Royal residence - Royal destination - Het Oude Loo in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands

During the months April and May, the garden of Het Oude Loo, 'The Old Woods'
is open for public.

In 2017, I had the occasion to visit this beautiful royal domain, in the company of
my husband, Els Moraal and Oscar Meijer, creator of the Dutch site, De Staat van
Oranje.

Het Oude Loo - Apeldoorn - The Netherlands

Some royal history

Around the 15th. century the castle was built and Udo Talholt became the owner.
In the 16th. century the residence belonged to the Bentinck family. They enlarged
it around 1540.

In 1684, the castle was bought by William III of Orange, who became King of
England, Ireland and Scotland (in Scotland he was known as William II).

King William III of England

Source picture: Wikipedia

Beautiful gardens of Het Oude Loo

In 1795, William V, Prince of Orange-Nassau had to leave the Netherlands for
the French armies of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon ruled the Kingdom of Holland. The castle
came into his hands.

Louis Bonaparte
Source picture: Wikipedia



In 1904, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, gave the order for huge renovation
works. This was the task of Pieter Cuypers.

Queen Wilhelmina's Toyhouse

In 1968, Het Oude Loo underwent a new renovation.

Het Oude Loo and the gardens

A royal residence

Nowadays the castle is currently used by the Dutch Royal Family as country
house and guest residence.

On 17 August 2006, Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan and his wife Princess
Masako Owada moved for a while in 'Het Oude Loo'. They stayed for 6 weeks
in the castle.

Royal Entrance at Het Oude Loo 

This castle certainly is a must see! If you have the chance to visit the garden during
April and May don't hesitate.

Royal Shopping - Delvaux - made from Belgium

Nothing is more suitable for a lady than an amazing beautiful handbag.
That's one of the key specialties of Delvaux.

Delvaux, made from Belgium - own picture taken in 2017

Some history

Delvaux was founded in 1829, one year before the independence of
Belgium, by Charles Delvaux. He opened a travel goods workshop
and store in Brussels.

At the beginning of the 20th. century, the house went into decline.
In 1933, Franz Schwennicke took over the company from
Edmond Delvaux, the last of the Delvaux family line.
Franz Schwennicke worked with a new concept: seasonal collections.

In 1958, at the Brussels World Fair, Delvaux introduced the Brillant
handbag, designed by Paule Goethals. The product showed for the
first time the brand logo: the "D" letter.

In 1970, Franz Schwennicke died, his wife Solange succeeded him.
A new model 'Le Pin' was introduced.

At the end of the 1980's the son of Franz Schwennicke and Solange
became Executive Chairman.

In 2009, the 180th. anniversary of Delvaux was celebrated with a
book by Judah Hettie and Véronique Pouillard. There also was an
exhibition at the Fashion Museum of Antwerp.

In 2011, an investment arm of the Fung Group took a majority stake
in the company.

Delvaux bags - own picture taken in 2017

The bags

The current major lines of women's bags are
Le Brillant designed in 1958
Le Tempête designed in 1967
Le Madame from 1977
Le Simplissime from 1969
Le Givry from 1977
Le Pin from 1972
Le Louise from 1973.

In 2014 even a line of men's bags was added.

The shops

There are 10 Delvaux shops in Belgium, but there are also shops
in Paris, Tokyo, London, Australia, Austria, China, Germany,
Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Portugal, Russia
Spain, Taiwan and the United States.

Royal Warrant Holder

Delvaux is royal warrant holder to the Court of Belgium. Several queens
and princesses were seen with a Delvaux bag.

On this link, from the site Modekoningin Mathilde, you can see pictures
of Queen Mathilde wearing Delvaux bags.

On this link, you can see Queen Paola of Belgium visiting the Delvaux
exhibition.

In 2017, the Nato spouses made a visit to Belgium. Some of them stopped
... in ...
the Delvaux shop in Brussels.