All About Royal Families

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 throne after membe

23 March 1887 marks the birth of Prince Felix Yusupov. He was born at Moika Palace in Saint Petersburg. Family His father was Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston, the son of Count Felix Nikolaievich Sumarokov-Elston. Zinaida Yusupova, his mother, was the last of the Yusupov line, of Tatar origin, and very wealthy.  For the Yusupov name not to die out, his father (1856, Saint Petersburg – 1928, Rome, Italy) was granted the title and the surname of his wife, Princess Zinaida Yusupova, on 11 June 1885, a year after their marriage, but effective after the death of his father-in-law in 1891. The Yusupov family, one of the richest families in Imperial Russia, had acquired their wealth generations earlier. It included four palaces in Saint Petersburg, three palaces in Moscow, 37 estates in different parts of Russia, on the Crimea (at Koreiz, Kökköz and Balaklava), coal and iron-ore mines, plants and factories, flour mills and oil fields on the Caspian Sea.  Youth Felix led a flamboyant li

With this short biography blog post, we are going to Germany, in particular to the royal court of Prussia, and their capital Berlin.  Princess Louise Marie Elisabeth of Prussia was born on 3 December 1838 to Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and his wife Princess Augusta of Saxe- Weimar-Eisenach.  Louise was named after her grandmothers, Louise, Queen of Prussia and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia and was known as "Vivi" in her family.  Her parents were a happy but tense couple, and Louise had only one other sibling, Prince Frederick William, who was seven years older. Upon her birth, Augusta declared that her duty in perpetuating the Hohenzollern dynasty was complete. While Wilhelm showed some outward affection to his only son, he lavished attention on Louise, and often his unexpected visits to her schoolroom resulted in them playing together on the floor. Mother and daughter however were not close. A lovely portrait of Winterhalter Source picture: Wikipedia Love and Marriage

24 August 1772 marks the birth of William (Willem Frederik), Prince of  Orange-Nassau. Family King William I's parents were the last stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange of the Dutch Republic, and his wife Wilhelmina of Prussia.   Until 1806, William was formally known as William VI, Prince of Orange-Nassau, and between 1806 and 1813 also as Prince of Orange.  Love and marriage In Berlin on 1 October 1791, William married his maternal first cousin (Frederica Louisa) Wilhelmina of Prussia , born in Potsdam. She was the daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia. This royal couple would have 6 children together: * Willem Frederik George Lodewijk (b. The Hague, 6 December 1792 – d. Tilburg, 17 March 1849) later King William II of the Netherlands from 1840. He married Russian Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna. * Stillborn son (Hampton Court, Palace, Middlesex, 18 August 1795). * Willem Frederik Karel (b. Berlin, 28 February 1797 – d. Wassenaar, 8 September 1881), he married on 21 M

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