Royalty Digest Quarterly no. 2, 2019

The latest issue of Royalty Digest Quarterly arrived in my mailbox two weeks ago or so. The green and beautiful cover includes an image of the French royal family in 1823, showing from left to right Marie Thérèse, Duchess of Angouleme, Louis Antoine, Duke of Angouleme, Henri, Duke of Bordaux in the arms of his grandfather Charles, Duke of Artois, in front Louis XVI, Louise Marie Thérèse of Artois and her mother the Duchess of Berry.

We are in other words going French this time, with the traditional Family Album by Charlotte Zeepvat covering The Royal Houses of France, Part I, The House of Bourbon – Henri IV to Henri V. I count 99 images of various members of the House of Bourbon and of the palace of Versailles, in addition to 3 pages with family tables.

Charlotte Zeevat, the historical counsultant to Royalty Digest Quarterly, has also made another large contribution, 'Dearest Millie'. Letters to a royal nurse, telling the story of Millicent Elizabeth Crofts (1852–1941), who from the 1870s until 1887 was a nurse to the children of Grand Prince Vladimir of Russia and his wife Grand Princess Marie, née Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin: Kirill (1876), Boris (1877), Andrei (1879) and Elena (1882) and perhaps also the eldest, Alexander (1875). The article is based on the collection of Millicent Croft's papers sold by auction by Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh in February 2018. It is both a well researched and well written article which I enjoyed very much.

Another great contribution this time is Stefan Haderer's article The Baltazzis. A family's rise and fall in the Habsburg Empire. The Baltazzis was a prominent family of Levantine origin, Phanariot Greeks from Constantinople who were close both the the court of Constantinople and later of Vienna. Theodore and Eliza Baltazzi had 10 children, of whom the eldest Elizabeth «Lizzie» married Albert Llewellyn Nugent,3rd Baron Nugent, while the second oldest Helen married Baron Albin Vetsera. Their daughter Marie (Mary) (1871–1889) was a mistress to Crown Prince Rudolf (1858–1859) and killed at Mayerling in 1889, a tragedy that of course explains the fall of the Baltazzis from the court in Vienna. The website of the Levantine Heritage Foundation, has, by the way, a collectionn of Baltazzi documents at their website which is worth having a look at. The Baltazzi family had many other interesting connections as well. Christopher Long has worked on the family's genealogy, but it doesn't seem to be available at the moment. Haderer's article is really interesting, please read it! More of this!

And if this is not enough, Bearn Bilker continues with the 3rd part of his The November 1918 Abdications in Germany, this time covering grand duchies of Baden and Oldenburg and the duchy of Anhalt.

Bilker has also made a second contribution to the issue, Woizlawa-Feodora. Royal Centenarian, which also is worth reading. Princess Woizlawa-Feodora Reuss, née Duchess of Mecklenburg, only daughter of Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg (1873–1969) and his first wife Priness Victoria Feodora Reuss (younger line) (1889–1918), was born on 17 December 1918 and celebrated her 100th birthday last fall, with among others the author present at the party. Woizlawa-Feodora was in 1939 married to Prince Heinrich I Reuss (1910–1982) of the younger line and had 5 sons and one daughter. As Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich was a brother to Heinrich, who in 1901 married Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Princess Woizlawa-Feodora was a first cousin to Queen Juliana and was a bridesmaid to her wedding to Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Princess Woizlawa-Feodora sadly passed away on 3 June 2019.

Finally, the readers are treated with the traditional column The World Wide Web of Royalty, which this time has genealogical news of the Imperial, Royal, Princely and/or Mediatized families of Bavaria, United Kingdom, Hessen-Phillipsthal-Barchfeld, Hohenberg, Luxembourg, Reuss, Rothan and Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.

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

Royalty Digest Quarterly no. 4, 2018

The front cover of the latest issue of Royalty Digest Quarterly (no. 4, 2018) is blue and beautiful, and in the photo we can se the royal family of Montenegro in around 1910, the year when the principality was declared a kingdom. I have happy memories of my visit to Montenegro and the former capital of Cetinje in 2009. I will come back to this later in the blog article.

So, what is on the mind of the editor, Ted Rosvall, this time? He starts with mentioning the 100th birthday of Princess Woizlawa Feodora Reuss and then lists other royals (by birth or by marriage) who reached the same milestone. Members of royal as well as princely and mediatized families are included. Strictly speaking I wouldn't have included Elsa Cedergreen, née Bernadotte Countess of Wisborg, as she was only a decendant of the Swedish royal family, but I will leave it at that.

The first article, 'The Blue Flower' a Romanian Mystery, is written by the magazine's historical consultant, Charlotte Zeepvat. She writes about, and make extracts, of a collection of postcards signed by «Floare Albastra».While her identity is never disclosed, she obviously was close to the Romanian royal family and court.

Then Ove Mogensen follows up with the second part of his series Tombs, Graves and Monuments. Burial Places of the Bonaparte Dynasty. My, my, hasn't he been all over the place! Would love to visit some of the places as well as the graves he has visited.

Another regular contributor, Marlene A. Eilers Koenig, has researched and written the story of the American-born Nonnie May Stewart (1878–1923), who in 1920 married Prince Christopher of Greece (1888–1940), youngest son of King George I and Queen Olga, née Grand Princess of Russia. Prince Christopher was her third husband. Funny how she lied about her age to make her closer in age to her husband. As of today, her Findagrave.com entry still gives her birth year as 1883 ...

The front cover photo obviously reveals which royal family Charlotte Zeepvat will cover this time in her Family Album series. I find the history of the former royal familiy of Montenegro to be one of the most fascinating ones, and once again I cannot say how much I enjoyed my visit in 2009, three years after the former monarchy regained its independence. Following a 3 pages long historical introduction, the readers can enjoy 61 illustrations besides the photo of the royal palace and a map. And of course, there is a genealogical table as well.

Here is a small collection from my own visit to Cetinje in 2009, the first two shows the royal palace, the third was taken of the chapel in which King Nikola I and Queen Milena were reburied in 1989. I was not allowed to take photos inside. The last two photos show the birth house of King Nikola in the village of Njeguši. There is a museum inside.

Photos: © 2009 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth.

The royal palace in Cetinje is open for tours, but you are not allowed to visit by your own, only groups are allowed. At least that was the case in 2009. So I had to wait half an hour or so until a group of Russian tourists arrived and I could join them for the sightseeing. I was the only one who left money in the book shop, though. I bought lots of cards as well as the book The Court of King Nikola by Milan Jovićević, Anđe Kapičić and Tatjana Jović, published by The National Museum of Montenegro, Cetinje in 1999.

Of course I took loads of photos during my visit to Cetinje (and other royalty-related places), including many tombs, but I will have to come back with another article on this later on. It is on time, considering the fact that it is close to 10 years since my visit! Then again, my visit to Norse, Texas in 2005 was covered as late as in 2018, so I guess it is never too late ...

Returning to the article and specifically the genealogical table for a minute, I note that Zeepvat and Rosvall list two daughters of Prince Boris of Montenegro, Milena, b. 2008, and Antonia, birth year not given, while An Online Gotha only mentions Milena. Has the birth of Antonia never been officially confirmed? I know that it is almost impossible to get any news or any information at all about the present head of the royal family, Prince Nikola, and his children and grandchildren. With no male heirs (after Boris) in sight, the house seems destined to die out with him.

The article The November 1918 Abdications, part I by Bearn Bilker gives a presentation of abdications of Emperor Wilhelm II and the monarchs of the various kingdoms, duchies and principalities of the German Empire. It was a good idea to write such an article, and I look forward to the follow-ups.

I have never really understood the fascination for Sisi, the Empress of Austria (1837–1898). I think other members of the imperial family of Austria are far more interesting. But of course there are many aspects of Empress Elisabeth's life which are interesting to pay attention to, and the story of her property at Corfu, Greece, A Fairytale Palace on Corfu. I: The Achilleion and Empress Elisabeth of Austria by Stefan Haderer, is at least new to me and is worth reading.

Then Coryne Hall is back with her Little-Known Royals series, this time writing about Princess Therese of Bavaria (1850–1925), younger (and only) sister of King Ludwig III. I have earlier put a question marks of some of the royals covered in this series, but Princess Therese certainly deserves to be included. But I am sure there are many Bavaria experts out there who will disagree with me ...

Last, but not least, The World Wide Web of Royalty column, is put at the end of the magazine again. The column lists genealogical news of the Imperial, Royal, Princely and/or mediatized families of Europe and this time we are treated with news from Austria, France, Reuss, Romania, Schönburg-Hartenstein, Sweden and Two Sicilies.

Now I just have to remember to renew my subscription!

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

Updated on Sunday 20 January 2019 at 14.15 (grammatical error corrected).

Christmas break summary

I left Oslo on Saturday 22 December in order to celebrate Christmas with my family in Sandefjord, and even though I was connected to the Internet most of the time (too often, perhaps) during the Christmas weekend, I had decided to take a break from blogging and website updating. I had long days at work on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 December, so here comes finally a short summary of the events I find worth mentioning.

1. The Swedish Royal Court announced on Sunday 23 December 2012 - the 69th birthday of Queen Silvia, by the way - that Princess Madeleine and Christopher O'Neill's wedding date was set for 8 June 2013. The wedding will take place in the Palace Chapel in Stockholm. The couple's engagement was announced on 25 October 2012. The wedding date announcement can also be found on Princess Madeleine's Facebook page, which was launched on 7 December.
2. Several European held their traditional Christmas speech on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden's speech can be read, viewed and/or listened to here (in Swedish). A summary by The Local can be read here. See also Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom's Christmas Broadcast on SkyNews. An English summary of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg's speech can be read here, while King Albert II of the Belgian's speeech can be read in Dutch or French. Finally, King Juan Carlos of Spain's speech was broadcasted on Christmas Eve and can be read (in Spanish only) at Casareal.es.
3. Archduke Christoph of Austria married Adélaïde Drapé-Frisch at the city hall in Nancy, France on Friday 28 December 2012. The religious ceremony took place at the Basilica St. Epvre on Saturday 29 December. Archduke Christoph, who is the second son of Archduke Carl Christian and Archduchess Marie-Astrid, née Princess of Luxembourg, had his brother Imre and his first cousin Prince Louis of Luxembourg as witnesses. Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, the bridegroom's uncle and godfather, was also in attendance, among many other guests. See the blog Luxembourg. All things grand ducal for more details.

Der neugeborene Erzherzog ist gesund und kräftig

Otto von Habsburg (Archduke of Austria), the last Crown Prince of Austria and Hungary, died yesterday 4 July 2011 early in the morning, in his 99th year. Truly the end of an era.

Archduke Otto's birth on 20 November 1912 was announced in Wiener Zeitung on Thursday 21 November 1912 No. 267, p. 1:

Ihre k. und k. Hoheit die durchlauchtigste Frau Erzherzogin Zita, Gemahlin Seiner k. und k. Hoheit der durchlauchtigsten Herrn Erzherzog Karl Franz Josef, ist Mittwoch, den 20. d. M., um 2 Uhr 40 Minuten früh in der Villa Wartholz bei Reichenau in Nieder-Österreich von einem Erzherzog glücklich entbunden worden.

I. Bulletin

Das Allgemeinbefinden Ihrer k. und k. Hoheit ist den Umständen entsprechend. Der Kräftezustand ist normal, Temperatur 37.3, Puls 84. Der neugeborene Erzherzog ist gesund und kräftig.

Reichenau in Nieder-Österreich, am 20. November 1912.

Professor Dr. Beham. Dr. Bittner.

The birth notice shouldn't be too difficult to understand. Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Zita, consort of His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Karl, gave birth to an Archduke at Villa Wartholz bei Reichenau, Lower Austria on Wednesday 20 November 1912, at 2.40 a.m.

Then followed the usual medical bulletin, the first of several in the days that followed, telling that Archduchess Zita had a temperature of 37.3 Celcius and a pulse of 84! "Der neugeborene Erzherzog ist gesund und kräftig" - "The newborn Archduke is healthy and strong"... And he went on to live for 98 7/12 years...

Otto von Habsburg (1912-2011): Obituary in The Daily Telegraph

Otto von Habsburg (Archduke Otto of Austria), former Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary and head of the Imperial House of Habsburg, born at Villa Wartholz bei Reichenau, Lower Austria 20 November 1912, died at Pöcking, Bavaria, Germany early in the morning of 4 July 2011, 98 years old. Otto was the oldest son of the last Emperor of Austria, Karl (1887-1916-1918-1922) and his wife Zita (1892-1989), née Princess of Bourbon-Parme. In 1951 the former Crown Prince married Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen (1925-2010). They had 7 children - Andrea (1953), Monika (1954), Michaela (1954), Gabriela (1956), Walburga (1958), Karl (1961) and Georg (1964).

Archduke Karl took over as head of the Imperial House of Austria in 2007.

Archduke Otto's obituary was published in The Daily Telegraph today, 4 July 2011.

According to the late Archduke's website as well as Orf.at, the coffin "will rest for three days in the Church of St. Ulrich in Pöcking, Bavaria, while there is a pepetual adoration". Requiems will then be held in Pöcking (9 July), Munich (11 July), Mariazell (13 July), Vienna and Budapest. The funeral will take place in the Kapuzinergruft (Kaisergruft) following the requiem in St. Stephen's Cathedral on 16 July 2011. Archduke Otto's heart will then be buried at the Archabbey of Pannonhalma, Hungary (17 July).

Photo: Ottovonhabsburg.org.

Updated on Tuesday 5 July 2011 at 23.00 (minor text change, link added).

Kaisergruft - Facing the Future with the Habsburg Dead

The magazine Spieger Online International recently published an interesting article about Kaisergruft (Kapuzinergruft) - the imperial crypt in Vienna where many deceased members of the Habsburg family have got their last resting place.

Politics of the Crypt. Facing the Future with the Habsburg Dead (19 February 2010)

See also the official website, http://www.kaisergruft.at/.