The Royal Dispatch
Royals with rolling pins and King Charles pulling a pint
Royal Clubbers, hello! I hope you have all had a lovely week. It’s Millie here bringing you The Royal Dispatch, featuring all the best pictures and moments from the week, as well as a look ahead to what the royals are up to next week.
Before we get stuck into some amazing photos, let’s take a trip back into royal history.
On this day…
On 2 March 1127, Charles the Good, Count of Flanders was at prayer, kneeling with his hands outstretched, filled with coins for the poor to take. A group of knights entered the church, and brutally hacked Charles to death using broadswords.
Prior to his death, Charles was a popular figure. He gave bread to the poor and cracked down on the practice of hoarding grain during a famine to sell it for a much higher price. He also expelled all Jews from Flanders, alleging a similar practice.
He crossed the wrong family when he launched legal proceedings against the Erembald family for being involved in grain hoarding. His aim was to reduce them to serfdom, thus taking away any influence and power they’d built up.
The Erembald family staged a conspiracy to replace Charles with someone more pliant, and sent the knights to assassinate him.
The knights who committed the murder were captured and tortured to death, and Charles was made a saint in 1882, though he was widely regarded as a martyr long before that.
Best Royal Pictures of the Week
King Charles
It’s not every day you see a monarch pulling pints, but on Monday we were treated to a shot of King Charles doing just that during a visit to the Tower Brewery.
It’s also been a busy week for royal diplomacy, as King Charles sent an invitation for a second state visit to US president Donald Trump, hand-delivered by the UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Spanish royals
Seeing double? Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain appeared pleased as they took in their portraits, taken by esteemed photographer Annie Leibowitz, at an exhibition in Madrid on Wednesday.
Queen Maxima
It’s behind you! Queen Maxima’s view on Monday is not for the faint of heart. The Dutch queen visited New York this week in her capacity as United Nations secretary-general’s special advocate for financial health.
Queen Camilla
Queen Camilla posed next to a new statue of Aphra Behn on Tuesday after unveiling it. The lady in question is widely considered to be the first professional female writer in the English language and one of the most popular playwrights of the 17th century, a nod to Camilla’s love of literature.
She also joined her husband on Wednesday to help pack donation boxes of cooked rice at the Indian restaurant Darjeeling Express ahead of Ramadan.
Prince and Princess of Wales
Living up to their honorific, Prince William and Princess Catherine were pretty hands on during a trip to Pontypridd in Wales. They stopped by The Welsh Cake Shop to make their own on Wednesday and appeared to have great fun rolling out dough.
South African royals
King Misuzulu cut a regal figure at the official opening of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature at Woodburn Stadium on Thursday in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. It is the third smallest of South Africa's nine provinces.
Royal Diary
Keep your eyes peeled for a possible tiara moment this week with an overseas state visit.
It's also a big week for the Duchess of Sussex as her Netflix show finally drops after being postponed.
Find out more below...