The King of the Belgians has opened apartment spaces to give shelter to two homeless families during the cold winter. The apartments are owned by the Royal Trust, a set of properties made available by the sovereign state near the royal castle in Ciergnon Ardennes.
While King Albert II and the rest of the royal family do not own these apartments, but they are part of the royal palaces.
“This is truly the will of the King and the royal family to this provision. I emphasize this strong positive step in the right direction,” said Secretary of State, Philippe Courard.
Belgium has been experiencing bitter cold temperatures and snowy weather as of late. There have been reports of families who have applied for political asylum found themselves staying in train stations to keep warm.
Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein called off a much anticipated art exhibit at London’s Royal Academy of Arts Thursday, due to a row over a painting taken hold of in Britain.
FILE
The Spanish Renaissance artwork at the center of this dispute, “The Infante Don Diego” by Sanchez Coello, was purchased by the Prince in 2006, but due to the British customs, it has been impounded since 2007. Because this problem has not yet been resolved, Hans Adam pulled out of the exhibition which would have shown pieces of art owned by Liechtenstein’s ruling family.
“After many months of planning… we are, of course, very disappointed that the Prince of Liechtenstein has decided to cancel the exhibition,” said the Royal Academy in a statement.
“This is owing to an unrelated criminal inquiry into the export of a group of pictures bought in London by the Prince over three years ago.”
The exhibition was supposed to run from September to December of 2010. The Royal Academy was looking forward to the event, and had hoped for a major success.
“The Prince does not think it is appropriate to proceed with the planned exhibition until the matter of a painting by Sanchez Coello is resolved,” said Johann Kraeftner, director of the Prince of Liechtenstein collections.
“When that happens we will reconsider the idea of a show at the Royal Academy at some future date,” he added.
Today, Spain’s royal family officially released their annual Christmas cards. This year, as every year, those cards include pictures of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia’s grandchildren – the children of Infanta Elena, Infanta Cristina and Crown Prince Felipe.
Infanta Elena’s two children – Felipe and Victoria – posed for their picture during what looks like the summertime. Both are wearing short sleeved t-shirts and are outdoors. Using summer photos seem to be a theme for Elena. Last year, her children’s Christmas picture had them on a yacht in bathing suits.
Next is Infanta Cristina’s four children: Miguel, Pablo, Juan and Irene. All three boys seem to be up to mischief as they flash wicked grins. Some of their sneakers are noticably untied, so perhaps they were up to something at the time of the photograph! Cristina’s youngest child, Irene, appears to be well protected by her older brothers. Like her sister Elena, Cristina chose a summertime picture. It is unknown if it was taken in Spain or in Washington, DC, where Cristina and her family relocated to over the summer.
Last but not least is the family photo of the Crown Princely couple. Felipe and Letizia posed happily with their two daughters, Leonor and Sofia, who are growing up to be very pretty young girls. Last year, Leonor looked so much like her cousin, Irene. But this year, the little princess appears to be much more different. Sofia’s hair has grown out, and is looking a lot like her mother, the Princess of Asturias.
As for the King and Queen, their Christmas photo was of statues of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the baby Jesus.
To check out the signatures on the cards, click here
Wednesday night saw the royal family of the Netherlands award the Prince Claus Prize at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam.. The Prize is in honor of Queen Beatrix’s late husband, who died in 2002. It began in 1997, and has a theme every year.
This year’s theme was culture and nature, and the winner was Colombian architect Simon Velez, who has been researching on how bamboo can be used as building material. Velez has designed buildings in the United States, Germany and China. In the Netherlands he will make a design for the stage in the new Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam-Noord, which will consist of a bamboo structure.
Upon receiving the award, Velez said to the audience, “Every construction which consists of concrete, steel or wood, bamboo can also be built.” He added there were doubts about his bamboo-design for the Indian pavilion at the Expo in Shanghai next year. “They wanted it would be steel. Once they heard I had won the Prince Claus Award, they gave permission to use bamboo.”
The nature and culture theme for this year’s Prince Claus Prize seems to coincide with the UN Climate Change summit in Copenhagen. Even some members of the Dutch royal family made comments on the environment.
“People seem to have forgotten to draw modestly against nature,” said Prince Constantijn, who presented the award. “The natural resources are being depleted and global warming threatens the delicate balance of our climate.”
The Prince Claus Prize is given to artists, thinkers and other innovators from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Winners receive 100,000 euros as part of the award.
The royal family of Norway released their annual Christmas photos Thursday. As always, they chose an activity to show them enjoying each other’s company. This year, that activity was building a gingerbread house.
Terje Bendiksby/Scanpix
King Harald V, Queen Sonja, the Crown Princely couple and their children built the house at the royal palace in Oslo. The house was big enough for Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus to walk through. It included gingerbread and cookies with the names of the children of Princess Martha Louise, their cousins.
While building the house, Ingrid and Sverre felt tempted to eat the gingerbread. But their mother made sure they didn’t.
“Ingrid, no. You are not allowed to eat the house. You can get one of the loose,” said Mette-Marit, who was dressed in traditional Norwegian clothes, as was Queen Sonja.
Luckily, Ingrid and Sverre found and ate some pieces not yet on the house. The gingerbread was made by the palace chefs.
This Christmas, the King and Queen will be in Oslo, along with their eldest child, Martha Louise and her family. Haakon and Mette-Marit will be in a cabin in Nore and Uvdal.
Not since 2004 has the entire royal family been together.
Click here to see a video of the family (you have to scroll down to the middle of the page).
2009 saw a lot in the world of royalty. From wedding announcements and divorces, royal scandals and royal births, legal issues and attacks, this year certainly kept royals all over the world in the news.
Vote now on what was the biggest royal news story of 2009!
This year, as every year since 1956, the royals of Monaco invited the principality’s children to the palace for a Christmas party. Prince Albert II, Princess Stephanie, and Princess Caroline took part in the annual gift giving.
Also at the event was Caroline’s youngest daughter, Princess Alexandra of Hannover. Her elder children had participated in the Christmas Tree party when they were little, so now it was Alexandra’s turn to go. This year was her first time at the party.
The Monegasque royals are known for being quite active around the Christmas season in Monaco. Along with this party, they also visit the sick in the hospital.
The Swedish royal court announced today that Crown Princess Victoria and her fiance, Daniel Westling, have set up their own wedding foundation, which will combat youth alienation and promote good health.
REUTERS/Bob Strong/FILE
The Crown Princess couple – as the two are called – have already given 100,000 Swedish kronor to form the foundation’s capital. It will be registered sometime soon, and directors will be named around the same time.
According to the royal court, Victoria and Daniel would like anyone wishing to give any gifts to them to donate money to their charity instead.
Tuesday evening, British royal brothers, Princes William and Harry, attended the Sun Military Awards to pay tribute to the UK’s servicemen and women. The star-studded event was held at the Imperial War Museum, and was hosted by The Sun newspaper.
William told the troops it was “a privilege and an honor” to wear the same uniform as them.
“This country is blessed with its Armed Forces,” the future King said in a speech.
“These are not just words. It is the truth. Your unremitting pursuit of excellence, your humanity, your humility, your extraordinary self-discipline, your camaraderie – regardless of background – mark you out as amongst the very best in our society.
“Your loyalty to one another will mean the difference between life and death. The example you show us has penetrated the national psyche. It has drawn the British people together in an extraordinary way.
“The magnificent response up and down the country on Armistice Day this year bears powerful testimony to this. So I would say that, although you serve the country, you also show us the way.”
Prince William himself is training to be a search and rescue helicopter pilot with the RAF. Younger brother Harry served in Afghanistan in 2007.
One of the soldiers honored was Royal Marine Ben McBean, who lost an arm and a leg after stepping on a landmine in Afghanistan last year. He returned home with Harry, who called the Marine, a “true hero.”
At the U.N. Climate Change summit in Copenhagen, the heir to the British throne urged the world to take better care of the environment, as well as scolded it for exploiting its resources.
Reuters/Bob Strong
“The grim reality is that our planet has reached a point of crisis,” Prince Charles said
But he also argued that “just as mankind had the power to push the world to the brink, so too do we have the power to bring it back into balance.”
The dedicated environmentalist, who said earlier this year that the world has less than 100 months to solve climate change, went on to say “A partial solution to climate change is no solution at all. It must be inclusive and it must be a comprehensive approach.”
“In our increasingly precarious situation — on a small, unique and precious planet — this is not a problem resolvable in terms of ‘them and us’,” he said.
“For when it comes to the air we breathe and the water we drink, there are no national boundaries.”
Prince Charles was invited by the Danish government to speak at the summit. He told the delegates that the eyes of the world were upon them, and they have the power to write the future.
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