Russia: 400th Anniversary Celebration at Livadia

Accompanied by several members of the Gotha, among them quite a few descendants of the Romanovs, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty with a gathering in the Crimea, culminating with a party at Livadia Palace.

Among those attending was Prince Leka II of Albania, whose site has a report of the interesting gathering.

From Leka II's site:

HRH Prince Leka II of the Albanians, Ms Elia Zaharia, HRH’s fiancee and a delegation of the albanian old families attended the ceremonies of the 400th anniversary of the rise of the Romanov dinasty to the russian throne, headed by Their Imperial Highnesses Grand-Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and Grand-Duke Georgui Mikhailovitch, Her Son and Heir.

The celebrations, in honor of the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty were helded in Yalta, Crimea. A memorial service, the Panichida, was held on September 22 at the Imperial Family private chapel near to the Livadia Palace, the last summer residence of Nicholas II and his family. A State Dinner took place in the evening at Livadia Palace, honoured by the presence of many prestigious guests, russian orthodox clergy and members of the Ukrainian Government as well.

Many royal and princely houses were represented at the event. King Fouad II of Egypt, archduke Joseph-Charles of Habsburg, Don Duarte, Crown Prince of Portugal, princess Maria-Gabriella of Savoy, the margrave of Bade, the prince and princess of Leinengen, princes Wladimir and Michael Karageorgevic, etc.

The purpose of the attendance of this event by HRH Prince Leka of the Albanians was not only to honour the great contribute of the Romanov on the Russian and on the European history, but also to strength the old friendship between the Albanian Royal Family and the House of Romanov which are old and very genuine.

HIH Grand-Duchess Maria attended King Leka I’s and Queen Susan wedding in Madrid in october 1975. King Leka I and Queen Susan attended the mariage of HIH Grand-Duchess Maria with HIH Prince Franz Wilhelm von Hohenzollern in Madrid in september 1976.

HIH Grand-Duke Georgui attended, on behalf of His mother, the ceremony of the translation of the body of King Zog I of the Albanians and the State Funeral helded in Tirana in november 2012.

The 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty is marked on the 6th of March. Michael Romanov, whose grandfather, Nikita, wa a central adviser to Ivan the Terrible, was unanimously elected Tsar of Russia by a national assembly on 21 February 1613. Since that time, Romanov family, as the second and last Russian imperial dynasty, ruled the country right until 1917.

http://www.albanianroyalcourt.al/news/85

©Leka II of Albania

Article in LA NACION about Alfred of Prussia

LA NACION, Costa Rica's largest newspaper, has multi-page article on the fate of Alfred of Prussia.

I had a copy of the printed article scanned and sent to, but much to my delight I also found it online!

Alfred of Prussia sporting a typical Costa Rican farmer's hat.

Sigismund of Prussia in his library at Finca San Miguel, where he introduced me to the intricacies of the Gotha, oh so many decades ago.

Charlotte Agnes of Prussia, who would ride her horse through the streets of Puntarenas, the sea port where I grew up. Both my grandmothers knew her well and would supply her with clean, empty glass bottles for the honey the royal couple sold in town. She was so tiny.

San Miguel de Barranca.

Alfred of Prussia – I took this photo of Alfred at his small house in Heredia, Costa Rica. Even this unremarkable abode would be lost in the following years.

The smile I will never forget!

+ Prince Alfred of Prussia (1924-2013)

It is with much sadness that I inform our readers that my dear friend Prince Alfred of Prussia passed away in San José, Costa Rica.

His passing, sadly, went nearly unnoticed as Alfred had been living with people who kept him from all those of us who knew and loved him.

I will miss Alfred. My last contact with him was several years ago, just as he was falling into the hands of the men who cut him off from us all.

HRH Prince Alfred of Prussia died on 3 June 2013, in San José, Costa Rica.

May he rest in Peace...

©Arturo Beéche

New Book: Axel and Margaretha ... A Royal Couple

A new book in the series; Swedish Princes and Princesses has been published; AXEL & MARGARETHA - A Royal Couple, by Randi Buchwaldt and Ted Rosvall. 96 pages, 145 illustrations, many never before published. Princess Margaretha (1899-1977) was the daughter of Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg and the sister of Crown Princess Märtha of Norway and of Queen Astrid of Belgium. Prince Axel (1888-1964) was the son of Prince Valdemar and Princess Marie d'Orléans. They were both very active in the Danish society, especially Prince Axel, who had many assignments within shipping, aviation and sports. Randi Buchwaldt has inteviewed Prince Axel and Princess Margaretha's grandchildren as well as Princess Benedikte of Denmark and others that knew the princely couple. The result is a a very initiated double biography which also gives a bit of Scandinavian history and above all; glorious images from a time and an era long since gone ...


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9198064525

New Book: Eddy and Helene ... an Impossible Match

Now on sale at Eurohistory and on our AMAZON page as well:


http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/9198064517/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Spain: The Troubles of the King

An interesting read in Vanity Fair:

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/2013/10/crisis-spain-royalty-abdication.print

Belgium: An interview with the mother of Delphine Boel

It is in French...so for those of you who understand the language...it is a fascinating interview with the former mistress of King Albert II of the Belgians, by whom she had a daughter, Delphine Boel.

They first met when her father was Belgian ambassador in Greece and Albert visited because he had trouble with his yacht. From then on...the rest c'est l'histoire!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bO9iQ2z8ac

UK: The Mountbatten Sisters in Vanity Fair

I love subscribing to Vanity Fair and have been an avid reader for more than 20 years. As a subscriber, one gets access to their website as well.

The Countess Mountbatten of Burma is an extraordinary lady. She was immensely helpful to Ilana Miller during the writing of THE FOUR GRACES, published by us at EUROHISTORY (and currently being readied for a Second Edition).

Look at this little jewel...



Vanity Fair – September 2013

Mountbatten Sisters

By James ReginatoPhotograph by Jonathan Becker

Not many people remain who can tell stories like Lady Pamela Hicks and her big sister, Patricia, Countess Mountbatten of Burma. But, then, few people ever witnessed the history they did. The only children of Louis, Earl Mountbatten of Burma—and great-great-granddaughters of Queen Victoria—the sisters can recall going to tea with Queen Mary, having Mr. and Mrs. Simpson come to one of their parents’ weekend house parties at Adsdean, the family’s estate in Sussex, along with King Edward VIII, and being evacuated from London on the eve of the Blitz to New York, where they were billeted by Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt III at her colossal residence at 640 Fifth Avenue, a vestige of the Gilded Age.

Their third cousins Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret served as bridesmaids for Patricia, while Pamela was a member of Elizabeth’s wedding party in 1947. Pamela had to rush back to England for the occasion from India, where her parents were Britain’s last Viceroy and Vicereine, and where she herself would become fast chums with Gandhi and Nehru. In 1952, she set off as a lady-in-waiting on what was to be a six-month tour of the Commonwealth with Elizabeth and Philip, a first cousin. One week out, Pamela was one of the few people with the couple in Africa when word arrived that George VI had died and Elizabeth was now Queen. So while Pamela is 84 (and Patricia is 89), it’s no wonder that her new memoir, Daughter of Empire: Life as a Mountbatten, stops at age 24. There was so much to get in.

Yet the ensuing decades continued to be eventful for both sisters. Pamela married celebrated interior designer David Hicks, and Patricia enjoyed a long and fascinating marriage to John Knatchbull, the seventh Baron Brabourne, a movie producer whose credits included A Passage to India and numerous Agatha Christie adaptations. In 1979, their world was upended when a bomb planted by the IRA on a fishing boat off Ireland killed their father, along with one of Patricia’s seven children, her mother-in-law, and a local boy. Patricia and her husband were gravely wounded.

Continue reading..

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/2013/09/princess-diana-discoing-mountbatten-memoir