All About Royal Families

On 2 February 2002, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands married Máxima.  The bride wore a beautiful wedding dress made by Valentino. Who is this wonderful fashion designer, which is the history of this house and which are/were the royal clients? Check it in this fashion blog post. Who is Valentino? Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani (born 11 May 1932), known  as Valentino, is an Italian fashion designer and the founder of the Valentino brand and company.  Valentino was born in Voghera, in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. His mother named him after screen idol Rudolph Valentino. He became interested in fashion while in primary school in his native Voghera, Lombardy, northern Italy, when he apprenticed under his aunt Rosa and local designer Ernestina Salvadeo, an aunt of noted artist Aldo Giorgini. Valentino then moved to Paris to pursue this interest with the help of his mother Teresa de Biaggi and his father Mauro Garavani. There he studied at the École des Beaux...

Prince Harald was born on 21 February 1937 at the Skaugum estate during the reign of his grandfather King Haakon VII and was baptised in the Royal Chapel of the Royal Palace in Oslo on 31 March 1937 by Bishop Johan Lunde. His godparents were: his paternal grandparents King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway; his maternal grandparents Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg of Sweden; King Leopold III of Belgium; Queen Mary and King George VI of the United Kingdom; and Crown Princess Ingrid of Denmark. His parents already had two daughters, Princess Ragnhild and Princess Astrid. Family and ties At the time of Harald's birth, he was 2nd in line of succession to the Norwegian throne following his father, Crown Prince Olav; and also was 16th in line of succession to the British throne as a descendant of King Edward VII through his paternal grandmother, Queen Maud. He is a member of the House of Glücksburg. World War II In 1940 the entire royal family had to flee Oslo because of th...

Alchemy is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and proto scientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Middle East, and Europe.  The goals of alchemy included the creation of a divine body and immortality. The philosopher's stone of European alchemists can be compared to the Grand Elixir of Immortality sought by Chinese alchemists.  Nicolas Flamel is a well-known alchemist, but a good example of pseudepigraphy, the practice of giving your works the name of someone else, usually more famous.Although the historical Flamel existed, the writings and legends assigned to him only appeared in 1612. Flamel was not a religious scholar as were many of his predecessors, and his entire interest in the subject revolved around the pursuit of the philosopher's stone. I learned more about Alchemy by watching the first Harry Potter movie: The Philosopher's stone.  However which royals did like Alchemy? Who hired an alche...

There are not many books about the grand ducal family of Luxembourg. However  recently I found and bought a very beautiful book: un Amour Souverain. It is a mix written in English and in French. Source picture: book cover Context While studying in Geneva, Henri met the Cuban-born María Teresa Mestre y Batista, who was also a political science student.  They married in Luxembourg in a civil ceremony on 4 February 1981 and a religious ceremony on 14 February 1981 with the previous consent of the grand duke, dated 7 November 1980; and they remain married. The couple has five children: Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Prince Félix of Luxembourg, Prince Louis of Luxembourg, Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, and Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg. For the first time, on the occasion of their emerald wedding, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess agreed to confide in Stéphane Bern in complete privacy, to tell their love story, to unveil their personal album with unpublishe...

On 5 February 1972 , Mary Elisabeth Donaldson was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.  Source picture: Hasse Nielsen Family Mary was born the youngest of four children to Scottish parents, Henrietta (née Horne), an executive assistant to the vice-chancellor of the University of Tasmania, and  John Dalgleish Donaldson, a mathematics  professor Her paternal grandfather was Captain Peter Donaldson (1911–1978). Mary was named after her grandmothers, Mary Dalgleish and Elizabeth Gibson Melrose, and was born and raised in Hobart, Australia.  Mary has two older sisters, Jane Stephens and Patricia Bailey, and an older brother, John Stuart Donaldson. Her mother died from complications following heart surgery on 20 November 1997 when Mary was 25. In 2001, her father married the British author and novelist Susan Horwood. Education In 1974, Donaldson started schooling in Clear Lake City Elementary School in Houston, Texas, where her father was working and moved to Sandy Ba...

On 2 February 2002 a real royal wedding took place at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. How did they meet each other? Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, eldest son and heir of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus, met Argentine-born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti at the Seville Fair in April 1999. Two weeks later, they met again in New York, where Máxima was working as a banker for Kleinwort Benson. She did not meet his parents, Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus, for some time. The proposal As speed skating is one of the most popular sports, Willem-Alexander proposed to Máxima on the ice on skates. A week earlier, Willem-Alexander already told his mother and Prime Minister Kok that he would propose to Máxima soon. Keeping it secret? The intention was that the intended marriage remained a secret, so as not to get in the way of Willem-Alexander's brother Constantijn and Laurentien Brinkhorst, who would marry in May. Ultimately, it was too difficult to keep secret, so on 30 March 200...