⭐ ⚡️ Der 80. Geburtstag von Prinzessin Marion d'Orléans, Gräfinwitwe von La Marche

Thibaut, Marion und Robert.

Foto (c) Micheline PELLETIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.

Heute feiert Prinzessin Marion d'Orléans, Gräfinwitwe von La Marche, ihren achtzigsten Geburtstag.

Marion Mercedes Gordon-Orr wurde am 4. September 1942 in Santiago, Chile, als einzige Tochter des Ingenieurs James Gordon-Orr (1894-1973) und Gertrude Mercedes Devia Hermosilla (1914-2003) geboren. Marions Großeltern väterlicherseits waren Alexander Orr (1838-1919) und Clara Eliza Gordon (1858-1947).

Thibaut und Marion kurz vor ihrer Hochzeit, 1972.

1968 lernte Marion Prinz Thibaut d'Orléans kennen, das jüngste Kind von Prinz Henri und Prinzessin Isabelle, Graf und Gräfin von Paris. Zu dieser Zeit arbeitete Marion als Dolmetscherin in Paris für eine amerikanische Firma.

Thibaut und Marion.

Das Brautpaar.

Am 23. September 1972 heiratete die 30-jährige Marion Gordon-Orr in Edinburgh den 24-jährigen Prinzen Thibaut. Das königliche Paar feierte seine kirchliche Trauung in der Privatkapelle von Kardinal Gray, Erzbischof von St. Andrews und Edinburgh. Ihre Verbindung gefiel dem Vater des Bräutigams damals nicht, und der Graf von Paris verbot allen Familienmitgliedern, an der Hochzeit teilzunehmen. Thibauts Schwester Prinzessin Claude, damals noch Herzogin von Aosta, war seine einzige Schwester, die sich dem Willen des Patriarchen von Orléans widersetzte, und sie war bei der Feier der Hochzeit von Thibaut und Marion anwesend.

Während ihrer Ehe reisten Thibaut und Marion viel. Sie besuchten Peru, Kolumbien und Chile, wo Marion geboren wurde. In Marion fand Thibaut eine Seele, die seine Liebe zur Entdeckung weniger bekannter Völker und ihrer Kulturen teilte. Zwischen 1973 und 1974 schrieb das Paar sechs Bücher in der Reihe Les Princes du sang ; diese Bücher schildern das Schicksal einer fiktiven deutschen Fürstenfamilie. Das erste dieser Bücher wurde auf Englisch unter dem Titel A Castle in Bavaria veröffentlicht .

Marion, Thibaut und ihr ältester Sohn Robert.

Prince Thibaut and Princess Marion had two children, both sons and both born while Thibaut and Marion were staying with her mother in Edinburgh. Prince Robert d’Orléans arrived on 6 September 1976; Robert’s godparents are Viscount Paul de La Panouse, one of his parents’ dearest friends, as well as his aunt Princess Claude, Duchess of Aosta. Robert’s birth led to a reconciliation between his father Thibaut and his grandfather Henri. Three years later, the family was completed by the birth of Louis-Philippe on 18 April 1979; his godparents were Count Charles of Bourbon-Busset and the infant’s grandmother Madame the Countess of Paris. Tragically, eight-month-old Louis-Philippe died on 2 January 1980 from sepsis. The sudden and unexpected loss of Louis-Philippe, coupled with the brutally insensitive decision of his grandfather the Count of Paris that the young child could not be buried in the Chapel Royal of Dreux as he was not a dynast, was a blow to Thibaut and Marion.

The Count and Countess de La Marche, 28 June 1981.

Photo (c) AKSARAN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.

In the months following his son’s funeral, Thibaut d’Orléans was imprisoned for eighteen months for complicity in the theft of works of art. The case caused a stir and the problems of the Count and Countess of La Marche made the way to the front page of many French newspapers. Thibaut was tied with an attempt to steal works of art by Suzanne Courty.

Marion with her son Robert at the funeral of her husband Thibaut, 1983. Photo (c) Getty Images / Alain Mingam.

After his release from prison, the Count of la Marche left France to organise safaris for tourists in the Central African Republic. Marion and their son Robert remained in France. On 23 March 1983, Prince Thibaut died at hospital in Bangui, in circumstances that have been considered by some to be mysterious. The prince was thirty-five years-old when he died. Thibaut’s funeral was attended by most of the Royal Family of France; even the separated Count and Countess of Clermont and divorced Princess Claude and Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, came together to support Marion and her son Robert.

Marion and Thibaut in Paris, 1977.

Photo (c) AGIP / Bridgeman Images.

After the death of her husband, Princess Marion focused on the upbringing of their only surviving son, Robert. In 1999, after her brother-in-law Prince Henri succeeded as Head of the Royal House of France, Henri retroactively recognised Thibaut and Marion’s marriage and, in doing so, Henri declared that their son Robert is a dynastic member of the royal house. Princess Marion lives discretely and quietly; however, on occasion, one can still spot her attending Orléans family functions.

May Princess Marion be blessed with a very happy birthday!