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Prince Heinrich of Croÿ and Joana de Sotto-Mayor
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The Duke of Croÿ has mailed out a lovely announcement and photograph celebrating the engagement of his son Prince Heinrich to Maria Joana de Spínola Moreira de Sotto-Mayor. It shows the happy couple on the day that they got engaged, 10 September, while they were on holiday in Norway. Joana’s engagement ring looks to be a magnificent creation consisting of a vibrant ruby in the centre surrounded by diamonds on all sides.
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| (NOTE: THIS PHOTO MAY NOT BE COPIED OR REPRODUCED.) |
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Prince Heinrich of Croÿ was born on 9 December 1993 at Münster as the fourth child and third son of Duke Rudolf of Croÿ and Duchess Alexandra of Croÿ. Heinrich’s parents, the then Hereditary Prince Rudolf of Croÿ (b.1955) and Countess Alexandra Miloradovich (1960-2015), were married in October 1987. The Duke of Croÿ and the late Duchess of Croÿ have six children: Prince Carl-Philipp (b.1989), Princess Xenia (b.1990), Prince Marc-Emmanuel (b.1992), Prince Heinrich (b.1993), Prince Alexander (b.1995), and Princess Anastasia (b.1998).
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| The Duke and Duchess of Croÿ |
On his father’s side, Prince Heinrich of Croÿ is the grandson of Duke Carl of Croÿ (1914-2011) and his wife Princess Gabriele of Bavaria (1927-2019). Through his paternal grandfather, Heinrich is the great-grandson of Duke Carl Rudolf of Croÿ (1889-1974) and his first wife Nancy Leishman (1894-1983). Through his paternal grandmother, Heinrich is the great-grandson of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria (1869-1955) and his second wife Princess Antonia of Luxembourg (1899-1954). Therefore, Prince Heinrich of Croÿ is a great-great-grandson of King Ludwig III of Bavaria and his wife Queen Maria Theresia (née Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Modena).
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| The late Duchess of Croÿ (née Countess Alexandra Miloradovich) |
On his mother’s side, Prince Heinrich of Croÿ is the grandson of Count Serafim Nikolaievich Miloradovich (1929-2008) and his wife Baroness Agnes von Hoenning O’Carroll (1936-2014). Through his maternal grandfather, Heinrich is the great-grandson of Count Nikolai Leonidovich Miloradovich (1889-1954) and his wife Princess Olga Yourievna Troubetzkoy. Through his maternal grandmother, Heinrich is the great-grandson of Baron Zdenko von Hoenning O’Carroll (1906-1996) and his first wife Princess Margarite von Lobkowicz (1913-1946). After his first wife’s death, Heinrich’s great-grandfather Baron Zdenko married Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria (1917-2004), a daughter of Prince Franz of Bavaria (1875-1957; a younger brother of King Ludwig III of Bavaria, who was the father of Heinrich of Croÿ’s paternal great-grandfather Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria) and Princess Isabella of Croÿ (1890-1982; the only sister of Duke Carl Rudolf of Croÿ, who is Heinrich of Croÿ’s paternal great-grandfather).
Joana de Sotto-Mayor was born in 1992 as the only daughter of José Alberto Fonseca de Sotto-Mayor and Dalila Alexandra de Spínola Moreira. Joana has one brother, José Diogo. Joana’s paternal grandparents are Jaime Artur Lopes Marques de Sotto-Mayor (1927-1980) and Maria do Socorro Farinha Torres da Fonseca (b.1928).
We wish Heinrich and Joana all the best – they are surely well occupied with wedding planning at this point!
Note: Many thanks to Hein Bruins of Hein’s Royal Genealogy Page for providing information on Joana de Sotto-Mayor’s family and ancestry.
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