On Friday, December 5, 2014, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco officially opened the 2014 Village de Noël de Monaco along the Quai Albert Ier, Port Hercule, in Monaco.
Photos courtesy of Getty images/V. Hache
On Saturday, December 6, 2014, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco received an honorary doctorate from the Universität Bern during the 180th Dies Academicus held at the Kultur Casino in Bern, Switzerland.
The sovereign prince was awarded the honorary doctorate for his promotion of scientific research, his commitment to climate science, his commitment to rare diseases and for his contribution to research into Duchenne muscular disease.
Photos courtesy of the Universität Bern
On Thursday, December 4, 2014, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark hosted a reception for cooperation partners of the Mary Fonden held at Frederik VIII’s Slot, Amalienborg, in Copenhagen.
On Friday, December 5, 2014, the Belgian royal court announced that Her Majesty Queen Fabiola of Belgium had passed away at Château du Stuyvenberg in Brussels. She was 86 years old.
Fabiola Fernanda Maria de las Victorias Antonia Adelaïda de Mora y Aragón was born in Madrid, Spain, on June 11, 1928. The Spanish-born aristocrat and devout Catholic was married to the late King Baudouin of Belgium on December 15, 1960. The couple had no children.
The funeral for the late Queen Fabiola will take place on December 12, 2014, at Saints Michel et Gudule in Brussels.
Last evening the Belgian television network, VTM Nieuws, aired a special about the late beloved queen entitled, In Memoriam: Koningin Fabiola. Please click here to watch the 36:00 minute program.
On Thursday, December 4, 2014, Their Imperial Majesties Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan began their two-day visit to Hiroshima.
Today, Their Imperial Majesties placed “…flowers at the cenotaph for victims of the 1945 atomic bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park…” as well as visited a nursing home.
On Thursday, December 4, 2014, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands presided over the Militaire Willems-Orde (Knight of the Military Order of William) held at the Binnenhof Square in Den Haag.
According to RVD, the Militaire Willems-Orde is “…the highest Dutch Knighthood for Courage, Tact, and Loyalty in the Army…” The recipient of the Militaire Willems-Orde went to Major Gijs Tuinman.
On Wednesday, December 3, 2014, Their Majesties King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain arrived at the Palacio Real de Madrid to officially open the exhibition, El Retrato en las Colecciones Reales: De Juan de Flandes a Antonio López.
The exhibition, developed in collaboration between the Patrimonio Nacional and the Fundación Banco Santander, focuses on the:
“…evolution of the image of the Spanish monarchs through some of the masters of the history of painting and is divided into two major sections, Hapsburg and Bourbon House.
The first section opens with the history of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain, with works like the image of Queen Isabella, by Juan de Flanders. From the beginnings of the House of Austria may be large official portrait of Charles V by Jakob Seisenegger. There are also works by the great masters of Spanish Baroque such as Velázquez and Ribera.
In the second section devoted to the House of Bourbon from the eighteenth century to the present, a pictorial review is performed by the various reigns of the dynasty with works by, among others, Louis-Michel van Loo, Anton Raphael Mengs, Francisco de Goya or Joaquín Sorolla, until the reign of Juan Carlos I with ‘El Príncipe de Ensueño’ by Salvador Dalí and the portrait of ‘La Familia de Juan Carlos I’ by Antonio López…”
El Retrato en las Colecciones Reales: De Juan de Flandes a Antonio López will be open to the public on December 4, 2014 – April 19, 2015.
Click here to watch a video news report.
Please click here to view photos.
Video about the exhibition.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images/Europa Press
The Royal Correspondent 