These lovely photos are from a royal wedding which took place one year ago. Belgium’s Prince Amedeo married Elisabetta Maria Rosboch von Wolkenstein in a beautiful, joyful ceremony in Italy. Both their families came together to celebrate and all was well. But as it turns out, Prince Amedeo had to give up his place in the line of Belgium’s royal succession just to marry Elisabetta. And yes, I’m just writing this up because I liked the photos and I love royal drama, even if it’s just with a somewhat minor royal house. Look at the pretty pictures!
Belgian Prince Amedeo and his Italian aristocrat wife Elisabetta Maria Rosboch von Wolkenstein are celebrating their one year wedding anniversary this month. Amedeo, 29, and 27-year-old ‘Lili’, as she prefers to be known, wed in Rome in July 2014 in an elegant, intimate ceremony at The Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere. But in gaining a wife the romantic Belgian prince lost his right of succession to the throne.
Amedeo was sixth in line, but by failing to obtain a royal decree for the marriage from his uncle King Phillipe he has given up his place, as confirmed by the palace this week. According to The Times, palace sources claim that the prince chose to deliberately give up his right to the throne so that he could live an independent life with wife Lili, free of any official role.
Instead of Princess of Belgium, Lili will be known as the Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Hungary, titles that pass to her via the prince’s father Lorenz, the Archduke of Austria-Este.
Amedeo is the eldest grandchild of the abdicated King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium and the son of the sister of King Philippe, who ascended the throne last year following the abdication of King Albert II. Although he attended the wedding, King Philippe had not expressly given his permission for the union, and the marriage had not been officially gazetted in the Moniteur Belge with a decree giving ‘dynastic authorisation.’
What’s the point of marrying a prince if he has to give up his princely title just to marry you? What’s the point of marrying a prince if you’re not going to be called “princess”? ASK DUCHESS KATE. Ha. Then again, it sounds romantic too – their love was so strong that he gave up his title (only to have it replaced with a lesser but still awesome title). And to be fair, it’s not like he was next in line to be king. This would be the equivalent of Prince Andrew taking himself out of the line of succession right now (which he should do anyway, but for different reasons).
Anyway, I know a lot of people would really like Prince William to give up his place in the line of succession too, because he so obviously hates anything to do with “royal duty” or “work.” It’s still not going to happen though. The reason why William behaves the way he behaves is because he’s always known that he will be king one day and everyone just has to kiss his ass.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
And if these two end up getting divorced? She’ll go back to her previous life…but what will he do lol. That is a HUGE sacrifice. Let’s hope the marriage lasts.
Wait, I still don’t understand why he had to give up his title/place in line – couldn’t he have just asked for permission from his uncle the king? Or is it implied that he wouldn’t get it? Or did he renounce just to have privacy?
The way I read it was uncle is an ass and wouldn’t have given his permission. But in this day and age, does one really need permission to marry? But I guess in the monarchy one does.
This is a non-issue. Amedeo is very close to his uncle. In fact, he is the godfather to his uncle Philippe’s first child Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant. He simply chose to give up his title because he already has a life with no royal role – a bachelors degree from the London School of Economics, MBA from Columbia University Business School. He has a job in Brussels as a banker in private equities and she reports for Bloomberg.
He didn’t give up his title. He was born a prince and he’ll die a prince. He gave up his place in the line of succession. And his wife was not given the honorary title of princess.
He’s still got a title, so he’ll be fine.
His odds of being king were pretty much nil anyway.
Oh? I guess he didn’t really lose anything. Why is this a story then? Kind of seems like a non-issue really. He had such a slim chance anyways.
In the royal club, titles are less important than your place in the line of succession. It makes a difference in perks and status and archaic traditions such as suddenly having to curtsey to bajillion people ahead of you and walking behind them and always having to defer to them based on status.
I don’t think the Archduke title is “real” anymore. See posting below.
He was 6th in line. He didn’t really give up anything other than some honorary place in an imaginary line.
And good for him, anyway. I imagine he is rich enough to live however he wants.
imaginary line? What do you mean? The Belgian monarchy is not imaginary!
ooooooohhhh….thanks Kaiser!!! I love a good royal story. And yes, very pretty pics
+ 1 Lovely!
Very sweet, and they look so happy. Agree, though, that unless a real tragedy occurs, he wasn’t giving up much of a real chance to be king. I wonder why he didn’t get permission? Is there something about her that King Phillipe objected to? Is she the one who made soft porn movies? So many questions…
You may be thinking of the “glamour model” career of the recent Swedish bride.
Oh, ok. I’m getting all these royals confused. If so, I’m sorry I gave her a “promotion” from glamour model to soft porn star. Oops.
GNAT, glamour model vs. p0rn is up for debate. May depend upon how you personally view her pictures and actions, and the fact that some of those photos were illegal to take in Sweden based on her age.
Oh, ok, so I wasn’t entirely dreaming…
He didn’t ask permission, if he had he probably would have gotten permission because she seems to be perfect princess material. He chose to give up his place in line for the throne to be more independent, and his other siblings will probably do the same thing. At least, that’s how it’s reported here in belgium.
That’s what I thought. They will all up as private citizens, not working royals and not worried about remaining in the succession.
What a gorgeous couple! But I don’t think being sixth in line is even close to William’s situation. (by which I mean mess)
It sounds like he may have wanted to step out of line in any case? There’s nothing objectionable about his new wife, and all relatives attended the wedding. It seems a bit more graceful and PR friendly than someone who’s not first in line anyway just quitting.
I don’t get the Duchess Kate dig. She’s Princess William and became so when she married him. In any case, this is a handsome pair. Sounds like a romantic story. I hope they stay together.
Many people believe, based on insider stories and personal conclusions after reading about their courtship (which means – no definitive proof), that Kate wouldn’t have married William if not for his title. The media gave her the nickname Waity, because she waited for him to propose for years and years even though he didn’t exactly treat her right – he dumped her at some point and there were many stories about his cheating. She didn’t seem to have much going on for herself besides waiting to become a future wife of a King and mother of Kings/Queens and allegedly – she was very disappointed that her official title is “just” the Duchess of Cambridge. If someone believes she loves his title more than him – they also believe that if he lost or gave it up, she would be long gone, unlike the bride in this story.
Some believe the only reason she went to St Andrews was to get her hooks into Willy – a claim that has been somewhat verified by people who knew her at Uni who said that she was obsessed with getting close to him from the moment she arrived. She always made sure she was at places he was and made friends with his acquaintances. Girl was on a mission to nab her prince – an obsession encouraged (and maybe shared) by her mother. If he wasn’t a Prince she would never have put up with being treated they was she was by him. Am no Kate fan but he treated her like a piece of sh!t. You can tell a lot about a person in the way they treat others – particularly their partner. Willy is a class A douche.
I mean…come on! Panty dropper! I know that is just my opinion, but that is real dedication right there. Way to go Amedeo!
I’ve always maintained that IF william wanted to give up his place without causing constitutional crisis, all he had to do was marry a catholic. Heck, have Kate convert to catholicism just before the engagement and voila, problem solved.
We’ve had the legislation in place since the glorious revolution.
Further, HM could have removed him from the line of succession by the same reason this Prince has been removed, by refusing to sign the written consent required. She nearly didn’t as the written consent wasn’t given (or at least dated) until a week prior to William’s wedding.
We’ve had the legislation for that scenerio too. For centuries.
I may be mistaken, but I read/heard/made up in my head, that they recently changed the rule that being married to a Catholic no longer automatically removes you from the line of succession? I could be wrong, because it’s just been so dang HOT here that my brain (along with everything else!) is melting away…
Lucky Charm/Atlady: at the time of his marriage, the rules hadn’t changed. As of March this year, they’ve changed to remove that stipulation.
As for whether PGtips Etal will go with William, that’s up for debate. There is precedent for both scenerios ie kids kept/removed as well. IF William wanted it, parliament would accommodate him. However, it hinges on the age of the kids. If he removes himself after the kids are of legal age, he removes only himself. There is a loophole at the moment which means he is legally responsible for his own kids which means he can speak for them as long as they are underage.
The loophole occurred because the monarch is legally responsible for children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, great-grandchildren were never factored in because no one lived that long when the law was written. In the absence of a law regarding great-grandchildren, loop hole. If that loophole didn’t exist, William couldn’t take out PGtips and Charlotte because he wouldn’t be responsible for them legally.
However, once HM dies and Charles becomes King, the loop hole closes because everyone upgrades aa step up. If William abdicates during that time, whilst the kids are under age, he can’t remove them.
His best bet if he wants to remove them is now. When he is responsible for them.
Generally speaking, whilst there are rules that govern these things, they can be changed and excuses nee PR given for required rule breaking change.
LAK, “if” Prince William decided to give up his place, would that also remove PGTips from the line, making Harry and his heirs next in line? The rules and regulations about British royalty can be so confusing to those of us who were not raised studying this history.
LC, the laws had not changed at the time of their marriage.
I think the recent change in the laws show laws can change. No matter what the laws state now, if William walks the kids have to go with him. That might not be how the system is set up now, but whatever legal shenanigans need to take place WILL take place to make that happen. Nothing else would make sense.
Thanks for the explanation, LAK. I think there are times when I feel a bit sorry for the RF. Their lives can seem so constricted/restricted. HM has done such a remarkable job in her role with few missteps.
Nice coverage of a romantic Royal Wedding, and of a new Royal Family….Great!! Gorgeous couple, and giving up your 6th in line for love isn’t losing anything; look at those pictures. Re: Prince William, I agree; William should abdicate and let Harry be King. Harry is caring, creative, loves people, and is hard working; aspects of character that William does not possess. Back to the post, thanks for this coverage, keep up the good work!
So why wish the King role on a nice guy like Harry? Really, he could do a lot more good on his own and have his own life back. Maybe the British Royal Family will die out by attrition, as people just quit the job.
This dude was sixth in line to the throne. Why is this a story? Pretty wedding though.
Seriously. 6th in line is hardly close. It’s not like he was next in line and gave it up for love. Not to begrudge them their love story but trying to make it more dramatic by saying he gave up his place in the line of succession is rather silly.
King Philippe didn’t get married until he was about 40 and he never had a serious relationship that the press knew about before that. It was assumed by most that Amedeo would eventually become king because his uncle was older and without an heir and Amedeo was treated accordingly. So it may not seem like a big deal at all now, but Amedeo was the boy who could have been King of the Belgians one day and that’s why him giving up his succession rights is a big deal.
Inheritance in royal circles can jump to the most unlikely person. It’s never a sealed deal until the No 1 heir is safely on the throne.
Eg: Catherine de Medici and Henri 2 of France had 10 kids, 3 of whom became Kings of France in Catherine’s lifetime, and the crown still ended up with a cousin, Henry 4.
The current Queen of UK and Ireland’s father and Grandfather were 2nd sons.
Victoria was the daughter of the 4th son of George 3. George 4 had an heir and all, unfortunately she died at 21. Crown went to his brother before passing on to Victoria in lieu of her dead father.
Let’s not forget that George 1 was 52nd in the line of succession after his mother Sophia the Electress.
The former King of Belgium, who abdicated in favour of the current King, was the brother of the previous King.
Etc etc and so forth.
Hungary had Royalty? I’m not being snide, but how does Belgium have authority to grant a title ? Royalty is convoluted.
And a yes to William stepping out of the line of succession. He and his wife Dutchess Dolittle are lazy, spoiled brats. Lady Diana wouldn’t have let them get away with their entitled crap.
Yes, Hungary once belonged to Austria. It was called the Austro-Hungarian Empire 😉
Amedeo´s father is from the Habsburg line and can use his old titles traditionally. When he married the belgian King´s daughter the belgian royal house allowed him and their future children the use of the higher and more precious austro-hungarian titles and even the style of “imperial highness”.
The Habsburg name is still desired, their blood is more blue and they are “imperial”, not just royal.
Thanks for the diverse royal news, Kaiser!
It is more likely this was decided ahead of time, as a graceful way to start limiting the size of the Belgian royal family. Amedeo and his siblings have been raised as private citizens and haven’t had royal roles. Think Zara and Peter Philips. The Belgian royal family has been through some scandals recently. They need to pare down and tighten up, and bring all focus to the current King’s line.
Philippe and Mathilde have four children. There will be no need for any of Philippe’s nieces or nephews to stay in the line or do any royal engagements. IIRC, the Habsburg Austro-Hungary titles aren’t “real” anymore. They are members of the House of Habsburg but the titles are an affectation. Legally they lost their claim to monarchy and being royalty in 1918.
Oh, sorry, didn’t see your comment before I posted the same thing about titles in Austria.
Nota
Really loving the other royals covered too!
And even if he was 6th. The act or gesture is amazingly romantic <3
I like her dress, but not fond of the lace “outline” on the shoulders. If they had just kept it on the bodice in front it would have looked better, I think. Lovely pictures though, and they look very happy and in love.
I love her bouquet. It’s the right size and doesn’t look stiff or like she’s carrying a basketball of flowers on a stick. Very pretty.
I like it too, GNAT. Looks all lily-of-the-valley ish. Ohh. I get it. She likes to go by Lili so she had lilies of the valley!
And I love the petitpoint (am I remember that properly?) on the veil and dress. I agree with Lucky Charm that the lace on the shoulders could go, but otherwise, I think she really looks great.
Did you mean swiss dots or point d’esprit? OoS did a posting on this wedding last July and she loved the dress too.
I always called those Swiss dots, but I could be wrong. Very pretty.
I didn’t realize this until I looked closely just now. Swiss dot and point d’esprit are two different things. Swiss dots are circular and look like they are placed in or on the netting as it is woven. Point d’esprit is a way of weaving that clusters the threads tightly together into a small rectangle – but looks like a dot from far away.
Green, I think you are right about Diana. I honestly do not think she would have approved of Kate. And not because of class but because of her laziness. Kate would have had to actually work and be heavily involved in charity work to get Diana’s approval.
Maybe their laziness is because Diana isn’t around to prod them into action. I am willing to bet that if Diana were still alive, she wouldn’t tolerate their current attitudes and they would be working and more involved. There’s no way, with her work ethic and busy schedule, that she would allow her son and heir to the throne, and his wife, to do so little work!
If Diana was still alive there would be no Kate and Wills end of – the Middletons would never had been allowed anywhere near her son. Diana was an aristocrat and a bit of a snob herself who used to throw her title around when it suited her.
Harry would be the BEST king—hilarious and welcoming. William is going to be so boring.
From Kaiser’s write-up to Wm’s eyes, perhaps??……I mean, hey it looks relatively easy to give up one’s place from this, doesn’t it, and we are also saying isn’t this man great and, and and….
It sounds to me like he married someone very suitable but hadn’t yet got permission, not that he wasn’t going to. I think he opted out because he didn’t want to be tied to all the ceremonial duties and such he has to do in his position.
It didn’t sound all that romantic to me, more like he didn’t care and would rather give it up and have more freedom from boring duties.
But I love the wedding photographs.
Prince Louis of Luxembourg gave up his place in succession to the Grand Duchy when he married in 2006. It was escandalo because he was 19 and the couple had already had a baby.
Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Hungary sounds pretty damn awesome to me. And they’re all just titles anyways. I’m sure they’re going to live an awesome lifestyle regardless of whether he’s an official ‘prince’ or not. or I guess he’s the prince of Hungary?
So in what way does having a paid job flying helicopters on risky missions to rescue people constitute not working? William is the only member of the senior royals to have a ‘real’ job. And the Queen was always being criticised for being a distant mother for leaving her children behind when she travelled on royal duties, but now Kate is castigated for being at home with a new baby and a two year old? Wow, the Cambridges really can’t catch a break round here. And they can’t answer back of course.
It remains to be seen just how much work William will be doing with the ‘flying doctor’ service, so far he is on a schedule of just 3 or 4 days on duty every 10days because he has to have time for his ‘Royal duties’ (cough).
When he was with the rescue service in Wales he was about to loose his flying status because he couldn’t even manage to put in the required 15hours flight time per month (yes per month, not per week). We will know just how much work he is doing on this job by the number of on duty , ‘William to the rescue – derring do’ pix we get from the Daily Mail , because the flights are not off limits to the press like the military flights were. So far I have seen only one.
Did he actually give up his title, or just his place in the line of succession? I don’t see anything that says he’s no longer a Prince.
I believe he gave up his place, but there is no mention of future children. He’s still a HRH and Prince of Belgium and his title would be HI&RH Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary.
However, it seems that because he didn’t get a Royal Consent, his wife does not share his Belgian titles, only the Austrian and Hungarian.
Guy is cute, but there is nothing romantic about this story. It would have been if his family totally hated his fiancee and had ordered him not to marry her.
On similar note, I totally love the Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII story.
Shelley, just curious, but would you have wanted to be Wallis? I don’t know. I would be afraid he would be looking at me for the rest of his life, any time I did something bitchy or stupid, and thinking “I gave up the throne for YOU?” Lol, I don’t think I could take the pressure.
Shelley/GNAT: when I was an impressionable teen, I thought Wallis and Edward were the most romantic story as well.
Then I grew up, AND read the details, and completely changed my mind.
As you’ve pointed out, how do you counter the ‘I gave up the throne for you’ narrative’?
All Wallis’s friends willing to go on record always talked about how she felt the burden of keeping him. And maintaining the standards he had grown up with. Not just in practical matters, but also in every emotionally as well.
Recently unveiled letters she wrote to various friends lay bare the perpetual strain she was under because of this burden.
Rather than romance, she regretted the turn of events even if she was resigned to them. Keeping David was really a burden.
Shelley GNAT LAK
Casting all the negative stuff about Wallis David aside. There was an image of a woman divorced twice and then finding her great love. Only he’s an heir/King and marrying her would be a disaster.
To give up the throne for love. The role you’ve been living every second for your whole life. It was a powerful love story. The negative stuff really messed it all up.
From what I’ve read, Wallis loved being the mistress and did NOT want the king to abdicate and marry her.
On second thoughts, I couldn’t live with that pressure of keeping this person happy and trying to be a model of perfection that trumps being King.
Another royal fantasy of mine bites the dust 🙁
Maybe it was different in bloodthirsty and plague-prone medieval times, but if I were sixth in line for the throne, the idea of *getting* that throne would be horrifying to me. It would mean the unexpected death of five people I love.
I would give up such a title to marry the right one. A happy life is way more important than a slim chance to call yourself king (that you’d only get through tragedy anyway).
“Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Hungary”? I doubt it. Austria abolished aristocracy all together after WWI. It’s actually against the law.There are no official aristocratic titles to be used in Austria, no Dukes, no Duchesses etc., no “von”, the aquivalent of the aristocratic “of”. Just throwing that out there because I happen to know about it.
Those titles are legal in Belgium, where they live. The Monarch makes it legal.
I think the same happens in Denmark and Britain with the deposed Greek Royal Family and their titles (princes/eses of Greece and Denmark).
It is strange and funny, isn’t it? The Austro-Hungarian Empire no longer exists. The governments of those countries declared the titles illegal and defunct, no matter what Belgium says. The Habsburgs still use them, but in the countries of origin, the titles are a no go. They can call themselves whatever they want, but it is basically a show. I could start calling myself Imperial Highness of X Country, but if X Country refuses to acknowledge the title and says it is illegal, it isn’t valid.
The Greeks have Danish titles because of family (both Constantine and Anne-Marie end up being “of Denmark”, Anne-Marie because she is the sister of Queen Margrethe, not sure about Tino). The Greek titles? Those aren’t valid anymore since Greece kicked them out and removed the titles in 1974.
Nota
I find it hilarious the Greek royal line that was kicked out entirely still has members that go around acting like they’re royalty.
In Germany at least, titles are used as surnames. Georg Friederich, head of the House of Hohenzollern, is known in Germany as Mr. Georg Friederich von Prussia. He’s still known as The Prince of Prussia, though that title is now void. The same can be said for The Prince of Hanover – in Monaco, and elsewhere, he is HRH The Prince of Hanover, and his daughter is HRH Princess Alexandra of Hanover.
At least in the Kingdom of Belgium, the Habsburg’s titles for the Cadet branch are valid. If they were to go and live in Austria, then they wouldn’t be able to use them. Which is also why Astrid’s children were elevated and created Princes and Princesses of Belgium.
The Greek’s are a whole other story. I mean, will they forever be Crown Princes of the Hellenes even though there is no Monarchy left?
From our friends in Wikipedia:
no royal authorisation was announced because the prince intentionally chose not to request permission to marry, and therefore Amedeo is no longer to be considered in the line of succession,[15] however that interpretation has been confirmed by neither the royal household nor government. However, on 28 July 2015, it was confirmed that Prince Amedeo had renounced his place in the order of succession because he wished to live an independent live, free of any official role.[16]
He wanted an out from Royal duties and skipped asking his uncle for a dynastic authorisation. He retains his titles and place in the family, without any obligations. I believe Amedeo is the most intelligent Prince out there LOL
That sweet little thing called love!
He is 6th in line what are the odds of making it to king anyhow mow him and his wife can live without a some what normal marriage
He is 6th in line what are the odds of making it to king anyhow now him and his wife can live some what of a normall marriage