Royal family 11-12 February: King Charles' celebrations, royal marks incredible birthday, more

Did you see Princess Anne's lovely cosy hat she wore at the winter Olympics in Italy?

She's certainly keeping snug amid the snowy conditions!

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The Prince of Wales may have left Saudi Arabia, but we bet he's still thinking about this giant lemon he got to grips with at the Oasis and Eco-Gardening Farm 

Prince William, 43, held the wrinkled lemon, the size of a grapefruit, that is sweet and can be eaten like an orange, and said: "I've never seen that before."

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Have we spoken about how he's been sporting his facial hair on this tour? His beard caused quite the furore when he debuted it, but perhaps we're all used to it now?

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My time on the blog seems to be dominated by Prince William! The latest news from our future King comes in the form of a charitable act.

The Prince of Wales donated £5,000 to Sam Stables, a Duchy tenant and founder of We Are Farming Minds, of which the Prince is a patron. 

Sam is currently walking 142 miles from Ross-on-Wye to London to raise funds for the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs and said he was "absolutely over the moon" about the "kind gesture". 

The whole blog can't be about William, can it? So now I'm going to shine the spotlight on Princess Anne again, who looked striking in a red coat with trendy fluted sleeves during a visit to the Olympic Power Summit.

Princess Anne's sister-in-law, Duchess Sophie, looked equally elegant, donning a black and white polka dot dress with fashion-forward sheer sleeves.

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The Duchess was at Windsor Palace to celebrate carers, alongside King Charles and Queen Camilla.

After a busy shift of royal engagements and announcements, I'm signing off for the night. Sleep well, dearest readers!

Hello, and welcome to Thursday's installment of royal stories! I will be bringing you all the news you need this morning, so keep checking back.

On today's agenda, both the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are out, with Duchess Sophie attending a dinner in Clapham later today in her role as patron of the National Autistic Society. Meanwhile, Prince Edward is out at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham and Farnham Pottery.

Also happening, King Charles has an anniversary to celebrate as his charity, Turquoise Mountain, marks its 20th anniversary.

And finally, Princess Astrid of Norway is marking her 94th birthday today!

Last year, the Princess of Wales paid a touching visit to HMP Styal, visiting the prison's mother-and-baby unit. And now, a year after her visit, the royal has given a touching donation. Find out more about Kate's generous gift here...

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson have now been removed from Royal Lodge, but the former couple shared a different home when they first got hitched. Find all the details about it now...

Prince William has spent part of the week in Saudi Arabia, and he was seen getting his hands "dirty" during a tree planting exercise, something that his wife, the Princess of Wales was previously seen doing.

As one fan remarked: "When your future King and Queen don’t mind getting their hands dirty - that’s how you know they were made for the throne."

Read more on the story here...

During their morning episode, BBC Breakfast shared a clip of the Duke of Sussex as he joined British families who had lost children to suicide, with the use of social media being suspected in their deaths.

Harry said to the group: "We've said time and time again that this is a David versus Goliath situation. I've been in some similar situations myself, vastly different. But when you were sitting in court and if you have that feeling of just overwhelming emotion because you can't believe that the people on the other side are saying what they're saying, that by the very nature of them defending what they're defending, the lies that they are stating, is devaluing life, is devaluing your children's lives, if that brings stuff up for you, it is totally normal.

"Do not feel ashamed, do not feel concerned. Even if the judge - as I heard - turned round and asked you not to show emotion. As I said, none of you should be here. So, thank you for doing everything that you've done. Thank you for telling your stories over and over again. Truth, justice and accountability. Those are the three things that will come from this."

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It's a big day for Norwegian royal Princess Astrid, as she marks her 94th birthday. To celebrate the occasion, the Norwegian Palace released a stunning portrait of King Harald's older sister.

Residents of Wood Farm have a new neighbour in the form of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and HELLO! has spoken to nearby residents about the move. Click here to find out what they had to say...

The Princess of Wales stepped out on Thursday, visiting Castle Hill Academy in New Addington, Croydon, to mark Children's Mental Health Week 2026. During her visit, the royal mum-of-three met children taking part in the official Children’s Mental Health Week art project.

© Toby Shepheard / Kensington Palace

Prince Harry appeared emotional as he spoke to a group of parents ahead of a major court battle. Find out more about what he had to say here...

Good afternoon all, I'm taking over the royal blog this afternoon to bring you the latest news. 

Queen Camilla is visiting the Avon and Somerset Police headquarters in Portishead, where she listened in to a real-life 999 call. 

During her visit, which is to learn about the force's work to tackle domestic abuse, Camilla put the headphones up to her ear to hear the start of a pre-recorded conversation between a woman who rang in to report she had spotted an ex-partner on her property, and the emergency call handler.

She was told that the force receives 34,000 domestic abuse calls a year. The Queen described the amount of domestic abuse calls received by the force as "horrifying" and added "it’s a lot – far too many", but praised the team for its work. "Sometimes people must be very frightened so it must be difficult getting information out of them,” she said. She added: "It’s fascinating to see it and horrifying how many calls come in."

The Queen has supported survivors of sex attacks and domestic abuse for many years. It was recently revealed that she fought off a man who attacked her on a train when she was a teenager. 

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The Princess of Wales has shared a personal message for Children's Mental Health week following her visit to Castle Hill Academy in Croydon. 

The message, which was shared on Kensington Palace's official social media accounts, read: "This year's Place2Be Children’s Mental Health Week is about the importance of belonging. 

"It can be easy to overlook the importance of the things that matter most; love, care and time spent together. Belonging and connection is so important, and is a fundamental part of early childhood development.

"As Patron of Place2Be, I am incredibly proud of the work they do to support families and communities to nurture children and young people. C."

The Princess of Wales broke one of her classic style rules this afternoon - and surprised everyone by not wearing her typical pair of heels. 

Kate today stepped out stepped out to visit Castle Hill Academy in New Addington, Croydon, to mark Children's Mental Health Week 2026. She wore chocolate brown cigarette trousers and a structured blazer, the 'Founder' jacket by Petar Petrov, and a dusty blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

Click here to read more about the Princess's stylish choice of footwear from HELLO!'s lifestyle writer Katie Daly. 

The former Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson lived together even after their divorce and called themselves a "united family". 

But, that closeness between the exes, both linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, seems to have recently frayed.

Our US Royal Correspondent, Alexandra Hurtado, takes a closer look at the state of Andrew and Sarah's relationship today in her deep dive piece here. 

The Princess of Wales has been out this afternoon for a surprise visit to Castle Hill Academy in Croydon. 

During her visit, the mother-of-three met with children and spoke about the importance of expressing their emotions.

See the best photos from her visit here. 

The most fun royal outing of the week award goes to Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, who tried his hand at glass blowing today. 

Edward was on a visit to the University of the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey.

Later on, he looked at metal work and is also set to visit Farnham Pottery. 

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Queen Letizia of Spain was all business this afternoon in tailored trousers and a smart shirt. 

The European monarch, 53, received a delegation from the Claudia Tecglen Foundation to learn about the results of the pilot program of the Intercommunity Network for Suicide Prevention. 

Later, she met with representatives from the Association of Glaucoma for Affected People and Families (AGAF), which works to raise awareness of the disease in Spain, according to a post from the Royal House. 

Her husband, King Felipe, has also been active at the Palace today, meeting Juan Francisco Pérez Llorca, who has recently been appointed to office. He also met with deans and heads of schools from foreign universities. 

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands has opened the International Year of Volunteers in Utrecht - completing an extra-large puzzle on the stage to do so. 

Wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a green jumper with a snake brooch, she also spoke with volunteers, saying that "every volunteer is different", hearing about everyone's individual experience. 

The Royal House shared the day's events in a post on Instagram: "From giving training at the local sports club, helping children with homework guidance or a day out with the elderly. About half of the people in the Netherlands do volunteer work."

The Princess of Wales received a sweet gift of a bouquet of flowers during her school visit today, and was greeted by rows of children waving colourful homemade flags. 

Before she left, the princess was presented with a bunch of orange and yellow flowers by a group of children including the head girl and boy.

Kate told the two to "keep up the hard work", adding that she had been "really, really impressed" by the school and its facilities.

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Prince Daniel of Sweden has continued his visit to the Olympics today. He congratulated the sister-brother team of Isabella and Rasmus Wranå, who won gold in the mixed doubles curling final. 

Isabella and Rasmus are Sweden's first-ever team of siblings at the Winter Olympics. 

"Congratulations," the Swedish royal house wrote, on the official Instagram account @kungahuset. 

Prince Philip shared a quiet moment with John F. Kennedy Jr. in the days after his father's assassination. An anecdote about the Duke of Edinburgh and the nearly three-year-old son of the 35th president of the United States was shared by author Paul Brandus following the death of Queen Elizabeth's husband in 2021.

"The weekend of the Kennedy assassination, he flew to Washington for the funeral. At the White House on Sunday, Nov. 24, 1963, Jacqueline Kennedy was looking for John Jr. and opened the door to his playroom," Paul posted on X.

Read more about it here. 

That's all we have for you today, folks. Have a good weekend!