Which Royals Are Good Friends?


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TLLK said:
Honestly I believe that Maxima is closer to her European heirs due to the fact that they're on the same continent. It's easier for W-A and Maxima to invite them for private weekend events at Het Loo or to go see them.(There have been more photos of the Dutch royals with their European counterparts than with the Japanese ones.) With Japan, it's not as relaxed as the European courts.
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The father of Crown Princess Masako is a Lord Justice at the Interantional Court of Justice in The Hague, reason for her to make frequent trips to the Netherlands. Once the Crown Prince and his family stayed for a holiday at the mediaeval hunting lodge of the Dutch royal family. As the late Prince Claus (spouse of Princess Beatrix, father of King Willem-Alexander) suffered severe depressions from 1982 until his death in 2004, there is a lot of empathy and understanding towards the Japanese Crown Princess. Reason for the couple to attend the three days of festivities around the Investiture of the King in 2013. So I think the relationship with the Japanese CP couple is intensive.
 
Somebody said:
Charlene seems to have said the same about Máxima but I haven't seen anything that suggests even remotely that (she even didn't attend Willem-Alexander's inauguration). So, so far Charlene's close relationships with other royals mainly seem to be wishful thinking on her part (or her wish to please the media of the country she is talking with by stressing good relationships with one of their royals).
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I've been observing the former Charlene Lynette Wittstock for almost a decade. I honestly don't believe she cares about closeness or relationships with any of her Royal peers, still less about pleasing their respective medias. That might have been true for about the first year of her marriage but now she can't seem to be bothered. She ducked out of King Harald's birthday celebrations without even an explanation.:sad:

Her world seems to revolve around her babies, her charities and her roots to preserving her ties to her South African homeland, period
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
I've been observing the former Charlene Lynette Wittstock for almost a decade. I honestly don't believe she cares about closeness or relationships with any of her Royal peers, still less about pleasing their respective medias. That might have been true for about the first year of her marriage but now she can't seem to be bothered. She ducked out of King Harald's birthday celebrations without even an explanation.:sad:

Her world seems to revolve around her babies, her charities and her roots to preserving her ties to her South African homeland, period
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Well good for Charlene for following her own path and pleasing no one but herself. I think her priorities are sound.
 
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Duc_et_Pair said:
The father of Crown Princess Masako is a Lord Justice at the Interantional Court of Justice in The Hague, reason for her to make frequent trips to the Netherlands. Once the Crown Prince and his family stayed for a holiday at the mediaeval hunting lodge of the Dutch royal family. As the late Prince Claus (spouse of Princess Beatrix, father of King Willem-Alexander) suffered severe depressions from 1982 until his death in 2004, there is a lot of empathy and understanding towards the Japanese Crown Princess. Reason for the couple to attend the three days of festivities around the Investiture of the King in 2013. So I think the relationship with the Japanese CP couple is intensive.
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Yes I agree with what you have shared regarding the Dutch and Japanese families, but I would argue that TM's European counterparts have more flexibility when it comes to "get-together" opportunity than their Japanese ones. IMO distance is not the only thing that keeps the Imperial family apart from their European peers. They live a far more structured life based upon the protocol of the Imperial court.
 
The Scandi royals-Denmark, Sweden and Norway-seem to treat one another as family. It's really fun to watch them all together.

Pierre Casiraghi is good friends with Felix of Luxembourg. They attended each other's lavish weddings. Guillaume was on hand for Prince Albert's Enthronement ceremony in 2005 and I remember seeing a photo of Gui, Andrea and Pierre enjoying some type of sporting event at Stade Louis II during the week of the ceremony.

Speaking of Guillaume, before his marriage he seemed to enjoy a brother/sister type closeness with CP Victoria of Sweden, and the same with Mette-Marit of Norway.

No idea if he is still that close to the two of them but he certainly was at one point.

Princess Caroline of Hanover is good friends with GD Henri of Luxembourg....I have seen old photos of them socializing in their late teens/early 20's. At Albert's wedding night gala Henri and MT were seated at the family table.. Henri and Caroline were in animated conversation at one point.

During the lifetime of their late Majesties Baudouin and Fabiola of Belgium they were quite good friends with the Japanese Imperial family. Baudouin and Fabiola hosted the Japanese royals at their summer home Villa Astrid in Spain on several occasions. The frail Empress of Japan made the long journey to Belgium for Fabiola's funeral and made a memorable, striking impression on everyone. Baudouin and Fabiola were also very close to Juan Carlos and Sofia of Spain. The two couples went sailing together almost every summer in the 1960's and 1970's.
 
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Moonmaiden23 said:
Speaking of Guillaume, before his marriage he seemed to enjoy a brother/sister type closeness with CP Victoria of Sweden, and the same with Mette-Marit of Norway.

No idea if he is still that close to the two of them but he certainly was at one point.
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I don't remember him being close to Victoria but could his closeness to Mette-Marit be partly due to his relationship with Haakon's cousin (queen Sonja's niece) Pia Haraldsen in the early years of MM's marriage to Haakon?
 
Somebody said:
I don't remember him being close to Victoria but could his closeness to Mette-Marit be partly due to his relationship with Haakon's cousin (queen Sonja's niece) Pia Haraldsen in the early years of MM's marriage to Haakon?
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I think that's exactly true....he reportedly met Pia at Mette-Marit and Haakon's wedding.

There was a photo of him on this Forum walking on the beach with Victoria smoking a cigarette when he was in his late teens early 20's. Also I saw brief video clip of Marta-Louise's wedding to Ari Behn where Gui was sort of standing off alone to the side and Victoria pulled him into the group where she was chatting, to include him. It was very sweet.?

When Victoria christened Estelle she made an exception for Guillaume by allowing him to bring Countess Stephanie de Lannoy, to whom he had only just become engaged. Normally it is against protocol for fiances/girlfriends to attend events like that.

Victoria made the same exception for Albert and Charlene, who were not even engaged yet. when they attended her wedding to Daniel.

Victoria attended Albert's Enthronement in 2005.
 
Princess Larisa said:
I would assume they all still get along well:
https://theroyalcorrespondent.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/norway.jpg
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I interpreted that as a continuation of the 'crown princely couple' retreats (but without the former crown princely couples of the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain as they had become kings and queens), nonetheless, it is good that the Scandinavian royals made a point of continuing them by including Guillaume and Stephanie in their meetings. So, yes, I do think they stay in touch and get along well; not sure how 'close' they are (one-on-one; or couple-to-couple), but close enough I would guess.
 
One thing I have always wondered: do other royal families look down on the Monaco royal family?

Also is it true that Romanian royals are all but reinstated? Is the same true of the Serbian and Bulgarian royal families?
 
:previous: I am not sure that they do "look down" on the Grimaldi anymore....Albert is invited to every single major Royal event as were his parents Grace and Rainier.

Every remaining Royal house attended Grace's funeral and Rainier's as well.

The Grimaldis are "only" Serene Highnesses and not Royal highness but I think that counted for more in the past than it does now. All the Royal/Princely houses are an endangered, shrinking species. Every one of them has welcomed commoners into their midst.

None can claim superiority to any other these days-IMO.

In any case, Albert and his family are one of an extremely small handful of rulers who are not dependent upon the goodwill of press and public to stay on their thrones. They are wealthy beyond belief without taxing their subjects. They don't have to account for their time or the way they spend their money. They can do as they please, and that-as well as their glamour and the high drama of their lives- is exactly part of the reason I love watching them;).

I don't imagine they are losing any sleep about being "looked down upon" by the others if they indeed are.
 
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:previous: I am not sure if any foreign Royals attended Margaret's service...it was not a State funeral.
 
:previous: Unless they are/were close personal friends of the deceased Royal yes-that's the way it works.

Foreign Royals usually attend funerals overseas by invitation only.
 
Then Princess Margrethe attended part of her secondary school and university years in the UK.

She spent a year at North Foreland Lodge, a boarding school for girls in Hampshire, England,[5] and later studied prehistoric archaeology at Girton College, Cambridge, during 1960–1961, political science at Aarhus University between 1961 and 1962, attended the Sorbonne in 1963, and was at the London School of Economics in 1965.[6] She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.[2]
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From Wikipedia
 
Well, perhaps it's time to go through (what I consider to be) the closest royal friendship of them all. - So, here's a summary of the special relationship between Queen Margrethe II and Queen Sonja:

Their conversations:

They became friends right after Sonja's wedding to Crown Prince Harald in 1968. - And both Queens have said in interviews with Norwegian media over the years that they can talk about everything.
Here is a quote from Queen Sonja's speech during the 80th Birthday gala dinner at the Royal Palace in Oslo last year:
Dear Queen Margrethe, you have been a vital support all since I became part of this family. In addition to being an invaluable adviser, you are a close friend with whom I share common interests like nature and the arts. Thank you so much for all our walks and talks, and for your ability to discover comic aspects on special occations!
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Their skiing/trekking tours:

Well, there have been quite a few of them over the years - and here's a dramatic story from 1985:

Nettavisen article from 2005 - translated by me:
Dronninger i livsfare - Nettavisen
In a new book, Queen Margrethe talks about a dramatic ski trip together with Queen Sonja. The Danish Queen believes the trip could have cost them their lives.

Queen Margrethe released the book "Margrethe" on the occasion of her 65th birthday. Here she tells (among other things) about the ski trips with Queen Sonja.

One of the trips, 33 years ago, is a dramatic memory. Then the two Queens were on tour with the mountain hiker and war hero Claus Helberg. Along the way they were amazed by the weather-changes, and when they reached the cabin where they were to stay, they were completely worn out.

"In that case, under no circumstances could anyone come and save us. I was excellently aware that if someone had to give up, it could really be a matter of life and death,'' she says, according to Dagbladet.

According to Queen Margrethe, this event has led to her and Queen Sonja having a very special relationship.

''You get a very special relationship with people you've tested boundaries with. There is a special kind of glue in such a friendship.''
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Yes, I know we are not allowed to translate entire articles, but this one was very short (and it's not a direct translation).
And yes, I tried to put up a google translation, but the result was pretty bad, so I dropped it.

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Claus Helberg (who was mentioned in the article) was with them on several trips, and when he turned 80 in 1999, both Queens were present in Oslo to celebrate him.

Read more about him here:

Claus Helberg - Wikipedia

Claus Helberg, 84, War Hero In the Norwegian Resistance - New York Times

Photos from his 80th birthday - with his two queenely friends:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sf0a0661
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sf098f41
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But back to the two Queens and their friendship. - Here are some photos of their ski trips:

Winter holiday in Gausdal (Norway) with King Harald, Queen Sonja, QMII, Haakon, Märtha, Frederik and Joachim in 1979, but no pictures of Henrik:
Kronprinsfamilien i Gausdal, mars 1979 - NTB Scanpix gallery with 9 photos

Winter holiday in Alvdal (Norway) with QMII, Queen Sonja and Claus Helberg in 1990:
Dronning Sonja og Dronning Margrethe på Alvdal 1990 - NTB Scanpix gallery with 8 photos

Winter holiday in Northern Norway with QMII, Queen Sonja and Claus Helberg in 1993:
Dronning Sonja og Dronning Margrethe i Nord-Norge 1993 - NTB Scanpix gallery with 10 photos

QMII and Queen Sonja on a visit to Greenland in 1994. - Two photos:
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sf0053ca
https://scanpix.no/spWebApp/preview/editorial/sf005413

What they do when they are together:

Well, QMII (in contrast to the 80-year-old Queen Sonja) is no longer able to go on skiing/trekking tours, but she still spends her winter holidays in Gausdal (Norway).

QMII's winter holiday 2017:
When the NRF arrived back in Norway from their winter holiday in South Africa (where they had celebrated the King's 80th birthday), QMII spent her last day in Norway, with Queen Sonja in Oslo.
They first visited the Munch Museum, followed by a trip to the National Opera and Ballet (where they looked at costumes and stuff).
How do I know this? Because Queen Sonja said it in a television interview with NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) in July to celebrate her 80th Birthday.
Those who understand Scandinavian can watch Queen Sonja talk about it here - from 20:20 in this video:
Gåva frå Kongen - Dronning Sonja fyller 80 år - NRK1

QMII's winter holiday 2018:
King Harald (who is a bit frail now) and Queen Sonja were in Uruguay to rest and prepare for their state visit to Argentina. - So there was no meeting between the two Queens this year.

Royal Central article (from March) about it:
Queen Margrethe on holiday in Norway – Royal Central
Queen Sonja would definitely like to receive her good friend, Queen Margrethe, on her winter holiday in Norway, but Queen Sonja has travelled abroad on vacation herself. The Queen will, therefore, not this time meet any of her Norwegian colleagues and good friends before King Harald and Queen Sonja travel to Argentina on state visits.

“Unfortunately, Queen Sonja is unable to see her good friend Queen Margrethe, as Queen Sonja is currently on a long-planned private trip abroad. So she is not at all in Norway during Queen Margrethe’s visit,” said a statement from the Royal Court to the Danish magazine Billed Bladet.

Queen Margrethe and Queen Sonja have a close friendship. Every year they have gone skiing together, but in he recent years the Danish queen has not gone skiing anymore. Then the two friends have, therefore, been observed together at various museums in Oslo, Norway’s capital.
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Thank you Royal Norway for this insight into the friendship between Queen Margrethe and Queen Sonja. The links to the photos are great :flowers:
I'm sure QM must find it hard that because of her back problems she can no longer ski (or do ballet). Queen Sonja is still amazingly fit for her age and is a good advert for the Norwegian outdoors way of life ?
 
I liked during the Cambridges visit to Norway when King described them as family. It was such a lovely picture of the king escorting Catherine into the black tie dinner.

I realise the Cambridges aren’t ‘friends’ with the Norwegian king and queen but it was nice to see.
 
ROYAL NORWAY said:
Well, perhaps it's time to go through (what I consider to be) the closest royal friendship of them all. - So, here's a summary of the special relationship between Queen Margrethe II and Queen Sonja:

Their conversations:

They became friends right after Sonja's wedding to Crown Prince Harald in 1968. - And both Queens have said in interviews with Norwegian media over the years that they can talk about everything. [...]
Click to expand...

I was not at all aware of the closeness between Queen Sonja and Queen Margrethe, but in view of their exceptionally similar interests and the Scandinavian royal families' friendship, I guess it was to be expected! Perhaps the similar situations of their marriages (Sonja being the first non-royal to marry a modern king of Norway and Margrethe being the first modern monarch of Denmark to marry a non-royal) brought them even closer?
 
LibrarianDaisy said:
Thank you Royal Norway for this insight into the friendship between Queen Margrethe and Queen Sonja. The links to the photos are great :flowers:
I'm sure QM must find it hard that because of her back problems she can no longer ski (or do ballet). Queen Sonja is still amazingly fit for her age and is a good advert for the Norwegian outdoors way of life ?
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You're very welcome! :flowers:

I forgot to write that the dramatic event from 1985 is far from the only time these two have been in trouble (with the weather, I mean) during their skiing/trekking trips. - But I think it's the only time there's been a real matter of ''life and death'' (as QMII said it).

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Rudolph said:
I liked during the Cambridges visit to Norway when King described them as family. It was such a lovely picture of the king escorting Catherine into the black tie dinner.

I realise the Cambridges aren’t ‘friends’ with the Norwegian king and queen but it was nice to see.
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No, the Cambridges (due to the huge age gap and other reasons) are of course not friends with King Harald and Queen Sonja, but you could clearly see (from the Norwegian television coverage) that the King and Kate really enjoyed each other's company during the dinner at the Royal Palace.

And King Harald seemed to be very impressed with the Heads Together campaign (not that suprising since he himself has been talking about issues like this for several years, already). - He said this in his speech:
You have become engaged in important areas that matter to many people. For example, your Heads Together initiative is encouraging greater openness about mental health. Tomorrow, I understand that you will be meeting actors from the TV series SKAM. They too have raised awareness about mental health problems among young people – and may have helped to reduce the stigma that sadly often surrounds these issues.
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Tatiana Maria said:
I was not at all aware of the closeness between Queen Sonja and Queen Margrethe, but in view of their exceptionally similar interests and the Scandinavian royal families' friendship, I guess it was to be expected! Perhaps the similar situations of their marriages (Sonja being the first non-royal to marry a modern king of Norway and Margrethe being the first modern monarch of Denmark to marry a non-royal) brought them even closer?
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Mostly due to the bolded part, I think.

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And now let's go through King Harald and Queen Sonja's relationship with some of the royals:

With QMII:
As stated in my previous post, one of Queen Sonja's closest friends.
Also close to King Harald.
They also share many friends, which includes Lensgreve (feudal count) Preben Ahlefeldt-Laurvig and his Norwegian born wife Lensgrevinde (feudal countess) Brita Ahlefeldt-Laurvig (Danish nobility).

With QEII:
Friendly, but not close - they meet her sometimes for tea (as QMII also does) when they are in London.

With KCG and Queen Silvia:
Very friendly with each other, but I won't call them friends (they are more colleagues, I think).

With Charles/Camilla and Anne:
Well, despite the age gap, they are pretty close.
How? By sometimes spending time with them personally in the UK (at Highgrove and Gatcombe Park).
Are they friends? That depends on how you define a friendship.

With the former Dutch, Belgian and Spanish regent couples:
Friendly, but not what I will call close friends with any of them.
 
From last year's 80th birthday concert for Queen Sofia, we can tell that her clique includes Tsaritsa Margarita of Bulgaria, Queen Noor of Jordan, Empress Farah of Iran, Princess Anne, Dowager Duchess of Calabria, her sister-in law, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece and sister, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark and her bestfriend Tatiana Fruchaud née Princess Tatiana Radziwiłł.
 
theroyalfly said:
From last year's 80th birthday concert for Queen Sofia, we can tell that her clique includes Tsaritsa Margarita of Bulgaria, Queen Noor of Jordan, Empress Farah of Iran, Princess Anne, Dowager Duchess of Calabria, her sister-in law, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece and sister, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark and her bestfriend Tatiana Fruchaud née Princess Tatiana Radziwiłł.
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I think Queen Sofia is also friends with Queen Margrethe II, and also has some closeness to Queen Silvia of Sweden.
 
Queen Sofia is also very close friend to princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, according to the Dutch royal magazines, princess Beatrix sometimes bring a private visit to Spain to see the Spanish royals & some of the Spanish noble families are close to the Dutch royals.
Every year the king & queen & their daughters have a private holidays to Sevilla.
 
Also with the Dutch royals, specially princess Beatrix and king Harald of Norway and also the King & Queen of the Netherlands and CP Haakon & CP Mette Marit. So, there is a lot of close friendships b/w different royals. Queen Maxima & Queen Mathilde of Belgium, CP Mary of Denmark all according to the biography (photobook) of Queen Maxima.
 
Prince Albert of Monaco seems to have a good relationship with most other houses
At the recent Service of Thanksgiving for the late Duke of Edinburgh the Prince had a good catch up with quite a few members of the extended British Royal Family.

King Felipe VI of Spain and his mother Queen Sofia too.
 
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