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Only a few days to go until spring officially starts, but this week spring was already in the air at the royal corts of Belgium and The Netherlands. On Tuesday a delegation of the ‘Ghesellen van de aardbei’ went to the palace of king Albert II to offer this year’s first strawberries to His Majesty. This ceremony was the official start of the strawberry season. The king remarked that the strawberries tasted good, even without sugar.  Click here to see a clip of the ceremony.

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A day later princess Máxima of the Netherlands went to the ‘Keukenhof’ in Lisse. The Keukenhof is the world’s largest garden, with 7 million flower bulbs being planted every year. This year the theme of the flower show is ‘From Russia With Love’. This is the reason why Svetlana Medvedeva, wife of the Russian president, was invited to open the flower show, together with the princess.

Click here to go to the official site of the Keukenhof.

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Marengo Belgian Royals, Dutch Royals King Albert II, Princess Máxima, Russia

The second week of the XXI Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver continued with royal support. Here’s a overview of the final week of the Vancouver Games, beginning February 20th. (Click here to read about the first week of the Games).

The Dutch Royals
On February 20th, the Crown Princely Family was back at the Richmond Olympic Oval for more speed skating, and more Dutch gold. Mark Tuitert came in first place in the Men’s 1500m Speed Skating, while Willem-Alexander, Máxima and Ariane took part in the Mexican wave (the elder girls did not attend). A special celebration was held at the Holland Heineken House, where the Prince of Orange took to the stage to personally congratulate Tuitert.

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The whole family was out on February 23rd for the Men’s 10,000m Speed Skating final. The event was marred with controversy for the Dutch, with Sven Kramer crossing the finish line first but later being disqualified because he skated in the wrong lane on the wrong lap. Kramer’s disqualification allowed fellow Dutchman Bob de Jong to pick up bronze. The family later attended the Ladies’ Figure Skating Short Program at the Pacific Coliseum.

On February 27th, the family attended the Men’s Team Pursuit Speed Skating at Richmond Olympic Oval. The Dutch team picked up a bronze medal, finishing behind Canada and the USA.

Read more…

JessRulz Dutch Royals, Monaco Royals, Norwegian Royals, Swedish Royals Carl XVI Gustaf, Charlene Wittstock, Harald V, IOC, Olympics, Prince Albert II, Prince Carl Philip, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Máxima, Queen Silvia, Queen Sonja, Sport, Vancouver 2010

As was reported last week, several royals had already flocked to Vancouver for engagements before Friday night’s opening ceremony. Even more royals joined in on the fun over the course of the first week of the Games. Here is an overview of the royal who, what, when and where of the first week of Vancouver 2010.

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Friday February 12th – Opening Ceremony
Royals are a regular fixture at opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, beginning their support of their nation’s athletes. All the royals in Vancouver attended the opening ceremony at BP Place Stadium, and one was even a flag bearer. Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a descendant of the former Hohenlohe-Langeburg dynasty which was mediatised to Württemberg in the early 1800s, carried the flag for Mexico as the country’s only athlete at these Games.

Princess Anne, the Princess Royal sat in the audience, in front of King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. The Prince of Orange and his wife, Princess Máxima; Infanta Pilar of Spain (who is a member of the IOC) and her daughter Doña Simoneta Gómez-Acebo, and Prince Albert II of Monaco and his long-time girlfriend Charlene Wittstock were also there, some waving flags and scarves as their teams entered the stadium; as were Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, who later met up with Crown Prince Haakon of Norway before spending some time in the vice-regal box.

View the image at Zimbio

The British Royals
The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, has been relatively quiet during the competition days, but was spotted on February 13th at the Pacific Coliseum watching several British athletes compete in Men’s and Women’s Short Track Speed Skating. Anne also attended the training session of the British curling team at the Vancouver Olympic Centre on February 15th, one day before the curling competition began. Read more…

JessRulz British Royals, Danish Royals, Dutch Royals, Greek Royals, Monaco Royals, Norwegian Royals Charlene Wittstock, Constantine II, IOC, Olympics, Prince Albert II, Prince Frederik, Prince Haakon, Prince Hubertus, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Anne, Princess Mary, Princess Máxima, Queen Anne-Marie, Sport, Vancouver 2010

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On Monday the Dutch court announced that Prince Willem-Alexander will go to the Vancouver Winter Olympics with his wife and with his three daughters. From February 9th to 12th the prince will be participating in the 122nd meeting of the IOC in Vancouver. After that the prince will attend the 21st Winter Olympics in Vancouver from February 12th to 28th. Princesses Máxima, Amalia, Alexia and Ariane will join the prince in Canada and will attend various competitions.

Yesterday the RVD (Gouvernment Information Service) released a statement saying that the decision of the prince and princess to take their daughters to Vancouver for two weeks is in accordance with the  ‘leerplichtwet’ (Compulsary Education Law). The normal primairy school holiday in February however only lasts one week, and a look on the website of the Bloemcampschool shows that the 6 year old princess Amalia, at least has to miss four days of school due to this holiday.

Click on image to see photo at Zimbio

However, the Compulsary Education Law gives the school director the right to give a child 10 extra free days a year, without consulting the ministry of Education.  The school director can decide if the child won’t get behind due to the extra days of holiday and if there are special reasons to grant them.

Last year, princess Amalia also got extra days off to enjoy the annual ski holiday of the royal family in Lech, Switzerland. The news that the princesses again have extra holidays did not get many positive reactions on opinion websites and in newspapers. Many people think it is unfair that the princesses get some extra days off this easily, while it is very difficult for other children. As the prince of Orange and his wife annually already have more days off than the average person, people do not see the need to ask for extra days of holiday yet again. Queen Beatrix and prince Claus usually took their children on holiday during the christmas vacation, to prevent these kind of discussions, according to royalblog.nl.Considering the severe critisicm on the crown prince in the last six months, it would have been advisable for him not to make himself vulnerable to a new source of criticism, but alas…

Marengo Dutch Royals Olympics, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, Princess Ariane, Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Máxima, Vancouver 2010

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 On Monday Princess Máxima of The Netherlands attended a conference on microfinance that was held at the Peace Palace in The Hague. The conference was hosted by Radio Netherlands Worldservice and the theme was ‘Microfinance, who profits?’. The princess started the conference with a speech in which she talked about the matter, she also said that she would like to see research after the long term effects of microfinance and if it really helps the poor or not.

A day later the princess attended the  award ceremony for the Royal Academy of Dutch Science (KNAW) in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. Prof.dr. Naomi Ellemers received the prize for her scientific research and her active involvement for equal opportunities for women in science.

Marengo Dutch Royals Awards, Microfinance, Princess Máxima, Science

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After a period of two years Queen Beatrix was finally able to hold the annual new year’s receptions at the Royal Palace on Dam square in Amsterdam again. The previous two years the reception was held at Noordeinde Palace due to the extensive renovation of the palace in Amsterdam.  This summer however the renovation of the inside of the palace was completed, though there are still some works done to the exterior of the palace.

Today and tomorrow the queen will receive hundreds of guests. This afternoon is reserved for the Dutch guests, most of whom play an important role in politics and in various sectors of Dutch society, while tomorrow morning the queen will receive members of the Corpse Diplomatique and the various international organisations.

Marengo Dutch Royals Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Margriet, Princess Máxima, Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven, Queen Beatrix, Royal Palace (Amsterdam)

Click on image to see photo at mediacourant.nl

 The first episode of the television series ‘Bernhard, schavuit van Oranje’ (Bernhard, Scoundrel of Orange), about the late prince Bernhard of The Netherlands attracted more than 1,8 million viewers yesterday. According to the scenario writer Tomas Ross, three other episodes will follow.

In each episode another woman in the life of the prince will be highlighted. In the first episode it was the mother of the prince, Princess Armgard of Lippe-Biesterfeld who pushed him with a soft but steady hand towards a wedding with the heiress to the Dutch throne, princess Juliana. Ross uses a lot of fiction and rumours about the prince in this story. In the first episode there were already references to the so-called Stadholders letter. Some say that in this letter prince Bernhard offered his services to the Nazi’s and suggested that he would become stadholder of the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation. Not the slightest evidence for such a letter has ever been found however.

Click on image to see picture at royalblog.nl

The plot starts on 1 May 2003, when princess Máxima visits Soestdijk Palace after the first Queens Day (April 30th). During the conversation between the princess, prince Bernhard and princess Juliana it becomes clear that the prince was responsible for arranging the meeting between Máxima and prince Willem-Alexander. With a lot of flashbacks all the different moments form the life of the prince such as his engagement period, the war, his alleged involvement with Eva Perron and his role in the Greet Hofmans crisis become clear. Queen Juliana is played by the 88 year old actress Ellen Vogel. She plays a Juliana whose memory is troubled, but who can be very sharp at the same time. In an interview with GDP newspaper Vogel says that she was moved by the comment of Eric Schneider, who played the older prince Bernhard. At the end of his life the prince says about his wife to princess Máxima: ‘I was abandoned by many, but not by her’.

The series does not pretend to factual correct, in some cases Ross actually changed the thruth on purpose, but it is a quick drama about the life of the prince where the thruth and fiction meet. The success of the series is not very surprising, an earlier drama about the engagement period, the marriage and the war of Juliana and Bernhard, aired by the EO, also attracted a lot of viewers, while the recent publication of the book on the wedding crisis of the royal couple by professor Fasseur was a Bestseller, which got a lot of attention (and critisism) in the press.

Click here to see the trailer of ‘Bernhard, schavuit van Oranje’.

Click here to see the first episode of the series online.

Marengo Dutch Royals Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Princess Máxima, Queen Juliana, Television

This past Wednesday, December 16th, the Dutch Royal Family came out to attend the 2009 Prince Claus Prize awards ceremony at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam.

View the image at Koninklijkhuis

Attended by HM Queen Beatrix and TRH the Prince of Orange, Princess Máxima, Prince Constantijn (who presented the award as honorary chairman of the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development), Princess Laurentien, Prince Friso (also honorary chairman) and Princess Mabel; this year’s award went to Colombian architect Simón Vélez, who has been investigating how bamboo can be used as a modern and sustainable building material.

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Vélez was awarded the annual monetary sum of 100,000€ for receiving this year’s award, which highlighted this year’s theme of culture and nature. A statement by the RVD revealed that, with this theme, the Fund aimed to “highlight the ingenious ways in which individuals, groups and organisations use nature in their work and thereby balance the relationship between man and nature.” Vélez has also been commissioned by The Dutch Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture to design a stage for the Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam Noord.

The Prince Claus Prize has been awarded each December since 1997, one year after the Fund was established as a gift from the Dutch Cabinet to HRH Prince Claus on his 70th birthday in September 1996.

JessRulz Dutch Royals Prince Claus Prize, Prince Constantijn, Prince Friso, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Laurentien, Princess Mabel, Princess Máxima, Queen Beatrix

According to political magazine ‘Elsevier‘, the prince of Orange and his wife have bought a new property in Argentina. The couple bought two acres of land on a villa park in the area of Patagonia in Argentina.

View the image at RNW

Last week the prince and princess announced that they intend to sell the property that they are building on the Machangulo peninsula in Mozambique after it is completed. The project has met with a lot of criticism in the Netherlands and the prince confessed that he had ’sleepless nights’ about the project. But they won’t be left empty handed.

Earlier this year the couple bought two acres of land of the villa park Muelle de Piedra, next to a lake in the ski resort Villa La Angostura. According to Elsevier, documents from the province of Neuquén confirm that the land is registered under the name Máxima Zorreguita.

View the image at 24Con

Karin Howie of the real estate agency FB Propiedades says that the property is located next to the Nahuel Huapi lake. She also says: ‘I looked at the property several times with Máxima and her husband. They day that they decided to buy it, it was pouring with rain, but they were in love with the view.’ Howie does not want to say how much money was involved, but according to the Argentinian press it cost 2,5 million US dollar.

It is not clear what the prince and princess will do with the land. Ski resort Bariloche is only 80 km. away, they rented a villa there this summer holidays.  Last year the couple already bought a property of 1.500 acres in the same region. But apparently this was an investment by the couple and the Zorreguieta family. The Estancia Pilpilcura will open its doors soon for regular guests.

Marengo Dutch Royals Argentina, Mozambique, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Máxima, Residences

Last night Queen Beatrix attended the opening of the annual Holland Dance festival at the Lucent Dance Theater in The Hague. The queen was accompanied by the prince of Orange, princess Máxima, prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien. Princess Máxima wore the grey Natan dress that she first wore during Prinsjesdag in 2004 while princess Laurentien looked smashing in a green creation.

View the image at PPE

View the image at PPE

It is widely known that queen Beatrix is fond of any form of dance, as is her sister Margriet. The younger generation as also hooked, the daughters of the crown prince attend ballet classes and recently princess Máxima took her daughters to a (private) rehearsal of the National ballet in Amsterdam.

During the festival, the 50th annversairy of the Holland Dans Theater will be celebrated. During this 12th edition of the dance festival over 70 performances and 100 workshops will be given. The festival will end on November 15th with a parade of 1200 amateur dancers.

More information about the festival can be found here.

Marengo Dutch Royals Prince Constantijn, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Laurentien, Princess Máxima, Queen Beatrix, Royal Ballet