03 « November « 2009 « Royalty in the News

Spanish Castle Reopened by Crown Princess Letizia

On Tuesday, Crown Princess Letizia made her first official visit to the Castille region of Spain. She was there to inaugurate the restored Zamora Castle.

Castillo Noticias

As she arrived, the Princess of Asturias stopped to say hello and shake hands with the large crowds that gathered to see her. Among the crowds were several groups dressed in local costumes.

Once on castle grounds, Letizia unveiled a plaque to commemorate the restoration of Zamora. It took four years and 7.6 million Euros to salvage the castle. In the process, archaelogical pieces from the Bronze Age were discovered, helping researchers better understand the development of Castille.

The Crown Princess was given a tour of the medieval fortress, which has breath-taking views of the area.

Dutch Royals Begin Mexican State Visit

There seems to be a lot of state and official visits in the world of royalty these days! Earlier Tuesday, Holland’s royals – Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Crown Princess Maxima – began their four day visit to Mexico. They arrived just before noon, local time, and were greeted by President Felipe Calderon and First Lady Margarita Zavala.

AP Photo/Claudio Cruz

A welcoming ceremony took place at Mexico’s National Palace. The Queen then had a private meeting with President Calderon.

After that came a wreath laying ceremony at the Child Heroes monument.

The royals then met had a meeting with Dutch business leaders looking to invest in Mexico. A visit to the Senate followed.

In the evening, there was a state banquet held in honor of the Dutch royals at the Chapultapec Castle, once the home of Emperor Maxmilian.

This state visit is to last until Friday, November 6th. I will keep you updated on the daily happenings of this trip.

Day Two for Danish Royals in Vietnam

Tuesday was the second official day for Denmark’s royalty in Vietnam. As the Regent couple and the Crown Princely couple worked on strengthening ties between the two nations, they got a taste of Vietnamese culture and how Denmark is helping the country to grow. Queen Margrethe & CP Mary

First, father and son team – Prince Henrik and Crown Prince Frederik – went to several business conferences in Hanoi. Those seminars focused were: Clean Tech Solutions, Marine Industry, Airport Products & Services, IT, and Meat Technology.

Meanwhile, just outside of Hanoi, Queen Margrethe II and her daughter-in-law Crown Princess Mary were at the Phomex/Anne Black Ceramics Factory. It was there that they got a glimpse of how Danish ceramicist Anne Black got her products made. When offered to try her hand at painting a cup, the Queen did hesitate to do so. She is an artist herself, having illustrated books and designed costumes for ballets over the years. Even Mary took a chance at some ceramic painting.

Later, both women went to the National Arts Museum to learn about cultural initiatives.

Danish Royals Vietnam 2 After a lunch attended by all four royals, there was an Art Street Festival in Hanoi for the Danish guests to check out. Although Prince Henrik wasn’t there, the rest of the royals had front row seats for the festival. More than 50 dancers, musicians and singers from both Vietnam and Denmark performed near Hoan Kiem Lake in central Hanoi. As one of the Danish performers explained, the point of the street festival is to make art accessible to passer-bys.

The Queen and her family met more Danes living and working in Vietnam at a reception at the National History Museum. Prince Henrik was there this time.

He was also in attendance for a return banquet in the evening, in which the Danish royals thanked their Vietnamese guests for welcoming them to their country.

The Prince Consort might be toning down his engagements for this trip as he has been doing all year. The 75 year-old Henrik has been giving some up of his royal duties so he could go into a sort of retirement.

Crown Princess Letizia Opens Technology and Childhood Conference

At Madrid’s San Pablo University yesterday, Crown Princess Letizia was on hand to inaugurate a European conference on the effects of technology on children.

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images Europe

The conference, which drew about 120 researchers from Spain and throughout Europe, questioned whether modern technology will or will not harm children’s development.

“Who will ultimately accompany the child in their growth in their overall development, are the parents, and are more concerned to find elements in new technologies that help people become responsible, intelligent, open, generous citizens solidarity and mature beings capable of putting yourself in the other,” Letizia said in her opening speech.

“Therefore, this seminar is of so much interest and has so much to offer, because the whole society, not just parents, are responsible for training these human beings who are the children,” stated the Crown Princess, who said how children “eagerly receive all that is broadcasted in the communication environments.”

The conference discussed the issue of children and technology in three steps: the first was how to protect young people from new technology, the second was how to deal with new technology and education. The last topic was about the review of regulations to protect children.

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