ROYAL NEWS: FEBRUARY 1999

Last updated: March 1st, 1999.

February 2nd
Today King Hussein of Jordan underwent a bone marrow transplant. The doctors will closely monitor him for the next two weeks. The King was holding up very well his spokesman said.

February 3rd
Sixty-four love letters written between December 1990 and March 1991 by Princess Diana to her lover James Hewitt have been returned to him. They were allegedly taken from the safe in his home in Devon last March by his former fiancée Anna Ferretti who tried to sell the letters to a newspaper.

February 4th
The court of justice of Potsdam, Germany, have dismissed 18 claims of the House of Hohenzollern on getting back former Prussian fortune, amongst it 244 real estates in the Potsdam area. The total amount should have been about 50 million dollar. According to the court of justice the expropriation after WW I was legal.

Princess Alexia of Greece and Carlos Morales Quintana are getting married in London’s Greek Church on July 9th. Count Alexander of Schönburg-Glauchau and Princess Irina of Hessen are getting married on May 29th, where I couldn't find out.

February 5th
This evening, in Johannesburg, South-Africa, the police have arrested the Albanian pretender to the throne Leka I. They found lots of weapons and ammunition at the houses of him and two others. Leka earns his money by trading in weapons.

King Hussein of Jordan was brought back to his own country. He wants to die there. Most of his internal organs don't work anymore and he is kept alive by a life-support machine.

February 6th
Jordanian officials have begun to prepare for a funeral. King Hussein was declared unable to reign and was pronounced clinically death. His son Abdallah was sworn in as a regent.

February 7th
Jordan and the whole world are mourning. King Hussein of Jordan died in the morning in Amman, surrounded by members of his family. His eldest son Abdallah was sworn in in the parliament as the new King just a few hours later. He appointed his younger half-brother Hamzah (18) as the new Crown Prince following the wish of his father. See for an In Memoriam.

Life and death are closely related. In Great Britain Lady Sarah, daughter of Princess Margaret, gave birth to a healthy boy, whose name is not known yet. The baby was born on February 5th.

February 8th
King Hussein's funeral brought about 800.000 Jordanese people to Amman, who lined the route of the funeral procession. Jordanian and world dignities from about 70 countries said goodbye to the King in the throne-room at the Raghadan Palace in Amman. After a short ceremony at a mosque the King was laid to rest at the Royal Cemetery. Only the male members of the Jordanian royal family attended the funeral as according to Islamic traditions females are not allowed to attend. Queen Noor and the other female members of the family stayed in the palace. Among the mourners from all over the world were leaders from Israel, Syria, Egypt and the USA. Royal guests included King Juan Carlos of Spain with his wife Sofia and crown prince Felipe, King Harald V of Norway, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, ex-king Constantinos of Greece with his son Pavlos, the Prince of Wales, Sultan Qaboos of Oman and the crown princes of Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia and Morocco.

February 9th
Many Jordanian people come to the royal palace to condole the royal family with the death of the King. Queen Noor and other female members of the family went to the grave and held private prayers.

Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has decided to postpone his activities for the International Olympic Committee at least until the meetings in March about the corruption within the IOC. Then the position of the Prince will be watched again.

Mohammed al-Fayed is still there. He is now offering an award of about $ 1.700.000 for information on the crash in which Princess Diana and his son Dodi died in August 1997. He made the offer in a quarter-page advertisement in France Soir newspaper. He wants anything that could identify a white Fiat Uno or two motorbikes, which may have been involved.

February 10th
Ex-crown prince Hassan of Jordan has promised his loyalty and full support to the new Jordanian King Abdallah. Prince Hassan will also help the new Crown Prince Hamzah by his preparations for his new duties.

February 11th
The Wiener Opernball (Opera ball of Vienna) seems to have been fun. There were about 7000 guests. Traditionally the ball was opened by 200 young couples (debutants).

The talk show of Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, on Sky-TV has been cancelled after one delivery, because almost nobody was watching it. Sky-TV will keep on working with her.

Vaduz keeps on celebrating. Yesterday Princess Tatjana von und zu Liechtenstein became engaged to Philipp von Lattorff (30), son of Claus-Jürgen von Lattorff and Julia Countess Batthyány. They will marry in the St.Florian Church in Vaduz on June 5. Tatjana's brother Constantin will marry Marie Countess Kalnóky in the middle of July in Slovakia.

A German magazine tells that Princess Sophie von und zu Liechtenstein, wife of the hereditary Prince Alois, will have her third baby in April.

February 12th
Who wants to buy a real castle? In Brumma, near Stockholm, Sweden, you can buy the 17th century Castle Ulvsunda, with a huge garden. In Plön, Germany, they are looking for someone who wants to buy the Princehouse (Prinzenhaus), which is a part of the castle of Plön. It once belonged to the royal family of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderborg-Plön. The house is more than 200 years old.

February 18th
In Cuernavaca, Mexico, Luis Reyna Corvalán y Dillon (born Cordóba April 18, 1939) died. He was the husband of Maria Beatrice Princess of Savoya (Italy). His gardener found him dead in his home. He was possibly killed by burglars, but that is not sure yet.

In Hechingen, Germany, Emanuel Prince of Hohenzollern died just two weeks before his 70th birthday. He had been ill for a while and he was in a nursing home. He has been buried last Saturday in the Castle of Sigmaringen.

Karl Archduke of Austria and his wife Francesca are going to have a third child in a few months time it is said. They deny it their selves. They already have two children: Eleonore (1994) and Ferdinand Zvonimir (1998).

February 20th
Heavy snowfall in the Alps also infected royal guests like Princess Caroline of Monaco and her husband Ernst August Duke of Hannover. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander were brought back to save grounds by helicopter from Lech, where they were enjoying their ski holidays. Prince Claus later left when the helicopter of Caroline and Ernst August picked him up.

February 21st
It seems that his chauffeur strangled Luis Reyna with the string of his bath-wrap. There should also have been a bootlace bound around his penis. Sounds like a terrible way to die.

Discussions are going on about the title Prince Edward will get when he marries Sophie Rhys-Jones. I heard that he will be earl of Cambridge, but the Observer said it will be Duke of Windsor. What is the next suggestion?

February 22nd
According to the historian Robert Torrens the French Emperor Napoleon I's grandfather should be Scottish. This William Bayn (or Buon) fled with his sons from the Scottish village Crieff in 1745. They were shipwrecked near Corsica, where the family was called "Buon e parte" (Buon and his troup). Nice story, but I thought his grandfathers name wasn't William at all.

February 23rd
The Mexican police wants to question Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy and her daughter Asaea on the death of Luis Reyna. It also seems the body hasn't been claimed yet, which the police thinks is strange.

Chinese archaeologists probably have found the 600-year-old grave of the founder of the Ming dynasty, Emperor Ming Hongwu, behind a 120 m long hall near the old capital of Nanjing. It has not been opened yet. They think to find there the mortal remains of the Emperor, his wife and 46 concubines.

The Japanese Prince Hitashi, the younger brother of emperor Akihito, and his wife, will pay a month visit to Europe in March. They first go to Greece, and also Germany is on the programme.

The former Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, who hopes to celebrate her 90th birthday on April 30th, has written an open letter to the Dutch people to ask them to let her celebrate her birthday in private with her family. She wrote that she is not able anymore to answer all the evidence of sympathy and heartiness.

February 24th
Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands makes a three-days visit to St.Petersburg, Russia. He joined the Conference The Future of War and will pay a visit to Kronstad.

Beginning on September 10th Belgium celebrates the Emperor Charles V's Year. The party starts in Ghent, the place where the Emperor was born on February 24th, 1500. There will be many exhibitions on the Emperor. Celebrations are especially held in Ghent, Mechelen and Brussels.


Royal News: January 1999. Last updated: February 1st, 1999.