Royal Style without our Queen ( of the Andals )

[LadyEloise]

Sadly QueenoftheAndals has decided to bow out and not create any more Royal Style and Beauty threads
I'm really hoping she'll reconsider.
Are any of the regular posters interested in continuing her great work ?
Blingloving
AppleKatie
banivani
SenecaFalls
mathanxiety
CurlyWurlyTwirly
pallisers
boscoismyspiritanimal
mrscampbellblackagain
etc etc etc

I really don't like that Mc Queen dress. The neck is too high. It's very plain and ordinary and probably £££££.

The Elizabeth Chadwick books.

A long version of this dress was in the window of my local H&M yesterday and all I could think is that I bet Kate will turn up wearing an equally hideous designer version at some point when she's trying to be fashion-forward!

I thought she looked lovely at the Nook thing. Totally not my style but worked for her.

Have also been thinking about her and heels. Wish I could wear heels like her. I desperately need some kind of new neutral, low heeled shoe for work in the summer and can only find shoes that are hideous or super high heel. M&S had something quite nice but the shoe was so pointy I felt like Cruella Neville and just WEIRD.

I've got all of Elizabeth Chadwick's books, she's an excellent writer with impeccable attention to detail. Much better than Philippa Gregory and a less 'done' period of history covered. Alison Weir also writes well, I agree late

Photo released to mark Albert and Charlene's 9th wedding anniversary. No smile from Charlene and the children in between them. Gilded cage and all that.

What a strange photo of Albert & Charlene, with them all crammed at the end of a settee(?). Albert is almost falling off it, and the children look so glum and unenthusiastic. What is Charlene wearing, is it a dressing gown? This is meant to be celebrating their marriage, the photographer should be guillotined!

Charlene looks as if she's in mourning in that outfit - apart from the strangely bright lipstick.

A most peculiar picture - they all look so uncomfortable!

They are in the same clothes as the pictures on page 22 of this thread so must have just chosen one from that day.
It's a shame if that was the most cheery one they got.
It's impossible to know what makes marriages work and maybe Charlene just hates having to do photos to keep the public interested in them. If she was my daughter I would feel sad if they are indeed as miserable as they sometimes appear.

I never thought they would have sparkly twigs in their house, sorry palace

The Lady Glenconner book is now out in paperback, just ordered it for my mum! and will steal it from her when she's finished reading it

Charlene's hair is a bit 'little house on the prairie', I wonder why she just doesn't wear it down! Albert looks like the only one who was happy to have his photo taken. The kids are wearing nice outfits.

Another Alison Weir fan here. Her books are always very readable. If you are new to her, try her book about Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, (though I must admit that I've still got a soft spot for Anya Seton's version of Katherine's story).

Anya Seton's Katherine is one of the main books that sparked my interest in history when I read it as a young teen.

Thank you latedecember, frugal & Ada for the book recommendations.

Bling that H&M dress looks the Villanelle pink dress albeit the toile/draft version

And is Charlene morphing into Princess Grace?

Didn't see your post Seneca as it was hidden beneath an advert (for life insurance of all things) so thanks too.

I think Charlene tries to cultivate an air of aloofness and mystery. She dated Albert for years before they got engaged so she knew what she was getting into. A man who waits til he's 53 before marrying a woman 20 years his junior - fathering illegitimate children along the way - isn't much of a catch. Apart from him being a billionaire, of course!

Another good author is Anne O'Brien, I've kept and re-read gets about Eleanor, Katherine and John of Gaunt, and Katherine of Valois and Owen Tudor which is incredibly poignant and always pulls on my heartstrings at the end.

Another photo to celebrate their anniversary. Charlene still doesn't look like she wants to be there to me.

The same for me Seneca, “Katherine” contributed to an interest in history. I also had a history mistress who believed herself to be a reincarnation of Queen Elizabeth I, which added another facet to my interest in the Tudors!

I like Charlene’s frock, it looks very wearable, and drapes beautifully, though I don’t think the blue tassel helps it, it would have been better with a choker or just earrings.

I wonder if she's just not comfortable with the photo stuff? But broadly, I agree, she never looks like she's particularly engaged and enjoying it (Charlene I mean). It's definitely a bit odd.

I hate to ask, but can Charlene smile anymore? The amount of work she has had done. It is such a shame as in her swimming days she was lovely.

Oh dear I see Charlene has done something to her lips in that photo.

@AdaColeman

The same for me Seneca, “Katherine” contributed to an interest in history. I also had a history mistress who believed herself to be a reincarnation of Queen Elizabeth I, which added another facet to my interest in the Tudors!

I so wish MN had a like button! Your history teacher sounds amazing!

@ajandjjmum She was wonderful, and strikingly similar to portraits of Elizabeth in old age, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the period.

I was very fortunate to go to a girls only school, with several extremely gifted female teachers.

I also had a history mistress who believed herself to be a reincarnation of Queen Elizabeth I, which added another facet to my interest in the Tudors!

This is funny! :)

But I've been thinking about this quite a lot recently. I realised recently that I have always read widely and that a lot of stuff, particularly around race, I apparently started learning a lot more than was "normal" at school. Admittedly, considering I grew up in South Africa, initially during Apartheid, I went to an EXTREMELY progressive school but I am embarrassed to say that I can't remember how I started reading other stuff or which teachers were teaching it. I remember taking some pretty extreme (for the time) books out of the library (and I now appreciate how unusual my school must have been even to HAVE those books) but I wish I better understood whatever teaching/learning process was going on.

I envy those of you who can pinpoint a learning or interest. I have one teacher who I credit with teaching me to THINK but that's it.