Royal style & gossip: strawberries, serves and sartorial splendour - anyone for tennis?

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Previous thread

I think it’s probably weird for Harry and Meghan too - I don’t think there is a precedent for them to follow. Harry has, I think, always been more popular then William with the public, has scope to do something more interesting in his life than be Prince of Wales and has married someone who has given the Royal Family a new kind of exposure. However he’s also now a relatively minor but working royal. Also any precedent that could come from Princess Margaret and her Kids or Princess Anne is outdated now as so much has changed. Also, in the next few years there’ll be a shake up when the Queen dies and who knows what’ll happen then. They can’t ‘communicate clearly’ when they probably don’t know what’s going to happen themselves.

I enjoy this thread cos it’s the one place I can indulge my nerdy royal watching - but that’s the point isn’t it, it’s a niche interest. In general conversation no one a) knows b) gives a shit if Meghan changes her ring, puts baby photos on Instagram that are bog standard examples of baby photos on Instagram etc etc. These things are only ‘PR disasters’ if you’re looking for them, which most people aren’t.

Also I remember a very brief period - obviously W+Ks household had pissed someone off - where the DM was publishing photos of the Cambridge’s on holiday with the full; ‘taxpayers money!’ ‘Aren’t they supposed to be working!’ treatment. It promptly ended, but imagine if they had kept that up - it would have created the same cloud over W+K that we now have over M+H. The Cambridge’s aren’t ‘doing it better’ they’re just not being constantly shat on from a great height. Tbh if H+M have refused to do whatever it is that K+W have done to keep the DM on side that makes me respect them a bit.

All very true Pingu!

The only issue for H&M is when they have a bad news story that others do pick up on - eg the cottage spending. My boss is not bothered by the royals at all, but was shocked (as a stand-alone headline and not having noticed the others’ spending), and googled to see what else H&M had been up to - unfortunately for them the results of “H&M spending” included the baby shower, his expensive accommodation abroad, her engagement dress. Whereas W&K undoubtedly spend as much but (and no offence to them) have done well out of a boring streak of some royal engagements, kids etc. All inoffensive stuff, no breaking the mould.

H&M are a lightning rod for being new. Plus they’ve said they want to modernise the RF (but haven’t seemed any different to the rest), plus they started very popular so any teeny blip puts them under huge scrutiny.

Plus.. as with the boss’ googling... they’ve had limited time to “perform”. So any bad news sends off their stats, as it were.

Pingu I remember that too. Of course, W&K have the advantage of his position as heir... perhaps someone pointed out quietly to the DM that if they carried on the way they were going, their potential access in a few years’ time was likely to be zilch. (Just speculating!)

H&M don’t have that advantage. In a way they’re in the worst possible position - massive interest in them, but relatively little clout to steer the story. And of course the press (looking at you, DM) love to set women against each other, and to have their heroes and villains, so an American (gasp!) actress (double gasp!) divorcee (fetch my fainting couch!) was always going to be a ripe target for them - add in the fact she’s of mixed race (no, I don’t think all criticism of Meghan is racist but there’s no doubt that some of the nastier press coverage has that as a factor) and that she has opinions (seriously, need that couch about now) and well - it’s catnip to them.

Also W+K have dialled down the holidays a lot. Or at least have gotten a hell of a lot cannier about hiding them. You'd swear their few days in Mustique with the family is their only holiday a year now. Bollocks it is.

Remember when they missed the closing ceremony of the Olympics and the press were told they were "working" and then it transpired they were on their holliers? Drama ensued.

So they don't actually give a very flash impression these days. It's only when you tot up the cost of her wardrobe that you clutch your pearls a bit, but 99% of folks don't even notice that she has eleventy billion pale blue coat dresses costing a cool grand each. Their PR claims they are turnip toffs and its working very very well.

I think Kate is assisted by the fact that lots of her clothes look v similar... that Cumbria trip, for instance. At a casual glance you’d think she’d worn the same thing all day, it’s when you look closely at the jackets and the boots, then realise she has goodness knows how many other very similar jackets and pairs of boots, all costing a few hundred quid each, that you start to feel somewhat But if you weren’t a massive nerd about their clothes (🤓 waves nerd flag) you probably wouldn’t notice!

Yeah it's a strategic uniform.

EHolmes on Instagram (of So Many Thoughts) is quite good at analysing this stuff. She calls it "slideshow dressing" and that it's a lot more considered and dare we say calculated that first appears.

Meghan's slideshow is luxe monochromatic minimalism. Kates slideshow consists basically of 2 personas: Next Queen Safety Dressing, and Relatable Country Casual.

no, I don’t think all criticism of Meghan is racist but there’s no doubt that some of the nastier press coverage has that as a factor

It also helps stir up racist attitudes among the public. Some of the comments about Meghan on media sites and social media are thinly and not-so-thinly veiled racism. And the intensity of some of the comments that do not seem to have a racial content are suspect, too, because of that intensity. As I've said before it's Michelle Obama redux.

She calls it "slideshow dressing" and that it's a lot more considered and dare we say calculated that first appears.

I reckon she’s right on the money there. I don’t blame Kate - she’s played the game for a while now and she knows how to give the ‘right’ impression. Will be interesting to see if Meghan follows that path or whether she’ll carry on in her own way. She’s had the double whammy of being the new girl (hence needing a Duchessy wardrobe update) and pregnant, so she’s not had much chance to start building her own uniform yet.

It’s Kate’s jewellery that makes me gasp a bit sometimes - none of that Kiki McDonough (sp?) comes cheap! I have to say I prefer Sophie and her Heavenly Necklaces habit (got my eye on a few bits and bobs from there) - just as pretty, imo, and rather less eye-watering prices.

I suspect Kiki herself has gifted a lot of that stuff in fairness. You're allowed to accept gifts from personal friends and they go way back to the beginning of it all.

ElspethFlashman
If you were a Royal you said you'd go to London GAA.
You couldn't be doing with London Irish rugby because .....

Oh I'd probably do that too. In the interests of fairness. But we're culchies so GAA'd up to the eyeballs, lol.

Her Majesty looking splendid at church today. I like the splash of florals showing on her dress!

Back to fashion.....just saw this on IG.....not quite sure what to make of it to be honest. Let's just leave it at 'not something I would wear'

No to London Irish while Paddy Jackson is there

We all know Kate loves matchy matchy dressing but I just came across this which proves Diana took it to a whole new level. I don't remember this at all. I expect William has tried to blank it out too.

Has Charlotte had another wedding ceremony then?

Is that peter Philips on the other side of William? He looks so like Zara if it is I have never seen much resemblance before!

Let's hope for George's sake that's not an outfit that was saved/ William has hidden it

Yes that's Peter. Poor William!

Inniu
That's what I was alluding to.

Oh dear. That is a look on William and Diana, isn’t it? Somewhat... of its time

I can totally see Kate and Charlotte rocking the matchy matchy though!

My view- Meghan is on maternity leave. Trumps visit was a working visit hence Meghan didn’t need to appear. Trooping is a family event so she went. No big shakes just 2 very different expectations. IMO

Is that William!? If he wasn’t holding her hand and well dressed like that I’d never have recognised him 😱

I'm sure I've seen that photo on here before. Was there some discussion over whether it was Eugenie not William and it just looked like him?

Oh no have just had a look on the originals and it is William! Harry is wearing equally terrible clothing on that day too. Obviously Di was ahead of her time with the gender neutral thing!