The Royal Correspondent

Their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene are currently in Paris, France where they attended a football match  this weekend.  Last evening the princely couple dined at Patrick’s Le Ballon Vert off Rue de Montreuil in the 11th Arrondissement.

Click here to view a photo.

Tomorrow, Prince Albert II will begin his state visit to Mali until February 15, 2012.  Then the sovereign prince will make an official visit to Burkina Faso from February 15 to 17th.

Here is the BBC News report entitled, HM The Queen, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.  Click the link below to watch.

BBC News

On Saturday, February 11, 2012, Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden attended the inauguration of a new gallery at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Skeppsholmen, Stockholm.  The royal couple along with dozens of dignitaries as well as the museum’s staff listened to speeches and toured the new gallery.

Finally, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will visit South Korea beginning on May 30 to June 1, 2012, at the invitation of President Lee Myung-bak.

Meanwhile, on February 9, 2012, the reigning couple along with Their Royal Highnesses Prince Daniel and Prince Carl Philip of Sweden attended a gala dinner for members of the Diplomatic Corps, Swedish Parliament and government as well as representatives from the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

The approximately 150 guests were received by the royal family inside Charles XIs gallery at the royal palace in Stockholm.

Source Kungahuset and ANP

On Sunday, February 12, 2012, Her Highness Princess Astrid of Norway celebrated her 80th birthday with an intimate party held at the royal palace in Oslo.  To read more about Princess Astrid please click here.

Meanwhile in Wein, Austria the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Vendôme, Princess Antoinette Léopoldine Jeanne Marie d’Orléans, was baptized on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at Stephansdom.

According to the website, La Couronne, Archbishop Christoph Schönborn  presided over the ceremony and the godparents are:

…Francesca Lopez of the Osa, the Princess Leopoldina of Liechtenstein, the comte Damien von Schönborn (daughter of Princess Isabel of France), and David de Tornos.

To read more about the baptism please click here. (in French)  To learn more about the Duke and Duchess of Vendôme please visit their official website here. (in French)

On Sunday, February 12, 2012, Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary along with their four children, Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent, and Princess Josephine posed for dozens of photographers during the crown princely couple annual holiday to Verbier, Switzerland.

According to the Danish newspaper, SN, the photo-op took place early Sunday morning where the temperature was -18 degrees.  Brrrr.

Click the links below to watch a video as well as to view photos.

• Gallery One
• Gallery Two
• Gallery Three
• Gallery Four

Source and photo courtesy of SN.dk

Per AFP News:

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan, 78, will undergo heart bypass surgery this week after tests showed the narrowing of his arteries has worsened, the Imperial Household Agency announced on Sunday.

The operation, scheduled for Saturday, February 18, will be performed ‘to maintain and to improve His Majesty’s daily life. We have decided to ask his majesty to have a coronary artery bypass surgery,’ a IHA spokesman said.

The announcement came shortly after Emperor Akihito was discharged from the University of Tokyo Hospital, where he underwent a catheter angiogram on Saturday.

The test showed that the narrowing of his arteries has progressed, compared with an examination he underwent a year ago, the spokesman said.

Doctors have reached ‘a conclusion that a new action has to be taken’ to stop the trend, he said.

The operation will be performed by physicians from the University of Tokyo and private Juntendo University, the spokesman said.

Akihito, wearing a gray suit and a striped tie, walked out of the university hospital Sunday, accompanied by Empress Michiko, as his physicians stood in line at the entrance.

The surgery comes amid increasing concerns about Akihito’s health.

The latest angiogram was arranged after periodic electrocardiograms showed restricted blood flow to his heart.

In November, the Emperor spent 19 days in hospital suffering mild pneumonia.

Emperor Akihito, who ascended the throne in 1989 following the death of his father Emperor Hirohito, underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 2003.

The Emperor’s second son Prince Akishino in November suggested there should be a discussion about setting a retirement age for the titular head of state.

Despite being stripped of much of its mystique and its quasi-divine status in the aftermath of World War II, the Japanese throne is held in deep respect by much of the public.

Here is this week’s edition of the Dutch program, Blauw Bloed.  The host, Jeroen Snel, has a special guest in studio this week… Princess Märtha Louise of Norway.  Click the video icon below where it says, Prinses Märtha Louise in Blauw Bloed