Weekly Roundup: A Wedding, a Podium Concert, a Garden Party and More

June 15 to 21, 2019

Photos: Gabi

Last weekend, Prince Otto of Castell-Rüdenhausen and Sophia Mautner von Markhof celebrated their religious wedding at the former Augustinian Abbey Church in Waldhausen im Strudengau, Upper Austria with the reception and party taking place at nearby Burg Clam, the home of the family of the bride's mother, the Counts of Clam-Martinic. Among the guests for the nuptials were Princess Anunciata, Princess Astrid and Prince Josef. Many thanks to Gabi for kindly providing us with pictures.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Samuel Kirszenbaum

On June 15th, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa an event celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Château de Chambord. The event included a tour of the exhibition entitled "Chambord 1519-2019: Utopia at Work." The Grand Duke was made honorary president and gave a speech in which he noted the importance of the estate and also mentioned his own family connection to Château de Chambord: his great-grandfather Robert I, Duke of Parma, was the chateau's last owner.

Photo: Elma Korac / Vaterland / vaterland.li

On the 16th, Hereditary Princess Sophie was in Schaan to attend the award ceremony for year's podium concert series at the TAK (or Veranstaltungen TAK Theater Liechtenstein). The annual series is composed of six concerts and was founded by Lotte Schwarz.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

On the 17th, Grand Duke Henri attended a celebration for the 100th anniversary of BGL BNP Paribas.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

And it's Garden Party time again! On June 18th, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa welcomed individuals from the forces vives, including those who work in crafts, finance, industry, insurance, and trade. Additionally, the event included those in trade unions, professional organizations, EU institutions, the Army and Police, among others.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

On June 19th, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa visited Kritzel Fabrik, the workshop of artist Jacques Schneider, who has supported her initiative "Stand Speak Rise Up!", which aims to end sexual violence in areas with conflict. The visit also corresponded with the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. The Grand Duchess viewed a photographic exhibition and also inaugurated a new signature wall that will be available to the public until September 19th.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

Also on the 19th, the Grand Duchess received in audience representatives of the Luxembourg City Tourist Office (LCTO), who were bringing a check for €38,734.38 in support of the Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse. The money will be used to support the initiative "Stand Speak Rise Up!"

Photo: Cour grand-ducale

On June 20th, Grand Duke Henri and Duchess Maria Teresa held a reception to honor those who had helped with the international forum "Stand Speak Rise Up!" that was held on March 260-27.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Charles Caratini

On the 21st, Grand Duke Henri awarded the Ordre civil et militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau to the 2019 recipients, who included members of the Luxembourg Army, the Grand Ducal Police, a member of the association grand-ducale des Militaires et Anciens Militaires, and staff members of the Cour grand-ducale.

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Dans le cadre de la Fête Nationale, Leurs Altesses Royales le Grand-Duc et la Grande-Duchesse, accompagnés par Leurs Altesses Royales le Prince Félix, le Prince Louis, la Princesse Alexandra et le Prince Sébastien, ont donné une réception au Château de Berg pour les habitants de la commune de Colmar-Berg. © Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue, Lynn Theisen #grandduc #grandeduchesse #luxembourg #nationalday #courgrandducale

A post shared by Cour grand-ducale Luxembourg (@courgrandducale) on Jun 21, 2019 at 3:35pm PDT

Also on June 21st, Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa held a reception at Château de Berg for the residents of Colmar-Berg. Also in attendance were Prince Félix, Prince Louis, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Sébastien. This event was in connection with the celebration of National Day, and we'll have a separate post on that.

Weekly Roundup: A Wedding, an Election, and the Octave

May 25th-31st

Photo: Facebook Page of Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia

On May 25th, Prince Dushan of Yugoslavia and his wife Valerie De Muzio had their religious wedding at the Church of St. George in Oplenac, Serbia. He is the son of Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein and the late Prince Alexandra of Yugoslavia. Among the guests of the wedding were Prince Alexander and Prince Rudolf, sons of Prince Philipp, as well as several other members of the extended Liechtenstein family.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

On the 26th, members of the Grand Ducal family attended the Pontifical Mass as part of the Octave at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg, and then participated in the closing procession for the event. Included were the Grand Ducal couple, the Hereditary Grand Ducal couple, and Prince Félix and Princess Claire. (As part of the six-week mourning for Grand Duke Jean, they did not make a balcony appearance.)

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

Also on the 26th, the Hereditary Grand Duke, the Hereditary Grand Duchess, and Prince Félix were at the "Ratskeller" electoral office to cast their ballots in the 2019 European Elections.

Photo: © COSL / Cour grand-ducale

On May 27th, Princess Alexandra joined members of the Luxemburg Olympic and Sports Committee in Montenegro for the Games of the Small States of Europe. You'll also notice Princess Nora and Anunciata there, supporting the athletes from Liechtenstein. The event runs from May 27th through June 1st.

On the 27th and 28th, a delegation from the Austrian Constitutional Court, headed by now-appointed Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein (as of May 30th), was in Liechtenstein. During their visit, they were received by Hereditary Prince Alois. No photos of the delegation with the Hereditary Prince just yet.

Weekly Roundup: Red Cross, Receptions, and Reaching Children in Need

May 4th-17th

Photo: Tatjana Schnalzger / Liechtensteiner Vaterland / vaterland.li

On May 8th, Hereditary Princess Sophie welcomed all members of the Liechtenstein Red Cross for the annual activity report. As part of the event, blood donors were honored, and attendees heard about the yearly event that invites children from Eastern Europe to a three-week holiday in Schaan. Hereditary Princess Sophie is the President of the Liechtenstein Red Cross.

Photo: Martin Walser / Tagblatt / tagblatt.ch

Also on the 8th, Hereditary Prince Alois heard from representatives of digital-liechtenstein.li, about their plans for expanding business opportunities in the Principality.

Photo: IKR / Volksblatt / volksblatt.li

On May 14th, Hereditary Prince Alois received Juliane Bogner-Strauss, the Austrian Federal Minister for Women, Families and Youth, for a courtesy visit at Schloss Vaduz.

Photo: llv.li

And on the same day, the Hereditary Prince received the Swiss Foreign Affairs Committee of the Council of States at Schloss Vaduz.

Photo: Roland Korner / Liechtensteiner Vaterland / vaterland.li

He also received Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita, who was in Liechtenstein for further discussions about ratifying the EFTA Free Trade Agreement with Indonesia.

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Eröffnung des Eugen Rosmarie Haus des VBW in Triesen (plus 30 jähriges Jubiläum). Wir haben die PV Anlage zur nachhaltigen Stromversorgung beigesteuert.

A post shared by Verein JugendEnergy (@jugendenergy) on May 11, 2019 at 4:38am PDT

On May 11th, Hereditary Princess Sophie was in Triesen to attend the opening of the Eugen Rosmarie House, which welcomes children in need. The Minister of Social Affairs Mauro Pedrazzini was also present.

Photo: oligreen.com /  Liechtensteiner Vaterland / vaterland.li

And finally, Countess Adelheid Coudenhouve-Calergi, née Princess of Liechtenstein, was named the Principality's honorary consul in London. She is the older daughter of Prince Vincenz. The honorary consulate was opened this month and she is the first person to hold that position.

Weekly Roundup: Couture, Springbreak, and the Special Olympics

This week proved to be slightly slower, so there are only a few items to mention:

Photo: Domenico Dolce / Town & Country / townandcountrymag.com

Princess Astrid appeared in couture for Domenico Dolce's new book Queens: Alta Moda di Dolce & Gabbana, which features some of the women whose style he admires most. For more about the book (and it's $350 price tag), see here.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

On the 14th, Grand Duke Henri attended the 3rd annual opening of Springbreak Luxembourg, which runs from the 14th through the 17th and features new products, foods, artists, and upcoming trends. No photos just yet. Photo added, and link to more photos here.

Photo: Special Olympics Liechtenstein Facebook page

And finally, Princess Nora is in Abu Dhabi to support the Liechtenstein athletes at the Special Olympics. Check out the Facebook page for more photos. Paul-Louis is there as well, as is Tessy who wrote about the opening ceremony for RTL.

The Aristocrats: A 1983 Documentary About the Princely Family

Photo: Screenshot BBC

This Week's Extra: If you have a bit of time on your hands, check out this documentary about the Princely Family we just stumbled over on Youtube. Entitled "The Aristocrats", it was broadcasted by the BBC in 1983 and includes interviews with Prince Franz Josef and Princess Gina, parents of the current Fürst. While Princess Gina speaks about coming to and living in Liechtenstein, Prince Franz Josef talks about meeting Adolf Hitler, among others. There are also interviews with Prince Hans-Adam, Princess Marie and Princess Nora included.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Royal Confusion: A Liechtenstein Prince at Trooping the Colour

Photo: Screenshot via Royal Central

Earlier today, the British and Commonwealth armies as well as the British Royal Family marked the Queen's official birthday with the traditional Trooping the Colour parade. While yours truly did not watch the event, we soon noticed some comments on Twitter about a "Prince Joseph of Liechtenstein" participating in the parade. Some stated it was Prince Joseph-Wenzel, oldest son of Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie. Other believed it had to be Prince Josef-Emanuel, son of Prince Nikolaus and Princess Margaretha. 

Prince Joseph-Wenzel though is currently a law student and has never been a member of the British military. And while Prince Josef-Emanuel has previously participated in Trooping the Colour back in 2010 as a soldier of the Irish Guards, he has since chosen a different career path. It turns out that the commentators must have been slightly confused as the Liechtenstein prince in the parade today wasn't actually called "Joseph" but "Johann-Wenzel". Prince Johann-Wenzel, who graduated Sandhurst last year alongside Luxembourg's Prince Sébastien, is the son of Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein and his wife née Princess Marie d'Orléans. The confusion might stem from the fact that both Prince Joseph-Wenzel and Prince Johann-Wenzel, who share the same great-great-great grandparents, go by their second given name Wenzel in daily life.

Update: The official programme simply described Prince Johann-Wenzel as "HSH 2nd Lieutenant Prince J-W Liechtenstein" - so it looks like the use of only initials was the source of all confusion.

Interesting sidenote to round this off: As Liechtenstein doesn't hold an army, special agreements were signed between Queen Elizabeth II and the Fürst of Liechtenstein to make it possible for members of the Princely Family to join the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst in the first place. 

The Liechtensteins: When a 21st-Century Family Moves Into a 12th-Century Castle

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The New York Times Style Magazine recently published a story about Prince Alfred of Liechtenstein and wife Princess Alice (funnily without making any mention whatsoever of the fact that they are of those Liechtensteins that have actually given their name to a country they are still the heads of state of) entitled "When a 21st-Century Family Moves Into a 12th-Century Castle". You can find the full article here.

We usually do not cover Prince Alfred and Princess Alice on this blog - genealogy check: Prince Alfred is a second cousin once removed of Prince Hans-Adam II, whose cousin Prince Emmanuel owns Riegersburg and who we have also featured on the blog a while ago - but the article makes for a very interesting read! It mainly focuses on how the couple have tried to make Schloss Hollenegg their own by blending its history and historical appearances with modern conveniences and their personal taste. Schloss Hollenegg in Styria is one of one or two dozen castles still owned by (extended) Liechtenstein family in Austria.

Additional Family Members at the New Year's Reception

Photos: Information und Kommunikation der Regierung, Vaduz

Turns out, Prince Hans-Adam II, Princess Marie, Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie were joined by a few additional family members for the New Year's Reception at Schloss Vaduz in Thursday. Prince Nikolaus as well as Prince Stefan, new non-resident ambassador to the Holy See, and his wife Princess Florentine were in attendance as well. I also spied Prince Michael and Princess Hildegard among the guests arriving for the reception.

Princess Isabelle Attends Funeral of Prince François of France

Photo: Alain Guizard / Bestimage / Paris Match / parismatch.com

On the 6th of January, Princess Isabelle (wife of Prince Philipp) attended the funeral of Prince François of France, Count of Clermont, who passed away on December 30th at the age of 56. The funeral was held at the traditional burial place for members of the Orléans family, Chapelle royale de Dreux.

Also present were members of the Orléans family including the late Prince François's parents Henri d'Orleans and Duchess Marie-Thérèse of Württemberg; his elder sister Marie Isabelle (who is married to Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein); his brothers Prince Jean, Duke of Vendôme, and Prince Eudes, Duke of Angoulême; the Duke of Chartres; the Duke of Anjou; Princess Maria Pia of Italy; and Archduke Michael of Austria, among others.

More information at Paris Match. 

Prince Stefan Succeeds Prince Nikolaus As Ambassador to the Holy See

Photo: L'Osservatore Romano

Prince Stefan is Liechtenstein's new non-resident ambassador to the Holy See. On Thursday, he was received by Pope Francis to present his letter of credence. Prince Stefan was accompanied by his wife Princess Florentine, three of their children as well as his mother Princess Josephine for the occasion. He also presented the Pope with a letter written by Liechtenstein's altar boys and girls.

Prince Stefan previously served as the Principality's ambassador to Germany (2007-2017) and Switzerland (2001-2007). As non-resident ambassador to the Holy See, he follows in the footsteps of Prince Nikolaus, who resigned from his position in July of this year after having served for 31 years. At the time of his resignation, Prince Nikolaus was the longest serving ambassador to the Holy See of all nations and vice dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

More pictures of the audience with the Pope can be found at L'Osservatore Romano.

Princess Marie Attends Wine Lunch in Singapore

On the 22nd, Princess Marie (wife of Prince Constantin) was in Singapore as the guest of honor for a wine lunch organized by Schmidt Vinothek Singapore. A little more information here, with the full invitation here.

No photos yet, but they'll be added if they're made available.

Prince Constantin and Princess Tatjana at Liechtenstein Reception in Vienna

Photo: IKR

Liechtenstein's ambassador to Austria, Princess Maria-Pia, hosted the traditional Liechtenstein reception at the Gartenpalais in Vienna in mid-September. Among its guests were Prime Minister Adrian Hasler as well as Prince Constantin and his sister Princess Tatjana. The Principality and its eastern neighbour share numerous diplomatic and contractual ties. So it's entirely possible that other Austria-based members of the Princely Family were also present for the event.

Prince Sébastien Graduates From Sandhurst, As Does Wenzel of Liechtenstein

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Sébastien has completed his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Earlier today, he took part in the 184th Sovereign's Parade showing off his marching skills. No doubt he has learned a lot more during the 44 weeks long comissioning course at the prestigious academy, thus following in the footsteps of several family members. The tradition was started by Grand Duke Jean, who completed his education at Sandhurst in the midst of World War II. He was followed by two of his sons, Grand Duke Henri and Prince Jean, as well as four grandsons, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Prince Josef, Prince Wenceslas and Archduke Alexander. Prince Félix also started the course but dropped out due to a knee injury. (More on the Luxembourgish and Liechtenstein adventures as Sandhurst, here.)

Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, Prince Félix and Princess Claire, Prince Louis as well as Princess Alexandra were all there to support the youngest in the family on his big day. Unfortunately, we aren't very blessed with visuals of the event. We tried holding out until publishing this post until pictures of the new officer become available but they haven't yet. Here's hoping the cour will release some official pictures.

Embed from Getty Images

No word either on what Prince Sébastien will do next, though he could now join the Luxembourgish army full-time as he has been commissioned into Sandhurst on behalf of Luxembourg. No doubt we will see him for the first time in Luxembourgish uniform on next year's national day (provided he attends). In the meantime, check out some more photos at Getty Images.

By the way, Prince Sébastien wasn't the only royal to complete Britain's prestigious military academy today. Also in his course were Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan as well as Prince Wenzel of Liechtenstein, third child and oldest son of Prince Gundakar and his wife née Princess Marie of Orléans.

Prince Philipp and Prince Michael at Academic Honors Ceremony

On June 10th, Prince Philipp and Prince Michael were present for a ceremony honoring Steve H. Hanke of Johns Hopkins University. Professor Hanke received an honorary doctorate (his sixth) from the University of Liechtenstein, given to him by University president Jürgen Brücker. Prince Philipp and Prince Michael also hosted a dinner in the professor's honor.

No photos right now, but a little more information here.

The Annual Haberler Conference in Liechtenstein

Photo: Sebastian Albrich / Volksblatt / volksblatt.li

It's Haberler time again! The 13th annual Gottfried von Haberler Conference opened on Friday at the University of Liechtenstein, with Prince Michael confirmed in attendance. (It's also likely that Prince Philipp, Prince Hans-Adam, and/or Prince Nikolaus were there, as all have attended in previous years.) Focusing on the theme of "Gefahr staatlicher Eingriffe" (or "danger of state intervention"), the event was dedicated to the Nobel-winning economist Friedrich von Hayek and one-time Austrian Finance Minister Joseph Schumpeter, both students of the Austrian school of economics.

In this context, Prince Michael spoke about the risks of further investment bubbles and the potential for artificial movements in market and consumer activity: "Staatliche Interventionen bergen die Gefahr, den Wettbewerb zu verzerren und dieses wichtige Korrektiv auszuschalten" ("State interventions pose the risk of distorting competition and eliminating this important corrective").

We'll update if we find out any of the others were in attendance as well.

A little more from Volksblatt.

Catching Up With the Liechtensteins

Let's play another round of 'Catching Up With the Liechtensteins' cause they aren't the easiest bunch to follow, are they...?!

On March 9, Hereditary Prince Alois attanded the Liechtenstein Finance Forum in Vaduz. An array of visuals at Vaterland.

On March 14 or 15, the Hereditary Prince received Edgars Rinkēvičs, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia at Schloss Vaduz for an audience. Mr. Rinkēvičs was in Liechtenstein for a working visit. More information but no pictures from Vaterland.

In mid-February, Prince Max was in Jerusalem for some reason. While there, he got a tour of the city but no other than mayor Nir Barkat, who shared a few snaps on Twitter.

Prince Max also gave an interview to Swiss TV station SRF talking finance, the Asian market and stuff earlier this week. The video is available here.

Princess Nora is indeed currently at the Special Olympics Winter Games in Austria, as are some familiar faces from Luxembourg as well as Prince Emanuel of Liechtenstein.

On March 3, Hereditary Prince Alois was in the United States and held a speech at Princeton. The Princely Family is a supporter of the school and co-founded the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) think tank.

In mid-February, Prince Philipp gave a talk in Munich speaking about asset preservation over generations using the example of his family.

Princely Trio at 9th Vernon Smith Prize

Photo: Wirtschaftszeit

Hereditary Prince Alois, his uncle Prince Philipp and their cousin Prince Michael all attended the 9th International Vernon Smith Prize for the Advancement of Austrian Economics last night. The annual event is organised by the European Center of Austrian Economics Foundation (ECAEF), of which both Prince Philipp and Prince Michael are members of the board of directors.The topic for this year's event was "Direct Democracy versus Representative Democracy. Cost and Benefits for the Citizenry!". The first prize went to Karol Zdybel of Poland with the second and third place going to Alan Futerman and Mark O‘Kane respectively.

For more information, check out Wirtschaftszeit.

Wedding of Prince Leka of Albania and Elia Zaharia

 Photos: PPE/Nieboer

Modern Albania might not have been a monarchy for much more than ten years but there still was a royal wedding going on in Tirana today. Prince Leka of Albania, grandson of King Zog I who ruled the country between 1928 and 1939, married his long-time fiancée Elia Zaharia at the Royal Palace. The couple's civil marriage was officiated by the Mayor of Tirana. Blessing were given by the various religious leaders of Albania, which is a tradition for the Albanian royal family that shows the unity and tolerance between religions in the country. In the evening a gala dinner was held.

Among the some 300 guests for the wedding were Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla from Luxembourg as well as a number of members of the Princely Family including Prince Philipp and Princess Isabelle, Prince Gundakar and Princess Marie with their daughter Princess Immaculata. Charlotte van der Byl, Princess of Liechtenstein was also present.

More pictures at PPE.

Liechtenstein Reception in Vienna

Photo: Peter Kubelka

On Friday night, Prince Constantin and his cousin Princess Maria-Pia, the Principality's ambassador to Austria and the Czech Republic, attended a reception hosted by the Liechtenstein government in Vienna. There are pictured together with Prime Minister Adrian Hasler and his Deputy Thomas Zwiefelhofer as well as the Austrian minister of finance at the Gartenpalais above.

Luxarazzi 101: Princess's Olga of Greece's Boucheron Diamond Tiara

A sparkly Sunday we are having today here at Luxarazzi. The jewel of the day is Princess Olga of Greece's Boucheron Diamond Tiara, the only tiara of the last four of the Liechtenstein Tiara Championship we haven't covered in-depth yet. Despite what the name we have given it suggests, the tiara didn't actually start out with Princess Olga of Greece though.

The tiara was made in 1907 by Basset for Boucheron for Russian noblewoman Princess Maria Pavlovna Abamelik-Lazarev, daughter of industrialist Count Pavel Pavlovich Demidov and wife of archaeologist Prince Semyon Semyonovich Abamelik-Lazarev. Having no children of her own, she gave the tiara to her nephew Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, son of her sister Aurora. Prince Paul acted as a regent during the years of minority of King Peter II, a son of his cousin.

In 1923, Prince Paul married Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark, a sister of Marina, Duchess of Kent. It was her the tiara, made of white and yellow diamonds set in a floral design, is usually named for. It was also Princess Olga who added a diamond riviere to the base of the tiara making it appear more substantial. After Princess Olga's death in 1997, her oldest son Prince Alexander inherited the tiara. His second wife née Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein had already previously worn the tiara for a number of events. 

As pretty as they are, sadly tiaras won't keep you warm in the middle of the night and thus Prince Alexander and Princess Barbara sold the tiara reportedly to purchase a home for their only son, Prince Dushan. The tiara was purchased by the Albion Art Collection of Tokyo and is now regularly being exhibited.