Countess Marie Aglaë Bonaventura Theresia Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau (14 April 1940 – 21 August 2021) was Princess of Liechtenstein from 13 November 1989 until her death in 2021 as the wife of Prince Hans-Adam II. By birth, she was a member of the

House of Kinsky The House of Kinsky (formerly Vchynští, sg. ''Vchynský'' in Czech; later (in modern Czech) Kinští, sg. ''Kinský''; ) is a prominent Bohemian noble family originating in the Kingdom of Bohemia. During the Thirty Years' War, the Kinsky fa ...

Biography

Early life and career

Countess Marie was born on 14 April 1940 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

as the daughter of Count Ferdinand Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau (1907–1969) and his wife, Countess Henriette Caroline of Ledebur-Wicheln (1910–2002) in the Nazi-run

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a partially-annexation, annexed territory of Nazi Germany that was established on 16 March 1939 after the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945), German occupation of the Czech lands. The protector ...

(now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

). Her paternal grandparents were Count Ferdinand Vincenz Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau and Princess Aglae Franziska von Auersperg (1868-1919). Her maternal grandparents were Count Eugen Rudolf Maria von Ledebur-Wicheln and Countess Eleonore Larisch von Moennich, great-granddaughter of Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei,

Prince of Wallachia This is a list of princes of Wallachia, from the first mention of a medieval polity situated between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube until the union with Moldavia in 1859, which unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, led to the creation of ...

. Countess Marie spent the first five years of her life in the Horažďovice family estate in Bohemia. In 1945, her family fled to Germany where Marie began her education in Ering am Inn from 1946 to 1950. Then she attended Lioba Sisters' boarding school at the Wald Monastery in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

for eight years. In 1957, she spent an extended period of time in England to improve her English. She then attended the Academy for Applied Arts at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, graduating in 1961. Following some time in

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to improve her French, she began working as a commercial artist for a printing house in Dachau, Germany until 1965.

Marriage and family

In 1966, Countess Marie became engaged to Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein, her second cousin once removed. The couple married at Cathedral of St. Florin in

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

, Liechtenstein on 30 July 1967. They had four children and fifteen grandchildren: * Alois Philipp Maria, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein, Regent of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (born on 11 June 1968 in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland). Married to German Duchess Sophie Elisabeth Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria (born on 28 October 1967) in July 1993. They have four children: ** Prince Joseph Wenzel Maximilian Maria of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (born on 24 May 1995 at

Portland Hospital The Portland Hospital for Women and Children is a private hospital, private maternity hospital on Great Portland Street, City of Westminster, London, England, owned by the Hospital Corporation of America. History The Portland was conceived b ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, United Kingdom). ** Princess Marie Caroline Elisabeth Immaculata of Liechtenstein, Countess of Rietberg (born on 17 October 1996 in Grabs, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland). ** Prince Georg Antonius Constantin Maria of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (born on 20 April 1999 in Grabs, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland). ** Prince Nikolaus Sebastian Alexander Maria of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (born on 6 December 2000 in Grabs, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland). * Prince Maximilian Nikolaus Maria of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (born on 16 May 1969 in St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland), known professionally as Max von Liechtenstein. Married to Panamanian-American Angela Gisela Brown (born on 3 February 1958) in January 2000. They have one child: ** Prince Alfons "Alfonso" Constantin Maria of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (born on 18 May 2001 in

, England, United Kingdom). * Prince Constantin Ferdinand Maria of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (born on 15 March 1972 in St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland – died on 5 December 2023), known professionally as Constantin Liechtenstein. Married to Austrian Countess Marie Gabriele Franziska Kálnoky de Kőröspatak (born on 16 July 1975) in May 1999. They have three children: ** Prince Moritz Emanuel Maria of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (born on 27 May 2003 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, New York, United States) ** Princess Georgina "Gina" Maximiliana Tatiana Maria of Liechtenstein, Countess of Rietberg (born on 23 July 2005 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria) ** Prince Benedikt Ferdinand Hubertus Maria of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (born on 18 May 2008 in Vienna, Austria) * Princess Tatjana Nora Maria of Liechtenstein, Countess of Rietberg (born on 10 April 1973 in St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland), also known after marriage as Tatjana von Lattorff. She graduated from European Business School in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain and is fluent in German, English, French and Spanish. Princess Tatjana is a patron of SOS Children's Village Liechtenstein, president of Princess Gina of Liechtenstein Foundation and also president of the board of trustees of Prince Franz Josef of Liechtenstein Foundation. In 2020, she became the president of the Vienna International School Association. Married to German Matthias Claus-Just Carl Philipp von Lattorff (born on 25 March 1968 in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, Austria) on 5 June 1999. Philipp is the eldest son of Claus-Jürgen von Lattorff and Countess Julia Batthyány von Nemet-Ujvár. He work for

Boehringer Ingelheim C.H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. is the parent company of the Boehringer Ingelheim group, which was founded in 1885 by Albert Boehringer (1861–1939) in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany. As of 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the world's List of la ...

as a CEO and is the vice president of Federation of Austrian Industries.
They have seven children: ** Lukas Maria von Lattorff (born on 13 May 2000 in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, Germany) ** Elisabeth Maria Angela Tatjana von Lattorff (born on 25 January 2002 in Grabs, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland) ** Marie Teresa von Lattorff (born on 18 January 2004 in Grabs, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland) ** Camilla Maria Katharina von Lattorff (born on 4 November 2005 in

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, Italy) ** Anna Pia Theresia Maria von Lattorff (born on 3 August 2007 in Goldgeben,

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

, Austria) ** Sophie Katharina Maria von Lattorff (born on 30 October 2009 in Goldgeben, Lower Austria, Austria) ** Maximilian Maria von Lattorff (born on 17 December 2011 in Goldgeben, Lower Austria, Austria)

Charity work and interests

Princess Marie was involved in many organizations within Liechtenstein, with her focus being on education, culture and the arts. Princess Marie served as president of the Liechtenstein Red Cross from 1985 to 2015. Under her presidency, in addition to its domestic activities, the Liechtenstein Red Cross contributed to foreign aid, especially during the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

in the 1990s. As president and patron of the Association for Curative Education in Liechtenstein ( German: ''Verein für Heilpädagogische Hilfe''), a foundation for people in Liechtenstein with special needs, she promoted the inclusion of people with disabilities. In 1968, after

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

, Princess Marie became one of the signatories of a protest telegram to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Embassy in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

titled "Freedom for ČSSR". She also took part in a protest demonstration in Vaduz. In 1970s, Princess Marie became the patron and member of the board of ''Liechtensteinische Gesellschaft für Umweltschutz'' (LGU), Liechtenstein's society for environmental protection. She also chaired the honorary committee of the ''Internationalen Meisterkurse'', which held in Vaduz every year since 1970 as a further education and concert platform for music students from all over the world. She was the president of Society for Orthopaedic Aid from 1983 to 2005 and an honorary president since 2005. She was also a patron of ''Verband Liechtensteinischer Familienhilfen'', a family support organisation. Princess Marie was a member of the historical society of Liechtenstein.

Death

On 18 August 2021, Princess Marie suffered a stroke. She died three days later at 16:43 ( CEST) in the Cantonal Hospital in Grabs, Switzerland, at the age of 81. She was survived by her husband, her four children and fifteen grandchildren. A seven-day mourning period was declared in Liechtenstein upon her death, and flags were flown at half mast. Her body lay in state at the Cathedral of St. Florin from 26 to 27 August, and her funeral on 28 August was broadcast on . In addition to the Princely Family, Queen Sofía of Spain, Princess Caroline of Hanover as well as Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla of

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

attended the Catholic

funeral service A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

Honours

National

* : Knight Grand Cross, Special Class of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

* : Recipient of the 70th Birthday Medal of Prince Franz Joseph II

Foreign

* : Grand Cross, Special Class of the Order of HonourParliamentary question, page=1656
/ref>

References

External links

*
Marie-Aglaë's biography
on the Princely House's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsky, Marie 1940 births 2021 deaths Nobility from Prague Liechtenstein Roman Catholics House of Kinsky Princesses consort of Liechtenstein Hereditary princesses of Liechtenstein Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria 20th-century Austrian women 21st-century Austrian women 20th-century Liechtenstein women 20th-century Liechtenstein people 21st-century Liechtenstein women Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein European people of Czech descent