All About Royal Families

During many visits in the most splendid palaces, it always strikes me that noble people and royalty always spent much of attention to their library. It really is a pleasure to walk in such beautiful places full of history. It must be clear that a lot of Kings and Queens love to read. In Belgium we know that King Philippe of the Belgians is an avid reader and in March 2020 (just as on many more occasions,) Queen Mathilde of the Belgians encouraged young people to start reading. King Philippe of the Belgians inherited his passion for reading books by his ancestors. Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium, born as Princess Louise d'Orléans liked to read too. Her favourites were works from Lord Byron, Shakespeare, Balzac and Victor Hugo. One other Belgian royal who liked to read was Elisabeth in Bavaria (1876-1965). She married to King Albert I of Belgium (then Crown Prince) in 1900. She was Queen Consort of Belgium from 1909 till 1934. In 2015, her favourite books wer...

The Belgian royal family counts many interesting and extraordinary women which were often forgotten in history. One of them is Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was born on 17 November 1845 as the daughter of Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Josephine of Baden. She was thus the granddaughter of Karl, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Marie Antoinette Murat (a niece of Joachim Murat, King of Naples). She also was the granddaughter of Charles Grand Duke of Baden and Stéphanie de Beauharnais (a niece of Napoleon Bonaparte). Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was thus the sister of inter alia: Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (who was the father of King Ferdinand I of Romania). Princess Stéphanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who married to King Pedro V of Portugal. Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who became King of Romania. Love and Marriage As every roy...

On 25 March 1975, a terrible thing happened in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Then King Faisal was shot by his half-brother's son: Faisal bin Musaid. On that day, in the waiting room, Prince Faisal talked to Kuwaiti representatives, who also were waiting to meet King Faisal. King Faisal - President Nixon and First Lady Nixon King Faisal was the ruler of Saudi Arabia from 2 November 1964.  From 1953 he was appointed Crown Prince.  When the Prince went to embrace his uncle, King Faisal leaned to kiss his nephew in accordance with Saudi custom. At that instant Prince Faisal took out a gun and shot him. The first shot hit the King's chin and the second one went through his ear. A bodyguard hit Prince Faisal with a sword. King Faisal was quickly taken to the hospital, he was still alive. However he died shortly afterwards. After the assassination, Riyadh had three days of mourning during which all government activities were suspended. King Faisa...

Yoga is a group of physical, mental and spiritual practices and disciplines which originated in ancient India, however there is no consensus over its origin. Yoga also has a very nice and long history. There were speculations about yoga between 500 and 200 BC. In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great reached India. Along with his army he took Greek academics with him. These academics wrote their memoirs about the people and their habits they saw in India. In the mid of the 19th. century Yoga and other Indian philosophies came into the attention of Western Europe Queen Elisabeth of Belgium always had an admiration for oriental culture. Violinist Yehudi Menuhin introduced B.K.S Iyengar to her. He was a yoga specialist. Queen Elisabeth believed that by practising yoga on a regularly base, she could reach a unity and perfection of body and mind. She practiced yoga until a high age and she often made a headstand. It is known that some of the current royals...

The Royal History World has had many events which took place on March 20. Of course, as always, the Allaboutroyalfamiliesblog selected the finest ones. Abdication King Ludwig I of Bavaria (now located in Germany) abdicated on 20 March 1848 in favour of his son Maximilian (who became Maximilian II of Bavaria). King Ludwig I reigned from 13 October 1825. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach. He died on 29 February 1868 in Nice, France. Births On 20 March 1469, Cecily of York was born at Westminster Palace in London. Her parents were King Edward IV of England and Elisabeth Woodville. Cecily was a member of the House of York. She died on 24 August 1507 on the Isle of Wight. Abdul Hamid I was born on 20 March 1725 in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire. He became Sultan from 1774 to 1789. He was a member of the House of Ottoman. He died on 7 April 1789. Napoleon II was born on 20 March 1811 in Paris. His parents were Napoleon Bonaparte and Mari...

This day - March 17 - counts much interesting facts in the world of royal history. It always is very nice to see which royals share the same dates. Of course, the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog made the finest selection for you. Birth Emperor Shijo of Japan was born on 17 March 1231. He died on 10 February 1242. He was a member of the royal house of Yamato. Princess Patricia of Connaught was born on 17 March 1886. She died on 12 January 1974. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. She belonged to the house of Windsor Death Harold Harefoot was born around 1016. He died on 17 March 1040 in Oxford in England. He was a member of the royal house of Denmark. Princess Sophia of Sweden was born on 29 October 1547. She died on 17 March 1611. She was a member of the house of Vasa. King William  (Willem) II of The Netherlands was born on 6 December 1792. He died on 17 March 1849. He was a member of the house of Orange-Nassau. ...

Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, who was born on 23 June 1763, married on 13 December 1779 to Alexandre de Beauharnais. Alexandre died on 23 July 1794 at the guillotine. On 15 October 1795, Joséphine met Napoleon Bonaparte. He was 6 years  younger than her. In January 1796 Napoleon asked her hand and the two were married on 9 March at the Town Hall of the (then) 11th. arrondissement in Paris.  She was known as Rose but Napoleon preferred to call her Joséphine, a name she adopted since then. The marriage wasn't well received by Napoleon's family because she was an older widow with two children. Two days after his wedding, Napoleon left Paris to lead his French army in Italy. During their separation they sent each other lots of love letters.  Joséphine rarely wrote back.  Joséphine left in Paris started an affair with Hippolyte Charles. Rumors of the affair reached Napoleon and his love for her changed forever....

Oostende near the North Sea in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, always has had  a strong link to the Belgian royals. Nowadays there is still a link to King Albert II of Belgium and Queen Paola. However that's not the main reason the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog likes to spend some time there. Oostende really has an interesting art scene.  Many art galleries have found shelter in this amazing city near the  North Sea.  One of the main attractions of the city is with no doubt the Mu.ZEE.  The Mu.Zee is a museum specialized in Belgian art from 1830 till now.  It has an interesting history and a large art collection as well. Mu.Zee Mu.Zee in Oostende Belgium Some history Already in 1885, the history of the fine arts museum of the city of  Oostende started with a large gift of a private art collector.  It was in 1897 that a museum was created to house the large art collection.  At th...

It always is very interesting to see which dates the royals share in past and present. That's why the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog has selected the most interesting ones. Births John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster was born on 6 March 1340. He died on 3 February 1399. His parents were Edward III, King of England and Philippa of Hainault. He was by birth a member of the House of Plantagenet and he founded the House of Lancaster. Princess Clémentine of Orléans was born on 6 March 1817. She died on 16 February 1907. Her parents were Louis-Philippe, King of the French and Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies. She was a member of the House of Orléans. Princess Clémentine was a sister of Princess Louise d'Orléans who became the first Queen Consort of Belgium. Princess Clémentine was the mother of Ferdinand I, Tsar of Bulgaria. Charles I of Württemberg was born on 6 March 1823. He died on 6 October 1891. His parents were William I of Württemberg and Pauline Therese o...

In the royal history world, many events took place on March 2nd. The allaboutroyalfamiliesblog made a small selection of them. Births Robert II of Scotland was born on 2 March 1316. He died on 19 April 1390. He was a monarch from the House of Stewart. Prince Oscar of Sweden was born on 2 March 2016. His parents are Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling. He is a member of the House of Bernadotte. Deaths Wladyslaw I Lokietek of Poland died on 2 March 1333. He was born in 1260. He was a member of the House of Piast.  Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor died on 2 March 1835. He was born on 12 february 1768. Francis's parents were Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Luisa of Spain. They were members of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Nicolas I of Russia died on 2 March 1855. He was born on  6 July 1796. His parents were Tsar Paul I of Russia and Maria Feodorovna (born as Sophie Dorothea of Württem...