Tag: BitsandBobs

Hofdame Bits and Bobs
Britain · Denmark · Lesotho · Sweden

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

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October is a busy month as everyone is back in full swing in royal-land. We are also back into our groove, including royal weddings on Tuesdays, What If Wednesday, and tiaras on Friday. This Thursday we have a fascinating guest post on deck, one that you won’t want to miss. You are going to be very envious of Royal Warren(t)’s summer vacation.

We will resume with the Hofdame Hall of Fame in two weeks, where we will be taking a look at the Empress Emeritus Michiko’s evening wear. We know you need two weeks to think about that one!

Crown Princesses Princessing

Mary took a quick two-day working visit to Morocco to attend a youth innovation forum. She participated in a fun run, making exercise look easy. Her arrival dress was the black and white dress by Vilshenko, and she wore a beautiful print skirt on the second day. For close up photos, see New My Royals.

Victoria brought back the veiled hat look for the annual meeting of the Swedish Church in Uppsala. She also demonstrated the power of a monochromatic look, including accessories. The dress is by Camilla Thulin.

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First Tiara Sighting

Well this is exciting and unexpected. Princess Senate Seeiso, of Lesotho, who is now 18, and had official photographs released. They are beautiful, so head to the African Royalties blog to see some great images. She also wore a tiara, which is a possible birthday present although I can’t find anything confirming that. She is an impressive person, whose work to end child marriage we have highlighted previously.

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The war is over 🎀

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This and That

Proof positive that you can wear a kilt anywhere. Prince Charles climbed into an excavator at the headquarters of W M McDonald, a construction and civil engineering company.

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We thought our own Onegin might be interested in this one.

An inconic Egyptian royal necklace has surfaced.

Our resident historian, archivist and fact-digger-upper, geogirl, has unearthed a couple of interesting stories for you! Did Queen Alexandra enamel her face to remain youthful? Also, how many times does the current Queen Elizabeth wear a hat? Another book for the royal book nook.

What did I miss?

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

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

The HandbagLeave a comment

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?

Hofdame Bits and Bobs
Britain · Denmark · Netherlands · Sweden

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

The HandbagLeave a comment

We are excited to announce a new feature: Community Week! Tuesday through Friday we will feature posts from three members of our community: Triple Duchess, geogirl and Wendy1. On Tuesday, Triple Duchess describes Garrison’s Day, which just happened in her hometown of Boden, Sweden. On Wednesday through Friday, we begin a three-part series contributed by Wendy1 and geogirl. Travel back to the 1939 Windsor visit to Canada, and enjoy some family memories provided by these two Handbaggers.

We will pop in with some Random Royaling as events occur, but our regular posts will be suspended to give the community a chance to speak. Our features will return next week.

Also, if you are on Facebook, check out our own Triple A’s Dutch Royal Jewels Facebook page. It’s full of fascinating information that Triple A is often generous with on this site. We are very, very lucky to have such talented and giving community members.

A final note before we dive into the actual Bits: The Sussex tour starts this week. Since it will be covered extensively elsewhere (read: EVERYWHERE) we won’t be doing individual posts, but expect to see photos of them pop up here in Bits and Bobs. Please remember our commenting policy (DSS), and also that critique on clothing is fine; negative commentary on the person is not!

So Many Royals So Little Time

Best royal convergence ever. We Hofdames squealed for about twenty minutes over this. Chaz and Oma at the memorial on Ginkel Heath near Ede during the Operation Market Garden 75th anniversary commemorations in Arnhem, Netherlands. This is what royalty is all about.

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The Swedish Royal Family hosted the annual Sverigemiddag. Sarah at the Royals and I has some gorgeous photos of the room set up. Victoria wore a two piece set from the H&M Conscious Collection and Sils was in red lace, as is her wont.

Remember when I said we should do a series of “Royals Waving from Cars”? I have another series : “Royals at the Podium”, or more specifically, “Mary at the Podium”. Mary, always a champion for women, speaks at a conference for Nordic Women Against Domestic Violence. Her jacket is by Zara.

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Her til eftermiddag deltog H.K.H. Kronprinsessen som formand for Mary Fonden og protektor for Landsorganisation af Kvindekrisecentre (LOKK) i konferencen Nordiske kvinder mod vold 2019. Den årlige konference, der afholdes på skift i de nordiske lande, fandt i år sted i København under temaet Børn udsat for vold. Det var tredje gang, Kronprinsessen åbnede konferencen, og i sin åbningstale sagde Kronprinsessen blandt andet: “I vores nordiske lande, hvor lighed mellem kønnene er mere udbredt end mange andre steder i verden, er omfanget af partnervold stadig større, end mange måske vil tro. Den seneste undersøgelse i Danmark viser, at hver 20. kvinde inden for et år har været udsat for mindst én form for partnervold. I undersøgelsen indgår også psykisk vold. Den usynlige og lige så skadelige vold, som kan være så vanskelig at indfange og definere. Den nylige kriminalisering af psykisk vold i Danmark sender et vigtigt signal om, at psykisk vold skal tages ligeså alvorligt som fysisk vold.” 📸Steen Brogaard

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Daisy, sharp in a sharp blue, visits a memorial for Danish soldiers lost during World War II.

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I eftermiddags afslørede H.M. Dronningen et mindesmærke i Mindelunden nord for København for de danskere, der mistede livet som soldat i dansk og allieret tjeneste under 2. Verdenskrig. Mindesmærket er udformet af billedhugger Bjørn Nørgaard og forestiller en dansk soldat og fregatten Peder Skram på den ene side og en dansk soldat i allieret uniform og en spitfire på den anden side. Motiverne er udformet som flade relieffer i overfladen. Under arrangementet afslørede Dronningen monumentet, hvorefter Majestæten lagde en krans ved foden. Mindelunden rummer nu et minde om alle dem, der mistede livet for Danmark under besættelsen i årene 1940-1945: De modstandsfolk, der faldt i kamp, blev henrettet i Ryvangen eller døde i tyske koncentrationslejre samt krigssejlere og nu også dem der mistede livet som soldat i dansk og allieret tjeneste.

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Let us know what we missed!

Hofdame Bits and Bobs
Belgium · Britain · Japan · Netherlands

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

The HandbagLeave a comment

It’s Prinsjesdag week! We will have two Prinsjesdag posts: today we’ll ask the community to post their favorite Prinsjesdag dresses from the past (worn by Max, Oma or the royal of your choice). On Tuesday we’ll follow the action with an open post. We hope everyone jumps in with their favorite comments and photos of the ongoing action. Next week we’ll return to weddings on Tuesdays.

This weeks Hall of Fame vote will be Grand Duchess Stephanie – Evening division. We think you’ll be surprised when you review some of her evening looks. We sure were. The woman has worn some things that just announce “Grand Duchess.”

Working

Look who we found! Princess (always Queen Oma to us) Beatrix attended the Zwaluwen Youth Action event, an initiative to help young athletes to raise money for their peers with muscular diseases. Holy bows, Oma ; ).

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Queen Mathilde attended the Global Summit for Vaccination in Brussels, wearing an ensemble by by Dries Van Noten. I like the color and wish for a bit more shape, somewhere.

I know I keep returning to her tour to Canada, but she’s just so darn engaging. Princess Takamado (Hisako) wore an unusual for Japanese royalty floral dress during her recent visit to Edmonton, Alberta.

The Duchess of Sussex is returning from maternity leave. Last week she debuted her capsule wardrobe collection. Sussex Royal released some photos of thrilled clients trying on some of the pieces.

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Last month, The Duchess of Sussex surprised Smart Works clients during the capsule collection shoot in west London…Today, The Duchess, alongside @SmartWorksCharity – in partnership with @InsideJigsaw, @JohnLewisandPartners, @MarksandSpencer and @MishaNonoo – are incredibly proud to reveal to everyone, #TheSmartSet – a five piece capsule collection that will equip the Smart Works clients with the classic wardrobe pieces to help them feel confident as they mobilise back into the work space. • “Since moving to the UK, it has been deeply important to me to meet with communities and organisations on the ground doing meaningful work and to try to do whatever I can to help them amplify their impact. It was just last September that we launched the ‘Together’ cookbook with the women of the Hubb Kitchen in Grenfell. Today, a year later, I am excited to celebrate the launch of another initiative of women supporting women, and communities working together for the greater good. Thank you to the four brands who came together in supporting Smart Works on this special project – placing purpose over profit and community over competition. In convening several companies rather than one, we’ve demonstrated how we can work collectively to empower each other – another layer to this communal success story, that I am so proud to be a part of” – The Duchess of Sussex The collection – which features a shirt, trousers, blazer, dress and tote bag – will be on sale for two weeks starting today, with the objective of selling enough units to give Smart Works the essentials they need to help dress clients for the coming year! For every item bought during the sale of the collection, one will be donated to Smart Works, this 1:1 model allows customers to directly support the Smart Works women by playing a part in their success story – how they look and more importantly, how they feel. Photo © @JennyZarins

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This and That

The trio of Prince Harry, Queen Letizia and Prince Daniel celebrated their shared birthdays on September 15th. Quick – who is 47? Who is 35? Who is 46? Daniel, of course, was born on the day Carl Gustaf became King. If you ever have to make up a royal trivia game, that day is full of fodder.

If you want to hire out some fantastic replicas of the British Crown Jewels – among various other things – LiL found this for us. Dare I say some of these are an improvement over the genuine article? Or you could call on this company. If you click the link you will see an excellent replica of the Vladimir.

What did I miss?

Hofdame Bits and Bobs
Belgium · Japan

Hofdame Bits and Bobs

The HandbagLeave a comment

Handbaggers, it’s either feast or famine in Bits and Bobs and we are definitely feasting this week. Let’s not waste any time…

Working

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako get top billing because they attended an event close to my heart: a national meeting for the promotion of healthy oceans and an exhibition and reception for sea enrichment. Masako is just firing on all cylinders these days – Empressing suits her.

Princess Takamado (Hisako) continues her sunny tour of Canada; stopping here in Mississauga while sporting a jaunty peach ensemble.

Mathilde visited the Biennale Arte Venice 2019, and I love this soft green hat and overall flowing ensemble from Natan.

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And, why, yes, she is channeling her Benelux Queen sister, Max, again. One day we’ll have to do an entire post on these twin ensembles. Royal Hats has the scoop on the hats here!

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#stylecheck Queen Maxima & Queen Mathilde wearing almost the same dress😍 Which look do you prefer? Please remember to evaluate the outfit not the person. [This was spotted by me & the edit is made by me too,please give credit if you use it!] #royalstylewatch #royalfashion #queenmaxima #queenmathilde (Der “Stylecheck” ist eine Reihe auf meiner Seite die euch vermutlich schon aufgefallen ist. Dort poste ich Royals die sehr ähnliche oder sogar gleich Looks tragen, zum Teil auch Royals und Stars. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf der Mode und nicht auf den Personen. Ich bitte euch wirklich, stets für das Outfit zu stimmen was euch stiltechnisch besser gefällt, abgesehen davon ob ihr die Person total mögt oder auch nicht. Auch ich bewerte hier stets den Stil.)

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Victoria stepped out smartly in this repeat Rodebjer pink suit with a blouse by the same manufacturer. I love the zhuzzed up earrings.

Leisure

The Brits are grabbing some last minute leisure time before the autumn duties close in. The Queen made an appearance at the Braemer Games with the delightful Autumn Philips, both in fabulous hats. Peter, Charles and Cams were also there, but Autumn is just pulling me in here. Megan came back to her home country to see her friend Serena Williams play, and I can honestly say I covet her J. Crew cardigan and dress, but have no event at which to wear them, alas.

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Handbag Announcement

We are mourning the last of the ROYGBIV posts, but we want to keep the audience participation generated by those posts alive while OC and her typing fingers take a break! Starting this Thursday and continuing as long as we can make it last, we are introducing the Hofdame Hall of Fame.

A hofdame will choose a royal and what they consider that royals best ensemble. We will indicate the category, which will be either day or evening. We will take into consideration the entire look, which includes accessories – tiaras, too, if applicable.

We understand that our commenters may feel very differently, and may even completely disagree with our choice. We invite you please post your own nomination for that royal’s best look in the comments. The top two ensembles will appear in the Hofdame Hall of Fame; one from us, one from the crowd.

Our first Hall of Fame nominee is Crown Princess Victoria, in her best evening ensemble. Start thinking about your nomination now, and we’ll see everyone on Thursday to battle it out.

So, it was a busy back to work week. What did I miss here?