Part 3 of our look back at the European royals in 2016 covers September through December.
September:
The month of September was very busy and had the christening of Prince Alexander of Sweden, Princess Madeleine and Queen Silvia making a young girl’s dream come true, the Norwegian royals hosting a garden party and viewing of the film The King’s Choice in Jubilee Park, various royals attending the general assembly of the UN, Princess Caroline of Monaco in the Congo, Prinsjesdag in the Netherlands, Princess Charlene attending an AIDS conference, and the Crown Prince Couple of Denmark on a trip to the USA.
The 1st of the month had the Norwegian Royal Family hosting a garden party for 1,500 guests from across the country in Palace Park. The King gave a passionate speech on diversity at the event. On the 21st, they would host a viewing of the film The King’s Choice in Jubilee Park.
Norwegian Royal Family at the Silver Jubilee garden party on 1 September. Photo: Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen, The Royal Court, Norway.
The 9th of September saw Prince Alexander of Sweden be christened at the Royal Chapel of Drottningholm Palace. Our Europe Correspondent, Laura Dekkers, was at the event and wrote her account here.
Prince Carl Philip, Princess Sofia & Prince Alexander (Busschots E. & Dekkers L.)
The same day had Princess Charlene of Monaco in Geneva on World First Aid Day. While there Charlene, as Goodwill Ambassador for International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC), calls for children around the world to be trained in first aid during a press briefing on World First Aid Day.
Princess Charlene on 9 September. UN Photo / Violaine Martin
On 12th of the month, Princess Madeleine made a seven-year-old girl named Enna’s dream come true through her patronage Min Stora Dag. Enna wanted to meet Madeleine and Queen Silvia at the Royal Palace.
Princess Madeleine being presented with a drawing from Enna, while Queen Silvia looks on. Photo: Kate Gabor, The Royal Court Sweden
From the 19th through the 24th, various royals from across the world were in New York City for the United Nations. Royals in attendance included King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan, and Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau.
King Felipe of Spain speaking to the General Assembly Seventy-first session: Opening of the General Debate 71 United Nations, New York. Photo Credit: UN Photo/Cia Pak
Prinsjesdag was celebrated on 20 September in the Netherlands. This occasion has the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, address a joint session of Dutch Senate and House of Representatives in the Hall of Knights. Afterward, the King, Queen Máxima, Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien on the balcony at Noordeinde Palace.
Photo: Roel Wijnants (CC BY-NC 2.0) via Flickr
The 27 September was the beginning of the Crown Prince Couple of Denmark’s four-day visit to the United States where they were in Washington D.C. and Boston, Massachusetts, as part of a trade delegation.
Crown Prince Frederick and Crown Princess Mary in Boston on 30 September 2016. Photo: Sarah Williams
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, front left, leads a run with retired Air Force Tech. Sgt. Adam Popp at the National Mall in Washington, 28 Sept 2016. Frederik and wounded veterans from Denmark and the United States ran 3.8 miles around the National Mall for a Wounded Warrior Run. Photo: U.S. Department of Defense (Public Domain) by EJ Hersom
Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Photo: Sarah Williams
On 28th of the month, Princess Caroline of Monaco was in the Congo as part of her work with Association Nationale Monégasque des Amis De l’Enfance, or World Association of Children’s Friends in English.
Photo MONUSCO/Alain Wandimoyi
October:
In October, the King and Queen of Sweden visited Germany, King Harald opened Norway’s Parliament, National Day for Spain was celebrated, Swedish royals opened their wedding dress exhibit, and Queen Máxima was in Argentina and opened an exhibition in Apeldoorn.
On the 3rd of October, King Harald of Norway and the Norwegian Royal Family attended the opening of the Norwegian Parliament.
King Harald and Queen Sonja on their way to the opening of Parliament. Photo: Oskar Aanmoen
The 5th of October had Queen Máxima opening an exhibition on her predecessor at the Loo Palace in Apeldoorn. It’s called the “Anna Pavlovna, Colourful Queen” and will run until 5 February 2017.
© Moniek Bloks
From the 5th through the 8th of October, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden paid an official state visit to Germany.
Their Majesties at the state banquet. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer, Royal Court, Sweden.
The 12th of October is National Day in Spain, and the King and his family attended various celebrations to commemorate the day.
King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Leonor, Princess of Asturias, and the Infanta Sofía participate in the National Day festivities in Madrid. Photo: Marco Romero/MDE
The same day had Queen Máxima returning to her home country of Argentina as part of her role as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance.
Queen Máxima greets Argentine President, Mauricio Macri at the Casa Rosada on 12 October 2016. Photo: Official Casa Rosada (CC 2.5 Argentina)
The 17th of the month had Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, and Princess Sofia touring the exclusive royal wedding dress exhibit at Stockholm Palace the day before its official opening. Princess Madeleine was due to attend, but she and her two children became ill with a stomach virus the night before.
Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, and Princess Sofia at the inauguration of the exhibit. Photo: H Garlöv/Kungahuset.se
November:
During November, Luxembourg got a new prince, Monaco celebrated their National Day, Princess Marie visited Myanmar, new photos of the three young Dutch princesses, King and Queen of Spain visited Portugal, Belgian state visit to the Netherlands, and Crown Prince Couple of Norway visited Canada.
At the beginning of the month, Princess Marie of Denmark travelled to Myanmar for poverty reduction.
Princess Marie on a visit to a women’s group in the village of Hsi Hsv West Village in Myanmar, where the goal is to empower women and their rights. Photo: Nikolaj Svennevig (CC) via DanChurchAid
From the 7th to the 10th of November, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit visited Canada for business, technology and innovation, cultural and creative industries and the Arctic. They also met Canadian officials.
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit visits Toronto on their third day of their tour. They started at a social hub before visiting the Innovation Centre MaRS. Photo: Tom Hansen/Innovation Norway via Flickr
The 17th of the month had the Royal House of the Netherlands releasing several new photographs of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima’s three daughters: Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane.
The Princess of Orange, Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane. Photo: RVD, Jeroen van der Meyde
On 19 November of each year, Monaco celebrates their national day called The Sovereign Prince’s Day. Prince Albert and Princess Charlene’s twins made a rare public appearance during the celebrations.
Prince Albert II of Monaco (R) holding Princess Gabriella, and princess Charlene of Monaco (L) holding Prince Jacques, appear on the balcony of the Monaco Palace during the celebrations marking Monaco’s National Day, on 19 November 2016 in Monaco. (AFP / VALERY HACHE /AFP/Getty Images)
From the 28 – 30 November, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium paid a state visit to the Netherlands.
Wreath laying ceremony at the Dam, in Amsterdam on
28-11-2016. Photo Courtesy of KingPhilippePictures via Tumblr
Queen Mathilde and Queen Maxima leaving from the Ridderzaal, in The Hague on 29-11-2016. Photo Courtesy of KingPhilippePictures via Tumblr
On 28 November, Princess Claire of Luxembourg gave birth to her and Prince Félix’s second child, a son, in Geneva, Switzerland. His name was announced on 6 December as Prince Liam Henri Hartmut of Nassau with six photographs introducing the newborn royal to the world. They were taken by his grandmother, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.
Princess Amalia with her new baby brother, Prince Liam. © 2016 Grand-Ducal Court / private photo S.A.R. la Grande-Duchesse / all rights reserved
The same day saw the beginning of King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain’s three-day trip to Portugal. They visited their neighbouring country from 28 through the 30 of the month.
Their Majesties the Kings and the President of the Portuguese Republic, before the beginning of the dinner. © Casa de S.M. el Rey
December:
The last month of 2016 saw royals releasing their Christmas photos, the Nobel Peace prizes awarded in Norway and Sweden, Crown Princess Couple of Sweden travelling to Italy, Queen Letizia in Italy for a nutrition symposium, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg meeting those who had been enslaved under IS, Monaco twins turning 2, and Christmas addresses from the monarchs.
Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain travelled to Rome, Italy, on 2 December for a nutrition symposium at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations at their headquarters.
Photographer Peter Menzel and editor Faith D’Aluisio presenting their exhibit ‘What I Eat: Around the World in 80 diets’ to FAO Special Ambassador for Nutrition Queen Letizia of Spain. Photo: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto
The 6th of December had Crown Princess Mary attending a Christmas reception for the partners of the Mary Foundation in Frederik VIII’s Palace.
The Mary Foundation works with a number of Greenlandic partners who are crucial to our joint efforts in the country. Here the Crown Princess and Helle Østergaard speaks with Ellen Kristiansen, Henrik Sørensen and Kirsten Ørgaard from Dandelion Centre, which is part of the project Kattunneq. Photo: Steen Brogaard/Mary Foundation
On 10 December, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in Norway by King Harald to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were all in attendance. Our Europe Correspondent, Oskar Aanmoen was at the day’s events.
Photo: Oskar Aanmoen
Other Nobel Prizes were given out by King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm. All members of the Swedish Royal Family were in attendance with the exception of the King’s sister, Princess Christina who is battling chronic leukaemia. The next evening, the King hosted a dinner for the Nobel laureates at the Royal Palace.
The Royal Family with Yoshinori Ohsumi and Mariko Ohsumi. Photo: H Garlöv/Royal Court, Sweden
The Christmas card of the Spanish Royal Family was revealed on 13 December.
Infanta Sofía, Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor, and King Felipe on their 2016 Christmas card. Photo: © Casa de S.M. el Rey
The next day Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Estelle accepted the Christmas trees at the Royal Palace. A Christmas lunch was held later that day, and Princess Madeleine shared a photo of Princesses Estelle and Leonore and Prince Nicolas.
Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Estelle received the Christmas trees of students from SLU. Photo: H Garlöv/kungahuset.se
“Cousins at Christmas Lunch at the Palace yesterday!” – Princess Madeleine via her official Facebook
On 15 December, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa met escapees of IS sexual slavery at the Grand Ducal Palace.
©2016 Cour grand-ducale/Claude Piscitelli/tous droits réservés.
The same day began a three-day visit to Italy of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. While there, the Crown Princess of Sweden attended a FAO seminar in Rome.
©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti
On 19 of the month, the Crown Princess Family of Sweden released their Christmas video, as they do every year.
December 2016 Photo: H Garlov/kungahuset.se
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco released their Christmas card and photos on 23 December. On Christmas Eve, the family released a behind-the-scenes video of the day the photographs were taken. The Prince and Princess of Monaco then wished everyone a Merry Christmas in both French and English. The video can be seen at the top of this article.
The full family photo featured on this year’s Christmas card. Photo: Vanessa Von Zitzewitz / Palais Princier
The Belgian Monarchy released their Christmas card photo on the same day in a tweet saying, “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Philippe, Mathilde, Elisabeth, Gabriel, Emmanuel and Eléonore.”
The 2016 Belgian Monarchy’s Christmas card. Photo: Laura Dekkers
On Christmas Eve, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, King Philippe of Belgium, and King Felipe of Spain gave their annual Christmas Eve addresses to their people.
© Casa de S.M. el Rey
Also on Christmas Eve, the Royal House of the Netherlands released their Christmas photo with the message, “Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous new year. – Willem-Alexander and Máxima.” The King gave his Christmas address the next day. The family travelled to Argentina to spend Christmas with Her Majesty’s family.
The Dutch Royal Family. Photo: RVD/Jeroen van der Meyde
Queen Margrethe of Denmark, King Harald of Norway, and Prince Albert of Monaco addressed their people on the 31 December.