Most Famous Royal Family In Europe (Excluding British)?

[ff462]

the swedish royal family is quite famous in finland germany brazil, and here in malta we get a lot of news about them

Yep, especially with Queen Silvia in Germany as she comes from Germany. My German great-grandmother always said Silvia was Germany's queen too.

 

[Blog Real]

Here in Portugal the best known royal families are the Spanish Royal Family, the British Royal Family and the Princely Family of Monaco. The weddings of Felipe and Letizia, William and Catherine and Albert and Charlene were broadcast on Portuguese television. And Portuguese magazines publish many articles about these families.
The other royal families are almost unknown here in Portugal.

I would say that internationally the second most famous royal family is that of Monaco because of Princess Grace and Princess Caroline.
In third place I place the Royal Family of Spain.

 

[princeofitaly]

Probably depends on where you live.
I think the only worldwide popular is the British Royal Family.

In Italy and France, Spanish and Belgium are quite popular, also Monaco and Savoy dynasty.

In others country, expecially the Northern Europe only Danish, Swedish, Belgium and Spanish.

Liechtenstein, Netherlands Luxembourg and Japan are not popular in Italy.

For not reigning royal family only Savoy dynasty is very popular in Italy, quite Borbone of Two Sicily, Romanov and House of Habsburg and Bourbon of France, but more for the past than today.
In France for example only Bourbon of France and Savoy dynasty are popular for the not reigning houses.

Aga Khan dynasty are popular in the past in Italy, today not so much. Only the name Aga Khan is popular and also Rita Hayworth, but the actual members of the family are not popular in Italy.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Here in the Republic of Ireland the Windsors would be the most famous and the Princely Family of Monaco would be next given the Irish ancestry of the late Princess Grace.

The Spanish RF and monarchy would be known given the historic ties between Ireland and Spain over the centuries.

 

[stellam]

In Australia, it would have to be the British Royal Family followed by the Danish Royal Family. However, for some like me, the Danish royal Family will top my list.

 

[Mbruno]

Probably depends on where you live.
I think the only worldwide popular is the British Royal Family.

I agree that the British royal family is the only one that is known and covered worldwide.

Internationally, but not necessarily worldwide, the Spanish RF is probably the second most well-known European RF because they get coverage in Latin America, Portugal and Spain, which together must have more than 600 million people ( I would have to check the exact figure).

If we also consider non-European monarchies, I think the imperial family of Japan is also well-known internationally, mostly in Asia, and to a lesser extent in other continents.

 

[Friedrich Karl II]

Hard to say. World-wide within British royal family Spanish and Japanese ones are quiet famous. Perhaps Monasque royal family too.


People who even follow royals are usually focused to royals of neighboring country or royals who have important role on history of their nation. For Finland definitely beside British royals most famous and popular is Swedish royal family. Next ones probably are other Scandinavian royal families.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Internationally, but not necessarily worldwide, the Spanish RF is probably the second most well-known European RF because they get coverage in Latin America, Portugal and Spain, which together must have more than 600 million people ( I would have to check the exact figure).

Whilst the vast majority of the population in Latin America would be very aware of the historic links with Spain would they be aware that Spain is actually a kingdom?

 

[Somebody]

Don't know where to put it but this conversation between a British comedian and a Dutch comedian again proofs that the British one is much more well-known than the Dutch.

They're among other things cracking jokes about abdication.

 

[SLV]

Haha, nice discussions.

 

[Mbruno]

Whilst the vast majority of the population in Latin America would be very aware of the historic links with Spain would they be aware that Spain is actually a kingdom?

Yes, I think so.

1. The King of Spain is the Honorary President of the Organization of Ibero-American States (a type of Commonwealth for Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan-speaking countries) and attends all the annual Ibero-American Conferences of Heads of State and Government. That gets a lot of coverage in the Latin American press (remember for example when King Juan Carlos told Hugo Chávez to shut up in one of those summits?).
2. The Prince of Asturias and currently King Felipe VI (since Princess Leonor is a minor) attend all inaugurations of Latin American presidents. That also gets a lot of coverage.
3. The Queen consort makes regular "cooperation trips" to Latin America and is involved with many social projects there, which makes her a well-known figure.
4. Royal Spanish weddings are televised in Latin America and the gossip press covers the royals, Latin Americans also read the gossip press and gossip sites from Spain. With cable or satellite TV, they may also get news channels from Spain.
5. There are frequent state visits of Latin American presidents to Spain (wiith all the associated pomp like state dinners, orders, tiaras, etc.) and, conversely, the King and Queen of Spain frequently make state visits to Latin American republics.
6. There is a lot of immigration from Latin American republics into Spain, and some families have relatives living there. Wealthy Latin Americans also travel a lot to Spain as tourists just as US Americans frequently travel to the UK.
7. Generally speaking, cultural links between Spain and Latin America are very strong.

I would say that someone in the Spanish-speaking countries of America not knowing that there is a King in Spain would be almost like a US American not knowing that there is a Queen in England (note: US Americans still say incorrectly say "Queen of England" to refer to QEII).

In the United States, on the other hand, especially among the majority population who speaks only English (about 79 % of the population according to the latest Census), I agree that most probably are not aware that Spain is a kingdom. Puerto Rico (a US dependent territory) might be an exception, because it is a member of OIAS despite not being a sovereign country.

In Brazil, the Spanish royal family is not as well-known either, as Brazilians, rightly or wrongly, tend to see themselves as a distinct society from other Ibero-American countries, but I think that at least educated people are aware that Spain is a monarchy because they are familiar with the post-Franco era and the redemocratization of Spain. Brazilian presidents also pay state visits to Spain (at least Luís Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff did in the past 20 years). Wealthy Brazilians also visit Spain quite often and now there are also Brazilians living in Spain (though not that many).

I don't know about former Spanish colonies in other continents, e.g. the Philippines or Equatorial Guinea. The Philippines is not a member of OIAS, although it has observer status, but Equatorial Guinea is.

 

[Mbruno]

Yes, I think so.

[....]

I would say that someone in the Spanish-speaking countries of America not knowing that there is a King in Spain would be almost like a US American not knowing that there is a Queen in England [....]

It is worth noting that the constitution of Spain says that:

Article 56 [Head of State]
(1) The King is the Head of State, the symbol of its unity and permanence. He arbitrates and moderates the regular functioning of the institutions, assumes the highest representation of the Spanish State in international relations, especially with the nations of its historical community, and exercises the functions expressly attributed to him by the Constitution and the laws.

In other words, the King has a specific constitutional mandate to serve as the highest international representative of the Spanish State especially in those nations that were once part of the Spanish Empire. That is also why royal visits to Latin America and visits from Latin American presidents to Spain are so frequent. The Spanish posters here on TRF reminded us for example that Prince Felipe's first solo public event, when he was only 15, was actually in Colombia, not in Spain, which I found surprising (as I did not know that).