Time flies. This week it is already tens years ago that I last visited Sweden, in connection with the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel on 19 June 2010. On 17 June 2010 me and some friends visited the lovely Haga Park in Solna, Stockholm, where the couple was going to live after […]
Discovering Groningen – the Allersmaborg
The first castle stop in “lockdown” on 31 May 2020 took me to the Allersmaborg between Ezinge and Aduarderzijl, The Netherlands. It is situated about 18 kilometres from the city in Groningen, where I live. For a rather inexperienced cyclist like me it was quite a distance, but the weather was lovely, so there I […]
Fredensborg Palace – Denmark’s Versailles
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark spends her corona-quarantine, including her birthday this week, at the Fredensborg Palace. She spends about three months in the spring and three months in the autumn at this residence, that has also been the setting for important events of the Danish royal family, like wedding receptions and birthday parties. Usually […]
Panker – A beautiful mansion in an idyllic village
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 […]
Soestdijk Palace – A last visit to Queen Juliana’s former residence
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 […]
Lallybroch – How a forgotten castle turned into a tourist attraction
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 […]
Rosenau, the birth place of Prince Albert – 26 August 1819
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 […]
How to visit the Palace Noordeinde in The Hague?
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 […]