Prince Johannes of Liechtenstein (1899–1979)

Prince Johannes Baptist
Born(1899-10-18)18 October 1899
Salzburg
Died5 November 1979(1979-11-05) (aged 80)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Spouse
Aleene McFarland
​
​
(m. 1931; div. 1944)​
Jean Ann French
​
(m. 1945)​
Names
Johannes Baptist Alois Ferdinand Lucas Anton Joseph Maria
HouseLiechtenstein
FatherPrince Eduard of Liechtenstein
MotherCountess Olga of Pückler-Limpurg

Prince Johannes Baptist Alois Ferdinand Lucas Anton Joseph Maria of Liechtenstein (18 October 1899 – 5 November 1979) was a Prince of the House of Liechtenstein and nephew of Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein and cousin of Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein. Prince Johannes married two Americans and became a rancher.

Early life

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Prince Johannes was born in Salzburg on 18 October 1899. He was the eldest son of Prince Eduard Viktor Maria (1872–1951) and his wife Olga, Gräfin von Pückler und Limpurg (1873–1966). His younger brother, Prince Ferdinand, was an Olympic athlete for Austria and married four times, including to American heiress Dorothy (née Haydel) Oelrichs, of St. Louis, Missouri, was the widow of Hermann Oelrichs Jr. (the only child of Hermann Oelrichs and Theresa Fair Oelrichs).[1]

His paternal grandparents were Prince Eduard Franz (a son of Johann I Joseph and Landgravine Josepha of Fürstenberg-Weitra) and his wife Honoria, Hrabina Choloniowa-Choloniewska.[2][3]

Prince Johannes was educated by tutors until, at age 12, he was sent to a Jesuit school near Vienna.[4] During World War I, he ran away from school and joined the Imperial Austrian Navy, serving for four years.[5] After the War, he studied agriculture and worked at a German bank in Paris.[6]

Career

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After his 1931 marriage, he moved to America, where he became a farmer in Texas and was quoted as saying America was a land of "genuine business opportunity, which strangely blends the practical and romantic spirits".[6] He later moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he established the first air conditioned commercial chicken ranch in the state. While in Scottsdale, he operated "The Prince's Pantry", a specialty store that sold "kitchen wares, wines and fancy foods imported from Europe".[4] In 1969, the Liechtensteins moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was affiliated with Earl Thacker Co. Ltd. and, for a time, he kept the books for Clare Boothe Luce before retiring from business.[4]

In 1933, he sailed aboard the North German Lloyd liner Bremen from New York for Europe alongside John Hay Whitney (and his wife Liz Whitney), Baron George von Zedlitz, F. Herman Gade, Norwegian Minister to France, and Heinrich Schlusnus, the German concert tenor.[7] In 1934, the Prince and his wife were the dinner guests of Capt. Karl G. Nischk in the roof garden of the Hotel Astor in New York City along with Baroness Eleanore Eckhardt, Mrs. Maria von der Osten, Miss Yvonne Cartier, Miss Alice von Eschtruth, Miss Aga Gruson, Baron Hans von Hahn, Baron Ferdinand van der Noot, Commodore A. Ammann von Borowsky, Dr. Gerhardt Wodtke and Hasso von Bismarck.[8]

Personal life

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Prince Johannes was married twice. In 1925, he met Elizabeth "Betty" Bates Volck at a party at the Ritz in Paris. A daughter of the former Lillian Beaverstock and Adelbert George Volck (1886–1974), who worked in the film industry as Hollywood agent, she was a granddaughter of Elizabeth Bates Volck (later known as Madame Domício da Gama), the widow of the Brazil's ambassador to the United States,[9] and the great-granddaughter of the political caricaturist Adalbert J. Volck. Their engagement was announced in 1926 when he was twenty-six and she was seventeen.[10] Shortly after the announcement, Prince Johannes denied they were ever engaged.[11] They did not marry and Betty eventually committed suicide in November 1931.[12][13]

On 29 July 1931, he married morganatically Aleene McFarland (1902–1983) in London.[14] Aleene was born in Parker County, Texas, and was the daughter of Charles McFarland, a cattle baron,[15] and Eloise (née McAfee) McFarland.[15] A year after their marriage, Prince Johannes' kinsman, Franz I, the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, bestowed the titles of Count and Countess of Schellenberg on the children who may be born of the marriage.[14] However, they divorced without issue in 1943.[16] In the divorce, he received $875, a light truck and the crown silverware of Liechtenstein, which he inherited from his grandmother.[17][18]

On 27 August 1945, Prince Johannes married morganatically Jean Ann French (1917–2005), a former golf champion, in St. Johns, Arizona.[19] Jean was born in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1948, he became an American citizen, at which time he renounced his title as a Prince of Liechtenstein.[4]

Prince Johannes died on Honolulu on 5 November 1979.[4] His first wife died in Lubbock, Texas, on 10 March 1983,[20] and his widow died on 28 July 2005, also in Honolulu.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "EX-ST. LOUIS WOMAN MARRIED TO PRINCE Mrs. Hermann Oelrichs and Ferdinand of Liechtenstein Wed on Long Island". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 23 August 1950. p. 25. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  2. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. Vol. 1, p. 556.
  3. ^ "Prince Ferdinand Arrives". The New York Times. 23 August 1949. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Cooke, Mary (7 November 1979). "Member of royalty dies here at age 80". The Honolulu Advertiser. p. 29. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  5. ^ Correspondence, Special; TIMES, THE NEW YORK (16 August 1931). "PRINCE JOHANNES SAW LIVELY TIMES IN WAR; But Liechtenstein, Who Married Miss Mac Farland, Will Now Run a Farm in Texas". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b "LIECHTENSTEIN HEIR HERE TO HUNT A JOB; Prince Johannes, Who Wed a Texas Girl, Says America Blends the Practical and Romantic. TELLS OF HIS NATIVE LAND 65-Square-Mile Country Has No Crime, Taxes or Prohibition to Annoy its 11,000 People, He Declares". The New York Times. 22 November 1931. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  7. ^ "PRINCE JOHANNES WILL SAIL TONIGHT; Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney Also to Leave on the Bremen to See the Grand National". The New York Times. 23 February 1933. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  8. ^ "ROYAL VISITORS HONORED.; Prince and Princess Johannes Liechtenstein Dinner Guests". The New York Times. 21 July 1934. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  9. ^ "MISS VOLCK REVEALS PLANS; to Wed Prince Johannes in September, Probably in Paris". The New York Times. 24 June 1926. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  10. ^ "ELIZABETH VOLCK ENGAGED TO PRINCE.; Granddaughter of Mme. da Gama Announces Her Betrothal to Johannes of Liechtenstein. THEY MET IN PARIS IN 1925 Mme. da Gama Denies Report of Her Own Engagement to Harold Edward St. Cyr". The New York Times. 23 June 1926. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Not Engaged to Prince Liechtenstein". The New York Times. 17 November 1931. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Gas Explosion Following Woman's Suicide Rocks Apartments in Sutton Place Area; EXPLOSION SHAKES SUTTON PL. SECTION". The New York Times. 9 November 1931. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  13. ^ "TWO SUICIDE NOTES LEFT BY MISS VOLCK; Letters of Woman Whose Death Preceded Blast Near Sutton Place Hint at Balked Love. PHONED FRIEND BEFORE ACT She Gave No Indication of Her Plan, However--Efforts of Police to Locate Relatives Fail. Other Note Signed "Betty." Fail to Locate Relatives". The New York Times. 10 November 1931. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  14. ^ a b "American Woman's Children To Have Liechtenstein Titles". The New York Times. Associated Press. 12 June 1932. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  15. ^ a b "TEXAS GIRL IS WED QUIETLY TO PRINCE; Cattle Baron's Daughter Joins Liechtenstein Royalty in London Ceremony. COUPLE TO VISIT AMERICA Bride Educated in New York at Miss Spence's School and Columbia University". The New York Times. 30 July 1931. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Would Divorce Liechtenstein". The New York Times. 5 December 1941. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  17. ^ "DIVORCES PRINCE JOHANES; Liechtenstein Princess Gets Decree in Texas Court". The New York Times. 22 January 1943. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  18. ^ "ATTEMPTED KIDNAPTURNS OUT 'GAG' Television Producer Says He Used New Car Ruse to Entice 'Live Princess' on Show". The Los Angeles Times. 30 November 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Jean French Weds Prince in the West". Des Moines Tribune. 6 September 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Count Court". Lubbock Evening Journal. 1 April 1983. p. 66. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  21. ^ "NOTICE TO CREDITORS: JEAN F. LIECHTENSTEIN DATE OF DEATH: July 28. 2005". The Honolulu Advertiser. 12 September 2005. p. 35. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
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