The Princess and the P
Every girl dreams of a handsome prince and living happily ever. Let me introduce to the stars of this fairy-tale meet Mary Theresa Olivia Cornwallis-West a beautiful socialite from Wales who marries Prince Hans Heinrich XV. Known as Daisy she was to now the Princess of Pless, and together they were to become the last owners of the magnificent Ksiaz Castle. This castle is no ordinary castle it has a rich and dramatic history, privately owned by the aristocratic Hochberg family since the early 16th century. The first thing you notice are the magnificent entry gates, I realised it was going to be something special. As I walked down the driveway I was met with the most remarkable vision, sitting on the side of Owl Mountain amongst the trees stood this massive grey and pink castle accompanied by a number of equally impressive outer buildings. It was set up with café, gelato and souvenir shops but very tastefully done. This is truly sleeping beauty’s castle, complete with turrets and statues and well-manicured gardens, a sight to behold I was mesmerised by it share size, I knew this was going to be great. Inside equally impressive, although much of its interiors had been removed you could still see its beauty, rooms of pink and gold, elaborate cornices, carpets, lamps you could imagine great parties being held in these drawing rooms, I compared it to Downtown Abbey but much more mystical and prettier. Let’s get back to Daisy, the hallways are lined with photos of her, the prince and the children. From the flamboyant garden parties, elaborate balls to the winter sleigh rides in exquisite furs these photos were taken by their French chef, an avid photographer he managers to capture these moments in time creating a beautiful love story. This story however has a sad ending, the marriage didn’t last and the Prince went on to remarry. Daisy stayed in her beloved Ksiaz living in one wing of the castle on her own, she died just before the outbreak of WWII. The Hochberg mausoleum where it is said that in 1943 Daisy was buried, it is believed her devoted servants removed her body to protect it from the plunder of the Soviets in 1945-46, so no one is quite sure what happened to her but some believe she can still be seen walking the halls of the Castle. The Hochberg’s were evicted in 1941 for not supporting the Nazis regime, its historic interiors where torn down or shipped out, you wonder what they did with everything they took out of Poland and they took so much. They occupied the castle building and built underground tunnels with labour from the local concentration camp, evidently a train full of gold was driven underground but has never been found. Some of the tunnels are open to tourists but many remain unexplored, so that train may still be there and the legend lives on. Visiting the castle you would never know its sad history, the Poles are masters at restoration, it is important for them that their history is kept alive and as it was all those years ago. I truly loved this castle and highly recommended it to anyone visiting Silesia in Poland, if you have a fascination of WWII secrets, treasures and ghosts or just love a good romance story then spending a day here at Ksiaz is perfect.
