Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you’ve been having a wonderful holiday celebration season, and you’re refreshed and ready for 2025. The royals will be back in the swing of things shortly, and I’ve got a preview today of some of the sparkle we can expect over the course of the coming year.
As always, January will begin with tiaras. The King and Queen of Denmark will lead the royal party for the first New Year’s receptions of his reign, with tiaras sparkling at the New Year’s Levee later today and more subdued jewels at the receptions on January 6 and 7. There will also be tiaras today in Tokyo, where the Emperor and Empress of Japan will receive New Year greetings at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. On January 6, the Spanish royals will wear Epiphany jewels for Pascua Militar in Madrid. Later this month, we’ll see more tiaras in Luxembourg when the family hosts the final New Year reception of Grand Duke Henri’s reign.
In Japan, February will bring us the celebrations of Emperor Naruhito’s birthday. Across the globe in Sweden, another birth is anticipated, as Princess Sofia is due to give birth to her fourth child this month. In Britain, Princess Beatrice is also expecting a baby early in 2025. Across the Channel, the Belgian royal family will gather in Brussels on February to attend a special mass in remembrance of members of the family who have passed.
The royal calendar really begins to ramp up in March. The month starts off in Britain with the Commonwealth Day service, which will be held this year on March 10. We can also expect to see the Princess of Wales, if she’s well enough, handing out shamrocks to the Irish Guards on March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day. There’s also a big trip on the schedule already this month for the King and Queen of the Netherlands, who will travel to Cyprus for a state visit on March 4 and 5.
The Dutch royal family also has a big annual event in April: King’s Day, which will be celebrated this year on April 26 in Doetinchem. This year, Easter Sunday falls on April 20, which means that we should see the royals celebrating in Britain and Spain on that Sunday. In Britain, we’ll also likely see the King taking part in the Royal Maundy service on April 17. There will also be a service on April 25 at Westminster Abbey to mark ANZAC Day. The King of Sweden celebrates his birthday on April 30 as the month wraps up. There’s also a milestone wedding anniversary in Britain, as King Charles III and Queen Camilla mark their 20th anniversary on April 9.
Springtime in Europe means a whole lot of royal appearances in May. Garden parties will begin at Buckingham Palace in London, with the King and Queen and other members of the royal family in attendance, and we also usually see a strong royal contingent at the Chelsea Flower Show. In Norway, the royal family will take part in Constitution Day on May 17. In Denmark, the royal family will make a balcony appearance during the celebrations of King Frederik’s birthday on May 26.
Royal June kicks off in Britain with Trooping the Colour, the monarch’s official birthday parade in London, on June 14. Garter Day will follow in Windsor on June 16, and Royal Ascot comes next on June 17-21. In Sweden, National Day will be celebrated on June 6, and Luxembourg’s National Day takes place a few weeks later on June 23.
Many of the royals begin their summer holidays in July, but others are still busy at work. Sweden marks Crown Princess Victoria’s birthday on July 14 with public greetings and a concert. In Belgium, the royal family celebrates the country’s National Day on 21 with a service of thanksgiving, a military parade, and parties throughout the capital. In Britain, Royal Week in Edinburgh takes place at the beginning of July, including an annual garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. And we can always expect to see the Queen and the Princess of Wales in the royal box at Wimbledon.
The really quiet month of the year for royals is August, when so many families go on holiday that a “silly season” in the press ensues, with convoluted stories crafted to fill column inches. But we should still see some sparkle from the Danish royals, as King Frederik and Queen Mary will take part in their annual summer tour aboard the Royal Yacht Dannebrog.
In September, royal families across Europe will be present for the state opening of parliament in their countries. The opening of the Riksdag in Sweden this year will take place on September 9, and Prinsjesdag, the opening of the Dutch parliament, takes place this year a week later on September 16. In Scotland, members of the British royal family will likely be in attendance at the Braemar Highland Games at the beginning of the month as well.
This October will be a special one in Luxembourg. On October 3, Grand Duke Henri is scheduled to abdicate in favor of his son, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume. The abdication comes just a few days before what would be Henri’s silver jubilee, and the celebrations are expected to involve that anniversary as well. We’ll also see the openings of parliament in Denmark and Norway early in the month, and on October 12, the royal family of Spain will celebrate their National Day. Later in October, the Spanish royals will also be present for the annual Princess of Asturias Awards.
In November, the British royal family will commemorate the sacrifices of those who served in war at the Festival of Remembrance on November 8 and Remembrance Sunday on November 9. We’ll also likely see the royals at the Royal Variety Performance toward the end of the month. And in Monaco, the princely family will celebrate National Day on November 19 with a mass, military reviews, and a night at the opera.
At the end of the year, royal December will be filled with tiaras in Sweden to celebrate the Nobels on December 10 and December 11. The Peace Prize will be given in Norway on December 10 as well. We’ll almost certainly see members of the British royal family at the annual Christmas concert coordinated by the Princess of Wales early in the month, and the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales should also be present for the annual Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace. And then we’ll have Christmas, and New Year, and we’ll do it all over again!
These are just some of the regular annual events on the calendar, of course. There will be more sparkling moments announced throughout the year, including state visits with spectacular tiaras. Which royal moments are you most looking forward to in 2025?
A scheduling note: I’m stepping away from my computer for a few days this week to spend some time with family, so my coverage of the tiaras worn in Denmark and Japan will be published here early next week. In the meantime, I’ll have some related sparkling articles scheduled to publish while I’m gone, as well as my first piece of the year over at Hidden Gems. See you all soon!
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