Zara Phillips, the daughter of HRH The Princess Royal, made a quick visit to Australia earlier this week to attend the 2009 Emirates Melbourne Cup at the Flemington Race Course in Victoria.

View the image at the Daily Mail

Zara attended the event on Tuesday November 3rd as one of the year’s international guests (others included Good Charlotte rockers Benji and Joel Madden), and was a prominent fixture in the Birdcage (the place to be). Wearing a royal blue frock by American brand Thread Social and a resplendid fascinator by British milliner Philip Treacy, Zara had no problems enjoying her day at the races and mingling with Australian celebrities.

“Ascot has a lot of rules about dress codes, so it’s nice to be able to be a bit more relaxed and for women to able to wear skirts that are a bit shorter,” Zara told a reporter from The Australian. And with some of the short skirts and questionable fashion choices at the Racecourse on the day, one could not be blamed if they missed the race that stops a nation and didn’t know that Shocking took out the Cup.

Later that evening, Zara was seen at Melbourne hot-spot Spice Market with a group of friends. She avoided being photographed, but was happy to chat with others at the post-Race party, including the winning jockey Corey Brown.

Click here to view Zara’s current events thread.

JessRulz British Royals Australia, Horse Racing, Zara Phillips

 HRH Crown Prince Frederik ended up in the drink of Sydney Harbour earlier today, during his 35+ Tasar sailing competition at the 2009 World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia. The 13-16°C weather in Sydney today created a chilly experience for the Prince.

View the image at the Courier Mail

Due to strong winds between Point Piper and Mosman Bay, Frederik and his partner Chris Meehan saw their boat, Nanoq, capsize before they had even competed. The pair were not alone however, with several of their competitors also suffering a similar fate. Organisers later cancelled the day’s sailing, for the second day in a row. This means that all of the Prince’s races will be crammed into Thursday and Friday’s schedule.

Crown Prince Frederik arrived in Sydney on Saturday, before undergoing some last minute training on Sunday with his partner. On Monday the 12th, HRH visited the Sydney Acquatic Centre during the third day’s swimming events, where he met with Australian Olympian Geoff Huegill. The Prince received some vocal competition from a Seven News reporter during a impromptu interview. When asked what he thought of the Australian hope of beating him in the race, Frederik laughed and said he was “glad to be the bait” in the spirit of the fun of the Games.

Prince Frederik also visited the athletics track, where he spoke with Australia’s oldest competitor in the Games, 100-year-old Ruth Frith. She later went on to win a gold medal in the shot put. Training was on the agenda for Tuesday, before and after the sailing competition was cancelled.

HRH will be in Sydney until October 16th. Click here to read more information about Frederik’s attendance at the WMG.

JessRulz Danish Royals Australia, Prince Frederik, Sailing, Sport

 The opening of Australia’s first Instituto Cervantes center was among the key highlights of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía’s latest state visit to Australia. The visit comes at the heels of the King and Queen’s state visit to neighboring New Zealand, which ended just a day before they arrived in Oz.

Click the image to see the photo at Reuters

They were greeted by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Australian opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull, and Governor-General Quentin Bryce as they arrived in Canberra. The welcoming ceremony featured a traditional aboriginal welcome, the first time for the Australian government to do so. PM Rudd has incorporated the traditional welcome into their formal government welcome ceremonies as part of their government’s efforts to build closer ties with the Aborigines, who were Australia’s original inhabitants.

Click the image to see the photo at Reuters

Thursday was the big day for Instituto Cervantes de Sydney. Located in Chippendale, the six-storey Federation-styled center is a long-awaited one, as Instituto has already established a number of centers in Asia-Pacific. “I am certain that this centre shall become a benchmark of communication and culture which will enrich the dynamic and cosmopolitan character of this admirable and very lovable city of Sydney,” King Juan Carlos remarked in Spanish during the opening (Sydney Morning Herald).

They were later escorted through a tour of the Royal Australian Navy Heritage Center in Garden Island. Queen Sofía also visited with musicians at Sydney’s famed landmark, the Opera House.

The last day was spent at a Spanish-Australian business summit. The meeting opens up trade opportunities for both countries, with a highlight on the defense industry. An Australian water corporation was also to sign a contract with two Spanish firms in the presence of the King, Australian Trade Secretary Anthony Byrne said.

This is the second state visit to Australia for the Spanish monarchs. Their first was in 1988, when they attended the Brisbane expo. The Spanish royal family also attended the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

TRF has pics and news articles about the visit, so do check the thread out.

RhapsodyBrat Spanish Royals Australia, King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, State Visit

 Twelve years ago the “Sculpture by the Sea” exhibition began on the shores of Bondi Beach in Australia, it then expanded to Perth’s shores in 2004. This year for the first time, it will also run in Denmark. The exhibition will open outside of Australia for the first time in a little under a week, when it opens in Århus, Denmark on June 5 and will run until the 28th of that month.

Click to see the image at SXS Denmark

TRH The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark have been instrumental in bringing the exhibition to Denmark, and they will attend the official opening at 2pm. The couple are said to have visited the Sydney exhibition during their early years together (assumedly, prior to their relationship being public knowledge), and it is for this reason that 18 months ago they began the process of having a “Sculpture by the Sea” exhibition in Denmark.

More than 20 Australian sculptors are expected to contribute to the exhibition, which will feature the work of approximately 60 sculptors in total. It will be accompanied by another Australian, musician Darren Hanlon will be performing in Århus during the exhibition, also at the request the the Crown Princely Couple. It is believed that the singer’s 2002 album was amongst those Mary sent to Frederik prior to her move to Europe. Hanlon’s work is described as “indie-folk”.

In Århus, the exhibition will be free to the public.

marmi Danish Royals Australia, Exhibition, Prince Frederik, Princess Mary

 The fifth Crown Princess Mary Scholarship was awarded by the Crown Princess yesterday, in a presentation ceremony at the University of Copenhagen.

Click to see the gallery from MSN

The two scholarships of 10,000DKK were presented to Rebecca James from the University of Queensland and Jeffrey Feng from the University of Sydney, both from Australia in accordance with the scholarship’s model. In her speech at the ceremony, Mary told the two Australian students that by “studying abroad you have a valuable opportunity to not only challenge yourself personally, but also develop new skills that will benefit you and others in future.”

Mary also praised the pair’s volunteer work, stating their “passion and extra personal resources to want to make a difference” is admirable. 

Recipient Ms James said of the award, “It feels too good to be true to be rewarded simply for being Australian and for being interested in studying fascinating international law electives – particularly since it feels like a dream come true just to be here in Denmark studying what I love for a semester,” when she was interviewed for her university’s online newspaper in February.

The Crown Princess Mary Scholarship was started as a wedding gift by the University of Copenhagen to the new Crown Princess in 2004, with 2005 being the first year it was presented. Students from the University of Copenhagen’s Australian partner universities can apply if they are studying either humanities, social science, science or economics, and have an interest in an exchange program to study in Denmark. The scholarship money goes toward helping with the students’ living costs while in Denmark. The scholarship is due to run in its current form until 2010.

Click here to read more about the scholarship at TRF.

JessRulz Danish Royals Australia, Awards, Education, Princess Mary

 Princess Eugenie is apparently finding it harder to quit smoking than she thought it would be. The young princess was seen lighting up as she wandered the shops of Sydney this week.

The princess is on her gap year after earning top grades in her classes. She is on vacation in Australia with a group of friends, looking just like any other student on break, except for her ever-present bodyguard.

Princess Eugenie has vowed early this year to kick her ‘smelly’ habit. She made the promise as a new year’s resolution. However, it’s clearly not as easy to fulfill as it was to make.

Maricar British Royals Australia, Princess Eugenie

Click the image to see more pictures from Daylife

As Queen Elizabeth II’s representative, the Princess Royal today visited survivors of the Black Saturday bushfires in Wandong, north of Melbourne.

Anne visited Wandong’s fire station, primary school and a relief centre where she spoke with those who lost their homes in the fires, along with the brave CFA firefighters who helped to extinguish the inferno.

Following her visit to Wandong, Princess Anne was scheduled to visit one of the worst-hit areas in the region; but media were not permitted to accompany her due to the coroner’s inquiry.

Yesterday, the Princess attended the memorial service at Rod Laver Arena (see this blog entry) and then spent time at the Victorian Incident Emergency Control Centre.

The Princess Royal was so deeply moved upon hearing the survivors’ stories and of their loss, that she has pledged to make a personal donation to the Red Cross appeal.

JessRulz British Royals Australia, Princess Anne, Princess Royal

Princess Anne today joined the mourners at a memorial service in Melbourne to honour the 209 people who died during the bushfires earlier this month. The Princess Royal was representing her mother Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, in commemorating the victims of the worst fires for many decades, which left tens of thousands of people homeless. The Princess read a message from the Queen during the service.

The Princess, who will also be visiting some of the devastated areas, said during the ceremony,  “Individuals and towns have responded with resilience, ingenuity, courage and selflessness to situations that were changing at terrifying speed. People from around Australia and across the world watched in horror but with admiration at their response.”

After the ceremony, the Princess visited the Department of Sustainability and Environment to see the emergency control centre.

The Queen and the Prince of Wales have offered their condolences to the Australian people, and Her Majesty has made a donation to the Australian Red Cross’s Victorian Bushfire Fund (see this blog entry for more details). The Duke of Edinburgh has opened the condolence book at the Australian High Commission in London.

For a discussion of Princess Anne’s visit to Australia to take part in this ceremony, see this thread.

Esmeralda British Royals Australia, Elizabeth II, Memorial, Princess Anne, Princess Royal

HM The Queen has expressed sadness over the tragic wildfires in Australia and will make a personal donation to the Australian Red Cross’s Victorian Bushfire Fund to help aid the fire victims.

Buckingham Palace has announced that the monarch will make the donation from her own private funds, but the spokesperson did not reveal how much money The Queen is planning to contribute.

The Queen, who is also the Queen of Australia and the country’s head of state, released the following statement this weekend:

“I was shocked and saddened to learn of the terrible toll being exacted by the fires this weekend.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of all those who have died and my deep sympathy to the many who have lost their homes in this disaster on so dreadful an occasion as this for Australia.

“The firefighters and other emergency services have been making extraordinary efforts to contain the situation and tend to those who have been injured. Please also convey to them my renewed admiration for all that they are doing.”

More information on The Queen’s involvement in the aid relief efforts to help the victims of the Australian fires can be found in this thread.

Ella Kay British Royals Australia, Elizabeth II