Bertha Louise of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, Princess of Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Bertha Louise of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, Princess of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Bertha Louise of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld was the first of the two wives of Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe. Born on October 25, 1874, in Burgsteinfurt, a city under the control of the noble Bentheim-Steinfurt family, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bertha Louise was the eldest of the four children and the only daughter of Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, a rear admiral in the Prussian and German Imperial Navy, and his second wife Princess Juliane of Bentheim-Steinfurt.

Bertha Louise had three younger brothers but two died in infancy:

  • Chlodwig, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1876 – 1954), married Karoline of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, had five children
  • Prince Eduard of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1878 – 1879), twin of Julian, died in infancy
  • Prince Julian of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (born and died 1878), twin of Eduard, died in infancy

When Bertha Louise was three-and-half years old, her mother Juliane, age thirty-six, died eight days after giving birth to twin boys, probably from childbirth complications. The twin boys both died before their first birthday.

Bertha Louise had five half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Princess Maria von Hanau und zu Hořowitz which ended in divorce. Maria was the daughter of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I of Hesse-Kassel and his morganatic wife Gertrude Falkenstein, later Countess of Schaumburg and Princess of Hanau und zu Hořowitz. Maria took her title from her mother and because of her parents’ morganatic marriage, her children were not given the title Prince/Princes of Hessen-Philippsthal but rather Prince/Princess of Ardeck, and they did not have succession rights.

  • Prince Friedrich of Ardeck (1858 – 1902), married Anne Hollingsworth Price, no children
  • Prince Carl of Ardeck (1861 – 1938), married Anne Elise Strehlow, no children
  • Princess Elisabeth of Ardeck (1864 – 1919), married Count Ferdinand of Ysenburg-Büdingen-Philippseich, had four children
  • Princess Marie of Ardeck (1867 – 1868), died in infancy
  • Princess Luise of Ardeck (1868 – 1959), married Prince Rudolf of Lippe-Biesterfeld, had three children

Bertha Louise’s father married for a third time in 1879 to Princess Adelheid of Bentheim and Steinfurt, the sister of his second wife, but the marriage was childless and Adelheid died in 1880. In 1884, Bertha Louise got another stepmother when her father married Princess Auguste of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the daughter of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe. Bertha Louise had one half-brother from this marriage.

Bertha Louise’s husband Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 16, 1901, in Rotenburg an der Fulda, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Hesse, Bertha Louise married the future Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, the son of  Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Countess Karoline Friederike Cecilia of Wartensleben. Leopold’s father Ernst was the head of the non-reigning Lippe-Biesterfeld line of the House of Lippe, the most senior line of the princely house after the reigning Lippe-Detmold line.

Bertha Louise and Leopold with their three eldest children; Credit – Wikipedia

Bertha Louise and Leopold had five children:

  • Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe (link in German) (1902 – 1987), married (1) Charlotte Ricken, divorced (2) Herta-Elise Weiland, had one son and one daughter
  • Prince Leopold Bernhard of Lippe (1904 – 1965), unmarried
  • Princess Karoline of Lippe (1905 – 2001), married Count Hans of Kanitz, had six daughters
  • Prince Chlodwig of Lippe (1909 – 2000), married Veronika Holl, had one daughter
  • Princess Sieglinde of Lippe (1915 – 2008), married Friedrich Carl Heldman, had two daughters and one son

Leopold’s father Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld served as the Regent of the Principality of Lippe for Alexander, Prince of Lippe. Alexander had been declared mentally incapacitated and therefore, incapable of governing, a regency would be necessary during Alexander’s reign. When Leopold’s father died on September 26, 1904, Leopold succeeded him as Regent of the Principality of Lippe. Four months later, Alexander, Prince of Lippe, the last of the Lippe-Detmold line, died on January 13, 1905. With the extinction of the Lippe-Detmold line, the throne of the Principality of Lippe went to Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld who reigned as Leopold IV and would be the last reigning Prince of Lippe.

Christ Church in Detmold, which Leopold IV built and where he is buried with his two wives; Christ Church in Detmold; Credit – Von Daniel Brockpähler – Eigene Fotografie, bearbeitet mit Photoshop von Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8648403

Following the German Empire’s defeat in World War I and the German Revolution of 1918-1919, Leopold IV was forced to renounce the throne on November 12, 1918, by the Lippe People’s and Soldiers’ Council. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government allowing his family to remain in Lippe. Three months later, on February 19, 1919, Bertha Louise died, aged 44, in Detmold, then in the new Weimar Republic, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. She was buried at the Christ Church in Detmold (link in German). Leopold married for a second time to Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen and they had one son Armin, Prince of Lippe.

Bertha and Leopold’s son Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe as a witness during the Nuremberg Trials; Credit – Wikipedia

During the rise of Nazism in Germany, all three sons of Bertha Louise and Leopold became members of the Nazi Party. Their eldest son Hereditary Prince Ernst is reported to have been the first German prince to join the Nazi Party when he signed up in May 1928. Ernst’s brother Chlodwig joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the third brother Leopold Bernhard joined in 1932. Hereditary Prince Ernst later became an SS-Major (Schutzstaffel Sturmbannführer) and held a high-ranking post in the SS Race and Settlement Main Office. The SS (Schutzstaffel) was the agency of security, surveillance, and terror in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The SS Race and Settlement Main Office was responsible for safeguarding the racial purity of the SS within Nazi Germany. At the end of World War II, Hereditary Prince Ernst was taken prisoner by the Allies and took part in the Nuremberg Trials as a witness. The denazification tribunal in the Detmold administrative district classified Ernst as a Lesser Offender, Category III. He was not imprisoned but rather placed on probation with a list of restrictions.

In addition to being pro-Nazi, both Hereditary Prince Ernst and Prince Khlodwig had made unequal marriages. Due to these circumstances, when their father Leopold rewrote his will in 1947, he indicated that Armin, his only child with his second wife, would succeed him as the Head of the House of Lippe and become the administrator of the princely family’s properties such as the Residenzschloss Detmold (link in German), thereby disinheriting all three of his sons from his first marriage.

Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, survived his first wife Bertha Louise by thirty years, dying, aged 78, on December 30, 1949, in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was buried with Bertha Louise at the Christ Church in Detmold (link in German). Leopold’s second wife Anna survived him by thirty-one years, dying on February 8, 1980, in Detmold at the age of 94, and was also buried at Christ Church.

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

  • Bertha Louise von Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Louise_von_Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-iv-prince-of-lippe/ (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Petropoulos, Jonathan, 2009. Royals And The Reich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Prince William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_William_of_Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Wilhelm Prinz von Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (2022) geni_family_tree. Available at: https://www.geni.com/people/Wilhelm-Prinz-von-Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld/6000000002188424816 (Accessed: 13 July 2023).

Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress, 3rd wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg was the third of the three wives and also the second cousin of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor who was also King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, Duke of Teschen, King of the Romans, Archduke of Further Austria, and Prince of Transylvania. Born in the Palatinate-Neuburg, now in the German state of Bavaria, on January 6, 1655, Eleonore Magdalene was the eldest of the seventeen children and the eldest of the eight daughters of Philipp Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich-Berg and his second wife Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her paternal grandparents were Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Magdalene of Bavaria. Eleonore Magdalene’s maternal grandparents were Georg II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Sophie Eleonore of Saxony.

Eleonore Magdalene had sixteen younger siblings:

Eleonore Magdalene was raised in a very religious environment and received an excellent education. Besides her native language German, Eleonore Magdalene was fluent in Latin, French, and Italian, translated biblical texts and spiritual literature into German, was well-versed in theology, and was fond of music and art. From the age of seventeen, Eleanore Magdalene lived with her mother in Benrath Castle where a lady-in-waiting instructed her in court etiquette.

From an early age, Eleonore Magdalene showed a strong devotion to her Roman Catholic faith. She developed a daily prayer practice and an ascetic life that included self-flagellation and the secret wearing of a chain cilice. Eleonore Magdalene visited the sick, gave alms to the poor, and asked others not to treat her as royalty because she considered all people equally dear to God. When she was fourteen-year-old, Eleonore Magdalene joined the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows at the Cross, a secular order, and remained a member all her life. She wanted to become a Carmelite nun but her parents would not let her. Five monarchs asked to marry her and were refused by her.

Eleonore Magdalene’s husband Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1676, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor was devastated by the loss of his second wife, and he retired to a monastery near Vienna to mourn. From his two marriages, he had six children, however, all except the oldest daughter from his first wife, had died. Leopold needed to marry again to provide a male heir. Eleanore Magdalene’s mother had 23 pregnancies and 17 live births and the family gained the reputation as a fertile family. Because of this reputation, 36-year-old Leopold chose his 21-year-old second cousin Eleonore Magdalene as his third wife. The wedding took place on December 14, 1676, in Passau, then in the County of Palatine, now in Bavaria, Germany. Having an imperial wedding in Passau was a major event and it is remembered with an 1892 painting of the wedding, displayed in the Passau Town Hall.

The painting of the wedding of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and Eleonore Magdalene, displayed in the Passau Town Hall; Credit – https://tourismus.passau.de/

Leopold made a good choice because his third wife Eleonore Magdalene had ten children with five surviving childhood including two Holy Roman Emperors:

Eleonore had one surviving stepchild from her husband’s first marriage to Margarita Teresa of Spain:

Eleonore Magdalene was politically active and influenced her husband in governmental matters, particularly as he grew older. Because she was fluent in several languages, Eleonore Magdalene translated foreign political documents for her husband, as many were written in French. She used her position as Holy Roman Empress to secure high-status marriages for her sisters, to promote the careers of her brothers in the Roman Catholic Church, and to oversee the political needs of her brother Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine of Neuburg. Eleonore Magdalene’s generosity to those in need was almost limitless. She built hospitals and shelters, supported numerous brotherhoods, churches, and monasteries, distributed alms, and visited the sick in hospitals. In 1684, Eleonore received the Golden Rose from Pope Innocent XI as a token of his affection for her reverence.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged sixty-four, on May 5, 1705, in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria. He was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. After Leopold’s death, Eleonore Magdalene dressed in mourning for the rest of her life. During the six-year reign of her son Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Eleonore Magdalene continued to influence the affairs of the state. After Joseph I’s death, by the decision of the Privy Council, Eleanore Magdalene served as regent until the return of her son, the new Emperor Karl VI, from Spain where he was dealing with issues relating to the War of the Spanish Succession.

During her last years, Eleonore Magdalene lived a very ascetic life, similar to a nun. She instructed her servants, who had witnessed her ascetic life, never to tell anyone. On January 1, 1720, while preparing for the sacrament of confession, Eleonore Magdalene suffered a stroke which left the right side of her body paralyzed. She received the Anointing of the Sick and gave her blessing to her children and grandchildren who were at her deathbed. During her final days, Eleonore Magdalene was constantly nursed by her two daughters-in-law Wilhelmine Amalia and Elisabeth Christine.

Eleonore Magdalene’s second coffin; Credit – By Krischnig – de.wikipedia.org, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51297806

Eleonore Magdalene died on January 19, 1720, aged sixty-five, at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Following her wishes, Eleonora Magdalene was buried wearing the robe of a nun, in a very simple wooden coffin that bore the inscription “Eleonore Magdalene Theresa, poor sinner”. Her coffin was placed at the foot of her husband’s tomb in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. The current lead Baroque coffin containing Eleonore Magdalene’s remains was made in August 1755 following the orders of her granddaughter Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, in her own right Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, because the old wooden coffin had deteriorated considerably.

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

  • Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleonore_Magdalene_of_Neuburg (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
  • Eleonore Magdalene von Pfalz-Neuburg (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleonore_Magdalene_von_Pfalz-Neuburg (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
  • Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
  • Philip William, Elector Palatine (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_William,_Elector_Palatine (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
  • Rathaussäle Passau (2023) Startseite Passau Tourismus. Available at: https://tourismus.passau.de/passau-sehen-erleben/sehenswuerdigkeiten-in-passau/altes-rathaus-und-rathaussaele/ (Accessed: 18 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.

Sophie of Baden, Princess of Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Sophie of Baden, Princess of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie of Baden was the wife of Woldemar, Prince of Lippe. Born on August 7, 1834, in Karlsruhe, then in the Grand Duchy of Baden, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, Sophie was second of the four children, all daughters, of Prince Wilhelm of Baden and Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Württemberg. Her paternal grandparents were Karl Friedrich, the first Grand Duke of Baden, and his morganatic second wife Louise Caroline, Baroness Geyer von Geyersberg, Countess of Hochberg. Sophie’s maternal grandparents were Duke Ludwig of Württemberg and Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg.

Sophie had three sisters:

On November 9, 1858, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, Sophie married Woldemar, the future Prince of Lippe, the son of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe and Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Sophie and Woldemar had no children.

Sophie’s husband Woldemar, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Woldemar had two elder siblings and six younger siblings. Woldemar and his elder brother Leopold III, Prince of Lippe were the only ones who married, and neither had any children. This would eventually create a succession crisis. Woldemar became Prince of Lippe upon the death of his elder brother Leopold III, on December 8, 1875.

Woldemar, Prince of Lippe died March 20, 1895, aged 70, in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He was buried at the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg (link in German) in Detmold. Woldemar had no children to succeed him, and his only surviving brother was Alexander, who suffered from mental illness and had been declared incapacitated since 1871 and was incapable of governing. A regency would be necessary during Alexander’s reign. However, Woldemar’s appointment of Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe as his brother’s regent sparked the Lippe succession dispute. This dispute between the two lines of the House of Lippe over the right to inherit lasted two decades and is discussed in Alexander, Prince of Lippe’s article.

Crypt in the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg; Credit – Von unbekannt / Tsungam – Foto: Eigenes Werk; Infotafel: Freunde der Residenz Detmold, Gemeinfrei, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20182639

Sophie survived her husband Woldemar by nine years, dying at the age of 70, on April 6, 1904, at the age of 70, in Detmold. She was buried with her husband.

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. (2020) Woldemar, Prince of Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/woldemar-prince-of-lippe/ (Accessed: 11 July 2023).
  • Prince William of Baden (2023). Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_William_of_Baden (Accessed: 11 July 2023).
  • Princess Sophie of Baden (2022). Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Sophie_of_Baden (Accessed: 11 July 2023).

Claudia Felicitas of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, 2nd wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

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.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Claudia Felicitas of Austria, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Austria was the second of the three wives and the second cousin of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor who was also King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, Duke of Teschen, King of the Romans, Archduke of Further Austria, and Prince of Transylvania. Born in Innsbruck, then in the County of Tyrol, now in Austria, on May 30, 1653, Claudia Felicitas was the elder of the two children, both daughters, of  Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol and first cousin Anna de’ Medici. Her paternal grandparents were Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and Claudia de’ Medici. Claudia Felicitas’ maternal grandparents were Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Maria Maddalena of Austria.

Claudia Felicitas had one younger sister who died in childhood:

  • Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria (1656 – 1669), died at age twelve

Claudia Felicitas grew up at her father’s court in Innsbruck, a center of baroque art and music. She loved hunting but also showed a great interest in music. Claudia Felicitas had an excellent singing voice, played several instruments, and composed music. She took her Roman Catholic faith very seriously and was a secular member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. In 1662, when Claudia Felicitas was nine-years-old, her 34-year-old father, Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Further Austria, died. He was succeeded by his brother Sigismund Franz, who died three years later in 1665. Claudia Felicitas and her sister, who would die in 1669, became the last members of the Tyrolean branch of the House of Habsburg.

Claudia Felicitas’ mother Anna de’ Medici; Credit – Wikipedia

After the extinction of the male line of the Tyrolean branch of the House of Habsburg in 1665, the Archduchy of Further Austria and the County of Tyrol came under the direct control of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. A dispute ensued with the Imperial Court when Claudia Felicitas’ mother, Anna de’ Medici, tried to protect her daughters’ rights. However, in 1673, when the first wife of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Margarita Teresa of Spain, died without providing a surviving male heir, a solution to solve the dispute and Leopold’s lack of male heirs became apparent. Because Leopold had no male heirs, he needed to marry again as soon as possible. He opted for Claudia Felicitas, and her mother eagerly agreed. After a proxy marriage, 20-year-old Claudia Felicitas and 33-year-old Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I were married at Graz Cathedral on October 15, 1673. After her marriage, Claudia Felicitas retained the title of Countess of Tyrol, and the dispute ended.

The House of Habsburg was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more and more frequently. Leopold I’s first wife, Margarita Teresa of Spain, was his first cousin and his niece. She had six pregnancies in six years (four living childbirths and two miscarriages), and four months into her seventh pregnancy, Margarita Teresa died. Her only surviving child, a daughter, gave birth to three sons – two died at birth and one died at the age of seven.

Claudia Felicitas’ husband, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I; Credit – Wikipedia

Claudia Felicitas and Leopold I combined for a gene pool that was also problematic. They were second cousins four times over. Leopold’s parents and Claudia Felicitas’ parents were all double first cousins. All four had the same pair of grandparents, Karl II, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria.

Claudia Felicitas and Leopold I had two daughters, who died in infancy:

  • Archduchess Anna Maria Josepha of Austria (born and died 1674)
  • Archduchess Maria Josepha Clementina of Austria (1675 – 1676), died in infancy

The Dominican Church in Vienna, Austria where Claudia Felicitas is buried; Credit – By Thomas Ledl – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28719844

Six months after giving birth to her daughter Maria Josepha, 22-year-old Claudia Felicitas died from tuberculosis in Vienna, on April 8, 1676, less than two-and-a-half years after her marriage. She was buried in the Dominican Church, also known as the Church of St. Maria Rotund, in Vienna. Three months later, her 9-month-old daughter Maria Josepha Clementina died. Leopold I was devastated by the loss of his second wife, and he retired to a monastery near Vienna to mourn. From his two marriages, he had six children, however, all except the oldest daughter from his first marriage had died. One has to wonder what role the serious inbreeding played. Leopold did marry for a third time, but not to another Habsburg. His third wife, Eleonore Magdalene of Neuberg, finally provided him with male heirs, two sons who both became Holy Roman Emperors.

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

  • Claudia Felicitas of Austria (2023). Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Felicitas_of_Austria (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Claudia Felizitas von Österreich-Tirol (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Felizitas_von_%C3%96sterreich-Tirol (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-hungary-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-king-of-croatia-duke-of-teschen-king-of-the-romans-archduke-of-further-austria-and-prince-of-transylv/ (Accessed: 13 July 2023).
  • Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria (2023). Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Charles,_Archduke_of_Austria (Accessed: 13 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.

Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Princess of Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Princess of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was the wife of Leopold III, Prince of Lippe. Born on October 1, 1833, in Rudolstadt, then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, Elisabeth was the second but the eldest surviving of the four children and the only daughter of Albrecht, the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Princess Auguste of Solms-Braunfels. Her paternal grandparents were Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Karoline of Hesse-Homburg. Elisabeth’s maternal grandparents were Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels and Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Elisabeth had three brothers but only one survived childhood:

Elisabeth was raised in a strict but simple manner by her Swiss governess and received drawing and painting lessons from Richard Schinzel, who later became the last Rudolstadt court painter. On April 17, 1852, in Rudolstadt, 18-year-old Elisabeth married 30-year-old Leopold III, Prince of Lippe but their marriage was childless. However, Leopold, who loved children very much, invited many children to Detmold Castle (link in German) every year for Christmas.

Elisabeth’s husband Leopold III, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth used all the means at her disposal for charitable causes. She published a booklet with Bible verses for every day of the year and designed wall decorations with Bible verses. The booklet and wall decorations were mass-produced and the proceeds went to Elisabeth’s charitable causes. Devoted to children, Elisabeth founded a school, the Elisabeth-Anstalt in the town of Blomberg. She also promoted the establishment and maintenance of the Augustineum Secondary School a school and teacher training center in Otjimbingwe, then in a settlement of the Herero people, now in the country of Namibia.

Throughout her life, Elisabeth remained connected to her homeland and regularly visited Rudolstadt. Although she was popular with the people of the Principality of Lippe, Elisabeth and her husband Leopold became increasingly estranged which greatly distressed her. On December 8, 1875, Elisabeth’s husband Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, aged 54, died in Detmold after suffering a stroke and was succeeded by his brother Woldemar. Leopold was buried at the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg (link in German) in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

After Leopold’s death, Elisabeth moved into her widow’s residence at the New Palais in Detmold and continued her charitable work. She convinced her sister-in-law Princess Luise of Lippe to leave her palace to the Principality of Lippe upon her death so that it could house the Princely Public Library, today the Lippe State Library in Detmold (link in German). Among the other projects that Elisabeth sponsored was the Hostel zur Heimat Detmold (link in German), a facility for people in social distress, which is still in existence. As a condition of her support, Elisabeth stipulated that her name not be associated with the hostel.

Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, where Elisabeth is interred; Credit – Von Telemarco, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46588535

After the death of her brother Georg Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1890, Elisabeth inherited the manor in Niederkrossen (link in German), then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Elisabeth regularly stayed there and had a handicraft school built there in the town. While staying in Niederkrossen during the autumn of 1896, Elisabeth became ill with pneumonia, and died on November 27, 1896, at the age of sixty-three. As per her wishes, Elisabeth was not buried at the traditional burial site of the princely family of Lippe but rather in the princely crypt at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas (link in German), an Evangelical Lutheran church in Rudolstadt, then in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, where members of her birth family were buried.

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

  • Єлизавета Шварцбург-Рудольштадтська (2023) Wikipedia (Ukrainian). Available at: https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%84%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%A8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%86%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3-%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%88%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%82%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0 (Accessed: 12 July 2023).
  • Elisabeth von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_von_Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (Accessed: 12 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/albrecht-prince-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/ (Accessed: 12 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-iii-prince-of-lippe/ (Accessed: 12 July 2023).

Prince Roberto Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Roberto Hugo was the head of the house of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the former throne of the Duchy of Parma from 1959 until 1974.

Prince Roberto Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma source: Wikipedia

Prince Roberto Hugo was born on August 7, 1909, at Weilburg Palace in Baden bei Wien, Austria. He was the second son of Prince Elia of Bourbon-Parma and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. Roberto Hugo had eight siblings:

  • Princess Maria Elisabetta (1904) – unmarried
  • Prince Carlo Luigi (1905) – died in childhood
  • Princess Maria Francesca (1906) – unmarried
  • Princess Maria Antonia (1911) – married Prince Gottfried of Thurn und Taxis, had issue
  • Prince Francesco Alfonso (1913) – unmarried
  • Princess Giovanna Isabella (1916) – unmarried
  • Princess Alicia Maria (1917) – married Infante Alfonso of Spain, Duke of Calabria, had issue
  • Princess Maria Cristina (1925) – unmarried

Roberto Hugo succeeded his father as head of the House of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the throne in 1950, and took over the management of the family’s estates. He never married.

Roberto Hugo died in Vienna on November 25, 1974, and was buried at the Prince of Bourbon-Parma Crypt Chapel in Schaueregg, Hartberg-Fürstenfeld, Styria, Austria. As he had no heirs, he was succeeded by his half-uncle, Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma.

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Duchy of Parma Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Margarita Teresa of Spain, Holy Roman Empress, first wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Margarita Teresa of Spain, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

Margarita Teresa of Spain was the first of the three wives of her uncle and first cousin Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, Duke of Teschen, King of the Romans, Archduke of Further Austria, and Prince of Transylvania. Born on July 12, 1651, at the Royal Alcazar in Madrid, Spain, Margarita Teresa was the eldest of the five children and the elder of the two daughters of Felipe IV, King of Spain and his second wife Mariana of Austria, who were uncle and niece, an example of inbreeding. Margarita Teresa’s paternal grandparents were Felipe III, King of Spain and Margarete of Austria, who were both children of parents who were an uncle and his niece, and were first cousins once removed and second cousins. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife Maria Anna of Spain who were first cousins.

Margarita Teresa had four siblings but only one survived childhood:

Margarita Teresa had eight half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Elisabeth of France who died in 1644, at the age of forty-one, after miscarrying a son. Only one half-sister survived to adulthood, Maria Theresa, who married King Louis XIV of France.

  • Maria Margarita of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1621)
  • Margarita Maria Catalina of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1623)
  • Maria Eugenia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1625 – 1627)
  • Isabella Maria of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1627)
  • Balthasar Carlos of Austria, Infante of Spain, Prince of Asturias (1629 – 1646), died at age 16 from smallpox
  • Francisco Fernando of Austria, Infante of Spain (born and died 1634)
  • Maria Ana Antonia of Austria, Infanta of Spain (born and died 1636)
  • Maria Theresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain (1638 – 1683), married King Louis XIV of France, had six children but only one son survived childhood

Las Meninas (Spanish for ‘The Ladies-in-Waiting), 1656 by Diego Velázquez – Five-year-old Margarita Teresa is surrounded by her entourage of maids of honor, a chaperone, a bodyguard, two dwarfs, and a dog in a room in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid; Credit – Wikipedia

Margarita Teresa was raised in the chambers of her mother Margarete of Austria at the Royal Alcazar in Madrid, surrounded by numerous ladies-in-waiting and servants. Brought up with the strict etiquette of the Spanish court, she received an excellent education.

The House of Habsburg, which then ruled in Spain, Holy Roman Empire, and the various hereditary Habsburg lands, was notorious for its inbreeding. The Habsburgs had built their empire by marriage and wanted to keep the land they amassed all in the family, so they began to intermarry more frequently among themselves. Seven of Margarita Teresa’s eight great-grandparents were descended from Juana I, Queen of Castile and León and Aragon and her husband Philip of Habsburg, Duke of Burgundy.  While a person in the fifth generation normally has thirty-two different ancestors, Margarita Teresa had only ten different ancestors in the fifth generation.

King Carlos II of Spain, Margarita Teresa’s brother who had serious health issues and disabilities due to inbreeding; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Margarita did not develop the serious health issues and disabilities that her younger brother King Carlos II of Spain had shown since his birth (she did have the Habsburg jaw as did her husband Leopold), the inbreeding could have been a cause of the early deaths of three of her four children and the three children of her only surviving child. Margarita’s brother Carlos was a weak, sick child from birth. He did not learn to talk until he was four years old and could not walk until he was eight years old. Like many of the Habsburg family, Carlos had the Habsburg jaw (mandibular prognathism), a disfiguring genetic disorder in which the lower jaw outgrows the upper jaw. However, Carlos’ very pronounced Habsburg jaw was so severe that he swallowed his food without thoroughly chewing. Carlos’ condition showed clear signs of the long-time inbreeding of the House of Habsburg.

Margarita Teresa’s husband Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 6, 1663, twelve-year-old Margarita Teresa was betrothed to her 23-year-old uncle and first cousin Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, the son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and the first of his three wives who was also his first cousin Maria Anna of Austria. It was felt that Leopold and Margarita Teresa’s marriage between the Spanish and Austrian branches of the House of Habsburg was needed to strengthen the position of both countries, especially against the Kingdom of France. The marriage between Leopold and Margarita Teresa was delayed because of the bride’s age. The couple was married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on April 25, 1666, with the groom represented by Antonio de la Cerda, 7th Duke of Medinaceli.

Three days later, Margarita Teresa began her journey from Madrid to Vienna via ship and then over land. At each stop, where Margarita Teresa spent time resting, there were celebrations in her honor. On November 25, 1666, in Schottwien, twelve miles from Vienna, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I came to receive his bride. Margarita Teresa formally entered Vienna on December 5, 1666, and 26-year-old Leopold and 15-year-old Margarita, first cousins, uncle and niece, were married seven days later. Despite the age difference, the couple had a happy marriage. Margarita Teresa always called her husband “Onkel”, German for uncle, and Leopold called her “Gretl”, a German diminutive of Margarita. Margarita Teresa and Leopold had many common interests, especially in art and music.

Margarita Teresa and her only surviving child Maria Antonia; Credit – Wikipedia

Margarita Teresa and Leopold had four children but only one survived to adulthood:

  • Archduke Ferdinand Wenzel of Austria (1667 – 1668), died in infancy
  • Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria (1669 – 1692), married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, had three sons, none survived childhood
  • Archduke Johann Leopold of Austria (born and died 1670), died on the day of his birth
  • Archduchess Maria Anna Antonia of Austria (born and died 1672), died fourteen days after her birth

Margarita Teresa was very religious and was the driving force behind Leopold’s expulsion of the Jews from Vienna in 1670. She blamed the Jews for her two miscarriages, the early deaths of her two sons, and the fire in the newly built Leopoldine wing of the Hofburg Palace. During her marriage, Margarita Teresa kept her Spanish customs, was surrounded almost exclusively by her Spanish retinue, and hardly learned the German language. Due to the aloofness and arrogance of the Spanish retinue, an anti-Spanish mood spread at court, which also turned against Margarita Teresa. The courtiers unashamedly expressed their hope that Margarita Teresa, who was often ill, would soon die so that Leopold could marry someone more acceptable to them.

Tomb of Margarita Teresa; Credit – Von krischnig – selbst fotografiert, Bild-frei, https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3431689

Weakened from six pregnancies in six years (four living childbirths and two miscarriages), and four months into her seventh pregnancy, Margarita Teresa died at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, on March 12, 1673, at the age of 21, and was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. Despite his grief and because he had no male heir, several months later, Leopold married Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Austria, from the Tyrol branch of the House of Habsburg. After giving birth to two daughters who did not survive infancy, Claudia Felicitas died from tuberculosis three years after her marriage. Leopold’s third wife Eleonore Magdalene of Neuberg finally provided him with male heirs, two sons who both became Holy Roman Emperors.

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. (2022) Felipe IV, King of Spain, Filipe III, King of Portugal, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-iv-king-of-spain-filip-iii-king-of-portugal/ (Accessed: 10 July 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-hungary-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-king-of-croatia-duke-of-teschen-king-of-the-romans-archduke-of-further-austria-and-prince-of-transylv/ (Accessed: 10 July 2023).
  • Margaret Theresa of Spain (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Theresa_of_Spain (Accessed: 10 July 2023).
  • Margarita Theresa von Spanien (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarita_Theresa_von_Spanien (Accessed: 10 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.

Ancestors of Infanta Leonor of Spain, Princess of Asturias

compiled by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Infanta Leonor 2023

Infanta Leonor of Spain, Princess of Asturias is the elder of the two daughters of Felipe VI, King of Spain. Leonor is the heir presumptive to the Spanish throne, not the heir apparent. Currently, Spain’s succession law is male-preference cognatic primogeniture. This means that Leonor, as the elder of King Felipe’s two daughters, is first in line to inherit the throne, and she is the heir presumptive. However, if her parents had a son, which seems unlikely at this point, he would be the heir apparent and Leonor would forfeit the title of Princess of Asturias to her brother who would be Prince of Asturias. There have been discussions of changing the succession law to absolute primogeniture, where the eldest child, regardless of gender, inherits the throne, but no legislation has been forthcoming. If Leonor ascends to the throne, she will be Spain’s first queen regnant since Isabella II, who reigned from 1833 to 1868.

Through her father King Felipe VI, Leonor has a stellar royal pedigree. Her father is the only current European monarch to be descended from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom via three of his grandparents. Leonor’s paternal grandfather King Juan Carlos I of Spain is descended from Queen Victoria’s youngest child Princess Beatrice whose daughter Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg married King Alfonso XIII of Spain. Leonor’s paternal grandmother Queen Sofia, born Princess Sophia of Greece, is descended from Queen Victoria’s eldest child Victoria, Princess Royal via both her parents King Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover. Among Infanta Leonor’s ancestors in the last six generations are the monarchs of Denmark, the German Empire, Greece, Prussia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. If we go back a couple more generations, there are monarchs of Austria, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Russia.

Leonor’s mother Queen Letizia was born Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. She is of Spanish, Filipino, French, and Occitan descent. Occitan is an ethnic group that originated in the historical region of Occitania, located in southern France, northeastern Spain, northwestern Italy, and Monaco. Letizia’s paternal grandmother María del Carmen “Menchu” Álvarez del Valle was a famous radio broadcaster in Asturias, Spain for over forty years.

Parents, Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Great-Great-Grandparents, and Great-Great-Great-Grandparents of Infanta Leonor of Spain, Princess of Asturias (born October 31, 2005)

The links below are from Unofficial Royalty,  Wikipedia, Leo’s Genealogics Website, The Peerage, or Geni.

Parents

King Felipe VI of Spain and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, parents; Credit – By Ministry of the Presidency, Government of Spain, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97985420

Grandparents

King Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece, paternal grandparents; Credit – Wikipedia

Great-Grandparents

King Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover, great-grandparents; Credit – Wikipedia

Great-Great-Grandparents

King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, great-great-grandparents; Credit – Wikipedia

Great-Great-Great-Grandparents

Friedrich III, Emperor of Germany and Victoria, Princess Royal, great-great-great-grandparents by Hills & Saunders, albumen carte-de-visite, circa 1870, NPG Ax132839 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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.

Sources:

Ancestors of Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange

compiled by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange; Credit – By Ian Jones – Buckingham Palace reception, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=132803882 (2023)

Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange, the eldest of the three daughters of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, is the heir apparent to the Dutch throne. As the heir apparent, she is titled The Princess of Orange. The Netherlands changed its succession law in 1983 to absolute primogeniture where the succession passes to the eldest child of the sovereign regardless of gender. Males and females have equal succession rights.

Catharina-Amalia is a descendant of the monarchs of the Netherlands and before the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, the Princes of Orange. However, a good portion of her ancestors were members of the German untitled and titled nobility. Her paternal grandfather Claus von Amsberg was a member of the Amsberg noble family which belonged to the untitled nobility of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Through her great-great-grandfather, Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, son of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Catharina-Amalia is a descendant of reigning Dukes and Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Among the last six generations of Catharina-Amalia’s ancestry, there were no marriages with current monarchies. However, there are marriages with members of the former royal monarchies of the Kingdom of Prussia, the Russian Empire, the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Catharina-Amalia’s mother Queen Máxima was born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Máxima has Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian ancestry. Via her father, she also has Basque ancestry. Around 1790, her ancestor José Antonio Zorreguieta y Oyarzábal Gamboa y Sagastume, migrated to Argentina from Basque country, located in the western Pyrenees, straddling the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Máxima’s maternal great-grandparents Oreste Stefanini and Tullia Borella migrated to Argentina from Italy in 1900.

Parents, Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Great-Great-Grandparents, and Great-Great-Great-Grandparents of Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange (born December 7, 2003 )

The links below are from Unofficial Royalty,  Wikipedia, Leo’s Genealogics Website, The Peerage, or Geni.

Parents

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, parents; Credit – By Quirinale.it, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133267418

Grandparents

Claus von Amsberg and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, paternal grandparents

Great-Great-Grandparents

Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, great-grandparents; Credit – Wikipedia

Great-Great-Grandparents

Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, great-great-grandparents; Credit – Wikipedia

Great-Great-Great-Grandparents

King Willem III of the Netherlands and Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, great-great-great-grandparents; Credit – Wikipedia

Sources:

Ancestors of Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant

compiled by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant; Credit – By Ian Jones – Buckingham Palace reception, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=131631531

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant is the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. Belgium changed its succession law in 1991 to absolute primogeniture where the succession passes to the eldest child of the sovereign regardless of gender. Males and females have equal succession rights. This means that Elisabeth is the heir apparent and comes first in the line of succession as the eldest child. She is expected to become the first Belgian Queen Regnant. When her father Philippe became King of the Belgians, Elisabeth automatically became Duchess of Brabant, the title used by the female heirs to the Belgian throne and the wives of male heirs.

From her father Philippe, King of the Belgians, Elisabeth has the typical royal pedigree with Belgian, Danish, Portuguese, and Swedish monarchs among her ancestors, in addition to Dutch, Bavarian, and other German royalty. From Elisabeth’s paternal grandmother, there is a lot of Italian nobility with a smattering of Belgian and French ancestors. Adrienne Jenny Florimonde de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg, one of Philippe’s great-great-great-grandmothers, is the granddaughter of Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. Better known as just Lafayette in the United States, Philippe’s great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles. After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. Lafayette is known as “The Hero of the Two Worlds” for his service to both France and the United States.

Elisabeth’s mother Queen Mathilde, born Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz, is the first native-born Belgian queen consort. Through her mother, Mathilde has Polish noble and Polish–Lithuanian princely ancestry. Mathilde’s father descends from Walloon (a French-speaking people who live in Belgium) nobles and was titled Jonkheer, the lowest title within the Belgian nobility system.  When Mathilde married Philippe in 1999, her father was created Count d’Udekem d’Acoz by Albert II, King of the Belgians, Philippe’s father.

Parents, Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Great-Great-Grandparents, and Great-Great-Great-Grandparents of Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant (born October 25, 2001)

The links below are from Unofficial Royalty,  Wikipedia, Leo’s Genealogics Website, The Peerage, or Geni.

Parents

Philippe, King of the Belgians and Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz, parents; Credit – By Liesbeth Driessen – UHasselt, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28712939

Grandparents

King Albert II of the Belgians and Paola Ruffo di Calabria, paternal grandparents

Great-Grandparents

Leopold III, King of the Belgians and Princess Astrid of Sweden, great-grandparents; Credit – Wikipedia

Great-Great-Grandparents

Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark, great-great-grandparents; Credit – Wikipedia

Great-Great-Great-Grandparents

King Frederik VIII of Denmark and Princess Louise of Sweden, great-great-great-grandparents

Sources:

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.