Friday, April 22, 2011

The Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein send their regrets

The Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein have sent their regrets and will not be able to attend the wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton.  The Prince and Princess have another commitment, the beatification ceremony for the late Pope John Paul II.

Although the Princely family is very large, most members do not live in the tiny principality and carry out official duties.  Official duties are carried out by the Prince and Princess and the Hereditary Prince and Princess.   The Prince's two younger sons, Prince Constantin and Prince Maximilian live with their families outside the country.  Prince Max is the chief executive officer of the Liechtenstein Global Trust.  Tatjana, who lost her title of Princess (but not her HSH), when she married Philipp von Lattorf, lives quietly with her husband and children in Austria.  She and her brothers are seen at the National Day celebrations, but do not take on any official duties.

Prince Hans Adam has two younger brothers.  Prince Philippe has lived in France for many years with his wife, Isabelle, and their family,  Prince Nikolaus, who recently retired as Liechtenstein's ambassador to Belgium, and his wife, Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg, have moved back to Liechtenstein, but neither carry out official duties.

The King and Queen of Jordan are not on the list of foreign royals.  It was said that they had confirmed, but perhaps due to the rising tensions in the country, the King and Queen have decided to forgo the wedding.

7 comments:

Paul Harten said...

That's odd isn't it - surely they could send representatives ? Is no-one coming in their place then ?

Paul

MAXny said...

All those Liechtenstein's, Hans Adam couldn't find anyone to represent him. I would've like to have seen Marie-Aagle. She's a favorite of mine.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

In Liechtenstein, the focus is on the Prince and Princess and the Hereditary prince and princess. The HP has already taken on some of the official duties. The siblings play no role in the daily life, all live outside the country, and usually come for the National day. It would have been the prince and princess or the hereditary prince and princess and no one else. The same can be said for the Prince's siblings. Philippe and Isabelle live in France, Nora is in Spain. Nikolaus and Margaretha have moved back to Liechtenstein but are not involved in duties ... Alois and Sophie may also be going to the Pope thing.

tjmooney said...

Seems like a pretty paltry excuse. Isn't the beatification ceremony a full two days after the wedding? Surely enough time for at least one of them to catch the next Ryan Air flight from London to Rome!

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

According to schedule for the beatification -- I just looked it up because it was not on my social calendar -- the ceremony starts on the 30th - some sort of vigil, so perhaps they are going to that as well. The King and Queen of the Belgians are also going to Rome, which is why the Duke and Duchess of Brabant are going to London.

John said...

And no major closeness between the two Houses anyway, right? I would suppose their paths cross extremely infrequently?

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Charles and Anne used do be invited to go skiing in Liechtenstein years ago ... but they are Roman Catholic, and the Pope thing may mean more to them.