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A low-key Islamic funeral took place at a Cairo mosque Tuesday, as relatives of Egypt’s last King buried his daughter, Princess Ferial. The Princess died on Sunday after a long bout with stomach cancer in Switzerland.
 AFP/Cris Bouroncle Attending the funeral was Ferial’s only surviving sibling, Ahmed Fouad. He is the last living child of King Farouk, who ruled Egypt from 1936 until a revolution overthrew him in 1952.
Also in attendance was Ferial’s daugher, Princess Yasmine, from her marriage to Jean-Pierre Perreten.
Born in Alexandria, the Princess was the eldest child of King Farouk and Queen Farida. She had two younger sisters, plus two half-brothers by her father’s second marriage to Queen Narriman.
Egypt’s last dynasty reigned for 150 years until a republic was established. Prince Fuad is the current claimant to the throne.
King Farouk was known for saying the King of England would be one of the last Kings around.
There’s another birthday being celebrated within Japan’s imperial family this week. Princess Aiko, the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako turned eight on Tuesday. The Imperial Household Agency released some photographs of the young Aiko with her parents.
In the pictures, the princess is practicing her kanji, or writing Chinese characters incorporated into Japanese writing.
Despite being the daughter of the Crown Princely couple, Aiko cannot inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne. After her father, her uncle, Prince Akishino, is next in line. After the Prince comes his son and the only male grandchild of the Emperor – Prince Hisahito, who is three years old.
 AP Photo/The Imperial Household Agency of Japan
 Terje Pedersen/ ANB December 1st is the day known as World AIDS DAY. It is when the world remembers those who are infected, or have died from the illness. Among those who stopped to commemorate were two European Princesses who have dedicated their time to the cause.
The first was Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. A special representative of UNAIDS, she spent the day at Romsas Frivillighetssentral in Oslo, where the Princess met with the 40 volunteers helping out at the center. Earlier, she posted a statement on the Norwegian Royal House’s website about the importance of young people getting involved in helping those who are HIV-positive.
“To stop AIDS, youth-led action must be facilitated,” the statement goes. “We need the engagement of youth to move forward in the response. There are several reasons for that: We cannot afford to lose the focus on AIDS now when we have come so far. Over the last six years, the number of people who have access to treatment in low income countries has increased from 400 000 to 4 million. We need renewed engagement to keep up the good efforts.”
Also doing her part on World AIDS Day was Monaco’s Princess Stephanie. As president of Fight AIDS Monaco, Stephanie attended an auction at the Sea Club Meridien hotel. There, she participated in an auction charity sale to raise money for her foundation. One of the items auctioned was a photo of her mother, the late Princess Grace, in the film To Catch A Thief.
Speaking at a summit marking the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty in Washington yesterday, Prince Albert II of Monaco told those in attendance that climate change and its effects on the planet are the truth.
 Kris Connor/Getty Images North America “It is happening and it is happening on a global scale,” he said in a speech. “I have been out in the field myself, and I can assure you there are signs already out there of the effects of climate change.”
The Prince referred to was a trip to the North Pole three years ago. He toured the same spots his ancestor, Prince Albert I, visited in 1906. The first Prince Albert took photographs of Norwegian glaciers, and according to his descendant, there was a noticeable difference between the pictures and what he saw when he went to those same glaciers in 2006, which had retreated some four miles.
The Monagesque Prince also touched on skeptics of climate change. “On every subject of scientific nature there is some controversy. There can be opposing arguments or opposing theories,” he said. “[But] challenging this data means agreeing to the sacrifice of future generations for our selfish comfort.”
After speaking at the summit, Prince Albert went to the National Press Club where he gave a similar speech. He is expected to be present for the U.N. summit on climate change in Copenhagen next week.
Sweden’s Crown Princess spent Monday in her favorite city in the world, Paris. She was there to attend a events related to Swedish Day, which is linked to Sweden’s current status as president of the European Union.
 Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe The first thing on Victoria’s agenda was a seminar organized by Swedish business institutions about do work with French companies.
The second event was for her to light not one, but two Christmas trees located in front of the Hotel de Ville, or Paris’ City Hall. The trees were given to Paris by Sweden, so it made sense for its future Queen light them. During the ceremony, a choir of girls sang songs. One of them dressed as Sweden’s St. Lucia.
In the evening, Victoria went glam for a Franco-Swedish Gala organized by Swedish Trade Council and Paris City Hall at Le Petit Palais. She wore a short black dress with black tights and shoes, and her hair tied in tight bun. During the event, Victoria gave the Prix d’Excellence and Prix PME to Swedish companies that were a success in France.
According to Svensk Damtidning magazine, the Parisian trip was the first engagement for Victoria since spending a few days skiing with her fiancee Daniel Westling in the Swiss Alps.
The Danish Defense Ministry announced Tuesday that Crown Princess Mary is back from a secret two-day visit to Afghanistan. She made the visit to Danish troops on Sunday and Monday. 
Upon her arrival in the war-torn country, Mary went to Helmand province where she toured Denmark’s bases of Camp Bastion, Armadillo and Price. She was accompanied by Defense Minister Soeren Gade and speaker of Parliament Thor Pedersen.
Mary also met with the mayor of the local town of Gereshk.
After spending the night in Helmand Province, the Crown Princess then went to Kandahar to visit an American field hospital where Danish personnel are also working.
Mary’s visit follows in the same path as her husband, Crown Prince Frederik. He made a secret trip to Afghanistan last year.
About 750 Danish troops are part of the NATO coalition in the country. It has lost 28 soldiers since late 2001, and that means Denmark is suffering the worst losses of the coalition due to its population of 5.5 million people.
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