Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen

Princess Regina
Crown Princess of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia
Born	(1925-01-06)6 January 1925 Würzburg, Weimar Republic
Died	Pöcking, Germany
Burial	1) 10 February 2010, Veste Heldburg 2) 16 July 2011, Imperial Crypt Vienna
Spouse	Otto von Habsburg
Issue Detail	Andrea, Hereditary Countess of Neipperg Monika, Duchess de Santangelo Michaela von Habsburg Gabriela von Habsburg Walburga, Countess Douglas Karl von Habsburg Georg von Habsburg
Full name Regina Helene Elizabeth Margarete
House	Saxe-Meiningen
Father	Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen
Mother	Countess Klara Maria von Korff genannt Schmissing-Kerssenbrock
Religion	Roman Catholic

The Veste Heldburg, where Regina grew up, overlooks the Heldburger Land in South Thuringia.

Archduchess Regina, Crown Princess of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia (6 January 1925 – 3 February 2010; née Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen (Regina Helene Elizabeth Margarete Prinzessin von Sachsen-Meiningen) was a member of the House of Wettin.

Styles of Crown Princess Regina of Austria
Reference style	Her Imperial and Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Imperial and Royal Highness
Alternative style	Ma'am

Biography

She was born in Würzburg, the youngest of four children born to the marriage of Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen and Countess Klara Maria von Korff genannt Schmissing-Kerssenbrock. Regina was the only one of her siblings to have children: of her two older brothers, Anton Ulrich died aged twenty, killed in action during World War II, and Frederick Alfred became a Carthusian monk who renounced his succession rights. Her only sister, Marie Elisabeth, died aged three months in 1923, before Regina's birth.

Regina was a second cousin of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and a great-great-granddaughter of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, half-sister of Queen Victoria.

Although the Saxe-Meiningen dynasty was Protestant, she was raised in the Roman Catholic faith of her mother. Regina grew up in the Veste Heldburg which overlooks the Heldburger Land in south Thuringia. Her father, a judge in Meiningen and Hildburghausen, died a captive at the Soviet POW camp at Tschernpowetz on her 21st birthday in 1946. Her mother had fled with her to West Germany. There, while working at a Caritas home for Hungarian refugees, Regina met her future husband.

On 10 May 1951 she married Otto von Habsburg, eldest son of Emperor Charles I of Austria and former crown prince, in the Church of Saint-François-des-Cordeliers in Nancy, capital city of Lorraine, her husband's paternal ancestral lands, with the blessing of Pope Pius XII. After her marriage she used the names Regina, Crown Princess of Austria or Regina von Habsburg. From 10 May 1954 until her death Regina and Otto lived together at his official residence in the Villa Austria, also called the Kaiservilla, in Pöcking near Lake Starnberg.

Regina and Otto lying in repose in the Capuchin Church, Vienna, draped with the Habsburg standard. The guards of honour are dressed in Austro-Hungarian uniforms.

Regina held several chivalric orders, including Dame and Supreme Protectress of the Order of the Starry Cross, Grand Mistress of the Order of Saint Elizabeth, Dame Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Order of Malta

On 2 December 2005 she suffered a brain injury and was taken to a hospital in Nancy. Nevertheless, by 22 February 2006 she had recovered sufficiently to participate in the transfer of the remains of her mother and her brother, Anton Ulrich, to the vault of the Veste Heldburg in the churchyard of Heldburg. The transfer of the remains of her father thither from Tschernpowetz took place in the spring of 2007.

Tomb at Imperial Crypt

Regina died in Pöcking on 3 February 2010, aged 85, and was entombed at Veste Heldburg on 10 February. Her remains, except for her heart, were moved to Mariazell and then to the Kaisergruft in Vienna at the time of her husband's funeral on 16 July 2011.

Issue

Regina and Otto had seven children; two sons and five daughters:

• Archduchess Andrea (born 1953), married Karl Eugen, Hereditary Count of Neipperg, has issue (three sons and two daughters)
• Archduchess Monika (twin, born 1954), married Luis Gonzaga de Casanova-Cárdenas y Barón, Duke de Santangelo, Marqis de Elche, Count de Lodosa and Grandee of Spain, descendant of Infanta Luisa Teresa of Spain, Duchess of Sessa and sister of Francis, King-Consort of Spain, has issue (four sons)
• Archduchess Michaela (twin, born 1954), married firstly to Eric Alba Teran d'Antin (divorced) and secondly to Count Hubertus von Kageneck (divorced), has issue by Eric Alba Teran d'Antin (two sons and a daughter)
• Archduchess Gabriela (born 1956), married Christian Meister (divorced), has issue (a son and two daughters)
• Archduchess Walburga (born 1958), married Count Archibald Douglas, has issue (a son)
• Archduke Karl (born 11 January 1961), married Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, has issue (a son and two daughters), current Head of the House of Habsburg
• Archduke Georg (born 1964), married Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg, has issue (a son and two daughters)

Ancestry

Family of Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen

16. Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen               8. Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen                       17. Princess Marie Frederica of Hesse-Kassel               4. Prince Friedrich Johann of Saxe-Meiningen                             18. Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg               9. Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg                       19. Princess Feodora of Leiningen               2. Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen                                   20. Julius, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld               10. Ernest II, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld                       21. Countess Adelheid zu Castell-Castell               5. Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld                             22. Leopold, Count von Wartensleben               11. Countess Karoline von Wartensleben                       23. Matilde Halbach-Bohlen               1. Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen                                         24. Maximilian Franz Xaver, Count von Korff gt Schmissing-Kerssenbrock               12. Maximilian Frederick, Count von Korff gt Schmissing-Kerssenbrock                       25. Countess Julie von Stolberg-Stolberg               6. Alfred, Count von Korff gt Schmissing-Kerssenbrock                             26. Gotthard Friedrich, Count von Mirbach-Kosmanos               13. Countess Gabrielle von Mirbach-Kosmanos                       27. Countess Mathilde Friederike von Pachta               3. Countess Klara Maria von Korff genannt Schmissing-Kerssenbrock                                   28. Heinrich, Baron von Hilgers               14. Baron Franz Richard von Hilgers                       29. Helena von Hontheim               7. Baroness Hélène von Hilgers                             30. Eduard Zernentsch               15. Agnes Zernentsch                       31. Clara Lucius

References

Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen House of Saxe-Meiningen Cadet branch of the House of Wettin Born: 6 January 1925 Died: 3 February 2010
Titles in pretence
Vacant Title last held by Zita of Bourbon-Parma	— TITULAR — Empress consort of Austria Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia 10 May 1951 – 3 February 2010	Vacant Title next held by Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza