People who know me, know that I love a genealogical mystery. Sometimes royals or nobles just disappear in history, without anybody knowing when or where they died. One of these persons, that was lost on the radar, was Princess Hermine Caroline Wanda Ida Luise Feodora Viktoria Auguste von Schoenaich-Carolath, born at Saabor Castle, Kreis Grünberg, […]
Royal names in Sweden
On Friday, 7 February 2025, at 1.10 pm, the fourth child and first daughter of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia of Sweden was born at the Danderyd Hospital in Stockholm. The names of the newborn Swedish princess were announced at the council in the Royal Palace of Stockholm at 11.15am on Monday, 10 February […]
Styles and Titles (3)
It is not always easy to figure out which title to use. Even family members and media, as well as people who are more or less experts, like me, sometimes have difficulties. Just say: it is complicated. And if you’re not sure, better check or ask someone with more knowledge. I am always surprised when […]
The first Nassaus in the Netherlands
The new Dutch TV series and accompanying book “Het verhaal van Nederland: Oranje Nassau. A new history of the Netherlands and the royal house” by Dorine Hermans and Marchien den Hertog, do mention how the Nassaus eventually ended up in the Netherlands. However, the link between Count Engelbrecht I of Nassau and Willem (William) “the […]
Abdicating: reasons and advantages
For a long time, monarchs tended to sit on their thrones until the day they died, and many regarded it as a failure to quit the throne. The heirs were handed over more power if necessary. With the abdication of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, another country has joined the growing list of monarchies, where […]
No more reigning Queens
I must say that I was intrigued when reading that, after the abdication of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark on 14 January 2024, the world doesn’t have a single reigning queen anymore. There are several Crown Princesses in Europe, but there is not a single woman anymore sitting on a real throne, which is really […]
The nine predecessors of King Frederik X
After 52 years, Denmark has a king again: King Frederik X. The regnal number X means that Frederik has nine predecessors. Who are they? Denmark is one of the oldest monarchies in the world. The first monarch, not being legendary, was Gorm the Old, who died around 958. After kings with names as Harald, Svend, […]
The changing world of royalty – criticism
There are far more former monarchies than reigning monarchies in the world left. In the years to come only more monarchies will disappear and become a republic. Nowadays there is a lot of criticism on the work ethics, the finances, the private holidays and a lot of other subjects. You have to be seen to […]
Royal thoughts of the week (1)
The way magazines and newspapers report about royal families online, especially in the United Kingdom, gets more and more irritating. Royalty seems to be a kind of theme everybody has an opinion about, yet it isn’t exactly easy to actually understand royal families and monarchies. One has the royal correspondents, royal journalists, royal photographers and […]
The impossible love of an author
The Dekemastate in Jelsum, Province of Friesland, has a showcase full of books of the Dutch journalist, translator and writer Havank. He published over 30 crime-novels and stories and is one of the founding fathers of Dutch crime books. What are these books doing here? Havank’s real name was Hendrikus Frederikus van der Kallen (1904-1964), […]