Today's Pic: Bonnet-Free Easter

Most of the Spanish royal family attended Easter mass in Palma de Mallorca but none of the ladies donned Easter bonnets. Of course, unlike in other royal families, the Spanish ladies rarely wear hats. They also wear pants much more frequently as evidenced here by both Letizia Princess of the Asturias and Infanta Elena. One other sartorial note: the little infantas Leonor and Sofia have often been dressed alike for Easter but this year, they are not. Finally, while Infanta Cristina's shirt dress seems a little informal for the most important Christian holy day, Queen Sofia seems to have selected a perfect ensemble with just the right touch of spring.

Members of Spain's Royal Family (L-R) Infanta Elena, Infanta Cristina, Crown Prince Felipe, Queen Sofia, Princess Letizia and (front L-R) Infanta Leonor and Infanta Sofia pose for photographers after attending an Easter mass at the cathedral in Palma de Mallorca on the island of Mallorca, April 24, 2011. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo (SPAIN - Tags: RELIGION ROYALS)

Things I Missed

Thanks to everyone for continuing to support The Princess Palace blog with your visits and links! After neglecting my blog for a few months (having taken on a couple of extra jobs to pay the mortgage!), I have returned to keep you updated on the world of princesses. Here are a few things that happened during my period of blog silence.

QEII went social

Having joined Twitter some time ago, the British Monarchy finally launched a Facebook page earlier this month. I'm a "fan" and I definitely like this interaction better than the Twitter feed. (It's the pictures!)

Queen Sofia played with pandas

In a moment designed to make my little sister cry with jealousy, Queen Sofia got to feed and handle two baby pandas. My sister never wanted to be a real princess more than when she found out royal ladies get to play with pandas instead of visiting them religiously from a reasonable distance at Zoo Atlanta (where, by the way, we had a brand new panda cub born this month.)

A Sheikha shook up fashion watchers

Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, wife #2 of the three wives of the Emir of Qatar, showed Western style moguls that the modesty required in traditional Muslim societies, doesn't have to be humdrum. During official visits with her husband to France and England, she drew a lot of press attention, including favorable comparisons to Jackie Kennedy. Of course, drawing attention to oneself may not fit some people's definition of modesty.

Not like mother-in-law

Sheikha Mozah's daughter-in-law, Sheikha Al Mayassah Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, apparently does not aspire to the same Western-influenced sartorial style as her mother-in-law.

We ARE amused

The queen is often represented as lacking a sense of humor, but she clearly was amused by something at the annual Highland games at Braemar in Scotland. She also obviously enjoyed sharing the moment with her oldest son, Prince Charles.

A new princess arrived

Prince Nikolaos of Greece finally ended his long bachelorhood by marrying the gorgeous Tatiana Blatnik on a gorgeous Greek island surrounded by other gorgeous royals on Aug. 25. If only my life were half as gorgeous...

Back to school

Little princesses, like Infanta Leonor and Infanta Sofia, went back to school like millions of other youngsters.

Princess with a pen

Princess Martha Louise of Norway, who is looking more and more like her mother, wrote a book about guardian angels.

Remembering 9/11

Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway visited Ground Zero during a trip to New York City.

Not pregnant

Despite my insightful analogies between the lives of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and Crown Princess Letizia of Spain, Letizia has not announced a pregnancy to coincide with the impending arrival of Mary's twins in January. The two princesses each had their first two children within a month of the other's. (Read my faulty prediction.)

No engagement

Kate Middleton went to a wedding with Prince William, but alas it wasn't her own. I'm with other royal watchers, however, in predicting a 2011 wedding, but I think it will be a lower-key affair than Charles and Diana's extravaganza in 1981. I certainly don't think it will be at St. Paul's. Look for Westminster Abbey or St. George's Chapel.

The Youngest Princesses

My last post about contemporary royal romances made me start thinking about the beautiful new princesses that have resulted from these latest marriages. (Yes, the baby princes are cute too, but this is a blog about princesses. . .) I know many of my readers are not avid royal watchers, so I thought you might like to see pics of these little darlings. For those of you who are already familiar with them, you will probably enjoy seeing them again!

It's hard to choose just one photo of Infanta Leonor of Spain. I think she is the most adorable child in the world since Shirley Temple retired her tap shoes! This one of her holding her little sister Infanta Sofia's hand--and wearing matching outfits as they often do--is one of my favorites. Leonor is the oldest daughter of the Felipe and Letizia, the Prince and Princess of the Asturias. She is second in line to the throne after her father. However, under current Spanish law, which uses male-preference primogeniture to determine succession, she would be superceded if her father has any legitimate sons. (This is the same type of succession used in England--if Queen Elizabeth II had had a brother, she wouldn't be queen today.) Changes in the law have been proposed in Spain, but have not yet been adopted.

In Denmark, Princess Isabella is third in line to the throne following her father, Crown Prince Frederick and her older brother Prince Christian. Denmark, like all of the Scandinavian countries, has adopted gender-blind succession laws. Isabella's name was considered an unusual choice because it is not common in Denmark, but I think it is very lovely. (By the way, take a look at her shoes in this photo--either she was is extremely active or her mom is thrifty enough to use hand-me-downs.)

Princess Ingrid Alexandra is second in line in Norway after her father, Crown Prince Haakon. As his oldest child, she takes precedence over her younger full brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, because Norway's succession goes by birth order. However, the law was only changed in 1990. Before that, Norway used Salic Law, which meant women could not accede to the throne at all. Therefore, Haakon's older sister, Princess Martha Louise, was excluded until the new law was passed. Under the new succession law, Haakon, as the second child, would have been demoted. So, Parliament decided that, while Martha Louise would be included in the line of succession, the new gender-blind rules would only apply to children born after 1990. This doesn't seem to bother Martha Louise who dropped her royal status (she's just Her Highness, not Her Royal Highness) when she married in 2002. She has numerous business ventures which would not have been possible if she were heir to the throne.

Belgium has a plethora of tiny princesses, but the future queen is Princess Elisabeth (she's on the left, with her cousins, Princess Letitia Marie and Princess Louise). King Albert II has six granddaughters and six grandsons. Elisabeth is the first of Crown Prince Philippe's children and is number two behind her dad in order of succession. She has two younger brothers, Gabriel and Emmanuel, and a younger sister, Eleonore.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, like the Queen of England, also benefited from having no brothers. She succeeded her mother, Queen Juliana, who also had no brothers, and Queen Juliana succeeded her mother, Queen Wilhemina, whose brothers had died young. In fact, when the current Crown Prince Willem Alexander was born in 1967, he was the first Dutch prince to be born in more than 100 years. Although Beatrix broke the century-long tradition by having three sons and no daughters, she has made up for it in the next generation: seven of her eight grandchildren are girls. Only three of the girls are princesses, however, as it was decided in 2001 that only the children of the Crown Prince would have royal status; the other girls are countesses. The Crown Prince's three daughters are Princess Catharina-Amalia (called Amalia), Princess Alexia (named for her dad, who is called Alexander) and Princess Ariane, in that order. The top photo shows the three princesses from youngest to oldest. The bottom photo shows Queen Beatrix wrangling her six oldest grandchildren.

All of these little girls are still too young to realize the true impact of their positions. They probably think all children are incessantly followed by photographers! However, their parents have taken measures to raise them as normally as possible. Unlike many previous royals, they were born in hospitals and they attend regular kindergartens with ordinary children. They also appear to have very devoted parents who take them on regular outings to the seaside, theme parks, and other family-oriented spots. And, like most little girls, they seem to have their daddies wrapped around their fingers!