Royal Style: Elizabeth may be gone, but her diamonds are forever

[Maireas]

Evening Royal style and beauty fans.
Into the Carolean era, with more bling we hope! Also more state banquets?

Very close relatives in some cases - the king of Denmark and the king of Greece were brothers, and the King of Norway was the king of Denmark's son!

And George V was nephew to the Greek and Danish monarchs, as well as being cousin to the Kaiser. The only one missing is Tsar Nicholas II and he and George looked like twins.

Funny you should mention her hands there was a badly cut picture of a handshake the other day. When I read down one of the hands was hers. They're strong but mannish. Doing weights perhaps.

The relationships between all the monarchies confuse the hell out of me. I can never remember who was who's cousin / brother / grandson etc, especially because half of them are related via both parents and often end up marrying their own cousin or something

The closest related current ones are Queen Margrethe and King Carl Gustav. They are first cousins. All the rest are related to some degree.

There’s also the very close relations between the Danish, Spanish and former Greek Royals. Danish Queen Margrethe’s youngest sister Anne Marie married King Constantine of Greece. And his sister Sofia married Juan Carlos of Spain.

I noticed that Felipe and Leti signed the Book of Condolence to "Dear Aunt Lilibet".

The Danish, Greek and Norwegian kings descended from the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was Queen Alexandra. That's an even bigger mouthful than Saxe-Coburg-Gotha!

as was Alexandra.

The Queen wore pale pink (ballet slippers) nail polish, and apparently disliked bold nail colours. I don't think there is any actual rule though, it seems to be one of those "rules" the press make up for trashy articles.

I agree that it is sad that gloves for formal occasions is dying out.

I don't think there is any actual rule though, it seems to be one of those "rules" the press make up for trashy articles.

Absolutely this! Diana often wore bright red nail polish. The Queen, and perhaps more surprisingly Margaret, didn’t wear bright colours on their nails, but that might have been a generational thing (and in evening wear of course they often wore gloves anyway). Both were however often seen with bright red lips and peep-toe sandals. And in Margaret’s case at least, a cigarette in hand.

I've noticed that a few times, and then there was the picture where she had to take her shoes off visiting a temple.

She always looks so polished and elegant and I think nice nails would finish things off better, especially when she's wearing her engagement ring.

Diana used to wear red nail polish so I suspect it's one of the "rules" invented by the Daily Mail! Kate has had dark pedicures on occasion but with 3 kids maybe a coloured manicure would get noticeably chipped easily?

I have to say I generally paint my toenails (in summer) and it lasts a month but manicures are far more high maintenance so I only get one if I'm going on holiday.

Ah ok, yes I remember Princess Margaret usually had a cigarette on the go! Kate definitely looks like she does a lot of work in the gym do maybe that’s why nails are short.

Not just Diana, Sophie, Beatrice and Eugenie have all been seen in bright/dark nail polish.

Anyway nails don't have to be bright or long to look nice, Megan's nails normally look nice and although she wears dark toe nails her fingernails are normally short and subtle.

Oh and I don't advise googling the images of Kate barefoot, those skyscraper heels are taking their toll.

Regarding the skyscraper heels, I was surprised how many royal ladies were wearing stiletto or thin heels into Westminster abbey, can’t be easy to walk on these very old stone floors.

Re the heels the queen was the smart one. It's not just your feet that suffer long term but spine, hips, knees. They're car to bar footwear if you're wise

I couldn’t agree more! I’m in my 50s and I don’t remember high heels in my younger days being any more than 3.5 inches at the very most, if you wanted anything higher you needed to go to a fetish/sex shop lol! Not that I did of course but I lived near Brighton for a while and there were a couple of shops there that catered for those who required them 😀
I also think that even when she was younger the Queen was always aware she could slip over so they scored the soles of her shoes to prevent this. This was on a Lucy Worsley documentary called Tales from the Royal Wardrobe, the program started at Charles I I think and ended with Elizabeth II but I could have happily watched an hour about our late Queen’s wardrobe alone

One of the York sisters had incredibly thin heels on her shoes.

I think pp are right about nail varnish, I suspect HMQ's preference was pale, but there was no "rule".
We've said it before about those skyscraper heels - they do seem to be a thing with royal ladies and I'm not keen on the look, usually. I fear for their feet!

If you want a programme about the Queen's clothes, here you go: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p07xstny/elizabeth-fashioning-a-monarch

Thanks, VR!

I think the spindly heels look quite old-fashioned. Maybe, now HMQEII isn't around to dislike them, Kate will go back to her beloved wedges....

The engagement she and William did the Friday before the funeral, visiting Commonwealth troops who were due to take part, she wore much sturdier heels and I thought they looked much nicer: www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20220916151351/prince-william-kate-middleton-commonwealth-soliders-queen-state-funeral/ (third image down shows them)

Yes, the block heel definitely looks more modern.

You never saw Diana in skyscraper heels either. Lots of low heels with even the high ones much lower than would be worn these days. Check out the pictures of the revenge dress, I would be surprised if those shoes had more than a three inch heel.

I know Diana was tall but so is Kate.

I'm not a massive fan of wedges for smart occasions but a block heel or a chunkier heel would look much more modern. For day wear I don't think they need to be so high either.