Emperor Akihito of Japan had lunch with German
chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Schröder pays a visit to
Japan.
~*~
King Harald V of Norway and his wife Queen Sonja
welcomed USA president Bill Clinton when he arrived at
the royal palace in Oslo. Clinton is in Norway for a
peace conference on the Middle East
to commemorate the death of Israeli Yitzhak Rabin a
few years ago.
~*~
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark arrived in New York to
close a promotion of modern Danish culture. She will
attend the final of the Carl Nielsen Competition for
young musicians and is going to visit a
number of exhibitions of young danish artists. She
will return home on the 3rd of November.
---------------
November 2nd
Queen Beatrix visited Groningen, a town in the north
of the Netherlands. She reopened the restorated
railway station from 1896. After that she walked to
the Academie Minerva (an art academy) where
she watched an art exhibition. Some hundreds of people
of all ages were there to see their Queen.
~*~
Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen died in Sweden
on October 29th, after loosing the battle against
cancer. He was married to Annifrid Lyngstad, former
member of the Swedish popgroup
ABBA.
----------------
November 3rd
Last night a 16th century castle in Gross Germersleben
near Magdeburg, Germany, was burned down. It took
hours to put the fire out. The damage is millions of
dollars. It is not known yet how the fire
started. The monumental castle recently had been
restored, and was supposed to be changed into an
hotel.
~*~
Princess Margaret of Great Britain's former husband,
the Earl of Snowdon, is to be made a life peer so he
can stay in the reformed House of Lords, Downing
Street has said. The photographer, made a
hereditary peer a year after he wed the Queen's sister
in 1960, will become a baron.
~*~
A handbag containing confidential royal telephone
numbers and an undeveloped film on the Prince of Wales
and his sons has reportedly been stolen from Tiggy
Legge-Bourke. The bag was taken from
the open front door of her car in London.
---------------
November 4th
Prince Philippe of Belgium and his fiancee Mathilde
payed their last visit of the Blijde Inkomst (Happy
Entrance) before their wedding takes place. In the
province of Vlaams-Brabant they visited a sugar
refinery in Tienen in the morning. Then they visited
Leuven. In Sint-Stevens-Woluwe they had lunch in a
restaurant where people with a handicap get an
education in serving. At the end of the afternoon
the couple made a walk through the scenic area
Torfbroek in Kampenhout.
~*~
A month long party in Thailand started to celebrate
the 72nd birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. To start
the festivities the King sailed on the Chao Phraya
river in Bangkok to the Temple of the
Sunrise. The royal boat was followed by 52 decorated
boats sailed by 2082 rowers in traditional Siamese
costumes. Along the shores of the river were standing
tenthousands of people, while millions of
Thai people watched the ceremony on television.
------------------
November 5th
In the St. Pieters Abbey in Ghent, Belgium, the big
exhibition "Carolus, Charles V, 1500-1558" was opened.
It follows the story of the Emperor's life. It also
sketches the spirit of the 16th century.
~*~
In Cameroun the 60.000 members of the Babete tribe
have choosen the 6-year-old Sob Ngoumbo Soumo as their
new King. He was choosen out of the 24 children of his
father King Soumo I who
died in August last year. Until he is 18 his mother
and the notables of the tribe will reign for him.
~*~
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands is choosen again
as chairwoman of the Standing Commission of the
International Red Cross.
~*~
Lord Montague of Oxford (67), who became a life peer
in 1997, has died of an heart attack after collapsing
during a debate on business in the House of Lords.
~*~
The results of the first elections for hereditary
peers have been announced today, exactly 394 years
after Guy Fawkes (in 1605) tried and failed to blow up
the House of Lords. From the 646 hereditary
peers only 92 will stay on. Last week already 15 were
choosen, amongst others the Countess of Mar, whose
title already exists since 1115. The only other
persons who are sure of their place right now
are the Lord Chamberlain, head of the royal household,
and the Earl Marshal, who takes care of the ceremonial
events. In the House of Lords further the about 500
life peers will stay on, as well as the
26 Lords spiritual (archbishops and bishops) and he 24
Law Lords (the highest judges in the country).
~*~
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain seems to be
certain to remain head of state in Australia after
tomorrow's historic constitutional referendum, opinion
polls have suggested.
~*~
In a book named "Predictions", released yesterday,
some very intelligent people give predictions for the
next millennium. One of the predictions is that Prince
Harry will be the first member of the British
royal family in space. This event should take place in
2010.
--------------
November 6th
The little Danish prince was baptized this morning at
the Fredensborg Slotkirke where his parents also
married in 1995. The baby was finally named: Nikolai
William Alexander Frederik. His godmother
was Alexandra Princess of Denmark, his mother (which
is quite normal in Denmark). His other "godparents"
(in Denmark people have only one godmother or
godfather) were Crown Prince Frederik,
Nicola Baird (Princess Alexandra's sister), Camilla
Flinth (a friend of Alexandra) and Peter Steenstrup (a
friend of Prince Joachim). Among the 150 invited
guests were many members of the Royal
Family of Denmark (except for Princess Benedikte and
her family, they were represented by Count
Friedrich-Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth), and
many of Princess Alexandra's familymembers.
Nikolai's christening
~*~
Australian voters say "no" to dropping the monarch,
thus Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. The
Australian republicans have conceded their defeat.
Some 54 % said yes to the monarchy. Only in the
state of Victoria voters, with a very small majority,
choose for a republic.
~*~
A policeman accidentally fired his gun when he was
emptying it in a secure area inside St. James's
Palace, London, Great Britain. Nobody was hurt and
noone has been in danger. The Palace is the
London residence of the Prince of Wales. and it is
close to Clarence House where the Queen Mother lives.
---------------
November 7th
Prince Pieter-Christiaan was the fourth Dutch Prince
who finished in the New York marathon. In 1992 his
cousin Willem-Alexander ran this marathon, and in 1994
Pieter-Christiaan's brothers Maurits
and Bernhard.
~*~
Juan, the son of Infanta Cristina of Spain and Iñaki
Urdangarín, will be baptised at the Palacio de la
Zarzuela on December 12th.
~*~
The Observer claims that the Prince of Wales has
indicated that he wants British voters to decide on
the future of the monarchy in Great Britain by
referendum. However, a spokeswoman of St.James's
Palace denies that the Prince has said something like
this, and says the clain is a pure speculation.
-----------------
November 8th
Yesterday Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and the
Duke of Edinburgh started a three nation tour in
Ghana. They were welcomed by tribal leaders. The Queen
praised the country as leader of
continental renaissance, at the parliament. Today she
was greated by a crowd of around one and a half
million people in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. In
the evening the Queen and the Duke were
guests of honour at a state banquet.
~*~
In March 2000 Willem-Alexander Prince of Oranje will
preside the Second World Water Forum in The Hague, the
Netherlands. Policy makers and scientists will speak
there about problems as
pollution, annoyance, deficiencies and water
destruction.
--------------
November 9th
The Danish Crown Prince Frederik visited the World
Expo Exhibition in Hannover, Germany. The Danes have
four pavillions on the exhibition, like islands
surrounded by water. The Crown Prince
celebrated the opening of the pavillions with Danes,
workmen and guests. It is likely that the Danish royal
family will visit the Expo on June 27th, 2000. The
Crown Prince said he was already looking
forward to it.
~*~
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and the Duke of
Edinburgh renewed their friendship with former South
African president Nelson Mandela on the first day of
their visit to South Africa. They were
formally welcomed by the present president Thabo Mbeki
at the Union Building in Pretoria. A 21-gun salute
sounded nearby. They already heard a 21-gun salute
when leaving Ghana in the morning.
----------------
November10th
Paul Burrell, the former butler of the late Princess Diana of Wales, has told on CNN Princess Diana would still be championing her favourite causes of landmines and Aids if she were alive. He said Princess Diana was realizing her ambitions in a strong and positive way in which she could help people. He also said he had no knowledge of any plans for her marry Dodi al-Fayed, but said he was a kind man and she was very happy.