All About Royal Families

20 August 2003 marks the birth of Gabriel Baudouin Marie Prince of Belgium. This took place at the Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht.  Family Prince Gabriel is the eldest son and second child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. He has an elder sister Elisabeth, a younger brother Emmanuel and a younger sister Eléonore. He was christened at Ciergnon Castle, one of the royal family’s summer residences, on 25 October 2003 by Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels. His godparents are his maternal uncle Count Charles-Henri d'Udekem d'Acoz (born 1985); and his paternal second cousin, Baroness Maria Christina von Freyberg-Eisenberg. Prince Gabriel is a member of the royal family of Belgium, founded by King Leopold I (born as a Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) Prince Gabriel  => King Philippe  =>King Albert II =>King Leopold III  => King Albert I => Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders => King Leopold I Names King Philippe sta...

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...

The House of Habsburg, its dynasty, its ties and its different branches always have interested me. In this blogpost, the creation and the history of the House of Austria-Este is deepened out.  The start It was created in 1771 with the marriage between Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine and Maria Beatrice d'Este, only daughter of the Duke of Modena, Ercole III d'Este. It also is known as the House of Habsburg-Este . Some history Ercole III d'Este , the last Este duke of Modena and Reggio in the direct male line, was deposed in 1796 by the French, and his Italian principality was incorporated into the Cisalpine Republic, later the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy.  In 1814, French rule in Italy ended. Modena was to be returned to his daughter Maria Beatrice and her son Francis of Austria-Este after Ercole's death.  Previously, Ercole had been compensated with the duchy of Breisgau in south-western Germany; the Habsburgs ceded this province to him in anticipation of it fall...

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...

Abdullah was born on 30 January 1962 at Palestine Hospital in Amman, to King Hussein and Hussein's British-born second wife, Princess Muna Al-Hussein (born Antoinette Avril Gardiner). He is the namesake of his paternal great-grandfather, Abdullah I, who founded modern Jordan. King Hussein and his wife Queen Muna Family Abdullah's dynasty, the Hashemites, ruled Mecca for over 700 years—from the 10th century until the House of Saud conquered Mecca in 1925—and have ruled Jordan since 1921. The Hashemites are the oldest ruling dynasty in the Muslim world.  According to family tradition, Abdullah is the 41st-generation agnatic descendant of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and her husband, Ali, the fourth Rashidun caliph. As Hussein's eldest son, Abdullah became heir apparent to the Jordanian throne under the 1952 constitution.Political instability caused King Hussein to appoint an adult heir in his place, choosing Abdullah's uncle Prince Hassan in 1965. Abdullah has four bro...

When Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium (then Duke of Brabant) married to  Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, the nobel family of Mathilde became immediately famous.  History The history of the d'Udekem family went back to the Late Middle Ages. The earliest records were dated in 1472 with the ancestor of the family: Gooris van Udekem (who bought then a residence).  Around 1716, the family d'Udekem was granted a noble title, but in 1795, after the French revolution, the nobility lost their status.  When King William I of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands reigned  over The Netherlands and Belgium as well, he granted the d'Udekem family their rightful titles.  Jacques François Joseph d'Udekem (1758-1829) was lord of Acoz, Villers, Potteries and Lasprelle, he lived in Louvain in "House den Arent", was granted in 1816 as a Knight of the Province of Hainaut with the title baron. The d'Udekem family held the title of baron but in 2000, after the wedding of...

While reading in biographies about royals, sometimes other interesting noble families are mentioned. Such as the Family Lichtervelde. Nowadays Lichtervelde still is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The Counts of Lichtervelde are one of the oldest noble families of the County of Flanders. Some members of them became even mayors. Some history * Already in the 13th. century the County of Flanders knew a baroness of Lichtervelde. * In the 14th., 15th and 16th. century several family members were knights. * It was on 27 May 1745 that Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa granted the title of Count to Gillis-François de Lichtervelde.  Famous people * Roger of Lichtervelde was mayor of Bruges between 1378 and 1379. * Louis of Lichtervelde was councillor of Louis of Male . The most famous one was Louis de Lichtervelde (1889 - 1959). He was a private secretary of the Prime Minister and he hold some important positions. He also was an historian.  Louis de Li...

While reading in a book about the history of the Belgian Royal family the name d'Oultremont was mentioned often. the coat of arms of Henriette d'Oultremont History The name d'Oultremont was originally from a town Warnant in the principality of Liège in Belgium. A certain Hustin de Warnant  d'Oultremont alderman of Huy and Wanze died on 17 May 1398. This is one of the first traces of the name: d'Oultremont. Due to the right marriages the family d'Oultremont could gain more power in Huy and in the region of Liège. In 1731, Emperor Charles VI, granted the hereditary title: Count to Jean-François d'Oultremont. In 1816, three great-grandsons of François d'Oultremont were included in the hereditary nobility of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands Famous personalities Elisabeth d'Oultremont (1867-1952) was the lady-in-waiting of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876-1965). But there were lots of more traces of connection o...

November 18th. 1774 marks the birth of Friederike Louise Wilhelmine of Prussia. This event took place in Potsdam (Germany). Family Princess Wilhelmine was a daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia and Queen Frederica Louisa. Her education was dominated by the strict regime of her great-uncle Frederick the Great. However there wasn't much known about her youth. Love and Marriage On October 1st. 1791, Princess Wilhelmine married her cousin, William of the Netherlands. He was the son of Stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange. Their wedding took place in Berlin. Their marriage was a part of an arranged wedding pact between the House of Orange and that of Prussia. It became a real love match and their marriage life was very happy. They young couple lived at the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague. They would have 6 children, only 3 of them would reach their adulthood. Duty In 1815, Princess Wilhelmine became Queen of the Netherlands. During those...

Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium was born on October 11th. 1927 in the Royal Palace of Brussels. Queen Astrid of Belgium with her daughter Princess Joséphine Charlotte Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium Grand Duchess of Luxembourg Source picture: Wikipedia Her parents were King Leopold III of Belgium and Queen Astrid (Princess of Sweden). She was the eldest sister of inter alia King Baudouin of Belgium and King Albert II of Belgium (who abdicated in 2013 in favour of his son  King Philippe). In 1953, she married Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg (then Prince Jean). The Royal Couple had five children. Now her eldest son, Henri, is  Grand Duke of Luxembourg. So, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg is the first cousin of King Philippe of Belgium. Princess Joséphine suffered Lung Cancer and died at home on January 10th. 2005.