November 19th is Monaco’s National Day, and its royals were out in full force to celebrate one of the principality’s biggest events.
Prince Albert II, Princess Stephanie, Princess Caroline and her three eldest children first attended a thanksgiving mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. The Gospel of Luke was read and the Bishop of Monaco discussed what occurred in the country over the past year – such as the economy. The Bishop also praised Prince Albert, Monaco’s sovereign ruler.
Afterwards, it was to the balcony of the Palace. As a military parade marched by, Albert and his sisters waved to the citizens below. Joining them was Princess Caroline’s youngest, Princess Alexandra of Hannover. The 10 year-old was introduced to the crowds on this very balcony a decade earlier, and Monaco watched her grow up. Also on the balcony were the Casiraghi siblings – Andrea, Charlotte and Pierre. Those are Caroline’s children with her late husband, Stefano Casiraghi.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe
Noticably absent from this year’s National Day celebrations was Caroline’s current husband, Prince Ernst of Hannover. She and Ernst have not been seen together in public since June. This has sparked rumors that the two are parting ways. Those rumors increased in September when Caroline relocated back to Monaco and enrolled Alexandra in a local school, while Ernst remained at his home outside of Paris.
The royal palace denied that Caroline and Ernst are separating around this time. However, with the Prince not being present for many of Monaco’s most important events, speculations over the state of his marriage to Caroline is only intensify.
To see more pictures of Monaco’s National Day, click here
The royal house of Bourbon gathered in Madrid today to observe’s Spain’s National Day. All members of the royal family were in attendance, including Infanta Cristina and her husband, who had flown in from their new home in the United States.
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First on the agenda was for King Juan Carlos to lay a floral wreath at a flagpole to commemorate those who died while fighting under the Spanish flag.
Then it was onto the Plaza de Lima, where all the royals watched a military parade. It was quite a sunny day, so the royal women had to don sunglasses to shield their eyes from the sun’s rays.
During the parade, several people booed and whistled at Prime Minister Jose Zapatero. Some even jeered at him, “resign!”
At noon, the family went to the royal palace to hold a lunch for Spain’s government leaders.
This past Saturday was the Danish Flag Day – a day to commemorate those who had died in battle under their country’s flag since 1956. With Denmark serving in Afghanistan, there have been heavy losses for its troops.
At Holmen’s Church in Copenhagen, Queen Margrethe II, Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary gathered for a memorial ceremony. Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen was there to give a speech. The mood was somber and serious as the names of 91 soldiers were read off during the service.
Afterwards, there was a military parade in front of Danish parliament. Those in the parade included the Home Guard, and emergency servicemen and women. A reception was held inside of Parliament.
July 21st was a big day for Belgium and its royal family, as they celebrated in National Day, marking the day when King Leopold I swore an oath, and Belgium won its independence from the Netherlands.
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Festivities began the previous evening, when the royal family went to the “Preludium to the National Day” concert at the Palace of Fine Arts. The royals listened to music by the Belgian National Orchestra and opera sung by Helene Guilmette.
Tuesday saw the actual Nationa Day celebrations. The day began with the Belgian royals attending Te Deum mass all over the country. King Albert II, Queen Paola, Queen Fabiola, Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde went to mass at St. Michael and St. Gudule Cathedral in Brussels. The other two children of the King – Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent – and their spouses went to services at Antwerp and Mons.
After the mass, the royals in Brussels went up to the crowds outside of the cathedral, and chatted and posed for pictures with their subjects.
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Later came the military defile. King Albert II inspected the troops before joining his family in the stands for the parade. The royal women had changed their attire for this event. Crown Princess Mathilde, for example, switched from a black fascinator and a white dress she wore to for Te Deum, to a brilliant pink outfit with a matching fascinator.
Philippe and Mathilde chatted with Queen Fabiola right before the parade. The dowager Queen was in a bright mood, despite her previous illness this year, plus the death threats that warned that she would be killed during the defile. But nothing happened. Queen Fabiola held a green apple during the event, perhaps to show she would not back down from anything.
Also at the defile were the children of Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent. None of the Crown Princely couple’s children were present, for reasons unknown.
After the military parade, the royals visited various locations in Brussels that were also marking National Day. Philippe and Mathilde visited a UNICEF stand in the royal park, while Princess Astrid and her husband, Prince Lorenz stopped by to chat with the Brussels police.
By nightfall, the royal family of Belgium enjoyed a magnificent fireworks display.
Tuesday June 23rd marks Luxembourg’s national day, and as every year it’s Grand Ducal family was present for the celebrations.
But before everything began, Grand Duke Henri had some exciting news for his subjects: His daughter-in-law, Tessy Antony who is married to Prince Louis, received the title of Her Royal Highness Princess Tessy of Luxembourg.
Even more, Tessy’s two baby sons with Prince Louis, Gabriel and Noah, were stylized as Princes of Nassau, but not as Luxembourg. This is because only those who are the children of the current or former reigning monarch can be the Prince or Princess of Luxembourg.
Back in 2006, Prince Louis and Tessy had in Gabriel out of wedlock, and married later that year. Louis renounced his rights to the Grand Duchy around this time.
Tom Wagner
Also receiving a title was Princess Alexandra. The only daughter of Henri and Maria Teresa became a knight in the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau. Despite earning this title, Alexandra was not present for the National Day celebrations, since she was taking University finals.
But her parents were there. They began the day in the city Ell, where they both laid floral wreaths at the Monument des Mars. They then met with the city council, and visited local preschoolers. The royal couple were accompanied by government officials.
At nightfall, the House of Nassau – along with the new Princess Tessy – gathered in Luxembourg City to see the fireworks, and a torchlit parade. The Grand Ducal family walked from the palace to Place Guillaume to give Luxembourgers a chance to see their royal family.
Saturday saw the Swedish royals spread out in their country to celebrate National Day.
The women – Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine – wore traditional clothes, while King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prince Carl Philip wore simple suits.
This year saw the Crown Princess in Skanninge. She arrived by train, and was driven through the town in an open car. Thousands turned out to see Victoria as she smiled and waved at them.
She even gave a little speech praising Sweden on its national holiday.
“We will be pleased that Sweden has been an independent nation of many hundreds of years. There is reason to be grateful that we live in a peaceful and safe country in which we can express our opinion without risk of oppression and persecution.”
Afterward, Victoria toured the town. At Sjolin Farm a group sang the song “Victoria” by Axel von Malmborg and Nils-Peter Vaggelyr. The Crown Princess seemed pleased, but a little embarrassed to hear a song that bears her name.
While in Skanninge, the Crown Princess also displayed a portrait of her and fiance Daniel Westling.
Over in Stockholm, Victoria’s sister, Princess Madeleine took charge of activities in the capital. She opened the gates to the royal palace as National Day is when it is open to the public.
Victoria and Madeleine’s brother, Prince Carl Philip was in Goteburg doing a car race and therefore did not take part in any events during the day. He did however, return to Stockholm by nightfall for the National Day reception at the same palace where Madeleine opened the gates.
The entire Swedish royal family was there, including King Carl XVI Gustaf’s sister, Princess Christina.
Victoria’s fiance, Daniel Westling, did not participate as he is still in recovery following a kidney transplant.
Monday, May 25th marks the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s 63rd anniversary from the British.
King Abdullah II and the rest of the royal family joined in the celebrations.
Large portraits of the King were placed around the captial of Amman, and at nightfall there were fireworks displays over the King Hussein bin Talal Mosque.
Abdullah received congratulations and praise from around the world, not only for his country’s independence, but for his works for peace in the region over the past 10 years.
Even the Jordanian Times praised its King with “a stronger than ever conviction that the future is bright.
“The country is blessed with the wise leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah whose decade-long reign has brought the country much progress and reinforced its stability.”
The Times also praised Queen Rania for her work in education, saying, “investing in children brings the best returns; it is a logical conclusion and work progresses on this front.”
King Abdullah I established the Hashemite Kingdom in 1921, but Jordan did not receive its full independence until 1946, following the end of British mandate.
It was a beautiful sunny day for Norway as its royal family marked National Day.
There were three events for the royal family to celebrate. The first one involved the Crown Princely family in Skaugum, outside of Oslo.
Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and their children stood outside their residence as they waved and cheered for a youth parade marching by. Some children walked up to give Haakon and Mette-Marit flowers.
The entire Crown Princely family was dressed in traditional Norwegian clothes.
This year was different for the family, as they usually stand on the steps of their Skaugum Palace. But since the palace is being renovated, they simply stood at it’s gate.
Later in the morning, Haakon, Mette-Marit and two of their children – Ingrid Alexandra and Sverre Magnus – joined King Harald V and Queen Sonja on the balcony of the royal palace in Oslo.
At 3pm local time, the King and Queen will visit Grünerløkka, a borough of Oslo.
Norway has much to celebrate this year. Not only for their annual National Day, which marks the signing of the country’s constitution, but also for entertainment purposes. Norway won the Euro Vision Song Contest over the weekend.
Tuesday, as Monday, the people of Holland came out in droves to show their support and admiration for their royal family during one of the national holidays – Liberation Day, when the Nazis surrendered Holland.
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Pride for the House of Orange is being felt throughout the country as it recovers from the car attack on Thursday’s Queen’s Day.
Queen Beatrix attended a concert on the Amstel River in Amsterdam for the Liberation Day celebrations. She arrived by boat, and as she passed, thousands of people applauded and cheered for her. There was even extra long applause for the Queen as she arrived at her seat. Queen Beatrix appeared to be deeply moved by the support.
Despite the love, security was tight for the Queen. The people living around the area of the concert were not allowed to open their window or be on balconies as they usually did.
Also receiving cheers from the people was Pieter van Vollenhoven, who attended a concert in Waginegen, the location of the German surrender. Van Vollenhoven, who is married to the Queen’s sister, Princess Margriet, waved to crowds as applause rang loud for him.
Despite all the celebration going on, the Netherlands is still in mourning. Friday, the royal family will gather in Apeldoorn for the memorial service in memory of those who died on the Queen’s Day attack.
November 15th is a day for Belgians to honor their royal family. This year, King’s Day as it is called, marked 15 years on the throne for King Albert II. It also marked 15 years after his brother, King Baudouin, passed away.
This morning, the Belgian royal family attended mass at Saint Michel’s in Brussels. All were in attendance, except for the younger royals and Queen Paola, who is said to be ill with the flu.
Later, Prime Minister Yves Leterme gave a speech honoring Albert, King of the Belgians.
“The monarchy may be anachronistic to some. For Belgium, at least, this is the right system,” he said.
“In 1993, King Albert succeeded Baudouin who was a major figure. Albert II has shown to be a king of transition.”
“The King is in communion with his people,” added Leterme.
Belgium celebrated King’s Day just months after the Belgian government nearly collapsed, and calls rose for splitting the country between the French speaking Walloons and the Dutch speaking Flemish.