Royal News Roundup

In the Far East, as diplomatic issues continue to bedevil Japan, Korea and China, HM the Emperor of Japan said during a regular diplomatic briefing that he and the Empress, “wish to visit Korea some day. I hope Japan and Korea will continue to maintain friendly relations in the future.” This comes in the wake of the South Korean President saying that the Emperor would have to personally apologize for events which occurred during the era of Japanese colonial rule over Korea which prompted an angry reaction from the government in Tokyo, saying that it had been South Korea which had first spoken of an imperial visit while Japan had never requested such a trip. The Emperor has said before that he would be willing to give any apology Korea desires if it will make them happy and improve Japanese-Korean friendship. Of course, if such an arrangement were made, given that these demands for apologies always seem to come during diplomatic disagreements, I would not be surprised if the government of the day forbid such an apology on the grounds of it being “too political”. Which would not be an argument without merit as all too often today calls for apologies for past wrongs are about politics rather than history.

In Southeast Asia, royal physicians in Bangkok have announced that the health of HM Queen Sirikit of Thailand has greatly improved, with her appetite, sleep routine and mobility being almost back to normal. The Queen will continue to undergo physical therapy for the immediate future. The Thai queen consort was found to be suffering from a slight shortage of blood to the brain in July after almost falling while attending to the King who also remains in hospital. Nearby, HM King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia began a 3-day visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to strengthen Viet-Cambodian relations. The King has already met with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, was originally put in power by Hanoi following the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in which Pol Pot was driven from power and which provoked the last Chinese invasion of Vietnam (didn’t work out so good for China). Over in the Middle East, Queen Rania of Jordan joined charity foundation presidents, politicians, three other royals and executives from The World Bank, Wal-Mart and the United Nations at the Clinton Global Initiative where she said, “We need another revolution in the Arab world. We need an education revolution”. Meanwhile, HH the Emir of Qatar has called for Arab countries to intervene in Syria and enact a no-fly zone over the country to protect Syrians from the government forces of Bashar Al-Assad. In Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah, just back from a medical leave of absence, launched a new project to expand the Prophet’s mosque in the Muslim holy city of Medina.

In Europe, Prince Friso of The Netherlands remains in grim condition. South African Bishop Desmond Tutu reported that, recently, the Queen’s son opened his eyes and moved slightly before slipping back into the comatose state he has remained in since his skiing accident in Austria in which he was caught in an avalanche seven months ago. The Prince turned 44 on Tuesday and in The Netherlands, where euthanasia is legal, debate has started to emerge about when he should be taken off of all life support. And, just to add to the pain of the House of Orange, the Prime Minister had been under increased pressure to publicize royal expenses and the Queen has been criticized for saying that she sees “no reason” to reduce the royal allowance. So far the PM is sticking to his guns saying that to make the expenses public would be a violation of the privacy of the Royal Family. On a happier note, to the south in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, new photos have been released of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Countess Stephanie in preparation for their upcoming wedding. Though, there too, there is murmuring about the expense of the wedding to the Luxembourg state. Such concerns over spending taxpayer euros would carry a lot more weight if those raising them were not constantly throwing away so much money on projects that have nothing at all to do with Luxembourg or the people of Luxembourg in any way whatsoever.

In Britain, the traitor-group “Republic” has announced a new campaign to abolish the Duchy of Cornwall (a title belonging to the Prince of Wales) on the grounds that this will make the monarchy “more accountable”. How exactly getting rid of the Duchy of Cornwall will accomplish this they did not say. However, they have also announced their intention to press for the legal invasion of the privacy of the Royal Family and to abolish the Queen’s royal veto which, of course, is a very pressing issue considering that no British monarch has actually used the royal veto since the reign of Queen Anne. On a happier note, despite his recent stays in the hospital, and being 91-years old, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh is still doing his part for Queen and country with no less than 37 official functions scheduled for the next two months. God bless Prince Philip, you can’t keep a good Duke down. The Queen also recently purchased a set of portraits of herself by the artist Andy Warhol to feature them in a special Diamond Jubilee exhibition at Windsor Castle called “The Queen: Portraits of a Monarch” which will start on November 23 and run until June, 2013.