Charlotte Luise Auguste Tiedemann (2 January 1919 – 3 July 1979) was a German opera singer, actress, and the second wife of

Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia Infante Jaime of Spain, Duke of Segovia ( Spanish: '' Don'' ''Jaime Leopoldo Isabelino Enrique Alejandro Alberto Alfonso Víctor Acacio Pedro Pablo María de Borbón y Battenberg''; French: ''Jacques Léopold Isabellin Henri Alexandre Albért ...

, who was the second son of Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg.

Early life

Tiedemann was born on 2 January 1919 in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, Germany (now part of Russia) to Otto Eugen Tiedemann and Luise Amalia Klein.

Career

She performed as a

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. There were rumors that she had been a Nazi spy during her marriage. She worked with the operetta librettist Heinz Hentschke, who was a cultural official in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Tiedemann moved to Rome in 1944 to work for a radio program for German soldiers fighting in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She signed a contract with German film studio UFA and worked on the film ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' and appeared in Italian cinema using the stage name Micaela Carlotta.

Marriages

She married, firstly, to the German sound engineer Franz Büchler, with whom she had a daughter, Helga. She married a second time to the German filmmaker

Fritz Hippler Fritz Hippler (17 August 1909 – 22 May 2002) was a German filmmaker who ran the film department in the Propaganda Ministry of Nazi Germany, under Joseph Goebbels. He is best known as the director of the propaganda film '' Der Ewige Jude (The ...

, who was a colleague of

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

official

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

. Hippler legally adopted her daughter. Tiedemann's husband directed the film '' The Eternal Jew'', a documentary that summarized anti-Semetic ideology in Nazism. She accompanied her husband to the home of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. She and Hippler later divorced. In 1947, while in Rome, she met

, the son of the king of Spain, at Il Faro restaurant. On 3 August 1949, she married Infante Jaime in a civil ceremony in

Innsbruck, Austria Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a population of 132,493 in 2018. In the ...

. Her husband was the

Legitimist The Legitimists () are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of t ...

pretender to the former French throne. Her husband had obtained a divorce from his first wife,

Emmanuelle de Dampierre Emmanuelle de Dampierre (''Victoire Jeanne Emmanuelle Joséphine Pierre Marie''; 8 November 1913 – 3 May 2012) was an Italian-French aristocrat and a member of the Spanish royal family. Her husband, Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, was the secon ...

, that was recognized in Italy but not in France, Spain, or the Vatican. The

Spanish royal family The Spanish royal family constitutes the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon (), also known as the House of Bourbon-Anjou (). The royal family is headed by King Felipe VI and currently consists of the King; Queen Letizia; their children, Leono ...

refused to recognize the marriage and banned Tiedemann from attending any family events. She used the title Duchess of Segovia, but the Spanish monarchy refused to grant her the title, instead recognizing Infante Jaime's first wife as the duchess.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiedemann, Charlotte 1919 births 1979 deaths Actors from Königsberg Burials at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf Duchesses of Anjou Duchesses of Bourbon German film actresses German opera singers House of Bourbon (Spain) Morganatic spouses Princesses by marriage Princesses of France (Bourbon) Spanish duchesses