Why music is a royal hobby

Music is all over the world. People can play it everywhere, from the smallest houses
to the biggest royal palaces. 

But this blog is about royal families in past and present. So, let's take a closer look

to the royals who played amazing music themselves. 

Music was in the past an obligated part of the education of princesses and
future queens. Although I found some dukes, princes and Kings who played music
too. Enjoy this post!

piano at the royal palace in Brussels own picture taken in 2015

Nowadays Queen Máxima of The Netherlands and Queen Mathilde of Belgium
are trying to promote more music and culture at school. It's their amazing mission.

In the past, Belgium has had some musical queens. The most famous without doubt
is Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, who played the violin herself. A well-known music
competition was called after her. On the picture you see her favourite violin. 

In The Netherlands it is known that Catharina Amalia, the current princess of 
Orange loves to sing, just as her younger sister Princess Alexia. 

Her great-aunt Princess Christina - the sister of former

Queen Beatrix - even moved to Canada to study Classical music and vocal
training. Princess Christina sang on the funeral of her mother, Queen Juliana
of the Netherlands. 

In France, Queen Marie-Antoinette was known as a good musician. Under the
teaching of Christoph Willibald Gluck she learned to play the harp, harpsichord
and the flute. Her mother, Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa played music
as well. 

Queen Marie-Antoinette playing an instrument

Source picture: Wikipedia

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the husband of Queen Victoria of the
United Kingdom also liked to play music. And in the United Kingdom there were
more music lovers inter alia King George III and his wife Charlotte of Mecklenburg-
Strelitz. They admired Georg Frederic Handel. 

Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria, the grandfather of Queen Elisabeth
of Belgium and the father of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi) played
the zither and promoted Folk Music. King Ludwig II of Bavaria's real
passions were architecture, art and  music. He was a great fan of Wagner. 

Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria

Source picture: Wikipedia

In the northern part of Europe, King Oscar II of Sweden was a distinguished writer
and musical amateur himself. 

King Frederick IX of Denmark was a great lover of music, he used to play piano
and he was a conductor.

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway took part in Oslo Gospel Choir's
Christmas concert.

Pedro I of Brazil (King Pedro IV of Portugal) also was a good musician.
Under the guidance of Marcos Portugal he became an able composer.

He had a good singing voice and he could play some instruments such as:

piano, flute and guitar.

Pedro I of Brazil

Source picture: Wikipedia

Why music is a royal hobby?

Many royals became patrons of music. The list would probably become to
long to mention all of them. 

Nevertheless, music really can be called a royal hobby, due to the number of
royals who were involved in it, in past and present. 

I took the pictures of the instruments at the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium