Random Royaling – State Visits in Sweden and Spain – Updated Day 2
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Random Royaling – State Visits in Sweden and Spain – Updated Day 2

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Can you even stand all this excitement? When a drought ends, it ends. Since these visits are ongoing, this post will be up for today and tomorrow. Late tomorrow afternoon, we’ll put up an Open Post for Kate and William at the Top Gun: Maverick premiere.

Finnish State Visit to Sweden

Finland is paying a two-day State Visit to Sweden. The King and Queen greeted Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and his spouse, Jennie Haukio, at Hovstallet, before the procession to the Royal Palace. There, the two couples were joined by Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl-Philip, and Princess Sofia. The Crown Princess and Princess Sofia both were in classic and welcome repeats. The Crown Princess wore her Andiata dress and Princess Sofia was in Hugo Boss (worn way back in 2018).

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Queen Silvia looks terrific, I think. I thought she did a quick change between the welcome ceremony and the photos at the Royal Palace but the suit fabric photographs differently in varying light. This blue is an excellent color for her and the contrasting textures work well.

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The lovely Jenni wore a short-sleeve butterfly print dress with a matching jacket.

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The King and the President represented well, too. Let’s not let them get lost in the shuffle!

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The Queen and Ms. Haukio visited the House of Culture to participate in the event “Past, present and future – how the Swedish-Finnish cultural cooperation is further developed”. Sils is still in her blue, but it looks as if Jenni changed into another outfit. Brooch alert for those who like that sort of thing!

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The evening gala at the Royal Palace brought out the bling. I am always holding my breath over that these days but bless the Swedes. Maybe they think “wear ’em if ya got ’em”. Ms. Haukio’s dress is just perfect for May gala in Sweden.

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Silvia looked lovely and sleek in a new Georg et Arend gown, which she accessorized with Crown Princess Margaret’s Ruby Tiara. The band around the shoulders of the dress is a good way to “plate” that chain order (If you know what order it is, lay it on us. We debated it last night before posting this).

Crown Princess Victoria appeared in a repeated Jennifer Blom gown with the Cut Steel tiara. I think there may be one element too many in this combination of tiaras, sashes, orders, and frilled necklines/sleeves, particularly when viewed from the waist up. There is a lot going on with the addition of those sleeves (the dress was sleeveless in a previous iteration). Also, pairing the Cut Steel with a side part makes the whole head effect a little off to me. But what do I know? I’m not royal so maybe it all worked in person.

Princess Sofia wore a repeated gown from Zetterberg Couture and again, we need a spreadsheet for iterations of her wedding tiara. I think the pearl outings are currently ahead in the count. It’s really that gorgeous necklace that I am here for.

Day two dawned with new ensembles for both the Queen and Ms. Haukio as they visited the Swedish Academy. They switched color preferences! Today it’s cream/beige for the Queen who was wearing a suit, and blue for Jenni who opted for a dress.

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The rest of the Swedish royals met up with the visiting couple for lunch at Stockholm City Hall. Crown Princess Victoria is wearing her Malina dress, another repeat!

From the second evening’s festivities!

At the end of the Finnish state visit, the presidential couple invited their Swedish hosts to a reception at the Finnish Embassy’s residence.

The Royal Family said goodbye to President Niinistö and Ms. Haukio in the Mirror Salon at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

And just like that it’s all over! Bye!

Qatari State Visit to Spain

King Felipe and Queen Letizia greeted Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Her Excellency Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al-Thani at Zarzuela. The Qatari couple is in Spain to strengthen business and diplomatic ties.

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Letizia is wearing a new dress from Carolina Herrera, shoes and a clutch from Magrit and Bulgari earrings. (H/T to Iselen!). When I posted this photo I thought it was of the Queen and King because I am not used to other men being as tall as King Felipe.

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I know the lack of tiaras and orders at the evening gala has taken some of you by surprise. Thanks to Iselen, we have some background.

Iselen: Usually, the guest has to adjust to the etiquette of the country they visit. For some reason, we don’t know, when Qatar royal family visits, everybody adjusts to their requests. Ten years ago, when Sheika Mozah and her husband visited JC and Sofia, they requested no tiaras or decorations, again we don’t know why. They’re just following the same etiquette today, which is a disappointment but a kind diplomatic gesture, I guess. 

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Letizia’s dress is from Gabriel Lage, and there are some stunning pics of the back and train. It’s gorgeous and she needs to wear it again soon with a big tiara, to visit Tante Daisy (we hope!) next fall.

The designer is new to her but not to us. Mrs. Argentina, Juliana Awada, wore a dress from this designer when she visited Spain in 2017. Gabriel Lage was born in Argentina, so it makes sense that Ms. Awada “discovered” him. Queen Letizia’s dress is made with a tulle base and embroidery work in champagne rosé color, silver thread, and crystal beads. 

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We’ll see you all later Thursday afternoon with an Open Post for William and Kate’s appearance at the Top Gun premiere.