On November 19, 2012, Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain was at the Museo Nacional del Prado to attend the opening of the exhibition entitled, The Young van Dyck.
This new exhibition is one of the largest exhibitions in the world dedicated to the art of van Dyck according to the Spanish royal court. The exhibition focuses on Anthony van Dyck’s early works “… from the period of 1613 until October 1621…”
On the evening of November 19, 2012, Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde of Belgium was in Etterbeek where she visited the Tehuis voor Foorreizigers- en Schipperskinderen a “…boarding school for children of fairground travelers and skipper children…” to read aloud various stories to the youth according to the Belgian royal court.
The event was organized by the Fondation pour la Lecture as part of Reading Aloud Week.
On Monday, November 19, 2012, Their Royal Highnesses Prince Willem-Alexander of Oranje and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, along with a Dutch business delegation, began their five-day official visit to Brazil. The purpose of the visit is to strengthen relations between the Netherlands and Brazil, with an emphasis on economic cooperation, innovation and science according to RVD.
Today, the royal couple held meetings with Brazilian Secretary of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), Ms Heloísa Guimarães Menezes, the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Mr M. Ribeiro Filho, and the Brazilian Minister of Finance, Mr. G. Mantega.
In the afternoon, the prince and princess attended a luncheon meeting with “… representatives of the National Industry Confederation (CNI) counterpart VNO-NCW and SEBRAE equivalent of SME Netherlands.”
Afterward, the royal couple met with the Brazilian Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. LA Paim, as well as attended a seminar on the “… Brazilian program for foreign scholarships …”
On the evening of November 19, 2012, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh were at the Royal Albert Hall in London to attend the 2012 Royal Variety Performance.
After the performance Her Majesty and the duke met with various performers including R&B singer, Alicia Keys, comedian David Walliams, tenor Andrea Bocelli, and pop singer Robbie Williams to name a few.
The Royal Correspondent 