The changing of the guard

Felipe VI assumed the throne of Spain at the stroke of midnight after his father, Juan Carlos I, abdicated in the early evening of June 18th 2014.  But while the actual moment of his accession was private, the first day of his reign was filled with events to mark the occasion.  First thing in the morning, he met his father at the Zarzuela Palace, where King Juan Carlos presented King Felipe VI with the sash of the head of the Armed Forces - a role that now belongs to the new king.

Felipe VI assumes the role of head of the Armed Forces of Spain as king and his father presented him with the sash that signifies his new role

The two queens of Spain were also present at the ceremony as were the new king's daughters, the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofia, and the daughter of the old king, the Infanta Elena, and her son, Felipe Juan Froilan.

King Juan Carlos and Felipe VI before the handing over of the sash as Queen Sofia and Queen Letizia watch on

And then it was time for the new king and queen to leave the palace for the Spanish Parliament where Felipe VI would be sworn in as monarch and make the first speech of his reign.

Felipe VI leads the new royal family of Spain out of the Zarzuela Palace on their way to the parliament for his official proclamation

Daddy's girls

Three days before he becomes King of Spain, Prince Felipe has been seen in new photos with his two daughters, Leonor and Sofia.  The images were released by the Royal Household less than seventy two hours before the girls go from being daughters of a prince to heiresses to a throne.

The man who will soon be Felipe VI with his daughters, Leonor and Sofia, in an image released on June 16th 2014

The photos were taken on August 1st 2012 as part of the set that marked the 40th birthday of Princess Letizia.  The princess isn't in these images which show Felipe with his heiress and her heiress.  They were tweeted to the 113,000 followers of the Casa Real account at the same time as they were released on the royal website.

A proud father and his daughters - Felipe, Leonor and Sofia

Here come the girls...

For the first time in a long time, well ever, Europe has more queens in waiting that kings.  As Leonor of Spain prepares to become Princess of Asturias, first in line to the throne and the youngest heir in waiting on the continent she also changes history in one more way.  For as she takes on the mantle of next in line to her country's crown, she brings the number of women waiting for a throne to five with just three chaps first in line.  Here come the girls...

History in the making for Leonor of Spain

The Infanta Leonor y Todos los Santos is the youngest.  The oldest is the first woman to be entitled to a crown no matter what - the Crown Princess of Sweden.  Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree, born in 1977, was first in line at birth, dropped briefly to second while the succession laws were changed after the arrival of her brother, and has occupied the top spot since 1980.  She is also the first woman to have a female heiress who will succeed regardless of future siblings.  Estelle Silvia Ewa Mary was born in 2012 as second in line to her country's throne.

Victoria of Sweden is the oldest female heir to the throne

And it's a wide ranging change of laws across Europe that has made the next generation of monarchs an almost exclusively female club.  Forty years ago, most of the women waiting in line to succeed to their country's throne would have been passed over for younger brothers or had no succession rights at all because of their country's rules on who could become monarch. The Belgian heiress - Elisabeth Therese Marie Helene, Duchess of Brabant - will be queen one day but was the first princess born in her country to be guaranteed the right to take the throne, let alone be first in line.  The law change of 1991 which granted women dynastic rights also did away with any idea of men overtaking women.  It means that Elisabeth, like Leonor and Victoria, is guaranteed to wear her country's crown.

Elisabeth of the Belgians, a queen in waiting

As is Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands who, until June 19th 2014, remains Europe's youngest heir to the throne.  The Princess of Orange is the eldest of the three daughters born to King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima but even if she does get a little brother, the law in her country guarantees her right to succeed as the eldest child of the monarch.  It means that the Netherlands will have another queen regnant following the reign of her father, the first king of his country since the 1890s.

Amalia of the Netherlands is currently Europe's youngest heir to the throne

Also in line to be queen one day is Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, eldest child of the current heir to the Norwegian throne, Haakon Magnus.  Like Elisabeth of Belgium, she would have had no succession rights at all without a law change but the rules now give her country's crown to a first born child, no matter what.  And the laws in Denmark and the United Kingdom are now the same but unlike the rest of Europe's monarchies, the first borns in those two countries are all men.  It means that in years to come, Prince Christian and Charles, then William, then George, are likely to be outnumbered.  Here come the girls.

Leonor and Sofia take to the stage

It's been a busy few weeks for kings and queens in waiting.  Prince George stole the show in New Zealand and Australia, Princess Catharina-Amalia was a star in the making on the Netherlands' first ever King Day while Princess Elisabeth of Belgium took to the stage before watching arts in a double dose of public appearances.  And now two royal children not seen that often in public have joined their parents on a very public engagement.  Leonor and Sofia of Spain were with the Prince and Princess of Asturias in Murcia for a special event for their father.

The Infanta Leonor and the Infanta Sofia at their first public engagement in May 2014

The prince was at a commemoration held by the General Air Academy to mark the 25th anniversary of the graduation of the group of officers which included Felipe, future king of Spain.  His daughters watched as he kissed the Spanish flag and took part in celebrations to mark the anniversary.  

The Infantas Leonor and Sofia with their parents in Murcia

There was also a kiss from the prince for the princess with one photo capturing their two girls looking on.

Leonor and Sofia watch mum and dad get smoochy on their family day out

The public engagement also saw the girls watch an air display.  The Prince and Princess of Asturias have been criticised by some in the past who think that their children are too hidden from view with some asking why the two Infantas were yet to perform a public engagement when just about every other royal family had seen its youngest members tackle their first royal duties.  But Leonor and Sofia are on the same track now as their European counterparts and seemed to enjoy their first footsteps on to the path of royal engagements that they will carry on for decades to come.

Watching planes go by - the Asturias family at their public engagement on May 2 2014

The Infantas at Easter

Three royal women, three different destinies.  A trio of Spain's six Infantas have appeared together at Mass today in Mallorca.  The Infanta Elena joined her nieces, the Infanta Leonor and the Infanta Sofia, as the Spanish royals attended an Easter Day service together.  But one photograph inside the Cathedral showed how very different their destinies are and will be.

Three of the Infantas of Spain with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia and the Prince and Princess of Asturias in Mallorca on Easter Sunday 2014

The royals took their place in the front row but before they all sat down, Queen Sofia did some rearranging.  The granddaughter with whom she shares her name had sat next to King Juan Carlos and after a quiet word, little Sofia moved down the line and Leonor took her place next to the monarch.

The two Sofias at Mass in Mallorca on Easter Sunday 2014

The final line up showed the future of Spain's royals.  Next to the king, the girl who will inherit his throne.  A couple of places down, the little girl who will probably never be queen but who is still several seats ahead of Juan Carlos' eldest child, Elena, who was took her own position at the end of the row.

Three Infantas, three destinies - Leonor, Sofia and Elena on Easter Sunday 2014

Spain's monarchy still has to officially change the law to allow the eldest child to succeed, regardless of gender, although it is unlikely that the issue will become urgent in this generation.  A change at the time that many other monarchies altered their succession laws might have reversed the line up in Mallorca this morning.  But the photo of the family on Easter Day is a reminder that these three Infantas have three very different destinies.

Monarchs in training

Her voice has rarely been heard in public until now but as the Spanish royal family left the Quiron clinic in Madrid after visiting King Juan Carlos, it was the Infanta Leonor who led the family's interviews with journalists.  The eight year old, who one day will be queen of Spain, answered several questions from journalists as she ended her hospital visit alongside dad, mum, granny and little sis, Sofia.  And if she looked a little bit nervous at times - who could blame her with just a few dozen people shouting at her and letting flashes off in her face - she's now got her first big public moment out of the way.  Just like her fellow heirs across Europe.

 

A future queen steps up to the mic - Leonor of Spain, aged eight, leads the royal family's chat with journalists after a visit to King Juan Carlos in the Quiron Hospital in Madrid

 

Leonor has often seemed hidden from view compared to her counterparts in royal courts across the continent.  Until this year, she and her own heir, Sofia, were rarely seen in public with occasional photo opportunities at Easter and in the summer and a quick snap on a Christmas card to round things off.  But in 2013 they have been much more high profile and Leonor's leading role in answering press questions about her grandfather seems to be another step in a bigger public presence for the future queen and her sister.  Leonor's parents and grandmother didn't try to intervene and let her handle everything and while her answers were short and sweet, she handled it all with a confidence that's not been seen before. Suddenly, Leonor has a profile.

 

 

Ready for another question?  Leonor in her first big royal moment

 

She is playing catch up a bit.  In several other European countries, the future monarchs have already carried out official dutites.  The future Norwegian queen, Ingrid Alexandra, has several engagements under her belt and all before her 10th birthday.  Earlier this year, she visited an environmental project with her parents with proud mum, Mette-Marit, tweeting a lovely photo of the family in their car on their way to Ingrid's big event.  Alongside regular appearances at big events like Norway's national day, this queen in waiting already has a high public profile balanced with privacy in her day to day life.

 

 

All grown up all of a sudden - Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway on her way to an official engagement with mum on hand to chronicle the day

 

Prince Christian of Denmark was perhaps the most eager to get started on a long life of official duties - his first engagement was in 2008 when he helped his granddad, Prince Henri, open a new elephant house at Copenhagen Zoo.  He's carried out several other public events since, usually with mum and dad on hand to help out.

 

 

Grandad may not have a crown of his own but he led the way in teaching Denmark's future king how to cope with the public life that awaits him

 

And the eldest of Europe's next wave of heirs, Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, also got into training early.  She made her first speech on the day she carried out her first major public engagement, opening a children's hospital named after her.  The princess was just shy of her tenth birthday when she stepped into the public limelight in her own right.  And like all the heirs at the start of their long road to monarchy, she had mum and dad there to offer support.

 

 

 Mum Mathilde is on hand to help Elisabeth of Belgium as she makes her first speech while proud dad leads the applause and you don't row with a prince who wants you to cheer his little girl's big achievement

 

Leonor may be the last to enter the public fray but there's no doubt that the duties that await her will be as long lasting and heavy going as those her counterparts are undertaking.  And for now, just like the others, she has the protection of her parents as she learns the ropes. 

Letizia's Twitter tour

In medieval times, royals used to whizz round their realms at a rate of knots to let everyone know that they were still around and make sure everyone still liked them.  In the days when no one got to see royals unless they bowled up in their home town it was a chance to brush shoulders with the most famous in the land.  These days, royal visits are normally a well organized mission trailed in advance and with limited chances to get really close to the regal figure involved.  But this weekend, Princess Letizia has been on a kind of mini modern progress with a weekend away in Andalucía that turned into what might well be the first royal Twitter tour.

 

One of the dozens of photos that appeared on Twitter and Facebook over the weekend as the Prince and Princess of Asturias visited Andalucía with their two daughters

 

The princess and her family had a bit of a mini break, taking in Granada, Almeria and Mojacar and virtually every stop along the way saw them snapped by fellow Spaniards and the photos posted across social media.  If medieval royal progresses allowed the people to get close to royalty, this modern mega walkaround has allowed the royals to get close to their fellow citizens.  The couple have been criticized for the way they manage their media image with limited opportunities given to see them as a family.  Even the traditional photo call in Mallorca has changed in recent years and the root of the change is traced back to them. 

 

 

By the looks of mum's 'let's get on with it' attitude, little Sofia may have wanted another ice cream before they left one of the many cafes and restaurants they were snapped in over the weekend

 

The Spanish press has carried lots of reports in recent months that the princess has been enjoying secret outings with friends and that she'll go a long way not to be snapped by the paps when she's out and about.  This weekend, she didn't stop having her photo taken - just when we thought the avalanche of royal twitpics was over, another wave would arrive.  From eating out to taking in the cultural sights and sounds, it was a fairly exhaustive three day break and fairly exhausting trying to follow it all as the photos and tweets increased.

 

 

Dad's been allowed to dress himself again - Felipe, Letizia and Sofia smile for the camera while Leonor hides behind her mum

 

As the couple marked ten years since announcing their engagement, and Leonor's eighth birthday, their family road trip was painted large - the social media coverage soon caught the eye of the editors of the mainstream media and suddenly a weekend away was turned into a story.  Given the couple's reticence to be snapped at times before, it raises interesting questions.  Is this a new phase beginning where the future king and his family will be seen more widely?  Or is it a one off answer to quite deafening criticisms recently that the Asturias aren't visible enough?  Time will tell but one thing is sure.  If this becomes a regular event, there will be a lot of hashtags to keep following in the months to come.

 

Royal baby number two - lessons from Europe

William and Kate are currently keeping us all guessing over the names of the godparents they've chosen for baby George but once that's out of the way and we've seen everyone smiling in big hats on the christening day, then that favourite guessing game of royal watchers can begin again in earnest.  The increase in public duties for the Duchess of Cambridge will co-incide with an increased focus on the size of her impossibly flat tummy as the wait for the spare for the heir of the heir begins.

 

Kate and William on Anglesey six weeks after the birth of George.  Reports of pregnancy number two are likely to begin just days after the christening of baby number one if the experiences of other consorts and consorts in waiting are anything to go by

Admittedly, most European heirs and their wives haven't kept people waiting too long for baby number two.  The shortest gap between babies is about eighteen months with three royal couples giving themselves just about enough time to pause for breath before starting all over again.  The new king and queen of the Netherlands had just over a year an a half between the birth of their two eldest girls with Catharina-Amalia arriving on December 7th 2003 and Alexia joining her on June 26th 2005.

The then Prince and Princess of Orange were well prepared for the christening of Princess Alexia of the Netherlands - they'd done it all not that long before for baby Amalia

Also leaving just enough time for a couple of nights out before hunkering down into new babyhood again were the Danish and Spanish heirs and their wives.  Back in those heady days of the early noughties, when Fred and Felipe couldn't do anything without the other one following hard on their heels, both of them presented baby number two just eighteen months after showing off their first borns.  Frederik and Mary welcomed baby Isabella on April 21st 2007 in the same hospital where Christian had arrived on October 15th 2007. 

Isabella of Denmark with her brother, Christian, and parents Frederik and Mary a few days after her birth in April 2007

That gap of just over eighteen months was beaten by a few days by Felipe and Letizia when they welcomed Sofia on April 29th 2007.  Their eldest child, Leonor, had arrived on October 31st 2005 meaning their gap was two days short of eighteen months.

 

The Prince and Princess of Asturias leave hospital with baby Sofia just eighteen months after they'd faced the cameras on the day they brought Leonor home

 A slightly longer gap for the Belgian and Norwegian heirs although the dates of birth of Haakon and Mette-Marit's children make the space look slightly smaller.  Ingrid Alexandra was born on January 21st 2004 with Sverre Magnus arriving 22 months later on December 3rd 2005.

 

Sverre Magnus was still getting the hang of posing for portraits at his christening - everyone else's faces are on display but he clearly wants no more photos judging by the hand over his eyes

A gap of around 22 months was the choice of the now king and queen of the Belgians, Philippe and Mathilde, when they came to expand their family after the birth of their heiress, Elisabeth, on October 25th 2001.  Her little brother, Gabriel, arrived on August 20th 2003, just short of a one year ten month space between them.

 

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium holds her new brother, Gabriel, as the family pose for photographers two days after the little prince's birth in August 2003

Victoria of Sweden will have at least two years between the birth of Estelle and any other baby that comes along for the heiress and her husband.  The baby princess turns two in February 2014 and with no announcement of number two by now that means she'll be the oldest sibling with the biggest gap between herself and her heir unless, of course, William and Kate decide to leave it a few years before another child.

 

Prince Felipe officially solo

Spanish Crown Prince, Felipe, is now in Paraguay for the official swearing in of the country's president, Horacio Cartes.  It's a long standing engagement for the prince who has represented Spain at similar events across South America since 1996.  It's also become usual for the Princess of Asturias not to accompany her husband on these trips which are usually short and focused on the swearing in rather than being part of a bigger tour.

 

The Prince of Asturias is in Paraguay for the swearing in of the country's new president.  For the first time in weeks, not having the princess at his side won't lead to speculation

 

He's already been to Ecuador this year for the swearing in of Rafael Correa.  The schedule of activities on that trip pretty much mirrors what will happen in Paraguay with a reception at the Spanish Embassy and meetings with the new president.

 

 

The Prince of Asturias with the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, in May 2013 when Felipe headed the Spanish delegation at the swearing in ceremony

 

The fact that the prince is on a planned solo engagement, and a long way from home, will take some of the heat out of the fevered speculations about the way the prince and princess have spent their summer holidays so far.  At the weekends, the papers in Spain had a field day with chatter about the state of the relationship between Felipe and Letizia fuelled by the disjointed nature of their time in Mallorca. 

 

 

A rare glimpse of the prince and princess of Asturias together on their recent holiday in Mallorca - here they visit Esporles with Leonor and Sofia

 

Letizia's brief stay on the island, arriving after her husband, and her quick departure leaving Felipe with Leonor and Sofia while she headed back to Madrid has caused a lot of chatter. The fact that the two little infantas then headed home to the Spanish capital with King Juan Carlos only added to the curiosity.   Felipe stayed with the queen in Marivent while Letizia stayed in her part of the Zarzuela leaving grandpapa JC to do the childcare on the flight home.  And while we all know that the king will have had help when it came to cracking out the colouring books and rationing the fruit juice, it's one of the biggest surprises of the summer to see the head of the family with his two youngest grandchildren, especially as the glimpses of them together in the eight years since Leonor's birth have been limited. 

 

 

The official picture that greets visitors to the website of the Spanish Royal Household shows the king with his successors, Felipe and Leonor.  It's one of the few official photographs of the three generations together.

 

But what really got tongues wagging was Letizia's departure for Switzerland with the girls just as Felipe got back from his stay in Mallorca.  They headed off on Saturday leaving the prince with the telly and the fridge all to himself until he departed for Paraguay at the beginning of the week.  Gossip magazines across Europe are carrying articles with headlines including the words 'distance', 'crisis' and 'unhappy'.  So the royal couple and their press people will be relieved that Felipe is meant to be several thousand miles away from his wife for the next few days, if only to stop the questions for a while.

 



 

Another photo from Esporles.  When your every move is captured on camera, it's easy to find images that tell different stories -from the happy family of the official snap to the distracted dad of the second

 

There's no official confirmation but it's thought that the Prince and Princess will take a private holiday once Felipe returns from Paraguay.  And, as has become usual, the location and duration of that trip will cause more chatter.  While Letizia once remarked that Mallorca was more work than vacation, the brevity of her stay there and the short space of time the couple have spent together in recent weeks has meant that her real holiday this year will be a break from the specualation that continues to swirl around her and Felipe.

Letizia photobombs her critics

The Princess of Asturias has taken a lot of criticism in the last few days for her noticeable absence on Mallorca where the Spanish royal family's annual big get together is now underway. A few moments with the snappers on Friday did little to quell the crossness at a lack of Letizia.  Her husband surprised many at the weekend by chatting to reporters after a prize giving ceremony at the local sailing club to answer questions on how long the family would be spending in Mallorca.  And then on Monday, Letizia gave her own answer with one of the longest photo sessions in the history of European royalty.

 

Felipe, Letizia, Leonor and Sofia at La Granja de Esporles on Monday

 

You want photos, I'll give you photos seemed to be the message from the princess.  The family wandered down country lanes, they looked at animals, they stood on bridges, they stopped at every opportunity and smiled and waved and smiled some more.  All in the easy to use early evening light of the holiday island.  Soft sunshine and sweetness all round.

 



 

Smile for the camera - the Asturias in another pose from their photo session

 

The farm they visited is in the heart of an area recently hit by a massive forest fire.  Last year they won some plaudits for posing in Soller and bringing tourism to that part of the island and this year the focus was on holiday highlights away from the coast.  La Granja de Esporles gave the infantas a chance to learn about rural life through the ages as well as pat some cute animals.

 

 

Horses, goats, sheep - a real life farmyard for the future queen of Spain and her sister to play in

 

And Letizia gave her critics what they wanted - endless shots of her and her family.  She's back in front of the cameras again this evening as she joins the prince and King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia in the annual dinner for the authorities which ends the formal part of this annual royal holiday.  But this gush of photos might not be enough to hold off more attacks.  The press now want to know whether the princely couple and the children will be staying in Spain for the rest of their holidays or heading abroad.  And if the last few years are anything to go by, that's one question that neither Felipe or Letizia will be answering.

 

 

A bridge over troubled waters with the press - Letizia's photo offensive answers criticisms she's not been seen enough on Mallorca

 



Princesses practising being royal

Learning to wave is something that all children do fairly early on.  But when it's going to be one of the biggest parts of your entire life then a few more lessons on doing it well are needed.  Royal children wave a lot.  At first, tentatively and then, as they become more confident at doing it, almost absent mindedly.  Leonor and Sofia got a helping hand, quite literally, from dad on Monday when they gave a group wave along with the Prince of Asturias while on a visit to La Granja de Esporles in Mallorca.

 

Felipe leads the way, showing his infantas how to wave for the cameras

(photo Casa Real/ Borja)

 

Leonor looked most comfortable with the royal wave, Sofia a little more cautious but then she is eighteen months younger - if only a few centimetres shorter than the future queen.  Other future monarchs have had a bit of waving practice this year.  Europe's youngest heir to the throne, Catharina-Amalia, had the activity to a tee after a day of frantic waving on April 30th when her dad became the first king of the Netherlands for over 100 years. 

 

 

Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, far left in this photo, gives her first wave as heir to the throne

 





There's an art to waving that comes in time.  We all know a good royal wave when we see one.  It has to have some movement but just enough to allow the hand to be visible rather than a blur whizzing past on its own timeframe.  Still but not static.  Elisabeth of Belgium as the oldest of the new generation of royals has had the most time to practice and her efforts on the da she became heiress to her country's throne shows that, as with most things, practice in the royal wave department really pays off.

 

 

A calm salute in the centre of the new royal family - Elisabeth, in red, on the day her father became King of the Belgians

 

It's an art you can never start too early and Princess Estelle of Sweden has come close to a few royal waves, throwing a flag around at  a sports event and doing a few nice lunges towards the many cameras that greet her on her public outings. 

 

 

Estelle of Sweden in a bit of a lean that could become a wave

 

But Prince George of Cambridge has to win the prize for earliest royal wave.  OK, we all know that the barely day old prince was just wiggling his fingers as he made his first appearance in mum's arms on the steps of St Mary's, Paddington on July 23rd 2013.  But it looked like a wave.  Those hands will be wiggling in the air for decades to come.  And just like Leonor and Sofia, he's got two very experienced royal wavers to show him just how it's done.

 

The future queen with her princesses in waiting

The Princess of Asturias has been criticized in recent days for arriving late in Mallorca with her daughters for the annual family holiday at Marivent.  She was first seen on Friday and today the Prince and Princess held another photocall with their daughters.

 

Letizia, Felipe and their daughters, Leonor and Sofia, in Mallorca on Monday August 5th 2013

The chances of the old style photo session of the whole royal family at Marivent is slim but the heir and his wife have now made a bit of a new custom of a walk on the island allowing photographers an opportunity to get a couple of snaps of the whole family together.  Felipe and Letizia will appear again tomorrow at the traditional evening meal the king hosts for the authorities and then the location of the rest of their summer holidays is a mystery. 

 

Royal mummy tummies

It's official.  The mummy tummy that Kate showed off with pride outside St Mary's Hospital in Paddington on July 23rd as she presented Prince George of Cambridge to the world for the first time is the fashion statement of the year.  Vanity Fair has just included a snap of that tummy in its entry for Kate on this year's best dressed list. But why has it taken until 2013 for a royal woman to acknowledge that if you've just had a baby, you've still got a belly?  How did other future queen consorts fare in the out of hospital clothes stakes?

 

A yummy mummy with her tummy - Kate, William and George leave hospital

(photo Christopher Neve)

 

Maxima probably had the best idea.  She signed up to the Dutch tradition of letting dad present the baby to the press so out came Willem-Alexander with the newborn while mum put her feet up for five minutes.  Maxima made her first appearance with baby a few days later, sensibly sitting on a sofa while Queen Beatrix held the new heiress and conveniently covered up Maxima's middle with some strategic cradling. 

 

 

The first official photograph of Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands taken in December 2003. Proud granny, Beatrix, holds the heiress in front of Maxima's mummy tummy.
 

Mathilde also went for the sitting idea.  Her first appearance with baby Elisabeth was in a room at the hospital where the baby had been born by Caesarean section in October 2001.  Several days after the birth, the cameras were invited in to find a seated Crown Princess with husband and baby.

 

 

A future queen makes her first appearance - Elisabeth sleeps in daddy's arms while mummy keeps her tummy hidden by sitting down

 

Other princesses haven't gone for the seated route.  Mette-Marit did crouching for her first snap with baby Ingrid Alexandra.  Hats off to a woman who had just given birth for managing a squat.  As well as winning the admiration of mummies everywhere, she also kept her middle in a bundle that allowed no glimpse of a rounded tum.

Mette-Marit's son, Marius, holds little sister Ingrid Alexandra as his mum somehow manages to crouch at his side just days after giving birth

Others have had to stand to show off baby for the first time - Mary of Denmark was out of hospital within days of delivering Christian in October 2005 but the chilly autumn weather allowed her to wear a long coat which flapped elegantly around her middle and kept the tummy hidden.

 

 

A princess in green - Christian leaves hospital in October 2005 with mum hiding her tum in a very long coat

 

The long coat trick was also tried, with less success, by Letizia when she took baby Leonor home in November 2005.  The princess had been in hospital for over a week following her emergency c section and greeted the cameras for the first time in a cream trouser suit.  She still had it on for the first official photos, taken a few hours late, back home.

 

 

Mummy's tummy is peeking through under the big white shawl and long cream coat as Letizia and Felipe take baby Leonor home from hospital in Madrid in 2005

 

It was a future queen regnant who had the whole thing sorted to perfection.  When Victoria of Sweden left hospital in February 2012 just one day after giving birth to baby Estelle there was just one photo, released by the royal household after mum and dad had got baby safely home.  Victoria is in dark blue, Daniel holds the car seat and the whole thing is done at such a distance that you can make out faces only.  A few days later, radiant in peach and in head shot only, Victoria posed for official snaps.  Until Kate made mummy tummies a must have, that was the way to do it.

 

 

 

Victoria, Daniel and Estelle' s first appearance as a family