Since a few days we know that Prince Charles fills up his Aston Martin with wine and cheese instead of diesel. He does it officially for ecological reasons. But is that really true? A search for traces.

In the 19th century, Heiligenberg Castle in Hesse was a popular destination for tsars, kings  and queens and other members of the European aristocracy. Since 1827 it had been the property of the Hereditary Grand Duchess Wilhelmine of Hesse and by Rhine, who preferred not to live with her husband in the residential town of Darmstadt, but to create a generously laid-out English garden in Heiligenberg. The two younger children Marie and Alexander lived with her.

Daughter Marie later married the Russian heir to the throne Alexander (II) and the last tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II are descended from both of them. It is thanks to her that Heiligenberg was so popular with the high nobility, for she inherited part of the estate and spent many summers there with the family, which was branched out all over Europe. Heiligenberg became a royal hotspot in the mid-19th century, where politics were made.

Son Alexander morganatically married Countess Julia Haucke, who was given the title of Princess of Battenberg after the wedding. They are the progenitors of the Mountbatten family and their descendants have come a long way, considering that both were ostracised by their relatives when they married: The King of Spain, Felipe VI, is descended from them, as are the British Princes Philip, Charles, William and Harry.

But what does all this have to do with Switzerland?

For that we have to take a look at the all-important neighbour of the hereditary grand duchess: the Swiss August Ludwig Freiherr von Senarclens-Grancy – riding instructor of her elder sons. Even before the purchase of Heiligenberg Castle, a romantic relationship developed between him and Wilhelmine. Although her children Marie and Alexander were legitimised by Wilhelmine’s husband, their biological father was her lover August Ludwig.

This fact was known in all royal houses at the time. The Russian Tsar Nicholas I replied to Count Orloff when he was informed of his future daughter-in-law’s family circumstances: “But who are you, and who am I? We can only hope to be the sons of our fathers whose names we bear, but who on earth can ever prove such a thing?”. He authorised his son to marry Marie.

Queen Victoria, after all a moral authority in those days, not only had a weakness for the “beautiful” Battenbergs. She thought: a refreshment of royal blood was definitely needed now and then! And so, she later allowed her daughter Beatrice to marry a Battenberg.

Conclusion: through his ancestor August Ludwig, not only German but also Swiss blood flows in Prince Charles’ veins. The only question that remains is whether he fills up his Aston Martin with Gruyère or Appenzeller. Or maybe he mixes it all together and fills up with cheese fondue.