07 January 2016

Throwback Thursday: Towhead Anne

I absolutely had to share this photo when I saw it because I am in love with Princess Anne's hair! The royal family relaxes in Scotland every summer--notice Prince Philip's kilt. However, the Queen and the Queen Mom look like they could be back in London for a garden party. Everything about Anne in this photo is adorable: the little plaid skirt, the ankle socks. You can barely even see Prince Charles hiding behind Anne's mop of blonde curls. Plus, you can see how much her own children and grandchildren resemble her when you see photos of her as a little girl.


05 January 2016

Princesses to Watch in 2016

Barring any tragedies, this will be a relatively uneventful year for Europe's royal families, with the notable exception of Sweden, where two royal babies are already expected this year. Elsewhere, new babies are not very likely and marriages are also unlikely this year--because nearly all of the eligible princes and princesses are already married, with the exception of The United Kingdom. So, who can we reasonably expect to see having a big year in 2016:

Ben Fisher/GAVI Alliance
via Wikimedia Commons
Cristina of Spain 
No royal wedding or birth this year can possibly be bigger than the impending trial and possible conviction of Infanta Cristina of Spain and her husband for fraud. After years of investigation, charges, and maneuvering, the case will finally go to trial later this month, with resolutions possible before summer. If convicted, they each face years of incarceration. It is unclear what would happen to the their children, the youngest of whom is ten. No matter what the verdict, I suspect the case will continue to rock the Spanish royal family for years to come, and a conviction, especially of Cristina, could be incredibly devastating. The King has already removed his sister's ducal title, but if she is found guilty, he will undoubtedly be forced to take further measures to demonstrate his condemnation and preserve the future of the monarchy. It is not good at all.

Beatrice, Eugenie and Princess Harry 


In the United Kingdom, the York sisters are both around the age their mother was when she married Prince Andrew, and they have both been in relationships for several years. I promised earlier this week that I would not include Beatrice on this list for the third year in a row--because perhaps I am jinxing her--but this year, I will include her younger sister Eugenie as a possible royal bride in 2016. In the meantime, their cousin Prince Harry is the only other unmarried adult grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II. Since it is unlikely that his sister-in-law will be expecting another child this year, I expect that more and more attention is going to focus on future brides for Harry. I have not heard any whispers of serious relationships for him in a while, but that doesn't mean anything; King Felipe of Spain's engagement to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano took the world entirely by surprise. Maybe Harry has a secret love we haven't even heard of yet...

Alexandra and Princess Sebastien of Luxembourg 


Elsewhere the only other eligible royals are the two youngest children of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Alexandra will be 25 in February and Sebastien will be 24 in April, so although young they are still marriageable--one of their older brothers, Louis, married at age 20! I wouldn't be surprised if Alexandra has altar date in the next few years, especially since her mother married at 24. 

Victoria, Sofia and Madeleine of Sweden


We already know that Victoria's second child is due in March and brand-new Princess Sofia is expecting her first shortly after. So, there are at least two babies (unless someone is having multiples!) Also, it is not impossible that Madeleine could announce another pregnancy in 2016. Her first two children were born only 15 months apart. If she were to follow that same pattern, we could have another little one as early as September! I suppose we should be content with the bonanza of Swedish babies we already have, (see my post on Royal Baby Booms) but it is always fun to dream of just one more...

Stephanie of Luxembourg and Charlene of Monaco 

I think the only other royal ladies that we would not be surprised to hear pregnancy announcements from are the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, who married her prince in 2012, and the Princess of Monaco, who just celebrated the first birthday of her twins. Although this would be close spacing for Charlene, who will be 38 later this month, she might not wish to wait long if she plans on expanding her family. The sisters-in-law of Stephanie might also welcome another child in 2016; Claire's daughter will be two this summer and Tessy's two boys will be eight and nine this year. 

Minor Players 

It would not be surprising at all if we saw more marriages and babies from the Casiraghi and Ducruet nieces and nephews of the Prince of Monaco. Andrea Casiraghi's family is probably stable for this year, but newlywed Pierre Casiraghi might be wishing for offspring soon. Their sister Charlotte already has one child out of wedlock, so another baby or a marriage for her are possibilities. Meanwhile, the oldest children of Princess Stephanie, Louise and Pauline Ducruet, are now in their early 20s and therefore are potential parents and/or marriage partners -- the Monagesques seem a little blasé about which comes first. Even the Prince's oldest acknowledged illegitimate child, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, is adult enough, although she seems to be devoting her time to getting a modeling career off the ground, so a pregnancy might not figure into her plans at the moment. In Britain, I doubt we will see any children for Princess Anne's offspring. I would bet that Peter and Autumn Phillips are content with their two girls while Zara Phillips Tindall will not want to add a second child with the Olympics this August. Maybe next year for Zara...

The Unmentionable

With 14 monarchs, former monarchs, and consorts beyond the average life expectancy in the current monarchies, it is conceivable (God forbid) that we could lose at least one of them. The oldest of these is Jean, the retired Grand Duke of Luxembourg who celebrates his 95th birthday today. Just months behind him is Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh, who will be 95 in June, then his wife Queen Elizabeth II, who will enter her 90s in April. Former King Albert of Belgium; Franz Joseph, former Prince of Liechtenstein; and Prince Henrik of Denmark, who has just announced his retirement are octogenarians. Now in the last half of their late 70s are Margrethe II of Denmark, former Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, the Emeriti King and Queen of Spain, the King and Queen of Norway, former Queen Paola of Belgium, and Josephine former Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Many of these monarchs and former monarchs also have siblings who are also at advanced ages. In 2012, we lost Princess Ragnhild of Norway; in 2013, Princess Lillian of Sweden; in 2014, Queen Fabiola of Belgium; and last year, Princess Astrid of Norway's husband, the Olympian Johan Martin Ferner. This trend sadly could continue...

More Cheerfully 

You knew I wouldn't leave Kate out. Although, as I said, I don't think we will have another pregnancy in the Cambridge family any time soon, I'm sure that we will still have wall-to-wall coverage as Kate takes on more duties this year following her maternity leave. She is still unlikely to take on a full load since she is not married to the heir (that's Camilla, everyone) and since she clearly wants to spend time raising her children. Despite tabloid rumors to the contrary, I suspect that Queen Elizabeth II fully supports that desire since she herself had so little time with her babies before becoming Queen. Prince Charles was three and Anne was 18 months when she succeeded to the throne.

04 January 2016

Princess Round-Up 2015

At the beginning of 2015, I continued the Princess Palace tradition of creating a list of Princesses to Watch. Let's take a look at how well I predicted the newsworthy royal ladies of 2015:



1. Princess Caroline of Monaco
I anticipated that we would see some coverage about the 25th anniversary of the tragic death of her second husband, Stefano Casiraghi, but with all the news of weddings and babies for their three children, the anniversary passed almost without notice.


2. The Duchess of Cornwall
I predicted that the media would cover the tenth anniversary of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. The milestone reignited public conversation about whether she would become Princess Consort, as the Palace previously announced, or Queen Consort upon her husband's accession with media and public opinion fairly well divided on either side.


3. Princess Alexia of The Netherlands
As the second child of the King, Princess Alexia clearly draws less media attention than her older sister the Princess of Orange. Her tenth birthday passed with less fanfare than her older sister's 12th birthday later in the year.


4. The Princess of Asturias
In contrast to Alexia's birthday, the double-digit achievement was highly noted for the heir to the Spanish throne. I guess first-born royals will always get more than the lion's share of attention.


5. Princess Eugenie of York
And in the U.K., a milestone birthday for any princess is apparently even more noteworthy. Many stories were written in the lead up to and aftermath of Eugenie's 25th birthday. She also garnered more media attention for moving back to London from New York and her romantic relationship with Jack Brooksbank seemed to be more heavily covered this year.


6. Sofia Hellqvist
Sofia was the star of the biggest royal event of the year. Swedish royal weddings are remarkably formal and incredibly cozy at the same time. Sofia's transition into princess-hood was covered around the world with everything from a her new tiara to her unusual choice of wedding music were remarked upon. Then, she got back into the headlines by falling pregnant almost immediately. She is clearly filling her primary royal role although her introduction to official engagements was a little more shaky--for example, on her first sash occasion, her order was not worn properly, but she had gotten it together in time for the Nobel Prize ceremonies.



7. Beatrice Borromeo
Sofia and Carl Philip may have had the most royal royal wedding of the year, but Beatrice Borromeo undoubtedly had the most fashionable. She wore no fewer than six designer gowns over the course of the separate religious and civil ceremonies when she married Princess Caroline's youngest son Pierre Casiraghi this summer. The designers included Armani Prive and Valentino. She also kept the hair stylists busy with styles varying from flowing curls with boho flowers to a sleek braided top knot. Of course, strictly speaking, this wasn't actually a royal wedding since Monaco is a principality and it wasn't even a princely wedding since Pierre bears no titles. However, any grandchild of Princess Grace is royalty for many. (This photo is from this year's Rose Ball.)


8. Tatiana Santo Domingo
Meanwhile, Pierre's big brother Andrea and his wife Tatiana welcomed a new daughter named India to their family, which already included toddler Alexandre. Tatiana barely slowed down her career, however, continuing to lead her ethical fashion company Muzungu sisters. (Seems like a lot of princesses or princess-adjacent ladies thrive in the fashion industry...)


9. The Duchess of Cambridge
The Duchess of Cambridge finally delivered a little princess named Diana as her fans have been demanding since before her wedding. Well, at least, Diana is among Princess Charlotte's names. With the arrival of a little girl to complete the perfect daddy-mummy-son-daughter family, it looks like the public pressure to reproduce may finally be slacking for the Cambridges, which can only mean one thing:  people are going to be seeking a bride for Prince Harry among any women who are seen within 500 feet of him. Don't worry, though, we'll still get lots of Kate. In fact, she also thrilled royal watchers by showing off classic treasures from the royal jewel closet this year--including a tiara that had been closely associated with her late mother-in-law Diana.


10. Princess Madeleine of Sweden
Princess Madeleine is my favorite princess this year. Not only did she continue her work with the charity Childhood and post lovely personal pics on her Facebook page for us, but she also delivered her second child Prince Nicolas just two days after her brother's wedding. It's unlikely that she felt more comfortable than other about-to-burst pregnant women on a warm summer day, but she sure made it look easy to put on a fancy gown, high heels and a tiara and smile beautifully in front of the world's media. Just think of her poor ankles. We can't all aspire to such a fine performance under such conditions, but we can't all be princesses either.


11. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
Here is a direct quote from my predictions for 2015: "So, I will not be surprised if we have triple celebrations in Sweden this year (with a wedding and two babies; if Sofia follows the same time line as Madeleine we could even get a pregnancy announcement from her before the end of the year.)" Every once in a while, I get a prediction exactly right! Victoria's second child is due in March. I suspect that this will be her last child, but if it is half as cute as big sister Princess Estelle, it will be plenty for all of us to enjoy.



12. Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg
With more than three years of marriage, the hereditary couple have yet to announce a pregnancy, a lengthy time for any royal couple and especially for a Catholic one from large families (Stephanie has eight siblings, while husband Guillaume has four). Stephanie is just 31, so if in all likelihood they are hoping for children, she still has time. I can only pray that their journey to parenthood has not already been plagued by the terrible sadness endured by so many families, with somewhere between 25% and 50% of pregnancies ending in miscarriage. If so, they are certainly not the first royal couple to suffer in this way, but that does not make it any easier to heal such grief.


13. Princess Beatrice of York
Okay, after three years of predicting that maybe, just maybe this might be the year that Princess Beatrice finally marries Dave Clark, I refuse to make this prediction for 2016. Dave and Beatrice are now both living in New York City, where it is fun to be young and single. But, perhaps, by not including her this year...


14. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
In addition to the tawdry movies that I predicted would pester Mary like flies, she also was troubled by a nasty rumor (based on a hoax) that she was not getting along with her siblings. So much so, that the Palace actually issued a statement about it. (They also announced that her sister-in-law Princess Marie did not have plastic surgery, as rumored.) Perhaps to prove the point, the entire Crown Princely family spent the Christmas holidays in her homeland of Australia, where her son Prince Christian was swept away by a riptide. Fortunately he was rescued by a life guard. We can only hope that 2016 will not include so many worries.


15. Infanta Cristina of Spain, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca
Not only has a date for Cristina's trial finally been set for this month, but royal watchers were a bit stunned last spring when her brother the King announced that she was being stripped of her title Duchess of Palma de Mallorca. Although she retains the rank and style of infanta for now, it will be interesting to see what happens if she or her husband are convicted. If so, they will face prison time so I must wonder if she would lose her infanta-hood, too. Even more importantly, the couple has four young children (aged 10-16) so a double-conviction would have a very devastating impact on their family. She certainly is on my watch list for 2016.