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Santa Bárbara Castle in Alicante

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The special Santa Bárbara Castle, high above Alicante on the Costa Blanca in Spain, offers an amazing view towards the city. It also has a rich history.  History On the slopes of the mountain, Bronze Age, Iberian and Roman artifacts have been found however the origins of the castle goes back to the 9th. century  during the Muslim control of the Iberian Peninsula.  On 4 December 1248, the castle was captured by Castilian forces led by Alfonso of Castile. It was named after Saint Barbara, on whose feast day the castle was recaptured from the Arabs.  It was conquered by the Aragonese in 1296 during the reign of James II of Aragon, who ordered its reconstruction. Peter IV of Aragon, Charles I of Spain and Philip II of Spain would oversee further reconstructions. The castle was bombarded in 1691 by a French squadron. During the War of the Spanish Succession, it was held by the British for three years. In 1873, it was bombarded, along with the city, by the cantonalistas from the frigate Numa

The Coronation of King George VI and Elizabeth

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On May 12th. 1937, the coronation of King George VI and Elizabeth took place at Westminster Abbey in London. George VI ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, on 11 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date. Ceremony The coronation service itself began once the procession into the abbey was over and the King and Queen were seated. Beginning with the recognition, the King then took an oath and was anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, before being crowned king. As a remnant of the coronation ceremony's feudal origins, the King then received homage from the peers and peeresses of the realm in attendance. The King was conducted by the Garter King of Arms to St Edward's Chair, and the Archbishop, as tradition dictates, asked: "Sirs, I here present unto you King George, your undoubted K

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

King Felipe of Spain

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Recently I bought these stamps of King Felipe of Spain on a market in Madrid. It's a nice royal piece in the collection. But who is King Felipe of Spain?  Birth Felipe was born at Our Lady of Loreto Hospital at Madrid on 30 January 1968, as the third child and only son of Infante Juan Carlos and Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark. He was baptised on 8 February 1968 at the Palace of Zarzuela by the Archbishop of Madrid, Casimiro Morcillo, with water from the Jordan River.  His full baptismal name is Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos , it consists of the names of the first Bourbon king of Spain (Felipe V), his grandfathers (Infante Juan of Spain and King Paul of Greece), his great-grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and de Todos los Santos ("of all the Saints") as is customary among the Bourbons.  His godparents were his paternal grandfather Juan and his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain. Additionally, he is the third cousin once