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Prince Nicholas Romanov

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Prince Nicholas Romanov; Credit – www.nashagazeta.ch

Prince Nicholas Romanov, a great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, was one of the disputed pretenders to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family from 1992 – 2014. The Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over whether marriages in the Romanov family were equal marriages – a marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house.

The line from Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia to Nicholas and his brother Dimitri who succeeded Nicholas in his claim: Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia → Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia → Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia → Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia → brothers Prince Nicholas Romanov and Prince Dimitri Romanov

Born on September 26, 1922, at the villa of his grandfather Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia in Cap d’Antibes, France, where his parents were in exile, Nicholas Romanovich Romanov was the elder of the two children and the elder of the two sons of Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia, a great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, and Countess Praskovia Sheremeteva, a member of the House of Sheremeteva, one of the wealthiest and most influential Russian noble families. Nicholas’ paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia and Princess Milica of Montenegro, daughter of King Nikola I of Montenegro. His maternal grandparents were Count Dmitry Sergeevich Sheremetev and Countess Irina Illarionovna Vorontsova-Dashkova.

Prince Roman Petrovich, his wife Praskovia holding Dmitri, and Nicholas; Credit – Time Note

Nicholas had one younger brother:

Prince Dmitri Romanovich of Russia (1926 – 2016), married (1) Jeanne von Kauffmann, no children (2) Dorrit Reventlow, no children

Nicholas spent the early years of his life in Antibes, France, where his family employed a Russian staff and a Russian nanny for Nicholas and his brother. The family used the Julian calendar and spoke Russian and French. Nicholas received a traditional Russian education, following the old Russian school curriculum. He later said that as a child, everything around him was so Russian that he did not realize he was living in France and not Russia until he was six years old. In 1936, his family moved to Italy, where Nicholas attended the Humanitarian Academy in Rome, and the family lived at the Quirinal Palace in Rome with Vittorio Emanuele III, King of Italy and his wife Elena of Montenegro, Queen of Italy, who was the sister of Nicholas’ paternal grandmother Princess Milica of Montenegro. After the Italian monarchy was abolished in 1946, Nicholas’ family left for Egypt, where Nicholas was involved in the purchasing and sale of Turkish tobacco. In 1950, Nicholas returned to Italy and worked in Rome for the Austin Motor Company until 1954.

Prince Nicholas Romanov and his wife Sveva; Credit – https://tsarnicholas.org/

In 1950, Nicholas became acquainted with Countess Sveva della Gherardesca, the daughter of Count Walfred della Gherardesca and Nicoletta de Piccolellis, from the noble Tuscan family, the House della Gherardesca. Nicholas and Sveva were married in a civil ceremony in Florence, Italy on December 31, 1951, and in a Russian Orthodox ceremony at the Church of the St. Michael the Archangel in Cannes, France on January 21, 1952.

Nicholas and Sveva had three daughters:

Princess Natalia Nikolaevna Romanova (1952), married Giuseppe Consolo (link in Italian), an Italian politician, had one son and one daughter Nicoletta Romanoff, an Italian actress
Princess Elisaveta Nikolaevna Romanova (born 1956), married Mauro Bonacini, had one son and one daughter
Princess Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova (born 1961), married (1) Giambattista Alessandri, no children, divorced (2) Giancarlo Tirotti, had one daughter

Following the death of his wife’s brother, Nicholas managed his wife’s property and business in Tuscany, Italy, a large farm that bred cattle and produced wine. The farm was sold in 1982 and Nicholas and Sveva moved to Rougemont, Switzerland where they lived for part of the year and lived in Italy with their daughters for the other part of the year. Nicholas was a stateless person, a refugee from birth, and traveled on a letter issued by the King of Greece. He finally became a citizen of Italy in 1988. Nicholas visited Russia for the first time in June 1992 when he acted as a tour guide for a group of businessmen.

Prince Vsevolod Ioannovich, Nicholas’ father Prince Roman Petrovich, and Prince Andrei Alexandrovich, the heads of the Konstantinovichi, Nikolaevichi, and Mihailovichi branches of the Russian Imperial Family came up with the idea of a family association of the Romanovs. The association’s purpose would be to strengthen the links between the family and protect it from impostors. Some preliminary work had been done but the association had not yet been created when Prince Roman Petrovich died in 1978. After looking through his father’s papers, Nicholas found that everything was in place to create the Romanov Family Association. In 1979, the Romanov Family Association was officially formed with Prince Dmitri Alexandrovich (a grandson of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and the son of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, the sister of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia) as president and Prince Nicholas Romanov as vice-president. When Prince Dmitri Alexandrovich died in 1980, his younger brother Prince Vasili Alexandrovich became president and Nicholas remained vice president. In 1989, after the death of Vasili Alexandrovich, Nicholas was elected the president of the Romanov Family Association. The majority of male-line descendants of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia are members of the Romanov Family Association.

In 1924, after Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia) whose body has never been found, was declared legally dead, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, a male-line grandson of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, declared himself Guardian of the Throne and later assumed the title Emperor of All Russia. Upon the death of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich in 1938, his son Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich was recognized as the Head of the Russian Imperial House by the Grand Dukes and Princes of Imperial Blood behind him in order of dynastic seniority and by the majority of the reigning houses of Europe.

The Romanov Family Association’s official position is that the rights of the family to the Russian throne were suspended when Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia abdicated for himself and for his son Tsarevich Alexei in favor of his brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich. Michael declined to accept the throne unless the people were allowed to vote for the continuation of the monarchy or the creation of a republic. Of course, that vote never happened. Emperor Michael II, as he was legally pronounced by Nicholas II, did not abdicate but empowered the Provisional Government to rule. Michael’s “reign” did not end until his execution in 1918.

After the Russian Revolution, surviving members of the House of Romanov were in exile and settled in Europe with close or distant relatives. Because of their situation, many male Romanovs were unable to choose a spouse from European sovereign houses, and married women from noble and famous Russian families – Kurakins, Orlovs, Chavchavadze, Sheremetevs, Vorontsov-Dashkovs, Kutuzovs, Golitsyns. Regarding unequal marriages, Prince Nicholas Romanov said, “Our parents married commoners. So what? We have married commoners. Again, so what? There was nobody to ask us to renounce our rights, so we married without renouncing them, and we and our children still have rights to the throne of Russia.”

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

Pre-revolutionary Romanov house law allowed only those born of an equal marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house to be in the line of succession to the Russian throne. The throne could only pass to a female and through the female line upon the extinction of all legitimately-born, male dynasts. Maria Vladimiovna’s mother Princess Leonida of Bagration belonged to a family that had been kings in Georgia from medieval times until the early 19th century. However, no male line ancestor of Leonida had reigned as a king in Georgia since 1505 and her branch of the Bagrations, the House of Mukhrani, had been naturalized as non-ruling nobility of Russia after Georgia was annexed to the Russian empire in 1801. There is a precedent that a marriage between the House of Romanov and the House of Bragation-Mukhrani was unequal. The House of Bragation-Mukhrani did not possess sovereign status and was not recognized as equal by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia for the purpose of dynastic marriages at the time of the marriage of Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna of Russia and Prince Konstantine Bragation-Mukhrani in 1911, thirty-seven years before the marriage of Princess Leonida of Bragation-Mukhrani and Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia. The couple married but Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna was required to renounce her rights to the Russian throne and was no longer a member of the House of Romanov because the marriage was unequal.

Prince Nicholas Romanov did not act for the restoration of the monarchy or engage in dynastic activities such as the distribution of Russian imperial titles and orders. Maria Vladimirovna claims the status of de jure Empress of All Russia, styles herself as Grand Duchess and her son George Mikhailovich as Grand Duke and Tsesarevich, the title for the heir apparent, and actively distributes Russian imperial orders, all of which have been condemned by the Romanov Family Association.

After the discovery and identification of the remains of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, his family, and the servants who were killed with the family, Maria Vladimirovna proposed the remains be divided into three groups – Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna be interred at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia, the traditional Romanov burial site, the three daughters who were identified be interred at the Grand Ducal Mausoleum located on the left side of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, and the servants be interred in Ekaterinburg, Russia where the murders occurred. (Note: The remains of Tsesarevich Alexei and his sister Grand Duchess Maria were discovered in 2007, and were positively identified in 2009. However, the remains of Alexei and Maria have not yet been buried. The Russian Orthodox Church has questioned whether the remains are authentic and blocked the burial.

This proposal shocked Prince Nicholas Romanov and the other members of the Romanov Family Association. Their original position was to bury all the remains together in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Prince Nicholas stated the Romanov Family Association’s position: “We Romanovs want everybody, every victim of that massacre, to be buried together, in the same place, in the same cathedral, and, I’d say, in the same tomb. You want to bury the tsar in the Peter and Paul Fortress cathedral? Good! Then bury the doctor, the maid, and the cook with them, in the tsar’s mausoleum. They have been lying together for seventy-three years. They are the only ones who never betrayed the family. They deserve to be honored at the same time, in the same place.”

Prince Nicholas Romanov led the Romanov family at the formal burial of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their daughters Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, and Anastasia, their physician Dr. Eugene Botkin, their cook Ivan Mikhailovich Kharitonov, their footman Alexei Yegorovich Trupp, and their maid Anna Stepanovna Demidova on July 17, 1998, the 80th anniversary of their deaths, in St. Catherine Chapel at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Because, at the time, the Russian Orthodox Church did not recognize the authenticity of the remains, Maria Vladimirovna did not attend the formal burial. However, the Russian government’s refusal to recognize her status as the official Head of the Romanov House is also given as a reason.

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Dmitri Romanov (left) and Prince Nicholas Romanov (second left) stand at the tomb of Empress Maria Feodorovna during a burial ceremony in the royal crypt at the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg on September 28, 2006

Prince Nicholas and his brother Prince Dmitri lobbied Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and President Vladimir Putin of Russia to allow the transfer of the remains of Empress Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, from Denmark to Russia so she could be buried alongside her husband Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia. Nicholas and Dmitri were both present on September 28, 2006, at a service for Empress Maria Feodorovna at Saint Isaac’s Cathedral and then at the Peter and Paul Cathedral, both in St. Petersburg, where she was interred next to her husband Emperor Alexander III.

Prince Nicholas Romanov died on September 15, 2014, eleven days before his 92nd birthday, in Bolgheri, Tuscany, Italy. His funeral was held on September 17, 2014, at the Church of Saints Jacob and Christopher in Bolgheri, Tuscany, Italy. He was interred in the crypt of the Counts della Gherardesoc, the burial site of his wife’s family, at the Basilica of Saint Francis in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.

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Works Cited

Massie, Robert K. (1995) The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. New York: Random House
Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia (2021) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Romanov,_Prince_of_Russia (Accessed: 10 August 2023).
Prince Nicholas Romanov – Obituary (2014) The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11121560/Prince-Nicholas-Romanov-obituary.html (Accessed: 10 August 2023).
Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Roman_Petrovich_of_Russia (Accessed: 10 August 2023).
Романов, Николай Романович (2023) Wikipedia (Russian). Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 (Accessed: 10 August 2023).
Романов, Роман Петрович (2023) Wikipedia (Russian). Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 (Accessed: 10 August 2023).
The Romanov Family Association. Available at: http://www.romanovfamily.org/index.html (Accessed: 10 August 2023).

Maria Anna of Bavaria, Archduchess of Inner Austria, 1st wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Anna of Bavaria,1604; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Anna of Bavaria was the first wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. She died before her husband became King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, and Holy Roman Emperor, so she held only the title Archduchess of Inner Austria. Born on December 18, 1574, in Munich, Duchy of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, she was the fourth of the ten children and the second eldest but the eldest surviving of the four daughters of Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and Renata of Lorraine. Maria Anna’s paternal grandparents were Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria, daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her maternal grandparents were François I, Duke of Lorraine and Christina of Denmark, daughter of King Christian II of Denmark.

Maria Anna had nine siblings but only five survived childhood:

Christoph of Bavaria (born and died 1570), died on the day of his birth
Christine of Bavaria (1571 – 1580), died in childhood
Maximilian I, Duke and Elector of Bavaria (1573 – 1651), married (1) his first cousin Elisabeth of Lorraine, no children (2) his niece Maria Anna of Austria, had two sons
Cardinal Philipp Wilhelm of Bavaria, Bishop of Regensburg (1576 – 1598), unmarried
Ferdinand of Bavaria, Archbishop and Prince-Elector of Cologne (1577 – 1650), unmarried
Eleonore Magdalene of Bavaria (1578 – 1579), died in infancy
Karl of Bavaria (1580 – 1587), died in childhood
Albrecht VI, Duke of Bavaria (1584 – 1666), married Mechthilde of Leuchtenberg, had five children
Magdalene of Bavaria (1587 – 1628), married Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, had one surviving son and a total of twelve stillbirths or miscarriages

Maria Anna’s husband Ferdinand; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 23, 1600, at Graz Cathedral in Graz, Styria, Lower Austria, now in Austria, 26-year-old first cousin Maria Anna of Bavaria married her first cousin 22-year-old Ferdinand II, Archduke of Inner Austria, the son of Karl Franz II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria. This marriage reaffirmed the alliance between the House of Habsburg and the House of Wittelsbach.

Maria Anna and Ferdinand had seven children but only four survived childhood:

Archduchess Christine of Austria (born and died 1601)
Archduke Karl of Austria (born and died 1603)
Archduke Johann Karl of Austria (1605 – 1619), died in his teens
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (1608 – 1657), married (1) his first cousin Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, had six children (2) Maria Leopoldine of Austria, had one son (3) Eleanor Gonzaga of Mantua, had four children
Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1610 – 1665), married her uncle Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, had two sons
Archduchess Cecilia Renata of Austria (1611 – 1644), married Władysław IV Vasa, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, had two children
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614 – 1662), unmarried

Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II next to Graz Cathedral; Credit – Von KarlN, Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=981869

Maria Anna was ill for a long time before she died on March 8, 1616, at the age of forty-one, in Graz, Inner Austria, now in Austria. She was interred in the Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II (link in German) which her husband began building in 1614, next to Graz Cathedral on the site of a former cemetery. When Ferdinand died in 1637, he was also interred in the Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II. The tombs of Maria Anna of Bavaria, Ferdinand, and their son Johann Karl, who died in his teens, are coffin wall niches, marked by inscriptions

Maria Anna’s tomb marker; Credit – Von krischnig – selbst fotografiert, Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=129845239

Works Cited

Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Inner Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinand-ii-holy-roman-emperor-archduke-of-austria-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Archduke of Further Austria, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/matthias-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-archduke-of-further-austria-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551–1608) (2020) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_of_Bavaria_(1551%E2%80%931608) (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
Mausoleum Kaiser Ferdinands II. (Graz) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_Kaiser_Ferdinands_II._(Graz) (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
William V, Duke of Bavaria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_V,_Duke_of_Bavaria (Accessed: 16 June 2023).
Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Anna Maria von Boskowitz and Černahora, Princess of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Anna Maria von Boskowitz and Černahora, Princess of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

Baroness Anna Maria von Boskowitz and Černahora was the wife of Karl I, the first Prince of Liechtenstein and the founder of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein. Born in 1575 in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, she was the elder of the two daughters of Baron Johann von Boskowitz and Černahora and Baroness Anna von Kraigk, both members of Moravian noble families.

Boskovic Castle, inherited by Anna Maria and her sister Katharina upon their father’s death; Credit – By Mardoko – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35303874

Anna Maria had one sister. When their father died in 1597, Anna Maria and her sister Katharina inherited their father’s lands, including Boskovic Castle, because he had no male heirs.

Katharina von Boskowitz and Černahora (1579 – 1637), married Maximilian of Liechtenstein, brother of Anna Maria’s husband, Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein, no children

Anna Maria’s husband Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1590, Anna Maria married Baron Karl von Liechtenstein, a Moravian nobleman and the son of Hartmann II, Baron of Liechtenstein and Countess Anna Maria of Ortenburg, and the future first Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein

Anna Maria and Karl had four children:

Princess Anna Maria Franziska of Liechtenstein (1601 – 1640), married Maximilian, 2nd Prince of Dietrichstein, had eight children
Princess Franziska Barbara of Liechtenstein (1604 – 1655), married Wenzel Werner of T’Serclaes, Count of Tilly, had nine children
Prince Heinrich of Liechtenstein (died young)
Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein, (1611 – 1684), married his niece Princess Johanna Beatrix of Dietrichstein, had nine children

Through his relationship with the brothers, the childless Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II and Archduke Matthias of Austria (the future Holy Roman Emperor Matthias), Anna Maria’s husband Karl gained political positions and land, and ultimately became the first Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein. In 1592, Karl became the treasurer of Archduke Matthias. Karl and his younger brothers, Maximilian, the husband of Anna Maria’s sister, and Gundakar, had been raised in the Evangelical Lutheran faith, but they all converted to Catholicism in 1599. In 1599, Karl became the chief judge in Moravia. In 1600, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II appointed Karl Chief Steward at the Imperial Court in Vienna, Austria. Four years later, Karl was appointed Governor of Moravia.

Besides being the elected Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II also held the traditional Habsburg territories as King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Archduke of Austria, and Margrave of Moravia. A power struggle developed between the childless Rudolf and his heir and brother Matthias. In April 1608, Matthias besieged the city of Prague and forced his brother Rudolf to negotiate and sign a peace treaty. This resulted in the redistribution of power. Rudolf kept Bohemia, Silesia, and Lusatia while Matthias received Hungary, Austria, and Moravia. Karl of Liechtenstein had supported Matthias in the power struggle. On December 20, 1608, Matthias raised Karl from Baron of Liechtenstein to Fürst of Liechtenstein (Prince), a reigning sovereign ruler or monarch. (Non-reigning descendants of a Fürst are referred to in German as Prinz (prince) or Prinzessin (princess.)

Matthias was elected Holy Roman Emperor upon Rudolf’s death in 1612 and reigned until he died in 1619. In 1614, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias gave Karl another reward, the Duchy of Troppau in Silesia. In November 1620, Karl and his brother Maximilian took lead roles in the imperial victory at the Battle of White Mountain near Prague during the Thirty Years War. In 1622, Karl was appointed governor and then Viceroy of the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vranov, Czech Republic: Credit – Von Ojin – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6438939

Karl’s younger brother Maximilian and his wife Katharina, Anna Maria’s sister, founded a Pauline monastery and had the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary built on the monastery grounds in the village of Vranov, then in Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. A crypt in the church served as the burial site for members of the House of Liechtenstein. When more room was needed for burials another crypt was built and the church then had the Old Crypt and the New Crypt.

Anna Maria died at the age of 50, on June 6, 1625, in Plumov, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic. She was buried in the Old Crypt at the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Karl survived his wife by nearly two years, dying on February 12, 1627, aged 57, at the Liechtenstein Palace (link in German) on Lesser Town Square in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. He was also buried in the Old Crypt at the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.

Works Cited

Anna Maria Semberová of Boskovice and Cerná Hora (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Maria_%C5%A0emberov%C3%A1_of_Boskovice_and_%C4%8Cern%C3%A1_Hora (Accessed: 15 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/karl-i-prince-of-liechtenstein/> [Accessed 15 June 2023].
Johann Schembera von Czerna-Hora Freiherr von Boskowitz (2022) geni_family_tree. Available at: https://www.geni.com/people/Johann-Schembera-von-Czerna-Hora-Freiherr-von-Boskowitz/6000000015270648137 (Accessed: 15 June 2023).
Princely House of Liechtenstein. 2023. Biographies of all Reigning Princes – 17th century. [online] Available at: <https://fuerstenhaus.li/en/die-biographien-aller-fuersten/17-century/> [Accessed 15 June 2023].

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

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

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Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1619 – 1637), Archduke of Inner Austria (reigned 1590 – 1637), King of Bohemia (1st reign 1617 – 1619, 2nd reign 1620 – 1637), and King of Hungary and Croatia (reigned 1618 – 1637) was born on July 19, 1578, at the Schlossberg in Graz, Duchy of Styria, Archduchy of Austria, now in Austria. He was the sixth of the fifteen children and the second but the eldest surviving of the six sons of Karl Franz II, Archduke of Inner Austria and his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria. Ferdinand’s paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anne of Bohemia and Hungary. His maternal grandparents were Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria (daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor).

Ferdinand had fourteen siblings:

Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (born and died 1572), died in infancy
Archduchess Anna of Austria (1573 – 1598), married Sigismund III Vasa, King of Sweden, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, had five children but only one survived childhood
Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (1574 – 1621), married Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, no children, marriage dissolved
Archduchess Katharina Renata of Austria (1576 – 1599), unmarried
Archduchess Elisabeth (1577 – 1586), died in childhood
Archduke Karl (1579 – 1580), died in infancy
Archduchess Gregoria Maximiliana of Austria (1581 – 1597), died in her teens
Archduchess Eleanor of Austria (1582 – 1620), a nun
Archduke Maximilian Ernst of Austria (1583 – 1616), unmarried
Archduchess Margarete of Austria (1584 – 1611), married King Felipe III of Spain, had eight children including King Felipe IV of Spain and Anne of Austria, wife of King Louis XIII of France and mother of King Louis XIV of France
Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria (1586 – 1632), married Claudia de’ Medici, had five children
Archduchess Constance of Austria (1588 – 1631), married Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, deposed King of Sweden, the widower of her older sister Anna, had seven children
Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria (1589 – 1631), married Cosimo II de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, had eight children
Archduke Karl Joseph of Austria, Bishop of Wroclaw, Bishop of Brixen, and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1590 – 1624), unmarried

Ferdinand’s mother Maria Anna of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

Ferdinand’s mother Maria Anna of Bavaria was a strong supporter of the Counter-Reformation, the reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to the Protestant Reformation. Ferdinand and his siblings attended Mass from the age of one and their first words were to be Jesus and Mary. Catholic priests tutored them, and Latin was to be a priority before their native German language. When he was eight years old, Ferdinand began to attend the Jesuit school in Graz. In 1590, 11-year-old Ferdinand was sent to the Jesuit University of Ingolstadt in the Electorate of Bavaria for secondary school and university because his parents wanted to isolate him from Lutheran nobles. His strong Jesuit upbringing resulted in Ferdinand’s strong rejection of Protestantism. Throughout his life, Ferdinand was a very devout Roman Catholic and attended Mass at least once a day. His strong religion also caused him to be prudish. As Holy Roman Emperor, he burned paintings from the imperial art collection that depicted nudity.

Ferdinand II in his early teens, circa 1591-1593; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1590, Ferdinand’s father died and the twelve-year-old inherited the lands of Inner Austria: Styria, Carniola, Carinthia, and Gorizia. His much older first cousin, Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor and Head of the House of Habsburg and appointed regents to administer Ferdinand’s lands. In 1595, Ferdinand returned to Graz from his studies at the University of Ingolstadt. In 1597, after he came of age, he began to rule the lands of Inner Austria in his own right.

In 1598, Ferdinand began strong Counter-Reformation policies in the lands of Inner Austria. He took a solemn vow to make Catholicism the sole religion in his lands again at any price. He was famous for saying, “Better to rule a desert than a country full of heretics.” Ferdinand demanded that all the nobility practice the Roman Catholic faith. Protestant nobles could either convert or leave Inner Austria. The creation of a Catholic nobility forced the peasants who worked their lands also to become Catholic. Protestant churches and books were destroyed and Protestant ministers and scholars such as the very renowned astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler were expelled from Inner Austria. These policies caused a financial and intellectual drain in Inner Austria.

Maria Anna of Bavaria, Ferdinand II’s 1st wife, 1604; Credit – Wikipedia

On April 23, 1600, at Graz Cathedral in Graz, Styria, Lower Austria, now in Austria, 22-year-old Archduke Ferdinand married his 26-year-old first cousin Maria Anna of Bavaria, the daughter of Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and Renata of Lorraine, reaffirming the alliance between the House of Habsburg and House of Wittelsbach.

Ferdinand and Maria Anna had seven children but only four survived childhood:

Archduchess Christine of Austria (born and died 1601)
Archduke Karl of Austria (born and died 1603)
Archduke Johann Karl of Austria (1605 – 1619), died in his teens
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (1608 – 1657), married (1) his first cousin Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, had six children (2) Maria Leopoldine of Austria, had one son (3) Eleanor Gonzaga of Mantua, had four children
Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1610 – 1665), married her uncle Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, had two sons
Archduchess Cecilia Renata of Austria (1611 – 1644), married Władysław IV Vasa, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, had two children
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614 – 1662), unmarried

Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II next to Graz Cathedral; Credit – Von KarlN – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=981869

On March 8, 1616, Maria Anna died, aged 41, before her husband became King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Croatia, and Holy Roman Emperor. She was interred in the Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II (link in German) which her husband began building in 1614, next to Graz Cathedral on the site of a former cemetery.

Ferdinand II and his second wife Eleonora Gonzaga, circa 1628-1630; Credit – Wikipedia

44-year-old Ferdinand married for a second time to his first cousin once removed, 24-year-old Eleonora Gonzaga of Mantua, daughter of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Monferrato and his second wife and first cousin Eleonora de’ Medici. A marriage contract was signed on November 21, 1621, and on the same day, a proxy marriage was held in the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara at the Ducal Palace in Mantua. The couple was married in person on February 2, 1622, in Innsbruck, Duchy of Austria, now in Austria. However, Ferdinand and Eleonora had no children.

There was displeasure in the Habsburg family with Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. His brother Archduke Matthias played a significant role in the family’s opposition, called the Brothers’ Quarrel. Matthias forced Rudolf to cede the crowns of Hungary, Austria, Moravia, and Bohemia to him. Rudolf lost what was left of his power and lived in isolation at Prague Castle in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. When Rudolf died on January 20, 1612, nine months after he had been stripped of all effective power, his brother Matthias was elected to succeed him as Holy Roman Emperor and also succeeded to all Rudolf’s hereditary titles.

Cardinal Melchior Klesl, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias’ chief minister, wanted to arrange a compromise between Catholic and Protestant states within the Holy Roman Empire to strengthen the empire. These policies were opposed by the more conservative Catholic Habsburgs, especially Matthias’s brother Archduke Maximilian, who hoped to secure the succession for their ardent Catholic cousin Archduke Ferdinand, the future Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. Matthias was old, ill, and unable to prevent the faction of his brother Archduke Maximilian from gaining power. He died on March 20, 1619, aged 62, in Vienna, Austria. Archduke Ferdinand had already been crowned King of Bohemia in 1617 and King of Hungary in 1618. He was elected Holy Roman Emperor on August 28, 1619.

The Thirty Years’ War began in 1618 because of the inadequacies of Ferdinand II’s predecessors Rudolf II and Matthias. Ferdinand wanted to restore the Catholic Church as the only religion in the Holy Roman Empire and to eliminate religious dissent. However, Ferdinand’s acts against Protestantism caused the war to engulf the entire Holy Roman Empire. The Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648) was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, with an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians dying as a result of battle, famine, and disease.

Ferdinand II’s son and successor Ferdinand III, Credit – Wikipedia

After the deaths of his two eldest sons Karl and Johann Karl, Ferdinand II’s third son, also named Ferdinand was named as his father’s successor and was prepared for his future role. Like his father, he was a devout Catholic, but he was not fond of the influence of the Jesuits in his father’s court. Ferdinand II passed to his son Ferdinand the Habsburg hereditary lands in 1621, the crowns of Hungary and Croatia in 1625, and the crown of Bohemia in 1627. In 1636, Ferdinand II arranged for his son to be elected King of the Romans, ensuring he would be the next Holy Roman Emperor as Ferdinand III.

On February 15, 1637, at the age of fifty-eight, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor died in Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, now Austria. He was interred in the Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II (link in German) which he had built next to the Graz Cathedral. The tombs of Ferdinand II, his first wife Maria Anna of Bavaria, and his son Johann Karl, who died in his teens, are coffin wall niches and marked by inscriptions

Coffin niche of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Works Cited

Charles II, Archduke of Austria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II,_Archduke_of_Austria (Accessed: 14 June 2023).
Ferdinand II. (HRR) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II._(HRR) (Accessed: 14 June 2023).
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 14 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Archduke of Further Austria, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/matthias-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-archduke-of-further-austria-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 14 June 2023).
Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551–1608) (2020) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Anna_of_Bavaria_(1551%E2%80%931608) (Accessed: 14 June 2023).
Mausoleum Kaiser Ferdinands II. (Graz) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_Kaiser_Ferdinands_II._(Graz) (Accessed: 14 June 2023).
Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, Dauphine of France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, Dauphine of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, Dauphine of France was the first wife of Louis, Dauphin of France, the son of Louis XV, King of France. Neither Maria Teresa Rafaela nor Louis lived long lives. Maria Teresa Rafaela, aged twenty, died due to childbirth complications after giving birth to her only child, a daughter who died before her second birthday. Louis married again, had eight children – five survived childhood and three of the five were Kings of France – but he died from tuberculosis, at the age of thirty-six. Louis, Dauphin of France predeceased his father and so he never became King of France.

Maria Teresa Rafaela’s parents Felipe V, King of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese of Parma; Credit – Wikipedia

Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain was born on June 11, 1726, at the Royal Alcazar in Madrid, Spain. She was the fourth of the six children and the second of the three daughters of Felipe V, King of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma. Maria Teresa Rafaela’s father was born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV, King of France. He became King of Spain when the Spanish House of Habsburg became extinct because his paternal grandmother Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain was the daughter of Felipe IV, King of Spain. Maria Teresa Rafaela’s paternal grandparents were Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir apparent to the throne of France who died before his father Louis XIV, King of France, and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. Her maternal grandparents were Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma and Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg.

Family of Felipe V, King of Spain by Louis-Michel van Loo – Maria Teresa Rafaela is fourth from the right; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Teresa Rafaela had five siblings:

Carlos III, King of Spain (1716 – 1788), married Maria Amalia of Saxony, had thirteen children including Carlos IV, King of Spain
Mariana Victoria, Infanta of Spain (1718 – 1781), married José I, King of Portugal, had four daughters
Felipe, Infante of Spain, Duke of Parma (1720 – 1765), married Louise Élisabeth of France, had three children, Felipe was the founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma
Louis, Count of Chinchón (1727 – 1785), Archbishop of Toledo, Primate of Spain and Cardinal renounced his ecclesiastical titles, married morganatically María Teresa de Vallabriga, had four children
Maria Antonietta Fernanda, Infanta of Spain (1729 – 1785), wife of Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, had twelve children

Maria Teresa Rafaela had four siblings from her father’s first marriage to Maria Luisa of Savoy:

Luis I, King of Spain (1707 – 1724), married Louise Élisabeth of Orléans, no children
Felipe, Infante of Spain (born and died 1709)
Felipe, Infante of Spain (1712 – 1719)
Fernando VI, King of Spain (1713 – 1759), married Bárbara of Portugal, no surviving children

Louis, Dauphin of France, Maria Teresa Rafaela’s husband; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1725, the Spanish court had been greatly insulted by the French when the engagement of Louis XV, King of France and Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain, the elder sister of Maria Teresa Rafaela, had been called off. The marriage of Maria Teresa Rafaela and Louis, Dauphin of France marked the reconciliation of Spain and France. The betrothal was announced in August 1739, however, Maria Teresa Rafaela’s mother would not allow her thirteen-year-old daughter to go to France until she was older.

Marriage of Louis, Dauphin of France and Maria Teresa Rafaela, Infanta of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Teresa Rafaela and Louis, Dauphin of France were married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on December 18, 1744. She left Spain to travel to France in January 1745 and arrived at the Palace of Versailles on February 21, 1745. Two days, later Maria Teresa Rafaela and Louis, Dauphin of France were married in person in the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. The marriage was not immediately consummated and this caused great embarrassment to Maria Teresa Rafaela because of the court’s gossip that Louis was impotent. Her shy nature further isolated her from the court. Finally, the marriage was consummated in September 1745, ending court gossip. The couple became very close and devoted to each other spending most of their time together.

Maria Teresa Rafaela soon became pregnant, with the baby due in July 1746. On July 9, 1746, her father, Felipe V, King of Spain, died of a stroke but Maria Teresa Rafaela was not told of his death because of her advanced pregnancy. On July 19, 1746, she gave birth to a daughter, named Marie-Thérèse by her husband in honor of his adored wife. Maria Teresa Rafaela initially recovered from childbirth but then her condition deteriorated quickly and she died on July 22, 1746, aged 20, at the Palace of Versailles. The sorrow of Louis, Dauphin of France was so intense that his father King Louis XV had to physically drag his son away from Maria Teresa Rafaela’s deathbed. Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela’s daughter did not survive to her second birthday, dying on April 27, 1748. Maria Teresa Rafaela was buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, the traditional burial site of the French royal family.

In 1747, nineteen-year-old Louis, Dauphin of France reluctantly married fifteen-year-old Maria Josepha of Saxony. Louis was still grieving for Maria Teresa Rafaela but Maria Josepha was patient and won his heart a little at a time. Louis and Maria Josepha of Saxony had eight children including three Kings of France: Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X. Louis never succeeded to the French throne. He died of tuberculosis at the Château de Fontainebleau in France on December 20, 1765, at the age of 36. According to Louis’ last wishes, he was buried at the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Sens, France, but his heart was buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, near the grave of his first wife Maria Teresa Rafaela.

Works Cited

Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Felipe V, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: 29 July 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Louis, Dauphin of France, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-dauphin-of-france/ (Accessed: 29 July 2023).
María Teresa Rafaela of Spain (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Teresa_Rafaela_of_Spain (Accessed: 29 July 2023).
Marie-Thérèse d’Espagne (2023) Wikipedia (French). Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_d%27Espagne (Accessed: 29 July 2023).
María Teresa Rafaela de España (2023) Wikipedia (Spanish). Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Teresa_Rafaela_de_Espa%C3%B1a (Accessed: 29 July 2023).

Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Josepha of Saxony was the second wife of Louis, Dauphin of France, the son and heir of King Louis XV of France, and the mother of three Kings of France, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X. Maria Josepha Karolina Eleonore Franziska Xaveria was born on November 4, 1731, at Dresden Castle in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, later in the Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony. She was the eighth of the fourteen children and the fourth of the seven daughters of Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and Maria Josepha of Austria. Her paternal grandparents were Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. Maria Josepha’s maternal grandparents were Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Maria Josepha had thirteen siblings:

Friedrich August of Saxony (1720 – 1721), died in infancy
Joseph August of Saxony (1721 – 1728), died in childhood
Friedrich Christian, Elector of Saxony (1722 – 1763), married Maria Antonia of Bavaria, had nine children
Maria Amalia of Saxony, Queen of Spain (1724 – 1760), married King Carlos III of Spain, had thirteen children including King Carlos IV of Spain and King Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies
Maria Margaretha of Saxony (1727 – 1734), died in childhood
Maria Anna of Saxony, Electress of Bavaria (1728 – 1797); married Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, no children
Franz Xaver, Regent of Saxony (1730 – 1806), married morganatically Maria Chiara Spinucci, had ten children
Karl Christian of Saxony, Duke of Courland and Zemgale (1733 – 1796), married morganatically Countess Franciszka Krasińska, had two children
Maria Christina of Saxony, Princess-Abbess of Remiremont (1735 – 1782), unmarried, a secular canoness
Maria Elisabeth of Saxony (1736 – 1818), unmarried
Albert Kasimir of Saxony, Duke of Teschen and Governor of the Austrian Netherlands (1738 – 1822), married Maria Christina of Austria, Duchess of Teschen, Governor of the Austrian Netherlands, had one daughter who lived only one day
Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, Archbishop-Elector of Trier (1739 – 1812), unmarried
Maria Kunigunde of Saxony, Princess-Abbess of Thorn and Essen (1740 – 1826), unmarried, a secular canoness like her sister Maria Christina

Louis, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XV, husband of Maria Josepha; Credit – Wikipedia

Louis, Dauphin of France was the elder son and heir apparent of his father Louis XV, King of France. In 1739, King Louis XV negotiated a marriage for his son Louis with Maria Teresa Rafaela, Infanta of Spain, daughter of Felipe V, King of Spain, born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, a grandson of Louis XIV, King of France and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma. The purpose of this marriage was to strengthen the alliance of Bourbon France and Bourbon Spain. Louis, Dauphin of France and Maria Teresa Rafaela, Infanta of Spain were married in 1745.

Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela had one daughter Princess Marie Thérèse of France, born on July 19, 1746. Sadly, Maria Teresa Rafaela died three days later, on July 22, 1746, at the age of twenty. Louis’ sorrow was so intense that his father King Louis XV had to physically drag his son away from Maria Teresa Rafaela’s deathbed. Louis and Maria Teresa Rafaela’s daughter did not survive to her second birthday, dying on April 27, 1748.

Even though he grieved for his first wife, Louis knew he had to marry again to provide for the succession to the French throne. His first wife’s brother Fernando VI, King of Spain offered his youngest sister but Louis XV wanted to expand France’s diplomatic connections. France and Saxony had been on opposing sides in the recent War of the Austrian Succession (1740 -1748) and a marriage between a Princess of Saxony and the Dauphin of France would form a new alliance between the two countries. On January 10, 1747, fifteen-year-old Maria Josepha of Saxony was married by proxy to seventeen-year-old Louis, Dauphin of France. A second marriage ceremony took place in person at the Palace of Versailles on February 9, 1747. At the time of this marriage, Louis was still grieving for Maria Teresa Rafaela but Maria Josepha was patient and won his heart a little at a time.

Maria Josepha and her son Louis Joseph, Duke of Burgundy; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Josepha and Louis had eight children including three Kings of France:

Marie Zéphyrine of France (1750 – 1755), died in childhood
Louis Joseph of France, Duke of Burgundy (1751 – 1761), died in childhood
Xavier of France, Duke of Aquitaine (1753 – 1754), died in infancy
Louis XVI, King of France (1754 – 1793), married Maria Antonia of Austria (Marie Antoinette), had four children, executed during the French Revolution
Louis XVIII, King of France (1755 – 1824), married Marie Joséphine of Savoy, no children
Charles X, King of France (1757 – 1836), married Marie Thérèse of Savoy, had four children
Marie Clotilde of France, Queen of Sardinia (1759 – 1802), married Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia, no children
Élisabeth of France (1764 – 1794), unmarried, executed during the French Revolution

The couple’s first child, a daughter, was born on the feast day of Saint Zephyrinus and named Marie Zéphyrine. The birth was greeted with much joy by her parents but her grandfather King Louis XV was disappointed the child was not a male. On August 30, 1755, five-year-old Marie Zéphyrine suffered convulsions and died on September 2, 1755. Maria Josepha and Louis’ second child Louis Joseph, Duke of Burgundy fell off a toy horse in 1759. He started limping and a tumor began to grow on his hip. This was operated on in 1760, but he never recovered the use of his legs. Louis Joseph was diagnosed with extrapulmonary tuberculosis of the bone which caused his death in 1761. The couple’s second son, Xavier, Duke of Aquitaine died after an epileptic seizure when he was five months old.

Maria Josepha’s husband Louis was a pious man, faithful to her, and concerned about the welfare and education of his children. Like her husband, Maria Josepha was very devout. Maria Josepha and Louis were a counterbalance to the behavior of King Louis XV, who had many mistresses and many illegitimate children. The couple was not fond of the various entertainments held at the Palace of Versailles every week and preferred to stay in their apartments. Kept away from government affairs by his father, Louis was at the center of the Dévots, a group of religiously-minded men who hoped to gain power when he succeeded to the throne.

Allegory on the Death of the Dauphin by Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, 1765; Credit – Wikipedia

However, Maria Josepha’s husband Louis never succeeded to the throne. He died of tuberculosis at the Château de Fontainebleau in France on December 20, 1765, at the age of 36. According to Louis’ last wishes, he was buried at the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Sens, France, and his heart was buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, near the grave of his first wife. Maria Josepha, who had cared for Louis during his last illness, also contracted tuberculosis. She died at the Palace of Versailles, on March 13, 1767, at the age of 35, and was buried with her husband.

When King Louis XV died of smallpox at the Palace of Versailles on May 10, 1774, he was succeeded by his grandson, King Louis XVI, the third but the eldest surviving son of Maria Josepha and her husband. During the French Revolution (1789 – 1799), King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were beheaded as was Louis XVI’s youngest sister Elisabeth. Louis XVI’s two younger brothers escaped France and survived the French Revolution. Both reigned as Kings of France during the Bourbon Restoration (1814 – 1830).

Louis and Maria Josepha’s restored tomb; Credit – Par Aubry Gérard — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42182840

In March 1794, during the French Revolution, Louis and Maria Josepha’s tomb was desecrated and their remains were thrown into a mass grave. After the Bourbon Restoration, on the orders of Louis and Maria Josepha’s son King Louis XVIII, their remains were found, their tomb was restored, and they were reinterred at the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Sens, France on December 8, 1814.

Works Cited

Augustus III of Poland (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_III_of_Poland (Accessed: 13 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Louis, Dauphin of France, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-dauphin-of-france/ (Accessed: 13 June 2023).
Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Josepha_of_Saxony,_Dauphine_of_France (Accessed: 13 June 2023).
Maria Josepha von Sachsen (1731–1767) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Josepha_von_Sachsen_(1731%E2%80%931767) (Accessed: 13 June 2023).
Marie-Josèphe de Saxe (1731-1767) (2023) Wikipedia (French). Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Jos%C3%A8phe_de_Saxe_(1731-1767) (Accessed: 13 June 2023).

Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen; Credit – Von DerDeutscheFotograf – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=100232161

Andreas, the titular 8th Prince of Leiningen and the Head of the former Princely House of Leiningen is the heir to his brother Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen, one of the disputed pretenders to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and the throne of Russia. The Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over whether marriages in the Romanov family were equal marriages – a marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house. The Monarchist Party of Russia recognizes Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen as the heir to the Russian throne and the Head of the Russian Imperial House. The claim will pass to Andreas and his descendants born of equal marriages upon the death of Karl Emich, and on the condition that they should convert to Russian Orthodoxy. There is no indication that Andreas or any of his children, who are Lutheran, have any interest in this claim.

The Principality of Leiningen was created in 1803 when properties owned by the Catholic Church were confiscated. The House of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg was compensated for their possessions on the left bank of the Rhine in the Palatinate with land from the former Electorate of Mainz, Electorate of the Palatinate and the Electorate-Bishopric of Würzburg. The combined territory was named the Principality of Leiningen. However, in 1806, the Principality of Leiningen had been mediatized – annexed to another state(s), while allowing certain rights to its former sovereign. The Principality of Leiningen ceased to exist and was divided between the Grand Duchy of Baden, the Kingdom of Bavaria, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse. The family retained Amorbach Abbey in Amorbach, which remains the family seat of the Princes of Leiningen. Therefore, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm was the first and the only actual reigning Prince of Leiningen. Queen Victoria’s mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was first married to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen and Queen Victoria had two half-siblings from this marriage, Karl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen and Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen was born on November 27, 1955, in Frankfurt am Main, then in West Germany, now in the German state of Hesse. He is the third of the four children and the younger of the two sons of Emich Kyrill, 7th Prince of Leiningen and Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg. Karl Emich’s paternal grandparents are Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen and Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia, the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia , a grandson of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a granddaughter of both Queen Victoria and Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. His maternal grandparents are Nikolaus, the last Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg and his first wife, Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the daughter of Friedrich, the last reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Andreas has three siblings:

Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen (born 1952), married (1) Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Öhringen, died in a car accident, had one daughter (2) morganatically Gabriele Renate Thyssen, divorced, had one daughter (3) Countess Isabelle von und zu Egloffstein, had one son
Princess Melita of Leiningen (born 1951), married Horst Legrum, no children
Princess Stephanie of Leiningen (1958 – 2017), unmarried

Embed from Getty Images

Andreas and his wife attending the wedding of her nephew Prince Ernst August (VI) of Hanover in 2017

On October 5, 1981, Andreas married Princess Alexandra of Hanover, the sister of Prince Ernst August (V) of Hanover, and the couple had three children:

Hereditary Prince Ferdinand of Leiningen (born 1982), married Princess Victoria Luise of Prussia, had two daughters
Princess Olga of Leiningen (born 1984)
Prince Hermann of Leiningen (born 1986), married Isabelle Heubach, had one son

On May 24, 1991, Andreas’ elder brother Karl Emich morganatically married Gabriele Renate Thyssen. Their parents, Emich Kyrill, 7th Prince of Leiningen and Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg refused to attend the wedding because Karl Emich broke an 1897 family law stipulating that family members must make an equal marriage. Karl Emich was formally disinherited, and when his father died on October 30, 1991, Karl Emich’s younger brother Andreas succeeded his father as the titular Prince of Leiningen.

The Monarchist Party of Russia recognizes Andreas’ elder brother Prince Karl Emich of Leinigen as the heir to the Russian throne and the Head of the Russian Imperial House. Karl Emich and Andreas are great-grandchildren of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, a male-line grandson of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. Kirill declared himself Guardian of the Throne and later assumed the title Emperor of All Russia in 1924, after Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia) was declared legally dead.

Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich had three children, listed below. His eldest child Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna is the grandmother of Karl Emich and Andreas.

Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia (1907 – 1951), married Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen, had seven children including Emich Kyrill, 7th Prince of Leiningen, the father of Karl Emich and Andreas
Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (1909 – 1967), married Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, had seven children
Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia (1917 – 1992), married Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani, had one child Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, a current pretender

Upon the death of his father Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich in 1938, his son Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich was recognized as the Head of the Russian Imperial House by the Grand Dukes and Princes of Imperial Blood behind him in order of dynastic seniority and by the majority of the reigning houses of Europe. When Kirill Vladimirovich died in 1992, his only child Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna declared herself Headship of the Russian Imperial Family.

The claim of Maria Vladimirovna as Head of the Russian Imperial Family is disputed by the Romanov Family Association made up of the majority of the male-line descendants of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and father Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, male-line descendants of Nicholas I, never joined. In 1992, with the support of the Romanov Family Association, Prince Nicholas Romanov claimed he was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia.

Karl Emich and his supporters argue that the marriage of Maria Vladimirovna’s parents was in contravention of the Pauline Laws, also an argument of the Romanov Family Association. They maintain that there is a precedent that a marriage between the House of Romanov and the House of Bragation-Mukhrani, the house of Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani, Maria Vladimirovna’s mother, was unequal. The House of Bragation-Mukhrani did not possess sovereign status and was not recognized as an equal marriage by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia for the purpose of dynastic marriages at the time of the marriage of Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna of Russia and Prince Konstantine Bragation-Mukhrani in 1911, thirty-seven years before the marriage of Princess Leonida of Bragation-Mukhrani and Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia. The couple married but Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna was required to renounce her rights to the Russian throne and she was no longer a member of the House of Romanov because the marriage was unequal.

Karl Emich and his third wife Isabelle on the day of the conversion to Russian Orthodoxy; Credit – Авторство: Anton Bakov. Anton Bakov, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37446161

The Monarchist Party of Russia claims that Karl Emich is the heir of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich through his elder daughter Maria Kirillovna and her eldest son Emich Kyrill, 7th Prince of Leiningen, Karl Emich’s father. The Monarchist Party of Russia recognized Karl Emich as the heir to the Russian throne, on June 1, 2013, the day Karl Emich and his third wife Isabelle converted from Lutheranism to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Karl Emich and Isabelle received the Orthodox names of Nikolai Kirillovich and Yekaterina Feodorovna.

However, because Karl Emich’s marriage to his third wife Isabelle would not have been deemed equal according to the Pauline Laws, their son Prince Emich, although considered a dynast of the House of Leiningen, cannot inherit his father’s claim to the headship of the House of Romanov. The claim will pass to his brother Andreas, Prince of Leiningen and his descendants born of equal marriages upon the death of Karl Emich, and on the condition that they should convert to Russian Orthodoxy. However, Andreas is Lutheran and Head of the House of Leiningen and there is no indication that he has any interest in this claim.

Works Cited

A Pauper Prince’s Palatial Quest (2000) The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/22/4 (Accessed: 25 July 2023).
Andreas zu Leiningen (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_zu_Leiningen (Accessed: 25 July 2023).
Emich Kyrill, Prince of Leiningen (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emich_Kyrill,_Prince_of_Leiningen (Accessed: 25 July 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/prince-karl-emich-of-leiningen/ (Accessed: 25 July 2023).
Principality of Leiningen (2020) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Leiningen (Accessed: 25 July 2023).

Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen

Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen; Credit – By Anton Bakov, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37446163

Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen, also known by his Russian Orthodox Russian name Nikolai Kirillovich Romanov, has been one of the disputed pretenders to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and the throne of Russia since 2013. The Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over whether marriages in the Romanov family were equal marriages – a marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house. The Monarchist Party of Russia recognizes Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen as the heir to the Russian throne and the Head of the Russian Imperial House. Karl Emich’s claim is interesting and one that is not well known.

Line of Karl Emich from Alexander II: Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia → Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia → Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia → Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia → Emich, 7th Prince of Leiningen → Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen

The Principality of Leiningen was created in 1803 when properties owned by the Catholic Church were confiscated. The House of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg was compensated for their possessions on the left bank of the Rhine in the Palatinate with a land from the former Electorate of Mainz, Electorate of the Palatinate and the Electorate-Bishopric of Würzburg. The combined territory was named the Principality of Leiningen. However, in 1806, the Principality of Leiningen had been mediatized – annexed to another state(s), while allowing certain rights to its former sovereign. The Principality of Leiningen ceased to exist and was divided between the Grand Duchy of Baden, the Kingdom of Bavaria, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse. The family retained Amorbach Abbey in Amorbach, which remains the family seat of the Princes of Leiningen. Therefore, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm was the first and the only actual reigning Prince of Leiningen. Queen Victoria’s mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was first married to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen and Queen Victoria had two half-siblings from this marriage, Karl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen and Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen was born on June 12, 1952, in Amorbach, then in West Germany, now in the German state of Bavaria. He is the second of the four children and the elder of the two sons of Emich Kyrill, 7th Prince of Leiningen and Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg. Karl Emich’s paternal grandparents are Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen and Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia, the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia , a grandson of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a granddaughter of both Queen Victoria and Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. His maternal grandparents are Nikolaus, the last Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg and his first wife, Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the daughter of Friedrich, the last reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Karl Emich had three siblings:

Princess Melita of Leiningen (born 1951), married Horst Legrum, no children
Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen (born 1955), married Princess Alexandra of Hanover, had three children
Princess Stephanie of Leiningen (1958 – 2017), unmarried

On June 8, 1984, Karl Emich married Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Öhringen (1960 – 1989), the daughter of Kraft, 8th Prince of Hohenlohe-Oehringe and Katharina von Siemens, from the family who founded Siemens AG, the German multinational technology conglomerate. Princess Margarita died in 1989 in a car accident.

Karl Emich and Margarita had one daughter:

Princess Cécilia of Leiningen (born 1988)

Two years after the death of his first wife, on May 24, 1991, Karl Emich morganatically married Gabriele Renate Thyssen. Karl Emich’s parents refused to attend the wedding because their son broke an 1897 family law stipulating that family members must make an equal marriage. Karl Emich was formally disinherited, and when his father died on October 30, 1991, Karl Emich’s younger brother Andreas succeeded his father as the titular Prince of Leiningen. In 1998, Karl Emich and Gabriele divorced, and later that year, Gabriele became the second wife of the second wife of Aga Khan IV, the 49th Imam of the Nizari branch of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims.

Karl Emich and Gabriele had one daughter:

Princess Theresa of Leiningen (born 1992)

Schloss Kunreuth; Credit – By Roland Rosenbauer – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16348059

Karl Emich married for a third time to Countess Isabelle von und zu Egloffstein in a civil ceremony on September 8, 2007, in Amorbach, Germany, and in a religious ceremony on June 7, 2008, in Pappenheim, Germany. Karl Emich and his family live in Schloss Kunreuth in Kunreuth, Bavaria, Germany, which is owned by Isabelle’s family.

Karl Emich and Isabelle have one son:

Prince Emich Albrecht Karl of Leiningen (born 2010)

In 1998, Karl Emich initiated a lawsuit with the House of Leiningen regarding the deprivation of his inheritance due to his second morganatic marriage. The Leiningen family owns Amorbach Abbey, the family seat, and Waldleiningen Castle(link in German) both in Germany, 37,000 acres of land in Germany, 17,300 acres of forest in Canada, 5,000 acres on a farm in Namibia, an island near Ibiza, and industrial holdings. In 2000, the German Constitutional Court ruled that his father’s will, changed three weeks before his death from cancer, is legal and that Karl Emich’s second marriage violated the Leiningen family decree of 1897, which stipulated that members of the house could only enter into equal marriages.

The Monarchist Party of Russia recognizes Prince Karl Emich of Leinigen as the heir to the Russian throne and the Head of the Russian Imperial House.

Karl Emich is a great-grandchild of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, a male-line grandson of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. Kirill declared himself Guardian of the Throne and later assumed the title Emperor of All Russia in 1924, after Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia) was declared legally dead.

Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich had three children, listed below. His daughter Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna is the grandmother of Karl Emich.

Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia (1907 – 1951), married Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen, had seven children including Emich Kyrill, 7th Prince of Leiningen, Karl Emich’s father
Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (1909 – 1967), married Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, had seven children
Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia (1917 – 1992), married Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani, had one child Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, a current pretender

The Monarchist Party of Russia claims that Karl Emich is the heir of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich through his elder daughter Maria Kirillovna and her eldest son Emich Kyrill, 7th Prince of Leiningen, Karl Emich’s father. The Monarchist Party of Russia recognized Karl Emich as the heir to the Russian throne, on June 1, 2013, the day Karl Emich and his third wife Isabelle converted from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy. Karl Emich and Isabelle received the Orthodox names of Nikolai Kirillovich and Yekaterina Feodorovna.

However, because Karl Emich’s marriage to his third wife Isabelle would not have been deemed equal according to the Pauline Laws, their son Prince Emich, although considered a dynast of the House of Leiningen, cannot inherit his father’s claim to the headship of the House of Romanov. The claim will pass to his brother Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen and his descendants born of equal marriages upon the death of Karl Emich, and on the condition that they should convert to Russian Orthodoxy. However, there is no indication that Andreas is interested in this claim.

Works Cited

A Pauper Prince’s Palatial Quest (2000) The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/22/4 (Accessed: 24 July 2023).
Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Karl_Emich_of_Leiningen (Accessed: 24 July 2023).
Emich Kyrill, Prince of Leiningen (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emich_Kyrill,_Prince_of_Leiningen (Accessed: 24 July 2023).
Principality of Leiningen (2020) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Leiningen (Accessed: 24 July 2023).
Николай Кириллович Лейнинген-Романов (2023) Wikipedia (Russian). Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9_%D0%9A%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87_%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BD-%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2 (Accessed: 24 July 2023).

Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress

Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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Anna of Tyrol was the wife and first cousin of Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Archduke of Further Austria, King of Hungary and Croatia. Anna and Matthias are the founders of the Capuchin Church (German: Kapuzinerkirche) in Vienna, Austria, where the Imperial Crypt (German: Kaisergruft), the traditional burial site of the Habsburgs, is located. Born on October 4, 1585, in Innsbruck, County of Tyrol, now in Austria, Anna was the third of the three children, all daughters, of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria, Count of Tyrol, and his second wife and niece Anna Juliana Gonzaga. Her paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. Anna’s maternal grandparents were Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Eleonora of Austria, (daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary).

Anna Juliana Gonzaga with her daughters Anna and Maria; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna had two older sisters but only one survived infancy:

Archduchess Anna Eleonore of Austria (1583 – 1584)
Archduchess Maria of Austria (1584 – 1649), a nun

Anna had four half-siblings from her father’s morganatic first marriage to Philippine Welser. Because the marriage was morganatic, the children had no succession or inheritance rights.

Cardinal Andreas of Austria, Margrave of Burgau, Bishop of Konstanz, Bishop of Brixen (1558 – 1600)
Karl, Margrave of Burgau (1560 – 1618), married his first cousin Sibylle of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, no children
Philip of Austria (1562 – 1563), twin of Maria, died in infancy
Maria of Austria (1562 – 1563), twin of Philip, died in infancy

Anna and her sister were raised in their father’s court in Innsbruck. In 1595, when she was ten years old, Anna’s father died. Her widowed mother ensured that her daughters received a good education. Anna had an exceptional musical talent and became an expert clavichord player. Her love of music remained with her throughout her life.

Anna’s mother, Anna Juliana Gonzaga, as a Servite nun; Credit – Wikipedia

Anna was raised in a very strict Catholic environment. As a child, her mother Anna Juliana Gonzaga became severely ill and nearly died. Her parents appealed to the Virgin Mary through prayer, to save their daughter, promising to raise Anna Juliana as a child of Mary if she lived, and soon Anna Juliana became healthy again. Her parents told her of the Virgin Mary’s intervention on her behalf and the promise they had made. Throughout the rest of her life, Anna Juliana displayed consistent and deep piety. She was reported to have visions of the Virgin Mary which influenced her long-standing desire to become a nun. Her religious piety influenced both of her daughters. Through her mother’s influence, when Anna believed that she had sinned, she engaged in self-flagellation to torment the flesh. This continued for the rest of her life. In 1606, Anna’s mother founded a convent in Innsbruck for the Servants of Mary, Religious Sisters of the Servite Third Order, of which she was to be a member, founded by St. Juliana Falconieri in the 14th century. After Anna married, her mother Anna Juliana took vows as a nun, as did Anna’s sister Maria.

Anna’s husband, Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon becoming a marriageable age, Anna began to receive offers of marriage. The first proposal was made in 1603 by Sigismund III Vasa, King of Sweden (deposed), King of Poland, a widower, but her first cousin Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II would not give his consent. Rudolf, who had never married and was much older, decided to marry Anna but soon retracted the proposal. Meanwhile, there was displeasure in the Habsburg family with Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. His brother Archduke Matthias played a significant role in the family’s opposition against Rudolf. Matthias forced Rudolf to cede the crowns of Hungary, Austria, Moravia, and Bohemia to him. Rudolf lost what was left of his power and lived in isolation at Prague Castle in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. Matthias decided to marry his first cousin Anna. On December 4, 1611, at the Augustinian Church in Vienna, Austria, the couple was married. Although Matthias was 54 years old, he hoped to have children with his 26-year-old wife but their marriage was childless.

Anna as Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Wikipedia

When Matthias’ unmarried brother Rudolf died on January 20, 1612, nine months after he had been stripped of all effective power, Matthias was elected to succeed him as Holy Roman Emperor and also succeeded to all Rudolf’s hereditary titles. Anna was crowned Holy Roman Empress on June 15, 1612, two days after Matthias’ coronation. Anna was also crowned Queen of Hungary on March 25, 1613, and Queen of Bohemia on January 10, 1616. Anna had a great influence on her husband. Upon her request, Matthias moved the Imperial court from Prague to Vienna, and soon, through their joint efforts, the new court was one of the centers of European culture.

Anna’s fervent Catholic practices continued. As a devout Catholic, she refused to interact with Protestants. Like her mother, Anna collected relics, especially from the holy ascetics. She patronized the Capuchin order and played an important role in the Austrian Counter-Reformation, the period of Catholic resurgence that began in response to the Protestant Reformation. For her devotion to the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Paul V awarded Anna with the Golden Rose, a symbol of papal recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church.

Interior of the Capuchin Church; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Anna and her husband Matthias did not leave any children, they left the future Habsburgs a burial site. Anna and Matthias founded the Capuchin Church (German: Kapuzinerkirche) in Vienna, Austria, where the Imperial Crypt (German: Kaisergruft), the traditional burial site of the Habsburgs, is located. Anna had come up with the idea of a Capuchin monastery and burial place for her and her husband and wanted to build it near Hofburg Palace in Vienna. In her will, Anna left funds to provide for the church’s construction. Construction began on November 10, 1618.

Sadly, a month later, on December 15, 1618, Anna died in Vienna at the age of thirty-three. Matthias died three months later, on March 20, 1619, aged 62, in Vienna. Because the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church had not yet been completed, Matthias and Anna were temporarily buried at the Poor Clares Convent of St. Maria, Queen of the Angels in Vienna.

Tombs of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias and Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress; Credit – Von Welleschik Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6619836

The Capuchin Church was not completed and dedicated until 1632 because of the Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648). On Easter 1633, the two sarcophagi containing the remains of Matthias and Anna were transferred to the Capuchin Church and placed in what is now called the Founders Vault. Located under the Imperial Chapel, a side chapel in the main church, the Founders Crypt is the oldest part of the Imperial Crypt, dating from the original construction of the Capuchin Church. Visitors cannot enter the Founders Crypt which is visible through a gate from the Leopold Crypt. Through the years, other vaults have been added and Capuchin friars still look after the tombs.

This writer has visited the Capuchin Church. The burial place of the Habsburgs is so unlike the soaring cathedrals containing the other royal burial sites I have visited and certainly not as grandiose. The Capuchin Church is small and is on a street with traffic, shops, stores, restaurants, and cafes. One cafe is directly across from it. Walking past the church, one would never think the burial place of emperors is there.

Anna Juliana Gonzaga (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Juliana_Gonzaga (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
Anna of Tyrol (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_of_Tyrol (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II,_Archduke_of_Austria (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/capuchin-church-in-vienna-austria/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Archduke of Further Austria, King of Hungary and Croatia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/matthias-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-archduke-of-further-austria-king-of-hungary-and-croatia/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/rudolf-ii-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-bohemia-king-of-hungary-and-croatia-archduke-of-austria-margrave-of-moravia/ (Accessed: 12 June 2023).
Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia and his wife Princess Victoria Romanova; Credit – Russian Imperial House

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, also known as Prince George of Prussia through his father, is the heir to his mother Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, a disputed pretender to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and the throne of Russia since 1992. The Headship of the Russian Imperial Family and succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over whether marriages in the Romanov family were equal marriages – a marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house.

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia was born on March 13, 1981, in Madrid, Spain. He is the only child of Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia and Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia. His paternal grandparents are Prince Karl Franz of Prussia (son of Prince Joachim of Prussia who was the son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia) and Princess Henriette of Schönaich-Carolath. George’s maternal grandparents are Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia and Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani. His maternal grandfather was the son of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia (a grandson of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia) and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (a granddaughter of both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Alexander, Emperor II of All Russia).

George was baptized in a Russian Orthodox ceremony with former King Constantine II of Greece serving as his godfather. When it was announced that George would have the title Grand Duke of Russia, Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, then president of the Romanov Family Association, remarked: “The Romanov Family Association hereby declares that the joyful event in the Prussian Royal House does not concern the Romanov Family Association since the newborn prince is not a member of either the Russian Imperial House or of the Romanov family.”

The claim of George’s mother Maria Vladimirovna as Head of the Russian Imperial Family is disputed by the Romanov Family Association, made up of the majority of the male-line descendants of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and her father Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, male-line descendants of Nicholas I, never joined. The headship of the House of Romanov has been contested since the death in 1992 of the last undisputed male dynast, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia. When he died, competing claims over the headship of the House of Romanov emerged between Prince Nicholas Romanov and Grand Duke Vladimir’s daughter Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna. Prince Nicholas’ claim was based on a 1911 Ukase issued by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia that the equal marriage rule applied only to Grand Dukes (the sons and grandsons of an emperor) and that princes (the great-grandsons onward of an emperor) could marry women of “good standing” for their marriage to be dynastic and therefore transmit succession and dynastic rights to their children, and that women, namely Maria Vladimirovna, could succeed only on the total extinction of the male line. Maria Vladimirovna claims the status of de jure Empress of All Russia, styles herself as Grand Duchess and her son George Mikhailovich as Grand Duke and Tsesarevich, the title for the heir apparent, and actively distributes Russian imperial orders, all of which have been condemned by the Romanov Family Association.

Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen, another pretender, and his supporters, the Monarchist Party of Russia, argue that there is a precedent for a marriage with the House of Bagration-Mukhrani being an unequal marriage. They argue that the House of Bragation-Mukhrani, the house of Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani, Maria Vladimirovna’s mother, did not possess sovereign status and was not recognized as an equal marriage by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia for the purpose of dynastic marriages at the time of the marriage of Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna of Russia and Prince Konstantine Bragation-Mukhrani in 1911, thirty-seven years before the marriage of Princess Leonida of Bragation-Mukhrani and Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich. The couple married but Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna was required to renounce her rights to the Russian throne and she was no longer a member of the House of Romanov.

A year after George was born, his parents separated and were divorced in 1985. George spent the first years of his life in France before moving to Spain. In Spain, George and his mother lived with his maternal grandmother Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhrani at the home of Helen Kirby, Leonida’s daughter from her first marriage to Sumner Moore Kirby, an heir to the F. W. Woolworth Company fortune. Leonida’s marriage ended in divorce but her daughter Helen, who never married, received a substantial fortune from her father.

George was educated at Runnymede College in Madrid, Spain, which his mother also attended, d’Overbroeck’s College in Oxford, England, and finally at Saint Benet’s Hall, Oxford University in Oxford, England. He worked in the European Parliament, where he was an aide to Spanish politician Loyola de Palacio, a former European Commissioner for Transport and Energy. He was then employed at the Directorate General of the European Commission for Atomic Energy and Security in Luxembourg. From 2008 – 2014, George worked at Norilsk Nickel, a Russian nickel mining company, first as Assistant to the General Director and then as chief executive of Metal Trade Overseas, Norilsk Nickel’s main sales center in Switzerland. In 2014, George started his own company Romanoff & Partners, a Brussels-based company that advocates and provides consulting services for countries and businesses outside the European Union.

Wedding of Grand Duke George; Credit – Russian Imperial House

George married Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, Director of the Russian Imperial Foundation, born in Rome, Italy in 1982, the daughter of Italian diplomat Roberto Bettarini and Carla Virginia Cacciatore. George’s mother Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna decreed that her future daughter-in-law would have the right to use the surname Romanova after her marriage and have the title of Princess, with the style Her Serene Highness, not Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess, the corresponding female title of her husband. This style and title imply that the marriage is morganatic, and therefore an unequal marriage. George’s bride converted from Catholicism to Russian Orthodoxy before the wedding, adopting the name Victoria Romanova. The couple was married in a civil ceremony in Moscow, Russia, on September 24, 2021, followed by a religious wedding on October 1, 2021, at Saint Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia, attended by around 1500 guests. It was the first Romanov wedding held in Russia since the Russian Revolution.

George with his wife and son on his son’s christening day; Credit – Russian Imperial House

George and his wife, who live in Moscow, Russia, have one son Alexander Georgievich Romanov, born in Moscow, Russia on October 21, 2022. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna announced that her first grandchild will be styled His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Georgievich Romanov – not His Imperial Highness Grand Duke.

On January 13, 2025, a press release stated, “HRH Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and his spouse HSH Princess Victoria Romanovna are happy to announce that the Princess is expecting a baby due in spring.”

Works Cited

Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/grand-duchess-maria-vladimirovna-of-russia/ (Accessed: 23 July 2023).
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duke_George_Mikhailovich_of_Russia (Accessed: 23 July 2023).
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Maria_Vladimirovna_of_Russia (Accessed: 23 July 2023).
Романов, Георгий Михайлович (2023) Wikipedia (Russian). Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%93%D0%B5%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 (Accessed: 23 July 2023).
Russian Imperial House (2023) Российский Императорский Дом. Available at: http://imperialhouse.ru/en/ (Accessed: 23 July 2023).

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