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Showing posts with the label royal family

Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, the future of Bhutan

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On 5 February 2016 Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck was born at Lingkana Palace, Thimphu, Bhutan. Family His parents are King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan and his wife, Queen Jetsun Pema. He is a member of the House of Wangchuck.  His name was announced on 16 April 2016. In 2019 he received a younger brother who was named:  Jigme Ugyen Wangchuck, Duty In honor of his birth, 108,000 trees were planted by thousands of volunteers in Bhutan. In 2017, in honor of his first birthday, a new damselfly species was named after the crown prince, Megalestes gyalsey. Bhutan Bhutan is oficially known as the Kingdom of Bhutan. It is a landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas, located between China and India in the geographical subregion of Southern Asia.  It is a mountainous country. Bhutan is known as "Druk Yul," or "Land of the Thunder Dragon".  Nepal and Bangladesh are located near Bhutan but do not share a land border.   The country has a population of over 754,000 and t

25 December 1936 - Princess Alexandra of Kent

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 Princess Alexandra was born on 25 December 1936 at 3 Belgrave Square, London. Her parents were Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra; her grandmother, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia; and both of her maternal aunts, Countess Elizabeth of Törring-Jettenbach and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia.  She received the name Christabel because she was born on Christmas Day, like her aunt Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Her birth was the last to have the tradition of having the Home Secretary present to verify the birth of potential heirs to the throne. Sir John Simon was present and was the last one to do so. Childhood As a male-line granddaughter of the British monarch, she was styled as a British princess with the prefix Her Royal Hi

Antonine de Mun, duchess d' Ursel and a keen artist

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Antonine de Mun was born on 14 November 1849 in Paris as the daughter of marquis Adrien de Mun and Pauline de Ludre.  Love and Marriage She married her nephew Joseph d'Ursel. He became duke d'Ursel and he entered in the Belgian senate. portrait from 1926 painted by Philip de László Source picture: Wikipedia Charles Joseph d' Ursel by by Emile Wauters Source picture: Wikipedia Antonine de Mun moved from Paris to Belgium, where she lived in Hingene  and Brussels. portrait of Antonine made by her mother own picture taken in 2019 In Belgium, she became a respected artist in aristocratic circles. She  painted many portraits of family members and members of the Belgian Royal Family.  a portrait of her daughter in law own picture taken in 2019 A year before her death, she was honoured in her own right by the Belgian King: she was rewarded and became a Dame in the Order of Leopold.  Royal Letters Antonine duchess d'Ursel also had a correspondence with Marie of Hohenzollern Sigm

Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

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20 September 1886 marks the birth of Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Family Cecilie was a daughter of Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia. Childhood  She spent most of her childhood in Schwerin, at the royal residences of Ludwigslust Palace and the Gelbensande hunting lodge, only a few kilometres from the Baltic Sea coast.  Her father suffered badly from asthma and the wet damp cold climate of Mecklenburg was not good for his health. As a result, Cecilie spent a large amount of time with her family in Cannes in the south of France, favoured at the time by European royalty, including some whom Cecilie met such as Empress Eugénie and her future husband's great-uncle, Edward VII. During the winter visit of 1897, Cecilie's sister, Alexandrine, met her future husband, Crown Prince Christian, later Christian X of Denmark, shortly before the death of their father at the age of 46. After returning to Schwe

Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia

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Princess Victoria Louise was born on 13 September 1892, the seventh child and only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Augusta Victoria.  The young princess was christened on 22 October, and was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, and her paternal great great grandmother, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Known officially as Victoria Louise, she was nicknamed "Sissy" by her family. Childhood Historian Justin C. Vovk writes that Victoria Louise was intelligent like her paternal grandmother Empress Frederick, stately and dignified like her mother, but imperious and willful like her father. She enjoyed being the center of attention,and was her father's favourite. The family resided at Homburg Castle, and Victoria Louise and Joachim would often visit their cousins – the children of the Prussian princesses Margaret and Sophia – at nearby Kronberg Castle. In 1905, the princess studied music with concert pianist Sandra Droucker. For a period o

Cecilia Nina Bowes-Lyon

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 Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne & Grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II  Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck was born in Belgravia, Westminster as the eldest daughter of the Rev. Charles Cavendish-Bentinck (grandson of British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland) and his wife, Louisa (née Burnaby). Love and marriage On 16 July 1881, she married Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, at St Peter's Church, Petersham, Surrey, and they had ten children. Claude inherited his father's title of Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1904, whereupon Cecilia became Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Children * The Hon. Violet Hyacinth Bowes-Lyon 17 April 1882 17 October 1893 * Lady Mary Frances Bowes-Lyon 30 August 1883 8 February 1961 * Patrick Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis 22 September 1884 25 May 1949 * Lieutenant The Hon. John Bowes-Lyon 1 April 1886 7 February 1930 * The Hon. Alexander Francis Bowes-Lyon 14 April 1887 19 October 1911 *

Royal Destinations: Hofvijver at The Hague

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Recently, the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog visited The Hague and we had there a lovely city trip very close to The Hofvijver. The Hofvijver - translated court pond - is an amazing beautiful lake in the middle of The Hague in the Netherlands. Hofvijver own picture taken in 2022 The term pond is actually a misnomer, as the Hofvijver has its origin in a natural dune lake fed by the Haagse Beek (Hague Creek, originally Dunecreek) and the, nowadays muted, Bosbeek (Forestcreek) from the Haagse Bos (Hague Forest). The Haagse Beek still feeds the Hofvijver and so the pond is directly connected to the dunes in Kijkduin. In this dune lake there was an island (not the current island in the Hofvijver) on which Willem II built his palace in 1248. Other sources say he built his palace alongside the pond and created a moat around it. The city of The Hague celebrated its 700 years of existence in 1948, suggesting that the city itself bases its origin on the building of the palace by Willem II in 1248.

Mohammed bin Salman Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

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On 31 August 1985, Mohammed bin Salman is born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Family Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was born on 31 August 1985 to Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz and his third spouse, Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain. Fahda is a granddaughter of Rakan bin Hithlain, who was the  head of the Al Ajman tribe. Childhood and youth Bin Salman is the eldest among his mother's children and is the eighth child and seventh son of his father; his full siblings include Turki bin Salman, former chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group and Khalid bin Salman. Prince Mohammed holds a bachelor's degree in law from King Saud University. A job After graduating from college, bin Salman spent several years in the private sector before becoming a personal aide to his father. He worked as a consultant for the Experts Commission, working for the Saudi Cabinet. On 15 December 2009, at the age of 24, he entered politics as a special advisor to his father when the latter was the governor of Riyad

Anne, Princess Royal - A busy bee

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15 August marks the B-Day of Anne, Princess Royal.To celebrate her B-Day here are some lovely pictures of her on several occasions.  Queen Elisabeth, Princess Anne and Prince Charles and then Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1953) In June 1970, Prince Charles and Princess Anne visited the White House and the Nixon family. Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Anne is 17th in the line of succession to the British throne and has been Princess Royal since 1987. Born at Clarence House, Anne was educated at Benenden School and began undertaking royal duties upon adulthood. She became a respected equestrian, winning one gold medal in 1971 and two silver medals in 1975 at the European Eventing Championships. In 1976, she became the first member of the British royal family to have competed in the Olympic Games. The Pr