Louise of the Netherlands

Royal heartbreak – Louise of the Netherlands

This article was written by Sophie Strid. Louise of the Netherlands was born 5 August 1828 in The Hague to Prince Frederick of the Netherlands and Princess Louise of Prussia. She received a good education early on from her Belgian governess Victoire Wauthier and studied German, Russian, English, French, and piano. At the age of 20, Louise [read more]

Antónia of Portugal

Schloss Benrath – The Pleasure Palace

Schloss Benrath in Düsseldorf is a baroque style pleasure palace. It was built for the Elector Palatine Charles Theodor, later also Elector of Bavaria and his wife Countess Palatine Elisabeth Auguste of Sulzbach. Although the palace was built for them, the couple only visited the palace once. There was another palace nearby, but not much survives of [read more]

leuchtenberg
Désirée Clary

Diary of a Princess – Joséphine of Leuchtenberg

This article was written by Sophie Strid. Joséphine of Leuchtenberg was born Joséphine Maximilienne Eugénie Napoléone on 14 March 1807 in Milan, Italy. Her parents were French general Eugène de Beauharnais and Princess Augusta of Bavaria. The oldest of seven children, Joséphine spent the first years of her childhood in Milan, where the family lived [read more]