Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander & Princess Maxima in Middle-East trip to UAE & Oman

This caption stirred a row in the Netherlands, for the fact the Queen and Princess Maxima used veils in a sacred place. No comments.

On January 8th, Queen Beatrix accompanied by Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Máxima, and a delegation of business leaders visited the UAE, invited by President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. This was the Queen’s fiftieth state visit since she was crowned in 1980.


On January 10th, the Queen and her entourage traveled on to Oman at the invitation of Sultan Qaboos. A prior state visit, planned in March, was called off in view of the ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations and the violent crackdown by Oman’s authorities. The Dutch parliament cancelled the state visit after two demonstrators died in clashes with Omani security forces in February. Dutch MPs did not want the state visit to be seen as endorsing the regime. In a surprise move, Queen Beatrix travelled to Oman after all, arguing her tip had been downgraded to a private visit.


Sultan Qaboos is Oman’s head of state, prime minister, defence minister, foreign minister and the head of the armed forces. The country has no legal political parties.


The UAE is a federation of seven absolute monarchies. The Federal National Council consists of 40 members drawn from all the emirates. Half are appointed by the emirates’ rulers, and the other half are indirectly elected to serve two-year terms.The first indirect elections took place in 2006.

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Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark - Day 1 in Australia (part 2)

 

 

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Spotted in Red #3 - Princess Madeleine of Sweden in New York

Princess Madeleine at the American Scandinavian Society Christmas Ball at The Metropolitan Club in New York.

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[UK] Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall pull a pint after popping into village pub

PRINCE Charles and Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall, paid an unlikely visit to a small village on the outskirts of Grantham on Tuesday afternoon.

The Royal couple were on a tour of the county and decided to stop off in Burton-le-Coggles to see the success being made of the village pub and farm shop at The Cholmeley Arms.

In wet and windy weather, the Prince arrived to be greeted by schoolchildren from Charles Read High School and Corby Glen Primary School.

Ruby Earl of Charles Read presented Camilla with a bouquet of flowers on her arrival.

Proud mum Natasha Earl said: “She was really excited and wanted to know if she could give Camilla a kiss.

“It’s really big news for the village - everyone has been talking about it.”

The Prince was shown around the village farm shop, praising the bread on sale courtesy Bloomsbury Bakery of Inner Street, Grantham.

Sam Markiewicz of Bloomsbury said: “He told us he couldn’t believe we’d all been standing out here in the cold and Camilla said how nice the bread looked.”

The Prince then headed into the pub where he poured himself a pint of Newton’s Drop Ale - brewed here in Grantham by Oldershaw Brewery.

Kathy Britton, of Oldershaw’s said: “We are so proud that Prince Charles pulled a pint of our beer.

“We do whatever we can to support local pubs, after all they are our customers, and The Cholmeley Arms is a fantastic example of a proper local pub that really serves its whole community.”

Lesley and John Berry became tenants of the Cholmeley Arms, which is owned by the Easton Estate, in 2009 after it had been closed down. Since then they have turned it around and opened up a village farm shop.

Villager Judy Carr of the Old Chapel, Burton-le-Coggles, said: “John and Leslie coming here and taking over the pub is the best thing that’s ever happened to this village.”

As he left Prince Charles waved to the dozens of people who had come out despite the weather to support his visit. As he got into his car and pulled away, villagers cheered as he went.

Cholmeley Arms landlady Lesley Berry said: “He was just great and really put us all at ease. They are a lovely couple.”

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Spotted in Red #2 - Queen Elizabeth II

The Queen in Liverpool

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[UK][VIDEO] Queen opened the Museum of Liverpool and met Yoko Ono

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Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark - Day 1 in Australia (part 1)

On the one hand, Prince Frederik and Princess Mary of Denmark were on official duties as they began their tour of Australia.

But the royal couple, who are known for putting family first, were also busy entertaining twins Josephine and Vincent during the visit.

The Danish Royals have returned to Mary's homeland for a six day tour, and it seems the down-to-earth couple will be balancing work and family whilst on the road.

Joining them were their adorable 11-month old tots who were described by their father as "miracles times two" when they were born in January of this year.

And in a nod to their mum's roots, the twins were clutching a stuffed koala and kangaroo –a gift from Australia's Governor General, Quentin Bryce - who also attended their opening photo call.

There was no sign of the couple's other two children five-year-old Christian and Isabella, who is three.

They spent their first day in typical Aussie style, enjoying a beach stroll and a barbecue before zipping round the harbour on a boat.

With official duties and children taken care of, they got into the competitive spirit as they hopped onto some excercise bikes at the during the launch of an arts project.

Australian politician, Barry O'Farrell, was on hand to welcome Mary and her husband to Sydney and had glowing words for his guests .

"Like many Australians, we share in the royal romance and relationship that some have described as a fairytale'' he said.

This is the royals first official visit to Australia since 2008.

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