Archduchess Renata of Austria

Archduchess Renata of Austria (2 January 1888 – 9 December 1935) was the daughter of Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria and a first cousin of King Alfonso 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 Radziwiłł.

Early life

Archduchess Renata was the second 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 grandson of Archduke Charles of Austria who had led the Austrian army against Napoleon Bonaparte. Her father was also a brother of 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, and of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies.

Personal life 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 Radziwiłł family was one of the most distinguish families of Poland, but since his family did not belong to a list of ruling or former ruling princely families, Renata had to renounce all of her titles, along with the style of Imperial and Royal Highness. They signed a prenuptial agreement and separation of property. The wedding took place on 15 January 1909 in the chapel at Saybusch Castle. They divorced in 1946 and he married Lidia Lacey Bloodgood, a daughter of John Van Schaick Bloodgood and Lida Fleitmann Bloodgood. Prince Karol Jerome Radziwiłł (1912–2005), who married Maria Luisa de Alvear y Quirno in 1949 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, later, Maria Teresa Soto y Alderete. Prince Albert Radziwiłł (1914–1932), who died young at Davos, Switzerland. Princess Eleonore Radziwiłł (b. 1918), who married Count Benedikt Tyszkiewicz in 1938.

Her eldest son, Dominik, eventually married Princess Eugénie of Greece and Denmark in 1938. With the defeat and dissolution of Austria-Hungary 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 16 May 1935. Her husband outlived her for ten years. Prince Jerome remarried. Towards the end of World War II, Prince Jerome was captured by Soviet troops and he was taken behind the Iron Curtain. He died in a concentration camp in 1945. The Radziwiłł properties were all lost.

Ancestry