Hofdame Bits and Bobs
Belgium · Britain · Denmark · Luxembourg · Spain

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

The Handbag

Quick Housekeeping: Next week the Handbag is taking a couple of days off, so your next Bits will be Wednesday, October 20th. This one will have to last a week and two days. Hoping this is an extra-good one, to pull us all through! The other Hofdames will be around and there will be mystery posts on Monday and Tuesday for everyone to look forward to. The Earthshot Prize ceremony is Sunday, and there will be an Open Post for those who wish to chat about it.

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Everyone is in autumn colors, and everyone is pulling the blazers out. All here.

Back in the Bag

For those who had questions about the Duchess of Windsor’s wedding dress in last week’s Designer Diary post, Baguette Gloria Mundi found an excellent blog post by Madame Guillotine, which explains everything you might ever have wanted to know about the dress. While we are talking Wallis, one of her Cartier bracelets is going up for auction at Christie’s. Get those credit cards ready.

Belgium

Queen Mathilde and King Phillipe visited the double exhibition ‘David Hockney’, at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, in Brussels. Colorful Tils was very much in evidence, and that fits in beautifully with the Hockney aesthetic. This dress is said to be from Meer Couture, and it is very flattering. The asymmetrical neckline and soft, full skirt are perfect for her height and figure. If you would like to see more of the art and the Queen, ModekoninginMathilde has you covered. I look forward to seeing more from this design house.

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We also had a Princess Claire sighting, the first since 2019! She, King Albert, and Queen Paola (her mother and father-in-law) all attended Queen Paola Foundation’s Focus Earth Prize. Claire did the speechifying and presentation honors in a nice subtle color combination of her own.

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Netherlands

In a Benelux country, not long ago or far away, THAT Queen looked over and said, “You call THAT colorful? Hold my champagne, dears.”

Attending an exhibition of the fabulously flamboyant Frida Kahlo’s work, Maxima wore a patterned Natan skirt and headgear that simply said “this event is right in my wheelhouse and I will play to it.” There’s a meeting of minds right there.

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This country-color-appropriate royal lady pantsuit is a rewear, but it fits our color theme this week. The Queen was attending the first anniversary of the Music Education Agreement at the Conservatory in Utrecht.

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Our Princess Oma Beatrix attended the 65th-anniversary celebration of the Princess Beatrix Muscle Foundation at Palace Soestdijk. The foundation supports fundraising and research for degenerative muscle disease.

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Spain

In her own country to the south, The Queen of Spain looked up to the Benelux countries and said, “You think those are exhibitions? Hold my museum card, darlings. I am attending an exhibition of an artist who is all the moods.”

Queen Letizia attended the inauguration of a new Goya exhibition at Fondation Beyeler Exhibition. Her shades-of-green ensemble is from Is Coming, a brand founded by the same owner of Hoss Intropia (thank you to Baguette Iselen!). Goya is nothing less than the most important Spanish artist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, so a major exhibition for sure.

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Luxembourg

New portraits of the Luxembourg royal couple were released for the 21st anniversary of Grand Duke Henri’s ascension.

Denmark

Anyone heading to Denmark next winter? As an added bonus to the celebrations for her 50th year of reign, her jewels will be on display.

Check out this Classic Princess, glowing in gold, just like the gorgeous room she finds herself in. Princess Bene is the patron of the Royal Assembly at Koldinghus, and participated in an evening event at the museum (a fascinating place!).

Britain

Over in Britain, another Classic Princess has been very busy. Princess Alexandra visited the annual Queen Mother’s Clothing Build Viewing Day, held at St. James Palace. She also popped up to represent at a reception held at the Swiss Ambassador’s house.

Just leaving you with the Queen of Rainbow color. Her schedule at the age of 95 is remarkable. Brooch roll call:  Nizam of Hyderabad Rose Brooches, Queen Mary’s Turquoise and Diamond Brooch, and the Maple Leaf.

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Tiaras in the Wild

I think autumn has just outpaced spring as prime wedding time, Baguettes. Alexander zu Schaumburg married Mahkameh Navabi, a concert pianist, last weekend. We don’t have access to too many photos, which is a pity because the tiara is impressive. Online it’s called the Schaumburg-Lippe Palmette Tiara, and it’s been well-worn (by the groom’s mother and two of his ex-wives – one of whom was the matron of honor at this wedding!) The Bunte article has a good video if you need a tiara fix, and our own Baguettes had some inside scoop on last week’s Bits. Also, hat tip to the lovely folks on Twitter, Royal-Watcher, Royal Musings, and Tiara Mania, who helped with identification.

Princess Sibilla (a great-granddaughter of Queen Ena) and Prince Guilliame (Grand Duke Henri’s of Luxembourg’s brother) were there. I want to know where to find purple gloves myself ; ).

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