Every New Year brings new opportunities and new adventures, and this includes the British royal family. As 2022 begins, the Queen and the royal family are looking forward to celebrating her 70 years on the throne, Catherine and William are celebrating milestone birthdays and the Duchess of Cornwall, the former Camilla Parker-Bowles, will be joining the prestigious most noble Order of the Garter.

It’s likely that 2022 will be the best year yet for the British monarchy.

The biggest event of the year, by far, will be the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which celebrates her 70 glorious years on the throne. It’s a historic first and one that will hopefully result in a long weekend of official celebrations in London, unless COVID once again interferes.

Scheduled to take place in June, the first notable event will be the traditional birthday celebration for the Queen, known as the Trooping of the Color. 

Per the palace: “Over 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians will come together in the traditional Parade to mark The Queen’s official birthday, usually held on the second Saturday in June.

“Beginning at Buckingham Palace, the Parade will move down The Mall to Horse Guard’s Parade, joined by Members of the Royal Family on horseback and in carriages. The Parade will close with the traditional RAF fly-past, watched by The Queen and Members of the Royal Family from the Buckingham Palace balcony.”

During the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee 10 years ago, only the immediate and most senior royals made a show out on the balcony. This included just the Queen, Prince Charles, his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, the still somewhat newlyweds the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

As things have changed quite a bit in the last 10 years, most notably in the last two with Megxit that has left Prince Harry without a role in the monarchy, the makeup of the balcony could take several different forms. It could just be the fantastic seven (Queen, Charles, Camilla, Princess Anne, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Edward and wife Sophie, the Countess of Wessex), the whole extended royal family (like every year) or just the Queen, Charles, Camilla, Prince William, Catherine and their children. It would carry on the tradition from the previous Jubilee, focusing on the direct heirs.

If that’s what happens, a certain California couple will likely be incandescent with rage, if they even attend at all after taking such a dramatic step back and attacking the royal family over the last year.

There will also be a service of Thanksgiving on Friday June 3, a Platinum Party at the Palace on June 4, and to round everything off on Sunday, there will be a Big Jubilee Lunch and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. 

This year also marks both the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s 40th birthdays. Catherine’s occurs on January 9, and Prince William’s is on June 21. It’s expected that both will release a picture commemorating the occasion and low-key parties are expected, as the ongoing pandemic makes big celebrations unlikely. 

It’s a big birthday for the couple, who also just commemorated their 10th wedding anniversary. They will also both be stepping up as working royals, especially as their children get older and the couple has greater freedom during the day.

Perhaps one of the biggest and most significant events that will occur this year is the introduction of new members to the Order of the Garter, including Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. 

Her introduction to the highest order of chivalry in the British monarchy, after 16 years of marriage to Charles, is a sign of the Queen’s trust and elevation of Camilla to a greater role in the family.

Inspired by the legends of King Arthur and the Round Table, the Order of the Garter is incredibly selective with only 24 members serving at any one time. Usually, membership is reserved senior members of civil service and even business leaders. For example, Tony Blair will also be inducted into the order this year.   

In addition, there are Royal Knights included as well from within the British royal family. The last royal included before Camilla was Prince William in 2008. There are also Stranger Knights and Ladies of the Order, which includes foreign royalty, usually the monarch. Those most recently included were King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands and King Felipe of Spain, who were both elevated to the throne within the last 10 years.

To see Camilla, join their ranks is a symbol of how Camilla has become a critical member of the royal family. Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge will likely join the order within the next 5-10 years.

There’s a lot of excitement for 2022 for royal watchers, and it will be incredible to see how the family celebrates the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Prayerfully, the Queen will be there to celebrate and will make it to 2023.