Royal News Roundup

A faster and earlier roundup this week. Starting with the Scandinavian royals, King Harald V of Norway was in Brazil last week, visiting and even staying with a group of Yanomami natives in a remote region of the Amazon River basin. A beautiful area but not without danger. They don’t call it the “Green Inferno” for nothing. Meanwhile, the Norwegian Crown Princely couple were in Houston, Texas Sunday for the Offshore Technology Conference. Norway has been involved with the Conference for 40 years and the Crown Prince told local reporters that as the oil business is such a powerhouse in Texas, there is much he can learn here. The royal couple then moved on to San Francisco, California. On the British Isles, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall accompanied HM the Queen to the state opening of Parliament at Westminster Palace this week. There were no major trips announced in the Speech from the Throne and according to the Palace HRH the Prince of Wales will stand in for the Queen at the Commonwealth summit this year. On a related front the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall hosted a reception for the British-Caribbean communities this week. On Thursday Prince Harry arrived in the United States for a week-long visit of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Colorado and Washington DC.

In southern Europe, HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco said in an interview that she is ready to be a mom, at least once the new Princess Charlene Foundation is up and running smoothly, which she figures will take a couple of months. I think it is safe to say that the public is ready as well. A little heir to the throne to carry on the Grimaldi-Polignac line would be good news indeed. I think Andrea Casiraghi would make a fine ‘Prince Albert III’ but the Casiraghi trio would probably be happiest to just carry on with their current lifestyle rather than having royal responsibilities to worry about and they and Princess Caroline are probably hoping for Albert to have a son more than anyone. Over in Spain there was some welcome news for a Royal Family that sorely needs some as the Spanish court announced it was suspending the charges against the Infanta Cristina, which were ridiculous to begin with. Also in Spain, HM Queen Sofia attended ’Red Cross World Day’ in Malaga. This event commemorates the founding of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in a different Spanish city every year. Last Saturday the Queen was on the Greek island of Spetses to celebrate Easter with her family, including the former King Constantine II.

And, up in the Low Countries, the Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg presided over the opening of the Spring Fair at Luxexpo on Saturday and in The Netherlands the first official engagement for the new King and Queen went off without a hitch, though it was a solemn occasion. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima attended a special ceremony to honor the Dutch forces who were lost in World War II. When the war came to the country the Dutch resisted for four days before capitulating to the Germans. Many Dutch served in the underground resistance, some fought in the Allied armies in special units and Dutch colonial forces fought against the Japanese in what is now Indonesia. In other news the local officials are now expressing regret over the arrest of two Dutch republican protestors during the recent inauguration ceremonies, saying it was a mistake caused by a shift-change. Personally, I don’t think they should be apologizing at all, arrest them all I say! The Duke and Duchess of Brabant also reportedly commented on the Dutch inauguration, being very impressed by the outpouring of public support for the new monarch and Princess Mathilde (again, reportedly) said she hopes Prince Philippe will be given a similar reception when he becomes King of the Belgians, but added that of course the Belgians are not the same as the Dutch.