If it hadn’t been for a royal wedding, I probably would never have visited the tiny, idyllic village of Panker in the north of Germany, not too far from the shores of the Baltic Sea. This in June 2006 was the scene of the wedding of Prince Philipp von Hessen and Laetitia Bechtolf. A wedding […]
For the elder generations of Dutch people Palace Soestdijk is remembered best because of the Queen’s Day celebrations during the reign of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. Between 1949 and 1979 the Queen and her ever growing family stood on the steps on the palace, while Dutch people passed them in a long procession that […]
Once upon a time there was a small forgotten castle, which was first refered to as Medhope in the year 1458. Built in the 15th century the five storey tower house called Midhope Castle is part of the Hopetoun estate. Regularly altered over the centuries it was among others in the possession of the families […]
Just a few kilometres northeast of the town of Coburg, in the town of Rödental, one can find the Rosenau Castle. While there are bigger castles of the Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha family nearby, this home has become famous for being the place of birth of Prince Albert, the husband of the British Queen Victoria. Albert […]
Ever since Palace Noordeinde in Den Haag opened its doors in 2016 I receive questions about the summer opening and how to get tickets. Keep your eyes open towards the end of June, as only then it thus far has been announced when exactly the palace and the royal stables open their doors for the […]
From 3 August the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague (as well as the stables) are open again for four Saturdays. If you don’t have a ticket: there are still tickets for the mews, not for the palace, as again they sold in one day. On Friday I attended a media preview of this working palace […]
Whit Monday (the Monday after Pentecost) is a legal holiday in many European Countries. In the Netherlands it is since 2008 also the “Dag van het Kasteel” (Day of the Castle). Many castles and country seats, gardens and ruins are open. Since 2016 also some Belgian and German castles take part. Many of them are […]
Looking at my pictures I really should go back and take better ones. I guess I was either in a hurry, or the weather wasn’t that great. The photos certainly don’t do the fairytale castle justice. Today King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands started their three-day visit to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg at […]
Few hotels have ever been a royal residence or the residence of a King’s mistress. The ones you can stay in are often quite expensive, but they don’t have to be, and they can be very nice to stay in if you’re travelling. I am certain there are more than I listed here, but these […]
When King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan came to Belgium for a state visit in 2016, Queen Mathilde took choc-a-holic Rania to “The Chocolate Line” shop in Bruges, on request of the Jordan queen herself. Both queens were received in chocolate heaven by chocolate maker Dominique Persoone, who told afterwards that Rania had […]
