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 ...

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...

A visit to the Royal Palace in Madrid was definitely on the wishlist of the  Allaboutroyalfamilies blog. Finally in March 2022 a dream came true.  The Royal Palace in Madrid didn't disappoint me, on contrary, due to its splendid rooms full of royal history. History The palace was initially built by Muhammad I, Umayyad Emir of Cordoba, between 860 and 880. After the Moors were driven out of Toledo in the 11th century, the castle retained its defensive function. Henry III of Castile added several towers.  His son John II used it as a royal residence. During the War of the Castilian Succession (1476) the troops of Joanna la Beltraneja were besieged in the Alcázar, during which the building suffered severe damage. Emperor Charles V , with the architects Alonso de Covarrubias and Luis de Vega, extended and renovated the castle in 1537. Philip II made Madrid his capital in 1561 and continued the renovations, with new additions. Philip III and Philip IV added a long southern fa...

Infanta Pilar was the eldest daughter of Juan de Borbón y Battenberg and María de las Mercedes de Borbón y Orleans born on 30 July 1936. Christening She was baptized in Cannes, in the church of Rins, with the name of María del Pilar Alfonsa Juana Victoria Luisa Ignacia de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón.  Her godparents were her paternal grandfather, King Alfonso XIII and her maternal grandmother the Princess Louise of Orléans, although Alfonso XIII acted by delegation as he did not want to meet his wife Queen Victoria Eugenia.  From her birth, as the daughter of the heir to the Crown of Spain she was given the title of Infanta of Spain with treatment of Royal Highness. However, the official recognition of that title came when her brother was already King of Spain. Childhood When she was an infant, the family moved to Rome where the Spanish Royal Family settled in exile. In 1941, after the resignation of Alfonso XIII, her father became the holder of the dynastic rights of ...

Queen Fabiola of Belgium was born  Doña Fabiola Fernanda María-de- las-Victoria Antonia Adelaida de Mora y Aragón on 11 June 1928 at the Palacio de Zurbano in Madrid. She was a daughter of Gonzalo de Mora y Fernández y Riera y del Olmo, Marqués de Casa Riera and Blanca de Aragón y Carrillo de Albornoz y Barroeta-Aldamar y Elío. Her birthplace was thus the lovely Palacio de Zurbano in Madrid. This  year I finally had the chance to see this amazing palace. The History of Palacio de Zurbano The Palacio de Zurbano was built by Severiano Sainz de la Lastra —architect, together with Eduardo Adaro, of the Bank of Spain building— in 1878 for Fermín de Muguiro y Azcárate, I Count of Muguiro (Olite, Navarra, July 7, 1831 -Madrid, 15 July 1892). The heirs of Ángela Beruete, widow of Fermín Muguiro, sold the property in 1919 for 750,000 pesetas to Gonzalo de Mora y Fernández, Count of Mora and Marquis of Casa Riera. Between 1915 and 1920 a second extension was carried out b...

Alfonso was born on May 17th. 1886 at Royal Palace of Madrid. He was the posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain, who had died in November 1885, and became King upon his birth.  Five days later he was carried in a solemn court procession with a Golden Fleece round his neck and was baptised with water specially brought from the River Jordan in Palestine. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as his regent until his sixteenth birthday. During the regency, in 1898, Spain lost its colonial rule over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. Alfonso became seriously ill during the 1889–1890 pandemic. His health deteriorated around 10 January 1890 and doctors reported his condition as the flu attacked his nervous system leaving the young king in a state of indolence. He eventually recovered. When Alfonso came of age in May 1902, the week of his majority was marked by festivities, bullfights, balls and receptions thro...