Archduchess Yolande of Austria


Archduchess Yolande of Austria is the widow of Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria.

Family

Yolande was born in Madrid as the second daughter of Eugène, 11th Prince de Ligne and his wife Philippine de Noailles. Her father was the Belgian ambassador to India from 1947 to 1951, ambassador to Spain from 1951 to 1958, and the head of one of Belgium's historically most influential noble families. He died in 1960.
Each of Yolande's two brothers became the Prince de Ligne. Antoine is the father of Michel, 14th Prince de Ligne and Princess Christine, wife of Prince Antônio of Orléans-Braganza. Antoine's youngest daughter is named after Yolande.

Biography

Marriage and issue

On 17 January 1950 at the Château de Beloeil, Belgium, Yolande married Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria. The fifth child of Austria's last emperor, Charles I and his wife Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Carl Ludwig and Yolande were childhood sweethearts. Wedding guests included Carl Ludwig's eldest brother Crown Prince Otto as well as members of half a dozen other royal families; representatives of the Belgian royal family did not, however, attend. The couple honeymooned in Florida, eventually settling in New York City, where Carl Ludwig worked for the Rockefeller Foundation.
They had four children:

Titles and styles