Noble news: Kings on basketball, princess in asylum, broken tradition and Harry will not be banished

At the very beginning of April, a rather funny case appeared in Denmark, when the subjects passionately decided who stayed at home. The royal family was supposed to be away from the palace for Easter, but it seemed that someone had missed the family outing. The flag remained unfurled at the royal residence.

It always flies when King Frederik X, his wife Mary, or Crown Prince Christian are present. People often assumed that it was this young man who, after all, at the age of eighteen, would no longer go anywhere with his parents.

However, others became convinced that this was confirmation of rumors about a not very good atmosphere in the family. These began to appear after photographers caught the king in Madrid walking with Mexican actress Genoveva Casanova in October.

Given that the regency banner of former Queen Margaret II was flying at the royal residence at the same time, it was obvious that the king had left. Otherwise, no one would have to represent him. “I guess he went to Spain, he likes it there now,” wrote one of the discussants, referring to the mentioned “romance”, while others claimed that he simply took a trip without his wife.

However, speculation about a split in the royal marriage intensified again in the following two days, when the Queen appeared alone at two official events.

Great Britain and France organized a truly historic event. It was bound to March 8, 1904, when the two great powers of the time signed the so-called Entente cordiale, which eliminated disputes over non-European colonies. This date is thus considered the beginning of the alliance between Great Britain and France.

Its 120th anniversary was commemorated by the two countries, among other things, by lending men to each other in a ceremonial changing of the guard. In addition to the Scots Guard, 32 members of the French Republican Guard took part in the ceremony at Buckingham Palace, and on the same day, on the other hand, the British Guardsmen took turns in the Elysee courtyard.

It was the first time in history that the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace was attended by soldiers from any of the units outside the British Commonwealth of Nations. Perhaps the only blemish on this extraordinary event was the illness of King Charles III, due to which the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh stood in for the royal couple.

The Duchess of Wales has broken royal tradition by sending out thank-you messages to several people for looking after her health. Princess Kate announced at the end of March that, as with King Charles III. she was diagnosed with cancer.

People started sending her lots of get-well wishes and words of support. Several of them then received thanks in return on behalf of Kensington Palace, where Kate resides with her husband, the heir to the British throne, Prince William. So it’s not a thank you from Kate directly, but rather from her “office”, after all, the card is not even signed, but this event still attracted considerable attention.

The British media reported that this is a very non-standard step, because the royal family only answers mail on the occasion of important events and anniversaries, such as birthdays or Christmas. Also unusual is the fact that the reply card was clean except for the header and the text itself, whereas correspondence from the royal family usually contains some image or graphic element.

Recently, especially in the United States, there have been calls for the disclosure of Prince Harry’s visa status, anticipating that he might be deported. The Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan have been living in California for several years.

These initiatives have gained momentum after the US ambassador to the UK said Harry would not be deported as long as current President Joe Biden is in office. As a result, the American think tank Heritage Foundation even filed a court application to have Harry’s visa records made public.

The somewhat illegitimate son of the current King Charles III. however, they don’t have to worry about anything like that. He himself confirmed that he can reside permanently in the United States. He is, among other things, the director of the Travalyst organization. Although it is registered in Great Britain, it nevertheless issued a statement according to which Harry is currently an “ordinary resident” of the USA and the prince himself now lists the address of a luxury villa in Motnecit, California, as his “permanent residence”.

In mid-April, the Dutch royal couple welcomed their Spanish counterparts at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. However, it was not so much an official state visit in the true sense of the word, but rather a friendly meeting and at the same time a big thank you.

It became clear that the Dutch Crown Princess Amalia had to stay in Madrid for more than a year for security reasons, in which the King of Spain Philip VI himself was personally involved, along with a number of other people. and his wife Queen Letizia.

In 2022, Amalia started studying at a university in Amsterdam and planned to live with other students. Soon, however, there were threatening reports of her abduction, so her parents, King William Alexander and Queen Maxima, decided to send her to an asylum in Madrid, with the generous help of the Spanish royal couple. According to the Dutch media, the threat has still not completely disappeared, but it is now possible for Amalia to live in peace in her country.

“Due to circumstances, she was forced to live in Madrid, which was made possible by the great efforts of your people and yourselves. It was a beautiful proof of friendship in difficult times,” said Vilém Alexandr in a very personal speech at the beginning of the banquet in the Royal Palace. The sincerity of his words was also evidenced by the fact that he put his arm around King Philip’s shoulders. At the same time, he also emphasized that he and his wife Maxima will always have Spain deep in their hearts, not least because they met there for the first time.

However, the visit of the Spanish royal couple will also be remembered for several less serious moments. At one of them, for example, both dignified kings accepted an invitation from the Johan Cruyff Foundation, which helps children with special needs play sports. So they showed up at the local basketball court and threw a few baskets there. And they didn’t mind at all that they were wearing ties, suits and polished shoes.

A bit later they exchanged a few football passes in the same outfits and despite the rather rainy weather, they both looked like they were really enjoying the moment.

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