Philipp
Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Ferdinand Philipp Maria August Raphael of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (28 March 1844 – 3 July 1921) was the second prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and lord of Csábrág and Szitnya, both in modern-day Slovakia. Born in the Tuileries Palace in Paris as Ferdinand Philipp Maria August Raphael of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he was the eldest son of August, prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His mother, Clémentine of Orléans, was a daughter of King Louis Philippe I of France. He was a member of the Catholic Koháry line of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry and an elder brother of Ferdinand, tsar of Bulgaria. In 1870, he became a Major in the Hungarian army. He was a close confidant to his brother-in-law, Crown Prince Rudolf. On the morning of 30 January 1889, he and Count Josef Hoyos-Sprinzenstein and valet Johann Loschek discovered the bodies of Rudolf and his teenage mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera, who had also been shot dead. In Brussels on 4 February/4 May 1875, Philipp married Louise, princess of Belgium, both his second cousin and first cousin once removed, daughter of Leopold II, king of the Belgians and granddaughter of Leopold I, king of the Belgians, brother of Philipp's grandfather Ferdinand, and Louise of Orléans, sister of Phillip's mother Clémentine. The marriage of Philip and Louise proved disastrous and she
left her husband in 1896. In 1898, she lost parental power over her children and on 15 January 1906, the divorce was pronounced in Gotha. The reason for the separation was her long-standing relationship with Count Géza of Mattachich-Keglevich (1867-1923), with whom Philipp had dueled on the orders of Emperor Franz Josef I. Louise had had other affairs before she met Géza, among others with Philipp's adjutant.
Koronaorök. The crown guards (conservatores coronae in Latin) were the persons chosen to guard the Hungarian Holy Crown in the Kingdom of Hungary. The two crown guards followed in rank directly after the ensigns (barones regni). An armed guard was assigned to the actual guarding. The task of the crown guards was to "take care" of the Holy Crown, in order to achieve the symbolic and practical implementation of the continuity of the guard. The two crown guards were two persons chosen by the parliament to guard the Hungarian Holy Crown, based on royal appointment, from among native-born citizens, regardless of religious differences. As a rule, one Catholic and one Protestant were elected as Crown Guards, and even during a joint session of the two houses of the National Assembly. The Crown Guards took their oath before the King and Parliament. Election was legislated, as was resignation or death, exemption from liability, or exemption of heirs. The holy crown was kept under double lock. One of the crown guards was always obliged to live near it. In addition to the Crown Guards, a guard team was also organized from the actual staff of the National Guard. During the time of the Árpád House, the holy crown was guarded by the canons in the Székesfehérvár Cathedral, and later in Visegrád and by laymen, as in the 1492 III. etc. and XXIII of 1500 t.-c. prescribed. In the 16th century, laws designated Bratislava Castle as the seat of the crown's custody, and finally in 1791 the capital of Buda, from where the crown can only be transported to a safer place in times of danger, with the knowledge and consent of the Palatine.
The Holy Crown and the coronation badges were used in the 11th–13th centuries, it was continuously kept in the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin in Székesfehérvár, in the royal coronation and burial church under the supervision of the chapter, during the reign of the Mixed House kings, it was kept for a while in Visegrád, then after the theft of the crown during the time of Albert of Habsburg (in 1439), the demand for Hungarian sovereign sovereignty arose for safer keeping of its main symbol. King Matthias I undertook this in the 1464 Székesfehérvár Parliament II based on article of law. They were guarded in Visegrád, and the Visegrad lord of the castle at the time became the crown guard. The first known crown guard oath was the one taken by László Kolos Néma (fl. 1481–1507), crown guard and baron of Visegrád Castle, in 1493. Final solution Mátyás XVIII of 1608 enacted a law that assigned a separate armed guard to the crown. The king and the orders had to take care of paying the guard. The place of guarding the crown became the castle in Bratislava, the two noble crown guards were chosen by the Parliament from among the 2 Catholic and Protestant lords nominated by the king. In 1608, their task was also defined: at least one of them had to stay in the guarding place, they were not allowed to let anyone near the crown without the permission of the king and the Parliament. They were responsible for the discipline of the military guard, the crown could not leave the country. Our coronation badges, especially the Hungarian Holy Crown, have always enjoyed special protection. The crown guards were the main guardians of the security of the Crown. The holders of these high dignities, two persons from the 16th century, are far from the same as the armed guard of the coronation badges. Before the establishment of the Hungarian Royal Crown Guard in 1751, the Holy Crown was guarded by the private army of the Crown Guards. From 1751, the Crown Guard was organized from the imperial regular army for more than a century.
The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry is the Catholic cadet branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, founded after the marriage of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág. Among its descendants were the last four kings of Portugal (Pedro V, Luís, Carlos, Manuel II) and the last three Tsars of Bulgaria (Ferdinand, Boris III, Simeon II). After the change of the “House laws” by King Simeon, the present head of the house is his sister Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria, Princess of Koháry. After the marriage of Prince Ferdinand and Princess Maria Antonia in January 1816 and the death of his father-in-law, Prince Ferencz József Koháry de Csábrág, in 1826, Prince Ferdinand inherited the Hungarian princely estate of Koháry and converted to Catholicism. After the death of Prince Ferencz József Koháry, Prince Ferdinand re-organised the family fortune in two Fideicommisses and adopted the title of duke for himself and his heirs as Fideikommissherr. Upon Ferdinand's death in 1851, he was succeeded as head of the family by his second son, Prince August; his eldest son, Ferdinand the younger, had to renounce his claim to the headship when he married Queen Maria II of
Portugal in 1836. After Prince August died, his eldest son Prince Philipp (1844–1921) became the third head of the family.
Awards: Sash, collar and star of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, Insignia of the Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece, Star of the Ludwig Order and the Order of the Rue Crown.
