To kick start the new season of posting, I give you the
Monarchs of Western Europe. I've not included the Belgian and Luxembourgish monarchs as there are no differences there to OTL.
King Henri VII is the current reigning monarch of the French people, the sixth since the restoration of the French monarchy in 1871. Henri reigns as king in the sovereign states of France and Wehran, both part of the European Union, as well as being the Co-Prince of the small nation of Andorra, located in the Pyrenees.
Born in 1933, the second child and eldest son of Henri, Dauphin of France, then heir to the throne to his grandfather Jean III, Henri spent his formative years at the various royal residences in and around Paris. With the outbreak of the Second World War in late 1939, and the defeat of French forces in the subsequent Battle of France in early 1940, Henri, his siblings and parents were relocated first to Bordeaux and then evacuated by a British destroyer to London. The sudden death of his grandfather less than two months after the surrender of France led to his father ascending to the throne as King, and Henri inheriting the title of Dauphin of France. Whilst the new King remained in London as head of the Free French government-in-exile, the French royal family would spent the majority of the war in Quebec, as guests of the Quebecois princely family.
Upon the Liberation of France in 1944, Henri and his family returned to Paris to much celebration and the Dauphin would resume his education in preparation for his future role as king. Henri's marriage to Duchess Marie-Thérèse of Württemberg in 1957 would solidify the French line of succession, and popular support for the monarchy was at an all time high, even as the French colonial empire began to disintegrate with the independence of Nigeria. Henri and Marie-Thérèse would have five children, but would eventually separate in 1977 before legally divorcing in 1984. This caused a scandal amongst the still prominent Catholic community of France, and for a time seemed to threaten the institution of monarchy itself. Henri would marry Micaela Cousiño Quiñones de León that same year.
Upon the death of his father in 1999, Henri ascended to the thrones of France, Wehran and Andorra as King and Co-Prince. Henri's reign has seen the French continue to lead the development and integration of the European Union, with the introduction of the Euro and the continued strengthening of the Union itself. Henri and the French royal family have come under a great deal of scrutiny in recent years, with a rise in republican sentiment across the country.
King Felipe VI is the current King of Spain and Santo Domingo, the third to reign in Spain since the restoration of the monarchy in 1955, and the sixth monarch of Santo Domingo since Queen Isabel II relocated the Spanish court to the West Indies in 1868.
Felipe was born in Madrid in 1968, the first male-line member of the House of Bourbon to be born in Spain since his great-great-grandfather Alfonso XII in 1857. As the only son of Juan Carlos, Prince of Asturias and Princess Sofía of Greece, Felipe was from birth the second in line to the Spanish and Dominican thrones under male-preference primogeniture, displacing his two older sisters. Upon the abdication of his grandfather, Juan Carlos I, from the throne in 1977 and the accession of his father as King Juan Carlos II, Felipe was formally created Prince of Asturias.
After completing his education in Canada, Madrid and at the University of Fredericksburg, Felipe undertook a period of military service, the first member of the Spanish royal family to serve in the modern armed forces. He also undertook many public duties in Santo Domingo, representing his father in the country and throughout Latin America. In 2004 Felipe would marry Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, an award-winning television journalist who had been married previously, with whom he has two daughters. Their wedding was attended by representatives of royal families from all over the world, and most heads of states of Latin America.
Upon his father's abdication in 2014, Felipe ascended to the Spanish and Dominican thrones. His reign has seen a continuation of the ceremonial and representative monarchy established by his father, although on paper the Spanish monarch retains fairly substantial reserve powers these are rarely used. Felipe's role as monarch is seen as more tenuous that in the time of his father, as republican sentiment grows in Spain, although the king's decision to cut his salary due to the recession and to improve ties with LGBT organisations has boosted popular support.
King Willem IV is the current King of the Netherlands and West Papua, the seventh Dutch monarch since the establishment of the monarchy in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars. Willem is the first male monarch of West Papua and the first of the Netherlands since the death of his great-great-grandfather Willem III in 1890.
Born in 1967, the eldest child of Princess Beatrix, heiress to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and her husband Claus von Amsberg. He was the first male Dutch royal baby since the birth of Prince Alexander in 1851, and the first immediate male heir since Alexander's death in 1884. Upon the abdication of his grandmother in 1980, and the accession of his mother as Queen of the Netherlands and West Papua, Willem received the title of Prince of Orange as the heir apparent to the Dutch thrones.
Willem attended public primary and secondary schools, and went on to serve in the Royal Netherlands Navy and study history at Leiden University. In 2002 he married Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, an Argentine woman of Basque, Portuguese and Italian ancestry who worked as an investment banker in New York, and whose father had served in the Argentine government. The couple have three daughters; Catharina-Amalia, Alexia and Ariane. Willem has a keen interest in sports, and has been a patron of the Dutch Olympic Committee and a member of the International Olympic Committee. In 2013, his mother announced her intention to abdicate the throne, and on 30 April 2013, Willem was inaugurated as king.
Queen Joana II is the sixth, and current, monarch of Catalonia and head of the House of Cardona-Aragon, which has reigned as heads of state of Catalonia since the country's independence from Spain in 1865.
Joana was born in 1937, the eldest child of Alfons, Prince of Girona and his wife Princess Ekaterini of Greece, during the reign of her grandfather Carles V. Due to the Catalan throne passing according to salic law at the time, Joana was not in the line of succession and was not expected to become monarch. Her early life was spent in the capital Zaragoza, as tensions in Europe continued to increase and led to the outbreak of the Second World War. Joana and her family were evacuated by the British Royal Navy in 1941 when Axis-aligned Spanish forces invaded and occupied the country, and Joana would spend the rest of the war in exile in Florida.
Following the liberation of Catalonia in 1945, Joana and her family returned to the country after four years of exile. Joana was educated privately in Barcelona, and spent a year at a girls boarding school in England before studying art history at Valcour College, New York. Upon the death of her grandfather in 1959, Joana's father ascended to the throne as King Alfons VIII and began the process of changing the constitution to allow female succession, a process complete in 1964. During a visit in Madrid in 1962, Joana met Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, heir to the defunct Duchy of Parma, her marriage to a foreign dynast was complicated but ultimately approved by her father. The pair were married in 1964 and have four children.
Upon the death of her father in 1977, Joana ascended to the throne as Catalonia's first Queen regnant in its history. Her reign has seen Catalonia join the European Economic Community, as well a pursuing closer integration with its European and Iberian neighbours. The country has experience rapid economic growth, with the emergence of a diverse and multicultural society where support for the monarchy remains generally high. The death of her husband in 2010 saw a low point in her reign, and Joana has reduced her public appearances in recent years in favour of her children.
King João VIII is the current reigning monarch of the sovereign states of Portugal and East Sunda.
Born in 1970 during the reign of his grandfather Carlos II, João was from birth the third in line to the Portuguese throne after his uncle and father. His formative years were spent in Lisbon with his family, as the Portuguese colonial empire began to dissolve with the independence of Mozambique, Guinea and East Sunda in the 1970s. The death of his grandfather in 1974 and the accession of his uncle as King João VII place the young Infante as second in line, and the continued childless marriage of his uncle meant it was increasingly likely that he would ascend to the throne.
Educated at public schools in Lisbon, João was granted the title of Prince Royal and heir apparent at the age of 18 upon the sudden death of his uncle and his father's accession to the throne as King José II. As heir apparent, João performed numerous duties across country and attended university in Paris and Brussels. In 2001 he would marry Amália Salgado de Freitas, a school teacher from Porto who he had met at university in Brussels, with whom he has three children.
His father's death in 2002 after a prolonged illness led to the young prince's accession to the throne as king of Portugal and East Sunda. João's reign has seen both his realms increased integration with their respective regional organisations, as well as reform to the succession laws allowing his eldest child to succeed to the throne ahead of her younger brothers. His reign has also seen the legalisation of same-sex marriage and the country is one of the most developed and progressive in the world.