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| Sean Coughlan | Royal Correspondent |
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| Hello, and welcome back to Royal Watch. Are you gripped by sports you never knew existed? Spending hours watching contests where you don’t even really know the rules? Olympics fever is at its height. And some familiar royal faces have been spotted cheering on Team GB in Paris. As we settle into peak holiday season, the most popular royal palaces among visitors have been revealed. MPs are on their summer break too, but the row over them having to swear a royal oath rumbles on. And Prince William’s homelessness project has launched a perception-challenging art exhibition. | |
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Team GB's biggest fan? | The Duchess of Edinburgh was a sports fan in raptures during her trip to the Olympics. |
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 | While in Paris, Sophie was hosted by Dame Menna Rawlings, the British ambassador to France and Monaco (on the right). Credit: Getty | She was on her feet and applauding enthusiastically as Team GB won a gold and broke a world record in the women’s cycling team sprint. Sophie, who is patron of the British Cycling Federation, is clearly the wheel deal… |
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|  | The Princess Royal became the first royal to participate in the Olympic Games in 1976. Credit: Getty | Princess Anne was also seen at the Paris sportsfest, wearing an Olympics bucket hat. Her relaxed headgear drew both admirers and critics, with one commentator comparing it to the hats famously worn by Manchester rock band The Stone Roses. Maybe it's just a coincidence that, after an outing by the royal style icon, the £23 bucket hat is now sold out from the official Team GB shop. |
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Windsor wins popularity contest | It’s that holiday time of year when armies of tourists are marching through museums and ever-expanding gift shops.
Royal palaces had 2.8 million visitors last year, according to the Royal Collection Trust’s annual report, up from 1.95 million the year before. The palaces made a total income of £84m, driven mostly by ticket sales and retail. The report said the Coronation had a “significant impact” on visitor numbers. |
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 | Visitors pictured approaching Windsor Castle from the end of the Long Walk. Credit: PA | Windsor Castle had the biggest share, with 1.4 million people through the gates. Buckingham Palace was second most popular, with 530,000 visitors. There’s often a question about the future of this royal HQ, as it undergoes repairs. But the prospect of anyone living there seems increasingly remote. |
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 | Buckingham Palace's east wing opened to visitors for the first time this summer. Credit: Getty | The palace holds big public events like state visits and receptions in the winter, and then it’s a museum and gallery in the summer.
According to the report, last summer was a record year at Buckingham Palace with an average of over 9,000 visitors a day - the highest daily average since it opened for visits in 1993. The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh had 443,000 visitors and the Royal Mews 182,000. |
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Is it time to update MPs’ oath? | When the new Parliament opened last month, there were disagreements about MPs having to swear allegiance to the King, with Labour’s Clive Lewis saying that they shouldn’t have to if they don't support the monarchy.
It was a subject that divided Royal Watch readers. |
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 | Lewis said the obligation to swear an oath to the monarch's heirs showed "the institutional power they have is real". Credit: House of Commons | MPs can make a non-religious “affirmation”, but there isn’t any alternative for those that do not believe in the monarchy. Now the anti-monarchy group Republic have commissioned an opinion poll, with the results suggesting 56% of people would prefer MPs swore allegiance to “their constituents and the country”, compared with 12% who thought it should be the “monarch and his heirs and successors”.
A further 32% didn’t know. Younger people in particular were not keen on the oath of allegiance to the King, with two thirds of those polled opting for allegiance to country and constituents. | |
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Your Royal Watch | Last week we asked how the royals should get their message out when shrinking numbers of the public buy newspapers or watch TV news. “The obvious choice is social media. Podcasts are another option. Streaming services are also popular,” says Julie in the US, adding that this allows royals to address any disinformation. Geri, also in the US, says they need a website that allows interaction, such as “individual letters to the public and a question and answer column”. Marija from Lithuania wants to keep it classy and not “cheapen” the message by going online. “The Royal Family should stand out in the messy and aggressive world of today,” she emailed. This week we've seen a wave of anti-immigrant rioting and disorder in the UK. Buckingham Palace said that it was for the government to respond. But do you think the King should have put out a statement? How involved should he get in complicated events like this? Please remember to include your name and which country you’re writing from. Send us your thoughts at royalwatch@bbc.co.uk. | |
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Changing the picture of homelessness | An art exhibition, which is part of Prince William’s Homewards project, wants to change public perceptions of homelessness, including the stereotypes of how it’s depicted. |
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 | This sculpture of a house by artist David Tovey is inspired by the Peugeot he used to live in. Credit: Homewards | Homelessness Reframed at the Saatchi Gallery in London wants to get away from clichés of rough sleeping and show how many more people can be affected by housing problems. David Tovey, whose car sculpture appears in the exhibition, said: "The process has been cathartic but also required me to push myself outside my comfort zone, especially with tasks like welding, which I had to learn and manage on my own.” |
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A piece of royal history | King Charles grew up visiting Balmoral every year and the estate was the inspiration for his 1980 children's book, The Old Man of Lochnagar. Currently on holiday in Scotland, the King is expected to return to the historic estate in Aberdeenshire. It’s been the Royal Family's Scottish holiday home since the 19th Century. |
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 | Queen Elizabeth II with her children Charles (right) and Anne, in Balmoral in 1952. Credit: Getty | Balmoral Castle’s royal connection dates back to 1852 when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased the estate. |
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