Princess Marie-Gabrielle

Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Luxembourg (Marie-Gabrielle Aldegunde Wilhelmine Louise; 2 August 1925 – 10 February 2023) was a Luxembourgish princess, the third daughter and fourth child of Grand Duchess Charlotte (1896–1985) and Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma (1893–1970).

Early life

Princess Marie Gabrielle was born at Berg Castle, Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, as Princess of Luxembourg, Princess of Nassau, Princess of Bourbon-Parma.

Facing the German invasion in 10 May 1940 during World War II, the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg left the country to find refuge in Portugal, after receiving transit visas from the Portuguese consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes, in June 1940. They arrived at Vilar Formoso on 23 June 1940. After travelling through Coimbra and Lisbon, the family first stayed in Cascais, in Casa de Santa Maria, owned by Manuel Espírito Santo, who was then the honorary consul for Luxembourg in Portugal. By July they had moved to Monte Estoril, staying at the Chalet Posser de Andrade.

On 10 July 1940, Princess Marie Gabrielle, together with her father Prince Félix, her siblings, Hereditary Grand Duke Jean, Princess Elisabeth, Princess Marie Adelaide, Prince Charles and Princess Alix, the nanny Justine Reinard and the chauffeur Eugène Niclou, along with his wife Joséphine, boarded the S.S. Trenton headed for New York City. In order not to void the United States' then neutrality, the family moved to Canada and then to Great Britain, where Princess Marie Gabrielle and her sisters volunteered with the British Red Cross.

After the family returned to post-war Luxembourg, Princess Marie Gabrielle studied sculpture with Auguste Tremont: in 1950, she exhibited her works at the Salon des Animaliers in Paris, under the pseudonym, Mlle de Clervaux.

Marriage and family

Princess Marie Gabrielle met her future husband Count Knud Johan Ludvig of Holstein-Ledreborg (2 October 1919 – 25 June 2001) at the 1947 wedding of her cousin Jacques de Bourbon-Parma to Knud's sister Birgitte.

They married in November 1951 at Colmar-Berg. The family settled in Ledreborg.

They had seven daughters, but no sons:

• Countess Monica (born 1952), Countess of Holstein-Ledreborg, m. Henrik de Dompierre de Jonquières
• Countess Lydia (born 1955), Hereditary Countess of Holstein-Ledreborg, m. Prince Erik of Bourbon-Parma (1953–2021) and had issue
• Countess Veronica (born 1956), m. François de Pottere
• Countess Silvia (born 1958), m. John Munro of Foulis
• Countess Camilla (1959–2010), m. Baron Eric Bertouch-Lehn
• Countess Tatiana (born 1961), m. Mark von Riedemann
• Countess Antonia (born 1962), became a nun in the Emmanuel Community in 1992.