Royal News April 2022

Last modified: 3 May 2022

1 April

In an interview with the NPO-Radio program FunX Queen Máxima of the Netherlands remembered growing up in a country with huge inflation. That’s why she studied economics and learned that “handling money well is an important part of a better life”. As a parent one should be strict when it comes to money, and also give the children pocket money. When she studied she earned some extra money herself by giving mathematics lessons to younger children. She confessed during the interview she is “a real data freak”. But of course also she made financial mistakes and mispurchases in the past. She remembers: “Once I bought something for my hair that didn’t work at all, my hair didn’t look like anything. It was quite expensive.” To go on a trip with friends, she had to work even harder to be able to afford it.

The book “Amalia” by Claudia de Breij, written on the occasion of the 18th birthday of The Princess of Orange, has been nominated for the Storytel Awards 2022.

The Habsburgs today remembered the death of the last Austrian Emperor Karl in Funchal, Madeira, 100 years ago.

3 April

In a letter that he published online Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein of Jordan has announced he is renouncing his title of prince, as he has concluded “that my personal convictions which my father instilled in me, and which I tried hard in my life to adhere to, are not in line with the approaches, trends and modern methods of our institutions”. He says to stay loyal to Jordan.

4 April

During a visit to the headquarters of the organisation Meta last week The Duchess of Cornwall recorded a special Q&A for her Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room. She answered several questions including one about which characters from literature she would like to host at a dinner party and about the importance of literacy for young children.

At MipTV in Cannes Warner Bros announced that the three-part documentary series “Delphine: The Secret Princess”, about the life of Princess Delphine of Belgium, has been sold to several countries. HBO Max will broadcast the series from 1 May in Central and Eastern Europe, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. SBS in Australia will air the series from 23 April.

5 April

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands received a state visit from the president of India, Ram Nath Kovind, and his wife Savita Kovind. The royal couple welcomed the presidential couple officially with a ceremony at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. A state banquet was being held there in the evening. See for photos of Royal Press Europe here.

The Prince of Wales and Queen Letizia of Spain together inaugurated the new Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland, Great Britain, the first British museum dedicated to Spanish art. The collection was purchased by philanthropist Jonathan Ruffer and his wife Jane.

In a new TV documentary released on Netflix today called “Jimmy Savile: A British Hororr Story” it was revealed that The Prince of Wales in January 1989 contacted presenter Jimmy Savile to help the royal family with its public relations. Years later it turned out that Savile was a predatory paedophile. The Prince continued writing Savile until 2006. Savile appears to have taken on a role as an unofficial advisor to Charles.

6 April

According to an Ipsos poll 42 % of the Britons think that The Prince of Wales should step aside and leave the British throne to his eldest son The Duke of Cambridge. 48 % however also feels that Prince Charles would do a good job as a king. Most Britons favour to see the Queen (69 %), Prince William (64 %) and The Duchess of Cambridge (60 %). Only 30 % see The Duke of Sussex in a favourable light, 24 % The Duchess of Sussex, while 69 % has an unfavourable opinion of The Duke of York. The support for the monarchy remains high.

With a dance performance at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam the Indian state visit to the Netherlands came to an end. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima attended the event. For photos see Royal Press Europe.

In his book “Koningsmoord op Het Loo” (King’s Murder at Het Loo) journalist Frans Peeters after an extensive investigation comes to the conclusion that King Willem III of the Netherlands has killed his father King Willem II in March 1849. Officially King Willem II died a few days after a fall on his way to the city of Tilburg, having had a bad health for some time. However in the last days of his life, nobody saw him in the carriage, he didn’t receive visitors – not even his wife was allowed to visit – and after his death his coffin, unusual, remained closed. Peeters says it is likely that his drunken son King Willem III shot his father on 12 or 13 March at Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn. Willem II had travelled to Apeldoorn to speak with his son, who officially stayed in England (but wasn’t seen there either). Willem III loved women, horses and alcohol, and had financial troubles.

Already on 31 January 2022, it turns out, King Philippe of the Belgians has given his permission for the wedding of his niece Princess Maria Laura with William Isvy. The royal decree was published in the Belgian state gazette on 25 February 2022.

For a representation dinner King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden invited people from all over Sweden who have made significant contributions locally, regionally and nationally. The dinner took place in the Charles XI’s Gallery at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. Also present were Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia, as well as Princess Christina and Tord Magnuson.

The Foundation of Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein and the Liechtenstein Red Cross have launched the “Netzwerk Familie Liechtenstein” project. Their aim is to provide early and coordinated support to parents with children aged 0-5 years who are under stress. They want to promote an healthy development of the children.

The shooting for the 2nd season of the RTL+ event series “Sisi” has started in the Baltic States.

7 April

From 3 to 7 April Princess Marie of Denmark has visited Cambodia where she visited several projects of the organisation DanChurchAid (Folkekirkens Nødhjælp) in and around Phnom Penh and in the provinces of Takeo and Kampong Chhnang. Princess Marie is the patron of the organisation. For a video see here.

The coronation of King Misuzulu kaZwelithini will take place on 28 May 2022. It is expected that the event will take place at the Enyokeni royal palace in Nongoma, northern KwaZulu-Natal. President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to attend.

8 April

Leah Isadora Behn, the second daughter of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, has managed to get a contract as a model at the model agency Team Models.

Castle lovers! After a break Svenja, aka Castleholic, is back with new posts about castles and palaces she has visited.

9 April

Together with his parents Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko of Japan Prince Hisahito attended the entrance ceremony of the University of Tsukuba’s Senior High School in Tokio. The 15-year-old prince said to he happy to enroll in the school and told journalists: “While studying hard, I also want to deepen my knowledge of what I am interested in and enjoy school events.”

Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi of Iran has been admitted to the hospital during the night of 8 April due to “side effects of medication taken to treat herself”. However she is doing well and expected to be released from hospital soon. The French blog “Histoires Royales” reports that she was treated after having contracted Covid-19.

11 April

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will pay a three-day visit to Canada in May 2022 as part of the celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The couple will visit Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories and the Ottawa region.

It has been announced by the publisher HarperCollins that a new edition of the book “The Other Side of the Coin” by the Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly will be published on 12 May. In the new chapters she will tell how the Queen got through the Covid-19 lockdown. The chapters will tell about the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, the first public engagements after the lockdown and is looking fowards to the Platinum Jubilee.

Mako Komuro, the eldest daughter of the Crown Princely Couple of Japan, is reportedly volunteering at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The art historian helped the Asian art department of the museum with a forthcoming exhibition of hanging scroll paintings by the Japanese artist Yamada Shinzan, inspired by the life of the monk Ippen.

April 12

King Abdullah II of Jordan travelled to Germany on Sunday for a surgery to treat “a herniatic disc in the thoracic spine” at a hospital in Frankfurt. The king has suffered an increasing pain in his spine “as a result of parachuhte jumping during his years of service in special operations”. The Royal Hashemite Court today announced that the surgery was successfull. Crown Prince Al Hussein is taking over his duties during his absence.

The Emperor Emeritus and the Empress Emerita of Japan have moved out of their temporary home, the Takanawa Imperial Residence in Tokio, where they lived since March 2020. They are going to move into the Akasaka Imperial Residence on 26 April. In the next two weeks they will therefore stay at the Hayama Imperial Villa in Kanagawa Prefecture.

13 April

The Prince’s Palace announced that Sovereign Prince Albert II of Monaco has tested positive for Covid-19, but is asymptomatic. In line with the health regulations in force he went into isolation. It is his second infection with the virus. He first tested positive on 19 March 2020.

In an interview with the French magazine Point de Vue Louis and Marie Ducruet have said that they would love to have children, but don’t agree about the moment. The son of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco would love them right away, while Marie for now would like to concentrate on her career. He would like to have up to four children, she would like to have only two. Louis said: “30 would be a beautiful age to make this project come true”.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark has spent the past week sledging through the landscape of North-East Greenland, together with two sledge drivers from the Sirius Sled Patrol. The journey started at the headquarters of Sirius in Daneborg and ended on Clavering Island. The sledge trip was the official gift of the Defence Forces on the occasion of the 50th birthday of the Crown Prince in 2018.

King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia and his mother Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk have returned home after having spent a month in Beijing, China, for a regular medical checkup.

Former King Constantine II of Greece and his wife Anne-Marie have decided to sell their villa in Porto Heli, Greece, and move to the centre of the capital city of Athens.

14 April

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall have represented Queen Elizabeth II in the Royal Maundy Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, today. A few days ago Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen wouldn’t attend this year’s service. She attended her first Royal Maundy service in 1935, and missed the event only four times during her reign.

To the surprise of the British media The Duke and The Duchess of Sussex made a short stop in London on their way from Los Angeles to the Netherlands on Thursday to visit his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. It was the first visit to the United Kingdom of the couple together since they left in March 2020. They also appear to have met Harry’s father, The Prince of Wales, for about 15 minutes on Thursday morning.

Queen Fadila of Egypt has given an interview to the magazine Hello Monaco. She has lived in Monaco for years.

15 April

The royal pastry chefs of the Buckingham Palace shared their recipe for Hot Cross Buns.

Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, has reopened its doors four years after closing because of an extensive renovation. The renovation will be completed early 2023.

In the Summer also Palace Noordeinde in The Hague will reopen its doors. The dates are not yet known.

The husband of former Princess Mako of Japan, Kei Komuro, for the second time failed the New York state bar examination. After graduating from Fordham University’s law school in May 2021 he started working as a law clerk at a legal firm in New York.

Nicholas de Roumanie Medforth-Mills and his wife Alina-Maria have announced the birth of their second child, a son, at the Polizu Hospital in Bucharest, Romania, today at 2.05am. Mother and son are doing fine. The boy has received the name of Michael/Mihai, and was named after King Michael of Romania, Nicholas’ grandfather.

16 April

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark celebrated her 82nd birthday with an appearance outside Marselisborg, Aarhus. She was joined by Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary and their four children Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine. See a video here.

King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, The Princess of Asturias and Princess Sofia of Spain visited the Centre for Care, Reception and Referral of Ukrainian Refugees in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid.

The Invictus Games 2020 in The Hague, The Netherlands, have finally started. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, Prince Pieter-Christiaan van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven and Prince Radu of Romania attended the opening ceremony. King Willem-Alexander will be present on the final day, 22 April. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also attended some events on Friday.

On Easter Eve Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden read the Easter story from the Gospel of Luke in a broadcast at the Swedish tv-channel “SVT” from the Castle Church in Stockholm.

17 April

While Queen Elizabeth II, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall stayed away, the royals attending the annual Easter Sunday service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor were led by The Duke and The Duchess of Cambridge. William and Catherine for the first time brought along their two eldest children Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Isabella attended the Easter service at the Dom Church in Aarhus.

After testing negative for Covid-19 Sovereign Prince Albert II of Monaco left his isolation and resumed all of his activities.

18 April

On the occasion of Easter Princess Charlène of Monaco has shared a family photo, the first since she returned to Monaco after months of illness. Her children Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella on Saturday night attended the last charity performance of Ukrainian circus artists at the Princess Grace Theatre together with their aunt Princess Stéphanie.

An interesting interview with three Dutch royalty journalists – Justine Marcella, Sander Paulus and Pieter Klein Beernink – about the media code, off-the-record conversations and the difficult way in which the Government Information Service deals with new media.

19 April

The Danish tv-channel DR has started a four-part documentary called “Dronningens skatkammer” (The Queen’s Treasury). Queen Margrethe II herself tells personal stories about her impressive jewelry collection. There are exhibitions in Denmark at the moment showing royal jewelry both at the Koldinghus in Kolding as in Frederiksborg Castle.

Together with his wife Queen Rania King Abdullah II of Jordan has returned to his country after a successfull spine surgery in Germany.

On 7 June, the special edition “In memoriam Princess Marie von und zu Liechtenstein” will appear as the second crypto stamp of philately.

20 April

In an interview with the NBC-Program “Today” the Duke of Sussex spoke about the Invictus Games, his wife and children, and about his grandmother The Queen. See the full interview here. Here the full transcript can be found. In an other interview with the US-magazine “People” Harry proudly told that his daughter Lili has just taken her first step a few days before the interview.

Queen Mathilde of the Belgians has tested positive for Covid-19 and had to cancel several appointments. She is doing fine. She spent the Easter week with her family in Spain to walk part of the Pilgrim’s Route.

The 16-year-old Princess of Asturias undertook her second solo engagement. She came to the Concerence on youth and cybersecurity “Enjoy the Internet safely” organised by the National Cybersecurity Institute in Leganés, Spain. She was the first Spanish royal to appear without a mask since Summer 2020.

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway have started a three-day visit to Svalbard, in the Arctic Ocean, north of Norway.

The first photos of the son of Nicholas de Roumanie Medforth-Mills and his wife Alina-Maria were released.

21 April

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain celebrated her 96th birthday in Sandringham. She travelled to the estate earlier this week and is joined by family and friends. She is thought to spend time in the cottage her late husband The Duke of Edinburgh favoured. On a photo released to mark her birthday the Queen is shown with two fell Ponies called Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale at Windsor Castle.

New photos were released on the occasion of the 15th birthday of Princess Isabella of Denmark.

The Australian Women’s Weekly published an interesting interview with the Princes Royal, who recently visited the country with her husband Sir Timothy Laurence. The couple visited the Sydney Royal Easter Show on 9 April and also talked to members of frontline services for fire and floods. They furthermore headed to Papua New Guinea. The interview was conducted in the United Kingdom before the start of the tour. She among others speaks about her first visit to Australia in 1970.

22 April

According to a survey about the monarchy, conducted by the Angus Reid Institute in Canada, the majority of the Canadians (63 %) thinks about the British Queen in a positive way. 58 % said to feel sadness when she passes away. However after her death more than half of the Canadian people say they will support the separation of Canada from the British monarchy. From the people taking part in the survey 68 % has unfavourable views of the Duke of York, 54 % also says to have unfavourable views of the Prince of Wales. 41 % even strongly opposes to Prince Charles as king, 52 % to Camilla as his Queen Consort. 60 % favours the next in line of succession, the Duke of Cambridge.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex will visit Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda from 22 to 28 April 2022 on the occasion of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year. As was only announced a day beforehand the visit to Grenada has been postponed on the advice of the Governor General of Grenada, Dame Cecile La Grenade. Ahead of the tour the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission has written an open letter, criticising the British royal family for comments on slavery in the past. The Earl and Countess are to avoid “phony sanctimony”. The chairman wants to present the letter to the couple during the visit.

The Invictus Games in The Netherlands came to an end. On the last day the Duke of Sussex – The Duchess already left after the weekend – King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Princess Margriet, Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Lucas van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven attended the wheelchair-basketball final between the USA and the Netherlands. See photos by Royal Portraits.

23 April

On the occasion of the 4th birthday of Prince Louis of Cambridge four new photos were released, taken by his mother The Duchess of Cambridge. See here and here.

The crown princely couple of Japan returned to Tokyo. On Thursday they had visited the Ise shrine in Mie prefecture, and on Friday the mausoleums of Emperor Jinmu in Nara, as well as the mausoleum of Emperor Komei and Emperor Meiji in Kyoto. Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko reported the completion of the Rikkoshi-no-Rei ceremonies to proclaim the Crown Prince’s rise to heir to the throne. On Tuesday they will also visit the mausoleums of Emperor Showa and Emperor Taisho at Musashi Imperial Graveyard in Hachioji, Tokyo.

25 April

Today 32 Ukrainian refugees have arrived at the Castle Het Oude Loo in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. 15 women, 12 children and 5 men were welcomed.

In an interview with the British newspaper Daily Telegraph Queen Azizah of Malaysia has opened up about her struggles to get pregnant after her marriage in 1986. She confesses only her 17th IVF treatment was successfull and resulted in her eldest son being born in 1995. An earlier son had died in 1990 shortly after birth. She had five more children after 1995, including twins. In 2004 she set up the Tunku Azizah Fertility Foundation to sponsor treatment for poor and middle-income couples. The Queen also talks about the emotional toll of undergoing the treatments, and that she would “go home and cry’ after each procedure.

26 April

From 17-19 May The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will pay a visit to Canada on the occasion of the Platinum Jubilee of the Queen. Their first stop, on 17 May, will be St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. The next day will be spend in Ottawa, while the third day will bring them to the Northwest Territories where they will visit Dettah and Yellowknife.

The former royal palace Charlottenlund in Denmark will no longer be sold, the Danish parliament has decided.

The annual report 2021 of the Swedish royal court was published today.

The Spanish royal court surprisingly made public that the personal assets of King Felipe VI of Spain are worth 2.573.392,80 Euro. 2.267.942,80 Million Euro are savings, current accounts and securities, while the rest of the amount (305.450 Euro) consists of art, antiques and jewelry. This doesn’t include the personal assets of Queen Letizia, or the assets that are part of the Patrimonio Nacional.

The Emperor Emiritus and Empress Emerita of Japan have finally moved into their new permanent residence.

27 April

Finally King’s Day could be celebrated again as normal, after two alternative versions because of Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, together with their three daughters, Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien, Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène, Prince Bernhard and Princess Annette, Prince Pieter Christiaan and Princess Anita, Prince Floris and Princess Aimée headed to Maastricht in the Province of Limburg for a huge celebration. The royals visited for over two hours and were celebrated everywhere. During a short interview the Princess of Orange confessed that she doesn’t know yet where she will start studying after the summer. She will likely know more next month. A photo of the family published before the visit.
The complete broadcast at NOS

Two polls in the Netherlands show that the support for King Willem-Alexander drops. A poll by the TV program EenVandaag concluded that only 54% of the people questioned have faith in their king, another poll by news channel NOS even says that only 47% of the people have confidence in the way the king does his job. Still 58% supports the monarchy. The most popular member of the family is as always Queen Máxima, followed by King Willem-Alexander and Pieter van Vollenhoven, the husband of Princess Margriet.

More details were announced of the 50th throne jubilee celebrations of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark paid a three-day visit to Bangladesh with focus on nature-based solutions and biodiversity in the country. She was accompanied by the Minister for Development Cooperation Flemming Møller Mortensen. Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.

Queen Elizabeth of the United Kindgom has left the Sandringham Estate, and flew back to Windsor Castle by helicopter. She spent her birthday week at Sandringham.

During a visit to the new headquarters of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Genaecology and the Royal College of Midwives in London, together with the Duchess of Cambridge the Princess Royal told midwives that she tripped over in a horse lorry while heavily pregnant and had wedged her not yet born baby. She said that luckily the baby ended up the right way up anyway.

Princess Beatrice, Mrs Mapelli Mozzi and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi travelled to Sweden to take part in the World Dyslexia Assembly Sweden. Also Queen Silvia, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia of Sweden attended. The World Dyslexia Assembly, arranged by the Prince Couple’s Foundation, is the partner of the British organisation Made By Dyslexia, of which Princess Beatrice is the ambassador.

The family confirmed to the Danish magazine Billed-Bladet that Prince Gustav zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg will marry his long-time partner on 4 June 2022. A small, intimate ceremony will take place in the private chapel of Berleburg Castle in Bad Berleburg, Germany.

Tunku Tun Aminah Maimunah of Johor, daughter of the Sultan, and her husband Dato’Dennis Muhammad Abdullah had a second child. The hair cut ceremony, that usually is held on the 40th day of the birth of a royal child was being held today in presence of the family. As the child is dressed in blue the baby must be a boy (when his elder sister was born everything was pink).

Walid al-Kurdi, husband of Princess Basma bin Talal of Jordan, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in a corruption case. Already in 2013 he had been jailed for abuse of office for more than 37 years. Also his assets were frozen. However he fled to the United Kingdom and is still enjoying his freedom.

28 April

It was announced that Prince Peter, the eldest son of Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia, has given up his dynastic rights for himself and all descendants born in a marital relationship or out of wedlock. In an official ceremony in Sevilla, Spain, on 27 April he transfered all his rights to his younger brother Prince Philip, who with his Serbian wife and son lives in Serbia.

A new Platinum Jubilee Cookbook with 70 recipes from British embassies and high commissions has been published. The foreword was written by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in which they say that when Queen Elizabeth became the British monarch, the culinary outlook of the UK was “bleak”. The book also contains anecdotes about the use of food in British diplomacy.

Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran gave a rare interview to the British magazine Town & Country, talked about her life, looked back at two decades serving Iran and the 1979 revolution

30 April

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden celebrated his 76th birthday and was congratulated in the Outer Courtyard of the Royal Palace in Stockholm by the Swedish Armed Forces. Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Estelle, Prince Oscar and Prince Gabriel were also present.

The confirmation of Princess Isabella of Denmark took place at the chapel of Fredensborg Castle. Her family as well as her godparents and friends attended the celebration.
A video
Official photo 1
Official photo 2

For the first time in more than a year Princess Charlène of Monaco appeared in public. Together with her family she attended the Monaco E-Prix. She spent several months in South Africa because of a serious sinus infection, and then was treated in a foreign clinic for exhaustion.

In a statement Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia has said to respect the decision of his eldest son Prince Peter. However he didn’t attend himself as he was abroad. He made known that the procedure wasn’t followed properly in accordance with the tradition and the rules of the Serbian Royal Family. The ceremony should have taken place at the Royal Palace in Serbia in Alexanders presence and the presence of the Crown Council, with the blessing of the Orthodox Church.

The urn of Prince Rüdiger of Saxony was interred at the Bestattungswald in Coswig, Germany. His eldest son Prince Daniel lowered the urn with his mortal remains under a young linden tree in the forest grounds of his own cemetery. About 100 guests attended, including his three sons, seven of the eight grandchildren and his last partner, a woman from Thailand. Prince Rüdiger died of a heart attack on 29 March, aged 68.