All About Royal Families

On 26 January 1859, just before midnight,  Princess Victoria of Prussia got contractions at the Crown Prince Palace in Berlin. She was assisted by a team of German doctors with doctor Wegner as head. Sir James Clark, the personal physician of Queen Victoria also was present. Fourteen hours later the royal child was born. He received the names: Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert. Among family he was nicknamed "Willy" At the time of his birth, his great-uncle, Frederick William was King of Prussia and his grandfather Wilhelm was acting as regent. His parents were Prince Frederick William of Prussia and Princess Victoria. She was the daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. A traumatic breech birth resulted in Erb's palsy, his left arm was about 15 centimetres shorter than his right arm. At 3 pm., 101 salute shots told the crowd that a new prince was born. Source pictures: Wikipedia

On 25 January 1858 , Victoria, Princess Royal married her Prince Charming Frederick of Prussia. Crown Princess Victoria was the oldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of the United Kingdom. Prince Frederick was the son of Prince William (who became later King of Prussia and even German Emperor) and Princess Augusta of Saxe- Weimar-Eisenach. A love story Crown Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom met her future husband in 1851 for the first time. Then Frederick, his sister Louise and their father who became later William I, German Emperor visited the Great Exhibition in London. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert asked their daughter to guide Frederick at the exhibition. The Princess was able to converse in German while the Prince only understood a few words English. Frederick was fascinated by the relationships among the members of the British royal family. In London, Court life was not so frigid as in Berlin. The more, Queen Victoria and Prince...

In the summer of 2019, I had the chance to see a wonderful exhibition at the Sentate of Belgium. Meanwhile my husband and I got a guided tour  in the building. It really is a splendid royal destination not only due to its history but  also due to the building and due to the many royal links inside.  I must admit, I'm not a political genious and most of the time, I stay far  away from the complicated politics in Belgium. However I really liked  being in the Belgian senate. What is the Senate of Belgium? The Senate of Belgium is one of the two chambers of the Federal Parliament of Belgium. The other house is the Chamber of  Representatives. Thus the Senate is considered to be the upper house of the Federal  Parliament.  The senate was created in 1831 as a chamber fully equal to the Chamber of Representatives. It has undergone several reforms in the past. The most important ones took place in 1993 and...

When King Christian X of Denmark became 70 years old on 26 September 1940 his birthday was much celebrated despite the turmoil of World War II. Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark and the city where the royal family lived, was beautifully decorated, especially where the cortege of the King and Queen passed by.  Even the German Warships, who laid in Copenhagen were decorated with flags. From the balcony of the royal palace King Christian X of  Denmark held a speech in which he called for a worthy unit needed for the maintenance of the nation.  A collection of money also was held for the royal birthday boy, but the income would be used for humanitarian and scientific purposes.  This was translated from Dutch to English.  It originally was written in the Belgian Newspaper De Dag  on 28 September 1940. The article proved the popularity of King Christian X of Denmark. On the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog there already was a post abo...

The Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, located in the historic center of Dijon (France) houses nowadays a museum of fine arts. This was opened in 1787. It became one of the oldest museums in France. The tombs of the Dukes of Burgundy at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Dijon France taken in 2019 History In 1766 the art school of Dijon was created by François Devosge. His collections, which have been presented within the Museum since 1787, represent the beginnings of the museum's collections. Initially there were two rooms one for sculpture and one for paintings. The location is very special. It is in the former palace of the Dukes of Burgundy  . Here people can see the tombs of : Philip the Bold; John the Fearless; and Margaret of Bavaria. It also houses amazing items from Antiquity, Middle Ages and Renaissance as well as masterpieces stretching from the 17th. century till the 21st. century. The museum also houses Islamic glasses, ivories of Africa, African c...

On 10 January 2020, Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman al Said died. He was 79 years old. Family Qaboos bin Said al Said was born on 18 November 1940 in Salalah in Dhofar, Oman as an only son of Sultan Said bin Taimur and Sheikha Mazoon al-Mashani. His paternal grandparents were Taimur bin Faisal and Sheikha Fatima bint' Ali Al Sa'id. He was a member of the House of al Said. Education Qaboos bin Said al Said received his primary and secondary education at Salalah and he was sent to a private educational establishment at Bury St. Edmunds in England at the age of 16. When he was 20 years old, he entered the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst. After graduating from Sandhurst in September 1962, he joined the British Army. After his military service, Qaboos studied local government subjects in England and he completed his education with a world tour. When he returned to his country in 1966, he was placed under virtual house arrest in the Sultan's Pal...

9 January 1848 marks the birth of Princess Frederica of Hanover.  She would marry the love of her life. Birth Princess Frederica of Hanover was born on 9 January 1848 at Hanover in Germany. She was the elder daughter of the Hereditary Prince of  Hanover (who became later King George V of Hanover) and his wife Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg. She was known as "Lilly" within her family.  Love and Marriage In January 1866 Otto von Bismarck, the Prime Minister of Prussia  began negotiations with Hanover, regarding the possible marriage of Frederica to Prince Albrecht of Prussia. These plans came to nothing as tensions grew between Hanover and Prussia, which resulted in the Austro-Prussian War. (14 June to 23 August 1866). Frederica was courted by her first cousin, Prince Leopold Duke of  Albany (a son of Queen Victoria of The United Kingdom). They  stayed lifelong friends and confidantes.  One of h...

6 January 1367 marks the birth of Richard of Bordeaux the younger son of Edward the Black Prince and Joan of Kent. Richard's birth took place at the Archbishop's Place in Bordeaux in the English principality of Aquitaine. According to contemporary sources, three Kings: - The King of Castille, - The King of Navarre, and the King of Portugal were present at his birth. Family His paternal grandparents were King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. His maternal grandparents were Edmund of Woodstock, the 1st. Earl of Kent and Margaret Wake, 3rd Barones of Wake. Richard II was thus a member of the royal house of Plantagenet. Childhood The Commons in parliament genuinely feared that Richard's uncle, John of Gaunt, would upsurp the throne. Due to this, the Prince was quickly invested with the princedom of Wales and his father's other titles. On 21 June 1377, King Edward III of England died after a 50-year- long rei...

On 3 January 1322 King Philip V of France died at the age of 29 in the Abbey of Longchamp at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris France. After his death he was succeeded by Charles IV who became the new King of France. King Philip V of France also was known as the Tall. He reigned from 1316 till 1322. Family King Philip V of France was born in Lyon around 1293 as the second son of King Philip IV of France and Queen Joan I of Navarre. His paternal grandparents were King Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. His maternal grandparents were Henry I, King of Navarre and Blanche of Artois. He was a member of the royal house of Capet. Love and marriage In 1307 Philip married Joan of Burgundy, the eldest daughter of Otto IV, Count of Burgundy and Mahaut, Countess of Artois. Historians have found little evidence whether the marriage was a happy one, but the pair had a considerable number of children in a short space of time and Philip was exceptionally generous...

On 2 January 1861, Frederick William IV of Prussia died and his brother William (in German: Wilhelm) ascended the throne as William I of Prussia. This important event marked a total change in his life as he wasn't expected to reign over Prussia. Family William Frederick Louis of Prussia (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig von Preussen) was born on 22 March 1797 in the Kronprinzenpalais in Berlin. His parents were Prince Frederick William and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His paternal grandparents were King Frederick William II of Prussia and Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt. His maternal grandparents were Charles II Grand Duke of Mecklengburg- Strelitz and Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt. William (Wilhelm) was thus a member of the royal house of Hohenzollern. He would have several siblings but one sister Charlotte, became Empress of Russia. Early life In 1797, his father Frederick William III became King of Prussia. William was educated from 1801 t...