A Doyenne of the Gotha Turns Ninety: Archduchess Margherita of Austria-Este, Princess of Savoy

Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta on the eve of her marriage.

Today, HI&RH Archduchess Margherita of Austria-Este, Princess of Savoy, marks her ninetieth birthday.

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Princess Anne of France, Princess of Savoy, Duchess of Apulia, expects her first child.
Snippet (c) Chicago Tribune of 9 March 1930.

On 7 April 1930, Princess Margherita Isabella Maria Vittoria Emanuella Elena Gennara of Savoy was born at Capodimonte. The princess was the first child of Prince Amedeo of Savoy (1898-1942), Duke of Aosta, and Princess Anne d'Orléans (1906-1986), who married in 1927. Present at Margherita's birth were her maternal grandmother Princess Isabelle d'Orléans, Duchess of Guise, and her great-aunt Queen Amélie of Portugal. Several years later, Margherita was joined by sister Princess Maria Cristina in 1933.

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In March 1942, Margherita's father Amedeo died from tuberculosis at the age of forty-three. As a commander in the Italian army, the Duke of Aosta had become a prisoner-of-war when he was captured by the British armed forces on the African front. Anne d'Orléans was thus left a widow, who had to care for her two young daughters during the slow but imminent fall of the Kingdom of Italy.

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The engagement between Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta and Archduke Robert of Austria-Este (1915-1996) was announced in October 1953. Robert was one of the children of Emperor Karl of Austria and Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. The couple contracted a civil marriage on 28 December 1953 at Bourg-en-Bresse, France. On the following day, 29 December, Robert and Margherita's religious union took place at Brou, France. Standing six feet tall and wearing a diamond tiara, Margherita proved to be an imposing presence. The bridegroom was himself six feet three inches tall: they formed an impressive couple. Monsignor Marella, the Papal Nuncio to Paris, presided over the imperial and royal wedding.

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Archduke Robert and Archduchess Margherita settled in Paris. Robert worked in the banking industry. The couple had five children: Archduchess Maria Beatrix (b.1954), Archduke Lorenz (b.1955), Archduke Gerhard (b.1957), Archduke Martin (b.1959), and Archduchess Isabella (b.1963).

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Archduchess Margherita and Archduke Robert of Austria-Este in the 1990s.
Photograph (c) Presse-Foto-Seeger.

Archduchess Margherita of Austria-Este with her daughter Archduchess Isabella in November 1997.
Photograph (c) Presse-Foto-Seeger.

Four of Margherita and Robert's sons and daughters married into royal and aristocratic circles. In 1980, Archduchess Maria Beatrix wed Count Riprand von Arco-Zinneberg. In 1984, Archduke Lorenz married Princess Astrid of Belgium. In 1997, Archduchess Isabelle wed Count Andrea Czarnocki-Lucheschi. In 2004, Archduke Martin married Princess Katharina zu Isenburg. Only one son, Archduke Gerhard, contracted a morganatic union; this took place in 2015 when Gerhard wed Iris Jandrasits. Archduke Robert and Archduchess Margherita of Austria have nineteen grandchildren.

Archduke Robert and Archduchess Margherita of Austria-Este

On 7 February 1996, Archduke Robert passed away at Basel, Switzerland, one day shy of his eighty-first birthday. He was buried at Kloster Muri in the Swiss countryside. His widow Margherita has survived him by over twenty years. Among her grandchildren is Countess Olympia v.u.z. Arco-Zinneberg, the wife of Prince Jean-Christophe Napoléon.

We wish Her Imperial and Royal Highness a very Happy Ninetieth Birthday!