Barack Obama concluded his two-day visit to Japan – the first country he visited on his nine-day Asian tour.

Courtesy: Yahoo! News

Speaking in front 1,500 people in Tokyo Concert Hall, Obama promised an ‘unshakable’ commitment to Asian security and re-affirmed the alliance between Japan and the United States.

During his speech, Barack Obama touched some lighter topics as well; he shared with the audiences his memories of a childhood visit to Japan and recalled being rather interested in consuming ‘matcha’ – green tea ice cream. He also sent his greetings to the small Japanese fishing town Obama, which was actively supporting his candidacy during the presidential campaign and which now enjoys a booming industry thanks to its famous namesake.

Obama also congratulated the Emperor on the 20th anniversary of his accession to the Throne.

Following his speech, the President had lunch with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Upon arrival, Obama showed his respect for the Emperor with a deep bow, which will no doubt be warmly received in a country where bows are sign of great respect and regard.

The bow however proved controversial outside Japan, where a lot of English-language newspaper sported similar headlines – “How low can he go?” President Obama has already been in a centre of similar controversy, when he allegedly bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, which the White House denied.

Watch the video of Obama being welcomed by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko

Marsel Japanese Royals Bowing & Curtseying, Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko, Official Visit, President Obama, United States of America

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On October 29th, 2009 Queen Noor of Jordan attended the Common Ground Awards at the Canadian Embassy, in Washington DC (USA). The ceremony started with a reception where guests could enjoy listening sounds of gypsy jazz.

After Susan Collin Marks, co-founder of Search for Common Ground, and Queen Noor, chair of the King Hussein Foundation, presented the 2009 Common Ground Awards to CeaseFire, Luma Mufleh and the Fugees Family, Karen Armstrong, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, Congressmen John Lewis and Elwin Wilson, Playing for Change, Melissa Etheridge and Salman Ahmad.

The Common Grounds Awards has been presented annually since 1998 by Search for Common Ground (SFCG) to honor people who have made significant contributions to accomplishments in conflict resolution and peace building.

To see more pictures click here.

salma Jordanian Royals Awards, Queen Noor, United States of America

King Mohammed VI, accompanied by his brother Prince Moulay Rachid, received on Monday in the southern city of Ouarzazate, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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During this audience the King hailed the traditional strategic partnership between the two friendly countries strengthened since the mid-nineties and marked in particular by a regular diversified political dialogue structured economic ties and reinforced cooperation to promote regional peace and security. The Monarch also voiced commitment to promoting these important achievements with US President Barack Obama and expressed his high appreciation for the committed constructive role played by the US administration throughout the world building on an approach based on dialogue consultation and mutual respect.

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Mrs Clinton also attended with the king and Moulay Rachid the the ceremony of presenting Morocco’s solar energy project worth about nine billion dollars,and which is a national and ambitious project seeks to achieve a 2,000 megawatt capacity by 2020. This production capacity accounts for 38% of the electric power at the end of 2008 and 14% by 2020,Five sites were identified for the project which is in line with Morocco’s energy strategy,namely Ouarzazate,Ain Bni Mathar,Foum AlOued,Boujdour and Sebkhat Tah.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived Sunday in Marrakech to take part in the 6th ministerial meeting of the Forum for the Future scheduled 2-3 November 2009.

Mademoiselle Lilo Moroccan Royals Hillary Clinton, Mohammed VI, United States of America

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Her Majesty Queen Noor Al Hussein presented on November 2nd the SOS Anniversary Award to Johnson & Johnson for their support of SOS Children’s Villages in Africa at the Embassy of Austria in Washington D.C.

She too shared her experiences with SOS Children’s Villages in Jordan during the reception hosted by His Excellency the Ambassador of Austria, Dr. Christian Prosl, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the organisation. Queen Noor Al Hussein, Honorary Chairperson of SOS Children’s Village Association of Jordan and honorary member of the General Assembly of the SOS-Kinderdorf International, introduced the SOS Children’s Villages in Jordan after a meeting with Hermann Gmeiner, the founder of SOS Children’s Villages.

The first Jordanian SOS Children’s Village was inaugurated by the late King Hussein and Queen Noor on May 7, 1987 in Amman.

salma Jordanian Royals Children, Patronage, Queen Noor, SOS Children's Villages, United States of America

HSH the late Princess Grace was awarded the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style award last Thursday, October 22nd in a ceremony in Beverly Hills. The Princess’ son, Prince Albert II, was on hand to accept the award on behalf of his mother.

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During the awards ceremony and following cocktail party, which benefited the Princess Grace Foundation-USA and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Prince Albert mingled with celebrities like Demi Moore, Jenna Elfman and Angie Harmon. Actress Debra Messing later presented the Prince with his mother’s award, a miniature version of the 14-foot sculpture “Torso” which stands on the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way. Messing stated, “You can’t think of fashion as we know it without thinking of Princess Grace. She is glamour. She is Hollywood. She’s modern, elegant, sophisticated.”

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Monaco’s 51-year-old sovereign endeared the audience during his acceptance speech, sharing that “at heart, my mother was an artist.” Albert told of his mother’s passion for the arts and her dedication to improving the lives of others. He also spoke of the Princess Grace Foundation, and how it is honouring the Princess’ legacy.

The award, which is presented annually to “honour style legends for their contributions to the worlds of fashion and entertainment”, is awarded by the Rodeo Drive Committee, and this year also went to French jewellery house Cartier. Past winners include designers Tom Ford, Gianni and Donatella Versace, Manolo Blahnik, Valentino Garavani and photographer Mario Testino.

Click here to read more about Princess Grace’s award, and other homages to her memory.

JessRulz Monaco Royals Awards, Fashion, Grace Kelly, Prince Albert II, Princess Grace, United States of America

 HM Queen Silvia and HRH Princess Madeleine attended the gala held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the World Childhood Foundation USA yesterday evening in New York City.

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The mother-daughter duo arrived just after 6pm local time and made their entrance along the red-carpet at The Harvard Club on 35 West 44th Street in red and blue evening gowns, respectively. The two women were accompanied by Madeleine’s fiance, Jonas Bergström, who arrived with the pair but entered seperately.  The evening honoured the co-founder of the Foundation, Antonia Ax:son, and the former Secretary General of the Foundation, Gunilla von Arbin.

The World Childhood Foundation was formed by Queen Silvia in 1999, to “help the world’s most vulnerable children: sexually abused and exploited children, street children and institutionalised children, with special emphisis on girls and young mothers.” Childhood currently works with over 110 projects in 14 countries, and in the past ten years has donated around $40million to these projects.

The Royal Family attended a gala in Stockholm earlier this year to celebrate the anniversary. Click here to view the WCF thread at TRF.

JessRulz Swedish Royals Jonas Bergström, Princess Madeleine, Queen Silvia, United States of America, World Childhood Foundation

 A suspicious package caused the bomb squad to decend on the World Childhood Foundation headquarters in New York City on Tuesday, October 14th.

The package, which was addressed to HRH Princess Madeleine, the youngest child of TM King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, was found to contain mix tapes, undergarments, a love letter to the Princess and a proposal – but no bomb.

Anika Sonnerberg, a spokeswoman for the royal court, spoke to the New York Post following the incident, confirming that all security protocol was followed with regards to the package. “The security scanned it as they always do with packages sent to the royal family. There was nothing dangerous in it,” she said.

A police investigation is currently underway, with the US State Department believed to have been called in to assist the NYPD in locating the package’s sender.

Princess Madeleine, who is on a month-long visit to New York to work with the Foundation, was not in the building at the time of the incident. Queen Silvia will join her daughter later this month for the Foundation’s 10th anniversary gala.

JessRulz Swedish Royals Princess Madeleine, Security, United States of America

 The Prince and Princess of Asturias arrived on Sunday in the USA to start a three-day visit to New Mexico and Chicago.

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Their Royal Highnesses visited on Monday the new facilities of the National Hispanic Cultural Centre in Albuquerque, and the Cervantes Institute, which was inaugurated by the Prince and Princess in their visit in 2004.

Afterward they went to New Mexico Univiersity (they already visited in 2004) where they had a meeting with the Advisory committee of the Prince of Asturias Endowed Chair at Zimmermans Library. The Prince of Asturias Endowed Chair, which this year goes to Fernándo Pérez-Gómez, was created in honor of the heir to the Spanish Crown, and its aim is to promote collaboration between Spanish and U.S. scholars by “bringing a preeminent Spanish scientist to the University of New Mexico to engage in teaching and research in information science and technology.”

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At the end of the day Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia attended a dinner that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and his wife Barbara Richardson hosted in their honor in their official residence in Santa Fe. The dinner was also attended by the First Lady of Mexico, Margarita Zabala.

On Tuesday, Felipe and Letizia attend the major event of their visit to New Mexico, the City of Santa Fe’s 400th anniversary celebrations. As heir to the Spanish Crown, Prince Felipe, declared his joy and honour to represent Spain, together with the Princess, in the ceremonies that commemorate the Founding of the capital of “this beautiful and fascinating” State of New Mexico. Read more…

Paty Spanish Royals Official Visit, Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Princess Letizia, Princess of Asturias, United States of America

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Today the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the Nobel Peace Prize 2009 goes to US President Barack Obama. He recieves the prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”.

You can read the official announcement here: Nobel Peace Prize 2009.

The Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony will take place in Norway’s capital Oslo on December 10th. The prize is annually handed out by King Harald V of Norway. The award ceremony is attended by all members of the Royal House of Norway.

A thread in the Norwegian Forums can be found here: Nobel Peace Prize 2009.

Her_Majesty Norwegian Royals Harald V, Nobel Prize, President Obama, United States of America

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 American admirers of the late Princess Diana should take advantage of an opportunity to visit a traveling exhibit, organized by Earl Spencer, now showing at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until December 31, 2009.

Earl Spencer appeared on The Today Show last week and was interviewed by Matt Lauer. Among the objects brought by Spencer for the interview were the beautiful black, cleavage-baring Jacques Azagury dress worn on the Princess’s last birthday, for her last public engagement; a large, red pedal car from their childhood; and her autographed pink ballet slippers. He also brought some family films which I have never seen, including footage of the family leaving Diana’s christening and some charming film of Frances in slacks, rolling around on the ground and playing with her children.

The Philadelphia exhibit contains other Diana treasures, including her wedding dress, with its matching shoes, bag and parasol. Spencer family jewels are also included. Among them is a diamond tiara but it does not appear that the tiara which was worn by the Princess at her wedding is included. The featured tiara is described as being composed of a Greek key pattern ca. 1860 and surmounted by nine associated palmettes ca. 1840. This piece struck me as being two separate tiaras which were combined, and according to a note in a previous exhibition that is precisely how the Spencers created this tiara at the end of the Victorian period. The hybrid tiara is not a very successful piece in my opinion. Some writers claim that the Princess wore this tiara, but I don’t remember Diana ever wearing this larger Spencer tiara. Other RF jewel experts agree that they have no knowledge of Diana wearing the hybrid tiara in public.

Diana’s former chef, Darren McGrady, who now cooks and sells books as the Royal Chef, is preparing a brunch on Sunday, December 20, in conjunction with the exhibit. The brunch will feature some of the Royal Family’s favorite recipes. Darren’s website is http://www.theroyalchef.com.

Regular adult tickets to the regular traveling exhibit cost about $23 and should be ordered in advance. For more information about the exhibit and tickets, contact Museumtix.

For more information about the main article describing the exhibit, see Times LIVE – Princess Diana exhibition opens

iowabelle British Royals Diana Princess of Wales, Exhibition, Princess Diana, United States of America