Élisabeth de Chimay

French-born Belgian princess and writer (1926–2023)

Martha Marie Élisabeth Antoine de Chimay (née Manset; 20 March 1926 – 2 August 2023) was a French-born Belgian writer and princess.^[1] She wrote a work on Thérésa Tallien as well as an autobiography.

Biography

Born in Bordeaux on 20 March 1926, she was the daughter of Octave Manset and Marie-Charlotte Guestier, whose families were in the wine business. Her parents died in a car accident in 1939 and her brother, Édouard, died in 1940 during World War II. On 18 December 1947, she married Élie de Riquet, Prince de Chimay, a descendant of Pierre-Paul Riquet, the engineer responsible for constructing the Canal du Midi. They had three children: Philippe (born 1948), Marie-Gilone (born 1950), and Alexandra (born 1952).^[2]

A close friend of Fabiola of Belgium, de Chimay immersed herself in the heritage of the De Riquet de Caraman family [fr] and preservation of the archives of the Chimay Castle. She also held a Baroque music festival from 1957 to 1980.

Élisabeth de Chimay died in Chimay on 2 August 2023, at the age of 97.^[3]

Publications

• La Princesse des Chimères (1993)
• La Fin d'un siècle, souvenirs (2000)

Distinctions

• Commander of the Ordre national du Mérite
• Knights of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

References

1. "With the death of Elisabeth, Chimay loses its emblematic princess". DayFR Euro. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
2. Fontaine, Nicolas (4 August 2023). "La princesse Élisabeth de Chimay est décédée : dame d'honneur de la reine Fabiola, la famille royale pourrait se rendre à ses funérailles". Histoires Royales (in French). Retrieved 7 August 2023.
3. "La princesse Elisabeth de Chimay est décédée ce mercredi après-midi, elle avait 97 ans". La Voix du Nord (in French). Sambre - Avesnois. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.