Friday marks the third and final day for Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, official visit to Hungary. It was the second stop on their tour of central Europe, following Poland. While Camilla’s pinched nerve in her back caused her to sit out some engagements, Prince Charles was able to fulfill this visit.
AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky
President Laszlo Solyom officially greeted the royal couple in Budapest on Wednesday. After initial talks, Solyom presented Prince Charles with the Hungarian Republic’s Order of Merit with the Grand Cross in recognition of his environmental work.
The President then hosted Charles and Camilla at a gala dinner in the Sandor Palace later that night. It was there that the Prince of Wales praised his Hungarian ancestry.
“I have a special relationship with Hungary since I am proud to be one thirty-second Hungarian myself, through my great great great grandmother, Countess Rhedey,” he said.
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The next day, the Prince and the Duchess went to visit the Dohany Street Synagogue, where Charles wore a skullcap with his emblem on the front. The two lit a candle to remember the victims of the Holocaust and received a tour of its Holocaust memorial. Dohany is the second largest synagogue in the world.
Next came a trip to the open air museum dedicated to Hungarian culture and folklore in the Danube riverside town of Szentendre. However, Charles was alone on this as his wife’s back pain continued to force her to sit out some visits. According to the Clarence House spokeswoman, Camilla is determined to make it through this tour.
“We’ll have to take it on a day to day basis,” the spokeswoman said.
After the museum, Prince Charles, reunited with Camilla, went to the head office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe also in the town of Szentendre. He met with some students and talked to them about taking care of the environment.
But Charles also brought up one of his country’s social ills in the debate. When one student asked him if someone dropped some litter in a wooded area, would he pick it up?
AP Photo/MTI, Imre Foeld
“The difficult thing is asking them to pick it up without getting stabbed,” said the future King.
Great Britain has been plagued with anti-social behavior in its youths. Prince Charles’ charity, the Prince’s Trust, aims to help those particular people find work and be more productive in society.
After the school, Charles returned to Budapest for a visit to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He was given a pair of 3-D glasses to read ancient texts discovered by academics under the words of a 13th century prayer book. In addition, the Prince used the glasses to watch video of a frog trying to catch a fly with its tongue.
Finally on Friday, Prince Charles and Camilla met with Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, who gave the couple a tour of Parliament, one of the world’s largest in size.
Also that day, Camilla took the time to visit patients in a children’s hospital.
Tomorrow, the royal couple will fly to Prague, Czech Republic for the final stop on their tour, where they will spend three days there. It is a wonder how much the Duchess will be able to endure with her back ache, but judging from what she has done so far on this trip, she may sit out some and make it for others.
On his second day in Poland, the Prince of Wales saw a side of the country that many do not often know about. He toured a woodland that included rare European bison, and then later visited a Tatar community.
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Prince Charles arrived at the Bison Reserve in Bialowieza in eastern Poland in the morning. He witnessed bison out in the wild and was taught about how they survive the winter. Europe’s bison, a cousin of the North American version, number around 500.
Later, the Prince went to Kruszyniany, near the Belarussian border, to meet with Poland’s tiny Muslim Tatar community. He was greeted by the village’s spiritual leader Tomasz Miskiewicz, and was given a tour of the its small wooden mosque.
Charles then was entertained by a group of traditional Tatar dancers and had a taste of their cuisine inside a felt tent, another of this group’s traditions.
AFP/Janek Skarzynski
“We made him a ‘pierekaczewnik’, a kind of beef pie, as well as Tatar ‘kolduny’ which are like ravioli stuffed with beef and mutton, plus the water, honey and lemon drink ’syta’, as well as mint tea and cardamom coffee,” Dzenneta Bogdanowicz, who runs a guesthouse in the village, told AFP.
The Tatars came to Poland in the 1300s to be soldiers in its royal army. They stayed in the country and were granted their own land in the 1500s. Although they maintain their religion and customs, they have long forgotten their Tatar language and have adopted Polish names.
While Prince Charles was doing all this, he was alone. His wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, resigned from taking part in this engagement due to a back pain. Instead, she visited a museum in Warsaw dedicated to the famed pianist Frederic Chopin.
Tomorrow is Charles and Camilla’s last day in Poland. After that, they will head for Hungary.
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall started their nine day tour of central Europe Monday, beginning with a three day stint in Poland. The point of these visits is to strengthen ties with the former communist nations who are now part of the European Union.
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“The visits reflect the importance which the government places on its relationships with its central European partners, two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall,” a spokesperson from Clarence House, the royal couple’s London residence, said.
“The themes of the tour include highlighting co-operation on environmental and heritage protection, the military, faith and minority communities, culture and youth employment.”
Charles and Camilla arrived in Warsaw in the afternoon and were greeted by President Lech Kaczynski and First Lady Maria at the presidential palace.
After initial welcomes and a photo op, the Prince and the Duchess met with Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his wife Malgorzata.
Later, the royal couple went to lay a wreath at the grave of the Jerzy Popieluszko, a Roman Catholic priest who was kidnapped and killed by Poland’s communist-era secret police in 1984. Popieluszko is considered a martyr by the Vatican and is to be beatified as a saint this June.
In the evening came a state dinner hosted by the Kaczynskis’.
The longtime girlfriend of Britain’s Prince William has won an apology and compensation from a photograph agency for invading her privacy during Christmas.
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Kate Middleton was playing tennis with her family when a freelance photographer snapped pictures of her. While the agency, Rex Features, claims the photographer was not an employee, it syndicated the photos of Kate around the world.
“Although at the time Rex Features did not know that an infringement of privacy had occurred, we now accept that this was the case and that by distributing the photographs we were a party to that invasion of privacy.
“Accordingly we have agreed to pay compensation to Miss Middleton and have undertaken not to syndicate any further private photographs of her,” said the Rex statement on the agency’s website.
“We apologize to Miss Middleton for what has taken place.”
Kate was represented by Queen Elizabeth II’s lawyers, Harbottle and Lewis, and was awarded 5,000 pounds in damages. A spokesperson for her family said Kate will give the money to charity.
Prince William and Kate Middleton have been dating for several years now, and rumors come and go about when will they marry. It is believed 2011 would be the best time since William will be done with his RAF training.
Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa, was officially welcomed to the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II earlier today. Zuma is on a three day state visit to the country, and was welcomed with pomp and circumstance.
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The Queen greeted the President at Horse Guards Parade before a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace. There, Zuma shook hands with Prince Philip and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown will meet separately with the President later on.
At Buckingham, President Zuma presented Queen Elizabeth with a chess set. Problem was, when Her Majesty gave Zuma a tour of the Palace’s collection of South African gifts, he learned that the Queen already had a chess set, given to her by Nelson Mandela in 1995.
There will be a state banquet tonight in honor of the President, at Buckingham Palace where he is also staying overnight. He will also go to Clarence House to visit Prince Charles.
Britain’s Princess Anne made a surprise visit to British and Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan, it was revealed yesterday. The only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II made the trip just after the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Her husband, Vice Admiral Tim Lawrence, accompanied her.
“This visit has been a great morale boost for the troops,” said Captain Jo Barr, Adjutant of Bastion Joint Operating Base, the camp the Princess toured on Monday.
“They see that dignitaries like the Princess Royal are genuinely interested in what we do out here.”
Anne visited Camp Bastion where most of the British troops are staying, and went to Kandahar to visit the Canadian soldiers. She holds honorary military titles from both countries.
The Princess witnessed the dog handlers of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps and even met with the dogs.
The BAFTAs have a new president, and it is not a movie or television star. Instead, it is the young man who would one day be King of the United Kingdom, Prince William. The 27 year-old Prince made his debut as president of the Orange British Academy of Film Awards on Sunday at the Royal Opera House in London. William worked the red carpet, shaking hands with fans before giving a speech to open the ceremony.
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“I am so grateful to Lord [Richard] Attenborough for inviting me to take over from him,” the Prince said, referring to the actor who suffered from a serious head injury in 2009. William wished he was well enough to attend the BAFTAs.
“The visual arts are such a vital part of what makes up the fabric of this nation,” the Prince went on to say. “Britain has been a world leader in so many ways, not least in its cultural achievements. From the days of Shakespeare to our own Shakespeare in Love, British playwrights, script writers, actors, film makers and now video game designers have led the way globally, if not always in terms of resource then undoubtedly in talent and innovation.
“From what we are about to see tonight, it is quite clear that the same extraordinary cultural dynamism that so infused the first Elizabethan age still drives the beating heart of British visual arts in this second Elizabethan era.”
Prince William then went on to describe the royal family’s links to the BAFTAs, which goes back a ways.
“My grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, was there right at the start, presiding over that exciting time which saw the coming together of the British Film Academy and the Guild of Television Producers and Directors,” he said. “He was followed as president by Lord Mountbatten, who in turn handed over to my aunt, the Princess Royal.”
“So now perhaps you can see why I feel this is such a privilege for me – and I will do my level best to live up to my illustrious predecessors.”
William added: “Occasions such as tonight are obviously wonderful showcases for the British film industry, but I am also extremely excited about the prospect of working with Bafta on its myriad charitable endeavours.
“Because what is less known about this wonderful organisation is how much good it does for young people with its mentoring schemes, career starter initiatives and learning and events activity across the country.
“So, thank you for all you do to support the genius of film. Thank you for asking me to become your fifth president.
“It is a very great honour.”
With that, the Prince sat in the audience with the rest of the nominees and watched the ceremony.
One of the tasks he did as President of the BAFTAs was giving a lifetime achievement award to actress Vanessa Redgrave – who is a republican and a longtime critic of the royal family.
But Redgrave had nothing but kind words to say about William’s father, Prince Charles, saying “I would like to say, your Royal Highness, how much I admire your father for his intelligence, humility and kindness.”
She also mentioned having the pleasure of meeting his mother, the late Princess Diana.
Britain’s Prince Harry spent this weekend in the Caribbean island nation of Barbados, where he promoted his charity Sentebale, which helps children in the African Kingdom of Lesotho. The Prince arrived on Friday, along with Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso, and did several things to draw attention to Sentebale, including kicking off the Sentebale Polo Cup.
AP Photo/Arthur Edwards, PA
On Friday, Harry was greeted by Sir Clifford Husbands, Governor General of Barbados, and several other local dignitaries. But his real work began the next day when he and Prince Seeiso visited the pediatric ward of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital. There. Harry met with the sick children, and even held some of the babies.
Later, the two Princes went to the Bay Primary School and spoke with the students there.
“It’s very easy to make a small difference, but how long will that difference last for?” Prince Harry asked the boys and girls.
“If things are really, really bad, you can make things less bad for a short amount of time, but to make a real difference is to stop those bad times from really happening . . . .”
What Harry was referring to was his Sentebale charity (which means “Forget Me Not”) he and Seeiso set up four years ago to help disadvantaged children in Lesotho. But this charity does more than just give alms to those kids, it helps them “to really stand up on their own two feet,” Prince Seeiso said.
Later, Harry and Seeiso met with Barbados’ war veterans and shared their experiences serving their countries.
Today was the big polo event, where Harry played with Mark Tomlinson, one of Britain’s leading polo players, against a South African team in the Sentebale Polo Cup at the Apes Hill Club.
Before the match, he told guests: “It seems to be one of life’s cruellest ironies that when natural disaster strikes – whether it be earthquake in Haiti, or years of drought and ravaging by HIV/Aids in Lesotho – it is always the most vulnerable, the defenseless, normally the children, who are left exposed and needing more help.
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“We seem so powerless to prevent these things from happening, but out of such tragedy, comes the purest of human reactions: love, charity, and, in time, a sense of renewed hope. This is really what Sentebale is about.”
Later, Harry and Seeiso attended a Haiti benefit concert at Farley Park which was televised all over Barbados. It was at that concert that the two royals displayed their fun side. The hosts told the audience that if they donated 5,000 Barbados dollars, the two princes would get on stage and dance.
Indeed that happened and Harry and Seeiso strutted their stuff on stage to loud cheers from the crowd. The pair both wore T-shirts produced to promote the concert with the words Haiti We Care on the front. They moved to the thumping rhythms by singer Red Plastic Bag.
There are some reports that Prince Harry may go to Haiti soon, but so far there are no confirmations.
Prince William said coming to Australia was a “realization of a dream.” Judging from his three days spent Down Under, it appears it certainly was for the 27 year-old Prince.
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On Wednesday, he enjoyed a hip-hop performance at a teen center, shot guns on a military firing range, and had another barbecue this time with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He joked with the Prime Minister of getting a second-home in the country.
“I have had the most warm welcome ever – not just with the weather, but with all Sydney people,” William explained.
On Thursday, William went to Melbourne to see firsthand the devastation the 2008 wildfires caused in the area. He met with some families who were made homeless by the devastation and were pleased to be visited by royalty.
“It’s an honour, it’s not every day that royalty comes to walk on your lovely block of land,” said Diane Fox, adding that William’s visit would lift spirits and help the healing process.
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Later, William went to an official reception which in a way ended his three day visit to Australia. He gave a little speech about his time in the country, and how his mother, the late Princess Diana, often told him about her travels Down Under.
He also spoke about when his father was kissed coming out of the sea by an unknown woman in Perth in 1970s.
“My father had such a great time here at school – and is still misty-eyed about an immortal moment on Bondi (beach), when an Australian beauty planted a smacker on his cheek.”
He added: “It’’s good to see this tradition is continuing.”
What William was referring to was the several woman who kissed or tried to kiss him as he greeted the large crowds gathered to see him.
The Prince went on to that Australia was “truly a country for the 21st century”.
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“What has struck me during this visit to the southern hemisphere is what shared heritage actually means. It really is about core values and our way of life,” William added.
“It really is about humour and decency and it is also about courage and an ability to face down adversity.”
After the reception, William then stopped by the Australian Open tennis tournament. He watched as tennis great Roger Frederer beat his opponent, and later met with such players as the Williams sisters. Afterward, the Prince took an overnight flight back to the U.K.
The media has been analyzing this official visit from all angles. Some say it has sparked an interest in the monarchy in both Australia and New Zealand. Others have complained about it being too casual, using Prince William flipping burgers at several BBQs as an example.
Even so, the Prince displayed a lot of charm reminiscent of his mother, and that apparently is what pleased many people who came to see him during his tour.
Britain’s Prince William enjoyed the remainder of his New Zealand trip these last few days, before heading west to Australia on Tuesday as he continued his tour of the Oceania region. He attracted enthusiastic crowds while in the Kiwi nation, met with Maoris, and opened the country’s new Supreme Court building in Wellington.
Upon arriving in New Zealand’s capital to open the building, William was greeted by an eight foot deep crowd – and a group of anti-monarchists. But that didn’t seem to bother the Prince who shook some of their hands during a walkabout.
At the new Supreme Court, he was welcomed by Chiefs of the local Te Atiawa tribe who said hello in the traditional Maori way – a hongi, or by pressing noses together. William was then given a Maori cloak before entering the building.
During his speech to officially open the place, the Prince took the time to mention Haiti by saying, “How much the people of Haiti are in our thoughts and prayers at this terrible time.”
Later in the day, he went to Kapiti Island near Wellington, where he saw a Kiwi, a flightless bird that is New Zealand’s national symbol.
Afterward, Prime Minister John Key hosted a barbeque where the Prince donned an apron as he helped flip the burgers.
On Monday, William did his last engagement in the country by going to a Wellington hospital to visit sick children. When he was told his interaction with the children was reminiscent of his mother, the late Princess Diana, he refused to think he was “anywhere near her level”.
“I just go and meet people and just enjoy their company … I really enjoy it, I get a buzz out of it. Seeing kids smile means a lot to me.”
AP Photo/Dan Himbrechts, Pool
And with that, William headed to neighboring Austrlia, a place he hadn’t been to since he was an infant as his parents toured the country. He was greeted by a group of Aborigines, wearing body paint and holding smoky gum leaves as part of the welcoming ceremony.
“We’re over the moon that he’s come to this part of the city to spend time with us,” said Aboriginal Australian Lewis Kelly who went to Sydney’s poor Redfern area to see Prince William.
“I was surprised when I heard it on the grapevine that he was coming here to see the indigenous people, the real Australians.”
William went on to go to a community center where the Aborigines presented him with a 1937 petition to his great-grandfather King George VI asking for help in finding and returning the head of indigenous warrior Pemulwuy.
“I said Pemulwuy was a mighty Aboriginal warrior. It’s part of our history and a lot of our history is not acknowledged,” elder Marlene Cummins said.
“He was really interested. When he talks to you, he really talks and when he listens, he really listens. That’s what I love about this boy.”
After the meeting, William was given a brief tour of the Sydney skyline.
The British monarchy is struggling with popularity Down Under. At the same time, recent polls found most Aussies want William to become King over his father when Queen Elizabeth II passes away.
