Royal Style: summer's end, but not for style ❤️

[Maireas]

The end of summer lies ahead, but we're hoping for more bling!

@bluegreygreen Thank you. A fascinating find - I wonder if they found any of Queen Mary’s jewels 😂

https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2026/09/a-bejeweled-farewell-to-norways-beloved-princess-astrid.html
Nice tribute to Astrid

Thank you @Maireasfor the information about Princess Astrid.
Afaik her grandparents were first cousins.

Surely the Queen Mum's or Princess Margaret's?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/books/review/dressing-the-queen-kate-strasdin.html

hope this isn't behind a paywall but a review of a new book about the people behind the creation of QEII's clothes. DRESSING THE QUEEN: Two Hundred Years of Craft, Couture, and Monarchy, by Kate Strasdin

Yes, I was wondering the same!

Unfortunately, it is behind a paywall. It sounds like an interesting book anyway, she had such a pivotal role in the late Queen's style.

Here's an archive link: https://archive.ph/0AgOg

That's great, thank you - sounds really interesting.

Justine Picardie's recent book on QEII's style is also fascinating.

https://www.chelmsfordtheatre.co.uk/events/by-royal-appointment

I’m going to see this in October. I thought it looked interesting.

Is that Downton's Dr Clarkson? What would the Dowager and Mrs Crawley say??

Yes, more misdiagnosis, but the lovely Mrs Dr Patrick will sort it, in a calm manner.

So it is! Well spotted.

I really enjoyed that. And her memoir.

Yes, indeed. David Robb. I've been a fan for a long time.

So were her parents, Crown Prince Olav (later King Olav V) and Crown Princess Martha. Olav's father Haakon VII and Martha's mother, Princess Ingeborg of Denmark were siblings.

So the parents and grandparents of Astrid were first cousins. 😮

Yes, and Martha's mother, Princess Ingeborg of Denmark was married to her first cousin, once removed, Prince Carl of Sweden. Those Scandinavian RFs did marry each other with some frequency back in the day. Of course, it was fairly common all over Europe, especially with the Continental royals' emphasis on equal marriage.

The Dutch royals at an official event. Alexia is hilarious and seems to have inherited Max's flair for the dramatic.
<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/sorry/index?continue=www.newmyroyals.com/2026/09/the-dutch-royal-family-attends.html%3Fm%3D1&q=EhAqBdAcAcwUBJHqAAAAAAAVGOTnpdUGIi3q9Zy5TNLtpuL8kn8CuKcmB-tREaYFmFKojfkcvCIt8dsetj_v0njed1JC8jEyAnJSWgFD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.newmyroyals.com/2026/09/the-dutch-royal-family-attends.html?m=1

ETA: I don't know why the link looks like that, Mumsnet needs to sort it out.

Yes, no link visible. What's the site? Maybe we can look ourselves?

Here you go, this works: <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/sorry/index?continue=www.newmyroyals.com/2026/09/the-dutch-royal-family-attends.html&q=EhAqBdAcAcwUBZW2AAAAAAATGI3rpdUGIi0WfHnRI-Tvzc3wcudlDl4<u>vwIt</u>upPrMaC9dkXYh2sLH_jF3-KJZkAAaS7KkwyAnJSWgFD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.newmyroyals.com/2026/09/the-dutch-royal-family-attends.html

ETA: or it did, but then it posted with a load of garbage at the end. You need to delete everything after the .html in the link.

Thanks, but still not working, I'll go on the site

But doesn’t first cousins marrying each other double the baseline risk of serious genetic birth defects and recessive disorders in any children of those first cousins ?

The Hapsburg jaw would agree with you.