Royal Events this Week - January 12-18, 2014

Check out this week's royal events that you should never miss!

Princess Astrid and Johan Martine Ferner during their wedding. Image: Pinterest.

 January 12 - Princess Astrid of Norway and Johan Martine Ferner celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary. Princess Astrid is the second daughter of King Olav V of Norway and his wife, Princess Märtha of Sweden.

Princess Michael of Kent. Image: Wikipedia

January 15 - Princess Michael of Kent celebrates her 69th birthday. She was born Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz and is married to Prince Michael of Kent, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.

Inaki Urdangarin. Image: Wikipedia

January 15 -  Iñaki Urdangarin y Liebaert, husband of Infanta Cristina of Spain, celebrates her 46th birthday.

Princess Claire of Belgium. Image: Zimbio

January 18 - Princess Claire of Belgium celebrates her 40th birthday. She was born Claire Coombs and is married to Prince Laurent of Belgium.

Duke of Palma testifies at court

Inaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and son-in-law of King Juan Carlos has testified before a judge in Mallorca after  being allegedly involved corruption scandal that accused him of malversation of funds intended for his charity. The duke, however, shrugged the accusations. This was the second time that the duke was questioned.


"The session was held behind closed doors, but Spanish media reports say the duke read a statement distancing King Juan Carlos from the corruption scandal," reports BBC.

The royal house "had no opinion, did not advise and did not authorise" any of his activities at the non-profit Noos institute, he is reported to have told the investigating judge and prosecutors.

King Juan Carlos Attends Opening of Parliament

Two daughters missed ceremony. 

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King Juan Carlos attended official opening of Parliament, also known in Spain as Xth legislature. Together with the king are Queen Sofia, Felipe, Prince of Asturias, and her wife Letizia, Princess of Asturias.

The King's speech gave emphasis on the Parliament's duty to perform their responsibilities to seal people's “trust in the institutions” of Spain. The King also highlighted the importance of obeying the law, saying that no public figure is above the law. 

Among the issues that the King gave emphasis include the pressing concerns on the country's rising unemployment, calling the attention of those listening to him to act upon the crisis to curb its impact on the citizens. 

"All of you, deputies and senators, are united in the obligation to contribute with decisiveness and efficacy to getting over this crisis and its negative effects on citizens,” he said.

The King's two daughters, Infantas Elena and Cristina were not present on the event. This is the first time that the royal daughters missed the opening of Parliament since 1979. Royal insiders believed that their absence were linked to Cristina's husband, Inaki Urdarangin's link to corruption scandal. Since the scandal's eruption, Urdarangin has been banned from the royal family or from appearing in royal and public functions.

A royal spokesperson said they declined the invitation to one of Spain's most important political events, citing personal reasons. "They did not accept their invitation for different reasons. 

“It is their decision,” the spokesman said.