Well, it is official.  The super awesome His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani of Qatar has retired, err, stepped down as the Emir of Qatar.  So, who’s replacing  him?  His son… His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

According to His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, via a press conference,  the reason for his abdication was pretty simple.  According to the Emir “…it was time for a new generation to takeover… This is the beginning of a new era in which a young leadership will hold the banner…”  

According to the Qatar News Agency, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani will “…receive citizens from 8 AM to 11:30 AM on Wednesday, June 26 to swear allegiance to the new Emir…”

So, congrats Your Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani!  Good luck, dude.  And, don’t screw up.   🙂

Click the video to watch the announcement on You Tube.

On Sunday, May 26, 2013, Her Highness Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel of Saudi Arabia participated in the plenary session entitled, The Business Case for Gender Diversity, during the 2013 World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa.

Click here to watch a video from today’s session.

Here is this week’s edition of the Dutch program, Blauw Bloed.  Click here to watch the show.   🙂

Her Imperial Majesty Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi, Empress of Iran, was in Monaco on April 25, 2013, to attend the opening of the 4th Edition of the Salon Art Monaco held at the Grimaldi Forum.

The purpose of Empress Farah’s attendance to this great four-day event was to oversee “…an exhibit and sale of artwork for the benefit of the Prince Alireza Pahlavi Fund for Ancient Iran Scholarship at Harvard University…”

According to the official website for the Prince Alireza Foundation several of the  artworks that were auctioned were done “…by Her Imperial Majesty Shahbanou Farah in memory of her late son, His Imperial Highness Prince Alireza Pahlavi…” who passed away on January 4, 2011.

If you are interested in learning more about the Foundation for the Establishment of Prince Alireza Pahlavi Fund for Ancient Iranian Studies please visit the foundation’s official website and Facebook page here and here.