HM Queen Elizabeth II and HIH Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia chat at the Ivy, London. (Image from Facebook)
On May 18, a private Royal birthday party occurred in London, when HI&RH Archduchess Helen of Austria celebrated her eightieth birthday in the company of friends and relatives at the exclusive Ivy restaurant in the private room. An honored guest was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Archduchess Helen is the widow of HI&RH Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (1918-2004), eldest son of Archduke Maximilian (1895-1952) and of his wife Princess Franziska zu Hohelonhe-Schillingsfürst. The couple had three children: Elisabeth (1957-1983), Sophie (b. 1959) and Maximilian (b. 1961). The family retains close relationships with most of their royal relations around the world, particularly with King Constantine II of the Hellenes and Queen Sophie of Spain, as well as with Helen's first cousins of Yugoslavia and Kent, and her second cousins of Russia and of Prussia.
Archduchess Helen is the second child of Count Carl Theodor zu Toerring-Jettenbach and of his wife, Princess Elisabeth of Greece, daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece (1872-1938) and Grand Duchess Helen Vladimirovna of Russia (1882-1957). This makes Archduchess Helen a second cousin of the Grand Duchess, an in-law of HM the Queen though the late Princess Marina of Kent, and a first cousin of Prince Michael of Kent.
