I hope you had a happy time ringing in the brand new year and decade!

I’m so excited for 2010. It promises to be a great year for royal news. We have the wedding of Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling to look forward to in June. And maybe more?
We are still awaiting the date for Princess Madeleine’s wedding to Jonas Bergstrom. And royal watchers are all a-twitter with speculation that we’ll hear of another engagement announcement, this time from Prince William and Kate Middleton. There is much expectation of this, considering that Prince William, who has …read more

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* Prince Charles and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher open a new infirmary at the Royal Hospital Chelsea (via POW website)
* The Duchess of York is not ruling*  out getting back together with Prince Andrew. (via Hello!)
* Photos of Kate Middleton at the Geneva airport after a skiing holiday (at PopSugar)
* Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has acute bronchitis and canceled engagements for March 26-27, 2009. (via POW website)
* Princess Anne is new Royal Patron of Edinburgh Zoo. (via Edinburgh News)
* Zara Phillips and her horse Toytown on the comeback trail to Badminton horse trials (via Telegraph)

* Prince Harry’s shocking pink nails
* Queen Elizabeth disapproves of inaccuracies in ‘The Young Victoria’ movie
* Princess Eugenie’s gap year plans scrapped by Prince Andrew 
* Prince William and Kate Middleton to go on £40k skiing holiday

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* Questions for ‘workshy’ Prince William after he attends just 14 official engagements in a year – Prince William is criticized for the number of official engagements he fulfilled.  (Daily Mail)
* Prince William to move in with Kate? – The prince and Kate Middleton are said to be planning to move into a remodeled house near the Shropshire RAF base. (M&C)
* Prince Harry’s Imbruglia texts – Prince Harry sends text messages to singer Natalie Imbruglia. (M&C)
* Prince William criticised for "doing almost nothing" – A royal watcher alleges in a documentary that the prince does “almost nothing". (AFP)
* Princes …read more

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* Prince Charles reading Robert Burns poetry becomes online download hit – “The Prince of Wales recorded two of his favourite Robert Burns poems for the BBC Scotland audio project . He recited My Luve is Like a A Red Red Rose and My Heart’s In The Highlands.” (Telegraph)
* Princess Anne gets warm welcome at jail – “THE Princess Royal was given a warm welcome by staff and prisoners yesterday during her first visit to Castle Huntly Prison in 10 years.” (The Press and Journal)
* Prince Harry’s charity crisis – “Britain’s Prince Harry’s charity has been accused of failing …read more

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* Prince Philip tries to quash health fears with first public outing in two weeks – “The Duke of Edinburgh made his first public appearance for two weeks today in a bid to quash growing speculation about his health.” (Daily Mail)
* Princess Beatrice Gives Up Drinking Alcohol – “The royal – who recently had her $22,300 BMW stolen because she left her keys in the ignition – has quit alcohol in an attempt to "get healthy."” (AHN)
* Prince Harry tells Paris Hilton: Our midnight date is off – “the Prince, who recently split from his girlfriend of five years, …read more

* Queen and Duke cancel state visit – “The Queen has cancelled a state visit because of “other commitments”, not her age or the Duke of Edinburgh’s health, Buckingham Palace has said.” (BBC)
* Madoff Marketer Met With U.K.’s Prince Charles, Markopolos Says – “Bernard Madoff used high-profile recruiters to target royalty and wealthy Europeans including Britain’s Prince Charles, whistleblower Harry Markopolos said.” (Bloomberg)
* Crown prince hopes to enhance Japan’s ties with Vietnam – “Crown Prince Naruhito expressed hope Thursday that he will be able to contribute to enhancing Japan’s relationship with Vietnam on his first trip to the Southeast Asian …read more

I hope you had a great weekend, and are ready for a brand new week of royal-watching. For starters, here are the latest news from the past few days:

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* Kate Middleton’s childhood home to let – “Dudley Singleton, the estate agent who originally sold the house for the Middletons and who is now letting it for its current owners, said the four-bedroomed property had barely changed since the Middletons left in 1995.” (Telegraph)
* Prince Philip, 87, forced to cancel public appearances after hurting his back – “Buckingham Palace confirmed that the 87-year-old prince was staying indoors after pulling a …read more

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* Britain’s Royals Roll With The Times – “The Queen and her Princes Charles, Harry and William: the Royal Family in the 21st Century” (ABCNews)
* Kate Middleton: could the wait be over at last? – “Insiders believe this could be the year Kate Middleton finally marries her prince.” (Telegraph)
* Prince Harry impersonator ‘in hiding’ after Chelsy Davy split – “A Prince Harry impersonator says he has been plagued by crowds of screaming girls following the split between the young royal and Chelsy Davy.” (Telegraph)
* Princess Anne visits Prestwick family – “A Prestwick family welcomed one of Britain’s most famous …read more

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* Princess Royal’s visit to Didcot was ‘a dream come true’ – “Louise Blackman had always wanted to be a princess, so when she won a competition to meet one in her home town, it was like her dream come true.” (Herald Series)
* Hit & Run: Chelsy – just too good to be royal – “It is a curious feature of the modern British monarchy that, on the rare occasions it chances upon a new recruit who appeals to the less prudish elements of the public imagination, it does all it can to cast them aside, and banish them …read more