So far the Sochi games have hosted Princess Anne, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco, as well as Dutch royals King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.
Flying the flag for Great Britain was Princess Anne. The new grandmother took time to meet with Britain’s athletes and Russian President Vladimir Putin, before the opening ceremony began.
Princess Anne at the Sochi Winter Olympics
On Thursday, Princess Anne visited the Olympic Park ahead of the Games. She was pictured chatting with pole vaulter and Mayor of the Olympic Village, Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva.
The British royal looked cosy as she wandered around in the cold wearing a Team GB hat and her trusy red, white and blue adidas jacket.
Looking quite the co-ordinated couple, their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco, a former Olympian herself, wore similar white jackets, gloves and stylish black sunglasses.
Princess Charlene and Prince Albert
The Monaco Royals cheered on as their Arnaud Alessandria of Monaco competed during the Alpine Skiing Men’s Downhill at Rosa Khutor Alpine Center.
Honouring the Dutch national colour, King Willem-Alexander, 46, and Queen Maxima, 42, waved orange scarves in support of The Netherlands’ athletes. The Dutch royal couple watched from the sidelines at both the men and women’s ice skating events and jumped up in unison to celebrate when the Netherlands scooped three medals for the men’s speed skating on the first day.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima
It was an historic moment for the games on Sunday as Britain celebrated its first ever medal on the snow. After 90 years of waiting Bristol-born, Jenny Jones, 33, collected a bronze medal for her superb run in women’s snowboard slopestyle.
An estimated 2500 athletes from 88 nations will compete in 98 events across 15 disciplines, from Alpine skiing to biathlon, snowboarding to speed skating.
While many royals have attended the Games, US President Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel all remained absent from the events.
While reasons for the high profile absentees haven’t quite been spelled out many speculate their nonappearance is being viewed as a slight against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime’s harsh policies toward homosexuals.
