What's Occurring? The Queen loses the Christmas Day top spot to Gavin and Stacey

She's been the Christmas Day star for the past few years but as the decade draws to a close, the Queen has lost top spot to some long lost favourites. Initial ratings for the UK festive TV ratings shows Her Majesty coming in second to the return of one of the BBC's best loved comedies.

Royals on social media - trains, boats and planes

It's been a busy week for the royals on social media - here's what the courts of Europe have been posting on their official accounts....

Trains, boats and planes

The official Twitter feed of the Spanish Royal Household showed King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia taking the train to an engagement in Valladolid - with quite a few passengers watching on.

The Queen named the UK's biggest ever warship at a ceremony at Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland on July 4th 2014.  The queen named the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth by smashing a bottle of malt whiskey onto it - a moment captured on the British Monarchy's Instagram account..

And a flypast by military helicopters after the naming of HMS Queen Elizabeth featured on a Vine clip on the British Monarchy's official Twitter account

Sporting matters

Another week, another chance for King Philippe of the Belgians to show his support for his team's football squad who are now in the quarter finals of the World Cup.  The king has really embraced the tournament and just after the second round victory which sent the Red Devils into the last eight, the official Belgian Monarchy Twitter account posted a photo of Philippe with the team...

Prince Harry lent his support to the England women's Rugby Team ahead of their participation in the World Cup in August in a video posted to the Clarence House Twitter feed and the British Monarchy's You Tube channel.

The Duchess of Cambridge hit the school gym in the week - she took part in an event at a college in Islington, London as part of her work with MPact which helps children whose parents are struggling with addictions.  Kate was photographed with comedian, John Bishop, on Clarence House's Instagram.

Royal surprises

The Dutch Royal Household retweeted a photo from Madurodam, a park that brings the Netherlands to life in miniature.  The king and queen and their children were shown in an image printed in 3D.

And a photo of a relaxed Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist, from their official engagement press conference, was posted on the Swedish Royal Household's Facebook page as the couple sent their thanks for the good wishes they had received after announcing their marriage plans.

Queen Sonja of Norway starred on the Norwegian Royal Household's Facebook page in an archive image from 1970, released again to mark her 77th birthday on July 4th 2014.

The kids are alright

Prince Harry helped some children in Santiago unwind after class when he danced with them to Katy Perry in a video published on the Clarence House Twitter feed and the British Monarchy You Tube channel.

The Duchess of Cornwall met school children during her visit to Wales - it featured in a Vine clip from Clarence House..

And Queen Mathilde of the Belgians was at the Huise aan Zee, a school for children with special needs, which is about to begin its holidays although some pupils will stay there throughout the break to offer them the assistance they need.

Royals on social media - babies, football and teapots

The royals have been busy on their official social media sites this week and the choice of material they're using is getting wider all the time.  Prince Harry has been the real star in the week ending June 28th 2014, with virtually every move of his trip to Brazil and Chile captured on Instagram and Twitter.  But the Belgian royals are also getting a reputation as savvy social media users with reports that it's making King Philippe seem more accessible in some parts of his country.  Here's a selection of the best posts on official royal social media accounts this week.

And the award for cutest royal photo of the year goes to....

Prince Harry.  With a baby.  In Chile.  The image of the prince holding eight month old Malias Gonzales Torres was already cute when it was revealed on the Instagram post by Clarence House that little boy had woken up from a nap to greet his royal visitor.  The smiles said it all.

Except the prince had already given us an uber cute social media snap via Instagram the day before on a visit to Sagrada Familia kindergarten in Santiago where he played the pan pipes with three year old Francisca.

Football crazy

It was still all about football on royal social media this week and as their team is doing particularly well at the World Cup, it's no surprise that the Belgian Monarchy's Twitter account featured plenty snaps of royals enjoying football.  Prince Gabriel kept it close to home and to his heart with a picture on Twitter of some Panini stickers sent to him.

His dad, Philippe, starred in one of the selfies of the World Cup when the king was snapped with Marouane Fellaini after he and Queen Mathilde watched the second group stage match at the start of the week.  And the Belgian royal Twitter account showed Philippe taking another selfie, this time with Adnan Januzaj.

And while Spain's royals didn't get the chance to head out to Brazil to support their team, they did send a thank you message to them after their shock first round exit.

A tale of two presents

The Queen starred in a huge amount of social media this week as she visited the set of Game of Thrones.  She was presented with her own miniature Iron Throne but her Instagram photo showed her looking at the real thing.

In contrast, her heir was seen on the Clarence House Instagram page on the same day receiving a gift of his own.  Not quite as famous or glamourous but Charles still looked pleased with his new teapot.

Royal photo opportunities

Sometimes, photographers just strike gold.  They go along to cover a run of the mill royal event and end up with a snap that will become a favourite out of nowhere.  We all know a royal wedding will produce a kiss and most official duties will offer some waves and smiles.  But every now and again there's a moment no one expected.  Like the King of Sweden getting involved in tree cutting.

King Carl XVI Gustaf on his tour of Sweden as part of his jubilee celebrations in August 2013

Quite what the machine that the king is trying out does is anyone's guess.  He certainly looks as bemused as the rest of us.  But the photo itself is bound to be used time and time again.  The king's bemused expression, the strangeness of the machine itself, Queen Silvia looking on -what more can we ask for?  How about a king and fish?

Harald of Norway's country has made a lot of money from fishing so maybe that explains why he's been stunned into silence by the sight of this fish

King Harald of Norway got caught at just the right angle during one visit linked to one of his country's biggest money spinners to provide a photo opportunity many a snapper would give their back catalogue for.  A king stunned into silence by a dead fish.

The Queen in a golf buggy - no pressure on that driver, then

And certainly no one turning up to the opening of the Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace earlier this summer expected to see Queen Elizabeth II arrive to kick off proceedings on the back of a golf buggy.  But there she was with Camilla alongside trundling along at 5 mph.  It's up there with George and Lupo as one of the royal photos of the year.