Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Divorce scandal for the de Lignes

December 2, 1907

The Marquise de Fontenoy, whose syndicated column appears in the Chicago Daily Tribune, is focusing today on the latest divorce scandal in Europe.

She writes that "no end of a sensation has been created among the aristocracy of continental Europe" due to the divorce of the Prince and Princess de Ligne. The couple were married in June 1884, and "have been at the front rank of society in Paris and also at Brussels." They have lived separate lives for some time now, but there was a hope that a divorce could be avoided "by reason of identification with the Roman Catholic church for hundreds of years, but also for the sake of the name and traditions of their respective houses."

Princess Elisabeth, according to French law, has lost her marital title, Princess de Ligne, and has resumed her maiden name. She is the eldest daughter of the late Duke de la Rochefaucauld. Her brother is the present duke and her sister is the widowed Duchess d'Harcourt.

Prince Louis is the tenth Prince de Ligne. There is a "considerable amount of sympathy and kindly feeling" for the Prince, whose divorce was recently finalized.

The prince and his former wife, have one daughter, Marie Suzanna, who was born in 1885. She married is married to Prince Alexander della Torre e Tasso.

The heir to the de Ligne title and estates is the Prince's younger brother, Ernest, who is married to Diane de Cosse-Brissac. They have seven children, including a son,Eugene.

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