We are in the last week of June. And halfway through December! Summer in the Northern Hemisphere has just started. Let's end this resplendent month with gratitude.Â
And greetings! Several members of the royal family around the world, reigning and non-reigning, marked their birthday this month.
Constantine II, ex-King of Greece -Â The last Hellenic monarch was born on June 2, 1940, in Villa Psychiko, Leoforos Diamantidou, Psychiko, Greece. He is the second child and only son of King Paul I of Greece and Queen Frederica (born Princess of Hanover).
Constantine was a competitive sailor during his younger days, winning gold in sailing (dragon class) in the 1960 Rome Olympics, where his future brother-in-law, Prince Juan Carlos of Spain, was also competing in the same category for Spain. He and his crew members of the winning sailing vessel. Nireus, were named Greek Athletes of the Year in 1960.
King Paul I died of cancer in March 1964. Constantine ascended the throne as King Constantine II, six months later, he married his second cousin, Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, the youngest daughter of King Frederik IX of Denmark and Queen Ingrid.
In 1967, King Constantine II and his family were driven out of Greece by a military coup. They settled in Rome, Italy, but years later, they moved to London. Greece abolished the monarchy in 1973.
In 2013, Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie returned to Greece and currently lived in Porto Cheli, Peloponnese.Â
He is a close friend of his second cousin, Prince Charles, and one of the godfathers of Prince William. Princess Diana fondly called him "Tino".
Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld - She was born on June 2, 1938 as the third child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Vasterbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His father died in a plane crash in January 1947.Â
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| Princess Desiree |
Princess Desiree is the older sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. She married a Swedish aristocrat, Baron Nils-August Otto Carl Niclas Silfverschiöld, in June 1964 and have three children together.Â
Prince Felix of Luxembourg - born Felix Leopold Marie Guillaume on June 3, 1984, Prince Felix is the second son of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.Â
He is currently third in the line of succession to the Luxembourgian throne behind his older brother, Prince Guillaume, and nephew, Prince Charles.
Prince Felix obtained a degree in bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, Italy. He is multilingual and fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, Luxembourgish, French, and German.
He married Claire Lademacher, a German-born bioethics researcher, on September 17, 2013, in the Basilica of Sainte Marie-Madeleine in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in France. They currently live in the south of France at the Chateau Les Crostes, a winery in Lorgues, owned by the Lademachers.
Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este - She was born on June 5, 1962, at Belvedere Castle in Laeken, Belgium. She is the second child and only daughter of King Albert II of Belgium and Queen Paola. King Philippe of the Belgians is her older brother.
In 1984, Princess Astrid married Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, the current head of the Archducal House of Austria-Este. He was granted the title Prince of Belgium by King Albert II. They have five children together.Â
King Albert II of Belgium - the former King of Belgium was born on June 6, 1934, in Laeken, Belgium.Â
He is the youngest child of the three children of King Leopold III of Belgium and Queen Astrid (born Princess of Sweden). He has two older siblings, King Baudouin of Belgium and Princess Josephine-Charlotte, the mother of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.
His mother died in August 1935 when he was only a year older. Queen Astrid was on a family vacation in Switzerland with King Leopold III when the car he was driving near Lake Lucerne skidded on a slope and rammed into a pear tree throwing off Queen Astrid. She died instantly.
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| Princess Elisabeth, King Philippe, and King Albert II |
Albert succeeded his childless brother, King Baudouin, in August 1993. He was just one month short of reaching 20th year on the Belgian throne when he abdicated in July 2013 for health reasons.Â
He was succeeded by his eldest son, now King Philippe. His wife is Queen Paola, born an Italian aristocrat. King Albert II is a first cousin of King Harald V of Norway and maternal uncle of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.
Prince Joachim of Denmark, Count of Monpezat - He was born Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian on June 7, 1969. He is the youngest son of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Prince Henrik. He has an older brother, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.
He began dating Marie Cavalier, a French-born employee of an investment company based in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2005. They got married in May 2008 and have two children: Prince Henrik and Princess Athena.
Prince Joachim's family moved to Paris, France in 2019 when he took a diplomat job in the Danish embassy.
Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia - He was born on June 10, 1976, as the only son of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia and Countess Donata of Castell-Rudenhausen. His father, the great-great-grandson of the last German emperor, William II, died when he was still a year old in 1977.
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| Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia |
Prince Georg Friedrich became the head of the House of Prussia, a branch of the House of Hohenzollern, the ruling family of the German empire, in September 1994 upon the death of his grandfather, Prince Louis Ferdinand.
His grandmother, Grand Duchess Kira Kirilovna of Russia, was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria through Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Emperor Alexander II, through his son Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich.
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| Prince Georg Friedrich and Princess Sophie |
Prince Georg Friedrich obtained a degree in business economics from Freiburg University of Mining and Technology. In 2017, he founded a brewery, Royal Prussian Beer Manufactory.Â
In August 2011, he married Princess Sophie of Isenburg. They have four children together: Prince Carl Friedrich, Prince Louis Ferdinand, Princess Emma, and Prince Heinrich.Â
Prince Hashim bin Al Hussein - He was born on June 10, 1981, to King Hussein of Jordan and Queen Noor. He is the half-brother of the reigning King of Jordan, Abdullah II.Â
Prince Hashim obtained a degree in Comparative Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, USA, and attended Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK. He is married to a Saudi Arabian royal, Fahdah Mohammed Abunayyan, They have five children together.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Halsingland and Gastrikland - She was born Madeleine Therese Amelie Josephine on June 10, 1982, to King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia.Â
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| Princess Madeleine of Sweden. Credit: Kungahuset |
She has two older siblings, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Carl Philip. Her father is a first cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and former Queen consort of Greece, Anne-Marie, the wife of King Constantine II.
Princess Madeleine obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from the University of Stockholm in 2006. She speaks German, English, and Swedish fluently.
In August 2009, Princess Madeleine got engaged to a Swedish lawyer, Jonas Bergstrom. Their wedding would suppose to take place after the June 2010 wedding of her older sister, Crown Princess Victoria. But before it could take place, Princess Madeleine broke the engagement after Bergstrom was involved in an illicit affair with another woman.
She moved to New York in the late part of 2010, and later met American-British financier, Christopher O'Neil. They wed on June 8, 2013, in Stockholm, Sweden, and now living in Florida with their three children.
Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark - She was born on June 9, 1983, in London. Princess Theodora is the youngest daughter and fourth child of Constantine II, ex-king of Greece, and Queen Anne-Marie. She was born 10 years after Greece abolished the monarchy.
Princess Theodora obtained a degree in Theater Arts from Brown University in Rhode Island, USA, and ventured into television acting. She is known professionally as Theodora Greece.
Prince Alois, the Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein - He was born on June 11, 1968, as the eldest son of Prince Hans Adam II, the Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein, and Princess Marie, born Countess Marie Kinsky.Â
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| The Hereditary Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein |
He has been Prince Regent of Liechtenstein since 2004 when his father transferred most of the ceremonial roles to him. But Prince Hans Adam II remained the head of state and retained some of his powerful functions such as the right to veto laws and elect judges.
Liechtenstein is the only remaining monarchy in Europe where the Sovereign Prince has the power to interfere with legislation. In 2011, Prince Alois interfere to block the legalization of abortion in Liechtenstein.Â
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| Prince Joseph Wenzel, Prince Hans Adam II, Prince Alois |
The country is also the only remaining monarchy in Europe that follows a Salic law where females are barred from succeeding the throne.Â
He married Duchess Sophie of Bavaria on July 3, 1993, in Vaduz. She is a member of the House of Wittelsbach, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria, and a niece of Prince Franz, Duke of Bavaria. His heir-apparent is his eldest son, Prince Joseph Wenzel.
Infanta Cristina of Spain - She was born Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la SantÃsima Trinidad de Borbón y de Grecia on June 13, 1965 in Madrid Spain. She is the second child of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofia.
She and her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, were involved in a corruption scandal in 2012 and were investigated in 2013. The scandal eroded the popularity of her father. The king decided to abdicate in 2014 to spare the Spanish monarchy from further troubles.
Infanta Cristina was acquitted of the corruption charges in 2015 but her husband was found guilty and was sentenced to five years imprisonment.
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| Infanta Cristina and Inaki Urdanganin in 2010 |
Her younger brother, King Felipe VI, stripped her of her title, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, but allowed her to retain her place in the line of succession to the Spanish throne.
In January this year, Infanta Cristina and her husband announced separation. They have four children, including Irene Urdangarin, who turned 17 on June 11, 2022.Â
Princess Amalia of Nassau - She was born Amalia Gabriella Maria Teresa on June 15, 2014, as the eldest child of Prince Felix of Luxembourg and Princess Claire.Â
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| Princess Amalia of Nassau |
She is the eldest granddaughter of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, and is currently fourth in the line of succession to the Luxembourgian throne. Just like members of the Luxembourgian family who are not children of the heir-apparent, Princess Amalia is carrying the title "Nassau".Â
Prince Nicolas of Sweden - Born Nicolas Paul Gustaf on June 15, 2015, Prince Nicolas is the eldest child of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O'Neil.Â
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| Prince Nicolas of Sweden |
In October 2019, King Carl XVI Gustaf decided to reduce the number of working royals of the House of Bernadotte to cut expenses. The move stripped his grandchildren, who are not children of the Crown Princess, of the style HRH.Â
As of October 2019, Prince Nicolas and his siblings are no longer part of the House of Bernadotte but retained his place in the line of succession. He also retained his ducal title, Duke of Angermanland.
Simeon II of Bulgaria - He was born on June 16, 1937, in Sofia, Bulgaria, as the eldest son of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria and Princess Giovanna of Italy. In 1943, during World War II, his father died. The six-year-old Simeon ascended the Bulgarian throne as Tsar Simeon II.
Three regents, including his uncle Prince Kiril, ruled under his name, but the country was invaded by the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, and the regents were executed.Â
In 1946, under the Communist regime, Bulgaria abolished the monarchy, Simeon II, his sister, Princess Maria Louisa, and their mother left Bulgaria. They joined Giovanna's father, King Vittorio Emmanuelle III of Italy, living in exile in Egypt,
In 1951, Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, granted them asylum in Spain. Simeon II studied in Madrid and became a businessman.Â
He is known by the name, Simeon Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. In 1962, he married a Spanish aristocrat, Margarita Gomez Acebo y Cejuela. They have five children.
Tsar Simeon II returned to Bulgaria after the fall of communism and formed a new political party, National Movement Simeon II. His party won a landslide victory in 2001, making him the only monarch in Europe to become a Prime Minister.Â
Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester - He was born Birgitte van Deurs on June 20, 1946 in Odense, Denmark. After completing her three-year course in Commercial and Economics studies in Copenhagen, Denmark, she moved to London to work as a secretary at the Royal Danish Embassy office in London.
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| The Duchess of Gloucester |
He married Prince Richard of Gloucester, the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, in July 1972. However, a month later, tragedy struck the Gloucester household when Prince Richard's older brother, Prince William, died in a plane crash while competing in the air show.
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| The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester |
Prince Richard unexpectedly became his father's heir-apparent to the Dukedom of Gloucester, which he inherited upon the death of Prince Henry in 1974, making Birgitte the Duchess of Gloucester.
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are working members of the British royal family and regularly perform royal duties on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.Â
Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge - He was born William Arthur Philip Louis on June 21, 1982, as the eldest child of Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Diana, the Princess of Wales. He has a younger brother, Prince Harry.  Â
More about Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge
Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Parma, Marchioness of Sala - Born Maria Carolina Christina on June 23, 1974, in The Netherlands, Princess Maria Carolina is the youngest child of the Princess Irene of The Netherlands and Prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Bourbon-Parma. She is an extended member of the Dutch royal family as a first cousin of King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands.Â
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| Princess Maria Carolina and her older brother, Prince Carlos |
Her mother, Princess Irene, sister of Queen Beatrix and second daughter of Queen Juliana of The Netherlands, created controversy in 1964 when she married a Spanish Catholic prince and converted to Roman Catholicism.Â
Princess Maria Carolina has three siblings, Prince Carlos, Princess Margarita, and Prince Jaime. Her father granted her another title, Marchioness of Sala.
She got married in 2012 to Albert Alphons Brenninkmeijer, from a wealthy Brenninkmeijer family of manufacturers known for its chain of clothing stores.
Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait - He was born on June 25, 1937. He succeeded his half-brother, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, on September 30, 2020, as Emir of Kuwait. He is also the Commander of the Kuwait Military Forces.Â
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| Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait |
Nawaf married Sharifa Sulaiman Al-Jasem Al-Ghanim and have four sons and one daughter together. Unlike other monarchies in the world, succession in Kuwaiti is done through an election in the National Assembly.Â
His heir-apparent is not his eldest son but his half-brother, Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who was nominated as Crown Prince of Kuwait on October 7, 2020. Mishal was proclaimed Crown Prince on the following day, at 81, Mishal is the oldest Crown Prince in the world today.Â
Princess Alexia of The Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau - She was born on June 26, 2005, in The Hague, The Netherlands.Â
She is the second daughter of King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands and Queen Maxima and has two sisters, Princess Catharina-Amalia and Princess Ariane.
| Dutch Royal Family annual summer photoshoot 2022 |
Princess Alexia is currently in Wales, UK, studying at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, UK, where she is a classmate of Leonor, Princess of Asturias. The Dutch royal family had just their traditional summer photo call.
Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan - Born Hussein bin Abdullah bin Hussein bin Talal on June 28, 1994, Prince Hussein is the eldest son of King Abdullah II of Jordan and Queen Rania. He is a member of the House of Hashemite, the ruling family of Jordan since 1921.Â
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| Prince Hussein, Crown Prince of Jordan |
In 2016, he obtained a degree in International History from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C, USA. In 2017, he also completed his military schooling at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He is now a Captain in the Jordanian Armed Forces.Â
Unlike in Europe, most monarchies in the Arab world do not follow the automatic hereditary succession for the eldest son. In Jordan, it is done through an appointment by the reigning monarch.Â
When King Abdullah II succeeded his father, King Hussein, to the Jordanian throne in 1999, the appointed Crown Prince at that time was his half-brother, Prince Hamzah.
In 2004, he removed Prince Hamzah from his position as the Crown Prince and appointed his first-born son, Prince Hussein. The title was conferred in 2009 through a royal decree naming Hussein as the Crown Prince.
Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg - Born Alexandra Christina Manley on June 30, 1964, in Hongkong, a former British colony in Asia, she is of German, Austrian, and Chinese ancestry. She worked in sales and marketing as a top executive before her marriage.
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| Alexandra, the Countess of Frederiksborg |
In January 1994, she was introduced to Prince Joachim of Denmark in Hongkong, where he worked for a Danish shipping company.Â
While they were on a vacation in Amanpulo, an exclusive beach resort in the Philippines, in November 1994, Prince Joachim proposed, presenting Alexandra with a diamond and ruby engagement ring.
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| Alexandra and Prince Joachim with their son, Prince Nikolai |
The official engagement was announced by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in May 1995. The wedding took place at Frederiksborg Castle in November 1995.Â
However, in September 2004, after having two sons, the couple announced separation. Their divorce was finalized in August 2005. Alexandra kept her title Princess of Denmark. But lost it in March 2007 when she remarried to Martin Jorgensen, a photographer and film producer.Â
Queen Margrethe II created her Countess of Frederiksborg. Alexandra and Martin divorced in 2015.Â
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