Your 2016 Favorites

I thought it might be fun to take a look back at the 2016 posts readers seemed to enjoy the most. Here is a countdown of your top ten Princess Palace posts:

#10 THROWBACK THURSDAY: AN INDUSTRIAL PRINCE
Several of the periodic #TBT posts enjoyed a lot of popularity, but this post about Sweden's Prince Sigvard who had given up his royal status for love.


#9 THIS WEEK IN PRINCESSES, FEBRUARY 19
In the first half of the year, we were running this weekly photo feature. Not quite sure why the one from the week of Feb. 19 generated more interest than the others, but there certainly was a lot of activity that week: Princess Beatrix, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Princess Maria Olympia, Queen Maxima, Queen Letizia, Queen Elizabeth, the Belgian Royal Family, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Sofia, Queen Silvia and Jazmin Grace Grimaldi were all out and about.

#8 REMEMBERING THE ROYAL LADIES OF NEPAL
On June 1, we recounted the tragic massacre of the Nepalese royal family by the Crown Prince on the 15th anniversary of their deaths. Although there were a few mass royal deaths in previous centuries--including the assassination of the Russian Imperial Family in 1918 in the Hessian plane crash of 1937--this century has not witnessed any other such tragedy.

Sarah and Andrew soon after becoming Duke & Duchess of York
By Elke Wetzig via Wikimedia Commons

#7 THE YORKS AFTER 30 YEARS
July 23, 2016 would have been the 30th wedding anniversary of Prince Andrew Duke of York and his former wife Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson if they had remained married. The two still spend quite a bit of time together, lived together after the divorce and continue to take family holidays together. In this post, we took a look at the ups and downs of their relationship over three decades.

#6 THE AMERICAN QUEEN WHO NEVER WAS
In April, we marked the thirtieth anniversary of the death of The Duchess of Windsor by taking a look at one of the most infamous women in history. For many, she represents the power of true love. For others, she embodies true dereliction of duty. Either way, she is often a popular subject.


#5 50 YEARS AGO: DEATH OF PRINCESS BEATRICE
Either search engines and the headline had readers concerned about the health of Princess Beatrice of York or the little-known Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is far more popular than I realized. Although we have to Beatrices living today (our Yorkie and the former Dutch queen) but it was far more common a century ago after Queen Victoria named her youngest daughter Beatrice. From there, two of Victoria's granddaughters were given the name, including the royal lady who was honored with this post. After that the name continued to spread.

The gorgeous Grace
by Meto Goldwyn Mayer via Wikimedia Commons

#4 GRACE'S GORGEOUS GRANDDAUGHTERS
Despite her death in 1982, Princess Grace of Monaco remains one of the most recognizable and popular princesses today. This is partly due to her pre-marriage career as a true Hollywood icon, Grace Kelly. In this post, we took a look at her six granddaughters. Which of these lovely young women and girls do you think most resembles the grandmother they never met?

#3 FIVE YEARS WITH THE CAMBRIDGES
In April, William and Catherine celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary and so did we all! On Princess Palace, we marked the occasion by taking a look back at some of the highlights of their five years of marriage, including the wedding and two adorable babies who have become the darlings of the whole world.

#2 BUY THIS BOOK: IN DEFENSE OF THE PRINCESS
I offered several book reviews in 2016, but this review and this book really seemed to have captured your attention. I will give the credit to your devotion to "princess culture" and the popularity of the book's author, Jerramy Fine. I suspect that you are just as interested as Jerramy and I in supporting the idea that being a princess is not at odds with the empowerment of women. Rather, to be a princess means to be strong a strong leader, a caring family member, a well-informed and intelligent advocate for important causes, and a champion of individuality. In fact, it directly correlates to many ideals of modern womanhood.

Baby Elizabeth from the cover of Time Magazine
via Wikimedia Commons

#1 HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY BABY QUEEN ELIZABETH
Fittingly, the top post of the year is about the top lady of the year: Queen Elizabeth II, who celebrated her 90th birthday in April 2016. To mark the big occasion, we posted a series of photos of Queen Elizabeth as an infant and child. She was a beautiful little girl and she has remained a beautiful lady and an even more beautiful human being.