My latest article: Olav and Märtha's unknown love story & Roosevelt and the Kings

In the March issue of Majesty (Vol. 40, No. 3), which was published on Thursday, I have written an article about the wedding of Crown Prince Olav of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden ninety years ago, in which I can for the first time reveal not only that King Haakon and Queen Maud were in fact against their son marrying Märtha but also the reason why and who they wanted him to marry instead of Märtha.
In the same issue I conclude my article series on Theodore Roosevelt's grand tour of the courts of Europe in 1910. In this third instalment the former US President visits Emperor Wilhelm II in Berlin and goes to London for the funeral of King Edward VII, where the kings of Europe flock around him and he observes King George V's failure to understand why his youngest son, Prince John, was not like his other children.

My latest articles: Norwegian golden wedding, Swedish royal dukedoms and Princess Victoria of Britain

The August issue of Majesty (Vol. 39, No. 8) is now on sale and it appears I have written almost half of it. On the occasion of the King and Queen's golden wedding anniversary later this month I write about the nine difficult years they had to wait before King Olav eventually risked giving his consent to their marriage, which everyone seemed to think might spell the end of the monarchy.
I also write about the difficult, unhappy and frustrated Princess Victoria of Britain, the sister of Queen Maud and King George V, who was not allowed to marry the Liberal Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, whom her mother Queen Alexandra treated as her maid and who ended up as a rather bitter woman who often made life difficult for others.
Finally, there is also an article on the history of Swedish royal dukedoms, which were once semi-autonomous states within the states that could become power bases but are now just honorific titles given to the ever-growing number of members of the Swedish royal family.

My latest articles: Gustaf VI Adolf & Hélène of Aosta

In the March issue of Majesty (Vol. 39, No. 3), which has been on sale in Britain for two weeks and is on sale in Norway from today, I write about the life of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, who is often credited with the survival of the Swedish monarchy. I also write about the French-born Princess Hélène, Duchess of Aosta, who was engaged to Prince Albert Victor, heir to the British throne (Queen Maud's brother), but married into the Italian royal family, became an enthusiastic fascist and was widely suspected of coveting the throne for her husband and sons.
In the same issue there is also a report on Prince William and Kate's official visit to Sweden and Norway, a report on the engagement of Princess Eugenie of Britain and Jack Brooksbank and a profile of Meghan Markle (who is also on the cover).
The magazine was already being printed when Prince Henrik of Denmark died, so my obituary of him will appear in the next issue, alongside an article on King Christian IX of Denmark, who was born 200 years ago in April 1818.

Duchess of Cornwall and Duke of Cambridge join Privy Council

Queen Elizabeth II of Britain held a meeting of the Privy Council at Buckingham Palace yesterday afternoon, at which her daughter-in-law Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and her grandson Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, were made members of the Privy Council. While this is standard procedure for a future monarch - Prince Charles was made a Privy Councillor in 1977 and the then Princess Elizabeth in 1951 - this is an unusual honour for the Duchess of Cornwall, who becomes the first female member of the royal family to join the Privy Council since Princess Elizabeth in 1951. Indeed, while the consorts of female monarchs - Prince George of Denmark, Prince Albert and Prince Philip - have all been Privy Councillors, no consorts of male monarchs or heirs have been admitted to the council until yesterday,

My latest article: Crown-wearings

The May issue of the British monthly magazine Majesty (Vol. 37, No. 5) was published on Thursday, the ninetieth birthday of Europe's only crowned monarch, and contains and article by me about crown-wearings. Nowadays the British State Opening of Parliament, which this year will take place on 18 May, is the only time apart from a coronation when a crown is actually worn and Queen Elizabeth II puts on the crown as if it were a hat, but in the middle ages, crown-wearings were in themselves a solemn ritual. Kings wore crowns on the great religious feast days to stress not only their power and sacred elevation but their likeness to Jesus and crowns were placed on the monarchs' heads by high prelates in a ritual based on coronations. The article explores the roots of crown-wearings, how the ritual fell into abeyance and how the tradition of wearing a crown to Parliament was revived by King George V in 1913.

My latest article: Retired monarchs and King Carl Gustaf at 70

The April issue of Majesty (Vol. 37, No. 4), which is now out, is an unusually large issue of 84 pages, much of it marking the upcoming 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II of Britain on 21 April. My contributions are an article looking at how her four European counterparts who have chosen to take things easier in old age, i.e. Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, King Albert of the Belgians and King Juan Carlos of Spain, are faring in their retirement, and a profile of this month's other birthday boy, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, who will turn seventy on 30 April.
While Queen Elizabeth's official birthday celebrations have been postponed until June, King Carl Gustaf will mark his milestone with a series of events at the end of this month, starting with a performance at the Royal Dramatic Theatre on the 25th and a concert by the army's orchestra in the Palace Church the next day. On the 28th and 29th, the King will receive congratulatory deputations and on the 29th King Carl Gustaf will also present scholarships at the Royal Opera and attend a concert at the Nordic Museum.
On his actual birthday, Saturday 30 April, there will be a service of thanksgiving in the Palace Church before the customary military event at the Palace's Outer Courtyard, which is held every year. Thereafter, the King will be serenaded by a multitude of singers on the northern side of the Palace and thereafter travel by carriage to a lunch in the City Hall before receiving well-wishers from Parliament, the government and the county governors at the Palace. In the evening there will be a banquet in the Palace's Hall of State. (Fans of the Swedish court's penchant for "glitter" may perhaps be disappointed to hear that the dresscode for the latter is black tie).

My latest articles: Princess Esmeralda on her father & Edward VII and Norway

The November issue of Majesty (Vol. 36, No. 11) went on sale in Britain on Thursday and this month I have contributed two articles.
There is the second part of my interview with the writer and climate change activist Princess Esmeralda of Belgium, who this time shares her fond memories of her father, King Léopold III of the Belgians, and talks about how he rebuilt his life after his more or less forced abdication after the Second World War and how she carries on part of his work. While the first part of the interview, which appeared in the October issue, dealt with her grandparents King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth, the third and final part, which will appear in the December issue, will be devoted to her controversial mother, Princess Lilian.
As November marks the 110th anniversary of King Haakon VII's arrival in Norway, my second article investigates the role played by King Edward VII of Britain in securing the Norwegian crown for his daughter and son-in-law.

Princess Charlotte of Britain christened

The christening of Princess Charlotte of Britain, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and his wife Catherine), took place in St Mary Magdalene Church at Sandringham in Norfolk today. The godparents were Prince William's first cousin Laura Fellowes (daughter of Princess Diana's eldest sister Jane and Queen Elizabeth's former Private Secretary Robert Fellowes), the Duchess of Cambridge's first cousin Adam Middleton (son of her father's brother Richard), and three friends of the parents: Sophie Carter, James Meade and Thomas van Straubenzee.
The Princess wore a christening dress from 2007 which is a replica of one first worn by Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, Victoria, later German Empress, in 1841. The so-called Lily Font, a silver gilt baptismal font made for the same occasion, had been brought to Sandringham from the Tower of London, where it is usually displayed together with the Crown Jewels (sparking silly stories in the media about "the Crown Jewels leaving London for the first time").
Princess Charlotte was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The only invited guests, except from her parents and elder brother George, were her great-grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip; her grandfather Prince Charles and his wife Camilla; her grandparents Michael and Carole Middleton; her uncle James Middleton; her aunt Philippa ("Pippa") Middleton; and the five godparents, four of them accompanied by their spouses.
St Mary Magdalene Church is located at the royal Sandringham estate in northeastern England, where the parents of Princess Charlotte nowadays have their primary home at Anmer Hall. The church has also been the venue of the christenings of, among others, the future King George VI of Britain in 1896, the future King Olav V of Norway in 1903, and Princess Charlotte's grandmother Diana, the future Princess of Wales, in 1961.

Princess Charlotte to be christened at Sandringham

It was announced today that the christening of Princess Charlotte of Britain will take place in St Mary Magdalene Church at Sandringham on 5 July. Her brother, Prince George, was christened in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, London, but the parents are now living primarily at their country home Anmer Hall on the Sandringham estate, which makes the local church seem a natural choice of venue.
Among other royals baptised in St Mary Magdalene Church are the baby's late grandmother Diana, Princess of Wales, who was born in Park House on the Sandringham estate and christened in the local church on 30 August 1961, Princess Eugenie, who was christened there on 23 December 1990, and the future King Olav V of Norway, who was born at Appleton House, also on the Sandringham estate, and baptised on 11 August 1903.
Like her brother, Princess Charlotte will be christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

New British act of succession comes into force

Today is an historic day for the British monarchy as the Succession of the Crown Act 2013, which introduces gender neutral succession in Britain and the other fifteen realms of which Elizabeth II is head of state, comes into force. The prime minister of the sixteen kingdoms agreed upon these changes at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth on 28 October 2011 and although it passed its final reading in the British Parliament and received the royal assent in April 2013 it has not come into force before now as it needed to be passed by the all the realms, which has been a rather complicated process. In the end Australia, Barbados, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines have passed legislation to amend the succession, while Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu concluded that it was not necessary to pass legislation, apparently because the succession was not codified in suc detail. For instance, the constitution of Tuvalu appears to say that whoever is monarch of Britain is monarch of Tuvalu.
While younger brothers have until now bypassed elder sisters in the act of succession, the first-born will now be the heir regardless of its gender. This change will be retroactive, but only for those born after 28 October 2011. Thus Princess Anne is still behind her younger brothers and their children in the line of succession, and Prince Edward's son is still ahead of his older sister, while Senna Lewis, a granddaughter of the Duke of Gloucester, overtakes her younger brother Tane, who was born after that date.
The new Succession to the Crown Act also means that people who marry to Catholics are no longer barred from ascending the throne, while Catholics themselves are still excluded as the monarch is required to be Anglican. This change is retroactive, so that the Earl of St Andrews (the Duke of Kent's oldest son), Prince Michael and several others are now back in the line of succession (while Lord St Andrews' children and his brother Lord Nicholas Windsor, who are themselves Catholics, are still excluded).
The new act also repeals the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, scrapping the requirement for anyone in line of succession to seek the monarch's permission to marry. This will now only apply to the first six people in line to the throne. Currently those six are Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince George, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice, which means that Prince Andrew's eldest daughter needs permission while her sister does not (the birth of Prince William's second child, which is expected in the second half of April, will however push Princess Beatrice out of the top six).
Of the seven European kingdoms, Spain is now the only one left where sons still take precedence over daughters in the order of succession. Gender neutral succession was first introduced in Sweden in 1980, followed by the Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991 and Denmark in 2009.

Barbados to abolish monarchy

In a speech to party supporters, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart of the Democratic Labour Party, has announced that the country will "move from a monarchical system to a republican form of government in the very near future". Legislation to transform the Kingdom of Barbados into a republic will be put to Parliament to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Barbados's independence next year and will, according to the Democratic Labour Party's Secretary General George Pilgrim (quoted in The Times today) "move the country through to the next major step in the process of nationhood". Pilgrim does not "expect any opposition" to the change.
Barbados is currently one of fifteen countries of which the British monarch is head of state, the others including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but the Queen of Barbados has only visited five times and has not set foot in the country for 26 years. Her youngest son, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and his wife Sophie did however visit Barbados a year ago.
Like many other countries who have removed the British monarch from the position of head of state, Bahamas intends to remain a member of the Commonwealth. It is interesting to note that Prime Minister Stuart said that they "respect [Queen Elizabeth] very highly as head of the Commonwealth and accept that she and all of her successors will continue to be at the apex of our political understanding". These words are interesting as the headship of the Commonwealth is not hereditary; thus Prince Charles will not automatically become its head when Queen Elizabeth dies.

My latest article: Churchill and his monarchs

Because of Christmas the January 2015 issue of Majesty (Vol. 36, No. 1) goes on sale already today and to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Winston Churchill's death on 24 January 1965 I have written an article about his relations with the British monarchs throughout his political career, which began when he was elected to Parliament in the reign of Queen Victoria and ended with his second term as Prime Minister in the reign of her great-great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II. Churchill was, according to his wife, "the last believer in the divine rights of kings", but his relations with the royal family were not always smooth, particularly not with George V.
This issue was sent to the printers a few hours before the death of Queen Fabiola of the Belgians was announced, so my obituary of her will appear in the February issue, which will be out in a month and where I will also write about Hereditary Prince Knud and his loss of the Danish crown.

Elizabeth, Queen of independent Scotland?

In a week from today, the Scots will vote over whether Scotland should become an independent country. While the no campaign has had a clear lead for months, the opinion polls are now so close that the dissolution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a real possibility. If a majority of the Scots votes yes, Scotland will become independent on 24 March 2016. If they vote no, we have now been told that Scotland will immediately be offered greater autonomy within the United Kingdom.
A yes vote will obviously have great consequences, so it is rather surprising that many crucial issues remain unclear, most significantly the financial issue. While the Scottish government insists that Scotland will maintain the pound as its currency, the leaders of the three main British parties have insisted Scotland will not be allowed to do so, and should they change their mind a currency union between Scotland and Britain would clearly involve some sovereignty being ceded. It is also quite surprising that the British government insist they have no plans for what will happen if Scotland votes yes.
The question of what will happen to the monarchy has on the other hand been settled, although it includes unanswered questions. The referendum is about the dissolution of the parliamentary union of 1707, not the union of crowns of 1603. Therefore a vote in favour of independence means that Scotland and the remainder of Britain will revert to the previous arrangement, i.e. a personal union between two independent states. This is roughly the same arrangement as the union between Britain and Hanover between 1714 and 1837 and the union between Norway and Sweden between 1814 and 1905.
This means that Elizabeth II will become Queen of Scotland or of Scots, the latter (and, I believe, older) title apparently being favoured by the Scots. She will obviously drop the numeral in Scotland, as she is the first Scottish monarch of that name. This will put Scotland in the same position as Australia, Canada and numerous other kingdoms of which Elizabeth II is queen, i.e. of having a monarch resident abroad, although I can imagine the Scots will expect her to come to Scotland more frequently. As Queen of an independent Scotland Queen Elizabeth would be bound to take constitutional advice from the Scottish government, which may mean that she could at some stage receive conflicting advice from the Scottish and British governments in her roles as head of state of both countries (the union kings of Norway and of Sweden would have had much to say about such a scenario). One possibility is that her functions as Queen of Scotland is delegated to a governor general or a similar office when she is not in residence in Scotland, as is the case in her other kingdoms, but this has not been officially discussed.
There is also the issue of how long such a personal union would last. A YouGov poll conducted on 2-5 September found 54 % to be in favour of keeping the British monarch as head of state in the event of independence, while 31 % favoured an elected head of state and 15 % were undecided.
The same opinion poll found, for the first time, a majority to be in favour of independence, which has unleashed what seems like panic in London and some rather desperate calls for Queen Elizabeth to intervene and speak out in favour of the union. At the time of her silver jubilee in 1977, when a referendum on devolution of powers within the United Kingdom was coming up, the Queen for once indicated her personal opinion in an address to the Houses of Parliament, saying: "I number Kings and Queens of England and of Scotland, and Princes of Wales among my ancestors and so I can readily understand these aspirations. But I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Perhaps this Jubilee is a time to remind ourselves of the benefits which union has conferred, at home and in our international dealings, on the inhabitants of all parts of this United Kingdom".
On Tuesday the conservative Daily Telegraph used its editorial to call on Queen Elizabeth to speak out in favour of the union. This was rejected outright by a spokesperson who insisted: "The sovereign's constitutional impartiality is an established principle of our democracy and one which the Queen has demonstrated throughout her reign. As such the monarch is above politics and those in political office have a duty to ensure that this remains the case. Any suggestion that the Queen would wish to influence the outcome of the current referendum campaign is categorically wrong. Her Majesty is firmly of the view that this is a matter for the people of Scotland". It would in my opinion have been unwise if she had indeed intervened. It would have jeopardised the monarchy's political neutrality, and might also have alienated it from roughly half the Scottish people. It would also have undermined the Queen's standing, as it would have made a yes vote a personal defeat for Elizabeth II.

Duchess of Cambridge pregnant with second child

The British royal court has announced that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, aka Prince William of Britain and his wife Catherine, are expecting their second child. The announcement seems to come because the Duchess, as last time, suffers from severe morning sickness and therefore had to bow out from a visit to Oxford today. The announcement does not say when the child is expected.
The child will be fourth in line to the British throne and will hold the style of title of Royal Highness and Prince(ss) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (styled "HRH Prince(ss) _____ of Cambridge" within Britain). This follows from Queen Elizabeth II's decision of 31 December 2012 to alter the previous rules under which the royal title was restricted to the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales .

On this date: 300 years of the Hanoverians/Windsors

300 years ago today, at around 7.30 a.m. on 1 August 1714, Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland died at the age. As the Queen had lost eighteen children and Catholics had been disinherited by the Act of Settlement of 1701, Queen Anne was succeeded by her second cousin, Elector Georg Ludwig of Hanover, who became King George I.
Thus today also marks the tercentenary of the current British royal house. Although the Hanoverians are frequently viewed as separate from the Windsors it is the same dynasty despite the name having been changed and the crown having passed to junior lines within the dynasty in 1830, 1837 and 1936.

Title issues: King Juan Carlos to keep royal title

On Friday the Spanish government approved an amendment to the decree of 6 November 1987 on royal titles, so that King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía will retain the titles of King and Queen after his abdication. They will also retain the style of Majesty, but, interestingly, will rank after the descendants of the new King and Queen. This is, according to the government, done partly as a mark of respect for King Juan Carlos's and Queen Sofía's services to Spain, but also in keeping with historical precedents and customs in other monarchies.
Indeed I believe both King Carlos IV and Queen Isabel II retained their royal titles after their abdications. This is also how things have been done in Belgium and Luxembourg. Currently King Albert II of the Belgians, who abdicated in 2013, and Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, who abdicated in 2000, retain their titles, as did their parents, King Léopold III, who abdicated in 1951, and Grand Duchess Charlotte, who abdicated in 1964.
Britain and the Netherlands have chosen another solution. When King Edward VIII renounced the British crown in 1936 it was decided that his ceasing to be king meant that he reverted to being a prince, and he was granted the dukedom of Windsor in addition. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, who abdicated in 1948, argued that her abdication was constitutionally equal to her death and reverted to being Princess Wilhelmina. This precedent was followed by her daughter, Queen Juliana, when she abdicated in 1980, and again by her granddaughter, Queen Beatrix, who renounced the Dutch crown last year.

The best royal books of 2013

I did not have much time for writing book reviews on my blog in the past year, but 2013 saw the publication of several interesting works, so I thought I should at least give a brief survey of some of the best royal books of 2013 (in no particular order).

1. Jonas Nordin, Versailles: Slottet, parken, livet
Versailles, the ultimate royal palace, is done more than justice by the Swedish historian Jonas Nordin in his well-researched, insightful and readable account of the palace, the park and life at the French court. While most of the literature on Versailles focuses on the age of Louis XIV, Nordin takes the story through the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, making this one of the most complete histories of Versailles.

2. Philip Murphy, Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, the British Government, and the Post-war Commonwealth
While the accession of Queen Elizabeth II of Britain 62 years ago was hailed by some as the dawn of a new Elizabethan age, the main link between Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II proved to be that while the foundations for the British Empire were laid during Elizabeth I, the Empire came to an end during Elizabeth II. Taking up Peter Hennessy’s and the late Ben Pimlott’s challenge to historians to explore the links between monarchy and politics, Professor Murphy shows how the British Empire has morphed into a Commonwealth of Nations and what has been the role of Elizabeth II and the monarchy in this process. This volume will take its place among the handful of the most important books on the reign of Elizabeth II written in her lifetime.

3. Jes Fabricius Møller, Dynastiet Glücksborg: En danmarkshistorie
While there is no dearth of Danish royal books there has until now been no book covering the history of the reign of the Glücksburg dynasty since it came to the Danish throne in 1863. The historian Jes Fabricius Møller puts this right by what may be called a “political history” of the Danish monarchy since 1863, where he charts the monarchy’s interaction with politics, the public and the media. Unlike many royal books this one approaches the royal family in an analytical rather than anecdotal manner. Yet it does so in an engaging way, so that the result is rewarding reading for general readers as well as for fellow historians.

4. Elena Woodacre, The Queens Regnant of Navarre: Succession, Politics, and Partnership, 1274-1512
While the Kingdom of Navarre is largely forgotten today, it commanded a strategically important position in the Pyrenean region and is also of interest as the kingdom where reigning queens first ceased being an anomaly. Between 1274 and 1512, when the major part of the realm was conquered by Castile, there were five queens regnant (a sixth queen ruled the rump kingdom later in the sixteenth century). In her ground-breaking volume, the historian Elena Woodacre investigates the challenges faced by these five female rulers and their way of governing, including the various modes of power-sharing with their husbands. As such this is a book which ought to be of interest to anyone interested in the issue of female rule in early modern Europe.

5. Poul Grinder-Hansen, Frederik 2.: Danmarks renæssancekonge King Frederik II, who reigned over the Dano-Norwegian realm between 1559 and 1577, has to a great extent been overshadowed by his popular, long-reigning son Christian IV and often been portrayed in a less than flattering manner. In this first biography of Frederik II, the historian Poul Grinder-Hansen sums up recent decades’ re-evaluation of Frederik II, showing how his policies were arguably far more successful than those of his son and demonstrating the cultural role played by Denmark-Norway’s first true renaissance monarch.

On this date: Prince Charles is 65

The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles of Britain, celebrates his 65th birthday today - and, as many have pointed out, the heir to the British throne thus reaches what is the normal age of retirement in Britain.
However, as being a member of a royal family is no job, Prince Charles is far from retiring. Today he and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are concluding their official visit to India and travelling on to Sri Lanka, where Prince Charles will represent his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at the biannual meeting of the heads of government of the Commonwealth countries.
This is the first time in many years that Queen Elizabeth, who is head of the Commonwealth, is not herself present at this summit. As such it is a prime example of how her heir has gradually began to take on more of the aging monarch’s duties.
Prince Charles is the oldest heir apparent in British history and also the one who has held the position as first in line to the throne for the longest time (61 years and nine months so far), but he is not the oldest person ever to be first in line to the throne, a distinction which belongs to the Dowager Electress Sophia of Hanover, who was heiress presumptive to Queen Anne from the latter’s accession in 1702 until the former’s death at the age of 83 in 1714, less than two months before Queen Anne.
The last time the heir apparent to a European throne reached his country’s age of retirement must have been the then Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden on 11 November 1947. He succeeded his 92-year-old father, King Gustaf V, on 29 October 1950, two weeks before his 68th birthday.
When Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf turned 65 in November 1947 the succession to the Swedish throne had been complicated by the death of his eldest son, Prince Gustaf Adolf, in an airplane accident in January of the same year, leaving his then nine-month-old son, Prince Carl Gustaf (now King Carl XVI Gustaf), as next in line to the throne after his grandfather, thereby creating a 64-year-old-gap in the succession. Luckily no such troubles worry Prince Charles, who saw the succession to the throne secured for yet another generation with the birth of his grandson, Prince George, on 22 July this year. The common denominator between Gustaf VI Adolf and Prince Charles, his great-nephew by marriage, would be that they both have had enough interests and commitment to do something meaningful with their long apprenticeships.

British royal christening on 23 October

The British royal court has announced that the christening of Prince George will take place in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace in London on Wednesday 23 October. The Prince will be baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The christening will be a private event and will not be televised.
The choice of venue is somewhat surprising. After the chapel at Buckingham Palace was destroyed in World War II, the Palace’s Music Room seem to have been the preferred venue for the christenings of senior royals, i.e. Prince Charles in 1948, Princess Anne in 1950, Prince Andrew in 1960 and Prince William in 1982. The last royal child to be baptisted in the Chapel Royal was Princess Beatrice in 1988. Prince Edward was christened in the private chapel of Windsor Castle in 1964, Prince Henry in St George’s Chapel at Windsor in 1984 and Princess Eugenie at St Mary Magdalene Church near Sandringham in 1990.
The Chapel Royal is fairly small and simple and lies within St James’s Palace. It was the venue for the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840 and for that of the future King George V and Queen Mary in 1893. In 1997 the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales rested there from its repatriation from Paris until the eve of her funeral.
The names of the sponsors (godparents) will be announced closer to the date. These are likely to be close family and friends and not foreign royals, given that Prince William hardly knows any of his foreign counterparts.

First grandchild for Prince Michael of Britain

Prince Michael of Britain, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, has become a grandfather for the first time. His son, Lord Frederick Windsor, and daughter-in-law, Sophie Winkleman (Lady Frederick Windsor), yesterday became the parents of a girl, who has received the names Maud Elizabeth Daphne Marina. Their daughter was born at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles, where Sophie Winkleman works as an actress.
The child will be fortieth in line to the British throne, although she is incorrectly listed as number 42 on the British royal website, which erroneously includes the sons of Lord Nicholas Windsor, Albert and Leopold Windsor (mistakenly referred to as Honourables, a style they do not hold), who were baptised as Catholics and are therefore not in line for the throne at the time of writing.
Maud Windsor will have no style or title other than Miss. In 1917, King George V restricted the title of Prince(ss) and the style of Royal Highness to children and male-line grandchildren of the monarch, as well as the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales (in 2012 Queen Elizabeth II changed the last part to include all children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales). However, so that children of a prince should not be born as plain Mr or Miss, it was decided that children of princes should be styled Lord/Lady Firstname Windsor, as are the children of dukes and marquesses. Grandchildren, on the other hand, receive no such titles (except for the eldest son of the eldest son of a prince who also has a peerage, who may use one of the subsidary titles as a courtesy title).