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On Sunday, the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York became the first British royal to run in the London marathon.In addition, Princess Beatrice, 21, helped set a world record for largest group of runners to finish the race while tied together. The Princess was among 34 people joined together by use of a bungee cord which gave them the name the “Team Caterpillar.”
 Indigo/Getty Images “The hardest thing was trying to keep a steady pace that 34 people could do,” the Princess said, according to The Sun. “The crowd were fantastic and they kept me going.”
Mom Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, plus Dad Prince Andrew and younger sister Princess Eugenie were there to congratulate Beatrice when she made it to the end after running 26.2 miles in 5 hours and 15 minutes
“It was amazing when we saw the end in sight – I thought it would never come,” said Beatrice
“‘I’m so, so proud. She’s the first member of the Royal Family to run the marathon and it’s an incredible achievement,” the Duchess of York told The Sun.
Princess Beatrice’s team’s participation was to raise money for the charity, Children in Crisis.
She now vows to run the London marathon again next year – this time alone!
Sources: The Sun, Monsters & Critics
The King of Thailand finally spoke during the political turmoil surrounding his country Monday, but he avoided any mention of it.
 AFP/THAI TV/Thai Tv King Bhumibol Adulyadej was simply televised on Thai TV appointing new judges and requesting them to be honest. Nothing more.
“It is very important for you to help uphold justice and national order,” the 82-year-old monarch said. “If you strictly follow the oath you have taken, that will definitely help restore peace to the nation.”
“In the country, there might be people who neglect their duties, but you can set an example that there are those who perform their duties strictly and honestly.”
Some are taking his vague comments as criticism towards the government for failing to keep peace in Thailand. Others, however, are seeing this as the King not willing to take a position in the crisis, which is spinning out of control.
The appointments took place at Siriraj Hospital, where the King, the world’s longest reigning head of state, has been since September. While he was initially brought in for loss of appetite and fever, it is not known why King Bhumibol has been hospitalized for so long.
Sources: AP, New York Times
Prince Albert II of Monaco hosted the King and Queen of Sweden in his tiny principality this past Saturday. It was for the 59th World Baden Powell fellowship scout foundation, which King Carl XVI Gustaf is patron of.
Their Majesties’ visit to Monaco came on the very day the Swedish royal court announced their youngest daughter, Princess Madeleine had broken off her engagement to Jonas Bergström.
But in true royal form, the King and Queen did not show any emotion or signs they were saddened by the announcement. Instead, they appeared to have enjoyed themselves at the function.
 AP Photo/ Gaetan Lucci; Monaco Palace
Just days after saying that Princess Madeleine and fiancée Jonas Bergstrom were still a couple, the Swedish royal court announced Saturday that the couple have ended their engagement and have gone their separate ways.
 REUTERS/Fredrik Sandberg /Scanpix/Files “After careful consideration, Princess Madeleine and Mr Jonas Bergström made a joint decision to go seperate ways,” the statement says. “They have come to the conclusion that the best thing for them is that they move in opposite directions.”
“Princess Madeleine and Mr Jonas Bergström appeal to the media to show them respect and consideration for this decision. They need peace and quiet in this difficult situation. Extreme media coverage will not ease the situation for them.”
“We ask for your understanding that no further statements will be provided.”
This announcement comes after two months of rumors that there was trouble in the relationship. The couple had not been seen together in public in months. Madeleine reportedly had moved out of the pair’s apartment and there were allegations that Jonas was unfaithful to his fiancée.
The Princess and Bergström began dating several years ago and announced their engagement in August 2009, just six months after Madeleine’s older sister, Crown Princess Victoria announced hers.
There have always been reports and gossip about the couple having difficulty in their relationship. Supposedly, Jonas proposed to Madeleine in June 2009 in an effort to save it.
Even Queen Silvia admitted that there would be no marriage this year between Madeleine and Jonas. Having the Queen say so was a big statement.
Many royal watchers believed something was up with the constant reports of the engagement possibly ending. Sadly, that does seem to be the case.
It would be unfortunate to see Princess Madeleine alone at her sister’s June wedding. Many royal watchers hoped to see her with Jonas as a preview to her own wedding.
 Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images/FILE The royal love story that captured the attention of the Spanish people will be making its way to the small screen. The television channel Telecinco is working on a movie about the courtship and marriage of Crown Prince Felipe to broadcast journalist Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano.
The actors lined up to play the major characters are Fernando Gil and Amaia Salamanca. Also included are Juanjo Puigcorbé and Marisa Paredes, in the roles of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.
The movie will be written and directed by Joaquin Oristrell. It will follow on how the heir to the Spanish throne so happened to meet the divorced reporter at a party one evening. It would then show their quiet courtship and subsequent marriage in 2004, which was the first royal wedding in Madrid in nearly 100 years.
“I am very excited to have the opportunity to play this role, but it requires me enough for all that it entails bringing to life a character as well known as Letizia Ortiz,” explains Amaia Salamanca to Telecinco, adding that she would like contact the Princess: “I will try to communicate with her in some way to give me her views and if there is something she would want to highlight in particular about her relationship with the Prince.”
Sources: La Nueva Espana, El Mundo
Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej will pay for the medical and funeral expenses of the dozens of people injured or killed in Thursday’s grenade blasts in Bangkok’s financial district. One woman was killed and about 85 people were hurt in the series of attacks aimed at government supporters during mass protests.
 REUTERS/Jerry Lampen “The King granted medical expenses for the wounded people and funeral expenses for the dead,” the Royal Household Bureau said in a statement Friday, adding that the amount would be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Bhumibol, who has been hospitalized since September, has made no comment or move about the protests sweeping his country. While he has no political power, the beloved King is seen as a unifying force. Back in 1992, during similar protests, he intervened by criticizing both military and political leaders, and the tensions ceased.
Now, the anti-government “red shirts” protesters are asking for the monarch to make a similar move.
A few days ago, former Prime Ministers Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Somchai Wongsawat, leaders of the pro-Thaksin movement, a leading opposition party, requested audience with King Bhumibol in hopes of getting him to intervene. But so far, the palace has not announced if that request has been granted.
Sources: AFP, Straits Times
Once again, Belgium is in midst of another political crisis that threatens to split the country in two.
 REUTERS/Sebastien Pirlet After months of being unable to unite Dutch and French speaking parties, Prime Minister Yves Leterme gave his letter of resignation to King Albert II. This happened after a Dutch speaking Flemish party pulled out of his five month old coalition.
Laeken Palace called the resignation “inopportune” since Belgium is to receive the European Union presidency for six months starting this July. The King still has not accepted Leterme’s resignation.
On Friday, King Albert tried to save the coalition, which he feels is vital for the Belgian economy and its stance in the EU. According to national media, the King has until Monday to persuade the Flemish party, the Open VLD, to rejoin to coalition.
The political party left it due to a dispute between French speaking and Dutch speaking parties over redrawing electoral boundaries around Belgium’s capital, Brussels. But it is willing to make amends.
“If we are strict about a certain deadline … then that is something we would consider,” Open VLD chief Alexander De Croo told Belgian television on Thursday evening.
Without the Open VLD, Leterme’s coalition almost doesn’t have a majority in the lower house of Parliament — 76 out of 150 seats — and no Dutch-speaking support.
If Leterme is not able to revive his government – or if the King accepts his resignation – then Parliament would be dissolved and elections would be held within 40 days.
Belgian newspapers have been expressing dismay over what may be the end of Belgium.
“Bye-Bye Belgium” was the headline in the French speaking newspaper La Derniere Heure.
“Does this country still make sense?” asked Le Soir.
“If the grave crisis of yesterday persists, it will be the sign that this wish no longer exists. Unfortunately, that was the feeling that prevailed yesterday,” it said.
Sources: UPI, Reuters
The Queen of Jordan is in the United States these days, promoting a children’s book called The Sandwich Swap. She arrived in Chicago where she made an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show. 
“About to step out onto the set of Oprah (for the last time!),” Queen Rania said on Twitter. “What’s the protocol again when meeting the Queen of TV?”
The Queen was not the only guest on the talkshow, and therefore was only around for a segment. On the program, she discussed her book, which she co-wrote with Kelly DiPucchio, and includes illustrations by Tricia Tusa. The Sandwich Swap is about two girls, Salma and Lily, who become best friends despite their cultural differences. The story was inspired by Rania’s own experiences attending an international school growing up.
She gave Oprah one example of how a girl introduced the future Queen to peanut butter.
“One day, she offered me to take a bite. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I was 5 years old,” said the Queen. “On a subconscious level, I think I understood that I shouldn’t fear the unknown.”
After taping her part of the program, Queen Rania headed to Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, where she read her book to a group of students at the Highlands Elementary School.
Once that was done, the Queen was free for the remainder of her day. She even tweeted, “Since I’m here, might as well spend my weekend in the Windy City. Any recommendations on what to see?”
Queen Rania will be heading east to New York City this Tuesday. She will be at a Borders bookstore at 9am local time to read and sign copies of The Sandwich Swap at the store in Columbus Circle. Visitors are allowed, but only at a first come, first serve basis.
Sources: PR Newswire, ABC7 Chicago, Queen’s Rania’s Twitter
 Crown Princess Mette-Marit spent Thursday evening with a trip to a theater festival with all three of her children. They are: Marius Borg Høiby, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus.
The foursome attended the opening of Rampelysfestivalen (Limelight Festival) in Oslo. The festival began in 1990 as a simple event. But now, Limelight has grown into Scandinavia’s largest children’s theater festival.
A total of 300 children from 15 theater companies take part in the festival, which lasts for nine days. Performances include acrobatics and an electric light show.
Despite not being in line to the throne, and not technically part of the royal family, Marius seems to be at ease with his mother being the future Queen of Norway, and his half-siblings royalty. The young teenager was seen being protective of Ingrid and Sverre, the latter whom wore the same jacket as Marius did.
 AP Photo/David Ramos The royal family of Spain is in mourning with the rest of the country the loss of the former International Olympics Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who died Wednesday at the age of 89 of heart failure. Thursday saw the family come to Barcelona for his funeral.
Samaranch’s coffin was brought to the hall of the Palau Sant Jordi of the Generalitat, the Catalan government headquarters, at noon local time. Thousands of people marched pass by to pay their respects.
Overseeing this was Crown Prince Felipe, Crown Princess Letizia and Infanta Cristina. Felipe would later give a speech, bidding farewell to a “friend” and a “universal Spaniard.”
 Terra Noticias After the viewing, the coffin was taken to Barcelona Cathedral, where a mass was performed. King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and their two daughters, Elena and Cristina, attended the service, as did two other royals who once participated in the Olympics – Prince Albert II of Monaco and Constantine, the former King of Greece.
Furthermore, many athletes and politicians came to the funeral of the man who many say changed the Olympics into a major world sporting event. Some of the Spanish athletes even carried out his casket, such as tennis player Rafael Nadal.
Samaranch was a member of Spain’s aristocracy. His title was that of Marquess of Samaranch, and he preferred to be called, “Your Excellency.”
Sources: RTVE, AFP
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