It’s not that she doesn’t have any, it’s just that she refuses to wear them! Even to events where others are! Oh, so frustrating. None of these are available to her of course, but that hardly matters. She wouldn’t wear them even if they were!
Cartier Halo Scroll
Baden Fringe
Diamond Daisy Tiara
Queen Alia of Jordan’s Diamond Halo Tiara
Belgian Diamond Bandeau
Meander Tiara
Dutch Diamond Bandeau
What do you think? Does she do these tiaras justice? Let us know!
It’s that time of year again! Monaco’s National Day, which typically means coats with a snazzy hat or two.
This year, Princess Charlene – our Char – went all dramatic in white head to toe, with a fedora and white gloves. Quite a focal point, although I think I liked the ensemble better once she removed the hat. I need to ask OrangeChia not to look too closely at Prince Albert’s uniform, because I do believe that is a blue and black combination.
The twins came out on the balcony to give a wave, and the beret is giving me a bad case of the ” I want that hat” blues. Jacques and his white gloves are quite an addition to the sartorial scene.
The Grimaldi Girls both appeared here, and I actually think Stephanie’s ensemble gets my win. I will forever want coats to cover dress hemlines, so I want Caroline’s coat to be an inch or two longer. Stephanie is purely great.
The rest of the gang made their appearance, and were a mixed bag in so many ways! UFO Nomore has identified the outfits of Beatrice, Tatiana and Alexandra as Dior. Marie Ducruet wore a Catherine Walker coat.
There is also some balcony baby action going on, in case you need a break from the onslaught of fashion with a capital F.
Albert continued his black and blue theme for the gala evening event, and Charlene flipped her ensemble and wore a black royal lady trouser suit. Caroline was in velvet Chanel.
You can catch glimpses of the rest of the Monaco team in the background here at the gala, representing in black velvet. New My Royals has few more photos, where you get better shots of the ensembles.
Coats, gloves and hats and velvet for evening – did National Day work sartorially for you?
Who knew November was such a busy royal month? Birthdays, feasts, appearances – the royals have been everywhere. Let’s get started.
We understand that The Handbag is a drama-free refuge for most of us. We will not be covering or mentioning Prince Andrew in posts while the serious allegations around him remain unresolved. We will continue to cover both Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, and of course, all other members of the British royal family.
The Hofdames really appreciate that our Community has not broached the topic of Andrew in the comments. We have had a couple of inquiries as to whether discussion about the clothing of Beatrice and Eugenie is allowed, and it is absolutely welcome as long as we stick to their fashion choices. We thank you all for your discretion and your continued support of this blog and its objectives. You all have been terrific.
If you are reading here, we assume you like royals and you like photos. Getty links to some of the events of last week:
Emperor Naruhito performas Daijosai Rite
King Albert and Queen Paola celebrate King Philippe’s Birthday
Princess Charlene distributes Red Cross Christmas Gifts
Duchess of Cambridge Opens Nook Children Hospice
Queen Mathilde sometimes likes to sidle up to the sartorial crazy side and just embrace it. Here she wore a very complicated Natan coat ( I think I would need a set of step by step instructions just to put it on) during a royal visit to the ‘Institut du Sacre-Coeur’.
I haven’t been able to find confirmation on the designer of this ensemble, but I would put money on Natan. The Queen was attending the opening of the 1st Congress of the International Mukwege Chair, a group dedicated to interdisciplinary study on the effect of sexual violence.
She repeated her Carolina Herrera blue lace dress in a joint appearance with Philippe.
The banquets related to the enthronement continue in Japan.
On November 16th, the Imperial family attended the 1st Daikyo-no-gi, banquet after the Daijosai ceremony, for some 290 guests at the Imperial Palace’s Houmei-Den (State Banquet Hall).
📸 Jiji, Kyodo, https://t.co/RvKOQEdxig pic.twitter.com/VWSyPIE9vi— Prisma (@ImperialJPNfan) November 16, 2019
Once of our classic princesses, Princess Hisako, has been insanely busy, including a lovely kimono outing. It is astounding how her good humor never flags.
On November 10th, Princess Takamado (Hisako) attended the 35th (2019) Kyoto Prize ceremony at Kyoto International Conference Center. She is honorary president of Inamori Foundation which awards the prize.
🎥 https://t.co/f2tFukhYtl pic.twitter.com/kO3qJ85b3s— Prisma (@ImperialJPNfan) November 11, 2019
On November 9th, Princess Takamado (Hisako) visited the 71st Annual Exhibition of Shōsō-in Treasures at Nara National Museum in Nara Prefecture.
📸 https://t.co/BLv6QCvTFQ pic.twitter.com/8EmAREE1je— Prisma (@ImperialJPNfan) November 11, 2019
Our community members Iselen and Too Much Hemlock have submitted videos that are balm for the eyes.
From Iselen, a video about the clothing of Queen Sirikit of Thailand, who developed a new, traditional style for her 1960 royal tour of Europe and the United States. The fashion incorporated traditional Thai style and modern elements, many of which were designed by Balmain. You’ll also glimpse an enormous tiara and some European royals of the day. Enjoy the beautiful video of the beautiful Queen. More videos can be found here.
From Too Much Hemlock, here is an enchanting video on the wedding of the Duchess of Vendome, whose dress we covered a couple of weeks ago.
If you are looking to do some early royal-related Christmas shopping, you should check out The Crown Chronicles shop. Working in conjunction with artist Amelia Noyes, they have created a royal-themed collection in time for the holidays.
Some of our favourite products, illustrations by @iamnoyes pic.twitter.com/BXq8P0ADTX
— The Crown Chronicles (@crownchronicles) November 15, 2019
It’s in Swedish, but it might be worth learning to read the language! Princess Christina has written a book about her grandmother Princess Margaret of Connaught. The cover alone is intriguing, and apparently the book features conversations with Princess Benedikte and Queen Margrethe. Princess Margaret (Margareta) has descendants in the Swedish, Danish and Greek royal houses, and we have discussed some of the wedding traditions that continue on due to her legacy.
What did I miss?
Thank you to our community member Royal Warren(t), who has generously shared memories and photos of her recent visit to the Exposition Chaumet en Majesté at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. All photos are property of the author.
My day with Chaumet!
During my visit to Monaco I had the good fortune of visiting and spending a glorious afternoon with jewels possessing a rich, tragic, and love-filled history. I had the feeling of entering a treasure vault and it was so exciting.
The Grimaldi Forum is a great venue to host events such as this and the hall was dimmed to almost a pitch-black degree (which was wonderful to observe the jewels but presented challenges for anyone taking pictures with an iPhone). Numerous times I mumbled to myself wishing that I had a more professional digital camera, but I did the best I could given the constraints of lighting and amateur photographic equipment.
There were so many instances when I said to myself “oh, I can’t wait to share this photo with my fellow blog followers” or “wouldn’t Princess Astrid love this aigrette” – everything was fabulous!
Then I saw the Leuchtenberg double-strand pearl necklace I was thrilled beyond words to see a luscious strand of pearls with such an amazing history. I could not believe I was standing in front of it, gazing through the glass panel at this iconic necklace.
The next big surprise was the Luxembourg emerald cabochon tiara, which many of our fellow bloggers either love or hate. I have always liked it. My opinion, now that I’ve seen it face-to-face, is that I love it. It possesses such simplicity – the most phenomenal 45 carat emerald, dead center in all its glory. There is nothing like it. When I see photos of a lady from the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg wearing this in the future, I will appreciate it even more. Photos don’t let us appreciate its splendor.
How do I begin to describe the sensation of turning the corner and looking up and seeing the von Donnersmark Emerald Tiara (those green lollipops!)? I knew I’d see great jewels, but I had no idea that I’d view this world-famous tiara. It is mind boggling!
The brilliance of the diamonds, emeralds, rubies was breath-taking, and I was enthralled with the history of all the pieces that were on display. The skill and craftsmanship of Chaumet’s designers and craftsmen is worthy of our admiration.
A lingering memory is Napoleon’s love letter to Josephine. There are no glittering jewels to see but there are words of love from a man to a woman. Unfortunately, history gave these two people an unhappy ending. The jewels we have all loved discussing here at lilibetshandbag and at the “mothership” (The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor) are mostly gifts of love and this is what makes them special – to see what brides were given on their wedding day, for anniversaries and births left me in awe of the panorama before me.
My sincere thanks to the Hofdames for their patience while I prepared this post and I hope everyone enjoys these photos. For more photos, please check out the photo page for this post!
Read Royal Warren(t)’s guest post here. All photos are the property of Royal Warren(t). Do not reproduce without permission of the author.
