Liechtenstein: Princess Marie Caroline is engaged

Yesterday the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein announced the engagement between their second child and only daughter, Princess Marie Caroline and Leeopoldo Maduro Vollmer. The wedding is planned for the late summer of 2025.

H.S.H. the Hereditary Prince and H.R.H. the Hereditary Princess von und zu Liechtenstein are delighted to announce the engagement of their daughter Princess Marie Caroline to Mr Leopoldo Maduro Vollmer.

Leopoldo is the eldest son of Francisco and Sofia Maduro Vollmer, born Vollmer de Marcellus, and he was born in Caracas on 28 October 1990. He studied first at the Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in Caracas, and then in England, at Harrow School. Leopoldo obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of St Andrews and his postgraduate degree from Queens College, University of Cambridge. He began his career in 2013, working in Investment Banking in Paris and New York, before returning to London in 2016, where he now works in Investment Management.

H.S.H. Princess Marie Caroline was born in Grabs Hospital in Switzerland on 17 October 1996, and is the second child of the Hereditary Prince and Princess. After attending the Ebenholz Primary School in Vaduz and the Swiss International School Rheintal, she completed her schooling in England, at Malvern College. Princess Marie Caroline then studied at Parsons School of Design in Paris and New York, graduating in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design. She currently lives in London and works in the fashion industry.

The wedding is planned for late summer next year.

Norway: A project to build a sarcophagus for King Harald and Queen Sonja has been started

© 2019 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth 

In the Norwegian government's proposal for the state budget 2025, which was presented today, the government has proposed to allocate NOK 20 million in project funds for the acquisition of a sarcophagus. The acquisition is carried out by the Royal Court.

The sacrophagus will be used as the final resting place for the king and queen in The Royal Mausoleum at Akershus Palace. Snøhetta, which among others was beind the Opera House in Oslo, has been chosen to design the sarcophagus. According to today's press release from the Royal Court, the status of the project is that the work "to design the sarcophagus has begun in an early phase".

The mausoleum was inaugurated in 1949 and includes the double sarcophaguses of King Haakon and Queen Maud (in white marble, see the photo above) and King Olav V and Crown Princess Märtha (in dark green marble). The coffin of Queen Maud was after her funeral kept at Akershus, where it waited for the construction of the mausoleum, which is a additio to the Akershus Castle Church. Due to the war the work was stopped and was not finished before 1948. The work on the sacropahgus was, however, not finished before the year after. In December 1949 Queen Maud's coffin was brought from the crypt of Gamle Aker Church, where it had been kept since Apri 1940, to Akershus Castle.  

For more details (in Norwegian) and photos of the mausoleum please read the article "Det kongelige mausoleum" at Slektshistoriewiki (the Norwegian genealogy wiki).

Norway: The Royal House reorganized

The King of Norway has decided to change the way the Royal Family has been categorized, as shown at the official website today.

Earlier there were two categories – the Royal House and the Royal Family:

The Royal Family

The Royal House of Norway belongs to the House of Glücksburg. The members of the Norwegian Royal House are Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja and Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Ingrid Alexandra.

The members of the Royal Family are in addition the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’s other children, His Highness Prince Sverre Magnus and Mr Marius Borg Høiby; Her Highness Princess Märtha Louise, Miss Maud Angelica Behn, Miss Leah Isadora Behn, Miss Emma Tallulah Behn and Her Highness Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner. 

As of today we can read:*

The Royal House of Norway

The Royal House of Norway belongs to the House of Glücksburg. The members of the Norwegian Royal House are Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja and Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Ingrid Alexandra. 

[...] 

Other royals

In addition to the members of the Royal House, HH Prince Sverre Magnus, HH Princess Märtha Louise, and HH Princess Astrid also hold royal titles.

* See also the subpage about the "Other royals".

An article on the subject in English can be read at Newsinenglish.no today. The Head of Communication at the Royal Court, Guri Varpe, has explained the changes to VG.no today: "The changes on Kongehuset.no have been made to clarify who represents the royal house, as well as who the other royals are. This is in line with current definitions of the royal house and its members"

I think it is obvious to conclude that the changes have come after the many discussions concerning Princess Märtha Louise's activities, including the claims that she has used her title for commercial gains, and her many violations of the agreement made in 2022 where she promised to differentiate more clearly between her own activities and her relationship to the Royal House of Norway, which among others meant that she would "not employ the title of Princess or refer to members of the Royal House in their social media channels, in media productions or in connection with other commercial activities". 

The changes also means among others that Crown Princess Mette-Marit's son Marius Borg Høiby, who last month was charged with among others domestic violence, has also ceased to be a member of the royal family.

I think it was a good idea to change the categories, but I would have preferred if the category "royal family" had been continued, but that it should only include those with titles. There is no reason to get rid of the the category altogether. Of course the man in the street will still use it even if not used by the Royal Court.

The changes will, for the record, have no effect on the line of succession. Many people have demanded that Princess Märtha Louise should lose her title, but it doesn't seem very likely as of now.

The King and Crown Prince have constitutional roles to play and together with their spouses belong to the Royal House, together with Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who is 2nd in line and will one day inherit the throne. In other words, those styled Majesty or Royal Highness. They are also exempted from paying taxes, cf. the Norwegian taxation act section 2-30, while other family members have to pay taxes just like other citizens.

Sweden: Princess Sofia is pregnant

The Swedish Royal Court announced today that Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia are expecting their fourth child and that the due date is some time in February 2025.

Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia are expecting a child

Their Royal Highnesses Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia are delighted to announce that The Princess is expecting their fourth child.

Princess Sofia is feeling well, and the birth is expected to take place in February 2025. During the autumn, no changes in the public schedule of Princess Sofia are planned.

The princely couple has three boys – Prince Alexander, b. 2016, Prince Gabriel, b. 2017 and Prince Julian, b. 2021. The future prince or princess will become 8th in the line of succession to the Swedish throne, and will become the king and queen's 9th grandchild. He or she will become a member of the Swedish Royal Family only and not of the Royal House, following the changes made in October 2019.

Norway: Princess Märtha Louise married to Durek Verrett

The marriage took place on Saturday 31 August 2024 at Vinjevollen (Vinje farm), Geiranger, Norway between Princess Märtha Louise, b. Oslo 22 September 1971, the daughter and eldest child of of King Harald V and Queen Sonja, née Haraldsen, and Durek David Verrett, formerly Derek David Verrett (name change in 2014), b. Sacramento, California 17 November 1974, son of David Benjamin Verrett and Sheila G. Farmer (also called Veruschka Urquhart – Farmer was her mother's name, Urquhart her father's adoped name). 

The engagement was announced on 7 June 2022.

The bride was escorted down the aisle by her eldest daughter from her first marriage, Maud Angelica Behn. The ceremony was officiated by vicar Margit Lovise Holte, using the wedding liturgy of the Church Norway. Holte is a personal friend of the bride. Pastor Michael Beckwith also gave a greeting during the ceremony. 

350 people were invited to the wedding. Among the guests were:

Norway

• HM King Harald V
• HM Queen Sonja
• HRH Crown Prince Haakon 
• HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit 
• HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra 
• Prince Sverre Magnus 
• Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner
• Maud Angelica Behn
• Leah Isadora Behn
• Emma Tallulah Behn

Sweden

• HRH Crown Princess Victoria 
• HRH Prince Daniel
• HRH Prince Carl Philip 
• HRH Prince Sofia

The Netherlands

• HRH Prince Constantijn 
• HRH Princess Laurentien

From the groom's family:

• Angelina Verrett-Byrne (sister), her husband Mike Byrne and their children Lukas Byrne and Alexandria Byrne
• Brandon Clarke (half-brother) and his wife Kim
• Maggie Alava (niece?), her husband Bryan Marks and their daughter Ava

Other guests included Prince Sverre Magnus' girl-friend Amalia Giæver Macleod, the children of the late Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen and Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner and most of their partners.

Among the sources

• Bryllup i Geiranger, Kongehuset.no 26 August 2024
• Marius Borg Høiby deltar ikke i bryllupet i Geiranger, VG.no 26 August 2024
• Kronprinsesse Victoria og prins Daniel deltar i prinsesse Märtha Louises bryllup, VG.no 27 August 2024
• Prinsessebryllupet: Disse kommer fra Dureks nærmeste familie, VG.no 28 August 2024
• Prins Sverre Magnus: Hånd i hånd med Amalie, Dagbladet.no 30 August 2024
• Salsa-festen i gang i Geiranger, Nrk.no 30 August 2024
• Prins Constantijn (54) og prinsesse Laurentien (58) av Nederland – Båndet er sterkt, Dagbladet.no 31 August 2024
• Nå er prinsesse Märtha Louise (52) og Durek Verrett (49) gift, VG.no 31 August 2024
• Trond Norén Isaksen - historiker/historian (official Facebook page) 1 September 2024

Norsk Slektshistorisk Tidsskrift, bind XLVII, hefte 2

Tidlig i august kom endelig en ny utgave av Norsk Slektshistorisk Tidsskrift i posten. Tidsskriftet har vært svært etterlengtet. Det har gått over 2 1/2 år siden forrige utgave, og det er svært kritikkverdig uansett årsak. Medlemmene har rett og slett ikke fått det de har betalt for. Så er det bare å håpe at redaktørene nå kan få tidsskriftet på rett spor igjen med regulære utgivelser. 

I «Fra redaksjonen» forteller redaktørene litt om årsakene til forsinkelsene, for deretter å fremheve at herværende utgave har 100 % kvinneandel blant forfatterne. Det kommer også litt NST-historikk om de første kvinnelige bidragsyterne til tidsskriftet. Første kvinne ut var for øvrig «frøken» Mathilde Ambjørnsen (1859–1955) som bidro med artikkelen «Hvem var krigsraad Wilhelm Falcks forældre» i NST bind 2, 1930, s. 174. Artikkelen var på kun en halv side, men hun bidro med flere artikler utover 30-tallet. Det var for øvrig en fin artikkel om henne i Tønsbergs Blad i anledning 95-årsdagen i 1954. Ambjørnsen kom opprinnelig fra Melsomvik i Stokke (dagens Sandefjord kommune), bodde flere år i Oslo, men flyttet til Tønsberg i 1943. Hun bør nok bli viet en egen biografisk artikkel i Slektshistoriewiki etter hvert.

NST bind 47 hefte 2 inneholder følgende artikler:

• Vilborg Auður Ísleifsdóttir: «Otthe norske» og Det nye testamentet, s. 67–86.
• Cecilie Simon: Offiserslekten Winther – dens opphav og de første ledd av slekten i Norge, s. 87–144.

Jeg har ikke god nok oversikt over alt som er utgitt i NST tidligere til å si noe sikkert om hvor mange artikler som har omhandlet islandsk genealogi, men det må i hvert fall ha vært en stund siden. Jeg tillater meg å sitere prologen:

«I 1500-tallets historie har det alltid stått en stråleglans – til og med en religiløs glime – av ODD GOTTSKALKSSON († 1556) og hans oversettelse av Det nye testamentet til norrønt språk. Med denne bedriften ble Odd en avgjørende aktør i islandsk historie, ettersom kirken, landets mektigste utdanningsinstitusjon og forlegger, brukte dette språket og har siden banet veien for det som ble det offisielle språk på Island de siste århundrer. I denne artikkelen framsettes det verdslige spørsmål rundt formålet med denne oversettelsen og utgivelsen, fra hvilket miljø den kommer, hvem som kan ha finansiert den og hvem som var dens sannsynlige kjøpere.»

Vi får gjennom dette arbeidet servert genealogiske og personbiografiske detaljer (med forbindelser til Norge, selvsagt) og på side 82 er det også en oversiktstavle, «Biskopene på Hólar og Odd Gottskalksson», som bl.a. oppsummerer Odds norske slekt, og som er basert på forfatterens, Anton Espelands, Marko Lambergs og Jo Rune Ugulens arbeider.

Cecilie Simon bidro med en artikkel også i forrige utgave av NST. Denne gangen skriver hun om offiserslekten Winther. Det er flere Winther-slekter i Norge, og artikkelen omhandler slekten til Aalborg-fødte Lucas Jenssøn Winther (1691–1772), som kom til Norge som kaptein i Det akershusiske infanteriregiment i 1716. Vi blir underveis godt kjent med både Lucas og kona Anna Elisabeth Kock, barn og barnebarn, men også Winther-slekten i Ålborg er godt utredet, med detaljer om søsken, foreldre og besteforeldre og litt om oldeforeldrene, borgermester i Skagen, Niels Jensen (d. 1621/1624) og Karen Lauritsdatter Tversted, n. 1649–1661. Dette er så langt jeg kan se et solid stykke arbeid og en nokså «typisk» genealogisk NST-artikkel.

Jeg har bidratt med korrekturlesing og ser at det står igjen noen (i hvert fall for meg) irriterende småfeil i artikkelen om Odd Gottskalksson. Det skal være usagt om det er jeg som har oversett feilene og/eller om redaktørene har oversett noen av mine rettelser (jeg tar ikke bryderiet med å sjekke det jeg skannet og sendte av gårde). Uansett, det er bare å beklage. Jeg tror uansett ikke at feilene ødelegger lesegleden. Det var to fine artikler som jeg håper at NSTs lesere vil kose seg med, og så håper jeg å få tilsendt mer korrektur senere i høst.

Short English summary: This article covers issue 2, vol. XLVII (47), of Norsk Slektshistorisk Tidsskrift, the bi-annual periodical of the Norwegian Genealogical Society.

Royalty Digest Quarterly no. 2, 2024

The latest issue of Royalty Digest Quarterly - no. 2, 2024 – arrived in my mailbox on 4 July. It has been a busy summer, so I haven't much time to write a commentary until now.

The contents:

• Olivier Defrance. A Life Without Tenderness. Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma II, pp. 1–10.
• Martijn Arts: Sigismund and Charlotte Agnes of Prussia. From Palace to Nature, pp. 11–17.
• Elisabeth Jane Timms: Losing Ludwig, pp. 18–28.
• Bearn Bilker: The Princely House zu Wied – A Family Album, pp. 29–49.
• Coryne Hall: Little-Known ROYALS. Prince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe, pp. 50–52.
• Stephen Bunford: The Pursuit of Pleasure - the Georgian Mistresses, pp. 53–62.
• The World Wide Web of Royalty, p. 64.

The main cover photo is of Schloss Monrepos near Neuwied, one of the palaces of the Wied family, while the inserted photo is of  Princess (Fürstin) Marie, née Princess of  Nassau-Weilberg (1825–1902), who was married to Prince Hermann (1814–1836–1864). They were 4xgreat-grandparents of the current head, Prince Maximilian, b. 1999, if I have done my maths correctly.

Ted Rosvall opens his Editor's Corner this way: "The Duke of Sussex is now definitely "Persona non Grata" within the British Royal Family. This is hardly a secret and every new scandal seems to confirm it. Not to mention his easily hurt, spoiled and scheming duchess. Without being too harsh, one must probably conclude that their place in the cold is more than well deserved."

Well, we certainly agree that the ducal couple are "Persona non Grata". But I don't think it is fair to put all the  blame on them. The king, his brother and the media also have a share in my opinion, even if the couple has made the situation much worse by their TV interview, book publication etc. after moving to the States. It is all a very sad story ...

I feel that I have learned a lot about Princess Marie Louise of the Bulgarians, née Princess of Bourbon-Parma (1870–1899), wife of Prince Ferdinand (1861–1887–1918–1948) by reading Oliever Defrance's article, which was written with the collaboration of Joseph van Loon and Damien Bilteryst. What a sad marriage and what a selfish husband ...

Prince Sigismund (1896–1978), the second son of Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1862–1929) and a nephew of Emperor Wilhelm II, had an interesting life as a farmer in Guatemala and later in Costa Rica, together with his wife Princess Charlotte Agnes, née Princess of Saxe-Altenburg (1899–1989). I have read about them before, but it was a nice "return visit".

The article about king Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845–1886) by Elisabeth Jane Timms is based among others on the diary of Archduchess Marie Valerie (1868–1924), whose mother was Empress Elisabeth "Sissi" of Austria, née Duchess in Bavaria (1837–1898).

The main article of this issue is of course Bearn Bilker's Family Album of the House of Wied. The article follows the same pattern as previous family albums – a short introduction followed by a large collection of photos of various family members and then finally a genealogical table. Bilker could perhaps have mentioned Prince Wilhelm of Wied (1876–1945), who reigned as Prince (Mbret) of Albania for a short period in 1914, but at least it is mentioned in the genealogy (provided by Ted Rosvall, I gather?).

Prince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe (1898–1974) was certainly not among the best-known members of royal Europe, and you would have to be very interested in royal history to know much about him these days. He was the son of Prince Friedrich (1868–1945), head of the Náchod branch, and Princess Louise of Denmark (1875–1906), the eldest daughter of Crown Prince, later King Frederik VIII) of Denmark (1843–1906–1912). Prince Christian, a first cousin of among others King Frederik IX of Denmark (1899–1947–1972) and King Olav V of Norway (1903–1957–1991), married his first cousin Princess Feodora of Denmark (1910–1975), eldest daughter of Prince Harald (1876–1949). Prince Christian and Princess Feodora's second son was the notorious Prince Waldemar (1940–2020), who caused so headlines of the years for the wrong reasons ...

When Stephen Bunford writes about "the Georgian Mistresses" he refers to the various Kings named George (of Hannover and the United Kingdom), but if you read the headline fast without thinking too much, you could easily wonder if the article was about mistresses from Georgia, and that would have made it more eccentric, wouldn't it?! Bunford doesn't hide the truth about King George IV: "[He] was an egotistical, romantic, dramatic, foolhardy, untruthful, narcistic, self-interested, self-absorbed sybarite." If you want to see the full list of George's over 70 known and alleged mistresses (and children) you should see Anthony Camp's website https://anthonyjcamp.com/pages/anthony-j-camp-nos-1-29.

Finally, the column The World Wide Web of Royalty this time brings you genealogical news of Hohenlohe-Öhringen, Lippe-Weissenfels, Schleswig-Holstein, Austria and Bavaria.

Information about Royalty Digest Quarterly can be found at its editor's website Royalbooks.se. See earlier presentations of RDQ here. See also its Facebook page. 

This article was last time updated on Tuesday 20 August 2024 at 21:20 (a link was corrected).