Gente

Uganda has decided to withdraw its participation from the Invictus Games, the sporting competition for war veterans promoted by Prince Harry, out of respect for King Charles III. The announcement was made by General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, head of the country’s Defense Forces and son of the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, who has stated that Uganda will not participate in any event that does not have the approval of the British monarch.

As in all families, the royals also come together at funerals. This Wednesday, in Oslo, kings and princes of Europe, the so-called royal cousins, have gathered to bid farewell to Harald V, king of Norway, who passed away on August 28. Oslo Cathedral was too small to accommodate the representatives of all the royal houses, related to the deceased to a greater or lesser degree, who accompanied kings Haakon and Mette-Marit, Queen Sonia, and the rest of the family members.

The campus of the Carlos III University of Madrid, in Getafe, woke up this morning with the particular bustle of the first days of the school year. In the cafeteria, it smelled of freshly made toast and grilled croissants, and several waiters were busy serving coffee to professors and veteran students, while the newcomers looked around what, at times, will be an extension of the classrooms during this year. On everyone’s faces, there was excitement and curiosity, as well as some confusion among those who were new to the university. But both those starting and those who have been walking these halls for several years know that this year will be different because Princess Leonor will also be among them. The eldest daughter of the Kings must have noticed that expectation as soon as she arrived, when on the way to the campus she passed by a bus shelter where a well-known online graphic design platform installed days ago the message “Welcome to the uni, Princess.”

Six years after leaving the United Kingdom, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, return with their children, Archie (7) and Lilibet (5), to spend a period –presumably long– in Great Britain, although for the moment there is no intention to resume the royal duties they once held. This is an unexpected turn for a couple who sought to build a new life in the U.S., including a Netflix documentary, and who have been distanced from their families by circumstances. According to the Daily Mail, they are already staying as guests of a millionaire friend on the outskirts of the Cotswolds, where they lived between 2018 and 2019, near Highgrove House, the second residence of King Charles III and with neighbors as illustrious as the Beckhams, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, and Liam Gallagher of Oasis. The couple landed on British soil on August 27.

“I promise and swear to govern the Kingdom of Norway in accordance with its Constitution and its laws, so help me Almighty and all-knowing God.” In uniform and with decorations, accompanied by his daughter, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, his son, Prince Sverre Magnus, and his mother, Queen Dowager Sonja, Haakon VIII has sworn the Norwegian Constitution at the Storting (Parliament) as the new king and head of state. Queen Mette-Marit was not present at the solemn ceremony, as she remains under observation on medical advice due to a complication in the recovery process from her lung transplant.

Dana Thomas, author of Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, already warned when The New York Times asked her about the exhibition that the Met dedicated to John Galliano: “I think it’s a terrible idea.” For Thomas, the sadly infamous antisemitic statements of the designer in 2011—how could one forget that “I love Hitler” he said to a woman in a bar in Paris—were not a slip or an anomaly, but an intrinsic part of behavior that lasted for years and that the public still has not forgiven him for.

If Anna Wintour, the all-powerful queen of fashion from the pedestal of Vogue, believed herself invulnerable, she has now discovered that her influence had a limit. Not even she is untouchable.

This Sunday, masses were held in all churches in Norway in memory of King Harald. King Haakon, accompanied by his mother, the Queen Dowager Sonja, and his children, Ingrid Alexandra and Sverre Magnus, attended one of these ceremonies held at the parish closest to the Skaugum palace, the current official residence of the crown princes, located in Asker, twenty kilometers from Oslo. The notable absentee was Queen Mette-Marit who, still recovering from her lung transplant, is conserving her strength to attend the State funeral and burial of her late father-in-law, a date that has not yet been set by the Norwegian court.

The reactions in the European royal houses to the death of King Harald have not been long in coming. Kings Felipe and Letizia, in addition to sending a telegram of condolence, have published a statement on social media expressing their sorrow for the passing of the Norwegian monarch. “With our respect and admiration for his figure, as well as with deep sadness, we express our condolences for the loss of H.M. King Harald V, an example of responsibility, dignity, simplicity, and tireless dedication to the service of Norway and its people, before and during his 35 years of reign. Our condolences, with fraternal affection, to the Norwegian royal family.

King Harald V of Norway passed away this Friday at the age of 89 at the National Hospital of Oslo after a period marked by his delicate health condition. As communicated by the country’s royal house, the monarch “fell asleep peacefully” at 6:35 in the morning after being hospitalized for eleven days in a “very serious” condition. The sovereign had accumulated fluid during corticosteroid treatment for hemolytic anemia, subsequently developing a bacterial blood infection.