This week, I’m starting a brand-new feature here at Merry Royals. With the considerable number of royal families and individual royals around the globe, it could get hard to remember who’s who. To keep us all from getting confused, I will, in turn, feature each member of the royal families that I cover here.

There is a lot of information available online, and I cannot possibly give you everything you might want to know about the royals. Instead, I will keep the posts in this series concise and easy to read, with basic biographical information such as birthdates and the names of their immediate families.

I will start with the British royal family, and have, in fact, already written about Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The rest of the week, we’ll get to know Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and the members of their families. After this, I’ll cover the Danish and Spanish monarchies, and then the rest of the European royal families.

I will also compile these posts as resource pages, which you will eventually find on the sidebar. If you know a little-known fact about your favorite royal, I would love to hear about it! Email me at maricar-at-b5-media-dot-com.

If there is one Olympic sport that Britain’s Princess Anne isn’t going to miss, it’s the Equestrian event. She was there as a member of the International Olympic Committee and also to support the British team as they competed in Beijing.

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Prince Harry and some of his mates board a ferry for Robben Island

Prince Harry’s tour of Africa is almost over. The British prince has been spending time with members of his Blues and Royals regiment. While in Africa, they have helped with various projects at a community school in Lesotho. This project is supported by Sentebale, Prince Harry’s charity dedicated to helping AIDS orphans in Lesotho.

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Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, with Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson and his wife Dorrit Moussaieff, on a visit in May 2008

Another princess which I missed on my first list of Vanity Fair’s Best-Dressed Women was Princess Mary of Denmark. Princess Mary is one of my favorite royals. In the list, she is Number 16, though I think she should be higher.

Here are a couple more of her recent fashion statements:

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I feel like such a dork. I posted about Kate Middleton and a number of royals making it to Vanity Fair’s International Best-Dressed List this year. I didn’t realize, until Frank pointed it out, that I missed several other royals. I was looking at this list, instead of this one.

In the complete list, Princess Letizia of Spain is Number 2 among the best-dressed women of the world. She really does deserve to be in this list. Princes Letizia is always impeccably dressed, no matter what the occasion is.

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Kate Middleton is not (yet) a royal. But she is as well-dressed as any of them, according to Vanity Fair’s 2008 International Best-Dressed List. Kate joins the following blue-bloods who are being recognized for their fashion choices:

Crown Princess Mathilde of Belgium (shown on the right), with her tailored dresses and suits.

Prince Heinrich von Und Zu Furstenberg of Germany, whose personal style is labeled timeless.

Count Manfredi Della Gherardesca, whose favorite clothing purchase of 2008 was a batik-inspired J. Crew jacket.

Rafael Medina, The Duke of Feria, along with his brother Don Luis Medina of Spain.

Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, who favors business attire.

UPDATE:  Also on the list of Best-Dressed Men and Women were Crown Princess Letizia of Spain, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Princess Alexandra of Greece, Monaco’s Charlotte Casiraghi, Princess Olga of Greece, Princess Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis, Britain’s Prince William and Prince Harry, and Viscount David Linley.

Prince William’s girlfriend Kate Middleton is one of today’s fashion icons. She made the 2008 International Best-Dressed List compiled by Vanity Fair. Joining her in the fashion list are Ivanka Trump, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Daniel Craig, Matt Lauer, David Beckham (without Victoria!), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and a number of aristocrats.

Kate Middleton (center) with two unidentified guests at the wedding of Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman.

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The Spanish royals have been enjoying the sun and the water off Palma de Mallorca in Spain. Their visit coincides with the 27th Copa del Rey Mapfre Audi Sailing Cup, also known as the King’s Cup.

King Juan Carlos skippered the royal yacht Bribon for the event, one of the most popular among the elite international yachting community. His granddaughters, Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia, were in the thick of the action, as were their parents Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia.

The week was not all play and holiday from King Juan Carlos. He also met with several dignitaries in Mallorca. Among those he hosted were Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and Spain’s own Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero.

* Kate Middleton to meet Prince William in the Caribbean (via PA)

* Britain’s Prince Charles to star in TV documentary (via M&C)

* Japan’s Prince Naruhito sees off Japanese Olympians (via Royal Blog)

* Monaco’s Princess Stephanie and Charlene Wittstock at AIDS charity (via Hello)

* The Duchess of Cornwall meets British equestrians before Olympics (via PoW)

* Royal family prepares kingly training plan for Prince William (via Hello)

* Prince Charles invites burlesque dancer to Prince Harry’s birthday (via M&C)

* Queen Elizabeth donates pigeons to Wetherby Young Offenders Institute (via Wetherby News)

Prince Charles seemed to channel his inner James Bond at the recent Cartier International Polo Day.

The Prince of Wales was an image of coolness despite the sizzling weather. He wore a cream sports jacket and trousers and the requisite sunglasses at the event at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park. The weather was so warm it prompted three men to strip to their birthday suits, royal audience not withstanding.

After the event, Prince Charles drove away in his car (no driver!).

image used with permission from Newscom