Royal style and gossips: gowns and crowns but please no frowns!

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Just in the nick of time! Clothes and light-hearted gossip only please...

How fab does Eugenie look in this Vivienne Westwood. Fergies girls have fabulous figures and are well loved, which is more than can be said for many of the other Royals unfortunately. Unfair that the press has them in the Ugly stepsister corner.
Pic is from The Order of Sartorial Splendour website, in a link posted above.

I agree that the passel of Queens cousins and spouses at KP and St. James's palace will not be replaced as they shed this mortal coil.

How did Harry get played by Meghan?

I think you are right.

I think that they would never have been as prominent as they were had George VI not died at such a comparatively young age. If you think of who was an adult in 1952, the Queen had to call on her cousins. She had no adult children, and Margaret was her only sibling.

When it comes to Charles's reign, he has two grown up sons and both their wives, without starting on siblings, let alone even thinking about first cousins.

The prominence of the Kents and Gloucesters etc is a result of circumstance. And we can see that it isn't usual to have people not in the direct line being so prominent in the relative anonymity of Margaret's children.

Maybe “got played” is a bit harsh, but that talk of how she didn’t know who he was when she met him and didn’t know who Prince Harry was, and just randomly happened to be in London when they were set up on a blind date...hardly likely. Much more likely that it was set up and she was a willing and knowing and maybe even directing party in it.

But so what. The lady is ambitious. I think it’s great.

I think if she's ambitious she'd have been better off remaining a civilian! Now she's confined to the life of a (mostly) silent clothes horse.

Well, yes. Never been an ambition of mine either. But clearly it was hers.

But William is close to his cousins reportedly. He is close to Zara and Harry is close to Eugenie and Beatrice, so William probably is too.

The need for someone without a 'past' is really about nasty stuff coming out of the woodwork, ex husbands or boyfriends selling their stories, articles about indiscretions etc. I would guess that's why Kate fits quite well. She doesn't even seem to have had a proper boyfriend before William.

Or she met someone and fell in love...

www.marieclaire.com/culture/g14516650/royal-family-pr-scandals/?slide=10

Dont know how i landed here. Explains a few references on this thread that I didn’t understand and didnt want to google eg squidgygate. May be of interest.

Thanks for that link Harebell. It was very interesting and included James Hewitt in a cardigan he'd presumably just mugged a little old lady to get

it is a truly awful cardigan.

I don't how I landed on marie claire. Hope i didnt steal and repost someones link. Very sorry if i did, please tell me.

CrookedMe well he seems to be enjoying “being played” and even put a ring on it, so I say along with 7salmonswimming more power to her.

I have a tiara at home which has been in the family for...oh. 15 years. Here’s a photo for you.

I doubt Meghan really knew what she was getting into. However she’s not put a foot wrong as far as I can see. Also they both look very much in love so while I agree it’s rubbish that she didn’t know who he was I think they’ll be fine.

Anyone else getting very excited for the Christmas Day Walk To Church?

I think there's talk that Kate has one serious-ish boyfriend before William. I totally agree he won the prize with her - pretty, looks interested in whatever she's doing and discreet. I think he'll shake things up so at Christmas for example her family will be part of it.

I think Meghan is on a learning curve. If I'd be in a position to advise her I'd have suggested she wait a little longer before starting a family so she had time to find her feet.

The trouble with waiting to start a family, though, WipsGlitter, was that at Meghan's age, she couldn't be sure of how easy it would be for her to conceive and carry a baby to term, so I guess they would have started trying to conceive immediately and were pleasantly surprised when she became pregnant so quickly! It could have taken years for her to get pregnant, she might have needed fertility treatment, who knew!

Rhubarb VWe have a similar family heirloom, similar enough that I did briefly wonder if you might be my mum, secretly posting on Mumsnet

Also a new baby is always wonderful PR so it definitely could only be a positive move. I think having kids is one of the easiest ways of relating to a new community as you suddenly have something in common with so many people around you.

I have been wondering about names.. for a boy I like Leo or Philip. Not sure about a girl? Maybe Mary/Maria/Marianne something in the Mary stable. Or maybe they will really branch out and step away from very traditional names.

When you get married at 37 you're not gonna hang about tbh. I have a colleague who got married at 38 and despite 4 rounds of IVF and a trip to an Eastern European clinic, it hasn't happened. Its so sad, all she talks about is other people's babies, literally. At our Christmas party she talked about her friends babies non stop at the dinner table. She's now 42 but I think they're still trying. We're all desperate for her to get her wish.

You can't hang about, god knows what interventions you might need. Besides, I suspect they were bother individually broody before they met.

suspect they were bother individually broody before they met.
^
This
Harry has made no secret of wanting kids.
(I met exp at 37, we started ttc after 18 months) DS arrived just after I turned 40.)

To be fair, Meghan & Harry were together for 2 years before ttc. It just happened straight away. (After thé wedding)

I liked HM on the train to Sandringham, rockin' that Burberry headscarf!

Exactly, it's easy with hindsight to say that they should have waited, based on how quickly it seemed to happen. But you can't guarantee that at any age, and the odds only tilt against you over time. Same thing happened to us, we weren't sure if it might take ages so started TTC a bit sooner than we were ready, assuming it might take ages. And next thing you know... 👶

A new baby can put pressure on any relationship (sure as hell did on ours) but at least they will have all the support you could need. No hoping for a midwife that knows her stuff on breastfeeding for Megan, or hauling herself out to the local Sure Start centre in hopes of a warmish cup of tea and a biscuit!