Posts

Showing posts with the label Romania

King Constantine II of Greece

Image
King Constantine II of Greece died in Athens on 10 January 2023. He was the last King of Greece untill the abolution of the monarchy on 1 June 1973.  The funeral of the former King of Greece takes place on Monday 16 January 2023 at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens Eisenhower, Constantine, Alexis Liatis, Ambassador of Greece  Youth Constantine was the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece. As his family was forced into exile during World War II, he spent the first years of his childhood in Egypt and South Africa.  Civil War He returned to Greece with his family in 1946 during the Greek Civil War. King George II died in 1947, and Constantine's father became the new king, making Constantine the crown prince. A King He acceded as king in 1964 following the death of his father, King Paul. Later that year he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark. Although the accession of the young monarch was initially regarded auspiciously, his reign saw political instability that cu

Why writing is a royal hobby

Image
In the past the royals wrote lots of beautiful and interesting letters. It must be an absolute certainty that writing really is and was a royal hobby or even more a duty. The writing desk of Empress Elisabeth of Austria 'Sisi' in Corfu Many royal heads of state had a diary, which they kept up to date very well.  United Kingdom The most famous royal who kept diaries was Queen Victoria. She wrote 122 volumes which were expurgated by her youngest daughter: Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom. Queen Victoria started to write in her daily journal in 1832, when she was 13 years old.  Source picture: Wikipedia Nowadays, in the United Kingdom Princess Michael of Kent is a well known author. She wrote several books inter alia: Eight royal Brides; The Queen of for Kingdoms; Agnès Sorel, mistress of Beauty and Quicksilver; and she wrote some articles for the Orient Express Magazine.  Russia In Russia lots of members of the royal family held diaries, which were important witnesses of

Hotel Metropole in Brussels

Image
Recently (in april 2020) the Hotel Metropole in Brussels, capital of Belgium, was mentioned in the newspapers as bankrupt due to a lack of money and the Covid-19 crisis. This is a sad thing for the Belgian Tourism and the Hotels in Brussels. Hotel Metropole at the Brouckière square in Brussels was the only working hotel, founded in the 19th. century. Hotel Metropole Café in Brussels History In 1890, two brothers decided to open Café Metropole, to sell their own beer. It became a real success and later the family after café Wielemans-Ceupens bought the bank near the café to create a big hotel. They asked architect Alban Chambon to build a beautiful place. It was the first hotel in Brussels with electric lights and central heating systems. In 1911, the hotel hosted the famous Solvay conference with inter alia Einstein, Marie & Pierre Curie as guests. In 1957, a big reception (before Expo '58) took place at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels. In Hotel Met