Royal birthday Roundup

 

@Royal Palace, Brussels

King Philippe of the Belgians celebrated his 65th birthday yesterday. When he was born on April 15, 1960,  no one expected that he would succeed to the throne.  He was the eldest son of Prince Albert, Prince of Liege, and his wife, Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria.  They were married on July 2, 1959, at St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral.

@www.ludion.be   Marlene A Eilers Koenig Collection

He was born at the Château du Belvédère in Laeken and was given the names Philippe Leopold Louis Marie.  In December 1960, Philippe's uncle, King Baudouin, married Doña Fabiola Fernanda María-de-las-Victorias Antonia Adelaida de Mora y Aragón.  Fabiola suffered five miscarriages between 1961 and 1968.

King Baudouin died in 1993 and was succeeded by his younger brother, Prince Albert.  Prince Philippe, 33, became the heir apparent with the title Duke of Brabant.  He married a Belgian nobleman, Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine d'Udekem d'Acoz in December 1999.  They have four children: Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant (2001), Prince Gabriel (2003), Prince Emmanuel (2005), and Princess Eléonore (2008).

@Royal Palace, Brussels

Philippe succeeded to the throne following his father's abdication on July 21, 2013.

Kongehuset

Queen Margrethe II celebrates her 85th birthday.   She was born on April 16, 1940, in Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, the first of three daughters of King Frederik IX and Princess Ingrid of Denmark.  She was named Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid.  Her father succeeded to the throne in April 1947, and his heir was his younger brother, Prince Knud.  

Marlene A. Eilers Koenig Collection

The Danish succession was governed by Salic law, which excluded women from inheriting the throne. In 1953, Parliament passed an amendment to the Danish constitution, changing the succession to male primogeniture. Margrethe remained the heiress presumptive rather than the heir apparent, as a younger brother would have become the heir. King Frederik IX died in 1972 and was succeeded by his eldest daughter.

In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat.   They had two sons, Prince Frederik (1968) and Prince Joachim (1969)    

Kongehuset

Fifty-two years after she succeeded to the throne on January 14, 1972, Margrethe II abdicated in favor of her eldest son, Frederik (now King Frederik X).

© Maison du Grand-Duc / Sophie Margue

Grand Duke Henri (Albert Gabriel Félix Marie Guillaume) of Luxembourg is 70 today. He was born at Château de Betzdorf on April 16, 1955, the second of five children of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and Princess Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium. He became the heir apparent in 1964 when his grandmother, Grand Duchess Charlotte, abdicated in favor of her eldest son, Jean. 

@Maison du Grand-Duc / Sophie Margue

Abdication is a traditon in Luxembourg. On October 7, 2000, Jean abdicated in Henri's favor.

The Grand Duke married Cuban-born María Teresa Mestre y Batista in 1981.  They have five children. Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume (1981), Prince Félix (1984), Prince Louis (1986), Princess Alexandra (1991), and Prince Sébastien (1992).

Marlene A Eilers Koenig Collection

On October 3, 2025, Henri will abdicate in favor of his eldest son, Guillaume.