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 Click here for more photos of the event It was a very windy day for Monaco Tuesday, but that didn’t prevent Princess Charlene from going to the roof of the principality’s Oceanographic Museum to open a sanctuary for turtles.
Her Serene Highness, who displayed a new haircut, took part in opening “Turtle Island”. It is to be a home for seven turtles that were given as gifts to her husband, Prince Albert II, by the former President of Mali, Amadou Toumani Toure, during Albert’s visit back in February.
Charlene unveiled a stone that commemorated the Island’s opening, interacted with the large turtles and even with the children who came for the event. Visitors to “Turtle Island” can not only see them up close, but also pick them up to play with them.
Source: Monaco Matin
Recent polls conducted by Spanish newspapers show while most Spaniards forgive King Juan Carlos for his recent elephant hunting trip in Botswana, many believe some changes have to be made to prevent any more scandals.
 Click here for recent images 70.3% say they forgive the King, while 22.9% do not, according to a poll by Sigma Dos published Sunday newspaper El Mundo.
The polling, which asked 1,000 people between April 19 and 20, shows that 52% of the participants believe it was “good” that the King apologized for hunting elephants, but most also believe it is not enough to repair the image of the monarchy. When asked “In your opinion, did the apologies of the King, repair the damage done to the image of the monarchy?”, 52.8% said “no” while 39.3% believe “yes”.
62% say King Juan Carlos must not accept gifts of any kind. It was reported that the Botswana trip was a gift from a friend of the King’s.
Despite all this, 73% of the Spanish people make a good or very good assessment of the reign of Juan Carlos.
Another poll, this time from NC Report for the newspaper La Razon, found that 50.2% believe the Spanish monarchy is considered a fundamental institution and 71% believe that Prince Felipe is ready to replace his father, but 52% do not want to see an abdication.
Also, 73.4% of the people stated that the royal family ” should be more transparent and disclose more details of the agenda of the King “.
While many people in Spain still support the monarchy and King Juan Carlos, it remains to be seen how this recent turn of events will effect the royal family in the long run. Will criticism of the King, once unheard of, be as common as it is for royalty in Great Britain, Sweden and other places? How will the royals survive that?
Sources: AFP, RTVE
Their Royal Highnesses Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg began their state visit to Germany Monday. The tour is to last three days and is meant to boost bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries. This is first time Luxembourg’s head of state has made such a visit to Germany since the country united back in 1989.
 Click here to see photos of today The Grand Ducal couple arrived in Berlin in the morning and were welcomed by President Joachim Gauck and his partner Daniel Schadt at Schloss Bellevue, with military honors.
After the welcoming ceremony, Klaus Wowereit, the mayor of Berlin, welcomed the couple at the Brandenburg Gate. Grand Duke Henri then laid a wreath with Wowereit at the memorial center of the Federal Republic of Germany for the victims of war and tyranny in the New Guard.
That was followed by a visit to the State Library. Henri then met with Bundestag President Norbert Lammert for talks.
In the evening, there was a gala dinner at Bellevue Castle.
For Tuesday’s agenda, Grand Duke Henri is to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa will sit through a microfinance meeting. The couple will reunite in the evening to inaugurate an exhibition titled “The Silver Chamber of the Luxembourg dynasty” at the German Historical Museum.
For the last day of his state visit, the Grand Duke will lead a business delegation to Hannover trade fair, while his wife will join him for a visit to the state of Thuringia.
Accompanying the couple is their son, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, several government ministers and a delegation of business leaders from Luxembourg.
Sources: Wort, Tageblatt,
This weekend saw Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, go to the United Arab Emirates to boost bilateral ties between the two countries. He was accompanied by his wife, Malgorzata Tusk, plus a Polish delegation.
 Click here for WAM news photos Tusk spoke at the UAE-Poland Business Forum organized by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry at its headquarters on Sunday. He praised Dubai for what he called a symbol of “human endurance, economic development, hospitality and peaceful co-existence.”
Also at the Chamber was His Excellency Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair, who spoke about Poland and the UAE’s growing business relations.
“Expanding into East European markets is a strategic priority for Dubai Chamber as it comes in line with the recommendations of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to explore Eastern Europe, therefore we have this forum to discuss strengthening of economic relations with our Polish partners,” Al Ghurair said.
“We see a huge potential for businesses from both countries to work together to enhance their business ties as Poland offers expertise in construction, aviation, oil, gas, energy, banking and finance. Meanwhile, the driving forces of our economy include trade, financial services, logistics and tourism and we look forward to working with you in these common areas of interest,” he added.
While this was going on, Malgorzata Tusk, the Prime Minister’s wife, was meeting with Princess Haya, who is the wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. The two women discussed regional and international humanitarian, and women’s issues at Haya’s office.
Sources: WAM, 7 Days in Dubai
 See more photos of the scouting event here Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden were in El Escorial, near of Madrid, Saturday for the 63rd World Scout Foundation meeting. The King is the patron of the World Scout Foundation.
Wearing casual clothes mixed with scouting material, the royal couple mingled with more than 2,000 children from 30 countries who gathered on a large lawn. The King and Queen chatted with some of the scouts in English.
Since they were in Spain, reporters were curious about what he had to say about Spain’s King Juan Carlos recent trip to Botswana where he hunted elephants.
“We all make mistakes and sometimes, the word forgiveness is very difficult to pronounce,” the Swedish monarch said.
He added, “Can you imagine if your kids, or if the Scouts have not ever made a nonsense! But when it comes to parents and family there is always the word forgiveness.”
King Carl XVI Gustaf hunts animals himself, such as deer. The venison meat sometimes winds up on the plates of royal banquets.
Source: ¡Hola!
 Click here to see more photos of the event Belgium’s Princess Astrid was in the town of Houthalen-Helchteren to assist in the unveiling of a memorial dedicated to the 10 Days Campaign of 1831.
The memorial contains two plaques that tell the story of the brief war, which took place between August 2nd and August 12th 1831. It also has a large cross marking the grave site of Dutch and Belgian soldiers.
The campaign was when the Dutch army, led by royal princes, invaded the recently seceded Belgium. The Belgian forces were defeated in Leuven and Hasselt. Only when the French army appeared on the scene did the Dutch retreat.
Sources: Limburg Nieuws, Wikipedia
 See more photos here! April 21st 2007 was when Denmark’s Princess Isabella came into the world, and Saturday is the day she marked her 5th birthday.
Wow, time flies, doesn’t it?
The fun-loving, free-spirited Princess sat for some photos for her big day. They were taken by her mother, Crown Princess Mary.
Isabella, who is third in line for the Danish throne, celebrated her birthday privately with friends and family.
To see photos of her through the years, click here!
Belgium’s Princess Mathilde spent Tuesday visiting a primary school in Wezemaal as part of the UNICEF project, the ‘Day of Change’. Mathilde is the honorary president of the Belgian branch of UNICEF, so it is her position to attend its events.
 See more photos here at Daylife.com The communal primary school’s teachers and students were very excited by the Princess’ visit, as were local officials. Governor Lode Dewitte, Mayor Dirk Claes, director Marc Didden, and vice president Ingrid Van Boven welcomed her in the morning. Several students acted as honor guards and Mathilde chatted with them for a few minutes.
Inside, Her Royal Highness took interest in the drawings, lectures and dances of the students. But she especially appeared to enjoy her time with the sixth graders, who were free to ask her any question they wanted.
“It previously said that we could draw no questions,” said a student named Julie. “But the Princess insisted. I asked her why she supports UNICEF. She replied that she is interested in everything to do with children.”
When Mathilde left at the end of the day, she was given a basket of local produce. She even stopped to chat with some local residents who waited outside the school to see her. Wezemaal had not seen a royal visit in 50 years.
The school has been taking part in UNICEF projects for a few years, which is why the Princess came specifically to it on Tuesday.
Source: Nieuwsblad
The King of Spain was released from Madrid’s San Jose hospital Wednesday, following surgery after he fractured his hip while he was reportedly hunting elephants in Botswana. Upon his release, King Juan Carlos apologized for his expensive trip while many in Spain are struggling in a recession.
 Click here for more photos “I’m very sorry, I made a mistake. It won’t happen again,” he said to the media. This was the first time he had ever gave a public apology.
While it was never confirmed nor denied that the King was hunting an endangered animal, it was enough to spark outrage in Spain. Many are calling him to step down as honorary president of the Spanish branch of the World Wildlife Fund. Nearly 85,000 people have signed an online petition demanding he resign.
At the same time, there are a few politicians daring to criticize Juan Carlos. The Socialists’ leader in Madrid Tomas Gomez said the King should choose between his “public responsibilities, or an abdication”.
The Spanish media, which used to avoid criticizing the King and other royals, are also writing negative responses to this hunting trip.
“The sight of a monarch hunting elephants in Africa when the economic crisis in our country is causing so many problems for Spaniards does not set a good example,” a commentary in the conservative daily paper El Mundo said.
However, it is being reported by Reuters that a royal palace official insisted that no public funds were used for the trip, and instead King Juan Carlos was a guest of unnamed hosts.
Sources: BBC, Deutsche Welle
A top communist leader in Nepal is threatening to put ex-King Gyanendra in jail for conspiring the Himalayan country’s peace process and its drafting of a new constitution.
 Click here for more photos This comes just weeks after Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai accused the former monarch of doing all this. Many political leaders have grown wary over Gyanendra increasing his appearances at public and religious functions in recent months. They also wonder if he is trying to re-establish the monarchy because of him speaking publicly on the shaky political situation in Nepal.
“If the former King is found conspiring against the peace process and constitution drafting, he would be directly sent to jail,” said former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who is the senior communist leader in Nepal.
“Anyone who goes against the achievements of the People’s Movement of 2006 will be obliterated.”
The peace talks are those between Maoist revolutionaries and government forces in 2006.
King Gyanendra was forced to give up his powers in 2006 after weeks of pro-democracy protests, and Nepal abolished the monarchy in 2008.
Sources: Global Post, Zee News India
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