March 2007 Newsletter: Movies with a Royal Angle

[norwegianne]

February was an exciting month for royal watchers - King Harald's 70th birthday celebrations pulled in royals, and his relations, from all over Europe - and we got to take a look at the glitter that some of us so enjoy. Princesses and Queens in tiaras at night, and, during the day, in warm clothing, as Oslo was quite the cold place to be.

Following the party theme for February, the Academy Awards in Los Angeles that followed the night after the gala dinner in Oslo - showed of just as many interesting gowns. And continuing with the royal theme: Sunday, February 25, 2007, Helen Mirren accepted an Academy Award in the category Best Actress. She won the award by her portrayal of HM Queen Elizabeth II in the movie “The Queen.” 60 years earlier, in 1957, Cary Grant accepted the award in the same category on behalf of Ingrid Bergman. Ingrid Bergman received the Best Actress award for her role as Anastasia/Anna Karoff in Anastasia. Both these movies have royal connections. Therefore, the topic of March’s newsletter is Royalty in the Movies.

In addition to the 10 brief summaries of movies featuring royals - be they real or fictional - below - there's also a thread dedicated to the topic: Be sure to also check out http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...movies-37.html and share with us your favourite, or least favourite movie on the topic of royalty.

Spring is a time for renewal. New life bloom outside, and some might like to reevaluate their lives. The Danish court also presented us with the news that Princess Alexandra, the ex-wife of Prince Joachim, is doing just that. On March 3, 2007, Alexandra said goodbye to the life of royalty, and joined the nobility as H.E. Alexandra Christina, the Countess of Frederiksborg.

Happy March, everyone.

Norwegianne, Zonk & Avalon
TRF Newsletter editors

[norwegianne]

We're sure you've noticed the reorganization of the forum. It is spring, and we like to do a bit of cleaning here - now and again. This time it involved adding more sub-forums. Several of the main forums were getting crowded, and we're hoping that this solution will make it easier to find what you're looking for, or to start new discussions about a royal who was previously dedicated to just one thread. We've already heard from some of you on the topic - and taken your wishes into account, but we're always looking to improve this forum, so if if you have an opinion, we'd be happy to hear it.

Current moderators, supermoderators and administrators can be found here. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need to.

We make an effort to find all the birthdays, wedding anniversaries, state-visits and other events that might be an interest. But we're only human, and thus we might miss something. If you have something you think we should cover - send us a PM.

[norwegianne]

Birthdays:

1 – Stephanie of Monaco (1965)
5 – Mary of Denmark (1972)
5 - Peter Karadjordjevic (1980)
5 - Arthur Chatto (1999)
6 – Louise of Belgium (2004)
12 – Astrid of Norway, Mrs. Ferner (1932)
14 - Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein (1945)
17 - Princess Marie Astrid of Luxemburg (1954)
17 - Al-Muhtadee Billah of Brunei (1974)
19 - Prince Andrew, Duke of York (1960)
21 – Harald of Norway (1937)
22 - The Duchess of Kent (1933)
23 – Naruhito of Japan (1960)
24 – Arietta Morales (2002)
26 – Ernst August of Hanover (1954)
29 - James Ogilvy (1964)


State/Official Visits and Trips

5 - Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip to visit The Netherlands
5-9 – Queen Sofia's Cooperation Trip to Indonesia and Cambodia.
January - Princess Caroline's two-week humanitarian field trip to Africa
Feb. 27-March 2 - Queen Beatrix, the Princes of Orange will pay a State Visit to Turkey


Wedding Anniversaries

2 - Wedding Anniversary of Crown Prince Willem Alexander & Crown Princess Maxima of the Netherlands (2002)
3 - Wedding Anniversary of Princess Benedikte & Prince Richard (1968)
6 - Wedding Anniversary of Archduke Carl-Christian of Austria and Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg (1982)
12 - Wedding Anniversary of Stephanie, Countess Von Bismarch-Shoenhausen and Karl-Theodor, Reichsfreiherr von und zu Guttenberg (2000)
14 - Wedding Anniversary of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Marie Teresa of Luxembourg


Other Event of Note

21-25 - 70th Birthday Celebrations of King Harald V of Norway
February - Christening of Countess Zaria
International homage to H.S.H. Princess Grace of Monaco (continuation)

[norwegianne]

Birthdays
March 1 - Timothy Laurence (Husband of Princess Royal)
March 4 – Jazmin Grace Grimalid
March 10 – The Earl of Wessex
March 12 - Gabriel de Nassau
March 13 – Grand Duke Georgiy Mikhailovich
March 14 – Prince Albert of Monaco
March 15 - Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein
March 21 – Count Claus Casimir van Oranje-Nassau
March 22 – Grand Duchess Marie Teresa of Luxembourg
March 23 – Princess Eugenie of York
March 25 - Philipp von Lattorf
March 26 – Crown Prince Leka of Albania
March 26 – Princess Margarita of Romania
March 26 – Countess Luana van Oranje-Nassau

State Visits
Ending March 2 - Dutch state visit to Turkey: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...7-a-11802.html
March 13 - 15 - Statevisit from Ghana to the UK
March 13 - 15 - Statevisit from Spain to Algeria
March 20 - 22 - http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...7-a-11975.html
March 25 - 31 - http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...7-a-12081.html

Weddings and wedding Anniversaries
March 3 - http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...7-a-12011.html
March 10: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...66-a-3885.html
March 18 - http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...1995-a-43.html
March 20 - http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...82-a-3985.html

Other events
March 24: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...7-a-12007.html

[norwegianne]

Film: King Ralph
Starring: John Goodman as Ralph, the heir to the British throne, Joely Richardson as Princess Anna of Finland, Julian Glover as King Gustav of Finland and Judy Parfitt as Queen Katherine of Finland
Summary: The British royal family all tragically die, as they’re struck by lightening while standing at a metal platform. Somehow, the next in line is Ralph, an American working as a lounge singer in Las Vegas.
Royal connection: The British royal family, although not named Windsor. The line of Succession

Film: Princess Diaries
Starring: Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse Renaldi, Anne Hathaway as Princess Mia Thermopolis
Summary: An American teenager discovers that her father’s family is the ruling family in Genovia, a small Mediterranean principality. Now she has to deal with this, on top of a regular teenager's life. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Royal connection: The angle of discovering that you’re the heir to a throne in a principality aside - Princess Mia’s purple dress at the dinner party is a copy of the one Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden wore to the Nobel Prize Gala in 1997.

Film: The Prince & Me
Starring: Luke Mably as Eddie/Crown Prince Edward of Denmark, Miranda Richardson as Queen Rosalind of Denmark and James Fox as King Haraald of Denmark.
Summary: The Crown Prince of Denmark spends a year, incognito, as a student at an American university. While there - he falls in love with a classmate. How can a normal girl fit into the world of royalty?
Royal connection: Loosely based on Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark’s stay at Harvard University.

Film: the Prince and the Showgirl
Starring: Laurence Olivier as Charles, the Prince Regent, Sybil Thorndike as the Queen Dowager and Jeremy Spenser as the future King Nicholas
Summary: The royals of Carpathia arrive in London in 1911. The British government discover that it would be beneficial to have allies in Europe, and assign Northbrook, a civil servant, to make certain that the Carpathians stay in London will be pleasant. At a cabaret, Charles, the Prince Regent spots Elsie Marina (Marilyn Monroe) and is attracted to her. Intrigue is added to the film by way of the future King Nicholas.
Royal connection: Set in London in 1911, around the Coronation of George V

Film: The Swan
Starring: Grace Kelly as Princess Alexandra, Alec Guinness as Prince Albert, Agnes Moorehead as Queen Maria Dominika and Jessie Royce Landis as Princess Beatrice
Summary: Prince Albert, heir to the throne, needs to marry. His cousin, Princess Alexandra is among the candidates, but she’s got a crush on the tutor of her brothers.
Royal connection: The film was released in the USA to correspond with the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco.

[norwegianne]

Film: Anastasia
Starring: Ingrid Bergman as Anna Koreff/Anastasia, Helen Hayes as Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna.
Summary: A businessman wants to pass Anna Koreff off as Grand Duchess Anastasia, in order to gain a large sum of money. As time goes on, and "Anastasia" plays her part, the lines between fiction and reality become blurred and it's difficult to know what is true. The one to finally decide is the Dowager Empress.
Royal connection: Based on the real-life story of Anna Anderson, who claimed she was Anastasia, one of Czar Nicholas's daughters, and had managed to escape the Bolsheviks.

Film: Elizabeth
Starring: Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I, Fanny Ardant as Mary of Guise and Kathy Burke as Mary I
Summary: The early reign of Elizabeth I – what does it take to be a Queen in a world filled with intrigue?
Royal connection: Although Cate Blanchett was nominated for a Best Actress Academy award for her portrayal, the award went to Dame Judi Dench for her portrayal of http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...th-i-6313.html - the same character played by Blanchett.

Film: The King and I
Starring: Yul Brynner as King Mongkut of Siam and Patrick Adiarte as Prince Chulalongkorn
Summary: An European widow accepts the position as governess to the children of the King of Siam. The musical version. Among other film versions are Anna and the King of Siam and Anna and the King
Royal connection: Mongkut, the King of Siam in this story, probably with less singing, was the great grandfather to the current king of Thailand. He had 82 children.


Film: Marie Antoinette
Starring: Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette, Marianne Faithfull as Maria Teresa, Jason Schwartsman as Louis XVI, Rip Torn as Louis XV
Summary: The story of Marie-Antoinette, from her birth in Austria to her life in France.
Royal connection: Filmed in Versailles.

Film: The Queen
Starring: Helen Mirren as the Queen, James Cromwell as the Duke of Edinburgh, Sylvia Syms as the Queen Mother and Alex Jennings as the Prince of Wales.
Summary: Portrays the life of the British royal family around the time of Diana’s death, and what the scriptwriter imagines what was their reaction to the public demonstration of emotion.
Royal connection: The Royal family.