All About Royal Families

Recently I bought these stamps of King Felipe of Spain on a market in Madrid. It's a nice royal piece in the collection. But who is King Felipe of Spain?  Birth Felipe was born at Our Lady of Loreto Hospital at Madrid on 30 January 1968, as the third child and only son of Infante Juan Carlos and Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark. He was baptised on 8 February 1968 at the Palace of Zarzuela by the Archbishop of Madrid, Casimiro Morcillo, with water from the Jordan River.  His full baptismal name is Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos , it consists of the names of the first Bourbon king of Spain (Felipe V), his grandfathers (Infante Juan of Spain and King Paul of Greece), his great-grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and de Todos los Santos ("of all the Saints") as is customary among the Bourbons.  His godparents were his paternal grandfather Juan and his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain. Additionally, he is the third cousin ...

There was once a very noble girl ...  It could be the start of a fairy tale, but in fact this was the start  of Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz.  A girl!  Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine d'Udekem d'Acoz was born on 20 January 1973 at Edith Cavell Hospital in Uccle, Belgium.  Her parents are Count and Countess Patrick d'Udekem d'Acoz. Mathilde had three sisters: Marie-Alix (died in 1997) , Elisabeth, married to  Margrave Alfonso Pallavicini Hélène, married to baron Nicolas Janssen and one brother Charles-Henri, who married to Caroline Philippe.  👉 Mathilde is the only Belgian Queen who is born in Belgium!  own picture taken at royal palace in Brussels Childhood and education Mathilde attended primary school in Bastogne. Mathilde lived together with her family at Château de Losange. This had an interesting royal connection. It was here that Princess Marie José ,daughter of King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth, announced her engagement to Crown P...

King Constantine II of Greece died in Athens on 10 January 2023. He was the last King of Greece untill the abolution of the monarchy on 1 June 1973.  The funeral of the former King of Greece takes place on Monday 16 January 2023 at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens Eisenhower, Constantine, Alexis Liatis, Ambassador of Greece  Youth Constantine was the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece. As his family was forced into exile during World War II, he spent the first years of his childhood in Egypt and South Africa.  Civil War He returned to Greece with his family in 1946 during the Greek Civil War. King George II died in 1947, and Constantine's father became the new king, making Constantine the crown prince. A King He acceded as king in 1964 following the death of his father, King Paul. Later that year he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark. Although the accession of the young monarch was initially regarded auspiciously, his reign saw poli...

Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María was born on 5 January 1938 to Infante Juan, Count of  Barcelona, and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in their family home in Rome, where his grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain and other members of the Spanish royal family lived in exile following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931.  Baptism He was baptized as Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII. Family He has two sisters: Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz (1936–2020); and Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (born 1939). He also had a younger brother, Alfonso. Childhood His early life was dictated largely by the political concerns of his father and General Franco. He moved to Spain in 1948 to be educated there after his father persuaded Franco to allow it. The tragic death of his younger brother On the evening of Holy Thursday, 29 March 1956, Juan Carlos's younger br...

Pope Benedict XVI died on 31 December 2022 at 9:34 am Central European Time at his residence, Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, in the Vatican. He was 95 years old.   Funeral plans From 2 January 2023, Benedict's body will lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica. His funeral will take place on 5 January 2023 in St. Peter's Square at 9:30 am and will be celebrated by Pope Francis.  Bishop Georg Ganswein, his personal secretary since 2003, and Bishop Diego Ravelli, instructor of liturgical celebrations. will also attend the funeral. This will be the first time a pope will attend a funeral for his predecessor according to the New York Times, described as an "unusual precedent". Royal presence * King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians  (the only reigning monarchs); * Queen Sofia of Spain; * Prince Stefan of Liechtenstein.  * King Letsie III of Lesotho * Clotilde Courau Royal Messages King Charles, who met Pope Benedict in 2009, sent a message of condolence to Po...

How it started Franz Ferdinand became heir presumptive of the throne in 1889 after the suicide of his cousin Crown Prince Rudolf and after the death of his father Karl Ludwig in 1896. This gave him a great deal of trouble, for he could not marry the woman he loved: Sophie, Countess of Chotek. Her family was not of dynastic rank.Franz Ferdinand refused to renounce Sophie to marry. A marriage In 1899, under pressure from family members (especially the Archduchess Maria Theresa, the emperor's formidable sister-in-law and Franz Ferdinand's stepmother) the couple were granted permission to wed.  Franz Ferdinand was allowed to retain his place in the order of succession and a suitable title was promised for his future wife. However, to prevent Franz Ferdinand from attempting to proclaim his wife empress-queen or declaring their future children dynasts and thus eligible to inherit the crown (especially that of Hungary, where morganatic marriages were unknown to law) once he ascended t...