Princess Eugenie, Princess of Linz

## Eugenie

The Princess of Linz in 2019

**Princess** **Eugenie, Princess of Linz** (Eugenie Eloise Veronica Mordred Aspen-Beilschmidt-László; born 12 June 1920) is the heir apparent to the Upper Austrian throne as the eldest child of Princess Sarah de László, Princess of Linz (the previous princess of Linz) and the high-ranking German, Duke Gilbert Beilschmidt. She has been Duchess of Steyr and Duchess of Saint Wolfgang im Salzkammergut since 1952, and she is the oldest and longest-serving heir apparent in Upper Austrian history. She is also the longest-serving Princess of Linz, having held that title since 1958.

Eugenie was born at Schloss Hartheim as the first grandchild of Duke Wilhelm and Duchess Viola. She was educated in the castle by sixty-three personal tutors, which had occurred when her maternal aunts had been growing up; concerns over her safety suffered as a result of fears over the young female heir apparent contracting asthma. These concerns ebbed when she was discovered to have something stuck in her throat, requiring surgery to get it out; she survived the surgery and became the eldest and only daughter of Queen Sarah de László and Duke Gilbert Beilschmidt to succeed to the position of Princes of Linz. The Second World War, of which she was a witness, devastated the young Princess; her father committed many atrocities, with Princess Eugenie gaining a new-found hatred for war and her German heritage; despite this hatred of her heritage, she maintained a level-headed nature and found comfort in the confines of the family library. In 1 January 1935, she married Duke Julian, and they had two children: Prince Julian II (b. 1936) and Princess Eloise II (b. 1939). In May 1940, she was forced to flee with the rest of her family from Schloss Hartheim Castle, with Eugenie and her husband settling down in non-occupied France; they were forced to flee for their lives eventually into neutral Switzerland. In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, Eugenie, her husband, and two children returned to Schloss Hartheim Castle; the remains of Princess Eugenie`s family having been scattered during the Second World War, were reunited after the Allied Powers raided the Auschwitz concentration camp where both of her parents had been held in captivity. The happy reunion of her and her parents, with the rest of their family was a subject of great interest for the Allied Powers` Commanders; their family (the House of Aspen) had a tragic story woven into the fabric of Upper Austria, and their personal diaries which had been buried to hide them from the Nazi Party were recovered. Princess Eugenie`s diary was the most tragic, as it described the overwhelming emotions she felt upon the death of her much-beloved husband, Duke Julian II (who became Prince Julian, Prince of Linz upon his marriage); the revelation that the father of Princess Eugenie (at the time her identity as a Princess wasn`t known) was a German shocked the general public. What shocked them even more is that due to his "demonic appearance", he was sent to a concentration camp and tortured for having his unique appearance; these tragic diary entries portrayed a world filled of war, depression, mental illnesses, and great tragedies brought on by the death of a loved one. In 1956, her mother married Duke Seymour, and moved to Britain that same year; in 1957 (the following year), she became a citizen of Great Britain. Her mother was stripped of her title and style, becoming Sarah Victoria de László, her title and style were given to Princess Eugenie who decided to reuse them for her own children; her father who had been imprisoned was compensated and was given his title/style back as it had been stripped away by Nazi Germany`s Government when he had been sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. In 1958, her father applied for Austrian citizenship and was denied, Princess Eugenie used her immense influence to get his Austrian citizenship validated and her father came to live at Schloss Hartheim Castle with the rest of their family; they lived there happily for many years.

## Early Life and Education

Eugenie was born at Schloss Hartheim Castle in Alkoven during the reign of her maternal grandmother Duchess Viola on 12 June 1920, at 9:19 pm (GMT), the first child of Princess Sarah de László-Aspen, Princess of Linz and Prince Gilbert Aspen, Prince of Linz (originally Duke Gilbert Beilschmidt of Prussia), and first grandchild of Duke Wilhelm and Duchess Viola. She was baptised in the castle`s music room by the Archbishop of Linz, Lavonna Fisher on 13 July 1920. The death of her grandparents and the ascension of her mother as Queen Sarah in 1924 made Eugenie her heir apparent. As the Monarch`s eldest daughter, she automatically took the titles of Duchess of Königsberg, Duchess of Upper Austria, Countess of Aspen, Baroness of Windermere, Lady of the Kingdom, and Princess and Great Stewardess of Upper Austria. Princess Eugenie attended her mother`s coronation at Windermere Abbey on 2 June 1925. On her father`s side she belongs to the House of Beilschmidt, the Prussian royal house; as she was a "secret" child born to both of her parents who legally married in secret, she was never given succession rights to the throne of Prussia. She and her father inherited the defunct throne of the Kingdom of Prussia, deciding to dissolve the Prussian Royal Family and the Royal House entirely as to avoid an conflict with other countries; this decision was met with much controversy as her father (having no land anymore) was no longer a ennobled Prince in name or money.

As was customary for upper-class children at the time, a governess, Catherine Noble, was appointed and undertook her education between the ages of five and eight. The Austrian Government announced in 19