Year in Review 2017

2017 was a busy year for The Royal Family. As well as the usual ceremonial events, happy announcements were made and exciting new initiatives were set out too.  

Members of The Royal Family carried out engagements all over the UK and there were several visits overseas. 

Buckingham Palace was also busy,  welcoming over 120,000 people over the course of the year to attend garden parties, investitures, receptions, dinners and lunches to acknowledge their achievements and contributions.

Here's a look back at 2017:

2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry join Heads Together runners training for the London Marathon. Heads Together is a mental health campaign created by The Royal Foundation and was the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon Charity of the Year.

2017

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visit Hull, the UK's City of Culture

2017

The Queen opens the National Cyber Security Centre

Part of GCHQ, the centre works to make the UK as safe as possible online.

2017

The Queen launches the 2017 UK-India Year of Culture

A huge projection was designed for the front of Buckingham Palace which featured a peacock, which is celebrated as the national bird of India.

2017

The Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial is unveiled, recognising the contributions of the UK Armed Forces and all UK citizens who deployed in the Gulf region, Iraq and Afghanistan from 1990-2015

2017

The Countess of Wessex visits Malawi

The Countess' visit saw work being done by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust to end avoidable blindness, champion youth leadership and celebrate Commonwealth Week.

2017

The Queen reopens the National Army Museum

The renovation project took three years to complete.

2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit Paris

During the tour, The Duke of Cambridge made a speech saying, "Before I came here, Her Majesty The Queen reminded me of how much she has enjoyed her many visits to France."

2017

The Queen feeds an elephant

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, opened the brand new Centre for Elephant Care at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.

2017

The Prince of Wales & The Duchess of Cornwall visit Romania, Italy, the Holy See and Austria

2017

As part of the Heads Together campaign, The Duke of Cambridge calls Lady Gaga to talk about the importance of opening up about mental health

2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry talk about mental health

2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry support Heads Together runners at the London Marathon 2017

2017

Party at the Palace

850 children, of those who died while serving in the Armed Forces, were invited to the Palace.

2017

The Diana Awards

The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry presented a new award, on behalf of The Diana Award, which honours the legacy of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

2017

The Chelsea Flower Show

Established in 1913, on the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has become one of the world’s greatest showcases for horticultural excellence.

2017

The Queen visits Manchester after the concert bombing attacks

Her Majesty met some of the victims, their families and the staff who treated them at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

2017
The King speaks to a guest at a Garden Party

Garden Parties at the Palace

30,000 guests are invited to Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse each year.

2017

Royal Ascot

Ascot holds a special week of races in June each year called Royal Ascot, attended by The Queen, who has had an interest in horses since childhood.

2017

The Queen re-creates the first Royal train ride

Queen Victoria took the same journey from Slough to Paddington 175 years ago on 13 June 1842.

2017

The Queen visits the Tower Hamlets

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visited East London on the 100th anniversary of the bombing of Upper North Street.

2017

The Queen and The Duke of Cambridge visit people affected by the Grenfell Tower fire

The Queen and HRH visited Westway Sports Centre in London, which became the focal point for efforts to support those affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower.

2017

Trooping the Colour

The Trooping of the Colour has marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign for over 260 years.

2017

The Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament

The Monarch officially opens Parliament during an event steeped in tradition. The State Opening is the only regular event to unite the three elements of legislature – the...

2017

The Earl of Wessex visits Merseyside

The Earl visited The Bluecoat, Liverpool's centre for contemporary arts, which is a place to showcase talent across visual art, music, dance and literature.

2017

Holyrood Week 2017

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinbugh, spent the week in Scotland, meeting Scots from all walks of life and hosting thousands at the Palace of Holyoodhouse in recognition of their good work.

2017

The Princess Royal went to China

The Princess Royal saw work being done by Save The Children, an organization HRH has supported since 1970.

2017

The Queen meets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Edinburgh

2017

The Spanish State Visit

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain began their State Visit to the United Kingdom with a welcome which showed British pageantry at its best. The official arrival ceremony...

2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit Germany and Poland

Their Royal Highnesses brought Prince George and Princess Charlotte along too.

2017

The Queen visits Canada House

The visit celebrates the 150th Anniversary of Confederation.

2017

The 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele

Members of the Royal Family joined commemorations to mark the anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War

2017

The Duke of Edinburgh retires

2017

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

This was the first time Their Royal Highnesses have attended the event, held each August in the Scottish capital.

2017

Happy (Royal) Dog Day!

2017

The White Garden for Diana, Princess of Wales

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry visit the Sunken Garden in Kensington Palace, which has been transformed into a special White Garden dedicated to The Princess. Their Royal Highness met representatives from charities supported by Diana, the Princess of Wales.

2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their third child

The baby will be born in April 2018.

2017

Prince George's first day at school

2017

The Princess Royal visits Peru

As a member of the International Olympic Committee, The Princess attended the IOC Session Lima, visited the International Potato Centre and attended a recepton for the Amazon...

2017

Prince Harry opens the Invictus Games in Toronto

Last night, Prince Harry attended the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games. Now in the third Invictus Games took place in Toronto, Canada this year – the biggest yet...

2017

The Queen visits Aberdeen

The Queen opened Robertson Family Roof Garden and visited the Sue Ryder Dee View Court Neurological Centre.

2017

The Earl and Countess of Wessex attend The Sultan of Brunei's Golden Jubilee celebrations

2017

The Queen records a special message for BBC's Gardeners' Question time from Frogmore House in Windsor

2017

Prince Harry works with the Ministry of Defence on Mental Health

2017

World Mental Health Day at Buckingham Palace

2017

Celebrating 100 years of Women serving in the Army and Navy

The Queen and The Princess Royal both attended celebrations at the Army and Navy Club in London.

2017

The Duchess of Cornwall at Women of the Year, an awards ceremony that honours the remarkable achievements of women. This year The Woman of Achievement Award was dedicated to the Women of the Emergency Services.

2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry attend Coach Core graduation

2017

The Queen reviews troops in Hyde Park

The Troop also known as the 'Gunners' was formed on the wishes of The Queen's father, King George VI, 70 years ago.

2017

Visiting the Household Cavalry in Hyde Park

The Queen named The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment's new drummer horse Perseus.

2017

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall’s Autumn Tour to Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and India

2017

Princess Alexandra visits veterans

The Princess spent time at Care for Veterans in Worthing.

2017

Prince Harry and Michelle Obama surprise students in Chicago and discuss the potential of young people to create change

2017

The Princess Royal travels to Madagascar

The Princess saw work being carried out by Save the Children, a charity that has been close to The Princess for 40 years.

2017

The Queen opens the British Museum

Her Majesty toured the newly refurbished Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery of China and South Asia 25 years after first opening it.

2017

Remembrance Day

In the week of Remembrance, The Queen, and Members of the Royal Family, join the nation in commemorating and honouring the men and women who have sacrificed themselves in Service to our country.

2017

The Duke of Cambridge unveils the National Action Plan, created by The Royal Foundation, to prevent Cyberbullying

2017

Sir Mo Farah receives a Knighthood from The Queen

2017

Prince Harry launches HIV Test Week

Prince Harry gave out free HIV self-testing kits at a pop-up shop in Hackney.

2017

The Queen visits Hull

As UK City of Culture, there are creative events taking place in the city every day.

2017

The First Lady Black Rod

Sarah Clarke is responsible for maintaining the buildings, services, and security of the Palace of Westminster.

2017

2017

The Countess of Wessex visits Bangladesh

The Countess visited projects and organisations working to eradicate avoidable blindness.

2017

The Prince of Wales visits the Caribbean to meet communities after the destruction caused by hurricanes

2017

Thousands of Georgian Papers published

With Her Majesty's full authority, thousands of pages of source material from The Georgian Period has now become available to anyone.

2017

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their engagement!

2017

The Duke of Cambridge visits Finland

The Duke even hand-delivered a letter to Father Christmas from Prince George.

2017

The Queen spends the day in West Sussex

The Queen visited a theatre and met puppies training to be blind dogs.

2017

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle carry out their first official engagement together

The couple visited Nottingham on World AIDS Day.

2017

The Duke of York is appointed as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards

The Duke of York will take over the appointment from HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, who who has been Colonel of the Grenadier Guards since 1975.

2017

The Commissioning Ceremony of HMS Queen Elizabeth

The largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy.

2017

Christmas Trees arrive at Buckingham Palace! Watch how the inside of The Palace is transformed for the festive season

2017

Christmas Day at Sandringham House

The Queen and members of The Royal Family attended the morning service at Sandringham Church.

2017

The Queen's Christmas Broadcast 2017

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