CONTACT Any questions or suggestions? Feel free to email me at: Sonjapearl@royaltyinthenews.com - and my real name is Megan :)
|
It’s the time of year where the Spanish royal family distribute their Christmas cards, featuring the photos of the eight grandchildren of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. And here they are…
 Casa de Su Majestad el Rey de Espana Felipe and Letizia’s two daughters, Infantas Leonor and Sofia, did a similar pose to the one they did two years ago. Only this time, the girls are now five and three, and are as happy as ever!
 Casa de Su Majestad el Rey de Espana Infanta Elena posed with her two children, Felipe and Victoria, outside of the Cathedral of Santiago, which has been the site of pilgrimage for the the Spanish royals in 2010. The Infanta Elena is divorced from her children’s father, Jaime de Marichalar.
 Casa de su Majestad el Rey de Espana Juan, Pablo, Miguel and Irene – the four children of Infanta Cristina and Inaki Urdangarin, obviously had their Christmas photo done over the summer. The family lives in Washington, DC because of Inaki’s work with a Spanish company.
 Marc Hom/German Vogue In this month’s edition of German Vogue, the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark are featured in an article about the renovation of their home, the Frederik VIII palace of the Amalienborg complex. Frederik and Mary, plus their two children, posed for the magazine in their regal attire and discussed the latest artwork in the palace.
“Being a modern couple, we have modern interests, so we try to reconcile this with the tradition,” said Crown Prince Frederik. “About the renovation, we have decided to include contemporary art.”
This means modern art was painted on the walls next to Rococo style doors that have golden designs on them.
To see pics of the newly designed palace, click here.
To see more pics of the royal family, click here.
Source: German Vogue
Yesterday the official engagement portraits of Prince William and his bride-to-be, Catherine Middleton, were released – though they were embargoed for editorial use until midnight Sunday. But looking at the two photos, the wait was worth it.
 AP Photo/Clarence House Press Office/Copyright 2010 Mario Testino, ho Shot by Mario Testino, who once photographed William’s mother, the late Princess Diana, the two pictures were done at St. James Palace on November 25th.
Testino said the couple appeared “in their prime and brimming with happiness” that day.
“I have never felt so much joy as when I see them together,” he said.
 REUTERS/Copyright 2010 Mario Testino The couple will marry at Westminster Abbey on April 29th.
Source: AP
Today, the official wedding photos of Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her fiancé Daniel Westling were released. The portraits were taken by fashion photographer Micke Jansson and the hairstyling was done by Sweden’s it-stylist Peter Andersson.
 Micke Jansson At the same time, souvenirs for the upcoming royal wedding were also released. Items such as mugs, coasters, key chains, magnets trays, boxes of chocolate and so much more have been put on the market, less than five months before the actual wedding.
Unlike previous royal weddings, the Swedish Royal Court is involved in the distribution of the souvenirs. According to the Court’s website, this is being done to strengthen national unity and to control where the profits go, specifically to good causes, such as The Crown Princess Couple’s Wedding Foundation. The Royal Court has asked most of the companies that are part of what is called The Official Wedding Series, to launch the items and sell them in time for the wedding – which is June 19th.
The companies involved in the Series include, Arvid Nordquist, Cloetta, Frödinge Mejeri, Gustavsbergs Porslinsfabrik, Kiviks Musteri and Mema/GAB. These companies will have the official Series stamp on their products.
 Svensk Damtidning
Ingrid Alexandra, the daughter of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, celebrates her sixth birthday today. According to the Norwegian Royal Court, the little Princess will have a private celebration at home with her family.
 kongehuset.no Ingrid Alexandra is the first female to be in direct line to the Norwegian throne. In the past, males went before any elder sisters, as in Haakon’s case. But a law was passed in the early 1990′s to allow whoever is the first child – male or female – to be the heir to the throne.
Norway’s future Queen may be just six, but she is already becoming famous around the world. On a recent episode of the U.S. animated sitcom, The Simpsons, Ingrid Alexandra was mentioned as a famous princess to admire. One of the teachers on the show’s teachers announced to the class, “Okay. So far for inspirational women day, we’ve had 1 Princess Anne, 15 Dianas, 2 baby Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway and 1 Princess Leia.”
To mark her special day, Ingrid Alexandra had royal photographer Jo Michael come to the royal palace Skaugum in Asker.
Click here to see the photos.
Today at London’s National Portrait Gallery, an historic portrait of royal brothers Princes William and Harry was unveiled. Done by Nicky Philipps, the 54in by 58in oil painting depicts the two in military uniform, having a conversation before a supposed big event.
 Press Association Prince William is shown wearing a blue sash and star of the Order of the Garter and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal, while Prince Harry is depicted wearing his Golden Jubilee medal for serving in Afghanistan.
The brothers sat for Miss Philipps several times in her studio before she went to Clarence House to fill in the backround.
While many are impressed with how the painting turned out, not all are thrilled.
According to the Daily Mail, David Lee, editor of the satirical art magazine Jackdaw, said: “I think it’s pretty awful. It’s terribly amateurish and looks like something from a provincial photographer’s studio. I think our Royal Family are being done a huge disservice. It is intolerable that they are being made to sit for such amateurs. In days gone by they would have been painted by the likes of Holbein and Velasquez. Nowadays we have Nicky Philipps. I beg your pardon, but who?”
Luckily, London Evening Standard critic Ben Luke disagreed, saying the portrait “captured the princes’ affection for each other and managed to marry the tradition that comes with being a member of the Royal Family with being modern young men.”
Tens of thousands of Japanese welcomed the year 2010 by gathering outside the palace in Tokyo to hear Emperor Akihito deliver his speech of peace and goodwill for the new year.
 AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi “I’m pleased to celebrate this new year together with you,” the 76-year-old Emperor said, speaking from the balcony protected by bulletproof glass.
“Marking the beginning of this year, I wish people happiness and the world peace,” Akihito said as crowds shouted “Banzai” (long live) and waved Japanese flags.
The Emperor continued, “last year, many people faced hardships due to the continuing severe economic conditions, and my heart goes out to them. In this new year that we are greeting, I hope that everyone will help one another and support each other to overcome the challenges they are facing.”
Joining him on the balcony were his wife, Empress Michiko, and the Crown Princely couple, Naruhito and Masako. All four waved to the crowds, which estimated nearly 50,000 of mostly senior citizens.
Also on Friday, the Imperial Household Agency released new photos of the entire family, including Prince Akishino, Princess Kiko and their three children, as well as Princess Aiko, daughter of Naruhito and Masako.
Such pictures are distributed during the first of the new year.
 Reuters/Imperial Household Agency Handout
Today, Spain’s royal family officially released their annual Christmas cards. This year, as every year, those cards include pictures of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia’s grandchildren – the children of Infanta Elena, Infanta Cristina and Crown Prince Felipe.
Infanta Elena’s two children – Felipe and Victoria – posed for their picture during what looks like the summertime. Both are wearing short sleeved t-shirts and are outdoors. Using summer photos seem to be a theme for Elena. Last year, her children’s Christmas picture had them on a yacht in bathing suits.
Next is Infanta Cristina’s four children: Miguel, Pablo, Juan and Irene. All three boys seem to be up to mischief as they flash wicked grins. Some of their sneakers are noticably untied, so perhaps they were up to something at the time of the photograph! Cristina’s youngest child, Irene, appears to be well protected by her older brothers. Like her sister Elena, Cristina chose a summertime picture. It is unknown if it was taken in Spain or in Washington, DC, where Cristina and her family relocated to over the summer.
Last but not least is the family photo of the Crown Princely couple. Felipe and Letizia posed happily with their two daughters, Leonor and Sofia, who are growing up to be very pretty young girls. Last year, Leonor looked so much like her cousin, Irene. But this year, the little princess appears to be much more different. Sofia’s hair has grown out, and is looking a lot like her mother, the Princess of Asturias.
As for the King and Queen, their Christmas photo was of statues of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the baby Jesus.
To check out the signatures on the cards, click here
The royal family of Norway released their annual Christmas photos Thursday. As always, they chose an activity to show them enjoying each other’s company. This year, that activity was building a gingerbread house.
 Terje Bendiksby/Scanpix King Harald V, Queen Sonja, the Crown Princely couple and their children built the house at the royal palace in Oslo. The house was big enough for Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus to walk through. It included gingerbread and cookies with the names of the children of Princess Martha Louise, their cousins.
While building the house, Ingrid and Sverre felt tempted to eat the gingerbread. But their mother made sure they didn’t.
“Ingrid, no. You are not allowed to eat the house. You can get one of the loose,” said Mette-Marit, who was dressed in traditional Norwegian clothes, as was Queen Sonja.
Luckily, Ingrid and Sverre found and ate some pieces not yet on the house. The gingerbread was made by the palace chefs.
This Christmas, the King and Queen will be in Oslo, along with their eldest child, Martha Louise and her family. Haakon and Mette-Marit will be in a cabin in Nore and Uvdal.
Not since 2004 has the entire royal family been together.
Click here to see a video of the family (you have to scroll down to the middle of the page).
 Casper Sejersen In honor of Queen Margrethe II’s 70th birthday in April, the Danish postal service will be releasing a series of new stamps with the Queen’s portrait on them. The photographs were taken by Casper Sejersen.
“The shooting mode was completely different than I expected, but on the positive way,” Sejersen told Billed Bladet. “The Queen was alone in photography, and it created a calm atmosphere. I could clearly sense that the Queen herself was very interested that the portrait was good, and she was glad to see portraits immediately after the shooting.”
Queen Margrethe will celebrate her 70th birthday on April 16th 2010.
|
|
Recent Comments