The World In Photos: Blog

By Bart, May 13, 2012 at 12:15:57 :: Luxembourg

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The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the sovereign monarch and head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it was elevated from a duchy when placed in personal union with the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Since then, there have been nine monarchs of Luxembourg, including the current incumbent, Henri.

Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg OIH (given names: Henri Albert Gabriel Félix Marie Guillaume; born at Betzdorf Castle in Betzdorf, Luxembourg, 16 April 1955) is the head of state of Luxembourg. He is the eldest son of Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. His maternal grandparents were King Leopold III of Belgium and Astrid of Sweden. He is a nephew of the current King of the Belgians, Albert II.



As the head of a constitutional monarchy, Grand Duke Henri's duties are primarily representative. However, he retains the constitutional power to appoint the Prime Minister and Government, to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies, to promulgate laws and to accredit ambassadors.

Grand Duke Henri is Commander-in-Chief of the Luxembourg Army, in which he holds the rank of General. He is also an Honorary Major in the British Parachute Regiment.

One of the Grand Duke's main functions is to represent Luxembourg in the field of foreign affairs. In May 2001, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa undertook their first foreign state visit to Spain, at the invitation of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

Grand Duke Henri is a member of the International Olympic Committee, a member of The Mentor Foundation (established by the World Health Organisation) and a Director of the Charles Darwin Trust for the Galapagos Islands.
The Grand Duke lives with his family at Berg Castle in Luxembourg. He also has a holiday home at Cabasson, near Bormes-les-Mimosas in the south of France.

Luxembourg has a population of a bit more of 500,000 inhabitants.

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By Bart, April 22, 2012 at 14:29:52 :: Liechtenstein

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Hans-Adam II (Johannes (Hans) Adam Ferdinand Alois Josef Maria Marko d'Aviano Pius von und zu Liechtenstein; born 14 February 1945), is the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein. He is the son of Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein (1906–1989) and his wife Countess Georgina von Wilczek (1921–1989). He also bears the titles Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf, Count of Rietberg. He descends in the direct male line from merely three of the previous fourteen Princes of Liechtenstein, and of another (again from two of the above mentioned three) in the female line.

Liechtenstein, officially the Principality of Liechtenstein has an area just over 160 square kilometres (62 sq mi), and has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz.



Liechtenstein is the smallest yet the richest (by measure of GDP per capita) German-speaking country in the world and the only country to lie entirely within the Alps.

Liechtenstein has constitutional monarch as Head of State, an elected parliament which enacts law. It is also a direct democracy, where voters can propose and enact constitutional amendments and legislation independent of the legislature. The Constitution of Liechtenstein was adopted in March 2003, replacing the previous 1921 constitution which had established Liechtenstein as a constitutional monarchy headed by the reigning prince of the Princely House of Liechtenstein. A parliamentary system had been established, although the reigning Prince retained substantial political authority.

On 15 August 2004 Prince Hans-Adam II formally turned the power of making day-to-day governmental decisions over to his eldest son, the Hereditary Prince Alois, as a way of beginning a dynastic transition to a new generation. Legally, Hans-Adam remains Head of State.

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By Bart, March 31, 2012 at 13:39:03 :: Tonga

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Tupou VI (full name: ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho Tupou VI; born 12 July 1959) is the new King of Tonga. He is the younger brother and successor of the late King George Tupou V. He was officially confirmed by his brother on 27 September 2006 as the heir presumptive to the Tongan throne, as his brother (a bachelor) had no legitimate children.

He served as Tonga's High Commissioner to Australia, and resided in Canberra until the recent death of King George Tupou V in a Hong Kong hospital on 18 March 2012.

Tongan media reports say the late king underwent a liver transplant last year and had also been diagnosed with cancer.

The late king was known to the outside world for eccentricities such as being driven around in a London taxi, and will be remembered by many for his throwback fashion choices, which included wearing, at times, a top hat and even a monocle.

He was credited with introducing democracy to the South Pacific archipelago after riots following his ascension in 2006.

We recently published a post about King George Tupou V that you can read here.

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By Bart, March 11, 2012 at 18:16:53 :: Denmark

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Margrethe II (sometimes anglicised as Margaret II) (born 16 April 1940) is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. She is the eldest daughter of King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark. In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she has two sons: Crown Prince Frederik (born 1968) and Prince Joachim (born 1969). When her father, Frederick IX, died in 1972, Margrethe succeeded him as Queen of Denmark and became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375–1412 during the Kalmar Union.

In January 2012, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has been marking the 40th anniversary of her succession to the country's throne. The main events took place on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 January 2012.



The Kingdom of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting of the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America.
The Kingdom of Denmark has an estimated population of 5,671,000 inhabitants.

The Queen's main tasks are to represent the Kingdom abroad and to be a unifying figurehead at home. She receives foreign ambassadors and awards honours and medals. The queen performs the latter task by accepting invitations to open exhibitions, attending anniversaries, inaugurating bridges, etc.

As an unelected public official, the Queen takes no part in party politics and does not express any political opinions. Although she has the right to vote, she opts not to do so to avoid even the appearance of partisanship.
After an election where the incumbent Prime Minister does not have a majority behind him, a “Dronningerunde” (Queen's meeting) between the chairmen of each of the Danish political parties attends a meeting with the monarch.

Each party has the choice of selecting a Royal Investigator to lead these negotiations or alternatively, give the incumbent Prime Minister the mandate to continue his government as is. In theory each party could choose its own leader as Royal Investigator, the globalistic party Det Radikale Venstre did so in 2006, but often only one Royal Investigator is chosen plus the Prime Minister, before each election. The leader who, at that meeting succeeds in securing a majority of the seats in the Folketing, is by royal decree charged with the task of forming a new government. (It has never happened in more modern history that any party has held a majority on its own.)

Once the government has been formed, it is formally appointed by the Queen. Officially, it is the Queen who is the head of government, and she therefore presides over the Council of State, where the acts of legislation which have been passed by the parliament are signed into law. In practice, however, nearly all of the Queen's formal powers are exercised by the Council of State, and she is required by convention to act on its advice.

In addition to her roles in her own country, the queen is also the Colonel-in-Chief of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires), an infantry regiment of the British Army, following a tradition in her family.

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By Bart, February 26, 2012 at 17:36:18 :: Belgium

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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe.

Belgium is a constitutional, popular monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The bicameral federal parliament is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. The former is made up of 40 directly elected politicians and 21 representatives appointed by the 3 Community parliaments, 10 co-opted senators and the children of the king, as Senators by Right who in practice do not cast their vote. The Chamber's 150 representatives are elected under a proportional voting system from 11 electoral districts. Belgium has compulsory voting and thus holds one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world.

The King (currently Albert II) is the head of state, though with limited prerogatives. He appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives to form the federal government.



Albert II (born 6 June 1934) is the King of the Belgians, a constitutional monarch. He is a member of the royal house "of Belgium"; formerly this house was named Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He is the uncle of the current reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henri.

Albert's full name is Albert Félix Humbert Théodore Christian Eugène Marie in French, Albert Felix Humbert Theodoor Christiaan Eugène Marie in Dutch, and Albert Felix Humbert Theodor Christian Eugen Maria in German.

He is the second son of King Leopold III (1901–1983) and his first wife, Astrid of Sweden (1905–1935). He ascended to the throne in 1993, following the death of his older brother, King Baudouin. His godparents were Prince Felix of Luxembourg and his paternal grandmother, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. He is the first cousin of King Harald V of Norway, Princess Astrid of Norway, and Princess Ragnhild of Norway.

As the younger brother of King Baudouin, Prince Albert was the heir-presumptive to the throne. However his son Prince Philippe was groomed to be Baudoin's successor, once it became clear that the King would have no children to succeed him. However, on Baudouin's death (at age 62), Albert was sworn in before parliament on 9 August 1993 as the sixth King of the Belgians.

As King, Albert's duties include representing Belgium at home and abroad on state visits, trade missions, and at high level international meetings as well as taking an interest in Belgian society, culture and enterprise.

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By Bart, February 12, 2012 at 11:23:14 :: Tonga

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Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga (Tongan: Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over 700,000 square kilometres (270,000 sq mi) of ocean in the South Pacific. Fifty-two of the islands are inhabited.

The Kingdom stretches over a distance of about 800 kilometres (500 mi) in a north-south line located at about a third of the distance from New Zealand to Hawaii (USA).

Tonga has a population of a bit more than 100,000.

Tonga operates as a constitutional monarchy. Reverence for the monarch replaces that held in earlier centuries for the sacred paramount chief, the Tuʻi Tonga. Criticism of the monarch is held to be contrary to Tongan culture and etiquette. A direct descendant of the first monarch, King George Tupou V, his family, some powerful nobles, and a growing non-royal elite caste live in much wealth, with the rest of the country living in relative poverty.



George Tupou V (Tongan: Siaosi Tupou V, full name: Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou V), (born 4 May 1948) is the current King of Tonga. He is the eldest son of the late King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV (b. 1918 - d. 2006), and Queen Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe (b. 1926). He was appointed Crown Prince on 4 May 1966. In daily life, he was better known by one of his traditional chiefly titles Tupoutoʻa.

As Crown Prince, Tupoutoʻa held great influence in Tongan politics, and was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1979 to 1998. He has substantial business interests in Tonga and abroad, and is co-chairman of the Shoreline Group/Tonfön. As king, his first proclamation was that he would dispose of all his business assets as soon as reasonably possible, and in accordance with the law. Tonfön has since been sold, but the King was unable to get rid of the remainder of the Shoreline Group after the 2006 Nuku'alofa riots scared potential buyers from making a deal.

The King is unmarried, and has a daughter born out of marriage, 'Ilima Lei Fifita Tohi (born 1974). She married police officer Tulutulumafua i'Olotele Kalaniuvalu in 1997, and has three children. According to the Constitution of Tonga, ʻIlima is ineligible to inherit the throne, as only children born within Royal marriage may take the throne.

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By Bart, January 22, 2012 at 13:41:14 :: Thailand

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The Monarchy of Thailand (also referred to as the King of Thailand or historically as King of Siam) refers to the constitutional monarchy and monarch of the Kingdom of Thailand (formerly Siam). The King of Thailand is the head of state and head of the ruling Royal House of Chakri. The king's power is limited to being a symbolic figurehead, but the institution commands the respect and reverence of the Thai people.



Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX (and within the Thai royal family and to close associates simply as Lek). Having reigned since 9 June 1946, he is the world's longest-serving current head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history.

Since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932, each constitution has maintained the king as "enthroned in a position of revered worship and shall not be violated." His Majesty, however, in his 2005 national birthday broadcast, specifically indicated he was unhappy with the provision. Despite this royal wish, Thai state authorities have steadfastly refused to permit not just criticism but what they deem to be inappropriate discussion. The constitution exempts the king and the royal family from legal actions, but confers no other legal rights. Therefore, the monarchy is protected against any physical or defamatory threats. This provision against defaming the monarchy is known in the West as the lèse majesté law.

A new book detailing the life and work of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been published: "King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life’s Work: Thailand’s Monarchy in Perspective". According to the Thai newspaper The Nation, "this book will help Thai and foreign readers understand the whole gamut of Thailand's 750-year-old institution and all related implications, real or imagined, especially those related to HM the King, his role and life-long work".

So, if you want to know more about the King of Thailand, buy this book!

Meanwhile, visit Thailand and Bangkok on The World In Photos!

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By Bart, January 15, 2012 at 13:12:46 :: Malaysia

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The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957 when the Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gained independence.



A literal English translation of the title is "He who is made Lord". However, common alternatives are "King", "Supreme Ruler", "Paramount Ruler", or "Supreme Head of State". Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with an elected monarch as head of state. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected to a five-year term by and from among the nine hereditary rulers of the Malay states. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is one of the few elected monarchs in the world.

In Malaysia's constitutional monarchy, the role of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is largely ceremonial. The constitution specifies that the executive power of the Federal government is vested in the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and is exercised by him on the advice of the federal Council of Ministers. The latter is headed by the Prime Minister, appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong from among the elected members of Parliament.

The current Yang di-Pertuan Agong is Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah.

Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah ibni Sultan Badlishah (born 28 November 1927) is the 14th and current Yang di-Pertuan Agong (head of state) of Malaysia, as well as the 27th and current Sultan of Kedah. He previously served as the fifth Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 1970 to 1975. He is the first person to hold the position twice, as well as the oldest elected to the office.

Executive power is vested in the Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. The prime minister must be a member of the house of representatives, who in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commands a majority in parliament. The cabinet is chosen from members of both houses of Parliament. The Prime Minister is both the head of cabinet and the head of government. The incumbent, Najib Razak, appointed in 2009, is the sixth prime minister.

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