Royal News Roundup

It was a solemn occasion for the Spanish Royal Family last week as they paid their respects to the late prime minister Adolfo Suarez who died on Sunday at the age of 81. Suarez was the first prime minister after the death of long-time Chief of State Francisco Franco and presided over the Spanish transition from dictatorship to constitutional monarchy. Suarez was the son of a republican but became a high-placed figure in the Franco regime and the “National Movement”. He became prime minister in the first democratic elections held after Franco’s passing. HM King Juan Carlos called him “a loyal friend”. Originally a Falangist/National Syndicalist, in later life he led a centrist party. In 2008 the King awarded him the Order of the Golden Fleece and elevated him to the nobility as Duke of Suarez. The Royal Family attended the funeral on Monday and the King laid the Royal Order of Carlos III near the coffin before the public was admitted.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands was buzzing with activity last week. The King and Queen received an official visit from President Xi Jinping of the People’s Sweatshop of China before welcoming leaders from a range of countries who like to pretend that they still matter to the Nuclear Security Summit. Many onlookers noticed that Queen Maxima seemed to be more the center of attention than King Willem-Alexander based on the reactions and interactions of the various world leaders with the captivating Argentinean Queen-consort. There were also some giggles from the Dutch as Canadians reporting on the arrival of Prime Minister Stephen Harper seemed to mistake the Grand Master of the Royal Court for the Dutch king. Oops. In Belgium, Prince Laurent was rushed to the hospital with a severe case of pneumonia and placed in a medically induced coma. He has since been awakened and his condition is reported to be improving. Meanwhile, King Philip met with President Obama to lay a wreath at a memorial to the fallen soldiers of World War One. And last week included a great deal of traveling for the Swedish Royal Family. Crown Princess Victoria was in Africa visiting Ghana and Tanzania while closer to home the King and Queen made a visit to the Baltic nation of Latvia. In neighboring Norway, Crown Princess Mette-Marit sat in on a Library Conference in Trondheim.

For the House of Windsor there was not much beyond the usual royal activities but some news related to the monarchy did stand out. The Irish Republic announced that it would invite members of the Royal Family as well as Unionist leaders to the planned hundredth anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. Irish leaders praised the 2011 visit of the Queen to Ireland as helping to warm Anglo-Irish relations. The Prince of Wales apparently wrote to a British military base on Cyprus condemning the killing of certain songbirds which are a lucrative local delicacy. I had more sympathy when he was defending fox hunting but, then again, I have never understood those who value one animal over another. It was announced that Prince William will be working at the Foreign Office to gain experience in diplomacy. An official of the SNP let his true colors show a bit when he announced that an independent Scotland could “ditch” the Queen after independence which will be voted on later this year. The SNP leadership has promised that an independent Scotland would keep the pound, the Queen and “Dr Who” but, despite gaining popularity, some polls have shown more support for Scotland leaving the union in England rather than Scotland. Hopefully this will at least help more people see the truth; that the SNP is republican through and through -which should have been obvious from their Marxism-in-all-but-name political agenda. The ignorant chattering class also recently kicked up a fuss over Prince Harry going skiing in Kazakhstan, somehow equating a holiday with some sort of endorsement of the government there. Whatever. Finally, in happier news, Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia is helping add a little more royal style to the Land Down Under. The good news is that he requested the creation of a new level of honors with Knights and Dames of the Order of Australia. The bad news is that one of the first two people to receive the honor will be the outgoing Governor-General who is a despicable republican traitor to her Queen and Country.

In other royal-related news, HIH Prince Bertrand of Brazil wrote a letter to Pope Francis expressing his concern about the radically leftist leaders who have been hosted by the Vatican recently, Marxists who have caused no small amount of trouble in former South American empire. The letter was respectful and reverent in tone but also quite frank and is a true credit to Prince Bertrand and the Brazilian Imperial Family who are still doing all that they can to defend and advance their people and country. God bless him. Pope Francis also met with American President Obama last week, though there was some confusion as to what they talked about. Based on what the President said, they both agreed that rich people are going straight to hell and that while the Pope was unconcerned the Cardinal Secretary of State did bring up the issue of the Obama administration suppressing freedom of religion but the President assured him there was nothing to worry about there and that everything is fine. Yeah. The President then went on to meet with King Abdullah II of Saudi Arabia who, after witnessing the track record of the current American president in foreign policy regarding Iran, Syria and now the Ukraine, to express his concerns about Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. The rumor is that the King made it clear that if Iran gets the bomb, Saudi Arabia will not be far behind but, we are told, the President assured him he would get a good deal with the Iranians. Again -yeah. Also this week the Saudi King designated his half-brother Prince Moqren (69) the next heir to the throne. The current Crown Prince is old and ailing and unlikely to succeed the now 90-year old monarch.

Meanwhile, at the Arab Summit, the Emir of Qatar called for dialogue in Egypt between the current military government and pro-Muslim Brotherhood opposition which supports ousted President Morsi. Qatar has been a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood which is banned in most other countries in the region as a threat to stability. The Emir of Kuwait expressed his desire that they all just get along and far to the east in Malaysia the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah ordered state flags to be blown at half mast in tribute to the people lost on the Malaysian Air flight MH370 which vanished three weeks ago while flying to Peking.