Royal News Roundup

On the Scandinavian front Princess Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (niece of HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, daughter of Princess Benedikte) and her husband Sir Alexander Johannsmann welcomed their first child into the world Saturday in Germany. The baby is a boy and in good health. Congratulations to them! The Crown Prince and Princess of Norway have gotten out of the livestock business, selling the cows kept at their country house outside of Oslo. The Crown Prince was sad to see them go but said it no longer made economic sense to keep them. Norwegian farmers were not happy to see the heir leaving their ranks. It is believed the pasturage will be put up for rent. On Wednesday the Crown Princely couple participated in the Olav Festival in Trondheim where they participated in a conference of sorts on “faith, hope and love” at Nidaros Cathedral. The Crown Princess said that spiritual issues were a big part of Norwegian culture and something they all needed to talk about, though most of her comments seemed to involve our relationships with others rather than God. Also on Wednesday the Danish Royal Family gathered for their summer photographing session at Gråsten Castle. On hand were Queen Margrethe II, Prince Henrik, their sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. Princess Benedikte, her husband and grandchildren also attended. Pictures can be seen here. A beautiful family if ever there was one.

In southern Europe, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain attended mass in honor of St James, patron of Spain on Sunday. The King prayed for unity among the disgruntled regions of Spain, calling on the bonds of national family, and also prayed for an end to the economic suffering Spain has been enduring. In the U.S. Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, youngest daughter of King Constantine II, was the guest of honor at the Academy of Couture in Los Angeles on Saturday. She has been making a career of acting for some time now under the name “Theodora Greece”. On Friday Prince Albert II and Princess Stephanie of Monaco attended the annual Red Cross Ball at Monte Carlo. More coverage of the event can be found at Mad for Monaco.

In Middle Eastern royal news King Abdullah II of Jordan met with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday to discuss the peace process. The meeting lasted about 2 hours and involved the potential for peace via the “two state” solution. After returning to Israel Netanyahu complimented the King and said he welcomed any assistance from the monarch in ending the long-standing conflict. Jordan and Egypt are the only two countries in the Middle East that maintain diplomatic relations with the State of Israel. Princess Haya of Dubai was in Moscow on Thursday to sign a memorandum on the development of equestrian sports in the region. The Princess is president of the International Equestrian Federation. This latest endeavor will encourage equestrian sports in Russia, the Baltic states and other former Soviet republics. From Wednesday to Friday King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia visited Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The visit to Lebanon was especially significant and was said to be an effort to diffuse a potentially dangerous situation there.

Southern Africa does not usually make much royal news but this week it has and, unfortunately, it is not good news. To sum it up, roughly half of all the remaining sub-national monarchies in South Africa are being abolished. Thursday, President Jacob Zuma announced that 6 of the 13 remaining tribal monarchies in South Africa will be dissolved simply on the grounds that they were created during the era of segregation. He claims these were invented at the expense of “legitimate” tribal monarchies but nothing was said of restoring any of those alluded to. Instead all six monarchies will be dissolved when their current king dies. The Xhosa and Zulu kingdoms are the only two of the area in question that will not be effected.