All About Royal Families

 The Hôtel national des Invalides (The National residence of the Invalids) really is a wonderful royal destination located in the 7th. arrondissement of Paris in France.  It contains museums and monuments all relating to the military history of  France as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans.  Les Invalides also has a Dôme, which is a large church - the tallest of Paris -  with the tombs of France's war heroes, the most well-known of them is of course Napoleon Bonaparte.  Les Invalides also has an amazing royal history, which I will explain in the next chapter. Some royal history On 24 November 1670, King Louis XIV of France gave the order to build a hospital and a home for aged and unwell soldiers.  The architect of Les Invalides was Libéral Bruant and the selected location  was in the suburban plain of Grenelle. Later they fell that the veterans  needed a chapel. Jules Hardouin-Mansart assisted the then aged B...

On Saturday, October 17th. 2020, "Love" the new statue of the newbe Princess Delphine of Belgium was inaugurated in (my hometown) Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. "Love" is located in the Gerda Park, a green lung between modern buildings of several elderly homes. On Tuesday, October 20th. 2020, I went researching for royal traces in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. I could take some lovely pictures of me and the "Love" Statue of Princess Delphine of Belgium.  I also have some amazing pictures of the inauguration ceremony with princess Delphine of Belgium taken by my fantastic colleague, Marie-Christine Rottier. "Love" statue with the Chairman of Kunst in de Stad VZW Princess Delphine  and Ine Somers of Open Vld (picture: Marie-Christine Rottier) 👉The Statue "Love" was bought by "Kunst in de Stad VZW", check the Dutch website on this link . They also bought the statue of the royal skeletons, more about this on next link .  Princess Delphine of Be...

In October 2020, the Princess of Wales, then Duchess of Cambridge, announced the Winner of the Wildlife  Photographer of the Year in a very nice setting: the Natural History Museum in London. Let's take a closer look to this important place "The Natural History Museum in London". The museum houses life and earth specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, palaeontology and zoology. The museum also is a center of research of taxonomy, identification and conservation. It has specimen collected by the famous Charles Darwin. It also is known for its dinosaur skeletons.  "The Natural History Museum" in London does not charge an admission fee and its royal patron is Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. But what about the history of "The Natural History Museum" in London? Some royal history The foundation of the collection of the museum was that of doctor Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753). His significant col...

On 16 October 1430, James II of Scotland was born at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Family His parents were King James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort! He was a  member of the House of Stewart. Childhood By his first B-Day, his elder twin brother, Alexander died, so James became heir of the throne of Scotland. He was called the Duke of Rothesay. Love and Marriage On 3 July 1449, then 18 years-old, James married Mary of Guelders who only was 15 years old! She was the daughter of the Duke of Guelders. She bore him seven children.  Duty On 21 February 1437, his father King James I was assassinated. James' mother the Queen managed to get her 6- year-old son.  On 25 March 1437, James II was crowned in Holyrood Abbey as King of  Scotland. Until 1439, James II lived together with his mother and his sisters - one of his sisters, Margaret, would marry King Louis XI of France, at  Dunbar Castle. In 1449, James II reached adulthood but he had to struggle...

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 lov...

9 October 1586 marks the birth of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria. This royal event took place in Graz. Family The parents of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria were Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. His paternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and  Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. His maternal grandparents were Albert V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria. Leopold V, Archduke of Austria was thus a member of the royal house of Habsburg. Duty Already as a child, in 1598, Leopold was invested as a Bishop. In 1607 he became Bishop of Strasbourg. Although he resigned to marry in 1626. In 1632 Leopold V defended Tyrol against the Swedes.  Love and marriage On 19 April 1626, Leopold married to Claudia de' Medici, a daughter of Fernando I de' Medici. They would have 5 children together. Death Leopold V, Archduke of Austria died on 13 September 1632 in Schwaz, Tyrol. Source pictures: Wikipedia

No, this blog post isn't about the anthem of Belgium "La Brabançonne" or perhaps it is.  In 'hellhole' Brussels there is an amazing statue called "La Brabançonne".  It is  located on La Place Surlet de Chokier.  Besides the statue is named after the national anthem of Belgium, it really has a wonderful royal history.  Royal History On 22 November 1918, King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium made their joyous entry in the city of Brussels after World War I. More about this occasion on this link . For that event a series of temporary statues were created in stucco. Only one of them the "Brabançonne" is made in Bronze.  The statue was made by Charles Samuel and inaugurated on 16 November 1930,  one hundred year after the independence of Belgium.  A part of the national anthem of Belgium was sculpted on the pedestal. This was realised by René Gillion who was one of the richest Belgians at that moment.  A visit The statue of La Brabançonne i...

On 1 October 1685, Archduke Charles of Austria was born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Family His parents were Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and Princess Eleonore Magdalena of Neuburg.  His paternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Anna of Spain.  His maternal grandparents were Prince William, Elector Palatine and  Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.  Archduke Charles of Austria was thus a member of the royal house of  Habsburg. Youth The tutor of Archduke Charles was Anton Florian, Prince of Liechtenstein.  Duty After the death of King Charles II of Spain in 1700 there was a succession crisis because he had no direct heir.  Archduke Charles declared himself King of Spain, because both were members of the House of Habsburg. This caused the War of the Spanish Succession against the French candidate Philip, Duke of Anjou, who was a grandson of King Louis XIV of France. The Battle lasted almost 14! years.  Love...