News Summary R O Y A L B L O G. N L

'Dancing Queen' Silvia honored in Aachen

Swedish Queen Silvia officially opened the World Equestrian Festival CHIO in the German imperial city of Aachen, accompanied by King Carl Gustaf and Danish Princess Benedikte. Some 41,000 spectators saw and heard the queen on Wednesday evening deliver her opening speech in her native German. She was interrupted several times by a warm applause from the stands. “I know the public here in Aachen is very special”, the queen remarked.

Sweden is this year's partner country for the great equestrian event, often described as the 'Wimbledon of the equestrian sport'. Sweden put on a great show during the opening ceremony, which was not hampered by the rain at the start which forced the royal couple, which arrived in an open carriage specially brought over from the Royal Mews in Stockholm, to shelter under a giant umbrella.

There was an unexpected tribute to King and Queen too. As ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' was played during the opening show, reference was made to the song's origins – it was first played for the wedding of Carl Gustaf and Silvia in June 1976 – and to the royal couple 40^th wedding anniversary only a few weeks ago. The crowd again burst out in a thunderous applause, and Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf acknowledged the tribute by standing up and waving, with the queen squeezing her husband's hand afterwards.

During the week long Festival special attention will be given not only to Sweden but also to Queen Silvia's World Childhood Foundation – much to the queen's pleasure. © RB

Dutch Royals withstand media frenzy in garden

Despite a mild concussion Queen Máxima still took part in Friday's pre-Summer photo op in the back garden of the Dutch royal family's residence Eikenhorst in Wassenaar, near The Hague. Princess Amalia showed up on crutches after she sprained her right ankle the night before.

'Part of growing up' her father King Willem-Alexander said – he was surprised by all the media attention given to her injury. He was glad in his youth the media focussed less on every scratch or cut he and his young brothers got. It was part of life the King quipped.

Máxima said she still suffered from dizziness and 'great headaches' and had to take rest. The King added it was difficult to get his wife to do just that, but promised he would see to it that she did take her rest. The Queen fell – presumably at a party – last week Friday but ignored the signs of a possible concussion and did not see a doctor till five days later.

The photo session was chaotic and got out of hand at times – and had Queen Máxima fear for the central piece of art in the garden, and the flowers in front of the terrace. Security personnel had to contain the photographers and cameramen who were vying for the best position in front of the royal family.

The King and his daughters looked on in bemusement. The scuffling and even swearing made for good entertainment he said afterwards and gave them something interesting to look at. It was worse than in Britain the British photographers remarked; they were already sour because they had missed Prince George's little excursion with his parents that morning.

As by tradition – although skipped in 2013 – the royal couple also took questions from the press, in two separate rounds, for the written media and tv and radio. Questions covered a wide range of issues, and the King and Queen also made a statement about the recent deaths of two Dutch soldiers serving with the United Nations in Mali.

Queen Máxima said all three daughters succeeded in going to the next level at school, and the King added that Princess Amalia will take up Chinese as one of her subjects in the next school year. Her parents had taken her on an introductory vacation to China last year, just ahead of their State Visit to the People's Republic. Chinese had interested the Princess of Orange, and she had now chosen it as an elective subject.

The royal couple did not give any hints about their holiday plans. But the King, who will attend the opening of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro early next month, did not exclude the possibility he would take his daughters to watch some of the sports in Brazil.

© Royalblog, Hans Jacobs

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Royal gathering at Het Loo Palace

 

The Netherlands' Canada born Princess Margriet hosts the annual meeting of the Honorary Board of the International Paralympic Movement, at Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, Tuesday.

Attending are Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Princess Astrid of Belgium. Other royal members of the Board are Prince Albert II of Monaco, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg and Princess Haya of Jordan.

The main purpose of the IPC Honorary Board is to allow leaders of society an opportunity to support the vision of the Paralympic Movement and to strive to maintain the issue of sport for persons with a disability high on the agenda of the global community. Honorary Board Members assist the IPC in creating opportunities for raising awareness and funding, through the Member’s network of contacts and sphere of influence.

© RB; Photo: © MPE Patrick van Katwijk

Letizia joins royal family on Mallorca

 

All eyes at Palma de Mallorca's Club Náutico were on Princess Letizia, who made her first appearance at the Spanish royal family's holiday island Tuesday.

 

Spanish media had already started to speculate about the reasons for her absence while other members of the royal family, including her husband Prince Felipe had already appeared in public.

Letizia came to see off Felipe, who is participating the Copa del Rey (Kings Cup) sailing competition, along with his sister Infanta Cristina. Felipe is sailing on board 'Hispano', while Cristina is defending the colours of 'Aifos'.

 
Queen Sofia drove Cristina to the nautical club, accompanied by her grandchildren Irene (daughter of Cristina) and Victoria Federica (daughter of Infanta Elena). Felipe and Letizia arrived in a separate car, with their daughters Infantas Sofía and Leonor.

© RB; Photos by: © RPE Albert Nieboer

Margriet arrives back in her native Canada

Dutch Princess Margriet returned to her native Canada, Thursday. The Ottawa born sister of Queen Beatrix will attend the opening of the Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver and stay for the first days of competition.

Princess Margriet, 67, is member of the honorary board of the International Paralympic Committee, along with - among others - Swedish Crown Princess Victoria, Monaco’s Prince Albert and Luxembourg’s Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.

Margriet will visit several sporting events, including skiing and sledgehockey, will hand out medals and visit the paralympic athlete’s village. The Princess has been involved with paralympic sport since 1980.

The Princess and her husband Pieter van Vollenhoven are to expected to return to Canada later this year to attend the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Canadian troops played an important part in the liberation of The Netherlands. © RB

Princess Margriet returns to native Canada

Dutch Princess Margriet is returning to her native Canada next month. The Ottawa born sister of Queen Beatrix will attend the opening of the Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver and stay for the first days of competition.

Princess Margriet, 67, is member of the honorary board of the International Paralympic Committee, along with - among others - Swedish Crown Princess Victoria and Monaco’s Prince Albert.

Margriet will visit several sporting events, including skiing and sledgehockey, will hand out medals and visit the paralympic athlete’s village. The Princess has been involved with paralympic sport since 1980.

Princess Margriet was born in Canada during the Second World War, while her mother Princess Juliana was living in exile with her daughters Beatrix and Irene. By special act of the Canadian Parliament the hospital room where the princess was born was declared Dutch soil, so that Margriet does not have dual Dutch-Canadian citizenship.

Margriet last visited Canada in an official capacity with her husband Pieter van Vollenhoven in 2005, for the commemorations related to the 60th anniversary of the ending of World War II, and the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. Canada played an important part in that liberation.

Although no official announcement has been made, the royal couple will probably visit Canada for the 65th anniversary celebrations later this year.

© RB; Photo by © Monarchy Press Europe, Patrick van Katwijk

Dutch princesses to enjoy Olympic skating

Dutch Princesses Amalia, Alexia and Ariane will get their first taste of Vancouver’s Winter Olympics Saturday as their parents Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima take them to the speedskating stadium, the Richmond Olympic Oval.

There Dutch gold medal favourite Sven Kramer will take on the world in the Olympic 5,000 meters race. ,,We are very much looking forward to seeing Kramer and the other Dutch athletes compete", the Prince said in a meeting with the Dutch press on Friday.

He hoped his eldest daughter Amalia, 6, would be up to challenge of staying awake after the long flight from Amsterdam. Unlike her siblings, Amalia only arrived Friday evening in Vancouver, having left home after school was out for the weekend.

Willem-Alexander and Máxima applied for special permission to take their daughter to Canada outside the school’s one week break over carnaval. ,,We asked permission last Summer:, the Prince said. The head of the school has the final say in these matters, but to be sure the Dutch Ministry of Education was consulted as well.

Amalia is skipping 4 days, which led to some critism of parents elsewhere in the country, who met with a head of their school who did not give permission for extra leave. ,,We sticked to the law", was all Alexander said. His younger daughters arrived with Máxima on Wednesday.

Prince Willem-Alexander, like other royals such as Prince Albert of Monaco, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and the Princess Royal, is a member of the International Olympic Committee. He served in the IOC-subcommittee overseeing the preparation for the Vancouver Games and thus is planning to stay three weeks in Canada.

,,Because of my work I would miss out on the school- and skiing holiday of my children so we decided to bring them here. In the next two weeks we will also take some time to enjoy the mountains and scenery around Whistler as a family", he added.

© RB Photo by © Eric de Jager

Dutch royal visit for Caribbean island Aruba

Princess Margriet and her husband Pieter van Vollenhoven will officially open the Games of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dakota, on the Caribbean island of Aruba, Saturday evening.

The Canada born younger sister of Dutch Queen Beatrix, and her husband arrived on the neighbouring of Curaçao Thursday and they continue their journey to Aruba on Saturday. Professor Van Vollenhoven will also visit the islands of Saint Eustatius and Saba after his stay on Aruba, an island just off the coast of Venezuela.

The ‘Koninkrijksspelen’ or ‘Kingdom Games’ bring together youth from the three constituent parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: the Netherlands, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. The games are held every two years.

These games will be the last one with three countries participating, as the Netherlands Antilles will cease to exist as a separate country next year. The islands of Curaçao and Saint Martin will gain the same semi-independent status as Aruba and the three remaining islands in the Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba) will come under administration from The Hague.

Princess Margriet on Sunday will inaugurate the new Arikok national park of Aruba and later that day she will open the new archeological museum in Oranjestad. The royal couple is also to attend a cultural event in connection with the Games on Monday.

© RB; Photo by © Monarchy Press Europe, Patrick van Katwijk

Pieter-Christiaan has frustrating start

Dutch Prince Pieter-Christiaan, 36, had an unfortunate start of this year’s racing season. In extraordinary weather - it was snowing over the Easter holiday - he had car trouble in the first heat of the races for the Dutch national championship in the BMW130i class.

The Prince was not able to finish the race on the racetrack of Zandvoort, once a Formula 1 venue.

The car trouble meant Pieter-Christiaan, third son of Dutch Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven, was also unable to start in the second heat of the day, which was held with snow coming down on the course. His elder brother Prince Bernhard, 38, did compete though - and was cheered on by 'PC'.

Prince Pieter-Christiaan was reminded of last year’s season start, when he veered off the track, steered his car back on, only top be hit by an oncoming car, taking both drivers and their cars out of the race.

© RB; Photos by © Frank van Beek, Capital Photos

Dutch princes compete in BMW Cup races

Dutch Princes Bernhard and Pieter-Christiaan are back at the races on Monday, when they compete in Zandvoort in the BMW 130i Cup car races. The two brothers vie for the national championship in Racing Team Holland, wich is lead by veteran Dutch car driver Jan Lammers.

It is not for kicks, Prince Pieter-Christiaan said earlier this week at the team presentation. For him it is the ultimate in car driving, testing and improving your driving skills, honing your reflexes, and learning about yourself as well.

Last year he spoke about a 'mega hobby', now it is more a fling or a passion. He likes it and wants to see how far he can get. Being part of a team makes it fun too, the prince said, since as a accomplished marathon runner he is usually all on his own.

Last year Pieter-Christiaan made the national news when he accidentially drove his car off the track. His BMW veered back on it, and another competitor, coming up from behind could not avoid a crash.

The prince still remembers it well. Very unpleasant, both the incident and all the unwanted media attention. But Pieter-Christiaan showed great reflexes as he sprinted from hi crashed car to that of fellow driver Henny van Os, who upon hitting the prince's car made a spectacular salto. Fortunately nobody got hurt.

Prince Pieter-Christiaan, who celebrated his 36th birthday on Saturday March 22nd, is hoping to move up a few notches in the Championship rankings. And he obviously would like to get ahead of his older brother Bernhard, who is racing as well.

© RB; Source: GPD Netherlands Press Assoction; Photos 2007 by © Royal Press Europe, 2008 by Rob Henriks (GPD)