A-EngelsRB – Pagina 6

Prince Bernhard kept in touch with Alexia

februari 13, 2008 door Royalblog.NL

Dutch weekly Weekend made headlines on Wednesday by publishing recent pictures of Alexia Grinda. She is the sixth daughter of the late Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.

She was born out of wedlock in 1967, as a result of a liasion the Prince had with a French woman, Hélène Grinda. Up to now Alexia had been able to escape public scrutiny.

Marc Van der Linden, a veteran royal correspondent of the magazine and RTL Boulevard television, tracked Alexia Grinda down in the West-African country of Senegal. He was tipped off that she was vacationing there with a friend.

Alexia Grinda, upon meeting Mr. Van der Linden and his crew, did not agree to an interview, but she talked with the reporter about her life. According to the magazine she has suffered from the fact that she had to keep silent about the true identity of her father, Prince Bernhard, who passed away in 2004.

In an interview published after his death the prince admitted to having fathered tow children out of wedlock, Alexia in France and Alicia de Bielefeld (born 1952) in the United States.

Alexia and her mother were visited by Prince Bernhard at irregular intervals, according to the magazine. Alexia would also spend time with her father at the Dutch royal holiday house in Italy. There she also met Princess Juliana, with whom Bernhard had four children: Princesses Beatrix (now Queen of the Netherlands), Irene, Margriet and Christina.

Alexia is said to have met her half-sisters. She was allowed to visit her father at Soestdijk Palace in the dying moments of his life. Alexia is often linked to the bribery scandal in which Bernhard was entangled with airplane manufacturer Lockheed; it has been claimed he took money from Lockheed in order to pay for the expenses of his family in France.

© RB; Bron: Weekend

Bernhard’s sixth daughter speaks up

februari 12, 2008 door Royalblog.NL

Alexia Grinda, the sixth and youngest daugther of the late Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, has for the first time in her life agreed to talk to a Dutch journalist. Marc van der Linden of magazine Weekend and editor of monthly Royalty tracked Bernhard’s French born daughter – a half sister of Dutch Queen Beatrix – down in West-Africa.

She was surprised she was found, did not agree to an full blown interview, but posed for pictures and told part of her life story to the reporter. The article is to be published on Wednesday. Mr. Van der Linden has so far refused to disclose Alexia’s whereabouts or how he was able to find her. ,,I just wished she will at some time be ready to tell me her full story", Van der Linden said.

Alexia was born in July 1967, making Prince Bernhard in the time of three months both first time grandfather (of Dutch Prince Willem-Alexander) and sixth time father. Alexia’s mother was a French girlfriend of the Prince, Hélène Grinda, who later married a baron Lejeune.

Prince Bernhard, the husband of the late Queen Juliana (both Bernhard and Juliana passed away in 2004) had two daughters out of wedlock. The existence of his fifth daughter, Alicia, he revealed in a shell shocking interview with Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant. The prince told his story on the condition the interview would only be published after his death.

© RB

Grand-Master Order of Malta dies

februari 8, 2008 door Royalblog.NL

Fra Andrew Bertie, prince and grand master of the Knights of Malta, has died, the ancient lay Roman Catholic order said Friday. He was 78. Bertie, who was the 78th grand master of the 900-year-old charitable order, died Thursday in a Rome clinic, the Order announced. No information on the cause of death was given.

Bertie was elected to lead the order in a secret conclave in 1988. He is credited with modernizing the Knight's humanitarian programs, increasing membership as well as boosting diplomatic relations and extending its reach in troubled and far-flung regions. Pope Benedict XVI sent his "heartfelt condolences to the order, praising Bertie for his work and devotion."

The grand commander of the order, Fra Giacomo dalla Torre, was sworn in as interim head until a new grand master is elected. Elected for life, the grand master post carries the title of prince. The grand master must have 200 years of nobility on both parents' sides and must have followed vows of poverty, obedience and chastity.

Bertie's mother, Lady Jean Crichton-Stuart, was a descendant of the Stuarts, the ruling family of Scotland from 1371-1603 and of England and Scotland from 1603-1714, with an 11-year interruption in the 17th century. Born in London in 1929, Bertie joined the knights in 1956 and took his vows in 1981.

Grand-Duke Henri of Luxembourg was to have been invested by Fra Bertie as Knight of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Order of Malta on Thursday.

The grand commander, Frà Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, stood in for him and also gave Grand-Duchess Maria Teresa the insignia of a Dame of Honour and Devotion.

At the same time Archduke Carl Christian of Austria and his wife Archduchess Marie-Astrid (sister of Henri of Luxembourg) were granted the same honours.

From the website of the Order: The Order of Malta is one of the few Orders created in the Middle Ages and still active today. It is also the only one that is at the same time religious and sovereign. This is due to the fact that most of the other Orders of chivalry lacked the hospitaller function which characterises the Order of Malta, so they disappeared as soon as the military purposes that represented the reasons for their existence ceased.

© RB (GPD); Picture courtesy Order of Malta

Margarita brings boyfriend to Gala

februari 2, 2008 door Royalblog.NL

Princess Margarita caused a stir Friday evening when she brought her new boyfriend Mr. Tjalling Ten Cate along to the Royal Gala in Amsterdam hosted by her two aunts, Queen Beatrix and Princess Margriet.

It was the first time the 35-year old, divorced princess showed her new beau in public. Dutch gossipmagazine Weekend had already published pictures of the couple earlier and had ‘outed’ the Amsterdam sollicitor as Margarita’s new love.

* Margarita (2nd from right) and her friend Tjalling Ten Cate (3rd from left) join the rest of the Dutch royal familiy in singing 'Happy Birthday' for Queen Beatrix and Princess Margriet. Also pictured are (from left) Carlos, Floris, Anita and Pieter-Christiaan.

Not much is known of Mr. Tjalling Ten Cate, who is said to have been introduced to the princess by her cousins. The couple were seated in the royal box of the Royal Theater Carré and visibly enjoyed themselves during the unique performance by young Dutch talent, recruited from the country’s art, dance and music academies.

Princess Margarita of Bourbon-Parma is a daughter of Dutch Princess Irene, who also attented the royal birthday bash, with her other children Carlos, Jaime (Margarita’s twin brother) and Carolina. Her ex husband, Prince Carlos Hugo (Charles Hugues), one time contender to the throne of Spain, was also invited.

Margarita made headlines early 2003 when she and her husband at the time, Mr. Edwin de Roy van Zuydewijn, attacked both the royal family and the Bourbon-Parma family for ostracizing them and for hindering and obstructing Edwin’s professional career.

The couple were not invited to the wedding of Prince Willem-Alexander and the funeral of Prince Claus (in 2002). In interviews with a Dutch weekly magazine the two, among many other things, accused Queen Beatrix of spying on them. "This is not the Margarita I know", the queen reacted in an unprecedented televised statement at the start of her state visit to Chili, in March 2003.

Princess Margarita and her husband, who after their marriage in 2001, lived in a castle in the south of France, drifted apart, separated and after much litigation and mud-slinging divorced in late 2006.

Margarita was welcomed back in the royal family – she was guest at her godmother Queen Beatrix’ Silver Jubilee Show – and Mr. De Roy van Zuydewijn sought rehabilitation and compensation through a never ending series of court cases. He also threatened to reveal "all" in a couple of books he planned to write about the Royal Family.

Last week he was successful when a judge rewarded him some 1500 euros because he had been described a ‘fraud’ by a tv-show host. The money subsequently was claimed by a third party, which said Mr. De Roy van Zuydewijn, still owed them money.

Princess Margarita’s troubles are far from over too. She is said to have make do with a monthly income of 800 euros; because of that claims for alimony by her ex husband have been thwarted, but lawyers who represented her in previous court cases are said to be still waiting for payment of their fees.

Máxima and Alexander back in Argentina

januari 21, 2008 door Royalblog.NL

Prince Air Miles is one of the more recent nicknames of Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. His work for the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee takes him across the globe, but his family life gets him serious mileage too.

Only ten days after returning from Buenos Aires, the Prince and his wife, Princess Máxima, were back in Argentina. This time not for the Christmas break and New Year's celebrations, but to collect their daughters – they stayed behind with their grandparents – and to celebrate the 80th birthday of Máxima's father.

Jorge Zorreguieta (pictured with Queen Beatrix and his wife Maria del Carmen) gathered his family this weekend for the party. The princely couple missed out on the anniversary of Dutch Princess Margriet, once described by the prince as a 'second mother'. Willem-Alexander and Máxima went to ask Margriet's "permission" to be absent from her birthday bash – she readily granted them a 'leave of absence".

What did Princess Máxima ever do for us?

januari 10, 2008 door Royalblog.NL

Princess Máxima of the Netherlands returned from Argentina with her family, after spending the Christmas break in her native country.

Before setting off for Buenos Aires and Villa La Angostura the Dutch Princess, wife of Prince Willem-Alexander and daughter-in-law to Queen Beatrix, was apprehensive about the visit. For sure, she looked forward to seeing family and friends again, but she was afraid of what the Argentine media might do.

Australia's press is more enthusiastic about 'their' Crown Princess Mary, wife of Danish Crown Prince Frederik, but the occasional visits of Princess Máxima to her 'very republican' home country Argentina always caught the media's attention. But not always of the kind the Dutch princely couple appreciated.

,,They even ran the tollgates when pursuing us", Willem-Alexander once remarked. Princess Máxima, who no longer was able to stay at her parents house, feared for her young daughters if and when paparazzi would follow them around in an aggressive fashion.

Hence the couple's decision to allow media access at the very beginning of their stay, with a photo session at the residence of the Dutch ambassador. Princess Máxima asked the media for restraint and for privacy, which according to a statement issued by the couple earlier this week, they got.

The little princesses were photographed during outings with their mother and grandparents in Buenos Aires, but not after the photocall. And no pictures were circulated of the other members of the royal family, who also travelled to Argentina to see in the New Year.

Not all readers of Argentinean newspapers were happy with the attention given to Princess Máxima. On the internetsite of national paper La Nácion for instance there were catcalls: what has Máxima ever done for Argentina?, since when does royalty matter to us, and: Máxima has betrayed Argentina, by identifying with a foreign country.

Others commented that if Máxima wanted privacy and restraint from the media, she should stay away. But there was also support: thanks to Princess Máxima her native Argentina gets favorable media attention the world over someone wrote.