Although his life was never controversy-free, Bulgaria’s former Tsar and Prime Minister found himself in the midst of not one but several allegations recently.

click to view the picture in TIME

Several Bulgarian officials threatened Simeon Saxe-Coburg with court actions because he had allegedly been given more than the double of compensation he was entitled to under the country’s restitution process. In 2003, the Bulgarian Parliament, which was controlled by Simeon’s party at the time, decided to return some of the assets of the former royal family. It was later alleged that the compensations included about 450 hectares of forest lands, for which, according to some politicians, there was absolutely no legal basis.

In an interview to Israeli “Maariv” newspaper, the former Tsar denied those assertions: “Who did the land belong to in the past 50 years? Certainly not people: those in power had them. And later, those properties were left without care and were in pitiful condition. What should have I done – spend money on them and their maintenance, or leave them without proper care? When in 1998 the court ruled that as a Bulgarian citizen I had a right to restitution, no one said anything against it. When we donated 90 hectares to Sofia city hall, no one argued we were in right to do so. But from the moment I entered the politics, my opponents have been searching for such things to blacken my reputation”.

In the same newspaper, Simeon Saxe-Coburg denied another allegation – that he’s a heavy gambler. The former Tsar said that he’s visited casinos only 3 times in his entire life, out of curiosity, and all 3 visits were documented. He added: “After I became Prime Minister, I was accused of being a gambler, a Russian spy, a greedy person, whose motivation to return to his motherland was merely to gain back former Crown properties: all those accusation are complete nonsense!” Read more…

Marsel Bulgarian Royals European Union, Government, Interview, Scandal, Simeon II

From the TRF Avatar gallery

King Albert II of Belgium has offered the Belgian government to help them to pay for the renovation costs necessary to freshen up the Royal Palace in Brussels. The Palace will be used for the European-Asian Summit (ASEM) during the Belgian presidency of the European Union. The Belgian government will pay for the refurbishment of the Palace. Most of the works will be painting and brushing up other details.

King Albert offered to take responsibility for part of the bill, to an amount of 600,000 EUR maximum. The money will come from the Civil List, the “dotation” of the King. The King wants to help the Belgian government, which is currently heading for an immense deficit in the budget, by taking on about a third of the projected costs. He suggested this during an audience with Prime Minister Van Rompuy.

For an article on the subject, see here.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals European Union, Finances, King Albert II, Renovations, Royal Palace (Brussels)

 King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia were on hand for national duty and pride yesterday morning, when they helped to kick off the six-month Swedish Presidency of the European Union.

Click to see the Daylife image

Ready for the photocall, Carl Gustaf and Silvia (dressed in a vibrant orange suit) tried to descend the staircase outside the Royal Palace of Stockholm, but found the stairs already occupied by multiple government members who had been invited. No harm was done, with the pair eventually getting to the front of the group and posing for photos with Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission, and various Swedish MPs to celebrate the Swedish EU Presidency, which began yesterday July 1st – 18 years to the day after Sweden lodged its European Union membership application, as pointed out by Prime Minister Reinfeldt. Reinfeldt now also holds the title of Council President in the EU.

The celebrations continued in the evening, with an outdoor concert held in Skansen. This was attended by the King and Queen, Princess Madeleine and one of the King’s sisters, Princess Christina. The evening began with the transfer of a glass baton from the Czech Minister for EU Affairs, Stefan Füle, to his Swedish counterpart, Cecilia Malmström.

Click to see the ANP image

Several speeches were made after that, including one by Prime Minister Reinfeldt and one by President Barroso. Barroso spoke of his confidence in the Swedish presidency during his speech: “I know that Sweden’s professionalism, competence and true European spirit will guide a very successful next six months.”

Musical performances were also a major part of the event, with performances by the Stockholm Sinfonietta, the Gustaf Sjökvist Chamber Choir and Sofia Jannok. Dressed in traditional Swedish costumes, the Carl Olof Berg Dance Group presented an amusing dance for their elite audience. Sweden will hand over the Presidency of the EU to Spain on January 1st, 2010.

Click here to read about the King and Queen’s current events, and here to read about the Royal Family’s current events.

JessRulz Swedish Royals Carl XVI Gustaf, European Union, Prime Minister Reinfeldt, Princess Christina, Princess Madeleine, Queen Silvia

Click to see the article at the Jordan Times

 HM King Abdullah is in Belgium this week, meeting with the heads of NATO in the hopes of finally finding a solution to the never ending Israeli – Palestinian Conflict. As head of the most forward thinking nation in the region, and one of the most respected and well known Heads of State in the Arab world, King Abdullah is serious about finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Not only in Europe to discuss unpleasant matters, King Abdullah is also planning on discussing the economic and commercial ties between Jordan and various European Nations. With the current economic situation taking it’s toll on most if not all of Europe, new and improved commercial and economic partnerships would be a benefit to both countries. And as an absolute Monarch, King Abdullah has a lot to say about where and how his country’s money and natural resources are dispersed.

King Abdullah and his wife, Queen Rania, have a very modern and open outlook on life and society, as can be seen in their daily activities and personal relationship. As leader of one of only two Arab nations to make peace with Israel, this open nature has fostered itself well in a very disturbed region.

Without doubt, other matters, far more political and sensitive in nature, will be discussed during this visit. One can only hope that something substantial finally comes of these meetings, rather than the usual round of handshakes, signed papers, and promises. Peace can be found in Jordan, so it would seem that if anyone could foster peace in a war-torn region, it might be King Abdullah.

Empress Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Belgium, European Union, NATO, Working Visit

Click on image to see photo at Belga

  The last few days all member states of the European Union organised elections for the European parlament. Belgium’s royal family set a good example and all adult members of the royal family were pictured while visiting the polling stations. The duke and duchess of Brabant voted at a polling station in Laeken, as did princess Astrid, her husband Lorenz and their two eldest children prince Amedeo and princess Maria Laura. Prince Laurent and his wife princess Claire went to a polling station in Tervuren to vote.

Click on image to see photo at AP

The king and queen however were unable to vote, as the constitution prohibits that. Apart from elections for the European parlament the Belgians yesterday also voted for the regional parliaments. In Luxembourg Princess Alexandra and her brother prince Félix of Luxembourg went to the polling station in Luxembourg city. Click here to see a picture.

In Hungary archduke Georg and archduchess Eilika voted in Soskut, some 30 kms south of Budapest. The archduke is a member of the junior opposition conservative party, the Hungarian Democratic Forum. He was also one of their candidates for the European parlament, but according to the first reports his party did not get enough votes to get him there. In Turin, prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, son of the pretender to the Italian throne, voted for the first time in Italy. Like archduke Georg, Emanuele Filiberto tried to get elected into European parlament but failed. Click here to see a picture.

Marengo Austrian Royals, Belgian Royals, Italian Royals, Luxembourg Royals Archduchess Eilika, Archduke Georg, Elections, European Union, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Prince Felix of Luxembourg, Prince Philippe, Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, Princess Mathilde

 Today, June 7, is Election Day in Belgium. People have to elect representatives for the European Parliament and the regional Parliaments (Flemish, Wallonian, Brussels Parliaments). In Belgium, everybody is obliged to turn up at the polling station, even though we are not obliged to vote. But since we actually have to be there, most of us vote anyway. It would be quite the waste of your Sunday Morning, if you didn’t…

Click to see Belga gellery

The members of  the Belgian Royal family are not exempt from this civil duty, all have to come to one of the Laeken polling stations to vote. All except the King, who may choose not to vote, as he is supposed to be above politics. Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde enjoyed a lively chat at their polling station this morning.

For more information about Princess Mathilde and Prince Philippe, see this thread.
For more pictures, see this belga gallery.

LadyLeana Belgian Royals Elections, European Union, Parliament, Prince Philippe, Princess Mathilde

Click to see photo and article at London Telegraph

Monaco’s 51 year old sovereign is only 4 years into his reign and he is already facing a “mutiny” in the face of mounting criticism of the his behavior.  In the reign of Prince Albert II’s father, Prince Rainier III it was very rare to see public criticism of the sovereign but the Prince’s government and the people of Monaco seem to be concerned about their Prince’s priorities. When reporters came looking for information, people would often walk away and refuse to be interviewed.

Today’s London Telegraph shows just how different times are.  The article notes that citizens dislike that the Prince ”treats Monaco like his holiday home…He pops in for a few weeks, then dashes off on another long jaunt.” While the Prince does seem to take more holidays than his father some allowance must be made for the fact that Prince Rainier III was ill and unable to travel for much of the latter part of his reign.  For the most part, his travels do bring good press and tourists to Monaco. Read more…

Sg1Fan Monaco Royals European Union, Prince Albert II, Public Opinion

 His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco  is attending the “Peace with Water” forum in Brussels, Belgium at the EU Parliament on February 12 and 13, 2009.  The Prince served as a member of the organizing committee for the conference.

The forum is organized by the World Political Forum and is currently drafting a memorandum detailing a world protocol for water resources, as first suggested by the European Institute of Research on Water Policy (IERPE). The conference will additionally focus on the political processes for the expiring  Kyoto protocols in 2013.

For His Serene Highness, President and Founder of the Prince Albert II Foundation, championing environmental causes and water resource rights in particular has been a recurring theme.  The Foundation’s April 2008 newsletter noted  ”…one in six people still has no access to drinking water. Yet many issues – health, food and economic – are dependent on this resource.”

Photos from the conference are available here.

Sg1Fan Monaco Royals Belgium, European Union, Prince Albert II, Water