Messages

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The Imperial Family / Re: Grand Duke Konstantin (KR) and his family- discussion and pictures, Part II

« on: May 15, 2015, 04:39:54 AM »

The photos are from 1911--depending on when exactly, they were either engaged or married. They married in Sept 1911 so it's probably before marriage. I don't know where the photos were taken though. They are a series of photos on one sheet donated to the British archives in 2009.

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The Imperial Family / Re: The Vladimirovitchi - discussion and pictures, Part 2

« on: February 20, 2015, 08:01:16 PM »

She was a very good shot. I've seen photos like this of her, Archduchess Auguste, the Countess of Paris and others actually out shooting. Alexandra sometimes accompanied Nicholas ona hunt but I don't know if I ever have seen a photo of her shooting. Same with Marie Feodorovna.

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Amalie von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

« on: February 19, 2015, 04:34:26 PM »

I've been reading a book on Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen "Stephanie of H-S, and Maria Pia of Savoy, two queens loved by the people".

There is a short reference to Pss Amalie von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1815-41), married to Pr. Eduard von Saxe-Altenburg.

AFAIK after Amalie's early death her daughter Therese went to live with her H-Sigmaringen relatives and in a letter to her mother Q.Stephanie says "There is nothing here for Therese" (on marriage projects).

Can someone post a picture of Amalie ?

I guess she died (14.January) after the childbirth of Johann (b. 8.January) ?

Apart from Therese, the couple had 3 more children : Antoinette, later Pss von Anhalt and two boys Ludwig and Johann who both died in 1844. Cause of death ?

Given that she died in 1841, there are probably no photos so a portrait/sketch/miniature may be the only likenesses out there.

Amelie was named for her grandmother Princess Amalie Zephyrine of Salm-Kyrburg, considered the 'savior of the Hohenzollerns' as she was extremely wealthy. During the French Revolution, her brother Frederick and her lover, Alexandre de Beauharnais, were executed by guillotine in 1794 and buried in mass graves. Amalie survived the Revolution and in 1797, she used her connections to find out out the location of the graves, which had been kept hidden from the French public. She secretly purchased the land on rue de Picpus and had it opened up to the rest of the garden, which is today called the Picpus Cemetery. She also became friend's with her lover's widow, Josephine Beauharnais. In 1808, after 20 years in Paris, the princess returned to Sigmaringen. Although her husband was still alive and they remained married, they lived amicably apart for the remainder of their lives. She first lived for two years with friends, and then in 1810 moved into a building of the former Inzigkofen Monastery. She finally moved into a residence, "Prinzenbau," that her husband had built for her in Sigmaringen.Following her death at age 81, her son had a cliff on the banks of the Danube in Sigmaringen named the "Amalienfels" in her honor. Her name and the family coat of arms is carved into the rock. (courtesy wikipedia)



As for Therese, despite the dire predictions, she did marry-- in 1864 to Prince August of Sweden & Norway, Duke of Dalarna. He was the youngest of the children of King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg. August's older brother was  King Carl XV of Sweden. Her father died when she was just 16 (1852) and she went to live with her cousin Marie Hanover (born a princess of Saxe-Altenburg). Theirs was apparently not a physical or romantic marriage but they did get on well together and he affectionately called her 'my little Hopsy-Totsie'.They had no children. Unfortunately, Therese had mental problems and sometimes collapsed. After the death of her husband in 1873 (at age 41 of pneumonia) she was given a guardian but she still fell prey to Ohan Demirgian, a known Armenian con-artist with whom she made an acquaintance in 1869, when his presence at court caused a scandal. "Demirgian was believed to have been a pimp, and now offered himself as her agent in negotiations for a new marriage. In 1875, Fritz von Dardel wrote: The Duchess of Dalarna is now declared to be out of her senses by her relatives in Germany and at their request, she will remain in Switzerland over the winter to be treated by a doctor. She returned to Sweden in 1890, where she resided at Haga Palace. She was then commonly called "The Haga Duchess". She became known for her good kitchen, and ate so much that she was overweight with time. She died in 1914." She can be seen in some later group photographs of the Swedish royal family.



Therese

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The Windsors / Re: Prince William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

« on: February 10, 2015, 11:43:43 AM »

It may still be early. Camilla received it in 2007; Sophie in 2004 (after several years of marriage and Louise's birth).

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Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Upcoming Books 2015

« on: December 03, 2014, 01:14:23 PM »

Since it's almost the end of 2014--hard to believe--it's time to start a thread to notify people of books upcoming in 2015. I don't have dates but, based on talks at Royal Gatherings II in the Hague, Eurohistory has some in the pipeline. These include, but are not limited to, Royal Gatherings II and a photobook on the Royal House of Bavaria.

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Forum Announcements / Re: Forum Members Not Heard From in a Long While

« on: September 10, 2014, 03:40:44 PM »

Oh, Martyn and Eddie UK--how I miss them! Martyn was my very first friend here on the Forum. I tried communicating with him over the years since he's fallen off but to no avail.

A lot of members are on Facebook groups such as Queen Victoria's Granddaughters (set up by Forum member Ilana Miller) and others.

I wish there was more activity here because the old days WERE golden.

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The Windsors / Re: King George V

« on: July 27, 2014, 06:13:37 PM »

I read that yesterday. George V was convinced that France & Belgium wouldn't be able to sustain an attack by Germany (which they didn't) and, if they fell, it would just be a matter of time before England was overrun. The headline was a bit sensationalist & misleading--it was based on a one-off conversation between George and Lord Grey where George V expressed his opinion to Grey--and no other mention of similar talks between the monarch and Grey or other politicians have ever appeared in diaries, letters, official papers, etc...This was found on a piece of paper tucked away in a stack of letters, practically forgotten and overlooked. The letter itself was written by Grey's nephew based on a meeting he had with George V in 1933 in which he gave his recollection of 20 years prior--not a first-hand contemporaneous account by either Grey or George V. But it is interesting that he was so concerned about the ramifications of England failing to act quickly and find a way to enter the war once it became clear action was imminent--as based on the letters he was receiving from Poincare and Albert I of Belgium.

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The Imperial Family / Re: Grand Duke Kyrill, his wife Victoria Fedorovna and children, Part II

« on: July 21, 2014, 08:55:21 PM »

Hello everyone! I am interested in aeronautics and other vehicles history. In this period I am specially intersted in the history of the Gregoire- Coanda turbine sled, that was builded for Grand Duke Kyrill. Is there a chance to have some pictures of this sled, or any reports of it? (excepting the articles and pictures from French newspapers in 1910). Are any mentions about the testing of this sled by Grand Duke Kyrill? Thank you!

After his Propulseur was displayed in Paris, Coanda was approached by Grand Duke Cyril to make a sled for the Russian royal family. The Emperor himself had several sleds, and starting in 1911, motor-sleigh races were held on the Svednaga Newka, a branch of the Newa River, and on the island of Krestowsky in the Newa, near St. Petersburg. Lacking an entry, the Grand Duke commissioned a sleigh from Franco-Romanian inventor Henri Coandã. Coanda built it immediately, with the help of a French boat manufacturer, Despujols, and the motor manufacturer Gregoire, Coandă supervised the building of a motor sled. Instead of a Clerget, he fitted it with a six-cylinder 30-HP Grégoire engine. The sled had the same inverted flower-pot front as the Propulseur plane, but the body was teardrop-shaped, with two recessed passenger seats at the rear and large snow runners underneath. One magazine wrote: "As the illustration shows, the main frame and body work, suggestive of a cucumber with one end in a tub; enclose the motor, reinforced, having two layers of material instead of one. The body of the sled is built to carry a turbine, in the specially formed funnel in the front, by which the sled is propelled. Thus, the vehicle is to be drawn, not pushed."  The sled was exhibited at the Twelfth Automobile Salon of France, also at the Grand Palais, from December 3 to 18, 1910, and was written up in leading car magazines. One of the periodicals reported an expected speed of 60 mph (97 km/h) on the frozen Seine, but no account exists of the sled being tested. It was about 13.5 ft long, and was steered with an automobile steering wheel. The sled was baptized for Cyril by Russian Orthodox priests using an improvised altar at the Despujols plant near Paris on December 2, 1910 with Grand Duchess Victoria present as shown in photos. It's not clear that Cyril’s sled ever worked--no record has been found of an actual run. The Motor (magazine) only concluded that the sled was to be sent to Russia.  It never turned up again, and certainly didn't survive the series of revolutions and wars that was to come. As for Coanda, he was no doubt a skilled aeronautical designer, and became a Romanian national hero (the airport in Bucharest is named after him).

 

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The Imperial Family / Re: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, discussion and pictures Part 2

« on: July 21, 2014, 02:56:48 PM »

Thank you very much Inok Nikolai!

The whole cousin thing kind of confuses me once we get past first ones but what cousins are Olga and Elizabeth?

Christian IX - Alexandra - George V - George VI - Elizabeth

Christian IX - Maria - Olga

I think first cousins twice removed or something like that, I don't know. Is there any other bloodline connection between them?

Maria--Olga was first cousin to George V (the Queen's grandfather) which makes her a first cousin twice removed to Elizabeth II. You can look at the direct cousin relationship (Olga & George) and the count the 'removes'--two in this case--to figure it out if that makes sense. Her sons would have been second cousins (the direct relationship) to George VI and Elizabeth would be their second cousin, once removed, for instance. And the Kulikovsky grandchildren would be Elizabeth's direct cousinship--so third cousins. Hope that provides some clarity.


Other than that, there is probably only a very removed blood relationship as the Romanovs and British royals rarely intermarried. There's probably some 6, 7 or 8th cousin relationship somewhere back in the Hesse line or something though.

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The Windsors / Re: Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1846-1921), and her family, Part II

« on: July 11, 2014, 06:58:11 PM »

I think I had posted it once years ago but it may not be on the Forum any longer. I believe it is this one--for all of QV's lost grandchildren (to that point) including Helena's 2:


A terracotta group comprising a winged angel sitting on a rock, holding three children in her arms and with two older children at her knees. Mounted on circular pedestal with inscription reading 'Of such is The Kingdom of Heaven, Dalou Fecit 1878'. Queen Victoria commissioned this terracotta group in 1877, for her Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, as a memorial to five of her grand-children who died in infancy. The children represented in the group were Prince Sigismund of Prussia, Frederick Wilhelm of Hesse, Prince Alexander John of Wales, and Prince Harold and a still-born child, both children of Princess Helena. In 1879 Dalou made an additional group representing Princess Marie of Hesse, daughter of Princess Alice, who died, aged 4, in 1878.

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The Windsors / Re: Change of name to Windsor in 1917

« on: June 26, 2014, 08:40:11 AM »

I believe the Greek royals do. The children of Alfonso XIII and Ena were Bourbon y Battenberg, the children of Infante Alfonso and Princess Beatrice were Orleans y Coburg--I guess this is the way of reflecting his maternal Greek roots. Bourbon y Glucksborg?

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Books on the Hohenzollerns

« on: June 21, 2014, 04:24:50 PM »

Cannot wait!

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Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / MOVED: "APAPA" - King Christian IX of Denmark and His Descendants.....

« on: June 19, 2014, 12:11:11 PM »

This topic has been moved to The Danish Royal Family.

http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php?topic=17877.0

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Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Authors on the AP Forum and their works

« on: June 15, 2014, 08:06:15 PM »

List is updated to reflect the recent publications of works by Margarita Nelipa (belochka), Arturo Beeche (Eurohistory) and Helen Rappaport.

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The Greek Royal Family / Re: Prince George of Greece & Princess Marie Bonaparte

« on: June 15, 2014, 08:00:14 PM »

Peter had a big falling out after his marriage. Eugenie was more dutiful. There is also some written about in Marie's biography about she and Peter admitting to incestuous feelings for each other but agreeing not to act on them. All part of her very intense study of psychosexual behavior.