Prince Harry Visits Northumberland And Newcastle Upon Tyne

Let's kick off with our old friend, the Informative Caption: "Prince Harry uses a thermal imaging camera as he meets with Red Squirrel Northern England (RSNE) staff who are working with the local community to safeguard the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) population, with the main focus on a grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) control programme." There is something hilarious to me about sending Harry out to deal with the red squirrels. If he didn't make a series of jokes about this to his staff, then I don't know the fictional persona I have invented about him in my head at all.

Prince Harry Visits Northumberland And Newcastle Upon Tyne

Harry is having THE BEST TIME dealing with the squirrels. Remind me one day to tell you all the story of the time a squirrel stole my muffin. Not a euphemism. Also, one almost landed ON MY HEAD in Heather's backyard. In short, I'm not a fan of the squirrel.

Prince Harry Visits Northumberland And Newcastle Upon Tyne

I am a fan of this photo, though. I like to think this is where Kate sends Harry to Think About What He's Done whenever he's Done Something.

Prince Harry Visits Northumberland And Newcastle Upon Tyne

THIS IS EXACTLY HOW SQUIRRELS FALL ON ONE'S HEAD, FYI.

Prince Harry Visits Northumberland And Newcastle Upon Tyne

Then Harry popped over to visit one of his charities, which "provides accommodation and support for Armed Forces veterans who are making the transition into civilian life." Of course he finds the kid in the crowd and makes friends with him. I'm distraught anew that he and Emma Watson will not be creating a team of adorable babies. (Except Emma Watson has too much other stuff to do to Marry Harry.)

The Duke Of Cambridge Visits Japan - Day 1

Apparently Wills got right off the plane in Japan and onto a boat, where things were pointed at vigorously.

The Duke Of Cambridge Visits Japan - Day 1

Tea: a true common interest between Japan and the UK.

The Duke Of Cambridge Visits Japan - Day 1

"Let's walk on this scenic bridge in the rain and talk about your wife, who isn't here because she can't travel because she's too pregnant. What do you think her hair is doing now?"

Wills Visits Japan

These dudes are members of Japan's Rugby World Cup team, which explains why they're so hunky. (How many tiny jerseys do you think George has now? I hope he wears them all at home, the way college students sleep in the free tee shirts they get for signing up for Discover cards with 14% interest rates in the student union.)

Wills Visits Japan

Informative Caption! Wills, "dressed in a 'Happi' coat, takes part in a Sake Barrel Breaking Ceremony with Japanese Astronaut Soichi Noguchi and Andy Palmer (CEO of Aston Martin)." I believe it was at this event that he said he wanted to be an astronaut when he was little. They don't let the heir to the throne go to the moon, love, so here's a big mallet -- why don't you smash some stuff ceremonially instead??

Wills Visits Japan

Here, Wills meets Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. They're having lunch. I mean, not in this picture specifically. At this event. I wonder if they let out The Princess Who Doesn't Really Care About Any of This. I suspect she might ask Wills if she can hide in his luggage and defect to England to hang out with Harry. ROYALS SCANDALE!

Wills Visits Japan

This was a visit to Hodogaya Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, which Diana also visited -- that's a photo of her on the table in front of him.

QE2 and His Excellency Mr Syed Ibne Abbas and Mrs Abbas

"I don't want to talk about it."

The 800th Anniversary Of Magna Carta

I love Her Maj in red. This event was to mark the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. No big.

Chuck and Camz Visit The Evening Standard

"Hi, hi, hello, please don't write anything scandalous about us, okay, great, nice to see you, bye."

The Duchess Of Cornwall Visits The Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital

Informative Caption: "The Duchess of Cornwall meets Jessica the cat...on a visit to Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital at the Royal Veterinary College in Camden, North London, where she met staff, students and patients. Her visit enabled her to see how the Animal Care Trust (of which she is Patron) funds state of the art animal care." And yes. Now you know the truth. I am actually a cat.

The Duchess Of Cornwall Visits The Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital

This dog is named Dogamatrix! I just felt you needed to know that.

Duchess Of Cornwall Visits Dents Factory

Camz got to meet a lot of animals this week, as here she is feeding a cake to a dog at a glove factory. As one does.

Princess Eugenie

Eugenie's earrings might be good.

Crown Princess Mary in Ethiopia

CPM recently made a trip to Ethiopia. This is at the Danish ambassador's house, and not my FAVORITE of her looks. I mean, it's totally aggressively fine and she looks nice, but you know what I mean. I'm not going to have dreams about wearing it myself.

Crown Princess Mary in Ethiopia

This is good, though. I love a full skirt.

Crown Princess Mary in Ethiopia

And these seem totally appropriate for making school visits and the like. Leave it to Mary to make khakis look chic.

Felipe and Letizia Attend the Opening of ARCO 2015

This is a great approximation of my To Be Read pile.

Queen Letizia

I am feeling Letizia's color-blocked dress and suede heels, though.

Queen Letizia Visits the ONCE Education Resource Center

"What do you mean, I have to transcribe this meeting? I'M THE QUEEN."

Queen Mathilde

Looks like poor Mathilde screwed up her knee! Someone get this woman a chair.

The Dutch Royal Family Hold Annual Photocall In Lech

Ahem: "Princess Ariane, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Princess Alexia, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and Princess Catharina-Amalia, pose at the annual winter photocall on February 23, 2015 in Lech, Austria." I do love a skiing vacation photocall.

Queen Maxima

This may be my favorite photo of Maxima EVER.

Estelle of Sweden Turns 3 Years Old

Princess Estelle of Sweden is celebrating her third birthday WITH EXTREME CUTENESS.

Estelle of Sweden Turns 3 Years Old

I CANNOT. SHE IS ADORABLE. LOOK AT THIS CHILD. I CANNOT TAKE OFF MY CAPS LOCK.

Estelle of Sweden Turns 3 Years Old

The lengthy photo rights instructions that were included with these noted that these pics are cleared "for personal use," and thank god because they are so cute I want to stick one on my fridge.

Crown Prince Haakon Of Norway Visits London

Crown Prince Haakon Of Norway is handsome. The end.

King Harald V And Queen Sonja Of Norway Visit Australia

King Harald V And Queen Sonja are in Australia right now. She looks very colorful in this. You should know that she's wearing white stocking in all of these photos, which is always an intriguing stylistic choice to me unless you are a nurse.

King Harald V And Queen Sonja Of Norway Visit Australia

I really dig this ombre shawl.

King Harald V And Queen Sonja Of Norway Visit Australia

This is appealingly preppy.

Crown Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece

Apparently, these two went to the Vanity Fair Oscars party! Who knew? (It's interesting that they're still using their titles even though Greece has abolished the monarchy. I'm sure one of you can explain to me why this is possible.)

Charlotte Casiraghi etc

Charlotte Casiraghi also went to a Weinstein's Oscars party and she MIGHT be wearing a cape.

Royals Round-Up, February 27, 2015

In which Prince Harry is sent out to look for red squirrels, as he is the closest thing the British Royal Family currently has to a red squirrel in human form; Prince William is off on a trip to Japan and China where so far he has done LOT pointing at stuff and wearing one of my favorite coats of his, along with his traditional grass skirt and tube top (read: blue suit); a VARIETY of domesticated animals make appearances; Princess Estelle is EXTREMELY CUTE; we learn that Queen Sonja Of Norway really digs white hose; Maxima and W-A are mad cute together; and Letizia and Felipe stand next to a huge pile books. Speaking of books: In case you missed the post last week, you can now read the first seven chapters of our forthcoming novel, The Royal We, for free! And! Goodreads is giving away 15 signed galleys, so be sure to enter if you are interested! (Unfortunately, this giveaway is for US readers only.) And elsewhere: ITV has an overview of Wills's visit to Japan and China, as does The Telegraph, which reflects more on the historical impact of the visit. Wills has also passed all fourteen exams required to get his helicopter license to start his new job as an air ambulance pilot. (People) Harry will not be going back out on active duty, which doesn't seem that surprising to me. (The Express) Sara Madderson, who designed one of Kate's recent dresses, talked to Evoke about what happens when the D o C wears one of your dresses out and about. And, in Hello! the costume designer for Cinderella talks about both Kate and Cate. At The Express, there are theories that a documentary about Princess Diana was shelved for fear of upsetting the royal family. Our friends at The Duchess Diary rank Kate's Coats. (AKA The Most Important Question of Our Time) And Macleans examines the cult of the repliKates -- AKA, our kind friends who track down items similar to things Kate has worn but which do not perhaps cost as much as a McQueen coat. Also from People, allegedly Princess Beatrice is moving to New York to "take a finance course" at an unnamed scholastic institution. The CBC has an amusing piece on the fate of a portrait of the Queen that used to hang in the Winnipeg Jets area. This is a fascinating piece on Alice of Battenberg over at The Court Jeweller And Order of Splendor takes a look back at Crown Princess Victoria's engagement. Royalista has a look inside Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary's palace. PALACES! Speaking of, this drone footage of Blenheim Palace is amazing. I cannot even believe that is a real place. (Two Nerdy History Girls) [Photos: Splash, Getty, Tim Rooke/REX, Nick Ansell/PA Wire, PA Wire, Kungahuset.se via Getty Images]