ROYAL NEWS: JULY 2002

Last updated: August 1st, 2002.

July 1st
Prince Claus of the Netherlands didn't feel well this afternoon. After a short check-up at the Red Cross Hospital in The Hague Prince Claus of the Netherlands was taken to the AMC Hospital in Amsterdam. The Government Information Service says it is not serious, but that it was decided to take him to the AMC so he can be checked by his own doctors. It is not sure if he needs to stay in hospital.

July 2nd
Prince Claus of the Netherlands stayed the night in hospital. It is said he has to stay there for a few days. The doctors think he suffers from an infection of the bronchial tubes. Yesterday evening he was visited by Queen Beatrix, the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima.

July 3rd
The funeral service of Count Flemming af Rosenborg took place at 1pm at Holmens Church in Copenhagen, Denmark, in presence of among others Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Prince Henrik of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and Ari Behn, Princess Ragnhild Mrs Lorentzen, Princess Astrid Mrs Ferner and Johan Martin Ferner, Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, as well as Prince Wilhelm and Princess Ilona zu Schaumburg-Lippe, Princess Birgitte de Bourbon de Parme, Princess Lorraine and Princess Annette de Bourbon de Parme. The royal guests mainly arrived by boat, while some others came in a bus. Count Flemming's three sons greeted the funeral guests at the door of the church, while their mother Countess Ruth arrived later on with her daughter Désirée. The eldest son Axel held a speech during the service. After the service eight naval officers carried the coffin out to a waiting hearse. The coffin was covered by the Danish flag, and on a velvet cushion were the insigna of Count Flemming's orders, among them the Dannebrog Order and the Elephant Order. Then the funeral procession drove to Bernstorff Castle, where Count Flemming was buried in the park next to his parents, brother and sister-in-law. Most royal guests and further family were driven to Bernstorff Castle, northern from Copenhagen, by bus.

Now it is official. It was announced that Princess Kalina of Bulgaria became engaged to Kitín Muñoz, 17 years her senior, on June 21st at the Vrana Palace in Sofia, Bulgaria. The wedding will take place in September in Sofia. No date has been set yet. The couple met some three years ago.

July 4th
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway have signed a lease for a flat in Earl's Court, London, the royal palace in Oslo announced. They also said the crown princess will take courses on development cooperation and international development issues at the School of Oriental and African Studies, which is part of the University of London. The crown princely couple will move to London at the end of August or the beginning of September.

July 10th
A softening on the Church of England's stance on weddings for divorcees could pave the way for Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles to marry, according to a former Archdeacon of York. The General Synod has voted to issue clergy with national guidelines on how to deal with divorced people who want to remarry in church. The Synod has also reaffirmed its belief that there are "circumstances in which a divorced person may be married in church during the lifetime of a former spouse". But it insisted those circumstances must be "exceptional" and the decision on whether or not a divorced person can remarry in church should be decided by parish clergy. George Austin told the Daily Express: "This decision will be interpreted by the public as the Church giving its backing to Prince Charles marrying Camilla Parker Bowles. She is the love of his life and it is better that they marry."

Yesterday Prince Joachim Egon zu Fürstenberg died of cancer in Donaueschingen, Germany, at the age of 79. He already had health problems for a few years. He will be succeeded by his eldest son Prince Heinrich, who already took over the business in the early 1990s.

July 11th
The male members of the Italian royal family can soon return to Italy after a 56-year exile. The Italian Chamber of Deputies voted to lift the constitutional ban on them in its fourth and final vote on a proposal to change the two clauses in the Italian constitution that forbid male members of the royal family to set foot on Italian soil. The lower house approved with 347 votes in favour and 69 against, while 44 members abstained from voting. "We have received the news of the last vote with great joy", Prince Vittorio Emanuele, who left the country at the age of 9 in 1946, said in a statement: "We wish to express our deep and sincere gratitude to the Government and parliamentarians of every hue who, through their commitment in expressing themselves favourably over modifying the Constitution, have brought this long legislative process to a conclusion". He plans to return by ship, landing at Naples. He still has to wait three months before entering Italy because the measure didn't get a two-third majority in all four votes by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Now opponents have three months to request a nationwide referendum on the constitutional changes. Opponents however would have to rally the support of 500,000 citizens or one-fifth of lawmakers in either chamber or five of 20 regional assemblies to go ahead with the referendum, which is said to be very unlikely. Prince Vittorio Emanuele and his son Prince Emanuele Filiberto, who never has set foot in Italy, both have renounced any claim to the throne.

July 12th
King Mohammed VI of Morocco married Salma Bennani at the royal palace in Rabat.

July 13th
Prince Claus of the Netherlands has left hospital this afternoon and went home to Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague. The Government Information Service said he will further recover at home.

Prince Albert of Monaco took part in the World Championships Bobstart and Skeleton for men and women in the centre of Groningen, The Netherlands. He arrived on Friday morning and was going to leave again on Sunday. At arrival in Groningen the Prince told that the event was really the biggest bobsleigh summer event in the world. A very relaxing Prince Albert finished in fourth place (of six teams) in the A-group of the 4-men bobsleigh races, while several teams in the B-group were also quicker than the Prince and his team. In total there were 160 competitors from 18 countries.

July 14th
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden celebrates her 25th birthday today. She gave a party last night at Solliden Castle at the island of Öland. Victoria invited friends, among them her supposed boyfriend Daniel Westling, and friends like Caroline Kreuger, Caroline Svedin and Josephine Génetay. Also several royals were invited, among them were the Prince of Asturias, the Duke of Brabant and Princess Mathilde of Belgium, the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie Chantal of Greece, Prince Nikolaos of Greece, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and Ari Behn, Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Princess Alexandra zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Count Jefferson-Friedrich von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth and Princess Christina Mrs Magnuson with her youngest son Victor. Victoria herself arrived at Öland on Friday together with her brother Prince Carl Philip and his girlfriend Emma Pernald. At 14:00 today Crown Princess Victoria and her parents came out of Solliden and were cheered by about 1500 people, who gave their crown princess flowers and presents. In the evening Victoria, her family and the other guests attended a concert in nearby Borgholm in which several well-known Swedish artists performed. The evening started with the King's Anthem during which Princess Máxima of the Netherlands kept on talking to Prince Philippe of Belgium, although it was obvious an anthem was being played (all people had stood up and sang along). In an interview broadcasted on Swedish television Crown Princess Victoria said that she will never get used to the media attention, but that she believes you get a certain ability to shake it off. She also thinks it is sad that the media has become less respectfull towards her, especially in the last year. About her royal guests she said that she was very pleased that they wanted to come and honour her on her 25th birthday and come to Öland. Victoria told that they have lots of common, have lots of fun together and are good friends you can count on as they have the same experiences and understand her better.

July 15th
Already yesterday people lined up to sign the condolence books at the St. Johann Church in Donaueschingen and to say goodbye to Prince Joachim Egon zu Fürstenberg, who died on July 9th, and whose closed coffin stood at the altar. Today at noon more than 500 prominent guests turned up for the funeral service at St. Johann Church, among them Prince Ernst August of Hannover with his wife Caroline, Duke Karl of Württemberg, Margrave Max of Baden, Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, Archdukes Ferdinand and Heinrich of Austria, as well as representants of the Houses of Liechtenstein, Hohenzollern, Sayn-Wittgenstein and Schwarzenberg. Around 17:00 the closest relatives of Prince Joachim Egon went to family vault Maria Hof in Neudingen, which since 1337 is the burial church of the Fürstenberg family, where the prince got his last resting place.

The grave of the late Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary, first wife of Shah Mohammed Reza of Iran, was violated by unknown people one week ago. On the dark marble of the tombstone on a cemetery in München, Germany, abusive language, like 'elende Schmarotzerin' (miserable parasite) was written with white paint.

July 16th
In his fight for former propertie in eastern Germany Prince Ernst August of Hannover had bad luck. According to the Russian State Archives in Moscow there is no new evidence that the Soviets theirselves wanted to undo the expropriation in 1948, the Landesamt zur Regelung offener Vermögensfragen in Halle, Germany, announced today. The Russian State Archives declared the documents the prince had handed over for false. The prince among others wants the Big and Small Blankenburg Castle in the Harz back, while the inventory also counts many objects of art.

Today the Italian government's official gazette released that the historical return of the Italian royal family is set on October 15, the date on which the law that passed the Chamber of Deputies last week takes effect. Only a 'no' vote in a highly unlikely referendum could stop Prince Vittorio Emmanuele and his son Prince Emanuele Filiberto from returning from their exile in Geneva, Switzerland.

Plans to build a memorial fountain to Princess Diana are in turmoil after a meeting to choose a final design collapsed in acrimony. A committee, headed by the princess's friend Rosa Monckton, failed to reach a decision after two and a quarter hours of discussion. It means that, nearly five years after the princess's death, a design for the fountain - to be built in London's Hyde Park - has still not been chosen. A budget of £3 million has been earmarked for the fountain. The original 100 artists who submitted ideas were whittled down to three, but the memorial committee of eight are split 50-50 on a final choice, between Bombay-born British artist Anish Kapoor and American landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson. It was eventually decided to ask Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell to find "an appropriate way forward".

July 20th
The son of Prince Bernhard and Princess Stephanie von Baden was christened today at Salem Castle as Leopold Bernhard Max Michael Ernst-August Friedrich Guillaume. Among his godparents were Prince Michael von Baden and Duke Friedrich von Württemberg.

July 21st
Prince Claus of the Netherlands was admitted to the AMC hospital in Amsterdam around noon for observation, because he only recovers slowly after his stay in hospital earlier this month.

July 22nd
At 10:56 this morning Princess Alexandra of Denmark gave birth to her second son at the Rigshospital in Copenhagen after a difficult delivery, more than one week before she was due to give birth. The baby weighs 3486 kg and is 52 cm tall. Both mother and son are doing well. Princess Alexandra arrived at hospital about 3:00 in the morning. Prince Joachim had to come from Gråsten where he spent some time with the rest of the family. At noon 21 salutes were shot from Kronborg Castle and from the elekt 'Sixtus' at Holmen in the harbour of Copenhagen as is the the tradition when a royal baby is born. Some hours after the birth of his son Prince Joachim told the press that "I wiped away a tear when I saw my second son arrive into the world." He told that the new prince is blond, but that it is quite hard to say what the colour of his eyes will be. He also revealed that he had cut the umilical cord and videotaped the birth. "In spite of everything, this time I wasn’t about to faint, as I did the first time," he said. "It must be that practice makes perfect." Queen Margrethe II, Prince Henrik and Prince Nikolai arrived in hospital in the afternoon to have a look at the newborn baby. As traditional the names of the newborn baby will not be known until the christening.

Vicente Sartorius y Cabeza de Vaca Marquess de Mariño, husband of Princess Nora of Liechtenstein, died during holiday with his wife at 9:15am at the hospital Can Misses de Ibiza, Spain, of heart failure. He will be buried at the Cemetery de San Isidro on July 24th. He was born on November 30, 1931 in Madrid and married Princess Nora of Liechtenstein in 1988. They have one daughter together, Maria Teresa, who is 9 years old. From an earlier marriage the Marquess has three children. His daughter Isabel was once named as a good wedding candidate for the Prince of Asturias.

Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz passed away today at noon in the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, where he had been receiving medical treatment for the past two months. He was 44 years old. The funeral prayers will be held tomorrow after the Asr prayer at Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh. He was most known abroad for his great interest in equestrian sports and owned a company specializing in horses. He leaves a wife, a son and four daughters. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz returned from Genève on Monday night on hearing of his son's death.

July 23rd
Another tragedy in the Saudi Arabian royal family, as Prince Sultan bin Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah al Saud died in a car accident on the Jeddah-Riyadh highway early in the morning at the age of 41. He was on his way to attend the funeral of Prince Ahmed bin Salman who died yesterday. The bodies of both Prince Ahmad and Prince Sultan were buried next to each other at Al-Oudh Graveyard in Manfouha, south Riyadh, after the Asr prayers at Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh that were attended by some foreign officials and a large number of princes and dignitaries.

Prince Claus of the Netherlands was transferred to the intensive care this afternoon and his condition was described as precarious. Queen Beatrix was almost all day long with her husband in hospital. Later today also Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Máxima, Prince Johan Friso, Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien arrived. They only left about 10:30 in the evening.

July 24th
Prince Johan Friso of the Netherlands ended in 7th place at the Pro-Am golf match in Hilversum on the occasion of the Dutch Open. He played in the team of the British player Nick Faldo, former number one of the world. The Pro-Am is a team match for one professional with three amateurs. Also Pieter van Vollenhoven played at the tournament and ended with his team in 20th place. In the past also Prince Bernhard played in the tournament, but in the last years mostly the younger princes took part in the tournament.

July 25th
Yesterday the condition of Prince Claus of the Netherlands slightly improved after a calm night. Queen Beatrix again stayed most of the day with her husband. Their sons, daughters-in-law and granddaughter Eloise, as well as Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven came to hospital to visit the prince. Wegener Press by mistake put an article on it's website yesterday, announcing Prince Claus' death. The article was removed quickly after it was discovered. Today however the condition of the prince deteriorated again and was again said to be precarious. Queen Beatrix stayed with him all day.

July 26th
Princess Alexandra of Denmark left hospital with her newborn son accompanied by Prince Joachim and Prince Nikolai.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark will do a one and a half year stint in the Defense Command where he will be in charge of elite troops. He will start the assignment on September 2nd at the defense headquarters in Vedbaek. His job will focus on the participation of the army's Jaegerkorps and the Frømandskorps, in exercises and international military tasks. He will also give courses at the Military Academy.

The condition of Prince Claus of the Netherlands slightly improved again and he had a good night. However his doctors say it is too early to tell if the improvement will go on.

July 28th
Prince Claus of the Netherlands had another good night. The doctors are satisfied. Yesterday morning they already had reported that the slight improvement of Friday seemed to continue. Daily tens of cards arrive at the hospital for the prince.

July 29th
25-year-old Prince Fahd ibn Turki ibn Saud Al-Kabir of Saudi Arabia died today as a result of thirst he endured during a desert trip through Remah Janoub in Omaniya, south of Alomania Center. Funeral prayers will be held at the Imam Turki ibn Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh tomorrow.

British newspapers rumour that the relationship between Zara Phillips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, and her boyfriend Richard Johnson is over. It is ssaid she has moved out of the estate they shared together and moved in with friends. Zara and Richard had been living together since 2001. They met three years ago at stables. Neither Zara nor Richard has spoken of the break-up yet.

July 30th
Crown Princess Himani of Nepal gave birth to a son at 12:49am. The baby was born by caesarian section and weighs 3.3 kilograms. Both mother and baby are doing well. The baby, who hasn't been named yet, is second in line to the throne after his father, Crown Prince Paras Shah. The crown princely couple already has a daughter, Princess Purnika.

King Fahd bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia left the University Hospital in Genève, Switzerland, on yesterday evening, one day after he was admitted there. In the morning he underwent a successful operation for removal of cataract from his right eye. A number of princes and high-ranking officials including Prince Abdul Rahman, deputy minister of defense and aviation, Interior Minister Prince Naif and Riyadh Governor Prince Salman were present at the Geneva hospital during the operation. King Fahd left Saudi Arabia for Switzerland on May 20 after delegating his responsibilities to Crown Prince Abdullah to run the affairs of the country until he returns from abroad.

Prince Claus of the Netherlands left the intensive care this morning and was taken to the coronary care unit of the AMC hospital in Amsterdam. The prince had another good night and the doctors are satisfied about his recovery and speak about a carefully positive development. It is said that he can go back to his own room in the hospital in a few days.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands underwent surgery at the meniscus of her right knee this evening at the Red Cross Hospital in The Hague, but went back home after the operation. The government information service said the knee had troubled her already for a while.

July 31st
The American landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson is the final designer of the Diana memorial fountain that will be built next to the Serpentine in Hyde Park, London. The creation is based on a large oval stone ring. Work on the design will begin almost immediately, with the fountain expected to be in place by the sixth anniversary of Diana's death in August 2003. The £3 million design involves water pouring into the structure from the top of a hill at the Serpentine Bridge and running down in two directions. Both end in a pool in a dished hollow. At night the shape, which can be planted with plants and trees, would be lit up. The water will be shallow enough for children to paddle and play in and spectators would be able to touch the water. The design was eventually chosen by the Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, after the memorial committee that was supposed to make a decision became deadlocked and spent months rowing.


Royal News: June 2002. Last updated: July 5th, 2002.