Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark were out on the town last Friday, attending the INDEX: Awards at the Danish Radio Concert Hall.

Mary and Fred definitely had some of the best seats in the venue, as they looked out over the ceremony from the royal box, which was complete with blue chairs emblazoned with crowns.

INDEX: bills itself on its website as a “global non-profit organization based in Copenhagen” with a mission”to secure high-quality Design to Improve Life internationally.”

They aim to “inspire, collect, advocate, communicate, evaluate, connect and discuss Design to Improve Life globally.”  Crown Prince Frederik is the patron of the organization.

There were royals all over the place at the wedding of Jan Dinkelspiel and Ellen Stendahl in Stockholm this weekend; both of King Carl Gustaf’s daughters, Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine of Sweden, were in attendance, along with their fiancés, Daniel Westling and Jonas Bergström.

Also on the guest list was Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark, the second son of King Constantine II and Queen Anne Marie of Greece, who has Scandanavian ties through his Danish-born mother.  His girlfriend, Tatiana Blatnik, was one of the bridesmaids at the wedding.

Both Victoria and Madeleine looked relaxed and happy to have their future husbands by their side.  The often-serious Victoria even winked at the press as she entered the church on Daniel’s arm.

You can read more about the wedding at Svensk Damtidning’s website; here’s a translated version of the Swedish article.  There’s also a video available on Aftonbladet, where you can see both of the Swedish princesses and their beaux entering the church.

Happy anniversary to King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway!  The couple married on August 29, 1968, back when he was Crown Prince Harald of Norway and she was simply Miss Sonja Haraldsen (an apropos last name, no?).  You can watch footage from the ceremony in the above video clip.

Sonja and Harald had to endure quite a bit of family scrutiny before they were finally allowed to marry.  The couple had actually been dating for almost ten years before they married, but there was opposition to the match because Sonja was a commoner.

Harald ended up telling his father, King Olav, that he wouldn’t marry anyone but Sonja — meaning that Harald, the sole son of the king, would not provide Norway with an heir and would effectively end the family line (and maybe the monarchy, too).  Olav relented, and the couple married in Oslo.  Since then, they’ve become king and queen of the country, parents to Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Märtha Louise, and grandparents to Marius, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, Maud, Leah, and Emma.

Daily Express columnist Vanessa Feltz writes this week that when royal girlfriends like Kate Middleton stay at royal residences, they have to seek separate sleeping quarters from those occupied by their princes.

Feltz explains, “The Queen will not be inviting courting couple Prince William and Kate Middleton to disport themselves beneath a shared royal duvet at Balmoral,” adding, “This is one of the sovereign’s cardinal rules. In making sure that it remains set in stone, William’s granny has succeeded where many parents and grandparents have failed. She has resisted openly condoning the pursuit of premarital sex under her vaulted palace roof.”

Some may argue that, if Feltz’s information is accurate, The Queen may be deluded about the nature of the relationships of her unmarried grandchildren.  But Feltz argues, “It’s not, you may be assured, that Her Majesty doesn’t realise Wills and his Kate have been happily indulging in sexy sleepovers for many a long year. It’s just that she doesn’t consider it seemly to give their pre-nuptial couplings a royal warrant.”

The Queen has long exercised specific rules about when and how royal girlfriends and boyfriends can participate in family functions.  One of her most stringent stipulations: unmarried partners of royal family members may not attend the annual Christmas Day lunch at Sandringham House until they are officially engaged.

You can read more from Feltz here at the Daily Express.

Hello! magazine reports that Princess Madeleine of Sweden and her fiancé, Jonas Bergström, may be eschewing the capital city of Stockholm in favor of a wedding on the Swedish island of Öland.

The magazine explains that Madeleine and Jonas “were seen looking around the 12th-century Gardslosa church, which features a beautiful Baroque altar, on the island of Oland with her parents, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia.”

Öland is the second-largest island in Sweden, located in the southern region of the country.  It is perhaps most famous for its annual festival to celebrate the autumn harvest, called Skördefest.  It’s also home to the summer residence of the Swedish royal family, Solliden Palace, the location of the couple’s official engagement announcement a few weeks ago.

And it seems both Madeleine and Jonas have an attachment to the island.  Hello! adds, “The picturesque Baltic isle holds special memories for both the prospective bride and groom. Madeleine has holidayed there every summer since she was a child, while Jonas also has family roots on the island.”

Read more on the story from Hello! magazine.