Alexandra and Sébastien at Borghese Birthday

Princess Sofia Borghese recently celebrated her 18th birthday in late July. The party took place in Capalbio in the Italian region of Tuscany. Sofia is the daughter of Don Fabio, 3rd Prince di Leonforte and Giacaranda Caracciolo di Melito-Falck. Reportedly among the guests were Princess Alexandra as well as Prince Sébastien. Party pictures though non of the guests from Luxembourg are available at Dagospia.

Luxarazzi 101: Princess Marie's Wedding Gift Tiara

Let's pause our Liechtenstein Tiara Championship for a moment to take a closer look at the sparkler apparently sparking the most attention around the world wide web: Princess Marie's Wedding Gift Tiara. First up: This is not an official name but one we have come up with. Why? Here's the story.

A few years ago, we stumbled over several newspaper reports saying that then Countess Marie Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau was gifted with a tiara consisting of sapphires and diamonds by the government of the Principality of Liechtenstein upon her wedding to the future Prince Hans-Adam II. Said tiara was also said to able to be converted into a necklace. There are not that many sparkling occasions for the Princely Family in general and Princess Marie in particular doesn't seem too big on wearing jewels. (She famously went tiara-less for the pre-wedding gala banquet in Luxembourg in 2012.)

And so for a long time we wondered what the mentioned tiara would look like. We speculated that she actually wore the convertible sapphire and diamond piece for her own pre-wedding gala event but unfortunately the pictures we have are all rather blurry and photos of Liechtenstein events from decades ago every point in time are pretty hard to come by. About one and a half years ago, we stumbled over a video celebrating the 70th birthday of Prince Hans-Adam II by Swiss TV. The footage included the birthday boy and his wife receiving gifts in advance to their wedding with something looking quite like aforementioned sapphire and diamond tiara held by Prince Hans-Adam. And even if it isn't the wedding gift from the Liechtenstein government, it's still a wedding gift - hence the name was born.

Liechtenstein's National Day In Depth

Photo: Daniel Schwendener / Liechtensteiner Vaterland / Vaterland.li

How time flies! It's already August 16 and thus it was national day in Liechtenstein yesterday. After the short version of our coverage earlier on, here's more than you need to know and see all cramped into one informative post.

Who attended? The Prince Hans-Adam II and the Princess Marie; the Hereditary Prince Alois and the Hereditary Princess Sophie with Prince Wenzel, Princess Marie-Caroline, Prince Nikolaus and Prince Georg; Prince Constantin and Princess Marie with Prince Moritz, Princess Georgina and Prince Benedikt; (I think) Camilla von Lattorff, daughter of Princess Tatjana; Prince Nikolaus and Princess Margaretha; Prince Michael with Princess Thera and Princess Gisela. Quite likely also: Prince Stefan and Princess Maria Pia.

Photo: Daniel Schwendener / Liechtensteiner Vaterland / Vaterland.li

What happened? There was the ceremony on the castle meadow, the reception in the gardens of Schloss Vaduz, lots of interviews, mingling with the regular folks at the fair and, of course, the fireworks. Venture over to this Luxarazzi 101 to read all about the historical background of the Staatsfeiertag.

What did the Hereditary Prince say in his speech? That Liechtenstein is in a good place looking at the current political situation including Brexit, refugee crisis et al. Large parts of his speech also dealt with the topic of an upcoming referendum about the financing of child care in the Principality. For his full speech, have a look here.

Where to look for pictures? Vaterland #1, Vaterland #2, Volksblatt #1, Volksblatt #2 and Getty Images.

Where can I see videos? 1 FL TV got you covered. They have a video of the Hereditary Prince's speech, a video with footage of the day's events including interviews with the Fürst and the Hereditary Prince as well as a video from the rose gardens including interviews with Hereditary Princess Sophie and Prince Nikolaus. Reports can also be found at ORF and TVO.

What else? Stay tuned! Our friend Arjan - who you can also find on Twitter - was in Vaduz for national day and he'll share his experiences with us in the coming days.

National Day Celebrations in Liechtenstein

Photo: Dieter Mathis / FM1Today / fm1today.ch

August 15th is Liechtenstein National Day, and Hereditary Prince Alois was there to mark the occasion. He opened the celebrations with a speech on the meadow in front of Schloss Vaduz, and attendees were then treated to music (with performers including Bastian Baker and The Baseballs), other special events, and a closing fireworks show.

The other members of the princely family were also in attendance, including Prince Hans-Adam, Hereditary Princess Sophie, and her and Alois's children.

More photos at FM1Today, including some nice shots of attendees in traditional dress.

Liechtenstein Tiara Championship: Group B, Round 3

Previously on LTC: the Douglas Floral Tiara and the Habsburg Fringe Tiara took home wins by miles and miles in the third round of Group A. Princess Franziska's Diamond Tiara also won comfortably by almost two thirds of your votes. Moving on to Round 3 of Group B...

...and top row, from left to right) the Kinsky Palmette Tiara, the Bavarian Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara, the Bulgarian Fringe Tiara, (second row, from left) the Ruby and Diamond Tiara, Princess Margaretha's Sapphire Necklace Tiara and Queen Olga of Greece's Boucheron Diamond Tiara. Which ones get your vote?

Queen Olga of Greece's Boucheron Diamond Tiara vs. Ruby and Diamond Tiara

Bavarian Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara vs. Bulgarian Fringe Tiara

Kinsky Palmette Tiara vs. Princess Margaretha's Sapphire Necklace Tiara

Voting closes on Wednesday night.

Funeral of Queen Anne of Romania

Photo: Daniel Angelescu

Princess Marie-Astrid and husband Archduke Carl-Christian were in Romania on Friday and Saturday to attend the funeral of Queen Anne of Romania, who died earlier this month at the age of 92. Queen Anne was the daughter of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma, a brother of Prince Felix of Luxembourg and Empress Zita of Austria. Princess Marie-Astrid was the official representative of the Grand Ducal Family at the events surrounding the funeral as announced by the cour in advance.

On Friday, a mass for Queen Anne was held at the Saint-Joseph Cathedral in Bucharest. A day later, she was laid to rest in Curtea de Argeș. The funeral was also attended by Marie-Astrid's cousin Princess Anita of Hohenberg, daughter of Princess Elisabeth of Hohenberg, as well as Princess Anne de Ligne, daughter of Princess Alix of Luxembourg.

More picture and videos on the website of the Romanian royal family here and here.

Liechtenstein Tiara Championship: Group A, Round 3

It's Wednesday and the middle of the week is for the Liechtenstein Tiara Championship this summer at Luxarazzi. After wins for the Bulgarian Fringe Tiara, the Kinsky Palmette Tiara and the Bavarian Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara in Group B, it's time for Group A once again. Have fun!

Facing off against each other in Group A are six tiaras from the vaults of the (extended) Princely Family of Liechtenstein, namely (first row from the left) the Habsburg Fringe Tiara, Princess Franziska's Diamond Tiara, the Diamond Honeysuckle Tiara, (second row from the left) the Douglas Floral Tiara, Princess Elsa's Diamond Tiara and Princess Marie's Wedding Gift Tiara. Please cast three votes below, each time for your favourite of the two tiaras.

Princess Marie's Wedding Gift Tiara vs. Douglas Floral Tiara

Princess Franziska's Diamond Tiara vs. Diamond Honeysuckle Tiara

Habsburg Fringe Tiara vs. Princess Elsa's Diamond Tiara

 

Voting ends on Sunday.

Liechtenstein Tiara Championship: Group B, Round 2

The last round of the LTC brought us rather clear (and admittedy expected) wins of the Douglas Floral Tiara, the Habsburg Fringe Tiara and Princess Franziska's Diamond Tiara - it was kind of a go big(ger) or go home round. Will it be the same today in Round 2 of Group B?

Facing off against each other in duals are (top row, from left to right) the Kinsky Palmette Tiara, the Bavarian Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara, the Bulgarian Fringe Tiara, (second row, from left) the Ruby and Diamond Tiara, Princess Margaretha's Sapphire Necklace Tiara and Queen Olga of Greece's Boucheron Diamond Tiara. Have fun voting three times below!

The Bulgarian Fringe Tiara vs. the Ruby and Diamond Tiara



Queen Olga of Greece's Boucheron Diamond Tiara vs. the Kinsky Palmette Tiara



Bavarian Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara vs. Princess Margaretha's Sapphire Necklace Tiara



Voting closes on Wednesday!

Grand Duke Henri and Princess Nora in Rio

Photo: Chris Karaba / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

Grand Duke Henri is currently in Rio de Janeiro, where he attended a welcoming ceremony for Luxembourg athletes at the Olympic Village. Minister of Sports Romain Schneider was there, along with André Hoffmann, the President of COSL (Comité Olympique et Sportif Luxembourgeois), and several other dignitaries. A few more photos at Wort.

Additionally, the Grand Duke and Princess Nora crossed paths in Rio, when they were both in attendance at an IOC meeting that saw some new elected members. For a large photo of the gathering, including both Henri and Nora, see here.

Liechtenstein Tiara Championship: Group A, Round 2

Last time on LTC, it was a close one where every vote counts (literally)! While Queen Olga of Greece's Boucheron Diamond Tiara got a relatively easy win against the Bulgarian Fringe Tiara, the matches between the Bavarian Pearl and Floral Tiara and Kinsky Palmette Tiara as well as the Ruby and Diamond Tiara and Princess Margaretha's Sapphire Necklace Tiara went head to head all the way through. In the end, the wins went to the Kinsky Palmette Tiara by just one single (!) vote and to the Ruby and Diamond Tiara by eleven votes.

In today's edition of LTC, it's time to go back to Group A for the second round. Which tiara of the two do you prefer in the following matches? Facing off against each other are the Diamond Honeysuckle Tiara (top row, third from left) against the Douglas Floral Tiara (bottom row, first from left); Princess Marie's Wedding Gift Tiara (bottom row, third from left) against the Habsburg Fringe Tiara (first row, first from left); and Princess Franziska's Diamond Tiara against Princess Elsa's Diamond Tiara. 

Diamond Honeysuckle Tiara vs. Douglas Floral Tiara

Princess Marie's Wedding Gift Tiara vs. Habsburg Fringe Tiara

Princess Franziska's Diamond Tiara vs. Princess Elsa's Diamond Tiara

Voting closes on Sunday.