Two days ago on May 13th, Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip celebrated his 32nd birthday. He also gave an interview, something he rarely does, to King magazine, where the Prince discussed his family, favorite pastimes and concern about those with prostate cancer.
Click here for more Carl Philip photos
“I have relatives and friends’ parents who have been affected. It feels terrible when relatives or friends and their families suffer,” Carl Philip said about the disease.
The Prince is actively involved in the Swedish Cancer Society’s campaign against prostate cancer, and the Society is quite pleased.
“To us it means so much that the prince is so actively involved in this year’s campaign,” the Cancer Society’s Secretary General Ursula Tengelin told Expressen.
Another topic that came up during the interview was big sister’s Crown Princess Victoria’s wedding last year to longtime boyfriend Daniel Westling.
“I tried before the wedding to think to myself about how the day would be like,” Carl Philip said.
“But during the day, I was so purposeful that I did not know anything. Same thing when the ceremony began. Everyone had time to reflect, people ran and made ready while everyone took the opportunity to hug my sister. It was very emotional.”
Interested in photography since childhood, he traveled to Borneo in Indonesia with wildlife photographer Mattias Klum where the two took pictures of animals in a rainforest.
“It was a bit rough. We slept on cloven rafts with only a tarpaulin roof,” said the Prince.
Carl Philip is an active race car driver. He has been dating controversial model Sofia Hellqvist for about a year and already Sweden’s tabloids are guessing when the two will announce an engagement.
Click here to see more Willem Alexander and Maxima photos
On Friday, Dutch Parliament shot down a proposal that would have prevented Princess Maxima becoming Queen when husband Crown Prince Willem Alexander ascends to the throne.
Last week, three leftist parties discussed the possibility over making Maxima no more than a Princess when Willem Alexander becomes King because of the husbands of reigning Queens being no more than Prince Consorts rather than King Consorts. Some of the politicians felt the tradition was sexist.
But the Lower House in Parliament rejected the proposal. The three parties that initiated it were the Labour (PvdA), the leftwing Greens (GroenLinks) and the Party for Animals (PvdD). The right wing parties wanted to keep the tradition while the Socialist party had no opinion. The Party for Freedom did not respond.
Click here to see more of Felipe & Letizia in Lorca
On Friday, Spain’s Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia went to the southeastern city of Lorca, which was hit by earthquake with the rate of 5.1 on Wednesday – the worst in the country in 50 years. Nine people were killed and over 300 were injured. The quake also damaged many areas of the historic city.
Felipe and Letizia attended a funeral mass for four of the victims. The couple personally went up the families of those who died and comforted them.
The Prince and Princess then went to tour the damaged areas of Lorca.
“Courageously lift yourselves up, look to the future and slowly take up your lives again,” Prince Felipe told residents of the hardest hit neighborhood, La Viña.
Earthquakes hit Spain on average 2,500 times a year, but only a handful can be felt.
The Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws is reporting that the enfant terrible of the Belgian royal family, Prince Laurent, is no longer welcome at the royal palace. It is also being reported that Laurent has been removed from all future engagements. This is because of his controversial visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a former Belgian colony back in March.
Click here for more pics of Laurent and Claire
Laurent went to the DR Congo supposedly to investigate deforestation. But because of the strained ties between the two countries, his visit was not authorized by the government, and it earned him the wrath of Prime Minister Yves Leterme and his father, King Albert II.
This is not the first time the Prince has been suspended from royal activities. A few years ago, Laurent used money from the Navy to fund his holiday villa and received similar treatment.
It is unknown how long Laurent will be banned from the Palace.
However, his wife, Princess Claire and their three young children are not part of the suspension. Insiders say it is because no one thought it was right for them to suffer from the Prince’s behavior.
Being married to a future King means being a future Queen yourself. Once your husband ascends to the throne, you become his Queen consort. But if some Dutch politicians have their way, Princess Maxima won’t be one when husband Crown Prince Willem Alexander becomes King.
Click here for recent Princess Maxima photos
Three left-wing parties, the Labour, the Green and the are voicing opposition to the popular Maxima receiving the title as Queen one day. This is because of the last three monarchs, Queens Wilhelmina, Juliana and Beatrix, all had Prince Consorts, not King Consorts. This is due to centuries of traditions where a King was also regent and never consort.
So because of that, Dutch politicians are asking why should Maxima be a Queen if the husbands of the reigning Dutch Queens were not allowed to be elevated beyond being Princes?
Green MP Ineke van Gent calls the tradition a “sexist, outdated system.” When asked about the Princess’ enormous popularity in the Netherlands, Van Gent says Prince Claus, the late husband of Queen Beatrix and Willem Alexander’s father, was “equally dear to us as is Maxima to us now.”
Right wing parties believe the monarchy should stick with tradition while centrist parties don’t seem to care either way.
There is one leftist party that isn’t against Maxima becoming Queen one day, and that is the Socialists.
“We now see no reason to change that tradition,” said MP Ronald van Raak.
On Wednesday, the President and First Lady of South Korea arrived Denmark to begin a two day state visit to the country. Lee Myung-bak and First Lady Kim Yoon-ok were welcomed at Copenhagen Airport by Queen Margrethe II and the rest of the Danish royal family – minus Crown Princess Mary for unknown reasons.
Click here for more pics of the state dinner
After inspecting the honor guard, the South Korean first couple and the royals headed to the palace to begin the state visit. It included a laying of wreaths at the Monument Jutlandia and the official opening of the Global Green Growth Institute by both President Lee and Crown Prince Frederik.
In the evening, the Danish royals gathered for a state dinner at Fredensborg Palace. This time, Crown Princess Mary was present. The event included speeches by the Queen and the President. Both praised each other’s countries and the relations between the two.
It was also during her speech that Her Majesty revealed that Frederik and Mary will go on an official visit to South Korea in 2012. The exact time is not known.
Thursday saw more of President Lee learning more about Denmark’s eco-friendly industries, such as the inauguration of the Korean-Danish Green Growth Alliance and seeing Danish electrical cars.
In the evening, the President and First Lady Kim Yoon-OK held an honorary dinner for their Danish hosts. Later on, they returned to their country.
At the Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn Saturday, Queen Beatrix and her daughter-in-law, Princess Maxima, received a tour of a new exhibit showcasing Maxima’s decade in the Netherlands.
Click here to see more of the exhibit
Its been 10 years since it was announced that she will marry the heir to the Dutch throne, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, and since then, the Argentinian Maxima has become one of the most popular members of the royal family. This exhibit honors the Princess’ place in Dutch society.
The exhibit features some of Maxima’s most famous attire – the Valentino wedding gown she wore to her 2002 wedding to Willem-Alexander, her ensemble worn to the baptism of eldest daughter, Princess Catharina Amalia, as well as several other articles of clothing. Photographs are shown alongside the outfits, which are encased in glass.
Besides celebrating 10 years in her adopted country, Princess Maxima has another milestone coming up. Later this month, she turns 40 years old. It is expected the Dutch royals will throw a major bash that will include royalty from around Europe.
“Princess Maxima, 10 Years in the Netherlands” officially opens Sunday and will run until September 4th 2011.
Britain’s Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie might lose their round the clock bodyguards, and not because of their hats worn to their cousin’s wedding.
According to the Daily Mail, the daughters of the Duke of York will lose their security because of controversy surrounding the £500,000 cost. Instead of having it each moment of their lives, the princesses will have it when they perform royal duties.
It is said their father, Prince Andrew, is furious and wants his daughters to keep their security because their style, Their Royal Highnesses.
But their cousin, Zara Philips, who is the daughter of Princess Anne, has a higher profile and has never had any bodyguards. Also, it is being reported that the Queen wants Beatrice and Eugenie to have careers and not take part in The Firm, as the royal family calls themselves.
Currently, the princesses have two bodyguards each.
Dubai’s Princess Haya was in Lausanne, Switzerland Saturday to inaugurate the new headquarters of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI). Named after Haya’s father, the late King Hussein of Jordan, the project was three years in the making, and was funded by the Princess herself.
With her three year old daughter, Sheikha Al Jalila in her arms, Haya watched as Martin Fuchs of the Youth Olympic Games team champion cut the ribbons to officially open the King Hussein I Building.
“The building we are inaugurating has been designed to serve our wonderful sport,” said Princess Haya.
“I also feel an immense sense of pride knowing that this building carries the name of my late father and hope that this serves as a constant reminder to all of us who work at the FEI of a unique statesman, whose entire soul was devoted to the service of his people.
“Our new headquarters will play a key role for the FEI and our National Federations over the coming years. It will be the environment in which important discussions take place and fundamental decisions are taken as we continue our mission to advance the orderly growth of equestrian sport worldwide, while ensuring that the welfare of the horse and a level playing field remain at the centre of all that we do,” Haya said.
Worth $18 million, the new headquarters include offices for 62 employees plus a state of the art interactive gallery showcasing the equestrian sport.
Attending the opening was Infanta Pilar of Spain, who was the FEI president from 1994 – 2006 and Princess Lalla Amina, who is chairwoman of Morocco’s Federation of Equestrian Sports. The other 300 attendees included Olympians and Swiss officials.
Nearly four months since she gave birth to a boy and a girl, Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary was back performing royal duties Thursday. For her first engagement, she launched the annual campaign against skin cancer at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen.
Click here to see more pics of the event
“Like most of Australia, I have respect for the sun,” the Crown Princess said in a speech. “When I came to Denmark, I was therefore surprised to see that the Danes have a completely different attitude to the sun. Good enough, Denmark is not perceived as a sunny country, but today is skin cancer the biggest cancer with more than 9,000 new cases each year – and it’s increasing.”
“As a patron of the sun campaign, I am pleased to announce that we have in four years has made great progress. Both parents, professionals and volunteers are taking more responsibility for teaching healthy sun habits Danes. Personally, I have also noticed a positive trend in people’s awareness of the sun’s harmful effects and a positive change in their sun habits,” said Mary.
For today’s launch, Crown Princess Mary looked healthy and fit. Not bad for someone who had twins less than six months ago.
This was her first public appearance since the baptism of her twins – Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.
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