How exciting! The Luxembourgish royal family will soon have a trickle of Maltese blood as Prince Louis’s future wife, 29-year-old Parisian lawyer Scarlett-Lauren Sirgue, has ties to our very own island!
Sirgue’s great-great-grandmother was Marie Micallef and was of Maltese origin according to a dynastic histories article published by Histoire Royales. The article notes that Marie bears the name Mikalif which “is written in many ways, with a double ‘l’ or double ‘f’. It is possible that it was transcribed in ‘Mikhalef’,” genealogist Jean-Louis Beaucarnot tells Histoire Royales.
The article continues to add that Marie’s family is a “100 per cent Maltese family whose members has spread in the 19th century to the Levant, Tunisia, and Algeria, where they were married to Italians, Jews and Arabs.” Woah.
This comes as the official engagement announcement was made earlier this week on the royals’ Instagram, naturally sparking interest in Sirgue’s background and heritage. “We are happy to announce the engagement of our son, Prince Louis, to Miss Scarlett-Lauren Sirgue,” the Court announced.
This is the 34-year-old prince’s second marriage, having been formerly married to a certain Tessy Antony whom he shares sons Prince Gabriel, 14 and Prince Noah, 12 with. “Prince Gabriel and Noah join us in surrounding the new couple with all our affection. We wish them immense happiness.”
Sirgue isn’t the first royal with local ties. As it happens, Princess Beatrice’s husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, has a direct line to Federigo II (III) d’Aragona, the King of Sicily in 1295 until 1337 (also reigning Malta in those days). The Conte Mapelli Mozzi name was created many years later in 1935.
Even Meghan Markle, who married Prince Harry in May 2018, is of Maltese descent, even travelling to the islands a few years back to trace her ancestry. Her great-great-grandmother was Mary Bird, who was born in Malta in 1862.
Congrats to the newly engaged couple!