The Marital History of Hereditary Prince Johannes of Schwarzenberg

The Marital History of the Hereditary Prince of Schwarzenberg

Hereditary Prince Johannes of Schwarzenberg

Nadia Weiss

In the Autumn of 2006, a grand wedding was planned for Hereditary Prince Johannes “Aki” of Schwarzenberg (b.1967), only son of Fürst Karel of Schwarzenberg (b.1937) and his wife Therese (b.1940; née Countess zu Hardegg auf Glatz und im Machlande). Karel of Schwarzenberg was for some time the Czech Foreign Minister. Aki’s bride-to-be was Nadia Weiss (b.1975), a society journalist who had studied psychology at university. Aki and Nadia’s marriage was to take place in August 2006 at Meran. 350 guests were invited.

Fürstin Therese of Schwarzenberg

Unexpectedly (to the public), the week after the wedding was supposed to have taken place, Fürstin Therese of Schwarzenberg announced that the union of her son had been indefinitely postponed. According to German magazine Bunte, Hereditary Prince Aki had discovered that Nadia had been in a relationship with another man for seventeen months, at the very same time that she was in a relationship with Aki and had become his fiancée. Needless to say, the couple went their separate ways.

Aki Schwarzenberg and Diana Orgoványi-Hanstein

Four years later in 2010, happy news arrived from the Princely House of Schwarzenberg in the form of the upcoming marriage of Hereditary Prince Aki to artist Diana Orgoványi-Hanstein (b.1971), the daughter of Attila Orgoványi-Hanstein (d.1987) and Britta Winternitz (1941-2015). Diana’s paternal grandmother was Baroness Maximiliane von Berg (1908-?), and through this connection Diana was a great-great granddaughter of August Thyssen (1842-1926), of the well-known Thyssen family. Hereditary Prince Aki and Diana had known one another for twenty years, but their romance had begun over the year and a half before their engagement.

Hereditary Prince Johannes and Princess Diana of Schwarzenberg after their wedding

Aki of Schwarzenberg and Diana Orgoványi-Hanstein were wed on 20 March 2010 at Neuberg an der Mürz, Styria. Diana’s mother Britta helped immensely in the planning of the wedding and celebrations. Diana decided to wear a dirndl, while Aki wore Styrian costume for the event. Amongst the guests were members of the Furstenberg, Hohenlohe-Oehringen, and Reuß families. The Schwarzenberg/Orgoványi-Hanstein union ended in divorce after several years; the couple did not have children.

Hereditary Prince Johannes and Princess Francesca of Schwarzenberg at their marriage

In 2017, the upcoming nuptials were announced between Hereditary Prince Aki to Francesca Riario-Sforza (b.1974) of that old Italian noble family. Francesca studied sociology and works as a scriptwriter and editor. The bride’s parents are Paolo Riario Sforza (b.1935) and Maria Gaia La Greca. Aki and Francesca were married at Murau, Styria, on 8 April 2017. As the couple do not have children, the eventual heir to the Schwarzenberg properties would be Hereditary Prince Aki’s first cousin, Prince Ferdinand (b.1989).