Portraits


Royalty in all shapes and forms

Germany, Beyond Prussia

King Ludwig II of Bavaria was briefly engaged. He was handsome and young, the Bavarians idolized him. He fell in love with his cousin, Duchess Sophie, or at least he claimed to have. However, over the course of their engagement, poor Sophie found her fiancé’s attitude increasingly outrageous. Finally, they called the marriage off. Later,…

19th Century France

Antoine d’Oléans, the Duke of Montpensier, married Maria Louisa Fernanda of Bourbon, the Infanta of Spain, sister of Isabelle II. It was a marriage that provoked intrigue, plots, and revolution. One of their daughters, the Infanta Isabelle, married Philippe, the Count of Paris, head of the House of France. The Montpensiers, after decades of turmoil,…

England

Queen Victoria was mad about family gatherings, always making them pose for her. She loved her husband, but was a very demanding wife, to the point that it exhausted poor Albert. She was also an authoritarian mother, leaving nothing to be decided by her children. Pictured is the adoring wife and protective royal mother.  …

Fascist Italy 4

In Morocco, where the Duke and Duchess of Guise lived during the war. Pictured is their son Henry, the future Count of Paris, and his Cousin, Amedeo, the future Duke of Aosta.   Amedeo of Savoy, the Duke of Aosta, was a committed athlete. He is pictured here in a bathing suit in front of…

Portugal

King Louis I of Portugal, unlike the majority of his countrymen, was a blue eyed blond. He was the son of a German Prince, Ferdinand of Saxe Cobourg, who married the ruling Queen, Maria II de Gloria. Louis I wasn’t destined for the throne, but the death of his elder brother, the young King Pedro V,…


19th Century Royalty

Princess Isabelle of France, the future Duchess of Guise. God knows why my grandmother is wearing this crusader costume, which clearly doesn’t suit her. She does not seem very pleased with it herself.   King Carlos I of Portugal had a profound fondness for his sisters-in-law, Helen the Duchess of Aosta and Isabelle the Duchess…

Fascist Italy III

The Santa Chiara Church in Naples, the day after it was bombed. Helen, the old Duchess of Aosta, was called in to gather and clean up the bones of the former Kings of Naples, whose tombs had burst open during the bombing.   Umberto, the Prince of Piedmont, the second from the left, with the…

Fascist Italy II

The two Duchesses of Aosta, the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law, the aunt and the niece. Helen of France, the Dowager, gives a rather fascist looking salute, while her daughter-in-law, Anne of France, salutes more discretely, like her opinions.   Photograph signed by King Victor Emmanuel III. He is posing on the terrace of one of…

Fascist Italy

Umberto, the Prince of Piedmont, and Future King of Italy, with Mussolini. These two men did not like each other. The Crown Prince was deeply antifascist but he did what he had to do to keep up appearances, as this photograph shows.   King Victor Emmanuel III visiting military installations. Behind him, with a white…

Family Portrait, Greece

My grandfather, George I, shared a profound bond with his sister Alexandra, who became Queen of England upon marrying Edward VII. They wrote to each other at least once a week, and Queen Alexandra made frequent visits to Athens. Pictured are the brother and sister during an intimate walk in the gardens of the Royal…