Speaking on Thai radio Wednesday, Queen Sirikit commented on her husband, the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and the concern over his health. His Majesty has been hospitalized for nearly a year, and worries of his health has affected Thailand’s stocks.
“His health has substantially improved but doctors still ask him to continue doing physical therapy so that he can move around with strength first before leaving the hospital,” the Queen said during the interview, which was done for her 78th birthday.
King Bhumibol was originally admitted to Siriraj hospital in mid-September 2009 for lung inflammation and fatigue. For a while there were reports on how well he as doing, but those reports have been silent since the beginning of 2010.
At the same time, the 82 year old monarch – the world’s longest reigning – has made few public appearances.
The King’s health is a major concern in Thailand, which is in political turmoil. If and when he dies, there are many who feel his son, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, will not be as savvy and effective as a sovereign as his father is when it comes to politics.
The King of Spain resumed his royal duties this weekend. On Saturday, he was discharged from Barcelon’a Planas Clinic, where he had been recovering from lung surgery since May 11th. King Juan Carlos then went for a meeting with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
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Upon leaving the clinic, the King told reporters that he felt “great.”
On Monday, Juan Carlos, along with Queen Sofia, met with the board of trustees for the Royal Spanish Academy at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid. He was clearly in high spirits, joking about his “bump in the road.”
That bump was having a benign nodule removed from the King’s left lung. He had been a heavy smoker and it is not clear if the 72 year-old monarch still is. Some reports say Juan Carlos does smoke, but he intends to quit.
For the time being, King Juan Carlos will not be traveling abroad. His son and heir, Felipe, would be standing in for him.
The King of Spain was discharged from Hospital Clinico in Barcelona Tuesday morning, after a three day stay following surgery where a benign nodule was removed from his right lung. King Juan Carlos emerged from the hospital looking healthy and optimistic. He spoke to reporters on his way out.
REUTERS/Albert Gea
“In Spain, we should be proud of our public health system,” Juan Carlos said, expressing his gratitude to “the medical team, the nurses and all of those who took care” of him.
During his stay, the King was visited by members of his family, including Queen Sofia, who kept a close eye on him. She would only leave the hospital to eat and to sleep.
Also visiting the 72 year-old monarch was Infanta Cristina and husband Inaki Urdangarin. Crown Prince Felipe was away in Costa Rica for the inauguration of that country’s President, but he made it back in time to see his father.
The King of Spain went for surgery in Barcelona this Saturday to remove a growth in his right lung. The operation lasted two hours.
72 year-old King Juan Carlos had routine check-ups late last month, and a nodule was discovered. After a few tests, it was decided that it needed to be removed.
“It’s good news, the lesion is benign,” said Dr. Laureano Molins Lopez-Rodo at a post-operation press conference, adding that the King “is awake and doing very well,”
King Juan Carlos will stay in the hospital for another three or four days and will rest for two more weeks before resuming his duties.
He was seen as late as yesterday doing his work as head of state. Juan Carlos met with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and nothing seemed suspicious about his health.
The King used to be a heavy smoker, but has not been seen smoking in public in many years. It is unknown if he had quit the habit.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej is back at the hospital after briefly returning to his palace over the weekend. The world’s longest reigning monarch left Siriraj Hospital late Saturday night to go to Chitralada Palace for a formal function.
The 82 year-old King, who is seen by many people in Thailand as a demi-god, has been hospitalized since September 19th for a lung infection and a fever.
On Saturday, Bhumibol was televised paying homage to a Buddha statue before being driven in a motorcade to the palace.
There, he spent an hour at Chitralada for a function that included members of the royal family, cabinet, members of parliament and other leading figures in Thai society. He returned to the hospital at 1am local time.
The Norwegian Royal Court announced today that Crown Princess Mette-Marit will go with Crown Prince Haakon on an official visit to Malaysia starting March 8th.
The Crown Princess had to cancel three weeks worth of engagements last month after she injured her the vertebrae in her neck.
But the court says she is healing from the injury, and will resume some engagements.
However, the engagements on the Malaysian trip will be cut down for Mette-Marit so she could continue improving.
The Norwegian Crown Princess has been stricken with pains in her vertebrae for the past three weeks, and looks like it is not lightening up. Mette-Marit was forced to cancel engagements during this time, and she might have to do the same for upcoming duties.
According the Norwegian Royal Court, she will be re-examined by a doctor next week. The Princess was told to be as still as possible to recover from the injury during much of February.
She was unable to accompany husband, Crown Prince Haakon to the Vancouver Olympics. By the looks of it, Mette-Marit may not be with Haakon for their scheduled official trip to Malaysia in early March.
Over the weekend, there were reports in the Swedish media that Daniel Westling, the fiancé to Crown Princess Victoria, was suffering an infection due to his kidney transplant last year. The Royal Court denied the claims.
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In a recent edition of the newspaper Expressen, Westling himself said he never felt any better.
“I wish you could show more respect before they spread false information about my health,” he said.
The truth is, Westling was attending meetings at the royal palace the very day newspaper headlines exclaimed that the royal fiancé was acutely ill. Friends of Daniel and Victoria fretted over the news that turned out not to be true.
He also said reports that he was under medical care weren’t true. Instead, Westling was simply getting check-ups from his doctor.
Westling has suffered a non-inherited kidney disease since childhood. His kidney transplant took place three months after the announcement of royal engagement. His father, Olle, was the donor.
Westling will marry the Crown Princess on June 19th, and according to him, his transplant is not a danger to the upcoming nuptials.
On Friday, the Japanese Imperial Household held a press conference about the state of Crown Princess Masako’s mental health. She has been suffering from a stress induced illness since late 2003, and her doctors say while she is still recovering, the Princess is still prone to slipping back to her problems.
Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images
According to Grand Master Issei Nomura of the Imperial Household Agency, the doctors say “more time is required before she can further expand the range of her activities.”
“She is much better than when we first examined her five and a half years ago,” the doctors’ assessments say, pointing to Crown Prince Naruhito and their daughter, Princess Aiko, as playing a major role in her recovery. Whenever Masako does feel stressed, “she is able to recover from it relatively quickly.”
However, the Crown Princess’ condition seesaws and she is still not able to carry out many official engagements, let alone official overseas trips.
The doctors suggest she needs to find her “life’s work” in order to get “increased confidence.”
The last engagement Masako did was last month, when she took part in a memorial service for the 1995 Kobe earthquake victims.
Prince Kardam, the son of the former King of Bulgaria, has been having a difficult week. On Thursday, it was reported that he was discharged from the Conxo Hospital in Galicia, Spain after being admitted on Tuesday. He was suffering from a high fever, a kidney infection, and breathing problems.
The reason for concern over Kardam’s health is because he was in the serious car accident in August 2008, in which he suffered brain damage and was in a coma for a long while. He is still in recovery from the accident.
This is the second time the Prince was hospitalized this year. In late January, he spent time in another clinic for the aforementioned problems.
Prince Kardam lives in Galicia with his wife, Princess Miriam, and two sons. He continues to regain his former skills at the FOLTRA medical center.
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