Last updated: May 1st, 2001.
April 1st
A poll by a Dutch TV-channel says 93% of the people questioned find Máxima Zorreguieta the right partner for Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange. 90% of the Dutch were impressed by her Dutch at the press conference last Friday. Although the newly engaged couple seems to be very popular, most Dutch want to keep Beatrix as their Queen at this moment.
Sophie Rhys-Jones has opened her heart to the News of the World newspaper to deny rumours about her husband's sexuality. In an interview she says Prince Edward is definitely not gay. She says that when they met, she put the rumours down to the fact that he was working in the theatre and so people presumed he was gay. The Countess of Wessex tells the paper: "I can tell you he's not gay. I never believed it - so it wasn't something that crossed my mind when I met him. "How I'd love to be able to go out and sing from the rooftops: it is not true. I want to prove it to people, but it's impossible to do that." Sophie also says she would consider having IVF treatment in order to have children, if that was necessary, adding: "I think if I was going to have five or 10 (children), I should have started an awful long time ago. "But if I'm lucky enough to have any, one of each would be nice. I certainly don't think I have left it too late." She also defends fox hunting, saying: "Hunting is supporting a whole fraternity. It's part of the countryside and the people that work in it. It's not about rich people going out for fun."
Dr John Burton, Coroner for the Royal Household in Great Britain is fighting for a change in the law which could prevent an inquest into the death of Diana Princess of Wales. He has been campaining for 20 years to change the law. At present an inquest must be carried out when a body is returned to Great Britain following a death abroad.
Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his fiancée Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby announced that they are planning a year-long tour of Norway after they are married. They say they want to learn more about Norwegian people and places and give the people a chance to get to know them.
April 2nd
Buckingham Palace has defended the Countess of Wessex over a newspaper "sting" in which she allegedly slighted senior Royals and top politicians. Prince Edward's wife Sophie was allegedly duped by a News of the World undercover reporter posing as an Arab sheikh interested in hiring her PR firm. Sophie is said to have made inappropriate remarks about the Queen, Queen Mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, the Prince of Wales, Camilla Parker Bowles, Tony and Cherie Blair and William Hague. The Palace dismissed the story and claimed inaccuracies. A statement said: "All members of the Royal Family risk tittle-tattle, misinformations and - from time to time - wholesale inaccuracy. " The Palace said it was untrue the Countess had deeply upset the Queen or that Edward was furious. Suggestions she had been disrespectful to the Queen or Queen Mother were untrue, it said, nor did she say Charles and Camilla would marry after the Queen Mother died. Remarks attributed to the Countess about political figures were "selective, distorted and in several cases, flatly untrue", said the Palace. It is understood Sophie has written to those allegedly slighted by her claimed indiscretion. The editor of the Mail on Sunday, which published a story on the "sting", said: "We stand by our story. " It is thought unlikely the Countess will refer the episode to the Press Complaints Commission.
April 3rd
In the western dessert of Egypt the tomb of the wife of Pharaoh Gad Khensu Eyuf Anich, ruler of the Bahriya oasis from 589 to 570 BC, was found. Egyptian functionaries say more than 100 golden amulets were found in the tomb, more than ever has been found in the past. Except for the amulets the tomb also contained the mummy itself, a limestone coffin and other jewellery. The tomb of the Pharaoh himself had been found in 2000 at the oasis of Bawiti, 400 km west from Cairo.
April 4th
Great Britain already have them, and now The Netherlands should have them too: doubles of the members of the Royal Family. At least that is what the Dutch section of the World Look-alike Club thinks. Soon they want to organise the first Orange elections. The club is for all searching for doubles of Queen Beatrix, Prince Claus, Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange and his fiancée Máxima Zorreguieta. Also look-alikes of Prince Johan Friso, Prince Constantijn and his fiancée Laurentien Brinkhorst are most welcome. By the way election doesn't mean you will have any royal obligations.
The Countess of Wessex has been branded 'naive' by the public relations industry magazine PR Week after being caught in an alleged tabloid sting. The magazine said Sophie Windsor had demonstrated she was unable to follow her own advice after her off-the-record comments about the Royal family found their way in to a Sunday tabloid. According to the magazine, the blunder may cost her own public relations business R-JH dearly as it would not inspire confidence in potential clients.
April 5th
More than half the population of Norway believes it would be right and proper to hold a referendum in 2005 - the year of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the independent Norwegian monarchy - on the dissolution of the monarchy. But the majority of people also think Norway's royals should hold on to their jobs. The market research agency MMI carried out two opinion polls on the monarchy, one published in the weekly gossip magazine Se og Hør (See and Hear) and the other appearing in the daily tabloid Dagbladet. Some 45 percent of those questioned for Se og Hør said they didn't want a referendum on the future of the monarchy in 2005. Asked whether Norway should maintain status quo or become a republic, 68 percent backed the royal alternative, while 22 percent thought their time was up. Favourite royal was King Harald, who polled 27 percent of support, followed by Crown Prince Haakon, who got 24 percent. Princess Märtha Louise came next with 23 percent. Queen Sonja and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, Prince Haakon's fiancée, didn't make it into double figures polling three and one percent respectively. But MMI survey for Dagbladet produced quite different results. This was carried out after the controversial romance of Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn hit the headlines and revealed that support for the monarchy had falled back to 59 percent.
It is up to a next Dutch Cabinet to decide whether Jorge Zorreguieta will be allowed to attend the coronation of Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange as King of the Netherlands. That was the outcome of a debate in the Dutch parliament about the engagement of Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta. The left wing parties also want to keep him away from family events in the future. Prime Minister Wim Kok pointed out that Jorge Zorreguieta can't be stopped from attending normal family meetings. Kok is convinced the persons concerned will deal with this sensible. In a motion the Second Chamber let know that they don't object the wedding of Willem-Alexander and Máxima. There are only a few members who have objections against the wedding. The Second Chamber praises the way Wim Kok has arranged the engagement.
A commercial Dutch TV-channel reports that Máxima Zorreguieta's mother, María del Carmen Cerruti, in 1987 still fully agreed with the Argentinian military regime that ruled between 1976 and 1983. That year she signed a statement in which the army was praised for their battle against the left opponents of the regime. The statement wasn't published until 1989 when it appeared in three newspapers.
April 6th
Finally Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa have made their official entrance in Luxembourg, after most events were postponed last September because of the terrible car accident of the Grand Duke's youngest brother Guillaume. This afternoon the Grand Ducal couple and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume made a walk through the centre of Luxembourg City. Without barriers on the site of the road the thousands of people standing along the road were able to come close to their new Grand Duke. Also the press from home and abroad had to fight their way to the Grand Ducal Family. In the evening there was a huge concert of the French singer Patricia Kaas, after which the day was closed with an enormous firework.
April 7th
Prince Harry of Great Britain is on crutches after putting his foot through a glass door. The Prince was at a private party with friends when the accident happened. Someone came rushing through the door and Harry put out his foot to stop it swinging back, but his foot went through a pane of glass. After the accident Harry needed several stitches in the cut - just above the shoeline on his right foot.
The row over the Countess of Wessex has raised questions about how the Royal Family is funded. Minister of Consumer Affairs Kim Howells told the Daily Telegraph that the royal family had always been "a bit bonkers". He said taxpayers' money shouldn't be used to fund many of their activities.
Almost all European heirs to the throne, excluded The Prince of Wales, were present at the ball Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg gave on the occasion of the accession to the throne of Henri last October. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway took his fiancée Mette-Marit with him, Prince Philippe of Belgium brought with him his wife Mathilde, and Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein came with his wife Sophie.
Former King Simeon II of Bulgaria will lead the National Movement for Simeon II during the parliamentary elections on June 17th. He promisses better circumstances to live in and the fight against corruptions. If his party will win the elections Simeon II can't become the president as the constitution says only someone who has lived in Bulgaria for more than 6 months each year in the past five years can become the president. But Simeon II would be able to become the prime minister. The chances of Simeon II are quite good, as the Bulgarian people seem to have enough of the present government.
April 8th
Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg invited their royal guests for a walk through the city. The only heir who didn't attend the walk was Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. He had left by car early in the morning, apparently without telling anybody he had left.
The Countess of Wessex is to step down from her job as a partner/chairman in R-JH Public Relations, the company she started together with Murray Harkin in 1997. She said she would resign, but hoped to stay in business. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain has voiced her support for the Countess's wishes. The Countess herself said she was deeply distressed by being tricked into making unguarded remarks to a reporter posing as an Arab sheikh. Also Murray Harkin has resigned. The News of the World has published transcripts of the so-called Sophie-tapes in today's newspaper - they show the Countess didn't call anyone names.
April 9th
Buckingham Palace is considering new guidelines on how members of the British Royal Family conduct themselves in business. The row over the Countess of Wessex has raised doubts over whether members of the Royal Family can pursue a commercial carreer.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark underwent a minor knee surgery at the hospital of Aarhus. After leaving the hospital she will take up residence at Marselisborg Castle in Aarhus. She also will celebrate her 61th birthday there on April 16th.
Rumours that King Fahd of Saudi Arabia had died, have been denied by a high Saudi Arabian official. He said the royal court is very surprised about the rumours and that the king is doing fine.
April 10th
In a Dutch weekly magazine Minister of Agriculture Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst - a good friend of Queen Beatrix - has said that he thinks the Queen shouldn't have an involving political role. According to him a head of state should only play a ceremonial role. He thinks the royal house has a function as a binder in the society. He says not to be a monarchist and thinks the sovereignty entirely should be in the hands of the Dutch people. Brinkhorst has also said he will abstain himself from voting in the cabinet council when the issue concerns the appearance of his daughter Laurentien - who will marry Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands on May 17th/19th.
The Dutch Parliament has agreed with the wedding of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst. Only five members of parliament abstained themselves from approval, because they say they don't want to cooperate with an institute (the monarchy) they don't agree with.
Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange and his fiancée Máxima Zorreguieta will visit the capitals of all 12 Dutch provinces later this year, to give the people the chance to meet them.
Members of the British Parliament have called for a register to be set up for Royal Family members to declare their business interests. A House of Commons motion, backed by 59 MP's, was tabled after suggestions that the Countess of Wessex could have used her royal links to win personal relations business.
The Queen Mother was today named Oldie of the Century at a ceremony in London in the annual awards. The ceremony was organised by the Oldie magazine and was held in central London.
April 11th
After a two-year treasure hunt by a Scottish-led salvage team has ended in a success. They believe they have found the final final resting place of the Royal Mail steamer, codenamed Britannia, 3000 feet beneath the sea. The steamer was torpeded by a German U-Boat in 1916 while crossing the Mediterranean, when she was on her way from England to India. The 158 passengers and crew lost their lives. On board were extremely valuable gems and jewellery for the 300-strong harem of Jagarjit Singh Maharaja of Karpurthala in the Punjab. He himself was to have joined the ship at Port Said and thus escaped the sinking. He died in 1949. The exact location of the wreck of the steamer is being kept secret.
In the New Church in Delft, the Netherlands, the four-year restoration of the sepulchral monument for William the Silent Prince of Orange was officially finished in presence of Queen Beatrix. A vault in the church is the last resting place of the Royal Family of the Netherlands.
In the Chancellery of the Dutch Orders in The Hague, Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange opened the website www.lintjes.nl. The website describes how someone can be proposed for a royal disctinction. Visitors of the site also get information about the history and background of the Dutch decorating system.
April 12th
Yesterday Princess Juliana of the Netherlands was taken to hospital after a fall at Palace Soestdijk. After a check up it was diagnosed nothing was broken, and she was able to go home again.
After their religious wedding at May 19th Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst will make a ride through the centre of The Hague. Before the ride they will first appear on the balcony of Palace Noordeinde.
April 14th
Prince Michael of Kent has been defended for making a series of foreign trips which have led to him and his wife being dubbed the "Rent-a-Kents". He was reported by The Sun newspaper to have made 24 foreign trips over seas within 15 months. The journeys were allegedly paid for by trade groups, charities and firms. But the prince's private secretary said the trips were legitimate working visits.
April 15th
Prince Maurits van Oranje-Nassau, Van Vollenhoven and his wife Marilène have become the parents of a healty daughter who weighs 3620 grammes. The parents are very happy with their daughter who was born this morning just after 8 'o clock at home in Amsterdam. She will be baptised Anastasia Margriet Josephine, but will be known as Anna. Her last name will be Van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven. Unlike her parents she will not bear a title and not be a member of the Royal House of the Netherlands, but of course she will be a member of the Royal Family. Anna is the first grandchild of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and her husband Pieter van Vollenhoven, and is the second great-grandchild of Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.
April 16th
The Imperial Household Agency has announced that Crown Princess Masako of Japan appears to be pregnant. A team of agency doctors constantly monitoring the Crown Princess's health since her 1999 miscarriage is confident that she has again conceived.
The first photos of Anna van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven were issued.
April 19th
At the official website of the Dutch Royal Family you are able to congratulate Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène with the birth of their daughter Anna. Go to www.koninklijkhuis.nl. Click on the button that says "Felicitaties". You enter the guestbook special open for this occasion. Click on the button that says "Toevoegen reactie" just above the small photo of little Anna to add your own congratulations. I am sure they will be delighted to find so many international wishes in the guestbook.
April 21st
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain celebrated her 75th birthday quietly at Windsor Castle together with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh. Other family members were not expected to join them: the Prince of Wales is on holiday in Scotland, the Princess Royal and Prince Andrew are abroad and Prince Edward keeps silent after the recent Sophiegate. The Queen made a morning ride in the grounds of Windsor Castle accompanied only by her groom. At noon the birthday was marked by 41 and 62-gun salutes in Hyde Park and at the Tower of London.
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain chose her favourite picture of herself for a stamp. The photograph was collected from Buckingham Palace at 8am on Friday, was flown to Gibraltar and was on sale 10 hours and 24 minutes later there. People queued for more than one hour to buy one of the stamps, made to mark the Queen's 75th birthday. The record of producing the world's fastest stamp will be submitted for the Guiness Book of World Records for confirmation.
Prince Philipp zu Stolberg-Wernigerode and Countess Caroline von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee married civilly in the townhall of Wernigerode. The religious wedding will take place at Wolfegg Castle in May.
April 22nd
Prince and Princess Akishino of Japan will attend the wedding of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst on May 19th. It is the first time the couple attends a royal wedding abroad. The Japanese parliament has given them permission to go. Prince Akishino has visited the Netherlands a few times about ten years ago, but never officially. His wife never visited the country. The couple will arrive on May 17th and will have dinner with Queen Beatrix that evening. Prince Constantijn and Prince Akishino know eachother personally. From the other royals on the guestlist for the wedding only Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, his fiancée Mette-Marit and his sister Märtha Louise are known to the public at the moment.
Last night a wall at the outside of the historical Saumur Castle in the Loire Valley fell down. The cause is most likely the heavy rainfall in the past weeks, which should have made the ground on which the castle was built weaker. Pieces of stone came down on four houses at the foot of the hill on which the castle is built. Three people were wounded and 25 people had to be evacuated.
April 23rd
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and her family will not celebrate Queen's Day in Hoogeveen and Meppel on April 30th and also not elsewhere. The risk that the many expected visitors - more than usual because of the appearance of Máxima Zorreguieta, fiancée of Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje - could spread the foot-and-mouth disease is said to be too high. Hoogeveen and Meppel are located quite close to the area where most foot-and-mouth disease cases in the Netherlands have been found over the past weeks. The Queen and her family will now visit Hoogeveen and Meppel on Queen's Day in 2002.
The wedding of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst will cost the municipality of The Hague about $500.000. This doesn't include the costs for security (police) and the present the municipality wants to offer the couple. On May 19th The Hague organises a street and a dance festival, a barbecue for 1000 inhabitants of The Hague and a reception for the international community of The Hague.
The political party of ex-King Simeon II of Bulgaria will not be allowed to take part in the elections in Bulgaria in June.
April 24th
Harold Brown, former butler of Diana Princess of Wales and present butler of Princess Margaret of Great Britain at Kensington Palace, has been charged with four counts of theft from the estate of Princess Diana. He is charged with stealing a jewel daffodil motif, a ring, a model dhow and base, a bangle, earrings and £ 1200 in 1997. He is due to appear before the Magistrates' Court in London tomorrow.
After a few-day working visit to the island of Aruba Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina. He and his fiancée Máxima Zorreguieta will celebrate their engagement there with her family and friends. They will return to the Netherlands before Queen's Day. The interest of the Argentinian press is quite big.
Meanwhile the national Committee "Mars op de Oranje's" (COMODO) will offer a reward for the person who manages to throw a cake at a member of the Royal Family of the Netherlands. Who succeeds gets a wooden charter and a bottle of oranjebitter, the anti-monarchical action group writes in her newsletter. They have declared the month of April as International cake month. In the past among others a Dutch and a Swedish minister have been victims of a national cake group.
33-year-old King Mswati III of Swaziland seems to be seriously ill. He hasn't been seen in public for weeks and noone knows what is going on. He even missed the always spectacular celebration of his birthday last week. It has been suggested the king was poisoned. Against the rules Queen Mngomeluzu had made him breakfast the morning of the day the King complained about serious pain in his stomach during a festival for girls from all over the country at the palace. The ten professional cooks who cook for the King have all been fired last week. The Queen has left for London together with two children. But now it is thought he is seriously ill. It is said he has been examined in Pretoria and also in Mbabane by a special medical team sent by Libian leader Ghadaffi. According to the latest rumours he has now left for China to receive treatment.
April 25th
Despite of what was said before Justice didn't do a house-search at Argenteuil Castle, where Princess Liliane of Réthy, the widow of King Leopold III of the Belgians, lives. Early in the morning the Castle was visited by some people who asked to give them a diary, which was handed over voluntary. It was a Chamber-Commission that investigates the murder at the first Congolese prime minister Lumumba in 1961 that wanted to have a look in the diary of colonel Weber who worked in the rebellious Katanga in that period and was an adviser of the prime minister of Katanga. The colonel had close ties with King Leopold III and now serves Princess Liliane at Argenteuil Castle. The Commission had sent the colonel several written requests, but didn't get the diary. Now the diary has been handed over to the Commission.
The new founded Nationaal Oranjecomité has announced that Willem-Alexander and his fiancée Máxima Zorreguieta will receive a national present when they marry. The present will exist of a present for the couple and an amount of money for a good cause. All ideas are welcome.
The Prince of Wales has had to be disinfected before being allowed into Ottawa for an official tour. Before stepping on to a red carpet, the royal visitor trudged over a special mat laced with chemicals to ensure he was not bringing foot-and-mouth disease from the UK. Charles also had to ensure his clothes and those of the royal party were "properly laundered" and that no meat products were brought on the plane for the six-day trip.
April 26th
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has visited the foot-and-mouth disease area in the province of Gelderland, together with Minister of Agriculture Laurens Jan Brinkhorst. She talked with the stricken farmers in the area and got information about the measures taken, the activities, etc. Afterwards she also talked with several assisting people.
The choice of the first fifteen so-called People's Peers to sit in the British House of Lords has attracted widespread criticism. There had been expectations that ordinary members of the public would be chosen from the 3166 names put forward. A labour Member of Parliament said the peers should have been elected and it was an establishment stitch-up.
On April 23rd the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême (Eudes and Marie-Liesse) became parents of a daughter, Thérèse. She was born in Cannes, France, where her parents live and is a granddaughter of Henri Count of Paris and his first wife Duchess Marie Therese of Württemberg. Little Thérèse will be baptised at the Royal Chapel of Saint-Louis in Dreux in July.
April 27th
Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje celebrated his 34th birthday at home in The Hague together with his fiancée Máxima Zorreguieta and friends. The couple returned yesterday after staying a couple of days in Buenos Aires with Máxima's family and friends.
On Sunday the fourth and last wife of Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China (who died in 1967), died at her home in Changchun, Province of Jilin. Li Yuqin married Pu Yi in 1943 when she was only 15 years old, and divorced him in 1958. She had lived in Beijing until 1963 and then moved to the Province of Jilin, where she worked in a library.
April 28th
In Bulgaria the Supreme Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling barring former King Simeon II of Bulgaria from contesting in the June 17 general election. On Monday the city court of Sofia had decided the National Movement for Simeon II didn't meet the requirements for registration for the election. Simeon II now only can participate if he joins another political party. According to his secretary he is already talking with other parties. According to the polls Simeon II could win 40% of the votes.
April 29th
Princess Margaret of Great Britain is understood to have suffered some loss of vision after her most recent stroke in March. Buckingham Palace says it is hoped that the impairment, which has developed gradually, may be temporary. The Princess is staying with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, where full nursing care is available to her.
Elizabeth Buchanan, the assistent private secretary of the Prince of Wales, has had her address book and correspondence stolen from her car in Surrey. Buckingham Palace confirmed the theft, but said no confidential royal or Palace numbers were in the address book.
Unexpectedly Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended a service at a church in Oene, in the foot-and-mouth disease area. Afterwards she drank coffee with the church-goers.
April 30th
A very unusual Queen's Day in the Netherlands. Although most other celebrations took place, Queen Beatrix didn't visit two towns/villages in the country as she usually does, because of the foot-and-mouth disease that broke out some weeks ago close to the places she was going to visit. Queen Beatrix, Prince Claus, Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta, Prince Johan Friso, Prince Constantijn and Laurentien Brinkhorst, Prince Maurits, Princess Marilène and their newborn baby girl Anna all visited former Queen Juliana, who celebrated her 92nd birthday at home at the Soestdijk Palace.
The late Princess Grace of Monaco was chosen the most elegant woman ever by the Woman's Journal. Also Diana Princess of Wales was present on the list, that was full of filmstars.
Royal News: March 2001. Last updated: April 2nd, 2001.