Four Freedom Awards 2010

The Four Freedoms Medals are presented each year to men and women whose achievements have demonstrated a commitment to those principles which President Roosevelt proclaimed in his historic speech to Congress on January 6, 1941, as essential to democracy: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear.

On Saturday, May 29, HM The Queen and TRH The Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima will attend the awards ceremony at the Nieuwe Kerk, Middelburg, in the province of Zeeland. FDR's ancestors were from the province. In odd-numbered years the awards are presented in Hyde Park, New York.

The 2010 laureates are listed here.

President Roosevelt's 1941 speech can be read here.

Also this weekend, HM The Queen will attend the Memorial Day ceremony at the American War Cemetery at Margraten on Sunday, May 30th on occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi occupation. The ceremony at Margraten always takes place the Sunday before Memorial Day.

FOUR FREEDOMS AWARDS

Each year, the Four Freedoms Awards are presented to people safeguarding the four essential human freedoms devised by former US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a speech in 1941: freedom from fear, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom from want.

Yesterday, in Middelburg, they were presented by Queen Beatrix and Princess Máxima of the Netherlands to the following recipients:

• International Four Freedoms Award 2008 Dr. Richard Freiherr von Weizsäcker (Former President of Germany)

• Freedom of Speech and Expression Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi (one of 'The Elders', the organization from which Princess Mabel is the director)

• Freedom of Worship Dr. Karen Armstrong (British author and expert on religion who contributed to better understanding of Christianity, Islam and Judaism)
  

• Freedom from Want Jan Egeland (Norwegian diplomat who played a key role in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, resulting in the Oslo-agreements)
  

• Freedom from Fear Ms Willemijn Verloop (Co-founder, together with Princess Mabel, of War Child Netherlands, which invests in a peaceful future for children affected by war)