The Royal A-Z of 2016



A whole royal year has been and is about to go. As 2016 says its final farewells and 2017 warms up round the corner, it's time to look back, reflect and remember. To sum up twelve months of royal fabulousness (April did a whole year's worth all by itself), here's the royal A-Z of 2016....








A is for Alexander, the second of the two princes born to the Swedish Royal Family this year. The first child of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia arrived on April 19th 2016 and was christened Alexander Erik Hubertus Bertil on September 9th. His proud grandfather, Carl XVI Gustaf, made the new fifth in line to the Swedish throne Duke of Sodermanland.



B is for Bhutan which hosted two royal visits this year. The King and Queen of Sweden headed to the mountain kingdom just weeks after the birth of Prince Alexander for a three day State Visit - the first ever made from their country to Bhutan. They were hot on the heels of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who spent two days there in April. Both royal couples were greeted by King and Queen of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Jetsun Pema, who began their year by welcoming a son. 



C is for Canada, which starred in two royal tours this autumn with William and Kate again part of the events. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Canada in September with their two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, stealing the show in a series of appearances. In November, the Crown Prince and Princess of Norway paid a visit and shared a cosy supper with Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie. And expect more royal visits in 2017 as the country celebrates the 150th anniversary of its confederation.



D is for debuts and we got plenty of those in 2016. As well as several royal babies (keep reading the A-Z for a name check for all of them), we had some other debuts as well. Leonor and Sofia of Spain attended the opening of their country's parliament for the first time in November while the Duchess of Cambridge made her first solo overseas visit, to the Netherlands, in October. The Duchess of Cornwall represented the Queen for the first time at the Sovereign's Parade at Sandhurst in December. And just weeks after his arrival, Prince Oscar of Sweden made his royal balcony debut when he stole the show at the birthday celebrations for his grandfather, King Carl XVI Gustaf in April.



E is for equality, one of the values celebrated in a speech by King Harald of Norway which went viral. The Norwegian monarch was addressing a garden party and his kind and heartfelt words made headlines as he said ''my greatest hope for Norway is that we are to take care of each other....that we shall know that we - despite our differences - are one people. That Norway is one.'  His words, in support of refugees, religious tolerance and respect for all, got 3 million views on Facebook in just a few days and was covered in newspapers across the world.



F is for finance, in particular inclusive finance, the passion of Queen Maxima of the Netherlands which this year saw her travel around the world on behalf of the UN Secretary General and end up being named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of the year.  Maxima was included in the list for her work to bring financial opportunities to some of the poorest people in the world. The Queen of the Netherlands visited several nations in her UN special envoy role, including Indonesia and her home country, Argentina.



G is for great grandparents as Albert and Paola of Belgium joined that royal club with the arrival of Anna Astrid, daughter of Prince Amadeo and his wife, Lili. Anna Astrid, who was born on May 17th 2016, is their first great grandchild and a first granddaughter for Princess Astrid. The littlest royal in Belgium is seventh in line to that country's throne.



H is for Heads Together, the campaign to change the conversation on mental health which was launched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry earlier this year. The initiative involves several charities and organisations with which the royals are involved and since the campaign was announced in April, Kate, William and Harry have taken part in events raising its profile and that of the charities involved in it. The Heads Together campaign will be the official charity of the 2017 London Marathon.




I is for Invictus Games, Prince Harry's sporting event for wounded service personnel which enjoyed its second staging this year. Harry was on hand for every day of the sporting competition in Florida and spent as many hours behind the scenes talking to competitors and their families as he did watching sport. The Games were another huge success and Harry also announced this year that the next two Invictus events will take place in Toronto in 2017 and Sydney in 2018, turning the prince's project into a regular international sporting competition with a global following. 



J is for Jean of Luxembourg who turned 95 in January and celebrated with a party attended by many of Europe's royals. The man who ruled Luxembourg from 1964 until his abdication in 2000 was joined by friends and family for the celebrations. He made it to the landmark age of 95 a few months before Prince Philip who also celebrated five years off a century this June.

 


K is for Kongens Nei, the film about King Haakon VII during World War Two which was premiered this year in front of the present Norwegian Royal Family. The movie was also promoted by Crown Prince Haakon Magnus and Crown Princess Mette-Marit during their visit to Canada. The story of the royal decision not to collaborate with the Nazis in World War Two will be the Norwegian entry for the 2016 best language Oscar and at the end of the year it was announced it had made the shortlist of nine films being considered for an Academy Award nomination.



L is for Liam, the youngest prince in Europe as 2016 comes to an end. Liam Henri Hartmut of Nassau was born on November 28th in Geneva, the second child of Luxembourg's Prince Felix and Princess Claire.  He is fourth in line to his country's throne behind his uncle, Guillaume, his dad and his big sister, Amalia. Liam made his debut at the start of December in photos taken by his proud grandmother, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg.



 

M is for miles, all 445 of them, cycled by the Countess of Wessex on her Diamond Challenge to mark the 60th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Sophie took seven days to cover the distance between Holyroodhouse and Buckingham Palace with her father in law and husband waving her off and her daughter and son running in for a cuddle as she arrived back home.



(photo Kensington Palace Twitter)

N is for Nepal, visited by Prince Harry in March in a standout royal trip. Harry headed to the mountainous country to see the work going on there following 2015's devastating earthquake as well as to visit local communities, schools and hospitals. The tour was a huge success and Harry loved it so much, he stayed on to help with a rebuilding project after it was over. This was the real start of what turned out to be a landmark year for Prince Harry.



(photo kungahuset.se)

O is for Oscar, Duke of Skane, the first of two royal babies born in Sweden this year. Prince Oscar Carl Olof, second child and first son of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, arrived on March 2nd 2016. Third in line to the throne from the moment of his birth, Oscar was christened on May 27th with Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway and Princess Madeleine of Sweden, his aunt, among his godparents.


 

P is for Palma de Mallorca, where the courtroom that witnessed royal history this year is situated. On January 11th 2016, Infanta Cristina of Spain, sister of King Felipe VI, walked into the dock there to become the first member of her country's modern royal family to face criminal trial. Cristina was accused of tax fraud - a charge she denied. Her husband, Inaki Urdangarin and fifteen others, are also on trial. As of the end of 2016, no verdicts have been returned.




Q is for Queen at 90 as Elizabeth II set yet another royal record and became the first British monarch to reach that landmark birthday. The actual day, April 21st, saw her cheered through the streets of Windsor while there were 72 hours of celebrations on her official birthday in June including a church service and the Patron's Lunch on the Mall. Portraits, photos, stamps and coins all marked this major event which was also a celebration of her epic reign, the longest ever in British royal history and becoming more golden by the day.

 

R is for Ruby Anniversary, celebrated by King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia in June this year. It also marked forty years of Silvia as a consort. The royal couple married on June 19th 1976 in Sotckholm and just days before the 40th anniversary attended a concert with their family which ended with King Carl XVI Gustaf leading them all out dancing. Later in the year, Queen Silvia opened an exhibition of royal wedding dresses held to mark this special anniversary.




S is for Saga, the Swedish word for fairytale which is just what Princess Madeleine created when she invited a dozen children with serious illnesses to the Royal Palace in Stockholm for a tea party to make their dreams come true.  It was part of her work with the charity, My Big Day, of which she is patron and to make it an extra special moment to remember, Madeleine came in a princess gown and tiara. The event, on February 22nd 2016, also involved Madeleine's daughter, Princess Leonore, and really did turn into a fairytale.





T is for Taj Mahal, the monument to love where the Duke of Cambridge walked in the footsteps of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, this year. At the end of his tour of India, William took Kate to the world famous building where Diana had sat for one of the most famous royal photos of the 20th century, alone. In 2016, her eldest son and his wife sat on the same bench for poignant but ultimately happy photos.




U is for the United Nations which had more royal involvement than ever before this year. In January, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden were named as special ambassadors for Sustainable Development Goals. Queen Maxima continued her work as a special ambassador for inclusive finance and Crown Princess Mary carried out work as the patron of the UN Population Fund. Queen Letizia of Spain attended several events linked to her role as an ambassador for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation. She was among many royals at the UN General Assembly in September which her husband, King Felipe, addressed.





V is for Vogue, the fashion bible whose British edition marked its centenary this year with the Duchess of Cambridge as its cover star. Kate posed for the magazine in a series of images which were also part of an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. The photographs were taken by Josh Olins. Kate wasn't the only member of the House of Windsor to pose for a magazine this year - Princess Eugenie was a cover girl for Harper's Bazaar.




W is for Women Deliver, the high profile conference on female equality of which Crown Princess Mary was patron.  The meeting, which focuses on health and rights of women and girls around the world was also attended by Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Mabel. Mary called on world leaders to do more to ensure equality for women and to protect and improve health rights. 




X is for X-ray with several royals needing hospital treatment this year. They included Crown Prince Frederik who damaged a cervical vertebrae in a trampolining accident. Princess Alexia of the Netherlands broke her leg while on a ski-ing holiday and needed operations to recover. Her sister, Princess Catharina-Amalia, suffered a lighter injury when she hurt her leg in the summer. Queen Paola of Belgium ended the year in hospital after suffering a vertebral fracture.

 


Y is for Youth Olympics Games for Winter held in Lillehammer in February 2016 and which got under way when Princess Ingrid Alexandra lit the Olympic flame. Her father, Crown Prince Haakon Magnus, was a volunteer throughout the Games which counted on royal support at just about every event. Another successful moment in Norway's royal year of triumphs.


Z is for zipped...one whole royal year, done and dusted. From babies to record breaking birthdays, from State Visits to informal smiles, from hats and tiaras to blue soled shoes and everything in between, the royals of Europe have sparkled and smiled their way through twelve months. That was the year that was, here's to the one to come. May it be royally happy for everyone.  Happy New Year!

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