All About Royal Families

Gravensteen Castle view from the water in Gent, Flanders, Belgium One of the most important historical buildings in Ghent, certainly is the Gravensteen, which meant actually the 'castle of the count'. Gravensteen Castle view from the street in Ghent, Flanders, Belgium. Sorry for the annoying car on it.  Some (royal) history The Gravensteen Castle was actually the castle of the Counts of Flanders, who were vassals of the King of France. Gravensteen Ghent, Flanders Belgium, entrance This magnificent building was built by count Philip of Alsace in 1180 and it was modeled after the crusaders castles that Philip had seen when he participated in the second crusade. Count Philip of Alsace Source picture: Wikipedia Before the construction of the Gravensteen (the castle in stone) there was a wooden building on the same place probably built in the 9th century. This castle served as the main seat of the Count of Flanders until they abandoned it in

On 31 July 1993, King Baudouin of Belgium died during his holiday in the Villa Astrida at Motril, Spain. King Baudouin of Belgium at his last Te Deum screenshot His sudden death came unexpectedly and soon Belgium turned into a period of deep mourning. It was just as if the Belgians lost their father. His death stopped the 1993-24hours of Spa. Radio and Television had an adapted programm. Within a few hours, the Royal Palace and the enclosure were covered up with lots of flowers, which people brought spontaneously. King Baudouin of Belgium and Queen Fabiola during his last celebration of the National Day in 1993 screenshot A viewing of the body was held at the Royal Palace. Around 500,000 people went to Brussels to pay their respect to their monarch. NMBS Belgian Railways issued special tickets to travel to Brussels. Collection: on the picture you see a train ticket from 1993 available  from Sint-Niklaas  to the capital  of Belgium issued for the mournin

Many legends tell about courage, strength, power and cleverness. Stories made in the duchy of Burgundy (nowadays France), the county of Hainault and even from the county of Flanders (nowadays located in Belgium) whisper the name of one noble man: Simon de Lalaing . This Simon de Lalaing was a member of the House of Lalaing, a noble family, which originally came from the County of Hainault (nowadays split between Northern France and Southern Belgium). In 1431 Simon de Lalaing was elected as knight of the prestigious Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece. Simon's son Joost de Lalaing  also was closely connected with the ducal court of  Burgundy. He became Chamberlain of Charles the Bold, was named as bailiff of Flanders. In 1478 he was elected as Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Joost of Lalaing also became stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland for Archduke Maximilian of Austria (widower of Mary of Burgundy). During the reign of King Henry VII of

painting of the Château de Versailles Source picture: Wikipedia Versailles entrance Gate - Paris, France own picture taken in 2017 The royal palace of all palaces certainly is Versailles, located near Paris in France. Versailles France Some royal history At the very beginning the site of the palace of Versailles was occupied by a small village and church, surrounded by forests. It was owned by the Gondi Family and the priory of St. Julian. In 1589, King Henry IV of France went hunting here and he came back in 1604 and 1609. He stayed in the village inn. Henry's son, the future King Louis XIII, came on his own hunting trip in 1607. After he became King in 1610 Louis XIII returned to the village and he bought some land. Versailles France In 1623-1624 Louis XIII built a modest two-story hunting lodge which was the site of the current marble courtyard. Later Louis XIII decided to make his hunting lodge at Versailles into a real château of b