All About Royal Families

On 14 December 1861, Prince Albert died at the age of 42 of typhoid. Soon Queen Victoria commissioned a suitable memorial in memory of her beloved husband. Albert Memorial in London - own picture taken in 2016 The initiative was taken by the Lord Mayor of London, William Cubitt. On a meeting on 14 January 1862, he appointed a committee to raise funds for a design, which had to be approved by the Queen. A handsome Prince Albert in 1840 Source picture: Wikipedia The popularity of the Prince Consort led to the creation of several Albert Memorials around the United Kingdom. The first was set up in Manchester. Statue of Prince Albert - Albert Memorial London- own picture taken in 2016 The order to create a statue of Prince Albert in Kensington Gardens, London, in front of the Royal Albert Hall was initially given to Baron Carlo Marochetti, a favorite sculptor of Queen Victoria. However he died in 1867. In 1868, John Henry Foley was commissioned to create th

The Cour des Comptes or in Dutch: "Rekenhof" in Brussels, Belgium, really is an interesting royal and historic destination. Court of Audit in Brussels, Belgium This magnificent building, located in the heart of Brussels, between the Coudenberg and the Sablon, the Cour des Comptes was a former residence of the royal family. Here the Count of Flanders and their family lived. On 8 April 1875, King Albert I of Belgium was born in this palace. Court of Audit in Brussels, Belgium - Place of Birth of King Albert I King Albert I of Belgium  But there is much more interesting royal history ... In 1386, the Chambre des Comptes (Court of Audit) was established by Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. In 1406, Anthony, Duke of Brabant and second son of Philip the Bold, set up a Court of Audit in Brabant. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered that there had to be Court of Audits in inter alia: Lille (France), Brussels (Belgium) and The Hague (the Netherlan

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. John McCrae - Source picture: Wikipedia On 30 November 1872, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was born in  Ontario, Canada. During the Second Boer War (1899 - 1902), which was fought in South-Africa, John McCrae served in the artillery.  When Britain  declared war on Germany, at the beginning of World War I,  Canada, a dominion in the British Empire, was also at war. McCrae was appointed as medical officer and after the Second Battle of Ypres he treated the wounded soldiers. John McCrae memorial in Boezinge near Ypres, Belgium On 3 May 1915 he wrote the most famous poem of World War I: In Flanders Fields for a friend who died.  We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt down, saw the sunset glow, Loved and were loved , and now we lie In Flanders fi

On 29 November 1835 a girl of the Manchu Yehenara clan was born in China. She was called Cixi. Selected as an imperial concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor in her adolescence, she gave birth to a royal son called Zaichun. This took place in 1865. After the death of the Xianfeng Emperor in 1861, the young boy became the Tongzhi Emperor and Cixi became Empress Dowager. Later Cixi, among others was chosen to become regent of China. Cixi supported technological and military reforms and the Self-Strengthening Moment. China's defeat in the Second Opium War (1856-1860) was a wake-up call. Cixi decided that for the first time in the Chinese history, China would learn from Western powers and import their knowledge and technology. They purchased 7 British warships. Cixi consolidated control over the dynasty and she installed her nephew as the Guangxu Emperor at the death of the Tongzhi Emperor in 1875. Therefore she broke with the traditional rules of succession of the Qin