All About Royal Families

On 31 March 1900 Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was born in York Cottage at Sandringham (United Kngdom). Family Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was the third son of King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary. He was born during the reign of his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. His father was then the Duke of York, the eldest surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). His mother was the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary), the only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. At the time of his birth, Prince Henry was fifth in the line of succession to the throne, behind his grandfather, father and two elder brothers. Baptized Prince Henry was baptized at the private chapel of Windsor Castle on 17 May 1900 by Randall Thomas Davidson, Bishop of Winchester. He had famous godparents inter alia: - Queen Victoria, his great-grandmother; - The German Emperor, his cousin, for whom Prince Albert of Prussia...

Modest and yet so special, that's the best way to describe Clervaux Castle, located in the town of Clervaux in northern Luxembourg. It stands at a height of 365 meters on a rock above the town, surrounded on three sides by the River Clerve. Clervaux Castle - Luxembourg - own picture taken in 2007 Some history First a Roman castle was built on the place of the Clervaux Castle. However  the current oldest parts of this magnificent building are mentioned in 1126. The owner was Gerard I, Count of Sponheim. He was a stepbrother of Frederick I, Count of Vianden.  Gerard was since 1106 Lord of Cleve.  Around 1400 the Lords of Brandenburg lived in the Clervaux Castle. They were through marriages and family ties, relatives of the Lord of Cleves.  In 1413 Clervaux Castle was taken by force by Duke Anthony of Burgundy, however it came back in the hands of the Brandenburg family. The new owner was Frederick II, Elector of Brandenbu...

On 26 March 1584, John II the Younger (in German: Johann II der Jüngere) was born in Bergzabern, now a part of southern Germany. Family John was born as the eldest son of John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken and his wife Magdalene of Cleves Berg. He was thus a grandson of Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, Anna of Hesse, Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and Marie of Habsburg, Archduchess of Austria. Through them he was a great grandson of: Louis II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken; Elisabeth of Hesse; Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse; Christine of Saxony; John III, Duke of Cleves; Maria von Geldern; Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor; Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. John belonged to the noble family of Wittelsbach. Duty In 1604, John succeeded his father. From 1610 - 1612 he was the guardian of Frederick V, Elector Palatine. He also was briefly the deputy of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II. Love and marriage On 26 August 1604, John married Catherine...

Francis of Pomerania (von Pommern) was born on 24 March 1577 in Barth, northern Germany. Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania was located on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. It contained parts of northern Germany and Poland. Family Francis was the son of Duke Bogislaw XIII and his wife Clara of Brunswick- Lüneburg.  In his youth he received the best eduction of that time. He belonged to the noble House of Griffins also called the House of Pomerania. This was founded in the 12th century and the disolution took place in 1660. Youth Francis indicated at an early age that he was interested in knighthood and military affairs. In 1594 he made a trip to Vienna and Hungary. There he took part in the siege of Esztergom fortress under Archduke Matthias of Austria. Later, in 1596 he traveled to Italy and afterwards he returned to Pomerania. In 1602, Francis became bishop of Cammin. His residence was at Köslin. In 1604, the King of Sweden offered him th...