House Salm-Salm: Princely Wedding

Princess Cecily zu Salm-Salm married her longtime boyfriend Mr. Ludwig Benecke on 7 July 2012. The religious ceremony was celebrated at the Pfarrkirche St Laurentius in Wallhausen.


The bride is the youngest daughter of Prince Michael zu Salm-Salm (b. 1953) and of his wife Philippa, born a Countess Castell-Castell (b. 1952). Cecily is their sixth child.


Michael and Cecily met nine years ago and worked together for an NGO in Kenya. Michael is a Messianic Jew, a branch of Judaism that sees Christ as the Messiah.

Netherlands – Traditional Photo Session 2012

The Prince of Orange welcomed the press to a photo session with his wife Princess Máxima and their three daughters.

This is a yearly event organized by the royal house to provide photo journalists with an opportunity to photograph the future King of the Netherlands and his beautiful family.

Eurohistory, as usual, was represented by our star photographer, Marianne Dost Berkhout, who has provided us with excellent images over the last few years!

'Rightful heir' to British monarchy dies in Australia

An Australian forklift driver who some historians argued was the true heir to the British throne has died in the small New South Wales town he called home, his local newspaper reported Thursday.

Mike Hastings, 71, was a real-life aristocrat, born the 14th earl of Loudoun, who moved to Australia in 1960 in search of adventure.

He made international headlines in 2004 when a documentary team from Britain's Channel Four conducted extensive research into the monarchy and concluded his ancestors were cheated out of the crown in the 15th century.

Hastings, an avowed republican, died on June 30 and was buried Thursday in Jerilderie, about 750 kilometres (465 miles) southwest of Sydney, the local Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser reported.

Continue reading... http://news.yahoo.com/rightful-heir-british-monarchy-dies-australia-101205966.html

Brazil – Air France Crash Investigation Reveals Findings

Authorities investigating the accident that plunged an Air France jetliner over the Atlantic in 2009, the accident that cost the life of Prince Pedro Luiz of Brazil and 227 other passengers and crew, have revealed their findings.

As it turns out, negligent maintenance and human error are to blame for the deadly crash.

Continue reading: http://news.yahoo.com/france-brazil-crash-faulty-data-misled-pilot-105841605--finance.html

The late Prince Pedro Luiz of Brazil

Monaco – Princess Caroline's son engaged

The office of Princess Caroline of Hannover announced yesterday that her eldest son, Andrea Casiraghi, is engaged to be married to his longtime girlfriend Tatiana Santodomingo, a wealthy Latin American who has live din Europe for a very long time.

Italian press is reporting that the couple are expecting their first child. Photos of Tatiana clearly show that her body is no longer as svelte as usual. Babies born out of wedlock or just after marriage are not an unusual happening among the Grimaldis.

The Princess of Hannover announced that the wedding will take place in 2013.

©Patrice Lapoirie

Princely Monaco – First year Anniversary

The princely palace has released an official photo on the occasion of the first wedding anniversary of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene. The Prince commented, "We are truly happy and I still feel that it was yesterday. I am very impressed with what my wife has accomplished in the last year, creating her foundation dedicated to children and sport, while being involved in her new role in Monaco. She has accomplished brilliantly a difficult mission."


Congratulations to the princely couple...and may they soon give Monaco some heirs!

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visit the Isles of Scilly

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visit the Isles of Scilly

3rd July 2012

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall defied foul weather in Cornwall today to make their second visit to the Isles of Scilly in three years.

Once on the island the weather lifted with just a light drizzle and mist remaining around the harbour.

Their Royal Highness's visit comes on day two of their annual summer visit to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

It gave The Duchess of Cornwall, a well-known animal lover, the chance to visit the only vet's surgery on the island of St. Mary's.

The practice looks after animals ranging from dolphins and seals to domestic dogs and cats and even stick insects.

The Duchess was shown around by Dr Heike Dorn who has worked on the islands for six years and met her rescue dog - a three-legged lurcher called Padme.

During the visit a woman brought in a 12-year-old Khaki Campbell duck called Jemima for a check-up, and the bird seemed a little overcome by all the attention.

Dr Dorn, who lives above the surgery, said: "It was a lovely, lovely visit.

"We talked about what kind of animals I look after, which is quite a wide variety, and she also met my dog, Padme, who she liked very much.

Continue reading...http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/newsandgallery/news/the_prince_of_wales_and_duchess_of_cornwall_visit_the_isles__1985102108.html

+ Fürst Heinrich IV Reuß (1919-2012)

Fürst Heinrich IV Reuß (Köstritz), Head of House, passed away on 20 June 2012. The prince was in his 93th year of life and at the time of death was surrounded by his children.


Heinrich IV was the son of Prince Heinrich XXXIX (1891-1946) and of his wife the former Countess Antonia zu Castell-Castell (1896-1971). He was born at the family estate, Schloß Ernstbrunn on 26 October 1919. He was the eldest child of his parents and was joined by five other siblings: Heinrich VI (1922-1942), killed in the battle of Stalingrad; Amadea (b. 1923), who married Reinhold Sachs (1922-1989); Gertrud (1924-2011), who married Henri Grand d'Esnon (1918-2004); Heinrich VII (b. 1927-2002), with descendants; and Elisabeth (b. 1931), who married Peter Coleman (1928-2001).


Both of Heinrich IV's paternal grandparents were Reußs, as were the parents of his paternal grandfather. One of his aunts was Queen Eleonore of Bulgaria (1860-1917), second wife of King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (1861-1948).


This branch of the Reuß princely family owned estates in Thuringia, an area of Germany that ended under Communist control after 1945. All those lands were confiscated and lost. The Reußs land holdings in Austria, centered around Schloß Ernstbrunn, their summer residence, remained under family control.


In 1954 Heinrich IV married Princess Marie Louis zu Salm-Horstmar (b. 1918), the youngest child of Fürst Otto II zu Salm-Horstmar and of his wife the former Countess Rosa Solms-Baruth, an aunt of Countess Viktoria Adelheid zu Solms-Baruth, the late mother of Prince andreas of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha. Heinrich IV and Marie Louise were the parents of four children: Heinrich XIV (b. 1955), who now succeeds his father as Head of House and Fürst Reuß, and is married to the former Baroness Johanna Raitz von Frentz (b. 1971); Johanetta (b. 1957), a Protestant Minister; Caroline (b. 1959), who is married to Baron Carl Philipp von Hohenbühel get Heufler zu Rasen (b. 1957), and Espérance (b. 1962), who is widowed from Count Johannes Kinsky von Wchinitz u. Tettau (1964-2008), a nephew of Fürstin Marie-Aglaë of Liechtenstein.


Fürst Geinrich IV was quite successful in reclaiming lands expropriated by the Communists. " Thus closes a circle," Heinrich XIV said. . "Thus closes a circle," said his son. The Reuß family never lost its connection to their ancestral lands and always hoped to regain their control. That finally came to be after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. "For my father it was a happy return, when he could come to Thuringia in 1990 and visit his home again," remember the late Heinrich IV's son.  That same year the Princes of Reuß began a land and forestry operation in their old lands. These properties are located around the city of Gera and the area of Bad Löbenstein. In fact, Heinrich IV was very successful in fulfilling his restitution claims to expropriated property. As he was born in Austria, Heinrich IV was exempted from a law that made it difficult for German-born property-owners to reclaim expropriated real estate lost after the Second World War. Many of the claims have been completed successfully, more remain in dispute, but it is quite likely that the princely family will succeed in these as well.


The late prince was also an avid hunter, as well as a keen musician. 


Prince Heinrich XIL now becomes Head of House and his only son, Heinrich XXIX, becomes Hereditary Prince Reuß zu Köstritz.


http://www.tlz.de/startseite/detail/-/specific/Der-letzte-Fuerst-Reuss-ist-mit-fast-93-Jahren-verstorben-1993574247

Fürst Heinrich IV Reuß

(1919-2012)

Fürst Heinrich IV Reuß attending a royal wedding in Germany.

©Stig Nielsen for Eurohistory Magazine

Fürst Heinrich XIV Reuß zu Köstritz and his wife Johanna.

British Monarchs and their dazzling gems

A lovely exhibition!

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/10-000-diamonds-on-display-at-buckingham-palace-slideshow/

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