All About Royal Families

Recently (in april 2020) the Hotel Metropole in Brussels, capital of Belgium, was mentioned in the newspapers as bankrupt due to a lack of money and the Covid-19 crisis. This is a sad thing for the Belgian Tourism and the Hotels in Brussels. Hotel Metropole at the Brouckière square in Brussels was the only working hotel, founded in the 19th. century. Hotel Metropole Café in Brussels History In 1890, two brothers decided to open Café Metropole, to sell their own beer. It became a real success and later the family after café Wielemans-Ceupens bought the bank near the café to create a big hotel. They asked architect Alban Chambon to build a beautiful place. It was the first hotel in Brussels with electric lights and central heating systems. In 1911, the hotel hosted the famous Solvay conference with inter alia Einstein, Marie & Pierre Curie as guests. In 1957, a big reception (before Expo '58) took place at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels. In Hotel Met...

This time the Allaboutroyalfamilies series of royals and World War II, stays in Scandinavia. The new post will talk about Princess Märtha of Sweden. Her family Märtha Sofia Lovisa Dagmar Thyra of Sweden was born on 28 March 1901 as the second child of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. Her father was the younger brother of King Gustaf V of Sweden. Her mother was the younger sister of King Christian X of Denmark and of King Haakon VII of Norway. What's all in the family? There were even more family ties! Märtha had an elder sister who became Princess Margaretha of Denmark and a younger sister who became Queen Astrid of Belgium. Love and Marriage? Princess Märtha of Sweden became engaged to Olav of Norway, who was her first cousin. The engagement took place during the Olympic Summer Games of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) in 1928. This news was well received in both the countries. It was an excellent match in te...

On 23 April 2002 an important meeting took place at the Oval Office of the White House. Then, the US president, George W. Bush, met King Mohammed VI of Morocco. Later the president told to the media: "I've informed  His Majesty that our government will work to enact a free trade agreement with Morocco. Trade is an important part of a good foreign policy. It's an important part of making sure Americans can find jobs." Mohammed VI (born on 21 August 1963), is a member of the Alaouite dynasty. He became King of Morocco on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father King Hassan II. Source picture: Wikipedia

King Gustaf V of Sweden and the Nazi's In these series the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog makes talks about the role of the royals during World War II. This time it is about King Gustaf V of Sweden. What's his background? Oscar Gustaf Adolf was born on 16 June 1858 in Drottningholm Palace in Ekerö in Stockholm county. He was the son of Prince Oscar of Sweden and Princess Sofia of Nassau. By his birth he received the title: Duke of Värmland. On 20 September 1881 Gustaf of Sweden married Princess Victoria of Baden in Karlsruhe. Her parents were Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden and Princess Louise of Prussia. She was thus a granddaughter of Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany. She also was a granddaughter of Princess Sophie of Sweden. This princess Sophie was a member of the Swedish house of Holstein-Gottorp. Through the marriage between Gustaf and Victoria two royal Swedish houses were united: the one of Bernadotte and the one of Holstein-Gottorp. On 8 December 1907...

Prince Carl of Denmark was born on 3 August 1872 at the Charlottenlund Palace near Copenhagen. He was the second son of Frederick, Crown Prince of Denmark and his wife Louise of Sweden.  Family Prince Carl of Denmark's paternal grandparents were King Christian IX  of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. His maternal grandparents were King Charles XV of Sweden and Louise of The Netherlands.  Prince Carl was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg- Glücksburg, branch of the House of Oldenburg.  The family had permanent links with Norway beginning from the late Middle Ages. Several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of independent Norway (Haakon V of Norway, Christian I of Norway, Frederick I, etc... ). Education Prince Carl was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy from 1889 to 1893, graduating as a second lieutenant in the Royal Danish Navy. In 1894 he was promoted to the rank of fir...

In these series the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog continues to talk about the hobbies of the royals in past and present. One popular hobby of royals is painting. Painting often is described as: "Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or another  medium  to a solid surface.  Painting is an important form in the  visual arts." Prince Charles of Belgium, Count of Flanders was a keen artist So, who are the royals who liked to paint? It almost is impossible to make a complete list and it's sure that some royals are forgotten on the list. If you want some of the royals to be included in this blogpost, please let me know (and why) (only painters). Austria Maria Theresa of Habsburg, Holy Roman Empress was educated to paint. Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (hint by @empressofHAB via Twitter) Belgium Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium was a decent drawer and painter. It also is known that the Princess Maria of Hohenzollern- Si...