UK: Queen's Cousin Asks Why All the Fuss?

The royal family seems to have more perspective on the royal baby than the world at large. As hordes of media, fans and royal-watchers huddle around the London hospital where Kate Middleton is expected to labor, it's business as usual for the family of the future monarch. Recently, the Queen’s cousin, 88-year-old Margaret Rhodes, told CNN she wasn’t “terribly excited” about the royal birth because “everybody has babies."  

Rhodes, who remains close with her cousin, has witnessed her share of royal births and weddings.

“Well, you know, everybody has babies,” she said during the interview with Christiane Amanpour. “And it's lovely, but I don't get wildly excited about it.”

And she’s not the only one showing restraint when it comes to the royal baby. Even great- grandmother-to-be, Queen Elizabeth, said in an appearance in Cumbria, UK, that she’s eager for the royal baby's arrival because she’s “going on holiday” next week. At least Prince William got to go to his polo match last weekend, amid speculation his wife would be in labor. 

This "when it happens, it happens" attitude within the Royal Family’s inner circle could be a very good thing for the royal baby as it gets older, especially when contrasted to the overeager enthusiasm displayed by everyone else. Rhodes, who lived with Queen Elizabeth as a child during World War II, has seen what it's like to grow up under a microscope. Her wishes for the royal baby? "Just a jolly, happy, ordinary child’s life,” she said. 

http://shine.yahoo.com/royal-baby-july/royal-baby-craze--queen-elizabeth-s-cousin-is-not-impressed-202304884.html

UK: New Mothers Awaiting to Find Royal Baby's Name

There's a whole new generation of babies just hoping Kate Middleton delivers any minute now - and for good reason, too! According to Netvouchercodes.co.uk (a U.K. discounted shopping website), new U.K moms are actually willing to leave their newborns unnamed until Kate and Prince William deliver (and name) their own little he (or she). 

While the world waits with bated breath, the U.K. company surveyed 400 new mothers and found that more than 10 percent have put off naming their children until Clarence House announces the much-anticipated name of the royal baby. Luckily, laws in the U.K allow mothers to leave their children nameless for up to six weeks postpartum - which is a hell of a long time to wait before donning your own royal kid with a moniker (isn't it?). 

More from The Bump: 10 weird ways to pick a baby name 

Here's why mums in England are willing to wait before deciding on a name: 

"My husband and I have decided to wait to see what the royal baby is called before naming ours," one survey participant said. "We have thought of quite a few names but we both decided it would be lovely to see what Will and Kate choose first. I love the name Alexandra so if we have a girl then it may well be the most straight-forward decision we have to make." 

Continue reading...

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/why-women-england-wont-name-newborns-until-kate-205500545.html

©Getty

UK: Royal Baby's Wealth!

Kate Middleton and Prince William 's soon-to-be baby is expected to boost the British economy tenfold.

According to the Centre for Retail Research, British retail sales will get a $376 million increase from the birthdate in July through August.

It appears that everyone wants to get in on the royal baby fun, as Brits have reportedly spent an extra $94 million on alcohol and $121 million on souvenirs from the monumental occasion.

It's also been reported that the unborn royal could stand to inherit astaggering $1 billion pounds, based on the wealth of his or her immediate family members.

PHOTOS: St. Mary's Hospital beefs up security for royal baby

Queen Elizabeth II has a net worth of approximately $660 billion, with Prince Charles and Prince William claiming $370 and $20 million respectively.

And the big day is drawing near, with Middleton expected to deliver her first child any day now.

When she encounters the first sign that she's in labor, the duchess will be rushed off to St. Mary's Hospital in London's Paddington district to await her child's arrival.

PHOTO: Prince William plays polo in the midst of royal baby watch

William is planning to take two weeks of paid paternity leave from his day job as Royal Air Force hero, but should his wife go into labor, he'll have a helicopter ready to whisk him away to London just in time.

Middleton is all set and ready to give birth at St. Mary's in the posh Lindo Wing, the same place where her husband was born 31 years ago and her brother-in-law two years after that.

The wing is quite literally fit for a queen. Each individual suite is decked out like a boutique hotel with a satellite TV, a radio, a safe, a bedside phone, Internet access and a refrigerator. Sure enough, a hotel services team will cater to Kate's dietary needs, and there's a wine list in case any of her visitors fancy a drink (or they need to quickly procure champagne for a post-birth toast).

NEWS: More details about Kate's upcoming royal birth

A "normal" delivery package in the Lindo Wing requires a £5,500 ($8,600) deposit, and rates run £1,000 ($1560) per 24 hours stayed over any originally scheduled time.

Dr. Marcus Setchell, former OB/GYN to the queen, will lead the delivery, with an assist from the queen's current gynecologist, Dr. Alan Farthing.

Middleton's mum, Carole Middleton, and sister, Pippa, will be in the delivery room to welcome the newest royal to the world, along with Prince William.

The baby buzz is at an all-time high!

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/entertainment-eonline/20130715/b439033/

Norway: Really...is this worth the monicker of a "Scandal"?

Just weeks before Norway’s crown couple celebrates their 40th birthdays, criticism is flying over gifts of exclusive and luxurious designer apparel that Crown Princess Mette-Marit has received for years. The gifts have never been disclosed, and the lack of openness over what can amount to veiled promotion by a member of the royal family has raised strong objections even from supporters of the monarchy.

The crown princess set off the debate after telling “Dagbladet Magasinet”over the weekend that  something was “terribly wrong” when “folks only care about what shoes or clothes I’m wearing.” Her habit of using exclusive designer apparel, even when visiting impoverished areas on humanitarian missions, has long raised eyebrows in her egalitarian-minded country. Revelations that she’s also received much of the luxury goods as gifts or at a “royal discount” have now set off a barrage of criticism against the Royal Palace, because its officials have failed to disclose the gifts or reveal their source.

Any gifts of clothing, shoes, purses or jewelry that are accepted and used in public, for example, “in reality amounts to sponsorship,” Dag Jørgen Hveen, a legal expert and lecturer at the Norwegian Business School BI, told newspaper Dagbladet. “The designers do this to have an effect. The answer is that there should be openness around the gifts. If not, they become a form of sneak advertising.”

Mette-Marit was being referred to in social and conventional media this week as both a “living advertisement” for the fashion industry, a “commercial princess” and a “willing fool” for the fashion houses. She’s often promoted Norwegian design over the years, and worn apparel from Norwegian designers, but also has worn gowns and accessories from some of Europe’s most exclusive designers including Valentino and Prada on official and highly public occasions. It remained unclear which dresses, shoes and purses she has received for free or at discounted prices.

Continue reading...

http://www.newsinenglish.no/2013/07/10/storm-grows-over-royal-wardrobe/

Spain: No Abdication, but a Renewed Campaign to Better Public Image

That the last year has been a horrific one for the Spanish royal family ought to be unsurprising to our readers. What with the King's idiotic, because it was immensely stupid to go, safari tour to Africa, the rumors regarding his liaison with the safari's organizer, topped by the accusations, still unproven I might add, against financial wrongdoing supposedly engaged by his son-in-law the Duke of Palma de Mallorca, the Spanish Royal House has suffered great erosion of its popularity.

As if these three issues were not enough, His Majesty has had a long convalescence that has forced him to be out of the public eye. The fact that Spain is going to a devastating financial crisis, not the King's doing of course, has only compounded more ammunition for critics and yes, enemies, of the Bourbons to pile on the monarchy. This is a blatant effort by politicians and media to target the Royal House and blame the King and the Royal Family for events that are outside their scope of responsibility. And yet, the moronic actions by some members of the Royal Family have given the enemies of the monarchy the ammunition they were looking for to attack it.

It is, as I define it, the perfect storm: a bad economy, the image of a philandering monarch going on VIP safaris to Africa with the express purpose of shooting rare animals, accusations of influence peddling by his son-in-law, a retreating King whose physical state has been compromised by aging...all working to erode the pristine image of a Royal House that had been previously considered one of the salient institutions of Spain.

It is sad, to me, to witness the plethora of missteps that have brought King Juan Carlos to this point. To hear vicious, disrespectful, uneducated rebel rousers booing the Queen, who has done a phenomenal job for Spain since marrying don Juan Carlos, is just far too much for me to stomach. Doña Sofía deserves admiration and respect as she has been a tireless advocate for the downtrodden, needy and poor in Spain...to hear her booed by a topsy-turvy crowd of ignorant people is simply painful.

One hopes that the King and his advisors will definitely reverse course and focus on retaking the high moral ground ceded to the monarchy's enemies by all these missteps!

http://www.vanitatis.com/casas-reales/2013/07/04/el-rey-juan-carlos-se-niega-a-abdicar-y-se-marca-una-campana-de-imagen-25097/

RUSSIA: Michael II, not Nicholas II, was the Last tsar

An interesting article written by our friend George Krasnow:

Last Russian Tsar Was Michael, Not Nicholas

09 July 2013 | Issue 5165

By W. George Krasnow

Ninety-five years ago, on June 12, 1918, Grand Duke Michael and his secretary Nicholas Johnson were abducted from a hotel in Perm by a group of Bolshevik thugs and slain in the woods outside the city. This murder, five weeks before the Yekaterinburg massacre of former tsar Nicholas II and his family, was part of the Bolsheviks' plan to get rid of the Romanovs.

They had good reason to start with Michael II. Younger brother of the tsar and his legal successor, he refused the crown in an attempt to defuse the February revolution that overthrew autocracy. For the sake of restoring civil peace and to keep Russia at war, he empowered the Provisional Government to conduct a general election to the Constituent Assembly. Having lost the election, the Bolsheviks forcibly dissolved the assembly's first session, thus precipitating the five-year civil war that followed. Michael II, not Nicholas II, embodied the democratic alternative to their dictatorial rule.

Thus, Michael II, not Nicholas II, should be remembered as the last tsar. To this end, a grassroots movement has been founded to push for Michael II's recognition as a national hero. The town of Lokot in the Bryansk region, where Michael II had his Brasovo estate, has celebrated his memory for years.

Michael II was not only a brave soldier and talented military leader, he was also a master of intercultural communication. This skill enabled him to forge a fighting force out of many different ethnic groups that became a legend of valor and loyalty. Michael II was a patriot, war hero, peacemaker and a statesman who put Russia's interests above his dynasty's and his own.

The pro-Michael II movement is neither political nor monarchist. Above all, it aims at extracting historical truth from under the rubble to which the Communist dictators reduced Russia's past. Just as they built the Iron Curtain to prevent Soviet citizens from seeing the outside world, Communist officials barred generations of Russians from understanding Russia's true history. They preferred to talk about tsar Nicholas II's autocracy rather than Michael II's one-day stellar rule that planted the seed of democracy.

 The examples of Britain, Scandinavian countries, Spain or Japan show that monarchy and democracy can be a good mix and can create an equitable, fair and dynamic society. By slaying Michael II on June 12, 1918, the Bolsheviks killed Russia's chance to develop along similar lines and took the country on a historical detour that ended in 1991.

Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/last-russian-tsar-was-michael-not-nicholas/482953.html#ixzz2YlOfuvoI 

UK: Royal Baby Facts

Kate Middleton: 10 facts about the royal baby's untraditional future

After two years of marriage, Prince William and Kate Middleton are expecting their first child. The royal baby's due date is July 13, 2013, when he or she will cut in the line of succession to the throne ahead of Uncle Harry. Both the royal family and their millions of fans are busy preparing for the birth; Kate and William don't always follow tradition and their handling of this one is expected to involve a lot of "firsts" as they make their parenting decisions; and the fans are busy spending money in anticipation of the birth, placing wagers on the name, buying baby merchandise, and copying the duchess' maternity fashion. 

1. How much bang – or bank – can one baby produce?

About $380 million, Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research in the UK, told Reuters.

Retailers in the UK are already capitalizing on the royal baby, advertising memorabilia from china and collectibles to a baby sleepsuit made by the palace’s own Royal Collection Trust, which raises money for palace upkeep.

Royal family members are also participating in the kitsch bonanza. Granddad-to-be Prince Charles is preparing to sell handmade baby shoes and the Middleton grandparents-to-be will hawk royal baby themed fare through their party supply business.

The biggest problem for royal baby paraphernalia producers? Whether to go pink or blue. While some stick with a safe neutral theme — think yellow — other retailers have designs for both possibilities and are waiting on the birth to begin production.

Besides the merchandise, a spike in foreign tourism and local celebrations are expected to bring revenue, much as happened around the time of the couple’s royal wedding in 2011. Though the royal baby’s birth is not estimated to yield the $2.6 billion in tourism the wedding did, celebrations in London alone could bring in millions, Mr. Bamfield told Reuters. 

Kate, herself, is causing a fair amount of economic activity with her maternity fashions this season. Her influence, dubbed the “Kate effect,” does wonders for the retailers she frequents. Vanessa Anotelli saw sales spike at her NessaLeeBaby online clothing and furniture company after word spread that Kate purchased a stroller from her.

Continue reading...

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/2013/0620/Kate-Middleton-10-facts-about-the-royal-baby-s-untraditional-future/How-much-bang-or-bank-can-one-baby-produce?nav=697991-csm_article-leftColRelated

©AP

Belgium: Abdication Speech of King Albert II

Youtube (what would we do without it) has the entirety of the speech given by HM KIng Albert II of the Belgians concerning his upcoming abdication, to take place in Brussels on 21 July 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgPqBlTCwog#action=share

Karageorgevich: A class in Etiquete...

A bit dumbfounded...but to each his/her own...and if you are into this sort of thing...what better teacher than a bona fides princess...

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/but-can-we-say-toilet-princess-katarina-cashes-in-on-downton-class-secrets-8697611.html

The Netherlands: Prince Friso released from London Hospital

The Dutch Royal House announced the following:

Prince Friso leaves Wellington Hospital

On behalf of the Royal Family, the Government Information Service wishes to issue the following communiqué.

Prince Friso was discharged from the Wellington Hospital (London) today.

Prince Friso remains in a state of minimal consciousness. While his health situation continues to be of concern, the Prince no longer needs hospital care. Over the coming months, all available options to provide him with the required long-term care and nursing - in the Netherlands or the United Kingdom - will be evaluated in consultation with experts.

Prince Friso will spend this summer with his family at Palace Huis te Bosch in The Hague, where a medical team - led by Prof. Jan van Gijn and Dr. Michael Kuiper - will be entrusted with his care. He arrived there today. 

The Royal family wholeheartedly thanks the medical team of the Wellington hospital for their excellent and devoted care.

http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/globale-paginas/taalrubrieken/english/news/

Readers will remember that Prince Friso suffered a skiing accident a few years ago. The tragedy struck as the Dutch Royal Family vacationed in Austria, where the Prince, an avid skier, was trapped in an avalanche.

More on Prince Friso from the Dutch Royal Family's website...

Johan Friso Bernhard Christiaan David was born in Utrecht on 25 September 1968. The Prince has two brothers: King Willem-Alexander (born in 1967) and Prince Constantijn (born in 1969). At his birth, Prince Friso held the titles of Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau and Jonkheer van Amsberg.

The Prince was seriously injured in an avalanche when skiing at Lech in Austria, on 17 February 2012. He received intensive care treatment at the Landeskrankenhaus in Innsbruck immediately afterwards. In early March 2012 Prince Friso was transferred for further treatment and care to the Wellington Hospital in London, where he lived before the accident. He remains in the hospital's care.

Education

Prince Friso gained his VWO (pre-university education) certificate at the Eerste Vrijzinnig Christelijk Lyceum in The Hague in 1986. From 1986 to 1988 the Prince studied mechanical engineering at the College of Engineering of the University of California at Berkeley, USA. He studied aerospace engineering at Delft University of Technology from 1988, graduating in aerospace engineering managementin 1994.

From 1990 the Prince also studied economics at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, graduating in 1995. In 1997 he studied business economics at the European Institute of Business Administration in Fontainebleau (INSEAD), receiving an MBA.

Marriage and family

The Prince married Mabel Wisse Smit on 24 April 2004. The marriage was blessed at the Oude Kerk in Delft. Prince Friso and Princess Mabel have two children, Luana (Countess Emma Luana Ninette Sophie, born on 26 March 2005) and Zaria (Countess Joanna Zaria Nicoline Milou, born on 18 June 2006). The family lives in London.

The government decided to respect the wishes of the couple not to seek parliament's permission to marry. As a consequence, since his marriage Prince Friso is no longer a member of the Royal House and is no longer in line to the throne.

Title

At his birth, Prince Friso held the titles of Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau and Jonkheer van Amsberg. Under the Membership of the Royal House Act (2002), Prince Friso has not borne the title Prince of the Netherlands since his marriage. By Royal Decree of 19 March 2004, he continues to bear the personal title of Prince of Orange-Nassau, the designation 'His Royal Highness', the hereditary title of Count of Orange-Nassau, and the surname 'Orange-Nassau van Amsberg'. Accordingly, his daughters bear the title Countess of Orange-Nassau van Amsberg.

Work

Prince Friso was appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of URENCO in Stoke Poges, England, in April 2011. In October 2012 it was decided that the Prince would no longer be able to hold this position, given his state of health.

Before joining URENCO, Prince Friso worked for McKinsey & Company and for the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs International in London. He went on to be part-time director of TNO Space in Delft, and managing director of Wolfensohn & Company in London.

Areas of interest

Prince Friso is involved in a number of innovative ventures relating to sustainable energy, medical services, sustainable food and agriculture, and technology - including the MRI Centre, Rabo Ventures and Wizz Air. From 2004 to 2013 he was a member of the Board of Directorsof Telenet.

Prince Friso supports various initiatives promoting innovation and technology, such as Jet-Net (Youth and Technology Network Netherlands), the Biosciences and Society Foundation, and the Netherlands Study Centre for Technology Trends. He has previously worked with the Science and Society Foundation Evenings and the engineering and consulting agency Witteveen+Bos.

Public appointments

• Honorary chairman of the Prince Claus Fund.
• Member of the Advisory Board, Christiaan Huygens Science Award
• Patron of De Hollandsche Molen Association for the Preservation of Dutch Windmills