08:40 o’clock this morning Archduchess Regina of Austria, wife of emperor son Archduke Otto von Habsburg of Austria, the country’s former crown prince, died at the age of 85 in the couple’s home Villa Austria in Pöcking in Bavaria. Regina received the last rites before she peacefully left this world in the circle of several close family members.
- My mother was the model for all of us, with her we lose a great personality who was influenced us all with her unwavering faith and her positive outlook on life, eldest son Karl said in a brief written statement.
The Archduchess suffered from heart problems for some time and as late as 2005 suffered a stroke which she then managed to recover from enough to be able to participate in big festivities and celebrate holidays in the circle of family in the past few years. She was last seen in public at a major event almost two years ago when attending a family wedding.
Regina was born on 6 January 1925 as Regina Helene Elizabeth Margarete, Princess of Saxe-Meiningen, in the city of Würzburg. She was the youngest of four children of Prince Georg, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, head of the ducal house, and his wife, Klara-Maria, born Countess von Korff genannt Schmissing-Kerssenbrock. She studied social work in Bamberg, and later worked as a social worker at a refugee home in Munich. It was there that she met Otto when he came to visit the Hungarians (his former subjects) in 1949.
The engagement between Crown Prince Otto of Austria, best known as Archduke Otto or only Otto von Habsburg, and Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen was announced in 1950. As members of the Habsburg family was banned from entering their home country of Austria, the couple married in the Église des Cordeliers in Nancy, France, on 10 May 1951. The church of the Cordeliers is the burial place of several members of the House of Lorraine. The marriage was blessed by Pope Pius XII.
The couple Otto and Regina has since 1954 lived in Villa Austria in Pöcking at Lake Starnberg in Bavaria. Together they had seven children there. First came five daughters: Archduchess Andrea (1953), Archduchess Monika (1954), Archduchess Michaela (1954), Archduchess Gabriela (1956) and Archduchess Walburga (1958). Then came two sons: Archduke Karl (1961) and Archduke Georg (1964). The couple now has 22 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.
The Archduchess will lie in state in the Church of Sankt Ulrich in Pöcking from Saturday to Sunday. The Bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa, will then hold a requiem mass on in the St. Pius Church on Tuesday. On Wednesday she will be buried in her family’s crypt at Friedhof in Heldburg, Thuringia.
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I want to thank you for this very important article, and also including the video of the wedding. Please keep up the good work.
Thank you very much for your kind comment Stephanie!
She’d have been a good Empress!
Very deep matter. so sorrow. Life goes on, I hope God gives resignance and hope for the future.