Blue Sapphire Anniversary
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The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. In Swedish there is a special word for that occasion: Krondiamantbröllop – which would translate as "Crown Diamond Wedding". The Daily Telegraph suggests that the proper term in English would be "Blue Sapphire Anniversary", but I doubt that anyone has ever heard that one before…
Going through the genealogies of the various European dynasties, one can find very few marriages that have lasted as long as that, and only a handful that have been longer. (Are we yet to discover a royal couple that have reached 70 blissful years together?) In some cases one can argue, that although technically still married, husband and wife had long since separated, but for the sake of statistics, here is the short list:
Archduke Joseph Franz of Austria (1872-1962) and Princess Augusta of Bavaria (1875-1965) arried (1893) for 69 years
Henri, Count of Paris (1908-1999) and Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganca (1911-2003) Married (1931) for 68 years
Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909-2004) and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Beisterfeld (1911-2004) Married (1937) for 67 years
Prince Alfonso of the Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta (1841-1934) and Princess Antonietta of The Two Sicilies (1851-1938) Married (1868) for 66 years
Prince Karl of Hessen-Kassel (1744-1836) and Princess Louise of Denmark (1750-1831) Married (1766) for 65 years
King Michael of Romania (*1921) and Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma (*1923) Married (1948) 64+ years
Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria (1859-1949) and Princess Maria de la Paz of Spain (1862-1946) Married (1883) for 63 years
Archduke Rainer of Austria (1827-1913) and Archduchess Maria Caroline of Austria (1825-1915) Married (1852) for 61 years
King Nikola I of Montenegro (1841-1921) and Milena Vukotic (1847-1923) Married (1860) for 61 years
Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1819-1904) and Princess Augusta of Cambridge [Great Britain and Ireland] (1822-1916) Married 1843 for 61 years
Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria (1808-1888) and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria (1808-1892) Married (1828) for 60 years
Alvaro, Prince of Orléans-Borbón, Duke of Galliera (1910-1997) and Carla Paarodi Delfino (1909-2000) Married (1937) for 60 years
Ted Rosvall