All About Royal Families

Portugal really is a great country to celebrate your holiday. It has everything: lovely beaches, high cultural cities, very nice landscapes, a rich history and of course the tasty port wine (porto). A while ago, I started to research more about the history of Portugal and in particular the royal one of that wonderful country. On 5 October 1910, a revolution took place in Portugal which decided that the monarchy should come to an end. Before that tragic date Portugal was ruled by members of the House of Braganza. There is even more: this noble dynasty also reigned over Brazil. So the royal family really has a nice history. Some royal history On 30 December 1442, Afonso, the natural son of King John I of Portugal was created the Duke of Braganza, as a gesture of good will. Afonso's elevation to the dukedom, the highest level of nobility, marked the foundation of the House of Braganza, which was to become a key family in the Portuguese history. Afonso I , who m...

On Friday 27 October 1978, an important royal meeting took place at the White House in Washington, United States of America. Then the 39th. President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, met King Khalid of Saudi Arabia. At 11h.59, President Jimmy Carter greeted Khalid bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, the King of Saudi Arabia in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. At 12h04 they went to the Map Room. There a meeting took place between the President and: - King Khalid bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud; - Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, Minister of Defense and Aviation of   the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; - All Abdallah Alireza, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the U.S.; - Mohammed al-Nowaizer, Minister for Royal Diwan; - Ahmed Abd al-Wahab, Chief of Royal Protocol; - Dr. Fadl al-Rahman, King Khalid's personal physician; - Secretary of State Cyrus Vance; - Secretary of the Treasury W. Michael Blumenthal; - Secretary of Defense Harold Brown; - Mr. Brzezinski, A...

Their majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands will bring an official State Visit on 23 and 24 October 2018 to the United Kingdom. They were invited by her majesty Queen Elizabeth II. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands will be accompanied by Stef Blok, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The royals will have an official programm but I hope that they will see some hotspots of the magnificent city of London. So, I made my top 6. 1/ Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands will be received by Charles, the Prince of Wales and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House. Then there will be a riding tour on the Mall. After that the Dutch royals will visit Buckingham Palace, the residence of Queen Elizabeth II. More information on this link . 2/ Tower Bridge Tower Bridge The Tower and the Tower Bridge certainly are the symbols of London and the United Kin...

At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, their majesties King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians will bring a State Visit to Portugal from 22 October 2018 till 24 October 2018. The majesties will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium: Didier Reynders and the Presidents of the communities and the regions. The Belgian delegation will visit Lisbon and Porto. As I Like Portugal and especially Lisbon very much, I want to make a special blog post about the top 6 royal destinations in the Portuguese capital.  1/ Jéronimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal Jéronimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal This site is located in Belèm. Most of the state visits in Portugal will start at this magnificent location. More information see this link . 2/ Belém Tower in Lisbon Belém Tower The distance between the Jéronimos Monastery and the Belém Tower in Lisbon is not far at all. I'm sure that th...

On 19 October 1469 Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon married in the Palacio de los Vivero in the city of Valladolid (Spain). Isabella of Castile was the daughter of King John II of Castile and Isabella of Portugal. She belonged to the noble house of Trastámara. Ferdinand of Aragon was the son of King John II of Aragon and Navarre and Juana Enríquez. This royal wedding really had a long history. Already at the age of 6, Isabella made her debut in the royal matrimonial market with a betrothal to Ferdinand, the younger son of John II of Aragon (who also belonged to the Trastámara family). However this arrangement did not last long. In 1458 Ferdinand's uncle Alfonso V of Aragon died. All of Alfonso's territories were left to his brother John II. A new arrangement was made between him and the King of Castile. Isabella would marry now Charles of Navarra, King John's eldest son. But ... Charles died in 1461. In 1465 there was an attempt to marry ...

Travelling and reading about royal history are two of my most favourite hobbies, so if I can combine the two in one blog post I'm very happy! This Onthisday post marks a very important date in the travelling history of the capital of Spain: Madrid. On 19 September 1916, a royal decree approved the 4-line plan for the creation of the metro of Madrid. The engineers were: Mendoza, González Echarte and Otameni. They started to raise 8 million pesetas to begin the first phase of the project. Then Carlos Mendoza made contact with Enrique Ocharán, director of the Banco de Vizcaya who offered 4 million pesetas on the condition that the public pledged an additional 4 million. The men were able to raise 2,5 million of the 4 million they needed. However King Alfonso XIII of Spain intervened and he invested 1.45 million pesetas of his own money. King Alfonso XIII was a keen promoter of tourism in Spain. He probably had  thought that the Madrid Metro would increase t...

Recently, I saw this poster during an 2018 Exhibition about my hometown Sint-Niklaas (Sinnekloas Boven) in Belgium. Royal visit to Sint-Niklaas The poster showed the program of the celebrations on the occasion of the Royal visit of 12 October 1978.  However there was a small hitch. On 11 October 1978, Prime Minister Leo Tindemans said: "For me the constitution is not just a small piece of paper. I leave this tribune, I go to the King and I offer the resignation of the government." This happened indeed, the government fell the same day. So, on 12 October 1978 it was only Queen Fabiola of Belgium who brought a visit to Sint-Niklaas. My husband (I wasn't born then yet) remembered her visit very well. He said all the scholars went out to greet the Belgian Queen. All ended well, because on 26 October 1978 King Baudouin (in Dutch: Boudewijn) of Belgium finally could make a visit to Sint-Niklaas. I really like the way how posters of important ...

Plate with the coat of arms of Bavaria, Germany own picture taken in Munich With this blog post about the House of Wittelsbach I take you on a trip to Bavaria (Bayern) in Germany. Since 1996, the royal family's head is: Franz, Duke of Bavaria. So far is the situation nowadays but this royal familie has a very nice history. Own picture taken of the Coat of Arms of Bavaria The House of Wittelsbach: the origin Otto II, Count of Scheyern (who died on 31 October 1120) could acquire the castle of Wittelsbach near Aichach. Later the Counts of Scheyern left the castle in 1119 for Wittelsbach Castle and the former was given to monks to establish Scheyern Abbey. From 1180 till 1918 the Wittelsbach dynasty ruled several German territories in Bavaria and the Electorate of the Palatinate (till 1805). In 1329 under the Treaty of Pavia, the House of Wittelsbach split in two branches. Emperor Louis IV granted the Palatinate including the Bavarian Upper Palatinate t...

On 10 October 1567 in Madrid, Spain, a very royal girl was born. She was called Catherine Michelle of Spain (in Spanish: Catalina Micaela de Austria).  Family Her parents were King Philip II of Spain and Elisabeth of Valois. She was the sister of Isabella Clara who was the Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. Just as her family, Catherine Michelle of Spain was a member of the noble House of Habsburg.  Childhood People described Catherine Michelle as beautiful, intelligent,  arrogant and well aware of her high social status.  Catherine Michelle had a good relationship with her father  King Philippe II and the two exchanged letters after her  marriage.  Love and Marriage On 11 March 1585 the marriage between Catherine of Spain and Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy took place in Zaragoza.  Her husband suggested the marriage as a way of gaining Spanish  support for his pla...

Filippo Lippi was born in Florence (nowadays Italy) in 1406 as the son of Tommaso, a butcher, and his wife. When he was still a small child, both his parents died. He was sent to his aunt Mona Lapaccia but she was too poor to help him, she placed him in the neighboring Carmelite convent. In 1420, Lippi was admitted to the community of the Carmelite Friars of the Priory of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Florence. At the age of 16 he took his religious vow in the Order. In 1425, Lippi became a priest and he remained there until 1432. Then he quit the monastery, although he was not released from his vows. Lippi then travelled to Ancona and Naples where he was captured by pirates and kept as a slave. His skill in portrait-sketching helped to release him. In 1441, Lippi made an altarpiece for the nuns of S. Ambrogio which is now a key attraction in the Academy of Florence, it was celebrated in Browning's well known poem: Fra Lippo Lippi. Love In June 1456, Lipp...

On 7 October 1471, King Frederick (Frederik) I of Denmark was born at Haderslevhus castle in Denmark. Family He was the younger son of King Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and of Dorothea of Brandenburg. Frederick was a member of the noble house of Oldenburg, more see this link . Love and Marriage King Frederick I of Denmark married on 10 April 1502 to Anna of Brandenburg , the daughter of John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg and Margaret of Thuringia. The couple had two children: - King Christian III of Denmark and Norway - Dorothea of Denmark who married to Albert, Duke of Prussia. Anna of Brandenburg died on 5 May 1514, when she was only 26 years old. On 9 October 1518 Frederick married Sophie of Pomerania. They had 6 children together. Reign After the death of his father, the underage Frederick was elected co-Duke of Schleswig and Holstein. The other co-Duke was his elder brother King John of Denmark. When his brother, King John died, a g...

Louis II  was born on 5 October 1377 in Toulouse as the son of Louis I of Anjou, Duke of Anjou and King of Naples. His mother was Marie of Blois. He was a member of the House of Valois-Anjou. Duty On 20 September 1384, Louis II became Duke of Anjou. However most towns in the Provence revolted after the death of his father. His mother then raised an army and they travelled from town to town, to gain support. In 1387, Louis was recognized as Count of Provence. In 1409 he founded the university in Aix-en-Provence (France). In 1386, Ladislaus, the son of Charles of Durazzo was expelled from Naples soon after his father died. On 1 November 1389, Louis II was crowned King of Naples by the Avignonese antipope Clement VII. He took possession of Naples the following year. In turn he was ousted by his rival in 1399. In 1409 Louis liberated Rome from Ladislaus' occupation. However in 1411 Louis lost his Neapolitan support and he had to retire. His claim to Naples pas...

On 2 October 1768, William Carr Beresford was born in Bedgebury at Kent in England. William Carr Beresford own picture taken in Lisbon, Portugal in 2017 Family Beresford was the illegitimate son of the 1st Marquess of Waterford. He was the brother of Admiral Sir John Beresford, 1st Baronet and the half-brother of the 2nd Marquess of Waterford, Archbishop Lord John Beresford and General Lord George Beresford. Military Career & Travels Beresford entered the British Army in 1785 in the 6th Regiment of Foot and the next year he was blinded in one eye due to an incident with a musket. In 1791 he was promoted to captain with the 69th Regiment of Foot. He distinguished himself at Toulon, in Egypt and South Africa. Between 10 and 12 August 1806 Beresford and the British forces were defeated in Buenos Aires but he managed to escape and he arrived back in England in 1807. In November of 1807 Imperial French troops under Junot invaded the Kingdom of Portugal duri...

One of the most beautiful royal destinations of the world certainly is the Palace of Westminster in London, United Kingdom. It must be no surprise that this wonderful place is mentioned on the Unesco World Heritage List. It is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Westminster Palace really has a beautiful location on the north bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster in central London. Palace of Westminster, London, United Kingdom Nowadays the Palace of Westminster has a rather political function but it has an amazing Royal History. Some royal history The palace of Westminster site was strategically important in the Middle Ages, due to its location on the banks of the River Thames. The site was possibly first used for a royal residence by Canute the Great during his reign from 1016 till 1035. The oldest existing part of the Palace of Westminster dates from the reig...