Several days ago, “De Morgen” newspaper announced the death of Queen Fabiola on their website.

courtesy of Telegraph

The announcement read: “Sixteen years after the death of her husband King Baudouin, Her Majesty passed away at the age of 81. Her health has been frail in the last few years and the pneumonia she suffered from recently proved fatal”.

The Royal Palace was quick to deny the news and the “De Morgen” apologized for the mistake. This is not the first time Queen Fabiola’s death was erroneously declared: earlier in January, VRT and Gazet van Antwerpen made a similar mistake, issuing premature arbitraries.

This is a very unfortunate time for such mistakes as there has been an increasing concern for Her Majesty’s health; just about two weeks ago, the Palace announced that Queen Fabiola will not attend any official functions in near future because of her frail health.

Queen Fabiola is currently recovering in Spain.

For more news and information about the Queen, visit this thread.

Marsel Belgian Royals Death, Health, Media, Queen Fabiola

There has been criticism in the New Zealand media of the Tongan King’s recent trip to Scotland. The criticism has arisen as Tonga has recently suffered the tragic sinking of a ferry, with many people perishing. At least 149 people were on board, with 54 survivors having being found, and 2 bodies. The number dead is unconfirmed. The ferry was in a questionable condition at the time, and for many days the location of the ship below the water was unknown. The ferry, the Princess Ashika, was located by the New Zealand Navy yesterday, although she is in water 50-60 metres too deep for the New Zealand and Australian Navy divers to reach.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key’s only comment about the King’s travelling during a time of such grief was that he understood that the trip was a long term commitment, and the Tongan education minister defended King George Tupou, saying that it was an official visit. The public’s reaction to the King’s trip seems to be mixed, with reports that those Tongans at home are not concerned by his absence, yet there have been outpourings of anguish and grief on the internet.

marmi Tongan Royals George Tupou V, Media, New Zealand, Official Visit, Prime Minister Key, Scotland

 TRH the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima have launched legal action of American media outlet Associated Press (AP).

The action comes after AP published several photos of the couple and their three daughters – Princesses Catharina-Amalia, Alexia and Ariane – taken at the luxury Villa La Angostura ski resort in Argentina, where the family is currently holidaying.

The RVD (Government Information Agency) sent a letter to the AP headquarters in New York last Thursday, July 30th, on behalf of the royal couple. Letters were also sent to several Dutch news outlets, including newspaper Trouw and press agency GPD, requesting that the images be removed from their websites. All Dutch outlets involved removed the “illegal” images within 24 hours.

The RVD said that the images taken were in violation of the media code installed by the royal family in 2005, which is an arrangement between the royals and the Dutch media to only photograph the Prince of Orange and his family on official occasions. In exchange, photo sessions will be arranged periodically for the media (the Wassenaar shoot is the latest).

AP has yet to remove the images from their database, stating that “In this case the member of the royal family are public figures in a ski resort outside their own country. The AP considers that it has the right to photograph them as such.” Unless the images are removed, a law suit will begin on August 14th. Follow this issue here.

JessRulz Dutch Royals Legal Matters, Media, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Máxima

 HRH Princess Madeleine was yesterday awarded 400,000€ in damages by the Court of Hamburg. The case was against German company the Klambt Group, which owns several tabloid magazines. Those relevant to this case were Frau mit Herz and Welt der Frau.

The Princess was awarded the money, which is believed to be going to a charitable organisation, for the false articles and stories the two magazines ran regarding the Princess’ love life, marriage plans and rumoured pregnancies; totaling 86 articles between 2000 and 2004. The Court delivered the verdict based on the violation of Princess Madeleine’s human rights. The amount set by the Court to be paid by Klambt Group is the highest ever in German history in such a case.

The Court did rule, however, that the magazines did not have to publish retractions or corrections on the false stories, as they were “no longer in the minds of the people.”

JessRulz Swedish Royals Germany, Legal Matters, Media, Princess Madeleine

 The International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) has stated that journalists working for the Swazi Observer are being harassed by government authorities due to reports they wrote about the criminal behavior of the son of a prominent bishop, who happens to be an advisor to King Mswati III.

In December 2008, the editor of the Swazi Observer was beaten and stabbed by the bishop’s son. Reporters from the Observer reported on this event, and since then have received numerous threats from governmental authorities, who are demanding that the journalists cease their coverage of this event. An anonymous journalist, who requests to stay anonymous due to personal safety concerns, told the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) that they have “received disturbing calls from authorities who have warned them against continued publication of stories about the bishop’s son”. The newspaper is owned by King Mswati himself, and there are suspicions that the bishop may have complained to the government about the reports.

Just this week, the bishop’s son vandalized a night club after going on a drinking binge with his wife, who is a police-officer. The son was later handed over to police by the bishop himself. This incident has been confirmed by police. Currently, the son is out on bail for the stabbing and beating of the news editor of the Swazi Observer in December of 2008. The court case is currently pending.

For more information about MISA, please visit this website.

To read about, and to discuss King Mswati III, please visit this thread.

sgl Swazi Royals Media, Mswati III

 A Moroccan magazine that criticized the Moroccon King Mohammed has been stopped by the government. The editor of the magazine was called in for questioning by police under orders of the judiciary and the Interior Ministry. The editor questioned usefulness of the parliamentary elections in a country where the monarchy wields ultimate power. He also published an article questioning the Prophet Mohammad. “The prime minister expresses … his profound indignation at these lapses, which are against the law, the moralisation of public life and the restructuring of the media landscape …,” the prime minister’s office said. The editor was released that night by the police but no details whether he was still being investigated by authorities.

Out of all Arab countries, Morocco has the most freedom of speech but reporters have a line they should not cross, once crossed can lead them in prison or in court.

dazzling Moroccan Royals Media, Mohammed VI

Click for the image at the Daily Mail

 It’s 2-1 odds at some British bookies this weekend, after reports that Kate Middleton has been formally invited to meet the Queen at Balmoral during the August Bank Holiday, that there will be an engagement announced this year. While Middleton has met the Queen previously, this will be the first time that she has been to the Scottish home of the Queen.

In the minds of many, it’s about damn time that something happened. Now that Crown Princess Victoria has finally gotten herself engaged, all eyes are on William in the hopes of another fairy tale wedding. However, unlike Princess Diana, Middleton has lived with the unending media attention and speculation for years now, so she has at least become somewhat accustomed to what her life would be like as a future British Queen.

Whatever the case may be, Wills will need to hurry along; he turns 27 tomorrow and he’s not getting any younger, as his balding head will attest. And if it’s not Kate that he marries, he’s got a long slog ahead of him to find someone else, if he does not want to put her in the same position that his mother was in. And besides, they do seem to care for each other quite a lot, if they’ve weathered all that’s been thrown at them thus far in their relationship.

Empress British Royals Kate Middleton, Media, Prince William

Click to see the photo at yuko2ch.net

 A former classmate of Princess Kako at Gakushuin Primary School apparently posted an unauthorized photograph of the princess in a diary on the member-based social networking site Mixi. In the following days, the photo was leaked over the Internet. Fourteen-year-old Princess Kako is the second daughter of Prince Akishino, the younger son of Japan´s Emperor Akihito, and his wife, Princess Kiko. According to the source, the photo showed Princess Kako wearing a Gakushuin´s Junior High School uniform and had probably been taken by her former classmate at a school festival or similar event.

The school has reportedly spoken to the boy about the issue. The photo has already been deleted. It has neither been confirmed that the photo actually is of Princess Kako nor is there any official information given on how the boy obtained the photograph.

Click here to read an article at Mainichi.jp

And it is these comments (or non-comments) that make the really interesting part of this piece of news (together with the idea of a photograph of Princess Kako smiling shyly in her school uniform, which is really one of the most innocuous and uncontroversial sights imaginable) as they provide an insight into structures that are quite typical for the way in which public comments on the imperial family are usually handled in Japan. Gakushuin public relations officials as well as Noriyuki Kazaoka, Vice-Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency, refuse to confirm what is already obvious to everybody. Still, in its report the newspaper Mainichi carefully avoids to question their statements, namely that the photo might actually show somebody else than Princess Kako and that it is unknown how the boy got this photo (whomever it might represent). Read more…

ChiaraC Japanese Royals Emperor Akihito, Imperial Household Agency, Media, Princess Kako

 A popular weekly column in the Times of Swaziland newspaper has recently been dropped. The column was written by Mfomfo Nkambule, and often included criticism of the government and the rule of King Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in Africa. The managing editor, Martin Dlamini, denies this and states that the reason for the column’s removal is that the paper is in the process of “structural adjustments of its content”, according to journalism.co.za.

Nkambule is a former Cabinet Minister and Parliamentarian. He believes that the column’s removal was not the idea of the newspaper, but that the paper itself was pressured by the government. He told Misa, an independent organization that seeks to promote the freedom of regional media, that he was not given any explanation for this action, and that he believes that the newspaper must have been threatened.

Recently, Nkambule has been under pressure from loyalists to stop writing his column. He has been removed from organizations of which he was a member, due to their loyalty to the monarchy. In 2008, Misa carried out a study that found that the monarchy was responsible for most of the censorship and harassment of the media in Swaziland.

For more information about Misa, please click here.

To read about and to discuss King Mswati III and the Kingdom of Swaziland, please visit this thread.

sgl Swazi Royals Media, Mswati III

 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, dubai ruler responded to questions from the people and media which he also talked about the financial crisis and reports of his illness.

For a few months there have been rumours that Sheikh Mohammed has fallen ill and some that he had been shot though there were tons of pictures and news of the ruler in the papers around the time. Is the Sheikh really ill? Dubai ruler said “The rumours about me are part of what resembles a psychological war against Dubai over the past months … I am well, praise God, and my health is in the best form,”. Sheikh Mohammed has been seen taking part in two endurance races in the past few weeks.

The Emirate of Dubai one of seven emirates that make up the UAE federation and relise on trade and tourism. Sheikh Mohammed denied that Dubai has been effected by the financial crisis and that the worst is over.

To read more of the question & answers click belows, series of 5 enteries
Start — Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3 — Part 4

dazzling UAE Royals Dubai, Media, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid