All About Royal Families

31 October 1934 marks the birth of Princess Margaretha of Sweden. This took place at Haga Palace, Solna, Sweden. Family She was the eldest child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten and his wife Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Her paternal grandparents were  Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and his late wife Princess Margaret of Connaught. Her maternal grandparents were Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha and his wife Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein.  Princess Margaretha had other siblings: Princess Birgitta of Sweden (born 19 January 1937); Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld (born 2 June 1938); Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson (born 3 August 1943); and Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (born 30 April 1946). She is a member of the house of Bernadotte. Love and Marriage In the 1950s Margaretha had a relationship with Robin Douglas-Home, a Scottish aristocrat and the nephew of the future Prime Minister of t...

On 5 June 1962 Princess Astrid of Belgium was born on the day before her father's 28th birthday at the Château de Belvédère, near Laeken, and was named after her late paternal grandmother, Astrid of Sweden, the popular first wife of King Leopold III.  Godparents Her godparents were her uncle Fabrizio, Prince Ruffo di Calabria-Santapau, 7th Duke di Guardia Lombarda, and her aunt Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg. Love and Marriage Princess Astrid married Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, subsequently head of the Archducal House of Austria-Este, on 22 September 1984 at Brussels. Lorenz is the eldest son of Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este (1915–1996), and his wife Princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta (1930–2022). Her husband was also created Prince of Belgium by Royal Decree on 27 November 1995. Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz have five children: Prince Amedeo, born on 21 February 1986  Princess Maria Laura, born on 26 August 1988  Prince Joachim...

During many visits in the most splendid palaces, it always strikes me that noble people and royalty always spent much of attention to their library. It really is a pleasure to walk in such beautiful places full of history. It must be clear that a lot of Kings and Queens love to read. In Belgium we know that King Philippe of the Belgians is an avid reader and in March 2020 (just as on many more occasions,) Queen Mathilde of the Belgians encouraged young people to start reading. King Philippe of the Belgians inherited his passion for reading books by his ancestors. Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium, born as Princess Louise d'Orléans liked to read too. Her favourites were works from Lord Byron, Shakespeare, Balzac and Victor Hugo. One other Belgian royal who liked to read was Elisabeth in Bavaria (1876-1965). She married to King Albert I of Belgium (then Crown Prince) in 1900. She was Queen Consort of Belgium from 1909 till 1934. In 2015, her favourite books wer...