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

Two Royal Nonagenarians – Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg and Emmanuelle de Dampierre, Duchess of Segovia, celebrated their respective 93rd and 96th birthdays recently.

Count Carl Johan Bernadotte was born as Prince Carl Johan Arthur of Sweden, Duke of Dalarna was born on October 31, 1916 as the fifth and youngest child of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf (later King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden) and Crown Princess Margaret of Connaught.

courtesy of thepeerage.com

He had 3 older brothers – Gustav Adolf (born 1906), Sigvard (born 1907) and Bertil (born 1912), and a sister – Ingrid (born 1910). In 1920, when Carl Johan was only 3 years old, Crown Princess Margaret died of an infection following surgery; she was 8 months pregnant with her sixth child.

In 1946, Prince Carl Johan married Elin Wijkmark. Upon the marriage, Carl Johan lost his succession rights and renounced all titles as his wife was not of equal rank, thus making the marriage morganatic. Carl Johan and Elin didn’t have any biological issue but they adopted two children:

Monica Kristina Margaretha Bernadotte (born March 5, 1951). She was adopted in 1951. Monica married Johan Peder Grefve Bonde af Björnö in 1976: they have 3 children – Ebba Kristina (born October 20, 1980), Marianne Cecilia (born September 29, 1982) and Carl Johan (born April 14, 1984). Monica and Johan Peder divorced in 1997.

Christian Carl Henning Bernadotte (born December 3, 1949). He was adopted in 1950. Christian married Marianne Jenny in 1980: they have 3 children – Christina Margaretha (born May 28, 1983), Richard Carl (born June 8, 1985) and Philip Carl (born May 18, 1988).

In 1951, Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg created Carl Johan Count of Wisborg. Following the death of Elin in 1987, Count Carl Johan married Countess Gunnilla Marianne Lindberg Wachtmeister af Johannishus on September 29, 1988.

Count Carl Johan is Queen Victoria’s last surviving great-grandchild. Should he live until June 29, 2011, he will surpass his elder brother Sigvard as the longest lived of Queen Victoria’s male descendants.

Victoire Jeanne Joséphine Emmanuelle (Emanuela) de Dampierre was born on November 8, 1913 to Don Roger de Dampierre, 2nd Duke of San Lorenzo, Viscount of Dampierre, Nobleman of Viterbo and Donna Vittoria Ruspoli (daughter of Emanuele Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Poggio Suasa and Mary Curtiss).

Read more…

Marsel French Royals, Spanish Royals, Swedish Royals Biography, Birthday, Count Carl Johan Bernadotte, Emanuela de Dampierre

Click on image to see photo at Seeger

On tuesday, the Duchess of Montpensier has appeared in public again for the first time after she fell ill this spring.  The duchess, who was dressed in a black dress with a two string pearl necklace, attended the gala Andre-Charles Boule Exhibition ” A new style for Europe” at the old Opera in Frankfurt (Germany). She was accompanied by one of her sons, the duke of Vendôme. His wife stayed home, as she is in an advanced state of her pregnancy.

Marengo French Royals Duchess of Montpensier, Exhibition, Germany, Health, Prince Jean of France

Charles & Catherine Napoleon courtesy of Alexander Palace

 Prince Charles and Princess Catherine Napoleon, the twin children of Louis, Prince Napoléon and Alix de Foresta, were born on October 19, 1950.

Their father, Prince Louis, was the claimant to the Imperial Throne of France and was known as Napoleon VI among the Bonapartists. Their mother, Alix de Foresta, was born to Comte and Comtesse de Foresta. Although she was not born a Princess (the only consort of the surviving Imperial Line not to be born one), her family had been prominent nobles in Italy and later in France since the early 13th century. Following his father’s death, Prince Charles became the Bonapartist claimant to the Imperial Throne of France.

Charles Marie Jérôme Victor and Catherine Elisabeth Albérique Marie were born in Boulogne-sur-Seine and baptised at Saint-Louis-des-Invalides by Archbishop Angelo Roncalli, who would later become Pope John XXIII. They spent most of their childhood in Switzerland.

Prince Charles studied Economics at Sorbonne and is the author of several books and essays. He has worked as a financial planner, real estate developer and banker, and currently holds a position of a visiting professor of Foreign Policy at the American Institute in France.

Read more…

Marsel French Royals Biography, Birthday, Prince Charles Napoleon, Princess Catherine Napoleon

 A new classic Orleans feud has been made public in this weeks issue of Point de Vue. This time the heir to the dynasty, prince Jean, attacked his father, the count of Paris. The count is the head of the Orleans family and one of the pretenders to the French throne. The count recently married Micaela Cousiño in a religious ceremony in Arcangues. The couple married in a civil ceremony in 1984, after the count divorceed his first wife, duchess Marie-Thérèse of Württemberg.

Click on image to see photo at noblesseetroyautes.com

Prince Jean, duke of Vendôme has released a communiqué in which he disapproves of his father’s religious remarriage and of the annulment of the wedding between his parents. He says he considers it ridicule, of bad taste and offensive to the laws of God and the royal family of France. In Point de Vue the prince says that he has a difficult relationship with his father, who he saw very little since he was 9 years old. The pricne also says he was against the sale of the estate of the late coutness of Paris (née princess Isabel of Brazil).

The magazine also writes that the prince wrote an e-mail to his cousins just before the count would marry religiously in Arcangues, urging them all not to attend the wedding. In the end only few members of the Orléans family were present at the wedding, among them the duke of Anjou with his wife the duchess of Cadaval and princesses Chantal and Claude. None of the count’s children were present at the wedding.  Prince Jean claims that a reconsiliation with his father is out of the question. In a statement issued by the count of Paris, the count reminds his son that he is forgetting who of them is the father and who is the son.

Marengo French Royals Count of Paris, Prince Jean of France

 TRH Prince Henri and Princess Micaela d’Orleans, Count and Countess of Paris, married yesterday in a religious ceremony in Arcangues, France. They had previously married in a civil ceremony in 1984, after the divorce of the Count from his first wife Maria Teresa of Wurttemberg, Duchess of Montpensier; the religious wedding took place after the annulment of the Count’s previous marriage was granted by the Roman Rota last year.

Click to see at noblesseetroyautes.com

Despite Henri is the Head of his Family, this wedding was attended only by a few people; nobody of his five children was present, while the son of the Princess, Alexis, attended; among his siblings and nephews, only his sisters-in-law Princess Beatrice, Countess of Evreux, and Princess Marion, Dowager Countess of La Marche, with their sons Prince Charles-Philippe, Duke of Anjou, with his wife Princess Diana, Duchess of Cadaval, and Prince Robert, Count of La Marche, were expected to attend the wedding; among the French and European aristocracy were present Prince Alexander and Princess Lea of Belgium, Princess Nesrine Tousson, the Duke and the Duchess d’Uzes, the Duchess of Segorbe, the Dowager Duchess of Magenta, the Marquis and the Marchioness of Arcangues, Countess Ariane de Bourbon-Busset and Count Paul de la Panouse.

Most of the guests were also witnesses: for the Count of Paris were the Duke of Uzes, the Duchess of Segorbe (his cousin) and Count de la Panouse; for the Countess of Paris were the Duchess of Magenta, the Marquis of Arcangues and the Countess of Bourbon-Busset.

The ceremony was celebrated at 6.30pm in the Church of Saint Jean Baptiste by father Dominique Dye, chapelain of the order of Malta, and by abbé Jean-Marie Mouhica.

A reception was held after the wedding ceremony in the Chateau d’Arcangues, where a dinner for 130 guests was hosted.

The Count of Paris, born in 1933, is the head of the French Royal Family and the claimant to  the French Throne since the death of his father in 1999; he is the son of Prince Henri, Count of Paris, and his wife Princess Isabelle, née Princess d’Orleans-Bragança; he was firstly married between 1957 and 1984  to Duchess Maria Theresa of Wurttemberg, with whom he had 5 children; one of them, Jean, married last may in Senlis.

The Countess of Paris is 5 years younger then her husband, and she is the daughter of Don Luis Cousiño y Sebire and his wife Dona Antonia Maria Quiñones de Léon y Bañuelos, 4th Marchioness of San Carlos, Grandee of Spain; the Countess was previously married to Jean Robert Boeuf, with whom she had a son, Alexis.

More infos about the Count and the Countess can be found in this thread; more infos about their wedding can be found in this thread.

MAfan French Royals Count of Paris, Countess of Paris, Wedding

 A day before the religious wedding of the count and countess of Paris, French royalty blog ‘noblesse & royauté’ reveals some details about the wedding. It was already known that the wedding would be celebrated Arcangues, but the blog has some new information.

Click on image to see photo at purepeople.com

The mass will be celebrated by father Dominique Dye, chapelain of the order of Malta, and by abbé Jean-Marie Mouhica. During the mass music from Bach will be heard, but also Bask hymns. The bride will wear a creation by Catherine Vanier, the dress will have several colours. After the mass the wedding party will go to the castle of Arcangues, where a dinner will be served.

The count of Paris is the Orleanist pretender to the French throne. He married in 1957 Duchess Marie-Thérèse of Württemberg. The couple divorced in 1984, and in October of the same year he married Micaëla Anna María Cousiño y Quiñones de León in a civil ceremony. The Catholic church recently annuled the wedding between Henri and Marie-Thérèse, after which the count of Paris was able to announce his religious wedding.

For a link to Noblesse & Royauté, click here.

Marengo French Royals Count of Paris, Countess of Paris, Wedding

 It has been confirmed that Prince Jean and Princess Philomena d’Orleans, Duke and Duchess of Vendome, are expecting her first child together. The child is expected to arrive later this year.

Prince Jean is the second son of the Count of Paris and his former wife, the Duchess of Montpensier; he married Dona Philomena de Tornos y Steinhart on 2 May 2009 in Senlis.

The pregnancy of the Princess has been announced soon after having spent their honeymoon in Compostela.

The baby will be the eighth grandchild of the Count of Paris and of the Duchess of Montpensier; if male, he will be third in the Line of Succession to the French Throne and, one day, Head of the French Royal Family.

For more information about Prince Jean and Princess Philomena, see this thread.

MAfan French Royals Pregnancy, Prince Jean of France, Princess Philomena

Click to see the image at the HPRG website

 Even though the city of New York has already celebrated the French national day two days ahead, it’s officially on July 14th that you can crack open the champagne.

Every year in France it’s the same schedule: from 8 AM to 12 PM, you get to see the military parade on TV (or for real if you happen to be on the Champs-Elysées in Paris). This défilé du 14 juillet has been held since 1880 and is the oldest and largest one in the world. Among the participants, you can notice some foreign troops (this year, the Indian Army will be parading) and cadets from French military schools like Polytechnique or Saint-Cyr. The rest of this national holiday is an opportunity for towns and cities to celebrate in their own way: local troops parade, concerts,…The big final is, of course, the fireworks on the Eiffel Tower and in every town.

However, this special day celebrated around the world like in the United States, South Africa or even Hungary wasn’t that prominent when it took place in 1789. In fact, it’s not even the storming of the Bastille this day commemorates. It’s only in 1880 that deputy Benjamin Raspail decided July 14th should become the French National Day to celebrate la Fête de la Fédération which had taken place in 1790 on the very same day. This huge feast all over the country had been organized to mark the one-year anniversary of the storming of the Bastille and the end of absolutism. So in 1880, French saw this day as a light-hearted celebration just like in 1790 and definitely not the sanguinary battle of 1789.

Indeed, on July 14th 1789, an enormous crowd of 40 000 to 50 000 people surrounded Les Invalides. The army, unready to fire on the Parisians, gave them way. They rushed into the caves and took the 40 000 rifles but they didn’t find any black powder. They heard a rumor about the Bastille being full of ammunition. In whole, 4 delegations would present themselves at the Bastille to ask for bullets but none succeeded in obtaining any. Finally, 61 guards arrived with 5 canons ready to fire. The Bastille capitulated. The rioters eventually found the ammunition and freed 7 prisoners. On their way out, the Bastille director was massacred by the crowd and his head shown-off on a pike. At 6 PM, still ignoring what had just occurred, Louis XVI ordered his troops to evacuate Paris but the order would only find a recipient at 2 AM.

The next day, at Versailles, the duke of La Rochefoucault-Liancourt told the King about the terrible event:

- “Is it a revolt ?” asked Louis XVI.
- “No Sir, that’s not a revolt, that’s a revolution.” answered the Duke.

TheTruth French Royals Bastille Day

Click on image to see photo at 215magazine.com

As is reported by the newspaper ‘Nederlands Dagblad’, King Leopold II of the Belgians (1835-1909) had plans to invade The Netherlands. These plans were found in the royal archives in Brussels by the Flemish journalist and historian Kris Clerckx. The king sent an espionage missions to get information about the strength of the Dutch army, made plans for the invasion and sent a high diplomat to France to get the support of emperor Napoleon III for the invasion.

The plan was that the Belgian army would invade The Netherlands in surprise and take the city of Amsterdam after just a few days. This way the information of an invasion would alomost arrive at the same time as the news of the capitulation of the Dutch army.

The espionage reports were confident that the Dutch would be no match for the Belgian army. The Belgian army had 2127 officers, while the Dutch only had 1397 of them, many of them old men. The budget of the Belgian army was 34 million gold franks while the Dutch army only got 29, million a year, more than 10 million of that went to the Dutch navy, which would be completely useless when the Belgians invaded by land.

Click on image to see map at utrecht.nl

Colonel Chauchet, the highest militairy espionage officer, however noted that the fortresses of the  Dutch ‘water line’ , a defensive line, were well maintained. And the Dutch population loved their country, and would not be invaded without a fight. King Leopold II however thought he could count on the support of the Dutch catholics, if he would invade The Netherlands.

In the end Leopold II gave up his plans after the prince de Chimay, his highest diplomat in France, was sent to talk to the emperor. Napoleon III wasn’t very enthausiastic about the plans, possibly because he was good friends with both king Willem III of The Netherlands, as with his consort Queen Sophie.   The plans were postponed and forgotten, until Kris Clerckx found them in the archives.

Marengo Belgian Royals, Dutch Royals, French Royals, Historical Royals Leopold II, Napoleon III, Queen Sophie, Willem III