Last modified: 5 September 2020
1 August
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden has opened the Stockholm Digital Pride Parade with a speech in which she among others said: “You have the right to be exactly who you are, and there are many of us who stand behind you. I stand behind you.” For the full speech, see here.
Happy holidays from Princess Gabriella and Hereditary Prince Jacques of Monaco.
3 August
King Juan Carlos of Spain has informed his son King Felipe VI that he has decided to leave Spain in order to enable his son to act as head of state from a place of “peace and tranquility”. Felipe let know that he respects and appreciates the decision of his father. His lawyer has said that although Juan Carlos has left the country, he will remain available to help the public prosecutor with its investigation into the financial irregularities of Juan Carlos.
4 August
Prince Joachim of Denmark’s health has improved to such an extent, that he has been discharged from the University Hospital in Toulouse, France, on Monday evening. He has returned to the Château de Cayx where he is staying with his family.
5 August
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge paid a visit to Barry Island in South Wales today.
The imperial garden party in Japan, planned for this fall, has been cancelled to prevent the spread of Covid-19. For the same reason the garden party in spring was already cancelled.
6 August
A former top Saudi intelligence official, Saad Aljabri, has filed a lawsuit with the District Court of the District of Columbia, USA, where he lives since 2017, and accuses Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia of trying to assassinate him. The Crown Prince allegedly sent hit men to Canada to kill him with forensic tools, but they were sent back at the border. Saad Aljabri says his brother and his two adult children were taken hostage to try to get him back to Saudi Arabia.
7 August
The East Terrace Garden at Windsor Castle today opened its doors for the first time on more than 40 years. It will be open to visitors at weekends in August and September 2020. The Moat Garden is open every Thursday and Friday in August.
If you desperately need a new royal t-shirt: UFO No More has come with great shirts. I am still not sure which one I want.
8 August
A photo turned up of King Juan Carlos of Spain arriving at the airport of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday. Thus far it was speculated he was either in Portugal or in the Dominican Republic. The newspaper ABC reports that he stays at the Emirates Palace Hotel, owned by the royal family of Abu Dhabi.
Princess Sofia zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn married Archia Akhavan-Kharazian at the Filialkirche Sankt Lorenz near Mondsee, Salzkammergut, Austria. The civil marriage took place at the town hall of St. Gilgen. The small wedding was attended by parents, siblings, nephews and nieces, as well as the bride’s 100-year-old grandmother Fürstin Marianne.
10 August
King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain and their daughters Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia visited the family home and the museum of Father Junípero Serra in Petra, Mallorca. The family arrived on the island on Friday evening. Infanta Sofia has hurt her knee in a fall, and walked with a crutch.
11 August
The book by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, “Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family” has come out. Still waiting for my copy, but thus far the reviews are not very positive.
Leonor, the Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofia of Spain with their parents King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited the socio-educational centre Naüm in Son Roca, Palma de Mallorca.
Prince Carl Philip of Sweden opened the photo exhibition “Kungliga Nationalstadsparken 25 år” (Royal National City Park 25 years).
12 August
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark has visited his brother Prince Joachim at the Château de Cayx in the past days. Joachim is recovering well, but still needs to take rest.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida of Thailand have paid a short visit to their country to attend a royal ceremony to celebrate the 88th birthday of Queen Sirikit, the King’s mother.
13 August
The Norwegian royal court has confirmed that the confirmation of Prince Sverre Magnus will take place on 5 September at the church in Asker. Afterwards a small, private dinner will take place at Skaugum. Only his Norwegian godparents will attend.
The Duke of Sussex appears in a new Netflix documentary “Rising Phoenix” about the Paralympic Games. The documentary will be released on 26 August.
15 August
The British royals marked the 75th anniversary of VJ Day today, the end of the Second World War when Japan surrendered.
A new photo was released upon the 70th birthday of the Princess Royal.
Liechtenstein’s National Day, Staatsfeiertag, took place in an alternative form. The speeches of the president of the Landtag and Hereditary Prince Alois took place in the Rose Garden next to Vaduz Castle without guests. The event was shown live on the Internet.
17 August
The Spanish royal court has confirmed that King Juan Carlos of Spain has gone into exile in the United Arab Emirates.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain visited the island of Menorca.
20 August
Oops! Crown Princess Mary of Denmark went back to work on Wednesday and had totally forgotten about the restrictions in Denmark because of Covid-19. Upon arrival at the Kattegat Centre in Grenaa she shook hands with the general secretary of the WWF. Today she officially apologized via the Instagram account of the family.
Lady Louise Windsor finally received the results of her GCSEs. The daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex attends school in Ascot, Berkshire. Her results are considered a private matter. She will continue and take her A-levels.
The Liechtenstein Government has launched a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, against the Czech Republik. They demand that the country stops recognising its citizens as Germans. By qualifying them as persons with German nationality the country has been able to deny 29 Liechtenstein citizens their property rights in Czechia between 1918 and 1945. The main victim is the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, that until 1945 had quite a bit of property in the country. A Czech court in February 2020 ruled that this property, about 50,000 hectares and a castle, has been legally seized, as Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein is supposed to have declared himself a German citizen in a census in 1930, something the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation denies.
21 August
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited an event of the charity Baby2Baby at Knox elementary school in Los Angeles, USA.
The Duchess of Sussex took part in the When We All Vote Couch Party.
22 August
I am very honoured that my royal blog has been listed by Feedspot in their Top 10 royal family blogs and websites to follow in 2020. Thank you.
24 August
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands have apologized after a picture of them at the Greek Island of Milos turned up. On a picture taken with a Greek restaurant holder they didn’t keep distance and didn’t wear a mask.
The Swedish tv-channel TV4 on 3 September will broadcast a documentary called “Princess Sofia – Project Playground”. The channel has been able to follow Princess Sofia and her co-founder Frida Vesterberg during their work for their foundation Project Playground in South Africa and Sweden. See the trailer.
His lawyers have raised their concern for former Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. To the newspaper “The Financial Times” they say that his whereabouts are unknown and his family hasn’t been able to visit him. Also his doctor hasn’t been allowed to visit him and phone calls are very superficial. The prince, a rival to the present Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was detained earlier this year.
25 August
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary.
The Dutch royal family released new official portraits of the Princess of Orange, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane. The pictures were taken by Martijn Beekman on 14 July at the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden opened the digital Stockholm Fashion Week. Here is the video. Her speech can be read here.
The Countess of Wessex has spoken with the magazine Good Housekeeping about her roles with the charities Childline and the NPSCC.
The Duchess of Sussex has spoken to activist Gloria Steinem about representation and voting in her backyard.
Lady Gabriella Windsor has released two songs to raise funds and awareness for the Playing For Change Foundation.
26 August
As the Palace Noordeinde in The Hague, The Netherlands, didn’t open its doors this summer because of covid-19, the royal house published four videos in the past weeks showing several parts of the palace and the stables. Here are the videos of the Great Ballroom, the chairs in the palace, the Small Ballroom and the Royal Mews.
27 August
The National Museum in Oslo, Norway will reopen next year. Among the pieces of the collection that will be on display are the coronation dresses of Queen Maud and Queen Sonja of Norway.
Countess Eloise of Orange-Nassau has started her education at the hotel management school in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The magazine Weekend published a few photos of the smoking countess in the streets of Amsterdam, which has upset Eloise and her parents Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands.
28 August
With his parents Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia of Sweden the nearly three-year-old Prince Gabriel, Duke of Dalarna, paid his dukedoma a visit and had a look at his christening present, the Prince Gabriel resting place inthe Säterdalen nature reserve. See pictures.
Prince Nikolai of Denmark celebrated his 21st birthday. Several photos were released.
On 9 September the tv-channel National Geographic will start broadcasting the new series “Europe’s New Wild” about the revival of Europe’s nature. In the Netherlands it is Princess Laurentien who is the storyteller in the first episode.
Between 26 and 28 August Crown Prince Haakon of Norway walked part of the Refugee Trail between Oslo, Norway, and Sweden to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Norway in 1945. See here.
29 August
King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand had his his mistress Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi “Koi”, in 2019 for a while known as the Royal Noble Consort, released from prison on Friday. After leaving the prison she was flewn to Germany to return to the royal harem. The king spends most of his time in Germany.
Leopold af Rosenborg, son of Mikael Rosanes and Countess Camilla af Rosenborg, was confirmed at Høsterkøb Church, Denmark. See pictures.
30 August
Leah Behn, second daughter of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and the late Ari Behn, celebrated her confirmation at Jar Kirke, Norway. See pictures.
On Saturday Reigning Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène of Monaco attended the start of the 107th edition of the Tour de France in Nice, France. See pictures.
31 August
The crown princely family of Denmark has enjoyed the summer holidays in Denmark this year. On the last summer day of the year they sent a late summer greeting and had some lovely family pictures released.
Happy third birthday to Prince Gabriel of Sweden.
Malaysia celebrated its Independence Day. The theme this year was “Malaysia Cares”. King Abdullah Shah spoke during a celebration in Putrajaya. In his speech, which was broadcasted on national television, he mainly spoke about the 50th anniversary of the Rukun Negara, the Malaysian declaration of national philosophy. The aim of the Rukun Negara is to create harmony and unity among the various races in Malaysia. He also congratulated the Malaysian government for his efforts to strengthen the economy and safeguard the welfare of the people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Queen Rania of Jordan on her Instagram account thanked for all the good wishes upon her 50th birthday.