From Asia, HRH Crown Prince Paras of Nepal, son of the deposed King Gyanendra Shah, was arrested for allegedly shooting at the daughter and son-in-law of the Deputy Prime Minister at a resort in southern Nepal when the two began verbally bashing the late Nepalese monarchy. The Crown Prince was said to be intoxicated at the time and has long had a reputation for hard-living and having a relatively short fuse. The Crown Prince has admitted to firing his gun at the resort but justified it on the grounds that the two were making intentionally provocative remarks and insults about his family and the monarchy and he was simply not going to take it anymore. Nepalese monarchists were outraged by the arrest of a member of the Royal Family and staged a number of protests. The Crown Prince has resided primarily in Singapore since the abolition of the monarchy in Nepal.
Sunday and Monday the glamorous Queen Rania of Jordan was in the Kingdom of Bahrain, she met with the King and spoke about her support for a project designed to educate the young in business and money management -financial literacy education it was called. Queen Rania was praised for her work in promoting education and success across the Arab world. However, later in the week, tragedy struck the Kingdom of Bahrain when Sheikh Rashid bin Issa bin Salman Al Khalifa, brother of King Hamad of Bahrain, passed away. The prince was chairman of the Bahrain equestrian and horse racing club.
In France this week scientists announced that they have identified the skull of the celebrated French monarch King Henri IV who was assassinated in 1610. Best known for his practicality and making peace between the Catholic and Protestants factions in France he converted to Catholicism to maintain the tradition of France as a Catholic monarchy (“Eldest Daughter of the Church”) and then issued the Edict of Nantes granting freedom of religion to Protestants. Reports are that there will be a special “national Mass” held next year in honor of the King when his remains will be laid to rest alongside other French monarchs at St Denis Basilica. On a more sad note it was also recently reported that the treasury office at the Palace of Versailles will be converted by a Belgian company into a luxury hotel. It breaks my heart to see Versailles used in this way, arguably the most magnificent royal palace in the world, though it is not the first such outrage the palace of the Their Most Christian Majesties have suffered over the years.
In northern Europe Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark, Crown Princess Mary and their children attended the opening night of a new ballet Saturday, the set and costumes of which were designed by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. The Crown Princess seemed to be at her best despite being only a month away from delivering twins. The Danish crown princely couple were also featured in the December issue of Vogue magazine (the German version) in a story about the renovations underway at their palace. The pictures were well done and the interview was okay but your humble blogger was not impressed with the Crown Prince saying he would show his independence from tradition by displaying modern art in his new home. In my experience there is a word for 99.9% of “modern art” and that word is -”crap”!
For the British Royal Family, oddly enough, the one story that has made the most headlines is more of a non-story than the most mundane ribbon-cutting. It has been all over the U.S. news networks that President Obama and First Lady Michelle will not be invited to the royal wedding next year. The reason, of course, is not because Prince William and the Obamas are not exactly close friends, it is not because the Obamas have been fairly known for their dislike of the British and it is not because the royal couple were afraid of what sort of horrid gifts they might receive. No, it was simply because (perhaps due to PR pressure it must be said) the Royal Family will be inviting more common people to the wedding and less political elites, heads of state and the like. Despite the inordinate amount of attention this wedding was bound to receive, it should also be kept in mind that Prince William is not a reigning monarch, not next in line to a throne and so in regards to royal protocol his wedding would not ordinarily be considered such a big deal. But it is of course and for every one of the crass, cultureless type of Americans who mocked and ridiculed the Prince and his lovely Princess-to-be on the subject of their wedding there is at least two crying that their beloved President has been “snubbed” at what is sure to be THE social event of the year. Too bad, maybe if Obama pays his carbon tax he can haggle an invitation to Prince Albert’s wedding.
Sunday and Monday the glamorous Queen Rania of Jordan was in the Kingdom of Bahrain, she met with the King and spoke about her support for a project designed to educate the young in business and money management -financial literacy education it was called. Queen Rania was praised for her work in promoting education and success across the Arab world. However, later in the week, tragedy struck the Kingdom of Bahrain when Sheikh Rashid bin Issa bin Salman Al Khalifa, brother of King Hamad of Bahrain, passed away. The prince was chairman of the Bahrain equestrian and horse racing club.
In France this week scientists announced that they have identified the skull of the celebrated French monarch King Henri IV who was assassinated in 1610. Best known for his practicality and making peace between the Catholic and Protestants factions in France he converted to Catholicism to maintain the tradition of France as a Catholic monarchy (“Eldest Daughter of the Church”) and then issued the Edict of Nantes granting freedom of religion to Protestants. Reports are that there will be a special “national Mass” held next year in honor of the King when his remains will be laid to rest alongside other French monarchs at St Denis Basilica. On a more sad note it was also recently reported that the treasury office at the Palace of Versailles will be converted by a Belgian company into a luxury hotel. It breaks my heart to see Versailles used in this way, arguably the most magnificent royal palace in the world, though it is not the first such outrage the palace of the Their Most Christian Majesties have suffered over the years.
In northern Europe Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark, Crown Princess Mary and their children attended the opening night of a new ballet Saturday, the set and costumes of which were designed by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. The Crown Princess seemed to be at her best despite being only a month away from delivering twins. The Danish crown princely couple were also featured in the December issue of Vogue magazine (the German version) in a story about the renovations underway at their palace. The pictures were well done and the interview was okay but your humble blogger was not impressed with the Crown Prince saying he would show his independence from tradition by displaying modern art in his new home. In my experience there is a word for 99.9% of “modern art” and that word is -”crap”!
For the British Royal Family, oddly enough, the one story that has made the most headlines is more of a non-story than the most mundane ribbon-cutting. It has been all over the U.S. news networks that President Obama and First Lady Michelle will not be invited to the royal wedding next year. The reason, of course, is not because Prince William and the Obamas are not exactly close friends, it is not because the Obamas have been fairly known for their dislike of the British and it is not because the royal couple were afraid of what sort of horrid gifts they might receive. No, it was simply because (perhaps due to PR pressure it must be said) the Royal Family will be inviting more common people to the wedding and less political elites, heads of state and the like. Despite the inordinate amount of attention this wedding was bound to receive, it should also be kept in mind that Prince William is not a reigning monarch, not next in line to a throne and so in regards to royal protocol his wedding would not ordinarily be considered such a big deal. But it is of course and for every one of the crass, cultureless type of Americans who mocked and ridiculed the Prince and his lovely Princess-to-be on the subject of their wedding there is at least two crying that their beloved President has been “snubbed” at what is sure to be THE social event of the year. Too bad, maybe if Obama pays his carbon tax he can haggle an invitation to Prince Albert’s wedding.
Yesterday Putin lobbed another insult toward the west- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Says Orthodoxy ‘Closer to Islam than Catholicism Is’
ReplyDeletego google - Window on Eurasia: Putin Says Orthodoxy ‘Closer to Islam than Catholicism Is
This most disturbing news illustrates that our ex KGB friend Mr. Putin continues to hold hostile views towards western civilization, after his continued backing of Iran and sales of nuclear material to Iran, his continued interference in the affairs of Georgia and other hostile statements that Russia has made toward the western world shows that they are far from seeing themselves as western and european and take hostile actions toward the west
MM, Sturgeon's Law states that 90% of everything is tosh. The corollory generally varies, from the last 10% is worth dying for to the last 10% is also tosh.
ReplyDeleteAnd sadly, our world is all too consumerist. Tom Lehrer's Christmas Carol is featured as the Track of the Week because it's just so true (and actually demonstrates that we stopped getting Christmas when the consumer impulse took over), and the conversion of the Treasury Office is just another symptom.
And pity poor Obama. Not being invited to the cool party. Oh no! What a nightmare!