The Prince and the Princess of Asturias, on Monday, began a two day visit to India in order to attend the opening of the new Instituto Cervantes and to support the presence of Spanish enterprises in India.

View the image at Casa Real

On Tuesday Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia began their official engagements with a meeting with Spanish businessmen participants in the business conference Spain-India.  Prior the conference, the Prince and Princess had a brief meeting with Sanayangba Chubatoshi Jamir, governor of the state of Maharastra, and with representatives of Indian’s enterprises. Once the meeting finished, they presided over the conference Spain-India in the Crystal Room Central at the Taj Mahal Hotel

“India is a great and friendly country for which Spaniards feel a very special and growing admiration, respect and sympathy” Prince Felipe said, and added “For me personally, India bares great childhood memories and so I always feel very happy when ever I have the chance to come back, like today together with the Princess; even though this one is truly a very short visit with no time to enjoy the wonders India has to offer.”

At the evening the Prince and Princess of Asturias along with the Spanish ambassador in India, Ion de la Riva Guzmán de Frutos, met with the Spaniards living in Mumbai. Read more…

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Two Royal Nonagenarians – Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg and Emmanuelle de Dampierre, Duchess of Segovia, celebrated their respective 93rd and 96th birthdays recently.

Count Carl Johan Bernadotte was born as Prince Carl Johan Arthur of Sweden, Duke of Dalarna was born on October 31, 1916 as the fifth and youngest child of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf (later King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden) and Crown Princess Margaret of Connaught.

courtesy of thepeerage.com

He had 3 older brothers – Gustav Adolf (born 1906), Sigvard (born 1907) and Bertil (born 1912), and a sister – Ingrid (born 1910). In 1920, when Carl Johan was only 3 years old, Crown Princess Margaret died of an infection following surgery; she was 8 months pregnant with her sixth child.

In 1946, Prince Carl Johan married Elin Wijkmark. Upon the marriage, Carl Johan lost his succession rights and renounced all titles as his wife was not of equal rank, thus making the marriage morganatic. Carl Johan and Elin didn’t have any biological issue but they adopted two children:

Monica Kristina Margaretha Bernadotte (born March 5, 1951). She was adopted in 1951. Monica married Johan Peder Grefve Bonde af Björnö in 1976: they have 3 children – Ebba Kristina (born October 20, 1980), Marianne Cecilia (born September 29, 1982) and Carl Johan (born April 14, 1984). Monica and Johan Peder divorced in 1997.

Christian Carl Henning Bernadotte (born December 3, 1949). He was adopted in 1950. Christian married Marianne Jenny in 1980: they have 3 children – Christina Margaretha (born May 28, 1983), Richard Carl (born June 8, 1985) and Philip Carl (born May 18, 1988).

In 1951, Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg created Carl Johan Count of Wisborg. Following the death of Elin in 1987, Count Carl Johan married Countess Gunnilla Marianne Lindberg Wachtmeister af Johannishus on September 29, 1988.

Count Carl Johan is Queen Victoria’s last surviving great-grandchild. Should he live until June 29, 2011, he will surpass his elder brother Sigvard as the longest lived of Queen Victoria’s male descendants.

Victoire Jeanne Joséphine Emmanuelle (Emanuela) de Dampierre was born on November 8, 1913 to Don Roger de Dampierre, 2nd Duke of San Lorenzo, Viscount of Dampierre, Nobleman of Viterbo and Donna Vittoria Ruspoli (daughter of Emanuele Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Poggio Suasa and Mary Curtiss).

Read more…

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His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, ruler of the Emirates, King of Spain Juan Carlos, Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf, Crown Prince of Bahrain Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa and other Sheikhs all met at the the Yas Circuit on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi to watch the Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday November 1st. The winners of the race were awarded trophies by Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed.

Interview with King Juan Carlos of Spain:

View a gallery of the royals at the event here.

dazzling Spanish Royals, Swedish Royals, UAE Royals Carl XVI Gustaf, Grand Prix, King Juan Carlos, Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed, Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, Sheikh Salman al Khalifa, Sport

On Monday the 26th, the former Head of the Household of H.M. the King, Don Sabino Fernandez Campo, Count of Latores, died in Madrid. He was a very beloved man in Spain, and was 91 years old.

View the image at El Mundo

Don Sabino was born in Oviedo on March 17, 1918. After a military career, he started his work at the Royal House in 1977 as General Secretary and from 1990 to 1993, he become the Head of the Househld. He developed an important role in the Spanish life as the Head of the Household. He made main decisions in Royal Family’s institutional work, and he was a key person in Prince Felipe’s education.

He was the closest man to King Juan Carlos during the Spanish state coup on the 23rd of February 1981, when almost 200 members of the Guardia Civil stormed the Congreso de los Diputados and staged a coup while Congress was in the process of electing a new Prime Minister.

Don Sabino was great defender of democracy during those difficult moments and a very loyal person. “My role always has been secondary; it’s been characterized for being always next to someone, never above. To be secondary is never to want occupy the principal position, but to advise well and to be always at service,” he said about himself.

On 1992, King Juan Carlos granted the nobility title of Count of Latores for his “long and brilliant career of out-standing, military and civil services to Spain”.

The Count of Latores was buried yesterday in Oviedo, his homeland. Today the Royal Family will hold a funeral at Pardo Palace church, which will be attended by Don Sabino’s relatives and the Royal Family.

Paty Spanish Royals Death, King Juan Carlos, Royal Staff

Last week the Princess of Asturias attended a series of events during the Prince of Asturias Awards. As always her fashion choices were heavily scrutinised by royal watchers. During the three days of engagements, Letizia choose to wear the designs of royal favourite Felipe Varela.

On arrival in Asturias, Letizia combined a grey shift dress with a black Burberry coat and one of her favourite Burberry bags. image The simple dress was in the classic style which the Princess favours. image Later that evening at a musical concert, Letizia dazzled in a recycled Varela creation of a blue silk blouse worn with a short black skirt which had small blue daisy detailing on the hem. Her towering blue platforms were from Magrit. image On the following day, Letizia choose another plain light grey dress which was worn with a black belt and a favourite pair of suede Magrit platforms. image

At the award cermony in the evening Letizia wore a stunning midnight blue sequin encrusted dress with a simple cardigan. image Letizia accessorised with matching blue Magrit shoes and a clutch bag. image On the final day of engagements the Princess wore a casual tweed jacket from Felipe Varela which she clinched in at the waist with a tiny belt. Unusually the Princess wore flat boots at the event. image

For more information of the Prince of Asturias Awards 2009 go to this thread.

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On Friday 23rd, the 2009 Prince of Asturias Awards took place at Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, Asturias.

View the image at Casa Real

At 18:25, the Prince and Princess of Asturias arrived at theatre to preside over the ceremony. They were accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Sofia, who always attends the ceremony, and by HRH Princess Alia of Jordan, a special guest who for the first time attended the event. Both watched the ceremony form the royal box.

The Prince and Princess took their seats at the Presidential table along with the President of the Principality of Asturias, Mr. Vicente Alvarez Areces, and the President of the Prince of Asturias Foundation, Mr. Matias Rodriguez Inciarte. The ceremony started with the playing of the national anthem, played by the City of Oviedo Bagpipe Band. After a brief speech by the President of the Foundation; Ismail Kadaré, José Narro, Margaret Chan and Klaus Wowereit gave thanking speeches.

View the image at Casa Real

A special and emotive one, was Ismail Kadaré speech. “During that glacial age when no-one traveled between my country and Spain, a solitary gentleman crossed the impassable frontier as often as he wished, spurning the world’s laws. You know who I am referring to: Don Quixote,” he said.

The award winners left their seats and walked to the President’s table, to be handed the Award by the Prince. Afterward the Prince gave his speech, considered one of his most important speeches of the year, in which he devoted a few words to this year laureates. HRH also give thanks to “the people of Asturias and to others parts of Spain, and event too many from abroad who accompany us to make this day a great celebration of culture and of concord”. Read more…

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This evening the 2009 Prince of Asturias Award grand presentation ceremony will take place. More than a thousand journalists from more than a hundred media stations worldwide are accredited to cover the XXIX Prince of Asturias Awards.

For those interested in watching the whole ceremony, it will be broadcast live on La 1 TV, and the 24 Hour Channel of TVE. Also foreign medias will broadcast it to their countries, the European Association of Public Service Broadcasters, Eurovision, the Television of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Euronews will also broadcast part of the grand presentation ceremony. The Mexican radio channel Grupo Radiocentro will also broadcast from the Campoamor Theatre in their programme “De una a tres”, chaired by journalist Jacobo Zabludovsky.

The Ceremony will start at 6:30pm, but prior that, at 6:15pm TVE will broadcast the departure from Reconquista Hotel of the prize winners and the Prince and Princess of Asturias to Campoamor Theatre, where the Ceremony will take place.

The Prince of Asturias Foundation has conferred its awards since 1981. The principal intention is to acknowledge scientific, technical, cultural, social, and humanitarian work carried out by institutions, individuals, and groups of people whose achievements are exemplary at an international level.

This year the laureates with the 2009 Prince of Asturias awards are:

Norman Foster, Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts

World Health Organization, Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation

David Attenborough, Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences

The National Autonomous University of Mexico, Prince of Asturias for Communication and Humanities

Martin Cooper and Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research.

Ismail Kadare, Prince of Asturias Award for Letters

Yelena Isinbayeva, Prince of Asturias Award for Sports

The City of Berlin, Prince of Asturias Award for Concord.

For more information please visit this thread

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 The President of the Republic of Lebanon, General Michel Suleiman, and his wife, Wafaa Suleiman, arrived yesterday in Madrid to start a two-day state visit to Spain upon the invitation of Their Majesties, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

View the image at Casa Real

The Presidential couple was welcomed with state honours by the King and Queen of Spain at Pardo Palace, where they will reside during their stay in Spain. Afterward, a private lunch was hosted by the King and Queen at Zarzuela Palace, which was also attended by the Prince and Princess of Asturias and the Presidential couple’s eldest daughter, Rita Suleiman, and her husband Wissam Baroudi.

That night, the traditional gala dinner took place at the Royal Palace, in honor of the Lebanese President and his wife which was attended by representatives of both governments. President Suleiman and the First Lady were honoured by the Spanish government with the Spanish Order of Isabel de Catolica, while the Spanish Royals were honoured with the Lebanese Order of Merit.

View the image at Casa Real

During his speech at the dinner, King Juan Carlos spoke of the Lebanese president: “Spain always followed closely the evolution of the political Lebanese situation, and has contributed with our best efforts to your country to overcome the challenges and tears of its most recent history. The commitment of Spain to Lebanon is wide and solid.”

Today Queen Sofia and the Lebanese First Lady will visit the Alzheimers Centre of the Queen Sofia Foundation and at night the return reception in honour of the King and Queen of Spain will take place at Pardo Palace.

Tomorrow, the Presidential Couple will leave Spain.

Paty Spanish Royals King Juan Carlos, Lebanon, Orders, President Suleiman, Queen Sofia, State Visit

View the image at Casa Real

 Today must have been a special day for Princess Letizia, as she returned to her homeland, Asturias. As you all surely remember, she was born in Oviedo, its capital. By the way, next Friday the Prince and the Princess of Asturias will be there again to attend the presentation ceremony of the 2009 Princes of Asturias Awards which is without doubt the major annual event they attend. Oviedo is already waiting for its Prince and Princess and its prizewinners…but everything in good time.

Today the Princess was in Candás, a beautiful fishing village in the north of Asturias famous for its Internatinal Sadine Festival (this blogger can testify to that) to visit the San Felix school. This centre is part of EducaRed program which is promoted by Fundación Telefónica and whose main goal is to apply Internet as a tool of innovation and pedagogic training among teachers, parents and pupils of primary and secondary education, baccalaureate and formative cycles of average degree, to improve the quality of their education and to encourage the equality of opportunities. Currently in Spain more than 12,000 schools are registered in this program.

See you in Oviedo next week!

Paty Spanish Royals Children, Education, Internet, Princess Letizia, Princess of Asturias

 Yesterday the Queen of Spain, as Executive Chairman of the Queen Sofia Foundation, attended a work meeting with the Minister of Science and Innovation, Carmen Garmendia, and directors of Instituto Carlos III at Zarzuela Palace.

The main issue of the meeting was to inform the Queen on the Minister’s advances and projects in research of Alzheimer’s disease in Spain, as well as the plans which will allow Spain to join the EU Joint Programming in Research on Alzheimers.

Spain will be a part of the Joint Program in Research Direction Committee together with France, Germany and England. According to the Minister, Spain’s main work will be the research in genetics of Alzheimer’s disease, the design of a unique animal model in Europe, the research in pharmacological interventions and research into medical care and technologies of help to dependence and disability.

On 17 May 1977, the Queen Sofia Foundation was established with a small capital personally provided by H.M. the Queen. Its aims are charitable and cultural, and its nature is non-profit and permanent. These days its bigger project is the Alzheimer Project which faces the consequences of Alzheimer’s disease on patients and their families.

Currently the foundation has completed its Alzheimer Centre, by delivering the finished buildings to the Public Administrations with all the necessary equipment and in full working order.

Paty Spanish Royals Alzheimers Project, Health, Queen Sofia, Queen Sofia Foundation