Last updated: July 7th, 2007.
June 1st
This afternoon the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam approved and accepted the proposal made by Awangku Khairul Khalil Pengiran Syed Haji Jaafari for his daughter Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah's hand in marriage during the Istiadat Bersuruh Diraja ceremony at the Istana Nurul Iman. The bestowment of the Gendang Jaga-Jaga to the bridegroom's family was announced also. Tomorrow the Istiadat Membuka Gendang Jaga-Jaga will commence simultaneously at the Lapau Building, the Istana and at the groom's residence. The Istiadat Menghantar Tanda Diraja ceremony - bringing of the articles - will be held on June 3, followed by the official engagement - Istiadat Menghantar Pertunangan Diraja - on June 4. Today's ceremony started the two-week long events of the royal wedding.
During an investigation of a bank robbery the Canadian police discovered the Kouchert Diamond Pearl of Star of Empress Elisabeth of Austria in a house in Winnipeg. The star had been stolen from an exhibition at Schönbrunn Castle in Vienna, Austria, in June 1998. Eight people have been arrested.
Prince Norodom Ranariddh of Cambodia has appealed against his conviction for the illegal sale of the former headquarters of his political party Funcinpec. According to his lawyer the appeal was filed on Monday. A hearing date hasn't been said yet.
June 2nd
Eugenia, daughter of Don Luis Alfonso de Borbón Duke of Anjou and his wife Margarita was christened today at the Embassy of the Holy See at Paris, France. She was christened by the apostolic nuncio in France, Fortunato Baldelli. The godparents were Victoria Vargas de D'Agostino and Jesús Quintanal Pigrée.
Crown Princess Masako of Japan attended a national greenery ceremony at the national park in Azumino near Nagano today together with her husband Crown Prince Naruhito. It was the Crown Princess's first official duty outside Tokyo in seven months.
Archduke Carl Christian of Austria and Estelle de Saint-Romain married in a religious ceremony at the Église Saint Bruno de Voiron (Isère) in France. The wedding was followed by a lunch as well as a ball in the evening. Bridal children were Archduke Johannes of Austria, Céline Montagne, Victoire Meyssonnier, Pauline Faes, Archduchess Gabriella of Austria and Princess Anna-Maria von Auersperg-Trautson. Among the guests were the parents, brothers and sisters, almost all grandparents of bride and groom, Princess Astrid of Belgium and Prince Lorenz of Belgium Archduke of Austria-Este with children Amedeo and Maria-Laura, Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla of Luxemburg, Archduke Christian and Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria, other members of the Austrian imperial family, as well as other royals and nobles. The civil wedding took place at Montgirod (Savoie) in France on 28 April. June 5th
Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, daughter of King Umberto II and Queen Marie-José of Italy, is to sell 41 of her jewels at Christie's in London next week. She says she needs to raise money to settle a tax bill. Among the items are a diamond tiara, called the Empress Joséphine Tiara, made by Fabergé in 1895. Further items include a double string of diamonds, a 10-string pearl necklace and a pink diamond.
The Berbedak ceremony for the wedding of Awangku Khairul Khalil Pengiran Syed Haji Jaafari and Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah of Brunei Darussalam was held. First the berbedak ceremony for the bride took place at the Istana Nurul Iman. Then the ceremony for the groom took place at Darul Karamah. This ceremony was attended by the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, his two wives, the Crown Prince and his wife and several other members of the royal family as well as members of the family of the groom. The ceremony is the seperate ceremonial powdering ritual on the royal bride and groom. The ceremony ended with the consent of the Sultan to close the ceremony. On June 7 the Akad Nikah ceremony - the solemnisation of the marriage vows - will be held at the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in the capital. On June 9 the Birinai ceremony - henna tinting ceremony - will take place seperately for bride and groom at the Istana Nurul Iman and at Darul Karamah.
Vakafuhu Tu'ifau and Osaiasi Tu'ipulotu, the sons of Prince Tu'ipelehake and Princess Kaimana Aleamutu'a Tuku'aho of Tonga who were killed in a car accident in the USA last year, have sued Ford Motor Co. They claim that the company knew that the Ford Explorer their parents were driving in was unsafe. In the meantime Edith Delgado, driver of the car that caused the accident, is on trial in San Mateo County Superior Court. The lawsuit against Ford is filed at Santa Clara County Superior Court and says that Miss Delgado contributed to the crash events but didn't kill the royal couple and their driver. It says the Ford Explorer is marketed as a forgiving, safe an stable vehicle although it was prone to rollovers, had an unsafe roof design and "was not equipped to properly handle emergency maneuvers at interstate highway speeds." If they had been driving in another car they wouldn't have died.
June 6th
Prince William and Prince Harry of Wales have made a public plea to Channel 4 not to broadcast graphic photographs of the crash that killed their mother in a documentary aired tonight. In a letter sent last Friday Mr Lowther-Pinkerton asked on their behalf to remove the pictures from the documentary. In the letter it was asked to respond before yesterday morning. Clarence House said they hadn't received a response by then. The letter was published to make clear publicly that the princes believe the broadcast of these pictures being inappropriate, distressing and a gross disrespect to their mother's memory. Channel 4 aired the documentary including the pictures after all and said that they had weighed the Princes' concerns against the public interest of the documentary and in the still photography it includes.
On the Swedish National Day Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine of Sweden opened the doors at the courtyard of the Royal Palace in Stockholm for the public at 10am. The opening ceremony was conducted to the rytm of the drum corps of the army. Earlier in the morning scouts had raised the flags at the palace. Crown Princess Victoria celebrated National Day in the town of Lundsbrunn. In the evening the traditional ceremony was held at Skansen in presence of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine.
Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan was successfully operated during a 70-minute operation at the University Hospital in Tokyo. A benign tumor was removed from his duodenum, a part of the small intestine. According to the Imperial Household Agency he has been able to walk around and talk with his wife after the operation. The Crown Prince had a two hours blood test and X-ray before the surgery. He entered hospital yesterday accompanied by his wife Crown Princess Masako.
June 7th
According to a probe by the BBC programme Panorama Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, former ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the USA, received secret payments for over a decade during negotiations about a £40bn arms deal between the biggest arms dealer of Great Britain, BAE Systems, and Saudi Arabia. The company paid hundreds of millions of pounds to the Prince with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Defence. Prince Bandar bin Sultan denies the accusations and says he has acted lawfully always. The BBC programme will be broadcasted on 11 June 2007 at BBC One at 20.30 BST.
June 8th
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway and author Halfdan W. Freihow have decided to end their co-operation in writing an authorised biography of the Crown Princess. The Crown Princess and the author disagree on certain issues, so the book won't be published.
June 9th
Johannes von Rudnay and Princess Caroline von Schönburg-Hartenstein married at the St Marien Dom in Zwickau today. More than 300 guests attended including members of the families of Schönburg, Saxony, Lippe, Oldenburg, Stolberg-Stolberg and Hohenlohe-Langenburg. After the wedding bride and groom were driven to Burg Stein in an open car and were welcomed at the castle by the Hartensteiner hunting-horn blowers. The party afterwards took place at Burg Stein.
June 10th
Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary today with family and friends at Fredensborg. In the evening they attended a memorial concert for Queen Ingrid of Denmark at Tivoli, Copenhagen. The concert was also attended by Crown Prince Frederik, Princess Benedikte and Prince Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and his girlfriend Carina Axelson, King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Crown Prince Pavlos and Prince Nikolaos of Greece, Count Carl Johan and Countess Gunilla Bernadotte.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden celebrated her 25th birthday. Hundreds of well-wishers gathered at the courtyard of the royal palace in Stockholm this morning to greet the princess who got bouquets from members of the public. She was accompanied by her parents King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, her sister Crown Princess Victoria and brother Prince Carl Philip. The army drum corps played. The palace said that the rest of the birthday celebrations will be private.
The actual marriage "bersanding" ceremony of Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah of Brunei Darussalam and Yang Mulia Pengiran Khairul Khalil Bin Pengiran Syed Haji Jaafari took place this morning at the Balai Singgahsana Indera Buana, Istana Nurul Iman, and was followed by a procession around the town area. A night vigil and religious performance will take place this evening at the Istana Nurul Iman and Darul Karamah. In the meantime a cultural performance will take place in the capital of Brunei Darussalam. Tomorrow evening the wedding banquet will take place at the Istana Nurul Iman. On June 13th a ceremony will be held to celebrate the third day after the wedding. The thanksgiving prayer and the closing of the Gendang Jaga-Jaga will take place at Darul Karamah and Istana Nurul Iman.
June 11th
More than 60.000 pages on the 61-year-long reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand will be put online in time for his 80th birthday on December 5th. The pages will be in Thai language, with some translations into English. The site will include speeches, photographs and official documents related to the King, Queen Sirikit and other family members from 1934 to 2007.
June 12th
In an interview to Matt Lauer of NBC Today, which is to be broadcasted on Monday, Prince William and Prince Harry have spoken about the death of their mother. The interview was recorded at Clarence House to publicise the Diana memorial concert at Wembley on 1 July. Prince Harry said: "You know, when people think about it, they think about her death. They think about how wrong it was. They think about whatever happened ... whatever happened in that tunnel, you know, no one will ever know. I'll never stop wondering about that." He also said: "Over the last 10 years I personally feel as though she has been...she's always there. She's always been a constant reminder to both of us and everybody else...it's weird because I think when she passed away there was never that time, there was never that sort of lull. There was never that sort of peace and quiet for any of us - the fact that her face was always splattered on the paper the whole time." Prince William told: "There's not a day goes by I don't think about it once in the day. And so for us it is very slow and it's a lot - it has been a long time." Asked what they would like to do if they weren't members of the royal family Prince William said he'd love to be an helicopter pilot or work for the United Nations or something like that. Prince Harry would probably be a safari guide in Africa.
Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan has left hospital after his successful operation of last week. Accompanied by his wife Crown Princess Masako he took his time to thank the staff and the surgeon who performed the operation.
Greece said today that it has plans to turn the Tatoi Palace, summer residence of the Greek royal family, into a museum. The palace will be renovated and its contents restored. Culture Minister George Voulgarakis said: "Whether we like it or not, these items and buildings are part of our history and they should be exhibited. This will become a museum and a large park, an area of recreation and environmental education for Athenians."
June 13th
Madame Tussauds in London has announced that a wax figure of the Duchess of Cornwall will join the royal family in the museum later this year. The Duchess of Cornwall has agreed to sit for sculptors. The museum says that many visitors requested for her wax figure. She will be with the Prince of Wales, Prince William and Prince Harry.
Lord Justice Scott Baker formally took charge of the inquest into the death of Diana Princess of Wales on Monday, replacing Baroness Butler-Sloss. He held his first preliminary hearing in the case today. In his opening statement he said wishes to set a timetable for witnesses in order to keep time and costs from escalating beyond what is absolutely necessary.
The Prince of Orange and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands have issued a letter to thank everybody for their heart-warming wishes after the birth of their daughter Ariane as well as the support they received during the recent illness of their daughter.
The Prince of Orange and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands will take legal action against the magazine Party for publishing pictures of Princess Maxima with her daughters Amalia and Alexia on the beach last week. The couple considers the publication to be a 'serious violation of their privacy'. The pictures are a violation of the media code. The magazine was given a chance to avoid a court case by placing a rectification and donate 10.000 Euro to a charity. However they couldn't agree on the amount of money. Party placed an apology this week.
The parliament of Nepal today has given itself the power to abolish the monarchy if King Gyanendra of Nepal interferes in constituent elections who are due in November. Officials say that there are no plans at the moment to depose the king. A decision about the future of the King will be made at a meeting of the special assembly after it is elected in November.
At the Important Jewellery sale today Christie's at London has sold 41 pieces of jewellery for Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy for $ 3.358.639. The Empress Josephine Tiara, made by Fabergé in 1895, fetched $ 2.071.388 and was bought by an anonymous buyer. It was a world record price for a tiara at auction. Also jewellery from the collection of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia was sold. Her collection realised $ 1.189.657.
June 14th
In a BBC interview Prince William and Prince Harry of Wales talked about their excitement ahead of the Princess Diana memorial concert at Wembley on 1 July. Prince William said he would like the concert to be a chance to remember all the "amazing things" his mother did. Prince William said they "wanted something that would really bring her whole spirit - her joy of life and everything that we thought she stood for - a bit more to the point and a concert of this magnitude balanced with the service will be a wonderful way to remember her." Prince William told: "We used to catch her dancing to her music - we'd walk out the room rather embarrassed that our mother was just dancing around." The full interview will be broadcasted by BBC One on 29 June.
Queen Sirikit of Thailand has undergone an operation to release fascia in the middle finger of her left hand at Phramonkutklao Hospital in Bangkok today. She has stiffness of the joints of the finger. She has to recuperate for two weeks.
Edith Delgado, who in July 2006 caused an accident in which Prince Tu'ipelehake and Princess Kaimana Aleamotu'a Tuku'aho of Tonga and their driver died, was convicted at court in California today of misdemeanor manslaughter. She was acquitted of more serious charges. The bail has been lowered and her family planned to pay the bail later this week. A sentencing hearing is set for 24 August. Miss Delgado now faces a maximum of three years in county jail.
Archaeologists searching Tatoi Palace in Greece have discovered more than 200 ancient items, 100 religious icons and vessels and 300 paintings of which the fate had been unknown since King Constantine II and his family fled the country in 1967. The items were found in sealed containers in the stables and the basement of Tatoi Palace. The team of archaeologists and restorers started working on catalogueing the contents of the palace three months ago.
June 17th
The Nepalese monarchie could continue if King Gyanendra and Crown Prince Paras abdicate the throne before the election of the Constituent Assembly, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said today. In that case the new king would be Crown Prince Paras's son Hridayendra who is five years old, or under a new law the Queen would be his seven-year-old sister Purnika. A spokesman for the Maoist Party however said that they will not accept a monarchy in any form.
Elizabeth Duchess in Bavaria and her husband Daniel Terberger expect their second child. The Duchess is almost four months pregnant.
In the Finnish Hufvudstadsbladet of today it is announced that Count Fredrik Creutz and his wife Annunziata née Princess of Bourbon Two Sicilies had a daughter on 11 June 2007. She was born at the Portland Hospital in London and doesn't have a name yet.
June 18th
Samoa has chosen a new head of state for the next five years on Friday. The new head of state is Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi, a former prime minister and member of the Council of Deputies. He will replace the late Malietoa Tanumafili II who passed away last month. Tuiatua's father Tupua Tamasese Meaole shared the title of head of state with the laste Malietoa Tanumafili II from 1962 till his death in 1963. The election was officially confirmed today.
June 19th
Infanta Sofía of Spain will be christened at the Zarzuela Palace on 15 July. Her godparents will be her grandmother Paloma Rocasolano and Prince Konstantin of Bulgaria.
June 20th
In an interview to the magazine Onze Wereld Princess Máxima of the Netherlands has told that she has become more emotional after she had children. 'It is not that my concerns about poverty have become greater, but I am more emotional about it,' the princess says. 'Once you have children you are far more conscious of the future and your responsibilities." June 21st
Prince William of Wales celebrated his 25th birthday today. He is now entitled to a part of the inheritance left to him by his mother the late Diana Princess of Wales. His share is estimated to be £250,000 to £300,000 a year. It also means that Prince William from now on can marry without consent from his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
Prince Manuel of Bavaria and his wife Anna née Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg had their first child. Their son Leopold was born on 13 June, is 57 centimeters tall and weighs 3950 grammes. He was most likely born in München, Germany.
June 22nd
Prince Pieter-Christiaan van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven was admitted to the Universitair Medisch Centrum in Utrecht today after a check up. He has a skin infection and needs a treatment with medication directly in the veins for about one week. It is not sure if he also has to stay in hospital that long. The christening of his daughter Emma, that was to take place this weekend, was postponed. A new date hasn't been set yet.
Since today the Luxemburg Grand-Ducal House finally has its own website. It was launched on the occasion of National Day, which will be celebrated tomorrow. The website contains activities and news, press announcements, photos, information about the family and its history, as well as succession right. At the moment it is only in French.
The Imperial Household Agency today announced that Prince Tomihito of Japan will be treated for alcohol dependency at the Imperial Household Agency Hospital in Tokyo for about one month. The Prince is suffering from severe insomnia and has difficulties swallowing.
June 23rd
According to a death announcement in the Daily Telegraph Antonia Lambrino née Colville died on 13 June 2007. The funeral took place in private. Since 2006 she was the widow of the Carol Lambrino, who styled himself Prince of Romania. He was the son of King Carol II of Romania and Jeanne Marie Lambrino.
June 26th
The summer photo session of the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima of the Netherlands and their three daughters was held at the royal stables in The Hague this morning. It accidentally coincided with the second birthday of their middle daughter Princess Alexia who got a birthday cake with two candles.
King Albert II of the Belgians was taken to the Sint-Jan Hospital in Brussels this afternoon after a fall at Laken Castle. He has a fracture to his right thighbone and had a successfull hip replacement operation late this afternoon. The King will remain in hospital the coming days.
June 27th
A mummy of a woman has been identified as the most powerful female Pharaoh Hatshepsut. The mummy had already been discovered in the valley of the Kings in Egypt in 1903, but was only brought to the Cairo Museum for tests two months ago, Zahi Hawass, antiquities chief of Egypt said. The mummy's DNA was compared with the mummy of Hatshepsut's grandmother Nefreteri. According to Mr Hawass the mummy shows an obese woman who died in her 50s, probably had diabetes and liver cancer. More tests are to be carried out.
June 28th
Fürst Alexander zu Schaumburg-Lippe and Dr. Nadja Anna Zsoeks married in a civil ceremony at the town hall at Bückeburg. Afterwards at the balcony of the town hall Fürst Alexander shortly thanked the few hundreds of people on the street for coming. A short photo session was held in front of the castle. A bridal soiree will be held at the castle tomorrow evening.
June 30th
The religious wedding of Fürst Alexander zu Schaumburg-Lippe and Dr. Nadja Anna Zsoeks took place at the Stadtkirche in Bückeburg. The wedding was attended by many royals. A wedding ball was held in the evening at Bückeburg Castle. At midnight a torch procession and short musical performance took place at the castle. A full report will follow in the coming weeks as I was in Bückeburg for the wedding.
Royal News: May 2007. Last updated: June 2nd, 2007.