Saturday, October 2, 2021
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Norodom Sihamoni King of Cambodia
Norodom Sihamoni (born 14 May 1953) is the King of Cambodia. He became King on 14 October 2004, a week after the abdication of his father, Norodom Sihanouk. He is the eldest son of King Sihanouk and Queen Norodom Monineath and was Cambodia's ambassador to UNESCO, prior to his selection by a nine-member throne council to become the next king. Before ascending to the throne, Sihamoni was educated in Czechoslovakia and was best known for his work as a cultural ambassador in Europe and as a classical dance instructor.
The then Prince Sihamoni first began his education in 1959, where he attended Norodom School, followed by Descartes School in Phnom Penh, developing a keen interest in the arts early on in his life.
In 1962 the young Sihamoni was sent to Prague, in then Czechoslovakia, by his father to study abroad. During the 1970 Cambodian coup d'état by Lon Nol, Sihamoni remained in Czechoslovakia. There, he completed his elementary and secondary education and was regarded as an able student, getting high marks. He also further developed his interest in the performing arts, undertaking courses in this field at the National Prague Conservatory, excelling top of his class. Furthermore, he attained great fluency in Czech. A movie directed by Vladimir Sís was shot about the prince in Prague in 1967, under the name "The Other Little Prince (Jiný malý princ).
Between 1971 and 1975, he completed his higher education in classical dance and music at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, culminating with the attainment of a Master's degree for which he did a thesis titled "The Conception and Administration of Artistic Schools in Cambodia." After graduation in 1975 he left Prague and began to study filmmaking in North Korea.
However, in 1976, was forced to come back to Cambodia after having been deceived by the Khmer Rouge. Immediately, the ruling Khmer Rouge regime headed by Pol Pot turned against the monarchy, and put the royal family including Sihamoni, his brother Prince Norodom Narindrapong, his mother Queen Norodom Monineath, his father King Norodom Sihanouk under house arrest in the Royal Palace during much of the period of Democratic Kampuchea. The consequent Cambodian genocide saw several members of the wider royal family killed. With the 1979 Vietnamese Invasion, that ousted the Khmer Rouge, the family was airlifted to China and Sihamoni subsequently worked as a secretary for his father.
In 1981 he moved to France to teach ballet as a Professor of Classical dance and Artistic Pedagogy, a position which he held for almost two-decades, and was also later president of the Khmer Dance Association there. He lived in France for nearly 20 years and continued his pursuit in the arts, including establishing 'Ballet Deva', an original dance troupe. During this time, he undertook monkhood as well under the auspices of Bour Kry, who would later become a supreme patriarch of Cambodia.
The year 1993 saw the prince being appointed Cambodia's permanent representative to UNESCO in Paris, a role he held right until he became King in 2004. In this role he became known for his hard work and his devotion to Cambodian culture. He had previously refused an appointment as Cambodia's ambassador to France.
On 14 October 2004 he was selected by a special nine-member council, part of a selection process that was quickly put in place after the surprise abdication of King Norodom Sihanouk a week before. Prince Sihamoni's selection was endorsed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh (the new king's half-brother), both members of the privy council. King Sihanouk backed the decision as well. He was inaugurated and formally appointed as King on 29 October 2004 in a coronation ceremony centered at the royal residence in the capital. In his first speech as monarch, he pledged to be a king of the people who will be a “faithful and loyal servant” of the nation and that he shall “never live apart from the beloved people."
King Sihamoni and his parents, King Father Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath, specifically requested that the ceremonies not be lavish because they did not wish the impoverished country to spend too much money on the event. On 29 October 2014, there were celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of his coronation
Sharafuddin of Selangor Sultan of the Malaysian state of Selangor
Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj (born 24 December 1945) is the ninth and current Sultan of the Malaysian state of Selangor. He ascended the throne on 22 November 2001, succeeding his father, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah.
Sharafuddin was born on 24 December 1945, at Istana Jema'ah, Klang, as the first son of the Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Selangor, Tengku Abdul Aziz Shah and his first wife, Raja Saidatul Ihsan binti Tengku Badar Shah (born. 1923–2011). He was named Tengku Idris Shah at birth. His father was the eldest son of Hisamuddin of Selangor and Raja Jemaah, who later became the second Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia. His mother was the grandchild of both Sulaiman of Selangor and Abdul Jalil of Perak. As such, his parents were first cousins.
He received his primary education at Malay Primary School, Kuala Lumpur when he was nine. He then attended St. John's Institution from 1954 until 1959.
In 1960, his father became the Sultan of Selangor, taking the regnal name Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah. In the same year, Sharafuddin was proclaimed the Raja Muda of Selangor at age fifteen. He was sent abroad to continue his education, attending the Hale School in Perth, Western Australia, from 1960 and later Langhurst College in Surrey, United Kingdom, from 1964.
Sharafuddin married thrice.
In 1968, as Tengku Idris, he married Raja Zarina binti Raja Tan Sri Zainal. The marriage ended in divorce in 1986. Sharafuddin and Raja Zarina have two children:
Tengku Zerafina (born 1969), currently an entrepreneur based in London. She married Colin Salem Parbury on 5 December 2004.
Tengku Zatashah (born 1973), currently the CEO of Light Cibles Malaysia, and an environmental activist. She married Aubry Rahim Mennesson (born 1972), a French, at the Grand Mosque of Paris, France on 10 November 2007. A wedding reception was held on 28 February 2008 at Istana Alam Shah, Klang.[18]
In 1988, Tengku Idris married American-born Nur Lisa Idris binti Abdullah (née Lisa Davi). They divorced in 1997 and have one child:
Tengku Amir Shah (born 1990), the current Raja Muda of Selangor.
In August 2016, as Sultan, he married television personality Norashikin Abdul Rahman, now known as Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin. The solemnisation ceremony was performed by Selangor Mufti Datuk Mohd Tamyes Abd Wahid at Masjid Istana Diraja in Istana Alam Shah, Klang and were witnessed by Selangor deputy mufti Dr Anhar Opir, Imam Mohd Rasid Mahful, former deputy mufti of Selangor Datuk Abdul Majid Omar and Selangor Islamic Religious Council member Datuk Salehuddin Saidin.[
After returning from the United Kingdom in 1968, Sharafuddin joined the government as a public servant, and was attached to the Selangor State Secretariat under the administration of Menteri Besar Harun Idris. He served in the Kuala Lumpur District Office and Kuala Lumpur police department.[2][4]
On 1970, he was formally installed and took oath as the 8th Raja Muda of Selangor in a ceremony held at Istana Alam Shah, Klang.
On 24 April 1999, he was appointed as Regent of Selangor after his father became the eleventh Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Henri von Nassau (born 16 April 1955) is the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, reigning since 7 October 2000. He is the eldest son of Grand Duke Jean and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, and a first cousin of King Philippe of Belgium. In 2019, Henri’s net worth was estimated around US$4 billion
Prince Henri was born on 16 April 1955, at the Betzdorf Castle in Luxembourg as the second child and first son of Hereditary Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and his wife, Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. His father was the eldest son of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg by her husband, Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma. His mother was the only daughter of King Leopold III of Belgium by his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden. The prince's godparents were the Prince of Liège (his maternal uncle) and Princess Marie Gabriele (his paternal aunt).
Henri has four siblings: Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria (born 1954), Prince Jean of Luxembourg (born 1957), Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein (born 1957) and Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (born 1963). On 12 November 1964, when Henri was nine, his grandmother's abdication and his father's subsequent accession as grand duke made him heir apparent. As the grand duke's eldest son, he automatically took the title of hereditary grand duke.
Henri was educated in Luxembourg and in France, where he obtained his baccalaureate in 1974, after which he undertook military officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England on the Standard Military Course (SMC) 7. He then studied political science at University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International Studies, graduating in 1980
While studying in Geneva, Henri met the Cuban-born María Teresa Mestre y Batista, who was also a political science student. They married in Luxembourg in a civil ceremony on 4 February 1981 and a religious ceremony on 14 February 1981 with the previous consent of the grand duke, dated 7 November 1980 and they remain married. The couple has five children: Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Prince Félix of Luxembourg, Prince Louis of Luxembourg, Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, and Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg.
Sirajuddin of Perlis the 7th and current Raja of Perlis
Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail (born 17 May 1943) is the 7th and current Raja of Perlis, reigning since 17 April 2000. He served as the 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia from 13 December 2001 to 12 December 2006.
Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin was born in Arau, Perlis, the second of ten children of Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail and Tengku Budriah binti Almarhum Tengku Ismail. He studied at the Arau Malay School until standard two, then from 5 January 1950 he continued his primary education at Wellesley Primary School in Penang followed by Westland Primary School until the end of 1955. Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin began his secondary education at Penang Free School on 9 January 1956 and later left for England to study at Wellingborough School for four years until 1963. He underwent training as a Cadet Officer at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, England, from January 1964 until December 1965.
Upon his return from England, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin served with the Ministry of Defence Malaysia. His first post was as Second Lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment of the Malaysian Reconnaissance Corps on 12 December 1965. In 1966, he was transferred to Sabah and then to Sarawak in 1967. He then served in Pahang for several years until he resigned on 31 December 1969 to return to Perlis. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in December 1967.
In 1970, he served in the armed forces again, as Captain of the Local Territorial Army from 16 November 1970 until 1 October 1972. He was promoted to Major on 1 October 1972. Presently, he is the Commanding Officer of Regiment 504 of the Army Reserve Unit with the rank of Colonel.
On 15 February 1967 he married Tengku Fauziah binti Almarhum Tengku Abdul Rashid D.K., S.S.P.J., S.P.M.P. (born 6 June 1946 (age 75)) at Kota Bharu, Kelantan, daughter of Tengku Temenggong Tengku Abdul Rashid ibni Almarhum Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah of Terengganu, by his wife Tengku Maharani Putri Tengku Kembang Puteri binti Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim of Kelantan, who became the Raja Puan Muda of Perlis. Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin was appointed for the first time as the Regent of Perlis when the Raja of Perlis and the Raja Perempuan of Perlis travelled to the United States and Europe from 23 June 1967 until 24 October 1967.
Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin has one son and one daughter :
His Royal Highness Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra, Raja Muda of Perlis (born on 30 December 1967)
Her Highness Sharifah Fazira, Tengku Puteri Mahkota of Perlis (born on 5 June 1973).
Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin has travelled to many countries including United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Egypt, Spain, Libya, the Netherlands, Belgium, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin is also active in sports. Among his favourite sports are golf, tennis, football and is a fan of Tottenham Hotspur football club. He has been the Chairman of Putra Golf Club, Perlis since May 1971, and the patron of the Association of Football Referees of Perlis since 1967. He was also the Chairman of the Football Association of Perlis for 18 years.
Mohammed VI of Morocco
Mohammed VI (born 21 August 1963) is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the Alaouite dynasty and ascended to the throne on 23 July 1999 upon the death of his father, King Hassan II.
Upon ascending to the throne, the king initially introduced a number of reforms, and changed the family code Mudawana which granted women more power. Leaked diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks have led to allegations of corruption in the court of King Mohammed VI, implicating the king and his closest advisors. Widespread disturbances in 2011, a Moroccan element of the Arab Spring, protested against corruption and urged the need for political reform. In response, King Mohammed VI promulgated a program of reforms and introduced a new constitution. These reforms were passed by a public referendum on 1 July 2011.
The king has vast business holdings across several economic sectors in Morocco. His net worth has been estimated at between US$2.1 billion and over US$5 billion, and, according to the American business magazine Forbes, he was the richest king in Africa in 2014, and the 5th richest king in the world.
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa King of Bahrain
Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the previous and first emir. The country has been ruled by the Al Khalifa dynasty since 1783.
Abdullah II of Jordan
Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein (born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, reigning since 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is a 41st-generation direct descendant of Muhammad.
Abdullah was born in Amman as the first child of King Hussein and his second wife, British-born Princess Muna. As the king's eldest son, Abdullah was heir apparent until Hussein transferred the title to Abdullah's uncle, Prince Hassan, in 1965. Abdullah began his schooling in Amman, continuing his education abroad. He began his military career in 1980 as a training officer in the Jordanian Armed Forces, later assuming command of the country's Special Forces in 1994, and he became a major general in 1998. In 1993 Abdullah married Rania Al-Yassin (of Palestinian descent), and they have four children: Crown Prince Hussein, Princess Iman, Princess Salma and Prince Hashem. A few weeks before his death in 1999, King Hussein named his eldest son Abdullah his heir, and Abdullah succeeded his father.
Abdullah, a constitutional monarch, liberalized the economy when he assumed the throne, and his reforms led to an economic boom which continued until 2008. During the following years Jordan's economy experienced hardship as it dealt with the effects of the Great Recession and spillover from the Arab Spring, including a cut in its petroleum supply and the collapse of trade with neighboring countries. In 2011, large-scale protests demanding reform erupted in the Arab world. Many of the protests led to civil wars in other countries, but Abdullah responded quickly to domestic unrest by replacing the government and introducing reforms to the constitution and laws governing public freedoms and elections. Proportional representation was introduced to the Jordanian parliament in the 2016 general election, a move which he said would eventually lead to establishing parliamentary governments. The reforms took place amid unprecedented challenges stemming from regional instability, including an influx of 1.4 million Syrian refugees into the natural resources-lacking country and the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Abdullah is popular locally and internationally for maintaining Jordanian stability, and is known for promoting interfaith dialogue and a moderate understanding of Islam. The longest-serving current Arab leader, he was regarded by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre as the most influential Muslim in the world in 2016. Abdullah is custodian of the Muslim and Christian sacred sites in Jerusalem, a position held by his dynasty since 1924.
Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu
Al-Wathiqu Billah Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah (born 22 January 1962) is the 18th and current Sultan of Terengganu. He served as the 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the constitutional monarch of Malaysia, from 2006 to 2011. He is Malay by ethnicity and an adherent of Sunni Islam.
Letsie III
Letsie III (born 17 July 1963) is King of Lesotho. He succeeded his father, Moshoeshoe II, when the latter was forced into exile in 1990. His father was briefly restored in 1995 but soon died in a car crash in early 1996, and Letsie became king again. As a constitutional monarch, most of King Letsie's duties as monarch of Lesotho are ceremonial. In 2000, he declared HIV/AIDS in Lesotho to be a natural disaster, prompting immediate national and international response to the epidemic
Harald V of Norway
Harald V (born 21 February 1937) is the King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991.
Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the line of succession at the time of his birth, behind his father. In 1940, as a result of the German occupation during World War II, the royal family went into exile. Harald spent part of his childhood in Sweden and the United States. He returned to Norway in 1945, and subsequently studied for periods at the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Military Academy and Balliol College, Oxford.
Following the death of his grandfather Haakon VII in 1957, Harald became crown prince as his father became king. A keen sportsman, he represented Norway in sailing at the 1964, 1968, and 1972 Olympic Games, and later became patron of World Sailing. Harald married Sonja Haraldsen in 1968, their relationship having initially been controversial due to her status as a commoner. The couple had two children, Märtha Louise and Haakon. Harald became king following his father's death in 1991, with Haakon becoming his heir apparent.
He is a great-grandson of Edward VII of the United Kingdom and second cousin of Elizabeth II.
Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein
Hans-Adam II (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, and Count of Rietberg.
He was born on 14 February 1945 in Zürich, Switzerland, as the eldest son of Prince Franz Joseph II and Princess Gina of Liechtenstein, with his godfather being Pope Pius XII. His father had succeeded as Prince of Liechtenstein in 1938 upon the death of his childless grand-uncle, Prince Franz I, and Hans-Adam was thus hereditary prince from birth.
In 1969, Hans-Adam graduated from the University of St. Gallen with a Licentiate (equivalent to a master's degree) in Business and Economic Studies.
In 1984, Prince Franz Joseph II, while legally remaining head of state and retaining the title of sovereign prince, formally handed the power of making day-to-day governmental decisions to his eldest son as a way of beginning a dynastic transition to a new generation. Hans-Adam formally succeeded as Prince of Liechtenstein upon the death of his father on 13 November 1989.
A referendum to adopt Hans-Adam's revision of the Constitution of Liechtenstein to expand his powers passed in 2003. The prince had threatened to leave the country if the referendum did not result in his favour.
On 15 August 2004, Hans-Adam formally handed the power of making day-to-day governmental decisions to his eldest son Hereditary Prince Alois as regent, as a way of beginning a dynastic transition to a new generation. Legally, Hans-Adam remains the head of state. Hans-Adam's father Franz Joseph II had similarly done so on 26 August 1984.
In a July 2012 referendum, the people of Liechtenstein overwhelmingly rejected by a proposal to curtail the political power of the princely family. A few days before the vote, Crown Prince Alois announced he would veto any relaxing of the ban on abortion, also up for referendum. Turnout collapsed and 76 per cent of those voting in the first referendum supported the Prince's power to veto the outcome of future referendums. Legislators, who serve on a part-time basis, rose in the prince's defence on 23 May, voting 18 to 7 against the citizens' initiative.
On 30 July 1967, at St. Florin's in Vaduz, he married his second cousin once-removed Countess Marie Aglaë Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau. They have four children: Hereditary Prince Alois, Prince Maximilian, Prince Constantin, and Princess Tatjana. They remained married until her death on 21 August 2021, at the age of 81.
The Prince is an honorary member of K.D.St.V. Nordgau Prag Stuttgart, a Catholic students' fraternity that is a member of the Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen.
The Prince donated $12 million in 2000 to found the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-determination (LISD) at Princeton University's Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. In his childhood he joined the Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Liechtensteins in Vaduz.He is also a former member of the Viennese Scout Group "Wien 16-Schotten". He is a member of the World Scout Foundation.
Hans-Adam has written the political treatise The State in the Third Millennium , which was published in late 2009. In it, he argues for the continued importance of the nation-state as a political actor. He controversially tried to patent millennia-old native foods like Basmati rice through an American patent and succeeded but withdrew after concerns raised by India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. He makes the case for democracy as the best form of government, which he sees China and Russia as in transition towards although the path will be difficult for these nations. He also declared his role in a princely family as something that has legitimacy only from the assent of the people. He stated that government should be limited to a small set of tasks and abilities, writing that people "have to free the state from all the unnecessary tasks and burdens with which it has been loaded during the last hundred years, which have distracted it from its two main tasks: maintenance of the rule of law and foreign policy".
In an interview, recorded in November 2010, Hans-Adam said that he saw certain problems with aspects of the US Constitution, such as the lack of direct democracy. He also said, "I am sitting here and that's because Americans saved us during World War II and during the Cold War. So I am very grateful to them."[citation needed]
Hans-Adam offered a major contribution to the study of self-determination in the foreword to a "Sourcebook, on Self-Determination and Self-Administration", edited by Wolfgang F. Danspeckgruber and Sir Arthur Watts, 1997; and in the Encyclopedia Princetoniensis.
Mswati III
Mswati III (born 19 April 1968) is the king (Swazi: Ngwenyama, Ingwenyama yemaSwati) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi Royal Family. He was born in Manzini in the Protectorate of Swaziland to King Sobhuza II and one of his younger wives, Ntfombi Tfwala. He was crowned as Mswati III, Ingwenyama and King of Swaziland, on 25 April 1986 at the age of 18, thus becoming the youngest ruling monarch in the world at that time. Together with his mother, Ntfombi Tfwala, now Queen Mother (Ndlovukati), he rules the country as an absolute monarch. Mswati III is known for his practice of polygyny (although at least two wives are appointed by the state) and currently has 15 wives. Mswati III was also secretly funded and supported by the government of apartheid-era South Africa.
Makhosetive's regime has been labelled authoritarian with a large cult of personality Makhosetive's rule also saw a sharp increase in police brutality,alongside the mass imprisonment and torture of journalists. Makhosetive would crackdown on 2021 pro-democracy protests, with dozens of protestors executed and lawmakers arrested.
Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi III
Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi III (born 1 January 1931) is the ruler of the emirate of Ajman and a member of the UAE Supreme Council of the Union. He is the 10th ruler of Ajman. Humaid bin Rashid succeeded his late father Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi III on September 6, 1981. He previously served as deputy ruler since 1960. Under his reign, the state has seen rapid changes from a small fishing town at the time of independence to a modern emirate.
Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi
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| Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi (born 22 February 1949) is the ruler of the Emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates |
Hamad Al Sharqi was born in 1949, the son of Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi, former ruler of the Emirate of Fujairah, one of the principalities which make up the United Arab Emirates. His mother, Sheikha Fatima bint Rashid Al Nuaimi, was a princess of the neighbouring Emirate of Ajman; she was the sister of the present ruler of Ajman, Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi.
Hamad Mohammed Al Sharqi studied Arabic at Eastbourne School of English in East Sussex, United Kingdom, from 1969 to 1970. He attended the Mons Military Academy in 1970. From 1971 to 1974, he served as Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries of the UAE.
In 1974, Sheikh Hamad's father died and Sheikh Hamad succeeded him to the throne of Fujairah. He has handled the administration of his principality single-handedly since then and also taken on the responsibility of representing the UAE at international and diplomatic engagements. Sheikh Hamad is known to be an eloquent speaker, fluent with both English and Arabic; his education in a British school has proven to be an advantage when dealing with foreign dignitaries and some of the world leaders. For these reasons, and also because his family has good relationships with the ruling families of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ajman, Sheikh Hamad has represented the president of the United Arab Emirates the most in international seminars and conferences. This was particularly so during the reign of the late Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan (ruler of Abu Dhabi), and also of the president of UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
he Sharqi family have good relations with the Al Nahyan family, which rules Abu Dhabi, a relationship affirmed through marriage alliances.[citation needed] They also have similar relations with the Dubai ruling family. These are very old relations, rooted in history and forged over hundreds of years, dating back to the time when they were all part of the Al Hinawi tribal alliance, ranged against the Al Ghuwafir alliance. The family's relationship with Ajman is evident in the fact that the Sheikh's mother was a sister of the ruler of Ajman. Sheikh Hamad was bereaved by the death of his mother in 2014.
Carl XVI Gustaf Of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf (born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973.
He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His father died on 26 January 1947 in an airplane crash in Denmark when Carl Gustaf was nine months old. Upon his father's death, he became second in line to the throne, after his grandfather, the then Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf. Following the death of his great-grandfather, King Gustaf V in 1950, Gustaf Adolf ascended the throne and thus Carl Gustaf became Sweden's new crown prince and heir apparent to the throne at the age of four.
Shortly after he became king in 1973, the new 1974 Instrument of Government took effect, formally stripping Carl XVI Gustaf of his remaining executive power. As a result, he no longer performs many of the duties normally accorded to a head of state, such as the formal appointment of the prime minister, signing off on legislation, and being commander-in-chief of the nation's military. The new instrument explicitly limited the king to ceremonial functions and, among other things, to be regularly informed of affairs of state. As head of the House of Bernadotte Carl Gustaf has also been able to make a number of decisions about the titles and positions of its members.
The King's heir apparent, after passage on 1 January 1980 of a new law establishing absolute primogeniture (the first such law passed in Western European history), is Crown Princess Victoria, the eldest child of the King and his wife, Queen Silvia. Before the passage of that law, Crown Princess Victoria's younger brother, Prince Carl Philip, was briefly the heir apparent, as of his birth in May 1979. Carl XVI Gustaf is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, having surpassed King Magnus IV's reign of 44 years and 222 days on 26 April 2018
Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi
Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi (born 2 July 1939), also known as Sheikh Sultan III, is the sovereign ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah and is a member of the Federal Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates. He has ruled Sharjah continuously since January 1972, apart from a six-day period in June 1987, during an attempted coup led by his brother Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi. He is also an established historian and has published several theatrical and literary works.
In 2014,Al-qasimi founded University and the University was named after his name "Qasimia University".
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II (born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark and commander-in-chief of the Danish Defence.
Born into the House of Glücksburg, Margrethe is the eldest child of Frederick IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden. She became heir presumptive to her father in 1953, when a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne. Margrethe succeeded her father upon his death on 14 January 1972. On her accession, she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margrethe I, ruler of the Scandinavian kingdoms in 1375–1412 during the Kalmar Union. In 1967, she married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, with whom she had two sons: Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim.
Margrethe is known for her strong archaeological passion and has participated in several excavations, including in Italy, Egypt, Denmark and South America. She shared this interest with her late grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, with whom she spent some time unearthing artefacts near Etruria in 1962.
As of 2021, Margrethe has, as sovereign, received 42 official state visits and she has undertaken 54 foreign state visits herself. In addition to this, the Queen and the royal family have made several other foreign visits. Support for the monarchy in Denmark has been and remains consistently high at around 82%, as does Margrethe's personal popularity.
Hassanal Bolkiah Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei and the Prime Minister of Brunei.
Hassanal Bolkiah (born 15 July 1946) is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei and the Prime Minister of Brunei. He is one of the last absolute monarchs in the world. The eldest son of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III and Raja Isteri (Queen) Pengiran Anak Damit, he succeeded to the throne as the sultan of Brunei, following the abdication of his father on 5 October 1967.
The sultan has been ranked among the wealthiest individuals in the world. In 2008, Forbes estimated the sultan's total peak net worth at US$20 billion. After Queen Elizabeth II, the sultan is the world's second longest-reigning current monarch. On 5 October 2017, the sultan celebrated his Golden Jubilee to mark the 50th year of his reign on the throne.
Elizabeth II Queen Head of the Commonwealth and Queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon.
Elizabeth II ( born 21 April 1926) is Queen of the United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth realms.[b]
Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). Her father ascended the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, with whom she had four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.
When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth – then 25 years old – became Head of the Commonwealth and Queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon. She has reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes, such as the Troubles, devolution in the United Kingdom, accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities, the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, Canadian patriation, and the decolonisation of Africa. Between 1956 and 1992, the number of her realms varied as territories gained independence, and as realms, including South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (renamed Sri Lanka), became republics. Her many visits and meetings include a state visit to the Republic of Ireland and visits to or from five popes. Significant events have included her coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, and Diamond Jubilees in 1977, 2002, and 2012, respectively. In 2017, she became the first British monarch to reach a Sapphire Jubilee. On 9 April 2021, after over 73 years of marriage, her husband Prince Philip died at the age of 99.
Elizabeth is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the longest-serving female head of state in world history, the world's oldest living monarch, longest-reigning current monarch, and oldest and longest-serving current head of state. Elizabeth has faced republican sentiment and press criticism of the royal family, particularly after the breakdown of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the 1997 death of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales. However, support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom has been and remains consistently high, as does her personal popularity.
Victoria's family in 1846 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
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| Left to right: Prince Alfred and the Prince of Wales; the Queen and Prince Albert; Princesses Alice, Helena and Victoria. |
The WInter Palace in St. Petersburg Russia (Part 1)
The Winter Palace was the official residence of the Russian Emperors from 1732 to 1917. Today, the palace and its precincts form the Hermitage Museum. Situated between Palace Embankment and Palace Square, in Saint Petersburg, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and altered almost continuously between the late 1730s and 1837, when it was severely damaged by fire and immediately rebuilt. The storming of the palace in 1917, as depicted in Soviet paintings and Sergei Eisenstein's 1927 film October, became an iconic symbol of the Russian Revolution.
The palace was constructed on a monumental scale that was intended to reflect the might and power of Imperial Russia. From the palace, the Tsar ruled over 22,400,000 square kilometers (8,600,000 sq mi) (almost 1/6 of the Earth's landmass) and over 125 million subjects by the end of the 19th century. It was designed by many architects, most notably Bartolomeo Rastrelli, in what came to be known as the Elizabethan Baroque style. The green-and-white palace has the shape of an elongated rectangle, and its principal façade is 215 metres (705 ft) long and 30 m (98 ft) high. The Winter Palace has been calculated to contain 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms and 117 staircases. Following a serious fire, the palace's rebuilding of 1837 left the exterior unchanged, but large parts of the interior were redesigned in a variety of tastes and styles, leading the palace to be described as a "19th-century palace inspired by a model in Rococo style"
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| The first Winter Palace, designed in 1711 for Peter the Great, by Domenico Trezzini who, 16 years later, was to design the third Winter Palace. |
The 18th century was a period of great development in European royal architecture, as the need for a fortified residence gradually lessened. This process, which had begun in the late 16th century, accelerated and great classical palaces quickly replaced fortified castles throughout the more powerful European countries. One of the earliest and most notable examples was Louis XIV's Versailles. Largely completed by 1710, Versailles—with its size and splendour—heightened rivalry amongst the sovereigns of Europe. Peter the Great of Russia, keen to promote all western concepts, wished to have a modern palace like his fellow sovereigns. However, unlike some of his successors, Peter I never aspired to rival Versailles.
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| The garden facade of the chateau of Louis XIII in 1660-64. (Engraving by Israël Silvestre) |
The first Winter Palace was a modest building of two main floors under a slate roof. It seems that Peter soon tired of the first palace, for in 1721, the second version of the Winter Palace was built under the direction of architect Georg Mattarnovy. Mattarnovy's palace, though still very modest compared to royal palaces in other European capitals, was on two floors above a rusticated ground floor, with a central projection underneath a pediment supported by columns. It was here that Peter the Great died in 1725.
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| Map of St. Petersburg in 1705. |
The Winter Palace was not the only palace in the unfinished city, or even the most splendid, as Peter had ordered his nobles to construct residences and to spend half the year there. This was an unpopular command; Saint Petersburg was founded upon a swamp, with little sunlight, and it was said only cabbages and turnips would grow there. It was forbidden to fell trees for fuel, so hot water was permitted just once a week. Only Peter's second wife, Empress Catherine, pretended to enjoy life in the new city.
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| Map of St. Petersburg in 1717 by Nicholas de Fer |
As a result of pressed slave labour from all over the Empire, work on the city progressed quickly. It has been estimated that 200,000 people died in twenty years while building the city. A diplomat of the time, who described the city as "a heap of villages linked together, like some plantation in the West Indies", just a few years later called it "a wonder of the world, considering its magnificent palaces". Some of these new palaces in Peter's beloved Flemish Baroque style, such as the Kikin Hall and the Menshikov Palace, still stand.
On Peter the Great's death in 1725, the city of Saint Petersburg was still far from being the centre of western culture and civilization that he had envisioned. Many of the aristocrats who had been compelled by the Tsar to inhabit Saint Petersburg left. Wolves roamed the squares at night while bands of discontented pressed serfs, imported to build the Tsar's new city and Baltic fleet, frequently rebelled.
In 1728, shortly after the third palace was completed, the Imperial Court left Saint Petersburg for Moscow, and the Winter Palace lost its status as the principal imperial residence. Moscow had once again been designated the capital city, a status which had been granted to Saint Petersburg in 1713. Following the death of Peter II in 1730, the throne passed to a niece of Peter I, Anna Ivanovna, Duchess of Courland.
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| Anna of Russia |
The new Empress cared more for Saint Petersburg than her immediate predecessors; she re-established the Imperial court at the Winter Palace and, in 1732, Saint Petersburg again officially replaced Moscow as Russia's capital, a position it was to hold until 1918. Ignoring the third Winter Palace, the Empress on her return to Saint Petersburg took up residence at the neighbouring Apraksin Palace. In 1732, the Tsaritsa commissioned the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli to completely rebuild and extend the Apraksin Palace, incorporating other neighbouring houses. Thus, the core of the fourth and final Winter Palace is not the palace of Peter the Great, but the palace of Admiral General Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin.
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| Fyodor Apraksin |
The Empress Anna, though unpopular and considered "dull, coarse, fat, harsh and spiteful", was keen to introduce a more civilized and cultured air to her court. She designed new liveries for her servants and, on her orders, mead and vodka were replaced with champagne and Burgundy. She instructed the Boyars to replace their plain furniture with that of mahogany and ebony, while her own tastes in interior decoration ran to a dressing table of solid gold and an "easing stool" of silver, studded with rubies. It was against such a backdrop of magnificence and extravagance that she gave her first ball in the newly completed gallery at the Winter Palace, which, in the middle of the Russian winter, resembled an orange grove. This, the fourth version of the Winter Palace, was to be an ongoing project for the architect Rastrelli throughout the reign of the Empress Anna.
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| The Study of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna |
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| Photograph of the Silver Drawing Room in 1899 showing the commode with panels of Wedgwood |
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| Photograph of the commode with panels by Wedgewood |
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| Photograph c1917 of the Silver Drawing Room |
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Photograph of the Silver Drawing
Room today with the beautifully restored ceiling (silver is retained around the door frames)
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| The Empire Drawing Room in 1899 with albums on the table. |
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| Empire Drawing Room in the Winter palace Empire Furniture interiors |
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| Empire Drawing Room in the WInter palace |
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Malachite Room of the Winter Palace
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| The Malachite Room, photographed c. 1900 |
The Malachite Room of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg, was designed in the late 1830s by the architect Alexander Briullov for use a formal reception room for the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, wife of Nicholas I. It replaced the Jasper Room, which was destroyed in the fire of 1837. The room obtains its name from the use of malachite for its columns and fireplace. This large salon contains a large malachite urn as well as furniture from the workshops of Peter Gambs (1802-1871), son of the famous furniture maker Heinrich Gambs, which were rescued from the 1837 fire. During the Tsarist era, the Malachite Room, which links the state rooms to the private rooms, served as not only a state drawing room of the Tsaritsa, but also as a gathering place for the Imperial family before and during official functions. It was here that Romanov brides were traditionally dressed by the Tsarina before proceeding from the adjoining Arabian Hall to their weddings in the Grand Church. From June to October 1917 this room was the seat of the Russian Provisional Government. When the palace was stormed during the night of 7 November 1917, the members of the Government were arrested in the adjoining private dining room. Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, this room retains its original decoration.
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| The Malachite Room, the Winter Palace, St Petersburg, by Konstantin Ukhtomsky (1865) |
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| Malachite Room of the Winter Palace |
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| Malachite Room of the Winter Palace |
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| Malachite Room of the Winter Palace |
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| Malachite Room of the Winter Palace |
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| The Malachite Room, the Winter Palace |
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| The Malachite Room, the Winter Palace ceiling |
The Palace of Winter
5) The Concert Hall
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| The Concert Hall, the Winter Palace, St Petersburg. Looking towards the doors of The Nicholas Hall. This room, closest to the private apartments was reserved for the court's elite. Watercolor by Alexander K |
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| Ball in Concert Hall |
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| Ceremonial Dinner in the Concert Hall of the Winter Palace on the Occasion of of German Emperor William I's Visit to St Petersburg |
The Concert Hall has an architrave seemingly supported by paired Corinthian columns, the capitals of which serve as plinthes for life-size statues of the various muses. It is decorated in a similar loose Baroque influenced neoclassical style as the Great Anteroom at the western end of the Enfilade. It is indicative of the size of the Winter Palace, that whereas most other royal palaces such as Buckingham Palace, Queluz and Sanssouci all have music rooms, the Winter Palace has a concert hall. This is because it was the intention of the builders of the Winter Palace that their palace should outshine all other royal palaces. In fact Catherine the Great, for whom the enfilade was designed, was delighted when she bought an art collection for the Winter palace that Frederick the Great, the creator of Sanssouci could not afford.
So it was, that from this vast double height hall that solemn Imperial processions began. On such occasions the Concert Hall would be reserved for the highest ranking guest and members of the court. At a given moment, four "massive Ethiopians", the Tsar's official bodyguards, fantastically dressed in scarlet trousers, gold jackets, white turbans and curved shoes, would ceremonially open the doors from the private Arabian Hall and the imperial procession would pass through the enfilade.The procession through would be preceded by the Marshal of the Court carrying a gold staff seven feet high topped with a diamond crown. On less formal occasions, as the hall's name suggests, it was used for concerts, balls and grand receptions.
Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, the room houses the silver reliquary of St Alexander Nevsky, formerly at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. The reliquary was brought to the Palace in 1922, where it was set up to obscure the now blocked, grand doors from which the Imperial family used to enter from the private apartments.
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| The Concert Hall |
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| The Nicholas Hall, by Konstantin Ukhtomsky (1879) |
The Nicholas Hall is located in the centre of the enfilade. The largest room in the palace at 1,103 m2 (11,870 sq ft), it was originally simply known as the Great Hall, and was the setting for many imperial balls and receptions. Following the death of Nicholas I in 1855, a large equestrian portrait of the late tsar was hung from the wall, and the hall was renamed the Nicholas Hall.
While in the same architectural rhythm as the preceding Concert Hall, the architecture is more severe. Here, the architrave is immediately below the ceiling. The only ornamentation is the carving of the corinthian capitals and the entablature.
Writing in 1902, the Duchess of Sutherland and the American-born Duchess of Marlborough, herself the chatelaine of one of Britain's great palaces, described their impressions of a court ball held in the Nicholas Hall.
The Duchess of Sutherland wrote: "The stairs of the palace were guarded by cossacks, with hundreds of footmen in scarlet liveries, I have never in my life seen so brilliant a sight - the light, the uniforms, the enormous rooms, the crowd, the music, making a spectacle that was almost Barbaric in splendour...They seat at supper nearly four thousand people"
While the Duchess of Marlborough recorded that dinner (she sat beside the Tsar) was protracted and comprised "soups, caviar and monster sturgeons, meat and game, pates and primeurs, ices and fruits, all mounted on gold and silver plate fashioned by Germain"
Ironically, the Duchess of Sutherland then went on to describe the hungry peasants outside the gates - "... all the want of penury of the peasants and this strange show to keep up the prestige of the aristocracy and the autocracy of one gentle, quiet little man."
During World War I, the hall was used as an infirmary. It was restored in 1957, when the State Hermitage Museum was under the direction of Mikhail Artamonov.
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| 1915, the Nicholas Hall transformed into a hospital ward |
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| Nicholas II, last Tsar of all the Russias, in the Nicholas Hall. Portrait by Ernst Friedrich von Liphart (1900s) |
7) The Great Antechamber
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| The Great Ante-Chamber, the Winter Palace, St Petersburg, by Konstantin Ukhtomsky (1861) |
8) Jordan Staircase of the Winter Palace
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| The Jordan Staircase of the Winter Palace, by Konstantin Ukhtomsky (1866) |
The principal or Jordan Staircase of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg is so called because on the Feast of the Epiphany the Tsar descended this imperial staircase in state for the ceremony of the "Blessing of the Waters" of the Neva River, a celebration of Christ's baptism in the Jordan River. The staircase is one of the few parts of the palace retaining the original 18th-century style. The massive grey granite columns, however, were added in the mid 19th century. The staircase was badly damaged by a fire that swept the palace in 1837, but Nicholas I ordered the architect in charge of reconstruction, Vasily Stasov, to restore the staircase using Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli's original plans. Stasov made two small changes: he replaced the original gilt bronze handrails with white marble and the original pink columns with gray granite.
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| Jordan Staircase of the Winter Palace Saint Petersburg |
The staircase was badly damaged by a fire that swept the palace in 1837, but Nicholas I ordered the architect in charge of reconstruction, Vasily Stasov, to restore the staircase using Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli's original plans. Stasov made two small changes: he replaced the original gilt bronze handrails with white marble and the original pink columns with gray granite.
During state receptions and functions the Jordan Staircase was a focal point for arriving guests. After entering the palace through the Ambassadors' entrance, in the central courtyard, they would pass through the colonnaded ground floor Jordan Hall before ascending the staircase to the state apartments. Following a ball at the Winter Palace in 1902, The Duchess of Sutherland wrote: "The stairs of the palace were guarded by cossacks, with hundreds of footmen in scarlet liveries, I have never in my life seen so brilliant a sight—the light, the uniforms, the enormous rooms, the crowd, the music, making a spectacle that was almost Barbaric." Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, this room retains its original decoration
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| The Field Marshals' Hall, the Winter Palace, St Petersburg, by Eduard Hau (1866) |
The Field Marshals' Hall of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg was built to honor Imperial Russia's greatest military leaders—Russian generals who attained the rank of Field Marshal. (The only higher rank was that of Generalissimo, attained by four generals and, in the Soviet period, bestowed on Joseph Stalin). This great hall and the adjacent throne room are part of the suite of rooms that were created in the western part of the Winter Palace for Tsar Nicholas I in 1833 by architect Auguste de Montferrand. The great fire, which destroyed the interior of the Winter Palace, began in this hall on 17 December 1837. It destroyed all in its path for over thirty hours.Following the fire, the hall was rebuilt in its original style by the architect Vasily Stasov. Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, this room retains its recreated decoration by Stasov.
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| Field Marshals' Hall, painted by Vasily Sadovnikov |
10) The Small Throne Room
The Small Throne Room of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg, also known as the Peter the Great Memorial Hall, was created for Tsar Nicholas I in 1833, by the architect Auguste de Montferrand.Following a fire in 1837, in which most of the palace was destroyed, the room was recreated exactly as it had been before by the architect Vasily Stasov. Designed in a loose Baroque style, the throne is recessed in an apse before a reredos, supported by two Corinthian columns of jasper, which contains a large canvas dedicated to Peter I with Minerva by Jacopo Amigoni. In the room proper above dado height the walls are lined with crimson velvet embellished with double-headed eagles of silver thread, above which is a shallow vaulted ceiling.
Set in the opposing lunettes beneath the vaulting are paintings depicting the Battle of Poltava and the Battle of Lesnaya by Pietro Scotti (1768-1837) and Barnabas Medici. However, the focal point of the room is the silver-gilt throne of 1731, made in London by the Anglo-French gold-and-silver-smith Nicholas Clausen. Here, during the era of the Tsars, diplomats gathered on New Years Day to offer good wishes to the Tsar. Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, this room retains its original decoration.
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| Interiors of the Winter Palace. The Peter's (Small Throne) Room Russia. 1837. Oil on canvas |
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| Peter the Great (Small Throne) Room, 1862 |
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| The Small Throne Room of the Winter Palace (2018) |
11) The Armorial Hall
The Armorial Hall of the Winter Palace is a vast chamber originally designed for official ceremonies. The Armorial Hall is located between the Military Gallery and the palace courtyard. The current hall was designed by Vasily Stasov in the late 1830s, after the original hall was damaged by an extensive palace fire in 1837; it was at this time that the fluted columns were gilded. Along with St George's Hall and the Nicholas Hall, it was one of the palace's main areas for entertaining. The edges of the hall are decorated with vast stucco panoplies. In the center of the hall sits a lapidary vase made of aventurine from 1842.
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| The Armorial Hall. 1863 |
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| Closeup of the gold pillars |
Under the direction of Anatoly Lunacharsky, who became the Commissar of Enlightenment after the October Revolution, the Armorial Hall was used as a concert hall, with a capacity of up to 2,000. Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, this room retains its original decoration.
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| The Armorial Hall of The Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia |
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| Closeup of the door |
12) The Military Gallery
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| The Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, painted by Grigory Chernetsov, 1827 |
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| Mil-gallery by Hau, 1861 |
The Military Gallery (Russian: Военная галерея) is a gallery of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The gallery is a setting for 332 portraits of generals who took part in the Patriotic War of 1812. The portraits were painted by George Dawe and his Russian assistants Alexander Polyakov (1801-1835), a serf, and Wilhelm August Golicke. The top-lit barrel-vaulted hall in which the gallery is accommodated was designed by architect Carlo Rossi and constructed from June to November 1826. It replaced several small rooms in the middle of the main block of the Winter Palace - between the White Throne Hall and the Greater Throne Hall, just a few steps from the palace church. The gallery was opened in a solemn ceremony on 25 December 1826
Less than ten years after its completion, it was destroyed by fire in 1837. The fire burned slowly and Dawe's portraits were saved from the flames. The architect Vasily Stasov recreated the hall exactly as it had been before. As a cadet of the Nicholas Cavalry School, Vladimir Littauer was posted in 1912 to stand night-time guard in the Military Gallery. He describes the experience as an eerie one, standing under the rows of portraits in the "huge hall" lit only by a single bulb over a cluster of banners. The isolation of the solitary sentry was emphasized by the two to three minutes that footsteps could be heard down halls and corridors before the replacement guard arrived in the gallery. During the Soviet era, the gallery collection was enhanced by four portraits of Palace Grenadiers, the special ceremonial unit created in 1827 from veterans of the Patriotic War of 1812 to guard the entire building. The portraits were also painted by George Dawe, in 1828. More recently, the gallery acquired two paintings by Peter von Hess from the 1840s. Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, this room retains its original decoration.
13) St George's Hall and Apollo Room
St George's Hall (also referred to as the Great Throne Room) is one of the largest state rooms in the Winter Palace, St Petersburg. It is located on the eastern side of the palace, and connected to The Hermitage by the smaller Apollo Room. The colourful, neoclassical interior design of this great hall, executed by Giacomo Quarenghi between 1787 and 1795, was lost in the fire of 1837 which gutted much of the palace's interior. Following the fire, Russian architect Vasily Stasov was commissioned to oversee the restoration and rebuilding of the palace. While he retained the architectural features dictated by the exterior of the palace, he completely redesigned the interior in a more simple classical style. He replaced the columns of polychrome marble with those of white cararra marble. The original painted ceilings, depicting allegorical scenes, had been entirely lost in the fire, allowing Stasov to introduce a plain ceiling with gilded embellishments.
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| St George's Hall, the principal throne room of the Tsars of Russia, watercolour by Konstantin Ukhtomsky (1862) |
St George's Hall, which served as the palace's principal throne room, was the scene of many of the most formal ceremonies of the Imperial court. Most historically, it was the setting of the opening of the First State Duma by Nicholas II, in 1906. The Tsar was forced to agree to the establishment of a Duma as a concession to his people in an attempt to avert revolution. However, the Imperial family saw it as "the end of Russian autocracy". It was the first time that ordinary Russians had been admitted to the palace in any number—a surreal experience for both the peasants and the Imperial family. The Tsar's sister, who stood with the Imperial family on the steps of the throne, recalled of the masses of ordinary Russians who packed the hall: "I went with my mother to the first Duma. I remember the large group of deputies from among peasants and factory people. The peasants looked sullen. But the workmen were worse: they looked as though they hated us. I remember the distress in Alicky's eyes." Minister of the Court Count Vladimir Frederiks commented, "The Deputies, they give one the impression of a gang of criminals who are only waiting for the signal to throw themselves upon the ministers and cut their throats. I will never again set foot among those people." The Dowager Empress noticed "incomprehensible hatred."
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| The Apollo Hall, 1861 |
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| The Apollo Room, by Eduard Hau (1862) |
15) The New Hermitage - Blogs in their own right
16) Grand Church of the Winter Palace
The Grand Church of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, sometimes referred to as the Winter Palace's cathedral, was consecrated in 1763. It is located on the piano nobile in the eastern wing of the Winter Palace, and is the larger, and principal, of two churches within the Palace. A smaller, more private church was constructed in 1768, near the private apartment in the northwest part of the wing. The Grand Church was designed by Francesco Rastrelli, and has been described as "one of the most splendid rooms" in the Palace. Today, the church is an unconsecrated exhibition hall of the State Hermitage Museum.
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| The Winter Palace's Grand Church in 1828, by Alexei Tyranov. |
Construction of the church began on 14 October 1753 (Julian calendar). Six years later, the interior design was executed by the Italian artists Carlo Zucci, Francesco Martini, Giovanni Antonio Veneroni and the sculptor G. B. Gianni. Rastrelli was personally in charge of the three-tier iconostasis where the icons were painted by Ivan Ivanovich Belsky and Ivan Vishnyakov. The Italian Francesco Fontebasso painted the evangelists in the church's spandrels and the "Resurrection of Christ" plafond in the vestibule. The Grand Church was one of the final parts of the palace to be completed. When the Palace was first inhabited on 6 April 1762, the cathedral was not yet completed, so a temporary church of the Resurrection of Christ was consecrated by Archbishop Dimitry Sechenov of Novgorod. On 12 July 1763, Archbishop Gavriil Kremenetsky of St Petersburg consecrated the Grand Church in the name of the Not-Made-by-Hand Image of Our Saviour. This eponymous icon, painted by Feodor Ukhtomsky in 1693, lavishly decorated with gold and diamonds, was placed near the sanctuary.
The Grand Church and the Palace's Jordan Staircase are one of the few parts of the palace to retain the original rococo decorative scheme devised by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. This was faithfully copied by Vasily Stasov when he was commissioned to rebuild the palace following the disastrous fire that destroyed most of the original palace interiors in 1837. However, the new intricate decoration was mostly made of moulded papier-mâché, rather than wood.
As before the fire, the church is sub-divided by Corinthian columns and pilasters into three distinct areas, brightly lit by large windows on opposite sides, the central area being covered by a dome. The walls of the church are richly embellished with gilded stucco in rococo design. The ceiling depicts the Ascension of Christ by Pyotr Basinm, while the lunettes beneath the dome depict Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John by Fiodor Bruni. The restored cathedral was consecrated on 25 March 1839 by Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov) of Moscow.
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| Portrait by Laurits Tuxen of the wedding of Tsar Nicholas II and the Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, which took place at the Chapel of the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, |
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| In 1914, the Tsar and Empress bless their troops from the balcony of the Winter Palace. |
In May 1918, the Cathedral was officially closed for worship. It is now used as an exhibition hall of the Hermitage Museum.Restoration work undertaken from 2012 until 2014 is described by the State Museum as a "recreation of the original design of the Court Cathedral" and "The icons, the candelabra, the standard lamps and pieces of the iconostasis, the pulpit, the lantern and the altar canopy were returned to their original place".
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| Ceiling |
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| Dome interior |
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| Dome interior |
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| Grand Church of the Winter Palace Exterior Dome |
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| Southern wall decoration |
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| Southern wall |
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| The pulpit |
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| Western wall (entrance) |
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| Church staircase in the Winter Palace (1869) |
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| The Grand Church, 1860 |
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| The Cathedral of the Not-Made-by-Hand Image of Our Saviour in the Winter Palace, by Eduard Hau (1866) |
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| Location of the Grand Church within the Winter Palace. |
17) Alexander Hall of the Winter Palace
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| Alexander Hall, Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia |
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| Portrait of Alexander I (1824) by George Dawe |
Decorated in an unusual Gothicised version of classicism, the walls contain twenty-four medallions commemorating Russia's victory over the French, created by the sculptor Count Fyodor Tolstoy.
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| Count Fyodor Tolstoy by Sergey Zaryanko (1850) |
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| In his colored wax medallion People's militia of 1812 (1816), Tolstoy owes a debt to David's Oath of the Horatii and to the ceramics of Josiah Wedgwood. |
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| Alexander Hall, Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia... |
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| Location of the Alexander Hall within the Winter Palace |
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| The drawing room of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna and Duke M. Leuchtenberg. 1866 Painted by Edward Petrovich Hau, 1866 |
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| Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna of Russia |
20) White Hall of the Winter Palace
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| The White Hall in 1863, by Luigi Premazzi |
The White Hall of the Winter Palace was designed by the architect Alexander Briullov to commemorate the marriage of the Tsarevich to Maria of Hesse in 1841. This period coincided with a large rebuilding of the Winter Palace following a severe fire in 1837. While the exterior of the palace was recreated in its original 18th-century style, much of the interior was rebuilt in a variety of styles, dependent on the whims and tastes of their intended occupants. The hall and adjoining rooms formed the suite of the Tsarevich and Tsarevna, and remained their private rooms after their accession in 1855. The hall is in a classical style, its vaulted ceiling supported by Corinthian columns crowned by statues representing the arts.
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| the suite of the Tsarevich and Tsarevna |
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| The White Hall in the Winter Palace. 1840s |
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| White Hall of the Winter Palace |
The Gold Drawing Room of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg was one of the rooms of the palace reconstructed following the fire of 1837 by the architect Alexander Briullov.The vaulted ceiling and window embrasures give this large room a cavernous air. Following her marriage in 1841, it became the most formal of the rooms comprising the suite of Tsaritsa Maria Alexandrovna. It was refurbished for her by Andrei Stakenschneider, who employed heavy gilt mouldings for the ceiling and walls in a Byzantine style. The room contains a fireplace of marble and jasper with a mosaic by Etienne Moderni Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, this room retains its original decoration.
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| Tzaritsa Maria Alexandrovna painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1857,_Hermitage) |
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| The Gold Drawing-Room - The interior décor of this formal sitting-room in the apartments of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II |
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| The Golden Drawing Room inside the Winter Palace |
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| Ceiling |
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| The Gold Drawing Room of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia. Tsaritsa Maria Alexandrovna used this room as her state drawing room. |
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| Golden Drawing Room, Winter Palace |
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| The Golden Drawing-Room, Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia... |
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| The Golden Drawing-Room, Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia |
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| The Gold drawing Room, by Alexander Kolb (1860s). |
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| Location of the Gold Drawing Room within the Winter Palace |
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