All About Royal Families

Recently, I discovered a very interesting link between Oostende, a city located near the North Sea in Belgium and the Principality of Monaco. Walking in Oostende, I suddenly saw a statue, which immediately caught my attention. It was a statue of Grace Kelly, the former princess of Monaco and mother of the current head of state of Monaco: Prince Albert II. I asked myself the question why Oostende in Belgium had such a statue of Grace Kelly. It really has a wonderful history. Grace Kelly Monaco Oostende Some royal history The statue of Grace Kelly is located on the Monacoplein (Monacosquare) in Oostende, near the Casino and the Leopold II Avenue and the Langestraat. This square was created between 1960 and 1965, after Oostende and Monaco became twinning 'cities' in 1958. The statue of Grace Kelly was made by Josyanne Vanhoutte. It was unveiled on 18 June 2008 by Prince Albert II of Monaco. This took place on the 50th anniversary of the twinning Oost...

On 20 december 2018, Queen Elizabeth II took the train from London to Norfolk. There the Queen will traditionally stay at Sandringham House during the winter months. It really is her favourite Christmas destination. At Sandringham members of the royal family will join Her majesty with the festivities such as Christmas and New Years's Evy. Sandringham House not only has a great role in present times but it also had a wonderful royal history. Sandringham House taken by my mother in 2017 Some royal history Sandringham is first mentioned in the Domesday Book as "sant-Dersingham". It was the land awarded to a Norman knight, Robert Fitz-Corbun after the conquest of England. In the Elizabethan era a manor was built on the site of the present house. In the 18th. century it came into the possession of the Hoste Henly family, which were descendants of Dutch refugees. In 1834, Henry Hoste Henley died without issue and the estate was bought by John Motteu...

St. Peter's Square and the Crowd One of the most special monarchies of the world is the Vatican City State. It is an independent city state enclaved within Rome, Italy. Each Christmas Day, at 12 o'clock,  the head of state: nowadays Pope Francis will give his papal address and a blessing to the City of Rome and to the World. This is in his Urbi et Orbi. I had the chance to visit this lovely place in December 2017. It really has some nice recognizable monuments.  It also has a wonderful history. A view at Vatican City from the Castle Amazing buildings in Vatican City Some 'royal' history 'Vatican' was already mentioned during the time of the Roman Republic. It was then a marshy area on the west bank of the Tiber in the city of Rome. Under the Roman Empire, many villas were constructed there after Agrippina the Elder gave the order to drain the area. Nero completed some building works there, known as the Circus of Nero. In 326 ...

One of the most noble dynasties in Belgium is the prestigious Ullens de Schooten Family. Besides a lovely coat of arms, the family Ullens de Schooten really has a nice history linked to an illustrious royal. History It was King Charles II of Spain who granted three sons of the family Ullens a noble title. Only one of the three sons had descendants. This was Antoine Ullens, the son of Jean-Baptiste, married to Marie van Delft, who continued the noble line. In 1816 their title was recognized in the Belgian nobility. Many descendants of the family Ullens de Schooten became famous. - Cornelius Floris Ullens was mayor of Schoten from 1830 till 1847; - Charles Ullens de Schooten was member of the Chamber of Representatives in   Belgium (1892 - 1908) Royal link 👑 Countess Madeleine Bernadotte   the wife of Charles-Albert d' Ullens de Schooten was the daughter of Prince Carl Bernadotte. He was the son of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Väste...

On 6 December 343, St. Nicholas of Myra died. This day is the feast day of St. Nicholas in the Catholic Church. There is little known of the real history of St. Nicholas and about his early life. Though, he was born on 15 March 270. It also is known that he made a pilgrimage to Palestine area and Egypt. After his return he became bishop of Myra (nowadays in Turkey). In 1087, a group of merchants from the Italian city Bari removed the major bones of St. Nicholas without authorization to their hometown Bari. Now they are enshrined in the wonderful Basilica di San Nicola. There are many beautiful legends of St. Nicholas mostly about his charity. In other stories he even protected a ship in the middle of a storm. Nowadays he is the patron saint of: - Children; - Coopers; - Sailors; - Fishermen; - Merchants; - Brewers; - Pharmacists; - Archers; - Pawnbrokers; - Falsely repentant thieves. Relic Shrine of St. Nicholas  It is the patron saint of many coun...

On 4 February 1926, Albert Frère the son of a nail merchant was born at Fontaine-l'Évêque near Charleroi in Belgium. Since an early age, Frère had to help in the business of his father. When Albert was 17 years old, his father died. He had to leave school and run the family business by hemself. Career At the age of 30, Frère started investing in Belgian steel factories, already by the end of the 1970's he practically controlled the whole steel industry in the region of Charleroi. Later he foresaw the coming steel crisis of the late 1970s and he sold his enterprises to the Belgian state after merging them with the competing steel firm Cockerill to create Cockerill Sambre. Frère built an investment empire around the Swiss holding company Pargesa, which he founded together with the Canadian investor Paul Desmarais. Pargesa took over the Belgian holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert in 1982. He also bought significant stakes in Belgian companies as: Petrofi...

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia usually known as the Barcelona Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. Barcelona Cathedral The Barcelona Cathedral is located in the Barrio Gótico, one of the most popular tourist regions of the city. It is dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, the co-patron saint of Barcelona, who was a young virgin, who suffered martyrdom during Roman times in the city. One story says that she was exposed naked in the public square and a miraculous snowfall in the mid-spring covered her nudity. The body of the saint is entombed in the cathedral's crypt. Barcelona Cathedral Barcelona Cathedral inside Some royal history In a document from the Second Council of Barcelona in 599, it states that the cathedral was dedicated to the Holy Cross. However this church was damaged by al-Mansur during his attack on Barcelona in 986. In 1046,  Count Ramon Berenguer I and his wife Almodis and Bi...