European Royal Houses’ Origins
No ROYAL house in Europe, except those of Germany and Italy, originated in the country that it rules. The Guelphs in England came from Hanover, and earlier from Bavaria. The emperor of Russia, the king of Denmark, and the king of Greece have their origin in Holstein. The Hapsburgs are really Lorrainers, but the first Hapsburgs came from Switzerland. The king of the Belgians is from Saxe-Coburg, so is the king of Portugal; the queen of Holland from the middle Rhine. The king of Spain springs from the French Bourbons, and the king of Sweden from the French lawyer’s clerk Bernadotte. The king of Italy has lost his native Savoy to France, and the kaiser himself is an imported king of Prussia, as the Hohenzollerns came from Nürnberg, and earlier from Swabia.—New York Sun.