Karl, 8th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Karl, 8th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau (german: Karl Rudolf Ferdinand Andreas Fürst Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau; 29 November 185811 December 1919) was the 8th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau.


Early life

Karl was born in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, the capital of the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
, as the son of
Ferdinand Bonaventura, 7th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau Ferdinand Bonaventura, 7th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau (german: Ferdinand Bonaventura Christian Josef Hieronymus Rudolf Rafael Fürst Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau; 22 October 1834 – 2 January 1904) was the 7th Prince Kinsky of Wchini ...
(1834–1904), the head of the princely line of the
House of Kinsky The House of Kinsky (formerly Vchynští, sg. ''Vchynský'' in Czech; later (in modern Czech) Kinští, sg. ''Kinský''; german: Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau) is a prominent Czech noble family originating from the Kingdom of Bohemia. During the ...
, and Princess Marie of
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...
(1835–1905). Karl was born into the family's great equine tradition and inherited a love of horses. A servant, the Kinskys’
master of the horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...
, Rowland Reynolds, who had two great loves,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and the
Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...
steeplechase, was to prove a great influence on Karl, passing on his passions to the young Count. Karl first visited England as part of the retinue of
Empress Elisabeth of Austria Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898. Elisabeth was ...
in the late 1870s. The Empress arranged to visit
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and see the famous steeplechase which provided Kinsky with his first opportunity to witness the event. Later, in 1882, he bought the 3rd-place horse in the
1882 Grand National The 1882 Grand National was the 44th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 24 March 1882. The race was held on 24 March in some of the worst conditions ever seen in the race's history. ...
, 5-year-old
mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...
Zoedone Zoedone (foaled 1877) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Grand National in 1883 while being ridden by her owner Count Charles Kinsky. Zoedone was a chestnut filly and was initially bought as a hunter for £170 by Edward Cla ...
and won on her the following year.


Marriage

Karl married on 7 January 1895 in Herdringen,
Arnsberg Arnsberg (; wep, Arensperg) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hochs ...
, to Countess Elisabeth Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht (1874–1909). They had no children.


Ambitions

Karl achieved his two greatest British goals in rapid succession. First, he was made
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accor ...
to Britain; and second, he rode his own horse, Zoedone, to win the
1883 Grand National The 1883 Grand National was the 45th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 30 March 1883. With only 10 starters, it was the smallest Grand National field in history (excluding the precurs ...
. He was distraught when Zoedone was poisoned on the race day two years later.


Relationship with Jennie Jerome

Karl was involved in an affair with
Lady Randolph Churchill Jennie Spencer-Churchill (; 9 January 1854 – 29 June 1921), known as Lady Randolph Churchill, was an American-born British socialite, the wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, and the mother of British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. Early ...
, wife of
Lord Randolph Churchill Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British statesman. Churchill was a Tory radical and coined the term 'Tory democracy'. He inspired a generation of party managers, created the National Union of ...
and the American-born mother of Sir
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
. She was four years his senior, a famous
socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...
, and one of the most beautiful women of the time, and he was completely infatuated by her. Lady Randolph Churchill has been described as being a captivating woman, whose looks and demeanor made her almost irresistible. She was powerful, having social and romantic contacts that could make or break anyone wishing to climb in social status in the Britain of the time. She later claimed that she would not have spent the time that she did with Kinsky were it not for the unfounded rumours of an affair being spread by society gossips, and her desire to spend time with him was simply for spite. However, accounts from the time do indicate that the two were involved romantically, and the only motivation for quelling the rumours was that this affair was a semi-secret one. In this period, having extra-marital affairs was not uncommon among the upper classes. Her affairs were rumored to have included The Prince of Wales (later Edward VII). Her affairs may have even assisted Lord Randolph’s political and social standing. At the time of Kinsky's affair with Jennie Churchill, she likely wielded more power behind the scenes than did Kinsky, and it would have been he who would have benefited more from the affair. Although she certainly had friendships with many powerful men, it is unknown whether every relationship was sexual.


World War I and after

Karl remained in England until 1914 when Austria-Hungary went to war with Britain. Keen to do his duty, but unwilling to fight the country he regarded as his second home, Kinsky volunteered to fight on the dreaded
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n front. He survived but returned to a broken homeland and the knowledge that it was unlikely he would ever be welcome in England again. A broken man, Karl died in 1919.


Ancestry


Notes and sources

*Almanach de Gotha, Reference: 1874 150; 1924 426 , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Karl, 8th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz And Tettau 1858 births 1919 deaths Bohemian nobility Karel Kinsky Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order