CONTACT Any questions or suggestions? Feel free to email me at: Sonjapearl@royaltyinthenews.com - and my real name is Megan :)
|
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark are on a five day tour of Jutland this week. They are sailing around the peninsula aboard the Dannebrog, which is the fourth time Frederik and Mary have used the royal yacht as transportation around the country. Their trip began Monday and will end Friday.
 Click here for more pics at Billed Bladet Their Royal Highnesses brought with them their twin babies, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, whom are 7 1/2 months old. Frederik and Mary posed with the twins aboard the yacht at Skagen, the first stop on their tour. Thousands turned out to get a glimpse of the infants.
In keeping with her commitment to skin care, the Crown Princess at one point wrapped her twins in blankets to protect them from the sun’s rays.
While stopping by Skagen, which is at the northern most tip of Jutland, the couple visited a community center where they met with toddlers at the day care. Dressed in his naval uniform, Crown Prince Frederik got down with Mary on the floor to interact with the young children.
In the evening, the couple will host a dinner aboard the Dannebrog.
For the rest of the week, Frederik, Mary and the twins will visit the fishing port of Hanstholm, have a break on Wednesday, then on Thursday go to another fishing harbour, Hirtshals. During the day, they will also visit the town of Hjørring which is further inland. Friday will show the couple at the opening of the Aarhus Festival.
Source: Billed Bladet, The Royal Forums
 Click here for more Beatrix & Amalia photos The Queen of the Netherlands showed up Sunday for the final day of the European Dressage Championships in Rotterdam. She brought with her granddaughter, Princess Catharina-Amalia, who is second in line to the Dutch throne.
This was Queen Beatrix’s first outing since going for cataract surgery in her right eye on Thursday. She noticably wore sunglasses while spectating the competition.
Also in attendance with Princess Benedikte, the sister of the Queen of Denmark. Benedikte is the patron of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses. The royal trio say in the royal box, cheering loudly for their favorite, Adelinde Cornelissen of the Netherlands, who won the gold medal.
Source: Royalblog.nl, The Royal Forums Blog
 Click here for more images at Belga The King and Queen of Belgium cut short their summer vacation to go to Hasselt, where the Pukkelpop music festival met tragedy on Thursday when a storm collapsed the stage, killing five and injured 140.
King Albert II and Queen Paola arrived Friday late in the afternoon and firstly signed condolence books. They then met with the emergency crews who responded to the accident.
Their Majesties were given a tour of Pukkelpop by the governor of Hasselt and the emergency respondents.
Source: RTL.be
One month since a right-wing zealot murdered 77 people in attacks in Oslo and Utøya Island, a memorial service was held for those who died. At Spektrum Arena, the Norwegian royal family gathered with the relatives of the victims and the emergency workers, 6,700 in total. King Harald V was one of those who spoke during the ceremony.
 Click here for more images “I maintain a belief that freedom is stronger than fear,” said His Majesty, who blinked back tears as he spoke.
“It is good to be together at this time … As a father, grandfather and spouse I can only begin to sense some of the pain you feel. As King of the nation I feel for every one of you.”
“There is so little that has not already been said. The last four weeks have been hard for us all, but that is also why it is good to be together.
“My thoughts have been with those of you who were directly affected by the terrorist actions and those who have lost someone you loved.”
“I firmly believe that we will uphold our ability to live freely and openly in our country,” the King said.
Harald also praised the work of the emergency workers.
On a screen, the names of the dead were listed along with photographs of them smiling. Their families wept and one man was led out of the hall when he became emotional.
In attendance at the ceremony were Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria. Those two had laid flowers at Oslo Cathedral. Also there were the Prime Minister and diplomats of the other Scandinavian countries.
Sources: Reuters, Telegraph
On Friday, Dutch Crown Prince Willem Alexander attended the Global Water Partnership in Stockholm. The meeting was marking 15 years since GWP originally met in 1996. Willem Alexander has been advocate for clean water and proper sanitation for a long while, and has been a patron of GWP since 1998.
 Click here for Daylife.com gallery At this year’s event, he gave a speech concerning water and sanitation.
“Today you truly have a global reach, and are active in every corner of the world. Your partners work for government, businesses and NGOs. Members of the GWP family come from different sectors and traditions but they are united by this concern – how can we develop, manage and share our increasingly scarce supplies of water,” the Crown Prince said.
“Our central message focuses on basic sanitation. Despite impressive development gains since 2000, we are simply not making enough progress – 2.6 billion continue to lack adequate sanitation but also the knowledge to understand the importance of sanitation to their potential development and dignity.
“We are not keeping pace with demographic growth, which means that according to current trends, by 2015, more people, not fewer, will lack safe sanitation facilities. Daunting statistics, and behind them, immeasurable human suffering, a disheartening case of global inequity, lost opportunities for economic growth, and growing environmental degradation.
Willem Alexander went on to talk about the importance for clean water and the need to provide it.
“There is no wastewater, only water that is wasted! This is a concept we all need to promote. To achieve water security we must share the common view that wastewater is a resource. It is a resource that deserves more attention from politicians, decision-makers, and policy planners.
“Let’s all join in a concerted effort to ensure polluted water is treated before it’s returned to the environment. But we need a 21st century model. Business as usual is not the answer. Over-engineered massive trunk and branch systems which are prohibitively expensive, difficult to maintain and prone to break-downs are not the answer. Given the mind-boggling price tags for many of these systems, it is not surprising that often the work never even gets started.
“21st century systems should employ cascading use,” Willem Alexander said. “Cleaning water for drinking and personal hygiene, cascading down to grey water which can be ‘cleaned enough’ for industrial use, environmental recharge or agricultural. Do you know that about 50 million hectares of agriculture currently depends on wastewater? We have to expand this practice while doing it better by promoting the guidelines of WHO for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater in agriculture.”
He then discussed how the issue of water is affecting places such as Pakistan and sub-Saharan Africa.
“Flooding is on the rise causing immeasurable human suffering along with devastating economic impacts. Last year flooding in Pakistan along the Indus River severely affected 20 million people with an economic impact of nearly $10 billion U.S. dollars. By the way, this week more than 700 thousand people have been affected by rain and floods in Pakistan and we hardly even hear about it in our media anymore!
“Sub-Saharan Africa is already encountering increased temperatures and evaporation rates, greater rainfall variability along with more pests and diseases. In this region we have proof that Gross Domestic Product and rainfall are closely correlated, with GDP falling dramatically in drought years, as well as in flood years. As we sit here today, drought is contributing to a terrible tragedy in the Horn of Africa. Some 10 million people are at risk in this region as two years of drought and poor governance have forced food prices beyond the reach of most families.
“In South Asia, an overwhelming 85% of total water use goes towards agricultural needs. At the same time, agriculture is also an extremely inefficient user of water: water productivity, measured as crop per drop, is one of the lowest in the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, 97% of agricultural production is dependent on rainfall and only 3% of the cultivated area is irrigated. This has led to urgent calls for greater investment both by governments and donors.”
At the close of his speech, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander thanked the GWP for its hardwork and pointed out how the Partnership has grown and could affect the future.
To read the speech in its entirety, click here.
Speech: Het Koninklijk Huis
Pope Benedict XIV is in Spain for the next few days to preside over World Youth Day, a Roman Catholic event which young people celebrate their faith. His Holiness was welcomed to Madrid by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia before heading off to begin his busy schedule.
 Click here for more photos at Daylife.com But the pontiff still had time to meet other members of Spanish royalty. Some time after his arrival, the Pope went to Zarzuela Palace where he met with Prince Felipe, Princess Letizia and their two daughters, Infantas Leonor and Sofia, and Infanta Elena and her two children, Forlian Felipe and Victoria.
During the photo op, the royals lined up alongside the Pope so the media could photograph them. However, 4 year old Infanta Sofia got a little antsy during the session and was caught yawning a few times. Her big sister, Leonor, was well behaved and got a big kiss from her father.
1.5 million Catholics are in Madrid for World Youth Day. This is the pontiff”s third trip to Spain, having done a state visit just last year. The country has sparked the ire of the Catholic church by allowing gay marriage and loosening up on abortion and divorce, three issues the church is staunchly conservative on.
Source: Huffington Post, Hello!
For the third day in a row, British royalty visited one of the areas affected by the riots that shook the U.K. just last week. Prince William and his wife, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, went to Birmingham, which saw some of the worst of the rioting. They visited Summerfield Community Centre and met with locals who either lost everything or were attacked.
 Click here to view gallery on Daylife.com Among them were representatives of the three men – Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31 – who were killed in the riots. William and Catherine also met with Haroon’s father Tariq, who, despite his grief, urged locals not to seek revenge just hours after his son was killed.
Those inside the community center said the couple showed a lot of respect and compassion for the locals.
At one point, Catherine talked about how she and her husband watched the riots live on television at their home in Anglesey, Wales.
“Looking at all the young people out and about on the streets, we couldn’t believe it was happening in Britain,” she told Supt. Sue Southern from West Midlands Police.
Later, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went to a hospital and met with the staff and emergency crews who treated the injured. One nurse had this to say about Catherine: “She’s a real ambassador. She conducted herself with real dignity. She’s extremely ladylike.”
Royal reporters have been noting that seeing members of the House of Windsor going out to the riot scenes and meeting face to face with the victims is very poignant. However, doing these visits had to be very tricky due to security and timing.
“It’s been very strategic,” said Victoria Arbiter on the American morning program, “The Early Show”.
“Charles and Camilla flew from Scotland, where they’ve been on holiday, and went to Tottenham, which is where the rioting started. … Where Harry went in Manchester, it’s quite a long way from London, it’s where the emergency services were hit especially badly. People were throwing bricks at them, they lost fire trucks, there was significant damage … and then, where William and Kate started their trip in Winson Green, it was a community that suffered a lot from the attacks, and the father of one of the men who lost their lives, he’s been pivotal in stopping the riots, he came out and said, ‘Enough is enough, this has got to stop.’”
Arbiter also pointed out that the reason why the royals did not go out to the riot scenes right away was because the locals were still reeling from the violence and needed time to regroup. Having royalty around too soon would have seemed like a photo op.
Source: People Magazine, CBS.com
On Wednesday, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall, visited the neighborhoods of London that witnessed the riots that tore apart the country nearly two weeks ago. They saw firsthand the damage caused by fires and looting, and met with the people who either lost their homes or business due to the riots.
 View photos of Charles & Camilla in Tottenham here At the Tottenham Green Leisure Centre in North London, Charles and Camilla spoke to the emergency crews that responded to the riot fires, and those who were affected by them. One of the people they met with were Barbara Bereda-Malik, 45, and her husband Omar Malik, 47. Their apartment was above a carpet store before the building burned down.
Speaking of meeting Charles, Mrs Bereda-Malik said: “It was really nice to see him and see they’re concerned about our situation.
“He asked about how we were coping.”
While the royals were visiting London, it was announced that the Prince’s Trust will donate £2.5 million to the areas hardest hit by the riots, including the city of Birmingham, and three London neighborhoods – Tottenham, Croydon, and Hackney.
Prince Charles’ youngest son, Prince Harry, did his part to meet with the riot victims on Friday. He went to Salford near Manchester to meet with the firefighters and police officers who were often attacked. Harry told them that he saw the videos of the attacks on YouTube and asked the cops and firemen how they coped.
 Click here to see Prince Harry in Salford “Harry looked shocked when I told him that most of the unit received some sort of injury. At one point, it was clear they were intent on killing somebody. There was nothing we could do but climb back into our vans and retreat,” said Andy Sheridan.
The emergency crews were pleased that Prince Harry took time to visit them.
“I did not expect royalty to come into my life but it felt like I had met Harry before,” said Ismail Patel, who’s business was destroyed. “He was just a normal person and seemed to genuinely care about what would happen to my business and the consequences for my family. Despite the level of damage, our insurance only covers £25,000.”
Gemma Lloyd, 16, admitted that the Prince was “brave” for walking down the damaged precinct.
There is no word whether newlyweds Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge will take their time to meet with other riot victims.
Source: Press Association, Telegraph
Thursday saw Norway’s Prince Sverre Magnus begin school at Jansløkka School in Asker, not far from his family’s palace in the Oslo suburbs. This is the same school elder sister Princess Ingrid Alexandra already attends, and half brother Marius Borg Høiby went there also.
 Click here for photos of Prince Sverre Magnus The little Prince, who will turn 6 years old on December 3rd, was escorted to Jansløkka at noon by his parents, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and his grandmother, Queen Sonja.
At the school, there was a traditional welcoming ceremony, in which the school’s song was sang and each new student’s name was called. Upon hearing their names, the children went up to their teacher to be greeted.
Afterward, the children went inside and the media was off limits indoors.
By choosing to send their children to Jansløkka School, Haakon and Mette-Marit are breaking with royal tradition by not sending them to more exclusive schools in Oslo. Jansløkka is a local public school.
Prince Sverre Magnus is third in line to the Norwegian throne.
Source: NewsinEnglish.no
Sweden’s future Queen is expecting her first child!
 Click here for more Crown Princess Victoria photos! 14 months after their wedding, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel are set to be parents in March 2012.
The news came while Victoria attended the the International Swede of the Year Award in Stockholm.
The entire press release from the Swedish royal court reads:
“Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel are happy to announce that The Crown Princess is expecting their first child. The baby should come in March. The whole royal family are thrilled and the Crown Princess is doing well. No changes in the schedule of The Crown Princess´s public engagements are planned during the fall of 2011.”
In the past, Victoria talked about how much she longed to be a mother. When they announced their engagement in February 2009, she and Daniel talked about how they were ready to start a family of their own.
Already, the Crown Princess is godmother to plenty of other people’s children, including five royal children – three of them heirs to their country’s thrones!
Regardless of gender, this baby will be second in line to the Swedish monarchy after its mother.
Congratulations to Victoria and Daniel!
Source: Royalty Chronicles
|
|
Recent Comments