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Kensington palace, the former home of Princess Diana, has been transformed into an interactive exhibit displaying various points in British history. It is meant to draw tourists’ attention away from London’s other attractions, such as the Tower, and showcase a new way to learn about the lives of past royals who resided in the palace.
 AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth The exhibit, which opened Friday, uses intense lighting, actors and musicians to set the mood. There’s even a man making sounds from a saw with a violin bow.
“We really wanted to try something completely different that gave us a way to take a fresh look at the palace’s history and the lives of the people who lived here,” said Alexandra Kim, one of the curators of the two-year show. “We want people to connect with the emotions.”
In the Room of Royal Sorrows, a mannequin dressed in blue has her face hidden and is elevated above the bed. It is supposed to represent Queen Mary II and her agony over being unable to produce any heirs.
“The first time you walk into the room, it has an aura of sadness, but also incredible beauty,” said designer Marcus Wilmont, part of the team that decorated the room and came up with the outfit worn by the mannequin representing Queen Mary. “She tried really hard, but she had many miscarriages. She was a very loved queen, and we wanted to try to capture her spirit.”
 AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth But the entire exhibit is not a complete downer. There are displays showing typical royal life, such as monarchs meeting with foreign diplomats and advisers. There’s a throne made especially for this part, where the public is encouraged to sit on.
Furthermore, there is the Rooms of Lost Childhood, which is meant to give the tourist the impression of how lonely and isolated royal life can be growing up.
Some Britain’s most famous fashion designers, such as Vivienne Westwood, took part in this project. Also taking part was the fashion house, Boudicca, and emerging designer William Tempest, who designed a dress to represent when a young princess woke up to be notified she had become Queen Victoria.
Also on display are dresses worn by Princess Diana and Princess Margaret during state occasions.
The Enchanted Palace is going to run until January of 2012.
To learn more about the exhibit, click here
As she concluded her historic three day visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar’s Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned had nothing but kind words for King Abdullah for his leadership and vision for the Persian Gulf region.
 REUTERS/Stringer Speaking in an interview published in the Qatari newspaper Al Sharq and the Saudi daily Al Riyadh, Mozah said she was impressed by the Saudi Arabian King’s great knowledge of education and science. This is something the Sheikha cares very much for as she is Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
“On many visits and in many meetings with world leaders I found no person or leader that had the same, real, genuine enthusiasm to develop education and scientific research and to develop Gulf societies, not only Saudi Arabia,” she said.
Sheikha Mozah also pointed out that health and education projects and scientific research in Qatar were not impacted by the recent global financial crisis. That was because her husband, Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, set aside funds for those projects. “We ought to learn a lesson from the financial crisis and we have to focus on our economies and investments.”
“Today we are talking about a global citizen, and in order to be a global citizen one should have all the mechanisms that enable him to react vigorously, to impact and be impacted by others. Hence we focused on a change and on reforming education.”
Mozah also spoke of how women in the Arabian peninsula need the recognition they deserve for the work that they do.
“We in Qatar work to highlight the historical and influential role of woman in the Arab Peninsula before and after Islam’s arrival. This role is unknown in Arab and western world and neglected by Arab public opinion, mass media, and intellectuals,” she said.
“If we were able to develop the family in the GCC, the role of woman, I reckon would automatically change and so would the role of the Gulf citizen in general.”
Sheikha Mozah arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. She was given tours of several universities in hopes of establishing relations between Saudi institutions and Qatari institutions.
The wife of the King of Morocco oversaw the official launch of the national plan for cancer prevention and control. As chairwoman of the Lalla Salma Association Against Cancer, the Princess was the likely person to chair this event.
 Maghreb Arabe Presse The national plan aims to give quality health care to those suffering from the disease throughout the country. It has come together through the partnership between Lalla Salma’s cancer organization and the ministry of health. The plan will span 10 years and cost close to $1 billion dollars.
As part of cancer prevention and control, the national program intends to include 78 measures of prevention, early detection, diagnostic care and therapy, and palliative treatment.
There will also be a program for the early detection of breast and cervical cancer that would be done in over 30 cancer screening centers all over Morocco.
The prevention programs will the fight against tobacco, plus promote healthy living and seek to reduce behavioral risks.
In addition, there will be more facilities built, such as four regional oncology centers in Safi, Laâyoune, Meknès and Tangier, two gynecological oncology centers in Rabat and Casablanca, and two pediatric oncology centers in Fez and Marrakech.
 YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images The two daughters of Japan’s Prince Akishino have completed one stage of their academic life and are moving on to the next level.
On Monday, Princesses Mako, 18, and Kako, 15, graduated from the high and junior high schools of the exclusive Gakushuin school in Tokyo. Kako would now attend the high school while her big sister will attend the International Christian University in Tokyo starting in April.
But before she begins her studies, Princess Mako will be doing some field work with her father. Today, she joined him on a private trip to Laos, where Prince Akishino will study the relations between humans and wild chickens in hopes of understanding such illnesses as avian flu.
Originally, Akishino was going to first go to Bangkok but the protests in the capital of Thailand forced him to change his schedule due to security concerns.
Almost four months after announcing her engagement, Princess Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg has announced she is expecting her first child. The niece of the Queen of Denmark is five months along and the baby is due in July.
 Hanne Juul/Billed Bladet/FILE The father is Alexander Johannsmann, whom Nathalie married in a civil ceremony just after revealing her engagement in January.
The couple plan to marry in a religious ceremony though, but when that will be is not known.
“We have not found a set date yet though. It will be not be in winter,” the Princess told the press during an equestrian event this past weekend.
Princess Nathalie is the daughter of Princess Benedikte, the younger sister of Queen Margrethe II.
The heir to the British throne made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan Thursday. Prince Charles went to Helmand Province to see the troops stationed there. It is the same location where his youngest son, Prince Harry, secretly fought for 10 weeks in early 2008 until a media leak exposed his deployment.
 AP Photo / Massoud Hossaini The Prince spoke of what it was like having his son serve in the war-torn country, an experience he called “ghastly.”
“For the families, I know when my youngest son was out here, as a parent you worry the whole time,” Charles told reporters after laying a wreath for the fallen at Camp Bastion, the largest British base in Helmand.
The Prince of Wales met with the soldiers – both British and Afghan – and also local leaders. He discussed ways to improve life in Helmand with them.
“The Prince had a lot of interest in the integrated development program for Helmand province in the wake of the Marjah offensive,” said Jalani Popal, general director of Afghanistan’s Independent Directorate of Local Governance. “Its focus was on bringing meaningful life and jobs.”
But perhaps those most delighted by Charles’ visit were the troops themselves.
“I think it is good for the guys who have been on the ground for a full six months,” said Sgt. Maj. Guy Harris of the 2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment. “It’s good that they know there are people who are interested in what they are doing. It is like the welfare parcels they get from back home.”
Prince Charles’ trip comes about six weeks after his sister, Princess Anne, made her secret visit to Afghanistan.
It is being reported by the Dutch press that Princess Catharina-Amalia would be a bridesmaid at her godmother’s wedding – that godmother being Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.
 RVD/Robin Utrecht While neither the Swedish or Dutch royal houses have confirmed this rumor, it is widely speculated that 6 year-old Catharina-Amalia, second in line to the throne, would be part of Victoria’s bridal party for her wedding this June 19th.
Then again, many royal watchers are hoping that all of Victoria’s godchildren will be present for her nuptials to Daniel Westling. The Crown Princess is godmother to numerous royal children. Her first being Prince Constantine Alexios of Greece back in 1998. Then came Princess Ingrid-Alexandra of Norway, Prince Christian of Denmark and finally Princess Eleonore of Belgium in 2008.
It should be noted that Victoria’s own godmother is Queen Beatrix, Catharina-Amalia’s grandmother. In addition, the Queen’s own mother, the late Queen Juliana, was godmother to King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Since the official list of Victoria’s bridesmaids has not been released, one could only speculate whether Catharina-Amalia would be on it. But wouldn’t it be nice if she were?
One of the world’s most anticipated film events this year is taking place in Hong Kong this week. The Hong Kong International Film Festival is attracting filmmakers, actors and audience members alike to see the latest movies from 50 countries. It has even attracted a Thai Princess to the festival.
 AP Photo/Kin Cheung Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya, the eldest daughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is in Hong Kong to promote her country’s film industry. She has been meeting with Thai movie stars such as Song Kran, Chakrit Yamnan, Theeraphat Sujjakul, Siripham Wattanajinda and James Alexande Mackie.
Ubolratana even starred in a 2008 Thai film, “Where The Miracle Happens.” This year, she’s again starring in a movie “My Best Bodyguard.”
The Princess was present at two events at the film festival. She was at the Entertainment Expo HK Filmart which showcased Thai film memorabilia and posters. In the evening, she attended the ”Thailand Hub of Entertainment”, a film and entertainment industry event for investors.
Princess Ubolratana was born in Switzerland in 1951, but raised in the palaces of Thailand. She attended college in the United States where she met Peter Ladd Jensen, whom she married in 1972.
With that, Ubolratana relinquished her royal titles and stayed in the U.S. with her husband, with whom she had three children with. Queen Sirikit often travled to see her daughter and at times the Princess would return to Thailand with her family.
But it wasn’t until her divorce from Jensen in 2001 that Ubolratana returned to her country and began taking part in royal duties again.
On Tuesday, Dubai’s Princess Haya inaugurated the UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council at the emirate’s Atlantis in the Palm. It comes one year after Haya’s husband, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, decreed the council to show the UAE’s dedication to improving health care.
 www.wam.ae Among those in attendance were Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali, UAE Minister of Health, Humaid Al Qutami, UAE Minister of Education, and Princess Muna, the mother of King Abdullah II of Jordan – Princess Haya’s half-brother. Muna is President of the Jordanian Nursing Council (JNC) and Patron of Nursing & Midwifery for the WHO-EMRO.
Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali gave a speech during the ceremony, in which he said: “The Council will also authorize health organizations as nursing training centers, stipulate the foundations and criteria for raising the profession’s standards, propose new legislations and practices to promote nursing and midwifery to achieve quality and excellence in their services.”
At the end of the inauguration, the two Princesses and Dr. Ali gave out certificates to the Council’s task force members. Princess Muna also gave Haya an award on behalf of the Jordanian Nursing Council.
Haya and Muna have a close relationship. Princess Muna was wife to the late King Hussein until the mid-1970′s when he divorced her to marry Alia Touqan, Haya’s mother. Sadly, Queen Alia would die in a 1977 helicopter crash, and Princess Muna comforted the Queen’s three very young children. The Princess once said in an interview that Muna, “has been more like a mother to me than anyone else I know.”
The King and Queen of Sweden are on a four-day state visit to Brazil. Wednesday marks their second day on the trip, and also their second day of events going awry.
 AP Photo/Eraldo Peres First, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia’s plane had difficulty landing yesterday due to bad weather. Then today, at the end of their visit to the National Congress, they had to exit through a back door because of a teachers’ protest outside. That protest not against the royals at all.
Besides those moments, the King and Queen are having just another state visit. This trip may be personal for Silvia as she is half-Brazilian and spent a few years of her childhood there.
While the royals are in Brazil to strengthen ties with the country, they are also there to promote a Swedish fighter jet. Brazil is currently on the hunt for one and Sweden is in a race with France and the United States to sell their Gripen NG mono-motor fighter, owned by Saab.
The French meanwhile have their Rafale jet made by their Dassault company and the Americans are trying to sell their F/A-18 Super Hornet from Boeing. It is said that Brazil is close to choosing the Rafale jet but Sweden and the United States are two and three in the running.
The decision on which jet will be used will come in two weeks.
Also during this state visit, the King and Queen will be going to various of Brazil’s locations to discuss Brazilian-Swedish business, check out the country’s aircraft assembly hall and speak at seminars about human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The latter would be done by Queen Silvia who’s charity World Childhood Foundation aims to prevent those problems.
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