Kings cross paths in Sochi

There has been a kingly crossover in Sochi as royal representation at the Winter Games increases.  From February 14th to 16th the king and queen of Sweden were cheering on their country's athletes and following the royal trend for wearing patriotic woolly hats - so far, only Princess Anne has missed out on the vogue for bright knits.  Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia also did what every other visitor to Sochi has done and had their photo taken in front of the Olympic flame.

The king and queen of Sweden do the tourist thing and have a quick pose in front of the Olympic flame

They also spent some time with the Swedish team at the Olympic village and plenty of hours rinkside and slopeside cheering on their athletes.

Royal visitors at the Olympic village - there's no report on whether a tour of the vending machines was included

And just as the Swedish king and queen were making their way back to Stockholm, the Norwegian monarchs arrived.  Harald and Sonia of Norway landed in Sochi on February 17th for several days of cheering, spectating and supporting.  And keeping up with the royal tradition that's really taken hold, woolly hats in national colours were firmly in place at the very start.

Honours even on the hats but Harald and Sonia of Norway are winning the flags race in royal support at the Winter Olympics in Sochi

Royal Olympic bids

As the Sochi Winter Olympics get under way in Russia, one royal is already looking ahead to future games.  On the first full day of competition in Sochi, Crown Prince Haakon Magnus was spotted out and about in a snowy Oslo filming material for the 2016 Lillehammer Youth Winter Olympics.

Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway filming promotional material for the 2016 Lillehammer Youth Winter Olympics on the day the 2014 Sochi Games got under way

The Youth Games are for athletes aged between 15 and 18 and the winter event features seven sports.  But the contest is different in that educational events, seminars and workshops take place along side it looking at Olympic values and helping athletes learn about other countries and cultures. Over 1,000 young people are expected to take part in the Lillehammer Games.  This will be the second ever winter event - the first was in Innsbruck in 2012 with a summer Games in Singapore in 2010.  The next summer event is in Beijing this summer.

Crown Prince Haakon Magnus with his family at the London 2012 Olympics

Crown Prince Haakon Magnus is expected to be involved in the bid to bring the 2022 Winter Olympics to Oslo.  But in the meantime, the prince is off to Sochi today to watch four days of Norwegian attempts to win gold at the games.  He won't have long to wait for a medal.

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.