ROYAL NEWS: SEPTEMBER 1999

Last updated: September 30th, 1999

September 1st
The Government Information Service has said that Prime Minister Wim Kok has had a conversation with Crown Prince Willem-Alexander about his friendship with Maxima Zorreguieta. Supplementary information will not be given. In fact this means that the relationship has become official, a stage no other girlfriend has ever reached. New facts on Maxima. She should be 28, works for the German-British bank Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in New York. She has two younger brothers and a sister. Her father's reputation in the military government has been spoken off a lot in the Netherlands and Argentina. Although he was a commoner in the government some people think he is still partly responsible for the awful treatment of people during the military regime.

The royal family of the Netherlands can be found on the Internet. The website started today.

The right spelling of the name of the new girlfriend of Prince Willem-Alexander is Maxima Zorreguieta. She is 27 years old, born and raised in Buenos Aires. She studied in New York and found work afterwards at the Deutsche Bank (German Bank) in New York. She works in financial public relations. Her father, Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta, was vice-secretary of cattle breeding, and Secretary of State of Agriculture from 1979 to 1981. Although it was during the military regime he was a commoner in the government and not a service man. He is now President of the Centro Azucero Argentino (Union of Sugar Producents in Buenos Aires) and director of the Banco Commercial del Norte. He is (according to the Internet) also in the direction of the Forum Consultivo Economico e Social and the Fundacion Vasco Argentina Juan de Garay. Maxima's mother's name is Maria del Carmen. They have 5 children. The parents met Willem-Alexander during a skiing-holiday in San Carlos de Bariloche in the beginning of August. The Dutch press fall upon this relationship, which seems very interesting for them. That is why I have news every day at the moment.

September 2nd
Princess Alexandra of Denmark and her baby son (still without a name) have left the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. The press got the possibility to shoot some pictures.

The Earl of Wessex has attacked the way he is treated by the British media. "They hate anyone who succeeds." He found Hollywood a 'breath of fresh air', he told the New York Times. 'There was a much greater openness and willingness to take us for what we are here. Over there there's more baggage.' Prince Edward is in Los Angeles on business for his TV-production company Ardent Productions.

September 3rd
Máxima Zorreguieta is a catholic. Yesterday the Argentinian television broadcasted the first video-shot of Máxima. De Telegraaf, a Dutch newspaper published the first good photos of her (shoot from the video-tape). A good recent photo of Máxima can be sold to a Dutch gossip-magazine for about $20.000. The Dutch television broadcasted the video-shots in the evening, after a 'war' between two channels about the right to broadcast first: as the commercial channel said they had bought the rights for the Netherlands, the public channel decided not to go too far to avoid a process in court and broadcasted the shots about one hour after the commercial channel. Prime Minister Kok told the press that he hopes, now the Dutch know what Máxima looks like, the press will stop the publicity to give the couple the chance to find out what they want. The prime minister said that he had already said that there was nothing to expect soon.

French judges have dismissed the charges against nine photographers and a motorcyclist in the 1997 car crash, which killed Princess Diana. Investigating magistrates found that chauffeur Henri Paul was mainly to blame because he was drunk. Mohammed el-Fayed, father of Diana's friend Dodi, is to appeal against the decision. Diana's brother Earl Spencer said he respects the court's decision. Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

The Prince of Wales and his sons William and Harry witnessed a military display at RAF Wattisham, Suffolk, at the official launch of the Army's Newest Brigade - billed as the most powerful airborne fighting unit the nation has ever produced. It had been formed as a result of the Strategic Defence Review.

September 4th
In the Sint-Pieterabdij in Ghent, Belgium, there will be an exhibition of paintings from the time of Emperor Charles V, from November 6th until January 30th, 2000. It is called 'Carolus. Karel V 1500-1558'. In the same city, in the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in the Citadelpark, will be an exhibition called 'Mise-en-Scène. Keizer Karel en de verbeelding van de 19de eeuw' (Emperor Charles and the imagination of the 19th century).

September 5th
Princess Michael of Kent says she is disappointed, but is confident her son Lord Frederick Windsor assured her he will never take cocaine again. He was seen snorting the drug at a party in West London last June. Confronted by reporters, he confessed that he had experimented with cocaine.

In Cairo, Egypt, an American bodyguard of Prince Turki bin Abd el Aziz of Saudi Arabia has been given one year in prison for punching an Egyptian chef.

September 7th
Prince Philippe of Belgium was in London, Great Britain, to open the exhibition on the painter Anthonie van Dyck, which could be seen in Antwerpen, Belgium, before. It can be seen now at the Royal Academy. More than 100 paintings are shown. Van Dyck amongst others was painter at the court of the British King Charles I.

September 8th
In an interview (?) in the Rotterdams Dagblad (a newspaper) Jorge Zorreguieta, the father of Maxima, can imagine that in the Netherlands a discussion has begun about his role during the military regime in Argentina. He worked on the Ministry of Agriculture from 1976 to 1981. He says he doesn't feel responsible for the things that happened during the General Videla regime. He said he just dealt with agriculture. Zorreguieta told that he is very proud of the friendship between his daughter and the Dutch crown prince Willem-Alexander, who he calls a very nice boy.

September 10th
At about 3:30pm the Belgian King Albert II and Queen Paola announced the engagement of their oldest son, Philippe Duke of Brabant (39), with jonkvrouwe Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz (born Uccle, Belgium, January 20th, 1973). The marriage will take place on Saturday December 4th in the St.Goedele and St.Michielscathedral Brussels. On Monday September 13th the fiancée of the crown prince will officially be represented to the press and the public. The Belgian government has already given her approval to the wedding. On Thursday the first rumours about a coming engagement showed up in the Belgian newspapers, which continued with the story on Friday. Soon afterwards the engagement was announced, but it is obvious it was supposed to become public some weeks later. Philippe and Mathilde seem to have known each other already for about three years. The dark-haired Mathilde comes from an old Flemish noble family. Her parents are jonkheer Patrick d'Udekem d'Acoz and countess Anna Maria Komorowska. They live in the very small village of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, near Bastogne, near the Luxemburg border. Mathilde is the oldest of five children. She was followed by Marie-Alix (1974 - car crash in Brussels 1997), Elisabeth (22), Hélène (almost 20) and Charles-Henri (14). Mathilde went to primary school in Bastogne, followed the secondary school at the Institut de la Vierge Fidèle in Brussels, and studied speech therapy. She has her own practice in speech therapy in Brussels. Also her sister Elisabeth, with who she lives together, is a speech therapist. Mathilde has travelled a lot, should be socially moved, loves modern and classical music, and loves nature. She is said to speak French, Dutch, English and Italian. According to people who know her she is charming, serious, full of energy and very obliging.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark will finish his work as first secretary at the Danish Embassy in Paris this month. There will be a press-meeting on September 28th at 4:00pm in Det Danske Hus at the Champs-Elysées 142, in Paris.

September 11th
Christina Silfverschiöld, daughter of Princess Désirée of Sweden married today to Baron Hans de Geer af Finspang in the Lagmansered Church in Koberg, Sweden. The bride's aunts, and uncle King Carl XVI Gustaf with family attended the wedding.

Princess Mafalda of Hesse is five months pregnant. The father is her new Italian lover Ferdinando Brancchati. She has already two daughters with her second husband, whom she divorced in 1997. Also Mafalda's sister Elena seems to be pregnant. The magazine didn’t tell who the father is. Elena is still unmarried.

September 12th
Visibly weak King Norodom Sihanouk (76) told his country Cambodia via TV that his health is failing and he may not have long to live.

September 13th
In the afternoon Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, the fiancée of Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium, was introduced to the Belgian and the international press at Laken Castle. After some photos were taken with parents, brothers and sisters, the press got the chance to ask the couple several questions, which they answered in Dutch, French and even Italian. Both Philippe and Mathilde seemed to feel a little bit strange. They told the press they were delighted that the people in Belgium agreed with their relationship. Prince Philippe said that noone had introduces them to each other and that they were not coupled by someone. Philippe told he immediately knew that she was the one he had been looking for when he met her three years ago. Mathilde said that she had thought very carefully about her choice, but although she has given up her work now, she is very happy with Philippe and is looking forward to the future. After the interview the couple made a walk in the garden of Laken Castle followed by the exciting press. Afterwards even the press was introduced for a drink (but without bringing cameras). King Albert II said that he was very happy his son has found his big love, and that now only prince Laurent has to find someone. Nothing however was said about an eventually abdication of the King, of which has been heard some rumours. At the end of the afternoon Philippe and Mathilde left Laken Castle in Philippe's Porsche. They stopped a while in front of the gate to give the people who were standing there the chance to see their new princess. They cheered loudly and the couple waved enthusiastically. Mathilde seemed very spontaneous and natural.

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (88) will undergo an operation at the Academic Hospital in Utrecht again at the end of the week. Doctors will replace the tube in his trachea for an other model.

The Prince of Wales paid a moral-boosting visit to the British troops in Kosovo today. He witnessed first-hand the work of the British peacekeepers and their reconstruction efforts. He met a wide range of personnel. He also was going to meet Kosovans in the capital Pristina, but that appointment was cancelled due to security.

September 14th
Princess Alexandra zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and her husband Count Jefferson-Friedrich von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth have become the proud parents of a healthy boy. He was born at 10:40am in the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark. He weighs 3125 grammes and his length is 51 cm.

September 15th
A 178-diamond and pearl necklace worn by Princess Diana at her last official engagement is set to be auctioned on December 16th in New York.

The activities on the inside of the St. Michiels and St. Goedele Cathedral in Brussels, Belgium, where Prince Philippe and Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz will marry on December 4th, - which should normally not end until the spring - will be finished already before the wedding.

September 16th
Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands has been operated on his trachea. He will be in hospital for some days. He is doing very well the doctors said.

September 17th
The Belgian royal family is not amused at all and says it is an encroachment on their privacy. The AIDS-Telephone broadcasts commercials on wireless-stations with the help of famous Belgians. With these commercials they will show that the use of condoms is still alive. However an advertisement in the newspaper De Morgen, telling 'Zet 'm op Filip' (Go for it, Philippe), went too far. It settles the unspoken question how the sexual life of Crown Prince Philippe and his fiancée Mathilde is.

Princess Caroline of Monaco gets $ 50.000 compensation from the magazine 'Gala', which has violated her private life by publishing photos of her on her yacht and in church.

With the discovery of an armour, countless statues of warriors and helmets in the grave of the first Chinese Emperor Qin Shihuang, who died in 210 BC, China has made an important archaeological discovery. The 2200-year-old objects are of an exceptional quality. The porcelain statues have green-painted faces, and vivid-coloured bodies in seven colours.

The foreign office has dismissed claims by Mohamed al-Fayed that security services caused the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed. They say there is not a shred of truth in his story.

Mohamed al-Fayed has demanded an inquiry into what the security and intelligence services know about the death of Princess Diana. He believes that she and his son Dodi were murdered by the secret services of France and Great Britain. He also believes that chauffeur Henri Paul was not drunk but was acting under orders from the secret services. Mr al-Fayed made his allegiations in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today.

September 19th
Princess Alexandra of Hannover was baptized at her father's hunting lodge Auerbach near Grünau, Austria.

September 20th
Yesterday the Prince of Wales attended a service in Westminster Abbey, London, to honour the British airmen who fought in the Battle of Britain in 1944.

Yesterday Bua Kitiyakara, the mother of Queen Sirikit of Thailand died, aged 89.

The Prince of Orange is busy showing his country to his girlfriend Máxima Zorreguieta. They spent the weekend on the Island of Schiermonnikoog in the north of the Netherlands together with some others. Real Dutch - they went on a cycling tour on the island, which didn't seem to be very common for Máxima.

September 21st
Prinsjesdag in the Netherlands: a live report.

Rectification: Máxima was not with the group Prince Willem-Alexander spent some days with on the Island of Schiermonnikoog. It was told in a newspaper but they weren't correct according to the royal house and the owner of the hotel where the prince stayed.

The countess of Wessex is writing to all her public relations clients to reassure them it is business as usual. It follows press speculations that Queen Elizabeth II was to tell Sophie to choose between royal duties and her career. Sophie writes that she is totally committed to Rhys-Jones Public Relations. And she stresses that she has the full support of Buckingham Palace.

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands has left hospital in the morning. They say he is doing fine.

September 22nd
The Duchess of Kent is said to be considering a boycott of the Royal Box at Wimbledon next year after tennis chiefs banned her from taking children there. She usually presents the winners' trophies at the annual event. John Curry, Wimbledon's chairman, says it is Wimbledon's policy not to allow children to be in the Royal Box. He apologised for any unintentional hurt this may have caused the Duchess.

A chair used by Bonnie Prince Charlie on his way to the Battle of Culloden has fetched about $ 5000 at auction. The oak chair was borrowed from the Earl of Moray's castle in Forres near Inverness, Scotland, as the Prince drank in a tavern in 1746. The son of the current Earl of Moray has bought the chair at a Sotheby's auction in Billingshurst, West Sussex. He said: "We will be a bit more careful before we lend anything again."

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said a permanent memorial to the late Princess Diana is to be built in the shape of a fountain in a royal London park.

September 23rd
Malaysia installed its 11th King Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah at the Istana Negara Palace in Kuala Lumpur.

King Albert II of Belgium suffers from acute sciatica. He has to postpone his activities for some days at least.

The next few months Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium and his Mathilde will visit all 10 Belgian provinces. They start on October 21st in Luxemburg and go to West-Flanders on October 25th. Finally on March 23rd, 2000, the province of Limburg will be able to welcome the new Belgian Crown Princess.

The son of Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra of Denmark will be baptised in the Fredensborg Slotskirke (Castle Church of Fredensborg) on November 6th at 11:00am.

September 25th
Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium and his fiancée jonkvrouwe Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz (with engagement ring) together started the website of the Fund Prince Philippe yesterday. The press came in force to get a glimpse of Mathilde.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and her husband Prince Claus will pay a three-day visit to Bulgaria in two weeks on invitation of the Bulgarian President Stoyanov. They amongst others will visit the parliament in Sofia.

Princess Ann-Mari von Bismarck died on September 22nd in Marbella, Spain. She was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 26th, 1907, and thus 92 years old. She was the widow of Otto Prince von Bismarck (1897-1975).

September 26th
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia is returning home after spending several months in Spain.

September 27th
The wedding of Philippe and Mathilde will be solemnized on December 4th as already was said. The civil marriage will take place in the Town hall of Brussels at 10:00am, and the religious marriage at 11:00am at the St.Michiels- & St.Goedele Cathedral in Brussels. At about 1:30pm a lunch is held in the Royal Palace in Brussels, and at 6:00pm the reception at Laken Castle begins. Already on November 13th the couple hosts a festive evening at Laken Castle with guests out of all groups of people and from all Belgian provinces.

According to The Sunday Telegraph Prince William of Great Britain is going to work at farms in Argentina and Australia for one year after his exams at Eton in June 2000. 26-year-old Edward van Cutsem, son of one of the Prince of Wales’s friends, will accompany him. Afterwards William is probably going to study at Bristol University.

September 28th
Philippe and Mathilde have expressed their wish that people shouldn't give them personal gifts, flowers or telegrams for their wedding. They hope people will donate money instead to the Fund Prince Philippe or one of the funds the new Belgian Princess will establish.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and former German president Richard von Weizsäcker have opened the newly built part of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Before there was a meeting in the Westerkerk nearby.

September 29th
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia left Spain, where he stayed for 2 1/2 months in Marbella, and returned to his own country. Seven airplanes were on the airport of Malaga to return the king and his household of 400 people. Two other airplanes carried 200 tons of luggage and a part of the royal suite.

The baby of Princess Alexandra zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg has been named Friedrich Richard Oscar Jefferson, official first name is Richard after his maternal grandfather.

At 2:10am Cristina Infante of Spain Duchess of Palma de Mallorca gave birth to her first son at the Teknon Hospital in Barcelona, Spain. The baby is 53 cm tall, and weighs 4030 grammes. His proud father Iñaki Urdangarín told that the baby has blond hair like his mother and that they will name him Juan after his grandfather. He himself cut the umbilical cord. The godparents of the baby will be Infanta Elena and Mikel Urdangarín.

It is rumoured in Luxembourg that Grand Duke Jean will abdicate at the mid of November.

September 30th
An exhibition with 14 articles of dress of the late Princess Diana will be opened at the Kensington Palace in London tomorrow. American collector Maureen Rorech-Dunkel bought the dresses. The exhibition will be shown until March. From 2001 the dresses will become a part of the collection of royal festive clothing.

16 Inca graves were discovered in the 500-year old Sacsuahan temple that overlooks the town of Cusco, Peru. The graves contain skeletons likely from the royal Inca families. Near the bodies archaeologists found clothing, pottery and jewels.


Royal News: August 1999. Last updated: September 1st, 1999.