It is not be chance that King Charles III is so fond of Romania and Transylvania, as some of his roots are from here. Asked a few years ago why he chose our country, the former Prince of Wales said he had a great-great-great-grandmother from Transylvania.
Claudia Rhedey is the ancestor of the royal house of Windsor, meaning Hanover – the British house changing its name from Hanover to Windsor in 1914, when England entered the First World War against Germany.
The ancestor of the royal family of Great Britain was born in 1812, in Sângeorgiu de Pădure. She married in 1835 Alexander of Wurttemberg, becoming Countess of Hohenstein. The two had three children: Claudine Henriette, Franz Alexander and Amalie Josephine.
Her son Franz (Franz Paul Karl Ludwig Alexander Herzog von Teck) married Princess Mary Adelaide, the great-great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II.
Claudia Rhedey’s granddaughter from this marriage, Mary Prinzessin von Teck, married George V, the grandson of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and the grandfather of Elizabeth II, who, in 1910, became the King of England. Their son, known as George VI, married Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (who lived from 1900 to 2002), with whom they had a daughter, Elizabeth II, formerly Queen of England.
Claudia Rhedey died at the age of 29, as a result of an accident that happened in the town of Pettau, in today’s Slovenia, during a trip undertaken with the aim of visiting her husband, Alexander Paul, Prince of Wurttemberg, who was at that time in Graz. She was pregnant at the time with their fourth child.
The carriage in which Claudia and the three children were – Claudine Henriette, Franz Alexander and Amalie Josephine – overturned and, despite the traumas she suffered, she continued her journey on horseback, which was fatal for her. Alexandru’s pain was so great that he kept his heart in a bottle that he kept with him and led the horses that accompanied the funeral procession to Sângeorgiu de Pădure.
Claudia Rhedey has a dedicated museum in five rooms of the Rhedey Castle in Sângeorgiu de Pădure, a historical monument from the 18th century. The residence of the noble family Rhedey was built in the 18th century, on the site of another castle, it was renovated in 1759 and 1809, when it acquired its current appearance, and the locals claim that it was connected by a footbridge to the church built across the street almost 700 years ago.
The Rhedey family crypt, which contains Claudia Rhedey, who died in 1841, was completely rebuilt in 1614 due to the plague and reopened only to bury the countess – thus respecting her last wish. The crypt was closed again for nearly 100 years until 1935 when extensive renovation work was carried out inside the church.
Claudia Rhedey is buried facing the church pulpit, her body being identified by a necklace she had received from her godparents. Above the tomb hidden under the floor of the church, there are two commemorative plaques made of black marble: the first plaque was donated to the church in 1905 by Mary Victoria, Princess of Wales, and the second also by her, but in 1935, when it was already Queen of England.
What about the British monarch’s current relative from Transylvania?
Traveling in time back to nowadays, King Charles III also has a relative, who is currently living in Transylvania. It is Count Tibor Kalnoky is a distant relative and close friend of King Charles III, the one who suggested to the current monarch, when he was Prince of Wales, what property to buy in Valea Zălanului, in Covasna county.
Count Tibor Kalnoky is the one who manages the property of King Charles from Valea Zălanului, but he also has his own “corner of heaven” in the commune of Micloșoara, almost 50 kilometers away. The 17th-century castle, which belonged to his family and was in ruins, was completely restored with Norwegian funds by Count Tibor Kalnoky. Currently, the castle has become a museum, and next to it, the count owns other buildings, which have also become guest houses.
Returning to Romania on a visit before the Revolution, Count Kalnoky decided to return to Romania, and in the mid-90s he settled here for good and restored the castle from Micloșoara and other buildings to their former charm. Currently, Count Kalnoky and his family live at a property in Valea Crișului, where there is another castle, now under restoration, as well as a small mansion, approximately ten kilometers from the municipality of Sfântu Gheorghe, Covasna county.
The current British monarch bought, at the suggestion of Count Tibor Kalnoky, when he was Prince of Wales, the house at number 1 in the village of Valea Zălanului, which belongs to the commune of Malnaș, which he transformed into a guest house that preserves the traditions secular from this extremely picturesque area of Romania.