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| Une véritable énigme royale. Photographie (c) Marko Todorović, Tanjug/Tanja Valič, Wikipédia/Bureau de presse de la Maison Blanche |
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Au cours de la semaine dernière, la princesse Elizabeth de Yougoslavie (née en 1936) et sa fille cadette Christina Oxenberg ont échangé des propos dans les médias des Balkans sur une question plutôt personnelle : qui était le *vrai* père de Christina ? Christina a déclaré que lorsqu'elle était adolescente, sa mère Elizabeth lui avait dit que le père biologique de Christina était en fait John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), le 35e président des États-Unis d'Amérique. Elizabeth a déclaré qu'elle n'avait jamais rien dit de tel à sa fille. Christina insiste sur le fait que sa mère l'a effectivement fait ! Alors, regardons les faits…
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| M. Howard Oxenberg en 1960. |
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| Le certificat de mariage Oxenberg/Karageorgevich : criblé d’erreurs. |
Le 21 janvier 1961, la séduisante Elizabeth, âgée de vingt-cinq ans, épousa Howard Oxenburg (1919-2010), de dix-sept ans son aîné, à Manassas, en Virginie. Le couple était en couple depuis plus d'un an ; en effet, les journaux avaient rapporté à tort que le couple s'était enfui en juin ou juillet 1960. Inutile de dire que les parents d'Elizabeth, le prince régent Paul de Yougoslavie et la princesse Olga (née en Grèce et au Danemark), n'étaient pas ravis de cette union ; ils espéraient que leur fille trouverait un homme royal sympathique avec qui s'installer. De plus, bien que Howard fût aisé, étant un fabricant de vêtements prospère, il venait tout juste de divorcer de sa première femme, avec laquelle il avait eu des enfants. Le couple royal yougoslave fut donc plutôt déçu par le (premier) mariage de leur fille.
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| Baby Oxenberg/Karageorgevich # 1 arrive en septembre 1961. Cet article est paru dans le Kansas City Times de Kansas City, Missouri, le 23 septembre 1961. |
Almost eight months to the day after their wedding, Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and Howard Oxenberg welcomed the arrival of their first child, Catherine Oxenberg, who was born in New York City on 22 September 1961.
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Early in the following year, 1962, the following blurbs started appearing in the American press:
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| The Oxenbergs and the Kennedys hanging out in Palm Beach in early 1962. This article appeared in the Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia, on 18 February 1962. |
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| The Oxenbergs dance the night away at White House dinner with Jackie and JFK. This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Press of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 18 February 1962. |
Articles reported that Howard and Elizabeth Oxenberg (née Yugoslavia) had spent a weekend with President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at Palm Beach in early 1962. The Oxenbergs had also attended a dinner party hosted by the Kennedys at the White House, where Elizabeth was noted as “slim, sun-tanned, [and] brown-haired” and being “one of the most stunning” guests of the soirée. Aside from the trip to Palm Beach and the party at the White House, there are no other reports of the Oxenbergs and the Kennedys commingling at the beginning of 1962. However, this does not mean that there could not have been private social visits.
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| Baby Oxenberg/Karageorgevich # 2 is on the way! This article appeared in The Salt Lake Tribune of Salt Lake City, Utah, on 29 May 1962. |
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| Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia arrives back in N.Y.C. from Milan to prepare (again) for impending motherhood. |
In 1962, Howard and Elizabeth Oxenberg were living at 983 Park Avenue in New York City. As was the norm, Elizabeth spent a fair part of that year traveling to the Caribbean and Europe on her Greek diplomatic passport. On 2 February, she arrived back in New York City after a vacation to Nassau, Bahamas. On 1 April, Elizabeth was back in the Big Apple after a hop over to London. On 7 May, the princess again returned to NYC from another trip to Nassau. On 29 May 1962, Howard and/or Elizabeth (via the media) let it be known that they were expecting their second child. On 16 August, Elizabeth came back to her Park Avenue apartment after flying in from Milan. She had been visiting her parents Prince Paul and Princess Olga at their villa in Florence. After her Italian interlude, the by-then quite pregnant princess stayed put in the States.
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| Howard and Elizabeth Oxenberg |
Elizabeth and Howard Oxenberg spent the first weekend of November 1962 at Templeton, the Long Island home of Winston and C. Z. Guest. At this point, Elizabeth was expecting to give birth in about six weeks ( – she had to wait eight). Among the nearly sixty guests of the Guests were the following: Elsa Maxwell (who wrote all about it later), British film director Peter Glenville, British actress Margaret Leighton, American actor/painter/writer/jack-of-all-trades Anthony Quinn, and Reed Vreeland (Diana’s husband). In her column of 8 November, Elsa Maxwell recalled that Elizabeth was the most attractive girl at the party – “without question.” Howard Oxenberg was “a handsome, charming, and romantic man.” Elsa and Elizabeth chatted about Elizabeth’s only surviving brother, Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, whom Elsa had seen in France the previous month. Alexander had asked Elsa, “Do you see much of my sister Elizabeth, or doesn’t she go anywhere?” Elsa replied: “What do you mean by asking if Elizabeth goes anywhere? Do you mean is she bienvenue, is she well-received in New York because she married a clothing manufacturer?” When Elsa told Elizabeth of this conversation, Elizabeth remarked that her brother was “a terrible snob.” Elsa went on to gently chide Elizabeth about the fact that Elizabeth’s sister-in-law and Alexander’s wife, Maria Pia of Savoy, had not attended the April in Paris Ball. Elsa had been expecting to see Pia there. Elizabeth responded with a droll: “I can’t be responsible for what a sister-in-law does. I am only responsible for myself.” The last remark of Elizabeth is rather telling, in hindsight. She could not possibly know that her sister-in-law Pia of Savoy would give birth in just five months time to a second set of twins; the father of these twins was not Elizabeth’s brother/Pia’s husband Prince Alexander. Alas, that is another story of complicated paternity.
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| Christina Oxenberg is born. This article appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 9 January 1963. |
On 27 December 1962, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, Mrs. Howard Oxenberg, gave birth to her second daughter, Christina, in New York City. Princess Olga of Yugoslavia had flown in from Europe to be with her daughter and to be present at her granddaughter’s birth. Queen Mother Helen of Romania (née Greece and Denmark) was Christina’s godmother: Queen Mother Helen and Christina’s grandmother Princess Olga were first cousins.
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| Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia with daughters Catherine and Christina. |
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| Marriage on the rocks: Howard Oxenberg and Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia divorce. This article appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 29 May 1966. |
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| Elizabeth Balfour (née Yugoslavia; formerly Oxenberg) with daughters Catherine and Christina in 1969. |
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By 1966, the Oxenberg/Yugoslavia marriage had run its course. Over the years, gossip had it that the couple was frequently on the verge of divorce. Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and Mr. Howard Oxenberg went their separate ways: she moved to Chelsea with her daughters, and he remained in New York. Both Elizabeth and Howard remarried and divorced…several times.
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Le cœur du problème entre les deux est désormais la question de la paternité de Christina. L’année dernière, Christina avait écrit que la princesse Elizabeth avait dit à sa fille que le véritable père de Christina était le président américain John F. Kennedy… et non Howard Oxenberg, avec qui Elizabeth était mariée à l’époque. La semaine dernière, la princesse Elizabeth a fait une déclaration reprise par plusieurs médias des Balkans, affirmant que sa fille était une menteuse et qu’elle [Elizabeth] n’avait jamais dit à sa fille que JFK était son père biologique. En réponse, via une déclaration donnée à d’autres médias, Christina a répondu à la déclaration de sa mère en affirmant que sa mère lui avait effectivement dit que John F. Kennedy était son père biologique. De toute évidence, mère et fille ne se parlent pas… à moins que l’on ne compte les communications entre elles par le biais d’interviews dans la presse. De plus, la réponse définitive à cette question de paternité ne peut être définitivement apportée que par un test ADN. En attendant, si l’on se demande si Christina Oxenberg est la fille de John Fitzgerald Kennedy, cela dépendra de la façon dont on considère la question. Si vous demandez à Christina, elle vous dira qu'elle est la fille de JFK parce que sa mère le lui a dit. Pourtant, si vous demandez à Elizabeth, elle vous dira qu'elle n'a jamais rien dit de tel. Quoi qu'il en soit, une chose est sûre : la princesse Elizabeth de Yougoslavie a rencontré le président John Kennedy à plusieurs reprises au cours des premiers mois de 1962.
Oh oui !
Cette princesse Jelisavete šokira novim detaljima: « Mama je htela da ubije trećeg muža » Cette jeune fille Karađorđević tvrdi da joj je otac Džon Kenedi
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