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).