Cimetière de Passy, Paris, France

Pearl White (1889-1938, US American silent film star.

Bao Dai (1913-1997), the last Emperor of Vietnam.

The last resting place of the Georgian Prince David Dimitry Tsouloukidze and his wife Princess Emma, née Dunbar.

Tomb of the Russian artist Marie Bashkirtseff (1860-1884). According to Wikipedia her tomb is a recreation of her studio and has been declared a historical monument by the French government.

Grave of Prince Leila of Iran (1970-2001), daughter of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Grave of Princess Ghislaine of Monaco (1900-1991), née Dommanget, spouse of Prince Louis II (1870-1922-1949).

Grave of the artist Édouard Manet (1832-1883).

Grave of Maurice Bellonte (1896-1984), who together with Dieudonné Costes made the first east to west crossing of the Atlantic by plane in 1930.

Grave of Princess Nathalia Romanovskaya-Brassova (1880-1952), née Cheremetevskya, wife of Grand Prince Michael of Russia (1878-1918), and of their son Count Georgy Brassov (1910-1931).

Grave of (among others) Prince Claude Beguin Billecoco, Duke of Durazzzo (1914-2001), Charles Baron Tascher de La Pagerie (1811-1869) and Princess Sophie Therese of Leyen and Hohengeroldseck (1798-1876), née Countess of Schönborn-Bucheim.

Grave of Count Louis Nicolas Wilmar de La Roche d'Oisy (1806-1885).

No doubt about the profession of this bloke!

General view of the cemetery.

Artistic.

Grave of Count Stefan Czarnecki (1904-1971).

General view of the cemetery.

I wonder if the deceased's grave can be identified by the arms?

The graves of noble families at Passy Cemetery are numerous...

All photos: © 2009 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth

Cimetière de Passy at 2 Rue du Commandant-Schloesing in Paris can be reached by the metro. The nearest station is Trocadéro (line 6 and 9), but it is also only a short walk from the Eiffel Tower.

References

• Cimetière de Passy (Wikipedia)
• Cimetière de Passy (Cimetières de France et d'ailleurs)
• Point d'Interrogation
• Mas Bellonte
• Von der Leyen (Wikipedia, in German)

Harry & Charles in the National Archives

I never got the time to watch the TV series "Harry & Charles" which NRK broadcasted last Christmas. The TV series dealt with Prince Carl and Princess Maud and the events of 1905 which lead to the election of Prince Carl as King of Norway on 18 November 1905.

Most people I have talked with say that I didn't miss much and that I probably saved myself of much annoyance because fiction dominated the TV series rather than the facts. Obviously I am not going to buy the book that has been published following the TV production.

Far more interesting is the little exhibit the Norwegian National Archives created in connection with the TV Series. In the exhibit named "Harry & Charles - Maud og Carl" the National Archives presents five documents in connection with the royal election.

The first document is the telegram in which the Storting informs Prince Carl of his election as King of Norway. The second document presents Prince Carl's acceptance of the election and his choice to take the name Haakon for himself and the name Olav for his son Prince Alexander.

Prince Carl's grandfather, King Christian IX, had to give his consent, and the third document is the telegram from the President of the Storting, Carl Berner, to the King of Denmark where he informs of the royal election and that the Storting would send a deputation to Copenhagen to formally ask the king for his consent.

The fourth document shows how Fritz Wedel Jarlsberg assisted Prince Carl in preparing his acceptance of the royal election. Wedel Jarlsberg was the Norwegian Government's unofficial envoy to Stockhoolm, Copenhagen and London in several periods during 1905.The pompeous diplomat was often too outspoken, which lead to his replacement by his relative Frithjof Nansen.

The fifth and last document shows Fritz Wedel Jarlsberg's role as a messenger on 18 November 1905. Wedel Jarlsberg had quite a busy time in Copenhagen in the afternoon and evening of 18 November. The telegrams that the Storting and the Norwegian Government sent concerning the royal election were according to the agreement delivered to him. Then it was his task to bring them to the addressees, Prince Carl and King Christian, something Wedel Jarlsberg tells about in his memoirs.

In his memoirs he also tells that Prince Carl's reply was given by telephone to Prime Minister Christian Michelsen, as it was shown in the TV series. The archived telegram was in other words just a written confirmation of the reply. But according to Wedel Jarlsberg it was himself, and not Prince Carl, who forwarded the prince's message by phone.

Definately the end of an era in Massachusetts

I was obviously not the only one who was surprised by Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts special election to replace Senator Edward Moore Kennedy in the US Senate. Martha Coakley must have done a really bad campaign after having had a 20 percent lead earlier in the race. Another reason could of course be that many people are disappointed with President Barack Obama's first year as President.

I am not sure if it is too healthy that one person or one party dominates for so long as Edward M. Kennedy and the Democratic Party have done in Massachusetts, so in this respect it might not be too bad that Scott Brown won the race, but it is a pity if this will affect the most needed health reform now as the Democrats' filibuster-proof dominance has ended.

It will be interesting to see how President Obama will handle this and other challenges in the next three years. It might be an uphill struggle with more disappointments. I don't think one can expect the Democrats to win back the filibuster-proof dominance (why on earth did they create this silly system anyway!?) in the fall, as the Republicans are expected to win back more seats in the Senate.

If the US electorate doesn't feel that the economy has improved when the presidential race takes place in 2012, I am pretty sure that Mitt Romney will take the oath on 20 January 2013...

• Massachusetts Senate Race 2010 (The Boston Globe)

Haakon, better known as Charles

Lars Olav Karlsen is in Norway first of all known for his participation in the TV reality show "Heia Tufte!" ("Go Tufte!"), broadcasted on the commercial TV channel TVNorge in 2005.

He is also known for his rather impressive collection of autographs. How often isn't he spotted outside Grand Hotel in Oslo when a celebrity is around! The sympathetic and good-hearted Lars Olav is also a blogger, and until recently his main topic was to write about his fight to loose weight, but now he has decided to write about other matters as well.

Earlier this week he wrote an article about a card he has obtained, signed "Haakon, better known as Charles". The card - to a friend in England - was written on 2 December 1905, only a few days after he arrived in Norway as King Haakon VII. Not sure who the friend was, as King Haakon's handwriting has always been a great challenge. Maybe someone can figure it out?

King Haakon was, as Prince of Denmark, named Carl, and was therefore called Charles by his wife and other British relatives and friends. They continued to use this nickname also after he succeeded to the Norwegian throne.

References

• Autographsnet.com
• Lars Olav Karlsen's blog

Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg engaged

The Danish Royal Court announced today that HSH Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg*, a niece of Queen Margrethe II, has got engaged to Alexander Johannsmann.

Princess Nathalie, b. 1975, the youngest daughter of the head of the princely house of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Prince Richard, and Princess Benedikte of Denmark, lives at Schloss Berleburg in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, where she is responsible of breeding and training the family’s dressage horses. The princess herself is an active rider. She became a Danish champion in dressage in 2002 and 2009, and won a bronze medal with the Danish dressage team during the Olympic Games of Beijing in 2008.

Mr. Alexander Johannsmann is, according to the press release, 32 years old and thus (most likely) born in 1977. He is a German citizen living in the city of Gütersloh near Bielefeld in Nordrhein-Westfalen, where he works in his uncle’s international company specializing in horse transport.

Johannsmann also grew up in an environment where the equine sport has played a large role, as his father is a recognized German jump racer and coach.

The couple has today started a combined business and family trip to Australia and is expected to return to Germany towards the end of January.

It is not yet known when the couple intends to get married.

(*) The Danish Royal Court refers to Princess Nathalie as Højhed (Highness, HH), although it has never been granted in a special act, cf. among others Peter Kurrild Klitgaard's article Conditional Consent, Dynastic Rights and the Danish Law of Succession (see note). If Germany had still been a monarchy, the princess would have been styled Durchlaucht (Serene Highness, HSH), a reference which is continued in a social setting only.

References

• Press release of the Danish Royal Court 4 January 2010 (in Danish only)
• Biography of Princess Nathalie at Nettyroyal.nl
• Nobiliana Forum, thread "Johannsmann/Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (Desc. Danmark)", 4 January 2010

Updated Tuesday 5 January 2010 at 22:50.

Royal Blogs Collection

I have made a collection of royal blogs, i.e. blogs that mainly deal with aspects concerning royal families and monarchies, as a supage to my Hoelseth's Royal Corner. Please check it out!

I am sure there are other relevant blogs around, so please e-mail me if you have created a blog yourself or have found a blog that you would like to recommend.

http://www.hoelseth.com/royalty/royalblogs.html

Hoelseth's Royal Corner returns!

Happy New Year! I am pleased to tell that the royalty index page Hoelseth's Royal Corner is finally back again!

Most of the supages from the old website at Geocities.com are not available yet, but I hope to get the work done soon. I plan to make more additions and changes to my royalty pages during the spring, so please come back later.

See also Changes.html for a survey of all the new and updated pages at my website Hoelseth.no.