Happy Habsburg

An empire in which the sun never sets

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Princess Hermine of Schaumburg-Lippe with her Reuss of Greiz grandchildren, Princess Emma, Princess Caroline, Prince Heinrich XXIV, Princess Hermine and Princess Marie. Early 1890s.

Princess Hermine's granddaughter and namesake Hermine would marry Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1922 as his second wife.

Sadly Hermine's daughter, Princess Ida who was the children's mother died in 1891, four days after giving birth to one daughter who was named after her late mother and isn't pictured in this photograph.

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Wedding of Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern (1891-1965) and Princess Margarete Karola of Saxony (1900-1962) on June 2, 1920 in Schloss Sibyllenort, Silesia, Germany.

Frederick was the eldest son of William, Prince of Hohenzollern and Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies who was a niece of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

The bride was the eldest born daughter of King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony and his disgraced ex-wife Archduchess Louise of Austria.

The bridal couple with their siblings.

From left to right: Princess Maria Alix of Saxony, Crown Prince Georg of Saxony, Princess Margarete Karola of Saxony, Prince Frederick of Hohenzollern, Prince Francis Joseph of Hohenzollern and Princess Anna of Saxony.

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Marie Anne, Princess Consort of Schaumburg- Lippe and her sons in 1900.

From right to left: Prince Adolf, Prince Moritz Georg, Prince Wolrad, Prince Stephan and Prince Heinrich.

She looked so much like her sister Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna!

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The six surviving children of Phillipe and Isabelle, the count and countess of Paris

-Princess Amelia, later Queen of Portugal (1865-1951)

-Prince Louis Phillipe, duke of Orleans (1869-1926)

-Princess Helene, later duchess of Aosta (1871-1951)

-Princess Isabelle, later duchess of Guise (1878-1961)

-Princess Louise, later Pss Borbon-due Sicilie (1882-1958)

-Prince Ferdinand, duke of Montpensier (1884-1924)

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Bourbon-Two Sicilies Royal Family, early 1890s.

Back row: Prince Carlos, Princess Maria di Grazia, Prince Alfonso Count of Caserta, Princess Maria Cristina and Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Calabria.

Front row: Princess Maria Giuseppina, Prince Gennaro, Princess Maria Immaculata, Prince Francesco d'Assisi, Prince Ranieri, Prince Philip and Princess Maria Antonietta Countess of Caserta.

Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain is the great-grandfather of King Felipe of Spain.

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Royals Gathering in Gmunden, Austria. This photo was probably taken during the engagement/wedding of Prince Maximilian of Baden and Princess Marie Louise of Hanover in 1900, as Prince Christian of Hanover was still alive.

Close-up photo:

Back row: Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Princess Margaret of Hesse-Kassel née Prussia, Princess Marie Louise of Hanover, Prince Frederick of Anhalt, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria, Archduchess Isabella Duchess of Teschen, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, Hereditary Prince George William of Hanover and Prince Christian of Hanover.

Front row: Prince Johann of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Crown Prince Constantine of Greece, Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover, Marie Duchess of Anhalt née Baden, Crown Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover and Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse-Kassel.

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The Brazilian Royal Family, pictured in 1887, included (from left): Prince Antônio Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, Isabel Princess Imperial of Brazil, Pedro de Alcântara Prince of Grão-Pará, Prince Luís of Orleans-Braganza(seated),Prince August Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Emperor Pedro II,Gaston Count of Eu, Empress Teresa Cristina and Prince Peter August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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The three princes and princess depicted here are the surviving children of Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1852-1923) and Princess Marie of Windisch-Graetz (1856-1929). Because their mother was Catholic, the children were raised in this religion, even though the Mecklenburg House was actually Protestant.

To the left is Duchess Marie Antoinette (1884-1944), she remained unmarried, although her aunt Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna "The Elder" was looking for a husband for her at the Tsar's court. Marie Antoinette was - like her parents - heavily in debt and spent more money than she had. During the First World War she made herself useful as a nurse in hospitals. Duchess Marie Antoinette of Mecklenburg-Schwerin died at the age of 60.

Duke Heinrich Borwin (1885-1942) sits on the swing. Like his siblings, he caused a lot of trouble over debts and waste. Heinrich Borwin was also noticeable in the military. Until the outbreak of the First World War he had settled in the USA, after which he was forced to return to Germany. Heinrich Borwin was married three times, two of his wives were wealthy. Nevertheless, both marriages ended in divorce, the third woman was without wealth - but this connection lasted. Duke Heinrich Borwin of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was 56 years old.

Duke Paul Friedrich (1882-1904) can be seen on the right. He was the oldest child in the family. He was a seaman in the Imperial Navy. Paul Friedrich also caused many problems. He was found hanged on the chandelier in his villa - presumably suicide. Duke Paul Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin died at the age of 22.

Königliche Geschwister: Die Kinder von Paul Friedrich zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Die drei hier abgebildeten Prinzen und die Prinzessin sind die überlebenden Kinder von Herzog Paul Friedrich zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1

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Royal siblings from the Grand Ducal House of Baden

From left to right: Marie, Princess of Leinigen, her brother, Prince Karl of Baden and her younger sister, Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna of Russia.

In the fall of 1860 Olga and her husband visited England. Queen Victoria described their meeting in a letter to her daughter Victoria, Crown Princess of Prussia Windsor, 24 October 1860:

They (Michael and Cecile) came to luncheon on Monday and stayed till yesterday. Dear Marie L (Leiningen, née Baden, Cecile's sister) came with them. They were both most amiable and friendly. Cecile is as unlike her sister as possible--but Marie says her features are like their brother Karl. The features are fine but the figure is not good and she stoops and bends which spoils her very much; she is very good humored, merry and agreeable and clever, and the sisters were so happy together...The Grand Duke is really quite charming--so mild and gentle and gemütlich--always speaking German, and so unlike his brother Konstantin and his sisters. We were charmed with him, and I hear wherever he goes--high and low, love him...he looks very delicate, and so I think does she...They say that the little boy of Cecile's (Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia ) is lovely. Unfortunately I could not see him.

Well, I can see that Marie was right. Karl and Cecilie had similiar features, whereas Marie resembled her brother Prince Wilhelm of Baden, who was the father of famous Prince Max of Baden.

Prince Wilhelm of Baden.

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Resemblance

Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna of Russia and her daughter Princess Elsa of Schaumburg-Lippe.

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Portrait of Queen Elena of Italy and her children Princesses Jolanda, Malfada, Giovanna and Prince Umberto of Piedmont, with King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria of Sweden in Tor Paterno, Rome. Late 1900s.

Source: Getty images.

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King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony's daughters

Princess Margarete Karola (1900-1962).

Princess Maria Alix (1901-1990)

Princess Anna (1903-1976)

They were related to Queen Victoria through their paternal great-grandfather, Ferdinand II of Portugal née Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was Queen Victoria's first cousin.

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Princess Eudoxia and Princess Nadezhda of Bulgaria

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Crown Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria (1870 - 1899)

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Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia, an outstanding general from artillery.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Grand Duke withdrew from politics. He was removed from the army, sent from St. Petersburg, first to Vyatka, then to Yekaterinburg and finally to Alapaevsk. On May 20, 1918, he, along with other august prisoners, was placed in the Floor School. On the night of July 17-18, 1918, they were put on carts and taken to the side of the Nizhnyaya Selimskaya mine. Sergei Mikhailovich rushed at the guards, seeing how his relatives were being killed. “He rather provoked the shot. A combat officer, general of artillery, he preferred a bullet, if death was inevitable".

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Tsar Nicholas II and family, mids 1890s.

Back row: Tsar Nicholas II and Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.

Front row: Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich.

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Prince Christopher of Greece sits on the lap of his aunt Maria Feodorovna and holds hands with his cousin Olga Alexandrovna. Mikhail Alexandrovich stands behind his sister Xenia and Christopher’s sister Maria, who were also devoted friends. 

Michael [Alexandrovich] and Olga [Alexandrovna] were not only my favourite cousins, but my best friends and the three of us used to have great times together, running wild in the gardens of the Palace, riding on the miniature electric railway, which was our special joy.  This was a wonderful affair, made by a famous firm of railway contractors, who presented it to the Emperor’s children. Its coaches and trucks were exact copies of the real ones, its engines attained a speed of four or five miles an hour; its lines were equipped with stations, tunnels and railway bridges calculated to delight the heart of any child. 

Christopher of Greece, Memoirs.  Incidentally, Christopher had a son named Michael (who is the author of Nicholas and Alexandra: The Family Albums among other works), and I’ve always wondered if he were named in honor of Mikhail Alexandrovich.