Castleholics Anonymous with Sophie of All Things Royal

Here at Castleholic, Sunday is for Castleholics Anonymous. Today with Sophie of All Things Royal, the Dutch-language website and forum. However, do not fear, her castle travels also have English summaries at the bottom. Check out her posts on Windsor Castle and Château de Versailles for example.

The gardens of Versailles
(Photo: All Things Royal)
Imagine you could live in any castle or palace in this world for a week, which one you chose and why?
That would be Versailles. You would find me in the garden in spring and summer. It's wonderful!

Buckingham Palace, Château de Versailles, Schloss Neuschwanstein – there are all these famous royal homes everyone knows. Can you recommend a few places off the beaten track?
Myself not so much, but my parents did some castle - sightseeing in the UK and they have always been enthusiastic about Arundel Castle, Penshurst Place (or castle) and Powerdham Castle.

What does a castle or palace needs to have to land on your list of favourite castle or palace? Are there any specific features or were they all build in the same era, for example?
I like beautiful gardens (though I don't have green fingers myself) and splendour on the inside. That I can imagine the balls and glitter and glamour of days gone by. I liked the interior of Windsor Castle, which is later Georgian taste. The grandeur of Versailles very much appeals to me, that would be Baroque I guess? The medieval style of Hampton Court is not my favourite. The interior of the Loo palace is Baroque too, I believe, and that appealed to me as well.

Windsor Castle (Photo: All Things Royal)
As the Dutchwoman you are, can you tell us which is your favourite Dutch castle or palace and why?
My favourite Dutch palace is the Loo Palace. Because they did a very neat job of showing the style and influences of the people who lived there.

Looking ahead to the future, do you have any plans for castles to visit this year? And which are the most prominent royal sights on your bucket list?
Oh my, do I have plans! I want to visit Neuschwanstein, the Hofburg and Schönbrunn, Arundel Castle, Hever Castle, Highclere Castle, Braemar Castle, Castle d'Amboise, the palaces in Berlin/Potsdam. And I also want to do a road trip through the Loire valley and through Germany.

Come back next week when we'll head to lesser known royal places 
in South-Eastern Europe with Marlene of Royal Musings.

Currently popular posts...

Why You Shouldn't Bother Watching "Sisi", the New TV Series By RTL

Image
Hi there! I watched a series today that was so bad it made be write the first blog post in one and a half years. Will I write more again in the future? I don't know, I guess we'll see. In the meantime, follow all my latest castle adventures over on Instagram . See you there! Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the immortal Sisi, has inspired the imagination of the people for more than a century now. Her life, her love, her tragedies, her death. Adored, free spirited and one of the original royal IT girls. A face that could launch a thousands ships, well, bring peace to two feuding nations by simply being her charming self. A woman that, 120 years after her death, can still draw crowds and be the foundation stone of what seems like half the tourist industry of several regions. (Okay, that might have been slightly exaggerated but have you ever been to Vienna and seen the souvenir shops?) So it's not too surprising that time and time again, cinema and TV productions have tried to ca...
Read more

CastleTalk: The Curious Case of the Thurn und Taxis Inheritance

Image
The death of Richard Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg earlier this week saw a surge in interest in my take on the (in)famous will of inheritance looming over the family . One point about the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg inheritance that many seem to find especially curious is the fact that the late Prince Richard never actually owned his family's fortune but that it was instead passed from his father - who went missing during World War 2 - to a yet unborn grandson - who was born in 1969 - (or anyone else, really, who would inherit after Prince Richard). The German nobility, however, isn't short of interesting inheritance constructions - case in point: The Thurn und Taxis inheritance. Princess Gloria and Prince Johannes of Thurn und Taxis The Thurn und Taxis family isn't just famous for their fabulous wealth, estimated at around $ 2.5 billion today - even though Princess Gloria of Thurn und Taxis says it less than a billion - but also for their lifestyle to go a...
Read more

The "Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds" or How the Bavarians Probably Got the Best Deal When the Monarchy Ended

Image
The Great Hall of Schloss Nymphenburg They came to power during the 12th century in the days of Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa - and on November 7, 1918, their head of the family was the first German King forced to abdicate. But in the end, the former Royal Family of Bavaria may just have gotten the best deals of all the formerly reigning families in Germany. You see, the German nobility is full of curious inheritance cases like the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg's or the Thurn und Taxis' . In addition to these internal family matters, there are also some interesting constructions between former German reigning family and the German state - or one of its federal states. Case in point: The  Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds . It was established as a public foundation in 1923 within the framework of the apportionment of assets and liabilities between the Free State of Bavaria and their former royal family, the Wittelsbachs. Five years prior, in 1918, the monarchi...
Read more