Category: Luxembourg

Hofdame Bits and Bobs
Britain · Denmark · Luxembourg · Norway

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

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All right! We got through a week without an enthronement! Good job, coming off that high point. Let’s move on into Happy November.

C-C-C-Changes and Strange Stories

There was a Changing of the Guard, literally, in Oslo. The King’s Guard, which had been on duty at the Akershus fortress for over 100 years, will no longer be at that post.

Did you ever dream of seeing your favorite British royals in cake form? Dreams do come true.

I suppose even royals can get bamboozled in the high stakes and sophisticated world of art forgery. We’ll see how this shakes out.

British Good Works and Goodwill

While we are on the subject of Charles, Part 2 of the documentary “Inside the Duchy of Cornwall” is now on YouTube. I found it as interesting as the first part.

The Duchess of Sussex visited the Luminary Bakery, and everyone glowed with goodwill and good baked goods!

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Earlier this week The Duchess of Sussex visited the women of @LuminaryBakery as they celebrated the opening of their new location. It was a special moment to acknowledge the spirit of Luminary and their remarkable business model that opens its arms to women from vulnerable circumstances (be it abuse, poverty, trafficking, marginalisation) and equips them with the job skills and confidence to succeed. Having sat down with @luminarybakery at their flagship location earlier this year and from that inspiring visit choosing to feature them as #ForcesForChange in the September issue of @britishvogue, Her Royal Highness was proud to be invited to attend the launch of their second bakery. This addition will enable the organisation to provide services, support and mentoring for four times the number of women. Luminary Bakery – a sustainable grassroots organisation in the heart of London – is a beautiful example of community and uplifting those during hardship for the greater good. If you find yourself in the area, please visit and support the women of @LuminaryBakery to enjoy their delicious baked goods and to see the impactful work they’re doing. Video © SussexRoyal

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Memorials

There were many memorial services last week. The Luxembourg royals made an appearance, and we got of glimpse of Princess Claire and her growing-too-fast children.

Haakon attended the memorial at Akershus Fortress.

Mary was Everywhere

Fred, too! They attended the Crown Prince Couple’s Prize Award and Mary wore a dramatic pumpkin one shoulder gown by a new-to-me designer  Soeren le Schmidt.

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The couple visited the Brandts Art Museum prior to the ceremony. That’s a Zara turtleneck on Mary, the only part of her ensemble yet to be identified.

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Mary attended the  award ceremony of FSR-Danish Auditors solo. That is a Max Mara blazer over a yet unidentifed pleated skirt.

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Samfundsansvarlige virksomheder blev i går hyldet, da Hendes Kongelige Højhed Kronprinsessen overrakte CSR Prisen 2019 på Børsen i København. Prisen gik til den bedste CSR-rapport i henholdsvis kategorierne “stor børsnoteret virksomhed” og “stor ikke-børsnoteret virksomhed”. I kategorien “stor børsnoteret virksomhed” gik prisen til A.P. Møller Mærsk og blev modtaget af Executive Vice President Morten Engelstoft. I kategorien “stor ikke-børsnoteret virksomhed” gik prisen til Grundfos og blev modtaget af Poul Due Jensen. Revisorbranchen omsætter for cirka 17 milliarder kroner og beskæftiger cirka 15.000 medarbejdere. Det er sjette år i træk, at Kronprinsessen deltager i arrangementet. 📸 Carsten Lundager ©

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As always, Style of Mary is an excellent resource to learn more about the Princess’ events and wardrobe.

No Benedikte to end with this week – but what else did I miss?

Random Royaling – Belgium Luxembourg State Visit
Belgium · Luxembourg

Random Royaling – Belgium Luxembourg State Visit

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Tiara week marches on! Lucky us. The Belgian royals have arrived for the State Visit with their neighbors in Luxembourg. Because we know our community, let’s just jump to the bling close-ups immediately.

Here are three lovely ladies sparkling at the first night’s State Banquet: Mathilde, in the full Nine Provinces, Stephanie wearing the Citrine as only she can, and the gracious Maria Teresa wearing the Belgian Scroll. I think the tiara hair is particularly good here, across the board. I am also thinking that the Citrine earrings would find a very nice home in my jewelry box.

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Pulling back for the long shot, we see some amazing dress to room coordination. Stephanie is picking up the colors in the couch and carpet, MT the drapery, and they allowed the visiting Queen her fabulous pop of color. MT’s dress is by Carolina Herrera, and Mathilde’s magenta number is a bespoke creation by Armani Prive.

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The Grand Duke gave Mathilde and Philippe a daytime tour, which unfortunately was mostly conducted in the rain. Mathilde was in a Natan floral green dress with a ruffled high neckline, which she covered with a cozy green coat, also by Natan.

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The Queen and King traveled to Luxembourg by train, and Mathilde wore a soft pink coat with shoulder button fasteners, by Giorgi Armani.

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On Day 2, Stephanie accompanied the Queen to an academic seminar on medical innovation. Mathilde’s dress is new, by Dries Van Noten.

How do you feel about the sartorial efforts here? Remember, we have more tiaras in Norway tomorrow, so don’t overload here ; ).

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

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

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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).

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📜📃 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

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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 · Japan · Luxembourg

Random Royaling – Everyone is Touring

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It’s autumn and the royals are off on official visits. I might be crazy but it seems as if there are even more the usual, what with Harry and Meghan in South Africa, Sophie just back from Kenya, Guilliame and Stephanie popping off to Morocco, and my personal favorite, Princess Kako, charming everyone to the gills on her tour of Hungary and Austria. We’ll hit some high points here, starting with Kako because I am a sucker for charm.

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The lovely peach kimono is my favorite of her ensembles, but that red and white fit and flare is giving me Jackie Kennedy on tour vibes, and it works for her.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex, spent a few days in Kenya last week and because it’s our Sophster, they were jam packed. She did a whirlwind of events that supported women’s issues, including the specific concerns of women in the military. Heaven at UFOnomore has tentatively identified her skirt as a Valentino midi. The dress is by Erdem, and you can see better photos at New My Royals.

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The Countess of Wessex has spent two days in Kenya visiting organisations focused on gender equality, preventing sexual violence in conflict, and girls’ education. The Countess delivered a speech at the 12th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting in Nairobi – an opportunity for ministers from 28 Commonwealth countries to come together to turn commitment to action on achieving gender equality and empowering women. During a visit to refugee charity ‘RefuSHE’ The Countess met young women and girls who have fled conflict in neighbouring countries and are now supported by their ‘Girls Empowerment Programme’ which teaches refugee women and girls textile skills helping them to earn an independent income. On day two, Her Royal Highness visited the International Peace Support Training Centre, to discuss Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) with experts and practitioners from the Kenyan Government and Kenya Defence Forces, before meeting survivors of gender based violence. These two areas of work, WPS and PSVI, are central pillars of The Countess’s work. The Countess also met with British Peace Support Team (Africa) to hear about UK-delivered WPS/PSVI training to military units deploying to neighbouring countries. Lastly Her Royal Highness visited Moi Girls’ School, to join the launch of the next Platform for Girls’ Education policy paper. In an earlier speech, The Countess highlighted the UK’s “Leave No Girl Behind” campaign to achieve 12 years of quality education for all girls by 2030. “It is crucial that all girls receive at least 12 years of quality education in order to realise their rights, increase their political participation and to open opportunities for them to secure better jobs and livelihoods” – The Countess of Wessex.

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She visited the Women’s Empowerment Program. She danced!

Dancing seems to be the order of the day. Meghan also twirled with these lovely women during their visit to Nyanga Township. Meghan’s dress is by Mayamiko and she is sporting my favorite royal lady ponytail.

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Stephanie and Guilliame on their first day during an economic working visit to Morocco. Stephanie is sporting eye-catching yellow.

It’s a touring kind of week. What do you think?

Hofdame Hall of Fame – Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg – Evening Division
Luxembourg

Hofdame Hall of Fame – Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg – Evening Division

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Results are here!

She hasn’t been at the royal business as long as some others, but Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, has made many evening appearances. Today we’re asking you to render judgment on which one will be the community choice in the Hofdame Hall of Fame, Evening Division.

The Hofdames found their own entry in this division a surprisingly hard choice. On reflection, we liked a lot of her gowns more than we did the first time around. Our Hall of Fame decision surprised even us!

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The Hofdame Hall of Fame entry for Stéphanie is the Grecian draped evening gown she wore to Princess Madeleine’s pre-wedding festivities in 2013. The draping is fantastically flattering to her, but what makes it Hall of Fame worthy is that it’s very royal and very memorable. It’s not an ensemble you would see on just anyone, and it firmly announces “Here is a Hereditary Grand Duchess at an Event”.

 … the design might be Elie Saab as the gown looks a whole lot like his designs in general and her clutch is by Saab –  a special thanks to the Royal Couturier – which is always a strong indicator. Her diamond earrings belong to the Lannoy family, Stephanie’s sister Countess Isabelle wore them for the pre-wedding gala last year.

Luxurazzi

The runners up included the crusty Elie Saab she wore to her own pre-wedding dinner, and the fabulous flattering and youthful Ralph Lauren gown – paired with fabulous ruby earrings – she wore to the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. That one was so good Crown Princess Victoria also gave it a wear.

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Which gown is your choice for Community Choice?
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