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docpiplup · 6 months

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Upcoming series: Ena

In September, the filming of Ena began, a biographical series that will focus on the life of Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, queen of Spain through her marriage to Alfonso XIII between May 31, 1906 and April 14, 1931, after being the monarchy deposed later by the proclamation of the Second Republic. Great-grandmother of the current king Philip VI of Spain, of whom she was godmother at his baptism. Throughout six chapters, the series will tell the life of Victoria Eugenie and at the same time offer a portrait of a time that changed the world, the first half of the 20th century, from 1905 to 1945. Born on October 24, 1887 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Ena was the daughter of Henry of Battenberg and Princess Beatrice, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her godmother was Eugenia de Montijo, empress consort of France as Napoleón III's wife. The name of the series comes from what her friends and family called her since she was little, Ena.

The fiction is based on the novel of the same name by Pilar Eyre. Javier Olivares, who was behind the acclaimed Isabel and El Ministerio del Tiempo, will be the showrunner and plot manager for Ena. In addition to Olivares, the script is written by Isa Sánchez, Daniel Corpas and Pablo Lara Toledo. The series will be directed entirely by women: Anaïs Pareto, director of the series as a whole, in addition to four episodes, and Estel Díaz, who will direct two episodes.

“Ena is the portrait of historical moments that seem distant but are not so far away, because without them we would not understand the times we live in now,” Olivares declares in the press release sent by TVE. The writer and screenwriter remembers that Victoria Eugenie “fought to be happy in a bitter time, in which she witnessed two world wars, a civil war and a great pandemic, the tortuously called Spanish flu.”

For Pilar Eyre, author of the novel, she was "an extraordinary woman: cultured, supportive, liberal-minded, modern and very loyal." And she is excited because "finally all Spaniards can know" the story of a "misunderstood" woman. in their time, which they will always consider foreign." It is a fiction co-produced by RTVE with Ena La Serie AIE, La Cometa TV and Zona App. José Pastor, director of Film and Fiction at RTVE, has pointed out that "it is a "RTVE is proud to be able to portray this interesting historical character, from the point of view of two women directors and with Javier Olivares as showrunner, in one of its best series."

The Spanish actress of Anglo-Danish descent Kimberly Tell will play Ena and Joan Amargós will play Alfonso XIII. For her part, Elvira Mínguez will play Maria Christina von Habsburg-Lothringen, mother of Alfonso XIII. The cast is completed by Lucía Guerrero (Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), Raúl Mérida (Alfonso of Orleans and Bourbon), Juan Gea (Álvaro Figueroa y Torres, Count of Romanones), María Morales (María del Carmen Angoloti y Mesa, Duchess of Victoria), Pedro Mari Sánchez (Rodrigo de Saavedra y Vinent, Marquis of Villalobar), Luisa Gavasa (Eugenia de Montijo) and Joaquín Notario (José de Saavedra y Salamanca, Marquis of Viana)

Mariano Peña will play Miguel Primo de Rivera; Jaume Madaula will play the anarchist Mateo Morral, author of the attack committed at the royal wedding; Tomás del Estal will be Emilio María de Torres y González-Arnáu, and Ángel Ruiz will once again give life to Federico García Lorca, a character he already played in El Ministerio del Tiempo, among others.

The series will be filmed entirely in natural exteriors and interiors, like the Royal Palace of Madrid, the Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso (Segovia), the Palace of Santoña (Madrid), the Palace of Fernán Núñez (Madrid), the Fort of San Francisco (Guadalajara) and the Magdalena Palace (Santander), built in 1911 by the City Council as a tribute to the monarchs and where Ena spent a good part of her summers in Spain, accompanied by the Royal Family. Filming for the series will continue until the end of December.

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So, the Magdalena Palace is going to be an important location during the series as a summer palace, the main filming location in Gran Hotel, and in that series Ena appeared in the episode 3×13, played by Aída Filx.

Apart from that, are we getting an Olivaresverse (XD)? Most likely not, and it's just references about his previous works as a showrunner, but there are connections between Isabel, Emdt and Ena: Michelle Jenner starring Isabel as Isabella I of Castile, then appearing in a couple of scenes in Emdt episode 1×04 and being an important figure in the lore as the foundress of the ministry (& Eusebio Poncela playing as Cisneros in both series, and also he played Cisneros in the film La Corona Partida and the Carlos Rey Emperador series); Alfonso XIII is a descendant of Isabella I of Castile; Ángel Ruiz appeard as Lorca in Emdt in 4 episodes and now he is on Ena playing as Lorca again, we don't know yet how much screentime he will get or which will his role be (secondary character most likely), but it's great to see more about him!

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europesroyalsweddings · 10 months

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✵ January 8, 1930 ✵

Princess Marie-José of Belgium & Prince Umberto, Crown Prince of Italy

Later King & Queen of Italy

#italy #italian royal family #royal wedding

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thestandrewknot · 1 year

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Guests, including Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, the Prince of Naples, King Umberto II and Queen Marie José of Italy, Infanta María Cristina and Infanta Beatriz of Spain, the Duke and Duchess of Calabria and Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace of Monaco, depart the Hotel Grande Bretagne to attend the first ball at the Royal Palace of Athens, during the celebrations of the wedding of the Prince of Asturias and Princess Sophia of Greece, 1962.

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richincolor · 2 years

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I'm really excited to spend some of my downtime this summer reading, so I've found three more books to add to my TBR list that came out earlier this year. Have you read them? What did you think?

Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms & Space Wednesday Books

Seventeen fantasy and science fiction short stories from leading voices in the Latin American diaspora!

Reclaim the Stars is a collection of bestselling and acclaimed YA authors that take the Latin American diaspora to places fantastical and out of this world. From princesses warring in space, to the all too-near devastation of climate change, to haunting ghost stories in Argentina, and mermaids off the coast of the Caribbean. This is science fiction and fantasy that breaks borders and realms, and proves that stories are truly universal.

Authors include Daniel José Older, Yamile Saied Méndez, Anna-Marie McLemore, Mark Oshiro, Romina Garber, David Bowles, Lilliam Rivera, Claribel Ortega, Isabel Ibañez, Sara Faring, Maya Motayne, Nina Moreno, Vita Ayala, J.C. Cervantes, Circe Moskowitz, Linda Nieves Pérez, and Zoraida Córdova.

You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen Inkyard Press

In this compelling and thought-provoking debut novel, after a terrorist attack rocks the country and anti-Islamic sentiment stirs, three Black Muslim girls create a space where they can shatter assumptions and share truths.

Sabriya has her whole summer planned out in color-coded glory, but those plans go out the window after a terrorist attack near her home. When the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim and Islamophobia grows, Sabriya turns to her online journal for comfort. You Truly Assumed was never meant to be anything more than an outlet, but the blog goes viral as fellow Muslim teens around the country flock to it and find solace and a sense of community.

Soon two more teens, Zakat and Farah, join Bri to run You Truly Assumed and the three quickly form a strong friendship. But as the blog’s popularity grows, so do the pushback and hateful comments. When one of them is threatened, the search to find out who is behind it all begins, and their friendship is put to the test when all three must decide whether to shut down the blog and lose what they’ve worked for…or take a stand and risk everything to make their voices heard.

My Sister's Big Fat Indian Wedding by Sajni Patel Amulet

Zurika Damani is a naturally gifted violinist with a particular love for hip hop beats. But when you’re part of a big Indian family, everyone has expectations, and those certainly don’t include hip hop violin. After being rejected by Juilliard, Zuri's last hope is a contest judged by a panel of top tier college scouts. The only problem? This coveted competition happens to take place during Zuri’s sister’s extravagant wedding week. And Zuri has already been warned, repeatedly, that she is not to miss a single moment.

In the midst of the chaos, Zuri’s mom is in matchmaking mode with the groom’s South African cousin Naveen—who just happens to be a cocky vocalist set on stealing Zuri’s spotlight at the scouting competition. Luckily Zuri has a crew of loud and loyal female cousins cheering her on. Now, all she has to do is to wow the judges for a top spot, evade getting caught by her parents, resist Naveen’s charms, and, oh yeah . . . not mess up her sister’s big fat Indian wedding. What could possibly go wrong? -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

#reclaim the stars #you truly assumed #my sister's big fat indian wedding #book lists #young adult books

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die-greifen · 1 month

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when: royally fun facts

They may not be fun, but some of them are made-up. Made up facts are in italics.

Facts about Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia

(Karolina Augusta's great-great-grandmother)

Is the granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia

Is the mother of Alexandrine, Queen Consort of Denmark

Is the mother of Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Is the mother of Cecilie, Crown Princess of Germany

Following the death of her husband, had a illegitimate son with her personal secretary

Three of her brothers were murdered by the Bolsheviks during the Russian revolution

Facts about Princess Karola of Urach

(Karolina Augusta's great-grandmother)

Karola’s father, Wilhelm Karl, 2nd Duke of Urach, was briefly elected as the King of Lithuania in 1918.

Princess Karola of Urach was the first queen consort of Mecklenburg, and also the last Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Karola was the grand-niece of Empress Elisabeth ‘Sisi’ of Austria.

Karola was the half-niece of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians.

Karola half-first cousins include Leopold III of Belgium, and Marie José, the last Queen Consort of Italy.

Karola and Mary of Teck, Queen of the United Kingdom, both descend from morganatic branches of the House of Württemberg. Karola and Mary were third cousins as great-great-granddaughters of Friedrich II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg.

Karola was a Roman Catholic and retained her faith following her marriage to Heinrich Ludwig, though their children were brought up in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg.

Facts about Duchess Thyra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

(Karolina Augusta's grandmother)

Thyra’s father, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was overthrown by her father-in-law, King Heinrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg

Thyra was the first Crown Princess of Mecklenburg (1939 - 1954)

Thyra was the second Queen of Mecklenburg (1954 - 1980)

Thyra was the niece of Alexandrine, Queen of Denmark (1912 - 1947)

Thyra was the first cousin of Frederik IX of Denmark (1947 - 1972)

Thyra was the niece of Cecilie, Crown Princess of Germany (1905 - 1951)

Thyra was the first cousin of Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (1951 - 1994)

Thyra was the niece of Marie Louise, Margravine of Baden (1928 - 1929)

Thyra was the first cousin of Berthold, Margrave of Baden (1929 - 1963), who married Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark (the older sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh)

Thyra was the niece of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick (1913 - 1918) and head of the House of Hannover (1923 - 1953)

Thyra was the first cousin of Ernst August, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, Prince of Hanover (1953 - 1987)

Thyra was the first cousin of Frederica, Queen of Greece (1947 - 1964)

Facts about Princess Eleonora of Leiningen

(Karolina Augusta's mother)

Descends from all three children of Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld: Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen; Princess Feodora of Leiningen; and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Facts about Queen Karolina Augusta I of Mecklenburg

Is the first female ruler in Mecklenburg’s 900 year history.

Will be the final ruler from the House of Mecklenburg which will eventually bring an end to the House’s status as the longest still reigning house in European history.

Is descended from both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and of King Christian IX of Denmark.

Has been the youngest monarch in the world since 1992.

Has 15 godparents:

HRH Princess Cecilie Auguste, Duchess of Ludwigslust (paternal aunt)

HRH Princess Marie Anastasia, Duchess of Grevesmühlen (paternal aunt)

HRH Princess Benedikte of Denmark (paternal second cousin once removed)

HRH Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Princess of Leiningen (maternal aunt-by-marriage)

HSH Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Oehringen, Princess of Leiningen (maternal aunt-by-marriage)

HM Silvia, Queen of Sweden (family friend)

HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (paternal and maternal second cousin twice removed)

HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (paternal third cousin once removed)

HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (paternal third cousin once removed and family friend)

HRH Prince Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark (paternal third cousin)

HH Prince Harald of Denmark (paternal first cousin once removed)

HSH Prince Hermann Friedrich of Leiningen (maternal first cousin once removed)

HRH Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias (paternal third cousin)

HH Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (distant cousin and family friend)

HSH Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein (distant cousin and family friend)

#admin #dg: when

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the-list-tm · 3 months

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Things I have or want to read or watch

To further improve my personal knowledge of literature and cinema

Featuring stuff in both French and English

Code:

Status:

Unread/Unseen ❌

Read/Seen ✅

Currently reading/watching 📖

Need to restart 🔄

Language:

French 🇫🇷

English 🇬🇧

Books:

Plays:

Shakespeare's:

Molière's:

Antigone, Sophocles 🇫🇷 | ❌

Œdipe à Colone, Sophocles 🇫🇷 | ❌

Antigone, Anouilh 🇫🇷 | ❌

Knock, Jules Romains 🇫🇷 | ✅

L’illusion comique, Corneille 🇫🇷 | 📖

La guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu, Jean Giraudoux 🇫🇷 | ❌

Amphitryon, Jean Giraudoux 🇫🇷 | ❌

L’Apollon de Bellac, Jean Giraudoux 🇫🇷 | ❌

La Marmite, Plaute 🇫🇷 | ❌

Les Nuées, Aristophane 🇫🇷 | ❌

Les Cavaliers, Aristophane 🇫🇷 | ❌

Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand 🇫🇷 | ❌

L’aiglon, Edmond Rostand 🇫🇷 | ❌

Médée, Euripides 🇫🇷 | ❌

Médée, Corneille 🇫🇷 | ❌

Les fausses confidences, Marivaux 🇫🇷 | ❌

Andromaque, Racine 🇫🇷 | ❌

Novels:

Good Omens, Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett 🇬🇧 | 📖

American Gods, Neil Gaiman 🇬🇧 | ❌

the Discworld books, Terry Pratchett 🇬🇧 | ❌

Dune, Franck Herbert 🇫🇷🇬🇧 | ❌

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 🇬🇧🇫🇷 | 📖✅

Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen 🇬🇧🇫🇷 | ❌

Les Trois Mousquetaires, Alexandre Dumas 🇫🇷 | ❌

Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë 🇬🇧🇫🇷 | ❌

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde 🇬🇧🇫🇷 | ❌

Dracula, Bram Stoker 🇫🇷🇬🇧 | ✅📖

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley 🇬🇧🇫🇷 | ❌

Le fleuve de l’éternité, Philip José Farmer 🇫🇷 | ❌

Les Misérables, Victor Hugo 🇫🇷 | ❌

Notre-Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo 🇫🇷 | ❌

Le dernier jour d’un condamné, Victor Hugo 🇫🇷 | ❌

the Percy Jackson books, Rick Riordan 🇫🇷 | ❌

Robinson Crusoé, David Defoe 🇫🇷 | ❌

A song of Ice and Fire and following, George R.R. Martin 🇬🇧 | ❌

the Harry Potter books 🇬🇧 | 📖

Memoirs by Lady Trent, Marie Brennan 🇫🇷🇬🇧 | 📖

Livres du Paris des Merveilles, Pierre Pevel 🇫🇷 | 📖

Gargantua, Rabelais 🇫🇷 | ❌

1984, George Orwell 🇬🇧 | ❌

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury 🇬🇧 | ❌

This is how you loose the time war, Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone 🇬🇧 | ❌

The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller 🇫🇷🇬🇧 | 🔄

Circe, Madeline Miller 🇫🇷🇬🇧 | 🔄

Call me by your name, André Aciman 🇫🇷🇬🇧 | 🔄

Le Roman de Renart 🇫🇷 | ❌

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson 🇫🇷🇬🇧 | ❌

Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas 🇬🇧 | ❌

Short Stories:

The Call of Cthulhu, H.P. Lovecraft 🇬🇧 | ❌

At the Mountains of Madness, H.P. Lovecraft 🇬🇧 | ❌

Miscellaneous:

The Art of War, Sun Tzu 🇫🇷 | ❌

Inferno, Dante 🇫🇷 | ❌

TV:

Movies:

Titanic (1997) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Bohemian Raspody (2018) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Rocketman (2019) 🇬🇧 | ❌

the Twilight trilogy (2008) 🇬🇧 | ❌

the Blade Runner films (1982) 🇬🇧 | ❌

the Matrix films (1999) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Apocalypse Now (1979) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Psycho (1960) 🇬🇧 | ❌

The Lorax (2012) 🇬🇧 | ❌

the Bee Movie (2007) 🇬🇧 | ❌

the Shrek films (2001) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Princess Bride (1987) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Series:

Doctor Who (2005) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Doctor Who (1963) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Torchwood (2006) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Our Flag Means Death (2022) 🇬🇧 | 📖

What We Do In The Shadows (2019) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Friends (1994) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Hannibal (2013) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Merlin (2008) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Supernatural (2005) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Star Trek (most of them) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Musicals:

Nerdy Prudes Must Die (2023) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Starmania (1979) 🇫🇷 | ❌

Legally Blonde (2007) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Epic, the musical (2021) 🇬🇧 | ❌

Plays:

Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors 🇬🇧 | ❌

#the list (tm)#january 2024

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n-rnova · 1 year

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1920S Royal Musings

Topping the list of eligible young males, at least on paper, was the Prince of Wales, Edward, known to family and friends as David. Born in June 1894, David was considered to be the greatest catch, as he was the future king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Cunliffe-Owen pointed out that "it is quite probable that the people of England would voice, through Parliament, their disapproval, of any scheme for marrying one of the sons of King George to a Princess of one of the former sovereign houses of Germany. But no objection would be raised if the young scion of the British reigning house should follow the advice of his heart and wed one of his father's subjects, or even an American girl of the Protestant faith." One presumes, however, that the American girl could not be twice divorced, with both husbands still living.

Among the princesses rumored to be engaged to the Prince of Wales was Princess Ingrid of Sweden, whose late mother was Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who was presented to Queen Mary in 1928, restoring "a bond broken by war." During the first world war, King George and Queen Mary would not receive members of neutral countries. Sweden, a neutral nation, had welcomed, much to the disappointment of the British sovereigns, the German Empress Auguste Victoria. "A coolness ensued" between Sweden and Britain, but "the old friendship was restored when Princess Ingrid bowed her head before King George and Queen Mary."

Princess Ingrid was also the guest of honor at a ball at the Swedish Embassy, but the Prince of Wales did not attend. The rumors, however, continued when Ingrid returned to England less than a year later. "Surely, such a speedy repetition must have some significance, say those who always try to explain everything," Virginia Pope wrote. "But Ingrid is the granddaughter of the Duke of Connaught, and what is more natural than that she should show some interest in him."

Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant, heir to the Belgian throne, was also unmarried, as were the heirs to the thrones of Italy, Spain, Norway, and Denmark. King Boris III of Bulgaria was in search of a queen, although, he was "arousing the fears of conservative monarchists by threatening to seek a mere dollar princess to share the Bulgarian throne."

Published on October 7, 1923, Cunliffe-Owen's article, "Princes Are Few for Royal Maids," profiled several European princesses, including Princess Mafalda of Italy, Princess Marie-José of Belgium, and Princess Olga of Greece. This article was published a fortnight before Olga's marriage to Prince Paul of Serbia. "The engagement of Prince Paul of Serbia and Princess Olga of Greece has revived the discussion of the difficulties that confront the persons of Europe who seek mates. Princess Olga is accounted a lucky girl. Impoverished by recent political events in Greece, she is to marry great wealth. Better yet, she is in love with Paul and he with her. But best of all -- and this is what the matchmaking mothers of Court Society have most in mind - she is to marry a man of her own station in life."

Cunliffe-Owen said that "the good fortune of finding a mate of equal rank cannot fail to a lot of all the marriageable Princesses of Europe nowadays. There are a fairly large number of such women, and if they resolve to wed none but Princes of the blood royal many of them will have to remain single. Royal society is not what it was before 1914. Half of Europe is not speaking to the other half and the list of Princes that any Princess may consider is lamentably short. "The war has left so many painful memories that generations will pass before there can be matrimonial alliances between members of dethroned dynasties and sovereign houses of the Entente. German and Austrian Princes and Princesses realize that they owe the loss of their crowns and their fortunes to the victorious powers in the international conflagration. Nor can the scions of their foes forget the enmity of Germany and of Austria-Hungary."

Early in the decade, four of the most important weddings took place in the Balkans. Queen Marie of Roumania, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and by birth a British princess, was one of the most indefatigable matchmakers of the period. In 1921, she managed to marry off two of her children, Crown Prince Carol and Princess Elisabeth, to the eldest children of her first cousin, Queen Sophie of the Hellenes. Elisabeth was the first to marry, in February 1921, King George II of the Hellenes. One month later, Carol married George's sister, Princess Helen. Queen Marie scored another Balkan success a year later when she arranged the marriage of her daughter, Marie, to King Alexander I of Serbia. None of the marriages was successful. Carol and Helen's marriage ended in divorce in 1928; seven years later, Elisabeth and George were also divorced. In 1934, Marie was widowed when her husband was assassinated while on a state visit to Marseilles.

The year before Princess Olga married Prince Paul, she had accepted the proposal of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. This engagement, engineered by their mothers, ended after only a few months. It was said that the Crown Prince's drinking problem was the main reason why "dignified and stately" Olga ended the relationship. Although Queen Mary had considered Olga as a possible wife for the Prince of Wales, and arrangements were made for the Greek princess to meet the heir to the throne. At a ball hosted by Princess Nicholas' cousin, Lady Zia Wernher, Olga made an impression, not on the Prince of Wales, but on Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. A first cousin of King Alexander I, Paul was handsome, Oxford-educated, and an art enthusiast. He was also good friends with the Duke and Duchess of York. Paul pursued Olga throughout the summer, and she accepted his proposal during a visit to the cinema in July 1923. The Duke of York served as the best man; and the day before the wedding, he also acted as one of the godparents to the infant Crown Prince Peter of Yugoslavia, the first child of King Alexander and Queen Marie.

Three months earlier, Princess Jolanda of Italy married Count Giorgio Calvi di Bergolo. Although her parents had accepted Jolanda's choice of a husband -- it was unusual for an Italian princess to marry outside the royal caste --her younger sisters were expected to make far grander marriages. It had been suggested that when the King and Queen of the Belgians had made a state visit to Italy, Jolanda would become engaged to their elder son, Prince Leopold. "But the stay of the royal party at Rome was brought to a close without the announcement."

The two royal families were determined to arrange a marriage between their children; and not long before Jolanda's marriage, rumors about Mafalda's future marriage began to circulate throughout Europe. Mafalda, only 20, was going to marry -- surprise! -- Crown Prince Leopold of the Belgians; and their engagement, according to a report in The New York Times would be "announced immediately after the marriage of Princess Jolanda, according to a report current in court circles here."

The day after Jolanda's wedding, the Associated Press published a report by the Agenzia D'Italia, that Mafalda's betrothal to the Duke of Brabant "will be announced shortly." Even though no announcement was made at the predicted time, rumors of an Italian-Belgian engagement persisted through the summer of 1923. "Such an alliance would have united two Catholic families, war-time allies, and politically, it was said, would have strengthened the position of each dynasty." Not only was Mafalda expected to marry the heir to the Belgian throne, her younger brother, Crown Prince Umberto, was being linked with Leopold's sister, Marie-José. That September, the situation reached an apex when the King and Queen of the Belgians joined the Italian royal family at their summer home at Racconigi. An announcement about the two engagements was expected to be made on September 15, Umberto's 19th birthday. But just a day earlier, Mafalda and her younger sister, Giovanna, were both stricken with typhoid fever. Umberto was quickly sent on a cruise to avoid contagion, and the Belgian royal family hurried back to Brussels. The two young princesses were eventually restored to health, but the marriages were put on hold.

Princess Mafalda was, however, in love, not with the Belgian Crown Prince, but with another man, an art student she had met at the villa of a well-known painter. She confided her secret to Giovanna, who said: "I would rather die and would die if I were forced to marry somebody I did not love. You do not love Leopold. Why should you marry him? I would not." British writer F. Cunliffe-Owen wrote: "superstitious people in Italy have come to the conclusion that no matrimonial alliance between their reigning family and the royal house of Belgium will ever take place, and that since Providence has manifestly some other projects for the children of their King and Queen, it would be unwise to run counter to the decrees of Heaven, where all really successful marriages are made." The Italian princess would also be linked with the Prince of Wales when she and her parents visited London in 1924. According to The New York Times, "the British heir on that occasion accompanied her in public and was said to have been very attentive to her."

The Prince of Wales was probably just being nice to Mafalda. Unless the Italian princess was willing to relinquish her Catholic faith, the prince would not be able to marry her. As far back as 1920, Prime Minister Lloyd George had told the king that "the country would not tolerate the Prince marrying a foreign princess." Although the king and queen would support marriage with a British aristocrat, Queen Mary would have preferred a royal princess as her eldest son's consort. Lloyd George, concerned enough about a possible marriage with the Italian princess, sought out the views of prominent British Roman Catholics. If the Princess renounced her religion, he was told that there would be no Roman Catholics at the British court. But if she were to marry the Prince of Wales, the princess would have to convert. During a visit to Tokyo, David settled the question of this marriage when he made it clear to British Embassy personnel that he was not going to marry Princess Mafalda.The American media was largely responsible for repeating the various rumors of alleged engagements and marriages. Indeed, during the late 1920s, the Prince of Wales was "married off to at least nine continental princesses, least probably Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaria, thirty-nine years old, hefty and a musician." The Prince of Wales was, however, happily attached to a married woman, Freda Dudley Ward, and was showing no inclination to marry.The art student who had won Mafalda's heart was Prince Philipp of Hesse, the eldest son of the Landgrave Friedrich Karl of Hesse and Princess Margarete of Prussia. He was also very rich; he was heir to several castles, and he was Protestant and German. Although they would have preferred marriage with the Catholic Leopold of Belgium, Mafalda's parents were not opposed to her marrying Prince Philipp. But Mafalda was told she would have to wait two years before a marriage could take place, as the political and religious hurdles had to be overcome. The couple was married on September 23, 1925. "Mafalda and Philip Wed in Royal Pomp; Gay Crowds Cheer," blared the headline on the front page of The New York Times. During the summer, special ecclesiastical arrangements had been made for the marriage. Mafalda would remain Roman Catholic, and "the ceremony [will be] accompanied by all the Catholic religious rites, except a special mass, for which no special dispensation can be made."

Not long after Mafalda's wedding, Princess Giovanna became the subject of the media's attention. And, once again, the talk turned to a Belgian marriage. The New York Times reported that "it was later stated, but not confirmed, that Giovanna was the one selected for the Belgian Crown Prince."

Crown Prince Leopold had other ideas about his future queen. The 24-year-old Prince's engagement to Princess Astrid of Sweden, 20, was announced in September 1926. His father, King Albert I, said in an interview, "The Queen and myself expect the marriage to be a happy event for both dynasties and peoples. The Princess will soon feel fully at home in Belgium. Their marriage is entirely one of inclination. The Prince and Princess met several times before her visit last month to Clergnon Castle. They are acting in complete liberty and independence without interference from anybody." Leopold turned 25 the day before the civil ceremony in Sweden, which took place on November 4th. A week later, Leopold and Astrid were married in a Roman Catholic ceremony in Brussels. As Astrid was Lutheran, a special ecclesiastical dispensation was granted to permit the marriage in a Roman Catholic Church. The ceremony was Catholic but without the nuptial mass.

"All Belgium has given its heart to the young Princess, whose destiny but a few months ago appeared far removed from her entrance into one of the reigning royal houses of Europe. The fact that the marriage was one of love, and not for political reasons, had struck a responsive note in the hearts of the people and their enthusiasm could not be restrained." More than 200,000 Belgians lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the new Duchess of Brabant.

Not long afterward, the papers were reporting yet another engagement, this time between Leopold's sister, Marie-José, and Crown Prince Olav of Norway. "Court officials deny that marriage is contemplated between the son of King Haakon and King Albert's daughter, but they denied that Prince Leopold and Princess Astrid were to be married until a few weeks ago. Therefore aristocratic circles are confident that they will get invitations to a second wedding next spring."

But an Italian-Norwegian wedding was unlikely. In March 1929, Crown Prince Olav married his first cousin, Princess Martha of Sweden, two years his senior, in a Lutheran ceremony in Oslo. The guests included the Duke and Duchess of York, as the Duke was the Crown Prince's best man. The groom's mother, Queen Maud, came into the church "wearing a cloak of silver tissue with a tiara of diamonds gleaming from her hair." Meanwhile, back in Rome, the Italian court was still considering Marie-José as a bride for Crown Prince Umberto. The New York Times described this possible match as "uncertain," and complicated "by the outspoken admiration of Umberto for the daughters of the Duke of Guise, the French pretender, who attended Mafalda's wedding with bobbed hair and short skirts, their modernity in thought and manner appearing complete, not excessive."

#popular #royalty #1925

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postcard-from-the-past · 7 days

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Princess Marie-José Charlotte Sophie Amélie Henriette Gabrielle of Belgium, later Queen consort of Italy

Belgian vintage postcard

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archduchessofnowhere · 26 days

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I once accompanied my parents [king Albert I and queen Elisabeth of the Belgians] to Saint-Germain-en-Laye where the peace treaty between the allied powers and Austria was being drawn up (September 10, 1919). I can still see, in the great room of the castle, the table with the green carpet, from which were born, alas! more thorns than roses.

The same day, we paid a visit to my maternal great-aunt Marie, widow of Francesco II of Bourbon-Sicily, last king of Naples. Aged eighty-years-old, she lived in exile in a modest apartment where horse engravings displaced family portraits. Some Neapolitan servants remained faithful to her. I can't forget this almost spectoral vision, a true resurgence of the past: great, straight, extremely thin, dressed all in black, her waist tightened by a leather belt: from it escaped a tight skirt that barely covered her button boots. But what struck me the most, was the haughty carriage of her little head crowned with a double graying braid and her periwinkle blue eyes, which literally devoured her face. When in the course of the conversation, this questioning and heartbreaking look fell on you, it made you wonder from what catastrophe the world was going to perish…

My frather spoke in German with the queen of Naples. She shook her head in sign of indignation while evoking, among other things, “the awful Treaty of Trianon which, through the stupid dismemberment of Hungary, dispossessed three million Magyars”. She spoke with a handkerchief over her mouth, no doubt out of coquetry, to hide her bad teeth… imitating her sister, the empress of Austria. The interview was interrupted by heavy silences, reminiscent of the distressing atmosphere of certain Russian novels. Finally, we took leave of this strange sovereign. At the moment of our parting, Marie asked if it was true that I was engaged to the heir to the Italian throne? Before the hesitation of my mother, she added that she would disapprove of her great-niece's union with a Savoy. It is very obvious that the one who was still called the “heroine of Gaeta” could only condemn such a union.

Let us remember the heroic gesture of the wife of the king of Naples, sharing the dangers of her soldiers to save the city, the final bastion of her kingdom besieged by the troops of Vittorio-Emanuele II. The first king of Italian unity represented, in the eyes of Marie-Sophie, nothing but a vulgar usurper.

Marie-José of Belgium (1971). Albert et Elisabeth de Belgique, Mes Parents

[Pictured, left: Princess Marie José of Belgium, circa 1910s. Right: Queen Marie Sophie of the Two Sicilies, circa 1870. Via Flickr and the Royal Collection Trust]

#finally i found this book and could read this anecdote in marie josé's words!#marie was a professional hater lol #queen marie josé of italy #queen marie sophie of the two sicilies #albert i of the belgians #queen elisabeth of the belgians #albert et elisabeth de belgique mes parents

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