80 years ago the engagement was announced between HRH Prince Umberto of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, and HRH Princess Maria José of Belgium.

The union between the 25-years-old son and heir of King Vittorio Emanuele III and Queen Elena of Italy and the 23-years-old daughter of King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians was planned since the two Princes were only children – probably during the First World War the two Courts began to think about their marriage; according to what Maria José remembered years later, she grew up thinking to marry Umberto and imagining him as the fairytale prince; on the other side, Umberto knew that if he would have married, he surely would have married Maria José, as their families had planned.

Umberto and Maria José on their engagement day - from reumberto.it

The two Princes met for the first time in 1918 for a visit to Venice, together with their families; at that time, Umberto was 14 and Maria José 12; she was studying in Italy, in the Istituto Statale della Ss. Annunziata, a very exclusive girls’ boarding school in Florence.

In the following years they met several times, at the wedding of Prince Amedeo, Duke of Apulia and Princess Anne d’Orleans in 1927 and on vacation in Tuscany in the summer 1928. In the winter of the same year, Umberto visited Bruxelles, and he was expected to ask Maria Josè to marry him, but nothing happened, as well as nothing had happened between them when they met before; the main reason is that both Umberto and Maria José felt forced to marry, and in that period they didn’t want to do; in particular Umberto didn’t want to marry a woman that he didn’t love and he knews only a bit. Read more…

MAfan Belgian Royals, Historical Royals, Italian Royals Anniversary, Engagement, Queen Maria José, Savoy, Umberto II

  Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma, the eldest son of the Duke of Parma and Princess Irene of The Netherlands, will get married. The family announced today that the prince will marry Annemarie Gualthérie van Weezel next year.

Click on image to see picture at PPE

Prince Carlos Javier Bernardo of Bourbon-Parma, Prince of Piacenza, was born in Nijmegen on 27 January 1970. He studied Economy, History and Political Sciences at the Wesleyan University in Connecticut and Demographics and Philosophy at the University of Cambridge.  At the moment he is the director of a foundation for Innovation and Sustainability.

His fiancée, Annemarie Cecilia Gualthérie van Weezel, was born in The Hague on 18 December 1977.  She has an older brother and a younger sister. Annemarie went to secundairy school in Strasbourg (France) and studied Law at the University of Utrecht. After this she studied Radio- and Television journalism at the University of Groningen. At the moment she works for the NOS (the public channel) as a parlamentary journalist in The Hague and Brussels. 

Annemarie is the daughter of Hans Gualthérie van Weezel and Ank de Visser. Her father was a member of parliament for the Christian Democratic party. Later he was a member of the European Council in Strasborug, after which he became the Dutch ambassador in Luxembourg.  Annemarie’s paternal grandfather is Jan Hans Gualthérie van Weezel, who was the head of the police in The Hague. During the second World War he was a member of the Dutch resistance and the commander of the resistance in Velzen. He was married to Constance Eveline Crommelin, whose family belongs to the Dutch patriciate with links to the nobility.

A link to Annemarie’s anscestors can be found here. Read more about the engagement in this thread.

Marengo Dutch Royals, Italian Royals Annemarie Gualthérie van Weezel, Bourbon-Parma, Engagement, Prince Carlos

The engagement of Princess Madeleine and her fiance Jonas Bergstrom was announced this morning by the Royal Court. Later the newly engaged couple gave a press conference at the Soliden Palace at the island of Oland.

Click at the picture to see it at Daylife

You can find a video of the press conference here.
During the interview we got to know that Jonas proposed to Madeleine in Capri, on June 12th.
There has not been chosen a date for the wedding yet, but according to the Royal Court it will not take place before Crown Princess Victoria’s and Daniel Westling wedding or next year’s general election.
The wedding is expected to take place in Öland in late 2010 or early 2011.

30 years old Jonas Bergström and Princess Madeleine(27) met through mutual friends in the autumn of 2002. Jonas completed a law degree at Stockholm University in 2006. Currently he is working as a lawyer.
After the wedding Jonas Bergstrom’s title will be “Duke of Gastrikland”.

You can find many more pictures and news in this thread:
Engagement of Princess Madeleine & Jonas Bergström

Her_Majesty Swedish Royals Engagement, Jonas Bergström, Princess Madeleine

 It has been announced by the Swedish Court that Princess Madeleine is engaged to be married to her long-time boyfriend Jonas Bergström. After rumours of the engagement were published in some Swedish media outlets over the last few days, the news has become official with the announcement on the Swedish royal family website. It has been reported that the families of the couple had a celebratory dinner together on Sunday, ahead of the announcement. The wedding date has not yet been announced.

Princess Madeleine’s elder sister, Crown Princess Victoria, became engaged to her long-time boyfriend Daniel Westling earlier this year, and are set to marry on 19 June 2010. In contrast, their brother Prince Carl Philip has recently broken up with his long-term girlfriend Emma Pernald.

For more information about the engagement, see this thread.

Lucia-mia Swedish Royals Engagement, Jonas Bergström, Princess Madeleine

Click the image to see the gallery at IBL

 Daniel Westling, the fiance to Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria, has been formally introduced to the Swedish government on Friday.

180 special invited guests had the opportunity to congratulate the couple on their betrothal. Representatives of the parliament, government, authorities, land chiefs, representatives from the news industry and various organizations had been invited to the Bernadotte Hall at the royal palace.

They all first met Victoria and Daniel before moving on to King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Prince Carl Philip. Princess Madeleine was the one royal noticeably absent from the reception.

After the presentations, everyone mingled with each other, while music from Vastragotaland – Victoria’s duchy – and Gastrikland – where Daniel originates – played.

Those who met the future Prince Consort of Sweden were very impressed.

“Daniel did it gallantly, he did a very good impression,” said Sven Johansson, editor of the newspaper Arbetarbladet. “Daniel thought it was funny that I came from Gastrikland, he said it felt like home. He also said he knows of Arbetarbladet well because it was home on the kitchen table. And so we changed a few words.”

To see more photos, click here and here

Sonjapearl Swedish Royals Daniel Westling, Engagement, Government, Princess Victoria

 On Tuesday, 24 February 2009, King Carl Gustav of Sweden made the announcement that many have been waiting for: Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling have become engaged. The wedding is scheduled to take place in the early summer of 2010.

There were two appearances made by the couple during their announcement and press conference yesterday.

During the initial announcement with the King and Queen, Crown Princess Victoria looked radiant in a lovely coral-colored dress.  

Later in the day, Daniel and Victoria gave a press conference where the couple discussed the marriage proposal, and Victoria showed off her ring. For the press conference, the princess chose a dress in a style similar to the coral dress, but in a lovely deep purple color complete with a cummerbund-style sash, designed by Par Engsheden.

Both dresses were cut in a very elegant, modern yet feminine style. They looked perfect on the radiant princess. Royal watchers throughout the world will undoubtedly be looking forward to seeing what style Victoria selects for her bridal gown. At the end of the conference, a giddy Victoria showed off her new ring.

sgl Swedish Royals Daniel Westling, Engagement, Fashion, Princess Victoria

Click on the image to see more from Daylife

  After years of speculations, the Swedish royal court finally announced the engagement of Crown Princess Victoria to gym-owner Daniel Westling. The official announcement was not only done by a simple press release, but a statement to Sweden, and the world, via online video.

Sitting with his wife, his daughter and heir, and future son-in-law, King Carl XVI Gustaf gave the news Swedes everywhere have been waiting for.

“Dear Swedes, at home and abroad. Yes, this is how I tend to begin my speeches on radio and TV when there is something I wish to convey. And, as you may have guessed, there is something very special I would like to convey: namely, the public announcement today of the engagement of Crown Princess Victoria and Mr Daniel Westling.”

Exchanging glances and smiles, Victoria and Daniel listened as the King, and also Queen Silvia, spoke about how well the future Duke of Vastergotland is suited to be both husband and prince consort to the future Queen of Sweden. The royal and proud parents also told Victoria how much they supported her decision to marry Westling.

Read more…

Sonjapearl Swedish Royals Carl XVI Gustaf, Daniel Westling, Engagement, Press Conference, Princess Victoria, Queen Silvia, Wedding

Click on the image to see a video of the announcement

 Today at 2 pm, the Swedish Court formally announced the engagement of Crown Princess Victoria, 31, with Daniel Westling, 35, her boyfriend since 2002. The couple met in 2001, at Daniel’s fitness center. After the wedding, Daniel will be known as Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland.

There will be a press meeting later today, around 5 pm.

The wedding is to take place in 2010, which is a particularly festive year for the Swedish Royal Family, because they will celebrate the 200 year reign of the Bernadotte family.

LadyLeana Swedish Royals Daniel Westling, Engagement, Princess Victoria

 24/2/09. Some Swedish news outlets are reporting that a meeting of the entire Cabinet is being called for 1 pm Tuesday in order for the King to announce the engagement of Crown Princess Victoria to her long-term boyfriend Daniel Westling.

There have been on-and-off rumors of an impending engagement between the Princess, who is 31, and 35-year-old Westling, a gym owner born in Örebro who has been the Princess’s boyfriend since 2002. It is believed by some that the engagement has been delayed because the King and Queen do not approve of the relationship.

It’ll be interesting to see if this is yet another false alarm or if wedding bells will finally be in the offing for the Crown Princess.

Esmeralda Swedish Royals Daniel Westling, Engagement, Princess Victoria

Click the image to see the photo at Prince Michael's website

It was announced today from Kensington Palace that Lord Frederick Windsor, son of the Queen’s cousin Prince Michael of Kent, had become engaged to his long-time girlfriend, the actress Sophie Winkleman, on Valentine’s Day. The wedding date has not been announced, but it is being reported that they’ll tie the knot sometime in September.

Lord Frederick is 31st in the line of succession to the throne, and has a reputation as a bit of a royal rebel. He has been in the news for cocaine possession and for high-profile partying. He is a financial analyst with JP Morgan.

Ms Winkleman is an actress who has appeared in several movies and TV shows, including playing royal ladies like Princess Eleanor in the short-lived TV series ”The Palace”  and the older Queen Susan in the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” After the wedding she will be known as Lady Frederick Windsor.

Lord Frederick’s father lost his place in the line of succession to the throne under the Act of Settlement because his wife, Princess Michael, is Catholic. Lord Frederick’s fiancee comes from a Jewish background, but that doesn’t affect his succession rights.

Lucia-mia British Royals Engagement, Lord Frederick Windsor, Sophie Winkleman