The Royal Dispatch
Queen Camilla's evening with the stars and a king in high-vis
Royal Clubbers, hello! I hope you have all had a lovely week. It’s Millie here as usual with the latest edition of The Royal Dispatch, bringing you 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, we have even more history to share with you (I hope you enjoyed The Royal Archive yesterday!).
On this day…
On 23 February 1668, the palace of Hofburg in Vienna, Austria, caught fire. Emperor Leopold I had to be rescued from the burning building, which was restored over the next 13 years, with an additional storey added.
It would not be the first time the palace would burn. The second time was on 31 October 1848 during the Vienna Uprising, where troops of the Austrian Empire were leaving the city with the aim of suppressing the Hungarian Revolution. A crowd of sympathisers to the Hungarian cause attempted to stop the army from leaving, so violence broke out.
The dramatic blaze took out a section of the Hofburg Hofbibliothek (Imperial Library), destroying museum collections.
The most recent fire at the palace took place on 26 November 1992. A security guard raised the alarm when flames were seen in the Redouten ballrooms at the Hofburg, which began to spread rapidly.
Owing to the flammable nature of the building and a strong wind, the fire spread and chandeliers and ceiling parts began to fall. The wind put several other major buildings, including the Spanish Riding School, the Treasury and the National Library.
In order to protect the library, over 200 policemen and women formed a human chain to save more than 10,000 precious books.
Despite extensive damage, the palace was repaired, with work completed in five years. The Hofburg has been official residence and workplace of the president of Austria since 1946.
Best Royal Pictures of the Week
Queen Camilla
The Queen was all smiles as she shared a joke with actor James Cordon. He was one of many famous faces present at a reception for staff, actors and supporters of the National Theatre at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
The actress Sharon D Clarke, in costume as Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest, took the Queen to the Throne Room in character, where she performed a scene from the play, which Camilla described as “one of my favourites”.
Spanish royals
King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia of Spain looked corporate on Tuesday as they attended a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Collections Gallery in Madrid.
Japanese royals
Monday was a day of diplomacy for the Japanese royals, as Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko met with Turkish parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus and his wife Sevgi Kurtulmus at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo.
Belgian royals
It was a sunny day for a sombre occasion as the Belgian royal family, including King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, attended the annual mass in memory of deceased members of the royal family at Eglise Notre-Dame de Laeken on Tuesday.
King Charles
Britain’s monarch looked very smart ahead of presenting the Humanitarian Medal to recipients during a medal presentation at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
He also spoke to David Henson, a former soldier and Paralympian who now works as a researcher. The King visited Injury Studies at Imperial College London on Wednesday to highlight the UK's support to injured service personnel in Ukraine.
Queen Maxima
Queen Maxima was on diplomatic duty on Wednesday for a meeting at the World Bank. She was in Washington DC in her capacity as United Nations secretary general's special advocate for financial health.
King Willem-Alexander
Meanwhile, the Dutch king donned his high-vis and a hard hat on Tuesday during a visit at the revamped A16 Rotterdam highway which underwent recent construction works.
Royal Diary
After a week off from their royal duties, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will be back to their public engagements, travelling all over the country.
And there will be a very special joint outing for the Prince and Princess of Wales.
There will also be jobs for other members of the royal family, which cannot be announced in advance. Keep your eyes peeled…