Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este

Robert
Archduke Robert in the late 1920s
Archduke of Austria-Este
Tenure	16 April 1917 – 7 February 1996
Successor	Archduke Lorenz
Born	(1915-02-08)8 February 1915 Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died	7 February 1996(1996-02-07) (aged 80) Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland
Spouse	Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta ​ ​ (m. 1953)​
Issue	Archduchess Maria Beatrice Prince Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este Archduke Gerhard Archduke Martin Archduchess Isabella
Names Robert Karl Ludwig Maximilian Michael Maria Anton Franz Ferdinand Joseph Otto Hubert Georg Pius Johannes Marcus d'Aviano
House	House of Austria-Este
Father	Charles I of Austria
Mother	Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma

Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este (given names: Robert Karl Ludwig Maximilian Michael Maria Anton Franz Ferdinand Joseph Otto Hubert Georg Pius Johannes Marcus d'Aviano; 8 February 1915 – 7 February 1996), was the second son of Karl I, (beatified) last Emperor of Austria-Hungary, and Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. He was also known as Robert Karl Erzherzog von Österreich.

Archduke of Austria-Este

Arms as borne by Archduke Robert during his lifetime.

On 16 April 1917, at the age of two, his father the Emperor ceded the title of Archduke of Austria-Este in Robert's favor. Archduke Robert was thereby chosen to preserve, in the form of a distinct secundogeniture, the Habsburg-Lorraine representation of the once-sovereign Duchy of Modena which had belonged to the House of Este. He was thus made heir to his assassinated relative Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, (1863–1914), who had inherited in 1875 the Austria-Este designation and what had been salvaged of the Este fortune when the duchy was annexed to Italy in 1860.

Archduke Robert descended through his Habsburg father from Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Modena, and his mother Zita was a descendant of Maria Beatrice d'Este, heiress of Modena and her husband, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Thus the lineage of the last Este dukes, in female descent, remained joined to the Austria-Este legacy. Archduke Robert eventually adopted use for himself and his descendants in male line the surname Austria-Este, and he took also the title Duke of Este, intended henceforth to be borne by the head of the Austria-Este branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

Upon his death in 1996, the day before his 81st birthday, he was succeeded as head of this line by his son, Lorenz of Austria-Este, Prince of Belgium (born 1955). Although the marriage of his eldest son to Princess Astrid of Belgium, relegated use of the Austria-Este archdukedom to a secondary title in that realm, the title continues in use elsewhere among his cadet descendants.

Family

Archduke Robert married Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta (7 April 1930 – 10 January 2022, elder daughter of the late Amadeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta) on 28 December 1953 in Bourg-en-Bresse, France (civilly) and 29 December 1953 (religiously), in Brou, France.
The couple had five children, all of whom use the designation of Austria-Este:

• Archduchess Maria Beatrice (born 11 December 1954) married on 26 April 1980 in Chartres Count Riprand of Arco-Zinneberg, a great-grandson of the last Bavarian king, Ludwig III and of Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria-Este. They have six daughters:
  • Countess Anna Theresa von und zu Arco-Zinneberg (born 1981) married on 29 September 2018, at Niederaltaich Abbey in Bavaria, Colin McKenzie (born 1976). They have two children:
    • Josephine McKenzie (2019)
    • Caspar McKenzie (2022)
  • Countess Margherita von und zu Arco-Zinneberg (born 1983) married on 19 March 2022, in Moos, Bavaria, Charles Douglas Green (born 1981)
  • Countess Olympia von und zu Arco-Zinneberg (born 1988) married on 17 October 2019, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon (born 1986)
  • Countess Maximiliana von und zu Arco-Zinneberg (born 1990) is engaged in 2022 to Byron Houdayer (born 1986)
  • Countess Marie Gabrielle von und zu Arco-Zinneberg (born 1992)
  • Countess Giorgiana von und zu Arco-Zinneberg (born 1997)
• Archduke Lorenz (born 16 December 1955) married on 22 September 1984 at Brussels, Princess Astrid of Belgium (born 1962), daughter of King Albert II of the Belgians. They have three daughters and two sons:
  • Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (born 1986) married Elisabetta Rosboch von Wolkenstein on 5 July 2014 in Rome, Italy. They have two children:
    • Anna Astrid (born 2016)
    • Maximilian (born 2019)
  • Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 1988) is engaged in 2022 to William Isvy
  • Prince Joachim of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (born 1991)
  • Princess Luisa Maria of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 1995)
  • Princess Laetitia Maria of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (born 2003)
• Archduke Gerhard (born 30 October 1957) married in 2015 Iris Jandrasits (born 1961).
• Archduke Martin (born 21 December 1959) married in 2004 Princess Katharina Elisabeth Helene Maria of Isenburg, sister of Sophie, Princess of Prussia and Isabelle, Princess von Wied. They have three sons and a daughter:
  • Archduke Bartholomaeus of Austria (2006)
  • Archduke Emmanuel of Austria (2008)
  • Archduchess Helene of Austria (2009)
  • Archduke Luigi of Austria (2011)
• Archduchess Isabella (born 2 March 1963) married in 1997 Count Andrea Czarnocki-Lucheschi. They have three sons and a daughter:
  • Alvise Czarnocki-Lucheschi (1999)
  • Carlo Amedeo Czarnocki-Lucheschi (2000)
  • Maria Anna Czarnocki-Lucheschi (2002)
  • Alessandro Czarnocki-Lucheschi (2004)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este

8. Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria 4. Archduke Otto Franz of Austria 9. Princess Maria Annunziata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies 2. Charles I of Austria 10. George of Saxony 5. Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony 11. Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal 1. Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este 12. Charles III, Duke of Parma 6. Robert I, Duke of Parma 13. Princess Louise of Artois 3. Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma 14. Miguel I of Portugal 7. Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal 15. Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg