Karel Kinsky
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Karel Andreas Kinsky 1858–1919
Prince Karel Kinsky was the son of Prince Ferdinand Buonaventura Kinsky (1834–1904) the head of the princely line of the Kinsky dynasty and Marie Princess von und zu Lichtenstein (1835–1905)
Karel born into the family's great equine tradition, inherited a love of horses. A servant, the Kinsky's master of the horse, Roland Reynolds, who had two great loves, England and the Grand National steeplechase, was to prove a great influence on Karel, passing on his passions to the young Count.
Karel Kinsky first visited England as part of Elizabeth, Empress of Austria's retinue in the late 1870's. The Empress arranged to visit Liverpool and see the famous steeplechase, this provided Kinsky with his first opportunity to witness the event.
An ambitious man, he achieved his two greatest British goals in rapid succession. He was firstly made Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Britain, and secondly while in England riding his own horse Zoedone won the 1883 Grand National. He was distraught when Zoedone was poisoned on the race day two years later.
Kinsky had a strong friendship with the former Jennie Jerome, wife of Lord Randolph Churchill and American born mother of Sir Winston Churchill. Four years his senior, a famous socialite and courtesan, he was infatuated by her. Lady Randolph later claimed that she would not have spent the time she did with Kinsky were it not for the unfounded rumours of an affair being spread by the society gossips.
Kinsky remained in England until 1914 when Austria-Hungary went to war with Britain. Keen to do his duty, but unwilling to fight the country he regarded as his second home, Kinsky volunteered to fight on the dreaded Russian front. He survived but returned to a broken homeland and the knowledge that it was unlikely he would ever be welcome in England again. A broken man Karel Kinsky died in 1919.
See also: Count Kinsky and Kinsky