All About Royal Families

Karl, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was born on February 20th. 1785. His parents were Anton Aloys, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Princess Amalie Zephyrine of Salm-Kyrburg. Source picture: Wikipedia When he was young, his mother lived the greatest part of her life in Paris (France) where she looked after the interests of the family. She suggested a marriage  between Karl and a niece of Napoleon Bonaparte. In Paris, on February 4th. 1808, Karl married Marie Antoinette Murat, who was a daughter of Pierre Murat (brother of Joachim Murat, the King of Two Sicilies). They would have four children.After the death of his wife, Karl remarried on January 19th. 1847 Katharina von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst. On March 11th. 1853 he died in Bologna (Italy) during a trip to Rome.

Eberwin III, Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt was born somewhere in 1536. His parents were Arnold II of Bentheim-Steinfurt and Walburga of Brederode-Neuenahr. Eberwin III - Source picture In 1553 when he was 18 years old, Eberwin III married Anna of Tecklenburg- Schwerin (then 21 years old and the Heiress of Tecklenburg). Both families arranged the wedding on the basis of religious and political reasons. They even made a contract that if Eberwin III died young, Anna should marry his younger brother Arnold. Unfortunately this turned out to a drama. When Anna's father died, a huge dispute broke out between Eberwin and his wife. She claimed the rule and her own heritage as countess. Eberwin on the other hand claimed that he should rule. He even arrested his wife and locked her up in her own residence. Count Christopher of Oldenburg intervened and released Anna. After this episode, the nobility of Tecklenburg sided with Anna and accused Eberwin of adultery. Anna accu

Louise-Marie Amélie was born on February 18th. 1858 at the Royal Palace in Brussels (Belgium). Her parents were King Leopold II of Belgium and his wife Princess Marie Henriette of Austria. She had a hard and Spartan youth at the Royal Palace, luckily she liked her sisters very much. Princess Louise of Belgium - Source picture: Wikipedia In 1875 Princess Louise married her second cousin Philipp, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry (an Hungarian branch of the family Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) in Brussels. The marriage started badly, Princess Louise even fled after wedding night to the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken. This bad start reflected their complete marriage, although they would have 2 children together. Philipp was very authoritarian towards Louise and she didn't like that! As reaction she started a lavish lifestyle at the Royal Court of Vienna. Princess Louise of Belgium caused a huge scandal in the Belgian Royal Family, when she became romanticly i

In 1934, King Albert I of Belgium found dead on this day in Marche-les-Dames near Dinant. King Albert I reigned from 1909 till his death in 1934. This was a very hard period in Belgium due to World War I, the Great Depression and a lot of political problems. In 1951 (after a lot of troubles) there was a comité in Bruges who wanted to build a statue to honor King Albert I. King Albert I statue in Bruges Belgium Sculptor Octave Rotsaert (who came from Bruges) made the statue. He had to redesign his statue for more than 4 times to please  everyone. Finally the statue was inaugurated on May 30th. 1954. King Baudouin of Belgium (grandson of King Albert I) attended the ceremony. King Albert I statue in Bruges Belgium