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Belgium’s Prince Laurent is stirring trouble again, and this is time its over a very sensitive issue. The Prince recently did a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRCongo), a central African country once colonized by Belgium. Tensions between the two countries have been around for decades, and for Laurent to go DRCongo on his own initiative is creating a major controversy.
 Click here to see more pics Prime Minister Yves Leterme sent a not to Prince Laurent, telling him not to go. When asked to comment, Leterme said “Despite the demands of the federal government and the palace, the prince decided not to adjourn his impending departure.”
It is believed Laurent went to the country to explore its deforestation issue. It is also not known if the DRCongo welcomed him.
But what is clear is that some Belgian politicians are calling for a review of his dotation, or payment from the state, and maybe removing the Prince as an official member of the royal family
“If he wants to be rid of the official side of his life, then we should still look at that. The debate is in any case on the table,” said vice Prime Minister Steven Vanackere, a Christian Democrat, during a morning radio talk show.
Relations between Belgium and DRCongo are very sensitive. During colonization, millions of Congolese died or were mutilated by the Belgians.
Last year, when DRCongo celebrated its 50th year of independence, King Albert II and Queen Paola were present, but only after careful planning and consideration of the DRCongo.
Prince Laurent, the youngest of the King and Queen’s three children, has long been a troublemaker in the family. He stirred controversy recently for sending his daughter to a French school despite linguistic tensions in Belgium, and also lost his driver’s license this year for speeding.
Source: De Morgen
 Click here to view Arabic article It could’ve been like any other royal wedding - but when a prince of the ultra rich Saudi Arabian royal family and a British aristocrat from a family worth an estimated £300 million tied the knot Tuesday, the couple only spent £167 at a local registry office.
Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan al-Saud, the son of the former ambassador to the United States and grandson to Crown Prince Sultan, married Lucy Cuthbert, niece of the Duke of Northumberland, just like that.
The Prince wore a suit and tie while his bride wore am above the kneee length cream colored dress. Only a handful of guests were present.
The couple arrived at the Oxford Register Office in a chauffeur driven Land Rover, but left the office with their friends on a bus.
Source: Herald Series
There’s a new university in Norway, and Thursday saw it being officially opened by Crown Prince Haakon. The University of Nordland, located in Bodø, began classes in January, but was inaugurated today. It is the eighth university in the country.
 Click here to check out more pics In his speech, Haakon emphasized the importance of the university’s High North strategy, and their cooperation with Russian institutions.
“As a nation we must also protect the interests towards our surroundings, “said the Crown Prince.
He emphasized the importance of having good social basis for a good learning environment.
“We must not forget that as a student, it is important to have fun too. These studies provide room for the big issues, testing of ideas, opinions and arguments. It is important to not only care about the subject, but also to have fun while studying,” Haakon said.
Among the audience was a journalism student named Ane Sunniva Tvete, and she liked what her future King said about attending a university.
“The social aspect is equally important to get a nice study. It’s not just the academics who design you as a person, the more you learn very much of the social as well,” said Tvete.
The new University has facilities for Bioscience and aquaculture industries, Graduate School of Professional Studies and currently has about 600 employees and 5800 students.
Nordland is a county in northern Norway, just above the Arctic circle, and Bodø is its largest city.
Sources: Kongehuset, NRK
Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel are on tour again, and this time it is to the province of Småland in the portion of the country. The couple arrived in Skeppshult in Jonköping County via train this morning.
 Click here to see more pics It was pouring rain out and Daniel held an umbrella for him and his wife as they did a walkabout for the large crowds that gathered to see them. So impressed was the Prince with the crowds, at one point he called out, “We love you!” and the people cheered.
After that, the two went to a factory that produces bicycles. Outside the facility, Crown Princess Victoria received a bouquet of flowers from a 2 1/2 year old girl named Isabella, who told Victoria her birthday was the same day as King Carl XVI Gustaf’s.
“Although I am 30 years old, of course, “she said.
“But what fun! Congratulations,” said the Crown Princess joyfully.
Inside the factory, the royals ate lunch before touring the building. The Skeppshult cycle factory prides itself as “the only company in Sweden that manufactured our own bicycle frames in unbroken succession since 1911″ according to its website.
Next, Victoria and Daniel went to the opening of the dialysis pavilion at Ryhov County Hospital.
In the evening, there will be a dinner in honor of Småland’s guests, hosted by Governor Kristina Alsér.
Tomorrow, the couple will remain in Jonköping County during the morning, but will go to Växjö and Kosta during Friday and Saturday. At those places, the royals will tour a furniture factory, sit through a couple of seminars and go to the Småland museum.
Crown Princess Victoria has visited Småland several times, but this is Prince Daniel’s first official trip there.
Småland is across the waterway from Öland, where the Swedish royal family vacations during the summer. It has a population of over 720,000 people.
Sources: Svensk Damtidning, lansstyrelsen.se/jonkoping, Wikipedia
 Online Fire PR Britain’s Royal Mail announced Tuesday that it will release two commemorative stamps for the upcoming wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
“We are honoured to be celebrating this very special and historic occasion,” said Stephen Agar of the Royal Mail.
“We believe that that this set of stamps will be very popular with people both in the UK and around the world.”
The stamps are that of the Mario Testino photos used to mark the couple’s engagement. The pictures were taken in November, a few days after William and Catherine announced their engagement.
They have also its description written in both English and Welsh.
The stamps will be available April 21st – Queen Elizabeth II’s 85th birthday and eight days before the wedding itself.
This is the third Prince William will appear on a stamp. In 2000, he was on a sheet celebrating his great-grandmother’s 100th birthday. In 2003, he became the first British royal to celebrate his 21st birthday with stamps.
To order the stamps, click here!
Source: Reuters
Special thanks to Andrew!
For the first time since the 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami struck Japan, the country’s Emperor and Empress are visiting the victims of the natural disaster.
 Click here to see more On Wednesday, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko went to a makeshift Tokyo shelter to meet with people who had lost their homes March 11th. Dressed casually, Their Imperial Majesties sat on the floor with the victims and learned about their plight.
Most of the people they met with were from Fukushima Prefecture where the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is.
The Imperial Household Agency is relaxing its rigid rules to show compassion towards the Japanese people. Besides allowing the Emperor and Empress to personally meet with those who suffered from the earthquake and tsunami, the IHA also opened a bathhouse normally used by the royals, was opened to evacuees taking refuge in Tochigi Prefecture. This is the first time the bathhouse were allowed to be used by the public ever. They will be open for about a month.
At the same time, food raised on royal farms are being shipped to stricken areas. Usually used for official events, the food from these farms include 1,000 eggs, around 280 cans of pork sausage and some of smoked chicken. Not even during the 1995 Kobe earthquake were the royal farms being used for refugees.
It is being reported that the Emperor and Empress are planning to make more trips to evacuation centers around Tokyo, but the IHA has yet to comment.
The IHA is also not commenting if the recent acts of charity were decided before or after Emperor Akihito’s televised address to the nation on March 16th – the first time ever he had broadcast a speech to the people.
Sources: Japan Real Time – WSJ.com, AP
After three days in neighboring Portugal, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, flew east to Spain for the second stop on their three nation tour to promote British business. The couple arrived in Madrid, but went to Pardo Palace in its outskirts to be greeted by their hosts, the Prince and Princess of Asturias – Felipe and Letizia.
 Click here to see more pics from the trip The Spanish couple met with Charles and Camilla at the start of an opening ceremony that included a color guard. Prince Charles seemed enamored by Princess Letizia, and kissed her hand upon meeting her – much to the delight of everyone watching.
After the ceremony, the Prince and the Duchess met with about 300 volunteers who help British residents in Spain at a reception at the home of Britain’s ambassador to Spain, Giles Paxman.
“Although it is impossible for the royal couple to meet everybody, their presence is a tribute to each and every person who helps our British residents,” Paxman said in a statement.
About one million Britons reside in Spain during the year, or just part of it.
Tonight, Felipe and Letizia will host a dinner in honor of their British guests. Tomorrow, Charles and Camilla will lunch with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. The Prince of Wales is expected to make speeches during both meals as part of a toast.
Later in the week, the couple will travel to Seville and also go to a private estate in Granada to spend a few days before heading to Morocco, the last leg of their tour.
This is Prince Charles’ tenth visit to Spain, but Camilla’s first official trip.
Sources: CNN, AFP
The King of Jordan made his first public remarks regarding the demonstrations in Amman Tuesday. He referred to Friday’s violent protests in which one person was killed and 120 were injured during clashes between native Jordanians and Jordanians of Palestinian origin.
 Click here for more King Abdullah II pics King Abdullah II said he supports the freedom of expression but warned that he will not tolerate “vandalism and chaos.”
He said this to a national dialogue committee who are drafting laws for greater public freedoms, as a way to reduce the three months of protests. Like many in the Arab world, people in Jordan are demanding more political freedom and jobs.
At the same time, Jordan will be banning government supporters from rallying in Amman.
“From now on protests by loyalists can only be held outside Amman to avoid clashes with the opposition,” an official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The opposition can demonstrate in certain areas in Amman,” he said without elaborating.
Mustafa Rawashdah, a member of the dialogue committee, told AFP that during the committee meeting, King Abdullah “stressed that Jordan will not allow anybody to ‘sabotage’ the reform drive”.
“He told us that only two percent of Jordanians do not want reforms. He said that ‘those who do not want reforms are not loyalist and loyalists must be reformist’.”
“The king called for opening a new chapter and working as one team,” Rawashdah said.
“You have a key role in transforming Jordan into a new era of reform, modernisation and development. I will be the guarantor of your dialogue results. There is no alternative for dialogue,” the palace statement quoted King Abdullah as telling panel members.
Sources: AFP, Arab News, The Canadian Press
Britain’s Prince Harry is on top of the world – and not because his brother is getting married in one month.
 Click here for more Prince Harry in the Arctic pics He is trekking across the North Pole with wounded soldiers, all in the name of charity for his country’s veteran organizations. The journey will go 200 miles and will last for four weeks.
However, the Prince will only be with the soldiers for the first five days. This way, he would be back in time for brother William’s April 29th wedding. Harry arrived in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago after throwing William’s bachelor party over the weekend.
That meant the Prince didn’t have much time for this trek.
“I haven’t had as much time to train,” he told the Press Association news agency in Longyearbyen, Norway, where he and the soldiers will train for three days. “But today, to their huge amusement, they’re going to see me on a pair of, whatever they’re called, skis, this afternoon. So it should be entertaining for all of us.”
As patron of the Walking With The Wounded charity, Prince Harry – who once spent 10 weeks fighting in Afghanistan – aims to raise £2 million for the organization.
Joining the Prince will are Walking With The Wounded co-founders, Simon Dalglish and Ed Parke, plus four servicemen wounded in Afghanistan: Capt. Martin Hewitt, 30, whose right arm was paralyzed after being shot; Capt. Guy Disney, 29, whose right leg was amputated below the knee after he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade; Pvt. Jaco Van Gass, 24, from South Africa, whose left arm was amputated and Sgt. Stephen Young, 28, whose back was broken when his vehicle was blown up by a makeshift bomb.
The group will be lead by Norwegian polar guide Inge Solheim.
Source: AP
The King and Queen of the Belgians began a two day state visit to Germany Tuesday. Their visit was meant to mark the 60 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
 Click here to see more pics King Albert II and Queen Paola were greeted by President Christian Wulff and First Lady Bettina Wulff in Berlin, where they received military honors during the welcoming ceremony.
During the ceremony, the President took his guests to meet with students of the Friedensburg secondary school who were at the Bellevue presidential palace.
The King and Queen then went indoors and lunched with the Wulffs’.
While King Albert II had state matters with Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mrs. Wulff took Queen Paola to headquarters for the German League for Child Protection. Bettina is president of this organization, and Paola does a lot for exploited children in Europe.
Tomorrow, Their Majesties will go to Munich for a meeting with the Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer
This Belgian state visit to Germany comes on the very day Belgium reached 289 days without a government, breaking the record set by Iraq. This milestone has lead to wonder if the country will actually split up.
Sources: Reuters, Online Focus, Bild
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