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Showing posts from May, 2012

Monaco Grand Prix Week 2012

May 22  Prince Albert, Princess Alexandra and Louis Ducruet played for the All-Star Team in the soccer match against the Formula 1 drivers as a benefit for the Princess Charlene Foundation. Princess Charlene, Princess Stephanie, Pauline Ducruet and Camille Gottlieb watched from the stands and joined the others after the game { Photos }{ Photos }{ Photos }{ Photos }{ Photos }. May 24 Princess Charlene and Prince Albert attended the second practice session of the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix. They mingled with security staff and drivers { Photos }. May 25 Princess Charlene, Prince Albert, Charlene's younger brother Gareth Wittstock and his girlfriend Irish model Rosin Gavlin attended the 2012 Amber Lounge Fashion Show & Charity Auction { Photos }. The Countess of Wessex and The Duchess of Castro also attended { Photos } May 26 Princess Charlene and Prince Albert paid a visit to the special tribune of handicap people association of Monaco { Photos }. M...

Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee luncheon & Gala Dinner May 18, 2012

Attendees included: ABU DHABI Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nayan BAHRAIN King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa Sheikha Sabika bint Ibrahim al-Khalifa BELGIUM King Albert II Queen Paola BRITISH Queen Elizabeth II Prince Phillip, Duke of Endinburgh Prince Charles of Wales The Duchess of Cornwall Prince William, Duke of Cambridge The Duchess of Cambridge Prince Harry Prince Andrew, Duke of York Princess Beatrice of York Princess Eugenie of York Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex The Countess of Wessex Prince Richard, The Duke of Gloucester The Duchess of Glouchester Prince Edward, The Duke of Kent Princess Alexandra of Kent BRUNEI Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha DENMARK   Queen Margarethe II Henrik, Prince Consort GREECE King Constantine II Queen Anne-Marie JAPAN Emperor Akihito Empress Michiko JORDAN King Abdullah Queen Rania  LESTHO King Letsie III Queen Mesenate Mohato Seeis...

Baptism of Princess Estelle of Sweden

Parents: Crown Princess Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée of Sweden Prince Daniel of Sweden Place in line: 2nd after her mother { Photos }{ Photos } { Video } I predicted the following will be godparents: Crown Princess Mary of Denmark ( “Mary” has to come from somewhere + CP V is also her son Christian’s godmother ) Anna Westling Willem-Alexander, Prince of Oranje ( his eldest is her godchild ) It was  CONFIRMED  the night before! Crown Prince Haakon of Norway ( his oldest is CP Victoria’s godchild…so why not?+ his father is CP Victoria’s godfather. He is the future king of Norway…so yeah ) Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium ( his youngest is CP Victoria’s godchild…so why not? ) And either Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy or The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg or one of Queen Silvia’s or Daniel’s family since a TON of them were invited I ended up with 4/5 right on this one. See the indicated below. Attendees GOD PARENTS are indicated by a ** S...

The Crown Princely Couple of Denmark on Official Visit to South Korea: May 10-16

Day 1 (May 10) Crown Prince Fredrik & Crown Princess Mary visited the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul, Korea. During their visit, they  visited the  War Memorial of Korea . During their visit, they burned incense and offered flowers as a sign of respect to South Korean soldiers killed in war { Photos }. Crown Prince Fredrik met with South Korean Prime Minister at the government complex { Photos }. Day 2 (May 11) Crown Prince Fredrik and Crown Princess Mary visited the   Finn Juhl Exhibition at Daelim Museum  { Photos }. They also attended the opening ceremony of the 2012 Yeosu Expo { Photos }. Day 3 (May 12) The Crown Princely Couple of Denmark attended an opening ceremony of the pavilion of Denmark at the 2012 Yeosu Expo in Yeosu { Photos }. Day 4 (May 13) The Crown Princely Couple visited the border village of panmunjom between South and North Korea in the demilitarized zone (DMZ)   { Photos }. Day 5 (May 14) They coo...

Princess Athena of Denmark's Baptism

Name revealed: Her Highness Princess Athena Marguerite Françoise Marie of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat Athena: For the Greek God of Wisdom Marguerite: French form of Margarethe, for her paternal grandmother Françoise: For her maternal grandmother Marie: For her mother Parents: Prince Joachim of Denmark Princess Marie of Denmark Place in line for the throne: 10th Attendees: Godparents are marked with a ** Queen Margarethe of Denmark Henrik, Prince Consort Crown Prince Fredrik  of Denmark Crown Princess Mary  of Denmark Prince Christian  of Denmark Princess Isabella  of Denmark Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Carina Axelsson** Prince Nikolai  of Denmark Prince Felix  of Denmark Prince Henrik  of Denmark Count Ingolf of Rosenborg Countess Sussie of Rosenborg Alain Cavallier Marielle Dubern Christian Grassiot Madame Christian Grassiot Charles Cavallier Edouar...

Royal Profile: HRH Princess Máxima of the Netherlands

HRH Princess Máxima of the Netherlands  was born 17 May 1971, in Buenos Aires, Argentinathe daughter of Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta Stefanini (b. 1928) and his second wife María del Carmen Cerruti Carricart (b. 1944). She has two brothers, a sister and three half-sisters by her father's first wife Marta López Gil. She attended Northlands School and Universidad Católica Argentina, where she graduated with a degree in Eonomics in 1995. She worked as an investment banker after graduating, she worked for large international Finance companies in Argentina, New York and Europe. She met the heir to the Dutch throne when they were both attending the Seville Spring Fair: "Feria de abril de Sevilla" in 1999. At the time, she was unaware that he was a prince, as he had introduced himself as simply, Alexander. Apparently, when Alexander confessed that he was a prince, she thought he was joking! After their initial meeting, they agreed to meet again in New York City, where she was ...

Royal Profile: HSH Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein

HSH Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein was born 16 May 1968, the second son of Hans-Adam II , Prince of Liechtenstein and Marie, Princess of Liechtenstein. He has one older brother and a younger brother and sister. Alois II, Constantin  and  Tatjana .  He attended Gymnasium Grammar School, The European Business School and Harvard Business School. He graduated from The European Business School in 1993, and completed an MBA degree in 1998. He married Angela Brown in a civil ceremony in Germany on 21 January 2000. They married religiously in New York City on 29 January 2000. Together they have one son, HSH Prince Alfons Constantin Maria of Liechtenstein, who was born in London on the 18th of May 2001. After his graduation, he worked with several economic, business and management companies in New York City and Germany. Presently, he is the Chief Executive Officer of the Liechtenstein Global Trust. Presently, he is fifth in line for the throne of Liechtenstein.

Royal Profile: Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips-Tindall

 Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips-Tindall  was born 15 May 1981, the daughter of Princess Anne, The Princess Royal and Capt. Mark Phillips. She has an older brother, Peter Phillips (1977), and two half-sisters, Felicity Tonkin (1985, to her father by his brief affair with Heather Tonkin), and Stephanie Phillips(1997 from her father's second marriage to Sandy Pflueger.) Among her godparents were: Colonel Andrew Parker-Bowles Mrs Jackie Stewart, wife of the racing driver During her schooldays, latterly at Gordonstoun, she excelled at many sporting activities. She represented her schools in hockey, athletics and gymnastics. She later qualified as a physiotherapist specialising in Equine Physiotherapy, from the University of Exeter. Like both her parents, she is an accomplished equestrian. She collected individual and team gold medals at the 2005 European Eventing Championship in Blenheim and individual gold and team silver medals at the 2006 FEI World Equestr...

Royal Profile: HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark & Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

Crown Prince Frederik met Australian Mary Donaldson met during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After the Olympics were over, the new couple began a long-distance relationship communicating via email, phone calls, and discrete visits. In 2001, the royal romance was uncovered by the tabloids, shortly after which Mary moved from Australia to Europe. She began teaching English in Paris in December 2001 where she would make occasional trips to Denmark, often attended public events with Crown Prince Fredrick. In September 2003, their engagement was announced. In October that same year, Queen Maragethe gave her official consent to the marriage at a State Council meeting where they became officially engaged. The Danish parliament passed a special law "Mary's Law", giving her Danish citizenship upon their marriage. She also signed a prenuptial agreement and converted to the Lutheran religion. The couple resided within the Amalienborg Palace Complex.   Their wedding took place on ...

Royal Profile: HM King Juan Carlos I of Spain & HM Queen Sofia of Spain

The royal pair of Spain met on a Greek cruise in 1954. They dated for several years before marrying at Catholic Cathedral of Saint Dennis in Athens, Greece on 14 May 1962. In doing so, the 24 year old Greek Princess relinquished her and her decedents rights to the Greek throne. She also converted from Greek Orthodox to Roman Catholicism to become the future queen of Spain. At the time of her marriage, her husband was an Infante of Spain. She also chose to change the spelling of her name from Sophia to Sofia, coincidentally, the two names may be spelled differently, but have the same pronunciation. At his wife's suggestion in 1969, the Spanish State gave her husband he title Prince of Spain as he was the heir to the throne. At his father's death in 1975, her husband ascended the throne as King Juan Carlos I. Together, they have three children, a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law, and eight grandchildren. They are: Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lug...

The Recap of The Royals You Love: May 7-13

Belgium -King Albert held audiences with ambassadors from South Korea, Poland, Serbia who presented their Lettres de Créance (Letters of Credence) to the king and then posed for photos{ Source }. On Thursday, he met with the President of the European Council { Source }. -Queen Paola  marked the 25th anniversary of Palliative Care at Home, the 15th anniversary of the Palliative Care Unit and the 10th anniversary of the "Heidehuis", three sections of the Network Palliative Care "Noord West-Vlaanderen" with a visit to "Palliatief Dagcentrum Heidehuis" (Day Centre for Palliative Care) in Bruges, Belgium { Source }{ Photos }. -Prince Philippe & Princess Mathilde  visited Turnhout, Belgium to the town's 800th anniversary on Thursday. While there, the Princess visited "Klein Engelandhoeve"-a socio-educational project that combines nature, culture and social integration. Then together, they visited the Museum Taxandria historical exhibiti...

Royal Profile: HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, Duke of Värmland

HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, Duke of Värmland was born 13 May 1979, the only son of King Carl XVI and Queen Silvia. At the time of his birth, he was considered heir to the throne as Sweden did not adopt Absolute cognatic primogeniture until January 1980. He has two sisters, an older sister, Crown Princess Victoria and younger sister, Princess Madeline. As of Februrary 2012, he is third in line for the Swedish throne after his sister and her daughter, Princess Estelle. He was christened at the Royal Palace Church on 31 August 1979. His godparents are Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland, Prince Leopold of Bavaria, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and Princess Birgitta of Sweden. He mostly attended schools in Sweden. He began his education at the Västerled Parish Preschool, which he attended from 1986-1989. He attended the State Schools of Smedslättsskolan, Ålstensskolan, and Enskilda Gymnasiet. In the 1994-1995 school year, he spent it at the Kent School. The Prince continued his stu...

The Norwegian Royal Couple Visit Poland May 9-11

Day 1 (May 9) Upon their arrival in Poland they attended an official welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace{ Photos }. The welcoming ceremony consisted of being greeted by the President and First Lady of Poland, an inspection of the Polish Guards. The Royal couple also paid tribute to the Unknown Soldiers by placing a wreath on the grave { Photos }. In the afternoon, King Harald participated in a series of meetings and discussions with various Poland officials { Photos } while his wife visited the Frédéric Chopin Museum  and toured the Presidential Palace's garden with the First Lady of Poland { Photos }. The evening consisted of a reception the Norwegian trade delegation and a gala dinner in the honor of the King & Queen's visit { Photos }. Day 2 (May 10)  King Harald visited Poland's Miltary Base in the company of Poland's Minister of Defence Tomasz Siemoniak { Photo }. Also in the morning, President Komorowski and the ...

Royal Profile: Donatella Knecht de Massy

Donatella Knecht de Massy  is the wife of K. Sébastien Knecht de Massy, who is the grandson of Princess Antoinette of Monaco, Baroness of Massy. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 10 May 1972. She grew up mostly in Switzerland, where she attended  L'Institut Le Rosey . She also attended Northeastern University, where she earned a BA in Journalism. Upon recieving her BA, she returned to Switzerland to pursue a career in the media. While in Switzerland, she worked for The Geneva Post.  She moved to Monaco to work for the Formula 1 Magazine called Focus One , which is based out of Monaco. She currently works for Transport and Commodities with her husband in Monaco. She holds Italian citizenship, but is a permanent resident of Monaco. She married K. Sébastien Knecht de Massy, the eldest grandson of Princess Antoinette of Monaco, Baroness of Massy, in 1999. Their first of four daughters, Christine (presumably named for her patern...

Royal Profile: HRH Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco

Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco was born 10 May 1978, the daughter of al-Haj Abdel Hamid Bennan Naima Bennan. She is the princess consort of  Mohammed VI. She is the mother of  HRH Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (born 8 May 2003) and  HRH Princess Lalla Khadija (born 28 February 2007). Her mother died when she was just three years old. She and her sister were raised by her maternal grandmother. She was educated in private schools in Rabat, Morocco.After completing her engineering studies, she worked for a few years between 1999 and 2002 as an information services engineer at ONA Group, the country's largest private holding company (which is also controlled by the Moroccan Royal Family). She met her husband during a private party in 1999. They began a courtship shortly after, and were married in 2002. Since becoming Morocco's first lady, she has kept a low-profile. However, unlike her predecessors for the postion, she has kept a more well known profile. S...

Op-Ed: Princess Charlene Vs the Daily Mail or as I call it, The Daily Fail.

As some of you may be aware, there have been massive rumors again about Princess Charlene and not keeping her end of the deal…if there WAS a deal….to provide a royal heir. Here’s  the article I’m talking about that started the whole thing. The basic premise of the article is that the rumors of her running away were true, and in order to convince her to stay, she and Albert agreed as soon as she provides an heir to the throne and she would get a substantial monetary supplement out of the deal, but she’s having trouble conceiving (which I do believe, but that’s an entirely different story all together) and because of that, she’s getting depressed. Honestly, given how many FACTS (FACTS folks as in can be proven …) were incorrect in the article itself and how both the Prince and Princess have gone on record numerous times about the issue, I take the whole idea  of Emma Renylods's article with a grain of salt….the incorrect facts (or proof that Emma Renyolds is a complete failure ...

Royal Profile: HRH Crown Prince Moulay Al-Hassan of Morocco

Crown Prince Moulay Al-Hassan of Morocco is the oldest child of King Mohammed VI of Morocco and his wife Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco. He has one younger sister, Princess Lalla Khadija. He was born on 8 May 2003 at 6:40am at the Royal Palace in Rabat, Morocco . His father named him after his grandfather, King Hassan II (therefore, when and if Hassan succeeds to the throne, he will be Hassan III). The young prince attends the same school his father did,    Quranic School of Palace. There, he is recieving the "same basis his father had" { Source }.

Royal Profile: Count Carl Johan Bernadotte

Count Carl Johan Bernadotte  was born the youngest child of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught on 31 October 1916 in Stockholm, Sweden. He had 3 older brothers and an older sister. He was the uncle of King Carl XVI Gustav (his father was the Count's eldest brother) and Queen Margarethe II , Queen Anne-Marie of The Hellenes, and Princess Benedikte of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg  (their mother was his big sister). Because he chose to marry outside his royal status, he lost his succession rights. He married in New York, NY on 19 Februrary 1946 to Elin Kerstin Margaretha Wijkmark, who died in 1987. On 29 September 1988, he married Countess Gunnila Märtha Louise Wachtmeister af Johannishus in Denmark. Together with his first wife, he adopted two children, a boy and a girl, Monica Kristina Margaretha Bernadotte (5 March 1948, adopted in 1951) and Christian Carl Henning Bernadotte (b. 3 December 1949, adopted in 1950). Between them,...

The Recap of The Royals You Love: April 30-May 6

Belgium -King Albert II  met with the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the European Union Commission headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday { Photos }{ Video }. On Thursday, he visited the Jean Offenberg military airbase in Florennes, where he  "... attended several briefings as well as a demonstration of the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA)..." and was informed about the Afghanistan & Lybia operations { Source }. -Queen Paola visited the Kunsthumaniora Brussel to celebrate the school's 40th anniversary,  where she visited various arts classes in session on Thursday { Source }. -Prince Philippe visited the "... precious metals recycling company..." , Umicor    on Wednesday { Photos }. -Princess Mathilde attended a gala dinner organized by the Breast International Group (BIG) in Brussels on Thursday { Photos } Denmark - Queen Margrethe II opened a New Exhibition at the Skagen Museum on Thurs...