-in-law Princess Marianne

of Baden, Langenburg 2004. 

Fürstin Eilika of Leiningen and Princess Margarita of Baden,

Schloß Salem 2007.  

Princess Margarita of Baden with her daughter Princess Katerina

of Yugoslavia, Mr Desmond de Siliva and Victoria de Silva, Schloß Salem, 2007. 

Princess Margarita of Baden with Prince Ernst August of Hannover,

Schloß Salem 2007.

Ay don Juan Carlos...

For nearly four decades, Spanish monarch, King Juan Carlos I, has done a phenomenal job at the head of the nation's monarchy. That is undoubtedly true...but the last two years have witnessed an eroding of the monarchy's pristine image. These missteps were caused by the Duke of Palma de Mallorca's questionable business dealings, as well as by the King's regrettable friendship with a German adventurer and social climber by the name of Corina Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.

Years ago, Corinna Larsen made her entry into the European Gotha when she married the much younger Prince Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, second son of the Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. Eleven years separated the young prince from his much more experienced, and worldly, wife, who already had a trail, a long one, behind her meteoric rise to social prominence. Casimir was 24 years-old to Corinna's 35. (In America we call this Cougardom!)

It should come as unsurprising that the young man's family did not welcome his lovestruck escapade. A child was born to the couple in 2002 and by 2005 Casimir and Corinna's marriage had hit the rocks. They parted ways and divorce ensued. However, besides a beautiful child, the marriage provided Ms Larsen with the social catapult her birth had denied her.

Fast forward a decade and she is now at the core of a scandal responsible for eroding the image of King Juan Carlos.

Last year, His Majesty traveled to Africa on safari (as if that alone was not bad enough). While there he suffered a broken hip and had to be flown immediately to Spain. The presence of Corinna among the King's party only confirmed the fact that a liaison between the ex-princess and Juan Carlos was, sadly, true. All this happened when the King and Queen should have been celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary...instead no celebration ensued.

How sad...

Now the mess gets messier as the other suspect in the Duke of Palma de Mallorca's business is threatening to release incriminating emails that promise, so h says, to tarnish the royal institution further since they, apparently, shed further light into the inappropriate relationship between the King and the social climber.

Meanwhile, Her Majesty Queen doña Sofía continues being a paragon of virtue and abnegation to duty. Her son, the Prince of Asturias (supported by is wife) has increased his public role and provides a cleaner image of bourgeois domesticity more in tune with the times.

Continue reading...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9799327/Spains-King-Juan-Carlos-facing-embarrassment-over-emails.html

King don Juan Carlos and "the Climber" 

©CORBIS

 King Juan Carlos in Altshausen, Germany

©Eurohistory

 Their Spanish Majesties, don Juan Carlos and doña Sofía

©Eurohistory

King Juan Carlos I and the Prince of Asturias

©Eurohistory

* Use of these images without our permission will result in a most unpleasant encounter with my lawyer. READER BEWARE!

What's the Matter with the Bentley!

It is normally no laughing matter when your car will not start on a freezing cold day.

But the Queen evidently saw the funny side when her state Bentley, said to be worth £10m, refused to come to life after a church service at Sandringham today.

Standing nearby, she was seen laughing and pointing as her chauffeur tried to coax the motor into action outside St Mary Magdalene church on the Norfolk estate.

The car's V8 6.75 litre engine finally spluttered into life at the seventh attempt and the Queen, wearing a checked black and white coat with a white hat decorated with black bows, climbed in for the quarter-of-a-mile drive back to Sandringham House.

The Duke of Edinburgh walked to and from the church as normal, despite the freezing weather.

Continue reading...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/9798815/One-is-most-amused-Queen-sees-the-funny-side-when-car-will-not-start.html

Prussia: Princess Sophie Pregnant with Twins

Apparently it is now official that Prince Georg Friedrich and Princess Sophie of Prussia are expecting twins!

The Princess, who is due in February, was born Princess Sophie of Isenburg. She married the Head of House Prussia in August 2011.

Sophie's sisters also made fantastic royal marriages. Isabelle, the family's third child, is married to Fürst Carl zu Wied. They married at Birstein, her family seat, in 1998 and are the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters. Carl succeeded his father as Fürst of Wied in 2000 and is in charge of managing his family's properties.

Princess Katharina of Isenburg, Sophie's eldest sister, married Archduke Martin of Austria in 2004. The wedding, to which I was asked by the bride's mother, took place in Birstein just weeks before the other two important royal weddings of that month, Frederik and Mary of Denmark and Felipe and Letizia of Spain. Archduke martin and his wife are the parents of four children, three sons and one daughter. Martin, who manages his family's Italian properties, is the son of the late Archduke Robert of Austria-Este and of his wife, the former Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta.

It is interesting to think that through the Isenburg connection, the children of Georg Friedrich and Sophie of Prussia (the twins will be great-great-great grandsons of Kaiser Wilhelm II)  will be first cousins of the great grandsons of Emperor Karl I of Austria, Prussia's ally during the Great War.

Congratulations are due to the happy parents and blessings for a safe delivery as well!