Archduchess Yolande, Archduchess Carl Ludwig of Austria

Archduchess Yolande of Austria (née Princesse Yolande Marie Jeanne Charlotte de Ligne; 6 May 1923 – 13 September 2023) was a Belgian princess of the House of Ligne, and an Austrian archduchess by her marriage to the Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria, being the daughter of Eugène, 11th Prince of Ligne and Princess Philippine de Noailles.

Family Yolande was born in Madrid as the second daughter of Eugène, 11th Prince de Ligne and his wife Philippine de Noailles (1898–1991). Her father was the Belgian ambassador to India from 1947 to 1951, ambassador to Spain from 1951 to 1958, and the head of one of Belgium's historically most influential noble families. He died in 1960.

Each of Yolande's two brothers became the Prince de Ligne (Baudouin, 12th Prince de Ligne and Antoine, 13th Prince de Ligne). Antoine is the father of Michel, 14th Prince de Ligne and Princess Christine, wife of Prince Antônio of Orléans-Braganza (second-in-line to the defunct Brazilian throne). Antoine's youngest daughter is named after Yolande.

Biography Marriage and issue On 17 January 1950, at the Château de Belœil, Belgium (the family seat of the House of Ligne), Yolande married Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria (1918–2007). The couple honeymooned in Florida, eventually settling in New York City, where Carl Ludwig worked for the Rockefeller Foundation. Archduke Rudolf (b. 1950), married Baroness Hélène de Villenfagne de Vogelsanck (b. 1954) in Brussels on 3 July 1976, their family taking up residence in Belgium thereafter. On 29 May 1978 he and his children and male-line descendants were incorporated in the nobility of Belgium by royal letters patent with the style of Serene Highness and the hereditary title "Prince of Habsburg-Lorraine".