Congratulations to Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark and his new wife, Tatiana, who were married today on the island of Spetses in Greece!  Tatiana’s new title is HRH Princess Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark.  (For more on the heirloom tiara she wore, hop over to Mad Hattery!)

The ceremony was attended by royals from all over Europe, many of whom are Nikolaos’s family members.  Click below to view photos of the royals who gathered in the Greek isles today to celebrate a royal wedding!

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Note: Updated with additional photos!

Europe’s royals are out in force this weekend for the wedding of ex-King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece’s second son, Prince Nikolaos, to Tatiana Blatnik.  Nik’s related to nearly every other royal in Europe; his aunts are Queen Margrethe of Denmark, Princess Benedikte of SWB, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, and Queen Sofia of Spain.  Now those are some royal connections!

Nikolaos and Tatiana will marry tomorrow at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas on the island of Spetses, Greece.  The wedding will take place at 7:30 PM local time (that’s 5:30 PM in the UK and 12:30 PM on the US east coast).  I’m putting up a live post over at Mad Hattery in hopes of hattery — even if there isn’t any, hop on over there and chat with us!

Click below for photos of royals arriving at Nikolaos and Tatiana’s pre-wedding reception…

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Princess Máxima cheers as The Netherlands beat Uruguay to reach the World Cup finals

Anyone who has been watching this year’s FIFA World Cup from South Africa has surely seen various royals from all over the globe popping up in the stands to support their countries.  Representing their nations at sporting events has become an increasingly important part of royals’ jobs — as ambassadors for their countries, it’s important that they appear with the crowd, cheering on their countrymen during important matches. 

Morale boosting and the drumming up of national pride is a big part of the roles of these people, who are more national symbols these days than political leaders.  (That’s one of the reasons I believe that, with the exception of the UK, the Commonwealth realms will ditch the British monarchy after Queen Elizabeth II’s reign — it’s disconcerting to have your head of state or royal family cheering on another country’s team!  But that’s a story for another post…)

And royals have certainly been enthusiastic cheerleaders at this year’s World Cup matches.  This year’s final will be between The Netherlands and Spain (two countries with a very interesting colonial past!), so we’ll surely see the Dutch and Spanish royals cheering loudly for their teams.  Click below for a gallery of pictures of royals who have appeared in the stands so far during this year’s tournament…

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Using a random number generator, I’ve determined the winner of my very first royal giveaway!  The lucky winner of a DVD copy of The Young Victoria is…

Eliza!

Congratulations, Eliza!  Send me an e-mail at ellakayblogs@gmail.com (from the e-mail address you use to comment on the blog) so that we can get the DVD headed your way!

Thanks for entering, everybody — look for another giveaway here in the coming months!

Queen Elizabeth dedicates the British Garden at Hanover Square in New York City

Americans got their first glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II today since 2007, when she last visited the States.  Last time she undertook a state visit to Washington, D.C. and attended the Kentucky Derby — this time around, she made a whirlwind visit to New York City, speaking at the United Nations and laying a wreath at the World Trade Center site.

Here’s a video of her UN speech, courtesy the royals’ official YouTube channel:

The Royal Channel also uploaded footage from HM’s last speech at the United Nations, made in 1957!  Oh, how times have changed…