Another month, another set of memories. Every part of the year leaves its mark and the royal story of March 2017 contains happiness, sadness and a bit of controversy. As the month comes to an end, here's a look back at four royal reasons to remember March 2017.
1. William's PR faux pas
The Duke of Cambridge will be wanting to forget part of March 2017 as quickly as possible after he sloped into a right royal row over a ski-ing holiday. Prince William was notably absent from the Commonwealth Day service early on in March but while that raised some questions, what really stoked arguments was the revelation just hours later that the second in line to the throne had skipped to go ski-ing with his friends in Verbier. An embarrassing video of William dad dancing, that appeared soon afterwards, did nothing to help. The decision of the Duke of Cambridge to holiday while his grandparents, father and brother all attended a service that happens at the same time every year led to criticism. It died down and the picture perfect trip to Paris helped to take the sting out. But there's little doubt this was a negative story William didn't need just as he begins to build a higher royal profile.
2. Death of a prince
Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, husband of Princess Benedikte of Denmark, died on March 13th 2017. He was 82. The announcement by the Danish Royal Court described his death as sudden. Prince Richard's funeral was held in Bad Berleburg on March 21st 2017 and attended by royalty from across Europe.
3. Sweden's royal baby boom, part six
It's hard to remember a time when memories weren't made in the Swedish royal nursery and the regal baby focus continued in March with a double dose of good news. Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia announced they are expecting a second baby - a sixth grandchild for King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. The baby, who will be sixth in line to the throne, is due in September and will be a brother or sister for Prince Alexander, who was born in April 2016. Meanwhile, Prince Oscar, son of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, celebrated his first birthday on March 2nd with a series of photos that produced plenty of 'aahs' and marked his mum's return to public life after a few months off to enjoy time with him and his sister, five year old Princess Estelle.
4. State Visit Mania
March was all about State Visits. The Royal Family of Norway welcomed the President of Iceland in the middle of the month while just days later, the King and Queen of the Netherlands hosted the President of Argentina on a two day trip. Within hours of that starting, Denmark's royals were saying hello to King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians as they began a three day State Visit in Copenhagen. And we finally got confirmation that King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain will make a State Visit to the UK in June - meaning the trip by US President Donald Trump will most likely take place in the autumn. It was a month to be dazzled by diamonds and look forward to more to come.
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