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King Abdullah II & Queen Rania of Jordan just ended a 3 day state visit to Italy. The couple had a busy schedule with different events from daytime to gala dinners. Each event Queen Rania turned up wearing a different outfit. As Queen Rania arrived in Rome, she was seen wearing a lovely navy/royal blue velvet jacket, skirt and a ruffled top matched with a wide belt picture.

As the state visit started the next morning, day 1, with a ceremony welcoming at the Presidential Palace, Queen Rania choose to wear a Fendi balck & white dress with a matching black jacket and a belt, the outfit was matched with beige shoes and a beige bag which didnt really match the outfit (Can I add that part in, my opinion) picture. For the next event on day 1, Rania choose to wear a solid black cocktail dress which had weird cuts on the waist yet was flattering picture. Later that evening Queen Rania wore an Armani prive evening dress for the gala dinner, the dress was black velvet with a white upper part picture.

On day 2 Queen Rania went for a similar look that has been seen in the past, a black pleated skirt with a brown leather jacket by Prada and a belt which really didn’t match the look picture. Later that day, Queen Rania was seen in a silver Prada dress at two other events with nicely done hair picture. Later that evening, the Jordan royals held a dinner for the Italian President and his wife where Queen Rania went for a white evening dress said to be by French designer Stephane Rolland, the dress was Greek inspired picture.

The final day of the visit, Queen Rania was spotted in a lovely orange/red dress which she wore a nice greyish trench coat with brown fur trimming over it picture.

dazzling Jordanian Royals Fashion, Italy, Queen Rania, State Visit

Day 3 was their Majesties last day to the 3 day State Visit to Italy. On the last day King Abdullah, Queen Rania and Princess Zein attended the Jordanian-Italian Business Forum in Milan. Giving a speech at the forum, King Abdullah said Jordan is qualified to serve as a gateway into the region for foreign investors, he also underlined the need to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

After the forum, Queen Rania and Princess Zein went for a coffee at a nearby cafe.

Later that day the royal left for Jordan.

dazzling Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Italy, Princess Zein, Queen Rania, State Visit

 Day 2 of the state visit to Italy was quite busy for the royals. Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania visited Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Rome, where His Majesty laid a wreath on the monument. King Abdullah & Queen Rania were received by Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa and a number of senior Italian military officials.

View the image at Daylife

After the visit to the tomb, King Abdullah and Queen Rania visited the Municipality of Rome where they were welcomed by the Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno and his wife. The King and the Queen exchanged with the mayor and his wife souvenirs.

Later on that day, Queen Rania received the Marisa Bellisario Golden Apple International Award in recognition of her humanitarian work, dedication to peace and lasting commitment to the rights of women and children around the world in a ceremony that took place at the Montecitorio Palace in Rome, seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. “I’m especially honored to receive the Marisa Bellisario Award, an award that symbolizes not just the achievements of some women but the aspirations of millions,” Queen Rania said in a speech infront of over 300 political and business leaders, parliamentarians, diplomats and representatives of different UN agencies.

Queen Rania also launched the 1-Goal campaign in Italy after its successful launch in the UK. Speaking at the event “We’re here today to tap into that famous Italian passione on behalf of 75 million children sent to the sidelines not because they’ve done anything wrong, but because we haven’t played by the rules. We haven’t given them what should be their birthright: an education,” said Queen Rania at the event which took place in Rome’s Campidoglio, which houses the office of the Mayor.

Yesterday their Majesties held a dinner in honor of the Italian president and his wife. The event was attended by Princess Zein, Princess Aisha and Princess Iman along with the Jordanian delegation.

dazzling Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Awards, Humanitarian Efforts, Italy, Queen Rania, State Visit

 On their first day of their state visit to Italy, Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania were welcomed at the Quirinale, the Italian presidential palace in Rome. At the arrival, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and King Abdullah II of Jordan reviewed an honour guard prior their meeting. King Abdullah held talks with the Italian president where they talked about Middle East peace efforts and bilateral ties, especially in the economic fields. After the meeting the two leaders gave a press conference.

While King Abdullah was holding talks with the President, Queen Rania, along with the King’s sisters Princess Aisha and Priness Zein, held talks with First Lady Clio Napolitano.

Later that day, Queen Rania along with her 13-year old daughter Princess Iman and the King’s sisters visited the Borghese in Rome. The royal toured Caravaggio/Bacon which is part of a series of exhibitions showing ancient and modern painters side by side.

That evening, King Abdullah, Queen Rania, Princess Aisha and Princess Zein attended the gala dinner that was hoster in honour of the royals by the Italian President and his wife at the presidential palace.

dazzling Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Italy, President Napolitano, Princess Aisha, Princess Iman, Princess Zein, Queen Rania, State Visit

 HSH Prince Albert II paid a day-long visit to the Vatican City, and then to Rome, on October 16th. The Prince’s first stop was to visit His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

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The morning meeting was held in the library of the Pope’s residence, where the two men spoke of the need for moral education, defending the right to life and the protection of  the environment. And, as was reported by the Vatican, “attention turned to themes of mutual interest including the importance of a solid cultural and moral formation of the young and the defense of life in all its phases.”

During his meeting, Prince Albert also met Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Pope Benedict’s secretary of state, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the secretary for relations with states. The Prince and the Pope also exchanged gifts. Upon the conclusion of the meeting, Prince Albert then travelled to Rome where he officially opened an exhibition on his mother, HSH the late Princess Grace. The Prince gave a speech at the opening, before a quick tour.

View the image at Hello!

The exhibition “The Grace Kelly Years: Princess of Monaco” is a travelling collection of Princess Grace’s personal belongings, including the stunning dress she wore to her 1956 wedding to HSH Prince Rainier III. There are also home videos filmed by Grace, as well as jewellery, several dresses and private family photographs. The exhibition will run in Rome until the end of February 2010 at the Palazzo Ruspoli.

Click here to view Prince Albert’s current events thread, and here for a thread regarding the Grace Kelly exhibition.

JessRulz Monaco Royals Audience, Grace Kelly, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI, Prince Albert II, Princess Grace, Vatican City

 Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Queen Rania will start a state visit to Italy tomorrow, between October 20-22. The visit comes after an invitation from Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and his wife, which was announced by the Jordanian Royal Court.

King Abdullah will hold talks with the Italian President and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on different issues concerning the Middle East and boosting bilateral ties between the two countries. King Abdullah is also to address and attend the Jordanian-Italian Business Forum in Milan.

Click here to view the state visit thread.

dazzling Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Italy, President Napolitano, Queen Rania, State Visit

click to learn more details at Daily Mail

 Revolving restaurants may seem to be decidedly modern invention; however it looks like they have existed for quite some time. For over 2000 years, in fact. Archaeologists have uncovered what they think are the remains of Nero’s extravagant rotating banquet hall. The ‘coenatio rotunda’ is thought to be the one described by Suetonius: “The chief banqueting room was circular and revolved perpetually night and day in imitation of the motion of the celestial bodies. All the dining rooms had ceilings of fretted ivory, the panels of which could slide back and let a rain of flowers or of perfume from hidden sprinklers fall on his guests”.

The partially excavated site is part of never-completed Golden Palace, one of Nero’s most extravagant projects, featuring 120ft bronze statue of the Emperor, an amphitheatre, a bath complex, waterfalls, gardens, zoos. The main dining room, with a diameter of over 16 meters, rested upon a 4-meter wide pillar and four spherical mechanisms that, likely powered by a constant flow of water, rotated the structure. Archaeologist Maria Antonietta Tomei said: “This cannot be compared to anything that we know of in ancient Roman architecture”.

click to view more pictures at Times Online

Another important discovery was made by a team of British archaeologists working in ancient Rome’s seaport, which has unearthed the remains of a “mini-Colosseum”. Archaeologists compare the importance of the site to Stonehenge or the great temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The foundations of the tiny amphitheatre, dated to the early third century, were discovered inside the territory of a palace built 100 years earlier by Emperor Trajan, 25 kilometres southwest of Rome. The arena’s height and capacity are yet to be determined, however early studies suggests it could hold up to 2,000 people (by comparison, Colosseum could seat about 50,000). The find underscores how ancient arenas came in different sizes and were used for a variety of purposes. Lead archaeologist Simon Keay commented on this: “There are a lot of amphitheatres in the Roman world and people assume they were all used for animal and gladiatorial combat. But they could be used for other things, such as a private theatre or for administrative purposes”. The purpose of this particular amphitheatre is yet unclear. The discovery is particularly significant because amphitheatres were seldom built so close to harbours.

Marsel Historical Royals Archaeology, Emperor Nero, Excavation, Golden Palace, Italy

Click at the image to see it at Daylife

On September 24th, Queen Sonja of Norway attended the Norwegian Institute in Rome’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The celebration took place at the American Institute in Villa Aurelia. The program included artistic and technical elements.

During her speech at the Institute the Queen said: “I must admit that I feel a little envious of the students at the Institute – who have the chance to delve into history and study art and architecture precisely here in Rome, so close to the sources – as we have heard is quite necessary. We can clearly see that understanding the past is the very key to understanding our own time, and possibly get an idea about the future.”

On Saturday the Queen was a guest of honor when the photographer Morten Krogvold opened his exhibition “Places in Rome”. Morten Krogvold has been passionately involved in photography since he was a young boy. Today he is one of the leading photographers.

Read more about the Queen’s visit to Rome here.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Italy, Official Visit, Queen Sonja

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King Abdullah of Jordan, Queen Rania and their four children have been enjoying Italy and the South of France according to Rania’s twitter enteries and pictures. Queen Rania was spotted shopping and walking around Porto Cervo, Sardenia. Speaking about Italy, Queen Rania said on her twitter page “In Italy…gosh I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it!”

After Sardenia, the royal family went to the South of France. Queen Rania met with supermodel Naomi Campbell and her boyfriend Russian billionaire Vladimir Doronin while leaving Club 55 where she was having lunch with the family. King Abdullah and Queen Rania met with the French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni where Queen Rania said on her twitter page “Just had lovely casual lunch with President Sarkozy and Carla at their holiday retreat..Nice to see him so well and relaxed. Such natural surroundings only infuse him with more passion and focus 4 advancement of his people. Carla of course, is gorgeous, inside & out. (sic)” King Abdullah made time for his Harley Davidson while their yacht was docked.

The family and friends where staying on a yacht that could take up to 36 guests and 30 crew members. It had a jacuzzi, gym, childrens play room which were among the many other rooms available.

For more information on their summer holidays, check out this thread.

dazzling Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Carla Bruni, France, Italy, President Sarkozy, Queen Rania, Twitter

A Saudi Princess who was not named has been robbed worth of $15.5million (11million euros) in cash and jewellery while she was not in the room. The Saudi Princess was on her summer vacation staying in one of the world’s elite destinations in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. Italian media reports say that the thieves used a master key to enter the room before ripping a safe from the wall. “The thieves used a master key. In 10 minutes at dinner time, without making any noise, they managed to remove the safe from a suite occupied by the Saudi princess,” Italy’s La Stampa newspaper reported.

dazzling Saudi Royals Italy, Jewellery, Legal Matters, Robbery