Principessa
Most Exalted Member
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 Netherlands
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I am the Queen
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Coming to Holland: Prins Zoekt Vrouw:
- None of the countries where the "princes" of the show come from is a monarchy, so these are only historical titles of nobility.
- Livio Borghese, participant of season 1, was also 'The Bachelor' in the 9th season of the American TV series of the same name (ABC). Moreover, Livio is not a real prince, but a member of the Italian (papal) nobility. He is part of the noble Borghese family.
- Faleseu Pita, a participant in season 1, actually appears to live in New Zealand. He is not of nobility and not a Samoan prince. Pita had gone alone to the Samoan island of Apolima to obtain a Matai title. This is not a title of prince and is more comparable to the honorary rank of chief (Matai title Sa'u, according to the Fa'amatai chief system).
- In Dutch (gossip) show RTL Boulevard, it was revealed by royal house connoisseur Marc van der Linden that Mario-Max Prince Schaumburg-Lippe, participant in season 2, is not of nobility and is not a real German prince. Mario-Max has only been adopted (as an adult) by his stepfather Prince Waldemar zu Schaumburg-Lippe.
Undercover Princes (BBC):
- Remigius Jerry Kanagarajah, descendant to the royal family of the historical Jaffna Kingdom (but thus not a real prince)
- Africa Zulu, a Zulu chief from South Africa. This could be true, but still can't find him in the family members listing of the Zulu Royal Family.
- Manvendra Singh Gohil (born 23 September 1965), seems to be a true one. He is an Indian prince who is the son and probable heir of the Maharaja of Rajpipla in Gujarat. He is the first openly gay prince in the world. He runs a charity, the Lakshya Trust, which works with the LGBT community. In 1971, the government of India "de-recognized" the Indian princes, and Manvendra's father consequently lost the official title of Maharaja and the privy purse (an annual pension) that came with it. The princes adjusted to the new socialist regime. His parents arranged marriage, and in January 1991, he married Chandrika Kumari, a princess of Jhabua State in Madhya Pradesh The marriage remained unconsummated. He says, "It was a total disaster. A total failure. The marriage never got consummated. I realized I had done something very wrong. Now two people were suffering instead of one. Far from becoming normal, my life was more miserable." Upon being informed by the psychiatrists that their son was gay, Manvendra's parents accepted the truth, but stipulated that this matter should not be revealed to anyone else. He left Mumbai and began living full-time with his parents in the small town of Rajpipla. In 2005, Chirantana Bhatt, a young journalist from Vadodara Gujarat approached Manvendra. He confided his sexual orientation and the mental stress he was going through as a closeted gay man to the journalist. On 14 March 2006, the story of his coming out made headlines. The "coming out" story was first published in the Vadodara edition of Divya Bhaskar, a regional Gujarati language daily of the Bhaskar media group. It was covered the next day in all other editions of Bhaskar groups language newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi language) and Daily News Analysis (DNA), an English newspaper. Soon the news appeared in other English and vernacular newspapers across the country, and became a story that they followed up in their gossip and society pages for several weeks afterward. Manvendra's effigies were burnt in Rajpipla, where people were shocked. Manavendra was jeered and heckled when he made a public appearance in the town. His family accused him of bringing dishonor and disowned him soon after.
Undercover Princesses (BBC)
- Xenia Gabriela Florence Sophie Iris, (Xenia Prinzessin von Sachsen) Princess of Saxony and Duchess to Saxony, Germany, b. 1986 Under laws determining German nobility, she is not strictly a princess at all. Her father was a farmer. Her mother, Princess Iris of Saxony, is a four times married Düsseldorf hairdresser and the daughter of the now deceased Timo, Prince of Saxony. The German house of Wettin, from which Princess Xenia purports to derive her title, angrily rejected her claim when the princess revealed that she was writing her biography: Xenia: The Life of a Princess in the 21st Century. Its 85-year-old head, Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, declared in an interview with the German newspaper Bild: "She is a nothing, she can't have a biography. This thing is a dreadful faux pas, a misfortune for the 1,000-year-old House of Wettin!" German nobility experts say that Princess Xenia can claim nothing more than to be the great-great-granddaughter of the last ruling monarch of the German state of Saxony, King Friedrich August III. She nevertheless regards herself as a member of Germany's minor nobility.
- Princess (Omumbejja) Sheillah Cinderella Nvannungi of Buganda, Uganda, b. 1982 (daughter of Prince (Omulangira) George William Juuko Walugembe Kassabbanda) although this claim by her is disputed. In response to the programme, Elizabeth Mpologoma, a true Princess of Buganda and brother to the ruling Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi has written to the BBC expressing her anger and questions Cinderella’s authenticity as a true Princess of Buganda.
- Princess (Nawabzadi) Aaliya Sultana Babi of Balasinor, India, b. 1974 (daughter of Babi Shri Muhammed Salabat Khanji II, Nawab of Balasinor). She was apparently a true princess of Balasinor. The scion of this family, Salauddinkhan Babi participated in a similar show in the Netherlands in 2010 in which he was trying to find a wife.
Secret Princes (TLC)
Season 1:
- Francisco de Borbón y von Hardenberg (b. 1979). Resides in Madrid, Spain. Direct descendant of Spanish and French royalty of the House of Bourbon. He is the only son of the 5th Duke of Seville, who is a Grandee of Spain and a relative of the current King, Felipe VI of Spain. Francisco's mother is Countess Beatrice of Hardenberg. She is the daughter of Princess Maria Josepha of Fürstenberg and Count Günther of Hardenberg. Still no prince, but at least nobility. According to Royal Musings: Don Francisco's father works as a banker. No palace. No grand home. This kinship does not make the Duke of Seville a member of the Spanish Royal family. He has been married three times. His first wife was Countess Beatrice von Hardenberg, the daughter of Count Gunther von Hardenburg and Princess Maria Josefa zu Fürstenberg. The Cisco kid is not even the heir to the Seville dukedom. Since 2009, Spanish titles of nobility are inherited by the eldest child, not the eldest son. Thus, Cisco's eldest sister, Olivia. is the heiress apparent to the Seville dukedom.
- Salauddin Babi of Balasinor (b. 1979). Resides in Gujarat, India. He is the only son of Muhammad Salabat Khan, the current Nawab of the former princely state of Balasinor in India. Salauddin has the title of Nawabzada of Balasinor. See comment at Princess (Nawabzadi) Aaliya Sultana Babi of Balasinor above ^.
- Robert Jonathan Walters, Lord of the Manor of Fullwood (b. 1982). Resides in London, England. He is routinely described as 'Lord Robert Walters' throughout the series, which is incorrect. He claims the title of Lord of the Manor of Fullwood as an inheritance from his uncle. He is apparently best known as an underwear model, but he is not entitled to call himself Lord Robert. Lord Robert would mean one of two things: younger son of a duke or younger son of a marquess. He is neither. He has inherited a Lordship of a Manor. Lords of the Manor are feudal titles, but are not peerages. A Lord of the Manor cannot call himself Lord Robert, example. He is pretending to be someone he is not: the younger son of a duke or a marquess. In England, a Lordship of a Manor is recognized as a form of propriety. A good percentage of Lordships remain within the families, but others have been sold. Lord Spencer sold several of his Lordships of the Manor several years ago. In other words, Robert Walters is not a prince. He is also not a noble. A commoner.
- The Honourable Ludovic Watson (b. 1989). Resides in Yorkshire, England. His father is the Right Honourable Miles Watson, 4th Baron Manton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. However, Ludovic has an older brother named Thomas who is the heir apparent and is most likely to become the next Lord Manton. Children of peers of the realm are commoners. The only people in the UK who are not commoners are the Sovereign and Peers of the Realm. The Duke of Cambridge is a peer of the realm. Prince Harry is legally a commoner.
Season 2:
- Francis Alexander Mathew (b. 20 Sep. 1979).No real prince either.... Resides in England. Direct descendant (through his mother) of the Russian imperial House of Romanov. He is the son of Thomas Mathew and Princess Olga Andreevna Romanoff. She is the daughter of the late Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia, who was the grandson of Tsar Alexander III and the eldest nephew of the last Tsar, Nicholas II.
- Lorenzo Maria Raimondo de' Medici in Campitelli di Calabria (b. 1975). Resides in Rome, Italy. He claims descent from the House of Medici and originally comes from the town of Martirano in the south of Italy. He is the son of Alessandro de' Medici and his wife Krystyna, who live in Calabria, Italy. The main ruling Medici family died out in the 15th century, shortly after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent (this was the line descended from Cosimo the Elder). It lasted about 100 years. The 'cadet' branch that derives from Lorenzo the Elder (the brother of Cosimo the Elder) continues to exist today. This so-called 'cadet' branch however, includes all the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the Bourbon Kings of France beginning with Louis XIII, as well as several Kings of England and Spain, and continues to this day. Though it is not clear which extant branch of the Medici family that Lorenzo is a descendant of.
- The Right Honourable James Rodd, Lord Rennell (b. 1978). Resides in London, England. He is the 4th Baron Rennell in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He inherited this title in 2006 from his late father, Tremayne Rodd, 3rd Baron Rennell. His father John Adrian Tremayne Rodd was the younger son of Gustaf Guthrie Rennell Rodd, a Commander in the Royal Navy, and his wife, the former Yvonne Mary Marling, a singing teacher and co-author of Singing, the Physical Nature of the Vocal Organ. His elder brother (by two years), Saul David Rennell Rodd, predeceased him. His father was the younger son of the diplomat and Conservative MP Sir Rennell Rodd, who was created Baron Rennell in 1933. His father's elder brother was 2nd Baron Rennell. So no prince, only nobility.
- The Honourable Oliver Plunkett (b. 1985). Resides in County Meath, Ireland. He is the second son of the late Edward Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany in the Peerage of Ireland, and great-grandson of the noted novelist Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany. So a second son of a peer, also thus a commoner.....
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