Dutch Queen Beatrix officially opens the new parliamentary year with a speech outlining the government's plan and budget policies for 2009 in the Knights Hall of Parliament in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008.
The Dutch royal family waves to well wishers from the balcony of Noordeinde Palace, after the Queen officially opened the new parliamentary year in the Knights Hall of Parliament in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. From left are Princess Margriet, Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, his Argentinian-born wife Princess Maxima, and Princess Laurentien.
Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, center, is flanked by his Argentinian-born wife Princess Maxima, right, and his mother, Queen Beatrix in this scene, photographed through fence scrollwork. They are on the balcony of palace Noordeinde, after the Queen officially opened the new parliamentary session Sept. 16, 2008.
A couple dressed in traditional Dutch clothes from the town of Staphorst, Overijssel province, wait with other guests for Dutch Queen Beatrix to officially open Parliament in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008.
Sweden
Joyce Chai, right, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., receives the Stockholm Junior Water Prize from Swedish Crown Princess Victoria, left, in Stockholm, Sweden. Chai, a student at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, won the most prestigious youth award for water-related science for her work on nanomaterials.
Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf is seen during an interview in the Swedish Royal Castle Sept. 22, 2008. The figurehead monarch will promote Swedish green technology in a four-day trip to New York and Michigan. The king says climate change "is the biggest issue ever" and needs to be taken seriously.
Monaco
From left, Prince Albert of Monaco, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Syrian President Bashar Assad attend the ceremony of the Bastille Day, on Monday, July 14, 2008, in Paris.
Prince Albert II of Monaco, left, and French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane share a light moment during the Golden Foot Awards on Monday, Sept. 1, 2008 in Monaco. The Golden Footis given to players who stand out for their athletic achievements, and was awarded this year to Brazilian soccer star Roberto Carlos, unseen.
Jordan
Jordan's King Abdullah II arrives in Moscow, for a three-day working visit on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, and Jordan's King Abdullah II speak during their meeting in the presidential residence at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008.
Japan
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, right, talks with Japan's Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko at the commemoration marking 50 years of the bilateral friendship in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 27, 2008. They are each holding an Angklung -- a traditional Indonesian musical instrument made from bamboo.
Spain
Spanish King Juan Carlos, center left, Madrid governor Esperanza Aguirre, center, and Queen Sofia, center right, arrive at a makeshift morgue in Madrid, Aug. 21, 2008. As Spain mourned its worst air disaster in 25 years, investigators pressed to discover what caused a Spanish airliner to crash on takeoff from Madrid, killing 153 people.
Spain's King Juan Carlos, right, and Queen Sofia, left, join relatives and friends of the victims of the Spanair plane crash that killed 154 people in August, during a funeral Mass in Madrid, Sept. 11, 2008.
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, left, shakes hands with Spain's Princess Letizia as her husband Prince Felipe, second from left, looks on as they arrive in Las Palmas, in the Spanish Canary Islands Sept. 17, 2008, for a Mass in memory of the 154 victims of the Aug. 20 plane crash in Madrid.
Spanish King Juan Carlos, right, talks with Ingrid Betancourt, left, who spent six years as a hostage of Colombia's FARC guerrillas before being freed, at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008.
Spanish King Juan Carlos, right, shakes hands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, at the Marivent Palace in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Great Britain
Britain's Prince Charles, left, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, right, visit emergency services personnel at Morpeth Fire Station, in England, Sept. 12, 2008, after a weekend of storms and flooding struck large areas of Wales and western and northern England. Hundreds of people were evacuated and 1,000 properties flooded in the worst-hit town of Morpeth.
Britain's Prince Charles takes tea during a Sept. 12, 2008, visit to emergency services personnel at Morpeth Fire Station, Morpeth, England, where hundreds of people were evacuated and 1,000 properties flooded in weekend rains.
Britain's Prince Charles, left, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall,right, visit emergency services personnel at Morpeth Fire Station, Morpeth, England, Friday, Sept. 12, 2008.
Britain's Prince Edward, right, presents the silver medal to Felicity Coulthard of Great Britain after she won the Equestrian Individual Freestyle Dressage Test Grade II of the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008. Edward is the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II.