The cover photo hints at the fact that Hanover is the topic for this issue's Family Album by Charlotte Zeepvat. One observant reader commented recently in the Royalty Digest Quarterly's Facebook group that the very first issue of the magazine (no. 1, 2006) covered a Hanover album as well. Editor Ted Rosvall replied that «Yes, but that was long before we found the format and concept of the family albums. It only ahd [sic!] a few pages and very limited illustrations. This time we have done it properly.» Later in the same discussion another observant reader points out the same, and Rosvall refers to the 2006 album as «only an embryo, a tryout, to the Family Albums we have since produced». He continues: «Since Ms Zeepvat and I thought we did not handle that dynasty properly, we decided that it would be a good idea to redo it, this time with all the Brunswick background in the 17th and 18th centuries. The dynasties next to come are FRANCE (Bourbon/Orléans/Bonaparte), Two Sicilies, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Reuss-Schleiz, Spain and Sweden.»
And the redo is properly done indeed, with the traditional introduction to the family besides a large collection of photos of the members of the royal house and the palaces – 84 in all – as well as 6 pages with genealogical tables. Cleverly enough, the editor has also included the article The Cumberland Princesses by Marlene A. Eilers-Koenig.
In his Editor's Corner Ted Rosvall dwells on abdications in royal Europe prior to WW1 and lists examples from among others France, Spain and Austria. He could of course have mentioned abdications closer to his home country, such as King Christian Frederik's abdication of the Norwegian throne in 1814 and King Oscar II's of the same in 1905. The reason for Rosvall's list is to point to the second part of Bearn Bilker's The November 1918 Abdications, which is included in the present issue. I really enjoyed the first part published in no. 4, 2018, and Bilker delivers once again! This time we can read about the abdications in Saxe-Weimar, Hesse and by Rhine, Württemberg, Saxony, Mecklenburg and Waldeck-Pyrmont. Concerning the royal house of Saxony, Bilker correctly points out that the royal house is now extinct while one morganatic branch still remains. Oddly enough the editor has included a photo of «Prince Alexander of Sachsen-Gessaphe» (Alexander de Afif), who claimed the headship following the death of his uncle, Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meißen, in 2012. But otherwise de Afif is not mentioned at all. It is a trifle, though, but it might have been more fitting to include a photo of either Maria Emanuel or Albert.
In the last issue of 2018, Stefan Haderer was the author of the article A Fairytale Palace on Corfu. I: The Achilleion and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. This time Haderer returns with the second part, The Achilleion and German Emperor Wilhelm II. It is once again worth reading, and the information that the Achilleion and its park today is a museum certainly tempts my desire to visit Corfu one day.
Bearn Bilker has also made a second contribution this time – a review of John van der Kiste's book Daughter of Prussia. Louise, Grand Duchess of Baden and her family (A&F Publications, South Brent Devon, UK, 2017, ISBN 978-1546960379). As of today the Kindle edition only costs USD 5,61, the paperback edition USD 10,09.
The editor has found space for two of his own (smaller) articles this time: Royal Monograms, based on and old album containing a large collection of among others royal and noble monograms and which he found in a second hand book store many years ago, and Little-Known Royals. Prince Erik of Sweden.
Finally the readers are treated with The World Wide Web of Royalty, the column covering genealogical news of the Imperial, royal, princely and/or mediatized houses of Europe, this time Austria, Castell-Rüdenhausen, France, Fürstenberg. Hohenzollern, Luxembourg and Spain (or France again, depending on your view on Luis Alfonso, Duke of Anjou's claims).
In other words, plenty of good articles to read this time as well!
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 Thursday 4 April 2019 at 21.20 (reference to Cumberland article corrected, see comments section).
