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In November, a Seamen’s church will be consecrated in Miami and will be named after Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit. It’s official name will be “The Church’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s Church – Scandinavian Church and Center.”  Click here for more recent Mette-Marit photos The Church asked Mette-Marit’s permission to use her name earlier this year and she accepted.
“The Crown Princess demonstrate a commitment to religious and social context that coincides with the values Seamen’s Church stands for,” said Secretary General of the Seamen’s Church, Audun Myhre.
“The Church in Miami will be a royal name that is committed in a positive sense.”
There are five other seamen’s churches that have royal names: Stockholm, Paris, New York, Torrevieja and Copenhagen.
“The reason is that the Crown Prince and Princess have visited the Seamen church in Miami and has had a relationship with the former, and therefore they had a desire to name it after her,” said Myhre.
“The royal family has a long and strong connection to the Seamen’s Church. Therefore, we are both grateful and proud that the tradition of giving the sailor churches royal name continued when the new church in Miami will carry the Crown Princess’s name.”
Seamen’s Churches are located throughout the world. They function as both a house of worship and community center for ex-patriot Scandinavians.
The church to be named after Mette-Marit will have not Norwegian and American flags outside of it, but also Swedish and Danish.
Source: FVN, NRK, Wikipedia
The King and Queen of Jordan went to Qatar Tuesday for a one day working visit, which is like a state visit minus all the pageantry. King Abdullah II and Queen Rania were welcomed in Doha by Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al thani and Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned.
The point of the King’s visit was to discuss with the Emir about forging closer ties between Jordan and Qatar, as well as talk about the latest developments in the Middle East.
Joining the heads of state during this meeting was the King’s half brother, Prince Ali, and Qatar’s Crown Prince Tamim.
In the afternoon, the Emir and Sheikha Mozah hosted a lunch banquet for Abdullah and Rania.
Source: Petra News Agency
Just ten days away from her big day, Catherine Middleton’s family revealed their coat of arms. It was commissioned by her father, Michael, and designed by England’s senior herald.
Shaped as a lozenge, the coat of arms is in blue and red – the colors of the British flag – and features three acorns, symbolizing England, strength and the three Middleton children. A gold chevron is included, which refers to Goldsmith, the maiden name of Catherine’s mother.
“Mr and Mrs Middleton and their children took enormous interest in this design and, while its purpose is to provide a traditional heraldic identity for Catherine, as she marries into the Royal Family, the intent was to represent the whole Middleton family together,” said Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms and Senior Herald in England who approved the design.
“Every Coat of Arms has been designed to identify a person, school or organisation, and to last forever: heraldry is Europe’s oldest, most visual and strictly regulated form of identity,” he said.
Catherine and her siblings, Pippa and James, are allowed to use the coat of arms, and James could pass it onto his descendants.
Source: Reuters
Over the weekend, it was revealed that Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf paid a visit to the Swedish ISAF Force in Afghanistan. Like all other royal visits to the war torn country, the King’s trip was shrouded in secrecy for security purposes.
 Click here to see more photos The reason for this visit was for the Carl Gustaf to open Camp Monitor at Shibirghan Province. During his speech at the inauguration, the King spoke about wanting to come to Afghanistan.
“I have longed to come to Afghanistan and take part of the Swedish contribution. It is impressive to read the work you all do and it is gratifying to see. For me it is interesting to also have the opportunity to take part of your everyday life, as I have understood by all kinds of information and discussions are exposed and very stressful.
“I, like the Swedish people, are behind you, in your important mission and our continuing and great work here in Afghanistan.”
The new Camp provides a helicopter landing site which allows for the rapid evacuation of personnel who need medical care.
Besides opening Camp Monitor, King Carl also visited Mazar e Sharif where 500 Swedish troops are stationed.
According to the royal court, His Majesty arrived in the country on Thursday and left Saturday.
The last time a member of the Swedish royal family went to Afghanistan was in late 2010 when Crown Princess Victoria and then-fiancee Daniel Westling spent a few days with the troops.
Source: Swedish Royal Court, The Local
It is less than two weeks before the royal event of the year, and there are reports that not everyone will be in London to celebrate the nuptials of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Instead, some people will be along the wedding route to protest and promote their political beliefs.
 See more pics of William & Kate here If republicans are going to be in the streets, that won’t be so surprising. But security is concerned about a Muslim extremist group looking to do a “forceful demonstration” on April 29th.
According to the newspaper, the Daily Express, the group Muslims Against Crusades are demanding that Prince William “and his Nazi best man” Prince Harry withdraw from the military or the “day which the nation has been dreaming of for so long will become a nightmare”.
Another group is planning their protest, though less sinister but more eyebrow raising. Anarchist groups called Lunarchy, Sluts Against Cuts and members of the International Union Of Sex Workers are planning to stage their demonstrations clad in only balaclavas.
“The top police are saying they’re enforcing a ring of steel, a sterile zone, around the route of the royal procession. They are making it clear they want absolute monarchy on the day, a highly controlled Royal production, policed militarily with snipers on the roof. The last thing you want at a Royal Wedding is sterility. You want the opposite, fertility,” the Daily Express quoted ringleader Chris Knight as saying.
“You can’t plan an orgy, but that’s what we intend. It’s going to be a very sexy event,” he added.
Britain is spending millions on security for the royal wedding, and yes, snipers are going to be in place around London.
Sources: AAP, Hindustan Times
 Click here for more Prince Harry photos Britain’s Prince Harry is moving up in the world. On Saturday, it was announced he was promoted to captain in the Army in recognition for his five years of service. In the military, the Prince will be known as Captain Harry Wales.
St. James Palace released a statement saying Harry in an eight month training course in weaponry. The course will take him to Wattisham Airfield, Suffolk, and bases in the United States.
“He will now progress to the Apache ‘conversion to role’ course where he will learn to operate the aircraft and its weapons systems in a variety of challenging operational scenarios,” a spokesman for St. James said.
This promotion means Harry could be eligible to return to Afghanistan in 2012.
He fought there from late 2007 into early 2008 until a media revelation led to him being forced to return to the U.K.
Source: Telegraph
As part of their whirlwind visit to the Mideast, Spain’s Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia stopped by Jordan on Wednesday. They were welcomed by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, whom held a lunch banquet in their honor. The meal consisted of Mansaf – a traditional Jordanian dish made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice – and hummus.
Afterward, Prince Felipe took time to meet with the King to discuss stronger bilateral ties between Jordan and Spain. He had a similar meeting with Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit, whom praised Spain’s support of the kingdom’s education, training and energy fields.
Bakhit also briefed the Prince on the political changes Jordan is going through. Jordan, like so many other Arab nations, is looking to reform after months of protests by its people.
As always, the subject of the Mideast Peace Process and establishing a Palestinian state was talked about.
Later on Wednesday, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia did some touring of Amman, with Prince Mohammed bin Talal and Princess Gheida accompanying them. They went to the Martyr’s Memorial, where they were received by Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Major General Zeyad Majali.
The Spanish royals also went to the University of Jordan and opened the Spanish pavilion in one of its buildings.
Sources: Zawya, Hello! Magazine
Yep, those are the names of the Danish royal twins!
 Click here for more pics of the event Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander and Josephine Sofia Ivalo Mathilda were baptized Thursday afternoon at Holmens Kirke in Copenhagen.
That meant the long wait of what the names of the three month old twins was over, and royal watchers could finally put a name to the babies.
The third names of the twins – Minik and Ivalo – are Greenlandic names, a nod to the Danish territory’s recent autonomy.
The baptisms also meant the first public appearance for the twins’ mother, Crown Princess Mary, since their January 8th birth. Mary looked quite svelte for someone who just had twins.
With her was proud father, Crown Prince Frederik, and their two eldest children, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella. Isabella was every bit the doting sister as she kept an eye on her sister during the baptismal ceremony.
Both twins have six godparents. For Prince Vincent, he has his uncle John Donaldson, Prince Felipe of Spain, Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Greve Michael Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille, Baroness Helle Reedtz-Thott, and Caroline Heering.
For Princess Josephine, she has Princess Marie of Denmark, Prince Charles de Bourbon of Two Sicilies, Patricia Bailey, Lensgreve Bendt Wedell, Birgitte Handwerk, and Josephine Rechner.
Long live Vincent and Josephine!
On Tuesday, German President Christian Wulff, and his wife Bettina, welcomed Dutch royals Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima, to his country. The royals are on a four day state visit to Germany, and it got off to a rainy start.
As his mother inspected the honor guard outside Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Willem Alexander joked with nearby Dutch children by saying, “What wonderful weather we’re having!” The children were brought to the palace to cheer on their native royals.
Later in the day, the Dutch met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
On Wednesday, the trio went on tour of Berlin, seeing the former palace to the Kaiser and meeting with schoolchildren. Princess Maxima told the kids to maintain their money and not be excessive.
“When I was your age, all I had was my Walkman. Only one brand of jeans existed,” she told them.
This is Queen Beatrix’s second state visit to Germany, her first being in 1982. But she has been on numerous official and private trips since.
Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Deutsche Presse Agentur
The Norwegian Crown Princely couple began their official visit to Ghana Tuesday. The reason for this trip is to not only strengthen Norway – Ghana links, but to also praise the east African nation in its recent developments. While being a strong democratic country, it also has found oil which would further develop its economy.
 See more photos by clicking here! In the morning, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were welcomed to Accra by Vice President John Dramani Mahamane. The Vice President gave to the couple a traditional kent, or hand woven garment, as a gift.
Afterward came the signing of the agreement between Norway and Ghana on the Oil for Development (OfD). It was Norway’s Minister of Environment and Development Erik Solheim, who presented the agreement, together with the Ghana’s Energy Minister, Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei, and Sherry Ayittey, the Minister for Environment, Science and Technology.
Later, Haakon and Mette-Marit attended the UN Country Office, where the discussion was about how Ghana fulfilled most of its UN Millennium Goals. It has cut its population living in extreme poverty by half and has successfully tackled it HIV/AIDS problem. Today, Ghana has a 2% infection rate among its adult population, which is lower than many other African nations.
Mette-Marit expressed her satisfaction about this during a speech. “As a UNAIDS special representative, I have made it a main task to support a new generation leadership in the AIDS response. We need to support young people in their work if we really want an HIV-free next generation,” she said.
“I am very pleased to learn that Ghana has managed to reverse the spread of HIV over the last few years, gradually reducing the number of new infections. And I commend the efforts to increase the number of people with access to HIV specific health services.”
Next came the Ghana Summit Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference. Crown Prince Haakon gave a short speech to open the event.
“Ghana and Norway are entering a new era with much closer diplomatic and commercial relations – as both of our nations are now oil producing countries. It is therefore appropriate that we meet here – at the Ghana Summit Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference – on the first day of our visit,” he began.
“The cooperation between Ghana and Norway will not be limited to petroleum only – the dynamic development of Ghana opens up many opportunities in other fields as well.
“The strong international presence here today shows the great interest in exploring business opportunities in Ghana. It will be exiting to follow Ghana in the years to come.
“You are set to be among the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies in 2015. This is a result of many years of peace, stable democracy and good governance,” Haakon ended.
The first day in Ghana for the crown princely couple was concluded with a honorary dinner hosted by the Vice President.
On Wednesday, Haakon and Mette-Marit rode out to a village some two hours away from Accra to Ekumfi. There, they took a look a project UNICEF is working on. They met with nurses and volunteers at a local health clinic, and learned how villagers are combating malaria disease by sleeping outdoors with nets to protect themselves from mosquitoes.
In the afternoon, the royals went to see a dark chapter in not only Ghana history – but that of Africa. They saw Elmina Castle, a place where thousands of Africans were forcibly put on board ships bound for the Americas during the slave trade. Sadly, Norway once played a role in this, and Crown Prince Haakon talked about this during his speech the previous night:
“A dark spot here is the Norwegian contribution to the two Danish-Norwegian engagement in the slave trade from the 17th till the 19th century. It is estimated That 50 000 West African slaves were taken across the Atlantic on Danish-Norwegian ships.”
For Wednesday evening, Haakon and Mette-Marit will attend a dinner hosted by Norwegians living in Ghana.
On Friday, there will be a Youth Summit in nearby Mali regarding HIV. It is expected that the Crown Princess will attend the summit.
Source: Kongehuset.no
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