ROYAL NEWS: MAY 2001

Last updated: May 31st, 2001.

May 2nd
At Palace Noordeinde in The Hague Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and his fiancée Laurentien Brinkhorst received a ring, a wedding present from the Association of Gold- and Silversmiths. The ring was the winning design by Dago Hoyer in a contest. On May 15th the couple will give a television interview on the channel Nederland 2. It will be broadcasted between 21:20 and 21:53.

May 3rd
The Bulgarian electoral commission has - on the last day of registration - withdrawn its objections to the National Movement for Simeon II (that supports the former King Simeon II) taking part in next month's parliamentary elections. The formal head of the movement will now be a little-known politician, Vessela Draganova. The move comes amid signs that the movement enjoys strong support. Opinion polls suggest the movement is set to capitalise on Bulgarians disillusionment with post-communist politics and stands a good chance of winning the election. A poll on Thursday in a newspaper shows that if the elections were held now, 43,2% of the voters would back the National Movement for Simeon II.

May 4th
A garden to mark Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain's Golden Jubilee in 2002 is being redesigned after staff at Windsor Castle expressed concern that it was being built on their car park. The Duke of Edinburgh, who has been involved in the project from the start, has now decided to redesign the garden. Under the original plans staff would have been asked to park at a nearby sports centre. This prompted safety fears for women walking to and from their cars alone.

Lady Antonia Fraser, who has written several books on (British) royalty, has been robbed by raiders at her home in West London one week ago. She was not injured but was left deeply shaken. It is thought she wsa threatened with an iron bar by the robbers who made off with expensive jewellery.

The Danish Royal website has been redesigned and looks much better now. Only the text is still in Danish, but an English version is coming before the end of the year it is said.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje attended the memorial service for the victims of World War II at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. Later they laid a wreath at the monument at the Dam Square.

May 5th
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands received a delegation from Meppel and Hoogeveen, the places where Queen's Day was supposed to have taken place on April 30th. Among them the oldest inhabitant of the Netherlands, Mrs van Andel, who hopes to turn 111 on June 29th. In the evening the Queen attended the liberation concert at the Amstel River in Amsterdam.

May 6th
Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje started a three-day-visit to the 1100 Dutch UN-militaries at the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark visited the Danish UN-troops in Asmara.

The vampire Dracula, Prince Vlad of Walachia, gets his own themepark that is based on the legend about this prince from the Middle Ages. Rumours go that the park will come next to the famous castle of Bran, Dracula's castle. Also his birthplace, Sighisoara, might be chosen.

May 7th
At 1:40pm local time the Belgian royal court officially announced that Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde attend their first child halfway November. The couple and their families are very happy. Later in the afternoon Philippe and Mathilde held a press conference in the Royal Serres of Laken Castle and confirmed the news personally. The couple said to be very curious for their first baby and can hardly wait until it is born. They don't care whether it will be a boy or a girl. Princess Mathilde said she feels very well at the moment, although she is tired quicker, but she hopes to do her exams at university in June.

Little Prince Nikolai of Denmark had his first official engagement. He opened the new Duplo-railway in Legoland. His parents were allowed to come with him. Nikolai was made a honorary citizen of Legoland and got a little lego-car to play with.

All members of the Danish royal family have declined an invitation to attend the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen next Saturday.

May 8th
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden arrived in Belgium for a three-day state visit. They were accompanied by Crown Princess Victoria.

Heiligenstedten Castle near Itzehoe, Germany, is to be auctioned because the owner is not able anymore to pay the costs. The value is estimated to about $ 4.000.000.

Prince Alexander of Bavaria died in München on May 6th. He was 77 years old.

Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and his fiancée Laurentien Brinkhorst will give a private party for friends and aquaintances at the Palace at the Dam Square in Amsterdam on Saturday.

Student Society Albertus Magnus from Groningen is preparing a musical about Máxima Zorreguieta. In June 2002 the play will be performed in the Stadsschouwburg in Groningen. The motive for the musical is the 105th anniversary of the society. At least 50 students will co-operate. The musical will for all be comical and romantic. Also Máxima's life as a student, the proposal and the wedding will be subject of the play. Her father and the Argentinian Videla-regime will not be mentioned.

May 9th
This afternoon Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje and his fiancée Máxima Zorreguieta paid a visit to the Keukenhof in Lisse, The Netherlands - the well-known flowergarden. It was their first official appearance together since the engagement. Máxima, in a darkblue lady's suit, said she finds the Keukenhof "super". Willem-Alexander and Máxima planted a royal lime-tree and visited a windmill. The Keukenhof had 25.000 visitors, which is much more than on a regular day.

Early this morning Arch Duke Sigismund of Austria Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife Elyssa became the proud parents of a son, Leopoldo Amedeo. Amedeo was born in Glasgow a few days later than planned.

From 7 to 9 May Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxemburg have paid their first royal state visit abroad to Spain. Next to several official receptions, the pair also had some cultural engagements, mostly accompanied by some members of the Spanish royal family. They among others opened an exhibition with paintings of Ricardo Macarrón, that includes two paintings of Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte.

The reigning Japanese political party LDP is creating a working-group that is going to check if it should become possible that women inherit the Japanese throne.

The Danish gossip magazine Ekstra Bladet reports that Crown Prince Frederik has attended the bachelor's party of Peter Heering, one of his best friends, who is going to marry on May 19th. At the party in Kokkedal that was organised by Carl-Mar Möller, Frederik and the groom-to-be were pulled through the mud lying naked on a mattress hanging behind a tractor. He also took part in some other bizarre rituals as a (naked) fight with water pistols. According to Möller the Crown Prince liked it a lot.

May 10th
Dr. Otto von Habsburg, head of the Habsburg family, and his wife Regina celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in Nancy, France, where they also married in 1951, together with their children and grandchildren. In the morning there was a thanksgiving service at the Église des Cordeliers, attended by 224 invited guests. Afterwards the guests went to the garden of the Ducal Palace, while the celebrating couple was cheered by a crowd in front. In the afternoon there was a reception at the town hall that for this occasion was decorated with white and red flowers, the colours of the house of Habsburg. Among the guests were Prince Jean of France Duke of Vendôme, the Duke and Duchess of Bragança, Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Italy with his wife Marina, Princess Sumaya of Jordan, the Duke of Hohenberg and a representant of the Royal House of Morocco.

May 11th
Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and his fiancée Laurentien Brinkhorst and their parents were officially received by the Dutch Cabinet at the Catshuis - the official residence of the Dutch Prime Minister. On the official guestlist for the wedding on May 19th in The Hague, we can find several royals: former King Constantinos II of Greece, Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Arch Duke Lorenz of Austria-Este, Prince Laurent of Belgium, Prince Nikolaus and Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein, Prince and Princess Akishino, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Mette-Marit Tjessem-Hoiby, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, and one prince and four princesses from Jordan with partners (most likely some children of Prince Hassan). The wedding will be broadcasted also on the Internet by the NOS. Also the tv-interview that is given on May 15th can be seen from May 15th (22:00 local time) until May 16th (24:00 local time).

Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis blamed herself in a television interview in the talkshow Friedman. She talked for about half an hour about religion, sex and aids. She among others said that the people in Africa do have AIDS because they like to have sex. She mentioned that how warmer the climate in a country, the more people have sex. The Princess said about abortion that it is murder, and that a woman normally doesn't want an abortion, but mostly is forced by the man. About sex she said that sex is only for making children, not for fun. The people in Germany are very shocked by what they call racial and stupid utterances. Princess Gloria herself now keeps silent.

Adoptive Prince Frederik von Anhalt and his wife since 15 years, filmstar Zsa Zsa Gabor, are getting divorced. Some days ago the Prince told his wife he has made a 19-year-old medicine student, who is his girlfriend since about one year, pregnant. The prince says to be very happy he will finally become a father.

May 12th
From now on Prince Laurent of Belgium will be placed on the Civil List, which means he will get an income to cover the costs for his official tasks. The money is also meant to pay for staff and costs for parking his car. He will get about $ 300.000, which is the same his sister Astrid gets. Until now the Prince only had an income from the Koninklijke Instituut voor Duurzaam Beheer van de Natuurlijke Rijkdommen (has something to do with environment/nature), which he will loose now.

May 13th
Máxima Zorreguieta can't receive a tulip with her name, as there is already a Máxima tulip. Instead the Keukenhof decided to name the route she and her fiancée Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje walked on May 9th the Máxima-route. The route will be marked by orange crowns that will be painted on the road.

May 14th
Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan received an honorary degree of the faculty of theology at the University of Tübingen, Germany. They honour him as a forerunner and builder of bridges between Christianity, Judaism and Islam. According to Prof Dr Ottmar Fuchs it is the first time in history that a religious Muslim becomes a doctor in the christian theology. In his speech Prince Hassan underlined the bitter necessity of the dialogue between the religions.

Sigvard Bernadotte Count of Wisborg, the almost 94-year-old uncle of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has lodged a complaint to the European Court of Justice in a try to receive his title back. He says: "I was born as a prince, and I want to die as a prince. Once a prince, always a prince." The complaint is addressed to the Kingdom of Sweden. In 1934 Sigvard married a German commoner, Erika Patzek, and as a result the then King Gustaf V - Sigvard's grandfather - took away his title and place in the line of succession. Various other attempts to receive his title back failed. Sigvard divorced Erika Patzek in 1943, remarried and divorced Sonja Robbert with whom he has one son, and now he is married to Marianne Lindberg.

May 15th
One month after officials said Crown Princess Masako of Japan showed signs of pregnancy, the Grand Master of the Princess's household this afternoon announced in a rare press conference that Crown Princess Masako is three months pregnant. The baby will be born at the end of November or in the beginning of December. The Japanese hope they will get a son, who would be the first royal male born to the royal family since 1965.

After the wedding Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst will live in London. Constantijn starts working for the consultancy firm Booz Allan Hamilton in London, and Laurentien will work for the same company she worked for in Brussels, Adamson BSMG. An interview with the couple was broadcasted on the Dutch television today.

May 16th
Several Dutch political parties want a smaller Royal House. The ministerial responsibility should only count for the head of state and his/her family, one or two direct heirs to the throne and former head of states. After the entry of Laurentien Brinkhorst and Máxima Zorreguieta the Dutch Royal House will have seventeen members. The cabinet works on a motion to modernise the monarchy and the parties want to have their ideas in it.

Former royal aide to the Duchess of York, Jane Andrews, has been jailed for life after being convicted of murdering her lover Tom Cressman with a cricket bat then stabbing him at their home last September. She claimed it was self-defence, but Old Bailey prosecutors said she took revenge after he refused to marry her.

May 17th
The civil wedding of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst took place in The Hague. During a talk with the chairwoman of the Second Chamber afterwards Queen Beatrix accidentely made known that Máxima Zorreguieta, who celebrated her 30th birthday today, has got the Dutch nationality today. It was confirmed later by the Government Information Service.

In Norway the National Day was celebrated. A children's parade in which all the city schools were represented marched up Oslo's main street to the Royal Palace, where they were received by the Royal Family standing on the front balcony, waving to the crowd. For the first time also Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, the fiancée of Crown Prince Haakon, was present.

May 18th
Prince Maximilian and Princess Angela of Liechtenstein became the very proud parents of a son today. He was born in London and will be baptised Alfons Constantin Maria.

On CBC Radio Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley once again called on Canada to break its historic ties with the British monarchy. He made similar comments in 1997. Mr Manley argued it's time to have a Canadian as a Head of State. He also said even if Canada keeps Queen Elizabeth II in her ceremonial role, Prince Charles should not be allowed to become the country's King. The head of state ought to be a person who is Canadian, who reflects Canadian diversity and who is chosen by Canadians. He predicted there is a good chance that Britain itself, will decide to get rid of the monarchy in the next few years.

May 19th
The religious wedding of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst took place in The Hague.

At 13:00 Hereditary Prince Philipp zu Stolberg-Wernigerode married Countess Caroline zu Waldburg-Wolfegg-Waldsee in the Parish Church St. Katharina in Wolfegg. The marriage was consecrated by Bishop Dr. Gebhard Fürst, who was assisted by the vicar of Wolfegg, Otto Schmid and the evangelical priest Reeve from Gedern. Afterwards the photos were made at the Castle of Bad Waldsee. Finally there a dinner for only 34 guests was held at the Waldburg, whereafter the younger generation went on partying in the cellar of the Waldburg. About 400 most royal and noble guests, among them Felipe Prince of Asturias, attended the wedding. Yesterday evening a bridal soiree was held at Schloss Wolfegg. After the reception there was a huge dinner in the hall followed by a party and dance.

Prime Minister Wim Kok of the Netherlands thinks the Royal House of the Netherlands can be cut down. He doesn't say how many members there should be. He says he works on a bill that arranges the restriction of the Royal House.

In an exclusive interview with some Belgian newspapers Prince Philippe of Belgium Duke of Brabant has said he sees Belgium as a model in solving conflicts in the world. According to Philippe the Belgians also should be a model for the expansion of the European Union. He says Brussels is a meeting point for cultures, where intellectuals from all over Europe come to think and discuss. The capital can and should be an example for other countries. He sees it as his duty to build bridges between the communities.

May 20th
In a rock in the Egyptian oasis of Baharija archaeologists have found the grave of the mother of the Pharaoh Nas I. The newspaper Al Akhbar mentions that with the new discovery in total seven graves of members of the family of Gid-Khin-Su, the ruler of Baharija, have been found. They are about 2500 years old.

May 21st
Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje and Máxima Zorreguieta will marry in Amsterdam on February 2nd. The civil and the religious wedding will both be held on this day. It is not known yet where the marriage will be held exactly. Máxima Zorreguieta after her wedding will become Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Oranje-Nassau, Mrs van Amsberg. She will keep the Argentinian nationality next to the Dutch one. The fact that Máxima will not have the title Princess of Oranje leads to speculations that she will not be styled Queen but only Princess after Willem-Alexander ascends the Dutch throne. On July 3rd the First and Second Chamber will decide about giving consent to the wedding. When they agree, which is very likely, Máxima Zorreguieta will become a member of the Royal House.

An appeals court in Qatar has sentenced 19 people to death, for a failed coup attempt in 1996. Among them is a cousin of the Emir of Kouwait.

May 22nd
On the occasion of the wedding of Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje and Máxima Zorreguieta a special Euro-coin will be issued. It is unknown who will design the coin and what the value will be.

On a press conference it was made known that Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark will be best man of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway on August 25th. Mette-Marit choose her friend Linda Tanevik as her maid of honour. Little Marius will attend the religious wedding, but it is not known yet what kind of a role he will play. It was announced Crown Prince Haakon will lead his bride himself at the aisle in the Oslo Domchurch. Mette-Marit's weddingdress will be Norwegian-designed, but it was not revealed who the designer is and what the dress will look like.

Prince Dimitri Romanov confirmed to a Danish news agency that Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia will be reburried at St Petersburg in the foreseeable future. After her death she was interred at the Cathedral of Roskilde, Denmark.

Yesterday at 18:22 Princess Marie Esmeralda of Belgium gave birth to her second child at the Portland Hospital in London. The boy will be named Leopoldo Daniel. He weighs 3.145 kg and is 55,5 cm long. Mother and baby are both doing well the Princess's husband Professor Salvador Moncada said.

May 23rd
A majority, 54% of the Dutch want Máxima to become a Queen when Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje ascends the throne. 25% want her to stay a Princess. 67% of the people questioned think it is allright that she stays a Roman Catholic. This was the result of a poll by a big Dutch newspaper.

Buckingham Palace has rebutted reports of a rift between the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. Reports claim that the Duke labelled Charles "precious and extravagant" and lacking in the dedication and discipline needed to make a good king. But a spokeswoman said the Duke has said no such thing, and that those are remarks made by a reporter and have been wrongly attributed to the Duke.

May 24th
TV and pop stars have performed for the Duke of Edinburgh at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London to mark his 80th birthday (which will be on June 10th) and to celebrate 45 years of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Among the performing stars were Shirley Bassey, Lionel Richie and Spice Girl Mel B.

The Danish magazine Billed Bladet has published a letter written by Hervé de Rochefort, father of Elvire Pasté de Rochefort - the fiancée of Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. Mr. de Rochefort writes that the date of the wedding was postponed by the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg family, because Elvire refused to sign the wedding contract that was handed over to her last February. The contract was not in favour of Elvire at all and infringed her general rights according to her father. They want her to get a huge amount of money (several millions) in case of divorce. The families are busy right now making a new contract that will satisfy all persons involved. At the moment the couple is on an early honeymoon to the USA, the Caribean and the Virgin Islands.

May 25th
The planned reburial of Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia has caused disharmony between the descendants of the Empress and the Princes Nicholas and Dimitri Romanov who are not descending from her. The Empress's great-great-grandson Paul Kulikovsky learned about the reburial from the Danish press. On behalf of 20 descendants of the Empress he therefore has written a letter to both Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Prince Dimitri Romanov to ask for an explanation. They are not against her reburial in St Petersburg at all, but they can't accept that they weren't informed about the details of the arrangements. If they don't get any information they however will oppose the return to St Petersburg.

May 26th
Prince Ernst August of Hannover has decided to take his eldest son Ernst August from the Malvern School, Wales, after one of his friends was sent away after having used cannabis. It is said Ernst August didn't take cannabis himself. Ernst August will go to a German school now. His younger brother Christian will stay at Malvern.

May 27th
Dr Otto von Habsburg and his wife Regina went on celebrated their golden wedding the past couple of days. Last Thursday they celebrated at the chapel of Grassalkovich Castle in Gödöllö near Budapest, Hungary, together with their sons Karl and Georg and their families and their daughters Gabriella and Walburga. Guests were among others aristocrates, politicians, diplomats and businessmen. Archbishop Jozsef Szendi celebrated the mass. On Friday they celebrated again in Antau, Austria, where the couple said yes again. Karl and Georg attended also this time, withouth their families. Many people in costumes and soldiers in traditional uniforms (including Esterhazy husars) paid tribute to the couple. Bishop Paul Iby celebrated the mass and Dr Otto von Habsburg himself held a speech. And today, before going back home to Germany, the couple celebrated at Mariazell where they made a carriage ride. Salutes were shot and several thousands of people, including soldiers of traditional regiments, greeted the couple. The couple was received at the gate of the basilica by the archabbot of Pannonhalma, Asztrik Varszegi, and the bishop of Banja Luka, Franjo Komarica, who also celebrated the mass, that was attended by the children and grandchildren of the couple. Five children and four children-in-law read the nine pre-prayers in nine different languages.

May 28th
Prince Moulay Hicham, second in line of succession in Morocco, doesn't see democracy in his country yet, he told the Spanish newspaper El País. The Prince lives in Paris and was already a critic of the regime under King Hassan II. Already in 1996 he urged for reforms of the Moroccan monarchy and he still thinks they are very necessary. He said that the monarchy needs to resist the powers that work against democracy. Only that way the monarchy can become a symbol of unity of the country and function as an arbitrator. The prince thinks the monarch should for all have a symbolic function and should act as a mediator instead of reigning.

Newspapers report the Duke of Edinburgh has written a letter of apology to the Prince of Wales over reports that he described his son as unfit to become a king. The Duke made clear he had never made the comments published in a newspaper last week. He also phoned his son to reassure him that he had not authorised his friends or associates to make the damaging comments on his behalf either. The Prince of Wales is said to have accepted his father's apology.

The Hon. Nicholas Knatchbull, a godson of the Prince of Wales, has entered an exclusive rehab clinic to break a drug habit. Nicholas has a history of drug taking. Last June he was cautioned by police after being caught with cannabis. Half a year earlier he and three pals were arrested when police found ecstasy and cannabis in his car. The news he is in a rehab clinic came after he failed to appear at Ashford magistrates court in Kent on Wednesday to answer charges of speeding and reversing on a motorway. He pleaded guilty by letter. Nicholas was banned from driving for six months and was fined.

May 29th
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands visited her husband Prince Claus again at the Barmbek hospital in Hamburg, Germany, where the prince underwent surgery yesterday. His left kidney was removed. After his last operation one year ago he had problems with the kidney and with the drains that were placed in it some time ago. The right kidney took over its function already, so there was nothing against removing the left one. He does quite well now and has been out of bed already again today. If everything goes well he will leave hospital next week.

Researchers have found two heads in the tomb of King Jaime I of Aragón (1205-1276) at the Monastery of Problet. Gentechnology has to show which head is the real one. In 1837 the monastery was plundered and afterwards the bones were placed back in the tombs. In the King's grave a skull with a hole in it was laid, because he was killed by an arrow in his head. Later another skull was laid in the tomb, because it fitted more with the other bones. It is possible both skulls are the wrong ones.

May 30th
Buckingham Palace has announced the Prince of Wales will attend his father's birthday on June 10th.

A Japanese newspapers writes Emperor Akihito of Japan will not visit South Corea during the Worldchampionship football (soccer) next year. Japan and South Corea organise the event together and it was hoped the Emperor would make a gesture. It is said the Japanese government fears the reaction of the South Coreans during the visit. Japan occupied South Corea between 1910 and 1945.

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Oslo for a three-day state visit to Norway. Crown Prince Haakon met them at the airport. They were welcomed by King Harald V and Queen Sonja at the royal palace. A 21-gun salute was fired from a canon at a nearby medieval fortress. A full military parade was waiting as well, with the King's Guards assembled in full force to play and perform drill routines. Queen Elizabeth was then to inspect the Guards before heading into the Palace for tea. In the evening there was a state banquet with 200 guests at the royal palace. Tomorrow's program featurs a visit to the local Oslo elementary school Bolteløkka, a reception at Oslo's City Hall, visits to two exhibitions, a luncheon at Akershus and an evening banquet at the British Embassy.


Royal News: April 2001. Last updated: May 1st, 2001.