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An amazing royal winter wedding in Brussels

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On 15 December 1960, in the morning, King Bouduin of Belgium married Fabiola de Mora y Aragón in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Brussels. Then a ceremony was held at the St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels.  The witnesses were the groom's father, King Leopold III, his brother-in-law, Jean, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the bride's brother, The Marqués of Casa Riera, and the pretender to the Spanish throne, the Count of Barcelona. The bride's white silk and tulle gown, trimmed with ermine, had a high neckline, three-quarter length sleeves with a drop waist and a full skirt. It was designed by Cristóbal Balenciaga and had a 22-foot long train.  She wore the Art Deco diamond tiara given to her late mother-in-law at the time of her own marriage in 1926. The groom wore the uniform of a Lieutenant-General of the Armed Forces with the riband and star of the Belgian Order of Leopold and the collar of the Spanish Order of Isabella the Catholic. Royal Gues

A wonderful State visit in Germany

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From 3 December 2023 till 7 December 2023, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians made an official State Visit to their neighbours Germany. The royals were invited by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. This was the program: Day 1 Berlin: welcome ceremony by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and First Lady Elke Büdenbender at the Bellevue Palace. Later they went to the Brandenburger Tor, the symbol of German division during the Cold War, the Brandenburg Gate is now a national symbol of peace and unity. Finally that day the German President organised a state banquet.  At the banquet Queen Mathilde wore the tiara, yes bling!, of the 9 Provinces. There were several famous guests too:  * Hubertus, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his wife Kelly.  * Domenico Tedesco, German-Italian football manager who is currently the head coach of the Belgium national team. * Belgian actor Filip Peeters, who has been expanding his career in Germany since 2000. Day 2 Berlin: Philipp

Princess Marie de Croÿ and the Resistance

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Princess Marie was born in London on 26 November 1875 as the daughter of Prince Alfred Emmanuel de Croÿ and his wife Elizabeth Mary Parnell.  She was thus a member of the House of Croÿ .  Duty When the First World War broke out in 1914, the princess was visiting a friend, Violet Cavendish-Bentinck, at the home of her mother, Mrs Louisa Scott; she immediately set out for France. She worked as a nurse, at the family home of Chateau de Bellignies, which was in use as a hospital and assisted Edith Cavell in helping allied servicemen to escape to Britain via the Netherlands.  For this she was arrested in 1915 along with Nurse Cavell and a number of others, but escaped the death penalty. At their trial in October, she asked for clemency for her fellow prisoners, claiming that she and her brother were solely responsible. She was condemned to ten years' hard labour, and sent to a prison at Siegburg in Germany.  The Kaiser, Wilhelm II , offered to free her, but she declined because she did

King's Feast 2023 in Belgium and its royal history

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Each year on November 15th. King's Feast is celebrated in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. This year there was a special gala concert on November 14th. in the Bozar in  Brussels, for the occasion of 10 years reign of King Philippe.  Two wonderful photographers - Bjorn Hoex and Geert Janssens - traveled to Brussels to attend all the ceremonies. Geert Janssens even could attend the  concert and the plenary session in the Senate. What's going on?  The King's Feast also called in Dutch: Koningsdag and in French: Fête du Roi as in German: Festtag des Königs has been celebrated in Belgium on November 15 since 1866.  Traditionally, a Te Deum is sung as well as a private observance being held. The royals who attedend the Te Deum were: King Albert II of Belgium Queen Paola of Belgium Princess Astrid of Belgium  Prince Laurent of Belgium 💡 Families/ dynasty King Albert II of Belgium is a member of the House of Belgium with the surname Saxe-Coburg & Gotha.  Queen Paola of Belgiu