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

Felipe and Letizia postpone UK State Visit

King Felipe's state visits seem to be cursed. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs on Thursday announced the postponement of the upcoming State Visit to the UK, with Britain's full understanding of course.

The King cannot be missed in Madrid where the country's most arduous and complex government formation is progressing at a snail's pace. Last year the King's State Visit to France was cancelled only hours after it started because of the crash of a Germanwings plane. A planned visit to The Netherlands next week was annulled too.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia were to make their appearance at Windsor Castle on March 8, for a historic three day State Visit by invitation of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. They would lodge at the Castle and spend three days in the UK for the first Spanish State Visit since 1986, when Felipe's parents King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia visited.

The State Visit was simultaneously announced in London and Madrid on December 3, 2015, just days ahead of the Spanish general elections which resulted in a stalemate with no political party winning an outright majority. King Felipe has already held two rounds of discussions with the front men of the various parties, and tasked socialist leader Pedro Sánchez, whose PSOE party came second in the poll, to form a government.

Sánchez has asked for at least a month to find a parliamentary majority or at least enough support for a government coalition, with that month coming close to the original dates for the State Visit. A new date for the State Visit has not been announced. Queen Elizabeth, who usually has two incoming State Visit each year, has a relatively busy agenda with all the festivities on the occasion of her 90^th birthday in April.

© RB Hans Jacobs

Philip and Mathilde to visit Netherlands

King Philip and Queen Mathilde will pay a State Visit to the Netherlands next year, it was confirmed at the end of their State Visit to Poland earlier this week. The King and the Queen of the Belgians will also visit Japan, at the invitation of the Emperor and Empress. The trip to the Netherlands is planned for late 2016.

* King Philip and Queen Máxima in Denmark

The last Belgian State Visit to the neighbouring country was in 2000, when Philip's parents King Albert II and Queen Paola crossed the border for an especially warm welcome. Albert's elder brother King Baudouin had been on an official visit in 1993, just months for his untimely death. Dutch Queen Beatrix paid two State Visits to Belgium during her 33 years reign, in 1981 and 2006.

© RB; Photo: © MPE Patrick van Katwijk

Poland awaits arrival of Belgian royal couple

King Philip and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians on Tuesday embark on their second State Visit. After China just before the summer it is now Poland's turn. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands chose that country last year for their first State Visit, with China at the end of this month, the destination of their now sixth State Visit.

The official parts of the visit of the Belgian royal couple to Poland will not differ from the previous Dutch visit: welcoming ceremony by the (new) president Andzrej Duda, wreath laying, joint statement, meeting with the speaker of the parliament and state banquet at the end of the first day . © RB

Dutch King and Queen in Washington DC

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima arrived in the United States from Canada, Saturday, for a 3-day official visit which starts Monday with a wreath laying at the national cemetary at Arlington and a visit to the White House

President Barack Obama will meet with the Dutch royals in the Oval Office. It is the second time the Dutch royals visit the White House. In 2009, while still prince and princess, they were invited to tea by Michelle Obama. During their visit with her the President popped in and joined the conversation.

President Obama visited the Netherlands last year for the nucleair security visited and attended a dinner in the sumptuous Orange Hall of Huis ten Bosch Palace. A couple of months later he met the Dutch King and Queen again Normandy for the 70th anniversary celebrations of D-Day.

The Dutch royals, who just completed a very successful 3-day State Visit to Canada, will also visit Congress and the World Bank. © RB Hans Jacobs

Dutch King and Queen arrive in Newfoundland

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands arrived in St. John's, NL, ahead of the official start of their state visit to Canada. They were welcomed at the airport by lieutenant-governor Frank Fagan and premier Paul Davis. The royal couple had a brief meeting with both of them and their wives at Hangar 1. It was too short, we had so much to talk about Mr Fagan said after his encounter with the Dutch King.

King Willem-Alexander told Premier Davis he had visited Newfoundland and more particularly St John's before, in 1986 when he was serving in the Royal Dutch Navy. He was happy to be back and remarked on the icebergs he saw from the plane's cockpit when approaching the island.

The royal couple will spend the night at the Sheraton hotel in St John's before continuing their trip to Ottawa, where they will be welcomed at Rideau Hall, in an official ceremonyt by governor-general David Johnston and his wife. The king and queen will keep a busy schedule in the federal capital, including a wreath laying at the National Monument, a meeting with veterans, and a visit to Parliament Hill. The day will be concluded with a state banquet at Rideau Hall.

On Thursday and Friday the royal visitors will head to Waterloo, Kitchener, Beamsville and Toronto before flying to the United States for an official visit and a meeting with president Barack Obama. (C) Royalblog Exclusive from St John's

Official Visit by Dutch King and Queen to U.S.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will make an official visit to the United States, June 1-3. They will meet with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House, it was announced Tuesday. The visit follows a State Visit of the Dutch royal couple to Canada in the preceding week.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima are set to visit Washington DC, Grand Rapids, MI, and Chicago, Ill. during their brief stay in the U.S. Grand Rapids and western Michigan, with town like Holland and Zeeland, are home to over 300,000 people of Dutch descent. Queens Juliana (in 1952) and Beatrix (in 1982) also went to Grand Rapids while visiting America.

The Dutch royal couple have visited the White House before, during a stay to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of New York/New Amsterdam in 2009. They were invited to for tea by Michelle Obama, and during their meeting President Obama dropped in as well. The King met Obama twice last year, in The Hague at the nucleair summit and in Normandy for the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

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Danish Queen Margrethe asks Dutch King and Queen to sign window at Fredensborg

At the end of their State Visit to Denmark, Queen Máxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands were invited by Queen Margrethe and Prince-consort Henrik to continue a long standing Danish royal tradition. They were asked to sign a window pane, which will be replace an as yet unsigned window at Fredensborg Palace.

The Garden Room of the Palace for instance already has many signed windows. Willem-Alexander's parents Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus signed in 1984 during their State Visit to Denmark. Queen Elizabeth ('Lilibet') and Prince Philip, King Harald and Queen Sonja, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia, but also Winston Churchill's autograph can be found here, written with a diamond on top of a pen. In the old days, Queen Margrethe suggested, the guests might have used their own diamonds as the tradition goes back to King Christian IX, 'the father in law' of Europe.

In the 19^th century Fredensborg was the gathering place of his extended family, and the guests – kingds, queens, tsar and tsarina, princes and princesses – wrote their names or littele messages on the windows. Margrethe's father King Frederik IX recommenced the tradition and Margrethe has continued it.

© RB; Photos: © Dutch and Danish Courts; © RB Marius Cirtiu

 

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Elegant Maxima attends Danish state banquet

Frederik and Mary take Willem-Alexander and Máxima to special Danish island Samsø

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark had to rise early Wednesday to arrive ahead of Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima at the port of Kalundborg, in western Zealand. There both royal couples took the ferry across to the island of Samsø.

The pretty island, which has a Dutch mayor, Mr Marcel Meijer, is self sufficient in electricity through wind energy and works towards not using any fossil fuels by 2020. Willem-Alexander and Máxima wanted to know what lessons the Netherlands could learn from the island and its forward thinking approach to sustainability. 

On the way back both couple posed spontaneously on the deck for a 'family' photo.

© RB

See video of arrival at dance performance

 

Queen Máxima reappears in 'coronation' dress

Glamour and glitter Tuesday at the start of the Dutch State Visit to Denmark. Queen Margrethe kept her promise to make it an unforgetable visit for her godson King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima and she succeeded with full colours.

The visit started on a sunny but very windy Copenhagen Airport, where the Danish royal family came out in force to welcome the Dutch royal couple. King Willem-Alexander flew the Dutch government plane himself, as he is accustomed to do. Queen Máxima chose an outfit by Danish-Dutch designer Claes Iversen, who also designed the wedding dress for 2013's wedding of Prince Jaime and Princess Viktória of Bourbon Parma.

 

Queen Margrethe and Prince-consort Henrik took their guests from the airport to Fredensborg Slot for an informal meeting and an exchange of gifts, which included the Order of the Elephant for Queen Máxima. She proudly wore it at the State banquet at Christiansborg in the evening. From Fredensborg the Dutch guests returned to Copenhagen, where they met with Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and a large group of Dutch and Danish CEO's.

Since Denmark tops the world's happiness index King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima decided before their visit that they wanted to know more about it. The Netherlands after all only comes in fourth, so there is room for improvement and a chance to learn the King said in his New Year's speech while looking ahead to the visit.

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary accompanied the royal couple to a symposium at Aalborg University. They heard that one reason the Danes are so happy might be because they would never say they are not happy if they were to be asked about it.

After a meeting with the Dutch community at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek the King and Queen prepared for the highlight of the day, the State banquet hosted by Queen Margrethe and Prince-consort Henrik. Glamour and glitter were the norm, with Queen Máxima reappearing in her glamorous and much acclaimed blue 'coronation' dress by Jan Taminiau. Crown Princess Mary too was dressed to impress, and again the Danish royal family swelled their numbers, with even Princess Elisabeth making a rare appearance.

The King said in his warm speech to Queen Margrethe that Máxima and he will return to Denmark next month when the queen celebrates her 75th birthday.

© Royalblog, Hans Jacobs; with film by © RB Marius Cirtiu 

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Photo of the day: on the look out at Palace

It is probably not the top job at the Royal Palace, but it is a very important one nevertheless. The door(wo)men at Copenhagen's Christiansborg's Palace have to open the door in time for guests and members of the royal family. But how to know that they are coming? By using the spy hole in the door. That way the door was always opened at the right moment.

© RB