Category: Britain

Random Royaling – Kate Steps Out
Britain

Random Royaling – Kate Steps Out

The HandbagLeave a comment

Note: We updated the Mary post with yesterday’s evening wear and today’s Alexander McQueen skirt.

When I say Kate steps out, I mean way out of her comfort zone and straight into embracing the flappies in a big way. The Duchess visited the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural HIstory Museum today.

Heaven and her gang have already identified the jumper (sweater for the US folks) as from Warehouse, and what they are describing as culottes as from Jigsaw. They will always be flappies to me (thanks to our Scottish Elizabeth!).

Embed from Getty Images

I do love a good short handled Chanel bag.

Embed from Getty Images

Once last glimpse of these shoes, which may be one of my favorite pieces of Kate footwear.

Embed from Getty Images

Do you like how the Duchess steps out?

Hofdame Bits and Bobs
Britain · Denmark · Lesotho · Sweden

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

The HandbagLeave a comment

October is a busy month as everyone is back in full swing in royal-land. We are also back into our groove, including royal weddings on Tuesdays, What If Wednesday, and tiaras on Friday. This Thursday we have a fascinating guest post on deck, one that you won’t want to miss. You are going to be very envious of Royal Warren(t)’s summer vacation.

We will resume with the Hofdame Hall of Fame in two weeks, where we will be taking a look at the Empress Emeritus Michiko’s evening wear. We know you need two weeks to think about that one!

Crown Princesses Princessing

Mary took a quick two-day working visit to Morocco to attend a youth innovation forum. She participated in a fun run, making exercise look easy. Her arrival dress was the black and white dress by Vilshenko, and she wore a beautiful print skirt on the second day. For close up photos, see New My Royals.

Victoria brought back the veiled hat look for the annual meeting of the Swedish Church in Uppsala. She also demonstrated the power of a monochromatic look, including accessories. The dress is by Camilla Thulin.

Embed from Getty Images

First Tiara Sighting

Well this is exciting and unexpected. Princess Senate Seeiso, of Lesotho, who is now 18, and had official photographs released. They are beautiful, so head to the African Royalties blog to see some great images. She also wore a tiara, which is a possible birthday present although I can’t find anything confirming that. She is an impressive person, whose work to end child marriage we have highlighted previously.

View this post on Instagram

The war is over 🎀

A post shared by @ princess_senate_seeiso on

This and That

Proof positive that you can wear a kilt anywhere. Prince Charles climbed into an excavator at the headquarters of W M McDonald, a construction and civil engineering company.

Embed from Getty Images

We thought our own Onegin might be interested in this one.

An inconic Egyptian royal necklace has surfaced.

Our resident historian, archivist and fact-digger-upper, geogirl, has unearthed a couple of interesting stories for you! Did Queen Alexandra enamel her face to remain youthful? Also, how many times does the current Queen Elizabeth wear a hat? Another book for the royal book nook.

What did I miss?

Betty doodle Random Royal Rotogravure
Britain

Random Royal Rotogravure

lovinlorneLeave a comment

The Duchess of Cambridge popped on a Boden hat while touring a new EACH charity shop in 2016.

Photo Credit: Hello Magazine

I thought she was just channeling her inner “Smooth Criminal”, but apparently it was a try before you buy situation.

Eight years in and we still get plenty of glimpses of the girl from Berkshire. Whether it’s at Wimbledon, an event for kids, or helping Prince Charles figure out how to iron, (that photo cracks me up everytime) show me your favorite photos of The Duchess of Cambridge being just “Kate”.

Hofdame Bits and Bobs
Britain · Denmark · Luxembourg · Norway · Sweden

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

The HandbagLeave a comment

We are still recovering from the excitement of Community Week around here, so we’ll have to re-enter our normal routine gently. We are back to our typical round of features, including weddings on Tuesday, What If Wednesday, Hall of Fame vote on Thursday, and a new Tiara Defense on Friday. We are voting on Daisy’s evening gowns this Thursday, so start thinking now. If our behind-the-scenes conversations are any indicator, it’s a tough category to narrow down.

In the meantime, there is a lot of royaling going on, particularly classic Princessing and Queening!

The Classic Editions Show

Benedikte – who must have realized we missed her – entertained some exchange students from Greenland.

Is Daisy the one and only current wearer of the Day Order with suit? I tell you, she manages this with panache!

Sils took Carl Gustaf off to visit a paper mill and then tried her hand at making paper. She looks awfully cheerful to be taking on such a messy task. Well, she has done it before (click through the slideshow for a throwback photo).

View this post on Instagram

📜📃 I dag besökte Kungaparet Lessebo i Småland för att fira pappersbrukets 300-årsjubileum. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Under en ceremoni utanför det 300-åriga bruket sade Kungen bland annat: ”I vår tid lägger vi stor vikt vid hållbarhet. Här har svensk skogs- och pappersindustri en viktig roll att spela.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Efter en rundvandring i Lessebo Papers moderna anläggning besökte Kungen och Drottningen det gamla handpappersbruket. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1978 besökte Kungaparet handpappersbruket och precis som då provade Drottningen i dag på att tillverka papper enligt gammal metod. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @lessebo_paper ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 📷: Sara Friberg/Kungl. Hovstaterna

A post shared by Kungahuset (@kungahuset) on

Sonja got all sparkly to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Oslo Philharmonic.

Memorials

Crown Princesses Mette-Marit and Victoria attended memorial events last weekend. As is usual with such appearances, it’s not about the clothes but about the role of the royal. Victoria and Daniel attended a memorial ceremony to honor the 25th anniversary of the sinking of the passenger ferry MS Estonia. Haakon and Mette-Marit appeared at the unveiling of a very beautiful and touching monument to the honor the victims of the terrorist attacks of July 2011. The sculpture is called “Iron Roses” and is outside of the Oslo Cathedral.

That said, I think the glove lovers will appreciate Victoria’s new gloves.

Tour Updates

Harry continued his mother’s important work with the Halo Trust and some touching photos were posted. Meghan visited the Clareinch post office in Claremont to pay tribute to Uyinene Mrwetyana, the UCT student who was murdered in August 2019. She also met with nine of South Africa’s leading women activists for a private breakfast.

Stephanie and Guillaume visited Tangier to meet with business delegations and shore up business relations between the two countries.

Book Nook

If you missed it in last week’s Bits and Bobs comments, Angela Kelly is writing another book and it sounds utterly fascinating!

Princess Madeleine also had a book launch – her book, Stella and the Secret, debuted at the Gothenburg Book Fair.

This sounds so good – if anyone reads and wants to do a book report give us a shout ; ). I probably wont’ get around to it until 2020. Fits right in with the Year of Victoria!

What did I miss?

Britain · Guest Author

Community Week – Windsors in Canada (Clothes and Jewels)

geogirl and Wendy1Leave a comment

Thank you to geogirl and Wendy1 for this series of posts!
Read the Preface, here, and Brunswick, here.

The Daywear

Elizabeth’s mother had died in 1938, and so Norman Hartnell (of QEll’s coronation and wedding dress fame) designed the famous all-white mourning wardrobe for her delayed state visit to France that year. In Canada, in 1939 Elizabeth wore elements of this white wardrobe as well as plenty of blue and mint green. Many of her dresses had touches of fur, at the cuffs or at the collar. Arrival outfit had a chiffon cape with a deep fur trim at its hem. The Queen even went underground in a mine in Sudbury and here she wore a hard hat and protective outerwear. Her daytime jewelry choices were invariably a string of pearls and a good-sized set of pearl earrings. As you go though these pictures, watch sharply for brooches and clips! (Editors Note: Click through the galleries to enlarge the photos! These photos are the property of the guest authors.)

The Tiaras and other Jewellery

Queen Elizabeth wore at least three tiaras on the trip – thank you, BoSS, for the details –

  • Her favourite, the Oriental Circlet (gifted to Queen Elizabeth by Queen Mary in 1937 when King George Vl inherited the throne) was worn for the Opening of the Canadian Parliament along with a heavy diamond bracelet, possibly her Queen Victoria Bracelet, and pearl and diamond earrings – possibly from the Queen Alexandra Wedding Parure.
    ⦁ Queen Mary’s Fringe (given to Queen Elizabeth in 1936 by Queen Mary) was worn to a formal event in Montreal.
    ⦁ Finally, she wore the Teck Crescent, a less substantial tiara, to wave to one’s admirers from the back of the train (as one does) after a formal banquet.

Check out the daywear section and the various other images, and see if you can spot anything else – who can find the gifts hidden there?

The Maple Leaf Brooch

According to the Mothership, King George VI bought the brooch for Elizabeth to commemorate this state visit. Supposedly, she wore it on the crossing, throughout the tour and frequently thereafter but we could not find images of that. However, we did find this interesting aside on the purchase here!
https://writeroyalty.com/canadian-maple-leaf-royal-brooch/

Pictures of the Tiara Moments on the Canadian Tour:

The photos above are at the Parliament opening. Descriptions from the time state that her gown was white satin and gold brocade with a wide-hooped panniered skirt and scalloped train. The photo at right was hand-tinted but it seems that the person who did the tinting didn’t know the details of her gown’s colouring so they took the liberty of tinting it pale blue which, in fairness, was her predominate colour of the tour.

The First Walkabout

The royal walkabout first happened in Ottawa on this trip. After dedicating the National War Memorial, the royal couple, rather than returning to their motorcade, spent half an hour mingling with 25,000 First World War veterans who were part of a crowd of at least 100,000 people. The CBC radio announcer covering the event was stunned and described the warm rapport thus “One these old veterans is patting the King most affectionately on the shoulder…Her Majesty is chattering with one of the veterans of the amputations association…The Queen is speaking to a blind veteran now…The King is shaking hands…”

“Canada Made Us”

Although the original purpose of the 1939 tour was to allow the monarch to engage with Canadians as King of Canada, the impending outbreak of war in September that year further shaped the significance of the event.

For Queen Elizabeth, the 1939 tour began a lifelong personal relationship with Canada and helped establish her and her husband as modern monarchs. She would later say that “Canada made us”.

An enduring symbol of the Canadian tour was of Their Majesties waving from the observation platform at the back of the Royal Train. This is how many Canadians – especially those who lived outside of the larger cities – saw their King and Queen.

Links

https://www.nfb.ca/film/royal_visit/ Comprehensive 90-minute complete coverage from the CBC

Interesting rare color footage – short clips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCC_6-sOwnU (check out the end for the closing waves from the train)

https://www.sudbury.com/lifestyle/throwback-thursday-journey-back-in-time-to-the-royal-visit-of-1939-509463 well-produced clip incorporating great color footage – the royal part starts at 0:45, the mine coverage at 2:15 – and you can see Queen Elizabeth in a hard hat here – also notice that King George has a light (strung around his neck) but not the queen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgtrVtab-hc the Toronto visit. A lady in waiting riding in a police side car (keeping her head down!), the cape dress and King George walking, sword in hand, about 2:40