Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Prince Alexis of Windisch-Grätz (1991-2010)

It is with sadness that I report the death of HSH Prince Alexis Ferdinando of Windisch-Grätz, 18, in Caserta, Italy as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident there several days ago. Prince Alexis was the son of Mariano Hugo Prince of Windisch-Grätz (b 1955) and Archduchess Sophie of Austria (b 1959). He is survived by his parents, his siblings Prince Maximilian and Princess Larissa, and his grandmother Archduchess Helene of Austria (née Toerring-Jettenbach; b 1937). Needless to say this is an unimaginably horrible experience for any family to go through and I express my condolences.

Through his mother Archduchess Sophie, Prince Alexis was related to all the royal families of Europe, descended not only from the Habsburgs (his great-grandfather Archduke Maximilian was the younger brother of Emperor Bl Karl) but also from the dynasties of Greece, Denmark, and Russia, an unusual mix of the often distinct Protestant/Orthodox and Roman Catholic royal genealogies. His father's family was an ancient noble house of the Habsburg Empire, taking its name from a town in what is now Slovenia.

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