Random royal stories or facts

[JustAnotherWhinger]

A random fact about King Harald of Norway got me think about all the random/interesting/bizarre stories and facts about royals and thought a thread of them could be interesting.

Harald, who died today, was the first monarch to be born in Norway for over 600 years.
His grandfather, Prince Carl of Denmark, was selected to be the new King of Norway in 1905 (he became King Haakon VII.

Another Danish prince, George, was selected to be the King of Greece in 1863 and reigned until he was assassinated in 1914. He was Prince Philip’s grandfather.

I thought Lord & Lady Romsey took over the Broadlands estate when they married, which was a year or two before Charles & Diana married IIRC

Very sadly Lord & Lady Romsey's third & youngest child, Leonora, died of cancer at a very young age. I think there is a quite detailed reenactment in "The Crown" of Prince Philip visiting Broadlands to comfort the Romseys and, finding Lord R absent, he has a long conversation with Penny Romsey which results in her taking up carriage driving with Prince Philip and the rest, as they say, is history . . . .

You're quite right, my error - sorry! Yes, it passed to Norton Knatchbull and Penelope. Perhaps they invited William and Kate to stay?
I think they originally met at St Andrews though.

Pippa Middleton’s FIL David Matthew’s is still under investigation for historic SA of a British teenager in France in the 1990s. He denies the allegations.

I've no idea why my post was hidden! I was just agreeing about the Knatchbull family and Broadlands! Strange.

I don’t think Earl Mountbatten’s reputation is now that illustrious in some circles @JustAnotherWhingerbecause of the
Kincora scandal in Northern Ireland.
There are whisperings that he was involved.
I think there should be a thorough investigation. The victims deserve no less.

Pippa Middleton’s FIL David Matthew’s is still under investigation for historic SA of a British teenager in France in the 1990s. He denies the allegations.

What has that do do with the Royal family?

Pippa Middleton is the sister of Catherine Princess of Wales - the next Queen.

Hidden in error!

I think the point is that David Matthews isn't related?

George V was renowned for being an avid stamp collector. I've never heard whether any other members of the RF shared this hobby or what happened to George V's collection which, at the time, was one of the best collections in the world.

It's supposed to be an amazing collection. He spent hours poring over it. I'm guessing still at Windsor?

Coincidentally, my husband's younger cousin is a contemporary of theirs and was on a gap programme in South America with Kate Middleton - he remembers her as being 'absolutely lovely'.

Yes, it does seem quite fitting that he was never a HIllH going by everything that’s said now.

The documentary about him and his wife Edwina when they were in India is quite interesting. Its still on YouTube (and I think on channel 5s catch up service).

I always found the footage of Edwina’s burial at sea quite something.

Yes, that seems very likely. It's probably part of the Royal Collection. I would imagine it would be difficult to display unlike Queen Mary's dolls house which is beautiful

Prince Phillipos of Greece and Princess Nina have recieved a son via surrogate…..

Pippa Middleton is the sister of Catherine Princess of Wales - the next Queen.

I know that.

What has the Princess of Wales's sister's husband's father to do with the Royal family?

(I also know that the Princess of Wales is the next Queen. Not sure why it was necessary to add that.)

Aaaah, that's lovely. And wonderful news for Queen Anne-Marie who was 80 at the weekend

Queen Marie of Romania is the only monarch known to have adopted the Baha’i faith.

Ahh OK - didn’t realise this restriction on the thread as many other posts are about links?

I know it’s not hugely relevant with the Greek monarchy as they’re not reigning, but how does surrogacy work with their line of succession?

I think in the British royal family the child wouldn’t be in the line as the child has to be born within the approved marriage and the surrogate is the child’s legal mother.

According to the postal museum it’s kept at Buckingham Palace.

Apparently George VI and Elizabeth II had different coloured folders/books (the original books are red) for the stamps they added to the collection during their reigns.

A delightful story about Queen Silvia of Sweden

When Silvia Sommerlath married King Carl Gustaf in 1976 she became Queen of Sweden as her husband had become King 3 years earlier.

She was German and when she was asked by the Royal Court who she would appoint as ladies-in-waiting she didn't know anyone in the nobility in Sweden so decided to choose nurses as she felt their professional experience would make them ideal for the role as they would be good at dealing with the public

This has worked really well and Queen Silvia has given them a lot of credit for the way they support her in her role

That's interesting!

This is an extract from "Spying and the Crown" by Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac. Presumably it's true, but I've never visited the area. Maybe people who know the area around Kensington Palace could comment?

Mysteriously, in the mid-1950s, all the trees were cut down alongside Broad Walk in Kensington Gardens, just behind Kensington Palace. This was visibly dramatic, since the trees were full height and mature, prompting speculation that aircraft could now land to whisk the royal family away. Prince Michael of Kent later confirmed that this was in fact the case. Indeed, the location is one of the few places that an executive aircraft carrying around thirty people might be landed in central London.

1. While Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra is before her brother Sverre in Norway in the succession. In the line to the British succession she comes after Sverre. (They are in the 90s of the succession line so unlikely to ever matter) just a fun fact. This is due to Male-preference primogeniture was still in effect when Sverre was born unlike for Charlotte who is before Louis..

1. Denmark has two official national anthems of equal status: Der er et yndigt land (the civil national anthem) and Kong Christian stod ved højen mast (the royal and military anthem)

1. The Danish twin Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine have Greenlandic middle names to honour Greenland. Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander & Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda