Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled King of the Belgians and serves as the country's head of state and commander-in-chief of the Belgian Armed Forces. There have been seven Belgian monarchs since independence in 1830.
Philippe is King of the Belgians. He is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the former’s abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1999, with whom he has four children. Their eldest child, Princess Elisabeth, is first in the line of succession.
Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este, is the second child and first daughter of King Albert II and Queen Paola, and the younger sister to the current Belgian monarch, King Philippe. She is married to Prince Lorenz of Belgium, head of the Austria-Este branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and is fifth in line of succession to the Belgian throne.
Mathilde is Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Philippe. She is the first native-born Belgian queen. She has founded and assisted charities to decrease poverty in the country.
The House of Habsburg-Este, also known as the House of Austria-Este and holder of the title of Archduke of Austria-Este, is a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and also descends from the House of Este in the cognatic line. It was created in 1771 with the marriage between Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine and Maria Beatrice d'Este, only daughter of the Duke of Modena, Ercole III d'Este. After the death of Ercole III in 1803, the Modena ruling branch of the Este family's male line ended, and the Habsburg-Este line subsequently inherited his possessions in what is now Italy.
Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Hereditary Archduke of Austria-Este is a grandson of King Albert II of Belgium, and thus a member of the Belgian royal family. He is also heir-apparent to the headship of the House of Austria-Este, a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and is sixth in line to the throne of Belgium.
Robert, Archduke of Austria-Este, was the second son of Karl I, (beatified) last Emperor of Austria-Hungary, and Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. He was also known as Robert Karl Erzherzog von Österreich.
Princess Anne of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Dowager Duchess of Calabria is the widow of Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria. She is the third daughter and fifth child of Henri, Count of Paris, Orléanist claimant to the defunct French throne, and his wife Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza.
Archduchess Mathilde Marie Adelgunde Alexandra of Austria was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine as the daughter of Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen. She was intended to become the Queen of Italy as the wife of King Umberto I, but her early death prevented the marriage.
Princess Maria Aloisia Josephine Consolata Immaculata Benedicta Theresia Antonia Johanna Carla Conrada Leonharda of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg was a Princess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg and a member of the House of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg by birth, and through her marriage to Archduke Joseph Árpád of Austria, an Archduchess of Austria.
The wedding of Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock took place on 1 and 2 July 2011 at the Prince's Palace of Monaco. The groom was the sovereign prince of the Principality of Monaco. The bride was a South African Olympic swimmer. A two-day public holiday for the celebrations was declared.
The wedding of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and Mary Donaldson took place on 14 May 2004 in the Copenhagen Cathedral.
The wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson was held on 23 July 1986, at Westminster Abbey in London, England.
The wedding of Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy took place on 19 and 20 October 2012. A civil ceremony was held on 19 October followed by a Roman Catholic wedding ceremony at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City the next day. The 2012 wedding marked the largest event for the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg and the country in years. More than 120 international media organisations requested accreditation for the event, including TV channels and newspapers from China, Morocco, Russia and the US. Guillaume was the last unmarried heir apparent of a monarchy in Europe prior to the wedding.
The wedding of Princess Alexandra of Kent and The Honourable Angus Ogilvy took place on Wednesday, 24 April 1963 at Westminster Abbey. Princess Alexandra was the only daughter and second child of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, while Ogilvy was the second son and fifth child of the 12th Earl of Airlie and Lady Alexandra Coke.
Olympia Bonaparte, Princess Napoléon, is the consort of Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon, the disputed head of the House of Bonaparte and, in the view of Bonapartists, the pretender to the abolished French imperial throne.
The wedding of King Baudouin of Belgium, and Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón took place on Thursday, 15 December 1960. The couple was married first in a civil ceremony held in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Brussels and then in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula.
The wedding of Constantine II, King of the Hellenes, and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark took place on Friday, 18 September 1964, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.
The wedding of Juan Carlos, Prince of Asturias, and Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark took place on Monday, 14 May 1962. The couple was married in three ceremonies: one according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, the groom's faith, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Dionysius the Areopagite; one according to the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church, the bride's faith, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens; and a third civil ceremony that was held upon their return to the Royal Palace. Don Juan Carlos was the eldest son of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, pretender to the Spanish throne, and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, while Princess Sofía was the eldest daughter of King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece. Juan Carlos and Sofía were king and queen of Spain from 1975 until his abdication in 2014.
The wedding of Infanta Elena of Spain and Don Jaime de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada, Lord of Tejada, took place on Saturday, 18 March 1995 at Seville Cathedral in Seville, Andalusia.
