Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss Count von Plauen (49 years
old) was buried in Härslöv, Sweden. Present were King
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, an old schoolfriend of
Prince Heinrich, and his wife
Queen Silvia, who were accompagnied by their son
Prince Carl Philip. Prince Heinrich leaves behind his
wife Annifrid (former ABBA-member), whom he married in
1992, his twindaughters Henriette
and Pauline (22 years old) and his ex-wife Mette.
~*~
At various places in Belgium the end of World War I
was commemorated. King Albert II of Belgium laid
flowers at the grave of the Unknown soldier in
Brussels. Crown Prince Philippe is to attend the
ceremony in Flanders Field, and the Last Post at the
Menengate in Ypres.
---------------
November 12th
Emperor Akihito of Japan celebrated his 10th year on
the throne today with a parade and a feast for the
people. The celebrations broke with old traditions of
exclusivity and starchy sphere. Also
rockmusic was on the programme. An official ceremony
was there for 1300 dignitaries at the National Theatre
in Tokyo. Some thousands of people waited in front of
the royal palace in Tokyo to pay an
hommage to the Emperor and his wife Empress Michiko.
--------------
November 13th
1500 Guests, among them 1000 commoners, were invited
for the engagement party at Laeken Castle, Belgium, of
Prince Philippe and his fiancee Mathilde. The guests
were spread in different feasthalls
and the Winter garden of the castle, where tables with
chairs and long buffets waited. The parents, sisters
and brother of Mathilde arrived. Also King Albert II
and Queen Paola, Queen Fabiola, Princess
Astrid with husband Lorenz and the oldest three
children Amedeo, Maria-Laura and Joachim, and Prince
Laurent attended the evening. Philippe and Mathilde,
the last one in a royal blue cocktaildress
with interesting necklace, arrived just after 7:30 in
the evening. They had to do the openingdance together
on "Wonderful tonight" of Eric Clapton, sung by the
famous Belgian singer Raymond van het
Groenewoud, with Toots Thielemans on mouth organ. The
royals switched from room to room all evening.
~*~
On December 4th jonkvrouwe Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz
will become Princess of Belgium for life. She also
will become Duchess of Brabant. Her father and uncle
will become counts.
~*~
The Duchess of York is due to tie a giant ribbon
around the Survivor's Tree on the site of the Oklahoma
City bombexplosion of 1995, which killed 168 people,
in memory of the children who died. The
Duchess's charity has supported a new paediatric unit
at the hospital.
~*~
Some 61% of the British people think the Prince of
Wales should marry Camilla Parker Bowles. But 78%
don't want her to become Queen.
-------------
November 14th
At the engagement party Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, the
fiancee of Prince Philippe of Belgium, who is already
a speech therapist, has told her professor that she
will continue her study psychology at the
university of Louvain-la-Neuve, She said she hopes to
do her practise next year.
~*~
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and her husband
Prince Claus arrived at Curacao for a 12 day visit to
the Dutch Antilles. They were welcomed with lots of
ceremony and people. A children's choir
sang for them.
~*~
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and the Duke of
Edinburgh laid wreaths at a memorial service in
Durban, South Africa, to remember the soldiers who
died in the Great War. It was the first time in 16
years that the Queen didn't lead the national mourning
in London. The Prince of Wales replaced his mother at
the Rememberance commemorations to Britain's war dead
at the Cenotaph in London. The
Queen Mother didn't attend as she was suffering from a
slight chill, Buckingham Palace said.
~*~
The Duke of York has spoken on TV of how his
experiences in the Falkland conflict changed his life.
"There were a great many sharp edges as there are on
all young people and it knocked a couple of
corners off". The Duke was 22 when he was sent to the
Falklands as a helicopter pilot. He added:" War
teaches more about yourself than you actually want to
learn- well, it certainly taught me".
-------------
November 15th
The Koningsfeest (King's Day) in Belgium was
celebrated with the traditional Te Deum at the
Basilica at the Koekelberg in Brussels. A report was
made by a regular visitor of this page.
~*~
Queen Beatrix will meet Governor Saleh at Curacao.
Later she will start the first broadcasting of the
Caribean news on the Worldchannel. This evening she
and her husband Prince Claus will attend a
presentation on 500 years written history of Curacao.
~*~
Queen Elizabeth II is flying to Mozambique for a
one-day state visit on the final leg of her African
tour. She and her husband will meet President Joaquim
Chissano. It is the Queen's first visit to
Mozambique, which is the newest member of the
Commonwealth.
~*~
9-year-old Farah Aljadir of the Netherlands, who
suffers from a skin disease, will drink tea with King
Mohammed VI of Morocco today at his palace. The visit
is arranged by the Foundation "Make a
Wish", shich tries to fullfil wishes of children who
are ill.
-------------
November 16th
According to The Sun the Prince of Wales has invited
(horse-riding) friends and neighbours to a Millennium
party. They are supposed to bring their own drinks.
Camilla Parker Bowles is going to cook
with the help of some friends.
~*~
Luxemburg linguist Guy Berg has discovered an epic
from the Middle Ages, which was believed to have
disappeared. It is a handwriting on vellum, named the
"Codex Mariendalensis", and it is a poem
of almost 6000 stanzas, who describe the life of
Princess Yolanda of Vianden. The Codex is the first
literary work in the moselfränkische language.
~*~
The oil-painting "Portrait of a Pomeranian Prince" by
Lucas Cranach, which had disappeared after World War
II and was found back in 1994 in Vienna, will be shown
at the National Museum in Stettin,
Poland.
~*~
Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
started a three-day-visit to Great Britain. He met the
Prince of Wales for tea at York House. In the evening
he had dinner with the Duke of York and
his own brother Prince Johan Friso, who works in
London. Tomorrow he'll visit some projects of the
Prince of Wales's Trust.
~*~
The hurricane Lenny, which goes through the Caribean
area, could disarrange the visit of Queen Beatrix of
the Netherlands to the Windward Islands of the Dutch
Antilles. The Queen is planning to visit
St.Maarten on Wednesday.
~*~
King Juan Carlos of Spain has called for full
democracy and respect for human rights in a speech at
an Ibero-American summit in Cuba.
------------
November 17th
A 41-pearl necklace, which is said to have belonged to
Queen Marie-Antoinette of France, has been auctioned
in Geneva, Switzerland, for about 1,5 million dollar.
~*~
In traditional pomp and pageantry Queen Elizabeth II
of Great Britain opened the reshaped Parliament. The
Queen read the legislative plans for the forthcoming
parliamentary session.
~*~
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is not be to visit
the island of Sint Maarten, as the hurricane Lenny
will pass the island today. She will fly to Bonaire
for a visit and return to Curacao. Yesterday evening
she unexpectedly payed a visit to the Michielsbaai
where the hurricane had caused some damage earlier
that day. People were very happy with the visit. The
Queen noticed some of Lenny as she
became wet by a high splashing wave.
------------
November 18th
I read at alt.talk.royalty that Pieter van der Byl,
husband of Charlotte Archduchess of Austria, died in
Fairfield, South Africa, on November 15th.
~*~
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will have a day rest.
Tomorrow she will go to Aruba, where she was supposed
to go next week. She hopes she can visit Sint Maarten
later on during her Dutch Antilles
trip.