Royal burials in the United States (Part one)

Some royals have ended up in the United States, either by choice or after being exiled from their country. Some have never left.

Here are some female royals who are buried in the United States.¹

Hawaiian royals

The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893 and subsequently annexed by the United States in 1898. It officially became a state in 1959. The Hawaiian royals were traditionally buried in the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii in Honolulu. Other burial places include O’ahu Cemetery in Honolulu, Waiola Church on Maui, and Lunalilo Mausoleum in Honolulu.

Princess Fathia of Egypt

Princess Fathia was born on 17 December 1930 as the youngest daughter of King Fuad I of Egypt and Nazli Sabri. She was just five years old when her father died and her brother became King Farouk I of Egypt. She spent her youth in Egypt, but when she was 18 years old, she travelled with her mother and sister Faika to the United States. Her mother underwent a kidney surgery there, and after that, Princess Fathia settled in the United States. In 1950, she married Riyad Ghali, who had been a royal adviser. They were married at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco on 24 May 1950. She converted to Catholicism to her brother’s horror, and he banned her from Egypt. They were reconciled the following year. In 1952, King Farouk was overthrown, and he went into exile in Italy. Fathia and her husband settled in the United States, and they went on to have three children together. They were divorced in 1973. Fathia ended up in money trouble, and she worked as a cleaner. She was shot and killed, likely by her ex-husband, on 10 December 1976. She was still only 45 years old.

She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City in California.

Princess Faiza of Egypt

Princess Faiza was Princess Fathia’s elder sister. She was born on 8 November 1923. She married Bulent Rauf on 17 May 1945 and they lived in Cairo.  They did not have any children together and eventually divorced in 1962. After the end of the monarchy, Princess Faiza and her husband lived in Turkey, then Spain and France. After the separation, she settled in Beverly Hills in the United States. She died on 9 June 1994.

She was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles.

Queen Nazli Sabri

Queen Nazli was the mother of Fathia and Faiza. After the successful kidney surgery, Queen Nazli also remained in the United States. She had supported Fathia’s marriage, much to her son’s horror. At first, Nazi lived with Fathia and her family in a mansion in Beverly Hills. After Fathia’s divorce, she moved into a small apartment and began selling off her jewellery to pay off her debts. Fathia eventually came to live with her. Nazli died on 29 May 1978.

She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City in California.

Princess Vera Constantinovna of Russia

Princess Vera was born on 24 April 1906 as the youngest child of Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich of Russia and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavrikievna (born Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg). She was a great-granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I. She spent her early years in Russia. Her elder brother, Oleg, was killed during the First World War. In 1915, her father died of a heart attack. At the beginning of the Revolution, they stayed in Russia, and four of her brothers were imprisoned by the Bolsheviks. Three were eventually killed. Her mother received an offer to come to Sweden from Sweden’s Queen Victoria. Princess Vera, her mother, her brother George and two nephews and two nieces were permitted to leave. Two more siblings were later able to come as well. They spent the next few years moving around due to their poor finances. Princess Vera lived in Germany for a long time and spent the Second World War there. She moved to the United States in 1951, where she was active for the Tolstoy Foundation. Princess Vera died in New York on 1 January 2001 at the age of 94.

She was buried next to her brother, Prince George, at the cemetery of the Russian Orthodox Monastery of Novo-Diveevo in Nanuet, New York.

Princess Marie Louise of Orléans

Princess Marie Louise was born on 31 December 1896 as the daughter of Prince Emmanuel of Orléans, Duke of Vendôme and Princess Henriette of Belgium. She was a great-great-granddaughter of Louis Philippe I, King of the French, through her father, and a great-granddaughter of Leopold I, King of the Belgians, through her mother. On 12 January 1916, she married Prince Philip of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and they had one son together before their divorce in 1925. She remarried in 1928 to a New York businessman, Walter F. Kingsland Jr. They moved to the United States, Redding, Connecticut, more specifically. They did not have any children together, and she was widowed in 1961. Marie Louise died on 8 March 1973 in New York City.

She was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York City.

Read part two here.

1. Some titles may be titular