“To be or not to be” Thursday (The Viscount Hayz and Madame Mairi d'Bacquemme)

Ok, so I decided we needed a bit of a break from the excitement in Syldavia and that we also needed a break from just profiling female Royalty and that we needed a break from discussing only individuals on a Thursday. Wow, what a mouthful, here is the point, we will discuss a couple, not from Syldavia but the gentleman is from what used to be the Empire of Scot-Britania. His fiancé is from Franconia but like many others is, due to the lives lost in the revolution, second in line of succession to the throne of the Small Principality of Monagask. I present to you the young and very trendy, engaged couple; His Lordship the Viscount Sean, 9^th Viscount Hayz and Her Ladyship Madame Mairi d’ Bacquemme. In regular speech one refers to all nobility from Scot-Britania by using the prefix title of Lord, thus the Viscount Hayz would be reffered to as Lord Hayz. If the monarchy in Monagask was restored madame Mairi would be Her Serene Highness, the Princess Mairi of Monagask, Madame d’ Bacquemme.

The glamorous couple was snapped by a paparazzi photographer leaving an A-list nightclub earlier this year.

Lord Hayz and Madame Mairi met each other 2 years ago on a skiing holiday in the Switzer Alps. The story goes that Madame Mairi lost control of her skis an careered into the unsuspecting Lord standing to one side with a group of friends. His next memory was of opening his eyes to what he thought was an angel but was Mairi leaning over his hospital bed. The Lord Hayz had sustained a minor concussion and a fractured elbow but what he gained in the long run was apparently worth the “suffering".

They started dating before he even left the hospital and invited Mairi to join him upon his return trip to Americania a few weeks later. Both the Hayz and D’Baquemme families were greatly affected by 1996 Revolution but in opposite ways. The Hayz’s had been living in the United States of Americania and lost almost all their wealth. The Lord Hayz’s father died of a heart attack two months after their arrival in the States and although of Noble origin the new Lord Hayz and his mother were relegated to a typical “single mom” lifestyle. However Sean, as he was known in college struck it big in the I.T. industry and soon was a high flying millionaire in his own right.

In attendance at the 2011 Christmas Ball with the Hispanian Duchess of Aragon on the far right and her daughter Donna Hernanda at her right. Madame Mairi wears a tiara from the D'Bacquemme collection.

The D’Baquemme’s had the flip side of the coin. The Franconian monarchy was toppled many years before the revolution and for very different reasons, so Madame Mairi grew up in Franconia with full knowledge of her Noble heritage but living like normal upper-class citizens. The family had wealth but not on an aristocratic level, they had some ancestral jewels and some property. She had a normal upbringing for her social standing with equal education. The revolution however struck and as it turned out due to genealogy; her brother is now first in line to become a Sovereign Prince if things turn out like they did in Normandia and Syldavia. This would put a great burden of responsibility on her as she could become a Princess in an independent country. Even though there isn’t talk of a restoration in Monagask, the genuine reality has completely thrown the D’Baquemme family for a loop.

Sean and Mairi are now engaged, immersed in their careers and living a fantasy life of their own. It’s strange to think that for other people, the fantasy is to be a Prince or Princess, for these two the fantasy is just to have a happy normal life. They are not seen at Royal events often but will always be invited to the large scale get-togethers. We saw them at the Christmas Ball of 2011 and at the Crown Prince Imperial’s Birthday in the same year. They are regulars on the fashion scene as well and sometimes support charity events. Personally I look forward to the eventual wedding as the Hayz jewellery collection, if it’s still in the family ownership hasn’t been seen in almost 20 years.

Madame Mairi d'Bacquemme with her close friend Lady Loelia Jennings at a charity function in 2011. 

Life will, regardless of your choices, put before you opportunities and challenges but your attitude in dealing with them is where you will always be free to choose. Time will tell what is put before our trendy couple but their choices will show where they end up.