Eilika Duchess of Oldenburg
Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg (née Duchess Eilika Helene Jutta Clementine of Oldenburg) (born 22 August 1972) is the wife of Georg von Habsburg, the third in the line of succession to the titular Austro-Hungarian throne. She was in line of succession to the British throne before her marriage to a Roman Catholic. She is a daughter of Duke Johann of Oldenburg and his wife Countess Ilka of Ortenburg.[1] Her father is a younger son of Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg and his wife Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
Marriage
Wedding ceremony
On 18 October 1997, Eilika married Georg von Habsburg in St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, Hungary.[1][2][3] He is the younger son of Otto von Habsburg (himself a son of the deposed Emperor Charles I of Austria) and his wife Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen. Among the wedding guests were Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Prince Albert of Monaco, and Hassan II of Morocco.[2] Pope John Paul II sent his best wishes to the couple, and ambassadors of many foreign nations, including the United States, attended as representatives.[2] The 25-year-old Eilika wore a high-necked white dress, along with a veil worn by her great-grandmother Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1896.[4] The ceremony was broadcast live on Hungarian television; roughly 2,000 Hungarian citizens and tourists gathered outside the church to witness the wedding.[4]
Their wedding was the first union between the Catholic Habsburgs and Lutheran Oldenburgs in their families' histories (Archduchess Isabella of Austria married Oldenburg King Christian II of Denmark before the Reformation) and the first marriage between members of the houses of Habsburg and Oldenburg since the wedding of Archduke Joseph and Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia, herself a member of the house of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov, a branch of the Oldenburgs.[3] It was also the second time that a Habsburg was married in Hungary since the fall of communism in 1989.[3]
Issue
The couple have three children:
- Archduchess Zsófia Mária Tatjana Monika Erzsébet Katalin of Austria (Sophie Maria Tatiana Monica Elisabeth Catherine), born in Budapest, 12 January 2001
- Archduchess Ildikó Mária Walburga of Austria (Hilda Maria Walburga), born in Budapest, 6 June 2002
- Archduke Károly-Konstantin Mihály István Mária of Austria (Karl-Konstantin Michael Stephan Maria), born in Budapest, 20 July 2004
Succession and living arrangements
Georg is the only one of his siblings to make a dynastically equal marriage according to Habsburg family laws. Had his father not accepted his older brother Karl's marriage to Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, which would have been otherwise considered morganatic, Georg would have been his father's heir after his elder brother, as it would have been with Archduke Franz Ferdinand towards Emperor Franz Joseph.
She and her family live next to the village of Sóskút, in Pest County in Hungary. Their eldest child was the first Habsburg to be born in Hungary in more than fifty years. While Georg is a Roman Catholic, Eilika has chosen to remain a Lutheran.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
- 22 August 1972 - 18 October 1997 Her Highness Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg
- 18 October 1997 – present: Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Eilika
Ancestry
Eilika's ancestors in four generations
| 16. Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8. Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17. Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4. Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18. Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9. Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19. Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2. Duke Johann of Oldenburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20. George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10. Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21. Princess Helena of Nassau | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5. Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22. Prince William of Schaumburg-Lippe | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11. Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe | |||||||||||||||||||
| 23. Princess Bathildis of Anhalt-Dessau | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1. Archduchess Eilika of Austria | |||||||||||||||||||
| 24. Count Friedrich of Ortenburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12. Count Friedrich of Ortenburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 25. Princess Anastasia von Wrede | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6. Count Alfred of Ortenburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 26. Prince Alfred of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 13. Princess Ilka of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 27. Countess Pauline of Reichenbach-Lessonitz | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3. Countess Ilka of Ortenburg | |||||||||||||||||||
| 28. Gottfried Karl von Lücken | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14. Rudolf Leopold von Lücken | |||||||||||||||||||
| 29. Valeska von Löbbecke | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7. Jutta von Lucken | |||||||||||||||||||
| 30. Roland, Count von Brünneck-Bellschwitz | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15. Countess Irmgard von Brünneck-Bellschwitz | |||||||||||||||||||
| 31. Maria von Neitzschütz | |||||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ a b Lundy, Darryl. "The Peerage: Eilika Helene Jutta Clementine von Holstein-Gottorp, Duchess of Oldenburg". Retrieved 18 August 2010.
- ^ a b c "Archduke of Austria Weds German Duchess in Hungary", European Stars and Stripes, Budapest, 19 October 1997
- ^ a b c "Hungary to Host Royal Wedding", The Globe and Mail, Budapest, 18 October 1997
- ^ a b "Grandson of Last Emperor Married", Indiana Gazette, Budapest, 19 October 1997