Johan-Wenzel of Liechtenstein and Countess Felicitas von Hartig marry before a representation of the most important noble families of the European continent.
Prince Johann-Wenzel, 30, son of Princess Marie of Orleans and Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein and Countess Felicitas von Hartig, 29. They will say "I do" in Vienna, the city where they were born, after almost a year of engagement and having contracted a civil marriage on April 30, in Vaduz.
Johann-Wenzel is the third child and first son of the five born to Marie of Orleans, sister of the Count of Paris, and Gundakar of Liechtenstein. He studied political science and economics in Montreal, before going through the British military academy at Sandhurst and finishing a master's degree in agriculture. He works in the family business – as his father, his grandfather, and his ancestors have already done, which manages the family's forest properties.
Johan-Wenzel is a great-grandson of Princes Henri and Elizabeth, Counts of Paris, and a cousin of the current sovereign of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II. On her part, Countess Felicitas von Hartig is the daughter of Count Lukas von Hartig and Claudia von Toperczer. He studied law and art history and today, while finishing his specialty in Art, he works at the Austrian Ministry of the Interior in Vienna. The couple attended the wedding of the Jordanian heir on June 1.
A fairy tale romance
Johann-Wenzel and Felicitas have lived a love story full of romanticism. They met at a party organized by a mutual friend in the summer of 2012. At that first meeting, they were then only 19 and 18 years old and had just finished high school. But then, each one went their way in different countries and they did not meet again until five years later.
So Johan-Wenzel had just finished his training at Sandhurst and was part of the Goldstream Guards regiment and Feli, as they call her in the family, was in London working as an intern at Sotheby's. He called her to ask her on a date. They met in a pub and then met several friends for dinner.
"I remember her big smile and her delicious sense of humor," recalls the boyfriend in an interview with the French magazine Point de Vue. She was interesting and very beautiful. I felt very comfortable as if I had known her all my life. I also love her open mind and her curiosity. I felt something for her right away." After several years without seeing each other, her feelings had not changed.
Felicitas reveals that she had found her very attractive again and that she especially noticed the sparkle in her eyes. "We talked about everything and we realized that we shared many points of view," she also tells the magazine. “We got along very well from the beginning and we keep in touch. It was the beginning of a great friendship." But, in addition, it was the beginning of a love story, although it took time to materialize, due to the boyfriend's military commitments. It was after finishing his training that Johan-Wenzel settled in Lisbon, but before that, he returned to Vienna and met Felicitas, who was still single.
They started talking on the phone every day, sometimes for hours. They met again at Christmas. "I always knew that we would have a solid relationship and I think Felicitas felt the same way," explains the boyfriend. Johan-Wenzel confided her feelings to him and she confessed hers to him. They started dating in January 2020 and got through the pandemic together.
The couple had lived together for two years when the marriage proposal arrived in the summer of 2022, on August 25, in Sicily. The groom gave her a ring with two diamonds from Brazil and pink sapphire from Sri Lanka, mounted by the Viennese jeweler Rozet & Fichmeister, the same that has made her wedding rings. But he was so nervous that he forgot everything he had planned to say to her, except for the crucial question.
