Royals on social media, week ending July 26th 2014

A round up of the best images and messages on the official social media accounts of Europe's royal houses for the week ending July 26th 2014...

Let the Games begin

The Commonwealth Games got under way in Glasgow on July 23rd 2014 and the Queen starred in several images taken at the opening ceremony and posted on the British Monarchy and Clarence House Instgram accounts including a behind the scenes image.

The British Monarchy tweeted several photos of the Queen and Prince Philip touring the Games on July 24th 2014.

And the British Monarchy retweeted one of the most famous photos of the week - the Queen photobombing a selfie being taken by Jayde Taylor and Brooke Peris. 

Elizabeth and Elisabeth

Buckingham Palace released previously unseen footage of the Queen as a young princess to mark the opening of a new exhibition on royal childhood.  The video was placed on the official You Tube channel of the British Monarchy.

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium took a leading role in the events marking her country's national day.  The Duchess of Brabant did a walkabout with her parents as they marked the first anniversary of the accession of King Philippe and led the events on Belgium's special day for the first time - as seen on the Belgian Monarchy's Twitter account and Facebook page.

Birthday boy

There was a lot of interest in a little boy who turned one on July 22nd 2014.  Prince George of Cambridge's birthday was marked on the Clarence House and British Monarchy Twitter accounts with the release of the three official photos and the hashtag #HappyBirthdayPrinceGeorge.  

George's grandfather, Prince Charles, was seen showing one of the presents given to him to pass on to the little prince on a public engagement on a photo retweeted by Clarence House and taken by Radio Tay News.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge put out a social media thank you on the Clarence House Twitter account to pass on their good wishes to all those who had celebrated the first year of their son's life with them.

Out and about

The King and Queen of Spain made a presentation visit to Paris on July 22nd 2014 and the Royal Household's official Twitter feed retweeted a Vine by the Elysee Palace showing Felipe VI and Letizia with Francois Hollande.

Queen Sonja of Norway made her first visit to the Faroe Islands and photos of her in traditional costume featured on the official Facebook page.