His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, ruler of the Emirates, King of Spain Juan Carlos, Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf, Crown Prince of Bahrain Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa and other Sheikhs all met at the the Yas Circuit on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi to watch the Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday November 1st. The winners of the race were awarded trophies by Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed.

Interview with King Juan Carlos of Spain:

View a gallery of the royals at the event here.

dazzling Spanish Royals, Swedish Royals, UAE Royals Carl XVI Gustaf, Grand Prix, King Juan Carlos, Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed, Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, Sheikh Salman al Khalifa, Sport

On Monday the 26th, the former Head of the Household of H.M. the King, Don Sabino Fernandez Campo, Count of Latores, died in Madrid. He was a very beloved man in Spain, and was 91 years old.

View the image at El Mundo

Don Sabino was born in Oviedo on March 17, 1918. After a military career, he started his work at the Royal House in 1977 as General Secretary and from 1990 to 1993, he become the Head of the Househld. He developed an important role in the Spanish life as the Head of the Household. He made main decisions in Royal Family’s institutional work, and he was a key person in Prince Felipe’s education.

He was the closest man to King Juan Carlos during the Spanish state coup on the 23rd of February 1981, when almost 200 members of the Guardia Civil stormed the Congreso de los Diputados and staged a coup while Congress was in the process of electing a new Prime Minister.

Don Sabino was great defender of democracy during those difficult moments and a very loyal person. “My role always has been secondary; it’s been characterized for being always next to someone, never above. To be secondary is never to want occupy the principal position, but to advise well and to be always at service,” he said about himself.

On 1992, King Juan Carlos granted the nobility title of Count of Latores for his “long and brilliant career of out-standing, military and civil services to Spain”.

The Count of Latores was buried yesterday in Oviedo, his homeland. Today the Royal Family will hold a funeral at Pardo Palace church, which will be attended by Don Sabino’s relatives and the Royal Family.

Paty Spanish Royals Death, King Juan Carlos, Royal Staff

 The President of the Republic of Lebanon, General Michel Suleiman, and his wife, Wafaa Suleiman, arrived yesterday in Madrid to start a two-day state visit to Spain upon the invitation of Their Majesties, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

View the image at Casa Real

The Presidential couple was welcomed with state honours by the King and Queen of Spain at Pardo Palace, where they will reside during their stay in Spain. Afterward, a private lunch was hosted by the King and Queen at Zarzuela Palace, which was also attended by the Prince and Princess of Asturias and the Presidential couple’s eldest daughter, Rita Suleiman, and her husband Wissam Baroudi.

That night, the traditional gala dinner took place at the Royal Palace, in honor of the Lebanese President and his wife which was attended by representatives of both governments. President Suleiman and the First Lady were honoured by the Spanish government with the Spanish Order of Isabel de Catolica, while the Spanish Royals were honoured with the Lebanese Order of Merit.

View the image at Casa Real

During his speech at the dinner, King Juan Carlos spoke of the Lebanese president: “Spain always followed closely the evolution of the political Lebanese situation, and has contributed with our best efforts to your country to overcome the challenges and tears of its most recent history. The commitment of Spain to Lebanon is wide and solid.”

Today Queen Sofia and the Lebanese First Lady will visit the Alzheimers Centre of the Queen Sofia Foundation and at night the return reception in honour of the King and Queen of Spain will take place at Pardo Palace.

Tomorrow, the Presidential Couple will leave Spain.

Paty Spanish Royals King Juan Carlos, Lebanon, Orders, President Suleiman, Queen Sofia, State Visit

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 Today, October 12, the Spanish Royal Family celebrated the Spanish National Day. King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, the Prince and Princess of Asturias, Infanta Elena, and the Duke and Duchess of Palma (who are back from Washington for a few days) arrived early in the morning at Plaza de Lima in Madrid where a military parade is taking place.

Prior the event, His Majesty King Juan Carlos left a floral tribute at the Spanish flagpole in memory of soldiers killed aboard. At midday, the entire Royal Family will host a reception for the authorities at the Royal Palace.

For more information and pictures please visit this thread

Paty Spanish Royals Iñaki Urdangarín, Infanta Cristina, Infanta Elena, King Juan Carlos, National Day, Prince Felipe, Princess Letizia, Queen Sofia

 The 121st International Olympic Committee Congress kicked off yesterday, with a luncheon hosted by HM Queen Margrethe II and the Opening Ceremony at the elegant Copenhagen Opera House.

Click to see the image at Belga

The day began with an early afternoon lunch at Amalienborg Palace, which was hosted by the Queen for the visiting IOC delegations from Spain, the US, Brazil and Japan. TRH Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary attended the luncheon and were on hand to greet their VIP guests. And VIP these guests were: TM King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, First Lady Michelle Obama, HE President da Silva of Brazil and HE Yoshiro Mori, the former Prime Minister of Japan.

Click to see the image at ESPN

It was the first meeting of the American First Lady and the Danish royals, while the Spanish King and Queen greeted Queen Margrethe and her family as old friends would: with hugs and kisses (and a curstey from the Crown Princess). The Brazillian President has also met the royal family before, paying a state visit to Denmark two years ago. A group photo was taken in Christian VII’s Palace before the lunch began.

That evening, the glamour came out to play. The Congress’ Opening Ceremony was held at the Copenhagen Opera House, and was attended by the IOC members (royal members include HRH The Princess Royal and HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco), the members of the candidate city delegations and the Danish royal family. Read more…

JessRulz Danish Royals Constantine II, IOC, King Juan Carlos, Margrethe II, Michelle Obama, President da Silva, Prince Frederik, Princess Mary, Queen Sofia

Click on the image to read article from the Latin American Herald Tribune

Evo Morales, the first native Aymaran president of Bolivia, returned to Spain after three years to make another visit (although his first state visit) and meet with King Juan Carlos, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

The state visit occurred last September 14, 2009. Bolivia is in for some relief from Spain as Mr Morales was to sign an agreement cancelling his country’s €70 million debt to Spain. Another milestone of the visit was Mr. Morales’s meeting with representatives from the Spanish energy sector as he pushes for the nationalization of the Bolivian energy sector.

Mr. Morales is also pushing for the granting of a legal status to Bolivian immigrants living in Spain, which currently number to about 225,000. Most of these immigrants do not have permits.

The Bolivian president’s ascent to power marked a turning point in his country as he became the first person from an indigenous tribe to get into the highest position in the land. And everywhere Morales goes he makes sure people know his origins: his formal jackets always feature designs familiar to the natives, usually wearing a chompa. His Spanish guests were also given the chance to see his unique suits.

TRF has more photos of the visit (and of Evo Morales’ suits) here.

RhapsodyBrat Spanish Royals Bolivia, King Juan Carlos, President Morales, State Visit

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King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Asturias (the two gentlemen with a new look, btw), hosted Friday night, the traditional farewell dinner with representatives of the Baleares government, at Almudaina Palace. The Royal Family is in the habit of spending summer vacations in Marivent Palace at Mallorca , where they arrived at the beginning of August this year.

Photo from Daylife

As usual the Prince of Asturias participated in the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre Sailing Cup in its 28th edition which ended after six days of races for the seven different classes which took part in the regatta. On August 8 the king and Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia presented the trophies of this 28 Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. The award ceremony took place at Ses Voltes gardens, next to the Cathedral of Palma.

During their vacations we had the opportunity to see Infanta Leonor and Infanta Sofia walking on the streets of Palma de Mallorca. The Prince and Princess wanted to give the appearance of normality in the island after the terrible terrorist attack some days before in the city.

Image from TRF avatar collection

But this has been also a dynamic vacation for the little infantas as they attended their first rock concert! Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia took them to Jaume Anglada, team-mate of Prince Felipe, charity concert at Palma Club Nautico. Jauma’s performance is a tradition during the sailing competition. He has performed since 1995. But the last one was in aid of Alex Foundation, which competes with a ship called “Alex Rumbo a ti” whose crew is formed of professional competitors and physically disabled people, so maybe Felipe and Letizia thought that it was a good event for Leonor and Sofia to attend.

On August 26 King Juan Carlos met with the Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero; afterward the Queen and the Prime Minister’s wife, Sonsoles Espinosa, joined them in a private dinner.

The, royal family will be back at work this week. On Wednesday the king will meet with Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority. Among others things the Prince and the Princess of Asturias will attend the opening of the “Parc Científic” of Valencia University.

If you want to know what the Royal Family did during summer, visit this thread.

Paty Spanish Royals King Juan Carlos, Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Princess Letizia, Princess of Asturias, Queen Sofia, Vacation

 On Friday, July 24, the King and Queen of Spain officially inaugurated the GTC (Gran Telescopio Canarias) or Grantecan, which is consider the most powerful and advanced telescope with which to observe the universe.

Click to see the image at Casa Real

The new “Crown Jewel” is situated at 2,400 meters above sea-level, in one of the top astronomical sites in the Northern Hemisphere: Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (RMO), on La Palma Island, a declared World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, and a place where Jose Miguel Rodriguez Espinosa, director of GCT, said it is an “ideal observation point, because it is scarcely populated and scarcely illuminated.”

The telescope is composed of a main mirror consisting of 36 hexagonal glass-ceramic elements, each with a 1.9 metre diagonal which is equivalent to a round mirror 10.4 metres in diameter.  Acording to RMO representatives, the GTC will allow the in-depth study of the nature of Black Holes, as well as the more distant stars and galaxies in the Universe and the first conditions after the Big Bang. It is expected that the telescope would produce important advances in every field of astrophysics. Read more…

Paty Spanish Royals King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, Technology

 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

Today has been the second and final day of the State Visit of Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain. Today there were two ceremonies for the royal visitors, who spent the day in the capital city, Wellington. The first was a wreath laying at National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Warrior; His Majesty laid a wreath. This was followed by a welcome ceremony at parliament, which included a 100 person Royal Guard of Honor, with each of the three elements of the New Zealand Defense Forces represented and the playing of the national anthems of both New Zealand and Spain. A crowd of several hundred spectators, and the Spanish media contingent joined local media to witness the ceremony, which included a traditional Maori welcome, the powhiri, was performed.

The powhiri is performed frequently for such occasions; amongst the most recent royal visitors to receive such a welcome were the Dutch Crown Prince and Princess in 2006. The powhiri is a process of welcoming visitors, and one part of the powhiri which has become famous internationally is the hongi. The hongi makes the visitor and the tangata whenua (the local people) “at one”; it is the exchange of the ha, the breath of life.

A luncheon was then held in the Banquet Hall at Parliament in honor of the royal visitors. The King and Queen spoke with the Speaker, Leader of the Opposition, and Prime Minister John Key. They were present for the signing and announcement of an agreement which allows New Zealanders aged 18-30 to work in Spain for 6 months, and remain in Spain for up to a year. This is a reciprocal agreement, so Spaniards are able to visit New Zealand the same way. The agreement has an allowance for up to 200 people, and it is reported to be the 15th of its kind signed by New Zealand, the first by Spain. New Zealand has many such agreements as they support the traditional OE (Overseas Experience) taken by young Kiwis – according to some statistics up to 85% of university graduates will make the rite of passage trip to Europe, where they will work and travel for up to several years.

In the afternoon the King and Queen attended the opening of the new Spanish embassy in Wellington. HM the Queen also attended a performance by the Royal New Zealand Ballet. She was accompanied by the wife of the Prime Minister, Bronagh Key, and the performance included Balcony Pas de Deux (from Romeo and Juliet) and a preview performance from La Sylphide (which will begin showing on July 30).

The following day, Wednesday 24th June, the King and Queen are to fly the short distance to Australia to begin a State Visit there.

marmi Spanish Royals King Juan Carlos, New Zealand, Queen Sofia, State Visit