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| Sean Coughlan | Royal Correspondent |
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| A very warm welcome to this week’s Royal Watch. It’s a special moment for the newsletter as we reach our first anniversary. It’s been a packed year of royal news, and we’re thankful for your entertaining emails.
We covered all the events surrounding the Coronation, with Royal Watch giving you a close-up view from a pew in Westminster Abbey. More recently, we've been bringing you regular updates on the King and Catherine's medical issues that have become such huge global news stories.
Throw in state visits, the Christmas message, Endgame, Prince William’s Earthshot and homelessness campaigns, the Epstein files and Prince Andrew, Prince Harry’s evidence in a London court, anti-monarchy protests … and well, it’s been a long year.
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Kate more popular than ever | After such a difficult start to the year for Catherine, the Princess of Wales, the latest popularity rankings revealed that public sympathy has stayed on her side - cementing her status as the most popular royal. Despite social media speculation over the Mother’s Day photograph - which a BBC investigation showed had been deliberately hyped by disinformation networks - the findings from YouGov this week showed that Catherine has emerged more popular than ever. |
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 | Photo credit: Getty | She’s up six percentage points since the start of the year, with 76% of people having a positive view of her. Prince William is in second place with 73%, followed by the redoubtable Princess Anne with 71%, and then King Charles who 63% of the public view favourably. It shows how important Kate remains to the Royal Family and how much they’ll want her back when her health recovers. The poll also highlights the sheer breadth of her appeal. She’s unique as the only royal that has at least 50% support in every age band, region, gender, political and social class grouping. |
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|  | Photo credit: Getty | There are some interesting details below the surface. Prince Harry and Meghan are much more popular among young, rather than older people. And 58% of the public view the institution of the monarchy positively overall. |
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Netflix does Andrew no favours | The release of Scoop, a film about Prince Andrew’s car-crash interview with former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis in 2019, won’t help the Duke of York’s already beleaguered popularity. According to those YouGov ratings he’s on 6% in terms of public support, which could get worse with Scoop going to the top of Netflix’s most-watched list in the UK. It tells the behind-the-scenes story of that famous interview, and to use a royal expression, “recollections may vary”. |
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 | Photo credit: Peter Mountain/Netflix/PA Wire | It’s also fascinating how the interview has grown in importance retrospectively. It was first shown on BBC Two on a Saturday evening, and got about 1.7 million viewers. Since then, millions more have watched it online. But with the popularity of Scoop, Netflix’s blurred mix of fact and drama is what many people will remember. |
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 | Photo credit: Peter Mountain/Netflix/PA Wire | The biggest winner must be the producer Sam McAlister, played by Billie Piper, who is centre stage throughout this drama. She’s gone from the Newsnight office to movie premieres, from Sam McAlister to Sam Mc A-lister. |
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| | Back in the real world, King Charles was shown new banknotes featuring his portrait this week. The image on the notes is from a picture taken in 2013 and the money will be in circulation from June. |
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|  | Photo credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire | How many of you knew that monarchs didn’t appear on Bank of England notes until Queen Elizabeth II in 1960? In fact, this was the first ever changeover. Of course, younger readers will probably ask: "Who still uses banknotes?" |
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French on guard at Buckingham Palais |
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| | The changing of the guard is always a big draw for tourists in London and on Monday this week those gathered outside Buckingham Palace got a sight they’ll never have seen before. Soldiers of the French Republican Guard were taking part, crunching the famous pink gravel outside the palace. This unusual sight marked the 120th anniversary of the alliance between France and Britain, known as the Entente Cordiale. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh represented King Charles at the event. |
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|  | Photo credit: Getty |
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| This was the first time that representatives of a non-Commonwealth country had taken part in this symbolic military moment. It was intended to show the closeness of the UK’s relationship with France, despite any historic rivalry, and the London event was mirrored by British troops appearing in Paris. |
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|  | Photo credit: Getty | The theatre of royal ceremonies has a serious strategic purpose. And the changing of the guard has become one of those “soft power” moments for British diplomacy.
Last year when the South Korean president was on a state visit, the band struck up the K-pop classic song Gangnam Style. |
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