Royalty Digest Quarterly no. 1, 2021

Yes another issue of Royalty Digest Quarterly (no. 1, 2021) has arrived in the mailbox and I am happy to continue my reviews again after a little break. I didn't comment on the third and fourth issues of last year mainly due to my work and a genealogy project which took most of the fall as well as this spring. So my last RDQ article was published in June 2020. I could of course have written the articles now, but I find it to be less newsworthy. I should add that I write these presentations/reviews on my own initiative, it is not something «I have to do», but I enjoy writing them when I have the opportunity.

Liechtenstein on the front cover! The photo is of Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein (1906–1989), his wife Princess Georgine (Gina) of Liechtenstein, née Countess von Wilczek (1921–1989) and their two eldest sons, Prince Hans-Adam and Prince Philip. I am not sure when the photo is taken, maybe late 1946 or early 1947. The choice of front cover photo reveals that Charlotte Zeepvat this time has chosen the Princely House of Liechtenstein for her her traditional Family Album. Besides a 2 pages long introduction to the family history, the readers are treated with 72 illustrations of various family members and of the castle. The princely house is so large that the article also contain 5 pages with genealogical tables.

© 2005 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth.

I would love to visit Liechtenstein again one day. My only visit took place in 2005 when the Schloss Vaduz was under renovation. With a better camera I hope to take better photos and also see other parts of the principality.

Charlotte Zeepvat, who is an historical consultant to the magazine, has also written the first article of the present issue, An Extraordinary Life. The Story of Cyril von Sellheim. It is not proven, but in my opinion very likely that Cyril Albert Robert von Sellheim (1897–1983), who was adopted by Peter Alexander von Sellheim (1830–1913) and Philomena Maria (Mary) de Cock (1844–1915), was the son of Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1878–1948), eldest daughter of Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich V (1848–1914) and Grand Duchess Elisabeth, née Princess of Anhalt (1857–1933). It is a well-written and interesting article to read, and it also has a page with short genealogies of the Sellheim and Mecklenburg-Strelitz families.

A Guiness for Monaco? Stephen Bunford asks. He tells the story of the Grimaldis and who the current head of state could have been if Prince Louis II of Monaco (1870–1949) had not adopted and legitimated his natural daughter Charlotte (1898–1977) in 1919.

I really enjoyed Bearn Bilker's article Clothilde von Merenberg – the last Nassau. He has both met and interviewed the countess and gives a good outline of the history of the Nassau and Merenberg family. Clothilde von Rintelen, née Countess of Merenberg, b. 1941, is the great-great-granddaughter of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau (1832–1905), who is 1868 married Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina (1836–1913). The Merenberg title was granted by Nikolaus' brother-in-law Prince Georg Viktor of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1831–1893). The countess is related to most royal families of Europe, including the Norwegian, as Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm was a brother of Princess Sophia (1836–1913), who in 1857 married Prince Oscar of Sweden (1829–1907), from 1872 King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway. This means that Clothilde and Crown Prince Haakon are fourth cousins. There are other connections as well, but I will leave it at that.

Ove Mogensen from Denmark has traveled the whole world to take photos of royal graves. This time he presents the Saxe-Altenburgs as no. III in his series Tombs, Graves and Monuments in Thuringia.

In the series of Little-known Royals Coryne Hall has this time decided to present Princess Gundelinde of Bavaria (1891–1983), the youngest and 13th child of Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (1845–1921), from 1913 King Ludwig III, and Princess Maria Theresa of Bavaria, née Archduchess of Austria-Este. Princess Gundelinde married in 1919 Count Johann Georg von Preysing-Lichtenegg-Moos (1887–1924). The article reminded me of the somewhat unusual names (at least to me) of some of Gundelinde's siblings, including Helmtrud, Notburga and Dietlinde.

The columns The World Wide Web of Royalty gives us genealogical news from the Imperial, Royal or Princely houses of Austria, Bourbon-Parme, Hohenberg, Leiningen, Norway (Erling Lorentzen), Sweden and Thurn and Taxis.

Really newsworthy are the book titles Royal Books have «in the pipeline», among them the third edition of Bernadotteättlingar (Bernadotte Descendants), which is expected in the summer of 2021, and Genealogie des Fürstlichen Hauses Kinsky, which will come out in the winter of 2021/2022. Really something to look forward to!

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.

Royalty Digest Quarterly no. 2, 2018

The latest issue of Royalty Digest Quarterly (no. 2, 2018) was waiting for me on my return from Australia 12 days ago. The cover is green and beautiful, and the family photo is from the christening of Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma in 1926, third child of Prince René and Princess Margrethe, née Princess of Denmark and a brother of the late Queen Anne of Romania. Prince Michel died on 7 July this year.

The choice of cover photo signals which family has been rewarded with A Family Album article by the magazine's returning contributor and historical consultant, Charlotte Zeepvat. The readers are treated with the traditional introductory piece about The House of Bourbon-Parma and a large selection of photos and other illustrations – 99 in all, if I have got it right – a number which includes a map and a photo of the Ducal Palace (Palazzo del Giardino) in Parma. The family is large, so you will also find four pages with family tables as well.

Palazzo del Giardino, Parma. Photo: © 2007 Szeder László/Wikimedia Commons.

The first article in this issue, Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, is written by Marlene A. Eilers Koenig. The duchess, b. 1878, d. 1948, who was the daughter Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich (1848–1914) and Grand Duchess Elizabeth, née Princess of Anhalt (1857–1933), had quite a challenging life, having among others an illegitimate child with a footman named Hecht and a rather sad marriage to a Count George Jamatel. Koenig gives a good account of it all. The baby was adopted, and naturally I keep wondering if he or she has ever been identified.

100 years ago this summer, Emperor Nicholas II of the Russias and his family as well as many other members of the Romanov dynasty were murdered. Coryne Hall has contributed with the excellent article Caught in Revolution – Miss White and the Paley Family. Annie Mary White (1873–1940s) was in 1914 employed by Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (1860–1919) and Olga Countess of Hohenfelsen, née Karnovitz (1866–1929), later created Princess Paley. Miss White played the role as a companion to their daughters. If you only have time for one article in the current issue, this is the one! The genealogist in me of course wonders if it is possible to find the exact date of death for Miss White. A common name, yes, but her death is of course registered somewhere. I had no immediate success when searching for it on Ancestry.com and Findmypast.co.uk, though. I guess I will leave it to someone else ...

The next one out, the article Double Wedding. Two Princesses and Their Different Destinies by Alberto Penna Rodrigues, covers the weddings in 1802 of Princess Maria Antonia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1784–1806) to the then Prince of Asturias, later Fernando VII (1784–1833) and Infanta Maria Isabel (1789–1848) to the then Duke of Calabria, later King Francis I (Francesco I)  of Bourbon Two-Sicilies (1777–1830). An interesting read, but a bit heavy, packed with details and with so many names that a little family table of the two most important families had been in place.

In the series  Little-Known Royals Coryne Hall pays attention to Princess Eugenie of Greece and Denmark (1910–1989), daughter of Prince George (1869–1957) and Princess Marie Bonaparte (1882–1962), and a first cousin to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She made two marriages, the first to Prince Dominic Radziwill, the second to Prince Raymundo della Torre e Tasso, Duke of Castel Duino, and divorced both of them. She is described as a talented writer, but did she ever publish anything?

Finally, The column The World-Wide Web of Royalty brings news from the royal or princely families of Isenburg, United Kingdom, Denmark, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Saxony, Saxony-Weimar, Sweden, Waldeck and Pyrmont and Württemberg.

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.