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A German court found the husband of Monaco’s Princess Caroline received a 200,000 euro fine for assaulting a hotel owner in Kenya back in 2000 on Tuesday. The fine was reduction from the 2004 sentence of 445,000 euros.
 AFP/File/Valery Hache Judge Andreas Schlueter found Prince Ernst August of Hannover guilty of intentionally causing bodily harm to Josef Bruhnlehner, German news agency DAPD reported.
Ernst August never denied hitting the hotelier, but instead claimed he only slapped Bruhlehner twice instead of beating him while wearing a metal ring. Princess Caroline testified this in January, saying the hotel owner exaggerated his injuries.
Caroline and Ernst August have not been seen in public together since June. The Prince was photographed kissing another woman while vacationing in Thailand, just days before his estranged wife appeared in court.
Since Sunday, the Nepali capital of Kathmandu has been the site of numerous protests to reinstate the country’s monarchy. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N), a small political party, has been fueling these rallies.
 AP Photo/Binod Joshi In 2008, the monarchy was abolished after Maoists came to power and forced the unpopular King Gyanendra to abdicate. Nepal became a secular republic once that happened. The protesters say the people were not consulted on whether to keep the monarchy or not.
“Our main objective is to ask for a referendum on the Hindu state and the fate of the monarchy,” party leader Kunti Kumari Shahi told AFP.
On Monday, there was a general strike in which stores and schools were closed and vehicles were not seen on the road. About one thousand chanted “Establish Hindu rule” and “We don’t want a republic.”
On Tuesday, demonstrators clashed again with police as they blocked the road leading to Singhadurbar, the complex that houses key government offices including the prime minister’s office. While the police say there were little disturbances, party leaders say about 200 were arrested.
This is the first time Nepal’s monarchists have been able to protest. The country still suffers from instability ever since King Gyanendra gave up his autocratic powers in 2006 and was dethroned two years later. A new constitution is to be written by May of this year, but Nepal’s political parties cannot come to an agreement.
The RPP-N has only four members in the 106 seat Parliament.
Tuesday saw the funeral of Archduchess Regina of Austria, the wife of Archduke Otto, who was the son of Emperor Karl I and Empress Zita of Austria. Regina died February 3rd in Bavaria at the age of 93 after suffering heart problems for a long while.
 DPA The Archduchess’ funeral took place at 10:30 am at the Parish Church of St. Pius in Pöcking, Bavaria, not too far from the villa where she lived with her husband for over fifty years. All seven of her children – Andrea, Monika, Michaela, Gabriela, Walburga, Karl and Georg – were in attendance as well as her many grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Archduke Otto, age 97, did not attend as he was so grief stricken by his wife’s death.
Also at the funeral were the many members of Europe’s princely families such as: the Duke of Bavaria, Prince Rasso of Bavaria, the Margravine of Baden, Furst Alexander of Schaumbrug-Lippe, Duke Friedrich of Wurttemberg, Hereditary Count Erich zu Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg, and Prince Fritz von Thurn und Taxi. In addition, Archduke Lorenz, the husband of Belgium’s Princess Astrid, attended.
 The Bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa, presided over the requiem mass, along with many other priests. After the funeral, as her coffin was being carried out, her grandsons, Ferdinand Zvonimir and Karolyi-Konstantin, carried her medals and decorations on velvet pillows.
Today, the Archduchess’ coffin will be buried in a private ceremony in Veste Heldburg, Germany. She will be placed near her parents Duke Georg and Duchess Klara of Saxe-Meiningen, and her oldest brother Anton Ulrich.
Born Princess Regina Helene Elisabeth Margarete in Wuerzburg, Germany, on January 6, 1925, the Archduchess was the youngest of four children of Prince Georg, the titular Duke Georg III of Saxe-Meiningen, and his wife, Countess Klara-Marie von Korff genannt Schmissing-Kerssenbrock. She studied social work at Bamberg and worked in Munich at a refugee home. In 1949, she met Archduke Otto von Habsburg, the heir to the Austrian imperial family, and the two became engaged a year later. 
The wedding of Otto and Regina took place at the Church of the Cordeliers in Nancy, France, which had the appearance of any other royal nuptial, even though the couple were from deposed royal and noble households. In fact, Otto renounced his sovereignty of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 2000, and never once claimed the Austrian throne. Instead, he made a career in politics. In 1979, he was voted into the European Parliament for North Bavaria and served until 1999. As for Archduchess Regina, she was a devoted wife. Her husband once said he would not have made a move into politics if not for Regina’s support.
But if certain historical events did not happen in the 20th century, Regina would have been the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary.
Upon her death last week, her eldest son, Karl released a statement, saying: “My mother was an example to all of us, with her we lose a great personality, who has formed us with her steadfast faith and her positive approach to life.”
 novinite.com/file Prince Kardam, the son of the former King of Bulgaria, has been having a difficult week. On Thursday, it was reported that he was discharged from the Conxo Hospital in Galicia, Spain after being admitted on Tuesday. He was suffering from a high fever, a kidney infection, and breathing problems.
The reason for concern over Kardam’s health is because he was in the serious car accident in August 2008, in which he suffered brain damage and was in a coma for a long while. He is still in recovery from the accident.
This is the second time the Prince was hospitalized this year. In late January, he spent time in another clinic for the aforementioned problems.
Prince Kardam lives in Galicia with his wife, Princess Miriam, and two sons. He continues to regain his former skills at the FOLTRA medical center.
Just over a month after their engagement was announced via the Internet, Prince Nikolaos and Tatiana Blatnik met with the media today at the Yacht Club in Piraeus outside of Athens, Greece.
 Milos Bicanski/Getty Images The couple said their wedding will take place later this year, hopefully on August 24th. They added that the nuptials will take place in Greece but the precise location is not certain.
When they announced their engagement to Nikolaos’ family, the former royal family of Greece, his parents and siblings thought it was about time – the couple had been dating for seven years.
“When i first saw her, her beauty charmed me but then her character,” said the Prince, who is the second son of the deposed King of Greece. “We have bonded a lot and we match together a lot!”
Tatiana also showed her engagement ring which is said to come from Nikolaos’ mother Queen Anne-Marie.
“My mother gave me the stone, a sapphire that belonged to her family. When I told my mother that I will ask Tatiana to marry me she (Anne-Marie) told me if I wanted her to give me the sapphire to make a ring with. I was really excited and that’s how it happened.”
Nikolaos said he proposed to his long time girlfriend on a small cruise two months ago.
“We went for an early evening cruise,” he said. “I told her to come at the front of the boat to show her something. There I knelt and asked the question.”
Tatiana, who comes from a prominent family of Russian descent, said she will be baptized in the Greek Orthodox faith before the wedding.
With the marriage between Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling already set for this year, 2010 is looking to be the year of the royal wedding!
This week a German tabloid published photos of Prince Ernst August of Hannover, husband to Monaco’s Princess Caroline, kissing another woman while on vacation in Thailand. These photographs come after months of rumors that there is a rift between the couple.
 Elisabetta Villa/Getty Images/FILE Now there is speculation that Caroline will divorce her estranged husband. She was skiing in Switzerland with her children while Ernst was in Thailand.
Last year, the Princess took her 10 year-old daughter with Ernst, and moved back to Monaco after living in Fountainbleau, France since her 1999 marriage to the Prince of Hannover. She then enrolled her daughter, Alexandra, in a local school.
Meanwhile, Ernst was noticeably absent from several high profiled events in Monaco in 2009, including National Day and the Bal de la Rose. Such absences prompted wonder if there was another Grimaldi marriage failing.
Princess Caroline has stood by her husband during many embarrassing situations, such as him urinating on a Turkish pavilion at a 2000 Expo and him getting into a brawl with a nightclub owner in Kenya.
The latter has the Prince in court again, and it speculated that Caroline herself will testify as a witness to the incident next Wednesday. One wonders how that scene will play out.
Today, former Greek monarch, King Constantine II, announced the engagement of his second son, Prince Nikolaos, to longtime girlfriend Tatiana Blatnik. The 40 year-old Prince has been dating the Swiss-born Tatiana for six years, and many royal watchers have been wondering when the two will make their union official.
 All Over Press/FILE But now the answer has finally come. The announcement was made on the Greek Royal Family’s website, with one simple message: “HM Queen Anne-Marie and I are delighted to announce the engagement of our son Nikolaos to Tatiana Blatnik.”
Prince Nikolaos is the third child of the deposed King and Queen of Greece. In the past, he reportedly romanced with Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria. But instead, the two found love elsewhere.
With this announcement, 2009 has been an exciting year with a total of three wedding announcements: Victoria’s and her younger sister, Princess Madeleine, and now Nikolaos.
It is not known when the Prince will marry Ms. Blatnik, but rumor has it that it will take place in 2011. Also, the location will be a mystery. Whether it will be in Greece or London or elsewhere, only time will tell.
A low-key Islamic funeral took place at a Cairo mosque Tuesday, as relatives of Egypt’s last King buried his daughter, Princess Ferial. The Princess died on Sunday after a long bout with stomach cancer in Switzerland.
 AFP/Cris Bouroncle Attending the funeral was Ferial’s only surviving sibling, Ahmed Fouad. He is the last living child of King Farouk, who ruled Egypt from 1936 until a revolution overthrew him in 1952.
Also in attendance was Ferial’s daugher, Princess Yasmine, from her marriage to Jean-Pierre Perreten.
Born in Alexandria, the Princess was the eldest child of King Farouk and Queen Farida. She had two younger sisters, plus two half-brothers by her father’s second marriage to Queen Narriman.
Egypt’s last dynasty reigned for 150 years until a republic was established. Prince Fuad is the current claimant to the throne.
King Farouk was known for saying the King of England would be one of the last Kings around.
 Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images/FILE The Duke and Duchess of Vendome – Prince Jean & Princess Philomena – welcomed into the world today a baby boy!
The little one is named Gaston, a name traditionally used by the House of Orleans. It is not known yet how much he weighs or how long he is.
Prince Gaston is the eighth grandchild of the Count of Paris, who is the head of the deposed French royal family. Since the little boy’s father is the heir, that makes Gaston a future heir to the House of Orleans.
The son’s parents married earlier this year – civilly in March, and religiously in May. This is their first child together.
The religious ceremony for Henri, Count of Paris and his second wife, Micaela d’Orleans was held in Arcangues, France on Saturday evening. The couple originally married in a civil ceremony back in 1984. But years of the Count waiting for an annulment from his first marriage to Maria Teresa of Wurttemberg, Duchess of Montpensier, led to the large gap between the two weddings. 
The bride wore a rather loud purple dress while the groom wore a morning suit. The marriage was officiated at Church of Saint Jean Baptiste by Father Dominique Dye and by Abbé Jean-Marie Mouhica.
Not too many people showed up for this wedding. None of the Count’s five children were in attendance and there were only a scant number of French and European royals – all from non-reigning houses.
76 year-old Henri is the claimant to the French throne. He became head of the family in 1999 after the passing of his father. His own son, Prince Jean, married this past May.
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