Friday, 1 January 2016

How the royals wished us 'Happy New Year'


King Harald has given his traditional New Year message
(photo kongehuset.no)

We're all hoping for a Happy New Year and as 2016 got under way, royals across Europe joined in with those wishes. There were official speeches, messages and tweets but they all ended in the same way - Happy New Year.



Prince Albert II of Monaco records his New Year message for 2016

Prince Albert II of Monaco reflected on a year just past he described as intense and made reference, as many of his fellow sovereigns had in their messages over the festive period, to the violence which affected many in 2015.  He also added his support for the work undertaken at COP21 recently where heads of state committed to reducing global warming. And he reached out to those who are lonely or unwell or to those who feel unsure of the future and offered them his compassion.



There was compassion, too, in the New Year message of King Harald V of Norway. The king spoke of hope and encouraged his audience to 'take care of each other and make every moment count'. He also reflected on his upcoming Silver Jubilee and spoke movingly of the night in 1991 when he lost his father, King Olav, and became a monarch himself. He recalled the square outside the palace filled with darkness that was lit by those who came to pay tribute to Olav and talked about the support so many gave him as he grieved his father. And he praised those who help others, at home and overseas, and ended by reflecting that the twelve months to come will bring milestones and that he hoped at the end of 2016 people will say it has been a good year.


Queen Margrethe of Denmark makes her New Year's Eve speech
December 31st 2015, Copenhagen

There were also words of thanks for those who assist others from Queen Margrethe of Denmark who paid tribute to the work done to support many areas of the community in her New Year's Eve speech. The Danish queen reflected on the violence that had marked the year just past but told her audience it reminded us all that we are part of one community, not isolated from one another. And just after surprising many by announcing the retirement of her husband, Prince Henrik, from public life she asked her audience to look to the future with hope and said she wished that happiness would prevail in the year to come and that any challenges were met with confidence.



While Estelle, Leonore and Nicolas slept the grown ups in their family wished everyone Happy New Year and reminded us all that there will be two new members as 2016 comes to an end

The Swedish Royal Family released a new photo to mark New Year's Eve and invited readers of their website to look back on the year just gone. The bumps in the photo reminded everyone that an even busier 2016 is on the cards.  


The British Monarchy Twitter account, followed now by 1.69 million people led the Royal Family's New Year wishes by sharing a special photo of the Queen and Prince Philip from 2015. There was also a special photo montage on the official Instagram account.


The photo montage shared on the British Monarchy Instagram page to mark the end of 2015 and which has been liked 11,000 times in total in less than a day

 The photo montage shared a little while later on the Clarence House account is still playing catch up on the likes (around 3,000 so far) but it gave an interesting overview of the year just gone for Charles and Camilla.


There was a simple New Year message from the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall on their Twitter account but they did also tweet out a review of the year past featuring one of the most famous images of the couple taken in 2015.



Leading the British royal Instagram charge, as might be expected, was Kensington Palace which shared the same video on that site as it did on its Twitter feed. And the pictures, starring George and Charlotte, were instant hits.



The overriding themes were hope and happiness, an appropriate way to start 2016. Happy New Year!
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