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With the 42nd World Economic Forum taking place in Davos, Switzerland, many of the world’s who’s who are gathering there to discuss ways to make the world a better place. Among them are a few of Europe’s royals – the Norwegian Crown Princely couple, Belgium’s Princess Mathilde and Dutch Princess Mabel.
 Click here to view gallery Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are in Davos mainly to promote Haakon’s Young Global Leaders (YGL), which he has been involved in since it’s beginnings in 2005. But Mette-Marit took the time to chat with the press and explain to them why she recently set up her own Twitter account.
“I think Twitter is a fantastic opportunity to spread information about the exciting projects taking place around the world, especially driven by young people,” she said.
The Crown Prince does not yet have his own Twitter account, but said he might start one. “I think I’m quite active as I am. We’ll see if I get my own account. We have the joint account. Maybe I have my own later if I want.”
In addition, Mette-Marit praised Microsoft founder Bill Gates for donating nearly $1 billion to the GAVI Alliance, which gives vaccines to people in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We’re very concerned about global health. And now, Bill Gates once again placed a very good focus on this health care,” said Mette-Marit.
She also mentioned how exciting Davos can be as it draws people from all over the world to participate. “It was incredibly exciting to hear their perspectives on the world situation today. And I could have the opportunity to give them advice on how to use the World Economic Forum to promote their projects.”
Meanwhile, Princess Mathilde of Belgium is at Davos. She sat alongside the Norwegian royals during Angela Merkel’s speech Wednesday.
Also at Davos is Princess Mabel, the wife of Holland’s Prince Friso. She also has a Twitter account and has been tweeting her experiences at WEF. Among them, listening to U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon point out that thousands of women still die in childbirth worldwide. Mabel voiced her dismay over that, saying “These are unacceptable, unnecessary deaths.”
Sources: BT.no, NRK
Although she officially marked 40 years as head of Europe’s oldest monarchy Saturday, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II continued with the festivities on Sunday.
 Click here to see the balcony photos! The day began with Her Majesty’s 500th State council meeting. She was accompanied by husband Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary.
Then at noon, the Queen and the Prince Consort appeared on the balcony of Amalienborg Palace. Between 8,000 to 10,000 Danes gathered below to wish their Queen the best for her ruby jubilee. Some of those people arrived very early in the morning to get a spot.
On the adjacent balconies were her sons, her daughter in laws and her grandchildren – even the twins! Even Princess Marie, who’s on maternity leave and is due any day, was on the balcony.
On the other balcony were the Queen’s fellow Scandinavian royals from Norway and Sweden, as well as the former Greek royals.
In the evening came the gala banquet, with all the tiaras, men in uniform and designer gowns. In attendance were all the Danish royals – save for Princess Marie and the grandchildren, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, plus Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, Greece’s deposed royal family including King Constantine, Queen Anne-Marie, Crown Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie-Chantal.
Speeches were given in honor of Margrethe’s jubilee. Prince Henrik gave this moving speech in honor of his wife:
 See the banquet photos here “Dear Queen, dear wife, dear Daisy. I am the first man in the kingdom to admire you,” he said.”We have over these 40 years shared many good and exciting things together, but also some difficult challenges. But always with dedication and sensitivity. ”
To the attendants, Henrik said, “All we will together with the Danish people celebrate a queen who has dedicated her life to Denmark and Greenland and the Faroe Islands. A monarch who has shown the greatest capacity to carry out her mission in life: to work for Denmark with God’s help, the people’s love, and Denmark’s strength.”
Finally, Her Majesty spoke and expressed her gratitude plus her awe at spending the past four decades as Denmark’s monarch. “They have gone so quickly,” she said.
“The commitment is as strong for me today, but I would like to stress that the obligation has always been driven by joy. The joy is rooted in the heat that has met me and my family everywhere through every year, in celebration and joy as in sorrow, as well as in daily life,” the Queen said.
To her husband, she said: “You, my dear Henri, has stood by me and been of encouragement and inspiration for me in the work that we have been two to perform. This day is your anniversary as well as mine. Together we have seen our sons grow up, marry and enrich us with a whole bunch of grandchildren.”
Continuing, she said:”40 years is more than one lifetime, unmanageable for many years to look forward to for those who are young. But in retrospect it seems to me that they’re gone so fast. Today when I look back over the years, it is with deep gratitude, gratitude for the task which has been entrusted to me, and grateful for everything it has given me,” she said.
To end it off, Queen Margrethe said: “I ask all to rise and speak with me and say God preserve Denmark.”
Sources: Jyllands-Posten, JydskeVestkysten
For Christmas Eve and Day, most of the reigning heads of state in Europe spoke to their people. They wished them a good Christmas, reflected on 2011 and talked about what to look for in the following year.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II’s televised message spoke mainly of the state and goodwill visits she and her family made this year. She brought up the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to North America, her historic state visit to Ireland and the recent tour of Australia.
 Click here to read the Queen's Speech in its entirety. “The spirit of friendship so evident in both these nations can fill us all with hope,” Her Majesty said. “Relationships that years ago were once so strained have through sorrow and forgiveness blossomed into long term friendship. It is through this lens of history that we should view the conflicts of today, and so give us hope for tomorrow.
“Of course, family does not necessarily mean blood relatives but often a description of a community, organisation or nation. The Commonwealth is a family of 53 nations, all with a common bond, shared beliefs, mutual values and goals”
The Queen then mentioned briefly the two weddings the House of Windsor saw this year – Prince William’s and Zara Philips’.
“The importance of family has, of course, come home to Prince Philip and me personally this year with the marriages of two of our grandchildren, each in their own way a celebration of the God-given love that binds a family together.”
Finally, Queen Elizabeth touched on the need to forgive one another. “Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God’s love.”
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf spoke about this year’s state visits from Estonia and to Botswana. He also mentioned visiting Swedish troops in Afghanistan. “After one such trip, I am even more convinced that we must not give up. We must continue to problems and conflicts should be resolved. Peace and reconciliation are powerful forces that can win over hatred and violence.”
 Read the King's Speech here (its in Swedish) The King also talked about something he mentioned in his Christmas message two years ago. In it, he brought up how he and Queen Silvia wanted to open a forum to discuss children’s issues. 2011 saw the second such forum in Stockholm at the palace.
“Over 400 participants listened to representatives of various child rights issues,” His Majesty said. “It was an important day, the whole palace was filled with dedicated people who talked about how children’s rights can be strengthened in practice.”
King Carl Gustaf went on to discuss the importance of monarchy in Sweden. “My ambition is that the Royal Palace to be alive and help to tell us about our heritage and history of our country. We continuously organize exhibitions, seminars, lectures and tours of the castle. This past year we have had almost one million visitors. The royal palaces in Sweden, I would like to be open so that everyone has an opportunity to take part of our shared history.”
“Sweden is a small nation. To build a sustainable society is the importance of working across borders. That is when we reach the big goals.”
The King then ended his message with a nod to Crown Princess Victoria, who will deliver her first child next year.
King Juan Carlos of Spain’s speech was broadcasted Christmas Eve. In it, he discussed the difficulties the country has experienced with its economy and high unemployment rate.
 Click here to read (in Spanish) the King's speech “We have several years mired in a severe economic and financial crisis whose complex causes are not always easy to understand, but whose negative effects are evident to all. For many, sadly too obvious by their hardness. It is a crisis that is likely to modify call habits and economic and social behaviors,” His Majesty told his people.
“If Spain has achieved in recent decades the highest levels of progress and welfare of its history, we now recognize with humility to know what were the behaviors in which, as individuals and as a group, we could be wrong. Only after this recognition, and the best values of our society before we can begin to overcome this crisis.”
In addition, Juan Carlos touched on the distrust many Spaniards have for what he said was “some of our institutions”. Some translate this as him giving Spain his thoughts on the recent scandal involving his son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin.
“I also greatly concerned about the distrust that seems to be spreading in some sectors of public opinion regarding the credibility and prestige of some of our institutions. We need rigor, professionalism and exemplary in every way. Everyone, especially people with public responsibilities, we have the duty to observe appropriate behavior, exemplary behavior.
“When misconduct occurs that do not conform to the law or ethics, it is natural that society reacts. Fortunately we live in a state of law, and any objectionable act should be tried and punished under the law. Equal justice for all,” said the King.
To end his message, King Juan Carlos talked about the recent elections, his heir Prince Felipe’s efforts in representing Spain and gave his condolences to the victims of terrorism.
Over in the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix voiced her concern for stewardship of the earth and the distribution of wealth. “Our precious planet is handled carelessly and what they give us is badly distributed,” she told the Dutch people.
 Click here to see video and read the speech (in Dutch) She went on to talk about how personal gain and abusing the environment undermine the world’s sense of community. But she was optimistic.
“Everywhere people are already taking their own initiatives to a more conscious way of life. This offers hope for a new perspective. It is the youngsters who encourage us to do so today,” said the Queen.
“Entrepreneurs focus more and more responsible production and take into account the climatic effects. Many people work towards the conservation and teach children closely at the irreplaceable treasures of the earth. For the connection between agriculture and environment put many will enthusiastically. In all these possibilities, we can address each other. Old and new media information and call us to take responsibility, each at their own level. What starts in the small can grow into a new culture of concern for the future. Who wants to change the world, must simply begin with himself.”
Her Majesty also quoted Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi – “The earth has enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.”
With that, Queen Beatrix wished the Dutch a happy Christmas.
Sources: British Monarchy, Kungahuset, Casa Real, De Telegraaf
NOTE: Once the English versions of the speeches are available, I will link them.
On Thursday, King Mohammed VI of Morocco saw the future of his country’s tourism sector grow brighter when royals from the Gulf states signed an agreement to set up Morocco’s Tourism Investment Authority.
 Click here to learn more Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi signed the agreement, along with Kuwait’s Financial Minister Sheikh Mustafa Jassim al Shamali during a ceremony in Rabat.
The Director General of the Moroccan Fund for Tourism Development, Tarik Senhaji, pointed out during the event that having the Gulf nations invest in the North African kingdom’s tourism industry displayed the mutual trust between Morocco and those countries.
After the signing of the agreement, the royals and other delegates were briefed on two locations to be developed into tourism attractions. One was Ouarzazate which is south-east of Rabat. That place already attracts filmmakers, and will eventually have hotels, golf courses and a museum.
The other location is Oukaimden, near Marrakesh, which will also have golf courses and hotels, but also a ski resort.
In addition to agreeing to invest in the Moroccan tourism sector, Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad signed three other bilateral agreement with King Mohammed VI. They were to set up a Moroccan-Qatari investment firm, collaborate in the mining sector and putting in an addendum to a 1987 agreement for Moroccans working and living in Qatar.
Source: Maghreb Arabe Presse
The royals of Scandinavia spent some time together in New York, both in the morning and in the evening. They are in the Big Apple mainly to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Scandinavian-American Foundation.
 Click here for images of the Ground Zero visit But sadly, no visit to New York is without a visit to Ground Zero, site of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. Together, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, and Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary went to the place where nearly 3,000 people died. With them were the Presidents of Finland and Iceland. Everyone went to the memorial and laid flowers there. All look solemn during the visit.
For the rest of the day, each royal couple went to their separate engagements. The Danish Crown Princely couple went to the BIG Architectural Studios, the Norwegian King and Queen attended an awards ceremony, while their Swedish counterparts met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and his wife Yoo Soon-taek at the United Nations headquarters.
 Check out more photos of the gala here In the evening, it was time to dress up for a black-tie event for the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s centennial ball. All three royal couples, plus the Presidents of Finland and Iceland, went to the Hilton Hotel for the event. Even Sweden’s Princess Madeleine, who’s been spending most of her time in New York these days, attended.
After today, Frederik and Mary will spend a few more days in New York, while the Kings and Queens of Norway and Sweden will go north to Jamestown, near Buffalo, New York Saturday, to celebrate the Norden Club’s centennial anniversary and visit the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. The Norden Club was founded in 1902 by Swedish immigrants to the area.
Source: WGRZ, The Royal Forums
On Thursday evening, five Scandinavian royals – and Finland’s President – opened the art exhibition, Luminous Modernism:
Scandinavian Art Comes to America 1912, at the Scandinavian House in New York.
 Click here for image gallery at Daylife.com Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen of Silvia, and Crown Princess Mary were present for the inauguration. All are in New York for tomorrow’s centennial ball for the Scandinavian-American Foundation.
It was Queen Sonja who did the actual ribbon cutting.
The exhibition showcases 48 works by Nordic artists who did modernism style, such as Edvard Munch, Vilhelm Hammershøi,and Anders Zorn. It is a sort of remake of the 1912 exhibit that displayed the modernism painting style. The exhibit will be open to the public on October 25th and will run until February 11, 2012.
“During the 100 years of its existence,” said Edward P. Gallagher, President of The American-Scandinavian Foundation. “The ASF has played a leadership role in promoting American awareness of Nordic culture. In looking back at the 1912 exhibition of Scandinavian modernists, we pay tribute to our founders’ vision and to a pivotal event in the study and appreciation of Nordic art in this country.”
Source: Scandinavia House
As fashionistas observed the latest collections from the Paris’ biggest designers, they were joined by some princesses. That shouldn’t come as a surprise since many royals are known for their fashion and style. They also have to rely to fashion designers to make them look good when they make their numerous public appearances. But perhaps, royal women just enjoy fashion like many of us do.
 See more photos of Charlene at the Akris Fashion Show here Princess Charlene of Monaco was the first royal to be spotted during Paris Fashion Week. She attended the Akris collection, and sat front row with Vogue editor Anna Wintour not too far from her. Charlene wore an Akris dress during the Red Cross Ball back in August.
 Click here for more photos of Princess Beatrice at Daylife.com Princess Beatrice of York was seen at the Elie Saab Ready to Wear Spring/Summer Collection on Wednesday. Dressed in a figure hugging red dress, Beatrice looked dazzling. With her interest in Elie Saab, you can expect the Princess to look beyond dazzling in the future.
 See more photos of Princess Clotilde at Daylife.com Princess Clotilde – or simply, Clotilde Courau – was spotted at the Balmain show last week. The French actress turned member of Italy’s deposed House of Savoy is known for her style that is both simple and classy.
 View more photos of Princess Siriwanwaree here But the real royal star of this season’s Paris Fashion Show was Princess Siriwanwaree Nareera of Thailand. Daughter of Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, the Princess has been making waves with her style, especially for the fashion shows. Instead of simple attire, Siriwanwaree wore dark purple lipstick, wide shoulder pads, black lacy dresses and all things avant garde. In addition, she attended not one, but six fashion shows, such as Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Lanvin. Certainly with her style, this is one royal fashionista to look out for. In fact, she’s a fashion student in Thailand and once unveiled her own collection in Paris.
And hopefully, the other princesses would accept her. While Siriwanwaree was able to sit next to and chat with Princess Clotilde during the Balmain show, she was unable to do the same with Princess Beatrice during the Elie Saab show. According to UK’s Telegraph newspaper, the Thai Princess was blocked from approaching Beatrice by a security guard, who explained she was not going to meet with her. Siriwanwaree was insulted, saying “Is that the sort of Princess you’ve got?”
Source: Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Telegraph
On Thursday, Norway’s Princess Märtha Louise celebrated her 40th birthday.
 View gallery of the birthday dinner here Her parents, King Harald V and Queen Sonja, held a private dinner at the palace on Saturday to mark their only daughter’s milestone. That dinner had 225 guests and it included some royals from Europe.
Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien were there, as was Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg. And of course, the Princess’ brother, Crown Prince Haakon attended, but his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit was not. She is reportedly out of the country, but it is not known where.
Also in attendance was Märtha Louise’s husband, Ari Behn, who is a year younger than her. His parents also came.
Märtha Louise gave an interview to Norwegian television this week, but there is not yet a translation of what she talked about.
Once a translation can be found, I will update this post with it.
Source: AFP
Saturday revealed the official guest list for next Friday’s wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton. As expected, dozens of royals from many other countries are said to be attending. Here is the list of those royals:
The Prince and Princess of the Asturias
The Crown Prince of Bahrain
Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium
The Sultan of Brunei and Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha
King Simeon II and Queen Margarita of Bulgraria
The Queen of Denmark
King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes
Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece and Prince Constantine of Greece
Sheikh Ahmad Hmoud Al-Sabah of Kuwait
Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso and Princess Mabereng Seeiso of Lesotho
The Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia
Prince Albert II of Monaco and Miss Charlene Wittstock
Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco
The Crown Prince and Princess of The Netherlands
The King and Queen of Norway
Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said of Oman
The Emir of The State of Qatar and Sheika Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned
King Michael I of Romania and Crown Princess Margarita
Prince Mohamed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and Princess Fadwa bint Khalid bin Abdullah bin Abdulrahman
The Queen of Spain
The King of Swaziland
The Crown Princess of Sweden and The Duke of Vastergotland
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand
The King of Tonga
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia
The Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia
As impressive as the list is, royals from two countries have been glaringly left off the list. Jordanian royalty such as King Abdullah II, Queen Rania or even Queen Noor are not attending the wedding. Also, royals from the tiny Alpine principality of Liechtenstein are not coming.
Other guests include members of the Church of England, Parliament and the Commonwealth leaders.
There are several guests who are neither royal nor dignitary, though some may consider them to be dignitaries in their fields. Football star David Beckham is coming, as is singers Joss Stone and Elton John, journalists Ben Fogle and Tom Bradby, director Guy Ritchie, and Mario Testino who photographed William and Catherine’s official engagement photos.
To see the complete list of the guests, click here.
Source: BBC News
Last week, several royal women attended a conference in Belgium about the risk European children face while living on the streets. It was set up by Belgian Queen Paola, who is the as Honorary President of the NGO Child Focus, an organization dedicated to finding missing children.
 REUTERS/Thierry Roge For two days – November 17th & 18th – renowned experts on child rights discussed the problem of the disappearance and sexual exploitation of children in different parts of the world. Participants included representatives from all European Union countries as well as members of various NGOs engaged in advocacy for children and international organizations.
The royals in attendance were: Queen Silvia of Sweden, Infanta Cristina of Spain, Britain’s Duchess of Gloucester, and Princesses Mathilde, Astrid and Claire of Belgium.
The non-royals present were: Ms Vike-Freiberga (former president of Latvia), Mrs. Chirac, Ms. Barroso, Mrs. Van Rompuy, Mrs. Tusk (wife of the Polish Prime Minister), Mr Barrot (former Vice-President of the European Commission) and Mr. Flick (former President of the Italian Constitutional Court).
In her speech at the opening of the conference, Queen Paola thanked everyone for coming, saying: “I’m also deeply touched to be joined by several outstanding personalities, who have demonstrated so many times their strong and lasting involvement in the defence of children’s rights. I hope their support will continue to open many doors.
“During these last years, with the help of all of you present here, many concrete projects aimed at fighting all forms of child abuse have been set up in Europe. The single European telephone number is certainly a key achievement, and we can only wish that other Member States will rapidly join the 13 countries where the number is already in operational use. ”
 Mark Renders/Getty Images Switching to French, one of Belgium’s main languages, Paola continued.
“Despite the large number of runaways, very little attention is paid to this issue, so we wanted to treat it in this conference.
“It is a common theme you’ll say, running away adolescents, both go through there, and most come back in 48 hours at home.
“Indeed, nearly 50% of cases handled by Childfocus each year involve runaways. And fortunately, most kids go home, without encountering major problems.
“But among this large number of runaways, many still find themselves in risky situations because they are not home a loving home that welcomes them, because they are victims of bad company on the Internet before their running away, because they are not sufficiently attentive to the dangers.
“Moreover, the ease of communication, open borders, single currency are all factors that increase the pitfalls that await. And the largest group of runaways are between 13 and 15 years!”
Switching to Dutch, the Queen said: “Every year in Belgium between fifteen hundred and two thousand young people who have no other language than their mother tongue. They are often physically and psychologically traumatized by a long journey. Almost half of these young people will disappear within two days back from the reception center and thus on the street.
“This is why the theme of runaways increased surveillance, including at European level. I sincerely hope that these two days some new ideas and contribute to an early European coordination.
After thanking everyone, the conference began. It discussed the statistics of runaway children, which was sent to NGOs and governments. All other findings were sent to the Council of the European Union.
Sources: ¡Hola!, Monarchie.be, The Royal Forums blog
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