All About Royal Families

The eldest daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, Margarita was born at the Royal Palace in Athens on 18 April 1905.  Family Through her mother, Margarita was the eldest great-great grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom . Contrary to the custom of the time, her father attended her birth because her grandmother, Queen Olga, believed that "it is only justice that men see the suffering they cause to their wives, and from which they completely escape". She also was a great-great grandchild of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia , trough her father. With their mother, Margarita and her sisters communicated in English, but they also used French, German, and Greek in the presence of their relatives and governesses. The princesses were formally educated in English and Greek. Balkan War Between 1912 and 1913, Greece engaged in the Balkan Wars, which put the country in opposition to the Ottoman Empire and to Bulgaria. Called to join the arm

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

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

Our 2nd castle visit of  2024 took place on January 6th. On a rather grey Saturday we visited Slot Zeist in The Netherlands. Slot Zeist is a castle built in the 17th. century in Zeist, near Utrecht in  The Netherlands. We travelled from The Hague to Utrecht by train and then we took the bus to the castle. Some history It all started with Willem Adriaan van Nassau, lord of Odijk, Kortgene, Zeist and Driebergen, a natural grandson of Maurice of Orange and thus a natural great grandson of Willem of Orange, also known as the Silent. Willem Adriaan van Nassau  bought the manor of the States of Utrecht in 1677 and had the current castle built. The architect of the house was Jacobus Roman, who also designed Paleis Het Loo.  The interior was mainly designed by the Huguenot Daniel Marot. Its largely preserved wall and ceiling paintings are reminiscent of the French Baroque.  Construction lasted from 1677 to 1686. In 1745, Slot Zeist was purchased by the merchant Cornelis Schellinger. In 1746 h

Today, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark will abdicate after 52 years on the throne. In the afternoon Frederik will become the new King and Mary the new Queen. Foto: Hasse Nielsen In Europe this is the 6th. change of throne within 11 years.  It all started with Pope Benedict XVI. He was Pope from 19 April 2005 untill his resignation on 28 February 2013. He was succeeded by Pope Francis. Beeld: ©RVD - Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk Meanwhile in a broadcast on national media on 28 January 2013, Beatrix announced her intention to abdicate on 30 April (Queen's Day), when she would have been on the throne for exactly 33 years. Beatrix stated that it was time to "place the responsibility for the country in the hands of a new generation". The official program for the abdication and inauguration took place on 30 April 2013. Beatrix signed the instrument of abdication in the Vroedschapkamer (also known as Mozeszaal) in the Royal Palace, Amsterdam at 10:07 a.m. local time. With the completion o

After the death of her husband Charles the Bold in 1477, Margaret of York settled her court in Mechelen. Mechelen was the richest city of her widowhood. Later the palace was called the Imperial Court because princes and princesses stayed here, as well as the later Emperor Charles V. 👀  Margaret of York Edward IV, King of England, married his sister Margaret to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. That's a good thing, because he just became a widower.  👉 She also was the sister of King Richard III of England. Eduard also sees value in it, because he has a rich ally against France. Charles has a daughter from his previous marriage: Mary of Burgundy. She was just eleven years old when Margareta became her stepmother. The two get along well. Margaret of York Source picture: Wikipedia 💥 More history 💥 In 1477, the city of Mechelen bought a patrician house along the Keizerstraat from John of Burgundy, Bishop of Kamerijk and prepared the site for expansion by purchasing eight houses

Last weekend, we travelled from Brussels (capital of Belgium) to our homeplace Sint-Niklaas by train. While walking into the railway station of Brussels Central, we were thinking how the royal family of Belgium travelled by train. I think they had much more comfort and even special trains. royal trains, Train World museum in Schaarbeek As always, in Brussels Central we passed a special door and the coat of arms suggests that this place has a royal connection.  👀 How do you think about the coat of arms of the Belgian royal family?  This is the entrance of the royal salon in Brussels Central. Once four Belgian railway stations had such a royal salon: Brussels-North, South and Central, and Ostend. The salons in Ostend and Brussels North have disappeared, the one in Brussels South is used as a meeting room.  Only the salon in Brussels Central has retained its original grandeur. History On 4 October 1952 the royal salon in Brussels Central was officially  opened by King Baudouin of Belg