Philippe and Mathilde in Stavanger, Norway

On March 26, 2026, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium visited Stavanger - the third day of their State Visit to Norway.  They were accompanied by Crown Prince Haakon.

All of the photos above were taken by Katrina Warne.  She is the copyright holder.

The photos below were taken by Katrina's brother, Harvey Warne.  He is the copyright holder

@Harvey Warne (and the photos that follow)

Princess Eugenie expecting a third baby

 Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are very pleased to announce that they are expecting their third child together, due this summer.

August (aged 5) and Ernest (aged 2) are also very excited to have another sibling join the family.

His Majesty The King has been informed and is delighted with the news.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2023/06/another-qvd-second-son-for-eugenie-jack.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2023/01/news-from-princess-eugenie.html  

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2021/02/august-philip-hawke-brooksbank.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2021/02/its-boy-for-eugenie-and-jack.html

King Carl XVI Gustaf celebrates his 80th birthday

 

Photo: Linda Broström/The Royal Court of Sweden

The King was born on April 30, 1946, the fifth child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sybilla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  He celebrated his 80th birthday in style - with a day of celebrations that included a luncheon at City Hall and a gala dinner.

Here is the Guest List for the Gala dinner

TM The King and the Queen

TRH The Crown Princess and Prince Daniel

HRH Princess Estelle

TRH  Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia

HRH Princess Madeleine and Mr. Christopher O'Neill

HM The King's family

Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, and Consul General Tord Magnuson

Baron Carl Silfverschiöld and Countess Marie Hamilton

Baroness Christina Louise De Geer and Baron Hans De Geer

Hélène Silfverschiöld, MBA, and Mr. Fredrik Dieterle

Mr. Gustaf Magnuson

Mr. Oscar Magnuson

Mr. Victor Magnuson and Mrs. Frida Magnuson

Mrs. Désirée von Bohlen und Halbach and Mr. Eckbert von Bohlen und Halbach

HSH Prince Carl Christian von Hohenzollern and Aneta Franz

TSH Prince Hubertus von Hohenzollern and Princess Ute Maria von Hohenzollern

Count Bertil Bernadotte of Wisborg and Countess Jill Bernadotte of Wisborg

Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg

Mrs. Madeleine Kogevinas and Professor Bernard Mach

HM The Queen's family

Mr. Patrick Sommerlath

Foreign heads of state and ruling princely houses with families

Belgium

TM. The King and Queen of the Belgians

Denmark

TM The King and Queen of Denmark

HM Queen Margrethe

HRH Princess Benedikte

Finland

HE the President of the Republic of Finland and Mrs. Suzanne Innes-Stubb

Iceland

HE the President of the Republic of Iceland and Mr. Björn Skúlason

Liechtenstein

HRH Crown Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein

HSH Prince Wenzel

Luxembourg

TRH. The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

HRH Grand Duke Henri

Netherlands

HRH Princess Beatrix

Norway

TM The King and Queen of Norway

HRH The Crown Prince of Norway

Spain

HM Queen Sofia

Thailand

TM The King and Queen of Thailand

Foreign princely houses

HM Margareta, Guardian of the Crown of Romania, and HRH Prince Radu (Romania)

TRH Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine (Serbia)

TRH Crown Prince Philip and Princess Danica (Serbia)

HRH Duke Franz of Bavaria and Dr. Thomas Greinwald (Bavaria)

TRH. Prince Leopold von Bayern and Princess Ursula von Bayern (Bavaria)

TSHPrince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Princess Kelly of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha)

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A baby for Crown Prince Leka and and Princess Blerta

 

@Ed Pagria

Congratulations are in order for the newly married Crown Prince Leka and Princess Blerta of Albania.  Although not officially confirmed, it appears that the Princess is expecting a baby.   On May 1, the Princess accompanied her husband, Prince Leka, to the 104th anniversary of Burrel, which is north of Tirana, the country's capital.

The region has a special meaning for Prince Leka, as his grandfather, Ahmet Zogu (1895-1961) was born in the area.  Zogu served as Albania's Prime Minister and President in the 1920s until 1928, when Albania was proclaimed a monarchy.   The former President of Albania was now King Zog of the Albanians.  He reigned until the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939, and lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife, Geraldine, and their only child, Prince Leka.

The father-to-be is the only child of Crown Prince Leka and his Australian-born wife, Susan Cullen-Ward.

Princess Blerta's dusty rose suit offered a bit of a hint of a baby bump.   The couple was married in early March in a private civil ceremony in Albania, although the official photographs were taken at Chateau Apponyi in Slovakia.   The castle, now a hotel, was Queen Geraldine's family home.

The official photographs were taken after the wedding.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2026/03/crown-prince-leka-second-marriage.html 

@EdPagria

This will be Princess Blerta's first child.  Prince Leka has one daughter, Princess Geraldine, 5, from his first marriage to Elia Zaharia, which ended in divorce in April 2024.

Dom Rafael de Orléans e Bragança engaged to Italian aristocrat.

 

HI & RH Prince Rafael de Orléans e Bragança, the Imperial Prince of Brazil, is engaged to Margherita delle Piane.  The Prince is second in line to the defunct Brazilian throne, after his uncle, H& RH Prince Dom Bertrand of Orléans-Braganca.   He was born in Petropolis, Brazil, on April 24, 1986, as the third child and second son of the late HI & RH  Prince Antonio Joao Maria Jose Jorge Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga of Orleans and Braganca and HH Princess Christine Marie Elisabeth de Ligne.

The couple has been together for about four years.

Margherita delle Piane is the daughter of Giuseppe delle Piane and his late wife , Donna Stefania dei Marchesi d'Afflitto. She was born in Genoa on April 6, 1988.

The engagement announcement is not official as the family is waiting for Dom Bertrand to issue a statement.  He is currently in the United States. It is understood that the lack of an official announcement is due to Margherita's status.  She is a descendant of Italian nobility.  Her ancestry, however, would not qualify for the Brazilian royal family's position on marriage. 

The Brazilian monarchy ended on November 15, 1889, following a military coup. Emperor Pedro II  died in 1891 and was succeeded by his daughter, Isabel, as head of the Brazilian royal family.

In 1864, Princess Isabel (1846-1921) married HRH Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu.  They had three sons, Pedro de Alcântara, Luis, and Antonio.  Pedro fell in love with a Bohemian countess 

Elisabeth Maria Adelheid Dobrženský von Dobrženitz, and they married in 1908, after waiting for his parents' consent.

Pedro renounced his rights (and his heirs) to the succession because Elisabeth was not of royal birth.  His younger brother, Dom Luis, also married in 1908 to HRH Princess Maria di Grazia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a dynastic union.   Luis died in 1920, a year before his mother.  Following Isabel's death, Luis' eldest son,  Prince Pedro-Henrique, succeeded as head of the Vassouras branch of the former Imperial House.    The senior branch, Petropolis, is considered non-dynastic because of Pedro Henrique's marriage.

Dom Rafael moved up the line of succession in May 2009, when his older brother, Pedro Luiz, 29, was among the passengers who were on the Air France plane bound for Paris that crashed into the Atlantic.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/06/prince-pedro-luiz-of-orleans-braganza.html 

In a 2019 interview with Brazilian newspaper O Tempo, Dom Rafael said:  “Tradition dictates that it be a dynastic marriage (between members of dynasties who have the same status). He added, “People have a natural affinity when they share the same values, so what I hope is to find someone who completes me and makes me happy. If it happens, great.”

Fast forward seven years, and Dom Rafael has found his match with Margherita, although she is not royal.

The couple lives in London, where Dom Rafael is the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Starman AI, and Margharita is an event planner with Lanza & Baucina.  She also owns Fattoria la Scheggia, which she inherited from her maternal grandparents.

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 Dom Bertrand, 85, is an ultra-conservative Roman Catholic who supports TFP- Tradition, Family, Property.  Neither he nor his elder late brother, Dom Luis, married, and, with the exception of the late Dom Antonio, the other siblings have not entered into equal marriages.  The line of succession is down to five people: Dom Bertrand, Dom Rafael, Dona Maria Gabriela (Rafael's sister), Eleonora, Princess of Ligne (Bertrand's sister), and her son, Henri, Hereditary Prince of Ligne.  

Rafael's mother, Princess Christine, is the sister of Eleonora's husband, Michel, 14th Prince of Ligne, who is the son of the late HRH Princess Alix of Luxembourg. Christine and Michel are first cousins of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.

Margherita's brother, Guy delle Piane, is married to Princess Xenia of Croy, the daughter of the Duke of Croy, whose maternal grandmother was Princess Gabriele of Croy, daughter of Princess Antonia of Luxembourg, younger sister of Grand Duchess Charlotte, who was Princess Alix's mother.

If Dom Bertrand does not approve of the marriage,  Rafael will be required to renounce his rights in favor of his younger sister, Maria Gabriela, 36, who is unmarried.  

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2020/07/princess-xenia-of-croy-to-marry-italian.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2024/11/hrh-prince-antonio-de-orleans-braganza.html