Archduchess Renata of Austria

Archduchess Renata of Austria
Princess Radziwill
Spouse	Prince Jerome Radziwil
Names Template:Lang-de
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine House of Radziwil
Father	Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria
Mother	Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, Princess of Tuscany

Archduchess Renata of Austria (28 September 1888 – 9 December 1935) was a daughter of Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria and a first cousin of King Alphonso XIII of Spain . A member of the Teschen branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and an Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Bohemia, Hungary, and Tuscany by birth, she renounced her titles in 1909 upon her marriage to Prince Jerome Radziwill.

Background and early life

Archduchess Renata was a daughter of Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, Princess of Tuscany. Both of her parents were closely related to Emperor Franz Joseph. Renata’s father was a grand son of archduke Karl of Austria who had defeated Napoleon Bonaparte in the battle of. He was a brother of [Maria Christina of Austria|Queen Maria Christina of Spain]]. Renata’s mother Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, Princess of Tuscany was a granddaughter of Leopold II , the last reigning Grand Duke of Tuscany, on her mother line she was a grand daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies.

Archduchess Renata was educated by private tutors, her education made special emphasis on languages and she learned German , Italian, English French and from 1895 Polish. Her father had followed a career in the Austrian Navy and Renata spent her formative years primarily in Istria in the then Austrian port of Pula in the Adriatic. Her father was very wealthy and the family had a summer residence in the island of Losinj in the Adriatic, a place in Vienna and in 1895 her father inherited from Archduke Albert vast properties in Galicia. From 1907 the family main residence was in Zywiec castle in western Galicia.

Marriage

Archduke Charles Stephen put aside his career in the navy and centered his ambitions in creating a Polish branch of the house of Habsburg. He encouraged all of his children to become Polish and Archduchess Renata ended up marrying one of Poland’s richest landowners Prince Jerome Radziwill . Their engagement was announced in September 1908. The Radziwill was one of the most lustrous of Poland, but since he did not belong to a ruling family Renata had to renounce all of her titles, and the treatment of Imperial and Royal highness. They signed a prenuptial agreement and separation of property. The wedding took place on January 15 1909 in the chapel at Zywic castle.

They had six children and lived at Balice Castle, one of the Radziwill estates. Her eldest son, Dominik, eventually married Princess Princess Eugénie of Greece and Denmark in 1938. With the defeat and dissolution of the Austrian Hungary Empire after World War I,the destiny of her family was even more closely linked to Poland. Archduchess Renata lived at Balice Castle in Poland where she died on May 16 1935. Her husband outlived her for ten years. Prince Jerome remarried. Towards the end of World War II, Prince Jerome was captured by Russian troops and taken behind the Iron Curtain. He died in a concentration camp in May 1945. The Radziwill properties were all lost.

Children

Archduches Renata and Prince Jerome Radziwill had six children:

• Princess Maria Teresa Radziwill ( 19 January 1910 - )
• Prince Dominic Radziwill (23 January 1911 – 19 November 1976) married Princess Eugenie of Greece
• Prince Karol Jerome Radziwill (3 May 1912 – 27 November 2005)
• Prince Albert Radziwill (10 May 1914 – 23 June 1932)
• Princess Eleonore Radziwill (2 August 1918 – )
• Prince Leon Jerome Radziwill (28 October 1922 – )

References

• McIntosh David, " The Unknown Habsburgs ", Rovall Royal Books, 2000.
• Snyder, Timothy, The Red Prince: The Secret Lives of A Habsburg Archduke . Basic Books, 2008.