Princess Michiko In The Kitchen, May 20th, 1961. Cooking her own Birthday dinner no less!
And the SCANDAL nearly brought down The Chrysanthemum Throne. Rather than relying on ladies-in-waiting to raise her children (notice the baby bottle on the counter behind her) and do the cooking, that upstart Michiko did it all herself. The nerve!
Do you have any favorite photos of royals cooking, or enjoying other culinary pastimes? Drop them in the comments below!
Like many others here in our community, I have a soft spot for the Empress. These days she seems to be shining brightly. Let’s celebrate that with some of our favorite photos and gifs, showing the Empress’ best outfits, hats, and, of course, jewels.
I’ll start us off with the enthronement, and Masako in her traditional jūnihitoe.
The enthronement ceremonies provided so many good gifs. Here we have Masako and Mary, and a bit of royal cheerfulness, which I think we could all use these days.
Did you miss a royal event last week? There were a lot! See Getty for a look back at the week of February 17th. Warning for those with snake phobias, Kate’s visit to the Ark Open Farm is included.
So many royal milestones came and went last week. We celebrated some birthdays on the blog, but we missed a great deal too. Let’s rectify that.
Emperor Naruhito turned sixty! The original cheeks ; ).
Happy 60th Birthday to the Emperor Naruhito of Japan.
Naruhito and his wife will make a State Visit to the UK this Spring. pic.twitter.com/vWv6j2VWXs
— Gert’s Royals (@Gertsroyals) February 23, 2020
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck turned forty. Although we don’t need an excuse to post a beautiful photo of Bhutan, let’s use this milestone as a chance to do so.
Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso and King Letsie celebrated their 20th anniverary, and their daughter Senate Seeiso posted an Instagram tribute. I know the Queen’s dress- her entire ensemble, indeed – intrigues many of you, so here is a chance to look at it close-up.
Thanks to our intrepid community member Beth for the heads up on this bit here – Queen Elizabeth, Diana and Princess Anne – are style inspirations. Shrimps designer Hannah Weiland developed her Autumn 2020 line around the stylings of these three woman, and we are fully onboard.
Speaking of styling, in this announcement that WAX and MAX will be attending Daisy’s birthday celebrations was a photo of WAX’s christening . Daisy was one of his godparents, and, yes, there is that fabulous sixties dress we have discussed so many times. I can never see it enough.
Queen Margrethe II is King Willem-Alexander’s godmother.
Picture: christening of Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (1967).
From left: Queen Juliana, Princess Beatrix with Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Armgard of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Princess Margrethe of Denmark. pic.twitter.com/PbypitfXIt— RoyalArjan (@RoyalArjan) February 20, 2020
We need to check in with Mathilde, who has had a very busy February. The below is just a sampling of the Natan outings. For her full schedule, head over to Modekoningin Mathilde.
For a management symposium in Flanders, she broke out a new Natan, shown below with and without the jacket.
She visited a horticultural school to talk about anti-bullying initiatives. I think she may have pulled this skirt from the end of the closet that holds her thigh-high boots ; )
She wore various shades of gray for the yearly mass honoring deceased family members. It’s a good color choice, not as somber and unrelenting as black, but very respectful.
What did I miss?
Winter wanders on…..let’s spread warmth with some royal news.
Did you miss some royal news last week? Check out Getty images for the week of February 10th. There is a lot we didn’t cover, including Prince Albert at the glitzy Hollywood Ocean do and Anne being, well, very Anne.
The Brits have been everywhere. Cams tried to give the Beefeaters at the Tower a run for their money, stylewise, with this complicated coat, while Charles inspected the family jewels.
Sophie, as always, has a wardrobe that doesn’t excite me, but her work is flawless. She was great with the kids at The Shooting Star Chase Hospice.
Kate visited Scotland (rewearing her excellent “Delaney” coat), sat in on the “Happy Mum, Happy Baby” podcast, and released a lovely new photo of Charlotte. Her husband stayed home in London, hosting the Metropolitan and City Police Orphans Fund at St. James Palace.
Several of the senior Japanese royals attended the Grand Prix Orchid and Flower show, which is an event I am very happy to learn exists. Princess Hisako stands out to me for her boucle suit and her very obvious enjoyment of the festivities.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako, Princess Takamado (Hisako) and Noriko Senge attended the 30th Japan Grand Prix International Orchid and Flower Show 2020 at Tokyo Dome on February 14.https://t.co/CPuYBi4h5f
— Prisma (@ImperialJPNfan) February 14, 2020
Does it surprise anyone that Princess Laurentien is game for a singalong? Tap your feet under your desk and sing along with her, “What the world needs now…..”
What the World needs now…
Prinses Laurentien, @Trijntje_O Jamai pic.twitter.com/YlkqAijLR2— RoyalBlog NL (@royalblognl) February 14, 2020
Meanwhile, what do we have here? Movie star or Max’s husband? You tell me.
Mooie set foto’s kunnen maken van onze Koning die in Tilburg op bezoek was #koning #Nederland @MaximaKoningin_ pic.twitter.com/jbdRfjXQEX
— Joris Buijs (@kloris) February 15, 2020
Princess Victoria, carrying on a strong Swedish royal tradition, granted the wish of a child with a brain tumor, and it’s as touching as you would imagine. Royal Central has some further information on the event, which included an hour with the princess and a carriage ride through town.
Princess Alexandra opened St. Christopher’s hospice in 1967, when it was a new concept in health care. She has been patron since 1981 and has visited every year since 1982. Now that is commitment, and that is why royals remain relevant.
Yesterday Princess Alexandra returned to @StChrisHospice and spent time with patients, their families, staff and dedicated volunteers.
Thank you to everyone who welcomed Her Royal Highness! pic.twitter.com/PvWle5UAF3
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) February 7, 2020
What did I miss?
The first month of 2020 is almost over and do you know what that means? Happy first anniversary to The Handbag! Our first live post was January 30, 2019. Sniff…..our little baby is growing up. On a serious note, thank you to my fellow Hofdames for supporting me in every possible way, and to this community for tuning in, contributing, and in general making this a great, civil place to be. We know how rare that is in internet-land. As for today’s Bits, it’s long, folks. You may want to break it into pieces and digest it slowly over your Monday.
The World Economic Forum always includes a gaggle of royals (Is that the same term I used last week? Let’s just say these official terms are fluid.) Maxima strode in wearing a couple of bold, flowered coats. The red is from Valentino and the multi-colored number is Oscar de la Renta. A breakdown of the outfits in their entirety can be found on Modekoningin Maxima.
Mathilde and Philippe were there for the first three days, and it’s a pity we don’t have access to better photos of Mathilde’s red suit because it looks fabulous. The Belga images are here. Buy ten of these, Mathilde!
Strong signal: Belgian court shares an image of Greta Thunberg in #Davos2020. #Climate #schoolstrike4climate #WorldEconomicForum pic.twitter.com/pkdlqNbm6k
— Queen Mathilde Blog (@BlogMathilde) January 21, 2020
Prince Daniel was in attendance, and of course Prince Charles was there. His meeting with Greta Thunberg has been big news. I do wonder what their conversation entailed, the meeting of the minds between two passionate environmental advocates.
Kate is heavily involved with the Holocaust Survivor Portrait project, an important endeavor as this part of history moves out of living memory and into the history books. The link is really worth a read. Kensington Palace has released a few of the photos and they are haunting tributes.
The Duchess also photographed Yvonne Bernstein with her granddaughter Chloe. Yvonne was a hidden children in France throughout most of the Holocaust, travelling in the care of her aunt and uncle and frequently changing homes and names. pic.twitter.com/eA51kjLyyV
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) January 26, 2020
The New Year Grand Sumo Tournament at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Sumida, Tokyo, is a very big deal indeed. So big, the Imperial family attended the final nine bouts, and the Empress wore a traditional kimono in honor of the event. Per Prisma on Twitter, it is not always typical attire for the event (Empress MIchiko often wore western clothes), but it is not unusual, either.
On January 25th, Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and Princess Aiko watched the final 9 bouts at Day 14 of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Sumida, Tokyo.
📸 Daily JP, Kyodo, Nikkansports, Yomiuri pic.twitter.com/N5XGVLWJb6— Prisma (@ImperialJPNfan) January 26, 2020
Two of the Japanese royal women looked quite smart in shades of green. Princess Hisako and Empress Masako, at the All Japan Orchid Association and the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Awards, respectively. Green certainly suits agriculture awards ; ).
Is it odd that the flowing floral actually works on Laurentien – of all people? I think of her wearing modern clothing on the wacky side, but this rather conventional outing is so pretty. She is supporting National Reading Breakfast Days, a cause that I am fully onboard with.
Princess Laurentien of The Netherlands attended the opening of the 17th edition of the National Reading Breakfast Days at the Zoetermeer Stadhuis-Forum Library located in the province of South Holland. pic.twitter.com/zGRG7vQaQI
— Royal Ladies (@vaninaswchindt) January 25, 2020
Charlene and the family attended the Sainte Devote Ceremony. Sainte Devote is the patron saint of Monaco and Corsica island, and it’s quite a backstory. Definitely worth a read through the link.
Let’s end with Benedikte, looking glamorous as she crosses in front of the Japanese Tower at Tivoli Gardens, on her way to see the Mama Mia premiere. My kind of night out!
What did I miss?
