In a year that started with surprise announcements about cancer diagnoses for both the King of England and his daughter-in-law the Princess of Wales, 2024 not surprisingly was one of the most up-and-down years for our royal ladies in recent history. Amidst illnesses, deaths, and a disturbing (possibly criminal) scandal, the year was brightened with a wedding, a few births and pregnancy announcements, and one joyful accession.
Chemotherapy for Catherine
The biggest royal story of the year arguably was the illness of Catherine Princess of Wales and the world's overwrought response to it. Following a scheduled abdominal surgery in early January, a long leave from duties was announced. Then, Kensington Palace shared that the post-surgery discovery of cancer cells would necessitate chemotherapy and a much-extended medical leave. Simultaneously, King Charles was diagnosed with prostate cancer and withdrew temporarily from public-facing duties. With two major royals out of public view, the media and public began to wildly speculate on the condition of each, but focused mostly on Catherine. With theories ranging from a lazy princess who wasn't really sick to one who had actually been murdered by her husband, KP's various responses or lack of responses only furthered the crazy conspiracy theories. Beginning in the summer, Catherine undertook a few public appearances and shared gratitude for the end of her treatment with a produced family video. The holidays saw the return of her now traditional carol service and Christmas day walkabout with the family. Here's hoping the rumormongers are lot quieter in 2025.
The Last Reigning Queen
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Denmark's new King Frederik and Queen Mary with their children. From left: Isabella, Christian, Frederik, Mary, Vincent and Josephine. Photo: Dennis Stenild, Kongehuset |
January saw the abdication of the last reigning queen as Denmark's Queen Margrethe II handed over the crown to her son King Frederik X and his consort the Tasmanian-born Queen Mary. (See my post The Last Queen, For Now.) All of Europe's monarchies are now headed by men, but this is a short-lived period as the heirs in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain are women and the #2 in line in Norway and Sweden are also female. Margrethe had reigned since her father's death in 1972 and celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 2022.
The Danish abdication and succession also brought one more historic moment: Queen Mary is only the second European Queen Consort to be born on another continent. (See my post A New Queen Mary.) The first was Argentinian-born Queen Maxima who acceded with her husband in The Netherlands in 2013. There are two other current consorts born outside of Europe but with lower ranking: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, born in Cuba, and Princess Charlene of Monaco, born in Rhodesia now called Zimbabwe. This leaves Asia as the only continent not currently represented in a European reigning couple.
Royal Marriages
We are currently in a period where most of the unmarried royal ladies are a bit young for a trip to the altar just yet, but we did celebrate one long-awaited marriage in 2024 when Princess Theodora of Greece married American Matthew Kumar on September 28. Their engagement had been announced in 2018, but their wedding was postponed twice -- once due to the Covid pandemic and then due to the death of her father, former King Constantine II in 2023. At 41 years old, Theodora is one of the oldest royal brides to make a first marriage. The ceremony was a true family celebration with Theodora carrying on the tradition of women in her family of wearing a veil of Irish lace and the Khedive of Egypt tiara, both of which have been passed down from her great-grandmother British Princess Margaret of Connaught, who was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria who married a future King of Sweden.
In Norway, the King's daughter Princess Martha Louise married for the second time. Always walking a line between what is acceptable for a princess and what is not, Martha Louise has been chided over the years for using her title for personal profit and for advocating fringe spiritual beliefs. Choosing American Durek Verrett, a self-proclaimed Shaman, caused huge controversy. Although he has a significant following, mainstream people have described him as a conspiracy theorist and even a conman. Nevertheless, the wedding went forward on August 31 with her royal relatives in attendance.
In the meantime, another Greek princess announced the end of her marriage. The second of Theodora's three brothers, Princess Nikolaus, and his wife Princess Tatiana announced their separation after 14 years. The couple had no children. Venezuelan-born Tatiana is an author, event planner and entrepreneur, who shares her love of cuisine and travel via her social media channels.
Royal Mothers
After several years of royal baby booms, the last few years have been relatively quiet. 2024 is no exception with only two new babies and two announced pregnancies expecting delivery in the new year. In Luxembourg, Princess Alexandra and her husband Nicolas Bagory welcomed a daughter named Victoire in May, just 13 months after the wedding.
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| Proud grandmother Queen Rania showed off Princess Iman on social media throughout the year. |
In Jordan, King Abdullah and Queen Rania excitedly shared the birth of their first grandchild, Princess Iman bint Hussein, in August. The family shared photos of practically the entire family holding the newborn, who is the daughter of Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa, also 13 months after their wedding. The Jordanian King and Queen also marked 25 years on the throne in 2024.
Meanwhile, we have two more royal babies to look forward to in 2025 as both Britain's Princess Beatrice and Sweden's Princess Sofia announced pregnancies. This will be Sofia's fourth child. After a trio of boys, she may be wishing for a girl this time. As for Beatrice, she has a stepson with her husband and a little girl waiting to welcome their new sibling. Beatrice's plans to celebrate Christmas with her husband's family in Italy were apparently curtailed due to doctor's cautions in what may be her final trimester. Sofia, in the meantime, was featured in Vogue with photos taken before her bump was showing, but she and bump appeared to be in blooming health at the Nobel Prize celebrations in December. Her baby is said to be due in the spring.
In Norway, another royal mother was suffering due to one of her children. After years of rumors and innuendo, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's oldest child, Marius Borg Høiby, was arrested following reports of domestic violence. Her son from a previous relationship, Marius was a toddler when his mother married Crown Prince Haakon. During his childhood, he was regularly featured in photos with the royal family and appeared at family occasions. As he entered adulthood, it was officially clarified that he is not a member of the Norwegian Royal Family and wished to live a life out of public view. However, his behavior has attracted a lot of public attention, especially in 2024, with several women coming forward with accusations of sexual assault, domestic abuse, and drug abuse. Mette-Marit skipped a trip to the Summer Olympics in the wake of the scandal. Her own choices drew negative criticism when it was revealed that she had personally "cleaned up" Marius' home prior to his surrender to police. Both the King and Crown Prince have publicly acknowledged the family's personal struggles, but it looks like 2025 is going to bring more to light as the 27-year-olds court cases move forward.
Sad Farewells
On February 27, Buckingham Palace announced the death of Thomas Kingston, husband of Lady Gabriella, the only daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Although it was soon clear that he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the conspiracy theorists online drew connections to Catherine of Wales' absence from public life, alleging that William Prince of Wales had killed both Catherine and Thomas in a fit of jealous rage. The outrageous allegations could only have piled on to the family's pain. An inquest into the death later concluded that his suicide was likely due to an adverse reaction from medication, as Gabriella herself testified. The couple had celebrated their wedding at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle in 2019.
Earlier in February, the pretender to the Italian throne, Prince Vittorio Emanuele, passed away, leaving behind his wife of 52 years. Marina Ricolfi Doria had been an internationally ranked water skiier before her marriage. Their only child, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, succeeded his father as Head of the House of Savoy and as a claimant to the Italian throne.
The death of Prince Michael of Greece in July widowed the former Marina Karella after 49 years of marriage. Having made an "unequal marriage", Michael's wife was not granted royal status. However, their daughters, Alexandra and Olga, are both Princesses of Greece. They both appear to have inherited equally from their artist mother and their historian father.
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The Swedish King and his sisters in 2017. From left: Margareta, Carl Gustaf, Birgitta, Desiree and Christina. Photo: Jonas Berg/The Royal Court of Sweden |
In June, King Mohammed VI of Morocco's mother, Princess Lalla Latifa, died. The only wife of King Hassan II, she was the mother of five children. After Hassan's death in 1999, she married her late husband's Chief of Security. Her exact birthdate is unknown, but she was about 80 when she passed.
One of longest-lived royal ladies in history passed away in November. Japan's Yuriko Princess Mikasa was 101 years old. The wife of World War II-era Emperor Hirohito's youngest brother, Yuriko outlived her husband by eight years and was the last surviving member of that generation of the Imperial Family. She is survived by her two daughters, 80-year-old Yasuko and 73-year-old Masako. All three of her sons predeceased her.
As 2025 dawns, let us hope we and our royal ladies have a year filled with more laughter than tears.
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