Royal style & gossip: hairbands and birth plans

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Will Kate emerge from her Norfolk seclusion sporting a bigger than ever Alice band? Will the Mail and Express stories about Meghan get more ludicrous by the day? And will this thread see the arrival of Baby Sussex? All will be revealed in due course...

Link to previous thread

...and I've killed the thread 😬

You haven't @shedid, we've just been a bit quieter than usual as the duchesses have gone to ground!

Meanwhile, in Monaco, Stephanie wants in on the jumpsuit action...

We're still here shedid. Please don't tell the designer what we said about the uniform. I'm afraid I started that discussion. I should admit that I have a strong prejudice against that shade of brown for a start.

Still lurking. in defence of the Norland designer I imagine they had quite a limited brief. Unlike Jeff Banks when he updated the Brownies uniform from a military style tunic to a sweatshirt, shock horror.

Princess Anne and her husband sail round the UK visiting as many lighthouses as possible, as part of a holiday each year. She obviously has a genuine interest in the subject.

Anne is so cool!

I fell down a rabbit hole on Wiki about Stephanie. I hope she has been welcoming to Charlene. Anyway... did you know that her and Albert’s great granny was called Marie Juliette Louvet... and that Marie was a hostess in a Montmartre club when she met the heir of Monaco? Their daughter Charlotte was illegitimate, but was the heir’s only child and so Monaco allowed Charlotte to be formally adopted by the heir at 21. Charlotte then married a French duke, had Ranier and another kid, and divorced when the duke turned out to be gay. Anyway... love Wiki rabbit holes!

Feel like the Marie Juliette story needs to be turned into a film (or at least one of those channel 5 mushy mini-films), it’s all very Moulin Rouge and romantic!

shedid - erm, do you mind? I'm Queen Thread Killer!

I'd be fascinated to learn about the visual parameters given to the re-design of those uniforms. I bet there were quite a few. I imagine it was a bit like being asked to write a new bond score. ''We want a new one please - but it must include these exact notes in these particular places and not be too this or that'' ect.

Phew! You're all back!

Yes that colour is truly awful. A nice royal blue or bottle green would be better imho.

I suppose the NN are proud to wear it though as it reflects on their high level of training.

Laiste 😂

Notmyrealname the interesting thing about Monaco is that if a reigning prince dies without a legitimate heir, the principality reverts to French control.

I didn't know that @frugalkitty! Still, even if Albert hadn't had kids there's no shortage of heirs.

Kate alert! She's going to attend the Anzac Day service at the Abbey next Thursday. Fashion-wise I don't think there'll be much to see - probably a black coat on repeat.

William will be in Auckland and Christchurch next Thursday and Friday. I assume he'll be visiting other cities in NZ too as it's a long way to go for just 2 days!

I'm afraid I cannot get excited about Kate's forthcoming outfit. Other than to wonder if she'll go Boleyn on us.

HM & Eug doing the Maundy Thursday thang. Interesting that Ebis accompanying her. Wonder if she'll be getting the gig in the future?

The Queen is joined by Princess Eugenie at Maundy Thursday service
mol.im/a/6935967

Eug in not a very flattering Erdem. Like her pill box hat though. HM looking radiant

I love the dress but , it’s a bit too tight.

I'd be fascinated to learn about the visual parameters given to the re-design of those uniforms. I bet there were quite a few.

I would be interested in the design brief too. What changes did they make to the Norland uniform. Beige is not the best colour on most people. Why did they keep that colour when even the most iconic of airline uniforms change colours to improve?

I think the queen often seems to have a family member along these days. Not sure if these are all events that would have previously been Prince P or whether it's because she's a bit older and wants the support? But Andrew has been out and about with her quite a bit as well I think.

It's not the same but MIL will be visiting next month and DH and I were just chatting about how different it is having her visit now vs 10 years ago. Mentally she's the same, but she's just that little more frail and that little more physically nervous now than she was before - eg very nervous about stairs, hates to take the train now etc. Whereas before she was fine with that kind of stuff. 10 years in an older person's life does make a lot of difference I think.

The neckline on the Erdem is wrong for Eugenie, she's a bit too busty to wear the buttoned up style well.

HM looking good!

Lovely colourful event there in Windsor today 🙂

@Queen, I think he will squeeze it in between Louis' birthday (Tuesday?) and charlotte's (May 2? 3?), and fly first class, at least to Sydney.
Then a hop over the ditch to Christchurch, for the promised memorial service. Chch to Auckland, for Anzac Day, and then Sydney-London.
Two days on the ground, maybe another day or two in the air, with time differences.

Gee... (reading that back and calculating time differences) he might be o n a plane swiftly after that first birthday cake is cut.

I think the queen often seems to have a family member along these days

I've read something about the royals now having a 'granny rota' where one of the kids, grandkids etc is always there. Bit sad that Philip seems to have left her to it now - not criticising him for retiring from active duties at all, but the move where he's not with his wife day to day seems a bit of a shame.

It doesn't feel right to me that William is in NZ without the rest of his family. They could have all gone, George and Charlotte both went on overseas trips when young. Plus it's the Easter holidays so no school.

Strikes me as not family-centric, something the Cambridges have previously always come across as.

I think Philip’s health is a lot worse than they let on.

The royals never talk about their health. I’m not saying they should but other than Louise’s eye condition and Eugenie’s scoliosis, very little else is said. Philip is in and out of hospital, he doesn’t know u til the last minute if he can make family weddings. I know he is photographed doing the carriage riding but who knows how frequently that really is and how long it takes him to recover afterwards. . I really don’t think he is leaving the Queen to it and I think the real issue is he can’t commit to appearances as he has to wait to see if he is having g a good or bad day on the day itself?