From Meghan Markle to Prince Philip and Princess Beatrice, the British royal family were busy, busy, and busy this year.
While there were the usual births, weddings and state dinners to be had, there were also scandals galore over the past 12 months.
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Can’t remember what the royals got up to? Well, there was Prince Philip’s controversial car accident; Meghan Markle suing the British press; and Prince Andrew’s announcement that he’ll step back from his royal duties.
As the year draws to a close, we look back at more moments you might have missed concerning Queen Elizabeth II and her royal family members:
The Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, was involved in a controversial car accident in January. Thankfully, he was uninjured but the other cars in the crash escaped with some injuries. While Prince Philip was not charged with causing harm he did voluntarily surrender his license following the incident.
Queen Elizabeth II made history when she became the longest reigning monarch back in 2015, and in March this year, the 92-year-old reached another important milestone: She posted her first Instagram. We love a Queen that embraces technology!
Buckingham Palace announced that the Kensington and Sussex households would separate in March. This meant that Prince William and Duchess Catherine would operate as the heads of Kensington House, and Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan would manage Sussex House on their own. The move came amid rumours of a rift between the brothers.
Shortly after the split, Harry and Meghan joined Instagram. Hooray for us! “Welcome to our official Instagram,” the caption reads. “We look forward to sharing the work that drives us, the causes we support, important announcements, and the opportunity to shine a light on key issues. We thank you for your support, and welcome you to @sussexroyal.”
Joy to the world for another royal baby is here! And luckily for us, Meg and Harry already had their Instagram account up so we could track the birth. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born on May 6 but the public only got to see him a few days later at the official photocall.
Will and Kate’s youngest child turned one on April 23 and what an adorable little champ he turned out to be. We were gifted some gorgeous snaps of the fifth-in-line heir on his birthday that were taken by his talented mum.
We got another glimpse at Baby Archie when he was christened in July during a private affair at Windsor Castle. Harry and Meghan did release a few photos on social media including the one above featuring most of the family. They kept the names of his godparents private though!
Wills, Kate and older brother George accompanied Princess Charlotte to her first day of school on September 5. It was a major milestone for the little Princess who now attends Thomas’s Battersea school in London.
Also in September, the Sussexes embarked on their royal tour of Southern Africa and they brought baby Archie with them! The little cutie met with civil rights icon, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The world was also gifted with this too-cute-for-words video above featuring the bub being his best baby self.
Following their successful trip, Meghan brought out the big guns on the last day of their Africa tour by announcing that she was suing the Mail on Sunday for leaking a private letter between herself and her father. The Sussexes also released a touching documentary where Meghan admitted that life as a new mum coupled with the glare of public scrutiny as a royal had been a struggle.
Wedding bells are near for another Royal! This time it’s Princess Beatrice of York, who announced her engagement in September after her boyfriend, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi proposed. The multi-millionaire property tycoon popped the questions during a loved-up trip to Italy earlier in the month.
Not content to take a backseat to his brother after Prince Harry’s own successful trip to South Africa, Prince William set off on his own royal tour of Pakistan in October with Duchess Kate in tow. The visit was a sortorial success from every angle: Kate wowed with her modest but modern wardrobe and Wills stuffed his usual suit and tie get-up to the back of the wardrobe and opted for a traditional Pakistani sherwani in a bold green shade.
Following public criticism of his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew voluntarily stepped back from his royals duties in November. The Queen’s second son also faced backlash over accusations that he had sexual relations with Virginia Roberts Giuffre while she was underage.
The Queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne, set social media on fire during a routine gathering at Buckingham Palace for NATO leaders in December. She was caught on video apparently shrugging off her mum when asked to come say hello to visiting US President Donald Trump. Many interpreted it as her refusal to acknowledge Trump. Even funnier was the Queen Elizabeth’s stink eye throw her daughter’s way after the shrug. LOL!
Princess Anne’s shrug: ‘What you going to do, Mum? I said I’m not meeting him and I mean it’ pic.twitter.com/JZdIb6PaUK
— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) December 4, 2019
The Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George, joined forces to prepare Christmas puddings at Buckingham Palace just before the big day. That’s four generations of Royals you see in the photo above and all of them are first in the line of succession to the British throne.