Free Republic

TOKYO — The drizzly weather didn’t dampen the excitement at the annual spring imperial party last month as the royal family strolled along Tokyo’s Akasaka Palace grounds. Mao Asada, the Olympic figure skating silver medalist, was so overwhelmed when Emperor Akihito spoke to her that she managed only to repeatedly reply “yes,” and “thank you very much.” It was a typical reaction that shows the magnetic hold the emperor and empress have over the Japanese people. Missing as usual from the festivities was Crown Princess Masako who suffers from a stress-related disorder that causes anxiety and distress and only occasionally...

It seems like yesterday, but a year has already passed since Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling announced their engagement. And ahead of the giant party planned for their June nuptials, the couple chose to celebrate in intimate style. According to Swedish magazine Svensk Damtidning, the pair gathered their closest friends for a secret dinner in Stockholm restaurant Operakällaren. There, over a meal cooked by chef Stefano Catenacci, who will also provide the food at Victoria and Daniels' wedding, the party toasted the future happiness of the couple.

Princess Aiko, the eight-year-old granddaughter of the Japanese Emperor, has become unable to go to school after suffering a series of anxiety attacks and stomach aches. Her problems, said the Imperial Household Agency, arose from her “rough behaviour” at the hands of boys in her age group at the ultra-exclusive Gakushuin school she attends in central Tokyo.

Japan's Crown Princess Masako has said she will keep working to fight her stress problems. The 46-year-old royal - who is married to Crown Prince Naruhito - said she has been working with medical professionals to solve her illness.

STOCKHOLM — Sweden’s Royal Court says Crown Princess Victoria will marry her boyfriend Daniel Westling in 2010. The court announced the engagement after informing government ministers today at Stockholm’s waterfront royal palace. Thirty-one-year old Victoria is first in line to succeed her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, to the Swedish throne.

Whiners: Find your own way out of Beirut After being rescued from war zone, a little gratitude would be nice The Edmonton Journal Fri 21 Jul 2006 Page: A18 Section: Opinion Byline: Lorne Gunter Aw, the boat ride was too long, was it? And you say it was too hot? There was no doctor on board, either? And the departure was delayed. And the port was chaotic. And too little food and water had been laid in. And some of you had to sleep on the floor!? Oh, the indignity of it. To listen to the whining and carping...

There is a strong but previously undisclosed undercurrent running through the Coast Guard’s investigation of yesterday’s cruise ship accident that left 92 passengers seriously injured, two of them critically. The questions are being whispered, but there is no denying them; “Was this a terrorist attempt to sink the ship?” This much is known. The 3000 passenger 22-knot floating hotel "Crown Princess" was 11 miles south of Port Canaveral, heading out on a Western Caribbean cruise when suddenly, everything turned topsy-turvy. According to passengers, the ship listed somewhere between 20 and 40 degrees as the vessel made a violent and unnecessary...

<p>According to a report on WCBS-TV in NY, the ship was headed to Brooklyn. All of a sudden, it started to list toward one direction. It is now headed back to Fort Lauderdale.</p>

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - A steering problem caused a cruise ship to roll abruptly to the left Tuesday, injuring some passengers and terrifying many, Coast Guard officials and passengers said. The Crown Princess, which can accommodate 3,000 passengers, had just departed Port Canaveral en route to New York when it listed badly to its port side, said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer James Judge. The 113,000-ton ship began sailing a month ago. Judge did not know the number of people injured or how badly they were hurt. "There were people running for life jackets, and then afterward a lot of...