After two days of intense diplomatic activity, yesterday Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia had time to make cultural and charity visits and also meet with others royals.

Click to see the image at Casa Real

They went to the National Museum of Bucharest where they visited an important medieval Exhibition. Afterwards they visited Centro San Marcelino Champanat of Los Hermanos Maristas, a center in Bucharest that developed a program to help children and youth.

San Marcelino Champanat was a French priest who founded the Hermanos Maristas  in 1817. They are a religious order consecrated to God, whose motto is “follow Jesus in the Way that Mary did”. Maristics Brothers live in the community and are dedicated in a special way to the education of children and youth, specially the most neglected ones.

Maristics Brothers settled in Romania in 1998 and in 2004 they opened their first charity house with the aim of taking children from the streets and helping with their education. Currently 4300 Maristics Brothers work worldwide.

At the end of their visit to San Marcelino Center, Felipe and Letizia had a private meeting with Prince Radu and Princess Margarita of Romania at Elisabeta Palace.

Paty Romanian Royals, Spanish Royals Official Visit, Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Prince Radu, Princess Letizia, Princess Margarita, Princess of Asturias, Romania

Photo Casareal.es

 On their second day of their official visit to Romania, the Prince and Princess of Asturias began the day with a working breakfast with representatives of Spanish companies in Romania. Later on Prince Felipe had a meeting with Romanian Prime Minister, Emil Boc, at Victoria Palace, headquarters of the Prime Minister administration.

Soon afterward the Princess of Asturias joined her husband in order to visit the Parliament where they met with its speaker, Roberta Alma Anastase, and also made a short but interesting visit to the palace of the Parliament, a historical and impressive building located in the center of Bucharest. Romanians consider the palace, constructed during the past dictatorial regime in a period full of privations for Romanians, as a symbol of democracy.

At midday Felipe and Letizia attended a closing lunch of the business forum Spain-Romania, a forum in which companies discuss construction of new infrastructures under the new Romanian law and with the contributions of European funs.

Continuing with the official activities, the Prince and Princess of Asturias hosted a reception for the Spanish community living in Romania. According to diplomatic sources, currently more that 500 Spaniards live and work in Romania, most of them in its capital, Bucharest.

The day ended with a dinner hosted by their Royal Highnesses for representatives of Romanian society. Representing to Spain the dinner was attended by the State Secretary for EU, and the Spanish ambassador in Romania. Romanian ex Prime Minister, Petre Roman and Palme d’Or winner filmmaker, Cristian Mungiu, among other guest, were the representatives of Romania.

For more information, please visit this thread.

Paty Spanish Royals Official Visit, Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Princess Letizia, Princess of Asturias, Romania

Click here to enlarge the image

 Prior to starting their summer vacations in Palma de Mallorca, where the Spanish Royal Family usually visit in summer, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia are currently in Romania for a three days official visit, with the aim of supporting the Spanish investments in the area, and promoting bilateral relations between both nations.

Accompanied by a delegation of 80 businessmen and shortly after their arrival at Henri Coanda airport in Bucharest, the Prince and the Princess were welcomed by Romanian President, Traian Basescu, and his wife, Maria Basescu, at the Cotroceni Palace. Immediately after this, a meeting between both delegations took place; meanwhile, Princess Letizia and Maria Basescu visited the Cotroceni Palace Museum.

In the afternoon Felipe and Letizia will lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in the Carol Park of Bucharest, and in the evening they are scheduled to attend an official dinner hosted in their honor by President and Mrs Basescu the presidential residence.

Tomorrow Felipe and Letizia will began the day with a working breakfast with representatives of the Spanish companies in Romania and also will have a meeting with the Senate and Parliament spekers.

For more information, please visit this thread.

Paty Spanish Royals Official Visit, President Basescu, Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Princess Letizia, Princess of Asturias, Romania

Click to see full image at daylife

King Albert and Queen Paola concluded their State Visit to Romania with a visit to Sibiu, one of the economically strong regions of Romania. They were welcomed with a folklorist dance spectacle on the main square, after they had been welcomed at the City Hall.

They also visited a little village near Sibiu, called Cristian, which has a very close cooperation programme with the city of Leuven. They attended a presentation on the cooperation projects between Belgian and Romanian communities.

At the Romania-Belgium Economic Forum, held on Wednesday, five cooperation agreements between several Romanian and Belgian companies have been signed. Yesterday evening, King Albert and Queen Paola held a reception in honour of their host, President Basescu. They had the opportunity to talk to many of the Belgian expats. The evening also brought with it a concert and a banquet with Belgian specialties.

The King and Queen return to Belgium this evening.

For a discussion of the visit, see this thread.
For more pictures, see here (Belga Pictures gallery)

LadyLeana Belgian Royals King Albert II, President Basescu, Queen Paola, Romania, State Visit

King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium are on a three-day state visit to Romania. Today is their second day, and they went through a pretty full schedule. They visited the Revolution Square in Bucharest with the Romanian Minister of Culture, Theodor Paleologu. Later today, they also paid tribute to the Memorial of Danny Huwe, a Belgian journalist from the Flemish commercial channel, who was killed during the Revolution of 1989. The King, together with two journalists, laid a wreath at the memorial.

Click to see full image at daylife

The King and Queen also placed a wreath at the grave of the Unknown Soldier in Carol Park, and they took their time to visit the Stavropoleos church, where they talked to some of the nuns and enjoyed the impressive architecture.

While the King focused on strengthening the political and economic ties between the two countries at the Romania-Belgium Economic Forum, Queen Paola also had some single events today. After her visit to the National Museum, she met with the President of the Romanian branch of the Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children (FOCUS Romania), Mrs. Mihaela Geoana. Queen Paola is the Honorary President of Child Focus, the sister organization of Focus Romania.

Tonight, King Albert and Queen Paola have invited the Romanian President, Traian Basescu, and his wife to a concert and a banquet with Belgian specialties. This morning, they also attended a reception for the Belgian community in Romania at the Cercul Militar, teh cultural center of the Romanian army.

Tomorrow, on their last day, the King and Queen will visit Sibiu and Cristian.

For a discussion of the visit, see this thread.
For pictures, see here(Belga)

LadyLeana Belgian Royals King Albert II, Queen Paola, Romania, State Visit

King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium are on a three-day state visit to Romania, at the invitation of the Romanian President, Traian Basescu. The Belgian royals left from the military airport of Belgium this morning, and arrived in Bucharest in the early afternoon. They were welcomed by the Romanian President and his wife.

Click to see full image at belga

The King and Queen first attended the ceremonial greeting of the guard, and had a first meeting with the President at the Presidential Palace. After that, King Albert and Queen Paola followed different schedules. Queen Paola visited the Muzeul Satului, an open air village museum which shows the traditional Romanian village life. She was introduced to traditional Romanian folk dances and folk music, as well as some traditional arts.

King Albert met up with several important politicians, like the president of the Senate, Mircea Geoană and the President of the Chamber of Representatives Roberta Anastase, at the Victoria Palace, where the Romanian Parliament was installed after the reign of Ceaucescu. The King is accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karel De Gught, and a delegation of academics and entrepreneurs. The visit is expected to bring forth several economic and academic agreements.

The first day of the visit will be concluded with a state dinner.

Click to see full image at Belga

The following days, the King and Queen will pay tribute to the statue of the Unknown Soldier, and they will meet up with the Belgian community in Romania. They will also visit Sibiu, one of the major economic regions in Romania, and especially a little town called Cristian, which is “adopted” by the Belgian university city Leuven.

This is the first visit of King Albert II to Romania, and it is the only planned state visit of the King and Queen in 2009.

For a discussion of the visit, see here.
For pictures, see here (belga)

LadyLeana Belgian Royals King Albert II, President Basescu, Queen Paola, Romania, State Visit

 Last month, Prince Akishino of Japan, and his wife Princess Kiko enjoyed a two-week visit to central and eastern Europe in honor of the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan, Austria and Hungary. The prince and princess also traveled to Bulgaria and Romania, in honor of the 50 years of diplomacy between these two nations and Japan. The elegant 42 year-old princess was the very image of traditional and modern royal style during the visit.

One of the highlights of the princess’ wardrobe during the visit was the beautiful, peach-colored silk kimono that she wore during her visit with the prince to the Klosterneuburg Abbey near Vienna. The kimono, which had short sleeves rather than the familiar trailing sleeves characteristic of kimono for girls and unmarried women, was accentuated by a wide cream and peach-colored obi with floral design and a peach obijime. The kimono had yuzen-dyed floral detail, similar to that on the obi; as is usual for a formal kimono for a married woman, the design was subtle and was mostly below knee height, with some detailing also on the left shoulder. No jewelry was worn to accentuate her outfit, as is the custom when wearing kimono. The peach color complimented the porcelain complexion of the princess. The material looked like a heavy, yet soft silk, and the kimono was perfectly fitted to suit the princess’ slim figure. Read more…

sgl Japanese Royals Austria, Bulgaria, Fashion, Hungary, Japan, Official Visit, Princess Kiko, Romania

Click for the photo at royalblog.nl

Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko are presently on a two-week goodwill tour of Europe that began in Austria and took them in the following to Bulgaria and Hungary. The fourth and last leg of their journey is going to be Romania. The visits are taking place in order to celebrate the 140th year of Japanese diplomatic ties with Austria and Hungary and the 50th year since Tokyo resumed formal relations with Bulgaria and Romania.

Last Thursday the couple was welcomed by Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov and his wife Zorka at the Presidential Palace in Sofia. On Friday, the prince and Parvanov were to open a replica of a famous Thracian tomb, funded by the Japanese government. On the royal programme were also visits to the golden-domed Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia and the Boyana Church, a UNESCO World Heritage site. At 18th secondary school “William Gladstone” as well as at Sofia University the prince and princess met with pupils, students and lecturers in Japanese studies.

On Saturday, the royal couple were received by Bulgaria’s former king and premier Simeon Saxe Coburg and his wife Margarita (Article) before they travelled on to Hungary where they visited an exhibition of Japanese design in Budapest’s Museum of Applied Arts. (Article) They went to see the Budapest Zoo and the Hungarian Museum of Agriculture on the following day. On Monday they met with Hungary´s President Laszlo Solyom who discussed environmental issues with his guests before presenting them with presents of a Herend porcelain bird and a zither.

Yesterday, Prince and Princess Akishino arrived on the fourth leg of their tour, in Romania, where they were scheduled to visit the Japanese School before meeting with Romanian President Traian Basescu and his wife Maria today at Cotroceni Palace in Romania´s capital Bucharest. (Article) Read more…

ChiaraC Japanese Royals Bulgaria, Hungary, Official Visit, Prince Akishino, Princess Kiko, Princess Masako, Romania, Succession