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| La duchessa Sofia di Württemberg alle nozze della duchessa Sofia di Württemberg e Maximilien d'Andigné, 2018.
Foto (c) Getty Images / David Nivière. |
Oggi la duchessa Sofia di Württemberg festeggia il suo ottantacinquesimo compleanno!
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| Nel gennaio 1924 viene annunciato il fidanzamento di Albrecht Eugen del Württemberg e Nadejda di Bulgaria. |
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| Sposi: il duca Albrecht Eugen di Württemberg e la principessa Nadejda di Bulgaria |
Nata il 16 febbraio 1937 a Stoccarda, la duchessa Sophie Eudoxie Louise Josepha Margarethe Theresia vom Kinde Jesu Konrada Donata del Württemberg era la seconda figlia e quinta figlia del duca Albrecht Eugen del Württemberg (1895-1954) e di sua moglie, la principessa Nadejda di Bulgaria (1899-1958), che si sposarono nel 1924. Sophie aveva quattro fratelli maggiori: il duca Ferdinando Eugenio (1925-2020), la duchessa Margarethe (1928-2017; sposò François Luce de Chevigny), il duca Eugenio Eberhard (n. 1930; sposò l'arciduchessa Alessandra d'Austria-Toscana) e il duca Alessandro (n. 1933). I nonni paterni di Sophie erano il duca Albrecht di Württemberg (1865-1939) e l'arciduchessa Margarete Sophie d'Austria (1870-1902). I nonni materni della duchessa erano il re Ferdinando di Bulgaria (1861-1948) e la principessa Maria Luisa di Borbone-Parma (1870-1899).
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| Castello di Lindach. |
Fino allo scoppio della seconda guerra mondiale, il duca Albrecht Eugen e la duchessa Nadejda di Württemberg vissero con i loro figli in una proprietà in Slesia. Dopo il 1945 e la perdita di questa proprietà da parte del governo polacco sotto il controllo sovietico, la famiglia si trasferì a Schloß Lindach, vicino a Schwäbisch Gmünd. La duchessa Sophie, la figlia più giovane della coppia, trascorse la sua giovinezza a Schloß Lindach. Frequentò una scuola conventuale a Wald gestita da suore. Nel 1954, Sophie perse il padre quando Albrecht Eugen morì in un incidente automobilistico. Nel 1957, Sophie studiò alla School of Household Arts di Stoccarda. L'anno seguente, nel 1958, un giorno prima del suo ventunesimo compleanno, Sophie rimase orfana quando sua madre Nadeja morì il 15 febbraio, all'età di soli cinquantanove anni. Dopo la morte di sua madre, Sophie andò a vivere con suo fratello Alexander a Monaco. Nel 1961, la duchessa andò a Parigi per studiare il francese. Per sei mesi, seguì i corsi dell'Alliance Française. Sophie entrò poi nell'azienda di moda Heim Jeunes Filles come assistente alle vendite e stilista, poi, nel 1967, andò a lavorare per la Maison Balmain.
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| Duchess Sophie during her religious wedding wearing the Chaumet Diamond Fringe Tiara, which formerly belonged to Queen Eleonore of Bulgaria. |
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| Duchess Sophie, Antonio Manuel Rôxo de Ramos-Bandeira, Duke Ferdinand, Duchess Margarethe, Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaria, Duchess Alexandra and Duke Eugen Eberhard. |
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| Duchess Sophie at her wedding ball. |
In February 1969, Duchess Sophie of Württemberg married Portuguese diplomat Antonio Manuel Rôxo de Ramos-Bandeira (1937-1987), the son of Dr. Antonio de Ramos-Bandeira and Alice de Souza-Rôxo. In addition to members of the Württemberg royal family, the wedding was attended by 120 guests, including Archduke Hubert and Archduchess Rosemary of Austria-Tuscany, Margravine Valerie of Baden, Prince Ludwig and Princess Marianne of Baden, Princess Eudoxie of Bulgaria, Fürst Friedrich and Fürstin Margarethe of Hohenzollern, Hereditary Prince Alois-Konstantin zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, Duke Friedrich August and Duchess Marie Cecile of Oldenburg, Duke Roberto of Parma, Fürst Franz Joseph of Thurn und Taxis, and Fürst Georg of Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg. A most unhappy chapter for the duchess, Sophie and Antonio’s union ended in divorce in 1974 and was religiously annulled in 1976. The couple did not have children.
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| Sophie during her time with Nina Ricci, 1988. |
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| Princess Masha Magaloff and Duchess Sophie of Württemberg – two of Nina Ricci’s leaders, 1993.
Photo (c) T. Umeda. |
Beginning in 1982, Duchess Sophie of Württemberg became an executive with Nina Ricci, a position that she held for several decades. She directed the fashion house’s haute couture department. She worked side-by-side with Princess Masha Magaloff (née Asanschevski-Asancheyev), the wife of Russian aristocrat Prince Michael Magaloff. In the early 1990s, the duchess and the princess were in Hawaii for a Ricci show. While there, they gave a very amusing and insightful interview to The Honolulu Advertiser about the goings on in the world of a fashion insider. Sophie started: “You go to the office, you have a meeting with your director, maybe shouting for an hour, and right after work you go to a cocktail party and you have to be chic. So you have a lovely suit and you change it with a little scarf, another necklace, earrings a little more sparkly. A gray suit is very nice, then you change the blouse for the evening. Pink perhaps.” Masha added: “Pink is always magic to a lady. I have a fatal love for pink.” Sophie then went on to muse about the arduous consultations that involve working with a bride choosing a haute couture gown, which she noted usually took days: “The bride has one idea. Mama has another. Grandmama has another…” Masha interjected: “[And] Auntie has another.” “Then the bride starts crying,” Sophie summarised. Sophie continued: “Black can be super chic, but on some women it can be too cruel. Navy is gentler.” The duchess mentioned that Princess Barbara of Yugoslavia was an ideal client: “She’ll see a dress and say, ‘That’s the one.’ Others try the whole collection and say, ‘Now I cannot decide…it was too much.’“
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| Duchess Sophie in 2000.
Photo (c) Seeger-Presse. |
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| Duchess Sophie and her brother Duke Alexander at the 70th birthday celebrations of their first cousin Duke Carl of Württemberg, 2006.
Photo (c) Seeger-Presse / Sandra Zellner. |
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| Duchess Sophie and her brother Duke Ferdinand at the wedding of Hereditary Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 2009.
Photo (c) Seeger-Presse / Albert Nieboer. |
A favourite amongst her relations, Sophie of Württemberg is often to be seen at royal weddings and funerals. The duchess lives in Paris.
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| Duchess Sophie in 1997.
Photo (c) Seeger-Presse. |
Our best wishes to Duchess Sophie on her birthday!
