The decade that began on January 1, 1990 and ended on December 31, 1999 was a continuation of the decade that preceded it. The decade is noted for the growth of capitalism and multi-national economies that it begat. Many companies experienced a steady economic growth that began to falter by the end of the decade.

The world power structure was forever altered by the birth of the European Union, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, German Unification and the fall of the Berlin, the breakup of Yugoslavia, the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq which led to the Gulf War, the release of Nelson Mandela and the end apartheid in South Africa and the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mother Teresa. In addition, human tragedies were documented in the Balkan Wars, the Rwandan Genocide, Somalia, and the Gulf War.

The 1990’s also introduced us to the creation and growth of the Internet; Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and David Beckham as worldwide sports figures, bands such as U2, N’SYNC and the Spice Girls who dominated the decade; classic television shows which included Friends and Seinfeld, and timeless movies such as Titanic, Ghost, Schindler’s List, The English Patient, Forrest Gump and Braveheart just to name a few. The decade also brought forth the introduction of reality television programs and 24 hour news channels that many continue to enjoy today depending on personal preference.

Despite many doomsday predictions, the Y2K prediction was a bust. Many feared that the world’s computers would crash on January 1, 2000 but it was much to do about nothing and life carried on.

We hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter and you have a great Thanksgiving!

Zonk and Lady Leana

Newsletter Editors Read more…

Zonk The Royal Forums Newsletter

Various royals flocked to Stockholm these past two days, to attend events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the United Nations’ Rights of the Child convention.

View the image at royalcourt.se

A private seminar on the celebration was held at the Royal Palace of Stockholm early on Thursday November 19th, and was attended by a large group of royal women: Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Paola of Belgium, Queen Sofia of Spain, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway.

The group was joined by Crown Princess Margarita of Romania and Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia for a visit to Barncentrum, a children’s centre in Stockholm. The centre provides assaulted and abused children a place where they can come and receive treatment from all the authorities which are involved in such a case (paediatricians, socials workers, therapists, police and prosecutors) in the one place. According to Swedish newspaper DN, the royals were told of a twelve-year-old girl’s story of being abused by her father, and how the centre assisted in the man receiving a ten year jail sentence for his actions.

View the image at Svensk Dam

On Thursday evening, a jubilee concert was hosted by the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs at Berwald Hall in Stockholm. All the royal visitors attended, as well as King Carl XVI Gustaf, the two Swedish princess’ fiancés (Daniel Westling and Jonas Bergström) and Princess Christina, Mrs Magnuson. Speeches were given by Queen Silvia and Göran Hägglund, Sweden’s Minister for Health and Social Affairs. The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra performed for the event, as well as a dance performance by the Lasse Kühlers Dansskola.

The following day, Friday November 20th, a government conference had been organised and was once again attended with a large royal contingent at the Radisson Blu Royal Park Hotel in Frösundavik. The conference was organised through the framework of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union.

Click here to view the thread at TRF.

JessRulz Belgian Royals, Danish Royals, Dutch Royals, Luxembourg Royals, Norwegian Royals, Spanish Royals, Swedish Royals Children, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Princess Madeleine, Princess Mary, Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Victoria, Queen Beatrix, Queen Paola, Queen Silvia, Queen Sofia, United Nations

Archduke Otto of Austria, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, former Head of the Austrian Imperial Family from 1922 until his abdication in 2007, turns 97 years old today.

He was born on 20 November 1912 at Villa Wartholtz in Reichenau, the eldest child of Archduke Karl and Archduchess Zita.

Archduke Otto - see bigger at his official website

Archduke Karl (1887-1922) was the eldest son of Archduke Otto (1865-1906, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef) and Archduchess Maria Josepha (1867-1944, daughter of Georg I of Saxony); Archduchess Zita (1892-1989) was a daughter of Duke Roberto I of Parma (1848-1907, the last reigning Duke) and Duchess Maria Antonia (1862-1959, youngest daughter of King Miguel I of Portugal).

Several tragic and premature deaths made Otto the third in the Line of Succession to the Throne, after his great-uncle Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este ( whose morganatic marriage meant that his children were not in the Line of Succession) and his father Karl.

On 28 June 1914 Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo: this murder was the casus belli of the breaking out of the World War I. Two years later on 21 November 1916 Emperor Franz Josef died, after 68 years of reign; therefore Karl became Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Otto the new Crown Prince. Read more…

MAfan Austrian Royals Archduke Otto, Biography, Birthday, Habsburg

The experiences the Scandinavian heirs made during the travel to Svalbard and Greenland will be published in a book. Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Victoria and Crown Prince Frederik have written an own chapter about the impressions they got during the journeys.

Click at the image to read an article at Kongehuset.no

In summer 2008 the 3 Scandinavian heirs visited Svalbard. They went aboard an icebreaker to get better impressions of the climate change in the Arctic.

In summer 2009 they went on a trip to Greenland. There they focus on the climate change and it’s consequences.

The book, which includes the Royal experiences, is called “Royal polar expedition”. It is a result of the ravels and is published in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The proceeds from the book will go to charity.

Click here to see a video about the Royal Arctic experiences.

Her_Majesty Danish Royals, Norwegian Royals, Swedish Royals Book Review, Books, International Polar Year, Prince Frederik, Prince Haakon, Princess Victoria

Prince Jean and Princess Philomena, Duke and Duchess of Vendôme, welcomed a son today. The baby’s first (and so far, the only-known) name is Gaston.

Duke and Duchess of Vendôme, courtesy of Freerepublic

The little Prince is the first child for the Duke and Duchess of Vendôme, who were married earlier this year (civilly, on March 19 and religiously, on May 2). Princess Philomena’s pregnancy was announced in July. Gaston is the 8th grandchild of the Count of Paris and will eventually assume the Headship of the House of Orléans.

Prince Jean, Dauphin de France, Duke of Vendôme is the son of Henri, Count of Paris, Duke of France (the Orléanist pretender to the French throne) and Duchess Marie Therese of Württemberg, the Duchess of Montpensier. In 2006, Count of Paris created Prince Jean ‘Dauphin de France’, bypassing Jean’s mentally disabled elder brother, Prince François, Count of Clermont.

The baby’s name, Gaston, has deep roots with the House of Orléans. Distinguished members of Orléans family with the same name include Gaston, Duke of Orléans, the Fils de France and Le Grand Monsieur (the third son King Henry IV and Marie de’ Medici, the eldest surviving brother of King Louis XIII, and the last member of the elder branch of Bourbon-Orléans) and Gaston d’Orléans, Count of Eu (the son of Louis, Duke of Nemours, who himself was the son of King Louis-Philippe, and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary).

You can view the thread dedicated to the birth of Prince Gaston here.

Marsel French Royals Birth, House of Orléans, Prince Gaston, Prince Jean of France, Princess Philomena

Crown Prince Alexander II, Crown Princess Katherine, Hereditary Prince Peter, Prince Philip and Prince Alexander all expressed their deepest sorrow at the passing of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle. They sent their sincere condolences to the Serbian Orthodox Church and its followers in Serbia and Worldwide.

Courtesy - royalfamily.org

The Royal Palace released the following statement from the Crown Prince: “I am deeply, deeply saddened to learn that His Holiness has surrendered his soul to our Lord. The Serbian people have lost a pious spiritual leader, whose death is especially devastating at the time when the future of Kosovo and Metohija, the cradles of the Serbian Orthodox Church, remains uncertain. My family joins me in expressing our deepest condolences and sympathy to the Serbian Orthodox Church and all its faithful in Serbia and worldwide and all citizens of Serbia”.

Patriarch Pavle died on 15 November, 2009, after more than two years spent in the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade. The Government of Serbia announced three days of national mourning over the death of the Patriarch. President Boris Tadić said that the patriarch’s death was an “irredeemable loss for the entire Serbian nation.” Condolences to the Serbian church, people and officials were sent by Russian Patriarch Kirill I, Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Catholicos Karekin II of All Armenians, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, Patriarch Daniel of Romania and numerous others. At least 40 days must pass after his death before a successor can be elected; meantime the authority of Patriarch will be held by Holy Synod while the Metropolitan Amfilohije will serve as the Guardian of the Throne.

The Serbian Royal Family has very close relationships with the Church; The Serbian Orthodox Church in general and Patriarch Pavle in particular have openly supported the restoration of the Monarchy.

Marsel Serbian Royals Death, Patriarch Pavle, Prince Alexander, Prince Alexander Jr, Prince Peter, Prince Philip of Serbia, Princess Katherine

On November 16, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, chair of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, launched the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) which is an initiative of Qatar Foundation.

Addressing the Guest of Honour, Irina Bokova, newly elected UNESCO Director-General, and 1,000 opinion leaders from 120 countries, Sheikha Mozah said in her speech “Innovation in education, which is the focus of this Summit should become an achievable and executable process. It should be at the heart of the education which is the force which exerts human energy and guides it wisely for the purpose of expanding human intelligence and creativity to serve the objective of just and equitable human societies, therefore this Summit requires us to debate deeply and discuss a series of issues at the core of the right to education in order to draft an agreement on which we can build our next steps”.

WISE is a global groundbreaking collaborative initiative established by Qatar Foundation under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned. WISE will contribute to 21st century challenges and their impact on education.

For more on WISE click here.

dazzling Qatar Royals Education, Patronage, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser

View the image at Petra

King Abdullah of Jordan opened on Tuesday the new premises of The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt (Northwest of Amman).

The Institute, which was opened by the late King Hussein in 1964, is a residential school providing education, rehabilitation and vocational training for hearing and visually impaired children and young people.

During a tour of the new premises the Monarch met with students and he was briefed on handicraft, textile, embroidery and ornament made by students.

salma Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Children, Health

Crown Princess Victoria paid a visit to Kenya from November 11th to 14th. During the first day the Princess inaugurated the Conference of Climate Change Day, that is the biggest event during the Swedish EU presidency in Kenya.

Later the day she attended the opening of the Victoria Trade Council offices in Nairobi. There she took part in a colorful danshow with Maasai.

Click at the image to see a gallery at Svenskdam.se

Princess Victoria mainly visited Kenya to inaugurate a school built by Gundua Foundation. The Crown Princess is a patron of the school. The Gundua secondary school in ex-Lewa provides more children the chance to educate themselves, although they live poor conditions.

During her last day in Kenya Victoria met the professor and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. The women planted a tree as a symbol of the friendship between Kenya and Sweden. The Princess visited a Swedish school in Nairobi. Many children wanted to meet the Princess, who recieved flowers and gifts and took the time to answer the childrens’ questions.

You can find a thread about the visit to Kenya here.

Her_Majesty Swedish Royals Children, Kenya, Official Visit, Princess Victoria

courtesy of daylife

Belgian Royals celebrated The King’s Feast (Koningsfeest in Dutch and Fête du Roi in French) on November 15 – a day that has been marked by celebrations in honour of the Belgian Monarch since 1866. Crown Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde, Prince Laurent, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz and Queen Fabiola were all present.

The celebrations started with a Service at Brussels Cathedral, which was attended by all members of the Royal Family with the exception of the King, the Queen and Princess Claire. King Albert and Queen Paola don’t usually attend the Service as protocol decrees it would be inappropriate for the Monarch to honour himself. Although always present at The King’s Feast Day celebrations, Princess Claire was absent this year, presumably because she wasn’t able to find anyone to babysit the children.

courtesy of daylife

Also present at the Service was Queen Fabiola – the first time she has been seen in a long time. The past few months have been marred by concerns for Her Majesty’s health and even false death announcement. Although the Queen was recovering in Spain, she insisted on attending the Service, although she did not attend the ceremony at the Parliament: the Royal Watchers were undoubtedly delighted to see Her Majesty in apparently good health.

Since 2001, the Service has been followed by a ceremony held by the Belgian Parliament in honour of the King, in the presence of members of the Belgian Royal Family and other dignitaries.

November 15 is the name day of Leopold (the feast of Saint Leopold) and Albert (the Feast of Saint Albert the Great), two names that are of great importance for the Belgian Royals: Belgium’s first, second and fourth Monarchs were named Leopold, while the third King was called Albert, as is the current king. In 1951, King Baudouin decided to honour the day, and King Albert II continued the tradition. November 15 and April 8 (King Albert’s birthday) are two days when His Majesty honours distinguished citizens by presenting them with the Order of Leopold. Although November 15 is not a public holiday, civil servants are allowed to have a day off.

To learn more about the King’s Feast, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals Archduke Lorenz, King Albert II, Prince Laurent, Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid of Belgium, Princess Mathilde, Queen Fabiola, Queen Paola, The King’s Feast