All About Royal Families

Prince Andrew was born at the Tatoi Palace just north of Athens on 2 February 1882, the fourth son of George I of Greece. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, he was a prince of both Greece and Denmark, as his father was a younger son of Christian IX of Denmark. He was in the line of succession to the Greek and more distantly to the Danish throne. He learned Greek as well as Danish, German, French, English and Russian. In conversations with his parents he refused to speak anything but Greek. He attended cadet school and staff college at Athens, and was given additional private tuition in military subjects by Panagiotis Danglis, who recorded that he was "quick and intelligent". Love and Marriage In 1902, Prince Andrew met Princess Alice of Battenberg during his stay in London on the occasion of the coronation of King Edward VII, who was his uncle-by-marriage and her grand-uncle. Princess Alice was a daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princ...

Recently I read a splendid book "My Queen, My Love: A Novel of Henrietta Maria" written by Elena Maria Vidal about Henrietta Maria of France. Who was she? Who was this French princess who became Queen of England?  So, time to make up another Royal History post. Family Henrietta Maria was born on 25 November 1609 in the Louvre Palace in Paris.  Her parents were Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici. She was thus a member of the House of Bourbon. Of course Henriette Maria had other siblings. Among them were  King Louis XIII of France and Elisabeth, who became Queen of Spain. Henrietta Maria was trained, along with her sisters, in riding, dancing, and singing, and took part in court plays. Although tutored in reading and writing, she was not known for her academic skills.  As part of her religious training, the princess was heavily influenced by the Carmelites at the French court.  By 1622, Henrietta Maria was living in Paris with a household of some...

The House of Orléans is a noble dynasty with a rich history that dates back several centuries. The House of Orléans takes its name from the city of Orléans, located in north-central France. History The House of Orléans is the name used by various branches of the French royal family, all descended from the legitimate male line of the dynasty's founder, Hugo Capet.  The last branch to bear the ducal title descended from Henry of Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (Henry IV of France), who became king (nominally) in 1589, and is sometimes known as the House of Bourbon-Orléans.  The eldest of these branches consisted of Gaston of Orléans, the younger son of Henry IV, and the four daughters of his two marriages.  The youngest and last House of Orléans descended from Philip of Orléans, the younger brother of Louis XIV (who, as such, was known at court simply as Monsieur).  From 1709 until the French Revolution, the Orléans dukes were next in the order of succession to the French thr...

On 13 April 1350, Margaret III, Countess of Flanders was born near Bruges as the daughter of Louis II, Count of Flanders and Margaret of Brabant.   She was the last surviving child and she became the last Countess of Flanders of the House of Dampierre. Weddings A good marriage was very important. So her father negotiated the future of his daughter well. As heir presumptive to her father's territories, Margaret was a highly coveted bride.  In 1355,Margaret of Flanders married Philip of Rouvres, grandson and heir of Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy.  Philip was Count of Burgundy and Artois (1347–1361), Duke of Burgundy (1350–1361), and became Count of Auvergne and Boulogne (1360–1361). We don't know if it was a happy marriage or not, but at least she married at a very young age! Following Philip's death from a riding accident in 1361, Margaret was widowed and had no issue by him.  King John II of France then claimed the Duchy of Burgundy for the kingdo...

This is a blog post at a special request. Eleonor of Aquitaine was perhaps the most famous queen in the Middle Ages.  But who was she?  On 1 April 1204 at the age of about 82, Eleanor of Aquitaine died at Poitiers. Who was Eleanor of Aquitaine? Family Eleanor's year of birth is not known precisely: a late 13th-century genealogy of her family listing her as 13 years old in the spring of 1137 provides the best evidence that Eleanor was perhaps born as late as 1124. Eleanor (or Aliénor) was the oldest of three children of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, whose glittering ducal court was renowned in early 12th-century Europe, and his wife, Aenor de Châtellerault, the daughter of Aimery I, Viscount of Châtellerault, and Dangereuse de l'Isle Bouchard, who was William IX's longtime mistress as well as Eleanor's maternal grandmother. Her parents' marriage had been arranged by Dangereuse with her paternal grandfather William IX. Her family were members of the House of Ramnulfid...