SUCCESSION TO THE TALLEYRAND TITLES

Charles-Maurice de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, 1754-1838, Bishop of Autun 1788 (bull of secularization 1802, with no dispensation of celibacy); 5 June 1806 Sovereign Prince of Benevento (ceded to the two Sicilies, 1815); Vice-Grand Elector of the Empire, 1807; Pair de France 1814; Grand Chamberlain of France 1815 as “Prince de Talleyrand”); Hereditary Peer, 25 Dec 1815; Duke of Dino in the Two Sicilies, 9 Nov 1815; Duc-Pair héréditaire 28 Oct 1817 with his nephew Edmond, below, named as eventual heir to the Duchy-Peerage, with the provision that the latter’s father, Archambaud (younger brother of Charles-Maurice), should enjoy the title of Duc de Talleyrand during his life. Letters patent 18 Feb 1818, confirmed upon establishment of a majorat de pairie with succession to, Edmond 28 Dec 1821:

(Alexandre-)Edmond de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, 2^nd Duc(-Pair) de Talleyrand (succ 1838, by royal ordonnances of 25 Dec 1815 and 28 Oct 1817)), 2^nd Duc de Dino (by cession confirmed France, by royal ordonannce of 2 Dec 1817), & 1^st Herzog v. Sagan[1], Comte de Perigord (French Empire 17 May 1810), (1787-1872):

(1) Boson de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, 4^th Duc de Talleyrand and Dino, 3^rd Herzog v. Sagan (1832-1910), authorized to bear the title Prince de Sagan (ad personam), by Imperial Decree 3 March 1859 and so titled 1846-1898,

(a) Hélie de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, 5^th Duc de Talleyrand and 5^th duc de Dino (confirmed by Italian Royal Decree 10 July 1912), 4^th Herzog v. Sagan (1859-1937), Prince de Sagan 1859-1910

(i) Howard de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, 5^th Duke of Sagan upon resignation of his father (1910), (1909-1929, sp).

(ii) Violette de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, (styled) Duchess of Sagan (to which title she may have succeeded as heiress of her father, the 4th Duke) b. 18 Feb 1915; , m. 1937 (m. diss by div. 1969) Count James de Pourtalès (1911-19..),; she m 2ndly 20 Mar 1969, Gaston Palewski (d. 1984) and had issue by first a son, Charles, b. 1951, and 2 daus.

(b) Boson de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, 6^th Duc de Talleyrand, 6^th Duc de Dino and 5^th Herzog v. Sagan (1867-1952, 3 x married; his 3^rd wife, Antoinette, was still living in the 1970s),[2] styled Duc de Valençay until 1937.

(2) Count Adalbert de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD (1837-1915), created Duc de Montmorency by Imperial Decree of 14 May 1864, had issue an only son,

Louis de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, 2^nd Duc de Montmorency *167-1951), d.s.p. His 3^rd wife, Ida Lefaivre, married 1950, was still living in 1970.

(1) Maurice de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, (1843-1917), styled 4^th Duc de Dino, by anticipatory cession of his father dated 25 Jan 1887).

Palma de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD (1871-1952), m. 1890 Mario Ruspoli, 2^nd Prince of Poggio Suasa, and had descendants.

(2) Archambaud de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, (1845-1918), served as Lt-Colonel in the Prussian Army.

(a) Anne de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD (1877-1945), m. 1907 Eduardo Dreyfus y Gonzalez de Andia, confirmed succession as Count of Premio Real (Spain, 1907), and had issue 2 sons and 2 daus d. s. .

(b) Felicie de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD (1878-19..), m. 1907 Luis Dreyfus y Gonzalez de Andia, brother of the Count of Premio Real preceding, succ as Marques de Villahermoso by royal cedula of 1907, and had 2 sons, each with descendants (who dropped the name Dreyfus), and one daughter, of whom the eldest, Manuel (b. 1909), was confirmed by diploma of King Umberto II of Italy, issued in exile at Cascais, as successor to the title of Duke of Dino, with remainder failing male heirs to his eldest daughter, Maria Luisa Gonzalez de Andia y Talleyrand-Perigord (b. 1932) and her husband Luis de Villegas y Urzaiz, 15 Dec 1975.

(c) Hélie de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, styled Marquis de Talleyrand-Perigord, then from 1952, 7^th Duc de Talleyrand, 7^th Duc de Dino and 6^th Herzog v. Sagan (1882-1968), s.p. (no issue by his wife Lela Emery, whose daughter by her first husband married the Count de Rocheambeau).

(d) Alexandre de TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD (1883-1923), Lieutenant in the Prussian Army. s.p.

The transfer of the titles of Duke of Dino and Duke of Sagan within the family was not, in fact, capable of diverting the succession under the original patents. The reasons for these transfers, however, was to prevent the break up of the estates which came with these duchies, as would be required under French law if they were part of the estate of the holder at the time of death. The Duchy-Peerage of Talleyrand had an established majorat that was protected from the provisions of the Code Napoléon until the abolition of majorats in the early 20^th century. The Italian and Prussian estates, however, would have been included as part of the testator’s estate and the provisions of French, Italian and Prussian law, all required that a widow and younger children be provided for out of an estate at death, thus limiting the discretion of a testator to make other provisions.

By ceding the duchy of Sagan, to which a Prussian fideicommis and seat in the Prussian House of Lords was attached – and the cessions of Sagan before 1918 were approved by the Prussian Crown – the principal estate could be maintained intact. After 1918 the fideicommis was abolished, but the 4^th Duke, Hélie, had ceded Sagan to his son Howard, who died s.p. in 1929, when his estate was inherited by his father, who died in 1937, leaving it to his daughter Violette (later Countess de Pourtalès). After 1860, with the absorption of the Two Sicilies into a united Italy, the Dino estate ceased to be protected from the provisions of Italian law and had never been protected by French law. Edmond, 2^nd Duc de Talleyrand and Dino and 1^st Duke of Sagan of the new creation decided that as Sagan and its estate would remain with the senior line, carrying with it as it did a seat in the Prussian House of Lord (Edmond eventually ceded it to his eldest grandson), his younger son should inherit the Italian estates, even though the title itself remained with the senior line in Italian law. He and Dorothée also ceded to his younger son Alexandre the remaining Prussian estate that had been acquired with the Biron inheritance. Alexandre brought his children up in Prussia, and his two sons both trained at Prussian Military Academies, the younger, Archambaud rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Prussian Army – a strange career for a Frenchman in the aftermath of Sedan. Of the latter’s two sons the younger, Alexandre, also served in the Prussian Army but resigned his commission before the outbreak of World War I. The Prussian estates were sold off in between the two Wars; this author is unaware of the date of disposal of the Italian estates.

[1] The Duchy of Sagan was a fief of the Crown of Prussia, acquired from the Lobkowicz in 1786 by Duke Peter of Courland and confirmed for male line with succession to the nearest female on the death of the last male. The Biron v. Courland line continued with Peter’s brother, but on Peter’s death in 1800 Sagan passed to the eldest daughter Princess Wilhelmina, who died s.p (1839), leaving the duchy to her sister Pauline, and thereafter to Pauline's son, Constantin, Fürst von und zu Hohenzollern-Hechingen (1801-1869), and failing the latter's issue, as Constantin was then childless by his wife, Eugènie, Princess of Leuchtenberg, daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais, to the two sons of her next sister Dorothea. On Wilhelmina's death it duly passed to Fürstin Pauline v. u. z. Hohenzollern-Hechingen (d. 1845) who ceded the title of Duke to her eldest son and heir, Constantin, on 13 April 1842 while selling to her sister Dorothea all her portion of the allodial estates of the Duchy. Constantin continued negotiatins with his aunt, which concluded on 16 Oct 1843 with the sale of the title and all claims, subject to actual possession by Dorothea being delayed until a1 April 1844. This succession, once again conferring succession to the males, and following their extinction to the nearest female (regulated in a further family pact of 14 Sep 1847, registered 16 May 1849), was confirmed by the King of Prussia 5 June 1845 and 19 June 1846 (with the qualification of Serene Highness), who also granted the title of Prince for the eldest son and grand-son (the latter ad personam) of the Duke. Edmond de Talleyrand-Perigord was authorized to use the title of Duke of Sagan in France by Imperial Decree of 16 Oct 1863 (ad personam).

The history of the succession to the duchy 1839-46 was examined in "Le dernier amour de Talleyrand", by Francoise de Bernardy, 1965, pp. 283-311, and summarized in L'Allemagne Dynastique, Volume V, p. 193, note 24.

[2] Boson before a notary 10 May 1947adopted a son, Jean-Gustave, born 29 Sep 1929, already recognized as a child of unknown parentage by his mother, Antoinette Morel, who became 3^rd wife of Duke Boson in 1950, and who was legitimated by this marriage. Duke Boson declared him his universal heir. This was challenged by Hélie, Marquis (later last Duc) de Talleyrand, in petitions dated 22 Feb and 26 Oct 1949, who asserted that at that date Mlle Morel and Duke Boson had never met. The 1^st chamber of the Tribunal of the Seine of 24 Nov 1950, declared the demand receivable, by right of the moral interest invoked and the honor of the family name. On 26 March 1953 the Tribunal found that the recognition was essentially fraudulent, and nullified the consequent legitimation, ordering that Jean-Gustave cease to use the name Talleyrand-Perigord. The Tribunal found that at the time of the birth of this boy, Mlle Morel was living “in concubinage” with a M. F., who signed his name at the time of birth, and continued to live subsequently with Mlle Morel and M. F. with the name F. Witnesses established that Mlel Morel had met the Duke for the first time in 1941 at a dinner party given by a Lyonnais industrialist. This judgment was confirmed by the Court of Appeal of Paris, January 1955. These actions, however, were not sufficient to prevent jean-Gustave from succeeding as testamentary legatee to the entire estate of Duke Boson.