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.
