Royals on social media

It really was the end of the summer this week as several royal social media accounts just put their feet up. And then there was Sweden. Starting where they left off at the beginning of summer, the Swedish royals were pummeling Twitter, Instagram and Facebook in a rush of activity that has really set the pace for the coming months. Here is what they, and a few others, got up to this week in royals on social media.

Saying hello

Princess Sofia of Sweden is really getting into the swing of royal engagements. This week she spent two days in Varmland with her husband - she is its duchess after all - and images of Europe's newest princess were shared on the official Instagram and Facebook pages as she began her royal career.

At the end of the week she was back in Stockholm where she accompanied Queen Silvia at the opening of an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Princess Lilian. Carl Philip was there as well but that was really just incidental as all eyes were on his wife who was the star of the photos shared on the royal Instagram account.

And on National Dog Day, the Duchess of Cornwall encouraged us all to say hello to her rescue pet, Bluebell, as she shared a photo of her on the official Clarence House Twitter account.

Animal lover The Duchess of Cornwall gets a hug from her rescue dog Bluebell. Happy #NationalDogDay! pic.twitter.com/OrGxv7nPJL

— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) August 26, 2015

Lending their support

Queen Maxima was in The Hague in the week paying a visit to Talent Coach, a scheme which encourages professionals to share their skills with more vulnerable members of society. She was clearly enjoying herself in the image shared on the official Twitter account.

Koningin Máxima was @Talentcoach070 , waar professionals uit bedrijfsleven Haagse stadsgenoten coachen @OranjeFonds pic.twitter.com/Pk7dhxPFT1

— Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) August 28, 2015

The Duke of Gloucester headed to the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships in the week to lend his support to all the player as the competition got under way, as featured on the official British Monarchy Twitter account.

The Duke of Gloucester will be @EuroWBchamps15 opening ceremony today - good luck to all the #Euro2015 competitors! pic.twitter.com/qMbbo2DuGT

— BritishMonarchy (@BritishMonarchy) August 28, 2015

The past on social media

But this week was all about princesses of Sweden and alongside the new wife of Carl Philip, there were plenty of images of two women who belonged to that royal house in times past. In Belgium, King Philippe was accompanied by his son, Gabriel, at an event to remember Queen Astrid on the 80th anniversary of her death. . She had, of course, been born a princess of Sweden in 1905 but on her death, on August 29th 1935, she was a much loved Queen of the Belgians.  On the anniversary itself, the official Belgian Monarchy Twitter account shared photos of the queen in her memory.

Une messe en hommage à la Reine Astrid #Küssnacht pic.twitter.com/ZXzUIXklbI

— Belgian Royal Palace (@MonarchieBe) August 29, 2015

But that centenary of the birth of Princess Lilian dominated royal social media and on the actual day itself there were more images and videos shared on the official Facebook, Instagram and You Tube accounts of Sweden's royals. The royal summer ended with a look back and took its final bow with style.