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| The duke and duchess de Sabran. Photo (c) Getty Images / Bertrand Rindoff Petroff. |
Today, the 8th Duc de Sabran celebrates his eighty-fifth birthday!
Born on 30 April 1937 at Villecresnes, Charles Élzéar Marie Joseph Adrien de Sabran-Pontevès was the first child of Foulques, 7th Duc de Sabran (1908-1973) and Roselyne Manca-Amat de Vallambrosa (1910-1988). Roselyne, duchesse de Sabran, was a close friend of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco. Élzéar had four younger siblings: Jean Henri (1939-2017; married Marie Isabelle Decazes de Glücksbierg), Géraud (1940-1941), Gersende (b.1942; married Prince Jacques, Duc d'Orléans), and Vicomte Géraud de Sabran (b.1943; married Stéphanette Fabre). Élzéar became the 8th duc de Sabran following the death of his father in 1973. Élzéar found his career in business and is the owner of the Château d'Ansouis.
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| Élzéar and Dewi Sukarno with her daughter Kartika, December 1977. Photo (c) Reginald Davis of The Australian Women's Weekly. |
In December 1977, Élzéar de Sabran-Pontevès alluded to his upcoming engagement to Naoko Nemoto (b.1940; aka Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno), one of the wives and subsequent widows of Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia. The French duke and the widow of the Indonesian leader had been seeing one another since 1975. Élzéar was forty years-old and described as being "very good looking and rather shy" as well as having "the figure of an athlete and a young man's exuberance." It was stated that the couple would officially announce their betrothal early in 1978. Élzéar, by then Duc de Sabran, commented: "It has been impossible for Dewi and me to get any time together. We simply never get away from people. That is why we are leaving Paris and taking a holiday visiting Japan and the places Dewi knows and loves. It will be nice for me to see these places. Dewi knows my world well - and apparently likes it. Now I must know hers. It will be a quiet visit. I am fascinated by the Orient, and I want to see as much as I can on this holiday. I am not a member of the jet set. I do not travel a lot. When I travel, I would rather see a lot of the country and learn something of its culture." The duke shared that he and Madame Sukarno shared a passion for historical preservation, particularly of the Château d'Ansouis. "I take care of the outside, and Dewi has been in charge of the restoration of the first and second floors. We love d'Ansouis. It is part of my life and something to return to. There is nothing new, nothing brash at d'Ansouis. Nothing we have not lived with for generations." For reasons unknown, the Duc de Sabran and Madame Dewi Sukarno never married.
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| The duke and duchess de Sabran, 2001. Photo (c) Getty Images / Bertrand Rindoff Petroff. |
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