"To be or not to be" Thursday (Imperial and Royal Families 4 The House of Romanov)

Currently there are no countries that are active Empires but two accepted Imperial Dynasties in pretense in Europa. Today we will discuss the Imperial House of Romanov that claims the throne of the former Empire of Ruskiana, ousted in the Great War around 100 years ago. 

The Imperial Crest of the House of Romanov that ruled over Ruskiana for just over 300 years is pictured above.

At its apex this Imperial Dynasty was the wealthiest, most prestigious and most influential in the world. Not withstanding the very large family was also dynastically linked to all the others in Europa through marriage. The irony is that very few members of this most illustrious dynasty are left today  as almost all were killed in the revolution that followed the Great War.

The head of this Imperial Family and pretender to the Ruskian throne is Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna Romanov. Her family who lived in exile in the Empire of Scot-Britania were almost all  murdered during the 96 Revolution. Earmarked as foreign freeloaders they were earmarked by revolutionaries but fortunately the Grand Duchess and her young sister escaped. Her great grandfather was the last true Emperor or rather Tzar of Ruskiana. Grand Duchess Xenia remains unmarried. 

Grand Duchess Xenia has a sister with whom she used to be very close. However a dispute over her sister marrying outside of the House Laws of Succession led to them becoming estranged. Grand Duchess Alexandra was last seen officially at a Royal event in 2009. representing her family at the wedding of Infanta Isabella of Hispania. Grand Duchess Alexandra is purportedly living in South Americania. 

Grand Duchess Xenia's mother is the sister of the current Grand Duke of Hanoveria's father and as such he and his sisters, Queen Maxima and Princess Kirsten Youssopoff  are her first cousins. This does not make the Hanoverians part of the Romanov Dynasty however. A twist of marriage however did make Princess Kirsten an extended member. The photo above shows the Grand Duke of Hanoveria in the center standing in between his mother in green and his wife. Queen Maxima is in dark pink next to her husband King Nikolas of Syldavia. In light pink is Princess Kirsten next to her husband Prince Felix Youssopoff.

Princess Kirsten is married to Prince Felix Youssoupoff . He is an extended member of the Romanov Family. The Prince is the second cousin in the Romanov line to Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna due to his grandmother being the sister of the Grand Duchess' father. There are no other close relations in the current dynasty of the Romanov Imperial Family. 

"To be or not to be" Thursday (Imperial and Royal Families 4 The House of Hanoveria)

It has been many months since we had an installment discussing  the Dynastic Houses of Europa. Today we will deal with the ruling Grand Ducal House of Hanoveria. This Dynastic House, albeit referred to as Grand Ducal by virtue of the title of the head of the house, is strictly speaking a Royal House on par with others in Europa. This Royal House also shares the name of the country it reigns over as the original rulers took the name of the region as their own.

The current head of the dynasty is His Royal Highness Grand Duke George III of Hanoveria. In this State portrait we see the Royal Crest and Crown of the Dynastic House of Hanoveria that has ruled over the regions known as Hanoveria for hundreds of years. 

The Grand Duke, at left is a first cousin of the Crown Prince Imperial and the Duke of Swann at right. This relation comes through his mother, a Princess of Scotney and sister of Empress Crystobel and Duchess Elizabeth of Swann. As such these cousins do not share in being of the Hanoverian Dynasty, but are as close as brothers.

The Grand Duke's paternal aunt married into the Ruskian Imperial Family in pretense and as such the current pretender to the Imperial Throne of Ruskiana, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, is a member of the House of Hanoveria.

This photo shows the Grand Duke with his mother at right and his wife at left dressed in gold. The current Grand Duchess of Hanoveria is the sister of the Baron D'Rothchild and brings Franconian Royal blood into the House of Hanoveria.

Here we see the entire current Royal Family of the House of Hanoveria and their spouses, from left King Nikolas III of Syldavia who is married to Queen Maxima nee Princess of Hanoveria, the Dowager Grand Duchess of Hanoveria, mother of the current Grand Duke, The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hanoveria, Princess Kirsten Youssopoff, nee Princess of Hanoveria and wife of Prince Felix Youssopoff.

"To be or not to be" Thursday (Imperial and Royal Families 3 The House of D' Pont Du Lac)

The Royal Dynasty that used to rule over the Kingdom of Franconia was the Royal House of Bourbon-Bourbon. However with the fall of the monarchy after the domestic revolution within Franconia that line technically ended. However a direct descendant still lives today as the head of what has become known as the House of D'Pont Du Lac. One of the younger sons of the last King of Franconia survived the revolution. He had the title, Prince D'Pont du Lac and his descendants claim the pretense to the Franconian throne whilst still retaining the D'Pont Du Lac Princely title by courtesy.

The Royal Crest of Franconia is claimed in pretense by the House of D'Pont Du Lac but strictly speaking is invalid. However because the is no Kingdom of Franconia per sé anymore, there is nobody to contest their claim.

The current head of the House of D'Pont Du Lac is Prince Louis III seen on the far left in the picture. In the center we have his younger brother, Prince Valmont and their sister Princess Antoinette. 

Seen in the center, here at the 2013 wedding of Prince Valmont to the Duchess of Roswind we see Princess Antoinette accompanying her brother Prince Louis.  

The Duchess of Roswind's wedding was the highest profile wedding in 20013 due to the couple's high status within Royal circles. 

His Highness Prince Louis III, Prince D'Pont Du Lac and Duke D'Chartres is seen above wearing traditional Franconian Court Dress. The "Royal" is omitted from the the style Highness due to the fact that D'Pont D'Lacs  derive their title from a disenfranchised Prince of Franconia. As such cannot claim the title Prince of Franconia which would afford them the full style of Royal Highness. 

The Dowager Baroness D'Rothchild is the sister of Prince Louis' farther and also a Princess D'Pont' Du Lac by birth. She was responsible for the sale of many of the remaining great historical pieces of Princely Jewellery. Through her the ruling House of Hanoveria will be a branch of the House D'Pont Du Lac due to her daughter having married the current Grand Duke of Hanoveria. Her youngest sister married into the D'Bacquemme Family making the current Marquis D'Bacquemme her nephew and that family another extended branch of the Franconian Royal line.  

"To be or not to be" Thursday (Imperial and Royal Families 2 The House of Castelano y Alba)

Today we continue our series on the Imperial and Royal Dynastic Houses, presenting the Royal House of Castelano y Alba, ruling dynasty of  the Kingdom of Hispania.

The Crest of the Royal House of Hispania.

The House of Castelano has ruled over Hispania for many generations but in the mid 20th Century a Queen ascended to the throne. Queen Isabella II was only the second female to ever rule in her own right over the ancient kingdom. Upon her marriage to the Duke of Alba, the Royal House was renamed Castelano y Alba and it has been the official dynastic designation ever since. The current ruler, also a Queen, has not included her husband's name into the dynastic name since he is not the head of a Noble House. It is however declared that their descendants who are not in direct line of descent may use the surname Castelano y Alba y Rextondo in recognistion of his family name. The members of the Hispanian Royal House include the following:

Her Majesty Queen Maria of Hispania is the head of the Castelano y Alba Dynasty. She is married to Don Giuseppe De Rextondo but due to dynastic houses taking precedence over non-dynasts his name will not be carried by his daughter. Don Rextondo has no official role or Royal title and does not represent the Royal House in public. He greatly values his privacy and prefers to just be the Queens husband in privacy.

Her Royal Highness the Princess of Cataljone, daughter of the Queen and heir to the Hispanian throne.

The Queen's mother the Dowager Princess of Cataljone. She has entirely retired from appearing in public and official events.

The sister of Queen Maria, Infanta Isabella Duchess of Toledo. 

The current King of Syldavia and his siblings are cousins of the Queen of Hispania. The Queen's father was the elder brother of the Countess Von Bismarck, mother of King Nikolas. As such the Noble House Von Bismarck is strictly speaking part of the Royal House of Castelano Y Alba.

Our analysis only includes children, siblings, grandchildren and cousins within the dynasty. As such for the discussion on  the extended Royal House of Castelanno y Alba we could have included all the members of the previously discussed Aldarian-Stewart line as they are all descended from the Hispanic Prince who married Queen Crystobel I of Scotney.

"To be or not to be" Thursday (Imperial and Royal Families 1 The House of Aldarian)

For the next few installments on a Thursday we will list, for your understanding, the various Royal Houses and their closest members up to the level of parents, cousins and grand children of the respective dynastic heads. See if you can make sense of it and all the various characters who's stories are on this blog. 

The Royal and Imperial House of Aldarian is the Dynasty in pretense to the Imperial throne of Scot Britania and the separate Royal thrones of Scotney and Britania. The current members of the Family in order of descent is as follows. 

The Imperial Crest of the House of Aldarian.

The head of this dynasty and pretender to the throne of the Empire is His Imperial Highness Prince Christian-Victor, the Crown Prince Imperial of the United Empire of Scot-Britania. He is the son of the last Empress who was assassinated in July 2013 after having been invited out of exile to tour the now Democratic Republic of Britannia. He may claim the title of Emperor only if the monarchy is restored but the current tensions allows for the topic to not even be mentioned. The Prince is married to Odeliah Sorgenfrei who hold the title of Crown Princess Imperial by marriage. 

The only other direct member of the Britanian Royal line of Aldarian is the Crown Prince Imperial's Aunt, Princess Augusta of the United Empire of Scot Britania. She is the sister of the Prince's father who was King of Britania and the first Emperor and co-Regent of the United Empire. She never married and has no issue. 

Due to the 96 Revolution, many dynastic houses have been reduced to almost nothing but due to some pre-revolution marriages many houses that survived have also been linked and is now very evident among their diminished members. With the foundation of the United Empire of Scot-Britania, the Royal House of Aldarian was linked by marriage to the Royal House of Stewart that ruled Scotney. As such the members of the Royal House of Stewart were declared part of the extended Imperial House of Aldarian and may, if not members of their own dynasty use the name Stewart-Aldarian.

The current Duke of Swann and his sister Princess Marie-Elizabeth, cousins of  the Crown Prince Imperial, fall under the Imperial, Stewart-Aldarian line due to their mother being a sister of the last Queen of Scotney who married the King of Britania and became Empress Crytobel I and co-Regent of the United Empire. They do however preeminently belong to the Dynastic House of Swann. 

Princess Beatrice, the youngest sister of Empress Crystobel narried the Grand Duke of Hanoveria and is thus the mother of the current Grand Duke who thus is also a cousin of the Crown Prince Imperial. He and his two sisters also fall under the Imperial, Stewart-Aldarian line but preeminently are members of the Dynastic House of Luneburg-Hanover. It goes further now that Princess Maxima, the Grand Duke's sister, has married the head of the Electorate House Von Bismarck. Princess Kirsten, the youngest Hanoverian sibling, has married the Head of the Princely House of Youssopoff.

From left; King Nikolas III of Syldavia and  Head of the Electorate House Von Bismarck with his wife Queen Maxima. Princess Beatrice, the Dowager Grand Duchess of Hanoveria. The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hanoveria. Princess Kirsten Youssopoff and the Prince Youssopoff. 

There are more extended members of the House of Aldarian but we will cease at the cousin level as second cousins, great grand children etc will end with us mentioning the whole planet. It is a nice thought though to consider that everybody in some way or another may have Royal blood in their veins to some degree. We hope that this and the next few Thursday post will assist our fans in seeing the broad spectrum of Royals in context to the story as a whole.