Moniek Bloks's Blog, page 215

Princesses of Thurn and Taxis – Baroness Wilhelmine of Dörnberg

Baroness Wilhelmine of Dörnberg was born on 6 March 1804 in Ansbach as the daughter of Baron Heinrich Ernst Konrad Friedrich of Dörnberg and his wife Baroness Sophie Wilhelmine of Glauburg. She was one of eight children, and she received an education. She was praised with the words, “Nature had given her a graceful, splendid figure, and soulful blue eyes animated her lovely features, which bore the expression of childlike vitality and a true good soul.” She was known by the nickname “Mimi.”

Her future husband, Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, first became friends with Wilhelmine’s brothers and she probably knew him through them. They fell in love and wanted to marry. However, Wilhelmina’s rank was not considered to be equal to Maximilian Karl’s, and his family was against the match. Maximilian Karl wrote to Wilhelmine from his military service in Augsburg, “All is not lost since we love each other faithfully and faithful love has the strength to put down the obstacles. I remain faithful to you, Mimi, faithful until death.” Even King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Maximilian Karl’s aunt Frederica, later Queen of Hanover spoke out against the match with Frederica warning him to honour his parents.

Maximilian Karl’s father died on 15 July 1828, and he succeeded his father as the 6th Prince of Thurn und Taxis. He was sent to Italy where it was hoped he would change his mind and find another woman to marry. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina wrote to Maximilian Karl’s mother Therese begging her to reconsider. Against all the odds, Wilhelmine and Maximilian Karl married on 24 August 1828 in Saint Emmeram’s Abbey. They went on to have five children together: Karl Wilhelm (born 1829 – died young), Therese Mathilde (born 1830), Maximilian Anton (born 1831), Egon Maximilian (born 1832) and Theodor Georg (born 1834).

Their court soon became known for its extravagance, though the couple were personally modest and were considered humble. In 1830, they had an exhibition of wax figures of well-known people in sumptuous costumes. Maximilian Karl enjoyed horse riding and hunting, and he had large stables built which employed a great number of people.

Unfortunately, their fairytale romance was to be shortlived. After the birth of their last son in 1834, Wilhelmine became seriously ill. She underwent (homoeopathic) treatments with Dr Reuter in Nuremberg. While there, her mother Sophie – who had accompanied her – died suddenly, which was a huge blow to Wilhelmine. Just one week after her mother’s death, Wilhelmine suffered a stroke and died in her husband’s arms. She was still only 32 years old.

Maximilian Karl was devastated by his wife’s death, and he had a mental and physical collapse. To keep her memory alive, he had her heart taken from her body and buried it separately in a new mausoleum. The inscription of the bronze box reads, “Here rests my happiness, here her heart sleeps, here love endures eternal pain.” He kept her rooms the way she had left them. He believed he would never be happy again. He appointed his brother-in-law Ernst Friedrich as administrator of his estates, and he ran them well for over 40 years.

Four years later, he remarried to Princess Mathilde Sophie of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg with whom he had a further 11 children.1

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The Bonaparte Women: Marie Bonaparte – A Freudian Princess

Marie Bonaparte was born on 2 July 1882 as the daughter of Marie-Félix Blanc and Prince Roland Bonaparte. Tragically, her mother died of an embolism just one month after her daughter’s birth, leaving her entire fortune to her husband.

Marie was a lonely and fragile child and was fascinated with murderers and executions.1 She saw very little of her father, who had hoped that his marriage would help him find a place in society. Instead, he discouraged her studies and left her with a broken heart.2 Marie became deeply attached to her nursery maid and began to develop phobias3 She also found companionship in a little dog she had named Zéphyr.4

On 25 June 1899, shortly before her 17th birthday, her father gave Marie a grand ball. In her notebook, she recorded, “I am beautiful for the first time.”5 As she grew older her phobias and particularly her hypochondria became worse. Believing herself to have her mother’s illness, she wanted to study medicine.6 Her uncle wrote, “For five minutes I saw Mimi, bundles up in old-womanish clothes, living in a room without curtains for fear of microbes, without a fire for fear of oxygen. I talked with Jeanne for a moment. Mimi leads the oddest life imaginable, lives in terror of microbes, does not enter a drawing room where there are several people, for fear that the air might be contaminated, would consider herself lost if she were outdoors after four o’clock. Her father is very upset about it, declares her to be unmarriageable, and I agree with him. A husband – no matter how patient – would not put up with such nonsense for two weeks. Mimi admits that this life is painful for her.”7

Despite his concerns, her father tried to find a husband for her. In January 1906, the name of Prince George of Greece, the son of King George I of Greece, was mentioned. Marie did not want to live in another country, but she went to a luncheon in the King’s honour anyway. She found Prince George charming nonetheless.8 Despite knowing her wish to stay in Paris, Prince George proposed to her. Marie was completely surprised and hesitated for 28 days. Then she accepted his proposal.9

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The civil marriage took place on 21 November 1907, followed by a religious service on 12 December. The wedding night was traumatic for her. She wrote, “You took me that night in a short, brutal gesture, as if forcing yourself, and apologised, ‘I hate it as much as you do. But we must do it if we want children.'” 10 She became pregnant not much later.

For the birth of her son, she recorded, “On December 3, 1908, I wake up at 6:$0, soaked in very warm water, and I awaken “Sucre d’Orge (the nickname for her husband) who was sleeping beside me. He puts on his beige bathrobe and turns on the lights since it’s dark outside. Mimau soon arrives, covered in shawls. The doctor suggests chloroform, but I refuse. Oh no! It was beautiful, it was grand thus to feel oneself giving life to a new being! After the cannon shot at the Eiffel Tower, at 12:05, the doctor said: ‘At the next pain, I’ll deliver you.’ Six endless minutes went by. Finally, the pain came. ‘Don’t push anymore,’ the doctor said, and he pulled out something weighty that looks to me very long.” Prince Peter of Greece was born.11

On 10 February 1910, she gave birth to a daughter named Eugénie. George was disappointed as he hoped for a second son. In 1913, Marie wrote, “My husband. He bores me, he keeps me in chains, but he is the only man who will love me until death.”12 Marie had several lovers over a period of times, whom she recorded in the “The Men I Have Loved.”13

She had begun to suffer from frigidity (later explained as a failure to have an orgasm in a missionary position), and her main occupation became to overcome it, even by surgical means. Under the pseudonym A.E Narjani, she published an article called Considerations on the Anatomical Causes of Frigidity in Women.14 In 1924, she underwent several operations. She had an ovarian cyst removed, her breasts “corrected” and a scar on her nose was retouched. She knew very well that these operations were being done because of her psychological state and she asked her doctor to write to Freud. He did so, “I do not know if rank has told you we spent an evening at the house of Princess George of Greece. The lady in question suffers from a rather pronounced obsessional neurosis, which, though it has not impaired her intelligence, has nevertheless somewhat disturbed the general equilibrium of her psyche.”15

She finally met Freud in person on 30 September 1925, and there was an immediate trust between them. Marie had finally found a father figure.16 She became obsessed with the idea that her frigidity meant that she was may be a lesbian and frustrated that she had not pursued a homosexual experience when the opportunity had presented herself in her youth.17 By 1926, she was following the rounds at the psychiatric clinic of the general hospital. Her own problems had sparked a lifelong interest.18 Over the years, she would publish papers and work as a psychoanalyst. She wrote of Freud in 1937, “The greatest happiness of my life is to have met you, to have been your contemporary.”19

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In 1938, after the German invasion of Austria, she attempted to persuade Freud to leave Vienna. She spent her time sorting through his documents, and he left Vienna in June.20 Marie was haunted by the atrocities she had already seen in Vienna. She would go on to help close to 200 Jews, and she channelled funds to Jewish organisations.21 Freud died on 23 September 1939 and Marie left for London to attend the funeral of her friend.22 The Second World War uprooted Marie, and she spent some time in Africa, where she met with women whose clitoris had been excised.23

In 1945, she and her family travelled to America, where she met up with old friends. 24 They returned to a newly liberated Paris the following year. By 19448, she began spending her winters in Greece. A broken wrist after a fall did not stop her from correcting proofs with her other hand.25

As she entered the last decade of her life, she had not lost the Bonaparte vigour. She remained active in her work, and she remained obsessed with her sexuality.26 She attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.27 Her husband died on 25 November 1957. She wrote, “I wanted to spend the night of his death alone with my husband…. Then I bent over his cold forehead and kissed it. Not his lips, which he had always refused me.”28

Princess Marie Bonaparte died of leukaemia on 21 September 1961. She was cremated in Marseilles, and her ashes were transported to Tatoi, where they were interred next to Prince George.29

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The Bonaparte Women: Marie-Félix Blanc

Marie-Félix Blanc was born on 22 December 1859 as the daughter of François Blanc, founder of the Monte-Carlo casino, and Marie Blanc (née Hensel). Prince Ronald Bonaparte was a grandson of Lucien Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who probably was more in love with Marie-Félix’s money than Marie-Félix herself. They married on 17 November 1880 despite being impossibly ill-matched. Marie-Félix was known for her piety and immaturity. 1 By then, she was probably already ill with tuberculosis and shortly after the wedding, she was desperate for a child. Her husband too was desperate for a child, if only to keep her wealth for himself.2

She did become pregnant and on 27 March 1882, she wrote a will, “Wishing to give my husband, Prince Roland Bonaparte, a proof of my attachment, I leave to him in entirety: the whole of my fortune… (..) If I leave issue of our marriage, I leave to my husband all that the law permits me to dispose in his favour.” 3 At the end of June, Marie-Félix began a three-day painful labour which ended with the use of forceps. When their daughter Princess Marie Bonaparte was born on 2 July 1882, she was blue and not moving. Surprisingly, both mother and daughter survived the birth, but in the days that followed, Marie-Félix did not seem to improve much.4

On 1 August, she was well enough to get up, but as she did, she felt a sharp pain in her leg. They called for her husband, and she told him, “My poor Roro, I’ll never see you again!” She died of an embolism that day.5 Prince Ronald’s mother was overjoyed, “What luck for Ronald! Now he gets the whole fortune!” She moved in with her son to help care for his daughter.6

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Ira: The Life and Times of a Princess by Nicholas Foulkes Book Review

Princess Ira von Fürstenberg was born on 18 April 1940 as the daughter of Prince Tassilo zu Fürstenberg and his first wife, Clara Agnelli.

At the tender age of 15, she was swept off her feet by the 31-year-old Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and they married in 1955. After having two sons, the marriage quickly disintegrated and they divorced in 1960. Ira remarried the following year to Francisco “Baby” Pignatari but this marriage too ended in divorce four years later.

Ira embarked on a film career, she became a prominent socialite and a close friend of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, also her second cousin, to the point where it was rumoured that they would marry.

Ira: The Life and Times of a Princess by Nicholas Foulkes is a large hardcover book which comes with its own case. The cover is a beautiful back and white photo and simply reads: “Ira.” Although filled with beautiful photographs, the text is sometimes hard to read on the glossy pages. You can tell that the photographs are meant to be the focus of this book. I was surprised to find that the introduction began with an airplane crash in which Ira’s first husband was involved – seems like a strange introduction to a book about someone else entirely.

However, overall the book is well-written and I really enjoyed all the personal stories and quotes. It’s a great addition to any royal bookshelf. Ira: The Life and Times of a Princess by Nicholas Foulkes is available now in both the UK and the US.

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Tombs of two Princesses found empty in search for missing girl

Emanuela Orlandi – the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican clerk – went missing in 1983 when she failed to return home after a music lesson in Rome. The search for her continues to this day and her family recently received an anonymous letter saying that her body could be buried in the Teutonic cemetery, which is a burial ground just inside the Vatican’s walls.

The two tombs that were opened in the Teutonic cemetery belonged to two Princesses. The first, Princess Sophie of Hohenlohe, was the daughter of Ludwig Carl Franz Leopold of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein and Friederike Polyxena of Limburg-Stirum. Not much is known about her. She was their eldest daughter, and she was born on 13 December 1758. She died in Rome on 20 January 1836. It appears that she never married or had children.

Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (public domain)

The second Princess is better known. Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was born on 4 December 1784 as the daughter of Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. She married the future Christian VIII of Denmark 1806, but their marriage was unhappy. They had one son together – the future Frederick VII of Denmark – before divorcing in 1810. She was reportedly banished from court after an affair and was not allowed to see her son. In 1830, she travelled to Rome where she settled and later converted to the Catholic faith. She died there in 1840 and was also buried in the Teutonic cemetery.

However, officials were left bewildered after finding both tombs completely empty. “The result of the search was negative. No human remains, or funeral urns were found,” the Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said. Princess Sophie’s tomb even led to a large underground room. The Vatican has said it will investigate why the remains of the two Princesses were relocated.

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Princesses of Orange – Anne, Princess Royal

Anne, Princess Royal was better known in the Netherlands as Anna of Hanover. Anne was born in 1709 as the daughter of the future King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach. Her father had been away on a hunting trip when she was born and wrote to his wife, “I have just received the good news of the birth of a daughter at which I feel all imaginable please…I am only a bit angry that it caused you pain. You should know me well enough my very dear Caroline to believe that everything that concerns you is infinitely precious to me.”

Her grandfather succeeded Queen Anne as King George I of Great Britain five years after her birth and the whole family moved to London. She studied languages, singing and painting. She even painted a self-portrait in 1740.

Self-portrait (public domain)

When her grandfather died in 1726, her father succeeded him as King, and she was created Princess Royal on 30 August 1727. By then marriage negotiations between her and William IV, Prince of Orange were underway. They were married on 25 March 1734 at St James’ Palace. Anne did not get along with her mother-in-law Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel, even though she had moved out of the Princessehof as soon as Anne arrived and gave her precedence as the daughter of a King. When William left on a campaign, Anne quickly returned to England and could barely be convinced to return.

Though their marriage was not a love match, their letters show they grew very fond of each other. Anne’s sisters reportedly called him ‘le monstre’, but Anne lovingly called him ‘Pépin’ or ‘Pip’, and he called her ‘my adorable Annin’.

Anne believed herself to be pregnant in 1734, and she grew heavier. However, after a ten-month ‘pregnancy’ it became clear that she was not pregnant. By 1736, Anne was really pregnant, but tragically her first child died at birth. Her labour had begun on 3 December, but there was no progress after four days, and Anne was quickly growing weaker. A male midwife was forced to kill the child to save Anne. The little girl lay in state for three days, and the coffin was taken to Delft for burial. Her mother Caroline wrote to her, “words cannot tell how I have suffered and my joy at receiving you back from God. I have you, and that is enough. May he grant you renewed strength and make a happy mother of a family, be certain that you will happier and have easier labours than this in the future.”

The same tragedy happened in 1739, and it was recorded that ‘on the evening of the 23rd December Madame the Princess of Orange Nassau was delivered of a young princess in whom the light of life never shone’. She finally gave birth to a healthy daughter, Carolina Wilhelmina, in 1743. Anne wanted to feed the baby herself. Carolina’s birth was followed by the birth of Anna Maria in 1746, but she would die later that same year. William wrote, “this special and dear baby we hope she will find peace and that one we shall be reunited.” In 1748, a healthy son was at last born; he was also named William. Anne was 37 years old at the time. The baby was created Count of Buren when he was just one hour old. William wrote proudly, “he takes the breast though he’s still a little bit clumsy about it.”

Anne’s husband died suddenly after a brief illness on 22 October 1751. Their son was just three years old. Anne was appointed regent for him, and she was known to be proud and stubborn. Anne’s health declined throughout 1758, and she wanted to settle the matter of her daughter’s marriage. “I must establish my daughter, she is very young, but the position of our house in the Republic makes me anxious for her to stay there to support the well-intentioned and discourage faction.” Carolina married Charles Christian of Nassau-Weilburg, but Anne did not live to see it. She had suffered from fever and a heaviness of her legs, and on 9 January 1759, the pain became so unbearable, that Anne was heard screaming. On 12 January, she rallied and told her chaplain, “I am ready to go when God calls me.'” She fell asleep and died later that day with her daughter beside her. Her son had been sent to bed.

A newspaper paid tribute to her:

“A princess who in her tenderest years already showed an upright and sincere piety, a princess who in all the blows of life showed a steadfast resignation, a princess skilled in different languages, a princess who although born and bred in another country was in no way an enemy to ours.”1

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The Year of Queen Victoria – A double wedding at Kew

On 11 July 1818 at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, a double wedding took place in the drawing room at Kew Palace. The happy couples were the Duke of Clarence (the future King William IV) and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen and his younger brother the Duke of Kent and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Why did they choose Kew? Queen Charlotte, the grooms’ mother, had set out for Windsor to attend the weddings and decided to spend a few days at the Dutch House, as it was then known. She fell ill with dropsy while there and it was decided to hold a double wedding at Kew so that she could be there.

Queen’s drawing room at Kew

Queen Charlotte died later that year in her bedroom at Kew.

Queen Charlotte’s bedroom

Both Adelaide and Victoria were given away by the Prince Regent, the future King George IV. The service was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishop of London. Afterwards, Queen Charlotte returned to her bedroom while the others held a wedding dinner in the Dining Room. The Duchess of Clarence wore, “A very rich and elegant silver tissue, with two broad flounces of beautiful Brussels point lace, each flounce headed with rich silver shell trimming. Body and sleeves superbly trimmed with Brussels point lace and silver tassels. The robe of rich silver tissue, lined with white satin, trimmed with Brussels lace and bordered with a silver trimming to correspond, fastened at the waist with a brilliant diamond clasp. Head-dress a superb wreath of diamonds.” The Duchess of Kent wore, “A very rich and elegant gold tissue, with two superb borders of scalloped lama flouncing, each border headed with a rich gold trimming. The body and sleeves to correspond, richly trimmed with beautiful Brussels point lace, and tastefully ornamented with gold tassels. The robe of rich gold tissue, lined with white satin and trimmed round with rich scalloped lama trimming to match the dress and fastened at the waist with a very brilliant clasp. Head-dress a wreath of diamonds.”1

Other royal attendees included the Duke and Duchess of York, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Augusta, Princess Sophia of Gloucester, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and the Duchess of Meiningen (Adelaide’s mother). This was followed by a picnic tea at Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, though the Duke and Duchess of Kent did not attend this and left for Claremont. The Duke and Duchess of Clarence left after the picnic and headed for their apartments in St James’s Palace.

The new Duchess of Clarence would give birth to two living daughters but both would die in infancy. The new Duchess of Kent became the mother of the future Queen Victoria.

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Princesses of Orange – Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel

Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel was born on 7 February 1688 as the daughter of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Maria Amalia of Courland. She was their 11th child. She was raised a Protestant, and she was noticed early on as a possible bride for Johan Willem Friso, the future Prince of Orange. He visited Kassel in 1707 to meet with the then 21-year-old Marie Louise.

He chose Marie Louise as his bride without meeting the second candidate, and they married in Kassel on 26 April 1709. After just one month, he left her with her parents to join the Spanish Succession War. Marie Louise travelled to Leeuwarden in January 1710, where she was solemnly received. She became pregnant not much later and their first child named Anna Charlotte Amalia Louise was born on 2 October 1710.

Marie Louise was tragically widowed on 14 July 1711. Her husband drowned in the Hollandsch Diep on his way to The Hague after a sudden storm during his crossing. It took eight days to find his body. He was interred in the Grote Kerk in Leeuwarden seven months after his death.

At the time of his death, Marie Louise was seven months pregnant with their second child. She gave birth to their son William on 1 September 1711, and he became the Prince of Orange from the moment of his birth.

It would be a tough year for Marie Louise, she lost not only her husband but also her mother. Her mother-in-law Henrietta Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau travelled to Leeuwarden and she expected to be made regent for the young Prince of Orange.

Nevertheless, Marie Louise was made regent, despite having little experience. She was now a 23-year-old widow and regent. Marie Louise had the help of her father to organise the finances.

When William came of age in 1731, Marie Louise withdrew to the Princessehof in Leeuwarden. She had arranged a brilliant marriage for her son in 1734 with the English Princess Anne. Marie Louise remained in retirement until she was again called upon to act as regent.

Marie Louise’s son had died in 1751 and Anne had become regent for their son, who was William V, Prince of Orange, until her death in 1759. Marie Louise was again regent from 1759 until 1765.

Marie Louise died of a stroke on 9 April 1765. She was buried in the Grote Kerk in Leeuwarden. Her grandson was still a minor, and his regent became his older sister Carolina for the last year of his minority.

Marie Louise was much loved by the people of Leeuwarden. She was given the nickname Marijke Meu (roughly translated as Auntie Mary).

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The Young Victoria by Deirdre Murphy Book Review

Kensington Palace is celebrating the birth of Queen Victoria within their walls 200 years ago with two exhibitions – Victoria: Woman and Crown and Victoria: A Royal Childhood. Accompanying the exhibition is the exhibitions is the hardcover The Young Victoria by the late Deirdre Murphy who was senior curator at Historic Royal Palaces until her death in 2018.

The Young Victoria by Deirdre Murphy is a beautifully illustrated hardcover about the early years of Queen Victoria’s life and it talks about how Queen Victoria made her own childhood seem more melancholy than it perhaps was in reality. It also holds many images I had not seen before making it truly a treasure. In addition, it is very well-written. I can not wait to see the exhibitions.

The Young Victoria by Deirdre Murphy is available now in both the UK and the US.

 

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The Bonaparte Women: Justine Eléonore Ruffin & Jeanne Bonaparte

Pierre Napoléon Bonaparte was the son of Prince Lucien Bonaparte – a brother of Napoleon Bonaparte – and his second wife Alexandrine de Bleschamp. This made him the French Emperor’s nephew but by the time of his birth, his uncle had been exiled for the second and last time. On 22 March 1853, Pierre married the daughter of a worker in a copper foundry, Justine Eléonore Ruffin.

Justine went by the nickname Nina, and in 1858, she gave birth to the couple’s first child – a son named Roland. He would go on to marry Marie-Félix Blanc. Justine and Pierre initially lived in Corsica, but they returned to the continent just in time for the birth of their second child – a daughter named Jeanne in 1861. Several other children were born to them, but they did not survive to adulthood. Their marriage had only been blessed by a local priest in Corsica in 1853, and they had not had a prior civil marriage. Pierre later asserted that no ceremony had taken place, was he fearful of the Emperor’s reaction? When they eventually celebrated a civil marriage in 1867, Emperor Napoleon III refused to recognise it. A second ceremony in 1871 was performed after the fall of the French Empire in the French Consulate in Brussels, and now their marriage was finally valid, and their children had to the right to call themselves Bonapartes.

After Pierre’s death in 1881, Justine left for London where she opened a millinery shop – using her title to attract customers. Justine died on 13 October 1905 at the age of 74. Her daughter Jeanne went on to marry Henri Marie Christian de Villeneuve-Esclapon, 10th Marquis de Villeneuve-Esclapon on 22 March 1882. On 10 April 1886, she gave birth to a son named Pierre, and they would eventually have six children together. Jeanne became known as an artist in Paris. Jeanne died on 25 July 1910 in Paris at the age of 48. Her niece Marie Bonaparte wrote, “Aunt Jeanne died yesterday, following an operation. Pioche (Prince Roland’s secretary) sent a telegram. George opened the envelope and delayed the blow for a few seconds by saying, ‘ You know, your Aunt Jeanne is very ill.'” Marie later dreamed of her aunt, “whom I loved so much” but she was unable to attend the funeral as she was nursing. 1

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