ROYAL NEWS: DECEMBER 1999

Last updated: January 1st, 2000

December 1st
In a poll by BBC News Online India's first woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has been voted the greatest woman of the last 1000 years. She pushed ahead of Queen Elizabeth I of Great Britain to win by a large majority.

Queen Elizabeth II is set to reopen the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. The opera house has been closed for 30 months because of refurbishing.

December 4th
Full live coverage of the wedding of Prince Philippe of Belgium and Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz.

December 6th
The Dutch historian Kikkert has declared in an interview that Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje has given an interview to a newspaper in 1995, which wasn't published according to the Government Information Service and the newspaper. Kikkert says that the Crown Prince has said that he doesn't care too much about a possible ending of the monarchy in a united Europe. He also should have said that he isn't really interested in religious affairs.

The viewing figures for the wedding of Philippe and Mathilde are lower than expected, as the amount of people who came to Brussels to watch the wedding live. In total some 3.237.000 Flemish people watched the 13-hour-long broadcasting on Flemish television, which by average attracted some 600.000 people. Some 1.700.000 people watched the ceremony in the cathedral.

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain has reportedly spent almost 9000 English pounds buying Christmas puddings from a supermarket (and not from Harrod's as usual) as festive gifts for her staff. The 1411 puddings will be rewrapped in silver foil and a royal crest added.

December 7th
Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah from Kuwait (70 years old) headed for the USA for medical care. He recently had colon surgery.

December 8th
Another show of Prince Claus of the Netherlands at this year's presentation of the Prince Claus Prizes at the Palace at the Dam in Amsterdam. He showed up without tie. Although the speech he was supposed to give was handed over on paper to the people attending the presentation, Prince Claus gave an improvised speech. Queen Beatrix, who attended also, was mentioned in the speech, which made her laugh and she seemed to feel quite embarrassed by it. The theme of this year's prizes was 'Create space for freedom'.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark has been voted Dane of the year for the third time in succession by an opinion poll by Gallup. Frederik is in Greenland right now to prepare himself for the 5-month expedition that will begin on February 1st. He will stay there until December 22nd.

The Hungarian government plans to ring in the millennium by restoring the royal crown of Saint Stephan to its former role as the Hungarian state symbol.

There is a special service planned for July 2000 at St. Paul's Cathedral, London, to celebrate the 100th birthday of Queen Mother Elizabeth of Great Britain, which is on August 4th, 2000. Seems a little too early to me.

December 10th
Media reports say that Princess Masako of Japan has shown signs of pregnancy after more than six years of marriage. We'll see if it is another rumour.

Magazines report that the Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones, the grandson of Princess Margaret of Great Britain, has been baptized in the royal chapel at St. James's Palace lately.

A Flemish nationalist says the civil wedding of Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde is not valid as it was held in Flemish, French and German - the three official languages in Belgium. He says that according to the language-laws in the country the use of German language in Brussels is forbidden.

December 11th
Indian officials have agreed to open the Taj Mahal for night visits by tourists. For the last 15 years the monument has closed at 7pm because of security threats. But visitors to Uttar Pradesh will now be able to see the Taj Mahal on nights with full moon. The State Tourism Minister said it was a millennium gift to the world.

Dom Diniz de Braganca will be baptized in Oporto on February 5th, 2000.

December 12th
The son of Princess Cristina of Spain and Iñaki Urdangarín y Liebaert was baptized Juan Valentin de Todos los Santos at the royal chapel at the palace in Madrid. He was named Valentin after an uncle of his father's grandmother Ana Berriochoa, St. Valentin who was beheaded in 1861 in Asia.

Japan is eagerly waiting to discover this week whether or not Crown Princess Masako is pregnant.

In Brussels Princess Astrid of Belgium attended the drawing for the European Championships Football 2000, which will be held in Belgium and the Netherlands.

December 13th
Readers of The Big Issue magazines have voted the Prince of Wales ‘Hero of the Year’. Hailed as a maverick that is unafraid to tackle the Government he tops the publication's annual Heroes and Villains poll. The Prince told the magazine that he was delighted and touched to be chosen by Big Issue readers as their hero of the year.

December 14th
In Vienna, Austria, the Hungarian writer Count Peter Esterházy de Galántha has received the Austrian State Prize for European literature. His work is said to be a gentle subversion against all order. As Hungarian cult-figure of his generation he places the search for mental-moral autonomy in the centre of writing. Amongst the earlier winners of the prize are Vaclav Havel and Salman Rushdie.

From this year on Prince Bernhard and Princess Juliana of the Netherlands will not send Christmas cards anymore. It has become too hard for them to sign hundreds of wishes personally.

King Juan Carlos I of Spain attended the handover-ceremony by the USA of the Panama Canal, which has been American since 1903. In 1977 US-President Jimmy Carter, who was present at the handover, signed a treaty that said that the Canal would be Panamese officially at December 31st, 1999.

The French magazine Paris Match has to pay 150.000 French francs for a renewed publishing of the kiss-photos of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed.

December 15th
Princess Caroline of Monaco has gained a partly success against paparazzi-photos. A German court has decided that publishing private photos of Caroline's children will not be allowed anymore to protect the children from photographers.

December 16th
Queen Beatrix and her family (except for Princess Juliana) will celebrate the New Year in India. They will be there from December 26th to January 3rd.

Prince Rainier III of Monaco has been operated in his country. A cardiac examination before showed problems with the artery of the abdomen. The palace states that he is fine now.

December 17th
A necklace worn by Princess Diana on her last public engagement in June 1997 has been sold in New York for about $550.000. The pearl and diamond piece, made by London based royal jewellers Garrard's, was bought by an American collector.

On Ellingen Castle, Germany, the engagement of Princess Désirée of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (25) and Florian Count von und zu Hoensbroech (30) was celebrated. They are planning to get married next year, after Princess Désirée has finished her studies at St. Andrew's, Scotland.

December 18th
Sotheby’s in London has auctioned The Moritzburg treasure of the Kings and Electors of Saxony for 7.196.000 German Marks. Just for the end of World War II the sons of the last king Friedrich August III had buried the treasure in the wood to hide it for the approaching Russian Red Army. In 1996 hobby treasure-diggers found it back. 143 pieces of the treasure were auctioned; most of it was bought by German art-dealers.

On December 28th King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will open the Museum Tre Kronor (Three Crowns) in the cellars of the Royal Palace in Stockholm. It will show the Swedish history since the 13th century.

December 19th
German television (ARD) broadcasts three new documentaries in the series of German Royal Houses. On Monday December 20th at 15:15 Anhalt is the subject, the next day at the same time Castell-Castell, and on Wednesday December 22nd at the same time Hannover.

The Sunday Telegraph says that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is going to withdraw her endorsement of Harrods department store next year. Royal Family lawyers may sue store's boss Mohammed Al-Fayed. The Queen is angry about allegations he has made against the Duke of Edinburgh, claiming that the Duke was linked to Princess Diana's death.

December 20th
A man armed with a sword, an axe and two knives was wrestled to the ground by police within yards of Buckingham Palace. The man drove into a cordoned-off area between two police vehicles outside the palace railings yesterday evening. Dressed in black military-style clothing, he was taken to a police station.

43-Year old Francisco Manoel from Lissabon, Portugal, threatens to bring Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain to court to force her to give him her DNA-material. According to the Sunday Telegraph he wants to prove that he descends from Queen Victoria and the Duke of Wellington. Manuel's great-grandfather Marcos Manuel should have been born out of this 1833-relationship on the Isle of Wight in April 1834. Further Manuel says it is proved that Queen Victoria's youngest daughter Beatrice has destroyed her mother's notes after the Queen died.

December 22nd
The Liechtenstein princely family announced the engagement of Prince Maximilian, second son of reigning prince Hans Adam II, with Angela Brown, who was born in Bocas del Toro, Panama, as daughter of Javier Francisco Brown and Silvia Maritza Burke. Angela Brown is an American fashion designer. The couple will get married in New York on January 29th, 2000.

On December 18th little Count Richard von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth was baptised in the Danish way in the chapel of Berleburg Castle, Germany. His mother Alexandra née Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was his godmother. The supporters were Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Prince Nikolaos of Greece, Princess Märtha-Louise of Norway, Prince Philipp von Hessen, Countess Andrea von Pfeil-Haag, and Nadine Keltaneh-Farah.

Great Britain will build a children's playground based on the adventures of the eternally youthful Peter Pan to commemorate the life of Princess Diana. Work will start in January 2000 near her former London home in Kensington Gardens. The project manager said that the playground will commemorate her love for children.

December 24th
This morning the Prime Minister of Luxemburg announced in the Parliament that Grand Duke Jean will abdicate in September 2000. The Prime Minister read a letter of the Grand Duke, which said that he was "in the conviction that by the dawn of a new millennium, and after 35 years of reign, it seems wise to me to retire". His oldest son Henri will succeed Grand Duke Jean.

In his Christmas message King Albert II of the Belgians thanked everybody who has competed in the joy of the wedding of his son Philippe with Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz. The King further said: "The Queen and I have thought back to very happy times, but also to the crisis we went through now 30 years ago. Together we’ve managed to bring about a deep bond of love and unity. Some time ago this crisis was brought back to our memories. We don’t wish to talk about it further. It belongs to our private life." It is said it is a clear reference to the reports about the King’s supposed illegitimate daughter Delphine.

Prince Laurent of Belgium visited deprived people in Brussels on Christmas Eve bringing them soup. He was dresses as Santa Claus, and believe me that he looked funny.

The royal crown of St. Stephan causes sensation in Hungary. The plan of the Prime Minister to bring the crown and the crown jewels from the national museum to the building of the Parliament has evoked the anger of the opposition. They say the Prime Minister disuses the crown for his own glory. The crown of St. Stephan is regarded as the symbol of Hungarian unity.

December 25th
In her Christmas speech Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands asked to respect the privacy of her and her family. She says the question for openness is justified, but when commerce makes liberty to a public possession, it threatens to violate the right to have a personal sphere of life.

December 26th
Because of heavy hurricanes in Europe amongst others the windows and roofs of the Versailles Palace in France were damaged. Further thousands of trees in the park were uprooted.

December 27th
The authorities in Thailand have banned the new film 'Anna and the King' saying it insults the country’s monarchy. The film portraits the relationship between a Thai king and an English governess. Thailand’s censorship board says the film was historically inaccurate and made jokes at the monarchy’s expense. It said removing the offending scenes would cut the film to just 20 minutes.

December 29th
The Prince of Wales is to champion the Marie Curie Cancer Care as its president. He is taking over from the Duchess of Kent, who is scaling down her public commitments. The Queen Mother has been the charity’s patron for 45 years.

December 30th
The Imperial Household Agency announced that Crown Princess Masako of Japan had a miscarriage. Doctors had diagnosed the miscarriage as the Princess underwent a pregnancy test. They performed an operation on the Princess who is in good condition but remains in hospital for observation.

A survey was held in France to find out who was the most beautiful woman of the century. In first place came actress Romy Schneider, who became famous for playing Empress Elisabeth of Austria in the Sissi-films, followed by Princess Grace of Monaco née Kelly. In 7th place was Princess Diana of Wales.


Royal News: November 1999. Last updated: December 1st, 1999.