Princess Talia of Calypso

## Princess Talia Margarethe

**Princess Talia of Calypso** (**Talia Margarethe Mafalda Guinevere Graceling**; born 1 August 1911) is the second daughter of Andromeda, Duke of Calypso and her wife, Princess Khloe of Greece and Denmark; she is the younger sister of Princess Xenia of Calypso and the older sister of Princess Chloe of Calypso, making her the middle child of her family. Since birth, she was third in the line of succession to the Calypsonian throne and moved to second after the death of their father. She moved to first after the ascension of her older sister and was moved to fourth upon the birth of Xenia`s children, with Chloe being moved to fifth. After the death of Lady Cecilia Sharpe, the middle child and second daughter of her older sister`s (Xenia) family; Talia became third in the line of succession making her a possible heir. The death of Duchess Lucilla (the eldest child and heir apparent of her older sister, Xenia) wracked the family with such grief that Félix refused to submit to his role as the new heir apparent and renounced his rights to the throne in favor of his aunts (Princess Talia and Chloe); both of them were incredibly hesitant and even asked for the approval of their older sister (Xenia) to take on such roles. A member of the Imperial House of Calypso, she is the great-granddaughter of Princess Aria of Târgoviște. In 1914, Princess Talia was made Duchess of Beatrice preceding her engagement to Yurenev Saveliy Zakharovich. She eventually married him in 1962 (only a few years after the Second World War), and they had no children. During the finalization of her second marriage to Pauline Clemenceau in 1980, she became the King of the Xaislinate Kingdom and the Wufra Artic Islands, as well as the Emperor of Palatine (a western-European Empire and nation located near the British Isles).

## Early life

Princess Talia was born at the Victory Hotel, Queensland, Northern Australia on 1 August 1911 as the second child of Andromeda, Duke of Calypso (a "spare" heir presumptive to Princess Luna) and Princess Khloe of Greece and Denmark (a daughter of George I of Greece and his wife, Olga Constantinovna of Russia). Her full name, Talia Margarethe Mafalda Guinevere Graceling was announced at the initial time of her birth on the Palace`s website. She was baptised by the Archduchess of Greece who came personally to bless the Imperial Princess directly after her birth, as the Press had started hounding the Imperial Family directly after their arrival. She was the first child born to a Royal Princess and an Imperial Grand Duchess in Australia since Princess Catherine in 1855. She was baptised *Talia* after one of her godparents, Princess Catherine of Aquafina, *Margarethe* after Princess Margarethe of Waterdam, *Mafalda* after Italian Princess, Mafalda of Savoy, *Guinevere* after Queen Guinevere (wife of King Arthur) and *Graceling,* after the Unseelie Princess (Graceling of the Unseelie Court). Talia was left in the care of Princess Catherine (now fifty-six years old), when her parents went on two tours of the German Empire in 1912 and 1913 respectively.

Known informally as "Tal" within the family, Talia was nicknamed "The Hand Crusher" in a joking manner by her parents/two sisters after a female comedic film character, Jessalyn Roberts (aka The Hand Crusher). Her parents took to various attractions in other countries and often took them out to visit their Danish and Greek relatives on the Greek Island of Corfu. Her parents were happily married until her father ran off to join the Military in 1 January 1914. Andromeda (her father) died in battle in the early hours of 31 December 1916. Talia, then aged 5, together with her 3-year-old younger sister, and 6-year-old older sister as well as their mother, were staying at the Farquharson Stronghold at the time. At the end of the First World War on 11 November 1918, an Imperial Convey consisting of Talia, Khloe, Xenia, Chloe and the rest of the Imperial Family`s various branches were driven out to the spot where her father (Andromeda) was killed. They were accompanied by every retired division of their country for protection to escort the bodies of her father and other similar divisions back to the Empire of Calypso where they would be buried in a huge state funeral. Talia and all members of her family (including Empress Vemira and her various consorts) walked behind the funeral cortège to Winter Abbey for her father`s funeral. She was later also referred to as **Miss Trouble** (**Mlle problème**) due to her mischievous ways and her ability to manipulate people into stirring up trouble.

#### **Asthma**

Talia inherited asthma from her father, Andromeda, a hereditary condition that affects both sexes, which she acquired through the line of her maternal grandfather Prince Draco of Vusairith-Meiningen. It was known as the "Imperial Disease" because so many descendants of the intermarried Imperial family had it (suffering from it in various degrees of severity). In 1917, the Imperial Newspapers published a page from a medical journal which described Talia`s severe symptoms in full; the newspaper article made it`s way to other European royals who were notably alarmed at the severity of her inherited disease.

It was then known that people with a severe form of asthma suffered greatly from muscus clogging up their throat, and that if their throat was clogged that they would die. According to her older sister (Xenia) who was a carrier of the disease herself, the nature of her asthma was disclosed to the public early-on in her childhood in 1917 (when Talia was seven-years-old). Her younger sister (Chloe) expressed her disbelief at having not become a carrier of asthma, citing that she was the "lucky one" in the family.

### **Childhood**

Alexa Vyrubova and Hélène Vyrubova described the Imperial Princess as a gentle child but inherently mischievous (like her older sister); while she enjoyed playing pranks, she took great care to make sure that the person`s feelings were not hurt. Once, a deputation of European commoners came to bring presents to Princess Talia and her two siblings. Her personal attendant, the domineering Marchioness of Winter, required that they kneel before Talia and her two siblings. Hélène remarked on Talia`s horror of having people bowing to her (everybody in the Imperial Household considered it an outdated tradition). Talia repermained the Marchioness of Winter and the Marchioness`s husband for going against her specified orders and in a unprecedented event used her authority as third-ranked in the Imperial Household to strip the Marchioness, and the Marchioness`s husband of their titles and styles, while formally adopting their children in the Imperial Household as a punishment. The European commoners were given newly-created titles and styles for their contributions to the nation. One of the commoners later wrote "She is kind, unyielding, stern, stoic, strong; truly the qualities to lead a country if I ever saw them. One day Her Imperial Highness, Princess Talia will do great things to change this world." The European commoners upon deciding not to return to their families in Europe petioned for the three Imperial Princesses to allow their families to come to Calypso, the three Imperial Princesses endorsed the decision and the families of the European commoners were given Calypsonian passports. Within only a few days the former European commoners were integrated into the Imperial court, when her classmates came to visit her at the Palace; they shocked the former European commoners with how comfortable they were around Talia, openly hugging the Imperial Princess who merely smiled at the physical contact from her classmates and touching her hand often. This confused the Europeans` greatly as they didn`t understand who her classmates were, while in class one-day, the Paparazzi suddenly started trying to document the lives of the Imperial Princesses who were scandalized by the mere thought.

In December 1916, Major-General Marchioness Johanna Hanbury-Williams, head of the Calypsonian military at Stavka, received word of the death of her son and daughter-in-law