Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau, second son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, has been buried by an avalanche in Austria. The Prince was found after some 15 to 20 minutes, resuscitated at the scene and then taken to the university hospital in Innsbruck. His condition is critical but stable.

Official sources, such as the Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst or the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, have given no other information than that Prince Friso’s condition is “critical but stable”. Austrian media, more precisely the website oe24.at, were the first to give more details on his injuries. Around 3 pm (GMT +1) they claimed that the Prince suffered a basilar skull fracture and multiple traumatic injuries. Around 5 pm (GMT +1) they added that unconfirmed sources say Prince Friso is brain dead, the result of anoxia or a long and complete deprivation of oxygen.

Queen Beatrix and Princes Mabel, Prince Friso’s wife, arrived at the hospital in the course of the afternoon. Prince Willem-Alexander and Prince Constantijn, and their families, were still in the Netherlands and Belgium but are on their way to Austria. A government plane with Prince Willem Alexander and his family on board left Amsterdam around 7.30 pm, stopped in Brussels around 8 pm to collect Prince Constantijn and his family, and is now on its way to Austria.

Queen Beatrix and Prince Friso and his family are in Lech this week for their annual ski holiday. Over 50 cm of snow had fallen in the area over the past couple of days. This snow had fallen on an already icy snow layer, so it didn’t stick and there was a possibility that the fresh snow would start sliding. The roads into Lech had already been covered in an avalanche, cutting the place off of the rest of the world.

The local government had issued a category 4 risk of avalanches warning in the area. Category 5 is the highest avalanche risk category. Despite these circumstances, Prince Friso and three friends went out skiing. They decided to go off piste – while even skiing on piste would have been dangerous – and were caught in an avalanche of 30 metres wide and 40 metres long. One friend was wearing an avalanche safety system, some sort of ABS system which produces a big balloon protecting the skier from the snow. He managed to alert the rescue services, who arrived at the scene very quickly, and used detectors to find the Prince.

In the course of the afternoon, the doctors announced that they would only be able to make a prognosis in the course of the following days. They didn’t provide any details about the injuries the Prince sustained.

UPDATE:

The accident happened around noon near Litzen-Zugertobel. Austrian media report that Prince Friso was dragged along by the avalanche for some 40 metres, and buried under 50 cm of snow. Prince Friso was carrying a locating device which helped find him so quickly. The other man who was caught in the avalanche, Florian Moosbrugger, was wearing a sort of airbag device, which kept him afloat during the avalanche. this allowed him to free himself quickly. He alerted the rescue services and started looking for Prince Friso. He used his bare hands to free the Prince from the snow.

The mayor of Lech stated that the avalanche was probably caused by the skiers themselves. Which makes this whole situation very very sad.

Dutch Prime Minister Rutte said in a statement: “He is being cared for by the best doctors. We have all faith, because Austria has a very good reputation in medical care.” He also expressed his and the entire nation’s sympathy for the Queen and her entire family in this difficult time.

Austrian police have started an investigation into the ski accident of Prince Friso. They want to see if this was a case of negligence. This is standard procedure after a ski accident in Austria. One of the friends who went out skiing with the Prince, Florian Moosbrugger, also the owner of the hotel where the Royal Family are staying, has been interrogated in the matter.

Queen Beatrix herself, however, seems convinced that Florian Moosbrugger is not to blame for the accident. Moosbrugger’s mother informed the press that the Queen treated Florian like her own son, she gave him a big hug, showing that she didn’t think it was his fault at all.

Florian Moosbrugger has visited the Prince on Tuesday 21 February, together with Princess Mabel and Prince Constantijn.

We will be updating this blog as more news comes in. Also, check our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.

The Taj Mahal

Probably the best-known monument to royal love is the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. One of the most famous buildings in the world, it houses the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the fifth Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan. Known before his accession as Prince Khurram, he first met his wife-to-be, a Persian princess called Arjumand Banu Begum, in 1607 when they were in their early teens. They married in 1612, and the Prince gave his wife the name Mumtaz Mahal (meaning Jewel of the Palace). They were a devoted couple and she was by far the favourite of his three wives. She travelled with him, even when he went to war and even during her pregnancies, of which there were many. In the early 1620s she accompanied him during his unsuccessful rebellion against his father, Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The Emperor died in 1627, leaving Khurram (who then became Shah Jahan) as his successor. In 1631, pregnant with their 14th child, Mumtaz Mahal died of complications of childbirth. Shah Jahan was heartbroken.

Mumtaz Mahal

Shah Jahan was known as a great builder, and he left a legacy of several great examples of Mughal architecture. None was as great, however, as the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum built to house the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. It took 20,000 workers over 20 years to build, not being complete until 1653 although the tomb itself was finished about 10 years earlier. The building was constructed from white marble with other precious and semiprecious stones from all over Asia, and the cost is reported to have been around 32 million rupees.

Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb in 1658 after an illness and was placed under house arrest at another of his own buildings, Agra Fort, near the Taj Mahal. On his death in 1666 he was buried in the Taj Mahal next to his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. The building, which was badly damaged during the Indian rebellion of 1857, was restored in the early 20th century and stands as one of the world’s greatest monuments to love.

One of Britain’s best-known royal love matches was that between Queen Victoria and her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. They were married in 1840, nearly three years after Victoria’s accession, and Albert became her closest companion, friend, and advisor. She relied on him in her official position as well as in their family life, and he took on many of the duties of a private secretary. He was a liberal-minded reformer and encouraged the pursuit of science and engineering that were the foundation of the industrial revolution.

The Royal Albert Hall

In 1851, in the face of much opposition, he organised the Great Exhibition, a celebration of modern arts and sciences that was held in the specially constructed Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. Prince Albert proposed that as a follow-up to the exhibition, and financed by its profits, a series of permanent educational and cultural institutions should be built. Land was bought in South Kensington, and these institutions slowly took shape. As well as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, and the Natural History Museum, this complex, affectionately (or derisively) known as Albertopolis, was to contain a concert hall, known as the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences. However, before the complex could take shape, Prince Albert died at the early age of 42 in December 1861. Queen Victoria went into mourning from which she never emerged for the rest of her long life. Prince Albert was never to be forgotten, and he should have the most splendid memorial ever constructed. The proposed concert hall was renamed The Royal Albert Hall, and a memorial statue was to be erected opposite it in Hyde Park.

The Royal Albert Hall was designed in the form of a Roman amphitheatre by Captain Francis Fowke and Major Henry Young Darracott Scott of the Royal Engineers. It is a brick structure with a wrought-iron glazed roof, and its circular design makes it one of London’s most instantly recognisable buildings. Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone in 1867 and officially opened the building in 1871. It has been in use as a concert and sports venue ever since, and since 1942 it has been the home of the annual Promenade Concerts.

The Albert Memorial, viewed from the west

The Albert Memorial was designed as a pavilion in the Gothic Revival style, housing a seated statue of Prince Albert. After earlier designs were proposed and rejected, the pavilion was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1863. As well as the structure housing the statue of the prince, the memorial includes four sets of allegorical statues around the base of the pavilion (representing agriculture, engineering, commerce, and manufacturing) and four more around the outer edge of the memorial (representing Europe, Asia, Africa, and America). The bronze statue of Prince Albert was by the Irish sculptor John Henry Foley; it shows the Prince in Garter robes holding a catalogue of the Great Exhibition. The memorial was opened by Queen Victoria in July 1872, but the statue was not added until 1875. Queen Victoria’s hopes were amply fulfilled; no British monarch, with the possible exception of Victoria herself, has a monument anywhere near as grand as the Albert Memorial.

While Queen Victoria was well known for being sentimental and emotional – a true Hanoverian in many ways – these are terms that wouldn’t in a million years be applied to Edward I. One of England’s most aggressive and intimidating kings, Edward, who reigned from 1272 to 1307, has gone down in history as The Hammer of the Scots. In fact he died before he’d finished hammering them, but during his reign he did batter Wales into total submission, finally incorporating it into England in 1284 and proclaiming his young son Edward of Caernarvon as the first English Prince of Wales in 1301. When the Prince grew up to be totally unlike his father, uninterested in war but intensely interested in a succession of male favourites, Edward bullied and berated him, trying (unsuccessfully, as it turned out) to turn him into a warrior king in his own image. The result was that the Prince was terrified of his father, much like many other people who had to deal with him. Edward also had the distinction of clawing back much of the royal power that had been lost during the ineffective reigns of his father (Henry III) and grandfather (King John). This was a man to be respected and feared, but not, you would think, a man much inclined to give and receive love.

The Eleanor Cross at Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire

Surprisingly, though, Edward’s marriage to Eleanor of Castile in 1254 was a true love match. It was, of course, an arranged marriage, and both of them were still in their early teens at the time of their wedding. Nevertheless, their love stood the test of time; unusually for medieval kings, Edward appears not to have taken any mistresses or fathered any illegitimate children. Eleanor was an active participant in her husband’s wars, arranging for troops to be sent from France during his wars with the barons and later accompanying him on crusade. She bore him many children, but only one of their sons, the youngest, later Edward II, survived childhood.

In 1290, while travelling with Edward, she died near Lincoln. Edward abandoned his journey and slowly returned to London with his wife’s body. It took 12 days for the funeral procession to reach Westminster, and at each town where they stopped overnight, Edward arranged for a monument to be erected in the form of a tall cross. These crosses were originally wood but were later clad in highly decorated stone. They were erected during the three years after Eleanor’s death, with some workmanship being done locally and some done by artists from London. Memorial crosses were not unknown in Europe at the time, but a series of twelve, for a consort rather than a ruler, was an extravagant and expensive gesture.

The replica of the Eleanor Cross outside Charing Cross station in London

Three of these crosses are still standing today, although remnants of others can still be seen, and some (the crosses at Stamford and Dunstable) have been replaced by modern monuments. Some of the defunct crosses were demolished after centuries of neglect, but the two in London, at Cheapside and Whitehall, were deliberately destroyed in the 1640s during the Civil War by order of Parliament, amidst claims that they were Roman Catholic icons that were abhorrent to the ruling Puritans. The cross at the top of Whitehall was replaced after the Restoration by a statue of Charles I (whose position marks the official centre of London), and a replica was erected outside Charing Cross station in 1865. The crosses still stand as monuments of a remarkable medieval royal love story.

While there have been more conventional memorials to deceased royal spouses, including statues, chapels, and mausoleums, the monuments here are outstanding in their scale and execution, and they still have the power to remind us that some royal marriages have been spectacular successes.

Picture credits
Photo of the Taj Mahal by Flickr member Christian Haugen and used under Creative Commons licence.
Illustration of Mumtaz Mahal, public domain.
Photo of the Royal Albery Hall by Flickr member Kol Tregaskes and used under Creative Commons licence.
Photo of the Albert Memorial by Flickr member marttj and used under Creative Commons licence.
Photos of the Eleanor crosses at Waltham Cross and Charing Cross by Flickr member wirewiping and used under Creative Commons licence.

Elizabeth II in the years of her coronation (1952), silver jubilee (1977), and golden jubilee (2002)

Elizabeth II has been queen during a challenging period of British history. Because of her name she has been compared with Elizabeth I, and because of the length of her reign she has been compared with Queen Victoria, two other queens whose reigns spanned several decades and lasted into a new century (1558-1603 and 1837-1901, respectively). However, both previous queens led their country during times of expanding international influence and increasing prosperity, whereas Elizabeth II has been head of state of a declining power, a country dismantling its empire and looking for a new role and new alliances while questioning the need for many institutions previously taken for granted, including the monarchy. Her position as Head of the Commonwealth (many of whose member nations do not have the Queen as head of state), as opposed to the more grandiose Empress of India like Queen Victoria, is one example of the more low-key status of the modern monarchy.

Early in her reign, the major changes in society and culture were still in the future. She followed closely in her father’s footsteps and inherited his senior advisors and their way of doing things. The media were largely deferential and nowhere near as intrusive as they’ve become in recent years, and the Buckingham Palace press office was famous for being uncooperative. By the late 1960s this had changed almost beyond recognition. Throughout the decade, journalists, playwrights, and satirists were challenging the established institutions, and the monarchy wasn’t spared. There were complaints that the court was too narrowly upper class and white, not reflecting the newly multicultural society; there were complaints about the cost of the monarchy. Interestingly, the Queen herself was not criticised; most of the criticism was aimed at senior royal advisors who weren’t moving with the times, and at more junior royals (particularly Princess Margaret) who weren’t considered to be giving value for money. While the angry young men of the media mocked the monarchy, public interest, which had been intense early in the reign, was starting to decline.

The 1969 TV documentary “Royal Family” was, among other things, an attempt to respond to both criticism and apathy by showing what the Queen and her family did in their public and private lives. It was wildly successful and sparked a renewed interest in the royal family, also helped by the big ceremonial set-pieces of the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in July 1969 and Princess Anne’s wedding to Captain Mark Phillips in 1973.  Speculation about Prince Charles’s love life and eventual bride became a national pastime. And of course his 1981 wedding to Lady Diana Spencer was a media sensation - the new Princess of Wales became a media icon, often eclipsing the Queen.

The intense interest in the royal family in the 1980s turned sour in the 1990s with the collapse of the marriages of Prince Charles, Princess Anne, and Prince Andrew and the media circus around the breakup of the Wales marriage. The Queen’s “annus horribilis” in 1992, the year of her ruby jubilee, saw the separation of the Yorks and the Waleses and culminated in a devastating fire at Windsor Castle followed by a public outcry when the government offered to pay for the repairs. Even the announcement that the Queen would start paying tax on her private income was met by “too little too late” ingratitude. Diana’s death in 1997 led to a backlash against the royal family, including the Queen, that continued for several days until the Queen returned to London from Balmoral and spoke to her people on television.

The 21st century has been a calmer period for the Queen, with more positive press coverage as Princes William and Harry have grown up and started to take their place as senior royals. Although 2002 saw the death of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, there have also been happier occasions: Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005, Autumn Phillips gave birth to the Queen’s first great-grandchild, Savannah, in 2010, and of course Prince William married Catherine Middleton in 2011. The Queen made history in 2011 with her first state visit to the Republic of Ireland, and in that year she also hosted only the second state visit of a US President in her reign. She may be getting on in years, but she’s moving with the times.

There are also commemorative stamps, coins, and medals, issued in Britain and throughout the Commonwealth. A Diamond Jubilee Trust has been set up with Sir John Major as chairman. The Woodland Trust has launched the Jubilee Woods project, aiming to get people to plant 6 million trees to create new woodlands around the country, and the Queen Elizabeth II Fields initiative, with the Duke of Cambridge as patron, is focussed on creating and maintaining playing fields so that people will have access to safe outdoor areas for recreation. Two official diamond jubilee photographs have been released, one showing the Queen in front of a window in the Centre Room of Buckingham Palace with the Victoria Memorial behind her, neatly including the only two British monarchs who have celebrated diamond jubilees.

Despite the occasional suggestions that the Queen think about retiring, she is happily soldiering on with Prince Philip by her side, as has been the case ever since her accession. In a message released today, she said, “In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighbourliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign and which my family and I look forward to seeing in many forms as we travel throughout the United Kingdom and the wider Commonwealth.” It certainly sounds as though she expects to be queen for a good long time yet!

Collages by Kelly Lacroix, used with permission.

Margrethe is Denmark’s first Queen Regnant in 600 years, her predecessor being Margrethe I in the late 14th century. At the time of her birth she was not expected to succeed to the throne because women were excluded under the terms of the 1849 Constitution. However, given the popularity of the King and his daughters, as well as the more liberal outlook toward women by the middle of the 20th century, and also perhaps taking into account the popularity of Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands and the recent accession of Elizabeth II in Britain, the Constitution was amended in 1953 to allow female succession. Margrethe became heir to the throne, displacing the King’s brother Knud and his sons.

On 14 January 1972 Frederik IX died after a short illness, and Margrethe, by now a 31-year-old mother of two small sons, became Queen of Europe’s oldest continuous monarchy. She is known to her family and her people as Daisy, an affectionate nickname also given to her English maternal grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The commemorative coin issued for the Jubilee has a motif of daisies.

As well as the commemorative coin, several books have been published and a new portrait has been unveiled, showing the Queen with her heir Crown Prince Frederik and his elder son, Prince Christian.

The jubilee was marked by a week of celebrations (more details are given here). The Queen gave a series of interviews, including one to the BBC. On 10 January the royal family attended a reception hosted by Parliament. On 14 January, the anniversary of her father’s death, the Queen and her sisters and their families visited Frederik IX’s grave at Roskilde Cathedral and then attended a reception at Copenhagen Town Hall. In the evening there was a gala performance at the Danmark’s Radio Concert Hall. On 15 January the Queen attended a State Council meeting, which happened to be her 500th. There was a thanksgiving service at Christiansborg Palace Church in the afternoon and a gala banquet at the palace in the evening. The Danish royal family website has photo galleries of some of these events here.

Although polls have shown some support for the idea of Queen Margrethe abdicating in favour of her son Frederik and his popular Australian wife Mary, she has made it clear in interviews that in her view the position of monarch is a lifelong commitment. In the above-mentioned BBC interview she cited the example of Elizabeth II, who, before her accession, publicly dedicated her whole life to the service of her people. Since Queen Margrethe is only 71, a Golden Jubilee is a distinct possibility.

The Order of the Golden Fleece is one of the oldest orders in Europe. It was originally a chivalric order, founded by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate the Duke’s marriage to Isabella of Portugal, his third wife.

The symbol of the Golden Fleece refers to a story in Greek mythology. It is the skin of a golden winged ram, which appears in several stories but most famously in that of Jason and the Argonauts, who set out on a dangerous quest to retrieve the Fleece.

Although the symbol came from mythology, the reasons for founding the Order were more materialistic in nature. Philip the Good was the sovereign ruler of lands stretching from Flanders to Switzerland. Burgundy was a prosperous region, and the Duke a powerful monarch. The Order allowed him to single out a number of knights whom he trusted and who would, in turn, be even more loyal to him than they would have been if they weren’t in his confidence.

The Order received a number of privileges that were rather unusual for chivalric orders. The sovereign undertook to consult the order before going to war, which gave all the Knights a lot of influence. The Order had jurisdiction over all crimes committed by one of its Knights, even treason, heresy or rebellion. A Knight of the Order could only be arrested if at least six other knights had signed the warrant for his arrest, and all disputes between the knights were to be settled by the order. The sovereign himself was expressly included and given the same status as other Knights when it came to punishments for not following the Order’s rules.

The badge of the Order, in the form of a sheepskin, is suspended from a jewelled collar of firesteels in the shape of the letter B, for Burgundy; with the motto “Pretium Laborum Non Vile” (“Not a bad reward for labour”) engraved on the front of the central link, and Philip’s motto “Non Aliud” (“I will have no other”) on the back. This was because non-royal knights of the Golden Fleece were forbidden to belong to any other order of knighthood.

The order was given only to Catholics, which in the height of the Reformation days was a very explicit rejection of the Protestant religions.

The sovereignity of the order moved along with the different Habsburg empires to which the territories of Burgundy subsequently belonged, until in 1700 the last Habsburg King of Spain, Charles II, died without issue. He was succeeded by the first Bourbon King of Spain, Philip V, but this caused a dispute with the Austrian branch of the Habsburg family, who wanted to see Archduke Charles succeed to the Spanish throne, as they feared that the French and Spanish territories would be united under one Bourbon King. This caused the Spanish War of Succession, which lasted until 1714, when Philip V was confirmed as King of Spain.

This War of Succession, however, also caused the Order of the Golden Fleece to split up into a Bourbon or Spanish order and a Habsburg or Austrian order.

The Head of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece is the Spanish Monarch, who is also the Head of the House of Bourbon. He can award the Order to non-Catholics as well. The Duke of Wellington was the first Protestant to receive the Order of the Golden Fleece, in 1812. Under the reign of Isabella II, it was she who headed the Order, despite the fact that headship of the Order was ruled by Salic law.

Current knights and ladies of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece include King Juan Carlos of Spain, who is also Sovereign of the Order since his accession to the throne in 1975, the Prince of Asturias, and the current monarchs of Sweden, Luxembourg, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Norway, Thailand and Saudi Arabia, as well as the former monarchs of Greece and Bulgaria. Other members of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece include Javier Solana, former Secretary General of NATO, and Nicolas Sarkozy, French President and co-prince of Andorra.

The head of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece is also the head of the house of Habsburg, one of the only former ruling families in which the headship isn’t disputed. They have kept the rule that only Catholics can receive the order; moreover, it is only handed out to royals or nobles. When Empress Maria Theresa acceded to the throne in 1740, she did not claim sovereignty of the Order; instead, it was passed on to her husband, the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, and from there on to their children.

Current members of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece include Archduke Karl of Austria, sovereign of the Order since 2007 and head of the House of Habsburg; a number of monarchs such as King Albert II of Belgium, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and the Prince of Liechtenstein; and a number of people from German high nobility, such as the Duke of Bavaria, the Duke of Württemberg and the Duke of Hohenberg. King Albert II of Belgium is one of the very few who have the privilege to wear both orders.

On 30 November and 1 December 2011, the members of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece gathered in Bruges for their yearly chapter. The regalia of the Order are normally kept in the “Weltliche Schatzkammer” in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where most chapters of the Austrian Order take place. This year, however, the order gathered in Bruges, the city where it was founded almost 600 years ago.

The Knights gathered for Mass in the Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges, followed by dinner at the city hall, where the foundation of the Order is pictured on one of the wall decorations. On Thursday there was a chapter during which two new Knights took the oath and joined the order. These are the Prince de Ligne and prince Charles Louis de Mérode, both descendants from the highest Belgian nobility. There was also a requiem mass at the Church of Our Lady and lunch in the official residence of the Governor of West Flanders.

Picture credits

Portrait of Philip III (the Good), Duke of Burgundy, wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece. Painted by Rogier van der Weyden. Picture in the public domain.

Order of the Golden Fleece as displayed in the Schatzkammer of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (Austria). Picture by Peter Gerstbach and used under Creative Commons license.

Unlike most biographies, this one isn’t exactly chronological. It’s divided into two parts, the second of which (entitled “The Life”) is a fairly conventional biography of Wallis from her childhood through her marriages to Win Spencer and Ernest Simpson to her relationship with the Prince of Wales, the Abdication, and their life in exile together. What makes this book so fascinating is the first part, entitled “The Death,” which chronicles Wallis’s life (if you can call it a life) as a widow.

The book’s subtitle is “The tragic, untold story of the Duchess of Windsor,” and although it seems unlikely that any part of Wallis’s story is untold, the 14 years from the Duke’s death in 1972 until the Duchess’s death in April 1986 are not nearly as well known as their life together. This period of Wallis’s life, as her health crumbled and she fell totally under the control of her overbearing and overprotective French lawyer, Maitre Suzanne Blum, is every bit as tragic as the subtitle suggests.

The emphasis of this book is definitely on the Duchess’s widowhood, a period about which the author has some first-hand knowledge, having visited the Duchess’s home in Paris both before and after her death and having got to know the Duke’s private secretary, John Utter. It’s a detailed and increasingly horrifying account of how the Duchess, already in poor health at the time of the Duke’s death, gradually lost control of her life as the vultures started to circle. 

The first vulture was Earl Mountbatten, who had been a great friend of the Duke’s until the abdication and then switched his allegiance to the new king. After the Duke’s death, Mountbatten visited the Duchess several times in the hope of persuading her to set up a charitable foundation in the Duke’s name, to which she would naturally leave her money. His persistence, coupled with his habit of helping himself to small items that he claimed the Duke had wanted him to have, distressed the Duchess to the point where she had her lawyer (Maitre Blum) present during his visits.

Maitre Blum, the chief vulture of this story, gradually became more and more influential as the Duchess’s health deteriorated. She saw to it that Wallis’s other lawyers (in Britain and the USA) were fired, and she was responsible for the departure of some long-time members of staff, including John Utter. Eventually even the Duchess’s friends were turned away when they tried to visit. During this time it appeared that the royal family showed no interest in the Duchess’s plight even though concerned friends of Wallis tried to let them know. While the Duchess lay for years in her bedroom attached to life-support machines, Maitre Blum was handling her affairs, selling her possessions (often at bargain basement prices), and doing her best to see off the media. Anyone writing about the Duchess in newspapers or magazines could expect threats of legal action by Maitre Blum, who claimed that she was acting with the Duchess’s approval (at a time when Wallis was almost certainly comatose). In the meantime, Maitre Blum was working with the British lawyer and author, Michael Bloch, to publish letters and biographies of the Duke and Duchess. And as a final insult to the British, who Maitre Blum apparently hated, the bulk of the Duchess’s estate was left to the Pasteur Institute, a first-rate French medical research centre but not one that the Duchess had shown any great interest in during her lifetime.

The book contains some detailed family trees showing the Duchess’s descent from Edward I via the two prominent American families, the Warfields and her mother’s family the Montagues. It’s ironic to think that, if the Prince of Wales’s girlfriend Miss Bessiewallis Warfield had been young, attractive, and single, the press would have been making much of her family background as a member of the American aristocracy; instead of which, since she was middle-aged, plain, and divorced, she was painted as a grasping adventuress from the gutter.

Many of the books and movies about the Duke and especially the Duchess of Windsor have portrayed Wallis as either the world’s most awful person or nothing more than a well-meaning and naive woman who was overtaken by events. This book strikes a welcome balance between the extremes while also placing much of the blame for the debacle of the abdication where it actually belongs: on the shoulders of Edward VIII, not Mrs Simpson or even Prime Minister Baldwin. As well as being highly readable, it’s underpinned by meticulous research and interviews with people close to the Windsors. Apart from a couple of rather jarring typos in the second part (for example, describing the Canadian Premier, William Mackenzie King, as Prime Minister of Scotland), this book is a first-rate addition to the body of work on the Windsors. It will appeal to a general audience wanting some background to the abdication story, and with its pages of notes, details of the Duke and Duchess’s funerals, and family trees it is also an invaluable resource for serious royal watchers.

“Behind Closed Doors: the Tragic, Untold Story of the Duchess of Windsor” by Hugo Vickers, Hutchinson, April 2011.

In our modern royal families, we sometimes see a whimsical use of “creepy critter” type jewelry adornments, such as Crown Princess Maxima’s pair of oversized jeweled spider brooches  (for all of you Harry Potter fans, I am quite certain that Mr. Ronald Weasley would not appreciate the whimsy of these pieces at all!). It is well known that the late Diana, Princess of Wales, enjoyed playing with costume jewelry and wore a long Butler and Wilson snake brooch. The Duchess of Cornwall has an impressive collection of brooches, one of which is a long diamond brooch in the shape of an insect; it has been christened the “Stink Bug” by some royal jewel watchers, is said to have been a gift from her father.

The serpent has been a popular choice with royals. Queen Alexandra often wore a gold serpent bracelet which coiled about her wrist, and the Duchess of Cornwall often wears a diamond serpent necklace. Princess Margaret owned several serpent bracelets, which were auctioned in 2006 by Christie’s. One was a Victorian flexible coiled antique gold piece with ruby eyes, circa 1878, and made by Hancocks, which sold for over $75,000.00. The other was a less elaborate piece, circa 1860, set with a graduated line of cabochon turquoises and rose-cut diamond eyes, which sold for over $15,000. An additional antique blue enamel, ruby, and diamond snake bracelet, circa 1840, sold for just over $15,000.

Owls are nocturnal creatures and are associated with Halloween. Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood (daughter of George V), was a collector of owl trinkets. One such trinket (among her other items) that was auctioned in 2007 was a Russian carved bowenite bellpush in the shape of the head of an owl set with cabochon sapphire eyes, which sold for over $25,000.00.

The Royal Collection contains a pendant with a serpent coiled around a tree containing two skull cameos; this piece is reputed to have been owned by Mary, Queen of Scots, and was presented to Elizabeth II in 1977. It is an openwork pendant set in gold and enamel. The stones contained within the piece are rubies, pearls, and opals, and emeralds. There is a green, yellow, and black enamel snake, and the latin words “Vie et Mort”, translated to “Life and Death” are found in white enamel.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were a couple who enjoyed commemorating moments in life with trinkets. Albert created bracelets and necklaces from Scottish pebbles (an example is shown here) and designed exquisite jewels for his wife, including tiaras. Not content to work with jewels and rocks, he took to creating brooches with their eldest daughter Vicky’s milk teeth. In all fairness, this was not an uncommon practice in Victorian England, where teeth, animal parts, and hair (both human and animal) were used to create jewelry, but it certainly seems eccentric to us now. One poignant piece designed by Albert contains Vicky’s first lost milk tooth as the flower in a gold and enamel thistle-shaped brooch. The inscription on the back read that Albert pulled the tooth on 13 September 1847 when Vicky was seven.

Prince Albert was a lifelong hunter and often presented “little souveniers of himself” to staff and friends that were often pieces of jewelry set with stag teeth. This piece was an 1851 birthday gift to Queen Victoria and was made by Garrards. Engraved on the back is the date of the kill and the date the gift was presented, “Dee Sept.11.1850 From Albert May 24 1851”. An additional brooch of stag teeth mounted in gold oak leaves was given to Victoria at Christmas in 1853, followed later by matching earrings and this matching necklace.  An additional necklace of gold and 44 stag’s teeth was also a gift to Queen Victoria; upon each tooth is inscribed the date of the kill.
The Prince had matching stag tooth brooches made for his daughters, Princess Victoria (Vicky) and Princess Louise. These brooches were also engraved with the dates of the killing of the stag.

It is certainly interesting to see what is “lying about” in the Royal Collection and Vaults; perhaps a stag tooth tiara will one day emerge!

Collage by Kelly Lacroix, used with permission.

BIOGRAPHY

King Michael during his first reign

Born at Pelesch Castle on 25 October 1921, Michael was the only son of then Crown Prince Carol (eldest son and heir of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie, née Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) and his second wife Helen, née Princess of Greece and Denmark. His parents’ marriage, an arranged match that forced Carol to leave his (illegally married) beloved first wife, lasted just long enough for them to get an heir, and was officially dissolved in 1928.

In 1925 Prince Carol eloped with his mistress and renounced his rights to the throne, making Michael the Heir to his grandfather’s throne. Two years later, on 20 July 1927, King Ferdinand died and Michael became King of the Romanians, under a regency council. This first reign lasted only three years, as in June 1930 Michael’s father was called back by politicians dissatisfied by the dysfunctional regency council and was proclaimed King by the Parliament.

Carol II reigned until he was forced to abdicate on 6 September 1940 after a coup d’etat organized by Prime Minister Antonescu; Michael then became King for the second time, but he reigned as a mere figurehead, with the pro-Nazi Antonescu as the actual ruler. In August 1944, when it was expected that the Soviet army would invade Romania, King Michael managed to get rid of Antonescu; eventually the Soviets invaded the country and forced the King to appoint a pro-Soviet government, and thus he continued reigning just as a figurehead.

By the end of 1947 the communist Romanian government became increasingly intolerant of the monarchy, and on 30 December 1947 the Prime Minister forced Michael to abdicate. As the King recalled 60 years later, “They said, ‘If you don’t sign this immediately we are obliged’ — why obliged I don’t know — to kill more than 1000 students that they had in prison.”

At the age of 26, Michael started his life as an exile, firstly in Italy, then in Switzerland, in England, and finally again in Switzerland. During his exile, he worked as a commercial airline pilot.

On 10 June 1948 in Athens he married Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma, whom he had met a few months earlier in London at the marriage of The Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten (who is a cousin of Michael’s). The marriage of the Orthodox Michael and the Catholic Anne caused much turmoil, because the Pope would allow such a mixed marriage only if Michael promised to raise their children as Catholics; Michael refused to make such a promise, because it would have been against the Romanian monarchical constitution, but at the same time he decided to proceed with the marriage despite the opposition of the Pope and of Anne’s family. Eventually, 18 years and two Popes later, the couple was allowed to contract a Catholic union too; it was celebrated in Monaco on 9 November 1966.

The couple had five daughters together: Margarita, Elena, Irina, Sofia and Maria. Given the lack of sons and of other close male relatives eligible to succeed him to the Romanian throne, King Michael amended the succession rules in 2007 and allowed his daughter Margarita to succeed him; at the same time he gave his grandson Nicholas (Princess Elena’s son) the title of Prince of Romania, making clear the order of succession after his death.

In 1992, after the fall of communism in Romania, Michael was allowed to return to his motherland; in 1997 his Romanian citizenship was restored and he has been given back two royal residences, where he lives part of the year, as well as a pension as a former Head of State.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

King Michael in 2007

To celebrate King Michael’s milestone birthday, many celebrations have been planned.

One month ago Crown Princess Margareta and her husband Prince Radu launched a CD containing “The King’s music,” a selection of Michael’s favourite pieces. On 3 October the Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isărescu, presented to the Crown Princess and Prince Radu with the Jubilee Medal “King Michael 90,” minted by the National Bank. On 21 October Crown Princess Margarita, Prince Radu and Prince Nicholas launched the book “The King’s Year” at the National Museum of Romanian History. Later that day Prince Nicholas attended the inauguration of the exhibition “King Michael – 90” at Pelisor Castle.

On 22 and 23 October the King received at Elisabeth Palace in Bucharest (his residence in the Capital) a delegation of the Ex Political Prisoners Association, a group of young students at the King Michael’s school in Bucharest, a delegation of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church leaded by Mihai Fratila, Auxiliary Bishop of Alba Iulia and Fagaras, and a delegation from the Czech Republic, which awarded the King  the Honorary Citizenship of Kroměříž.

The crowning events took place on 24 and 25 October. Yesterday morning a luncheon was held at the Marble Hall of the National Bank of Romania; it was attended by the King and Queen and their family (except for Princess Sofia, who didn’t attend any of the celebrations) and many political, cultural and social Romanian personalities. In the afternoon Princess Elena and Princess Irina, accompanied by their husbands, inaugurated the exposition “Stella Maris – Inima Reginei” about Queen Marie of Romania, Michael’s grandmother. Later in the evening a concert was hosted by the Foundation “Princess Margareta of Romania” at the Romanian Athenaeum; the concert was performed by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Christian Badea.

This morning His Majesty delivered a speech in front of a joint assembly of the Chambers of the Parliament of Romania, for the first time since 1947; in his speech, the King exhorted the Romanian politicians to strengthen democracy in the country and to restore its dignity. The most illustrious absentee was President Traian Basescu, who a few months ago publicly remarked the King for having been “a slave to the Russians” and for his abdication in 1947, defined by Basescu as an “act of treason.” In the evening a gala concert took place at the Romanian National Opera, attended by King Michael, the Romanian Royal Family and many foreign royal guests, followed by a dinner held at the CEC Palace.

The last two events are planned for tomorrow for the Romanian Royal Family and its royal guests: in the morning King Michael will host a brunch at Elisabeth Palace, and in the evening the whole group will attend the performance “Royal Fashion” at the Sala Rapsodia Theathre, followed by a dinner. Then on Friday the guests will leave, as well as King Michael and Queen Anne, who will return to Switzerland.

The list of royal guests attending the celebrations in Bucharest is, as one may expect, impressive: Archduke Georg and Archduchess Eilika of Austria, Archduke Martin and Archduchess Katharina of Austria-Este, Archduke Dominic and Archduchess Nella of Austria-Tuscany, Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria-Tuscany and her husband Baron Hans Ulrich von Holzhausen (Dominic and Maria Magdalena are King Michael’s cousins, being the children of Princess Ileana of Romania), Princess Alexandre of Belgium (better known as Princess Lea), King Simeon II of Bulgaria, Baron Axel de Sambucy de Sorgue (son of Princess Chantal of France, and representative of the French Royal Family), Prince Georg Friedrich and Princess Sophie of Prussia, the Margrave and Margravine of Baden, Hereditary Prince Bernhard and Hereditary Princess Stephanie of Baden, Prince Ludwig and Princess Marianne of Baden, Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, Duke Friedrich and Duchess Marie of Württemberg, Prince Amedeo and Princess Silvia of Savoy, the Duke and Duchess of Aosta (Amedeo is a cousin of the King), Princess Muna al Hussein of Jordan, Prince El Hassan bin Talal and Princess Sarvath of Jordan, Princess Rym al Ali of Jordan, Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein, Princess Isabelle of Liechtenstein, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg (cousins of Queen Anne), Crown Prince Nicholas of Montenegro, Duke Duarte and Duchess Isabel of Braganza, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, Grand Duke George of Russia, Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia (Alexander is both a paternal and maternal cousin of King Michael), Prince Vladimir and Princess Brigitte of Yugoslavia, Queen Sofia of Spain (cousin of King Michael), Countess Madeleine Bernadotte, Prince Karel zu Schwarzenberg, Princess Tatiana Radziwill, Mrs. Fruchaud, and her husband Dr. Jean Fruchaud, Princess Anne of Ligne, Mrs. de Fabribeckers de Cortils et Grâce, and husband Charles de Fabribeckers de Cortils et Grâce, Prince Wenceslas and Princess Armelle of Lobkowicz, Prince Wilhelm and Princess Ilona of Schaumburg-Lippe, and Fürst Alois Konstantin zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg with his son Prince Dominik. King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden were invited, but couldn’t attend the celebrations.

Photo Credits
Postcard of King Michael during his first reign, public domain.
King Michael in December 2007, taken by Flickr member emanuelstoica1, used under Creative Commons licence.

The new name and coat of arms

The tradition started spontaneously in 2007 when repatriations were moved temporarily to Lyneham from RAF Brize Norton. Over the years, families and friends of the deceased servicemen travelled to Wootton Bassett to take part, and many of them have said that the support they received from the residents, and the knowledge that the sacrifice of their loved ones was appreciated and respected, meant a great deal to them.  By 2009 the press were reporting the repatriation ceremonies, and people from out of town travelled there to take part. Eventually there were thousands of people lining the streets every time the hearses drove past. The last repatriation at Lyneham took place in August; repatriations are now back at Brize Norton, and Lyneham is being closed. The flag that flew over the war memorial in Wootton Bassett has been sent to the town of Carterton in Oxfordshire, the nearest town to Brize Norton.

Last year Prince Harry attended the Remembrance Sunday commemoration at Wootton Bassett, where he opened a remembrance field dedicated to servicemen and women killed in Afghanistan.

The Princess Royal at Royal Wootton Bassett, 16 October 2011

Support has been growing for official recognition of the town in the form of a name change to Royal Wootton Bassett, a rare mark of respect that has been bestowed on towns only twice in the past (on Leamington Spa in 1838 and Tunbridge Wells in 1909). In March the Queen gave her consent and issued Letters Patent confirming the new name. On Sunday 16 October 2011, the Princess Royal presented the town with the Letters Patent (video). She was joined by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the new Secretary of Defence, Philip Hammond. In her speech she praised the people of the town for their actions, saying, “I am privileged to be allowed to add my thanks to those of Her Majesty the Queen and the whole country for the example you set in respecting with dignity the losses that this country’s operational responsibilities have forced upon us.” The ceremony also included a march-past by members of the armed force and a fly-past by aircraft from Lyneham. The mayor, Paul Heaphy, said that  ”This is not a day for celebration but one for commemoration, one of recognition, and one to mark the beginning of a new chapter for our town.”

Along with the new name, the town has a new coat of arms, with the royal lion of England replacing one of the three lozenges, and a new and very appropriate motto, “We honour those who serve.”

Photo Credits
The new name and coat of arms on the town’s Welcome sign, by Flickr member Nikonsnapper and used with permission.
The Princess Royal at Royal Wootton Bassett on 16 October 2011, by Flickr member reardwen and used with permission.

Today the 31-year-old King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, married 21-year-old student Jetsun Pema in a small, traditional ceremony, which was held in an old Buddhist monastery a few miles outside the capital, Thimphu. Thousands lined the streets towards and around the monastery, in order to catch a glimpse of the royal couple.

A few days before the wedding, on 10 October, the couple attended a gala evening, held at the India House in Thimphu in their honour. On 12 October, the day before the wedding, the bride-to-be visited the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang temple in Dochula to offer prayers. The wedding itself took place in the Punakha Dzong, the second oldest dzong structure in Bhutan, presided over by the country’s senior religious leader, the Je Khenpo, and combined the traditional Buddhist marriage ceremony and coronation of the new queen by the king. The king’s father, ex-king Jigme Singye Wangchuck, took part in the ceremony, presenting the bride with a set of five scarves in auspicious colours. The king, wearing the Raven Crown, placed the silk crown of the Druk Gyal-tsuen on his wife’s head. She was then proclaimed Queen of Bhutan.

Unlike the other major royal weddings this year – those of Prince William and Kate Middleton  in Britain and Prince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock in Monaco – this wedding was deliberately low-key and intended as a celebration for the people of Bhutan; foreign royalty and heads of state were not invited. A three-day national holiday from October 13 to 15 was declared.

Ex-king Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who ascended the throne in 1972 at the age of 17 and abdicated in favour of his eldest son in 2006, married four sisters in a single ceremony; the present king is the son of the third sister, Queen Ashi Tshering Yangdon. He was born on 21 February 1980 and has two younger siblings as well as seven half-brothers and -sisters from his father’s other wives. He was educated at Wheaton College in Massachusetts and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became king at the age of 26 and was crowned two years later. Unlike his father, he will have just one wife.

According to the Bhutan Observer, the bride was born on 4 June 1990 and is the second oldest of four children of Dhondup Gyaltshen and  Sonam Chuki. The Bhutan Times reports that, like Kate Middleton, she is a commoner and the daughter of an airline pilot (although Michael Middleton wasn’t a pilot but a flight dispatcher) and is distantly related to the royal family. It has been reported that the couple have known each other since the King was 17 and the Queen was only 7. At 21 years old, she becomes the world’s youngest queen, replacing the 41-year-old Queen Rania of Jordan.

The couple are expected to spend their honeymoon in India later this month.