Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxemburg

[Carolath Habsburg]

Posted before but a bit bigger and better



 

[Lucien]

TRH The Grand Duke Henri,Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Grand Duke Jean announced that their beloved aunt and sister HRH Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg passed away,aged 89.

HRH Princess Elisabeth Hilda Zita Marie Anna Antonia Friederike Wilhelmine Luise,Princess of Luxembourg,Princess of Nassau,Princess de Bourbon Parma married the grandson of the murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria,Heir to the Throne of Austria Hungary,in may 1956.She will be interred at Artstetten.A Memorial Mass will be held in Luxembourg at a later date.

The Princess was the second child of the late Grand Duchess Charlotte and sister to Grand Duke Jean.
She was born at Berg Castle on december 22nd 1922 and she was married to HSH Duke Franz von Hohenberg
with whom she had two children:Anita von Hohenberg and Sophie de Potesta.

R.I.P.

[eejm]

Did Elisabeth attend Laval University in Quebec City?  I know she attended high school there (at the Collège Jésus-Marie) during WWII with her cousin, Elisabeth of Austria.  The school was (and perhaps still is) associated with Laval.  Future Grand Duke Jean attended Laval, as did several of Zita's children. 

[Dru]

Charlotte.

[eejm]

At the time of their wedding, the marriage of Charlotte and Felix of Parma was deeply unpopular.  The effects of WWI on the duchy (Marie Adelaide's abdication, the German occupation, etc.) and Felix's position in the Austrian army was most certainly not well-received.  Evidently there was a large crowd gathered at the cathedral before the wedding, but most of the people in the crowd watched the procession of the couple "in silence."  Ouch.

Does anyone know how long it look for Charlotte to be received in the country as ruler and Felix as consort?  It seems as though the couple were fairly steady, if a bit obscure.

[Kalafrana]

This is a good point. Charlotte and Felix married on 6 November 1919, not quite a year after the Armistice, when memories of the German occupation must have been absolutely raw.

A quick check of wikipedia shows that the two were first cousins through their mothers, who were both daughters of King Miguel I of Portugal, but (naughty thought here!) two of Felix's numerous brothers, Xavier and Sixtus, had served in the Belgian Army in WW1, which would have made them much less controversial candidates! Sixtus married in March 1919 but Xavier did not marry until 1927. Another brother, Rene, also served in the Austrian Army. Perhaps Charlotte just preferred Felix, despite the complications!

Ann

[Dru]

Charlotte.  There is a picture of her sister Hilda sitting on the same couch and wearing a similar dress; I wonder if there are shots of the other sisters from the same photo session?

[KarlandZita]

[Dru]

Charlotte and Felix with baby Jean.

[Kalafrana]

Oh dear, Felix doesn't look very happy.

'Let me get out of here before this child wets himself!'

Ann

[Dru]

Oh dear, Felix doesn't look very happy.

'Let me get out of here before this child wets himself!'

Ann

Maybe it's just be, but Felix never seems to look very happy in photographs 

[Kalafrana]

Perhaps Felix just didn't like being photographed, but he looks quite horribly ill-at-ease in that one!

[Kalafrana]

Was a match between Charlotte and Felix mooted before WW1, or did things only come together once the war was over?

Ann

[KarlandZita]

Was a match between Charlotte and Felix mooted before WW1, or did things only come together once the war was over?

Ann

Became Grand Duchess of Luxembourg in 1919, in place of her sister Marie Adelaide who was suspected of sympathy for Germany, Charlotte suffered pressure from the Allies to marry a prince who is neither German nor Germanophile. Felix of Bourbon-Parma filled the wishes of allies and even if it is an arranged marriage by the events of the time, I assumed that this union proved successful over time.

[Dru]

Charlotte and Felix at their wedding.