Amedeo of Austria-Este (Habsburg-Lorraine) (Amedeo Marie Joseph Carl Pierre Philippe Paola Marcus d'Aviano; born 21 February 1986), Prince of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, is a grandson of King

Albert II of Belgium Albert II (born 6 June 1934) is a member of the Belgian royal family who reigned as King of the Belgians from 9 August 1993 until his abdication on 21 July 2013. Albert II is the son of King Leopold III and the last living child of Queen As ...

, and thus a member of the

Belgian royal family The monarchy of Belgium is the constitutional and hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the ...

. He is also heir-apparent to the headship of the House of Austria-Este, a

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

(originally a tertiogeniture, later a

secundogeniture A secundogeniture (from 'following, second', and 'born') was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating a cadet branch.Luard, Evan. The Balance of Power: The System of International Relations, ...

) of the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Habsburg monarchy, Austria, later successively List of Bohemian monarchs, Queen ...

, and is sixth in line to the throne of Belgium.

Birth and family

Amedeo was born on 21 February 1986 at the Saint-Luc University Hospital in

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Woluwe-Saint-Lambert ( French, ) or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). In French, ...

, Belgium, as the first child and elder son of Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este, and

Princess Astrid of Belgium Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 5 June 1962), is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Pr ...

. He bears the same given name as his paternal great-grandfather, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta. His godparents are his maternal uncle, King Philippe and grandmother, Queen Paola of Belgium. Amedeo himself is godfather to his cousin,

Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant (born 25 October 2001), is the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. The child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, she was elevated to the dukedom after her grandfather Albert II abdicated on 21 July ...

. Amedeo has one younger brother,

Joachim Joachim was, according to Sacred tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary (mother of Jesus), and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Gospel of James, part of ...

(b. 1991), and three younger sisters, Maria Laura (b. 1988), Luisa Maria (b. 1995) and Laetitia Maria (b. 2003). He was baptised and married by the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, Godfried Cardinal Danneels.

Education and career

Amedeo undertook primary school and the greater part of his secondary education at the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

school Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege (founded 1604) in Brussels, popular with Belgian aristocracy and royalty. He finished his secondary education at

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school. It is co-educational, a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, located in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. Established in 1432, it ...

in Kent, England, between 2001 and 2004. He then spent a year in Belgium's Royal Military Academy. In September 2005, he began studies at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, where he graduated in 2008 with a BSc degree in Management, and took a sabbatical before entering professional life. From July 2009 to June 2012, Amedeo worked for

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

in New York City, first as a business analyst from July 2009 to June 2011, then as a management consultant in strategy and operations from July 2011 to June 2012. He then worked as a research analyst intern at Accumulus Capital Management, LLC from August through December 2012. During 2013 and 2014, Amedeo resumed his studies, obtaining an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

degree at the

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He subsequently returned to Belgium, where he worked for

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

in Brussels from September 2014 to September 2016. In January 2017, he began working at the Gutzwiller private bank in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, where his father is a partner.

Marriage

On 15 February 2014, the Belgian Royal Court announced the engagement of Prince Amedeo to an Italian journalist, '' Nobile'' Elisabetta "Lili" Maria Rosboch von Wolkenstein (b. 1987), the only child of Italian film producer ''Nobile'' Ettore Rosboch von

Wolkenstein Wolkenstein is a town in the district Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Ore Mountains, on the river Zschopau, 22 km southeast of Chemnitz. The town is situated on a rocky spur near the confluence of the Zschopau ...

(b. 1945) and his wife, Countess Anna Maria "Lilia" de Smecchia (b. 1947, divorced from Paolo Cazzaniga), also a film producer. Both of her parents are members of families that once belonged to the

Italian nobility The Italian nobility ( Italian: ''Nobiltà italiana'') comprised individuals and their families of the Italian Peninsula, and the islands linked with it, recognized by the sovereigns of the Italian city-states since the Middle Ages, and by the k ...

. Patrilineally, Elisabetta descends from the

House of Caracciolo The House of Caracciolo () ( Italian: ''Casa Caracciolo'') (Latin: ''Domus Caracciolo'') is a prominent aristocratic noble family that originated in the city of Naples. The Caracciolos are considered one of the most important families in the hi ...

, as her father is a natural child of Prince Filippo Caracciolo di Castagneto and Elisabeth

Jaworski Jaworski ( ; feminine: Jaworska, plural: Jaworscy) is a surname of Polish language, Polish-language origin. It is related to a number of surnames in other languages. Related surnames People Jaworski/Jaworska * Beata Jaworska (born 1994), Polish ...

von Wolkenstein (1915–1959), who at the time of his birthThere is little visibility to date on the legal process that led to the formulation of the new surname ''Rosboch von Wolkenstein'' for the son of Elisabeth Jaworski ''von Wolkenstein'', recognizing him as Undersecretary Rosboch's son & heir and sparing him the stigma of

illegitimacy Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

, the time limit for

posthumous birth A posthumous birth is the birth of a child after the death of a parent. A person born in these circumstances is called a posthumous child or a posthumously born person. Most instances of posthumous birth involve the birth of a child after the dea ...

status – and consequently the presumption of legitimate paternity (''Pater is est quem nuptiae demonstrant'') – having most likely been passed. had been widowed for one year from ''Nobile'' Ettore Bernardo Rosboch (1893–1944), the Italian

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

Finance

Undersecretary of State Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

. Amedeo and Elisabetta both descend from '' Don'' Giuseppe Tiberio Ruffo di Calabria-Santapau, 2nd Prince of Palazzolo, Count of Sinopoli (1627–1683) and his wife, Agata Branciforte- Colonna (1650-1720). Through German princely dynasties, their most recent common ancestor is Franz Albrecht I, Prince of Oettingen-Spielberg (1663–1737) and his wife, Baroness Johanna Margaretha von Schwendi (1672-1727), heiress of Schwendi and Achstetten. vtm. Royalty.
Vriendin prins Amedeo is verre nicht
'. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2015. (in Flemish). The couple's wedding was celebrated on 5 July 2014 in Rome's Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, in the presence of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

(with the exception of his great-aunt Queen Fabiola), as well as members of the

es of the

, including the bridegroom's grandmother, Margherita of Savoy, Dowager Archduchess of Austria-Este, and members of other dynasties, including Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg and her husband Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein,

Princess Beatrice of York Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is a member of the British royal family. She is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is a niece of Charles ...

and

Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon, Prince of Montfort (born ''Jean-Christophe Louis Ferdinand Albéric Napoléon Bonaparte''; 11 July 1986) is a French businessman and the disputed head of the Imperial House of France, and as such the heir of ...

. The couple were planning to relocate in Belgium after the wedding. Amedeo and Elisabetta have three children: * Archduchess Anna Astrid Marie of Austria-Este (born on 17 May 2016) * Archduke Maximilian Joseph Lorenz Ettore Karl Marcus d'Aviano of Austria-Este (born on 6 September 2019) * Archduchess Alix Lorenza Anne Marie Josephine of Austria-Este (born on 2 September 2023)

Succession rights to the Belgian throne

In 1991, Amedeo obtained, along with his mother and younger siblings, succession rights to the Belgian throne. In 1993, his maternal grandfather acceded to the throne as King Albert II and he became third in Belgium's line of succession, following his uncle Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, and his mother. Upon Philippe's marriage in 1999, the prospect of Amedeo inheriting the throne substantially diminished, and the birth of a daughter and dynastic heir to Philippe in 2001 dropped his place in the order of succession down to fourth and eventually to seventh, following the birth of Philippe's other children. The abdication on 21 July 2013 of his grandfather King Albert II promoted him to sixth in line to the throne. Although an announcement of Amedeo's engagement was published on the Royal Family's website, no dynastic authorisation for his marriage was published prior to his wedding, as foreseen in Article 85 of the

Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium (; ; ) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the separation of powers. The most recent majo ...

. Speculation in the media included a commentator on the military parade for ''

La Une La Une () is a Belgian national television channel, owned and operated by the French-language public-service broadcasting organization RTBF. La Une is the equivalent of Flemish station VRT 1, of the Flemish broadcaster VRT. History INR ...

'' who, on 21 July 2014 (

Belgian National Day Belgian National Day (; ; ) is the national holiday of Belgium commemorated annually on 21 July. It is one of the country's ten public holidays and marks the anniversary of the investiture of Leopold I as the first King of the Belgians in 1 ...

), alleged that no royal authorisation was announced because the prince intentionally chose not to request permission to marry, and therefore Amedeo was no longer deemed in the line of succession. In November 2015, a royal decree expressing King Philippe's retroactive permission for the marriage was

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

in the '' Moniteur Belge'', without the consultation of the legislative chambers and in contravention of the Article 85 of the Belgian Constitution.

Titles and styles

All the children of Princess Astrid and Archduke Lorenz bear the title of "Prince(ss) of Belgium", with the style of "Royal Highness", by Belgian Royal Decree of 2 December 1991, which is distinct from their traditional Austro-Hungarian titles.

Ancestry

Military ranks

2004–2005 Royal Military Academy (Social & Military Sciences) ** 2005 Para-commando Training: Parachutist Badge * September 2005 September 2007:

Belgian Land Component The Land Component (, ), historically and commonly still referred to as the Belgian Army (, ), is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component i ...

, Warrant-Officer as Candidate-officer (''Adjudant Candidat-Officier''), after his formation at Royal Military Academy * September 2007:

, Second lieutenant (as a Reserve officer) of the Regiment Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn – GrenadiersBelgian Defense Website, Prince Amedeo's officer swear on 27 September 2007, Photo
123
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Footnotes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amedeo Of Belgium, Prince, Archduke Of Austria-Este House of Austria-Este Belgian people of Austrian descent Austrian people of Belgian descent 1986 births Living people People educated at Sevenoaks School Alumni of the London School of Economics Royal Military Academy (Belgium) alumni Columbia Business School alumni Belgian Army officers Deloitte people Austrian princes Belgian Roman Catholics