[Spain] King Juan Carlos I opens Parliament with new government

I am completely in love with her dress and coat!

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Girls equal in British throne succession

Sons and daughters of any future UK monarch will have equal right to the throne, after Commonwealth leaders agreed to change succession laws.

The leaders of the 16 Commonwealth countries where the Queen is head of state unanimously approved the changes at a summit in Perth, Australia.

It means a first-born daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would take precedence over younger brothers.

The ban on the monarch being married to a Roman Catholic was also lifted.

Under the old succession laws, dating back more than 300 years, the heir to the throne is the first-born son of the monarch. Only when there are no sons, as in the case of the Queen's father George VI, does the crown pass to the eldest daughter.

Announcing the changes had been agreed, Prime Minister David Cameron said they would apply to descendents of the Prince of Wales. They will not be applied retrospectively.

David Cameron: ''The idea a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he's a man... is at odds with the modern countries we have become''

"Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were to have a little girl, that girl would one day be our queen," he said.

"The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man, or that a future monarch can marry someone of any faith except a Catholic - this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become."

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was an extraordinary moment: "I'm very enthusiastic about it. You would expect the first Australian woman prime minister to be very enthusiastic about a change which equals equality for women in a new area."

She said the changes appeared to be straightforward. "But just because they seem straightforward to our modern minds doesn't mean that we should underestimate their historical significance, changing as they will for all time the way in which the monarchy works and changing its history."

But the campaign group Republic - which wants an elected head of state in Britain - said "nothing of substance" had been changed.

"The monarchy discriminates against every man, woman and child who isn't born into the Windsor family. To suggest that this has anything to do with equality is utterly absurd," spokesman Graham Smith said.

On scrapping the ban on future monarchs marrying Roman Catholics, Mr Cameron said: "Let me be clear, the monarch must be in communion with the Church of England because he or she is the head of that Church. But it is simply wrong they should be denied the chance to marry a Catholic if they wish to do so. After all, they are already quite free to marry someone of any other faith."

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond welcomed the lifting of the ban but said it was "deeply disappointing" that Roman Catholics were still unable to ascend to the throne.

"It surely would have been possible to find a mechanism which would have protected the status of the Church of England without keeping in place an unjustifiable barrier on the grounds of religion in terms of the monarchy," he said.

"It is a missed opportunity not to ensure equality of all faiths when it comes to the issue of who can be head of state."

In her opening speech to the summit, the Queen did not directly mention the royal succession laws, but said women should have a greater role in society.

"It encourages us to find ways to show girls and women to play their full part," she said.

The BBC's royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell, said this was a hint that the Queen herself backed the change.

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Queen Elizabeth historic visit to Ireland - Day Two (part one) - Visit to Government Buildings

As part of her visit to Ireland, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II today visited Government Buildings to meet Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Btw, Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. Enda Kenny was appointed only two months ago, in March 2011.

Here with Prince Philip and Fionnuala Kenny.

According to wikipedia, at its origins, this building that was to become Government Buildings was the last major public building built under British rule in Ireland. The foundation stone for the building was laid by King Edward VII in 1904. It was built on the site of a row of Georgian houses that were being controversially demolished one by one as the new building was erected. The building itself was designed by Sir Aston Webb, a British architect who was later to redesign the facade of Buckingham Palace. The final completed building was opened by King George V in 1911.

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[The Netherlands] Controversy - beginning and end: Princess Maxima will be Queen

Princess Maxima will become queen when Crown Prince Willem-Alexander ascends the throne. A Lower House majority has rejected a proposal by three leftwing parties to change this tradition.

When a woman is head of state, as with Queen Beatrix, her husband has the title of prince. Conversely, however, the wife of the King does have the right to the title of Queen.

Labour (PvdA), the leftwing Greens (GroenLinks) and the Party for Animals (PvdD) proposed on Friday that the spouse of the king or queen should be respectively a princess or prince. They reasoned that the present situation is discriminatory. But a house majority immediately shot down the plan.

The conservatives (VVD), Christian democrats (CDA) and small Christian parties ChristenUnie and SGP want to maintain the tradition. The Socialist Party (SP) an centre-left D66 consider it an unimportant matter, but support the camp that wants to allow Máxima to be queen. The Party for Freedom (PVV) had not yet responded.

After four queens (Beatrix, Juliana, Wilhelmina, Emma) will have a king again for the first time in decades. The question of when the throne will change hands continues to provide fuel for speculation. When this happens, Beatrix will have the title of princess.

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Spanish survey estimates Prince Felipe of Asturias is ready to succeed to his father King Juan Carlos I

According to a recent survey made by Pulse of the Fundación José Ortega y Gasset and Gregorio Marañón, 69% of those who voted for the Left party in the last general elections also believes that, eventually, Prince Felipe is ready to succeed to King Juan Carlos I. 

The report, conducted through 5,000 surveys from 24 September to 5 November 2010, also reflects the parliamentary monarchy political system remains the most preferred by the Spanish, but his support has declined over the last two years from 72 to 57%, while the Republican option grew from 11 to 35%. 

The positive view of social support that will Rey Don Felipe and future is more widespread among the Spanish under 35 years (78 percent) than among those over 55 (74%) and 83 per Share percent of respondents aged between 35 and 54. The Spanish give an average rating of 6.7, the way the Prince of Asturias functions currently performed as a result of scores ranging from an average of 7.3 of the voters of PP, 6.8 for those who chose by the PSOE in the 2008 elections and 4.9 IU of those who voted. 

Although similar levels, the survey shows a higher proportion of positive responses from the PSOE voters than among the PP to questions about whether social support will be needed to succeed the King (83% versus 79) and if he is properly prepared to assume the status of head of state (as well as create a 89% of Socialist voters and 88 of the PP). As to the form of state, 81% of those who voted in 2008 IU prefer that Spain is a republic, an option that shares 40% of the voters of the PSOE and 15% of the PP. 

King Juan Carlos received from the Spanish average score of 7.3 by the way he has performed his duties as head of state during his 35 year reign, a note that rises to 7.5 in the case of voters PSOE, reached 7.8 between the PP and falls to 5.5 among those who voted to IU. The report also shows that 74% of respondents believe that the Spanish monarchy is firmly established and 56% believe it brings stability and calmness to political life, but 65 says that "it has been useful for the transition to democracy, but as time passes it makes less sense."

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[Liechtenstein] [VIDEO] Interview with Prince Hans-Adam II about The State

This video is a treasure and extremely interesting. We do not have much information (nor gossip) from the Liechtenstein royalty.

Peter Robinson hereby interviews His Serene Higness Prince Hans-Adam II. The journalist from Uncommon Knowledge presents the country firstly with its small size, borders (with Austria and Switzerland) and 35 000 inhabitants.

Prince Hans-Adam II has been reigning since 1989. He delegated some of his powers to his son, Prince Alois in 2004 - including day-to-day management of the principauté.

He wrote the book "The State in the Third Millenium".

He ask the monarch what the state is for, quoting his book "the objective must be to transform all states into peaceful service companies".

Prince Hans-Adam claims monarchies have to serve the people and reminds us of Prince Charles motto "Ich Dien", which means "I serve" in German, with the state serving the people, doing the best and better than anyone else. He also talks about his inspiration in US President John Kennedy, Christian origins, historical heritage and even a comparison with Sarah Palin.

This is a 5-part interview, do not hesitate to click on the other parts to see more of Prince Hans-Adam.

Hans-Adam II (Johannes (Hans) Adam Ferdinand Alois Josef Maria Marko d'Aviano Pius von und zu Liechtenstein was born on February 14th, 1945 and is married to his second cousin, once removed, Marie Aglaë, Countess Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau (born April 14th, 1940) who, upon marriage, became Her Serene Highness The Princess of Liechtenstein on 30 July 1967, at Vaduz. They have 4 children and 14 grandchildren.

Queen Rania breaks two-week silence on Twitter

If you are on Twitter and follow Queen Rania, you might have noticed her silence in the past two weeks. These past days have been quite unquiet - to say the least - for her country and neighbors, that are surely living a crucial turning points in their Histories. Many have been asking themselves if the monarchy will survive in Jordan or if a change of government was enough to comply to people's needs.

Today, she tweeted about Egypt, where she studied at the American University of Cairo: 

"Egypt, where I spent my university years. May you be blessed with security & prosperity for all in this new era."

@QueenRania