Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria Este

Birth and family

Amedeo was born in 21 February 1986 at the UCL- St Luc, Woluwe-St-Lambert, Belgium, the first child of Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este, and Princess Astrid of Belgium. He bears the same given name as his paternal great-grandfather Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta. His godparents are his uncle King Philippe and grandmother Queen Paola of Belgium.

Amedeo himself is godfather to his cousin, Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant. Amedeo has one younger brother Joachim (b. 1991) and three younger sisters: Maria Laura (b. 1988), Luisa Maria (b. 1995) and Laetitia Maria (b. 2003).

He was baptised and married by the Archbishop of Mechelen, Cardinal Danneels.

Education and career

Amedeo undertook primary school and the greater part of his secondary education at the Jesuit school Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege (founded 1604) in Brussels, popular with Belgian aristocracy and royalty. He finished his secondary education at Sevenoaks School in Kent, England between 2001 and 2004. He then spent a year in Belgium's Royal Military Academy. In September 2005 he began studies at the London School of Economics, where he graduated in 2008 with a "Bachelor of Science (BSc), Management", and took a sabbatical before entering professional life.

Amedeo completed military service and is a reserve officer in the Belgian Army.

From July 2009 to June 2012, Amedeo worked for Deloitte in New York City as a business analyst from July 2009 to June 2011 and as a management consultant in strategy and operations from July 2011 to June 2012. He worked as a research analyst intern at Accumulus Capital Management, LLC from August through December 2012.

During 2013 and 2014 Amedeo resumed his studies, obtaining a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Columbia Business School of Columbia University. Thereafter he started to work as a management consultant for Deloitte in New York.

Marriage

On 15 February 2014, the Belgian Royal Court announced the engagement of Prince Amedeo to Italian journalist Nobile Elisabetta "Lili" Maria Rosboch von Wolkenstein.

Amedeo and Elisabetta both descend from Giuseppe Tiberio Ruffo, Count of Sinopoli (1627-1683), while through German princely dynasties their most recent common ancestor is Franz Albrecht I, Prince of Oettingen-Spielberg (1663-1737).

The couple's wedding was celebrated on 5 July 2014 in Rome's Basilica Santa Maria in Trastevere, in the presence of the Royal Family of Belgium (with the exception of his great-aunt Queen Fabiola), as well as members of the cadet branches of the House of Habsburg, including the bridegroom's grandmother, Margherita of Savoy, Dowager Archduchess of Austria-Este, and members of other dynasties, including Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg and her husband Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein, Princess Beatrice of York and Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon. The couple were planning to relocate in Belgium after the wedding.

In April 2016, it was announced that the couple were expecting their first child, due to be born in May of that year. Their daughter, Anna Astrid, was born on 17 May 2016 at Saint-Pierre University Hospital in Brussels .

Succession rights to the Belgian throne

In 1991 Amedeo obtained, along with his mother and younger siblings, succession rights to the Belgian throne. In 1993 his maternal grandfather acceded to the throne as King Albert II and he became third in Belgium's line of succession, following his uncle Philippe, Duke of Brabant, and his mother. Upon Philippe's marriage in 1999 the prospect of Amedeo inheriting the throne substantially diminished, and the birth of a daughter and dynastic heir to Philippe in 2001 dropped his place in the order of succession down to fourth and, eventually to seventh, following the birth of Princess Eleonore, the youngest of Philippe's children. The abdication on 21 July 2013 of his grandfather King Albert II promoted him to sixth in line to the throne.

Although an announcement of Amedeo's engagement was published on the Royal Family's website, no dynastic authorisation for his marriage was published prior to his wedding, as foreseen in Article 85 of the Belgian Constitution. Speculation in the media included a commentator on the military parade for La Une who, on 21 July 2014 (Belgian National Day), alleged that no royal authorisation was announced because the prince intentionally chose not to request permission to marry, and therefore Amedeo was no longer deemed in the line of succession. In November 2015, a royal decree expressing King Philip's retroactive permission for the marriage was gazetted in the Moniteur Belge.

Titles and styles

All the children of Princess Astrid and Archduke Lorenz, bear the title "Prince(ss) of Belgium" by Belgian Royal Decree of 2 December 1991, distinct from their traditional Austro-Hungarian titles, i.e. "Archduke/Archduchess of Austria-Este, Prince(ss) Royal of Hungary". Internationally his abbreviated style is HI&RH Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este.

Military ranks