Crown Princess Maxima spent her second officialy day in New York baptizing Holland’s newest tulip.
AP/Mary Altaffer
The tulip, which is of an orange color, was named the “Henry Hudson” after the explorer who discovered the river and bay that surrounds New York. His discovery led to the Dutch colonization of the area.
Maxima planted the tulip bulbs in a box in Battery Park, which was once the fort that surrounded New Amsterdam. She then poured water from a champagne glass after giving the flower its name.
The tulip will be officially and permanently listed in the International Register of Tulips of the Dutch Royal General Bulb Growers Association.
Also today, Maxima and her husband, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, gave a knighthood to a ship captain. The captain of the Halfmoon replica – the ship which Henry Hudson sailed in – William T. “Chip” Reynolds was honored with the medal of the Order of the Orange-Nassau at Manhattan’s Dutch Consulate. That makes Reynolds an honorary knight of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
The knighthood is given to those who are not citizens of Holland.
The Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, told reporters Tuesday that he is not concerned about his emirate being able to repay its $4.52 debt.
Reuters
“I assure you we are alright, the U.A.E. is alright, and we are not worried,” said the Sheikh, who is also the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai owes $1 billion in Islamic bonds which need to be paid in November. The emirate also must pay the state-owned real-estate developer Nakheel $3.52 billion Islamic bond in December. In addition, Dubai owes $80 billion it borrowed from various companies to build itself up.
The world economic crisis slowed many of Dubai’s plans. Currently, those development plans include a tower set to be the world’s tallest, plus artificial islands.
“The strategy is nearly the same,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “The U.A.E. is strong, it is like a plane facing headwinds. Now the headwinds are slowing down, so the plane will reach its destination more quickly.”
Wednesday, the Sheikh inaugurated the Persian Gulf’s first subway line. That project cost $7.6 billi0n.
Belgium is apparently fuming over Prince Laurent sending his daughter, Princess Louise, to a French school where the Dutch language is not taught. Belgium has had many years of rifts between its French speaking and Dutch speaking citizens, and this move by the son of King Albert II does not look to be a wise one.
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6 year-old Princess Louise goes to Lycee Francais, but before attended a private school in Tervuren. There, she was taught in French, and learned English, but not a word in Dutch.
“Another stupid and clumsy signal of the monarchy,” said Senator Pol Van Den Driessche.
Fellow Senator Luckas Vander Taelen deplores the decision: “They would later work for her money in and around Brussels and a lack of knowledge of Dutch is a serious handicap.”
In other words, Princess Louise may find it difficult to find work in Belgium’s capital if she is unable to speak Dutch.
The French speaking population is also confused and outraged by Princess Louise going to a French school. Some Wallonian newspapers have wondered aloud if a Belgian education not good enough for her.
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