Royals in Sochi

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands arrived in Sochi on February 7th for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.  They were among several royals at the ceremony but most had been there several days as they were taking part in a meeting of the International Olympic Committee ahead of the Winter Games.  The Dutch king was an IOC member until last year when he gave up the position owing to his new responsibilities after taking the throne.

Spot the Dutch royals - plenty of orange on display as the king and queen of the Netherlands support their team at the Winter Olympics in Sochi at the opening ceremony on February 7th 2014

Prince Albert of Monaco was joined by his wife, Princess Charlene while the Grand Duke of Luxembourg brought along his second son, Prince Felix, to watch the start of the event.

Prince Albert forgets to unbutton his jacket before waving, no wonder Charlene's not looking

But Princess Anne produced the best royal image of the opening ceremony.  Having complained that the start of Olympics were now all about the spectacle and not about the athletes (she obviously forgot her mum taking part in one of the most famous opening ceremony moments ever), Anne nestled into her seat in her best waterproof coat and spent quite a lot of the evening rummaging in her handbag looking slightly grumpy.  

Princess Anne looks for her ticket to make sure she can get back in if she fancies popping out to get a coffee

Prince Frederik of Denmark has also been in Sochi as the Winter Games get under way and the Swedish and Norwegian royals are expected there in the next week by which time they well may have Olympic champions from each of their nations to cheer on at medal ceremonies.