August Ludwig Freiherr von Senarclens-Grancy (19 August 1794 – 3 October 1871) was the firstborn son of three sons and four daughters of César Auguste, Baron von Senarclens de Grancy, (1763-1836) and his wife, Élisabeth Claudine Marie-Rose de Loriol (1773-1846). Senarclens de Grancy is reputed to have been the long-time lover of Wilhelmine of Baden, the Grand Duchess consort of Hesse, and the actual father by her of Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia and Prince Alexander of Hesse (who himself is an ancestor of modern royalty in Spain, the United Kingdom, and other European countries).

Life

Senarclens de Grancy became the stable master of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, a major general and a knight in the Order of Malta. It is also alleged that he was the biological father of four of the children of his employer's wife and, therefore, a likely ancestor of Felipe VI of Spain and Charles III of the United Kingdom. Senarclens de Grancy may also be a direct ancestor of several royal pretenders: Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, Margareta of Romania and Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia. Senarclens de Grancy died in Jugenheim on 3 October 1871.

Marriage and children

Allegedly with Wilhelmine of Baden

Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, bought the Heiligenberg estate near Jugenheim in 1820, where he installed Senarclens de Grancy as his chamberlain later that year. Louis II's wife, the Grand Duchess Wilhelmine, began living at Heiligenberg during the summers, and wintered at other estates, rarely accompanying her husband from then on. The Grand Duchess gave birth to four more children between 1821 and 1824 after not bearing any children to Louis II for nine years. Senarclens-Grancy's paternity was strongly suspected, and was treated as an open secret by the Hessian court. Louis II did not deny paternity nor seek to disinherit the two children who lived to adulthood. Grand Duchess Wilhelmine's children born after 1820 were:

Marriage to Luise von Otting und Fünfstetten

On 15 November 1836, Senarclens de Grancy married Countess Luise Wilhelmine Camille von Otting und Fünfstetten (born von Schönfeld; 24 May 1810 – 18 May 1876), daughter of Count Friedrich von Otting und Fünfstetten (1767-1834), himself an illegitimate son of the Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, and his wife, Wilhelmine, Marquise de Montperny (1788-1874), herself a morganatic granddaughter of Prince William Louis of Baden-Durlach.

Ancestry