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.
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.
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
On February 10, 2012, Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima of the Netherlands attended a “… guest lecture about money of the LEF Foundation at the Welzijn College ROC in Utrecht.” Organized by the LEF Foundation the purpose of today’s event is to raise awareness regarding financial planning and so forth.
Sources: PPE, NOS, and RTV Utrecht
Photo courtesy of RTV Utrecht
Per the Associated Press:
Liechtenstein’s princely family has indicated it would veto the results of any referendum that removed the prince’s power to veto the results of referendums.
Pro-democracy campaigners in the tiny Alpine principality announced this week that they will seek signatures for a referendum on whether to remove the power of veto.
The royal family said in a statement on its website late Thursday that it was “astonished” by the move.
It says it already rejected a similar proposal in 2003.
His Serene Highness Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein last threatened to use his veto in September to block a plan to legalize abortion.
In the end his veto wasn’t required as a majority of Liechtensteiners voted against the law change.
The Imperial Household Agency says His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan has been hospitalized for tests.
An agency official says that the 78-year-old Emperor was admitted to University of Tokyo Hospital on Saturday for testing, but that the visit was not an emergency.
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito has had various health problems in recent years, including pneumonia and prostate cancer. He has cut back on public duties but appears relatively healthy.
According to Kyodo News agency, the Emperor will get tests for his heart, which may be suffering from a deficient blood supply.
Source: Associated Press
The Royal Correspondent 