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Austria's Archduchess Estelle de Saint-Romain, who was married to Archduke Carl Christian, has passed away, according to a statement from her family. Her age was forty-six.
Estelle’s husband, children, parents, and in-laws were “deeply saddened to announce the passing” of the Archduchess on March 4, according to a statement published March 8 in Le Figaro’s Carnet du Jour.
The announcement stated that Estelle's funeral was placed on March 11 at the Franciscan Monastery of Cimiez in Nice, France, but it did not include information regarding her cause of death—although Point De Vue mentions cancer.
According to Point De Vue, Estelle's spouse and their five children—Zita, 17, Anezka, 15, Anna, 12, Paola, 10, and Pier-Giorgia, 4—were present during her funeral. The publication claims that the Duke of Castro, Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg, Ferdinand of Habsburg, and Princess Astrid of Belgium were all there.
According to Point De Vue, Brother Antonio Basso, the priest conducting the ceremony, stated that "Estelle and her family came to Mass at the monastery" each Sunday.
According to the site, each of the five children lighted a candle during the service in memory of their mother, and the monastery was decked out with white flowers for the event. The publication claims that the priest praised Estelle's "loving wisdom" before “Ave Maria” played to close the ceremony.
According to The Daily Mail, 300 people attended the 2007 wedding of Estelle and Carl, the son of Archduke Rudolf of Austria and his wife Baroness Hélène de Villenfagne de Vogelsanck. Among them were Princess Astrid of Belgium, Prince Jean Napoleon, Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein, and Princess Marie of Orléans.
The descendants of the former royal family have continued to be visible in the public eye even after the dissolution of the Austrian monarchy in 1918.
According to Point De Vue's description at the time, the wedding attracted so many interested spectators that the "princes, archdukes, and other distinguished guests had great difficulty making their way through the onlookers" as they passed through the town square.
After being married, the discreet couple apparently spent their honeymoon in Mexico.
