Royal style & gossip: who's got the best gownage and crownage?

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Here we go again, and as always say what you like about the clothes but keep it civil re the wearers of said clothes!

previous thread

@senecafalls
You know all our tastes from this thread!
What 2 or 3 from your list would you recommend to kick off with?

Right, the Princess Alice book is 99p on Kindle or free on unlimited
Anyone care to join me in an impromptu book club.
Read it and discuss at the end of the month?
If anyone is interested, I can set up a separate thread; there has to be a Books topic; this mumsnet after all!

It’s Max & Wax’s 17th Wedding anniversary

Queen Rania is in Turkey

Love Maxima's wedding dress.

It's surprisingly understated for the Max we know and love today!

@QueenOfTheAndals I've just done a bit of googling and it all seems a bit sad. From what I can gather Mrs Simpson had to take matters in hand as he was racked with self doubt about his body and his performance. Weird stuff about his nanny too.

Posh English men and their nanny hang-ups. So much to answer for...

love this bracelet of kates (from the link posted earlier). Hope some bling comes out for the baftas.

Also read in that link that Diana's engagement ring went back to charles after her death. he invited the princes to pick a piece/s of jewellry each to remember her by. Apparently harry chose the ring and william chose a watch. But then harry offered william the ring when he wanted to propose to kate. lovely story.

@SenecaFalls Do you have a recommendation for a book on Victoria's daughter Vicky, the Empress Frederick? She was a highly intelligent woman, far more so than her brother Bertie. She would've made an excellent Queen Victoria II.

@queen
There is quite a lot about her in the Theo Aronson book; Grandmama of Europe ( one of the few on the list I’ve actually reach)

@Scandaloso Some historians even believe that Mrs Simpson was originally just looking to secure a position for her and Ernest that would see them set for life, and that she had no intention of divorcing him. But David's obsession with her got out of control and after he decided to abdicate she felt she had no choice but to marry him. It seems they made each other miserable in the end.

That black velvet dress is another sexy Kate look but she's never worn it since.

Queen I know I have read a book about Vicky, but I can't find it. I am also pretty sure that I read a collection of correspondence between Queen Victoria and Vicky.

As to questions about what to read first. To me, Princess Louise is the most interesting one of Victoria's children. And Prince Philip's mother Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece has a very compelling history.

I have also read a lot about the Romanovs but can't put my hands on those titles either. I can easily search my kindle history, but library book check-outs don't go back very far with my local library, and I did quite a few from their inter-library loan service.

A closer look at Max's gorgeous Valentino wedding gown, stunning details.
The underskirt looks like petals, and all that lace! Gorgeous!

Found it.

An Uncommon Woman: the Life of Princess Vicky by Hannah Pakula

It’s a shame all those details on Maxima’s dress were hidden.
Underneath, it looks like something from Marchesa

Hannah Pakula has written a brilliant book about Vicky. Also one about Marie of Roumania.

The Victoria/Vicky letters have been published in a whole series of books. Each one only covers a few years as they wrote so much. I'll look for links, you can get them second hand on amazon. Also there's Vicky and her daughter Sophie's letters.

Vicky

the first Beatrice

letters to sophie

one of the volumes of letters

I have lots of the letters. Love them.

Going back a bit farther, for anyone interested in the Stuarts, this is a book with correspondence of Charles II. His letters to his much younger sister Henriette are particularly sweet; there is one where he asks her not to address him as Majesty.

www.goodreads.com/book/show/5139583-the-letters-of-king-charles-ii

Poor Minette, she had a sad life.

I don't think we'll see Kate wear that dress again after all the Diana comparisons. Shame if that's the case - I thought she looked stunning in it

I thought Wallis and David had a happy marriage? Loathsome pair. They deserved each other.

I’m sure I read or saw a documentary which said that Wallis felt trapped into marrying David. That she felt a burden because he’d given up so much for her.

@SenecaFalls I've recommended that to my Dad.

@CurlyWurlyTwirly I've downloaded the Princess Alice book, so yes I'll join your Royal Book Club