Royal families of Europe will flock to London to pay their respects to the late Queen at her funeral on Monday.
More than just a fellow monarch, the Queen is remembered as a beloved cousin, a “role model” and even “Aunt Lilibet” by European kings and queens whose family ties to the British royal family go back generations.
King Felipe VI of Spain, the monarch’s third cousin after his removal, was among the first to confirm that he and his wife Queen Letizia will attend the late monarch’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, twice removed the Queen’s fifth cousin, will also be in attendance with his wife, Queen Maxima.
More than just a foreign royal family, the Queen is remembered as a “role model”, a beloved cousins and “Aunt Lilibet” by the European royal family, who will be attending her funeral next week. Pictured: King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who will attend with his wife Maxima, right, is a distant cousin of the Queen
King Felipe VI of Spain, who will attend with his wife Queen Letizia, was the Queen’s third cousin after being removed by his father Juan Carlos, who is the grandchild of Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter
King Philippe of Belgium is related to the Queen as he is the descendant of Leopold I of Belgium who was the uncle of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria
It’s thought King Harald of Norway, the Queen’s great-nephew, will attend the ceremony, as will her distant cousin Margrethe II of Denmark, who adapted her own Jubilee celebrations last weekend as a mark of respect for the late Queen.
The late monarch was connected to these great European families through her ancestor Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother.
With 14 aunts and uncles, the Queen had 31 cousins alone, and many, many more second and third cousins.
King Felipe VI, whom the Queen called “Aunt Lilibet” when he paid her tribute on Friday, was once the monarch’s third cousin.
That’s because the Spanish royal father, King Juan Carlos, is the son of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, who was the son of Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria through her youngest child, Beatrice.
Meanwhile, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who was the first to respond to the Queen’s funeral, is the Queen’s fifth cousin ever removed thanks to an ancient connection in their family tree.
Willem-Alexander is a descendant of Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau, who was the daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange, and his wife Anne, Princess Royal.
The Queen is connected to Princess Carolina through her paternal grandmother, Queen Mary, wife of King George V, who was a descendant of her.
King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden is one of the European monarchs with the closest ties to the Queen.
He is a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria and was a third cousin of the late Monarch.
The Swedish king is the great-grandson of Queen Victoria’s son, Prince Arthur, and is also related on his mother’s side to Victoria’s eighth son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.
King Harald of Norway shared a similar bond with the Queen and was also her second cousin.
In the photo: the Queen in 2002 with Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, left, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, right. Back row: King Baudouin of Belgium, King Juan Carlos of Spain, King Harald of Norway, King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg. She was related to them all
King Carl VVI Gustav is a double great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria and was a third cousin of the late Monarch
King Harald of Norway was also related to the Queen and was also her second cousin. They shared the same great-grandparents, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra
Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander with the Queen, the King and the Queen Consort in 2018 at Buckingham Palace
They shared the same great-grandparents, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.
Due to the Victoria connection, it is also believed that the monarch was cousins of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Margrethe is descended from Queen Victoria and her third cousin Christian IX, meaning she was a distant cousin of the Queen.
She is also Carl XVI Gustav’s first cousin through Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Margaret of Connaught.
Margaret of Connaught was the daughter of Queen Victoria’s third son, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. She was also the great-aunt of Queen Margrethe and Carl Gustav.
The late Duke of Edinburgh with Queen Letizia of Spain, the Queen and King Felipe VI in London in 2017
Felipe Vi expressed his heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family on Friday 9 and called the Queen “Aunt Lilibet”
The Queen with Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Queen Margrethe II in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee of the monarch
Norway’s Queen and King Harald V met during his 2018 state visit to London
King Philippe of Belgium also had distant ties to the Queen through both Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert.
That’s because he is the great-great-great-grandson of Leopold I, the first king of Belgium, who was both Victoria’s and Albert’s uncle.
Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg is related to the British Royal Family through Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria.
Albert’s father Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the brother of Henri’s great-great-grandfather Leopold I.