Today is the Feast of Blessed Karl, Emperor and King.

And the father of my youngest daughter's godfather, Otto von Habsburg!

And how did she end up with a Blessed's son as godfather you ask? Well, it's like this. I was corresponding regularly with His Imperial and Royal Highness, who was at that time, de jure Emperor of Austria-Hungary. Remembering the old custom in Catholic monarchies of asking the Emperor or King to stand sponsor for a child, I wrote His Imperial and Royal Highness asking if he and his gracious consort, HIRH Regina, would be godparents for our new child. He replied that they would be honoured to do so. Of course, we found proxies to stand in for them at the ceremony.

The Parish in which she was Christened had no secretary, so Father, who was a dear friend of the family, had to handle chores like typing up Baptismal certificates himself. When we got there and he had rolled the blank certificate into the typewriter (yes, it was a long time ago!), he asked for her names. With a straight face, I replied, 'Dominique Maureen Anne Elizabeth'. he looked rather perplexed at four Christian names, but he diligently typed them out.

Then he asked the names of her godparents. He knew we had proxies to stand for the absent sponsors, but not who they were. With an absolutely straight face, repressing the urge to laugh, I said, 'Their Imperial and Royal Highnesses the Archduke Otto and Archduchess Regina von Habsburg und Lothringen'! I think he almost went, 'What!?', but he managed not to. He asked me to spell the names, which I did. After typing them out, he looked up at me and said, 'I want an extra offering for typing all of this!'

I used to tell our daughter, when she was small, that I couldn't find a Fairy Godmother for her, but I had managed to find her an Imperial one.

The website of the Emperor Karl League of Prayer, dedicated to Blessed Karl's canonisation.

His full name was Karl Franz Joseph Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria von Habsburg und Lothringen

And his full 'Grand Title' was His Imperial and Royal

Blessed Charles,
Emperor and King

Apostolic Majesty, Charles the First, By the Grace of God, Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, of this name the Fourth, King of Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, and Galicia, Lodomeria, and Illyria; King of Jerusalem, Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow, Duke of Lorraine and of Salzburg, of Styria, of Carinthia, of Carniola and of the Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, of Auschwitz and Zator, of Teschen, Friuli, Ragusa and Zara; Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca; Prince of Trent and Brixen; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg; Lord of Trieste, of Cattaro, and in the Windic March; Grand Voivode of the Voivodeship of Serbia.

For less formal occasions he was 'just' His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty The Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary and Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia!

Archduke Karl of Austria (1887-1922) & Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma (1892-1989) at their wedding, 21 October 1911, with Emperor Franz Joseph (1830-1916) looking on cheerfully.

When Pope John Paul II (whose own father had named him Karol after the Emperor) beatified Emperor Karl in 2004, he chose October 21 as his feast day (rather than his death date of April 1) in recognition of the importance that his marriage to the equally devout Zita (herself a candidate for beatification) played in his Christian life.

His biography from the Vatican website

Charles of Austria was born August 17, 1887, in the Castle of Persenbeug in the region of Lower Austria. His parents were the Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony, daughter of the last King of Saxony. Emperor Francis Joseph I was Charles' Great Uncle.

Charles was given an expressly Catholic education and the prayers of a group of persons accompanied him from childhood, since a stigmatic nun prophesied that he would undergo great suffering and attacks would be made against him. That is how the “League of prayer of the Emperor Charles for the peace of the peoples” originated after his death. In 1963 it became a prayer community ecclesiastically recognized.

A deep devotion to the Holy Eucharist and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus began to grow in Charles. He turned to prayer before making any important decisions.

On the 21st of October, 1911, he married Princess Zita of Bourbon and Parma. The couple was blessed with eight children during the ten years of their happy and exemplary married life. Charles still declared to Zita on his deathbed: “I'll love you forever.”

Charles became heir to the throne of the Austro‑Hungarian Empire on June 28, 1914, following the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand.

 World War I was underway and with the death of the Emperor Francis Joseph, on November 21, 1916 Charles became Emperor of Austria. On December 30th he was crowned apostolic King of Hungary.

Charles envisaged this office also as a way to follow Christ: in the love and care of the peoples entrusted to him, and in dedicating his life to them.

He placed the most sacred duty of a king - a commitment to peace - at the center of his preoccupations during the course of the terrible war. He was the only one among political leaders to support Benedict XV's peace efforts.

As far as domestic politics are concerned, despite the extremely difficult times he initiated wide and exemplary social legislation, inspired by social Christian teaching.

Thanks to his conduct, the transition to a new order at the end of the conflict was made possible without a civil war. He was however banished from his country.

The Pope feared the rise of communist power in central Europe, and expressed the wish that Charles re‑establish the authority of his government in Hungary. But two attempts failed, since above all Charles wished to avoid the outbreak of a civil war.

Charles was exiled to the island of Madeira. Since he considered his duty as a mandate from God, he could not abdicate his office.

Reduced to poverty, he lived with his family in a very humid house. He then fell fatally ill and accepted this as a sacrifice for the peace and unity of his peoples.

Charles endured his suffering without complaining. He forgave all those who conspired against him and died April 1st 1922 with his eyes turned toward the Holy Sacrament. On his deathbed he repeated the motto of his life: “I strive always in all things to understand as clearly as possible and follow the will of God, and this in the most perfect way”.

The sermon preached by John Paul II at his beatification.