Hofdame Bits and Bobs
Belgium · Britain · Denmark · Monaco · Netherlands · Norway

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

The Handbag

This week’s theme is thankfulness. Thank you to the royals who are everywhere, giving us a lot to chat about. On a personal level, I am thankful to my fellow Hofdames, who are following the British Jubilee plans much better than I am and keeping me on track. More on that further down in the post

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London is getting spiffed up for the Jubilee. We’ll talk more about some of the preparations, but if you want information now, go here.

Monaco

HSH Princess Charlene is back. The entire family, including Prince Albert, and those rapidly-growing twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, represented at the Sainte Devote Rugby Tournament. Charlene reached back into her sartorial comfort zone and chose an Akris shirtdress for the occasion.

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Mom and daughter in some sunnies.

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We know the rest of the family is deeply intertwined with the House of Chanel. Princess Caroline has been wearing the designs for decades. She and her almost-sister (Carole Bouquet, who is Charlotte’s mother-in-law) were spotted at the Chanel 2023 Cruise collection. Yes, they are in head-to-toe Chanel.

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Speaking of Charlotte, here she is with her mother-in-law and Abd al Malik (a Congolese-French rap artist). Charlotte is a brand ambassador for the design house, and of course, that is all Chanel. It’s a lot of quilting.

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In case you hadn’t had enough Chanel, here is Pauline Ducruet, who was part of the family group at the show. I guess Chanel is telling us that whether you want to wear your denim as large as possible or tight to the bone, they have the ensemble for you.

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Britain

I know we give poor Sophster the business around here about some of her fashion choices, but this Sportmax ensemble really worked for her. More of this please, Sophie! She was spotted at the May Racing weekend.

At a lunch for one of her patronages, the Countess also looked crisp and professional in a Gabriela Hearst blazer. In the right suit, this royal can’t be beaten.

Sophie and Ed visited the Channel Islands as part of the Jubilee festivities. The dress worn during the day and the one worn in the evening are very similar, but the solid color and more open neckline simplify and lighten it up quite a bit! The patterned dress is a repeat Emilia Wickstead, and the dark blue dress is the “Metallic Fit and Flare” by Alaïa.

I love this outfit on Princess Bea. She paired a Sandro dress and Tommy Hilfiger short blazer. What a crisp look. It is fit for a business meeting with the Women In Communications and Technology network.

Belgium

Three cheers for some classic black and white! The Queen attended the opening of the ’25 years of Sustainable Development Policy’ in Brussels’. She gets a lot of use out of that Giorgi Armani blazer (and should wear the brand more often, in my humble opinion.) We’ve seen the Herrera pumps before, too, so the entire ensemble is a good choice for a sustainable initiative.

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The Netherlands

Do you need dose of perfect Classic Princessing?

Princess Margriet, her husband Pieter van Vollenhoven and Prince Pieter-Christiaan attended the National Military Remembrance Day at the Grebbeberg Military Field of Honour in Rhenen. The ceremony commemorates professional soldiers and conscripts who have fallen for the Kingdom anywhere in the world since 1940.

Denmark

Oh, those Classic Princesses really bring the spring. Princess Benedikte shines in pink at the HRH Princess Benedikte’s Honorary Prize Race, which was established in 1971. The horse race is open to amateur riders only.

Norway

Another dose of thankfulness to Queen Maud, who keeps giving and giving to this blog many years after her death. Just look at this beautiful dress and take from it the energy to go about your week. (We have a Designer Diary on Queen Maud all drafted and ready to go – let’s hope we can fit it in soon.)

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The British Jubilee events begin the first weekend in June. “Big Ben” (the Elizabeth Tower) has been restored, the Jubilee Walkway is in place, and the Golden carriage is polished up. Here is the entire schedule.

We will have an Open Post (maybe 2, we haven’t decided yet) running across those four days, since there is no way, even with four of us, that we can keep up on the events. We are relying on Baguettes and Hofdudes to keep the conversation lively, and we know you will!