This year, the month of March brings us Spring and Easter, symbols of hope, rejuvenation and renewal.
The weather warms up, the plants revive and begin to bloom, and we shed our heavy winter clothes. It is time to watch the tulips and the crocuses peep through the ground; to freshen our wardrobe with lighter clothes in refreshing shades of baby blue, pink, lime green and yellow; or to just daydream of warm summer days which seem more possible and more within our grasp.
Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. Children look forward to the Easter Bunny, Easter egg hunts that will have them searching high and low for tin foiled chocolate eggs to fill up their baskets, chocolate hens and marshmallow eggs.
Since I live in North America, I've described events familar to me, but I realize that if you live in the southern hemisphere, you will soon feel winter's cold bite and that Easter traditions are as varied as there are countries. Hovever you celebrate Easter and welcome the new season, I hope it's a good one.
Mandy
Royal Forums Newsletter Editor
PROFILE OF THE MONTH
Our profile this month is on one of Europe most charming and eligible bachelors: HSH Prince Albert of Monaco
THE ROYAL CALENDAR BIRTHDAYS
Timothy Laurence (1 March 1955)
HRH Edward The earl of Wessex (10 March 1964)
HSH Albert Prince of Monaco, Marquis of Baux (14 March 1958)
HSH Constantin Prince of Liechtenstein (15 March 1972)
Claus-Casimir Count van Oranje-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (21 March 2004)
HRH Maria Teresa Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, née Mestre y Batista (22 March 1956)
HRH Princess Eugenie of York (23 March 1990)
Philipp von Lattorff (25 March 1968)
ANNIVERSARIES
Wedding anniversary of HRH Elena Infante of Spain and Jaime de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada (18 March 1995)
OTHER DATES AND EVENTS OF NOTES
Crown princess Victoria's nameday where she is greated at Stockholm castle by people (12 March 2005)
The Monaco Rose Ball attended by the Royal Family.
The Swedish King will travel to Kenya to study the UN’s environment programme
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden’s Visit to Australia
Crown Prince Frederik & Crown Princess Mary of Denmark’s State Visit to Australia (February 27 - March 11)
Prince of Wales’s Visit to Australia
Italian State Vsit to the UK
State Visit from Lithuania to Sweden (31 March - 1 April)
King Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin and Queen Tuanku Fauziah of Malaysia’s State Visits to China and Japan (28 February - 13 March)
Did you know that an average of 6,015 people visit TRF on a daily basis? Or that our 5,453 have written a combined total of 35,252 private messages to each other? And that 315 of our members have an avatar affiliated with their account and that we have (at present) 4,099 different threads? To learn more about our ever growing forum or find out who our top 25 posters are, check out our Community Stats at http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/statistic.php.
One of the many new functions introduced to TRF recently is the Photo Gallery, which allows members to upload special images which can be viewed as thumbnails. Separate galleries for each of the royal houses for which there are separate forums. TRF members have already uploaded more than 1,000 images. Random images from the Photo Gallery now appear to the left of each new page you view at TRF, regardless of the forum or the thread topic. When uploading images to the Photo Gallery, please provide an accurate and respectful name for the image which reflects the individuals or circumstances in the image. Other members viewing the images may not necessarily be familiar with the royals in the images (especially when they appear randomly), and such images are a good way to pique the interest of other members into learning more about other royal families. You can view the great Photo Gallery here: http://www.theroyalforums.com/gallery/.
Be sure to check out our Avatar Collections on a regular basis. We are fortunate to have a team of very creative Super Moderators who continuously keep an eye out for great avatar-worthy images as they view threads, transforming these images into spectacular avatars with a variety of different artistic treatments. A very big thanks to norwegianne, Anna R and Elsa M for the latest crop of avatars which include new avatars of Crown Princess Mary attending several of February’s Danish fashion shows as well as her trip to Australia, the Prince and Princess of Asturias’ trip to South America as well as a recent skiing holiday, the engagements of Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Prince Floris and the recent Dutch royal family skiing holiday. If you have an image that you think would make a great avatar or a feel that your favourite royals aren’t represented in our avatar collections, please let us know here: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3757.
Take part in our Header Image Contest and design a new banner for TRF. Use any royals of your choosing to make TRF’s banner a standout. The deadline for the contest has been submitted so make your submissions here: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4871.
Please note that as per our Forum Posting Rules and Guidelines (http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4920), signatures should not exceed a maximum of four lines, including line breaks. Signatures that exceed this line count can be distracting, particularly when signatures are longer than posts. Signatures should also be of a reasonable font and size – before using larger-sized fonts, bold-faced fonts or a rainbow of colours, please consider how distracting your signature may look to other members.
ROYAL QUICK HITS
February proved to be the month of love as three long time couples announced their engagements. In Great Britain, much to the surprise of everyone around the world, Prince Charles announced his engagement to his longtime companion, Camilla Parker-Bowles. The wedding will take place April 8 at Windsor Guildhall. For more on the engagement, please see http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5163&page=1&pp=20 (this could be our longest continuous thread ever at more than 36 pages and over 700 posts!). We know that Robinson Valentine will design Camilla’s wedding outfit and that Philip Treacy will design her hat, but how would you like to see the wedding outfit to look? A colour, a cut, a style? Make your suggestions here: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5153&page=1
In the Netherlands, a double Dutch engagement was announced at Het Loo. Princess Margriet and her husband, Pieter van Vollenhoven happily announced the engagement of their two youngest sons, Prince Pieter-Christiaan to Anita van Eijk and Prince Floris to Aimée Söhngen. Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Anita’s marriage will be married in August, and Floris and Aimee’s wedding will take place in October. Neither prince sought government permission for their marriages in order to keep the Dutch royal house small. For more on the engagements, visit http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5245&page=1. News and Picture threads have now been created for these couples; http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5251 for Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Anita van Eijk and http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5252&page=1 for Prince Floris and Aimée Söhngen. Have your say about how Anita and Aimee should look on their wedding day here: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5265.
Australia is the royal destination this month with no less than three future heirs to the throne visiting the land down under. Crown Prince Frederik and (his home grown bride) Crown Princess Mary of Denmark are on a 12-day visit, going from sporty (yacht race with Mary as the winner) to glam (Red Cross fundraiser and state dinner) in a matter of days. See more of Mary’s homecoming at http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5147&page=1&pp=20.
Prince Charles also stopped in Australia during his tour of tsunami-ravaged South East Asia. The Prince of Wales was last in Australia 11 years ago. You can learn more about his trip in his latest News and Picture thread, http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5255&page=1.
Crown Princess Victoria will abandon the cold and snow of Stockholm for the sand and surf of Australia to take part in a month-long celebration of Swedish design, fashion, music, travel and all things Swedish. You can get the full scoop on her trip here: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4385.
The Norwegian monarchy’s centennial celebrations continue this month with King Harald and Queen Sonja paying a visit to the United States, with stops in New York City and Texas. The King and Queen met up with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his wife Nane Annan, opened an art exhibit of Norwegian works including an Andy Warhol-esque portrait of Queen Sonja, and they danced all night at a ball hosted at Scandinavian House. Check out more of their trip at http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=182022#post182022.
Do royal-born princesses face less public scrutiny and criticism than princesses who became such by virtue of their marriages? Do Infantas Elena and Cristina of Spain face less criticism and given more freedom and leniency for their actions than their sister-in-law Princess Letizia? Does Princess Martha Louise of Norway fare better in the public eye than Crown Princess Mette-Marit? Or is the media equally as harsh to all royals? Cast your vote in this poll and sound off on this topic at http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5262.
This month marks the formal end to the 6 month separation of Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who announced their intention to divorce September 16. Will they reconcile? Will they get divorced? Find out here: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3618&page=1.
