Book Presentation: Estoril – Los Años Dorados

Our dear friend Ricardo Mateos Saínz de Medrano, the noted and celebrated Spanish biographer, has presented in Barcelona his latest book, Estoril – Los Años Dorados.

The book covers the post-war years from 1946-1969 when the beautiful seaside resort of Estoril became home to many of Europe's exiled royals, from King Carol II of Romania to Archduke Josef of Austria.

The book, available only in Spanish, is a true jewel. The official presentation of the book was attended by HRH the Duke of Bragança, who flew in from Portugal to join in the festivities.

Someone ought to let me translate this beautiful work of royal history!

Ricardo....me escuchas...

At center, HRH the Duke of Bragança and Ricardo Mateos Saínz de Medrano.

Exhibition: The Killing of Nicholas II and his Family

An exhibition on their detention, killings and the subsequent investigations into them has opened at the Russian State Archives in Moscow.

It comes as Russians continue to reassess the reputation of their last tsar.

He and his family and four members of staff were killed without trial by Bolsheviks in the early hours of 17 July 1918, in the cellar of a house in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

The Soviet authorities drew a veil over what had happened.

The exhibition's curator, Marina Siderova, says Russians now want to know more about the subject.

'Great interest'

"No one was talking about this before," she says.

Yakov Yurovsky's weapons are on display

"In Soviet times it was taboo, a closed subject and probably now we are only just starting to talk about this tragedy.

"The number of people visiting the exhibition shows there is great interest in this topic."

Continue reading...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18592372

News Release – Eurohistory Issue LXXXVII (June 2012)

Dear Subscribers and Readers,

We have been extremely busy here at Eurohistory. Besides working on two new books (more on this later), we are nearly done with our latest magazine, Issue LXXXVII (June 2012), which will go to print this week and begin mailing July 25!

Inside this latest issue our of widely-read magazine, you will find articles on the following topics:

1. Emperor Karl I of Austria

2. What's In a Photo – A Royal Wedding in Palermo (1931)

3. The Diamond Jubilee

4. The Wedding of HRH Princess Antonia of Bourbonp-Parma and Martin Krusbæk


5. Obituary: Dowager Fürstin Delia su Oettinegn-Wallerstein


6. Obituary: Doña Emanuela de Dampierre


7. Obituary: Count Carl Johan Bernadotte


8. Anniversaries – Archduchess Helen of Austria


9. Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg


10. Royal News


11. Book Reviews

As always, enjoy the reading!


For subscription and renewal information contact us at books@eurohistory.com

UK – Olympic Torch Meets The Queen

Yesterday, the torch made its way to Windsor Castle, where the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh greeted the Olympic flame. The special torchbearer was none other than Gina Macgregor, a 74-year-old runner who trudged through the rain to make it to the royals. According to reports, the Queen exchanged a few words with Macgregor, wondering about how exactly the torch worked. Afterward, it passed into the hands of 12-year-old Philip Wells.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/10/olympic-torch-greets-queen-of-england-at-windsor-castle/#ixzz20I2pZMUW

©AFP 

UK – A Time for Forgiveness as The Queen Meets IRA Leader

From the Telegraph by Tim Knatchbull, a survivor of the bomb attack that killed his grandfather Earl Mountbatten of Burma, among other family members.

Martin McGuinness is widely recognised as having been chief of staff of the IRA, an organisation that killed 1,778 people, making it by far the most lethal group in the conflict we euphemistically call the Troubles. Last Wednesday, he met the Queen as her deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. Some Irish nationalists were disgusted. So were some Brits. Not this one. We should be grateful to them both – to her for having remained steadfast, to him for having changed.

The Queen was shaking the hand of the man said to have authorised the killing of 79-year-old Lord Louis Mountbatten, my grandfather. He was the best of grandparents, warm, loving, devoted. I called him Grandpapa; “Timothy Titus, Please Don’t Bite Us” was the nonsensical catchphrase he invented for me. There always seemed to be laughter and fun around him.

The Queen loved him very much, too, as someone who had been at the heart of her family from before her birth, as well as at the heart of Britain’s Armed Forces, the end of empire and the birth of the Commonwealth. He was godson to Queen Victoria, Uncle Dickie to Prince Philip, honorary grandfather to Prince Charles and Shop Steward to most of Europe’s royalty.

The bomb that killed him had been hidden under the floorboards of his rickety old fishing boat, Shadow V. It was detonated by remote control soon after we put to sea to check our lobster pots near Mullaghmore in County Sligo, Ireland. The explosion at 11.46am on August 27 1979 killed my grandfather, who was at the helm three feet from me; Nicky, my 14-year-old identical twin and complete soulmate; and Paul Maxwell. Paul was an Irish schoolboy we had befriended in Mullaghmore that summer and who was earning pocket money helping out on the boat. That day, he was wearing a pair of jeans he had borrowed from a friend of his sister Donna, and had been taking great care not to get them dirty.

My parents and I survived the blast, and initially, cruelly, so did my grandmother Doreen Brabourne. She was a gloriously serene lady of Irish extraction who had lived through the Troubles at the beginning of the century. Shortly before detonation, she turned to my mother, both of them with their legs up in front of them in the warm sunshine, and said: “Isn’t this a beautiful day?”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/9366701/Tim-Knatchbull-the-IRA-killed-my-grandfather-but-Im-glad-the-Queen-met-their-man.html

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