This past year has been a pretty exciting one for fans of royal women. We witnessed the wedding of one of Queen Elizabeth's royal granddaughters and welcomed an American into the British Royal Family. We also got excited by new royal babies in the U.K., Sweden and Monaco. Sadly, we witnessed the passing of the hardworking Princess Elisabeth of Denmark.
Here, on the Princess Palace, I also added a new feature, the monthly Princess Poll, which you all seem to enjoy. At the same, I continued our profiles of historic and contemporary princess as well as offering some historic perspectives on the monarchy today. Based on your readership, you like this variety of offerings. Here are your favorite 18 Princess Palace posts of 2018. (Click the title to link to the post.)
#18 THE WIVES OF HUSSEIN
Christmas Day marked the 50th anniversary of King Hussein of Jordan's third marriage. In anticipation of the occasion, I offered up these mini bios of the four dynamic women whom the legendary king married.
#17 YOUR FAVORITE PRINCESS OF WALES
In one of the earliest Princess Polls, I asked you to choose between the four most recent Princesses of Wales. Not surprisingly, Diana emerged as the leader, but many, many people opted to champion Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, who chooses not to use the Wales title. I was a bit surprised by the outcome, but hope this bodes well for the upcoming Charlesian monarchy.
#16 THE LAST ROMANOV LADIES PART 2
My four-part series honoring ALL of the Russian Imperial women who were alive at the start of the Russian Revolution included this piece that focused on Tsar Nicholas' mother and sisters. Part 3 and Part 4 were not far down the list. Surprisingly, Part 1 about the murdered Empress and her daughters did not rise very high in the year's readership.
#15 YOUR FAVORITE CROWN PRINCESS
It's a bit unusual for posts published so late in the year to rise into the top, but this Princess Poll made the cut. In this one, readers were asked to select between the Mary of Denmark, Masako of Japan, Mette-Marit of Norway and Victoria of Sweden. Interestingly, the one who won is the only who was born royal, but people seem to like her for her "common" touch.
#14 YOUR FAVORITE BRITISH PRINCESS
For this edition of the Princess Poll series, you were asked which of the four British Princess of the Blood tops your list: Alexandra, Anne, Beatrice or Eugenie. Spunk and grit seem to be the characteristics you must preferred in this one.
#13 PRINCESS CHARLOTTE BREAKS GLASS CEILING
Prince Louis of Cambridge's birth in April marked a historic moment in Britain. It was the first time in British history that an older sister did not yield her right of succession to a younger brother. In an age when women are still not recognized as equal human beings in many parts of the world, I felt it was a moment to celebrate.
#12 MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF WHAT?
Okay, one of the things that we royal watchers most enjoy is trying to guess what a baby's name will be. Second to that is guessing future titles! This post explored some of the options that might have been granted Prince Harry upon his marriage. (Full disclosure, I really did not think Sussex would be the choice.)
#11 MEGHAN THE SCOTTISH DUCHESS?
Continuing with the title guessing games (like #12 above), I got a bit carried away with the idea that The Queen might select a Royal Dukedom for Prince Harry with significant Scottish connections. I was excited, but wrong again. Of course, he did receive a secondary Scottish title, Earl of Dumbarton, which will be used as a courtesy title by his oldest son, if he has one. (I'm hoping for a girl this spring -- hello, I write about princesses -- but I'll probably be wrong again. My prognosticator has been off for a while now.)
#10 AN AFRICAN HONEYMOON
Inspired by recent reading of the official biography of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, this post spotlight's her strong and decades-long interest in Africa, which started when she and her new husband spent months there during a partly official and partly private sojourn when they were still just the Duke and Duchess of York.
#9 YOUR FAVORITE QUEEN CONSORT
The very first Princess Poll post continued to get traffic throughout the year causing it to also be your favorite Princess Poll post. This poll focused on the four younger consorts: Letizia, Mathilde, Maxima and Rania. The colorful and vivacious Dutch queen from Argentina took was more popular than the other three combined.
#8 A TRULY ROYAL IN-LAW: INGEBORG OF DENMARK
As they say, "it's who you know." Ingeborg may not have been a significantly ranked royal lady herself, but she was closely related to many very significant royals, including monarchs in Denmark, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Russia.
#7 LOSING HER PRINCE
In commiseration with Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, whose consort Prince Henrik passed away in February, I offered this look at reigning Queens who lost their spouses and lived the longest in widowhood. Queen Victoria is likely the most famous royal widow, but she actually was not the longest widowed...
#6 MEET THE DUCHESS OF SUSSEX
As rumors became stronger that Prince Harry would be created Duke of Sussex upon his marriage to Meghan Markle, I decided to take a look at the history of the Duchesses of Sussex. It turned out that Meghan is actually the very first because, although the only previous Duke of Sussex had two wives, neither woman was granted royal titles or styles. This post introduces both of them.
#5 A SUCCESSFUL YOUNG QUEEN: MARGARET OF FRANCE
Early in 2018, I finally turned the spotlight on King Edward I's second wife, Margaret of France. It was about time considering that I had covered his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, all the way back in 2011. Barely more than an adolescent when she became Queen of England and following a well-loved predecessor, Margaret was remarkably successful as both wife and queen.
#4 GEORGIAN NAMES FOR BABY CAMBRIDGE
So, I must admit that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did not name their son Frederick or Alfred, but considering the names of their first two children, it seemed logical that they might pick a name from among those commonly used by the Hanoverian Dynasty. As always, though, my predictions were incorrect.
#3 THE MOTHER OF BRIDE
In May, when it was announced that Thomas Markle would not escort his daughter down the aisle, everyone wondered who would walk with her. Some thought perhaps her mother Doria Ragland should do the honor, so I wrote this post about the last mother to escort a British Royal bride: Queen Victoria! (Prince Charles accompanied Meghan on the day.)
#2 THE BERNADOTTE QUEENS OF SWEDEN
In observation of the 200th anniversary of the House of Bernadotte, I offered up these mini bios of the dynasty's Queens from Napolean's ex-girlfriend to today's Brazilian-German "Dancing Queen."
#1 BOOK REVIEW: THE QUEST FOR QUEEN MARY
By far, the most popular post of the year was this review of Hugo Vickers book tracing the work and notes of James Pope-Hennessy's official biography of Queen Mary. It is a truly incredible volume that I cannot recommend too highly. In fact, I hope that the thousands of people who read this review also read the book!
Here, on the Princess Palace, I also added a new feature, the monthly Princess Poll, which you all seem to enjoy. At the same, I continued our profiles of historic and contemporary princess as well as offering some historic perspectives on the monarchy today. Based on your readership, you like this variety of offerings. Here are your favorite 18 Princess Palace posts of 2018. (Click the title to link to the post.)
 |
| Queen Noor al-Hussein from World Skull Forum via Wikimedia Commons |
Christmas Day marked the 50th anniversary of King Hussein of Jordan's third marriage. In anticipation of the occasion, I offered up these mini bios of the four dynamic women whom the legendary king married.
#17 YOUR FAVORITE PRINCESS OF WALES
In one of the earliest Princess Polls, I asked you to choose between the four most recent Princesses of Wales. Not surprisingly, Diana emerged as the leader, but many, many people opted to champion Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, who chooses not to use the Wales title. I was a bit surprised by the outcome, but hope this bodes well for the upcoming Charlesian monarchy.
#16 THE LAST ROMANOV LADIES PART 2
My four-part series honoring ALL of the Russian Imperial women who were alive at the start of the Russian Revolution included this piece that focused on Tsar Nicholas' mother and sisters. Part 3 and Part 4 were not far down the list. Surprisingly, Part 1 about the murdered Empress and her daughters did not rise very high in the year's readership.
#15 YOUR FAVORITE CROWN PRINCESS
It's a bit unusual for posts published so late in the year to rise into the top, but this Princess Poll made the cut. In this one, readers were asked to select between the Mary of Denmark, Masako of Japan, Mette-Marit of Norway and Victoria of Sweden. Interestingly, the one who won is the only who was born royal, but people seem to like her for her "common" touch.
 |
| Anne Princess Royal from Chatham House via Wikimedia Commons |
For this edition of the Princess Poll series, you were asked which of the four British Princess of the Blood tops your list: Alexandra, Anne, Beatrice or Eugenie. Spunk and grit seem to be the characteristics you must preferred in this one.
#13 PRINCESS CHARLOTTE BREAKS GLASS CEILING
Prince Louis of Cambridge's birth in April marked a historic moment in Britain. It was the first time in British history that an older sister did not yield her right of succession to a younger brother. In an age when women are still not recognized as equal human beings in many parts of the world, I felt it was a moment to celebrate.
#12 MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF WHAT?
Okay, one of the things that we royal watchers most enjoy is trying to guess what a baby's name will be. Second to that is guessing future titles! This post explored some of the options that might have been granted Prince Harry upon his marriage. (Full disclosure, I really did not think Sussex would be the choice.)
#11 MEGHAN THE SCOTTISH DUCHESS?
Continuing with the title guessing games (like #12 above), I got a bit carried away with the idea that The Queen might select a Royal Dukedom for Prince Harry with significant Scottish connections. I was excited, but wrong again. Of course, he did receive a secondary Scottish title, Earl of Dumbarton, which will be used as a courtesy title by his oldest son, if he has one. (I'm hoping for a girl this spring -- hello, I write about princesses -- but I'll probably be wrong again. My prognosticator has been off for a while now.)
#10 AN AFRICAN HONEYMOON
Inspired by recent reading of the official biography of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, this post spotlight's her strong and decades-long interest in Africa, which started when she and her new husband spent months there during a partly official and partly private sojourn when they were still just the Duke and Duchess of York.
 |
| Queen Maxima Oliver Abels (SVT) via Wikimedia Commons |
The very first Princess Poll post continued to get traffic throughout the year causing it to also be your favorite Princess Poll post. This poll focused on the four younger consorts: Letizia, Mathilde, Maxima and Rania. The colorful and vivacious Dutch queen from Argentina took was more popular than the other three combined.
#8 A TRULY ROYAL IN-LAW: INGEBORG OF DENMARK
As they say, "it's who you know." Ingeborg may not have been a significantly ranked royal lady herself, but she was closely related to many very significant royals, including monarchs in Denmark, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Russia.
#7 LOSING HER PRINCE
In commiseration with Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, whose consort Prince Henrik passed away in February, I offered this look at reigning Queens who lost their spouses and lived the longest in widowhood. Queen Victoria is likely the most famous royal widow, but she actually was not the longest widowed...
#6 MEET THE DUCHESS OF SUSSEX
As rumors became stronger that Prince Harry would be created Duke of Sussex upon his marriage to Meghan Markle, I decided to take a look at the history of the Duchesses of Sussex. It turned out that Meghan is actually the very first because, although the only previous Duke of Sussex had two wives, neither woman was granted royal titles or styles. This post introduces both of them.
#5 A SUCCESSFUL YOUNG QUEEN: MARGARET OF FRANCE
Early in 2018, I finally turned the spotlight on King Edward I's second wife, Margaret of France. It was about time considering that I had covered his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, all the way back in 2011. Barely more than an adolescent when she became Queen of England and following a well-loved predecessor, Margaret was remarkably successful as both wife and queen.
 |
| Prince Louis and The Duchess of Cambridge Matt Porteous/Kensington Palace |
So, I must admit that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did not name their son Frederick or Alfred, but considering the names of their first two children, it seemed logical that they might pick a name from among those commonly used by the Hanoverian Dynasty. As always, though, my predictions were incorrect.
#3 THE MOTHER OF BRIDE
In May, when it was announced that Thomas Markle would not escort his daughter down the aisle, everyone wondered who would walk with her. Some thought perhaps her mother Doria Ragland should do the honor, so I wrote this post about the last mother to escort a British Royal bride: Queen Victoria! (Prince Charles accompanied Meghan on the day.)
#2 THE BERNADOTTE QUEENS OF SWEDEN
In observation of the 200th anniversary of the House of Bernadotte, I offered up these mini bios of the dynasty's Queens from Napolean's ex-girlfriend to today's Brazilian-German "Dancing Queen."
#1 BOOK REVIEW: THE QUEST FOR QUEEN MARY
By far, the most popular post of the year was this review of Hugo Vickers book tracing the work and notes of James Pope-Hennessy's official biography of Queen Mary. It is a truly incredible volume that I cannot recommend too highly. In fact, I hope that the thousands of people who read this review also read the book!
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