A Who’s Who Of The Royal Families Of Europe

Are you an unashamed fan of the British royal family? If you’re more fascinated by their ancient bloodline and plethora of traditions than their modern scandals and in-fighting, you might want to read up on some of the other royal families of Europe. Here’s our comprehensive guide to the remaining monarchies on the continent.

The Royal Families Of Europe: A Guide

How Many Royal Families Still Exist In Europe?

There are 12 European countries with a monarchy in Europe, including the Vatican and Andorra’s atypical systems.

Which European Countries Have Monarchies?

• Belgium
• Denmark
• Liechtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Monaco
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• Spain
• Sweden
• UK

Technically, the Vatican City is also a monarchy: an elective monarchy ruled by the pope. Likewise, the microstate of Andorra is ruled by the ‘Co-Princes of Andorra’, a system dating back to 1278, but not a monarchy in the terms we typically use. The Bishop of Urgell and the French head of state jointly rule the nation. At present, that is Joan-Enric Vives i Sicília and the French president Emmanuel Macron.

Are The Royal Families Of Europe Related?

Yes, as a result of intra-marriage, all of Europe’s reigning monarchs are related. Better still, since 1939 (when many of Europe’s monarchies were wiped out in WWII), all of Europe’s reigning hereditary monarchs have descended from a single common ancestor: John William Friso, Prince of Orange, who died in 1711.

Since Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022, however, a more recent common ancestor has come to light: Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, who died in 1790. This is because (if you can handle the weirdness) Charles III’s father Prince Philip was a descendant of Louis IX thanks to his royal Danish and Greek heritage, along with every other monarch in Europe.

Meanwhile, there are a couple of noble families that crop up in many European royal bloodlines, notably two German families: the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburgs and the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It’s well known that the Windsors (the British royals) go by a fabricated name: King George V changed the family name from the very German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the more British sounding Windsor in 1917, due to anti-German sentiment amid WWI.

Why Do Royal Families Marry Each Other?

The practice of royal intermarriage has been common for centuries, and is done to maintain power and protect the families’ dynasties. One throwback example is King Henry VIII’s marriage to the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon.

Which European Family Has The Oldest Bloodline?

The British monarchy has the oldest royal bloodline, with King Charles III able to trace his roots back nearly 1,200 years. The Norwegian monarchy can be traced back to 872 CE, but it hasn’t been one continuous bloodline. Meanwhile, Queen Margrethe II, who abdicated the Danish throne in 2024, has a heritage that can be traced back over 1,000 years to a king believed to have been born around the year 900 CE, according to Denmark’s official website.

Royal Family Of Belgium

The Belgian monarchy is currently headed by King Philippe, who has ruled since 2013 when his father, King Albert II, abdicated the throne. Born in 1960, Philippe has been married to Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz since 1999, and she is interestingly only the first Belgian queen who was born in the country.

The King and Queen share four children: two sons (Prince Gabriel and Prince Emmanuel) and two daughters (Princess Elisabeth and Princess Eléonore). The eldest, Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, is heir to the throne.

 

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The Belgian monarchy is comparatively young, having been established in 1831 when the country gained its independence from the Netherlands. That said, it’s a very similar system to the British royal family. The monarch has no direct power but is welcome to be consulted by ministers. Plus, like the British royals, the Belgian royal family ditched its German surname (also Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) amid anti-German sentiment in 1920; their new surname simply means ‘of Belgium’.

The monarchy is constitutional, meaning King Philippe exercises his authority in accordance with the constitution. Unlike the British monarchy and its plethora of varied titles, every member of the Belgian royal family is known as a Prince or Princess, excluding the King and Queen. It’s one of the least wealthy royal families of Europe, despite receiving an annual allowance of approximately £12.5 million in public funding.

Royal Family Of Denmark

King Frederik X is the current monarch in Denmark and head of the Danish royal family, ruling the nation since 2024 with his wife Queen Mary. Frederik’s mother, Queen Margrethe II, announced her abdication in her New Year’s Eve address to the nation on 31 December 2023, despite saying in 2016 that she would never abdicate.

Margrethe is the first Danish monarch to abdicate voluntarily since King Eric III in 1146. Before she abdicated, she stripped the children of her second son Prince Joachim of their princely titles in 2022 – Nikolai, Felix, Henrik and Athena – in order to slim down the family and liberate the children from the obligations associated with being royal. Despite this, they retain their position in the order of succession.

 

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Frederik and Mary share four children: Crown Prince Christian, his heir, along with Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine. It is Isabella who marked the occasion of her 18th birthday by breaking protocol and holding a smartphone in her royal portrait.

The Danish royal family is remarkably old, with heritage tracing back over 1,000 years to Viking kings. But at present, Frederik is actually Europe’s youngest monarch, aged 57 (trailed by King Felipe VI of Spain who is just a few months older, and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands who is one year older).

The family is publicly funded with approximately £14 million per year in tax-free cash.

Royal Family Of Liechtenstein

Hans-Adam II is the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein (notably not the ‘King’), and has been since 1989. Unlike many other royal families of Europe, the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein has a significant political role, also acting as Head of State, meaning he can appoint judges, dismiss ministers and members of government, and call referendums. That said, since 2004, Hans-Adam’s son Prince Alois has acted in this day-to-day governmental capacity in a regent style role, ostensibly to prepare Alois for his eventual reign as Prince of Liechtenstein.

The Monarchy of Liechtenstein is the only remaining European monarchy with an agnatic primogeniture system; this means that the first born son inherits the throne and, failing that, the monarch’s brother – never his daughter.

Hans-Adam has two sons and a daughter – Prince Alois, Prince Maximilian and Princess Tatjana – and another son who suddenly died in 2023, Prince Constantin. The monarchy dates back to Karl I, who lived from 1569–1627 and was the first Monarch of Liechtenstein.

Royal Family Of Luxembourg

The monarch in Luxembourg is known as the Grand Duke, with HRH Grand Duke Henri currently occupying the role. While the Grand Duke is the head of state, he has no role in government. That said, he is part of the cultural and social life of the nation, and Henri has held the role since 2000 along with his wife, Duchess Maria Teresa. The couple share four sons and one daughter: the heir apparent Guillaume, Prince Félix, Prince Louis, Princess Alexandra and Prince Sébastien.

During his Christmas address in 2024, Henri revealed he would abdicate the throne on 3 October 2025, meaning Guillaume will soon take on the role.

 

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The family receives approximately £16.9 million annually in public funding, but the public isn’t totally on-side, and there has been conflict over the blurring of public and private budgets. Worth approximately $4 billion USD, Grand Duke Henri is Europe’s wealthiest royal, but this comes from private sources:

For comparison, the world’s wealthiest royal is Rama X, King of Thailand, who is worth at least $30 billion. Britain’s King Charles III is reportedly worth around $750 million.

Royal Family Of Monaco

No, the House of Grimaldi wasn’t invented for Gossip Girl: it’s the real family making up the monarchy of Monaco. The monarch is known as the Prince of Monaco who acts as head of state with an active role in government and day-to-day politics.

The current Prince of Monaco is Albert II who has reigned since 2005, marrying wife Princess Charlene in 2011. In 2014, Charlene gave birth to twins: Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, the latter being Albert’s heir. Before that, Albert fathered two illegitimate children: Jazmin Grace Grimaldi to American waitress Tamara Jean Rotolo; and Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste to Air France flight attendant Nicole Coste.

Born out of wedlock, neither are in line to the Monegasque throne under the current constitution. Even if Albert did not father Gabriella and Jacques, the crown would have passed to one of his siblings, never an illegitimate child. Today, 33-year-old Jazmin is an actress, singer and human rights activist, while 22-year-old Alexandre grew up in London and is now a model and socialite of sorts.

 

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Just as the Grimaldi family is real, so is Blair’s fascination with it: after American actress Grace Kelly married into the family in 1956 (wedding the ruling Prince Rainier III), there has been a widespread interest in this European royal family in popular culture. Rainier died in 2005, when Albert II succeeded him, but Grace Kelly died much earlier in 1982 after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage and crashing her car.

Even if the dissolution of the male line means the family aren’t technically Grimaldis anymore, every reigning Prince has taken the name anyway.

 

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Royal Family Of The Netherlands

The Dutch Monarchy is another relatively young monarchy, established by King Willem I in 1815 when the northern and southern provinces were united. Even though the southern provinces proceeded to leave the Netherlands in 1830 (becoming the independent Kingdom of Belgium), the Dutch monarchy remained. Before King Willem I, the lands the Netherlands occupies had been ruled by members of the House of Orange-Nassau and the House of Nassau.

Today, Willem-Alexander is King of the Netherlands, ruling with his wife Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti since 2013. He is the first male monarch since his great-great-grandfather William III died in 1890: of William’s four children (three sons), only his daughter Wilhelmina survived her father. Queen Wilhelmina had only one child, a daughter named Juliana. Queen Juliana had four children, all daughters, including her successor Beatrix. Ending the trend, Queen Beatrix had three children, all sons, including Willem-Alexander.

 

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Willem-Alexander and Máxima share three daughters: heir apparent Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange; Princess Alexia of the Netherlands and Princess Ariane of the Netherlands. The King’s mother, Beatrix of the Netherlands, is still alive, having abdicated the throne in 2013.

The Dutch royal family is one of the wealthiest royal families Europe, assigned an annual stipend of around £44 million in tax-free public funding. While this has generated opposition, the nation’s Prime Minister Mark Rutte is on the royal family’s side, having rejected demands to scrap the exemption. That said, while the heir Princess Amalia was granted £1.5 million for 2023, she waived her right to it, saying accepting the money would make her feel ‘uncomfortable’ since she doesn’t yet incur high costs.

Royal Family Of Norway

The Monarchy of Norway dates back to the founding of the nation in 872 CE – when Harald Fairhair united the petty kingdoms – though it has not been one continuous bloodline. At present, King Harald V reigns over Norway, and he has since 1991 when his father Olav V died. He rules with his wife Sonja Haraldsen, with whom he shares two children: Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway. Harald made history when he wed Sonja, a ‘commoner’, and both of his children have gone on to do the same.

Since 1990, Norway’s monarchy has practiced absolute primogeniture, meaning the first born child of the monarch is the heir to the throne. But the change was not applied retroactively: Prince Haakon is the heir because he is the first born son, but Princess Märtha Louise is actually King Harald’s oldest child.

 

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Because of the change, however, Prince Haakon’s oldest child, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, is his heir – not his son Prince Sverre Magnus. When Ingrid accedes, she will be Norway’s second ever female monarch, after Queen Margaret in the 15th century.

While the Norwegian constitution grants an array of executive powers to the King, they are almost always left to the Council of State in the name of the King, and he does not generally have direct participation in government.

Find out more about the Norwegian royal family in our full guide, here.

Royal Family Of Spain

The Spanish sovereign doubles as the Head of State, the highest office in the country. It is a hereditary monarchy, and was reestablished in 1978 after the end of Franco’s dictatorship in 1977 and the restoration of democracy. Before that, the monarchy had its roots as far back as the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo founded after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE.

Today, King Filipe VI is Spain’s monarch, ascending the throne after his father King Juan Carlos I’s abdication in 2014. Juan Carlos I was appointed King by Franco and was expected to continue his legacy when he died. Instead Juan Carlos dismantled the Francoist regime and helped the nation transition back to democracy.

 

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King Felipe rules Spain with his wife Queen Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano. They share two daughters: Leonor, Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía. Because the Spanish monarchy still has a agnatic primogeniture system (with the first born son preferred for the throne), Leonor is the ‘heir presumptive’, meaning if her parents had another child and he was a boy he would instead become heir to the throne – though this doesn’t seem likely.

Royal Family Of Sweden

Dating back a millennia, the Swedish monarchy is perhaps one of the most popular monarchies on this list, gaining public favour thanks to its support of many prestigious academies and cultural institutions across the arts and sciences. The monarchy is constitutional and hereditary, and currently headed by Carl XVI Gustaf, who ascended the throne in 1973 aged 31 upon the death of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf. Born in 1946, Carl’s father Prince Gustaf Adolf died in a plane crash just nine months after his birth, meaning Carl was the Crown Prince and first in line to the throne from age four when his Grandfather ascended. Now 79, Carl is the nation’s longest reigning monarch in history.

 

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Carl married wife Silvia Sommerlath during his reign in 1976. Together, they share three children: Crown Princess Victoria (48), Prince Carl Philip (46) and Princess Madeleine (43). Sweden was the first monarchy to change its succession rules from eldest son to eldest child, passing the change in 1980 and applying it retrospectively, meaning Carl Philip was heir apparent for seven months before the title was given to his older sister, Victoria.

The family receives approximately £11.5 million in public funding every year, a reduced amount since the King stripped five of his grandchildren of their titles in 2019 to reduce the family’s costs.

Royal Family Of The UK

Europe’s most famous royal family has to be the British monarchy, currently headed by King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla. They ascended to the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, the longest reigning British monarch in history, second only to France’s Louis XIV in terms of the world.

Charles has two sons – William, Prince of Wales and Harry, Duke of Sussex – to his first wife Diana Spencer, who tragically died in 1997. A year earlier, Charles became the British monarchy’s very first divorced heir after he ended his marriage with Diana. It proves the British monarchy has moved with the times, however slight it seems: in 1936 King Edward VIII abdicated so he could wed two time American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Both King Charles and Queen Camilla are divorcees.

 

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No one has put an official number on the family’s public funding, but the Guardian puts it between £86 million and £127 million every year – more than twice the amount any other European monarchy is assigned. While it is beloved across the globe, the British monarchy is perhaps also the world’s most controversial monarchy because of this extortionate wealth.

That all said, the British Royals are endlessly fascinating – and you can stay up to date with all of their goings on on the C&TH royals hub.