Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Hohenberg (Elisabeth Hilda Zita Marie Anna Antonia Friederike Wilhelmine Luise; 22 December 1922 – 22 November 2011) was a

Luxembourgian Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...

princess. She was a daughter of

Grand Duchess Charlotte Charlotte (Charlotte Adelgonde Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine; 23 January 1896 – 9 July 1985) reigned as Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 14 January 1919 until her abdication on 12 November 1964. She acceded to the throne on 14 January 1919 foll ...

and her husband,

Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma (later Prince Félix of Luxembourg; 28 September 1893 – 8 April 1970) was the husband of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and the father of her six children, including her successor Jean, Grand Duke of ...

,Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg''. ICC, Paris, 1996. pp. 55–56, 59, 426, 479–480, 489 (French). the sister of

Grand Duke Jean Jean (Jean Benoît Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc d'Aviano; 5 January 1921 – 23 April 2019) was the Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1964 until his abdication in 2000. He was the first Grand Duke of Luxembourg of French agnatic ...

and the aunt of

Grand Duke Henri Henri (french: Henri Albert Gabriel Félix Marie Guillaume, ; born 16 April 1955) is the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He has reigned since 7 October 2000. Henri, the eldest son of Grand Duke Jean and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, is a f ...

. In 1956 she married

Franz, Duke of Hohenberg Franz Ferdinand, Duke of Hohenberg (13 September 1927 – 16 August 1977), was the eldest son of Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg and Countess Maria of Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee. He was also a grandson of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Aust ...

Biography

Princess Elisabeth was born at

Berg Castle Berg Castle ( lb, Schlass Bierg, ; french: Château de Berg; german: Schloss Berg), also called Colmar-Berg, is the principal residence of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. It is situated in the town of Colmar-Berg, in central Luxembourg, near the con ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

on 22 December 1922 as the second child and first daughter of

and Prince Felix. To commemorate her birth, Luxembourg issued a stamp as a

souvenir sheet A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a postage stamp or a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many ea ...

the following year, the world's first such miniature sheet. Facing the German invasion in 10 May 1940 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg The Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg constitutes the House of Luxembourg-Nassau, headed by the sovereign Grand Duke, and in which the throne of the grand duchy is hereditary. It consists of heirs and descendants of the House of Nassau-Weilburg, w ...

left the country to find refuge in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, after receiving transit visas from the Portuguese consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes, in June 1940. They arrived at Vilar Formoso on 23 June 1940. After travelling through Coimbra and Lisbon, the family first stayed in

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

, in Casa de Santa Maria, owned by Manuel Espírito Santo, who was then the honorary consul for Luxembourg in Portugal. By July they had moved to Monte Estoril, staying at the Chalet Posser de Andrade. On 10 July 1940, Princess Elisabeth, together with her father Prince Félix, her siblings, Heir Prince Jean, Princess Marie Adelaide, Princess Marie Gabriele,

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and Princess Alix, the nanny Justine Reinard and the chauffeur Eugène Niclou, along with his wife Joséphine, boarded the ''S.S. Trenton'' headed for New York City.

Exiles Memorial Center The Exiles Memorial Center ( pt, Espaço Memória dos Exílios) is located in Estoril, Portugal and houses a permanent exhibition of photographs, documentation and objects related to the history of refugees who stayed in the Cascais/Estoril area ...

. While Prince Félix and his children went to America, Grand Duchess Charlotte headed for London. Forced to respect American impartiality, the Grand Ducal Family settled for

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada. With her father and brother

Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

, Princess Elisabeth moved to London in 1942. With her sister

Princess Marie Adelaide of Luxembourg Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg (Marie-Adélaïde Louise Thérèse Wilhelmine; 21 May 1924 – 28 February 2007) was a Luxembourgish princess, the third child and the second daughter of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Grand Duche ...

, she attended Convent of the Sacred Heart in

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

, England. After the war ended, the Grand Ducal Family regained the

grand duchy A grand duchy is a sovereign state, country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was oft ...

Marriage and issue

She married

(1927–1977) in

on 9 May 1956. He was a grandson of

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. F ...

, whose assassination in 1914 sparked

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. They had two daughters, Anita and Sophie, and seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. *Anna ''(Anita)'' Charlotte Maximiliana Euphemia Maria Helena of Hohenberg (b. 18 August 1958, Schloss Berg,

). Married Romee de la Poeze (b. 15 July 1949), on 22 July 1978 in Artstetten,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. They have four children: **Gaetan de la Poeze (b. 25 July 1980,

) **Alix de la Poeze (b. 8 September 1981,

) married Francois-Xavier Fraye (b. 7 March 1979) in 2010. They have four children: ***Armel Fraye (b. 2011) ***Benedikt Fraye (b. 2013) ***Alexandra Fraye (b. 2014) ***Marie-Anastasie Fraye (b. 2017) **Gabriel de la Poeze (b. 3 October 1987, Artstetten,

) **Raoul de la Poeze (b. 14 June 1989, Artstetten,

) *''Sophie'' Felicitas Elisabetha Bona Maria Antonia (b. 10 May 1960, Schloss Berg,

). Married Jean-Louis de Potesta (b. 8 February 1951) on 18 June 1983 in Artstetten,

. They have three children: **Eleonore de Potesta (b. 24 April 1984,

). Married Diego Fernandez de Cordova y Cervero on 16 June 2012. They have three children: ***Rafael Fernandez de Cordova y de Potesta (b. 9 August 2013) ***Luis Fernandez de Cordova y de Potesta (b. 19 August 2016) ***Sofia Fernandez de Cordova y de Potesta (b. 27 August 2018) **

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Charles de Potesta (b. 25 October 1985,

) **Elizabeth de Potesta (b. 29 April 1988, London, England)

Final years

Princess Elisabeth returned to

after her husband's death in 1977. In 1983 she inherited

Artstetten Castle Artstetten Castle (german: Schloss Artstetten, ) is a château near the Wachau valley in Lower Austria, in the community of Artstetten-Pöbring. History Artstetten Castle was owned by a number of families over the centuries until it was purchas ...

, which she ceded that year to her oldest daughter, Anita de La Poëze d´Harambure. Following the death of her mother Grand Duchess Charlotte, in 1985, she moved to Wasserhaf, near

Fischbach Castle Fischbach Castle (Luxembourgish: ''Schlass Fëschbech'', French: ''Château de Fischbach'', German: ''Schloss Fischbach'') is a castle in Luxembourg. It is situated near the town of Fischbach, in central Luxembourg. History Fischbach has the ...

. Between 1980 and 1990, she participated in Luxembourgian official ceremonies. Towards the end of her life, she resided at Fischbach Castle with her older brother, Grand Duke Jean. She died at

on 22 November 2011 aged 88, following a stroke in 2010. She was cremated and buried next to her husband in a crypt at Artstetten Castle.

Ancestry

References

External links

Grand-Ducal House of Luxembourg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elisabeth, Princess, Duchess of Hohenberg 1922 births 2011 deaths House of Nassau-Weilburg Hohenberg family Luxembourgian princesses Princesses of Bourbon-Parma People from Colmar-Berg People educated at Woldingham School Disease-related deaths in Luxembourg Daughters of monarchs