ROYAL NEWS: SEPTEMBER 2002

Last updated: October 4th, 2002.

September 1st
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales attended the morning service in Crathie Church. During the service Diana Princess of Wales was remembered in prayers to mark the fifth anniversary of her death. Crathie church minister The Reverend Bob Sloan remembered her in the context of recent tragedies, such as the abduction and murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, Piper Alpha in 1988, Lockerbie in 1988 and the Dunblane massacre in 1996.

74% of the Britons think the British Royal Family has deliberately avoided referring to the late Diana Princess of Wales since her death, according to a poll by MORI last week that was published today in the People newspaper. 73% of people said there should be a permanent memorial for her, and 46% of the people polled said that not enough had been done to honour her memory. However 61% of those questioned also said that the Royal Family was modernised in the past five years.

In the book 'The Victorians' by Andrew Wilson that will be published this week, the writer claims Queen Victoria may have been the illegitimate daughter of her mother's male secretary, Sir John Conroy. He relies partly on the medical history of the royal family for his argument that Victoria was Conroy's child. He says royal family suffered from porphyria which results in madness. But there is no evidence Victoria carried the disease or passed it to her descendants, reports The Sunday Times. He also says the records show Victoria was a carrier for haemophilia even though records for Victorie's ancestors going back 17 generations show no cases of the disease. Wilson says: "It's safe then to assume that Victoria's mother was not a carrier." He suggests haemophilia came into the royal family from Conroy. But other experts suggest the disease more likely appeared as a result of spontaneous genetic mutation in Victorie's ovary. If Wilson's claims are true, it would call into question the royal family's legitimacy, the Sunday Times reports.

Prince Claus of the Netherlands is back at his original room. His condition has slightly improved.

September 3rd
A police spokesman has said that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain had two unexpected visitors during her holiday at Balmoral Castle when two single-seat aircrafts made force landings in the grounds of the castle. They were taking part in the annual UK Mountain Soaring Championships at the nearby Deeside Gliding Club and were forced to land near the paddock area after their aircraft lost natural airlift. The man and the woman landed safely. Police officers at Balmoral helped the gliders when they landed. Shortly after the landing they were picked up by members of the gliding club. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh witnessed the whole event from the drawing room window and were very glad the pair were safe.

September 5th
Prince Claus of the Netherlands, who will celebrate his 76th birthday tomorrow, has been released from hospital. In the beginning of the afternoon Queen Beatrix picked him up. Further recovery will take place at home.

September 6th
Princess Mathilde of Belgium graduated from the faculty of psychology of the University of Louvain-la-Neuve with distinction. Her paper, written under the name Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, had the subject "La quete de l' identité chez l' adolescent delinquant: de la' accompagnement a la remediation?" (The search for identity by the young delinquent: the accompaniment of the remedy).

September 8th
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and the Duke of Edinburgh as well as Prime Minister Tony Blair attended a special September 11-focused mass in Scotland amid tight security. Afterwards, Crathie minister, Rev Bob Sloan, said: "We prayed for the Queen, the Prime Minister and the US President and we prayed for those who would see Wednesday as a special day. We remembered those who had been physically and mentally scarred by it and those whose pain may never heal." The service was taken by the Right Rev Finlay Macdonald, the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He too said the congregation's thoughts had been with those who had suffered as a result of September 11. "I was saying how important it was that people of different religions should co-operate to make religion a force for good in the world."

Prince Harry of Great Britain is to mark his 18th birthday on September 15th with a tribute to his late mother Diana Princess of Wales, St James's Palace has announced. He will carry out a series of charity visits. The birthday plans were initially his own ideas and were drawn up with help from palace aides. The spokeswoman of the prince said the prince is keen to remind the public of the good works his mother carried out and that he is deeply upset that the fifth anniversary of her death last month was dominated by former bodyguard Ken Wharfe's book detailing his mother's private life. The Prince will have a day off school to carry out a day of engagements which will reflect Diana's interests. He also will accompany his father to a service at St Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday to mark 11 September, where they will meet families of some of the British victims of the terror attacks in New York and Washington a year ago. Official portrait photographs of Harry by Diana's favourite photographer, Mario Testino, will also be released to mark his birthday. They were taken on Friday at Eton, and Harry plans to have newspapers and magazines using them pay a fee to a charity, but he has yet to decide which one. The Prince of Wales is understood to be fully supportive of Harry's desire to remember his mother with the series of engagements. He has encouraged him to mark his birthday in a positive way and has helped him with the arrangements. Although the palace has not yet released details of Harry's schedule ahead of his birthday next Sunday, the spokeswoman said they would reflect his mother's interests.

September 9th
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden arrived in Berlin, Germany at the end of the morning for a two-month trainee job as a preparation for her role as future queen. After arrival she had a look at her new appartment and then met some of her new colleagues. She will start her job at the Swedish Foreign Trade Bureau in Berlin-Wilmersdorf tomorrow at 8:30. According to an employee of the institute that helps Swedish firms exporting goods to Germany, Victoria will carry out normal duties. A photo session and a press conference will take place on Wednesday. After her stay in Berlin she will also work in Paris for the Swedish Export Bureau.

In Amsterdam Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands started a national campaign against illiteracy of Dutch speaking Dutch today. Princess Laurentien gave lessons to Dutch adult illiterates for a while and says she hopefully has contributed a little to get illiterates out of their isolation. Before her marriage she already said she wants to continue helping this group of people.

September 10th
A message of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain was read by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw at an emotional memorial service for British victims of September 11 in St Thomas Church in Manhattan, New York. In the message she tells: "The dreadful attacks of September 11 may have threatened freedom, innocence and other values we hold dear, but they also inspired grace, charity and courage. We admire these qualities in the strength of the families of the victims; in the determination of the rescue workers; and in the extraordinary spirit and resilience demonstrated by the people of New York." Many families of 34 victims from Great Britain at the ceremony were in tears when they heard the Queen's words recalling their loved ones.

Scotland Yard has passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service in connection with former bodyguard Ken Wharfe's book on Diana Princess of Wales. Ken Wharfe's decision to publish a book has enraged old colleagues. He chronicles his six years as a protection officer to the late Princess in 'Diana: Closely Guarded Secret'. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The Metropolitan Police sent a report to the Crown Prosecution Service seeking their advice regarding this matter - the possibility of legal action over this book." Wharfe is the first policeman to write a royal biography and it is feared his actions could open the floodgates for other protection officers to air their secrets. Wharfe denies betraying the Princess, insisting that his book, is intended to tell the truth about Diana and prevent her memory being "airbrushed from history". In the book, Wharfe among others describes the time the princess allowed him to see her naked and how she once leapt off a balcony to escape the prying eyes of paparazzi photographers.

September 11th
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden showed photographers around her new work space at the Swedish Foreign Trade Bureau in Berlin yesterday. She got settled in at her desk that she shares with a co-worker. Today she told the press at the 30-minute press conference she will also make coffee if she drinks the last cup, as that is the one who has to make new coffee. She said to be happy to be in Berlin and wants to learn a lot, look around in Berlin and sometimes enjoy the nightlife and free evenings as 'I love dancing'. In the weekends she hopes to have a look around in the countryside around Berlin and visit her German family.

September 13th
The second cd of Princess Christina of the Netherlands was released. The cd 'The Me Nobody Knows' is a tribute to New York and a dedication to the memory of those who perished on September 11th, 2001. The proceeds of the cd will go to the survivors who are suffering as a result of what happened. The princess herself lives in New York again since 1996 and also lived there between 1974 and 1984. The cd contains a 19 wonderful Broadway songs from all times, including 'Send in the clowns'. Her daughter Juliana Guillermo sings along with the song 'The me nobody knows' in which also the Young People's Chorus of New York City sings. The princess also sings two songs together with the Dutch singer Rob de Nijs. Meanwhile also Princess Märtha Louise of Norway is busy recording a cd. She will sing on the Christmas cd of the Oslo Gospel Choir. The cd will be on sale on November 13th. A tour of the choir will start on November 30, but it is not known yet if Princess Märtha Louise will take part in it.

September 14th
Prince Harry of Great Britain is getting an official coat of arms for his 18th birthday tomorrow. The crest is based on the one created for Prince William on his 18th birthday in 2000. Prince Harry was involved in designing the crest which incorporates an emblem from his mother's family arms. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain authorised the unique coat of arms for her grandson. Meanwhile it was revealed that the profits from sales of pictures to mark Harry's 18th birthday will go to the small humanitarian charity Merlin that helps save lives in the Third World. The seven photos, a mixture of colour and black and created at Eton College, were taken by fashion photographer Mario Testino, who was a favourite of the late Princess Diana, while also the Prince of Wales commissioned Testino to take a series of shots earlier this year.

The final castle built by Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, the last independent Prince of Wales, will be opened to the public on Wednesday after over 20 years of excavation work finished. Dolforwyn Castle, near Newtown in mid Wales, has re-emerged from beneath the turf where foundations were first laid in 1272. It was built as one of a number of strongholds to protect the Welsh borders. When excavations started in 1981, only the castle's round tower could still be seen, with a few stones breaking though the ground at the remains of the site. Much of the castle's external wall survived, and the square keep at the west end and the round tower at the east have been completely excavated.

September 15th
Last Thursday Prince Harry of Great Britain carried out his first solo engagements to mark his 18th birthday. He visited sick children at Great Ormond Street Hospital, whose president Princess Diana was until her death, and later went to visit three other charities in London working with children. In an interview this weekend to the Sunday Express newspaper Prince Harry spelled out his mission in life - to keep alive the charity work of his late mother Princess Diana and carry forward charity work she didn't quite finish. For the first time he spoke openly about the immense pride he felt in his mother's legacy. "She had more guts than anybody," he said. "The way she got close to people and went for the sort of charities and organisations that everyone else was scared to go near, such as land mines in the Third World. She got involved in things that nobody had done before - AIDS for example." He said that he was first inspired to carve a future role for himself battling to help lesser-known causes, as Diana did, when he was 15 or 16. "I want to carry on the things that she didn’t quite finish. I have always wanted to, but I was too young." About the visits he carried out last Thursday he said: " It was quite difficult at first, being younger and not as experienced as some of the people I was meeting. I have seen my mother doing it so many times and she was so good at it. But the more I do it in the future, the better I hope to become." Prince Harry also spoke about the stories about his mother’s personal life that have been published since her death. He said that "The fifth anniversary of her death was important because she wasn’t remembered in a way I would have liked." The prince who is currently in his final year at Eton College said his father gave his approval to his plans and "has encouraged me to take an interest in my mother’s work. He rang me after the visits to make sure I was all right and hadn’t taken on too much, but I told him I really enjoyed them." He will celebrate his birthday quietly at home in Highgrove with his father and elder brother.

September 16th
Queen-in-exile Fadila of Egypt is forced to sell her expensive appartment on the Avenue Foch in Paris in an enforced auction on Thursday to pay off her debts. "I have no money at all," she said. "My only income is handouts from Saudi and Moroccan princes and kings. I think there's something very odd about the sale, a sort of plot, if you like. After all, this is really the official residence of Egypt's royal family." Since 1999 Fadila, who was born Dominique Picard, is involved in divorce proceedings with her husband Fuad, the last King of Egypt, who as a baby succeeded his father King Farouk in 1952, but was thrown off the throne six months later. They have two sons and one daughter. Fadila claims her problems began when her husband, who says he is broke, didn't pay her a small monthly allowance. "He accused me of being lazy and wasteful but that's not true," she said. "I believe he's sitting on a secret fortune. Stories that he is suffering from severe depression because I ruined him are nonsense."

September 17th
The yearly opening of the parliament in the Netherlands, Prinsjesdag, took place in The Hague today. Queen Beatrix accompanied by the Prince of Orange, Princess Máxima and Prince Johan Friso drove in the Golden Coach from Palace Noordeinde to the Ridderzaal where the Queen read the governmental plans for the coming year, and then drove back to the palace around 14:00. Afterwards the whole family, including Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien, Princess Margriet and her husband Pieter van Vollenhoven, appeared on the balcony of the palace. It was Princess Máxima's first Prinsjesdag.

In the afternoon Prince Claus of the Netherlands was admitted to the Amsterdam Medical Centre again for a further check-up after complaints about his health by the prince. He has fever and it is feared he has infected bronchial tubes again. He lies at the intensive care and is being breathed upon.

September 18th
Prince Claus of the Netherlands has infected bronchial tubes again the Government Information Service confirmed today. Doctors call his condition stable.

September 21st
In an interview in the Sunday Mirror former cavalry officer James Hewitt has denied he is Prince Harry of Wales's father. Although he has been Diana Princess of Wales's lover for five years he said: "There really is no possibility whatsoever that I am Harry's father. I can absolutely assure you that I am not. I can understand the interest but Harry was already walking by the time my relationship with Diana began." St James' Palace declined to comment on the interview.

September 22nd
With a cantata service at the Friedenskirche the 16th European Noble Congress in Potsdam, Germany, ended today. Since last Thursday about 220 nobles from 17 European countries have discussed the subject 'Nobility in the democracy' and its role and values.

Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium have given a good example. On the occasion of the European car-free Sunday, in which Brussels as only European capital took part, they cycled from Laeken Castle to the Royal Palace in the centre of Brussels this morning followed by tens of schoolchildren, several other people and journalists. The pouring rain didn't stop them from cycling back to Laeken Castle afterwards, although that wasn't planned.

King Mswati III of Swaziland has chosen himself a tenth wife today after a traditional dancing ceremony in the south of his country. A wedding date hasn't been set yet. The bride-to-be is 18-year-old Ayanda Nolichwa Ntenteza.

September 23rd
Prince Claus of the Netherlands is still at the intensive care, but was taken off the respirator. His condition is satisfying.

September 25th
Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands has appeared on a sheet of four poststamps from Moçambique to honour his work for the World Wildlife Fund. He is their international president since the start in 1961. Two poststamps show his favourite animal, the elephant, while two others show the prince himself with a cheetah and a monkey. The used photos come from the prince's own private collection.

Eight human skeletons have been discovered on September 11th in the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, one of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain's official residences, by gas workers who were laying pipes in connection with the renewal of under-floor services and unearthed the remains in the kitchen. It is believed the bones probably belonged to people who lived near a monastery which once stood on the site during medieval times. Archaeologists are examining the remains of four adults, two young people, a child and a baby but are puzzled by their origin. Strangely, one of the bodies was laid facing west, while the rest face eastwards as religious practice at the time dictated. As the skeletons are still partially buried, only the sex of two - a male adult and young male - have been determined. The experts say they do not wish to disturb the remains and so they have agreed to let the origins remain a mystery.

September 26th
After the TV Danmark 2 programme Lokal Rapporten reported yesterday that Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and his girlfriend Mary Donaldson will become engaged on October 2nd, and will get married in Holmens Kirke in Copenhagen on May 24th, 2003, Danish and international press quickly took over writing about it. The royal court declines to comment. The crown prince himself, visiting New York currently until September 30th, said to the press that he can understand the media interest in him, but that it is very comic that the press, who were the ones to start the rumours, asks him to comment. He said he wouldn't comment on announcements that come from the press and not from the royal court.

September 29th
Yesterday evening the news on the Belgian tv-channel VTM announced that Prince Laurent of Belgium and his girlfriend Claire Coombs will get engaged in November and will get married in Spring. The news was confirmed to the VRT radio news service by a good source. The press service of the royal palace says no official announcement is planned. According to VTM King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium already made acquaintance with Claire and did she already follow a Dutch language course in Spa. Claire Coombs is a geometrist in her early 30s. She works in Wavre and lives in Uccle near Brussels. She has a British father and a Belgian mother. The first time she was spotted together with Prince Laurent was in 1998 and since they have been seen together occasionally. Among others she accompanied him to Amsterdam in February 2002 during the wedding of the Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta.

September 30th
In several Belgian newspapers Prince Laurent of Belgium has denied that an engagement with Claire Coombs hasn't been planned. Also a wedding should not be on the stocks. In the newspapers Claire's grandmother Marie-Louise Mertens told about her granddaughter and how she met Laurent during a dinner with friends.

Two days ago the Princess Royal and her husband Commodore Tim Laurence were prosecuted under the Dangerous Dogs Act, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. Their bull terrier is alleged to have attacked a couple in Windsor Great Park in July, while the couple was exercising the dog without having it on its leash. One of the people was allegedly bitten on the leg, though not seriously. They have been summonsed to appear before Slough magistrates court in 10 days' time a newspaper said on Sunday. The offence carries a fine of up to £5,000 and up to six-months imprisonment. Magistrates can also order the destruction of the animal and have the power to disqualify the Princess and her husband from keeping a dog. Thames Valley Police refused to confirm or deny the alleged incident took place.


Royal News: August 2002. Last updated: September 1st, 2002.