Eilika Duchess of Oldenburg (née Eilika Helene Jutta Clementine Duchess of Oldenburg; born 22 August 1972) is the wife of

Georg von Habsburg Archduke Georg von HabsburgThe Habsburgs' titles are not recognised anymore in Austria or in Hungary, where he is referred to as Georg Habsburg-Lothringen, which is his legal name (see Austrian nobility and Statute IV of 1947 regarding the abol ...

, the third in the line of succession to the former Austro-Hungarian throne. By birth she is the member of the House of Oldenburg, while by marriage she became a member of the House of Habsburg.

Early life and ancestry

She is a daughter of Johann, Duke of

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

(b. 1940) and his wife Ilka, Countess of Ortenburg (b.1942). Her father is a younger son of Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg and his wife, Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont, while her mother is the third child of Count Alfred of Ortenburg (1906-1970) and his wife, Jutta von Lücken (1906-1991).

Marriage

Wedding ceremony

On 18 October 1997, Eilika married

St. Stephen's Basilica St. Stephen's Basilica ( hu, Szent István-bazilika ) is a Roman Catholic basilica in Budapest, Hungary. It is named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c 975–1038), whose right hand is housed in the reliquary. It was the sixth l ...

in Budapest, Hungary. 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 Regina von Habsburg (née Princess Regina Helene Elisabeth Margarete of Saxe-Meiningen; 6 January 1925 – 3 February 2010), also known by the traditional royal title of Archduchess Regina of Austria, was a German-born Austrian social worker. She ...

. Among the wedding guests were Felipe, Prince of Asturias,

Prince Albert of Monaco Albert II – Website of the Palace of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, since 2005. Albert was born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, and he is the second child and only son of Prince Rai ...

, and

Hassan II of Morocco Hassan II ( ar, الحسن الثاني, translit=al-Ḥasan aṯ-ṯhānī;), with the prefix "Mulay" before his enthronement 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was the King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999. He was a member of the 'Ala ...

. Pope John Paul II sent his best wishes to the couple, and ambassadors of many foreign nations, including the United States, attended as representatives. The 25-year-old Eilika wore gold and pearl Oldenburg family tiara, a high-necked white dress, along with a veil worn by her great-grandmother

Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Duchess Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (10 August 1869 – 3 September 1955) was a daughter of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg by his third wife Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. By her marriage to Frederick Augustu ...

in 1896. The ceremony was broadcast live on Hungarian television; roughly 2,000 Hungarian citizens and tourists gathered outside the church to witness the wedding. 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 Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke ...

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. It was also the second time that a Habsburg was married in Hungary since the fall of communism in 1989.

Issue

The couple have three children: * Zsófia Mária Tatjána Mónika Erzsébet Katalin (Sophie Maria Tatiana Monica Elisabeth Catherine, born 12 January 2001 in Budapest) * Ildikó Mária Walburga (Hilda Maria Walburga, born 6 June 2002 in Budapest) * Károly-Konstantin Mihály István Mária (Karl-Konstantin Michael Stephan Maria, born 20 July 2004 in Budapest)

Ancestry

References

{{authority control Duchesses of Oldenburg House of Habsburg-Lorraine Austrian princesses German Lutherans 1972 births Living people People from Segeberg