by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019
Albert II, King of the Belgians (born 1934)
(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)
Albert II, King of the Belgians was born at Stuyvenberg Castle in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium on June 6, 1934, the second of the two sons and the youngest of the three children of Leopold III, King of the Belgians and Princess Astrid of Sweden. His elder brother was Baudouin, King of the Belgians and his sister Joséphine-Charlotte was the wife of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg.
Albert’s father Leopold III was the eldest of the two sons and the eldest of the three children of Albert I, King of the Belgians and Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria. Princess Astrid of Sweden, his mother, was the third of the four children and the youngest of the three daughters of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. Princess Astrid’s paternal grandparents were King Oscar II of Sweden and Sofia of Nassau. Her maternal grandparents were King Frederick VIII of Denmark and Louise of Sweden. Albert married Paola Ruffo di Calabria and had two sons and one daughter. In 2013, Albert II, King of the Belgians abdicated in favor of his son Philippe.
King Albert II has ten first cousins. He shares his first cousins with his siblings Princess Josephine-Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and Baudouin, King of the Belgians and his paternal first cousins with his half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Lilian Baels, Prince Alexandre, Princess Marie-Christine, and Princess Marie-Esméralda.
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King Albert II’s Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Albert I, King of the Belgians and Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria
- Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, Prince Regent (1903-1983), unmarried, illegitimate daughter with Jacqueline Wehrli
- Princess Marie-José, Queen of Italy (1906-2001), married King Umberto II of Italy, had issue
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King Albert II’s Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark
- Princess Margaretha of Sweden, Princess of Denmark (1899 -1977); married Prince Axel of Denmark, had issue
- Princess Märtha of Sweden, Crown Princess of Norway (1901-1954); married Crown Prince Olav of Norway (died before he became King of Norway), had issue
- Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Östergötland (1911- 2003); married (1) Countess Elsa von Rosen, lost his royal status upon marriage, became Prince Carl Bernadotte, had issue, divorced; (2) Ann Margareta Larsson, no issue, divorced; (3) Kristine Rivelsrud, no issue
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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS
Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Marie José of Belgium and King Umberto II of Italy
Princess Maria Pia of Savoy (born 1934)
Princess Maria Pia of Savoy met her husband Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, son of Prince Paul of Yugoslavia and Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark, on the famous royal cruise on the yacht Agamemnon, hosted by the Greek royal family. The couple had twin sons, another son and a daughter before they divorced. Maria Pia married a second time to Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma, son of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark.
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Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Naples (born 1938)
Prince Vittorio Emanuele uses the title Duke of Savoy and claims the headship of the House of Savoy although this claim is disputed by the Dukes of Aosta. He married Marina Ricolfi-Doria, Swiss biscuit heiress and a former world-ranked water skier. They had one son.
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Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy (born 1940)
After Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran divorced his second wife, he expressed interest in marrying Princess Maria Gabriella. However, Pope John XXIII strongly disapproved and forbade the marriage. The princess married Romanian entrepreneur Robert Zellinger de Balkany with whom she had one daughter. The couple divorced after fourteen years of marriage. After the death of her father, the former King Umberto II of Italy, Princess Maria Gabriella launched the King Umberto II Foundation, dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of the House of Savoy. She is a watercolor artist, and a writer, and has published several books on her family.
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With Italian actor Maurizio Arena
Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy (born 1943)
Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy wanted to marry Italian actor Maurizio Arena but was prevented by her family. Instead, she married Argentinian Luis Rafael Reyna-Corvalán y Dillon. The couple had one daughter and two sons, one of whom died shortly after birth and the other died at the age of 24 after falling from the terrace of his home. Maria Beatrice and her husband divorced after 27 years of marriage and a year later her former husband was murdered.
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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS
Maternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Margaretha of Sweden and Prince Axel of Denmark
Credit – https://www.findagrave.com
Prince George Valdemar of Denmark (1920 – 1986)
Prince George Valdemar was the second husband of Anne Bowes-Lyon, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The couple had no children. Because the prince received permission from King Frederik IX of Denmark to marry, he remained in the line of succession. However, he lost his place in the line of succession three years later because the Danish Act of Succession of 1953 restricted the throne to those descended from King Christian X of Denmark.
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Credit – https://www.findagrave.com
Count Flemming Valdemar of Rosenborg (1922 – 2002)
Born His Highness Prince Flemming Valdemar of Denmark, he lost his place in the succession when he married Ruth Nielsen without the permission of King Frederik IX of Denmark. The couple had three sons and one daughter.
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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Märtha of Sweden, Crown Princess of Norway and the future King Olav V of Norway
Princess Ragnhild of Norway, Mrs. Lorentzen (1930 – 2012)
Princess Ragnhild was the first native Norwegian princess born in Norway in over 600 years. She married Erling Lorentzen, a commoner and her former bodyguard. Reportedly, her grandfather King Haakon VII consented to the marriage only after the intervention of Ragnhild’s mother Crown Princess Märtha. Upon her marriage, Ragnhild lost her style of Royal Highness, becoming known instead as Her Highness Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen. Ragnhild and her husband had one son and two daughters.
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Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (born 1932)
Princess Astrid married Johan Martin Ferner, a Norwegian sailor and Olympic medalist. Ferner’s father was a master tailor and established a department store in Oslo, Norway which his son inherited. Because of her marriage to a commoner, Astrid lost her style of Her Royal Highness, becoming just Her Highness. The couple had three daughters and two sons.
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King Harald V of Norway (born 1937)
In 1959, Harald met Sonja Haraldsen, a friend of a friend, at a party. The relationship between the Crown Prince and Sonja was controversial as many people including politicians and journalists felt the Crown Prince should marry a princess and not a Norwegian commoner. The controversy continued for years as did the relationship and Harald made it clear he would not marry if he could not marry Sonja. Finally, in 1968, when King Olav V felt the position of the Norwegian people had changed to favor Sonja, he consulted with parliamentary leaders and other government leaders and gave his consent for the Crown Prince to marry a commoner. The couple had two children.
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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Carl Bernadotte, born Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Östergötland, and Countess Elsa von Rosen
Embed from Getty Images
Countess Madeleine Bernadotte. Mrs. Kogevinas and Bernhard Mach
Countess Madeleine Bernadotte, Mrs. Kogevinas (born 1938)
Madeleine first married Charles Ullens, Count de Schooten-Whetnall. The couple had three daughters and one son before they divorced after 18 years of marriage. Madeleine married again to Nicos Eletherios Kogevinas and they had one daughter.
The Peerage: Madeleine Ingeborg Ella Astra Elsa Bernadotte, Countess Bernadotte
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Works Cited
- Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
- Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
- Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/. (for biographical and genealogy information)
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