On Friday, February 21, 2014, His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan held a press conference ahead of his 54th birthday (which is today).
In the interview, the future emperor spoke about his recent trip to Spain, his and Crown Princess Masako’s attendance at the inauguration of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands last year, his daughter Princess Aiko, the March 11, 2011 earthquake and the devastating tsunami that followed, the “…postwar Constitution [which] has played a vital role to ensure peace in Japan and make the country prosperous…” and much more.
On Thursday, February 20, 2014, at 10:41 P.M., Her Royal Highness Princess Madeleine of Sweden gave birth to a healthy baby girl — weighing 3.15 kg and 50cm long — at the Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. Princess Madeleine’s husband, Mr. Christopher O’Neill, was present “…throughout the birth…” according to the Swedish royal court.
The next day, Mr. O’Neill, held a press conference at Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center which he announced that Princess Madeleine and their new precious daughter are in “…good health and [that the newborn] looks like her mom. It was an incredible feeling to hold her…”
On the evening of Wednesday, February 19, 2014, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales arrived in Doha, Qatar, for a three-day visit.
The future king was warmly welcomed to the country by the Qatari Minister of the State, Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Saud al Thani and Qatar’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, HE Khalid Rashid Salem al Hamoudi al Mansouri according to the newspaper, Gulf Times.
Today, The Prince of Wales visited the Museum of Islamic Arts Park, toured the National Library, visited the Arab Museum of Modern Art (MATHAF), and much more.
On February 20, 2014, Her Royal Highness Princess Benedikte of Denmark arrived at the ARoS Museum in Aarhus to view the exhibition, Pas De Deux Royal: An Artistic Meeting.
According to the official website for the ARoS Museum the exhibition contains:
“…includes some 150 works selected in close collaboration with H.M. the Queen and H.R.H. the Prince Consort. The exhibition contains both early and very recent works and the artistic themes have been divided into 10 galleries covering a total area of 1,000 square meters.
The Royal Couple’s lifelong fascination with the visual arts ran deeper than mere interest, since they both, all along, have had an active career as creative artists. PAS DE DEUX ROYAL – an artistic meeting has been organized as a retrospective dialogue between the multifarious works of the Queen and the Prince Consort, respectively, and museum visitors are invited to enter a universe far removed from the Royal Couple’s traditional and representative activities.
The exhibition portrays the Queen as a landscape painter, but visitors’ eyes will also be feasting on church textiles, large theatre stage sets, and the meticulous découpages, to which the Queen has devoted herself for a number of years and which have added further edge to her creative talent.
In the case of the Prince Consort, it is sculpture and poetry which repeatedly find new modes of expression in imaginative bronze and marble figures and a flow of poetic diction.
The exhibition galleries render a visualization of a long life shared and common experiences expressed through creative talent in their own ways and in different media. The Queen is fascinated by nature in its glorious magnificence, never leaving room for figures in her art while the Prince Consort always focuses on animal and human bodies in his sculptures, and his frequent use of the words ‘you’ and ‘I’ in his poems serve to underline human relations.”
For more information about Pas De Deux Royal: An Artistic Meeting please click here.
On Thursday, February 20, 2014, Their Royal Highnesses Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Asturias arrived at the IFEMA in Madrid to attend the inauguration of the 33rd Edition of the Feria Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo: ARCOmadrid.
ARCOmadrid is a:
“…fair both for contemporary art professionals and art-lovers and the general public, with initiatives to suit their different interests. The first two days are devoted to collectors, curators, and directors of museums, biennials and art centers, when the Fair is the best meeting point and space for sharing projects…”
On Wednesday, February 19, 2014, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales continued his visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This morning the prince held a meeting with His Royal Highness Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, attended a meeting at the UK ambassador’s house, visited an “…historical site under reconstruction in Al-Diriyah…” and much more.
The Royal Correspondent 