Étienne's disappearance and return
by David Knott"Mark of Amber" clearly states that "many Princes of Glantri... promise to re-confirm Etienne as the Prince of Nouvelle Averoigne", but no specific mention is made in regard to the charges (Grandmaster of Great School of Magic and Chamberlain of the Land) held at various times by Etienne and Isidore. Given the apparent lack of change in the later almanacs, the simplest interpretation might be that Etienne later changes his mind and tells the other Princes, "Never mind!" In that case, Etienne becomes a retired elder statesman who is quite influential in Glantri despite holding no official position.
On the other hand, if Etienne is indeed confirmed as Prince of Nouvelle Averoigne, it does not necessarily follow that he is also restored as Grand Master of the Great School of Magic. While his title of Prince is his for life by hereditary right as confirmed by the other Princes, charges such as that of Grand Master can be removed at any time. Certainly Etienne's three-year absence was sufficient excuse to remove that charge and reassign it to Prince Harald. Etienne's return would not be sufficient reason to strip Harald's office from him, although Etienne might well try to reclaim it after Harald's death (which might happen at any time given Harald's poor state of health).
For Isidore, the restoration of Etienne as prince would be a mixed bag. Certainly Etienne would confirm her as his heir apparent (with neither of his children being wizards, she and her daughter Monique would be his obvious successors), and Isidore would be safer with Etienne around to keep things in order. Since Dolores wasted little time in pulling the switch with Henri and Carmina, Isidore would in fact have had very little experience as Princess. Still, she would be very disappointed at being pushed back to the sidelines, perhaps permanently (as Etienne and the other d'Ambrevilles all seem to have indefinite lifespans). However, if Etienne does decide to marry Genevieve, he might abdicate at the same time in order to protect the rest of his family from her (since as Princess of Nouvelle Averoigne she might get a bit too aggressive in her anti- werewolf activities).
But if Isidore is removed as Princess, then the charge of Chamberlain of the Land would automatically become vacant, as it must be held by a Prince or Princess and Etienne would have no personal claim to the office. Princess Juliana might be a logical compromise candidate, as she would have inherited her father's friendships and probably has spent much of her time as Princess reconciling with as many of her father's enemies as possible.
All in all, the effects of Étienne's return are not dealt with adequately in any official TSR product, as only "Mark of Amber" takes any official notice of it and even that work glosses over the long-term political ramifications.
It has occurred to me that there are two keys to figuring out the events associated with the disappearance of Prince Etienne in 1009 AC and his subsequent return in 1012 AC:
1) Given that the PWAs contradicted the quick summary of the effects of Etienne's disappearance in WotI, it would not be much of a stretch to imagine that the quick summary of the effects of Etienne's return in MoA are equally in error.
2) The suggestion that there might have been more than one Dian/Diane de Moriamis actually sheds light on a number of mysteries and apparent contradictions.
Here is my summary of what happened:
(Spoilers for Mark of Amber and
other material ahead)
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By the time of Étienne's disappearance in 1009 AC, Malachie du Marais had married Vicomtesse Dian de Moriamis, who was as described in Gaz 3, PC 4, and GKoM. She was, however, a totally different individual from the Moriamis of X2, who does not make an appearance in Glantri until 1012 AC.
Étienne's disappearance resulted in a three-way struggle for the succession, with the main claimants being his wife Catherine, his brother Henri, and his sister-in-law Isidore. Catherine was the early favourite and even introduced a motion to the Council to have herself named Grand Master of the Great School of Magic. She attempted to form an alliance with Henri, but he rebuffed her with some not so subtle threats against her life. At the last Council meeting of 1009 AC, the Princes named Harald, Prince of Sablestone, as the new Grand Master and reconfirmed Catherine as ambassador to Thyatis. Fearing for her life, Catherine quickly and gratefully returned to Thyatis.
This left Henri and Isidore to contest the succession, which was not resolved until Klarmont 25, 1010 AC, when Henri was confirmed as Prince by the Council after previously capturing and imprisoning Isidore and Richard. In 1011 AC Prince Malachie rescued Isidore and Richard and then returned to Glantri City with them. Prince Henri remained in undisputed control of Nouvelle Averoigne until Ambyrmont 6, when the Council voted to reopen the succession issue. The matter was seemingly resolved once again on Sviftmont 15, when Isidore killed Henri in a magic duel.
Of course, we learn in "Mark of Amber" that Isidore's triumph was short-lived, as Dolores arranged to bring Henri back to life and use him and Carmina de Belcadiz to replace Richard and Isidore, who were once again imprisoned by Henri.
At some point in 1012 AC an event occurred that was probably edited out of the PWA for that year because of later events that appeared to contradict it -- the death (apparently in a highly destructive laboratory explosion that left very little in the way of remains), funeral, and burial of Dian de Moriamis at some point prior to Flaurmont 27, when Prince Malachie himself disappeared. Thus, when Prince Malachie was declared dead on Yarthmont 11, he was a widower with no heir, and Archduke John Beaumarys-Moorkroft was able to lay claim to his Principality. However, the Diane de Moriamis from Old Averoigne picked this time to arrive in New Averoigne. At that point she had just lost a long-time lover and thus had let herself age to the point that she bears a striking resemblance to her namesake. She rescued Prince Malachie from wherever he was imprisoned (the PWA III is unclear on just what delayed him), and the two of them appeared in Glantri City together. Diane de Moriamis took the place of her namesake, and none but she and Prince Malachie are any the wiser. Between Yarthmont and Ambyrmont (what better month for the events of "Mark of Amber", right?) she took youth potions and otherwise gradually improved her looks in preparation for her stunning appearance in MoA. Meanwhile, various events in PWA III prior to Ambyrmont foreshadowed the return of Etienne.
MoA ended with Henri fleeing to Old Averoigne, Richard and Isidore freed from prison, and everybody else in the d'Ambreville family restored to their previous conditions. Prince Etienne was confirmed as being alive and having returned to Castle Sylaire, and various Princes have vowed to reconfirm him as Prince of Nouvelle Averoigne. Strangely enough, however, neither PWA III nor Joshuan's Almanac ever make any mention of Etienne's return -- as near as we can tell, Isidore d'Ambreville was Princess of Nouvelle Averoigne at least through the end of 1013 AC. What happened?
The simplest explanation is that
Etienne examined the situation carefully and decided that no good
purpose could be served by him reclaiming any of his old titles or
offices, since by doing so he would antagonise some of his best
friends and allies. He then threw his support behind Isidore as
Princess of Nouvelle Averoigne and retired to Touraine, where his
quiet divorce of Catherine and subsequent courting of Comtesse
Genevieve have no political implications because of his supposed
lack of power. Because the almanacs for AC 1012 and later were
published by Joshuan, who seems to care more for appearances and
the formal trappings of power than for what is actually going on,
no mention is made in them of the activities of the private gent
Etienne d'Ambreville. The former Prince tries to live quietly and
indeed does succeed in staying mostly out of the public eye -- but
of course it is obvious in years to come he will be forced to play
some role in Glantrian politics even without any formal powers or
responsibilities.