BelgiumEuropean RoyalsFeaturesHistoryInterestsPalaces & Buildings

Former French home of King Leopold II of Belgium sells for 200 million Euro

The historic Villa des Cèdres in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, once the summer home of Belgian royalty, has sold for a jaw-dropping 200 million Euro this month to an unspecified buyer. The 18,000-square-foot property was built in 1830 and operated as an olive tree farm until it was acquired by the second King of Belgium, Leopold II, in 1904. He used it as a holiday home and spent time on the French…
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Features

Snow and Royalty

Snow has provided enjoyment for countless generations of children and adults alike; royalty, of course, is no exception to this time-honoured rule. English monarchs have wintered at Windsor since the twelfth century. Windsor Castle was the preferred royal residence in…
InsightSpain

A look at the Royal Palace of La Almudaina

The Royal Palace of La Almudaina (or in Spanish, Palacio Real de La Almudaina) is located in Palma, Mallorca (or Majorca) in the Balearic Islands and serves as the official summer residence of the Spanish monarch and other members of the Spanish Royal Family (even though King Felipe and Queen Letizia prefer to spend their time with their daughters at Marivent Palace instead now). The structure…
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Features

A little-known royal plaque in Portsmouth

A plaque can be found in the garrison walls at Portsmouth at the location of the old ‘Sally Port’. Its patriotic inscription proclaimsthat “from this place naval heroes innumerable were embarked to fight their country’s battles” but that also, “near this spot, Catharine of Braganza landed in state, May 14 1662 previous to her marriage with Charles II at the Domus Dei a week…
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Features

A monument that mentions a royal kiss

The sixteenth century late-GothicSint-Andrieskerk on the Augustijnenstraat in Antwerp preserves a monument with a quite extraordinary royal connection, for which reason many English visitors in particular, seek it out.In 1513,Augustine friars established a chapel and a convent the following year, but as the chapel itself proved too small, plans for a larger building were…
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