Royal wrap 2014 - the biggest stories of the year

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visited Amisfield Winery in Queenstown during their royal tour of New Zealand. Photo / Fiona Goodall, AFP

What a right royal year it has been. Who would have thought the year that followed up the birth of the future king, and, 12 months prior, the Diamond Jubilee, could be just as eventful as the preceding two years? Life & Style charts the ten best royal moments of 2014.

The gentle succession begins

Quietly this year, Prince Charles began to assume some of the official duties of his mother as he undertakes what UK media call a "gentle succession" to the throne. The Queen will likely never abdicate, but as she approaches her tenth decade she is dialling down her workload and undertaking only local travel. The Prince of Wales ventured to Canada and South America this year, merged his press office with Her Majesty's, and, unusually, sat right next to the Queen at the State Opening of Parliament (suggesting he's keeping a watchful eye on things to come).

Britain's Prince Charles, right, is greeted by local residents during a visit to La Macarena, Colombia in October. Photo / AP

Enter the Duchess

The world gasped as the royal tour of New Zealand and Australia kicked off in Wellington in early April. The airplane hatch swung open and out came the Duchess of Cambridge: draped in vibrant royal red to contrast with the capital's grizzly skies. Then, the real feat. A silver fern-brooch-wearing, pillbox hat-clad Catherine cambered ever so elegantly down the aircraft stair. Heels on. Future king on one arm. Violent Wellington wind tamed from uplifting her skirt with the other. Setting the tone for the royal tour to come, it was an entrance not short of perfect choreography and flawless execution.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George as they disembarked from the RNZAF jet at Wellington Airport. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The royal playdate

Prince George plays with toys during the Plunket nurse and parents group visit at Government House in Wellington on April 9. Photo / AFP

Though the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge dazzled Kiwis across the nation during their tour, the most memorable moment happened at Government House, just as it did for Prince William's first New Zealand tour in 1983. The royal playdate saw 10 Kiwi babies hang with Prince George during the best sponsorship plug Plunket will ever receive. It was a day of many firsts for the infant future king: his first official royal engagement; his first public mingle with other children; and, if sales of his navy Rachel Riley dungarees are anything to go by, his first move towards life as a trendsetting fashion icon.

Photos: Royal visit: A royal playdate

Image 1 of 18: The Duchess of Cambridge waves to school students waiting for her arrival at Government House in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Harry and Cressida split

It was expected that 2014 would be the year Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas announced their engagement. Instead their much talked about relationship came to a sudden halt in late April, and Harry once again became a single man. Some tabloids speculated it was money pressures that caused the break-up (Cressida was making just $40,000 a year in a marketing job and reportedly doesn't like relying on others), while others said the intensity of being a princess appeared all too daunting for the aspiring actress.

Britain's Prince Harry with Cressida Bonas at a Six Nations Rugby Union match between England and Wales at Twickenham earlier this year. Photo / AP

Poppy palace

While down in New Zealand are gearing up for the ANZAC centenary in 2015, the Royal Family's WWI commemorations began in August as they marked 100 years since Britain joined the First World War. Most memorable was the ceramic poppy installation at the Tower of London (which houses the Crown Jewels). Flooding the historic royal castle's moat like a sea of blood were 888,246 stylised poppies, one for each of the British and Commonwealth servicemen killed during the war. Poignant and powerful, the poppies took three months to lay, the last of which was planted to observe Armistice Day.

The ceramic poppy art installation by artist Paul Cummins entitled "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" is seen during sunrise in the dry moat of the Tower of London in London. Photo / AP

Royal pregnancy 2.0

Unsubstantiated rumours were abound that the Duke and Duchess conceived during their Australasian jaunt, but the world was left unsatisfied as no pregnancy announcements followed. In September, however, came the news that the Duchess would be delivered of a second child; an announcement that came before the standard 12-week safety hump, once again, as Catherine suffered another bout of brutal morning sickness. Royal bump 2.0 made its first appearance (clad in Diane von Furstenberg) in mid November.

Harry turns 30

Following the success of Prince Harry's Invictus Games - an Olympic-style multi-sport event for wounded war heroes - the fourth (soon to be fifth) in line to the throne turned 30. The once-notorious party boy has quietened down since the strip poker Vegas incident, and celebrated with a quiet beer after the Games' closing concert instead of painting the town red. He had much to ponder, after all, as he'd just inherited a fair few quid from his late mother and had a multi-million pound tax bill to deal to.

Dame Angelina

Few things could be less unexpected in the royal realm as an American actress being given a damehood, but ever-fervent humanitarian Angelina Jolie defied the odds in October. Co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative and a UN ambassador in the field for over a decade, Angelina isn't British so the damehood is honourary and she can't use the title. However, the grand kudos was bestowed onto her by the Queen (during a private audience, no less) all the same.

Actress Angelina Jolie is presented with the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George by Queen Elizabeth II. Photo / Getty Images

The rebranding of Fergie

A tabloid sensation throughout the 90s, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, has had a cracker of a year. First, she lost almost 25 kilos. Then she was invited by the Queen to summer in Balmoral, which is quite the feat for a divorced ex-royal whose reputation was once put to death in a toe-sucking scandal. She was later granted use of Windsor Castle by the Queen to host a charity event. The once-bankrupt Duchess is reportedly now debt-free, too. Fergie is living proof of how the mighty fallen can climb right back up again.

HRH Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and HRH Princess of York Eugenie. Photo / Getty Images

The royal murder plot

Thanks to British police, a plot by four Islamic jihadists to murder the Queen was foiled in November. The treacherous plan was to stab - yes, stab - Her Majesty at the Royal Albert Hall during a Festival of Remembrance appearance. Not the first attempt to take the Queen's life, she soldiered on in true royal style, and continued WWI centenary commemorations in spite of the threat.

- nzherald.co.nz