ROYAL NEWS: MARCH 2001

Last updated: April 2nd, 2001.

March 1st
From March 31st the play "Hendrik and Wilhelmina" can be seen in the Dutch theatres. In the play written by Ton Vorstenbosch, Vorstenbosch himself plays Wilhelmina. The play takes place in the period 1920-1934.

March 2nd
Model Lauren Bush, daughter of Neil - brother of President George Bush of the United States, denies rumours that she is involved with Prince William of Great Britain. She told she has heard about him a lot and their families are friends, but she has never met him and also never sent him a sexy e-mail. She also says she is sure that he is a really nice person and she thinks he is very good-looking.

In a book about the Argentinian ex-dictator Videla that will be issued this week is written that Jorge Zorreguieta was one of the influential Argentinians who incited the militaries to commit a coup d'état in 1976. He thus played a minor role, but was involved in the preparations because of his big influence in the agricultural sector. According to the writers of the book Zorreguieta knew from the beginning about the violations of human rights by the Videla Regime.

March 3rd
Prince William of Great Britain has left for Africa. He will spent about 3 1/2 months in Africa to study conservation and work on safari. He will be joined by a group of his friends.

March 4th
Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange will arrive in New York today for a two-day-visit. On Monday he will open an exhibition about the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer and the Deltse School in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and will visit the Exchange on Wall Street and the Dutch Club. On Tuesday he will fly to Boston, if the snow-storm that is expected in New York tomorrow doesn't prevent this.

March 6th
During his visit to New York having a talk with the press, Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange pointed out to them that there was a letter in the Argentinian newspaper La Nación from a reader about the book that was issued last week about former President Jorge Videla. he asked the press to be more careful when consulting their sources about Jorge Zorreguieta. The Prince by the way later said he didn't know that the letter he referred to was written by Jorge Videla himself.

March 7th
Surprised Prime Minister Wim Kok of the Netherlands calls the statements from the Prince of Orange about Jorge Zorreguieta unwise and has made a phonecall to the Prince this morning to ask him not to make any more statements. Kok says the Prince obviously couldn't resist the temptation to make some personal remarks, but that the mentioning of the letter by the Prince doesn't mean that the Prince agrees with the contents of the letter.

In a short phonecall with the Dutch television programme NOVA Jorge Zorreguieta said he of course regrets the cruelties of the dirty war in Argentina. He also said he thinks that Videla has sent the letter to the newspaper La Nación to clear up a confusing situation. Zorreguieta further told that because of family circumstances he can't say anything at the moment, but will come back to the subject later.

March 8th
Yesterday the Parliament of the Dutch Antilles has agreed with the intended wedding of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst unanimously. No member of the Parliament objected to the wedding. The leader of the PNP-party said his party also has no objections to a possible wedding of Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta.

The Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family surrenders to the restitution of their complete art and cultural property in Thüringen, Germany and have signed an agreement about the property with Thüringen. According to the secretary of the Thüringer Wissenschaftsstaat, Aretz, also real estates like the Friedenstein Castle in Gotha will stay property of the state. However the Head of the House, Prince Andreas, gets the use of the castle whenever he wishes for parties, receptions, etc. The Coburg Trust also retains the copyright for most of the art the state of Thüringen received. As a settlement for the renunciation, because the state of Thüringen doesn't have the money to pay for the compensation, the Coburg Trust also receives land worth about $ 7.500.000. The property they have lost is worth about $1 billion.

March 10th
Over the past four days Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark has continued his pilot's education at the air-base Skrydstrup. He got instruction to fly an AWACS-airplane.

The Attorney General has called for a repeal of the 300-year-old ban on Roman Catholics ascending the British throne. "I don't like any form of discrimination", Lord Williams told the Daily Telegraph. He also said he would welcome a debate on the monarch's official position as head of the Church of England: "It is healthy to have a debate about this in a community that now has many different faiths in it".

Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary today. Because of the health problems of Prince Claus the couple celebrated privately at home.

Queen Mother Elizabeth of Great Britain has had her shoes disinfected before watching two of her horses race at Sandown Park, Surrey. She had to cross a disinfected mat to comply with measures to combat foot-and-mouth disease. She later took to the stands to watch the horses race.

March 11th
In his new book "50 Ways to a Healthy Heart" heart transplant pioneer Christiaan Barnard has said according to him the life of Diana Princess of Wales could have been saved if she had been taken to the hospital immediately after the accident, instead of after more than one hour. Passer-by Dr Frederic Maillez said the Princess was in the best shape of the four victims including the surviving bodyguard. The internal bleeding she died of could only have been stopped by surgery very shortly after the incident. Several doctors have reacted to Barnard's statements. Some agree with him, but there are also many doctors who say it had been impossible to save her life.

According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo Felipe Prince of Asturias will marry Eva Sannum in the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid in June. Most likely it is another rumour, not based on any real facts. The same article mentions that 62% of the Spanish people are in favour of a marriage between Felipe and Eva.

March 12th
Today Zoran Zivkovic, Federal Minister of the Interior of Yugoslavia has officially presented Certificates of Citizenship to Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and his family. The ceremony was a result of the recent repeal of the 1947 Decree that illegally abolished the citizenship and confiscated the private property of the Royal Family. The ceremony was held this morning at the Claridge's Hotel, London, Great Britain, where Crown Prince Alexander was born in 1945. The Crown Prince said it was an emotional and historical moment for him and his family. They wish to help bring renewed prosperity to Yugoslavia and its people, who go through difficulties right now. The Crown Prince, his wife and two youngest sons plan to move to Belgrade in the next few months, perhaps at the Old Palace. The youngest son will continue his study in the USA. The Crown Prince and his wife will work with government on financial and humanitarian needs.

March 13th
Johnson, the Deputy Head of the Island of Saba, Dutch Antilles, has said that Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta can marry at Saba if they want. Also Máxima's father will be welcome. Johnson doesn't think the Royal Family will accept the offer, but at least he wants to show that Saba is very royalistic.

The Princess Royal has been fined £400 after she admitted speeding at 93 miles (148 km) an hour in her Bentley on a dual carriageway last August. She also had her licence endorsed with five penalty points (if you have twelve you will loose your licence in Great Britain). The Princess Royal had spotted the police car which booked her near Gloucester, but had assumed it was there to escort her. Lawyers wrote to Cheltenham magistrates to plead guilty on the Princes's behalf.

Researchers of the Russian Academy of Science have cleared the cause of death of Jelena Glinskaya (+1538), wife of Czar Vassili III, and of Anastasia Romanova (+1560), first wife of Czar Ivan IV. They were both poisoned with mercury. Hairs and bones were tested for heavy metals. The remains also showed an extraordinary concentration of lead and arsenic. Those poisons most likely came from cosmetics and medicinal salves, that used to be enriched with heavy metals in the Middle Ages.

March 14th
A man has been arrested after security scare involving the Earl and Countess of Wessex last night. The alert happened as the couple were attending a ballet premiere at Sadler's Wells Theatre in Islington, London. Police say a man lurched towards the couple and was pushed away by a protection officer. The man is not believed to have been armed.

March 15th
The Prince of Wales has announced a £ 500.000 aid package for farmers hit by the foot-and-mouth disease crisis. He said six charities would benefit from the hand-out to easy the plight of farmers under severe strain from the dreaded outbreak. The British government has welcomed the donation. Later today the Prince was matched by the Duke of Westminster, who is one of Britain's biggest landowners.

To the Danish gossip magazine Billed Bladet Bettina Ødum announced that she has ended her relationship with Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. The two met in a cafe in Paris almost two years ago. Bettina now wants to concentrate on her newest job, after having been fired by the magazine "The Rumour" recently.

March 17th
The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire have been forced to cancel a garden party on the lawns of their stately home for 200 fellow diamond wedding couples because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak. The Duke married the Hon. Deborah Freeman-Mitford on April 19th, 1941. They sent a letter yesterday postponing the event, which had been due to take place on April 19th. They plan to reconvene in June if the emergency is over.

March 21st
Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands has donated the painting "African Landscape by Night" he painted in 1977 for the auction of the Quality of Life Gala that will be held on Saturday. The proceeds of the gala will go to the research into childhood lymphoma. Also a statue of Queen Wilhelmina made by Kees Verkade will be auctioned.

March 22nd
The wedding of Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Elvire Pasté de Rochefort, which was scheduled to take place on May 12, has been postponed indefinitely because of practical problems regarding logistics, accomodation and security of the guests. Several representatives of royal houses were planning to travel to Paris to attend the wedding. The private secretary of Princess Benedikte of Denmark, mother of the groom-to-be, emphasized that the wedding has not been cancelled, but only postponed. The couple still plans the event to take place in Paris.

March 23rd
The Dutch Counsil for the Crown has laid aside the charge of ex-UNESCO ambassador Mourik against the members of the Argentinian government between 1976 and 1983, among them Jorge Zorreguieta. They say not to have any time to prosecute facts that have happened such a long time ago.

March 24th
The painting "African Landscape by Night" by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands has been auctioned for about $50.000.

Arch Duchess Zsófia of Austria, daughter of Arch Duke Georg of Austria and his wife Eilika, was christened in the Matthias Church in Budapest, Hungary. The baby wore a family christening gown, made by an Hungarian tailor in 1950 for Zsófia's aunt Andrea, the oldest sister of her father. Zsófia's godmother, Queen Sofia of Spain, was represented by Antonio Bellver, who is the Spanish ambassador in Hungary.

March 26th
According to some experts from the British Museum in London Cleopatra wasn't the beautiful woman we all think she was. After examining eleven statues, of which at first was believed they showed another Egyptian Queen, they concluded she was in real small, corpulent and ugly. And she urgently needed to see a dentist.

Palace Het Loo, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, has decided to cancel the exhibition "Royal Cattle at Het Loo" and hold it next year, because of the foot-and-mouth disease in the country. During the exhibition with paintings of pet animals cows, sheep, goats, horses and poultry were supposed to walk around on the grounds in front of the palace. It was also the intention to have several events with presence of animals during the exhibition.

The postponed programme to celebrate the accession to the throne of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg last October, will be made up on April 6th. In the afternoon the Grand Ducal couple shall officially be welcomed. Highlight in the evening is a performance of the French singer Patricia Kaas. On April 7th there is a huge ball for which many royals are invited. Expected to come are amongst others Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium, the Prince of Wales, Prince Felipe of Asturias and Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange.

March 28th
From June 17th to August 12th the Royal Palace in Oslo opens the doors of restricted areas for its second summer of receiving visitors. This years also souvenirs can be bought. The long-year renovation of the palace has finally ended now. The renovation has costed $55 million, which has led to many protests from the Norwegians. Queen Sonja herself has been very active during the project. One of the highlights is the dining room in which wall papers with scarcely clothed dancing girls can be seen again after having been hidden for about 100 years. After closing its doors in August King Harald and Queen Sonja are finally expected to move into their new residential quarters on the top floor of the left wing of the palace. They still live at Gut Skaugum in Asker near Oslo, were they live since 1968. Now that will be the new home of Crown Prince Haakon and his fiancée Mette-Marit and her son. The photo by Jiri Havran shows the King's Office at the Royal Palace. Other photos can be seen here

March 29th
There are strong rumours about an upcoming engagement of Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta. This evening a commercial TV-channel brought the rumours based on the fact that Prime Minister Wim Kok of the Netherlands has seperately received the chairmen of all polical parties in the Second Chamber this afternoon. He should have told them that a royal engagement can be expected soon. When the news is true I expect the official engagement to be announced this Saturday (or on Friday), if not we just have to wait somewhat longer.

The monarchy in the Netherlands is quite unpopular at the moment. According to a poll among 400 Dutch, which was done for a Dutch TV-channel by Ivomar, only 62% of the Dutch people still support the Dutch monarchy. For a year that was 87%. It is not known how much influence the Zorreguieta-case has had on the public opinion. 2/3 of the people questioned say that Jorge Zorreguieta should attend his daughter's wedding.

In Helvoirt, the Netherlands, the 300-year-old Zwijnsbergen Castle was heavily damaged after a huge fire broke out last night. The occupants of the castle managed to escape.

Princess Margaret of Great Britain has suffered a minor stroke on Tuesday afternoon officials at Buckingham Palace have said. It is not known if the stroke is more or less serious than those she suffered recently. the Princess is receiving nursing care at Kensington Palace.

The Government Information Service of Liechtenstein has announced that Prince Constantin von und zu Liechtenstein died at the Hospital in Grabs yesterday. The Prince was 89 years old and lived in Liechtenstein since 1945. He leaves a wife, a daughter and two grandsons.

March 30th
Princess Margaret of Great Britain is said to be feeling positive and had a comfortable night after suffering her third minor stroke in three years on Tuesday afternoon. The stroke left her paralysed down her left side. Since then she has received intensive physiotherapy at Kensington Palace, but it is not known if she has recovered movement since.

At 18:00 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will make a speech on television and radio. Most likely she will announce the engagement of Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta. Afterwards Prime Minister Wim Kok gives a press conference. At 19:00 there is an official meeting at Palace Noordeinde in The Hague and it is expected the engaged couple will be presented then. Political sources say Willem-Alexander will ask permission for his marriage from the Dutch government. They also tell that Jorge Zorreguieta, after long talks with both families, will not attend the engagement nor the wedding of his daughter.

This evening at 18:00 the engagement of Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta was announced on television by Queen Beatrix. All about the engagement can be found here

Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, Duke of Noto, married his longtime girlfriend Sofía Landaluce y Melgarejo in the chapel of the Puerto de Hierro Club in Madrid, Spain today. The ceremony was led by Marco Álvarez de Toledo y Marone, grandson of Infanta Cristina of Spain. Jaime, the 8-year-old son of the bride and groom, served as a page. Among the guests were Felipe Prince of Asturias, Infanta Elena, Jaime de Marichalar, Infanta Margarita with her children María and Alfonso Zurita and many other royals. The couple already has a son, Jaime, born in 1993.


Royal News: February 2001. Last updated: March 1st, 2001.