Various royals flocked to Stockholm these past two days, to attend events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the United Nations’ Rights of the Child convention.

View the image at royalcourt.se

A private seminar on the celebration was held at the Royal Palace of Stockholm early on Thursday November 19th, and was attended by a large group of royal women: Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Paola of Belgium, Queen Sofia of Spain, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway.

The group was joined by Crown Princess Margarita of Romania and Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia for a visit to Barncentrum, a children’s centre in Stockholm. The centre provides assaulted and abused children a place where they can come and receive treatment from all the authorities which are involved in such a case (paediatricians, socials workers, therapists, police and prosecutors) in the one place. According to Swedish newspaper DN, the royals were told of a twelve-year-old girl’s story of being abused by her father, and how the centre assisted in the man receiving a ten year jail sentence for his actions.

View the image at Svensk Dam

On Thursday evening, a jubilee concert was hosted by the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs at Berwald Hall in Stockholm. All the royal visitors attended, as well as King Carl XVI Gustaf, the two Swedish princess’ fiancés (Daniel Westling and Jonas Bergström) and Princess Christina, Mrs Magnuson. Speeches were given by Queen Silvia and Göran Hägglund, Sweden’s Minister for Health and Social Affairs. The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra performed for the event, as well as a dance performance by the Lasse Kühlers Dansskola.

The following day, Friday November 20th, a government conference had been organised and was once again attended with a large royal contingent at the Radisson Blu Royal Park Hotel in Frösundavik. The conference was organised through the framework of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union.

Click here to view the thread at TRF.

JessRulz Belgian Royals, Danish Royals, Dutch Royals, Luxembourg Royals, Norwegian Royals, Spanish Royals, Swedish Royals Children, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Princess Madeleine, Princess Mary, Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Victoria, Queen Beatrix, Queen Paola, Queen Silvia, Queen Sofia, United Nations

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.

Click on image to see photo at PPE

Click on image to see photo 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

Click on image to see photo at refdag.nl

A job as lackey for queen Beatrix at the palace seems very popular. Since the ’service of the royal house’ placed a job advertisement on the internet last week, the service has been flooded with applications.

‘We often place advertisements on the internet’, says spokesperson Weijermans in the Algemeen Dagblad, ‘but this time we are getting an enormous amount of reactions’.  The adversisement says that women can also apply for the job. According to Weijermans it is a misunderstanding that only men can be lackey’s, though at the moment no women are employed in this function.

Candidates can reply until November 1st. Among other things, they need to be fluent in English and have knowledge about polishing silverware. The exact requirements can be read in Dutch here. The job takes 36 hours a week, for which you will be payed 2338,64  euros a month.

Marengo Dutch Royals Queen Beatrix, Royal Household, Royal Staff

On Monday, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands attended a meeting of the ‘club of Rome’ in Amsterdam. Former president of the USSR, Michael Gorbatsjov, also attended the meeting, as he is a honorairy member of the club.

Click on image to see picture at PPE

The club of Rome is an association that was founded in the late 60-ties by European scientists who were worried about the state of the world. During the Global Assembly, a two day conference of the club that was held in the music building near the IJ river (Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ) was the last in a series of seven meetings that had to prepare the climate summit in Copenhagen, later this year. The theme of the conference was climate, energy and economic recuperation.

After the conference the queen took her time to talk with former president Gorbatsjov, as can be seen in this clip from the local television station AT5. Apart from the scientists and politicians, the conference was also attended by prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma, a nephew of Queen Beatrix. The prince recently announced his engagement to Annemarie Gualthérie van Weezel.

Click here to go to the website of the club of Rome. And click here for the current events thread of Queen Beatrix.

Marengo Dutch Royals, Italian Royals Bourbon-Parma, Environment, Mikhail Gorbachev, Prince Carlos, Queen Beatrix, USSR

HM Queen Beatrix and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh yesterday commemorated the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Dutch city of Nijmegen from German occupation during World War II. The city was the first Dutch city to fall to German hands in 1940.

Click to see the image at Koninklijkhuis

The royal pair inspected the customary guard of honour, before laying wreaths at the Resistance Monument at Traianus Square. Speeches were made by both Dutch, British and American parties, including the Dutch Defence Minister, the Mayor of Nijmegen, former NATO chief Lord Carrington (who served in the liberation of Nijmegen) on behalf of the British Guards Armoured Division and Major Moffitt Burris for the 82nd Airborne Division (who also served in the liberation in 1944).

A parade of historical vehicles concluded the official ceremony, with HM and HRH then given the opportunity to speak with veterans at the Nijmegen Town Hall.

The Duke of Edinburgh was selected as the British representative at the event as he is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, a regiment which was instrumental in the liberation of Nijmegen, which began on September 17 when the Allied Forces landed in the south of the country.

According to royalblog.nl, there has been some criticism in Britain by the press over HRH the Prince of Wales’ non-attendance at the anniversary. Prince Charles is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment, which also played a large part in the Battle of Arnhem and the liberation of Nijmegen. A large group of 100 paratroopers were dropped on the city on Saturday as part of the commemoration festivities, and some veterans are “disgusted” that the Prince was not in Holland to mark the anniversary.

Click here to view the thread for the anniversary.

JessRulz British Royals, Dutch Royals Anniversary, Duke of Edinburgh, Liberation, Military, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince Philip, Queen Beatrix, World War II

This past Tuesday, September 15th, the Dutch Royal Family attended the annual opening of parliament, Prinsjesdag. The event took place at The Hague’s 13th century Ridderzal (Hall of Knights), where HM Queen Beatrix addressed the Dutch parliament from the throne.

Click to see the gallery from the Examiner

Accompanied by TRH the Prince of Orange, Princess Máxima, Prince Constantijn, Princess Laurentien, Princess Margriet and Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven, the Dutch monarch arrived at the Ridderzal in a golden carriage which dates back to 1898. Upon entering the Ridderzal, Queen Beatrix read a speech written by the government of Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, which outlines the coming year’s budget.

The Queen announced that the government would be cutting costs in the years to come, following the global financial crisis which left many nations in a recession, while also addressing other financial issues facing the government in the 2010 budget. “People are losing their jobs, the number of bankruptcies is rising quickly, assets built up over the years are shrinking and government finances are unavoidably showing large deficits,” she said.

Click to see the image at Koninklijk Huis

HM also spoke of how not making chances to the parliament’s budget policies would create financial problems for the Dutch: “Serious and undesirable results will arise for the level of taxes and the affordability of services such as health care, education and pensions.” However, at the end of her speech, the Queen wished the government well, stating “You may feel supported in the knowledge that many are wishing you wisdom and join me in praying for strength and God’s blessing upon you.”

At the closure of HM’s address, the Senate Speaker proclaimed “Long live the Queen!”, to which those in attendance replied “Huzza! Huzza! Huzza!” The Queen and the royal party then returned to Noordeinde Palace, where they greeted the crowds from the Palace’s main balcony.

Extra security was on hand for this year’s Prinsjesdag, following the Koninginnedag 2009 Tragedy in April. Click here to view the Prinsjesdag 2009 thread.

JessRulz Dutch Royals Parliament, Prinsjesdag, Queen Beatrix

Click on image to see photo at PPE

 On saturday Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands went to the Grote Kerk in Naarden to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Dutch protestant Johanniter order. The Dutch branch of the ancient order was founded in 1909 by prince Hendrik, consort of queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands.

At the moment the order has over 3000 volunteers and 600 members, who all are active in helping others, like handicapped or lonely people. Younger members of the order even visit juvenile prisons and the order also organizes holidays for handicapped people.

Queen Beatrix, who wore the ceremonial Johanniter cape at the event, was welcomed by Jhr. J.P. de Savorin Lohman, the co adjutor of the order. In the great church of Naarden Her Majesty received a book about the order that was written by Monda Heshusius. The queen is the honorary commandor of the order while her father, the late prince Bernhard, used to be ‘land commandor’.

Click here to visit the website o f the Dutch Johanniter Order.

Marengo Dutch Royals Anniversary, Orders, Queen Beatrix

Click on image to see photo at parool.nl

Click on image to see photo at parool.nl

  As was already reported in this blog entry, Russian president Dmitri Medvedev and Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands opened the new Hermitage museum in Amsterdam on friday evening. The queen was accompanied by her eldest son, the prince of Orange, and her daughter-in-law princess Máxima, who wore an eccentric purple furry outfit, her tutti fruti bracelet and earrings with purple precious stones. The president was accompanied by his wife.

The festivities around the opening were organized outside the museum, on the river Amstel. Choreographer Hans van Manen, made a baller especially for the opening, which was performed by two Russian dancers of the  National Ballet. The most important part of the festivities was the performance of the piece ‘Paintings at an Exhibition’from russian composer Modest Mussorgski (1839-1881), played by the orchestra of the royal navy. The festivities were closed with fireworks, after which the guests attended a reception inside the new museum. During the entire show a lot of references were made to Russian-Dutch connections, and at one point two enormous portraits of king Willem II and his Russian wife queen Anna Pavlovna were floating over the Amstel river.

Click on image to see photo at PPE

Click on image to see photo at PPE

The Hermitage Amsterdam opened the next day for normal visiters, and it stayed open for 31 hours non-stop. The first exhibition at the museum is one about Russian court life. The museum shows around 2000 objects, among them a lot of Russian court dresses, porcelein, portraits, jewels a throne and even the piano of the last Tsarina.  

This was however not the only reason for the visit of president Medvedev. He also met the prime minister, J.P. Balkenende, they went on a sightseeing tour in a canal boat in Amsterdam. The president also met the Dutch foreign minister, with whom he discussed the situation of the pirates in front of the Somali coasst and how to trial them. President Medvedev and his wife stayed in the Okura hotel in Amsterdam, where the most expensive suit costs 10.000 euros a night.

Click here to go to the website of the Hermitage Amsterdam.

Marengo Dutch Royals Hermitage, Official Visit, President Medvedev, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Máxima, Queen Beatrix, Russia

Click on image to see photo at PPE

  On this rainy  friday morning queen Beatrix visited the first fase of the art project ‘village images’ in Coevoorden. Seven sculptures are displayed on along route through seven towns in the province of Drenthe.

This is only a start though, the project by the foundation ‘Natuurkunst Drenthe’  (Natural Art Drenthe) hopes to have at least 20 sculptures on this route by the year 2012. The scultures have been made since 2005 in the town of Coevoorden.Each year national and international artists make a sculpture in  the forest around the town.

Marengo Dutch Royals Queen Beatrix

From the TRF avatar collection

 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, figurehead leader of the locked up Russian Federation, began a visit to one of the most liberal nations, The Netherlands, when he landed in Amsterdam today. In town at the invitation of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende to discuss bilateral relations between the two nations, who have a strong trading partnership, Medvedev will also meet with Dutch Queen Beatrix, the majority shareholder in Koninklijke Shell, one of the largest oil companies in the world. There is a partnership between Shell and Russian Gazprom. As far as this blogger is aware, there will be no discussion of business matters between the two heads of state. It is interesting to remark that while Beatrix is a constitutional monarch by choice of her family, Medvedev is not, and is mostly seen to be the figurehead of the former president and current prime minister of the Russian federation, Vladimir Putin.

The most likely meeting between the two will come at the opening of the new exhibit at the renovated Hermitage, a most beautiful museum dedicated to the Russian hermitage in St Petersburg, which has a permanent and very enlightening exhibit on the Russian Royal Family, and life at the Russian Court. The re-opening of the Hermitage will happen, to great fanfare I am sure, on Saturday. There is sure to be a visit not only by the Queen, but by other members of the Royal Family.

In contrast to Russia of today, the exhibits at the Hermitage show the opulence and luxury of what was once one of the grandest nations on Earth. It is interesting to note that while that opulence and luxury has gone by the wayside, the Russia of today is much more in line with the practical Dutch sensibilities of this era. None the less, I am sure that the Dutch would never consider a coup to throw off their royal family. The family is much too loved and in tune with the needs of their subjects for this to ever happen. So all in all, perhaps the partnerships of the various companies in the two countries is not all that surprising after all.

Empress Dutch Royals Hermitage, Official Visit, President Medvedev, Queen Beatrix, Russia