All About Royal Families

9 February 1846 marks the birth of Prince Leopold of Bavaria. This took place in Munich.  Family Prince Leopold of Bavaria was the son of Prince Regent Luitipold of Bavaria  and Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria. In the army Prince Leopold entered the Bavarian Army at the age of 15, and received his patent as a lieutenant dated 28 November 1861. He saw first combat during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, where he commanded an artillery battery at Kissingen and Rossbrunn. In 1870, King Ludwig II of Bavaria sent Leopold to the battlefields of France, where the Bavarian Army was fighting alongside the Prussian Army in the Franco-Prussian War. He served with the 3rd Bavarian Artillery Regiment and saw action at Sedan and Beauvert. He was promoted to major in December 1870. For his bravery against the enemy he received both the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Classes, the Bavarian Military Merit Order Knight 1st Class, the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph, Bavaria's

The Start The House of Bourbon - Two Sicilies descends from Philippe de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou . He was a grandson of King Louis XIV of France. He  founded the Bourbon dynasty of Spain. It was Philippe's grandson, Ferdinand who became in 1759 King of Naples and Sicily. His descendants occupied the joint throne, merged as the "Kingdom of the Two Sicilies" in 1816, until 1861, claimed it thereafter from exile, and constitute the extant Bourbon-Two Sicilies family. A dispute The succession of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies has, since 1960, been disputed between the senior Calabrian line, which is currently being represented by Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria (born 1968) and the junior Castro line, which is currently being represented by Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro (born 1963).  Since Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, has only daughters, in accordance with the traditional male-line succession of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the succession in theory should go to the senio

Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria was born on 4 December 1808 at Bamberg.  Family He was the only son of Duke Pius August in Bavaria (1786-1837) and his wife Princess Amélie Louise of Arenberg. He was a member of the junior branch of the royal House of Wittelsbach. Love and Marriage On 9 September 1828, at Tegernsee in Bavaria, a royal wedding took  place. Then Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria married Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. She was the sixth daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, his father's cousin. Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika would have 10 children. He was the father of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi) and the grandfather of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. Duty In 1834 he purchased Possenhoven Castle on Lake Starnberg. This became his major residence for the rest of his life.  In 1838 Maximilian Joseph travelled to Egypt and Palestine. While climbing the Great Pyramid he arranged for his servants to yodel as if they were  climbing in t

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,

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

19 July 1234 marks the death of Floris. He was born on 24 June 1210 as a son of Count William I of Holland and Adelaide of Guelders. His paternal grandparents were Floris III, Count of Holland and Ada of Scotland. His maternal grandparents were Count Otto I of Guelders and Richardis, herself a daughter of Duke Otto I of Bavaria and Agnes van Loon. Love and Marriage Floris IV, Count of Holland married his stepaunt, Mathilda of Brabant, daughter of Duke Henry I of Brabant. They would have 5 children. Duty Floris IV succeeded his father William I of Holland in 1222. He acquired the land of Altena and had lots of disputes with Otto II of Lippe, the bishop of Utrecht. However Floris IV helped Otto against the peasants of Drenthe in 1227. In 1234, Floris fought in the crusade against the Stedinger north of Bremen. Death Floris IV, Count of Holland died on 19 July 1234, on a tournament in Corbie, France. He was buried at Rijnsburg Abbey. Source picture:

Birth Princess Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern was born on August 19th. 1890 in Potsdam as a daughter of William, Prince of Hohenzollern and his first wife Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Family ties Her paternal grandparents were: Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern and Infanta Antónia of Portugal. Her maternal grandparents were: Prince Louis, Count of Trani and Mathilda Ludovika, Duchess in Bavaria (sister of Sisi) Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern - picture: Wikipedia Love & Marriage On September 4th. 1913, Princess Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern married Manuel II of Portugal. Manuel II of Portugal had succeeded the Portuguese throne after the  assassination of his father and his elder brother. Manuel had been  deposed on October 5th. 1910. Manuel II died on July 2nd. 1932 in England. The couple didn't have any children. On April 23rd. 1939 Augusta Victoria married her second husband. This was Count Robert Douglas. The bride was

Maximilian was born on April 17th. 1573 in Munich. Maximilian I - Source picture: Wikipedia His parents were William V, Duke of Bavaria and Renata of Lorraine. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach . On February 5th. 1595 he married Princess Elisabeth of Lorraine in Nancy. She died in 1635, they had no issue.  Two months after her death Maximilian I married his niece Maria of Austria .  She was the daughter of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and  Maria Anna of Bavaria. They had 2 sons together. In 1610 Maximilian ordered to enlarge the Munich Residenz and to upgrade the Hofgarten. own picture taken in 2014 Maximilian I died on September 27th. 1651 in Ingolstadt (Bavaria).