What's Up Wednesday (Christmas Ball 2014)

This year has come to a very relaxed end after some serious tensions that flared at some very controversial moments. Political fevers ran high during the Arcwhite Crisis and some eyebrows were raised during the execution of Empress Crystobel's assassin. We are truly happy that we can all kick back now and celebrate family and friends over this holiday season. As always the year-end brings a celebration but it was decided that this year should be toned down to family gatherings only. All the various Royal Families gathered for their own private events. Only the annual birthday ball will from 2015 be the single great royal gathering on the annual calender. 

Thus Royal Christmas Ball has come to an end but those private family gatherings that allow press coverage, will obviously be shared in depth on this blog. The Crown Prince Imperial and the Duke of Swann has allowed the cameras to document their 2014 family holiday dinner that took place yesterday evening. After lunch today the Royals will leave to spend Christmas Eve and Day in their respective homes. 

The Duke of Swann's private residence in Hanoveria, Schloss Scwhanstein, played host to the entire Imperial House of Aldarian which includes the Crown Prince Imperial, Duke of Swann, King of Syldavia, the Grand Duke of Hanoveria and their close family.

The Ball Room in the palace was sumptuously decorated for the event. The guests assembled here for cocktails and the press photo opportunity before entering the Banquet Hall for their private dinner that was not allowed press access. 

The Imperial Christmas Tree. 

The Duke of Swann and his cousin and heir, Prince Dillon awaited the arrival of their guests.

First to arrive was the Arch Duke and Arch Duchess of Fulco D'Este. The Arch Duchess, Princess Marie-Elizabeth, is the Duke of Swann's sister.

A rare moment as the Duke of Swann's brother, Prince Dennis, makes an appearance due to it not being a strictly official event.

The cousin of the Duke of Swann and the Crown Prince Imperial, Princess Kirsten and her husband the Prince Youssopoff arrived next.

Princess Augusta as usual, looked the part, for the event and her personality.

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hanoveria struck a decidedly festive yet regal tone. 

The King and Queen of Syldavia.

The Duke of Swann also specifically invited the close friend of the family, the Seeress of Muren who debuted her daughter onto the public stage. The statuesque Alice Richter is tall and beautiful enough to shatter any modeling contract.

Finally as protocol demands, the Crown Prince Imperial and his wife, Princess Odeliah, arrive last looking toned down but totally in character.

Dressed in black, the Crown Princess Imperial looked great.

The three cousins pose for a unique photo opp.

The family pose for a group photo. 

Chats and mingling before dinner saw Prince Dillon take a keen interest in speaking to the Seeress and her daughter. 

Alice Richter, a shining new star, stole the show at this decidedly private affair. We wish our Royals a restful holiday season and a very prosperous 2015. 

"To be or not to be" Thursday (Imperial and Royal Families 4 The House of Hanoveria)

It has been many months since we had an installment discussing  the Dynastic Houses of Europa. Today we will deal with the ruling Grand Ducal House of Hanoveria. This Dynastic House, albeit referred to as Grand Ducal by virtue of the title of the head of the house, is strictly speaking a Royal House on par with others in Europa. This Royal House also shares the name of the country it reigns over as the original rulers took the name of the region as their own.

The current head of the dynasty is His Royal Highness Grand Duke George III of Hanoveria. In this State portrait we see the Royal Crest and Crown of the Dynastic House of Hanoveria that has ruled over the regions known as Hanoveria for hundreds of years. 

The Grand Duke, at left is a first cousin of the Crown Prince Imperial and the Duke of Swann at right. This relation comes through his mother, a Princess of Scotney and sister of Empress Crystobel and Duchess Elizabeth of Swann. As such these cousins do not share in being of the Hanoverian Dynasty, but are as close as brothers.

The Grand Duke's paternal aunt married into the Ruskian Imperial Family in pretense and as such the current pretender to the Imperial Throne of Ruskiana, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, is a member of the House of Hanoveria.

This photo shows the Grand Duke with his mother at right and his wife at left dressed in gold. The current Grand Duchess of Hanoveria is the sister of the Baron D'Rothchild and brings Franconian Royal blood into the House of Hanoveria.

Here we see the entire current Royal Family of the House of Hanoveria and their spouses, from left King Nikolas III of Syldavia who is married to Queen Maxima nee Princess of Hanoveria, the Dowager Grand Duchess of Hanoveria, mother of the current Grand Duke, The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hanoveria, Princess Kirsten Youssopoff, nee Princess of Hanoveria and wife of Prince Felix Youssopoff.

What's Up Wednesday (Duke of Swann's State Visit to Hanoveria)

The Duke of Swann emabarked on a two day State Visit to the Grand Duchy of Hanoveria on Monday the 20th of May 2013. Due to the political importance of the State Visit, His Royal Highness could not attend the nuptials of the Duchess of Roswind in Muren 3 days prior. The State Visit was a short one intending to strengthen the friendly diplomatic relations between the two nations but especially to show Swanobian solidarity as far as the Hanoverian stance towards the bombing incident in Serbieski less than two months ago is concerned. The Duke of Swann is also to tour extensive building and restoration projects in the capital as many collaborative construction projects in Hanoveria are shared by Swanobian companies. 

The Duke of Swann also had personal reasons for visiting his cousin the Grand Duke of Hanoveria and managed to take some family time amidst his busy schedule. He was joined by his sister, Princess Marie-Elizabeth of Swann for the State Banquet hosted by their cousin in the Royal Palace of Hanoveria on the first night of the State visit..

Princess Marie-Elizabeth and the Duke of Swann arrive for the State Banquet held in their honour. 

Even though Hanoveria's monarchy could be seen as the most relaxed and down-to-earth in all of Europa, State Visits received in the Grand Duchy are afforded extreme protocol. As such dress code for these events are more formal than in other countries to the extent of full Court Dress. Ladies are required to wear ball gowns and tiaras with orders of Knighthood and men are expected to wear uniforms or court attire. 

Before the State Dinner and speeches, the main VIP's posed for a group photo as is standard at any State Visit. Here we see from left; Princess Marie-Elizabeth, the Duke of Swann, the Dowager Grand Duchess of Hanoveria, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hanoveria. 

Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice, the Dowager Grand Duchess of Hanoveria is the sister of the Duke of Swann's deceased mother. She insisted on being present at the banquet even though she has suffered severe illness of late. We wish her good health and strength in this trying time.

On the Duke of Swann's State visit to Hanoveria he also had a personal matter to attend to. This surprise came unexpectedly when the Grand Duke of Hanoveria, took the Duke on a tour of a part of the capital city being extensively renewed. 

Weeks before the Swanobian State visit the Grand Duke of Hanoveria was made aware of  a strange container in one of his warehouses by the architectural team who was commissioned to rework the buildings into modern apartments. The container was clearly marked as the property of the Duke of Swann but was obviously meant for postage decades earlier but never left the country. This strange and gross oversight will be investigated for historical purposes once the current Duke of Swann takes ownership of the container and its contents. It is suspected that the container has been forgotten in the warehouse since the time of the Great War early in the 20th century. As such it's contents and indeed the reason for it being overlooked might be of extreme historic relevance.

The Hanoverian Royal family owns several historic buildings. The particular warehouse was built at the turn of the last century, originally to store necessary equipment and tools used during set-ups for major Royal events like parades and Royal tea parties. Goods like tents, scaffolding, carpets street decorations and the like were stored but decades later the buildings were left empty as their use became redundant due to modern requirements and technology.

This warehouse was set to be refurbished for new avante garde apartments. It was during the initial clean up that the crew discovered the basement containing the lost container.

This old period photo shows the Royal warehouse as it was used during the Great War to store war relief supplies.

The Grand Duke of Hanoveria guided his cousin the Duke of Swann to what is now accepted as his property.

The sealed container had clear marking indicating that it is the property of the Duke of Swann and that it was meant to be shipped to the principality more than 50 years ago.

The Grand Duke of Hanoveria officially handed over the container to the Duke of Swann.  It is to be moved to the Duke of Swann's Hanoverian Residence, Schloss Schwanstein, where it will be opened to the press. The very exiting event will be published here on the blog in the next Memory Monday blog post. What on earth could be inside???

So the Duke of Swann concluded his official and personal trip to Hanoveria. The next few days would be spent planning the great reveal in private as he relaxed at Schloss Schwanstein.

Fascinating Fridays (Orders of Knighthood Part 4)

We continue our Fascinating Friday series with Part 4 of the different Orders of Knighthood. If you have always wondered why Royalty often appear at very formal function wearing coloured sashes you will now find out. We have discussed the origin and rank of the title, Knight, in a former Fascinating Friday post. There are currently six active Orders of Knighthood and two Family Orders of Honour. They all rank in an order of precedence which ranks one above the other in prestige. Normally the date of the specific Order's founding gives it precedence over younger ones but also its exclusivity gives it higher prestige Last week we dealt with the Kingdom of Syldavias's Order of the Syldav Cross.

Today we will discuss the forth lowest ranking Order of Knighthood and it has its home in the Grand Duchy of Hanoveria.

We are now moving into the upper echelons of the Knighthood ranks but that does not mean that this more prestigious Knighthood is not without controversy. The Golden Order of the Polar Star and its sister Ruskian Order of the Polar Star has a single origin.  The Polar Star was the constellation that inspired the Ruskian Tzar Ivan the IX to explore the northern regions of the Ruskian ice covered arctic. He commissioned his youngest son with a blank cheque for this purpose and created an entirely new Order of Knighthood for his son Grand Duke Peter and the leading members of his expedition. Grand Duke Peter was to be the Grand Master and Proprietor of the order. Thus the original Order of the Polar Star was created. The young man availed himself of the task and the foundations for mapping and exploring the vast polar regions were thus set in stone. What was not planned however was that Grand Duke Peter would become the first Grand Duke of  a newly established independent Hanoveria. Upon his return to Ruskiana, the Grand Duke stopped over in Hanoveria who's ruling Grand Duke only had daughters. With the consent of his people, the Grand Duke married his eldest to the Ruskian Prince and declared him the heir to the throne. Grand Duke Paul arrived back at his own fathers court with a wife and a future domain of his own. The Order of the Polar Star thus became the official Order of Knighthood in Hanoveria.

A golden sash hung over the left shoulder and pinned with a badge set with a cluster of clear stones in the form of a stylised eight sided cross are the insignia for the Hanoverian Golden Order of the Polar Star. In the above picture we see the current Grand Ducal Family wearing the insignia. The badge is designed in such a way to strongly suggest a cluster of stars.

When Grand Duke Peter's elder brother became Tzar of Ruskia, his jealousy of his younger brother got the better of him and his revoked his Knighthood and declared the Order of the Polar Star a purely Ruskian  honour. The Tzar declared himself Grand Master and essentially set up a rival order. For years the two functioned as separate entities with many people ending up being members of both orders. 

To this day remnants of the two separate orders exist as the feuding rivals were only merged back into one in 2011. It was agreed at an Annual Knights gathering that Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna should relinquish her claims on the Polar Star as pretender to the Imperial Throne of Ruskiana. This was expected as a sign of goodwill and solidarity in order to present a united face in the surge of recent Royal popularity. In the picture above we can see the subtle differences in colour and badges between the Hanoverian (at left) and Ruskian (at right) insignia. It was agreed that members of the separated order will retain their individual insignia and that the united order will in future have two branches, the Golden Order of the Polar Star as the personal gift from the Grand Duke of Hanoveria and the standard order for merit in the fields of science, arts and socio-economic development. The head of the Ruskian Dynasty will retain a hereditary place within the order and preside over the sub-branch in trust of the Grand Duke of Hanoveria. 

A bright yellow sash hung over the left shoulder and pinned with a badge set with a cluster of white stones in the form of a square is the insignia of the former Ruskian Order of the Polar Star. Above we see Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna proudly displaying her insignia as former Grand Master of the Ruskian branch but now honoured with the new membership to the united order for her agreement to merge the two into one.

Breaking News (Serbieski Bombing Latest)

Yesterday, Europa was shocked at the news of the Serbieski Power Plant Bombing. Three explosions went off during the highly publicized tour of the plant by the Grand Duke of Hanoveria, accompanied by Royal delegates from Wallachia and Serbieski. Official reports confirm that nobody was injured and that nominal damage was done to storage areas only at the brand new Natural Gas Refinery. Investigations are underway as to who might be responsible but due to Serbieski's volatile political history and current Syldavian anti-monarchist protests the bombing could be assumed to be political.

The Proclaimer wasted no time in leading the world media in reporting on the event.

The Hanoverian Grand Duke's tour was poised to attract much needed media attention to the sensitive political atmosphere surrounding the Power Plant and the indeed the entire region of Serbieski on the border of Wallachia. The natural environment has been claimed to be adversely affected by the plant but its economic impact has made it impossible to cancel or even stall its construction and operation. These factors combine with Serbieski's turbulent history which may have given political factions or environmental activists the motivation for the bombing. 

The Wallachian Minister of Defence was first to release a press statement on behalf of the Princess and the government of Wallachia. The Princess's husband, the Baron Bagrazia was with the Royal tour when the explosions went off. The Minister stated, that he is deeply concerned for the tensions on the border between Wallachia and the Syldavian Province of Serbieski. He also denounced the effects the Power Plant has had on the Wallachian Coastline. Wallachian support was offered in the investigations that would hopefully lead to those responsible. The Princess of Wallachia was quoted as being greatly relieved that nobody was hurt. 

The Governor of Serbieski and Chairman of the Natural Gas Directorate, Grand Duke Paul of Serbieski spoke to the media minutes after the bombings from the Governor's Offices. He pledged the support of his office to the investigations and denounced what he called an obvious terrorist attack aimed at destabilizing Serbieski peace and the Kingdom of Syldavia. He also said that repairs to the Power Plant will be followed with greater responsibility for its effect on the surrounding coast line. 

Arc International, who owns the Power Plant and leases out its operation to the Province of Serbieski granted a press conference this morning. Its official spokesperson, Viscount Hayz also assured the public that the investigation will have Arc International's full support. He also vowed that far more effort is to be done concerning the environment. An apology, for what seemed to be lack of security, was officially  extended to the Grand Duke of Hanoveria.

Lady Arcwhite released a statement saying: "We regret the shocking events of yesterday and hope that those responsible will be brought to justice. We wish the Serbieski people and its shared coastline with Wallachia only the best and will do all within our reasonable power to see it safe and in order."

A Political summit has been set where the Princess of Wallachia will be meeting with King Nikolas III of Syldavia to discuss the matter along with their Foreign Affairs Ministers. The Serbieski Coastline has been put under high alert for the time being. 

Breaking News (Sebieski Power Plant Bombing)

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hanoveria were taken on an official and highly publicized tour of the new Natural Gas Power Plant on the Wallachian border to the Syldavian Province of Serbieski. The purpose was to raise objective public awareness of the pros and cons of the new plant. This happens in the wake of negative media report on the topic of natural gas extraction. Security was tight and assured by the Kingdom of Syldavia as aside from the natural gas controversy, Serbieski's penchant for political protest and violence is infamous.

From left we see the Royal Contingent, the Baron Bagrazia represented Wallachian interests, then the touring  couple in the center and on the right we see the Grand Duchess of Serbieski representing her husband the Governor of Serbieski and the Chairman of the Natural Gas Directorate.

This photo shows the newly erected Power Plant in the distance. Some environmental activists have pointed out how the environment has already been adversely affected as the photo shows no plant or trees remaining after it construction.

The Grand Duchess of Serbieski lead the tour as the Royal representative of the Kingdom of Syldavia, within who's borders the plant is built. It is however physically owned and managed by Arc International which is controlled by Lady Arcwhite as an investment in the Province of Serbieski. 

Cutting edge technology extracts the volatile gas and converts its power into electricity. Experiments in the fields of medicine, industry and weaponry are also conducted at the plant. The people of Serbieski are positioned as the main beneficiaries as the plant, creates jobs, attracts industry and provides power for the entire province and also the entire region including Syldavia and Wallachia. The adverse affects on the delicate coastline bordering Wallachia remain an unresolved controversy. 

Disaster struck as a bomb unexpectedly went off in one of the warehouses as the Royal tour passed on foot near by. This was followed by two other blasts set in different parts of the plant. 

A chance photo of the initial blast unexpectedly taken by the photographer accompanying the Royal Tour. Details are sketchy as yet but we are assured that nobody was injured. It seems that the damage done by the blasts was cosmetic with only surface damage done to buildings. This was obviously a planned protest action of sorts. We will expect to hear officially from the relevant parties. 

What's Up Wednesday (Hanoverian State Tour)

Last weekend saw the arrival of His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hanoveria in the Kingdom of Hispania on Friday. This was the first stop of the Hanoverian official State Tour for 2013. The tour includes an official dinner with the Queen of Hispania, talks with relevant Hispanian Government Officials regarding trade and tourism, then continues on to the Principality of Wallachia for the same and finally the climactic and controversial visit to the Natural Gas Power Plant on the border of Wallachia and Serbieski in the Kingdom of Syldavia. 

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess were received at the airport by the Queen's sister, Princess Isabella of  Hispania. They were welcomed by a military brass band and displays of the flags of both countries.

The Castle and Palace of Trono de Seguro outside the capital served as the setting for the State Banquet. These festivities lighten the mood of hard work that is associated with a State Tour. The dress code is normally "ties and tiaras". 

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hanoveria as they arrived at the Hispanian State Banquet. 

The official photo of the two Heads of State, Queen Maria of Hispania and Grand Duke George of Hanoveria.

Another function of a State banquet is to serve as the official "photo opportunity" commemorating a State Visit.  Here we see at left, included in the photo the heir to the Hispanian throne, the Princess of Cataljone. 

Next up the Hanoverian ruling couple flew to the Wallachia on Monday. They were met and formally welcomed at the Princess of Wallachia's city residence by her husband the Baron Bagrazia. The Grand Duchess wore an eye catching ensemble with bold fascinator for the arrival. The Hanoverian flag was flown in honour of the visiting Head of State.

The Princess of Wallachia then entertained the Grand Duke and his wife at her husband's Family Residence, Bagrazia Manor with a State Banquet. Aside from strengthening the friendly diplomatic bonds between Wallachia and Hanoveria, one of the main topics of discussion at the banquet was the controversial Natural Gas Power Plant on the Wallachian border to the Syldavian province of Serbieski. Wallachia has opposed the extraction of the natural gas at the cost of the environment. The power plant promises cheap electricity and vast profits for the people Serbieski and Arc Investments who built and manages its operation. Wallachia also stands to gain but damage to the natural environment has not been fully quantified. 

The Princess Xenia of Wallachia poses with the Grand Duke of Hanoveria for this official photo at the State Banquet.

The full contigent of Royalty at the Wallachian State Banquet. 

A full tour of the Natural Gas Power Plant is planned for today as the final league of the State Tour. The Grand Ducal couple will be hosted on the tour by the Baron Bagrazia and the Grand Duchess of Serbieski representing the Governor of Serbieski and the Syldavian Kingdom. Due to its media importance we will report on the Power Plant visit as it happens today over the course of the afternoon.