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Monday saw the Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein hold a meeting with the heads of German speaking nations at Vaduz Castle. The heads of Germany, Austria and Switzerland came to Liechtenstein to discuss with Prince Alois the importance of education.
 Click here for the gallery at Belga During a media conference, all the German speaking leaders agreed that education was important to combat youth unemployment. Austrian President Heinz Fischer said investments in education were important and meaningful, and should enjoy priority in the future. In agreement, Swiss Federal President Micheline Calmy-Rey mentioned education was necessary for countries with few natural resources.
Also during the meeting, Prince Alois expressed the necessity for the German speaking countries to maintain close ties.
While these leaders were meeting, their spouses were at the Hilti to be briefed on its construction company. Hilti employs 20,000 people from 120 countries.
Once both groups were done, the guests of Alois visited the National Museum and Liechtenstein’s Parliament.
Source: Volksblatt
Over the weekend, Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein warned his people that if they vote to allow abortion into their tiny Alpine principality, he would veto the law, forbidding the procedure to take place. This means when Liechtenstein votes next week, their votes may mean little.
 Click here for more images of Prince Alois at Daylife.com “We think fewer people will vote because they’ll ask themselves, what’s the point? It really is an attempt to actively influence the referendum,” said Helen Konzett, who helped gather the 1,500 signatures necessary to call the vote, set for Sunday, September 18th.
Many voters in Liechtenstein are angry at Prince Alois, who seems to have inherited his father’s – Prince Hans Adams II – staunch Roman Catholic views.
During National Day last month, Alois made a speech in regards to allowing abortion into the country. He said doing so would lead to late term abortions for a fetus with a disability. “Until now we have been proud to support people with disabilities in our country. The proposal would discriminate against such people and allow them to be eliminated in the womb,” he said.
Currently, any woman in Liechtenstein who gets an abortion could face one year in prison, unless her life was in danger or she was younger than 14 at the time. She could even face imprisonment if she gets the procedure outside of the country. Because of the risk, many women are afraid to discuss abortion in the principality.
As for the doctor who performs it, that person could be in prison for three years.
If Prince Alois vetoes the law, he would be the first Prince of Liechtenstein to do so since his grandfather, Prince Franz Joseph II, blocked hunting laws in the 1980s.
While many monarchs worldwide have been losing their powers over the years, the Princes of Liechtenstein saw theirs increase in 2003. That was when Prince Hans Adam II pushed for a constitutional amendment allowing sovereign Princes more power.
Source: Scotsman News
The princely family of the tiny country of Liechtenstein celebrated National Day along with its 36,000 subjects. The day was marked with festivities, including the parade of most of the royals at the Castle Meadow in Vaduz.
 Click here for the image gallery The reigning couple, Prince Hans Adam II and Princess Marie, and the hereditary couple, Prince Alois and Princess Sophie walked by the dozens of people lined up to catch a view of their princely family.
There were other events, but one of the most important – the traditional mass – was not held. This was because of the Bishop of Vaduz refused to perform the ceremony out of protest for Liechtenstein legalizing same sex marriage, which is scheduled to begin next month.
There were other issues that arose from today. Prince Alois gave a speech where he discussed abortion, and how he would not allow the procedure for the first trimester if a referendum allows it next month. While abortion is not condemned in Liechtenstein, it is legally banned.
“The crown prince has said his opinion, which is not surprising. Rather, it is consistent, since he has been represented this opinion in the past on several occasions,” said Prime Minister Klaus Tschütscher.
One part of the abortion issue the Prince does not support is the procedure directed at those that would be born with disabilities.
“Until now we were proud of how we support people with disabilities in our country,” said Alois.
The Hereditary Prince also talked about how the Bishop refused to hold mass. “The cancellation point out that it was time to regulate the relationship between church and state again,” said Alois.
Source: Volksblatt Online, Die Presse
 REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch As vice president of the European Coudenhove-Kalergi association, Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein was on hand Thursday to give German Chancellor Angela Merkel the European an award for her merits in the European policy.
The medal is given out every two years to leading personalities who stand out for exceptional merit in the European integration process.
Born in Zurich in 1947, Nikolaus is the brother of the reigning Prince Hans Adam II. He is the ambassador to Belgium and to the Vatican. Married to Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg – sister of Grand Duke Henri – he has three children, two girls and a boy. One boy died shortly after birth in 1984.
Source: Reuters, Vaterland, Wikipedia
The princely family of Liechtenstein may be one of the quietest families on the royalty sphere, but that doesn’t mean their works go unnoticed – especially during Christmas. In the days leading up to the holiday, members of the family have been visiting those in need and taking part in Christmas traditions.
 Paul Trummer/Volksblatt On Monday, Princesses Marie and Sophie went to visit the elderly at St. Florin in Vaduz. There, the two women went around the main room, meeting with their tiny principality’s senior citizens.
That same day, Princess Marie visited patients at the Landesspital Hospital.
Princess Marie is married to Prince Hans Adam II, who is the head of state, though he has given many of his day-to-day powers over to his eldest son, Prince Alois, the husband of Princess Sophie.
 Paul Trummer/Volksblatt Tuesday saw Hans Adam and his wife accept the Light of Bethlehem, given to them by boy scouts. Its a tradition each year to accept the light since 1986. It is lit in Bethlehem, where Jesus is said to have been born, and flown in an explosion-proof lamp to Vienna. From there, it is distributed to several European countries, including Liechtenstein.
Source: Vaterland, Wikipedia
Prince Alois von und zu Liechtenstein visited China Monday to meet with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and to hail the country’s status as a full market economy. 
Prime Minister Klaus Tchutscher accompanied the Prince to Beijing, and he and Xi both signed agreements to recognize the new stage in Chinese economics.
The Vice President praised Liechtenstein’s 60 year relationship with his nation during the ceremony and spoke of his hopes for further cementing the bilateral relations.
In turn, Prince Alois and Tchutscher said they value their ties with China and also hope to broaden relations in the economics, trade, culture and tourism sectors.
Following the Beijing meeting, Alois and Tchutscher will visit Shanghai and go to the World Expo.
Source: Xinhua
Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein met with Czech President Vaclav Klaus at Prague Castle on Wednesday. It is the latest move to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries, having only been made eight months ago.
 REUTERS/David W Cerny The dispute began after World War II over Liechtenstein property located in south Moravia. The Princely family refused to drop its claim for the property, thus creating tensions between the countries.
But last year, Hans Adam said while his family would like to have the land back, they would not actively try to get it. Instead they would invest in it so local Czechs could benefit from that.
Wednesday, the Prince attended the opening of an exhibition of 300 classicist and Biedermeier works of art from the Liechtenstein collections in the building of the Czech Senate.
His wife, Princess Marie, who was born in the Czech Republic, did not accompany him on this visit, despite it being originally planned.
Sources: Czech Happenings, Prague Daily Monitor
Valentine’s Day is Liechtenstein ruling Prince Hans Adam II’s 65th birthday. To honor his milestone, the Liechtenstein Museum is exhibiting about 140 works of art from the Prince’s personal collection. He owns one of the largest and most expensive private art collections in the world, and it includes works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. This is the first time some of these pieces of art are being put on display.
 AP Photo/Keystone, Eddy Risch/FILE The collection began during the 17th century by Prince Karl I von Liechtenstein. One of the pieces he acquired were two sculptures done by Adrian de Fries, Christ in Distress and Saint Sebastian.
Karl’s son Prince Karl Eusebius I and later Prince Johann Adam Andreas I continued to add to the princely family’s collection. They quickly gathered one of the leading collections of Flemish painting. By the time Johann Adam Andreas died in 1712, he compiled about more than 50 original paintings by Peter Paul Rubens.
Not all the Liechtenstein rulers shared the same tastes. Prince Johann II (1840 – 1929) had a disgust for nudity and violence, and sold several artworks that depicted such. Those pieces were Rubens’ Samson and Delilah and his “Slaughter of the Innocents.”
In 1808, some of the artwork were shown at the Liechtenstein Summer Palace in Rossau. But that exhibited ended 130 years later when the princely family relocated to Vaduz and took their art objects with them. A year later, World War II broke out. To secure their wealth, the family sold some pieces of their collection.
After the war, the family acquired other pieces of art. In 2004, Prince Hans Adam II reopened the Liechtenstein Museum in Rossau, setting up for this year’s exhibit.
Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein called off a much anticipated art exhibit at London’s Royal Academy of Arts Thursday, due to a row over a painting taken hold of in Britain.
 FILE The Spanish Renaissance artwork at the center of this dispute, “The Infante Don Diego” by Sanchez Coello, was purchased by the Prince in 2006, but due to the British customs, it has been impounded since 2007. Because this problem has not yet been resolved, Hans Adam pulled out of the exhibition which would have shown pieces of art owned by Liechtenstein’s ruling family.
“After many months of planning… we are, of course, very disappointed that the Prince of Liechtenstein has decided to cancel the exhibition,” said the Royal Academy in a statement.
“This is owing to an unrelated criminal inquiry into the export of a group of pictures bought in London by the Prince over three years ago.”
The exhibition was supposed to run from September to December of 2010. The Royal Academy was looking forward to the event, and had hoped for a major success.
“The Prince does not think it is appropriate to proceed with the planned exhibition until the matter of a painting by Sanchez Coello is resolved,” said Johann Kraeftner, director of the Prince of Liechtenstein collections.
“When that happens we will reconsider the idea of a show at the Royal Academy at some future date,” he added.
Earlier today, Liechtenstein’s Prince Alois was welcomed to Russia by President Dmitry Medvedev at the Barvikha presidential residence outside Moscow. This was the first visit to Russia by Liechtenstein’s heir apparent.
 ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images Medvedev told Prince Alois his appreciation for ties with the principality.
“Our cooperation acquired greater dynamics during the past 15 years, and special credit for that goes to you father, the ruling Prince of Liechtenstein,” Medvedev said. “Our cooperation is developing in various spheres, including the cultural and humanitarian sphere.”
The two leaders also discussed their interest in Europe, and how both are interested in the continent’s development and prosperity.
“I believe our stands on the issue are very close, especially at the time when we are all living through the stage of crisis development,” the President said.
Prince Alois mentioned that he was impressed with Moscow’s landmarks, particularly the Kremlin. Even he praised the Russia-Liechtenstein relations.
“Russia and Liechtenstein have formed very close relations during the past 15 years, and its is especially interesting in view of the fact that Russia is the largest country, while Liechtenstein is one of the smallest countries,” Prince Alois said. “Despite that difference, really close relations have been created between our countries. My father turned over to Russia the so-called Sokolov’s archive. I was told it was extremely important for the Russian history. At the same time, we received from Russia part of our family archive, which is important both for our family and the country.”
As a gift, the Prince gave to Medvedev a brooch once owned by a Russian who lived in his country.
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