Last month, Prince Akishino of Japan, and his wife Princess Kiko enjoyed a two-week visit to central and eastern Europe in honor of the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan, Austria and Hungary. The prince and princess also traveled to Bulgaria and Romania, in honor of the 50 years of diplomacy between these two nations and Japan. The elegant 42 year-old princess was the very image of traditional and modern royal style during the visit.

One of the highlights of the princess’ wardrobe during the visit was the beautiful, peach-colored silk kimono that she wore during her visit with the prince to the Klosterneuburg Abbey near Vienna. The kimono, which had short sleeves rather than the familiar trailing sleeves characteristic of kimono for girls and unmarried women, was accentuated by a wide cream and peach-colored obi with floral design and a peach obijime. The kimono had yuzen-dyed floral detail, similar to that on the obi; as is usual for a formal kimono for a married woman, the design was subtle and was mostly below knee height, with some detailing also on the left shoulder. No jewelry was worn to accentuate her outfit, as is the custom when wearing kimono. The peach color complimented the porcelain complexion of the princess. The material looked like a heavy, yet soft silk, and the kimono was perfectly fitted to suit the princess’ slim figure. Read more…

sgl Japanese Royals Austria, Bulgaria, Fashion, Hungary, Japan, Official Visit, Princess Kiko, Romania

Click to see the images from PPE

  The Prince of Orange has met with former King Simeon II of Bulgaria at the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water Sanitation two days ago, at the 12th meeting of the board in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The Prince of Orange attended the four-day meeting as the UNSG Advisory Board on Water Sanitation’s Chairman of the Board. He is deeply interested in water and sanitation, often attending events and working to improve the sanitation conditions of the world.

One of the main topics of the meeting is improving access to clean drinking water and sanitation in the countries surrouding the Black Sea, where 13million people lack access to clean drinking water and a further 41million have no sanitation.

On the first day of the meeting, May 25, Prince Willem-Alexander met with the Bulgarian President, Georgi Paranov, in a bilateral meeting.

The Prince of Orange’s current events thread can be found here.

JessRulz Bulgarian Royals, Dutch Royals Bulgaria, President Parvanov, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, Simeon II, Water

Click for the photo at royalblog.nl

Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko are presently on a two-week goodwill tour of Europe that began in Austria and took them in the following to Bulgaria and Hungary. The fourth and last leg of their journey is going to be Romania. The visits are taking place in order to celebrate the 140th year of Japanese diplomatic ties with Austria and Hungary and the 50th year since Tokyo resumed formal relations with Bulgaria and Romania.

Last Thursday the couple was welcomed by Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov and his wife Zorka at the Presidential Palace in Sofia. On Friday, the prince and Parvanov were to open a replica of a famous Thracian tomb, funded by the Japanese government. On the royal programme were also visits to the golden-domed Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia and the Boyana Church, a UNESCO World Heritage site. At 18th secondary school “William Gladstone” as well as at Sofia University the prince and princess met with pupils, students and lecturers in Japanese studies.

On Saturday, the royal couple were received by Bulgaria’s former king and premier Simeon Saxe Coburg and his wife Margarita (Article) before they travelled on to Hungary where they visited an exhibition of Japanese design in Budapest’s Museum of Applied Arts. (Article) They went to see the Budapest Zoo and the Hungarian Museum of Agriculture on the following day. On Monday they met with Hungary´s President Laszlo Solyom who discussed environmental issues with his guests before presenting them with presents of a Herend porcelain bird and a zither.

Yesterday, Prince and Princess Akishino arrived on the fourth leg of their tour, in Romania, where they were scheduled to visit the Japanese School before meeting with Romanian President Traian Basescu and his wife Maria today at Cotroceni Palace in Romania´s capital Bucharest. (Article) Read more…

ChiaraC Japanese Royals Bulgaria, Hungary, Official Visit, Prince Akishino, Princess Kiko, Princess Masako, Romania, Succession

Click here to read an article about the couple´s visit to Bulgaria

 On May 10, Prince and Princess Akishino are expected in Austria for a four-day visit. They are scheduled to visit there Klosterneuburg diocese, Vienna’s Schönbrunn Castle, the Neusiedler Lake National Park in the province of Burgenland as well as the Japanese school of Vienna and the capital’s Museum for Natural History. 

Princess Akishino’s stay in the European country will probably remind the Japanese princess of happy times, as the former Kiko Kawashima attended elementary and high school in Austria when her father, Tatsuhiko Kawashima, became the chief researcher at The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, near Vienna. Stemming from that time, the princess is fluent in German. That Princess Kiko, as she is informally called, has always kept in touch with some of her father´s old friends in Austria, Norbert and Gabriele Orac, became obvious to the public in summer 2006 when the couple invited her eldest daughter, Princess Mako, for a two-weeks stay at their home in the suburbs of Vienna.

Prince and Princess Akishino will continue their trip by departing for Bulgaria on May 13 where they will stay until May 16, in order to mark the 50th anniversary of the reinstatement of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Japan. The couple will also visit Hungary and Romania, as 2009 is proclaimed the year of friendship between Japan and the Danube states. In January, Bulgaria’s President, Georgi Parvanov, and his wife, Zorka Parvanova, paid an official visit to Japan. (Photo)

Read more…

ChiaraC Japanese Royals Austria, Bulgaria, Official Visit, Prince Akishino, Prince Hisahito, Princess Kiko, Succession

 Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his wife Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned have accepted an invitation of Bulgaria’s president Georgi Parvanov. The visit is scheduled for next week.

The royal couples will meet with President Georgi Parvanov, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Georgi Pirinski, Chairman of Bulgaria’s Parliament.

Its is also expected that Bulgaria’s First Lady Zorka Parvanova and Sheikha Mozah will visit the the Sofia Museum of Archaeology and St. Cyril and Methodius National Library.

dazzling Qatar Royals Bulgaria, Official Visit, President Parvanov, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser