Njegoskij|org :: H.R.H. Prince Nicolas honours the Gonfanon of the Sicilian Region with the Order of Danilo I

Où suis-je ? :: Accueil | La Maison Royale de Monténégro | Ordres Dynastiques de la Maison Royale | Investitures et évènements | H.R.H. Prince Nicolas honours the Gonfanon of the Sicilian Region with the (...)

Prince Nicolas Petrovic Njegos | Official visit to Sicily

From the Palazzo d’Orléans, June 22, 2007, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Voir en ligne : Site Officiel de la Région Sicile.

Ordre de Danilo I

As part of his three-day official visit to the autonomous region of Sicily, Italy, for the preparation of next year’s Centenary Commemorations of the 1908’ Sicilian Earthquake, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Nicolas Petrovitch Njegosh was received today, June 22, 2007 in the afternoon end, at the Palazzo d’Orléans [1], the administrative seat of the Sicilian Regional authorities.

In the reception hall of the Palace, Mrs. Agata Consoli, Regional Committee member for Public Works, representing in absentia the President of the Region of Sicily, welcomed the Crown Prince, at the name of President Salvatore Cuffaro, by these words :

I am very pleased that Your Royal Highness accepted our invitation to visit our Region, because an historical tie joins Your family to Italy.
Shortly after the first anniversary of Montenegro’s independence, conquered in peace and democratically for the first time in its glorious fighting history, there was not a better occasion to render homage to its Royal Family and, Messine après le tremblement de terre du 28 décembre 1908 in particular, to the great human and civil virtues of Queen Elena of Montenegro [2], consort of Vittorio Emanuele III [3], Your great aunt. Le Gonfalon de la Région Sicile
A noble figure of sovereign and woman who has a warm place in our collective memory after coming to our help when, in 1908, Sicily and above all the town of Messina, was hit by a disastrous earthquake ; a sovereign and mother who subsequently paid a blood tribute to the Nazism and to the tragedy of the Second World War with the death of her daughter Princess Mafalda [4], deported to Buchenwald concentration camp [5].
Welcome Your Highness to Sicily !

After a traditional exchange of gifts, His Royal Highness honoured the Gonfanon of the Sicilian Region with the Grand Cross of the Order of Danilo I.

During the official ceremony at the Orléans’ Palace, Crown Prince Nicolas was accompanied by his elder daughter, H.R.H. Princess Altinaï Petrovitch Njegosh, and by H.E. Mr. Antun Sbutega, Ambassador of Montenegro to the Holy See and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

[1] The Palace where lived in exile, from 1810 to 1814, Louis Philippe d’Orléans (º1773, †1850), King of France from 1830 to 1848.

[2] º1873, †1952.

[3] º1869, †1947.

[4] º1902, †1944.

[5] On August 24, 1944, an ammunitions factory inside Buchenwald was bombed by the Allies. Some four hundred prisoners were killed and Princess Mafalda was seriously wounded. She had been housed in a unit adjacent to the bombed factory and when the attack occurred, she was buried up to her neck in debris and severely burned on her arm. The appalling conditions of the slave camp caused her arm to become infected, and the medical staff at the facility performed an amputation. She bled profusely during the operation and never regained consciousness. She died during the night of August 26 to 27, 1944.
The Royal Family was not notified of her death although rumors began to circulate towards the end of 1944. Her death was not confirmed until Germany had surrendered to the Allied armies in 1945.
In 1997, the Italian Government honoured the memory of Princess Mafalda by a postal stamp with her portrait.

À propos de cet article

Statut : Déclassifié N-66
Date de référence : 22 juin 2007
Archivage : Lundi 25 juin 2007 @ 17:25 CEST
Dernière mise à jour : 1er octobre 2008
...