On March 19, 2012, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge inaugurated The Treehouse hospice in Ipswich, England.
The duchess was warmly greeted by hundreds of well wishers and local dignitaries as she arrived. Soon, she was ushered into the new building where she was given a tour of the facility where she meet with the hospice staff and patients. Afterward, she gave a lovely speech then planted a tree on the grounds of the new hospice.
Click the links below to watch videos, read articles and to view photos.
On March 12, 2012, the Wall Street Journal published an interesting article about Her Royal Highness Princess Abigail Kawananakoa entitled, “Lunching with one of Hawaii’s Real ‘Descendants'”, by Julia Flynn Siler.
Ms. Siler recently published the book, “Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America’s First Imperial Adventure”.
With the recent death of His Majesty King Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho (George) Tupou V of Tonga I thought I would post a video about the history of the Tongan monarchy. The above video is a good introduction… so enjoy. 🙂
On March 17, 2012, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended the première of the play, Ongezien, in Wolfheze, on the “… occasion of the 100th anniversary of Het Schild, a center for the blind and visually impaired elderly.”
Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Their Royal Highnesses Prince Willem-Alexander of Oranje and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands will attend a memorial service in Lommel, Belgium on March 21, 2012, for the victims of last week’s bus crash in a Swiss tunnel. Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, will also attend the service.
His Majesty King Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho (George) Tupou V of Tonga has died in Hong Kong on Sunday. The newspaper, Matangi Tonga Online who broke the story, claims His Majesty “… was rushed to hospital early this afternoon but it is understood that he had passed away a few hours later.”
According to AFP News there has been no confirmation or comments from “…Tongan authorities nor palace officials…” at this hour. However, a “…statement was expected following Monday’s cabinet meeting.”
The last major public appearance by His Majesty was on February 24, 2012, when he met with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Click here to watch a view news report about his visit.
To read the original report about His Majesty’s passing from Matangi Tonga Online please click here.
UPDATE:
The prime minister of Tonga, Lord Siale’ataonga Tu’ivakano, has officially confirmed the death of His Majesty King Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho (George) Tupou V. The king died in a Hong Kong hospital with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Tupouto’a Lavaka by his bedside.
Finally! Here is the 1997 documentary entitled, The Aristocracy. This program is fantastic, and in my opinion, better than Secrets of the Manor House (if you missed the link to the program click here for more information). Any way… click the links below and enjoy! 🙂
This evening in Monaco, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with Ireland’s ambassador to France and Monaco, Mr. Paul Kavanagh.
The façade of the Palais Princier de Monaco glowed in green as the sovereign prince and the ambassador posed for photos. During today’s festivities Prince Albert and his guests attended an Irish Harp concert, organized by the Princess Grace Irish Library, held at the Chapelle de la Visitation.
The Royal Correspondent 