Yearly Archives: 2019

First Cousins: King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (born 1946)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King Carl XVI Gustaf was born on April 30, 1946, at the Haga Palace in Solna, Sweden. He was the only son and the youngest of the five children of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. At the time of his birth, Carl Gustaf’s great-grandfather King Gustaf V was the reigning King of Sweden, his grandfather, the future King Gustaf VI Adolf, was the Crown Prince, and his father Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten was second in the line of succession. When Carl Gustaf was only nine months old, his father died in an airplane crash at Kastrup Airport near Copenhagen, Denmark. At that time, Carl Gustaf became second in the line of succession behind his grandfather.

King Carl Gustaf is a descendant of Queen Victoria through both of his parents. His paternal grandmother was Princess Margaret of Connaught, daughter of Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. His maternal grandparents were  Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the posthumous son of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Queen Victoria’s youngest son, who married Princess Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Carl Gustaf married Silvia Sommerlath, a German, and had two daughters and one son.

King Carl Gustaf has nineteen first cousins. He shares his first cousins with his siblings Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler; Princess Birgitta, Princess of Hohenzollern; Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld; and Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson.

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King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Gustaf VI Adolf and Princess Margaret of Connaught

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King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and 

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg, born Prince Sigvard of Sweden, and Sonja Christensen Robbert

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Ingrid of Sweden and King Frederik IX of Denmark

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (born 1940)

Queen Margrethe married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, born in France, and the couple had two sons. She became Queen of Denmark in 1972 upon the death of her father. An avid painter and designer, Margrethe has had her work displayed in exhibitions around the world, and some are part of permanent collections in several museums in Denmark. In addition to her painting, Queen Margrethe has designed many sets and costumes for theater productions and provided illustrations for several books. She has also published translations of several foreign works.

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Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1944)

Princess Benedikte married German Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. The couple had one son and two daughters. One of their daughters, Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, competed for Denmark in the Equestrian Team and Individual Dressage in the 2008/Bejing and 2012/London Summer Olympics. In the 2008 Bejing Olympics, Nathalie won a Bronze Medal in Team Dressage.

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Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, Queen of Greece (born 1946)

Anne-Marie married King Constantine II of Greece and the couple had three sons and two daughters. Unfortunately, her tenure as Queen did not last very long. Following a coup in 1967, the Greek royal family went into exile, living in Rome for several years before moving to Denmark and then finally settling in the United Kingdom. While in exile, King Constantine was deposed and the monarchy formally abolished in 1974.

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Paternal First Cousins: Adopted Children of Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg, born Prince Carl Johan of Sweden, and Kerstin Wijkmark

  • Monika Bernadotte (born 1948, adopted in 1951) married Count Johan Peder Bonde. They had three children and divorced after 21 years of marriage.
  • Christian Bernadotte (born 1949, adopted in 1950) married Marianne Jenny and had three children.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Baroness Feodora von der Horst

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Prince Ernst Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1935 – 1996) 

  • Prince Ernst Leopold married (1) Ingeborg Henig, had one son, divorced  (2) Gertraude Monika Pfeiffer, had two daughters and three sons, divorced  (3) Sabine Biller, with whom he committed suicide, no children

In 1986, Ernst Leopold married for a third time to Sabine Biller, a journalist. The couple began to have money problems as they were living beyond their means. On June 27, 1996, in the parking lot of a chalet restaurant in Bad Wiessee, Bavaria, Germany, the bodies of Ernst Leopold and Sabine were found in their car, dead from gunshot wounds from hunting rifles. Apparently, they had simultaneously shot themselves.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Caroline of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and her first husband Friedrich Wolfgang Otto, Count of Castell-Rüdenhausen

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Caroline of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and her second husband Flight Captain Max Schnirring

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Friedrich Josias. Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his first wife Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth

Prince Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 21 March 1943)

Prince Andreas is the Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He married Carin Dabelstein, daughter of Adolf Wilhelm Martin Dabelstein and Irma Maria Margarete Callsen. The marriage, although unequal, is not morganatic because it was authorized by Andreas’s father. Andreas and Carin have two sons and one daughter.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his second wife Denyse Henrietta de Muralt

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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.

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)

First Cousins: King Felipe VI of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

 

King Felipe VI of Spain (born 1968)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King Felipe VI of Spain was born at the Nuestra Señora de Loreto Clinic in Madrid, Spain on January 30, 1968. He is the only son and the third of the three children of King Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife, Queen Sofia, born Princess Sophia of Greece. Felipe is a descendant of Queen Victoria through both of his parents. Felipe’s paternal grandparents were Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, son of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, and Princess María Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. His maternal grandparents were King Paul of Greece, son of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Sophia of Prussia, and Princess Frederica of Hanover, granddaughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor who was a grandson of Queen Victoria. Felipe married Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano and had two daughters. He became King of Spain upon the abdication of his father in 2013.

King Felipe VI has eleven first cousins. He shares his first cousins with his siblings Infanta Elena of Spain, Duchess of Lugo and Infanta Cristina of Spain.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles of King Felipe VI: Children of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona and Princess María Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles of King Felipe VI: Children of King Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz and Luis Gómez-Acebo y Duque de Estrada, Viscount de la Torre

  • Simoneta Gómez-Acebo y de Borbón (born 1968) married José Miguel Fernández-Sastrón, had two sons and one daughter, divorced
  • Juan Gómez-Acebo y de Borbón, Viscount de la Torre (born 1969) married Winston Holmes Carney, daughter of James Carney, had one son
  • Bruno Gómez-Acebo y de Borbón (born 1973) married (1) Laura Ponte y Martínez had one son and one daughter, divorced (2) Andrea Pascual Vicens, had one son
  • Fernando Gómez-Acebo y de Borbón (1974 – 2024) married (1) Mónica Martín Luque, no children, divorced (2) Nadia Halamandari, had one son

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria and Carlos Zurita y Delgado

  • Alfonso Zurita y de Borbón (born 1973), unmarried
  • María Zurita y de Borbón (born 1975), unmarried, had one son by artificial insemination

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of King Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark

Princess Alexia of Greece (born 1965)

In 1967, Princess Alexia’s father King Constantine II was deposed. The family lived for two months in the Greek embassy and then for the next five years in a house in a suburb of Rome. King Constantine II remained the head of state in exile until June 1, 1973, when the monarchy was abolished. In 1973, the family moved with to England where Alexia and her siblings grew up.

Princess Alexia and her siblings attended the Hellenic College of London, a school founded by his parents. She received a Bachelor’s degree in History and Education from the University of Surrey in England and then received a post-graduate certificate in education. Alexia worked as a primary school teacher in the inner city area of Southwark in London, England, and as a teacher of children with developmental disabilities in Barcelona, Spain. She married Carlos Javier Morales Quintana, an architect and a champion yachtsman, and the couple had three daughters and one son.

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Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece (born 1967)

Pavlos graduated from the United World College and then attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, followed by a three-year commission with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Following his military career, he enrolled in Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington DC, earning his Bachelor’s Degree (International Relations, Law and Organization) and his Master’s Degree (Foreign Relations and Economics). While at Georgetown, his roommate was his first cousin, King Felipe VI of Spain. Pavlos married Marie-Chantal Miller, the daughter of billionaire entrepreneur Robert Warren Miller and María Clara Pesantes Becerra. They had one daughter and four sons.

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Prince Nikolaos of Greece (born 1969)

Nikolaos attended Brown University in Rhode Island in the United States, graduating with a Bachelor degree in International Relations. He married Tatiana Blatnik who was born in Caracas, Venezuela and grew up in Switzerland.

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Princess Theodora of Greece (born 1983)

Theodora attended Brown University in Rhode Island and received a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts. She moved to Los Angeles, California in the United States to pursue an acting career under the name Theodora Greece. In 2018, Theodora’s engagement to Los Angeles based attorney Matthew Kumar was announced.

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Prince Philippos of Greece (born 1986)

Philippos had an impressive set of godparents: his uncle by marriage King Juan Carlos of Spain, his first cousin twice removed Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, his first cousin Infanta Elena of Spain, his maternal aunt Princess Benedikte of Denmark, and Diana, Princess of Wales. He is a graduate of United World College-USA and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. where he graduated with a Bachelor degree in foreign relations.

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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.

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)

First Cousins of Queen Sofia of Spain and King Constantine II of Greece

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Queen Sofia of Spain (born 1938)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Queen Sofia, the wife King Juan Carlos I of Spain, was Queen Consort of Spain from her husband’s accession in 1975 until his abdication in 2014 in favor of their son, King Felipe VI. Born Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark on November 2, 1938, at Villa Psychiko, in the suburbs of Athens, Greece, She married the future King Juan Carlos of Spain, a descendant of Queen Victoria via her youngest daughter Princess Beatrice, and had two daughters and one son.

 

King Constantine II of Greece (1940 – 2023)

King Constantine II of Greece was the King of Greece (styled King of the Hellenes) from 1964 until the monarchy was abolished in 1973. He was born on June 2, 1940, at Villa Psychiko, in the suburbs of Athens, Greece. In 1964, Constantine married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, the youngest daughter of King Frederick IX of Denmark, and a descendant of Queen Victoria via her son Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. Constantine and Anne-Marie had five children.

Sofia was the eldest of the three children and Constantine was the second of the three children and the only son of King Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover, both descendants of Queen Victoria’s eldest child Victoria, Princess Royal who married Friedrich III, German Emperor. Sofia and Constantine’s paternal grandparents were King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophie of Prussia. Their maternal grandparents were Ernst August III of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Queen Sofia of Spain and King Constantine II of Greece have fifteen first cousins. They share their first cousins with their sister Princess Irene of Greece.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles of Queen Sofia of Spain, born Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark and King Constante II of Greece: Children of King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophie of Prussia

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles of Queen Sofia of Spain, born Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark and King Constante II of Greece: Children of Ernst August III of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of King Alexander of Greece and Aspasia Manos

Princess Alexandra of Greece, Queen of Yugoslavia (1921 – 1993)

Princess Alexandra of Greece was the only child of King Alexander of Greece and his commoner wife Aspasia Manos, the daughter of Petros Manos, who had served as Master of the Horse to Alexander’s father King Constantine I. Aspasia would not be recognized as Queen. King Alexander died after contracting septicemia from a monkey bite. Aspasia was four months pregnant at the time, and gave birth to their daughter, Alexandra, in March 1921. Princess Alexandra married King Peter II of Yugoslavia and they had one son Crown Prince Alexander. After World War II, the Yugoslav monarchy was abolished and Alexandra and Peter separated.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Helen of Greece and King Carol of Romania

King Michael of Romania (1921 – 2017)

King Michael of Romania, also known as Mihai, was King of Romania twice, from 1927 – 1930, and then from 1940 – 1947, when the monarchy was abolished. Michael married Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma, the daughter of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark. The couple had five daughters. Michael worked as a commercial pilot and also worked for an aircraft equipment company. It would be 43 years before he set foot on Romanian soil again. Eventually, the Romanian government restored Michael’s citizenship and returned several properties to the royal family. When Michael died in 2017, he was the second oldest living descendant of Queen Victoria. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was older by four months.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Irene of Greece and Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta

Prince Amadeo, Duke of Aosta (1943 – 2021)

Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta was a claimant to the head of the House of Savoy, the former royal family of Italy. Amedeo married Princess Claude of Orléans, the daughter of Prince Henri of Orléans, Count of Paris, the Orléanist claimant to the French throne. The couple had two daughters and one son before divorcing. Amedeo married again to Silvia Paternò di Spedalotto but the couple had no children.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Katherine of Greece, The Lady Katherine Brandram and Major Richard Brandram

Paul Brandram’s christening: Lady Katherine Brandram and her husband with their son, held by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent

Paul Brandram (1948 – 2020)

Paul Brandram grew up in England. He married Jennifer Steele and they had two daughters and one son before divorcing after eighteen years of marriage. He made a second marriage to Katherine Moreton.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Ernst August IV, Prince of Hanover, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick and Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Princess Marie of Hanover, Countess of Hochberg (born 1952)

Princess Marie of Hanover married Count Michael of Hochberg and had two sons.

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Ernst August V at the wedding of his son Christian, 2018; Credit – www.zimbio.com

Prince Ernst August V of Hanover (born 1954)

Ernst August V is among the senior male-line descendants of King George III of the United Kingdom. This line is directly descended from King George III’s son, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, who became King of Hanover due to the Salic Law which forbade female succession following the death of his brother King William IV and the accession of Queen Victoria. Ernst August V is the Head of the House of Hanover and pretender to the thrones of the Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick.

Ernst August first married Chantal Hochuli, the daughter of Johann Gustav Hochuli, a Swiss millionaire from his family’s chocolate company and architect. The couple had two sons and divorced. He then married Princess Caroline of Monaco and had one daughter. While initially very happy, the couple, still legally married, now leads separate lives.

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Prince Ludwig Rudolph of Hanover, held by his mother after his christening. Also in the photo is his father and his elder brother Prince Ernst August

Prince Ludwig Rudolph of Hanover (1955 – 1988)

Prince Ludwig Rudolph married Countess Isabelle von Thurn und Valsassina-Como-Vercelli and the couple had one son. Ludwig died by suicide shortly after discovering the body of his wife, who had died from a drug overdose.

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Princess Olga of Hanover (born 1958), unmarried

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Princess Alexandra with her husband

Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Princess of Leiningen (born 1959)

Princess Alexandra of Hanover married another descendant of Queen Victoria, Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen.  The couple had two sons and one daughter.

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Prince Heinrich of Hanover (born 1961)

Prince Heinrich of Hanover is a historian and publisher. He writes under the name Heinrich von Hannover. He married Thyra von Westernhagen whose family is from the landed nobility of Thuringia, Germany and who studied forestry at university. The couple had two sons and one daughter.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover and Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark (sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh)

Prince Welf Ernst of Hanover (1947 – 1981)

Welf married Wibke van Gunsteren and they had one daughter. Welf and his wife became disciples of the Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh also known as Osho.  They took the names Vimalkirti (“Spotless Splendor”) and Wibke Prem Turiya (“Spiritual love”) and moved with their daughter to Poona, India to live in Osho’s ashram.  In 1979, the couple divorced but continued to live together in India.  Welf died at a clinic in Poona, India from a cerebral hemorrhage after collapsing during a morning karate practice session.  After Welf’s death, his daughter was brought to England by her grandparents so she could have a normal education.

Welf Ernst and his siblings Georg and Friederike are also first cousins of the children of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.

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Prince Georg of Hanover (born 1949)

Prince Georg of Hanover married Victoria Anne Bee, daughter of Robert Bee and Eleonore Gräfin Fugger von Babenhausen. The couple had two daughters.

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Princess Friederike of Hanover, Mrs. Jerry Cyr (born 1954)

Princess Friederike of Hanover is a godchild of her aunt by marriage, Queen Elizabeth II. She attended Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada and remained in Canada. Friederike married Jerry William Cyr, son of Gordon Paul Cyr and Emma Grandbois in Vancouver, Canada. The couple had one daughter and one son.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Christian Oscar of Hanover and Mireille Dutry

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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.

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)

October 22, 2019 – Enthronement Ceremony of Emperor Naruhito of Japan

On October 22, 2019, the Enthronement Ceremony (Sokui-Rei) of Emperor Naruhito of Japan will be held. This is the third of the four ceremonies traditionally held when a new emperor ascends the throne. Around 200 foreign heads of state and other dignitaries are expected to attend Emperor Naruhito’s Enthronement Ceremony.

Below is the information from our article Ceremonies: Abdication of Emperor Akihito and Accession and Enthronement of Emperor Naruhito involving the Enthronement Ceremony. For more information about the Imperial Family of Japan, see Unofficial Royalty: State of Japan Index.

October 22, 2019: Enthronement Ceremony (Sokui-Rei)

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Plans for the Enthronement Ceremony are expected to be similar to Emperor Akihito’s Enthronement Ceremony in 1990 which was televised. Heads of state from seventy countries and royalty from twenty countries attended the 1990 Enthronement Ceremony. Around 200 foreign heads of state and other dignitaries are expected to attend Emperor Naruhito’s Enthronement Ceremony.

The Takamikura used for the Enthronement Ceremony; Credit – Wikipedia

First, Emperor Naruhito will inform his ancestors that he has ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne. Next will come the actual enthronement. This will take place in an enclosure called the Takamikura which contains a simple chair. At the same time, Empress Masako will move to a separate enclosure beside her husband’s which also contains a simple chair where she will also be enthroned.

Emperor Naruhito will proceed to the simple chair and after being seated, two of the Three Sacred Treasures (the sword and the jewel) along with the Privy Seal of Japan and the Great Seal of Japan will be placed on stands next to him. A simple wooden scepter will then be presented to the Emperor.

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The Emperor will face the Prime Minister who represents the people of Japan. The Emperor will announce his accession to the throne and call upon the Japanese people to assist him in attaining all of his aspirations. The Prime Minister will reply promising fidelity and devotion. This will be followed by three cheers of “Banzai!”  from all present.

First Cousins: King Juan Carlos of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Juan Carlos of Spain (born 1938)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King Juan Carlos of Spain was born on January 5, 1938, in Rome, Italy where his family had settled after the monarchy was overthrown in 1931 and Spain had become a Republic. He was the second of the four children and the elder of the two sons of Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona, and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. His paternal grandparents were King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. His maternal grandparents were Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, a grandson of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, and his second wife Princess Louise of Orléans, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, a pretender to the French throne. Juan Carlos became King of Spain in 1975 upon the death of dictator Francisco Franco who had named him his successor, bypassing Juan Carlos’ father whom Franco thought would be too liberal. Juan Carlos married Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark and had two sons and one daughter. In 2014, King Juan Carlos abdicated in favor of his son King Felipe VI.

King Juan Carlos has ten paternal first cousins, six maternal first cousins and three maternal half first cousins. He shares his first cousins with his siblings Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Babajoz; Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria; and Infante Alfonso of Spain.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles of King Juan Carlos: Children of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg

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Maternal Half Aunts and Uncles of King Juan Carlos: Children of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain and his first wife María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias

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Maternal Full Aunts and Uncles of King Juan Carlos: Children of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain and his second wife Princess Louise of Orléans

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Infante Jaime of Spain, Duke of Segovia, Duke of Anjou and his first wife Emmanuelle de Dampierre


Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz (1936 – 1989)

At one time considered as a possible heir to the Spanish throne during the rule of dictator Francisco Franco, Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz was a Legitimist claimant to the throne of France.  Alfonso married María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco, the granddaughter of Francisco Franco, and the couple had two sons. After ten years of marriage, the couple divorced. Their elder son was killed in a car accident at the age of eleven when the car Alfonso was driving collided with a truck.  From 1977 to 1984, Alfonso was President of the Spanish Skiing Federation and from 1984 to 1987, he was President of the Spanish Olympic Committee. He died in a skiing accident in Colorado.

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Gonzalo, Duke of Aquitaine (1937 – 2000)

In 1983, Gonzalo, Duke of Aquitaine first married María del Carmen Harto y Montealegre in Mexico but they were divorced less than three months later. The next year, Gonzalo married  María de las Mercedes Licer y García, a model, but they separated a year later and ultimately divorced. In 1992, Gonzalo married Emanuela Maria Pratolongo.  He did not have any children from his marriages but he did have an illegitimate daughter. Gonzalo died from leukemia.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Infanta Beatriz of Spain and Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi

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Sandra Torlonia dei principi di Civitella-Cesi (1936–2014)

Sandra Torlonia dei principi di Civitella-Cesi married Count Clemente Lecquio di Assaba and had one son and one daughter.

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Credit – www.geni.com

Marco Torlonia, 6th Prince di Civitella-Cesi (1937–2014)

Marco Torlonia, 6th Prince di Civitella-Cesi married (1) Donna Orsetta Caracciolo dei principi di Castagneto who died at age 28, had one son  (2) Philippa Catherine McDonald, had one daughter, divorced  (3) Blažena Anna Helena Svitákovám, had one daughter

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Marino Torlonia dei Principi di Civitella-Cesi (1939–1995)

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With her husband

Olympia Torlonia dei Principi di Civitella-Cesi (born 1943)

Olympia Torlonia dei Principi di Civitella-Cesi married French millionaire Paul Weiller and had five daughters and one son including Sibilla Weiller who married Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, son of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Infanta Maria Cristina of Spain and Enrico Eugenio Marone-Cinzano, 1st Conte Marone-Cinzano

  • Vittoria Marone-Cinzano (born 1941) married José Carlos Álvarez de Toledo y Gross, 6th Marquis of Casa Loring, had one daughter and three sons.
  • Giovanna Marone-Cinzano (born 1943) married (1)  Jaime Galobert y Satrustequi, had one son, divorced  (2) Luis Ángel Sánchez-Merlo y Ruiz, no children
  • María Theresa Marone-Cinzano (born 1945), married José María Ruiz de Arana y Montalvo, 17th Duke of Baena, 17th Duke of Sanlúcar La Mayor, 15th Marquess of Villamanrique, 13th Marquess of Castromonte, 5th Marquess of Brenes, 11th Count of Sevilla La Nueva and 5th Viscount of Mamblas, had three daughters, divorced
  • Anna Alessandra Marone-Cinzano (born 1948), married (1) Gian Carlo Stavro Santarosa, had two daughters, divorced (2) Fernando Schwartz y Giron, no children

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal Half First Cousins: Children of Prince Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria and Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma

Princess Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1937) married Íñigo Moreno y Arteaga, 8th Marquess of Laula, had three sons and four daughters.

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Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria with his wife

Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria (1938 – 2015)

Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria was eleven days younger than his first cousin King Juan Carlos of Spain.  They were raised together and attended school together, from primary school through university, and remained very close friends. Carlos married Princess Anne of Orléans, daughter of Prince Henri, Count of Paris, Orléanist claimant to the French throne.  The couple had four daughters and one son

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Princess Inés María of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1940)

Princess Inés María of Bourbon-Two Sicilies married Luis de Morales y Aguado, had four daughters and one son.

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Maternal Half First Cousins: Children of Princess Isabel Alfonsa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Count Jan Kanty Zamoyski

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Maria de los Dolores of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Prince Augustyn Józef Czartoryski

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza

Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza (born 1945)

Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza is one of two claimants to the Brazilian throne.  He is a forestry engineer and founded and directed the Botanical Garden of Brasilia, which is in the capital of Brazil. Pedro Carlos has been married and widowed twice. His first wife was  Rony Kuhn de Souza, who died two days after the birth of their son. With his second wife Patrícia Alexandra Braumeyer Branscomb, Pedro Carlos had one son.

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Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza (born 1946)

The former Crown Princess of Yugoslavia, Maria da Gloria married Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (as he was known at the time), the only child of the former King Peter II of Yugoslavia and Princess Alexandra of Greece. They had three sons and divorced after thirteen years of marriage.  Maria da Glória then married Ignacio de Medina y Fernández de Córdoba, 19th Duke of Segorbe and they had two daughters.

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Prince Afonso Duarte of Orléans-Braganza (born 1948)

Prince Afonso Duarte of Orléans-Braganza married (1) Maria Juana Parejo y Gurruchaga, had two daughters, divorced   (2) Silvia-Amália Hungria de Silva Machado

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Prince Manuel Álvaro of Orléans-Braganza (born 1949)

Prince Manuel Álvaro of Orléans-Braganza married Margarita Haffner y Lancha, had one son and one daughter, divorced

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Princess Cristina Maria of Orléans-Braganza (born 1950)

Princess Cristina Maria of Orléans-Braganza married Prince Jan Pawel Sapieha-Rozanski, had two daughters

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Prince Francisco Humberto of Orléans-Braganza (born 1956)

Prince Francisco Humberto of Orléans-Braganza  (1) married Christina Schmidt-Peçanha, had one son and one daughter, divorced  (2) Rita de Cássia Ferreira Pires, had one son and one daughter

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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.

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)

First Cousins: King Harald V of Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Harald V of Norway (born 1937)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King Harald V of Norway was born on February 21, 1937, at Skaugum, the residence of the Crown Prince, in Asker, Norway. His parents were Crown Prince Olav of Norway (later King Olav V) and Princess Märtha of Sweden, who died before her husband became king. His paternal grandparents, who were first cousins, were King Haakon VII of Norway (born Prince Carl of Denmark, son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark) and Princess Maud of Wales, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark.

Harald’s mother Princess Märtha of Sweden was the second daughter of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. Märtha’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. Harald married Sonja Haraldsen and had one son and one daughter.

King Harald is closely related to several European monarchs: Former King Albert II of Belgium is his first cousin, King Philippe of Belgium and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg are his first cousins once removed, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark are his second cousins, and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is his second cousin once removed.

King Harald has no paternal first cousins because his father was an only child. He has six maternal first cousins. Harald shares his first cousins with his siblings Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen and Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner.

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles of King Harald V: Children of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Margarethe 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 Astrid of Sweden and Leopold III, King of the Belgians

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Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (1927 – 2005)

Princess Joséphine-Charlotte married Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and had five children including Grand Duke Henri who succeeded his father upon his abdication in 2000. Joséphine-Charlotte worked extensively with organizations focused on children and families as well as the arts. She served as honorary president of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, and president of the Luxembourg Red Cross, and oversaw the five-year restoration of the Grand Ducal Palace from 1991-1996.

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Baudouin, King of the Belgians (1930 – 1993)

Baudouin, King of the Belgians reigned from July 1951, when his father abdicated, until July 1993, making him the longest-reigning Belgian monarch. He married Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón. Fabiola was from an aristocratic family in Spain and had a close relationship with the Spanish royal family. Despite several pregnancies, the couple never had any children, which greatly affected both of them.

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Albert II, King of the Belgians (born 1934)

Albert was the heir presumptive throughout the long reign of his childless brother King Baudouin. Upon his brother’s death in 1993, he succeeded to the Belgian throne. Albert married Paola Ruffo di Calabria who came from an Italian noble family. The couple had two sons and one daughter. In early July 2013, King Albert announced his intention to abdicate, citing health reasons. On July 21, 2013, Belgium’s National Day, he signed the formal document of abdication and was succeeded by his elder son King Philippe.

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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

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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 Ingerborg Ella Astra Elsa Bernadotte, Countess Bernadotte

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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.

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)

First Cousins: Prince Albert II of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Prince Albert II of Monaco (born 1958)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco was born on March 14, 1958, at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco. He is the only son and the second of three children of Rainier III, Sovereign Prince of Monaco and American actress and Academy Award winner Grace Kelly. Albert’s paternal grandparents were Princess Charlotte of Monaco (illegitimate and adopted daughter of Prince Louis II of Monaco) and Count Pierre de Polignac. His maternal grandparents were John B. Kelly Sr., an American Olympic triple gold medalist in rowing, and Margaret Majer, the first coach of women’s teams at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2005, upon the death of his father, Albert became Sovereign Prince of Monaco. Albert married South African Charlene Wittstock and had twins, a son and a daughter.

Prince Albert had ten first cousins. He shares his first cousins with his siblings Princess Caroline of Monaco, Princess of Hanover and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.

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Paternal Aunt of Prince Albert II: Child of Princess Charlotte of Monaco and Count Pierre de Polignac

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Maternal Aunts and Uncle of Prince Albert II: Children of John B. Kelly Sr. and Margaret Majer

  • Margaret Katherine Kelly (1925–1991), married George Davis, had two children
  • John Brendan Kelly, Jr. (1927–1985), married Mary Gray Freeman, had six children
  • Elizabeth Anne Kelly (1933–2009), married Donald LeVine, had two children

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Antoinette of Monaco, Baroness de Massy and Alexandre-Athenase Noghès

Princess Antoinette had a long-term affair with Alexandre-Athenase Noghès, a tennis player. The couple had three illegitimate children who were later legitimized when their parents married in 1951. The marriage lasted only three years. In 1951, Antoinette was created Baroness de Massy. Her children’s original surname was Grimaldi, the surname of the Princely Family of Monaco. The children changed their surname to de Massy and began to use the titles Baron and Baroness although not entitled to do so. After they were legitimized, Antoinette’s children were in the line of succession to the throne of Monaco until the death of Prince Rainier II in 2005.

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Elisabeth-Anne de Massy (born 1947)

Elizabeth-Anne was a flower girl at the wedding of Grace Kelly and her uncle Prince Rainier III of Monaco.  She married Baron Bernard Alexandre Taubert-Natta. They had one son before divorcing. Elizabeth-Anne married a second time to choreographer Nicolai Vladimir Costello and they had one daughter:

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Christian de Massy attending his mother’s funeral with his cousins Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie and his niece Melanie de Massy (2011)

Christian de Massy (born 1949)

Christian de Massy was a page at the wedding of Grace Kelly and his uncle Prince Rainier III of Monaco.  He was a professional race driver. Christian has held several diplomatic positions including Economic Attaché to Embassy of Monaco in Washington D.C, Diplomatic Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign, Economic and Financial Affairs and Monaco Chargé d’Affaires for Latin America and the Caribbean.  Christian has been married and divorced four times: (1) María Marta Quintana y del Carril, had one daughter, divorced;  (2) Anne Michelle Lütken, no children, divorced  (3) Julia Lakschin, no children, divorced; (4)  Cécile Irène Gelabale, had two sons

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Princess Antoinette with her two daughters, Elisabeth-Anne de Massy and Christine de Massy (1961)

Christine de Massy (1951 – 1989)

Christine was a flower girl at the wedding of Grace Kelly and her uncle Prince Rainier III of Monaco. She married Charles Wayne Knecht, a first cousin once removed of her aunt by marriage Princess Grace. They had one son before divorcing. Christine then married  Leon Leroy but the marriage was childless. She died a year after her second marriage from leukemia.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Margaret “Peggy” Kelly and George Davis

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Peggy Kelly Davis with her two daughters

Margaret Ann “Meg” Davis, (born 1946)

Meg Davis, along with her sister Mary Lee, was a flower girl at the wedding of her aunt Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco. In 1964, she married Richard Roe and they had three sons. The couple divorced and Meg married William Packer, the ex-husband of her cousin Grace LeVine.

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Mary Lee Davis (born 1948)

Along with her sister Meg, Mary Lee Davis was a flower girl at the wedding of Prince Rainier of Monaco and her aunt Grace Kelly.  She eloped when she was fifteen-years-old and married eighteen-year-old John Paul Jones Jr., the son of a local architect. Mary Lee had three children with her first husband. She married a second time to Hugh M Kentworthy and the couple had two children.

The Esoteric Curiosa: Wayward Grimaldi Relative Runs Off With Her “Prince Charming” On Board A Bus! Princess Grace’s Fifteen-Year-Old Niece Plays House With Her Boyfriend!

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of John B. Kelly Jr. and Mary Gray Freeman

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(L-R) John B. Kelly III President of the Prince Albert of Monaco USA Foundation, his cousin Prince Albert II of Monaco and Miles White Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Field Museum

John B. Kelly III

John B. Kelly III received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University. He married Karen Spencer, an attorney, and they had one daughter and one son. John is a banker and serves on the boards of the Fairmount Park Conservancy and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation – USA.

In September 2016, Prince Albert II of Monaco purchased his mother’s childhood home, a 17-room house on Henry Avenue in East Falls, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the intention to restore it. His cousin John B. Kelly III supervised the work on the house. Several other of Prince Albert’s cousins, including artist Susan Kelly von Medicus and her son William von Medicus, also helped out with the project. The home will serve as regional offices for the Princess Grace Foundation, as well as an exchange program with the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco. Tours of the house will benefit the Princess Grace Foundation and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

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(L-R) William von Medicus (Susan Kelly von Medicus’s son) with baby Nora, Christopher LeVine, Susan Kelly von Medicus, Meg Davis Packer, Prince Albert II of Monaco, John B. Kelly III, Margaret Kelly, Nick Kelly (John B. Kelly III’s son), Megan von Medicus (William’s wife), and Karen Spencer Kelly stand in front of the newly renovated Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco’s Childhood Home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 9, 2018

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Susan Kelly von Medicus (in blue)

Susan Kelly von Medicus

Susan married Richard von Medicus and they had three sons. Susan is an art instructor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania and an artist specializing in iconography. Check out her artwork at her website: https://www.susanvonmedicus.com/

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Elizabeth “ Liz” Kelly (1959 – 2006)

Elizabeth Kelly earned a dual degree in 1981 in English and archaeology from Harvard University, where she was on the swim team and ran a catering service. She opened Brickworks in 1988 at 119 South 19th Street in Philadelphia. It was a bakery and lunch cafe named after the bricklaying industry in which her grandfather John B. Kelly Sr. made his fortune. Elizabeth died of cancer.

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No information on these cousins, all daughters of John B. Kelly, Jr.

  • Ann Kelly Ogle
  • Maura Kelly Casey (1957 – 2010) married Kevin Casey.
  • Margaret Christina “Buttons” Kelly

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Elizabeth Anne “Lizanne” Kelly and Donald LeVine

Grace LeVine (1956 – 1999)

Grace was born in the year of the wedding of her aunt Princess Grace and was named after her. She attended the University of Pennsylvania. In 1978, she was a witness for her cousin Princess Caroline at her first wedding to Philippe Junot. Grace married William Packer. The couple had no children and divorced. Grace owned Sweetwater Farm, a bed-and-breakfast in Glen Mills in Chester County, Pennsylvania. She died of cancer in 1999. An annual award for young people in the arts, given by the Princess Grace Foundation, is named the Grace LeVine Award. Grace left Sweetwater Farm to her brother Christopher who renamed it The Inn at Grace Winery in honor of his sister.

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Christopher LeVine with his cousins Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie

Christopher LeVine (born 1958)

Christopher LeVine married Mary Victoria McNeil. The couple had two daughters and one son. Their daughter Ginna LeVine is an actress. Christopher was best man at Prince Albert’s wedding and is the godfather of Hereditary Prince Jacques of Monaco, Prince Albert’s son. Christopher and his wife run the bed and breakfast, mentioned above, that Christopher’s sister left him after her death.

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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.

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)

First Cousins: Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg (born 1955)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg was born on April 16, 1955, in Betzdorf Castle in Luxembourg. He is the eldest son and second child of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. Henri’s paternal grandparents were Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma. His maternal grandparents were King Leopold III of the Belgians and his first wife Princess Astrid of Sweden.  Henri married María Teresa Mestre y Batista-Falla, who was born in Cuba and raised in New Jersey and New York City. The couple has four sons and one daughter. Henri has been Grand Duke of Luxembourg since his father abdicated in 2000.

Henri has 27 first cousins. He shares his first cousins with his siblings Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg, Archduchess of Austria; Prince Jean of Luxembourg; Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg, Princess of Liechtenstein; and Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg.

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Grand Duke Henri’s Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma

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Grand Duke Henri’s Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Leopold III of the Belgians and his first wife Princess Astrid of Sweden

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Grand Duke Henri’s Maternal Half Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Leopold III of the Belgians and his second wife Lilian Baels

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Elizabeth of Luxembourg and Franz, Duke von Hohenberg

  • Princess Anita of Hohenberg (born 1958), married (1) Romee de La Poeze, Count d’Harambure, had three sons and one daughter, divorced (2) Count Andreas von Bardeau, no children
  • Princess Sophie of Hohenberg (born 1960), married Jean-Louis de Potesta, had two daughters and one son

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Marie Adelaide of Luxembourg and Karl Josef Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Marie Gabriele of Luxembourg and Knud, 7th Count of Holstein-Ledreborg

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Charles of Luxembourg and Joan Douglas Dillon, daughter of United States Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Alix of Luxembourg and Antoine, 13th Prince de Ligne

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of King Albert II of Belgium and Paola Ruffo di Calabria


Philippe, King of the Belgians (born 1960)

Philippe has been King of the Belgians since the abdication of his father Albert II in 2013. He was educated at Trinity College at the University of Oxford and then attended graduate school at Stanford University in the United States earning his Masters degree in political science. Philippe married Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz and the couple has two daughters and two sons.

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Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 1962)

Princess Astrid is named after her paternal grandmother Astrid of Sweden, wife of King Leopold III of the Belgians, who tragically died in a car accident at the age of 29. Astrid married Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, the eldest son of Archduke Robert of Austria-Este, the second son of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria. The couple has two sons and three daughters.

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Prince Laurent of Belgium (born 1963)

Prince Laurent married British-born, but Belgian-raised Claire Coombs. The couple has one daughter and twin sons.

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Maternal Half First Cousins: Children of Princess Marie-Esmeralda of Belgium and Salvador Moncada

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Princess Marie-Esmeralda of Belgium with her husband Salvador Moncada with their children Leopoldo and Alexandra
  • Alexandra Léopoldine Moncada (born 1998)
  • Leopoldo Daniel Moncada (born 2001)

Alexandra and Leopoldo’s mother Princess Marie-Esmerelda of Belgium was the daughter of Leopold III, King of the Belgians and his second wife Lilian Baels. Lilian and Leopold married in a religious ceremony held in the chapel at the Palace of Laeken in 1941. The couple planned to hold a civil ceremony after the war, but instead held it in December of the same year, after discovering that they were expecting a child. There were several issues with the marriage which further damaged Leopold’s reputation with the Belgian people. First, the order of the ceremonies went against Belgian law, which states that a civil ceremony must take place before a religious one. Secondly, many Belgians felt that the marriage sullied the memory of Leopold’s first wife, their beloved Queen Astrid who had died in a car accident at the age of 29. Following the marriage, Lilian was given the title Princess de Réthy and was not styled as Queen. It was also decided that any children would be Prince/Princess of Belgium, but without any rights of succession. Leopold and Lilian had three children. Alexandra and Leopoldo are not in the Belgian line of succession and are not considered members of the Belgian Royal Family. They are private citizens and do not perform any royal functions. Their father Sir Salvador Moncada is a Honduran-British pharmacologist and they have lived in Belgian, Honduras, and the United States.

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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.

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/

December 19, 2019 – The State Opening of Parliament

Photo Credit – Zimbio

On December 19, 2019, the State Opening of the Parliament was held.  Although there was a State Opening of Parliament just in October after Boris Johnson became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom another State Opening was necessary because of last week’s parliamentary election. This ceremony formally marks the beginning of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II read a prepared speech, known as the “Speech from the Throne” or the “Queen’s Speech”, outlining the Government’s agenda for the coming year.

For a short video that shows just the Queen’s Speech, see BBC: State Opening of Parliament

For a longer video, that shows more of the pomp, see Global News: Queen’s speech formally reopens UK parliament following election | FULL

For more information, see our link below.

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