Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England and the
mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The present
structure was built between 1070 and 1077 replacing an earlier
structure that had been destroyed by fire. The Cathedral and the
nearby St Augustine’s Abbey and St Martin’s Church which both date
from the 6th century are a…
We know the American state of Hawaii as a
tropical paradise with beautiful beaches and the original home of
surfing. Less known is that Hawaii was, for nearly 100 years, an
independent kingdom. United in 1795 by its first monarch, King
Kamehameha I, known as “The…
Fans of the Netflix series “The Last
Kingdom” and the series of books by Bernard Cornwell, on which the
series is based, will know the main character Uhtred of Bebbanburg.
He is a fictional character; however, many events in the series
based in ninth-century…
William Adelin was the only legitimate
son and heir of King Henry I of England. His early death by
drowning in an event known as the “White Ship Tragedy” would leave
his father without a male heir and eventually lead to a period of
civil war known as “The Anarchy”. William was born on 5 August 1103
in the old Anglo-Saxon capital of Winchester. He was the son of
King…
The year 2020 hasn’t been a year of
celebration for much of the world. However, the tiny European Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg has had two reasons to celebrate. Reigning
Grand Duke Henri celebrated 20 years on the throne, and his heir,
Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and…
Europe has ten remaining hereditary
monarchies. Luxembourg is the only one that is a grand duchy – a
country headed by a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess. The modern state
of Luxembourg was formed in 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon, and
the Congress of Vienna, which…
Leopold III was the fourth King of the
Belgians (the Belgian King is known as the King of the Belgians
rather than King of Belgium). In the early years of his reign, he
was a popular figure; however, he became a divisive figure after he
surrendered the Belgian army to the invading German forces in 1940
without consulting his government. After the end of the war, he
would eventually agree to…
Willem-Alexander is the current King of
the Netherlands. When he came to the throne in 2013, he was the
first king in 123 years after three generations of queens. He is
from the House of Orange which has reigned over the Netherlands for
over 400 years, firstly as a republic…
Granny knows best: the grandparents of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
12th September 2020
Henri is the current Grand Duke of
Luxembourg. Of the remaining monarchies in Europe, Luxembourg is
the only Grand Duchy with the House of Nassau reigning since 1890.
Grand Duke Henri’s include a Grand Duchess, a Prince Consort, a
King and a much loved Queen Consort.
King Harald V is the third king of modern
Norway. He is the only son of King Olav V and Crown Princess Märtha
(born a Princess of Sweden). This is the story of his four
grandparents. They consist of the first king of modern Norway, an
English princess, a Swedish prince and a Danish princess. His
paternal grandfather and his maternal grandmother were brother and
sister. Haakon VII, King of…
