ROYAL NEWS: OCTOBER 1999

Last updated: November 1st, 1999

October 1st
Karim Aga Khan IV, the spiritual chief of the Islam, and his wife the Begum Inaara (former Gabrielle Thyssen), who married in 1998, will get a baby in March 2000. He has one married daughter and two sons from a previous marriage. She has a seven-year-old daughter with Prince Karl-Emich zu Leiningen, whom she divorced in 1998.

Paris Match and Bunte gave more information on the christening of the little Princess Alexandra von Hannover, which took place on September 19th. She has been baptized as a protestant with the names Alexandra Charlotte Ulrike Maryam Virginia. Her godmothers were Alexandra Princess zu Leiningen née Princess von Hannover (sister of Ernst August, former sister-in-law of the Begum Inaara mentioned above), her halfsister Charlotte Casiraghi, Ulrike Umschneider, Maryam Sachs (a Moslem woman) and Virginia Gallico. Godfathers were George Condo and Eric Maier.

Former British royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke (34) is going to marry her childhood sweetheart Charles Pettifer later this month, The Mirror says. It is said the Prince of Wales and his two sons are invited.

October 2nd
Yesterday Princess Cristina of Spain left the hospital with her new baby Juan, named after both grandfathers and Cristina's grandfather.

October 3rd
Police are investigating an alleged theft at Buckingham Palace, Scotland Yard has said. The News of the World told "fabulous jewels and heirlooms" were looted, including a necklace belonging to the Princess Royal. A police spokeswoman said: "It is not an accurate story. The items which are stolen are items of intrinsic value, but not highly valuable."

A special operations police officer allegedly linked to Buckingham Palace has been arrested in connection with bribery and conspiracy charges for one week. The officer was arrested at Gatwick airport. The Mail on Sunday claims the case relates to the selling of security details about the Royal Family.

October 5th
According to the Sun Newspaper Prince William of Great Britain has invited several male and female friends to a Millennium Eve Party at Windsor Castle. It is said he promised them a night they'd never forget, with the possibility to 'sleep' in the castle that night.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Prince Henrik and Crown Prince Frederik are at 3:00pm at the opening of a Gobelin-exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, France, on October 8th. The exhibition shows the 17 Gobelins (tapestries) made as 50th birthday present for Queen Margrethe II. The Gobelins, made between 1988 and 1999 deal with Denmarks history. The exhibition will be in Paris until November 20th. Between December 17th, 1999 and February 2000 they will be shown in the Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany. Around the Queen's 60th birthday (April 16th, 2000) they are in the Riddersal of the Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark.

October 6th
The Prince of Wales has visited survivors of the Paddington rail crash of yesterday in St.Mary's Hospital, London. He also met staff that deals with the emergency.

Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, for a three-day state visit. They were welcomed by president Stoyanov and music. After a visit to the parliament, they visited the Saint Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral, where beautiful orthodox music was played. Later at the day there was a meeting with Prime Minister Kostov. In the evening a state banquet took place. Tomorrow they are going to visit the Rila Monastery.

Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, who lately finished his work in Brussels for the European Committee, will start the study Master of Business Administration at the INSEAD Institute in Fontainebleau, France, in January 2000. Also his brother Johan Friso has studied there for a while.

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain only finished 89th in a list of the 100 most influential British women, compiled by Good Housekeeping magazine, after a survey. The list is led by Elisabeth Murdoch, managing director of Sky Networks, and in second place Baroness Jay, the Labour Party's leader in the House of Lords.

October 7th
In the presence of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona, after the Bastille in Paris the biggest Opera in Europe, has been reopened. It burned down in January 1994. The King and Queen watched the first performance: Puccini's Turandot.

The telephone exchange of the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway, had to work up more than 2000 phone calls the past two weeks. The people who called wanted to be connected with King Harald V. Nobody succeeded so far. The calls are the result of a message on mobile phones in western Norway, in which all Norwegians were asked to honour their King with a personal phone call. The phone-number of the palace is mentioned plainly. When the phone-terror goes on, the Royal Court wants to ask for the Police's help.

October 8th
Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands finished their state visit to Bulgaria today by visiting Bourgas. Yesterday evening the Royal Couple offered their hosts a ballet of the Nederlands Danstheater (Dutch Dance Theatre). For the reception afterwards 30 lackeys were flown in from the Netherlands.

October 9th
The Duke of Kent and South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki led wreaths for the victims of the Boer War, to mark the war's centenary. In this war 70.000 people perished, many in British-run camps. It was the first time black people killed on both sides have been honoured. In a speech the Duke of Kent criticised the "dreadful abuses" against black people and Afrikaners in the war. He said: "Never again the disregard of rights of black South Africans".

October 10th
On September 25th Princess Marie-Louise von Baden married Richard Baker in Salem, Germany.

October 11th
This morning also Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain visited the scene of the Paddington rail disaster.

On October 20th Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and King Harald V of Norway, together with the presidents of Finland and Iceland, will inaugurate 'The Nordic Embassies' in Berlin, Germany. The five Nordic countries have built an interesting and beautiful complex in the centre of Berlin for their embassies.

October 12th
King Mohammed VI of Morocco travelled to Casablanca, his first step on an 11-day tour to several Moroccan provinces, to promote development in the country.

October 13th
Today the Dutch TV-channel RTL4 starts broadcasting a series on the House of Oranje-Nassau (Netherlands). In six deliveries several members of the royal family will be presented. In order this will be: Prince Bernhard Sr, Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, Prince Claus, Princess Irene, and the married couple Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène. The series will give old and new material and interviews with Oranje-specialists. Might be interesting.

October 15th
The Duchess of York celebrates her 40th birthday. In an interview in The Mirror last week she told she feels happier than ever before. She said that she and Andrew Duke of York are the happiest divorced couple in the world. They still live in one house together with their children. About the Queen she said that she prefers not to meet her, but that she is a great grandmother for her daughters.

The hotel schools of Koksijde, Wemmel and Namen (all in Belgium) have the honour to serve at the wedding reception of Prince Philippe of Belgium and his Mathilde on December 4th at Laken Castle.

October 16th
Former British royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke (34) married Charles Pettifer (34) at her family estate on the outskirts of Crickhowell, Wales. The Princes William and Harry attended the wedding.

This morning at 8:30am was born in the Fatima Hospital in Sevilla, Spain, Cayetana, daughter of Don Francisco Rivera Ordoñez and Doña Eugenia Martínez de Irujo y Fitz-James Stuart (of the Dukes of Alba).

Yesterday morning just after 10 o'clock Archduke Karl of Austria and his wife Francesca became the proud parents of a baby girl, born a little too late in the Diakonissenspital in Salzburg, Austria. Her name is Gloria, her length is 52 cm, and she weighs 3,7 kg.

It seems the Duchess of York speaks out all her frustrations to the press on the occasion of her 40th birthday. In an interview with The Times she has accused the Prince of Wales of abandoning her after years of friendship. She said they have not spoken to each other for more than a year. She also claims that she is banned from seeing the princes William and Harry. The Duchess also told the paper that she would like another baby and suggested that the Duke of York and she may one day remarry.

October 17th
The Princess Royal will be present at a service at St.Mary the Virgin Church in Reading, England, in memory of the victims of the Paddington rail crash. She will meet bereaved families and friends.

October 18th
The Sunday Times reports that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is planning to offer her daughter Anne the Princess Royal a new title. The Princess should gain a new Scottish title in an attempt to demonstrate the Royal Family's deep commitment to Scotland. The paper suggests the title would be the Princess Lyon, based on the old Scottish spelling of lion. In Scotland the Lord Lyon King of Arms presides over the college of heralds, and so the title is thought to reflect Scottish tradition. The paper also suggests that the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh will become a working palace, with the Princess Royal living in it for at least two months a year, and Prince Charles also spending part of the year there. The reason for all this is simple: research by Buckingham Palace has found out that the Royal Family looses popularity in Scotland.

October 19th
Chinese president Jiang Zemin has been given a full ceremonial welcome at the start of his historic visit to Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh met him at London’s Horse Guards Parade. Afterwards they went by carriage to Buckingham Palace, where the president will stay during his visit. In the evening at the banquet the Queen praised the president for the way Hong Kong was handed over.

Today an unofficial biography about Queen Paola of Belgium was released. The book by Mario Danneels (18 years old) is titled 'Paola. Van 'la dolce vita' tot koningin' (Paola. From 'la dolce vita' to Queen). Most interesting detail is that Danneels tells that some people have told him that King Albert has a daughter out of a relationship he had some 30 years ago. No name of the mother or the daughter is mentioned. The daughter should be an artist and lives in London, Great Britain, where her father visits her from time to time. The palace gives no comment.

Prince Talal and Princess Ghida of Jordan are the proud parents of a baby boy since Friday October 15th. His name is Hussein.

On Thursday Willem-Alexander the Prince of Oranje will attend the funeral of ex-president Nyerere of Tanzania. He replaces his father, Prince Claus, for who the trip will be to exhausting.

An odd story: a French fake-count, Arnaud de Poligny, has bamboozled the upper class for about 20 years. He had a big circle of acquaintances, including Olivier Giscard d'Estaing (brother of the former French president), some African presidents, Nancy Reagan and King Fahd of Saudi-Arabia, who asked for his advise. Even the fake-count's wife, Marie-Laurence, whom he married in 1986, believed she had married a real count. Not earlier than in the beginning of the 90's there grew suspicion at the French treasury and thereafter also at his friends and wife. In 1995, after he had divorced his wife, the fake-count and his two children fled to the Bahamas. In 1997 they had to flee to Vancouver, Canada, where he lived quite a sober life. After a little car accident two months ago the fake-count was caught by accident. The children were reunited with their mother in France. Meanwhile the fake-count has been released from prison, with the promise that he will not leave the Canadian territory. By the way, the real name of the count is Patrick Campion, born in 1950 as the son of a French grocer from Biarritz. To be continued ...?

October 20th
The Belgian royal palace let know they give no comment to gossips. They say the story about an illegitimate daughter of King Albert (a woman named Delphine). Her mother should be a noble woman who is married to a Belgian industrialist) is an ill gossip. The palace says these gossips mean a split with the Belgian tradition to respect the private life of well-known people.

James Hewitt, the ex-lover of the late Diana Princess of Wales says that she told him she believed that the British government knew about their affair. In an interview on BBC radio 4 he said that because of the security surrounding her it would be foolish to imagine that people weren't aware. He also added that he believed that Buckingham Palace had known about the affair - but did nothing to stop it.

Queen Noor of Jordan ended her tour promoting land mine awareness by visiting amputees living near the Angkor Temple, Cambodia.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, and King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden, together with the presidents of Finland and Iceland, have opened their united Embassy in Berlin, Germany, today.

People from the archaeology section of the Belgian University of Ghent have laid bare a permanent frozen Scytho-Siberian grave of a king. In the grave from the 4th century BC there were twelve harnessed horses. In the sepulchral chamber all organic material has been kept because of the permanent frost. The Scythes were nomadic people.

October 21st
Prince Philippe of Belgium and his fiancée Mathilde have started their 'Blijde Inkomst' (Happy Entrance) in the province of Luxemburg. They landed in Bastogne by helicopter and were welcomed by schoolchildren and about 4000 people, who were gathered in spite of the cold. In Arlon the couple joined a lunch with 10 young people, and later visited a 100-year-old school in Virton. At the end of the day they visited the Abbey of Orval. The people were very enthusiastic everywhere, Mathilde smiled all the time and was clearly the most important person this day. Prince Philippe just walked behind her and looked very proud and caring. They got lots of flowers and presents.

In Romania there is a fight about new history books. In a new schoolbook is said that Prince Vlad Tepes (better known as Count Dracula), who lived in the Middle Ages, is the example of a leeching vampire in films and on television. Some people in Romania want the history book to be burned. Don't know why, as the news I read didn't give more details. In Romania the old communistic way of teaching teaches children the heroic deeds of heads of state of their country.

King Albert of Belgium's probably illegitimate daughter is mentioned as Delphine Boel, born in 1968, officially as the daughter of industrialist Jacques Boel, and Sybille Baronesse de Selys Longchamps, who divorced later.

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands has received the Flying Doctors Award 1999 for his efforts for the work of medics in Africa, like the Flying Doctors.

October 23rd
The Prince of Wales didn't show up at an official Chinese state banquet in honour of the Queen last Thursday. Press speculates why not. It is said the Prince boycotted the event to show his contempt for China's human rights record, some others newspapers state he was motivated by his support for the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader in exile. Officially the Prince had a private engagement that kept him from the banquet.

October 24th
A Dutch florist has grown a tulip that is named after the British Queen Mum. The purple-blue-pink tulip should grow next spring in the gardens of Glamis Castle, Scotland, where the bulbs of the tulip were planted.

Sunday Express reports that the Queen is to move her court from Buckingham Palace to Scotland for up to half the year.

October 25th
Prince Philippe of Belgium and his fiancée Mathilde visited Bruges on their second Happy Entrance in the province of West Flanders. They were welcomed on the market square by some 7500 enthusiastic people. Thereafter they had lunch in Koksijde, and visited Poperinge where Mathilde's uncle is the major. There were about 4000 people.

The lion stairs of the town hall of Brussels, which lead to the hall where Prince Philippe will marry his Mathilde (civil), will be renovated very urgently.

Thousands of Australians living in Great Britain are voting on whether the Queen should stay as their head of state. More than 20.000 are expected to make their choice either by post or in person over the next two weeks.

Sotheby will auction the fountain pen King Edward VIII used to sign away the British throne in December 1936.

The Duchess of York is given an award by a cancer centre in California, USA, for her encouraging positive, healthy lifestyle.

In the Daily Telegraph the Earl of Wessex has spoken out to silence the critics who claim a conflict of interest between his wife's public relations career and her royal status.

October 26th
The Earl of Burford has been ejected from the House of Lords. The earl, who as heir to the Duke of St.Albans, is not entitled to speak in the Lords, leapt on the Lord Chancellor's seat. He attempted to make a speech blaming the European Union for plans to reform the Lords, but was shouted down by peers. Peers vote tonight on the Third Reading of the House of Lords Bill.

Three Egyptian princesses (names not known to me) have begun a lawsuit to get back the Tahira Palace in Cairo, Egypt, which was nationalized by the Egyptian government in 1952, when it was the property of the mother of the princesses. The palace now is the favourite shelter of the Egyptian president Mubarak, but it seems he has to leave the palace quite soon.

October 27th
The House of Lords in Great Britain have agreed to the ending of a 700-year old tradition with the axing of hereditary peers' rights to sit and vote, after hours of emotional debate. Peers approved the passage of the House of Lords Bill by an overwhelming 221 votes to 81. Earlier opposition peers' leader Lord Strathclyde urged Tories to abstain. MPs will now consider the changes made by peers during its passage.

After 25 years Lord Lucan has finally been declared officially dead The Times reports. They say his family has been granted full probate by the High Court, allowing his will to be dealt with. Lucan went missing following the murder of family nanny Sandra Rivett in 1974, who was beaten to death. He allegedly tried to murder his wife apparently mistaking the nanny for Lady Lucan after a family row.

A survey among British children gives the interesting answer that they think that the Queen drinks wine all day long. Better off being Prime Minister Tony Blair, who the children describe as a kind of God.

October 28th
The visit of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to Groningen on Tuesday November 2nd, when she will open the restored hall of the central railway station and pay a visit to the art Academie Minerva, will be shown live on the Internet from 11:45 to 14:15 Amsterdam time.

Prince Philippe and his fiancée Mathilde visited the province of Waals-Brabant. After they met the governor and a Belgian minister at the Castle of Belloy, they visited Wavre. In Louvain-la-Neuve the couple had lunch with some students of the local university. Outside one of the regular visitors of this site (Tanguy) waited, and he mailed me yesterday to tell me that he shook the hands of both Prince Philippe and Mathilde. After Louvain-la-Neuve also Nivelles was visited, where the couple was shown a company and a restored church. Again thousands of people were standing along the streets. The last visit before the wedding takes place will be in Vlaams-Brabant next Thursday.

Is someone busy trying to destroy the Belgian monarchy? Latest gossips in the Belgian illegitimate child campaign: Prince Laurent shouldn't be the son of King Albert, but the son of Queen Paola and a Spanish noble man. Why then does Laurent look that much like King Albert?

October 29th
The House of Lords of Great Britain has elected 15 hereditary peers as office holders, allowing them to keep their seats. The 15 will be among the 92 allowed to stay on after the state opening of Parliament next month.

October 31st
Prince Laurent of Belgium is angry because the Belgian government gives his brother Crown Prince Philippe and his sister Princess Astrid extra money, and he doesn't get extra. He is especially angry because he had to read this news in the press.

Lord Lucan's widow may take her son to court to recover personal family papers she fears will be used in a book. It is the latest twist in a family rift, which began in 1982 when her three children left home to live with an aunt. Lady Lucan plans to write a book about her (late?) husband. But son George is trying to steal a march on her.

Yesterday The Prince of Wales took his son Prince William to a foxhunting outing at the Beaufort Hunt in Gloucestershire. Prince Harry followed the hunting on the back of a motorcycle. The newspapers in Great Britain were full of criticism. Foxhunting has become an intensely political issue in Britain.


Royal News: September 1999. Last updated: September 30th, 1999.