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Although she officially marked 40 years as head of Europe’s oldest monarchy Saturday, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II continued with the festivities on Sunday.
 Click here to see the balcony photos! The day began with Her Majesty’s 500th State council meeting. She was accompanied by husband Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary.
Then at noon, the Queen and the Prince Consort appeared on the balcony of Amalienborg Palace. Between 8,000 to 10,000 Danes gathered below to wish their Queen the best for her ruby jubilee. Some of those people arrived very early in the morning to get a spot.
On the adjacent balconies were her sons, her daughter in laws and her grandchildren – even the twins! Even Princess Marie, who’s on maternity leave and is due any day, was on the balcony.
On the other balcony were the Queen’s fellow Scandinavian royals from Norway and Sweden, as well as the former Greek royals.
In the evening came the gala banquet, with all the tiaras, men in uniform and designer gowns. In attendance were all the Danish royals – save for Princess Marie and the grandchildren, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, plus Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, Greece’s deposed royal family including King Constantine, Queen Anne-Marie, Crown Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie-Chantal.
Speeches were given in honor of Margrethe’s jubilee. Prince Henrik gave this moving speech in honor of his wife:
 See the banquet photos here “Dear Queen, dear wife, dear Daisy. I am the first man in the kingdom to admire you,” he said.”We have over these 40 years shared many good and exciting things together, but also some difficult challenges. But always with dedication and sensitivity. ”
To the attendants, Henrik said, “All we will together with the Danish people celebrate a queen who has dedicated her life to Denmark and Greenland and the Faroe Islands. A monarch who has shown the greatest capacity to carry out her mission in life: to work for Denmark with God’s help, the people’s love, and Denmark’s strength.”
Finally, Her Majesty spoke and expressed her gratitude plus her awe at spending the past four decades as Denmark’s monarch. “They have gone so quickly,” she said.
“The commitment is as strong for me today, but I would like to stress that the obligation has always been driven by joy. The joy is rooted in the heat that has met me and my family everywhere through every year, in celebration and joy as in sorrow, as well as in daily life,” the Queen said.
To her husband, she said: “You, my dear Henri, has stood by me and been of encouragement and inspiration for me in the work that we have been two to perform. This day is your anniversary as well as mine. Together we have seen our sons grow up, marry and enrich us with a whole bunch of grandchildren.”
Continuing, she said:”40 years is more than one lifetime, unmanageable for many years to look forward to for those who are young. But in retrospect it seems to me that they’re gone so fast. Today when I look back over the years, it is with deep gratitude, gratitude for the task which has been entrusted to me, and grateful for everything it has given me,” she said.
To end it off, Queen Margrethe said: “I ask all to rise and speak with me and say God preserve Denmark.”
Sources: Jyllands-Posten, JydskeVestkysten
The girlfriend of Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip was in Helsinki, Finland Thursday to attend the Strauss concert where she accepted a check for her charity, Project Playground.
 Click here for original Finnish article Dressed in a simple white and black dress, Sofia Hellqvist was all smiles as she accepted the check and gave a little speech in both Swedish and Finnish about the foundation. Project Playground helps disadvantaged children in South Africa.
“Project Playground offers children and young people in activities after school as an alternative to street life. Many of the children have to face the horrors in their lives, and shoulders to carry the small problems that no child should face,” Sofia told the audience.
“Township areas have high unemployment rates, and they lead to alcohol and drug problems, violence, the spread of HIV and AIDS, and abuse. We want to encourage and motivate children to work towards a better future. Our children are the future generation of teachers, workers and managers. Sport, play and leisure activities to help children get the skills that are not necessarily taught at home or at school. We want our children to remain children as long as possible.
“Once again, we thank all the companies which are involved in donating. We hope that this day is a good start for our cooperation in Finnish companies and individuals. Together, we can take small steps towards a better world. There are many ways to help, not just financial. We can also help by opening the heart, opening the eyes and understanding of what happens elsewhere in the world, and disseminate information. These children need advocates.”
With that, Ms. Hellqvist thanked everyone.
She and the Prince have been dating for about two years. There has been controversy swirling Sofia due to her past as a reality show star and modeling nude. Yet, she and Carl Philip have been living together for quite some time, and some see her involvement with Project Playground as a rehabilitation of her image.
Sources: Iltalehti, MTV3
While most of their European counterparts deliver their year-end speeches to their people, Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark give their speeches on New Year’s Eve. They both discussed the hard times their country’s faced in 2011, and urged optimism for 2012.
 Click here to read the Queen's speech (in Danish) Queen Margrethe talked about how many Danes are still struggling with the poor economy. She called for them to keep their heads held high.
“We have faced adversity before and we’ve seen before how we could get through a crisis by biting the teeth together, support each other and not give up,” she said.
“We can not leave it to others or to chance, how we should proceed. We need to make sure you get where we can find a starting point. This applies both mentally and concretely.”
“Also many of the young, the situation is worrisome. They can not really hold, because they can not find work or because they do not get the education that can improve their chances of finding employment. It can give confidence to recede, making it more difficult to get started, find a foothold and move on. This is serious, not just for the individual young person but the entire community. For it is the young who must lead our society forward, they are the ones that our future must be based.”
The Queen also talked about the troops in Afghanistan, whom she personally went to visit earlier this year. “We all know that they are doing a great and good effort, but with my own eyes to see how they live, to talk with them and gain an insight into their everyday lives is something I will never forget.”
Her Majesty then went on about her own family, and increasing number of grandchildren. This year saw Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary have twins, and Princess Marie is due to have a second child next month.
“We are pleased and touched by everything that happens in our family. I could wish for all families that they could experience as much joy as we: to see their children grow up and develop, and their grandchildren thrive and spread joy.”
With that, Queen Margrethe ended her speech with the traditional, “God save Denmark”.
Over in Norway, King Harald V had the somber duty of healing the country still reeling from the terror attacks in Oslo and Utøya back on July 22nd.
 Click here to read the entire speech (in Norwegian) “Those directly affected should be processing strong emotions and a heavy loss in their own way and at their own time. In this slow adaptation to the rest of us to be fellow human beings,” he said.
“‘When all is no longer with and carry, it becomes harder for us,’ said one of the survivors of Utøya two months after the tragedy. Here is a challenge to each and every one of us. A challenge to show care and provide assurance. We must not forget the children. They might be sitting back with more and stronger impression than we realize.”
“2011 has been a dramatic year,” the King went on to say. “The tsunami that struck Japan took twenty thousand lives and caused widespread nuclear contamination. In the Horn of Africa and elsewhere have natural disasters hit the poorest and most vulnerable hardest. In our own wealthy European debt crisis threatens to close youth out of work – to an extent we thought belonged to the past. But there have also been many positive: the so-called Arab spring. Nobel Peace Prize award to female democracy activists in Africa and the Middle East. Let’s hope this is what will stand out as milestones in history when the long lines to be drawn.”
Harald went on to mention Norway’s fight against racism, and how a program that was started this year saw native Norwegians be invited to the homes of immigrants. Queen Sonja and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were invited to an Iranian family’s house for tea as a result of the program. “The conversation with his neighbor over a cup of coffee or tea will also help us to understand differences and appreciate the resources inherent in diversity. At the same time it gives us the opportunity to hone ourselves to each other. We must dare. When the call is an even more important way forward.”
King Harald then ended his speech by saying, “Every person has a great power in themselves – that can carry us through what we encounter in life. But we can not do it alone. And I’m not alone would be to cope with life’s greatest challenges.”
With that, His Majesty wished all Norwegians a happy new year.
Sources: Kongehuset.dk, Kongehuset.no
Dear Readers, I would like to take this time to wish you all a Happy New Year! 2011 was very eventful, both in the royal sphere and beyond. Let’s make 2012 a great year! – Megan
For Christmas Eve and Day, most of the reigning heads of state in Europe spoke to their people. They wished them a good Christmas, reflected on 2011 and talked about what to look for in the following year.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II’s televised message spoke mainly of the state and goodwill visits she and her family made this year. She brought up the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to North America, her historic state visit to Ireland and the recent tour of Australia.
 Click here to read the Queen's Speech in its entirety. “The spirit of friendship so evident in both these nations can fill us all with hope,” Her Majesty said. “Relationships that years ago were once so strained have through sorrow and forgiveness blossomed into long term friendship. It is through this lens of history that we should view the conflicts of today, and so give us hope for tomorrow.
“Of course, family does not necessarily mean blood relatives but often a description of a community, organisation or nation. The Commonwealth is a family of 53 nations, all with a common bond, shared beliefs, mutual values and goals”
The Queen then mentioned briefly the two weddings the House of Windsor saw this year – Prince William’s and Zara Philips’.
“The importance of family has, of course, come home to Prince Philip and me personally this year with the marriages of two of our grandchildren, each in their own way a celebration of the God-given love that binds a family together.”
Finally, Queen Elizabeth touched on the need to forgive one another. “Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God’s love.”
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf spoke about this year’s state visits from Estonia and to Botswana. He also mentioned visiting Swedish troops in Afghanistan. “After one such trip, I am even more convinced that we must not give up. We must continue to problems and conflicts should be resolved. Peace and reconciliation are powerful forces that can win over hatred and violence.”
 Read the King's Speech here (its in Swedish) The King also talked about something he mentioned in his Christmas message two years ago. In it, he brought up how he and Queen Silvia wanted to open a forum to discuss children’s issues. 2011 saw the second such forum in Stockholm at the palace.
“Over 400 participants listened to representatives of various child rights issues,” His Majesty said. “It was an important day, the whole palace was filled with dedicated people who talked about how children’s rights can be strengthened in practice.”
King Carl Gustaf went on to discuss the importance of monarchy in Sweden. “My ambition is that the Royal Palace to be alive and help to tell us about our heritage and history of our country. We continuously organize exhibitions, seminars, lectures and tours of the castle. This past year we have had almost one million visitors. The royal palaces in Sweden, I would like to be open so that everyone has an opportunity to take part of our shared history.”
“Sweden is a small nation. To build a sustainable society is the importance of working across borders. That is when we reach the big goals.”
The King then ended his message with a nod to Crown Princess Victoria, who will deliver her first child next year.
King Juan Carlos of Spain’s speech was broadcasted Christmas Eve. In it, he discussed the difficulties the country has experienced with its economy and high unemployment rate.
 Click here to read (in Spanish) the King's speech “We have several years mired in a severe economic and financial crisis whose complex causes are not always easy to understand, but whose negative effects are evident to all. For many, sadly too obvious by their hardness. It is a crisis that is likely to modify call habits and economic and social behaviors,” His Majesty told his people.
“If Spain has achieved in recent decades the highest levels of progress and welfare of its history, we now recognize with humility to know what were the behaviors in which, as individuals and as a group, we could be wrong. Only after this recognition, and the best values of our society before we can begin to overcome this crisis.”
In addition, Juan Carlos touched on the distrust many Spaniards have for what he said was “some of our institutions”. Some translate this as him giving Spain his thoughts on the recent scandal involving his son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin.
“I also greatly concerned about the distrust that seems to be spreading in some sectors of public opinion regarding the credibility and prestige of some of our institutions. We need rigor, professionalism and exemplary in every way. Everyone, especially people with public responsibilities, we have the duty to observe appropriate behavior, exemplary behavior.
“When misconduct occurs that do not conform to the law or ethics, it is natural that society reacts. Fortunately we live in a state of law, and any objectionable act should be tried and punished under the law. Equal justice for all,” said the King.
To end his message, King Juan Carlos talked about the recent elections, his heir Prince Felipe’s efforts in representing Spain and gave his condolences to the victims of terrorism.
Over in the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix voiced her concern for stewardship of the earth and the distribution of wealth. “Our precious planet is handled carelessly and what they give us is badly distributed,” she told the Dutch people.
 Click here to see video and read the speech (in Dutch) She went on to talk about how personal gain and abusing the environment undermine the world’s sense of community. But she was optimistic.
“Everywhere people are already taking their own initiatives to a more conscious way of life. This offers hope for a new perspective. It is the youngsters who encourage us to do so today,” said the Queen.
“Entrepreneurs focus more and more responsible production and take into account the climatic effects. Many people work towards the conservation and teach children closely at the irreplaceable treasures of the earth. For the connection between agriculture and environment put many will enthusiastically. In all these possibilities, we can address each other. Old and new media information and call us to take responsibility, each at their own level. What starts in the small can grow into a new culture of concern for the future. Who wants to change the world, must simply begin with himself.”
Her Majesty also quoted Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi – “The earth has enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.”
With that, Queen Beatrix wished the Dutch a happy Christmas.
Sources: British Monarchy, Kungahuset, Casa Real, De Telegraaf
NOTE: Once the English versions of the speeches are available, I will link them.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with Prince Harry, were at the Sun Military Awards Monday night. It was a night to honor British troops for their service to the United Kingdom.
 Check out more images of the event here William and Harry wore tuxedos, while Catherine looked amazing in a black velvet strapless Alexander McQueen gown. She also wore an impressive necklace that was a wedding gift from a not-yet revealed person.
The trio chatted with servicemen and women at the Imperial War Museum before the actual ceremony. It was then Harry gave a speech where he both praised the troops and talked about his military career. The 27 year old Prince had spent the past several weeks in the United States learning to fly Apache helicopters.
He said: “I am a young Army officer, a serving soldier. Like my brother, I share many of the same hopes, the same aspirations to go on operations, and the same fears as all those who serve our Queen and country.
“By an accident of birth, though, it falls to 564673 Captain Wales humbly to express – on behalf of my comrades-in-arms and people up and down the country – the admiration we feel for the extraordinary men and women we honor here tonight.”
He added: “It’s often said of our armed forces that they are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Well, I don’t entirely buy that. Ordinary people don’t run out under withering enemy rocket and heavy machine gunfire to rescue a wounded comrade.
“Ordinary people don’t brave monsoon conditions dangling on a winch line to rescue 13 people, each in turn.
“For that matter, ordinary people don’t put their lives on the line for distant folk, such as the Afghans, who need our help and are now turning their country round because of it.”
Harry also spoke warmly of the families of the troops.
“The strength and courage it must take to see your husband or your wife, your father or mother, son or daughter, head off into the unknown – and to support them doing it – I can hardly even imagine,” he said. “So, to our amazing, brave families, I know I join every single service man and woman in saying from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.”
The Sun Military Awards, or Millies as Britons call it, were also attended by soccer star David Beckham, along with sons Brooklyn and Cruz, Gordon Ramsay, Jimmy Carr, and Frank Lampard.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg were also there. They held a reception at 10 Downing Street and Clegg said this to the troops: “You shouldn’t just be proud of the servicemen and women with you in your work, and you shouldn’t just be proud on behalf of your families and communities but I hope you do also know that you make the whole nation very, very proud indeed.”
Source: Telegraph, Daily Mail
Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej spoke to his people Monday, urging them to put aside conflict amidst the recent floods, the country’s worst in recent memory.
 Click here for more photos at Daylife.com The King left Siriraj Hospital, where he has been a patient since 2009, for the balcony of the Grand Palace. Surrounded by his family, including Queen Sirikit, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, and Princesses Chulabhorn and Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Bhumibol delivered his speech to crowds gathered below.
The King called for national unity, and that the they “are only recommendations, not an order”.
He went on to say it was the Thai people’s duty “to cooperate and fix problems to the best of your ability, especially now that our people are suffering from the floods.”
“The most important thing is you should not be split or fighting each other. We need to inspire and give each other confidence so that the work we do will be fruitful for the well-being of the people and the stability and security of the country.”
About one-fifth of Thailand’s 64 million people have been affected by the devastating floods and more than 600 have died.
Turning 84 years old is a major milestone for King Bhumibol Adulyadej. It marks seven cycles of twelve years, so it is an auspicious time for him.
Thailand celebrated their King’s birthday with fireworks and candlelight vigils.
Sources: AP, Bangkok Post
The Queen of Jordan spoke Wednesday about the need for education at the Opening Ceremony of the Fourth High Level forum on Aid Effectiveness in the South Korean port city of Busan.
 Click here to learn more “We are in a constant continuum of change which is altering the context of development,” said Queen Rania while stressing the need for smart aid towards education.
“Education is more than a right; its a resource,” she said. “It can combat almost every global humanitarian challenge today.”
The Queen went on to say how 67 million children worldwide are unable to attend classes, there are too few teachers and outdated curricula, and many students graduate without the skills needed for a fast changing world.
Rania also highlighted that women need to be encouraged because they “contributed more to global GDP than either new technologies or the emerging economies of China and India.”
Also on Wednesday, Her Majesty visited a teacher’s college and an elementary school in Busan. Kim Sang-young, president of Busan National University of Education, told her about the admissions process, training courses and operations.
Queen Rania was certainly impressed by the South Korean system. “Korea is a prime example of how the power of education can transform a nation,” she told Kim.
“We, Jordan, are facing similar challenges that Korea experienced decades ago. I strongly believe that the single most important element in education is the quality of the teachers.”
She also expressed her envy over how popular and competitive it is to be licensed teacher in the country, whereas in Jordan, teaching is not too many students’ desire.
The Queen was in South Korea for the 4th High-Level International Forum on Aid Effectiveness. She was one of the VIP guests along with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-moon, and for British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Sources: Petra, Korea Times
Tuesday was an historic day for Romania, as its former King gave a speech at its Parliament for the first time since 1947 as part of the celebrations of his 90th birthday.
 Click here for more images King Mihai, the last surviving World War II leader, was forced to abdicate by a Soviet backed regime and lived in exile for most of the 20th century. He returned to the country several times in the 1990s and now lives in Bucharest.
Frail, but dignified, the ex-King encouraged Romanians to have faith in democracy.
“All united, we have to pursue our efforts in order to become once more respected and dignified,” he said.
“The time has come after 20 years to … break for good with the bad habits of the past,” said Mihai. He added in 2011 “demagogy, selfishness and attempts to cling to power” should not have their place in Romania, which was a zing against the country’s much criticized leaders.
He also spoke of his “long life, full of happy and unhappy events” and praised the role of monarchy in the country.
“My wife and I will continue to back Romania’s fundamental interests,” Mihai said.
His speech was greeted with a standing ovation and several “Long live the King” by several Parliament members.
 Click here to see more pics But not everyone is willing to celebrate. Romania’s president Traian Basescu has accused Mihai as being “Russia’s servant” and called his abdication “betrayal”. He also said the former King should be accountable for the deaths of Romania’s Jews and Gypsies by the Nazis.
But a member of the ruling Liberal Democrats (PDL), Radu F. Alexandru, said he was happy that parliament “paid homage to this historic moment.”
“It was a constructive and useful speech,” former president Ion Iliescu said.
In the evening came a glittering birthday celebration at the National Opera with members of reigning and non-reigning royals attending. They included the King of Sweden, Queen Sofia of Spain, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, and Grand Duchess Maria and her son Giorgi of the House of Romanov, as well as Bulgaria’s former King Simeon.
Although King Mihai is very popular in Romania, few want the monarchy to be re-established.
Source: AFP, Telegraph
In Oviedo Friday, the annual Prince of Asturias Awards were given out at the Campoamor Theater. Prince Felipe, Princess Letizia and Queen Sofia were in attendance, as the Prince gave out the Spanish version of the Nobel Prizes.
 Click here to see more of the ceremony At the beginning of the ceremony, the future King gave a speech in which he hailed the Basque separatists for ceasing terrorism.
“It is certainly good news,” Felipe began. “It is, above all, a great victory for our rule of law. A victory for the will and determination of the democratic institutions of sacrifice and selfless work, and effective, the Security Forces, in short, the whole of our society. In this time when freedom and reason win over barbarism, I look back, I wish that all together we returned the look, with great affection and respect for the victims, to their grief and pay homage to the excitement memory, and dignity.”
The Prince then of course discussed the Awards and their meaning.
“We meet this evening of gratitude to honor our award winners. Their presence among us here in Oviedo allows us to recognize merit stronger and valuable record of their lives, our work, committed to art, to science, to sports, with solidarity. We do so with admiration and very satisfied, because our foundation kept alive in these difficult times, values and objectives for which it was born more than thirty years. This ceremony is a compendium of all: our will to distinguish the exemplary, to present positive role models in society that recognized and to emulate, and to share with everyone, in short, a message of hope.”
One by one, Felipe briefed on each of this year’s winners in the fields of sports, arts, social science, communication and humanities, international cooperation, technical and scientific research, letters, and finally the Concordia award.
After the speech, the awards were distributed. The recipients for this year’s Prince of Asturias award were:
Riccardo Muti – arts
Howard Gardner – social science
The Royal Society – communication and humanities
Bill Drayton – international cooperation
Joseph Altman, Arturo Alvarez-Buylla and Giacomo Rizzolatti – technical and scientific research
Leonard Cohen – letters
Haile Gebrselassie – sports
Workers of the Fukushima Power Plant – Concordia Award
Each of the winners gave speeches and then were given a diploma and a badge directly from Prince Felipe. Then they walked down a ramp to be acknowledged by the audience.
The Prince of Asturias Awards were begun in 1981.
Source: Casa de Real
Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik attended the opening of the Global Green Growth Forum in Copenhagen Tuesday morning. The conference is an annual event in which 200 leaders from the sectors of the world’s business, finance and public institutions are selected to participate in.
 View more photos here The Crown Prince gave a speech with started off the forum.
“Climate change, scarce resources and a population which continues to grow, makes it untenable to continue, as usual,” he said.
“To make us less dependent on oil, gas and coal demands that we develop a new framework for the use of alternative energy and green solutions. To achieve this goal, the public and private sectors need to cooperate.”
Frederik was among other dignitaries at the conference. They included U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
While nothing was definitely agreed on during Global Green Growth, there were some proposals made. Those proposals will be discussed more deeply during the COP conference next month in South Africa.
Source: DR.dk
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