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Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz (9 July 1909 in
Ploskovice Ploskovice (german: Ploschkowitz) is a municipality and village in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Maškovice, Starý Mlýnec, Těchobuzice ...
,
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
– 7 September 2005 in
Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () 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). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city a ...
, Belgium) was the daughter of Prince Otto Weriand of Windisch-Graetz (1873–1952) and
Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria hu, Erzsébet Mária Henrietta Stefánia Gizella , house = Habsburg-Lorraine , father = Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria , mother = Princess Stéphanie of Belgium , spouse = , issue = , religion = Roman Catholicism , birth_place = Fra ...
(1883–1963), only child of
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria en, Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph , caption = Rudolf in 1887 , spouse = , issue = Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz , house = Habsburg-Lorraine , father = Franz Joseph I of Austria , mother ...
and
Princess Stéphanie of Belgium Princess Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte of Belgium (21 May 1864 – 23 August 1945) was a Belgian princess who became Crown Princess of Austria through marriage to Crown Prince Rudolf, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hu ...
. She was the great-grandchild of Emperor Franz-Joseph and Empress Elisabeth ('Sissi') of Austria. She was also the great-grandchild of King
Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...
. Her full name was ''Stéphanie Eleonore Maria Elisabeth Kamilla Philomena Veronika zu Windisch-Grätz'' in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
, and ''Stéphanie Éléonore Marie Élisabeth Camille Philomène Véronique de Windisch-Grätz'' in French. She may have been named after her maternal grandmother, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium. Her nickname in the family was Fée.


Parents' separation, effect on life

As a child she suffered greatly from her mother's frequent absences, and her parents' inharmonious marriage. The couple was separated in 1924 and divorced in 1948. Her mother came to live in Brussels with the four children and Princess Clementine of Belgium offered a friendly refuge to Stéphanie. In 1921, Archduchess Elisabeth had begun a relationship with the Austrian socialist member of parliament Leopold Petznek, whom she eventually married in 1948. Stéphanie got along well with her stepfather, but her relationship with her mother was not very good, and worsened after her second marriage. Archduchess Elisabeth did not like Karl-Axel Björklund, and forbade him to be in her house. Stéphanie financially supported her father Otto Weriand in later life. Stéphanie had three elder brothers: * Prince Franz Joseph zu Windisch-Grätz (1904 in
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
– 1981 in
Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
), married to Ghislaine d'Arschot Schoonhoven (1912–1997) and father of ** Princess Stéphanie Windisch-Graetz (1939–2019) became an artist, known for her photographic portraits using only candles as a source of light and for her sensual images from the animal world. She married Dermot Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell (1935–2009) (a descendant of
Nicholas Blundell Nicholas Blundell (1669 – 1737), sometimes styled "of Crosby", lord of the manor of Little Crosby, was an English landowner seated at Crosby Hall, Lancashire, and is best known for his diaries which provide first-hand insight into the life of ...
). They are the parents of: *** Henry Victor William Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell (born 1967) and *** Alexander Otto Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell (born 1969), whose surname was changed to "de Windisch-Graetz" in Belgium in 2011. ** Prince Guillaume Franz Josef Maria Windisch-Graetz (born 1950; unmarried). * Prince Ernst zu Windisch-Grätz (1905–1952) * Prince Rudolf zu Windisch-Grätz (1907–1939)


First marriage

In 1933, Stéphanie married Count Pierre d'Alcantara de Querrieu (2 November 1907 – 14 October 1944). Count d'Alcantara was the son of Jean d'Alcantara de Querrieu and Baroness Marie-Lucie t'Kint de Roodenbeeke. Count d'Alcantara was a member of the household of King Leopold III. In 1942 he was arrested by the Gestapo and died two years later in the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...
. She had one child by her first husband: * Count Alvar Etienne d'Alcantara de Querrieu (30 July 1935 – 5 August 2019)


Second marriage

In 1945, after the death of her husband, she married Karl-Axel Björklund (1906–1986). She had one child by her second husband: * Bjorn-Axel Björklund (20 October 1944 – 7 September 1995)


Later life

During her long life, Stéphanie traveled extensively, especially in Africa, where her brother François-Joseph lived in Kenya, and also in South America, particularly in Argentina.


Ancestry


Sources

* Ghislaine Windisch-Graetz, née d'Arschot Schoonhoven, ''Kaiseradler und rote Nelke: Das Leben der Tochter des Kronprinzen Rudolf'', 1988 * Friedrich Weissensteiner, ''L'Archiduchesse rouge'', Payot, Paris, 2010 * Oscar Coomans de Brachène, ''Etat présent de la noblesse belge, annuaire 2003'', Brussels, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz, Princess
Stephanie Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian "St ...
Austrian princesses Austrian expatriates in Belgium 1909 births 2005 deaths