Breaking News: Zamfara State Governor, Resigns Amid Too Much Killings In The State

nigeriatoday.ng

Jun 16, 2018 1:14 AM

The Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Yari said he has ‘resigned’ his responsibility as Chief Security Officer of the state claiming he has no control over the security machinery in the state.

Speaking to newsmen in Talata-Mafara on Friday, Yari said that his decision stemmed from the seeming helplessness of the state government and the people over recurring killings in the state.

He deplored the prevailing situation where as the chief security officer of the state, he could not take decisions on strategies for protecting the state and its people, and had it implemented.

According to him;

“We have been facing serious security challenges over the years, but in spite of being governor and Chief Security Officer of the state, I cannot direct security officers on what to do nor sanction them when they err.

“As Chief Security Officer, the nomenclature is just a name,” he said.

The governor lamented that it was disheartening that killings in the state had continued in spite of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s order to security agencies to end the incessant blood-letting across the country.

According to him, since the president’s order, the killings have not stopped. In a week there were attacks in this state which claimed over 30 lives. He said that the state government was spending huge amount of its resources on security but to no avail.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Yari, therefore, urged people of the state to be more faithful to God and embark on special prayers over the challenges facing the state. He also appealed to them to be patient and continue to cooperate with the government and security agencies as steps were being taken to address the challenges.

“We cannot keep quiet while our people are being killed daily. We are going to cooperate with all stakeholders to bring the situation to an end,” he added.

This post was syndicated from Exlink Lodge - Nigeria Entertainment, Politics & Celebrity News. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Al- Mustapha reveals how Abiola was killed, those who took money from Abacha [VIDEO]

lifestyle.ng

Jun 11, 2018 3:05 PM

Hamza Al-Mustapha, a former National Security Adviser to ex-Head of State, has opened up on the circumstances surrounding the death of M.K.O Abiola, acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 election.

Mustapha disclosed that leaders of NADECO went to the Presidential Villa, Abuja to collect millions of dollars, barely 24 hours after Abiola’s death.

Speaking on People, Politics and Power, Mustapha said Abiola died in Aguda House after taking a cup of tea.

According to Mustapha, “If Abiola was alive, he would have been one of my witnesses which I know won’t have happened, we should be looking at the larger issues. The questions is why should Abiola be killed and why should they be angry that I’m asking these questions?

“They should support me to uncover that first. Those who killed MKO Abiola shared money and I don’t share money, so they are defending those who killed him and attacking me who has no money to share.

“Ayo Opadokun, who is busy insulting now and claiming he has never been to Abuja, after Abiola was killed, was flown in a presidential aircraft to the Villa. That was the same time millions of dollars were brought from the Central Bank and shared among some Yoruba leaders.

“I was at the villa trying to handover to the then Head of State and at that material time, some Yoruba leaders under NADECO came furious, charging and wanted to fight the government over the murder of Abiola.

“I taped their arrival at the Presidential Villa and if you watch it they made all sought of nasty . about sacrificing for the Yoruba nation, you could see the bitterness. But when they went in and came out their attitude changed, they were clapping hands, chatting within themselves.

“When journalists asked about the meeting with the then Head of State, the same Opadokun said the ‘matter of Abiola is gone and that is no longer an issue. It’s a forgotten issue and we are going to forge ahead.

“Abiola was killed few hours ago, this is the same man, he, Opadokun, and NADECO members claim to be fighting for but when they met the Head of State their remarks changed. However, now that I’m talking about the same man, I’m now an enemy.

“Abiola was in the parlour in Aguda House when he was administered a tea after which he fell on his face and was gasping for air before he died, this became a big issue.”

Donald Trump's handshake with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday marked a historic moment.

Many hope Donald Trump's summit with Kim Jong Un will lead to durable peace on the Korean peninsula  (AFP)

Donald Trump's handshake with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday marked a historic moment - the first meeting ever between a sitting US president and the leader of North Korea.

The US president's often-awkward handshakes with world leaders have sparked ridicule but many hope the one with Kim -- the culmination of months of dramatic diplomacy -- will lead to durable peace on the Korean peninsula.

Here are some other handshakes that shook the world:

The Koreas: Kim-Moon (2018)

On April 27, 2018, as the world held its breath, Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-inreached across the Military Demarcation Line that divides the two Koreas and shook hands, the result of a remarkable thaw on the peninsula sparked by the Winter Olympics earlier this year.

The Kim-Moon summit was the result of a remarkable thaw on the Korean peninsula, sparked by the Winter Olympics  (Korea Summit Press Pool/AFP/File)

Kim then stepped over the border for a summit with the South Korean president, making him the first leader from Pyongyang to set foot in the South since the Korean War ended in an armistice 65 years ago.

The two leaders agreed to pursue permanent peace and the complete denuclearisation of the divided Korean peninsula.

US, Cuba: Obama-Castro (2013)

At a memorial service for Nelson Mandela on December 10, 2013, US President Barack Obama made headlines when he shook hands with Cuba's Raul Castro, the first such public greeting between leaders of the bitter neighbours after decades of enmity.

There was a rapid thaw in US-Cuba ties after Barack Obama and Raul Castro shook hands in 2013  (AFP/File)

Within months there was a rapid thaw. Full diplomatic relations were restored in July 2015, followed by once-unthinkable steps to mend ties.

Obama visited Cuba in 2016 -- the first such trip by an American president in 88 years.

Washington also relaxed its decades-long embargo on the communist-ruled island, and US airlines resumed direct flights to Havana in November 2016.

N. Ireland: Elizabeth II-McGuinness (2012)

In a landmark moment in the Northern Ireland peace process, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II met Martin McGuinness, a former top commander in the paramilitary Irish Republican Army during the many years of bloody hostilities with British forces.

The 2012 handshake between Queen Elizabeth II and former IRA commander Martin McGuinness was a gesture that was once unimaginable  (AFP/File)

The IRA wanted an end to British rule in the province, and for it to be merged with the Republic of Ireland. McGuinness later became one of the figures that helped negotiate an end to the violence.

Then a deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, McGuinness shook hands with the Queen during her June 27, 2012 visit to the province.

It was a gesture towards reconciliation that would once have been unimaginable, with McGuinness' militant past and British security operations still a source of anger for many.

Israel, Palestinians: Arafat-Rabin (1993)

After months of secret negotiations in Norway, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stood in the South Lawn of the White House on September 13, 1993 to witness the signing of the Oslo Accords.

The Rabin-Arafat handshake capped months of secret talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators  (AFP/File)

And then, in one of the most dramatic moments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with US president Bill Clinton's arms stretched around both leaders, Arafat and Rabin shook hands.

The abortive process granted autonomy to the occupied Palestinian territories without creating a separate state.

Rabin was assassinated two years later by a Jewish extremist opposed to the peace process, which faltered in the years that followed.

Egypt, Israel: Sadat-Begin (1977)

In what is widely considered a major turning point in the recent history of the Middle East, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat arrived in Israel on November 19, 1977 on a historic visit -- the first by an Arab head of state to the Jewish nation.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's 1977 visit to Israel led to a formal end to the decades-long state of war between the two countries  (AFP/File)

Images of Sadat shaking hands with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during the visit were transmitted around the world. The visit led to the first Arab-Israel peace treaty and the formal end to the state of war that had existed between the two countries for 30 years.

Sadat paid for it with his life: he was assassinated by Islamists in 1981.

Senators want President Buhari to declare June 12, 1993 election results

Naij News | Jun. 07, 2018

The Nigerian Senate on Thursday, June 7, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce the results of the June 12, 1999, presidential election.

eagleee.com gathered that Senator Biodun Olujimi raised a point of order that the president should declare Chief MKO Abiola and his running mate, Babagana Kingibe president and vice-president respectively and approve the entitlements due to them.

The upper legislative chamber hailed President Buhari for honouring the acclaimed winner of the June 12, election.

The Senate president, Bukola Saraki said: "We recognize the fact that the recognition of Chief MKO Abiola and his contributions have been long overdue. We must recognize this good intention.There might be imperfections in how it was implemented, but let us take the good intention behind all of this.”

In a previous report by eagleee.com, President Muhammadu Buhari announced that June 12 will be celebrated as the new Democracy Day.

The president announced this via his Facebook page on Wednesday, June 6.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app

President Buhari also announced that the late Chief Moshood Abiola who was adjudged the winner of the cancelled June 12, 1993 election will be posthumously awarded the highest Honour in the land, GCFR.

Democracy Day:

Highest paid managers heading to Russia

dailyactive.info

Jun 5, 2018 9:01 AM

Germany coach Joachim Low guided Die Mannschaft to the World Cup title in 2014, so it does not surprise many that he is the highest paid boss in Russia.

The 58-year-old reportedly earns an annual salary of £3.31 million, according to the Daily Mirror, topping the ranking ahead of Brazil boss Tite, who is understood to pocket £3.02 million a year.

France manager Didier Deschamps is on the same yearly salary as Tite, while Spain’s Julen Lopetegui follows with £2.58 million annually, and Stanislav Cherchesov, coach of hosts Russia, earns £2.21 million a year.

Former South Africa coach Carlos Queiroz, now in charge of Iran, appears in seventh position with a reported annual salary of £1.69 million, the same as England boss Gareth Southgate.

Oluwo Of Iwoland, Akanbi, Named 6th Richest King, As He Reacts - Culture - Nairaland

nairaland.com

Jun 4, 2018 1:00 PM

A first class Yoruba traditional ruler in Osun State, the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, who is known for his luxurious and flashy lifestyle - has revealed what he told raters who named him the 6th richest king recently. According to the monarch, he told them that he's not rich but wealthy as he reveals how he spends his money to the benefit and well being of the masses.

Below is what the monarch shared via his social media page.

GENEROSITY IS ONE OF MY ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS -OLUWO

There are kings but there is King. None of the kings can act closely to King. One of those features of distinction of God is generosity. God is a perfect maker, giver, taker, molder, master, teacher, mentor, tutor, actor, servant, safer and many other exclusive characteristics of God. No one can match the tune of God in serving humanity: HE alone is omnipresent, omnipotent who neither sleep nor doze. HE is a generous giver, not minding the piousness or otherwise of individual person. God extends his blessings: rain, sun, air, breathing etc. to all believing in God or gods. Even, the free thinkers who opine there is no God also enjoy the free gifts of God. Who then can be like God?

Also, religious inclination has no connection with neither affluence nor abject. It is part of manifestation of God`s generosity, dosing wealth that jumps piety barrier. The best servant is best leader. God is our servant and an unequalled KING.

Emulating this feature, apart from closet spending, generosity is one of the administrative tools of Oluwo. I was recently rated the 6th richest king but i told the raters that I'm not rich but wealthy. I only spend the little i have for the wellbeing of others because the wealth is given to me for the interest of others.I am of the belief that, even health, whatever God given to everyone is for certain people, not his exclusive property "

156 Years Ago: A Nigerian Lady Was The First Black To Enjoy British Royal Wedding

thenewsnigeria.com.ng

Jun 3, 2018 3:35 AM

James Pinson Labulo Davies and Sarah Forbes Bonetta

Queen Victoria adopted Aina, trained her and funded her wedding

Her name was Aina (renamed Sarah Forbes Bonetta), adopted daughter of Queen Victoria of England and her wedding was held at St. Nicholas Church, Brighton on 14 August 1862, predating when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, went up the aisles by 156 years! Meghan (her mother is African Amerian) and Harry got married on 19 May 2018 in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom.

Mergan Merkles

Queen Victoria had earlier arranged the marriages of all her six biological children, she gave Aina to Captain Labulo Davies, another Nigerian of slave descent. Davis, a rich sailor and ship owner was the one who introduced cocoa to Nigeria and funded the CMS Grammar School in Lagos, founded by Babighton Macaulay, Ajayi Crowther’s son-in-law.

This is contained in the review written by Damola Awoyokun (a UK based civil engineer) of a book, The life of Captain Labulo Davies, authored by Adeyemo Elebute, a professor of surgery for 45 years and a foundation staff member of Lagos University College Hospital (LUTH).

Below is the story of Captain Davis and Aina, according to the review by Awoyokun:

‘Queen Victoria married her to a Nigerian, The life of Captain Labulo Davies was too compelling, too needed and too unknown that Adeyemo Elebute, a professor of surgery for 45 years and a foundation staff member of Lagos University College Hospital (LUTH), turned himself into a professional historian at 82 years of age. He travelled far and wide, burrowed into many Nigerian and British archives in order to lock down Davies’ story in this splendid book. Davies was born on 14 August 1828 to former Yoruba slaves whom the British had rescued and resettled in Freetown. His father was from Abeokuta and his mother from Ogbomoso. His parents refused to accept that Africans should be left to their traditions and ways of life after what they had done to them. Their son joined the Royal Navy as a sea cadet in 1849 and later, when he retired began his own shipping line. Being trustworthy, he became a point of contact for many European trading companies in West Africa. He grew rich…

When the Kingdom of Dahomey broke away from a weakened Oyo Empire, it rose rapidly to become an important military power capturing towns and villages from the grip of Oyo Alaafin. To get slaves, you need war. Port Novo, Whydah, Ouidah, Popo that used to be some of Oyo’s contact with Euro-Brazilian ship owners became important slave trading ports for Dahomey. With the British government becoming proactive with its anti-slavery campaign, Commander Forbes was sent in 1849 to 1850 to meet and persuade the King of Dahomey to switch to trade in cotton, palm kernel and other agriculture items as a key source of income instead of trade in slaves. At the meeting, some slaves had been earmarked to be beheaded for religious ritual.

One of them was Aina, then a seven-year-old girl who had already witnessed the killing of her parents when Gezo’s army invaded their Egbado village of Oke Odan in 1848 and took her as a slave. Commander Forbes used everything to persuade Gezo to release the little girl to him. Gezo refused. The game changed when Forbes said: “She would be a present from the King of the Blacks to the Queen of the Whites.” But it was not true that Queen Victoria was the queen of the whites and Gezo definitely knew he was not king of the blacks. There were his immediate superiors: Alaafin Abiodun Atiba in Oyo and Oba Osemwende and Adolo in Benin. But being a megalomaniac, by equating him with Queen Victoria, Forbes ballooned his estimate. And Gezo saw that being the Queen’s coequal, he would earn more respect and command more power from Alaafin and Oba of Benin. He released Aina.

When Aina eventually arrived at Windsor Castle on 9 November 1850, the Queen, who never knew Commander Forbes nor asked him to bring back a black girl, adopted Aina and sent her for royal training. The girl not only impressed the Queen with her charm, intelligence and willingness to blend, she impressed the whole of Britain. She spoke English with a royal accent unlike millions of other Britons. Several photographers, illustrators and artists came to document her. Even foreign dignitaries who came to visit the Palace saw Princess Aina with the royal family and wrote about her. Her presence was sufficient to confound and debunk the pernicious racist theory then that blacks were of least intelligence. The phrenologist even came to measure her skull. With the royal family having a black Princess with her own waiting ladies, it was difficult to regard blacks as monkeys in respectable circles in Britain.

During the meeting with Ajayi Crowther at the Windsor Castle, the Queen asked whether Aina’s gifts were due to her noble blood. Crowther answered that she wasn’t a descendant of one of those mighty kings of West African empires or kingdoms but her parents were chiefs of a small town. Since the Queen arranged the marriages of all her six children, she arranged Aina’s marriage too to Captain Davies, supremely confident she was in good hands. The wedding was held at St. Nicholas Church, Brighton on 14 August 1862. The Queen paid for the elaborate ceremony which was the talk of the country. And when both settled in Lagos, they continued the course of civilisation, opening schools, educating the people and discouraging slavery. They were the reason why there was no major uproar against British presence in Nigeria unlike in other countries like Ghana, Kenya and India. They earned the trust of fellow Africans and the colonial governments across West Africa respected them.’

Royals who are actually really weird people

grunge.com

Jun 4, 2018 8:26 AM

It's not so surprising that kings and queens were a bit crazy back in the olden days. Of course, then they had lots of power and the world was a very different place. These days very few royals are anything more than figureheads, and while they live opulent lifestyles, they're also subject to restrictions and accountable to taxpayers. So a lot of modern royals have become normal and almost boring.

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. There are some princes and princesses out there today who didn't get the memo that all they're supposed to do anymore is smile and wave at official functions. They manage to embarrass their august families by doing things that are weird, stupid, or even illegal. It's only when their exploits get splashed all over the news that the rest of us find out just how strange they are. Here are some of the bonkers royals that you won't find in your standard fairy tales.

Princess Martha Louise of Norway is super psychic

A lot of people think they have a bond with their pet where the dog or cat can understand what they're saying and vice versa. But most of us understand we aren't literally talking to them with our minds. Not Princess Martha Louise. According to Oddity Central, she rode horses when she was young and discovered she could communicate with them. This led to her talking to all animals. But it's just the tip of the iceberg.

Somehow, the horses also taught her how to speak to angels, and this became her life's work. She has written at least two books on the celestial beings, and in 2007 announced plans to open an "Angel School." There, for the low, low price of $4,150 (in 2007, via the BBC) you can "renew the natural contact you have with the angels." And if you don't get results? It's because you aren't open enough.

People in Norway went nuts over the school. Der Spiegel reports that one paper called on her to lose her royal title, and a TV pastor called her "an emissary from hell."

Demon or not, Martha Louise also claims to be run-of-the-mill psychic. The Seoul Times quoted the school's website, where she tells a story about when she was a little girl and walked up to a woman and told her that "she didn't need to be sad about her husband, that things would go well between them." If that isn't evidence, what is?

Princess Sofia of Sweden made money being sexy

Thanks to Disney and fairy tales, we all kind of have a stereotypical view of what a princess is. And we know that real-life royalty expects their female members to be prim and proper. When Prince Harry married a perfectly lovely divorced American actress, it caused a minor scandal among the stuffier parts of society. So they would have had a heart attack if someone like Princess Sofia had joined the family.

Before she married Sweden's Prince Carl Philip, Sofia had an exciting life. According to the Guardian, she has tattoos, which would make her one of the only royals in the world with ink. But that's nothing compared to her profession. The princess formerly made her money as a topless model in men's magazines. In one shoot she wore only a boa constrictor. She was even crowned "Miss Slitz" in 2004. Then there was the time she made out with adult film star Jenna Jameson in Las Vegas.

Sofia also appeared on the trashy reality show Paradise Hotel. In it, a bunch of very attractive people are put in a resort together, then couples pair off and share a hotel room, with one person left over every week. The unwanted one gets kicked off the show.

Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with any of the things Sofia has done in her life. It's just pretty amazing that a stuffy royal family managed to overlook all of it and let her marry a prince.

King Mswati III of Swaziland sounds like a big jerk

In most countries, royalty is a quaint relic, something to bring in the tourists with no real power. But not in Swaziland, where the last absolute monarch in Africa, King Mswati III, goes beyond weird to pretty terrible with his actions.

Al Jazeera says King Mswati has "a reputation for profligacy, ostentation, corruption, and petty self-indulgence." You can't successfully run a gas station like that, let alone a country with 30 percent unemployment and where 70 percent of your subjects live on less than a dollar a day. The king himself is worth an estimated $100 million and has access to a further $10 billion fund. But he doesn't want his people to know just how he spends all that cash. When he bought a $500,000 car he banned photographs of it.

He also likes to party. Every year for his birthday he fills a football stadium, but that's nothing compared to the Reed Festival. When he wants to choose a new wife, he has tens of thousands of women dance around topless for him so he can take his pick. He also instituted a five-year sex ban for women under 18, but broke this rule himself when he selected a 17-year-old as a bride, reports UPI.

Nor does he seem to care much about the 25 percent of Swazis who have HIV or AIDS. He has said that they should be "sterilized and branded." The Telegraph says this "arrogance and indifference" may bring about the end of the monarchy.

Princess Maha bint Mohammed bin Ahmad al-Sudairi loves shopping, hates bills

There is a rule of thumb that once people get rich, they stay rich by being surprisingly frugal. That's fine if you're Bill Gates getting a $10 haircut. But it is possible to go ridiculously overboard.

Despite belonging to the House of Saud, which runs Saudi Arabia and is one of the richest families in the world, Princess Maha doesn't like paying for things. But she still has the tastes of the ultra-rich, so when she skips out on a bill, it's enough to bankrupt a small state.

Vanity Fair says in 2012, she had been staying at Paris' five-star Shangri-La Hotel for five months, taking up 41 rooms. The bill came to more than $7 million, but she had no intention of turning over her Amex Black Card at checkout. Instead, she and her 60-strong entourage tried to sneak out at 3:30 a.m. But it's hard to go unnoticed when you have a fleet of limos and a mountain of luggage. Amazingly, after some diplomats got involved, she was allowed to leave.

But that's nothing compared to her shopping sprees. During a 2009 Paris stay she managed to grab $20 million worth of swag from 30 stores and didn't pay any of them. Her tactic was to hand the merchant a fancy-looking document saying I.O.U. and then just never settle it. Allegedly because of this King Abdullah had her confined to the palace when she returned to Saudi Arabia in 2009. Hopefully they blocked Amazon on the palace Wi-Fi.

Prince Harry needed to get woke

By all accounts, these days Britain's Prince Harry is a great guy. He joined the military and did two tours in the Middle East. Since his retirement he's thrown himself into royal work, and his marriage to Meghan Markle is seen as a progressive act that will help modernize the royal family. Of course, it's a bit strange that he ended up marrying a mixed-race woman because when he was younger he showed all the signs of being racist.

Of course, racism is a lot worse than just your run-of-the-mill weirdness. Maybe Harry was just being (very) dumb. But when invited to a friend's costume party it takes a lot of stupid to decide that out of everything in the world you could wear, a Nazi uniform complete with swastika armband is just the thing. He was photographed in it and it caused a worldwide scandal, according to the Telegraph. Politicians released statements condemning him, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center said Harry needed to visit Auschwitz to get the full gravity of what he'd done wrong.

But Harry wasn't done. The Guardian saysthat while in the military he was being filmed for a video diary and called one of his fellow soldiers a "Paki" and told another he looked like a "raghead." When the footage was released it led to more condemnation. Hopefully he has grown up and isn't prejudiced anymore.

Prince Nayef was just following God's plan

When you're a more minor royal who will never end up ruling your country, it must be hard to decide on a career. Luckily, Prince Nayef bin Sultan bin Fawwaz al-Shaalan of Saudi Arabia managed to find something he liked, and it even seemed to be a divinely inspired choice. Before he was caught in 1999, Nayef was a drug dealer on an epic scale. When it was pointed out to him this was kind of a no-no in Islam, he wasn't fazed, saying "the world is already doomed and that he had been authorized by God to sell drugs."

He must have really wanted to make God happy, because it didn't have to be this way. According to the Strategic Culture Foundation, Nayef went to the University of Miami, speaks eight languages, and has invested heavily in the oil industry. So he had other options, but divine drug smuggling it was.

The key was using his own private plane and his diplomatic status to avoid detection. He met with drug cartel members in Spain, and even flew some of them to Saudi Arabia, where they were picked up in a Rolls-Royce. While tearing around the desert in Hummers, they made plans to ship 2,000 kilos of cocaine from Venezuela to Paris. But the prince said they could fit up to 20,000 kilos in his jet in the future. He was finally caught, but he fled back home and was convicted in absentia in 2007.

Crown Princess Masako of Japan can't handle the royal life

Crown Princess Masako is perhaps less weird and more seriously unwell against her will. But she wasn't always like this. Before she joined the royal family she seemed to have a great life. But for her, becoming a princess was far from a fairy tale. Instead, it was a nightmare.

According to Whimn, it all started when she was specially selected to be one of 100 virgins who would meet Crown Prince Naruhito at a party in 1986. He would pick one of them to marry, and for him it was love at first sight. For Masako, less so. She is absolutely brilliant and wanted to concentrate on her education and a career, something that would be impossible if she married the prince.

So for seven years she kept turning down his proposals. In the meantime, she attended Harvard and Oxford and learned six languages. Then she joined the diplomatic service. But the palace was putting pressure on her father, and she finally agreed to get hitched to Naruhito.

Since then, Masako's life has been a disaster. The only thing that mattered (to everyone else) was her having kids, which she struggled with. Reuters says she finally had a daughter, but since she can't inherit the throne that wasn't good enough. The pressure on Masako to change her personality was so great that she entered the palace in 2004 and basically didn't leave for a decade. The official line is that she has an "adjustment disorder" but whatever the reason, putting yourself under house arrest is not normal.

Prince Charles has peculiar needs

One thing that happens when you're royal is you get used to a certain level of luxury. The problem is, most other people's houses and hotels don't live up to that standard. So if you aren't willing to compromise on comfort, you only have one choice: take it all with you. This is what Prince Charles does, according to the book Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion And Defiance Of Prince Charles.

In it, an image of a slightly wacky guy emerges. If he's going to be staying over, he wants to know he'll get a good night's sleep. That's why when traveling he brings his favorite mattress with him. Of course, certain parts of the royal body need even more specialized attention, which might be why he is also alleged to haul around his own special toilet seat and premium toilet paper. Since he changes his clothes up to five times a day, he brings a chest of drawers to hold his wardrobe. And he likes looking at two pictures of the Scottish Highlands, so he takes those along, too.

While that is all rumor, one crazy habit Charles absolutely admits to is talking to plants. ABC News references a BBC documentary where he says, "I happily talk to the plants and trees, and listen to them." He also compared them to his children and says that doing this keeps him "relatively sane." That may be up for debate.

Prince Henrik of Denmark was the world's grumpiest royal

You'd think that being a royal you wouldn't have much to complain about, what with all the castles and tiaras at your disposal. But some royals do find things to moan about, none more so than Prince Henrik.

Henrik was born in France and married Margrethe of Denmark when she was still a princess. Five years later she became queen, but he stayed a prince. According to People, the fact that he wasn't made king (a completely normal practice among royalty when the queen is the monarch) made him really angry. He decided everyone needed to know about it. And then just in case they forgot, he would remind them, over and over again, until he finally died in 2018, bitter til the end.

Dubbed "the world's grumpiest royal," Henrik once told a newspaper that not being king meant he was subject to discrimination. He also told a TV news crew (in his wife's presence) that he would never accept being under her. He once said on TV that he had to ask Margrethe for an allowance just so he could buy cigarettes. (His complaining worked, and he was given a salary.)

The prince was so pissed off that shortly before he died, he announced he wouldn't be buried with his wife in a special glass sarcophagus carried by elephants that took seven years to make. And though they'd all heard it for years by this point, he made sure everyone knew why.