To commemorate HRH Prince Constantijn’s fortieth birthday, celebrated tomorrow October 11th, the Royal House released a series of new portraits of the Prince and his family.

Click to see the image at Koninklijkhuis

The series features the Prince and his wife, HRH Princess Laurentien, and the couple’s three children: TE Countess Eloise, Count Claus-Casimir and Countess Leonore. There are also two individual portraits of the Prince, and in several of the images the facial similarites between Constantijn and his father, the late Prince Claus, is clear.

HRH Prince Constantijn Christof Frederik Aschwin of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg was born on October 11th, 1969, in Utrecht; the youngest son of the then HRH Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and her husband HRH Prince Claus. Read more…

JessRulz Dutch Royals Biography, Birthday, Portraits, Prince Constantijn

more pictures from Imperial House

The official website of the Russian Imperial House released new pictures to celebrate the 95th birthday of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna. The pictures are rare opportunity to see Leonida Georgievna because she has largely withdrawn from public eyes following her husband’s death.

Apart from the pictures, the message of congratulations from Kirill I, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia was also released. The Patriarch congratulated Leonida Georgievna and hailed her role in helping the current generation of Russians know and appreciate their historical and spiritual roots.

Grand Duchess Leonida is the widow of Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich and mother of current (disputed) Head of the Imperial House and pretender to the Russian Throne, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna.

Patriarch's letter

The Grand Duchess was born on September 23, 1914 in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), Georgia to Prince Georgiy Alexandrovich Bagration-Mukhrani and Princess Elena Sigismundovna (née Novina-Zlotnicka). She married Vladimir Cyrillovich in 1948 and their only child, Maria Vladimirovna, was born in 1953. Their marriage was controversial and considered morganatic by most members of the Romanov Family.

You can read the blog entry commemorating Leonida Georgivna’s birthday here.

Marsel Russian Royals Bagration-Mukhrani, Birthday, Grand Duchess Leonida, Portraits

 The Court of the Luxembourg Grand Ducal Family today released a series of new family portraits to mark the ninth anniversary of HRH Grand Duke Henri’s accession to the throne.

Click to see the gallery at Cour-Grand Ducale

The set of fourteen photos features the entire Grand Ducal Family; and for the first time included Princess Tessy, the wife of Prince Louis, and the couple’s two sons, Gabriel and Noah, in an official photo with the whole family. There are also individual shots of each member of the family, as well as a portrait of the adults in cocktail attire.

The Grand Duke took the throne on October 7th, 2000, after his father, Grand Duke Jean, abdicated in favour of his son. The process began officially at 10:00 that morning, when Jean signed the Grand Ducal Abdication Decree at the Grand Ducal Palace in Luxembourg. At 11:00, Grand Duke Henri took the oath of the Luxembourg Constitution: “I swear to observe the Constitution and the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, to maintain the national independence and integrity of the territory, as well as public and individual liberties.” Later that afternoon, the Grand Ducal Family attended a mass of thanksgiving at the Notre-Dame Cathedral. The enthronement services were attended by TM the King and Queen of the Belgians, and HM the Queen of the Netherlands.

Click here to view the thread relating to the portraits, and here for the thread relating to the Grand Duke’s accession.

JessRulz Luxembourg Royals Accession, Anniversary, Grand Duke Henri, Portraits

Prince Hisahito, the third child and only son of Prince and Princess Akishino, turned three on September 6th. Hisahito is the first male child born to the Imperial Family in 41 years and currently holds third place in line to the Japanese Throne, after his uncle and father. Prince Hisahito has 2 older sisters, 17 years old Princess Mako and 14 years old Princess Kako.

click to view full-sized image from Japan Times

Pictures released on occasion of Prince Hisahito’s birthday show him riding a bicycle and later, dressed in traditional Japanese attire. According to reports, the little Prince is a lively boy who enjoys outdoor activities, playing with toy balls and helping with gardening. He is currently 3’1’’ tall and weighs about 30 lbs.

His parents and sisters affectionately call him ‘Yuyu’, ‘Yu-chan’ and ‘Hisahito-Kun’.

Before Prince Hisahito’s birth, the Imperial Family of Japan had been plagued by lack of male heirs. That led to increasingly vocal calls to amend the Imperial Succession Laws so that Princess Aiko, the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, could ascend to the Throne one day. However, with the birth of the male Heir, the calls for Imperial equality have been largely stifled: in 2007, Prince Minister Shinzo Abe officially announced that he would not go forward with plans to alter the succession laws. Since Prince Hisahito’s birth, his parents have acquired a more prominent role in the Imperial Family: as critics note, they are often called to fulfil engagements befitting the Crown Prince and Princess.

You can find more information about Prince Hisahito, including pictures and videos from his birthday, in this thread.

Marsel Japanese Royals Birthday, Portraits, Prince Hisahito, Succession

Click here for more pictures of Wills & Harry

 After taking a striking photograph of Queen Elizabeth II, photographer Rankin will now aim his lenses at her two grandsons, Princes William and Harry.

“I think that Prince William and Prince Harry are amazing,” he told the Telegraph. “I would absolutely love to photograph them. For me, it’s not about celebrity or the privilege into which you were born. They have an incredibly difficult life and I think they carry it out with dignity. Obviously, I treat people with respect if they have earned it.”

The last time the royal brothers sat for any photographer, was for John Wonnacott. Wonnacott took a group picture to mark the 100th birthday celebrations for the princes’ late great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

Sonjapearl British Royals Portraits, Prince Harry, Prince William

 Earlier this week, the Danish Royal Court released a series of ten images featuring the newborn son of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie. Prince Joachim’s eldest sons, Nikolai and Felix, also appear in the series.

Click to see the gallery at Kongehuset

The image series, photographed at the couple’s Schackenborg Castle home by royal photographer Steen Brogaard; comprises of two photographs of the proud parents with their son, one of the nearly two-month-old prince with his parents and brothers, a tender portrait of a sleeping prince on his mother Marie’s shoulder, and six individual shots showing the prince’s gorgeous dark blue eyes and an apparent inquisitive nature.

The next big event for the little prince is his christening on July 26th, at the Møgeltønder Church, where his parents wed in May 2008.

Please visit this thread to read comments and post your own about the portraits. If you feel up to guessing what the little prince will be named visit this thread, suggestions for godparents can be made here.

JessRulz Danish Royals HH Prince Henrik, Portraits, Prince Felix of Denmark, Prince Joachim, Prince Nikolai, Princess Marie

Click to see the photo at the Daily Mail

 A photograph taken in 1935 was found by chance by a museum curator, in a box of old photographs. The subject of the photograph is the then Princess Elizabeth, now Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who was sitting for a scupture commissioned by her parents, King George V and Queen Elizabeth  (at the time Duke and Duchess of York).

The picture was taken along with the sculpture of the nine year old princess;  the partly-finished sculpture in fact features in the photo, in the far right. The completed sculpture is in the Royal Collection and was last seen in 2006, as part of the celebrations of the monarch’s 80th birthday.

See the Daily Mail article here.

marmi British Royals Elizabeth II, Portraits

Click to see the images at Kronprinsparret.dk

 To celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary have released a series of six portraits on their official website. The series; which contains individual, couple and family shots; was uploaded to the website over the weekend.

The images were taken in two photosessions in December 2008 and March 2009, by royal photographer Steen Evald. Evald was also the official photographer for the couple’s wedding in 2004, and for the first official portraits of Prince Christian in 2005.

Crown Prince Frederik married Mary Elizabeth Donaldson in a ceremony at the Copenhagen Cathedral on May 14th, 2004. Royalty from around Europe travelled to Denmark for the wedding, which was followed by a reception at Fredensborg Palace.

Discussion about the new portraits can be found here. The thread for Frederik and Mary’s wedding can be found here.

JessRulz Danish Royals Portraits, Prince Frederik, Princess Mary, Wedding Anniversary

The Danish Royal Court yesterday released a series of new portraits of the adult members of the family.

Click the image to see all the portraits at Kongehuset

The series of portraits were taken this past January, in conjunction with the New Year’s Courts. The series includes a group portrait of Queen Margrethe II, Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie.

Individual portraits of the Crown Prince and Princess, and Prince Joachim and Princess Marie were taken; as well as a portrait of the two couples. Three photographers were used for the photos: Martin Mydtskov Rønne (for the group shot), Steen Evald (for the Crown Princely Couple), and Steen Brogaard (for Prince Joachim and Princess Marie)

More information can be found about the portraits here.

JessRulz Danish Royals Margrethe II, Portraits, Prince Frederik, Prince Henrik the Prince Consort, Prince Joachim, Princess Marie, Princess Mary