The Princess of Orange Turns 18

The Princess of Orange turned eighteen on December 7th. Upon her birthday, she became a member of the Council of State and its Advisory Division. An official biography, Amalia, was released to celebrate her milestone.

Photo: © RVD

Rania’s Book Makes the NY Times Bestseller’s List

This month, Queen Rania’s book,“The Sandwich Swap,” reached #1 on the New York Times Book Review Children’s Best Sellers Picture Books list. She took an experience out of her own life to inspire her cause for cross-cultural dialogue and as a result created Salma and Lily with a sandwich conundrum.

The book was published by Disney•Hyperion Books.

Queen Rania Discusses Her Children’s Book on “The View” and “Good Morning America”

Queen Rania of Jordan appeared on the US television shows “The View” and “Good Morning America” this week to promote her new children’s book “The Sandwich Swap.” It continues the queen’s quest to encourage cross-cultural dialogue by relating to an actual event in her life.

Below is Queen Rania’s interview on ABC’s “The View.”


Below is Queen Rania’s interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Queen Rania Reads “The Sandwich Swap” at UN Headquarters

Queen Rania of Jordan was joined by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday at the United Nations Headquarters Bookshop as she promoted her children’s book “The Sandwich Swap.” Children from the United Nations International School were entertained with her storytelling whilst Ban Ki-moon praised the queen for her approach to cross-cultural dialogue by saying, "tolerance and peaceful coexistence are core United Nations values and essential to progress in the twenty-first century. I commend Her Majesty Queen Rania for her longstanding commitment to raising awareness about the importance of mutual respect and cross-cultural understanding."

Below is Queen Rania’s appearance at the UN Headquarters Bookshop.

Disney•Hyperion Publishes Rania’s Book

Queen Rania of Jordan has been successful with different mediums to encourage cross-culture dialogue. Now, she has written a book. The queen collaborated with Kelly DiPucchio to write the children’s book, “The Sandwich Swap,” which is being published by Disney•Hyperion Books. It tells the story of Salma and Lily; two friends that are faced with a cross-cultural issue relating to their sandwiches. They resolve their conundrum by trading sandwiches and sampling another culture through food.

Below is the Disney•Hyperion promotion of Queen Rania’s book “The Sandwich Swap.”

Frederik-Crown Prince of Denmark Biography Released

The biography, Frederik - kronprins af Danmark (Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark) was released in Danish bookstores this week. The authors, Karin Palshøj and Gitte Redder, interviewed Frederik over the course of a year and within those ten sessions felt they had a better understanding of his views and his life. In his conversations with the writers, the prince elaborated on his current goals including his desire to be on the International Olympic Committee and his concern for the environment. Besides interviewing the prince, the authors garnered stories from family and friends.

Crown Prince Frederik will turn forty on May 26th.

Photo: Høst & Søn

Marie Cavallier-The French Princess

As the wedding date approaches for Prince Joachim and Marie Cavallier, a new book about the royal bride-to-be has been released. Written by seasoned Danish royal journalist, John Lindskog, the book titled Marie Cavallier - Den franske prinsesse (Marie Cavallier-The French Princess) contains the details of the two year romance between Marie and Joachim right up to the engagement. The author also outlines Marie’s life before she met her prince.

Included in the book are several chapters on other royal marriages with commoners and the difficulties that faced the non-royal half in those unions.

Besides the book’s release, Danish television DR1 will be airing an exclusive documentary featuring Marie Cavallier on May 18th.

Sarah Ferguson Finds Tranquility in Norway

According to Katie Nicholl of the Daily Mail, Sarah Ferguson is seeking a vacation home in Norway. Apparently, she loves the region around the town of Sortland. It seems that the interest stems from the influence of Gier Frantzen, a Norwegian millionaire whom she was seen with last December.

Besides shopping for a vacation home, she is on the verge of releasing her latest book, Tea for Ruby, which will be published Fall 2008.

She also has foraged into social networking, releasing her own webpage which has a mélange of topics including living, giving, parenting and shopping.

Mette-Marit's Book Cancelled

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway’s authorized biography To liv, en gjerning by Halfdan Freihow will not be released in October 2007. It has been cancelled due to disagreements regarding some of the content between the author and the princess. The book was due for publication in September 2006, but there were some events that hindered Mette-Marit’s cooperation. The princess told the Norway news agency NTB that she and Mr. Freihow had parted ways and the book would not be published, declaring: "We have had a very good and professional collaboration, but during the development of the project...we {did} not agree in some details related to the content and the composition."