The Spanish Christmas is kicked off in a rather unusual way every year – with the Loteria de Navidad, or the Christmas Lottery on December 22nd. School children announce the winning numbers of what is the most popular lottery throughout the year in Spain.
Shortly afterwards is Christmas Eve, or Nochebuena as it is known in Spanish. Families gather together for a large dinner before attending…
With the question still looming over whether The Duchess of Cornwall may be Queen, I have seen the question proposed as to why divorcee Camilla may be Queen, but King Edward VIII had to abdicate from the throne in order to marry Wallis Simpson who was at divorced once and…
Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel is the ninth Princess of Orange. She was born on 7 February 1688 as the daughter of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Maria Amalia of Courland.
Marie Louise was their 11th child. She was raised as a protestant and she was noticed as a…
Next on our tour of Royal Christmas festivities is Sweden. Like any good celebration, the Swedish Royal Family keeps food in focus.
With Queen Silvia’s birthday falling on December 23 her needs and wants are always taken to heart. One of her favourites is Weihnachtsstollen, which is a traditional loaf-shaped fruitcake from Germany soaked in brandy and covered with powdered sugar, served with…
Continuing our series looking at how royal families from across Europe celebrate Christmas, today we will be looking at Norway and their festive traditions.
In Norway, Christmas time means family time, and that is no different for the Norwegian royal family. King Harald…
In the Netherlands, Christmas is very much the same, but earlier in the month, they also celebrate on December 5 with Sinterklaas (the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas) bringing presents.
There is a large public event when Sinterklaas arrives, which the Dutch Royal Family has…
The 8th Princess of Orange was also a British Princess and a namesake of the previous Princess. This Mary Stuart was born on 30 April 1662 as the daughter of James II of England and Anne Hyde. She grew up in the relative peace of Richmond Palace with her sister Anne. She spoke excellent French, learned to play several instruments, and she loved to read as well as dance. Despite her father’s…
You may have heard of this Princess of Orange before, as the 7th Princess of Orange was also an English Princess. Mary was the daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France and also the first bearer of the title, ‘Princess Royal’, which was created by…
Mary Queen of Scots was born on 8 December 1542, at Linlithgow Palace, incidentally the birthplace of her father, James V of Scotland, in West Lothian, some fifteen miles distance from Edinburgh. The palace’s name translates literally as the “loch in the damp…
King Stephen of England was born in Blois in France in either 1092 or 1096. It’s quite unusual that we do not have a birth date for a future King of England, but by the time of his birth, it was not expected that he would ever be king. His parents were Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois and Chartres and Adela of Normandy, who was the sister of Henry I of England. He was their third surviving son.
