Archduke Otto of Austria, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, former Head of the Austrian Imperial Family from 1922 until his abdication in 2007, turns 97 years old today.

He was born on 20 November 1912 at Villa Wartholtz in Reichenau, the eldest child of Archduke Karl and Archduchess Zita.

Archduke Otto - see bigger at his official website

Archduke Karl (1887-1922) was the eldest son of Archduke Otto (1865-1906, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef) and Archduchess Maria Josepha (1867-1944, daughter of Georg I of Saxony); Archduchess Zita (1892-1989) was a daughter of Duke Roberto I of Parma (1848-1907, the last reigning Duke) and Duchess Maria Antonia (1862-1959, youngest daughter of King Miguel I of Portugal).

Several tragic and premature deaths made Otto the third in the Line of Succession to the Throne, after his great-uncle Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este ( whose morganatic marriage meant that his children were not in the Line of Succession) and his father Karl.

On 28 June 1914 Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo: this murder was the casus belli of the breaking out of the World War I. Two years later on 21 November 1916 Emperor Franz Josef died, after 68 years of reign; therefore Karl became Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Otto the new Crown Prince.

After the end of World War I, Austria and Hungary became republics and the Imperial Family was forced into exile, firstly in Switzerland and then in Madeira. Because of the 1919 ‘Habsburg Law’, all the properties belonging to the Habsburg Family were confiscated and the exiled Imperial Family was left destitute.

On 1 April 1922, when Otto was only 9, Emperor Karl I died of pneumonia, aged 34, leaving Zita, pregnant with their eight child Elisabeth, to raise their children Otto, Adelheid, Robert, Felix, Carl Ludwig, Rudolph and Charlotte; according to the rules of the Imperial Family, Otto was the new Emperor.

After the death of Emperor Karl, his family moved to Spain and in 1930 to Belgium, where they lived in the castle of Ham, Bruxelles; from 1930 to 1935 Otto attended the University in Louvain, where he graduated in political and social sciences.

Archduke Otto in the 1930s - see bigger at his official website

In the 1930s the chances of a monarchical restoration in Austria were improving, and Otto started showing interest in politic; in 1935 Habsburg Family was allowed to re-enter in Austria. The prospect of restoration, helped and supported by Chancellor Schuschnigg, was shattered by the Anschluss in 1938; Otto and family were forbidden entry to Austria and Germany, and Hitler ordered to arrest and execute Otto and his brothers for high treason against the Reich.

After the Anschluss Otto returned in Belgium, where he escaped from at the begin of the World War II, moving in Paris, then in Portugal when Paris was occupied by the Germans, and finally in the USA, where he lived from 1940 to 1944.

There Otto met several times President Roosevelt; they worked to the project of creating a Mitteleuropean Confederation, made by former lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and ruled by Otto; Roosevelt agreed with this project, since a Mitteleuropean Confederation would have been a bulwark against the nazi Germany on a side and the communist USSR on the other side. However the plans didn’t come true. During the war, Otto worked also to organize the resistance against the Germans in Austria and Hungary, together with his brothers.

After the war Otto returned in France, living in Paris until 1954; in this period, he kept in touch with the US President Truman, working to avoid the Sovietic invasion of Austria. In this decade Otto mainly worked as a lecturer and wrote several books about the European political situation.

On 10 May 1951 Otto married in Nancy Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen (born on 6 January 1925), the daughter of Duke Georg of Saxe-Meiningen (1892-1946) and Duchess Klara-Maria, née Countess von Korff (1895-1992); they have seven children:

Archduke Otto and Archduchess Regina on their wedding day - see bigger at his official website

• Andrea, born in 1953, married in 1977 to Hereditary Count Karl Eugen von Neipperg; they have five children;
• Monika, born in 1954, married in 1980 to Don Luis Gonzaga de Casanova-Cardenas y Baron, Duke of Santangelo and Grandee of Spain; they have four children;
• Michaela, twin sister of Monika, married firstly in 1984 to Eric Alba Teran d’Antin and secondly to Count Hubertus von Kageneck (son of Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria); she divorced from both her husband, and has three children from the first marriage;
• Gabriela, born in 1956, married in 1978 to Christian Meister, from whom she divorced in 1997; they have three children; Gabriela has recently been appointed as Georgian Ambassador in Berlin;
• Walburga, born in 1958, married in 1994 to Count Archibald Douglas, with whom she has a son; she is a member of the Swedish Parliament since 2006;
• Karl, present Head of the Imperial Family, born in 1961, married in 1993 to Baroness Francesca von Thyssen-Bornemizsa; they have three children;
• Georg, born in 1964, married in 1997 to Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg; they have three children; Georg is the President of the Hungarian Red Cross.

For many years, Archduke Otto fought for the right to return to Austria and in order to be able to do so he renounced his claims to the Austrian Throne and proclaimed himself a ‘loyal citizen of the republic’ on 31 may 1961. The renunciation was in many ways forced and most Monarchists consider it void; Otto himself admitted that he made the move after much hesitation and for ‘purely practical reasons’. On 24 May 1963 the Austrian court found that there was no legal ground for barring Otto’s entry to the country. The court’s decision was not welcomed by mainly pro-republican Austrian population and a lengthy period of political crisis ensued. Finally, the Archduke was issued an Austrian passport on 1 June 1966 and returned to his motherland on 31 October 1966; one of the conditions of his return was refraining from politics, but as Otto stated: “I would not have dreamed of complying. Once you have tasted the opium of politics, you can never get rid of it”. Indeed, his political career was only starting.

His first office was the Vice Presidency of the International Paneuropean Union, which he held from 1957 to 1972. In 1972, he became Interim President, and a year later, President of the Union. Since 2004 he is the Honorary President of the Union.

In 1979, Archduke Otto was elected a member of the European Parliament for the conservative CSU party; he was re-elected for 3 more terms (1984, 1989 and 1994) and became the Senior Member of the Parliament.

Throughout his political career, Archduke Otto did his best to fight against the Communists regimes and dictatorships all over the world.

In 1988, after nearly 70 years, Otto returned to the still Communist Hungary – a country the Archduke has always considered his second motherland.

In August of 1989, Otto stood as patron of The Pan-European Picnic at Sopron – one that is often said to change the face of Europe. The Pan-European Picnic was a peace demonstration held on the Austrian-Hungarian border. In a symbolic gesture, border gates were to be opened for 3 hours. More than 600 East Germans seized the opportunity presented by this brief lifting of the Iron Curtain and fled from the GDR to the West. Although the Hungarian guards had orders to shoot anyone who attempted to cross the border, they refused to obey the orders. As the first successful crossing of the border, it helped pave the way for the mass flight of East German citizens that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. Today, many monuments commemorating the Picnic can be seen at Sopron: among them is a large artwork created by Gabriela, Otto’s daughter.

Otto was a great supporter of the expansion of the European Union and fought hard for the acceptance of Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. He also promotes better understanding between people of different religion: he is the patron of the Three Faiths Forum – a group which encourages friendship, goodwill and understanding amongst people Christians, Judaists and Muslims; he is also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, an international organization that favours classical liberalism.

From 1997 Otto served as Senior President of the European Parliament. Although his candidacy had a great support for the 1999 elections, in 1998 Otto announced that he will no longer be a candidate for the Parliament and on 13 June 1999 the Archduke left the European Parliament; the decision was made for health reasons: in April 1997 Otto was seriously injured in a car accident and in October-November 1998 he suffered from a life-threatening pneumonia.

Archduke Otto and family on his 95th birthday - see bigger at his official website

Because of health issues, the Archduke resigned his position as Chief and Sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 2000 and Grandmaster of the Knights of St. Sebastian in 2008, both in favour of his eldest son Karl; on 1 January 2007, he relinquished his status as the Head of the House of Habsburg to Karl.

Archduke Otto and Archduchess Regina currently reside at the Villa Austria, near to the lake of Starnberg in Bavaria.

Aged 97, Archduke Otto is the oldest member of Habsburg Family, and the fourth oldest Royal in Europe; his longevity comes from both his families: Emperor Franz Josef died aged 86 and Empress Zita died in 1989 two months before her 97th birthday; two of his brothers are still living, Felix (93 y-o) and Rudolph (who turned 90 in September).

To learn more about Archduke Otto, please visit this thread.

Marsel & MAfan

MAfan Austrian Royals Archduke Otto, Biography, Birthday, Habsburg

The experiences the Scandinavian heirs made during the travel to Svalbard and Greenland will be published in a book. Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Victoria and Crown Prince Frederik have written an own chapter about the impressions they got during the journeys.

Click at the image to read an article at Kongehuset.no

In summer 2008 the 3 Scandinavian heirs visited Svalbard. They went aboard an icebreaker to get better impressions of the climate change in the Arctic.

In summer 2009 they went on a trip to Greenland. There they focus on the climate change and it’s consequences.

The book, which includes the Royal experiences, is called “Royal polar expedition”. It is a result of the ravels and is published in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The proceeds from the book will go to charity.

Click here to see a video about the Royal Arctic experiences.

Her_Majesty Danish Royals, Norwegian Royals, Swedish Royals Book Review, Books, International Polar Year, Prince Frederik, Prince Haakon, Princess Victoria

Prince Jean and Princess Philomena, Duke and Duchess of Vendôme, welcomed a son today. The baby’s first (and so far, the only-known) name is Gaston.

Duke and Duchess of Vendôme, courtesy of Freerepublic

The little Prince is the first child for the Duke and Duchess of Vendôme, who were married earlier this year (civilly, on March 19 and religiously, on May 2). Princess Philomena’s pregnancy was announced in July. Gaston is the 8th grandchild of the Count of Paris and will eventually assume the Headship of the House of Orléans.

Prince Jean, Dauphin de France, Duke of Vendôme is the son of Henri, Count of Paris, Duke of France (the Orléanist pretender to the French throne) and Duchess Marie Therese of Württemberg, the Duchess of Montpensier. In 2006, Count of Paris created Prince Jean ‘Dauphin de France’, bypassing Jean’s mentally disabled elder brother, Prince François, Count of Clermont.

The baby’s name, Gaston, has deep roots with the House of Orléans. Distinguished members of Orléans family with the same name include Gaston, Duke of Orléans, the Fils de France and Le Grand Monsieur (the third son King Henry IV and Marie de’ Medici, the eldest surviving brother of King Louis XIII, and the last member of the elder branch of Bourbon-Orléans) and Gaston d’Orléans, Count of Eu (the son of Louis, Duke of Nemours, who himself was the son of King Louis-Philippe, and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary).

You can view the thread dedicated to the birth of Prince Gaston here.

Marsel French Royals Birth, House of Orléans, Prince Gaston, Prince Jean of France, Princess Philomena

Crown Prince Alexander II, Crown Princess Katherine, Hereditary Prince Peter, Prince Philip and Prince Alexander all expressed their deepest sorrow at the passing of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle. They sent their sincere condolences to the Serbian Orthodox Church and its followers in Serbia and Worldwide.

Courtesy - royalfamily.org

The Royal Palace released the following statement from the Crown Prince: “I am deeply, deeply saddened to learn that His Holiness has surrendered his soul to our Lord. The Serbian people have lost a pious spiritual leader, whose death is especially devastating at the time when the future of Kosovo and Metohija, the cradles of the Serbian Orthodox Church, remains uncertain. My family joins me in expressing our deepest condolences and sympathy to the Serbian Orthodox Church and all its faithful in Serbia and worldwide and all citizens of Serbia”.

Patriarch Pavle died on 15 November, 2009, after more than two years spent in the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade. The Government of Serbia announced three days of national mourning over the death of the Patriarch. President Boris Tadić said that the patriarch’s death was an “irredeemable loss for the entire Serbian nation.” Condolences to the Serbian church, people and officials were sent by Russian Patriarch Kirill I, Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Catholicos Karekin II of All Armenians, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, Patriarch Daniel of Romania and numerous others. At least 40 days must pass after his death before a successor can be elected; meantime the authority of Patriarch will be held by Holy Synod while the Metropolitan Amfilohije will serve as the Guardian of the Throne.

The Serbian Royal Family has very close relationships with the Church; The Serbian Orthodox Church in general and Patriarch Pavle in particular have openly supported the restoration of the Monarchy.

Marsel Serbian Royals Death, Patriarch Pavle, Prince Alexander, Prince Alexander Jr, Prince Peter, Prince Philip of Serbia, Princess Katherine

On November 16, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, chair of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, launched the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) which is an initiative of Qatar Foundation.

Addressing the Guest of Honour, Irina Bokova, newly elected UNESCO Director-General, and 1,000 opinion leaders from 120 countries, Sheikha Mozah said in her speech “Innovation in education, which is the focus of this Summit should become an achievable and executable process. It should be at the heart of the education which is the force which exerts human energy and guides it wisely for the purpose of expanding human intelligence and creativity to serve the objective of just and equitable human societies, therefore this Summit requires us to debate deeply and discuss a series of issues at the core of the right to education in order to draft an agreement on which we can build our next steps”.

WISE is a global groundbreaking collaborative initiative established by Qatar Foundation under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned. WISE will contribute to 21st century challenges and their impact on education.

For more on WISE click here.

dazzling Qatar Royals Education, Patronage, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser

View the image at Petra

King Abdullah of Jordan opened on Tuesday the new premises of The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt (Northwest of Amman).

The Institute, which was opened by the late King Hussein in 1964, is a residential school providing education, rehabilitation and vocational training for hearing and visually impaired children and young people.

During a tour of the new premises the Monarch met with students and he was briefed on handicraft, textile, embroidery and ornament made by students.

salma Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Children, Health

Crown Princess Victoria paid a visit to Kenya from November 11th to 14th. During the first day the Princess inaugurated the Conference of Climate Change Day, that is the biggest event during the Swedish EU presidency in Kenya.

Later the day she attended the opening of the Victoria Trade Council offices in Nairobi. There she took part in a colorful danshow with Maasai.

Click at the image to see a gallery at Svenskdam.se

Princess Victoria mainly visited Kenya to inaugurate a school built by Gundua Foundation. The Crown Princess is a patron of the school. The Gundua secondary school in ex-Lewa provides more children the chance to educate themselves, although they live poor conditions.

During her last day in Kenya Victoria met the professor and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. The women planted a tree as a symbol of the friendship between Kenya and Sweden. The Princess visited a Swedish school in Nairobi. Many children wanted to meet the Princess, who recieved flowers and gifts and took the time to answer the childrens’ questions.

You can find a thread about the visit to Kenya here.

Her_Majesty Swedish Royals Children, Kenya, Official Visit, Princess Victoria

courtesy of daylife

Belgian Royals celebrated The King’s Feast (Koningsfeest in Dutch and Fête du Roi in French) on November 15 – a day that has been marked by celebrations in honour of the Belgian Monarch since 1866. Crown Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Prince Laurent, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz and Queen Fabiola were all present.

The celebrations started with a Service at Brussels Cathedral, which was attended by all members of the Royal Family with the exception of the King, the Queen and Princess Claire. King Albert and Queen Paola don’t usually attend the Service as protocol decrees it would be inappropriate for the Monarch to honour himself. Although always present at The King’s Feast Day celebrations, Princess Claire was absent this year, presumably because she wasn’t able to find anyone to babysit the children.

courtesy of daylife

Also present at the Service was Queen Fabiola – the first time she has been seen in a long time. The past few months have been marred by concerns for Her Majesty’s health and even false death announcement. Although the Queen was recovering in Spain, she insisted on attending the Service, although she did not attend the ceremony at the Parliament: the Royal Watchers were undoubtedly delighted to see Her Majesty in apparently good health.

Since 2001, the Service has been followed by a ceremony held by the Belgian Parliament in honour of the King, in the presence of members of the Belgian Royal Family and other dignitaries.

November 15 is the name day of Leopold (the feast of Saint Leopold) and Albert (the Feast of Saint Albert the Great), two names that are of great importance for the Belgian Royals: Belgium’s first, second and fourth Monarchs were named Leopold, while the third King was called Albert, as is the current king. In 1951, King Baudouin decided to honour the day, and King Albert II continued the tradition. November 15 and April 8 (King Albert’s birthday) are two days when His Majesty honours distinguished citizens by presenting them with the Order of Leopold. Although November 15 is not a public holiday, civil servants are allowed to have a day off.

To learn more about the King’s Feast, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals Archduke Lorenz, King Albert II, Prince Laurent, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Mathilde, Queen Fabiola, Queen Paola, The King’s Feast

King Mohammed VI, accompanied by his son Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan and his brother Prince Moulay Rachid, visited on Friday in Rissani (Errachidia province) the Moulay Ali Cherif Mausoleum and spent some time in silent contemplation at the tomb of the founder of the Alawite dynasty.

View the image at MAP

The Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Sharif is one of the most beautiful historic monuments of the region Tafilalet. The shrine includes besides the tombs of Moulay Ali Sharif and his sons Moulay Youssef and Moulay M’hamed, those of Sidi El Habib Ben Zine El Abidine Ben Moulay Ismail and Moulay Rachid Ben Sidi Mohamed Ben Abderrahman.

Moulay Ali Sharif, ancestor of King Mohammed VI, was a great man of faith and a distinguished scientist who has passed his knowledge to many of his followers in the Muslim world to Andalusia where he spent over 20 years. Originally from Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, Moulay Ali Sharif was born in 762 Hegira corresponding to 1360 AD and died in 847 Hegira at the age of 85 years. He was buried in a first step in Zaouiat Tighmart, 200 km from Rissani, before his body was transferred to the existing mausoleum built under the reign of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah (Mohammed III) in 1206 of the Hegira.

King Mohammed VI has since the 7th of November visited the Province of Errachidia, once called and known in history books as Sijilmassa, which is the region where the Sovereign ancestors settled when the came from the Levant before years later they conquest Morocco founding the last dynasty in Morocco Monarchy “the the Alawite dynasty”.

Mademoiselle Lilo Moroccan Royals Ancient Tombs, Mohammed VI, Prince Moulay, Prince Moulay Rachid

It has been announced that Prince Joachim’s wife Princess Marie will take upon the role of Patron of the Danish National Commission for UNESCO. The official ceremony will take place on Tuesday 17th November in the Fencing Hall in the Ministry of Education.

Princess Marie, who will be making an official visit to Hong Kong with Prince Joachim on the 21st, has already been involved with UNESCO, recently opening an environmental conference for school leaders from Europe and Asia.

This will be Princess Marie’s fourth patronage, her first being the Toender Music Festival, her second the Annual Literature Prize, a patronage previously held by her father-in-law Prince Henrik and her most recent the Syddansk University in Odense.

For more information, please see this thread.

For more information on the upcoming visit to Hong Kong, please see this thread.

alex001 Danish Royals Patronage, Princess Marie, UNESCO