Royal family portraits

King's Day in the Netherlands has provided the opportunity for some brand new photographs of Willem-Alexander and Maxima with their three daughters.  The king and queen and their princesses were seen enjoying themselves throughout the day, offering some new images of a new royal family at work and at play.

King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and their daughters on King's Day, April 26th 2014

Many of Europe's royals have had full family appearances in recent weeks, allowing a chance to see how the younger members of the clan are growing up.  On April 16th 2014, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary were joined by their four children as they took to the balcony of the Marselisborg Palace near Aarhus to help celebrate Queen Margrethe's 74th birthday.

Christian of Denmark looks very grown up alongside his siblings Isabella, Vincent and Josephine as they join their parents at the celebrations for Queen Margrethe's 74th birthday on April 16th 2014

The Spanish royals made a rare joint appearance on Easter Sunday 2014 when they all attended Mass in Palma de Mallorca.  The Infantas Leonor and Sofia had last been seen in November 2013 visiting their grandfather in hospital.  On April 20th 2014, they joined him for photos before the service started.

Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia and their daughters, Leonor and Sofia, joined King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia as well as the Infanta Elena on Easter Sunday 2014 in Mallorca

Easter holidays were also a chance for the latest family portrait of Crown Prince Haakon Magnus and Crown Princess Mette-Marit with two of their children.  Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus posed with their parents on a snowy holiday.  Mette-Marit's son, Marius, wasn't in the pictures.

The Crown Prince and Princess of Norway with Ingrid and Sverre at Easter 2014

Princess Estelle of Sweden has become a bit of a star in recent times and in the run up to Easter was seen at a public engagement with her mother, Crown Princess Victoria.  But the last image of the little queen in waiting with both her parents is from March when she joined Victoria and Prince Daniel at an event at the Royal Palace in Stockholm for the Crown Princess' name day in March 2014.

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden follow Princess Estelle's lead on a public engagement in March 2014

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium has made several public appearances in recent days, the latest being at a concert she attended with her parents in Malines.  But the best chance to see her with her siblings came in February 2014 when the four children joined King Philippe and Queen Mathidle at a family gathering to celebrate the engagement of their eldest cousin, Amadeo, who had just announced he was to marry his girlfriend, Lili Rosboch.

A family gathering to celebrate the engagement of Prince Amadeo of Belgium and Lili Rosboch in February 2014 was the most recent chance to see the children of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde together

But in recent days, there is only one young royal family that has dominated the headlines.  Since the beginning of April 2014, there have been endless chances to see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with their baby son, Prince George, as the family tour Australia and New Zealand.  He may be younger than many of his other royal counterparts on the continent but he's already one of the most photographed princes around.  And the images of him with his parents have been just another chance in recent times to enjoy royal family portraits.

Kate, William and George leave Australia on April 25th 2014

Kings, queens and popes

The canonisation Mass for Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII is now underway in Rome and in attendance are King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain along with King Albert of the Belgians and Queen Paola.

Juan Carlos, Sofia, Albert and Paola at the Vatican for the canonisation of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII on April 27th 2014

The queens have both chosen to wear white - under the privilege du blanc, the queens of Catholic countries are entitled to wear white at Papal events.  The royals are sat together at the ceremony and were seen talking before the event got under way.

Queen Sofia and King Juan Carlos in Rome for the canonisation of John Paul II and John XXIII

As well as two kings and two queens, there are two popes present at the ceremony as Francis I has been joined by the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, for the double canonisation.  It is the first time that a pope has been made a saint since 1954 when Pius X was canonised.  

King Albert and Queen Paola in Rome on April 27th 2014

The two kings present for the ceremony have been witnesses to papal history for two decades, with both at the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005 when calls for him to be canonised immediately filled St Peter's Square.   Their queens sat alongside them that day and now four royals who heard the cries of 'Santo Subito' on that April day nine years ago have returned to witness his canonisation, the fastest in modern history.  

A tale of two birthdays

For the first time ever, the Netherlands has marked King's Day.  On April 26 2014, thousands took to the streets to join celebrations - all bathed in glorious sunshine.  The whole Dutch royal family turned out for special events in Amstelveen and the Rime.  And to start the celebration, special photos of the king and his family were tweeted around the world.

A royal good morning - Willem-Alexander gets ready to celebrate the first ever King's Day with Queen Maxima and their three daughters

The event, a national holiday, marks the birthday of Willem-Alexander.  The tradition of Queen's Day was started in 1885 as a kind of princess' day when the fifth birthday of the heiress to the throne, Wilhelmina, was celebrated as a national event.  When she became Queen of the Netherlands in 1890, at the age of ten, the event became Queen's Day and for almost sixty years the last day of August was the day for celebrations.  But when her daughter, Juliana, took the throne on Wilhelmina's abdication in 1948 she moved Queen's Day to her own birthday, April 30th, and a spring holiday was born.

Juliana of the Netherlands on one of her Queen's Days

Queen Beatrix, who was born on January 31, stuck with April 30 and so retained the spring date for her Queen's Day celebrations but the first king of the Netherlands for over a century has chosen to use his own birthday for the occasion.  And so, on April 26th 2014 thousands took to the streets for special events with the king and queen playing tennis and joining their three daughters in celebrations.

King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, Princess Beatrix along with Princess Amalia, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane on King's Day 2014

It was all in contrast to the very muted celebrations for the birthday of Europe's other new monarch. King Philippe of the Belgians turned 54 on April 15th 2014 but the occasion was marked with a short statement on the monarchy's Facebook page and an archive photo of the monarch.  Just as much in keeping with his country's traditional way of marking royal birthdays.

The photo used on the Belgian Monarchy's Facebook page to mark the 54th birthday of King Philippe

Two new monarchs with birthdays less than a fortnight apart and accession dates less than three months apart.  So much in common but when it comes to birthdays, it's a very different story.

Royal arrivals in Rome

With just hours until the canonisation Mass for Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, which takes place on April 27th, tens of thousands of people are arriving in Rome.  And among them are kings anqqueens.   On April 26th, King Albert II of the Belgians and Queen Paola arrived in the Eternal City and went on to visit the Vatican City where they had an audience with Pope Francis I.

King Albert and Queen Paola of the Belgians with Pope Francis I at the Vatican on April 26th 2014

On April 26th 2014, King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofia arrived in Rome - the city where the king was born in 1938.  The royal couple will have their own audience with Pope Francis I on April 28th 2014 but on the day of their arrival, King Juan Carlos held a meeting with the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.

King Juan Carlos of Spain with President Giorgio Napolitano of Italy during their audience on April 26th 2014

The kings and queens will attend the canonisation Mass on April 27th 2014 along with around 800,000 others who are expected to converge on the Vatican on the morning of April 27th.  

Other royal tours are available

As the world watched Kate, William and George take Australia and New Zealand by storm there have been other royal visits going on.  The King of Spain spent part of the week before Easter in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait while the Queen of Denmark has just arrived in China for a state visit.

Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik at the start of their visit to China

In the next few days, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians will visit Norway and Sweden for their introductory visits there as monarchs while the former king and queen, Albert II and Paola, are on their way to Rome for the canonisation Mass of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII.  King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia are also heading to the Vatican City while in just a few weeks time, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark will visit Poland.  And the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will make an official visit to Canada in May.  Whether any of the trips gets as much coverage as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Australia and New Zealand remains to be seen.  But while one royal tour is over, others are available.