It was to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the wedding of the Winter King and Queen that I came to be in the Hague last week, walking through heavy snow past the Mauritshuis to the grand opening of a glorious exhibition of 17th Century paintings of the couple and their family.

BBC: A Point of View: The Winter Queen of Bohemia

President Thomas Klestil of Austria, where the king kept a winter residence and was close to the leadership, said his country had lost "a great friend".

BBC: News | Middle East | The world pays tribute