[SPAIN] King Juan Carlos to abdicate in favour of ‘new generation’

King Juan Carlos of Spain has outlined the reasons behind his decision to abdicate in a live television address to his subjects. The King said he made up his mind when he turned 76 in January and that it was a decision taken with “great emotion”. He said a new generation must now be at the forefront of Spain. “Younger people with new energies are needed to undertake reforms that the present juncture demands of us,” he told the audience and expressed his gratitude to the Spanish people for their support. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made the initial announcement on Monday morning that the King had decided to step aside while the Royal Palace released pictures of his letter of abdication. Juan Carlos, who is 76, was Spain’s first crowned head of state after the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975. He was credited with steering Spain to democracy, and for saving the country from a coup attempt in 1981. His 46-year-old son Felipe who it’s understood will be called Felipe the sixth of Spain will succeed his father.

 

from Euronews

 

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Check out what my favorite Royal Watchers have been talking about!

Take a look at what my favorite Royal Watchers have been talking about this week

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• Can William and Catherine adopt a baby and make him/her their successor? (Royal Musings)
• Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden's style and fashion in Germany (Royal Fashionistas)
• Did you love Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge's Reiss dress at the meeting with the Obamas? here is how to rent it or buy it online (WhatKateWore)
• Duke and Duchess of Apulia, Prince Aimone and Princess Olga of Savoy-Aosta, welcome a baby boy (Current Royal News)
• The Eagles to perform in Monaco the night before Royal Wedding (A Right Royal Blog)
• End of an era of ubiquitous royal tiaras in the United Kingdom? (Mandy's Royalty)
• Going once! Going twice! Sold! A bried story of royal auctions (Marilyn's Royal Blog)
• The Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg's visit to Japan last week (Lux-Arazzi)
• Jordanian royals celebrate 65th Independence day (World of Royalty)
• Know more about the first and maddest Queen regent: Maria I of Portugal (Mad Monarchs)
• Little royal bridesmaids in white throughout the years and weddings (Order of Splendor)
• Most Swedes want King Carl XVI Gustaf to abdicate (Royalty in the News)
• Prince Ali of Jordan visits Palestine (The Royal Forums)
• Princess Beatrice joins family at Chelsea Flower Show (The Royal Examiner)
• Princess Maxima of the Netherlands to celebrate her birthday with a few of her closest Royal friends: check the guest list! (The Royal Correspondent)
• Rehearsal for Queen's birthday parade (Royal Insight)
• Royal Giveaway: win a Royal Wedding DVD! (Royalty with Ella Kay)
• We Three Queens: know more about Catherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour and Anne Boleyn (Princess Palace)

[Norway] Unique glimpse at royal days from the past

The book focuses on the years when the late Crown Princess Märtha was at the center of attention and when, as author Morten Ole Mørch claims, Norway’s monarchy evolved into a strong institution. Märtha was a Swedish princess and the cousin of her suitor, Norway’s dashing young Crown Prince Olav, father of today’s King Harald V.

There are many photos of today’s king as a little boy, along with his two older sisters, princesses Ragnhild and Astrid. The book, however, concentrates on their mother, Crown Princess Märtha, and, to some degree, her mother-in-law Maud, the British princess who married a Danish prince and eventually, as fate and politics would have it, became queen of Norway while continuing to speak English.

The vast array of photos is accompanied by straightforward biographical history of the royal family members and the times themselves, from the roaring 20s through the 1930s, the war years and the post-war years, when the royals came home from exile in Britain and the United States to a nation suffering after the German occupation but keen to rebuild. There’s a lot of history packed between the covers, including detailed accounts of major events like the death of Queen Maud, and the book is available in English as well as Norwegian, instead of only being in Norwegian with some English summaries or captions.

Prince Harald holding hands with his older sister, during a visit from American students at their family home at Skaugum after the war. PHOTO: Bastion Forlag

Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha arriving at her family's summer home in Sweden with their young princesses, Ragnhild and Astri. PHOTO: Bastion Forlag

Queen Maud at her desk in the Royal Palace in Oslo. PHOTO: Bastion Forlag

 King Haakon (from left), Queen Maud, Crown Princess Märtha and Crown Prince Olav on official duties in 1938, just before Maud's death in England later that year. PHOTO: Bastion Forlag

read more @ Newsinenglish.no

[Denmark & Sweden] Helsingborg celebrates 'the art of becoming king'

It is exactly 200 years since Jean Baptiste Bernadotte set foot on Swedish soil to found the royal dynasty that bears his name, and the southern Swedish city of Helsingborg plans to celebrate his remarkable journey.

The Swedish King and Queen, Crown Princess Victoria, and Prince Daniel will be in attendance to join the festivities, as well as Prince Carl Philip and Denmark's Queen Margrethe and Princess Benedikte.

Celebrations will begin in Denmark in the morning and continue in Helsingborg during the afternoon.

To mark the occasion, Dunkers Kulturhus is opening an exhibition entitled "The Art of becoming King" (Konsten att bli kung) marking the path of the establishment of the Bernadotte dynasty from humble beginnings as Jean Baptiste, field marshall in Napoleon's army, to Sweden's King Karl XIV Johan.

The exhibition asks the question - How did he get here, and how did he manage the incredible achievement (of a commoner from Pau, France) becoming a king for real, and founding a new dynasty?

The exhibition shows "how the role of king can be formed, changed and maintained within various social and cultural bounds, and through concerted strategies".

Sweden's sitting regent, King Carl XVI Gustaf, will open the exhibition on Wednesday

article from thelocal.se

Photos of Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel's visit to Pau, in southern France

During their official visit to France, the couple travelled to Pau to visit the birthplace of Victoria's ancestor Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. In the Bernadotte museum they were shown a sculpture and a painting of the former Swedish king.

from Hellomagazine.com