En mars 2019, il a été rendu public que le prince Jean-Christophe Napoléon, fils du prince Charles Napoléon et de la princesse Béatrice de Bourbon-Deux-Siciles, s'était fiancé à la comtesse Olympia d'Arco-Zinneberg, fille du comte Riprand d'Arco-Zinneberg et de l'archiduchesse Maria Beatrix d'Autriche. Jean-Christophe et Olympia sont en couple depuis quelques années. Le prince avait demandé la comtesse en mariage en janvier 2019 en Suisse. La grand-mère de Jean-Christophe, la princesse douairière Napoléon, réside en Suisse à Prangins.
Le prince Jean-Christophe succède à son grand-père comme prince Napoléon, chef de la maison impériale de France. La comtesse Olympia est l'arrière-petite-fille de l'empereur Charles et de l'impératrice Zita.
Jean-Christophe est né à Saint-Raphaël, dans le Var, le 11 juillet 1986. Il est le deuxième enfant et le seul fils du prince Charles Napoléon (né en 1950) et de la princesse Béatrice de Bourbon-Deux-Siciles (née en 1950). Jean-Christophe rejoint une sœur aînée, la princesse Caroline (née en 1980). Charles et Béatrice ont contrarié leurs parents respectifs, le prince et la princesse Napoléon ainsi que le duc et la duchesse de Castro, en contractant un mariage civil en 1978 et en refusant d'organiser une cérémonie catholique romaine.
Le mariage des parents de Jean-Christophe prend fin en 1989. Lorsque son père Charles épouse une roturière divorcée en 1996, son père Louis (1914-1997) modifie son testament pour faire de son petit-fils l'héritier de la Maison impériale de France. La princesse Béatrice est reçue comme mère du chef de la Maison impériale par son ancienne belle-mère la princesse Alix (née en 1926) lors des funérailles du prince Louis en 1997. Jean-Christophe parle couramment le français, l'anglais et l'espagnol. En 2017, il a obtenu un MBA à la Harvard Business School. Depuis, le prince vit à Londres, où il travaille également.
La comtesse Olympia d'Arco-Zinneberg, fiancée du prince Jean-Christophe Napoléon, est née en 1988 à Munich. Elle est la troisième fille du comte Riprand d'Arco-Zinneberg (né en 1955) et de l'archiduchesse Maria Beatrix d'Autriche (née en 1954). Riprand et Maria Beatrix se sont mariés en 1980 et sont devenus les parents de six filles : Anna Theresa (née en 1981), Margherita (née en 1983), Olympia (née en 1988), Maximiliana (née en 1990), Marie-Gabrielle (née en 1992) et Giorgiana (née en 1997). La famille a vécu entre l'Allemagne et les États-Unis, où Riprand a des intérêts commerciaux.
Olympia graduated from Yale University in 2011 with a B.A. in Political Science. The countess went on to Columbia University in the City of New York, where she emerged in 2015 with a M.A. in Art History. Olympia played on the hockey teams of both Yale and Columbia. While at Yale, she was featured in a university publication wherein she elaborated on her educational experiences: “I am from Austria. I’ve also lived in Germany and Connecticut. I went to boarding school in the United Kingdom and took my gap year in Shanghai, China. Since coming to Yale, I did the Yale-Peking University program during my spring semester sophomore year. Next fall I will spend the semester in Paris.” It was during this Paris sejourn that the countess and the prince made one another’s acquaintance.
On Jean Christophe’s paternal side, he is a descendant of many illustrious dynasties, other than the House of Napoléon. His father’s paternal grandparents were: Prince Victor Napoléon, son of Prince Napoléon (also known as Plon-Plon) and of his wife Princess Clothilde of Savoy (both her mother and paternal grandmother were Habsburgs); and Clémentine of Belgium, youngest daughter of King Leopold II and of his Austrian wife, the former Archduchess Marie Henriette. Prince Napoléon’s parents were Prince Jerôme, youngest brother of Emperor Napoléon, and Princess Catherine of Württemberg. As a descendant of King Leopold II, Jean-Christophe has ties to the Coburg dynasty.
The Coburgs also provide a genealogical link sweeten Jean-Christophe and Olympia. Emperor Karl, her great-grandfather, was the son of Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony, whose parents were King Georg of Saxony and his wife, Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal. She, in turn, was the daughter of Queen Maria II and of her second husband King Consort Ferdinand, born a Prince of of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Kohary line). Ferdinand of Coburg was a first cousin of King Leopold II of the Belgians.
Olympia is also related to the Habsburg and Wittelsbach dynasties through her father, Count Riprand. His maternal grandmother was Princess Gundelinde of Bavaria, youngest child of King Ludwig III and his wife Maria Theresa, née Austria-Este. Her mother was Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, an older sister of Archduchess Marie Henriette, consort of King Leopold II.
Furthermore, the Counts of Arco-Zinneberg are descendants of Archduchess Leopoldina (1776-1768), who in 1795 married the aged Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria, Count Palatine of the Rhine (1724-1799). Upon his death, Leopoldina remained living in Munich, where in November 1804 she married a Bavarian aristocrat, Count Ludwig von Arco (1773-1856). They had several children, among them Count Maximilian (1811-1885), who married Countess Leopoldina von Waldburg zu Zeil u. Trauchburg (1811-1886). They in turn were the parents of Countess Christiane von Arco-Zinneberg (1852-1923), who in 1878 married Count Konrad von Preysing-Lichtenegg-Moos (1843-1903). Their third son was Count Johann-Georg (1887-1924), who in 1919 married as his second wife (his first wife Countess Anna von Lerchfeld died in 1916) Princess Gundelinde of Bavaria. Their youngest child, Countess Maria-Theresia’s second husband was Count Ulrich-Philipp von Arco-Zinneberg. Their son Riprand is the father of Countess Olympia.
Count Riprand also descends from Archduchess Leopoldina through his father, Count Ulrich-Philipp (1917-1980). He was the son of Count Joseph von Arco-Zinneberg (1881-1924) and of his wife Princess Wilhelmina of Auersperg (1884-1919), who died in childbirth. Count Joseph was the son of Count Ludwig von Arco-Zinneberg (1840-1882) and of his second wife Princess Josephine of Lobkowicz (1853-1898). Count Ludwig, an older brother of Countess Christiane, who we mentioned in the previous paragraph, was therefore a grandchild of Archduchess Leopoldina.
Her mother, Archduchess Maria Beatrix, is the daughter of Archduke Robert of Austria-Este, second son of Emperor Karl and Empress Zita, and of the former Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta, eldest daughter of the 3rd Duke of Aosta and of his wife, Princess Anne of Orléans, a sister of the Count of Paris (1908-1999).
The Savoy connection also provides a common link between Jean-Christophe and Olympia, as her grandfather, the 3rd Duke of Aosta was a grandson of Amadeo, 1st Duke of Aosta (and former King of Spain), a brother of Princess Clothilde of Savoy, mother of Prince Victor Napoléon.
One of Olympia’s cousins is Archduke Amadeo, eldest son of Archduke Lorenz and of Princess Astrid of Belgium, only daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola. This line also connects Jean-Christophe and Olympia as Albert II was the youngest son of of Prince Philippe of Belgium, brother of King Leopold II. Another brother of Maria Beatrix is Archduke Martin, who is married to Princess Katharina of Isenburg, sister of the Dowager Fürstin of Wied, the Fürst of Isenburg, and Princess Sophie of Prussia, wife of Prince Georg Friedrich, Head of the House of Hohenzollern.
Il existe d'innombrables autres liens entre Jean-Christophe et Olympia. Au moins ceux que nous avons énumérés devraient faire comprendre au lecteur qu'il s'agit tout simplement d'une alliance sublime et charmante entre deux jeunes gens modernes qui portent en eux un héritage ancien. Tous ceux qui suivent les événements des familles impériales et royales d'Europe attendent sans doute avec impatience de voir les images du jour où ce beau couple s'unit par les liens du mariage.
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