Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Prince Giuseppe of Bourbon-Parma, Titular Duke of Parma

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Prince Giuseppe of Bourbon-Parma was the titular Duke of Parma from 1939 until his death in 1950. As he was mentally disabled, his younger brother Elia served as regent.

Prince Giuseppe of Bourbon-Parma, Titular Duke of Parma source: Wikipedia

Prince Giuseppe was the third son of Roberto I, the last reigning Duke of Parma, and his first wife, Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was born in Biarritz, France on June 30, 1875. He had 11 siblings:

  • Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma (1870 – 1899), married Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria (later Tsar), had four children including Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria,
  • Ferdinando, Prince of Piacenza (born and died 1871 ), died in infancy
  • Princess Luisa Maria of Bourbon-Parma (1872 – 1943), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Enrico, Titular Duke of Parma (1873 – 1939), unmarried, mentally disabled, his brother Elias took up the role as regent and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Immacolata of Bourbon-Parma (1874 – 1914), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma (1876 – 1959), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma (1877 – 1915), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Beatrice of Bourbon-Parma (1879 – 1946), married Count Pietro Lucchesi-Palli, had four children
  • Elias, Titular Duke of Parma (1880 – 1959), married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, had eight children, from 1907 to 1950, he served as regent for the claims of his two older disabled brothers, Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Anastasia of Bourbon-Parma (born and died 1881), died in infancy
  • Prince Augusto of Bourbon-Parma (stillborn 1882)

He also had 12 siblings from his father’s second marriage to Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal:

Giuseppe succeeded his elder brother, Enrico, as titular Duke of Parma and head of the house. However, a few months after their father’s death in 1907, Giuseppe and five of his siblings were all declared legally incompetent due to their mental disabilities. His younger brother, Elia, became guardian of the six siblings, and served as regent during the tenure of both Enrico and Giuseppe.

Unmarried and childless, Giuseppe died on January 7, 1950 in Pianore, near Lucca, Italy. As he was unmarried and had no children, he was succeeded as titular Duke of Parma by his brother Elia.

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Duchy of Parma Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua, Holy Roman Empress, 3rd wife of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Eleonora Gonzaga, Holy Roman Empress, `1651; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

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Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua was the third of the three wives of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor. Born on November 18, 1630, in Mantua, Duchy of Mantua, now in Lombardy, Italy, Eleonora was the younger of the two children and the only daughter of Carlo II Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers and his first cousin Maria Gonzaga, Duchess of Montferrat in her own right. Her paternal grandparents were Carlo I, Duke of Mantua and Catherine de Lorraine-Guise. Eleonora’s maternal grandparents were Francesco IV Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Margherita of Savoy. Eleonora was the great-niece and namesake of Ferdinand III’s stepmother, also named Eleonora Gonzaga, the second wife of his father Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II.

Eleonora had one older brother:

Eleonora’s father Carlo never became Duke of Mantua since he died from tuberculosis on August 30, 1631, six years before the death of his father Carlo I, Duke of Mantua, when Eleonora was only nine months old. When Carlo I died in 1637, his grandson, Eleonora’s eight-year-old brother became Carlos II, Duke of Mantua, with his mother Maria acting as regent.

Eleonora received an excellent education. She was fluent in French, Spanish, and Italian, studied literature, music, and art, and had expert skills in dancing and embroidery. In her teens, Eleonora showed talent in poetry, writing philosophical and religious poems.

Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria, the second wife and first cousin of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, died in childbirth in 1649. Ferdinand III’s stepmother, the Dowager Holy Roman Empress, also named Eleonora Gonzaga, was the second wife of his father Ferdinand II and Eleonora’s great aunt. It was Dowager Holy Roman Empress Eleonora who arranged the marriage between her stepson Ferdinand III and grand niece and goddaughter Eleonora.

Eleonora’s husband Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 2, 1651, at Palatina Basilica of St. Barbara, the family church of the House of Gonzaga in the Duchy of Mantua, now in Italy, twenty-year-old Eleonora and forty-two-year-old Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor were married by proxy with Count Johann Maximilian von Lamberg, an Austrian nobleman, diplomat and courtier in the service of the Habsburgs, representing the groom. On March 22, 1651, Eleonora, accompanied by her great-aunt Dowager Holy Roman Empress Eleonora, began her journey from Mantua to Vienna. On April 30, 1651, the in-person wedding ceremony took place.

Eleonora became stepmother to Ferdinand III’s three surviving children from his first marriage to his first cousin Maria Anna of Spain who died in 1646:

Eleonora also became the stepmother of Ferdinand III’s only child from his second marriage to Maria Leopoldine of Austria who died in childbirth in 1649:

Eleonora and Ferdinand III had four children but only two survived childhood.

Although there was a twenty-two-year difference, Eleonora and Ferdinand III had a happy marriage and she developed a close relationship with her stepchildren. Eleonora learned German, and Ferdinand III learned Italian. The couple were patrons of literature and music, attended the theater, and went hunting. Eleonora and Ferdinand’s marriage lasted only six years. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, died, aged forty-eight, on April 2, 1657, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria. He was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Eleonora’s brother-in-law, considered marrying Eleonora to strengthen his position as a candidate to be Holy Roman Emperor. However, Eleonora did all she could to ensure that her seventeen-year-old surviving stepson would become Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. Eleonora was highly respected by Leopold who consulted with her on many political and personal issues.

Eleonora as a widow; Credit – Wikipedia

Ferdinand III’s will gave Eleonora the guardianship of his children. She was granted castles in Graz and Linz and a very generous annual pension. Eleonora spent summers at the Favorita Palace, which along with Schönbrunn and Laxenburg palaces, had been bequeathed to her by her great-aunt Dowager Empress Eleonora when she died in 1655. Eleonora was responsible for the expansion of Hofburg Palace, the main palace in Vienna, and the restoration of the palace when it was damaged in a fire.

Eleonora spent much time on works of charity and piety. She was a patron of the Italian Capuchin friar Marcus d’Aviano who was beatified in 2003 by Pope John Paul II. When Marcus d’Aviano died, he was interred at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the burial place of the House of Habsburg. Even to this day, it is very common for members of the Habsburg family to be given Marcus d’Aviano as one of their middle names. Eleonora gave special patronage to the Order of the Discalced Carmelites and contributed financially to the building of their monastery in Wiener Neustadt. To raise the education level of girls, Eleonora invited the Ursuline nuns, known for their role in education, to Vienna and helped them build a complex that included a monastery, a church, and a school.

Eleonora’s tomb; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleonora survived her husband by twenty-nine years, dying on December 6, 1686, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now the capital of Austria, at the age of fifty-six. She was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers (2019) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Gonzaga,_Duke_of_Nevers (Accessed: 08 July 2023).
  • Eleonora Gonzaga (1630–1686) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleonora_Gonzaga_%281630%E2%80%931686%29 (Accessed: 08 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinand-iii-holy-roman-emperor-archduke-of-lower-and-inner-austria-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 08 July 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Prince Enrico of Bourbon-Parma, Titular Duke of Parma

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Prince Enrico of Bourbon-Parma was the titular Duke of Parma from 1907 until his death in 1939. As he was mentally disabled, his younger brother Elia served as regent.

Prince Enrico of Bourbon-Parma, Titular Duke of Parma – source: Wikipedia

Prince Enrico was the second son of Roberto I, the last reigning Duke of Parma, and his first wife, Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was born at Wartegg Castle in Rorschach, Switzerland on June 13, 1873. He had 11 siblings:

  • Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma (1870 – 1899), married Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria (later Tsar), had four children including Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria,
  • Ferdinando, Prince of Piacenza (born and died 1871 ), died in infancy
  • Princess Luisa Maria of Bourbon-Parma (1872 – 1943), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Immacolata of Bourbon-Parma (1874 – 1914), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Giuseppe, Titular Duke of Parma (1875 – 1950), unmarried, mentally disabled, his brother Elias continued his role as regent and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma (1876 – 1959), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma (1877 – 1915), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Princess Beatrice of Bourbon-Parma (1879 – 1946), married Count Pietro Lucchesi-Palli, had four children
  • Elias, Titular Duke of Parma (1880 – 1959), married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, had eight children, from 1907 to 1950, he served as regent for the claims of his two older disabled brothers, Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma
  • Princess Maria Anastasia of Bourbon-Parma (born and died 1881), died in infancy
  • Prince Augusto of Bourbon-Parma (stillborn 1882)

He also had 12 siblings from his father’s second marriage to Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal:

Enrico, as the oldest surviving son, succeeded his father Roberto I as titular Duke of Parma and Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma. Just a few months later, at the request of Roberto’s second wife, Enrico and several of his full siblings were declared legally incompetent due to their mental disabilities. Enrico’s younger brother, Elia, became guardian of the six siblings, and took on the role of Head of House and served as regent during Enrico’s tenure.

Unmarried and childless, Enrico died on November 16, 1939, at the Villa Borbone (link in Italian) in Viareggio, Kingdom of Italy. He was buried in the chapel at the Villa Borbone in Viareggio, Italy. He was succeeded as titular Duke of Parma by his brother Giuseppe, who was also mentally disabled. Their younger brother Elia once again served as regent.

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Duchy of Parma Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Maria Leopoldine of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, 2nd wife of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Leopoldine of Austria, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

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Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria was the second wife of her first cousin Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria. King of Bohemia, and King of Hungary and Croatia. Born in Innsbruck, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria on April 6, 1632, she was the fifth of the five children and the third of the three daughters of Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and Claudia de’ Medici. Maria Leopoldine’s father died on September 13, 1632, when she was five months old. Her paternal grandparents were Karl II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his niece Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria. Maria Leopoldine’s maternal grandparents were Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Princess Christina of Lorraine.

Maria Leopoldine had four elder siblings:

Maria Leopoldine had one older half-sister from her mother’s first marriage to Federico Ubaldo della Rover, Duke of Urbino:

Maria Leopoldine’s husband, Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 13, 1646, Maria Anna of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Portugal, the first wife and first cousin of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor died. Two years later, forty-year-old Ferdinand III married again, on July 2, 1648, to sixteen-year-old Maria Leopoldine, another first cousin. The young Maria Leopoldine became Holy Roman Empress and the stepmother of Ferdinand III’s three surviving children from his first wife:

  • Ferdinand, King of the Romans (1633 – 1654), unmarried, died from smallpox
  • Archduchess Mariana of Austria (1634 – 1696), married (second wife) her maternal uncle Felipe IV, King of Spain, had five children
  • Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 – 1705), married (1) his first cousin Margaret Theresa of Spain, had four children, only one survived childhood (2) his first cousin and Maria Leopoldine’s niece Claudia Felicitas of Austria, had two children, both died in childhood (3) Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, had ten children, five survived childhood

Maria Leopoldine and Ferdinand III’s son Karl Josef; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Leopoldine and Ferdinand III had one son, Archduke Karl Josef of Austria (1649 – 1664), who died in his teens. Sadly, the childbirth was very difficult and 17-year-old Maria Leopoldine died on the day her son was born, August 19, 1649. She was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria.

Maria Leopoldine’s tomb: Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinand-iii-holy-roman-emperor-archduke-of-lower-and-inner-austria-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 27 June 2023).
  • Leopold V, Archduke of Austria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_V,_Archduke_of_Austria (Accessed: 27 June 2023).
  • Maria Leopoldine of Austria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Leopoldine_of_Austria (Accessed: 27 June 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro is one of the current claimants to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and pretender to the throne of the former kingdom. He succeeded his father in 2008.

photo: By Rereader1996 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84255835

Prince Carlo Maria Bernardo Gennaro was born on February 24, 1963 in Saint-Raphaël, Var, France, the only son of Prince Ferdinando of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro and Chantal de Chevron-Villette. He has two older sisters:

Prince Carlo undertook his education in France – at the Institute of the Marist Fathers in Toulon, the College Stanislas in Nice, and the Universite Internationale Libre in Paris. Following university, he worked for several years managing a public relations firm in New York City. Upon returning to Europe, he worked with several large Italian companies.

photo: Par ImperialArchivesRU — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113754227

On October 13, 1998 in Monaco, Prince Carlo married Camilla Crociani, daughter of Camillo Crociani and Edy Vessel, an Italian actress. The couple have two daughters:

  • Princess Maria Carolina, Duchess of Palermo (2003)
  • Princess Maria Chiara, Duchess of Capri (2005)

Upon his father’s death in 2008, Carlo succeeded him as one of the claimants to the former throne and headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, along with his distant cousin, Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria.

Six years later, in January 2014, the two branches of the house signed an Act of Reconciliation, ending over 50 years of feuding. Both agreed to work toward overcoming the “obstacles which stand in the way of peace and family harmony.” There was no mention of which branch was the rightful claimant to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Prince Carlo and Prince Pedro (who succeeded his father Infante Carlos in 2015), continued to work toward reconciliation, but an announcement by Prince Carlo in 2016 put an end to their efforts.

On May 14, 2016, Prince Carlo announced that, as he had no male heirs, he was changing the rules of succession to allow his elder daughter to succeed him. Prince Pedro objected as it was in direct conflict with the laws and rules of the former Kingdom of Two Sicilies. This declaration seems to have ended any attempts at reconciliation between the two branches of the family,

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Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Maria Anna of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, 1st wife of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Anna of Spain, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

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The first of the three wives of her first cousin Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Maria Anna of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Portugal was born at the Palace of El Escorial, near Madrid on August 18, 1606. Although a Spanish Infanta, she was known as Maria Anna of Austria, as the Spanish monarchs at the time were members of the House of Habsburg. She was the fourth of the eight children and the third of the four daughters of Felipe III, King of Spain (also Filipe II, King of Portugal) and Archduchess Margarete of Austria. Maria Anna’s paternal grandparents were Felipe II, King of Spain and his fourth wife and niece Anna of Austria. Her maternal grandparents were Karl II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria.

Maria Anna with her brother Carlos who was one year younger, 1612; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna had seven siblings:

Maria Anna was raised at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid in Spain in a very close and loving family. She was given a very strong religious upbringing and often visited convents and churches. After her mother’s death in childbirth in 1611, Maria Anna’s eldest sister Anna became a surrogate mother to her younger siblings. Before she was thirteen years old, Maria Anna was betrothed to marry Archduke Johann Karl of Austria, at that time, the eldest surviving son of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria. However, in 1619, Archduke Johann Karl suddenly died.

Before Maria Anna’s father died in 1621, he and King James I of England tried to arrange a marriage between James’ eldest son and heir, the future King Charles I, then the Prince of Wales, and Maria Anna. This possible marriage was known as the “Spanish Match” and caused a political crisis in both England and Scotland. In 1623, the Prince of Wales visited Madrid to meet Maria Anna. As it turned out there was no marriage. Charles refused to convert to Catholicism, and Maria Anna refused to marry a Protestant. Maria Anna’s brother, the new King of Spain, Felipe IV, was unwilling to enter into a dynastic marriage with the House of Stuart for political reasons.

Maria Anna’s husband Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1626, Maria Anna was betrothed to her first cousin, then Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, the younger brother of her deceased first fiance, and now the heir of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia. Maria Anna’s mother Margarete of Austria was her fiance’s paternal aunt.

In December 1629, Maria Anna left Madrid, Spain to travel to Vienna, a journey that took more than a year. Because of an epidemic of the plague, Maria Anna’s ship was unable to dock in several ports. Finally, on January 26, 1631, Maria Anna arrived in the port city of Trieste (now in Italy), where she was greeted by Ferdinand’s brother Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. A proxy marriage was held that day with Leopold Wilhelm standing in for his brother. Leopold Wilhelm then escorted Maria Anna to Vienna.

Ferdinand did not trust the portraits that he had seen of Maria Anna and wanted to secretly see her before the in-person wedding. His Lord Chamberlain asked for an audience with Maria Anna, accompanied by some nobles, including her groom Ferdinand. Immediately pleased by what he saw, Ferdinand revealed himself and began to converse with Maria Anna in Spanish. The in-person marriage was held on February 20, 1631, in Vienna.

Maria Anna with her eldest child Ferdinand, 1634; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna and Ferdinand had six children:

  • Ferdinand, King of the Romans (1633 – 1654), unmarried, died from smallpox
  • Archduchess Mariana of Austria (1634 – 1696), married (second wife) her maternal uncle Felipe IV, King of Spain, had five children but only two survived childhood including Carlos II, King of Spain who had serious physical and mental conditions probably caused by the continued inbreeding of the House of Habsburg
  • Archduke Philipp August of Austria (1637 – 1639), died in early childhood
  • Archduke Maximilian Thomas of Austria (1638 – 1639), died in infancy
  • Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 – 1705), married (1) his first cousin Margaret Theresa of Spain, had four children, only one survived childhood (2) Claudia Felicitas of Austria, had two children, both died in childhood (3) Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, had ten children, five survived childhood (Unofficial Royalty articles coming soon)
  • Archduchess Maria of Austria (born and died 1646), died in infancy

Maria Anna’s father-in-law Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor passed to his son Ferdinand the Habsburg hereditary lands in 1621, the crowns of Hungary and Croatia in 1625, and the crown of Bohemia in 1627. In 1636, Ferdinand II arranged for his son to be elected King of the Romans, ensuring he would be the next Holy Roman Emperor as Ferdinand III. On February 15, 1637, at the age of fifty-eight, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor died and his son was elected Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Anna became Holy Roman Empress.

Maria Anna brought Spanish fashion, theatre, dance, and music to the imperial court in Vienna. She collected artwork by Italian, Spanish, and Flemish masters of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Maria Anna was active in politics, acted as an adviser to her husband, and was an important mediator between her husband and her Spanish relatives. During Ferdinand III’s absences from the court in Vienna, Maria Anna served as regent.

Tomb of Maria Anna & her infant daughter; Credit – By krischnig – de.wikipedia.org, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51130106

Pregnant with her sixth child, 39-year-old Empress Maria Anna suddenly fell ill with a fever, had heavy bleeding, and died on May 13, 1646, at Linz Castle in Linz, Austria. Immediately after her death, the unborn child, a girl, was delivered by Cesarean section. She was named Maria after her mother but lived only a few hours. Both mother and daughter were placed in the same coffin and interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, S. (2023) Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinand-iii-holy-roman-emperor-archduke-of-lower-and-inner-austria-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 26 June 2023).
  • Maria Anna of Spain (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_of_Spain (Accessed: 26 June 2023).
  • Мария Анна Испанская (2023) Wikipedia (Russian). Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%98%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F (Accessed: 26 June 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Prince Ferdinando of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Prince Ferdinando of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro, was a claimant to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and the former throne of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, from 1973 until his death in 2008.

Prince Ferdinando Maria Andrea Alfonso Marcus was born in Podzamcze, Poland on May 28, 1926, the only son of Prince Ranieri of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro and Countess Maria Carolina Zamoyska. He had one older sister, Princess Maria del Carmen, born in 1924.

On July 23, 1949, in Giez, Switzerland, Prince Ferdinando married Chantal de Chevron-Villette. The couple had three children:

  • Princess Beatrice (1950) – married Prince Charles Bonaparte, had issue
  • Princess Anne (1957) – married Baron Jacques Cochin, had issue
  • Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro (1963) – married Camilla Crociani, had issue

Ferdinando’s father became one of the claimants to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Parma in 1960. Ferdinando succeeded him in 1973, although he had assumed the functions of the position in 1966.

Prince Ferdinando died in Draguignan, France on March 20, 2008, and was succeeded by his only son, Prince Carlo.

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Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia; Credit – Wikipedia

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

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Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1637 – 1657), Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria (reigned 1637 – 1657), King of Bohemia (reigned 1627 – 1657), and King of Hungary and Croatia (reigned 1625 – 1657) was born in Graz, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria on July 13, 1608. He was the fourth of the seven children and the third but the eldest surviving son of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. Ferdinand’s paternal grandparents were  Karl Franz II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria. His maternal grandparents were Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and Renata of Lorraine.

Ferdinand III had six siblings but only three survived childhood:

In 1616, When Ferdinand was eight-years-old, his mother Maria Anna died at the age of forty-one, three years before her husband became Holy Roman Emperor. In 1622, Ferdinand’s father, now Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, married for a second time to his first cousin once removed, 24-year-old Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua, daughter of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Monferrato and his second wife and first cousin Eleonora de’ Medici. However, they had no children.

Ferdinand received his education from the Jesuits and spoke several languages. After the deaths of his two elder brothers, Ferdinand was named as his father’s successor and was prepared for his future role. Like his father, he was a devout Catholic, but he was not fond of the influence of the Jesuits in his father’s court. Ferdinand II passed to his son Ferdinand the Habsburg hereditary lands in 1621, the crowns of Hungary and Croatia in 1625, and the crown of Bohemia in 1627. In 1636, Ferdinand II arranged for his son to be elected King of the Romans, ensuring he would be the next Holy Roman Emperor as Ferdinand III. On February 15, 1637, at the age of fifty-eight, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor died and his son was elected Holy Roman Emperor.

Ferdinand’s first wife Maria Anna of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1626, Ferdinand was betrothed to his first cousin Maria Anna of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Portugal, the daughter of Felipe III, King of Spain, and Ferdinand’s paternal aunt Archduchess Margarete of Austria. Maria Anna had previously been betrothed to Ferdinand’s deceased elder brother Archduke Johann Karl of Austria. On January 26, 1631, Maria Anna arrived in the port city of Trieste (now in Italy), where she was greeted by Ferdinand’s brother Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. A proxy marriage was held that day with Leopold Wilhelm standing in for his brother. Leopold Wilhelm escorted Maria Anna to Vienna where she married Ferdinand in person on February 20, 1631. Maria Anna was the first of Ferdinand’s three wives.

Ferdinand and Maria Anna had six children. Their eldest child Ferdinand was his father’s heir, had been given some of his father’s hereditary lands, and in 1653, was elected King of the Romans, ensuring he would be Holy Roman Emperor. However, it was not to be. In 1654, twenty-one-year-old Ferdinand died from smallpox. Three other children did not survive childhood.

Pregnant with her sixth child, 39-year-old Empress Maria Anna suddenly felt ill with a fever, had heavy bleeding, and died on May 13, 1646. Immediately after her death, the unborn child, a girl, was delivered by Cesarean section.  She was named Maria after her mother but lived only a few hours. Both mother and daughter were placed in the same coffin and interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

Ferdinand’s second wife Maria Leopoldine of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Two years later, Ferdinand III married again, on July 2, 1648, to Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria, another first cousin. Maria Leopoldine was the daughter of Ferdinand III’s paternal uncle Leopold V, Archduke of Austria, and Claudia de’ Medici. Ferdinand and Maria Leopoldine had one son.

Ferdinand and Maria Leopoldine had one son. Sadly, the childbirth was very difficult and 17-year-old Maria Leopoldine died on August 19, 1649. She was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

Ferdinand’s third wife Eleonora Gonzaga; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 30, 1651, Ferdinand III married Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua, daughter of Carlo III Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers and his wife and cousin Maria Gonzaga, reigning Duchess of Montferrat. Eleonora was the great-niece and namesake of Ferdinand’s stepmother, the second wife of his father Ferdinand II, also named Eleonora Gonzaga.

Ferdinand and Eleonora had four children but only two survived childhood.

Ferdinand III had become Holy Roman Emperor in 1537, at the beginning of the last decade of the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648), and had been commander-in-chief of the army since 1634. The Thirty Years’ War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, with an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians dying as a result of battle, famine, and disease. During Ferdinand III’s reign, the power of the Holy Roman Empire, which had increased during his father’s reign, declined. He wanted to end the war early, but after military defeats and with the declining power, he felt forced to renounce many of the long-standing Habsburg positions. Although he knew the Holy Roman Empire would be weaker, Ferdinand set out on a policy toward ending the war.

The Peace of Westphalia, signed in October 1648, ended the Thirty Years’ War and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire. Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, the kingdoms of France and Sweden, and their allies among the constituent states of the Holy Roman Empire participated in the treaties. Although the power of the Holy Roman Empire was weaker after the peace than before the war, in Bohemia and Hungary, where Ferdinand was king, and in the Austrian hereditary lands, Ferdinand’s position as sovereign was stronger than before.

Ferdinand was a patron of the arts and sciences, very musical, and a composer, composing numerous sacred and secular pieces of music. He was the first of the Habsburg rulers whose musical compositions have survived

Ferdinand III’s sarcophagus in the Imperial Crypt; Credit – By krischnig – Self-photographed, Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88260340

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Lower and Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, died, aged forty-eight, on April 2, 1657, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria. He was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. His third wife Eleonora Gonzaga survived him by twenty-nine years, dying on December 6, 1686, in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria at the age of fifty-six. She was also buried in the Imperial Crypt.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Ferdinand III. (HRR) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_III._(HRR) (Accessed: 22 June 2023).
  • Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_III,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 22 June 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinand-ii-holy-roman-emperor-archduke-of-austria-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/.
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Prince Peter Romanoff

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Peter Romanoff; Credit – Linkedin

Prince Peter Romanoff, a great-great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, is the heir to his half-brother Prince Alexis Romanoff, currently one of the disputed pretenders to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family.

The Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over whether marriages in the Romanov family were equal marriages – a marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house. Peter’s father Prince Andrew Romanoff inherited the claim after the death of Prince Dimitri Romanov who had no sons. With his death, the male line of Dmitri’s Nikolavevichi Branch of the Russian Imperial Family descended from Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich of Russia, a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, became extinct, transferring the claim to the Mikhailovichi Branch, descended from Grand Duke Michael Nicolaevich of Russia, a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. Andrew was also the great-grandson of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Empress Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, through their elder daughter Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia.

Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov, died on November 28, 2021, two months short of his 99th birthday at an assisted living center in San Anselmo, California after a long illness. His eldest son Prince Alexis Romanoff, known as Alex, then inherited his claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family. All descendants of the Russian Imperial House, except for rival claimant Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and her son Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, recognized Alex’s claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family. Since Alex has no children, the heir to his claim is his half-brother Prince Peter Romanoff.

Prince Peter Romanoff was born in 1961 in San Francisco, California. He is the elder of the two sons of Prince Andrew Romanoff and his second wife Kathleen Norris (1935 – 1967) who died from pneumonia. Peter’s father dropped his royal style and title when he came to the United States in 1949, calling himself Andrew Romanoff. Peter’s paternal grandparents were Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife Duchess Elisabetta Sasso-Ruffo Di Sant Antimo. His maternal grandparents were Dr. Frank Norris and Alice McCreery. Peter is the great-grandchild of Grand Duchess Xenia of Russia (the daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Dagmar of Denmark, known as Maria Feodorovna after her marriage) and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (the grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia).

Peter has one younger brother:

  • Prince Andrew Romanoff (born 1963), married Elizabeth Flores, had one daughter

Peter has one elder half-brother from his father’s first marriage to Elena Konstantinovna Durnova:

Since 1980, Peter has worked as an auto technician at several garages in Marin County, California. On May 2, 2009, in Marin County, California, Peter married Barbara Anne Jurgens (born 1968). The couple has no children. Peter’s younger brother Andrew is second in the line of succession to the claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family.

Peter has been a member of the Romanov Family Association since 1996. His aunt Princess Olga Romanoff has been president of the Romanov Family Association since 2017. On July 17, 1998, together with other members of the Romanov family, Peter attended the reburial of the remains of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, his wife and three daughters, and their servants at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. In September 2006, Alex attended all the events related to the transfer of the remains of his great-great-grandmother Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark from Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark to the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia where she was interred next to her husband.

The headship of the House of Romanov has been contested since the death of the last undisputed male dynast Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia in 1992. Upon his death, competing claims over the headship of the House of Romanov emerged between Prince Nicholas Romanov and Grand Duke Vladimir’s daughter Maria Vladimirovna. Prince Nicholas’ claim was based on a 1911 Ukase issued by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia that the equal marriage rule applied only to Grand Dukes (the sons and grandsons of an emperor) and that princes (the great-grandsons onward of an emperor) could marry women of “good standing” for their marriage to be dynastic and therefore transmit succession and dynastic rights to their children, and that women, namely Maria Vladimirovna, could succeed only on the total extinction of the male line. The Romanov Family Association recognized Prince Nicholas Romanov as the senior male dynastic representative and head of the family on December 31, 1992, in Paris, France and this was symbolically re-confirmed on Russian soil after the state burial of Emperor Nicholas II and his family in 1998. The Romanov Family Association further stated that they consider the marriage of Maria Vladimirovna’s parents to be unequal. (See Maria Vladimirovna’s article for more information.)

Peter’s brother Alex and his predecessors Prince Nicholas Romanov, Prince Dmitri Romanov, and Prince Andrew Romanoff have not acted for the restoration of the monarchy or engaged in dynastic activities such as the distribution of Russian imperial titles and orders. Maria Vladimirovna claims the status of de jure Empress of All Russia, styles herself as Grand Duchess and her son as Grand Duke and Tsarevich, the title of the heir apparent, and actively distributes the Russian imperial orders, all of which have been condemned by the Romanov Family Association.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Prince Alexis Romanoff, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/prince-alexis-romanoff/ (Accessed: 20 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/andrew-romanoff-born-prince-andrew-romanov/ (Accessed: 20 August 2023).
  • Massie, Robert K. (1995) The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. New York: Random House
  • Peter Romanoff – Auto Technician – Chedas Garage | linkedin. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-romanoff-1b127047 (Accessed: 20 August 2023).
  • Романов, Алексей Андреевич (великий князь) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87_(%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8C) (Accessed: 20 August 2023).
  • The Romanov Family Association. Available at: http://www.romanovfamily.org/index.html (Accessed: 20 August 2023)

Prince Alexis Romanoff

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Alex and his wife Zoey; Credit – Alex Romanoff Facebook Page

Prince Alexis Romanoff, a great-great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, has been one of the disputed pretenders to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family since the death of his father Prince Andrew Romanoff in 2021. The Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over whether marriages in the Romanov family were equal marriages – a marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house. Alexis’ father Andrew inherited the claim after the death of Prince Dimitri Romanov who had no sons. With his death, the male line of Dmitri’s Nikolavevichi Branch of the Russian Imperial Family descended from Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich of Russia, a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, became extinct, transferring the claim to the Mikhailovichi Branch, descended from Grand Duke Michael Nicolaevich of Russia, a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. Andrew was also the great-grandson of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Empress Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, through their elder daughter Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia.

Alex’s parents on their wedding day; Credit – Credit – http://russculture.ru/2021/12/02/ushel-iz-gzizni-poslednii-nastojashii-romanov/

Prince Alexis Romanoff, who does not use the title Prince and is known as Alex, was born on April 27, 1953, in San Francisco, California. He is the only child of Prince Andrew Romanoff and his first wife Elena Konstantinovna Dourneva (1927 – 1992), who divorced in 1959. Alex’s father dropped his royal style and title when he came to the United States in 1949, calling himself Andrew Romanoff. Alex’s paternal grandparents were Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife Duchess Elisabetta Sasso-Ruffo Di Sant Antimo. His maternal grandparents were Russian émigrés Konstantin Afanasievich Dournev and Felixa Stanislavna Zapalski. Alex is the great-grandchild of Grand Duchess Xenia of Russia (the daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and Princess Dagmar of Denmark, known as Maria Feodorovna after her marriage) and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (the grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia).

Alex has two half-brothers from his father’s second marriage to Kathleen Norris (1935 – 1967) who died from pneumonia.

  • Prince Peter Romanoff (born 1961), married Barbara Anne Jurgens, no children, Peter is the heir to his half-brother’s claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family
  • Prince Andrew Romanoff (born 1963), married Elizabeth Flores, had one daughter, Andrew is second in the line of succession to the claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family

Alex in his younger years; Credit – Facebook: Europe Royal Family

After his parents’ divorce, Alex lived with his mother. He attended Saint Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, California, and then attended the University of California, Berkeley. On September 19, 1987, in Oakland, California, Alex married Zoetta “Zoe” Leisy (born 1956) but the couple have no children. Since 2002, Alex has owned two businesses in Oakland California, where he and his wife Zoe also live: The Romanoff Agency, which provides bookkeeping and finance services to companies and individuals, and A to Z Printing which provides printing services to local businesses.

Alex has been a member of the Romanov Family Association since 1981 and has served as a committee member. His aunt Princess Olga Romanoff has been president of the Romanov Family Association since 2017. On July 17, 1998, together with other members of the Romanov family, Alex attended the reburial of the remains of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, his wife and three daughters, and their servants at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. In September 2006, Alex attended all the events related to the transfer of the remains of his great-great-grandmother Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark from Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark to the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia where she was interred next to her husband.

Alex’s father Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov, died on November 28, 2021, two months short of his 99th birthday at an assisted living center in San Anselmo, California after a long illness. Upon his father’s death, Alex inherited his claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family. All descendants of the Russian Imperial House, except for rival claimant Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and her son Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, recognized Alex’s claim to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family. Since Alex has no children, the heir to his claims is his half-brother Prince Peter Romanoff.

The headship of the House of Romanov has been contested since the death of the last undisputed male dynast Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia in 1992. Upon his death, competing claims over the headship of the House of Romanov emerged between Prince Nicholas Romanov and Grand Duke Vladimir’s daughter Maria Vladimirovna. Prince Nicholas’ claim was based on a 1911 Ukase issued by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia that the equal marriage rule applied only to Grand Dukes (the sons and grandsons of an emperor) and that princes (the great-grandsons onward of an emperor) could marry women of “good standing” for their marriage to be dynastic and therefore transmit succession and dynastic rights to their children, and that women, namely Maria Vladimirovna, could succeed only on the total extinction of the male line. The Romanov Family Association recognized Prince Nicholas Romanov as the senior male dynastic representative and head of the family on December 31, 1992, in Paris, France and this was symbolically re-confirmed on Russian soil after the state burial of Emperor Nicholas II and his family in 1998. The Romanov Family Association further stated that they consider the marriage of Maria Vladimirovna’s parents to be unequal. (See Maria Vladimirovna’s article for more information.)

Alex and his predecessors Prince Nicholas Romanov, Prince Dmitri Romanov, and Prince Andrew Romanoff have not acted for the restoration of the monarchy or engaged in dynastic activities such as the distribution of Russian imperial titles and orders. Maria Vladimirovna claims the status of de jure Empress of All Russia, styles herself as Grand Duchess and her son as Grand Duke and Tsarevich, the title of the heir apparent, and actively distributes the Russian imperial orders, all of which have been condemned by the Romanov Family Association.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/andrew-romanoff-born-prince-andrew-romanov/ (Accessed: 19 August 2023).
  • Royalpedia. (2023). Alexis Andreievich, Prince of Russia. [online] Available at: https://royalty.miraheze.org/wiki/Alexis_Andreievich,_Prince_of_Russia [Accessed 19 Aug. 2023].
  • Massie, Robert K. (1995) The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. New York: Random House
  • Романов, Алексей Андреевич (великий князь) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87_(%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8C) (Accessed: 19 August 2023).
  • The Romanov Family Association. Available at: http://www.romanovfamily.org/index.html (Accessed: 19 August 2023)