A Constitutional Mess in Liechtenstein

From his ancient schloss, dramatically perched on a clifftop high above his tiny capital city Vaduz, the Crown Prince of Liechtenstein rules his subjects as one of Europe's last truly powerful monarchs.

On Sunday he will find out if that is to end, when the result of a hard-fought referendum is announced on whether to cut his power.

The prince himself has warned that he might withdraw from his official duties if the vote goes against him - a threat, made in parliament, which many understood to mean that he and his family would pack up and leave for exile, with their wealth of around £3 billion.

Since the campaign took off, Prince Alois has rarely been seen in Vaduz, which lies directly below his castle with its fabulous views across the Rhine to snow-covered Alpine peaks.

Liechtensteiners often used to bump into him in its streets, with his wife Princess Sophie and their four children, shopping or drinking coffee in one of the little cafes sandwiched between big shiny banks and souvenir shops full of cuckoo clocks, where he is on first name terms with many of them. The familiarity does not go the other way - "Your Serene Highness" is what they call him.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/liechtenstein/9366747/Prince-of-Liechtenstein-threatens-to-leave-after-vote-on-his-powers.html

German Princely Alliance – Sublime Wedding in the Late Summer 2012

Prince Dominik zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (b. 1983), youngest son of Füst Aloys-Konstantin and of his wife, the former Princess Anastasia of Prussia, will marry Countess Olga zu Castell-Rüdenhausen, daughter of Fürst Johann-Friedrich and of his wife, the former Countess maria von Schönborn-Wiessentheid.

Both Bride and Groom are closely related to the Head of House Prussia, Prince Georg Friedrich, whose wedding they attended together last August 2011.

Prince Dominik's mother, Anastasia, is the daughter of the late Prince Hubertus of Prussia and his second wife, the late Princess Magdalena Reuß. Prince Hubertus was the third son of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and of his wife Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who were the parents of Prince Louis Ferdinand (1907-1994), grandfather of Prince Georg Friedrich (b. 1976), Head of House Prussia.

Countess Olga's father is the son of the late Fürst Siegfried (1916-2007) and of his late wife, the former Countess Irene zu Solms-Laubach (1925-2006), whose brother Count Otto (1926-1973) was the husband of Princess Madeleine zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, herself the sister of Fürst Richard (married to Princess Benedikte of Denmark) and of Princess Tatiana, the former wife of Landgraf Moritz of Hesse. Fürst Johann-Friedrich is the brother of Duchess Donata of Oldenburg, the mother of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, her only son from her marriage to Prince Louis Ferdinand Jr. of Prussia. Donata's first husband died tragically and many years later she remarried Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg, who was divorced from Princess Marie cecile of Prussia, Louis Ferdinand Jr.'s sister.

Prince Dominik's paternal aunts also made fantastic marriages. Fürst Aloys-Konstantin has six sisters, four of them married titled husbands. Princess Maria married Archduke Joseph Arpad of Austria, while her sister Christianne married Archduke Michael, Joseph Arpad's younger brother. Princess Josephine married Prince Alexander of Liechtenstein, who died earlier this year after more than five decades of marriage. Princess Lioba is married, since 1969, to Fürst Moritz zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Wallerstein. Princesses Monika and Elisabeth-Alexandra married Spanish aristocrats. However, Monika is the mother of the former Maria del Pilar Méndez de Vigo, wife of Duke Paul-Friedrich of Oldenburg, the son of Duke Friedrich August and Marie Cecile of Oldenburg. Let's not forget that María del Pilar's older brother, Carlos Manuel, is married to Princess Katharina of Hohenberg, whose sister Margarete is the wife of Archduke Joseph Carl of Austria, eldest son of Joseph Arpad and Maria of Austria.

The link with the Schönborn-Wiessentheids is equally important. The Bride's mother is the duaghter of the late Count Karl and of his wife, the former Graziella Alvares Pereira de Melo, a Portuguese aristocrat descended from a leading family from that former kingdom. Furthermore, the former Countess Maria is the first cousin of the former Countess Gabriele, who is the wife of Fürst Alexander zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. Gabriele's mother, the late Princess Helene of Thurn und Taxis, herself a first cousin of the late Fürst Johannes of Thurn und Taxis.

To say that genealogically-speaking this union is sublime, does not begin to illustrate its true meaning. Old Gotha matrons flipping through the pages of the Almanach de Gotha, could not have formed a better alliance!

The official newspaper of the Castell-Rüdenhausen region recently announced that the civil wedding will take place in late September at Rüdenhausen, while the religious ceremony will take place in Portugal on 6 October 2012.

Prince Dominik zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg and Countess Olga zu Castell-Rüdenhausen at the wedding of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia and Princess Sophie zu Isenburg (Potsdam August 2012). Photo by Anuschka Becker.

Announcement at castellrudenhausen.de

Happy-Go-Lucky Aristocrat Gone Yonder!

It was reported over the weekend that colorful aristocrat, Robin Grinnell-Milne de La Lanne-Mirrlees, passed away at the age of 87 years old.


Robin, who had a penchant for changing his name as often as he traded in mistresses, was born Robin Ian Evelyn Grinnell-Milne, the son of Captain Duncan Grennell-Milne and French Countess Frances de La Lanne. With time and after countless legal name changes, Robin decided to begin calling himself a Count Grinnell-Milne de La Lanne-Mirrlees, not that he had the right to do so, mind you.


His dalliances were legendary and among his conquests were Fiona Campbell-Walker, who eventually married Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, and became the mother of Archduchess Francesca, estranged wife of Archduke Karl of Austria, Head of House.


Another of Robin's loves was Duchess Margarethe of Württemberg, the eldest daughter of Duke Albrecht Eugen of Württemberg (1895-1954) and his wife Princess Nadedja of Bulgaria (1899-1958). As it turns out, Margarethe became pregnant by Robin and in the early 1960s traveled to San Francisco where she was delivered of a baby boy, Patrick Grinnell-Milne de La Lanne-Mirrlees, who was born in 1962. The child was given up to a foster mother and in time setled in Germany where he serves as Mayor of the Town of Delmenhorst, near Bremen. Patrick married Irene Auer in 1988 and has three children by her. Whether he is contact with his birth family is something to pertains to the private realm.

The attached obituary describes Robin as a "descendant of King Louis Philippe" but unless he is so through an illegitimate line, that connection escapes me. Margarethe certainly is an Orléans descendant as her Bulgarian grandfather, King Ferdinand I, was himself the youngest grandson of King Louis Philippe of the French and Queen Marie Amelie.

Further reading...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2164294/Dashing-Scottish-aristocrat-bed-hopping-ways-inspiration-James-Bond-dies-aged-87.html

http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2008/10/german-mayor-has-royal-connections.html

Majority of Serbs Support Return of the Monarchy

Renowned Serbian news outlet, Blic, did a nationwide survey and asked Serbians their opinion on the future role of the monarchy.

About 64% of those polled support a return of the institution in the person of Crown Prince Alexander!

Reform in Luxembourg's Succession Laws

In future, the first-born child of the Grand Ducal couple, whether boy or girl will be able to accede to the throne, the royal household announced on Friday.

The announcement comes just a year after the Grand Ducal household announced it was revising the “Pacte de famille” of the Luxembourg-Nassau house.

Grand Duke Henri, as head of the family, had started the procedure on June 23 last year, which came to a close in June 2012.

While the move signals a modernisation of the royal household, it also bears witness to the Grand Duchesses, who previously ruled the country. In 1912 Grand Duke William IV ruled that his daughter Marie-Adelaïde should take the throne. With six daughters, but no sons, he wanted to preempt a succession crisis by the move.

When Marie-Adelaïde abdicated in 1919, her sister Charlotte succeeded her, becoming a symbol of national unity during the Second World War, which saw her exiled from Luxembourg during the Nazi occupation.

The revision will not affect the current order of succession.

http://www.wort.lu/en/view/gender-equality-in-luxembourg-throne-succession-rights-4fe4891ae4b0c152a04deb4c

Treasures, Princely Taste

A video about Sotheby's next royal sale, PRINCELY TASTE, filled with amazing treasures!

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2012/treasures-princely-taste-l12307/videos.html?cmp=L12307_0712_3_EXHexample2

Return of the Kings...Eastern Europe

A specter is haunting Europe—and pace Marx, it is the specter of monarchy. Whenever a ceremony of any sort is performed for or by a deposed ruling family’s members—as has happened in the past few years in France, Germany, and Austria—there is sure to be whining in the media and among the political caste.

This is understandable, since the latter are the heirs of those who seized power and aim to keep it forever—regardless of what their subjects might want. Sundry triumphant pols passed laws forbidding the physical return of royal heirs to their nations—even as visitors. One by one, however, these measures were voided until the European Court tossed out the last of them and allowed the House of Savoy to return to Italy.

The entrenched political class feared that once back, the royals might regain some of their property. To avoid this, recourse was had in several countries (most notably Austria) to the kind of legal chicanery we Americans are used to with the Supreme Court. But the dominant classes’ apprehensions were fulfilled in all the Balkan countries—heretofore exposed to the reductio ad absurdum of “democracy” in the form of exquisitely brutal communist regimes.

 

“So steeped have we become in the politics of envy that the government robbing a rich man—better still, an ex-reigning sovereign—will bring joy to many.”

With the exception of Greece, which with Anglo-American help had avoided its sister countries’ red servitude, the populations of the formerly Marxist region welcomed back their former monarchs (or their heirs) with open arms—going so far as to reverse the theft of much of their former property. The Balkan royals began once again to play supporting roles in their homelands’ public life. Simeon II of Bulgaria was perhaps the most successful. Acting as the focus of a grassroots political movement, he was elected prime minister in 2001.

Continue reading... http://takimag.com/article/return_of_the_kings_charles_coulombe/print#ixzz1yDE3kWAg

King Simeon II of the Bulgarians, Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia,

King Michael I of Romania and King Constantine II of the Hellenes.

Royal Wedding in House Parma

On Saturday 16 June the Marchioness of Sala, Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Parma, married Albert Ludgerus Brenninkmeijer.

The wedding mass was celebrated at San Miniato al Monte at 12.30pm. It was followed by a  cocktail at the Albergo of Piazza del Carminem then dinner and dancing at the Villa I Collazzi.

 The Groom is scion to a leading Dutch family.

The Bride is one of the two daughters of the late Duke of Parma and his wife, Princess Irene of the Netherlands.

The Marchioness of Sala and her husband.

Princess Irene of the Netherlands and her son the Duke of Parma.

Albert Ludgerus Brenninkmeijer.

The Marchioness of Sala.

The Other Grand Dukes – Nears Shipping to Printing!

The last few weeks here at Eurohistory have been rather busy. Not only were ERHJ Issues 85-86 mailed to all our subscribers (mailing was completed last Tuesday), but I have been busily putting the finishing touches on our newest book THE OTHER GRAND DUKES – Sons and Grandsons of Russia's Grand Dukes.

This sequel to our very successful THE GRAND DUKES – Sons and Grandsons of Russia's Tsars contains the biographies of 18 Romanovs from Kirill Vladimirovich to Alexis Mikhailovich, all being children and grandchildren of Romanov Grand Dukes.

The book is divided into seven chapters in which contributors (Janet Aston, Arturo E. Beéche, Coryne Hall, Greg King, John van der Kiste, Marlene Koenig, Penny Wilson) have thoroughly examined the lives of the 18 Romanovs included in this volume. Noted royal legal specialist Charles Stewart contributed an erudite introduction, while HRH Prince Michael of Kent kindly authored the Foreword.

The book spreads through nearly 280 pages. It also includes five family trees and a 24 glossy page photo section filled with amazing images of these Grand Dukes.

THE OTHER GRAND DUKES – Sons and Grandsons of Russia's Grand Dukes is scheduled to head to printing in about two weeks (hopefully sooner) and we expect to begin selling copies by the end of July!

Also, ERHJ LXXXVII (June 2012) is under construction and will mail as scheduled at the beginning of July!

The Queen's Granddaughter An Olympian

Zara Philipps, The Queen's second grandchild, has qualified to compete in the upcoming London Olympic Games!