Spanish production company Sagrera Audiovisual and television channel Antena 3 will shortly begin filming a miniseries about the lesser-known life moments of Queen Sofia of Spain.

Image from TRF avatar gallery

According to El Mundo newspaper, the casting to choose the actors will take place next month and it is still unknown the name of the actress that will play the role of Queen Sofia. It’s also been reported that the filming will begin in October and so probably the TV movie will broadcast towards the middle of 2010.

The miniseries will be divided in two parts based on the less-known moments of Queen Sofia life. The first one will narrate the relationship between the then Princess Sofia of Greece and Prince Juan Carlos of Spain until their engagement, and the second part will continue with her history from the Prince and Princess’ wedding in Athens in 1962 until the day they become King and Queen of Spain in 1975.

Paty Spanish Royals Biography, Queen Sofia, Television

Countess Alexandra of Frederiksborg, former wife of Prince Joachim, has refused an invitation to participate in the Danish version of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, a show which sees minor celebrities and would-be celebrities dance in competition with each other to win the competition with their dancing, and perhaps get their ‘15 minutes of fame’.

Alexandra was allegedly also offered a position on the show two years ago, which she politely refused. Crown Princess Mary’s father John Donaldson has apparently also been offered a chance, but he too has declined, according to magazine Her og Nu.

For more information, please see this thread.

alex001 Danish Royals Countess Alexandra, In-Laws, John Donaldson, Television

For the past ten years, since his birth, Prince Joachim and Countess Alexandra’s son Prince Nikolai has been being filmed every six months by  Martin Joergensen’s father’s film company.

The film, which will be shown soon on Danish television in connection with the prince’s tenth birthday, involves him being filmed at the same table with the same background twice a year for ten years; the effect is supposed to be a ‘flower unfolding’, according to Jakob Joergensen, father of Martin and owner of JJ Film.

Of course, the family has changed somewhat over the years and Martin is no longer Nikolai’s camerman, he his stepfather. The last phase of the filimg was instead carried out by his younger brother Mads Joergensen.

For more information, please see this thread.

alex001 Danish Royals Birthday, Documentary, Martin Jørgensen, Prince Nikolai, Television

 Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands regularly interfered with the appointment of Dutch officials in the past. This is claimed by Henk Koning, Ben Bot and Pieter Kooijmans, three former government officials in the KRO programme ‘Reporter’, that will be broadcasted on Sunday.

Image from the TRF Avatar Gallery

The old politicians do not see a problem in that interferance though, in the end the minister stays responsible for the appointment. In 1991 the queen was said to have preferred henk Koning as president of the

General Chamber of Auditors, over Saskia Stuiveling. Queen Beatrix made her preferance known to prime minister Ruud Lubbers, after which the cabinet chose for Koning. In a reaction, Lubbers wants neither to confirm nor to deny the story. In 1999 however, when Koning left the General Chamber of Auditors and Stuyveling was again one of the candidates the queen again made her preferance for another candidate known. Bram Peper, the minister of Home Affairs, this time did not agree with the queen’s advice and appointed Stuiveling. Queen Beatrix however did not create a fuss ‘Her Majesty knows her place’.

Pieter Kooijmans told the programme that in 1993 when he became minister of Foreign Affairs, he did so partly because of the wishes of the queen. Initially Kooijmans refused the offer by prime minister Ruud Lubbers for the position. Lubbers however made a second attempt, adding that it was one of the queen’s wishes, after which Kooijmans accepted the position.

Marengo Dutch Royals Government, Queen Beatrix, Television

Click the image to see the photo and article at the BBC website

 It is the event that would probably what many Spaniards attribute as King Juan Carlos’ most outstanding action as a monarch. On the 23rd of February 1981, some 200 members of the Guardia Civil stormed the Congreso de los Diputados and staged a coup while Congress was in the process of electing a new Prime Minister. The coup was a failure however, as King Juan Carlos, dressed in his uniform as commander-in-chief,  gave a nationally televised address upholding the Constitution and democracy and denouncing the actions of the soldiers and their leaders.

This act built up Juan Carlos’ legacy as defender of Spanish democracy. Twenty-eight years later, Televisión Española tries to recapture the events leading to this fateful day through its miniseries aptly entitled “El día más difícil del Rey.” The series, which will soon be broadcasting its final episode, features actors Lluís Homar as the King, Mónica López as Queen Sofía, Manel Barceló as Antonio Tejero (one of the leaders of the coup), and is directed by Silvia Quer.

In the TVE page on the miniseries, the channel also offers other video footage of 23-F, interviews with key personalities, and recollections of Spanish citizens as events unfolded on that day.

RhapsodyBrat Spanish Royals King Juan Carlos, Television

Click the image to see the photo at the Telegraph

 A new documentary drama about HM The Queen, simply titled The Queen, is being produced by Channel 4.  The filmmakers have hired one of The Queen’s former press secretaries, Penny Russell-Smith, as a consultant on the project.  The Queen is said to be disappointed at Russell-Smith’s decision to become involved with the production.

The dramatized look at The Queen’s life will be comprised of four episodes, each of which centers on a pivotal time in her life.  There will be episodes covering HRH The Princess Margaret’s aborted engagement to Group Captain Peter Townsend in 1955, the kidnapping attempt on HRH The Princess Royal in 1974, the “annus horribilis” events of 1992 (including the divorce of The Princess Royal, the separations of HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duke of York, and the fire at Windsor Castle), and the marriage of The Prince of Wales to Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005.  The Queen will be played by different actresses at different points in the program, including Samantha Bond.

Palace staff are required to sign confidentiality agreements while in the service of The Queen, but after they leave their jobs they are free to speak — at the risk of alienating or angering the royal family.  Ironically, Russell-Smith once publicly criticized Paul Burrell, former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales, for the tell-all book he published.

Russell-Smith was press secretary at Buckingham Palace from 2002 until 2007.  Upon leaving her post, she was made a Commander of the Victorian Order in recognition of her service to The Queen.

For more information on the docu-drama or on The Queen’s reaction, please visit this thread.

Ella Kay British Royals Documentary, Elizabeth II, Royal Staff, Television