The Duchess of Edinburgh

[YaMuvva]

Does anyone else think Sophie DofE looks different like she’s had a ‘glow up’? She was always attractive but the picture the RF put out today she looks amazing! Did she always look like this? Has she had a Spray tan?

@Mymilkshakebringsallthepapstomycar Great post and this part particularly deserves another mention :

She's not that different to many other women who suddenly find their groove, when the uncertain years of child rearing and early career have passed by, and they get to middle age and a new lease of confidence, not giving too many fucks for what people think of them. It's great.

💯 😊

You think "they" dressed Meghan Markle?! They choose their own clothes and/or their own stylists. Nobody is forcing outfits in to any of them.

Sophie was at school with my contemporaries. She is just the same confident person who left school in the early 80s ..a huge asset to the RF .

Have you actually seen 80s fashion??!! I lived it. Trust me, Diana was a trailblazer no matter what you think of it now!

I saw her wedding dress in Kensington Palace a few years ago when it was on display, and I was mesmerised. Conjuring up images of the woman who wore it. Her dress was so much of its time and we all thought it was just gorgeous when she wore it, so much for a few creases. I got married not that many years later, and I still love my dress - it was big, it was puffy, it had embroidery and pearls and a huge bow on my arse - but it looked its (designer) part on the day!!

Princess Beatrice is looking fabulous recently, she has really upped her game.

Well, she's married to an Italian.

Meghan was not "dressed" by anyone, quite the opposite, in the documentary she says she had no guidance and chose neutrals eg camel because there was little chance of choosing the same colour as another royal women. Some of Meghan's clothes were stunning - the blush pink off the shoulder suit was just gorgeous and the white dress she wore when she went to Cheshire with the Queen.
As for Diana - there was the odd miss step, but on the whole she was a fashion icon. Looking back many 80s fashions were a bit overblown and costumey but she was extremely fashionable. The green dress she wears in the picture with baby William is inspired by Robin Hood medieval style; we all wore ruffles and lacy stuff - New Romantic was a major fashion influence - and her Wedding Dress was the height of this. I know looking back it looks like an unmade bed but it was of it's time.

I don't think she looks any different to usual. Why would she get a spray tan? She can go abroad & get a real one anytime!

I beg to differ, her and Eugenie are so old fashioned.

I beg to differ. That was fashionable at the time.
Believe me, no-one described Diana as unfashionable or frumpy. You're looking at 40 years ago.

@thankyouforthedayz - absolutely.
Both women looked great, both women have had their style copied. Diana was very much of her time.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/6706367/meghan-markle-gets-her-style-mojo-back-with-sculpted-1300-brandon-maxwell-dress-at-commonwealth-event-in-london/
I do apologise that this is from The Sun! It's one of my favourite looks on Meghan, as a working royal, when she was a Commonwealth rep.
It's such a beautiful colour and a simple silhouette.

She looked lovely in that yellow dress . Very flattering .

Sophie looks like she's had an eye lift or face lift. She's looked after herself too which really helps.

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a25881742/meghan-markle-red-coat-purple-dress-birkenhead/
Here's Meghan in a purple dress and red coat.
Two strong colours to wear together, but I love it. Not sure about the bag, but overall a good look.

Didn't Sophie Wessex have fairly severe depression at time of pregnancy?
Almost a recluse? or did I not see the papers that recorded her.
Am I remembering that both she and the DofE had opposition from the Palace Officials because they were in 'trade'.

I have no idea about some of those stories, @Phoebefail . I know that Sophie struggled to get pregnant and had an ectopic before Louise. Then of course, Louise was born prematurely by emergency C-section and Sophie was very ill. In fact she was separated from her daughter in the early days, which must have been painful.
I haven't read anything about a depressive episode, though.

I'm not sure why palace officials would object to the D of E? In trade? Who do you mean - who was in trade?

Sophie reportedly had a rotten time with her first pregnancy. If it was anything like my rotten pregnancies, it might have comprised something like pre-eclampsia and medication that carries a risk of depression, seemingly endless hospital checks and stays, and premature birth(s).

Stuff like that takes a long while to get over. And then one day you look at these lovely tiny babies and they've become lovely actual adults and you can ... exhale.

@Maireas Worked for an Investment company I thought, Hedge Fund? Apologies if I am wrong.

The Duke of Edinburgh?
I'm sorry, I'm not sure who you're talking about or who worked for a hedge fund?

What were you expecting to see her wearing: legwarmers and a ra-ra skirt? 🤣

Clearly some have not lived through the 80’s fashion! Diana was the height of fashion. Which actually isn’t saying much!

Maireas · Yesterday 22:28
Diana was never "frumpy". She was very stylish. She wore the fashions of the time and was much admired for it.

Just seconding this!

I know 'young people of today' 😁will find it hard to believe, but as someone of almost Diana's vintage, please believe that yes, her clothes were admired at the time. They were the clothes of a particular tribe, though - the Sloane Ranger.* They started out as the sort of tribal uniform of the upper middle class young woman and filtered down from there - but not universally, some people just didn't buy into the velvet dresses with lace collars, full skirts with jumpers and a pie-crust collar underneath etc. I'm embarrassed to say that I did. I repent my sins and I'm a minimalist now, but actually you only get one life and I'm glad I embraced the OTT stuff while I could!

It was roughly contemporary with the New Romantic movement in pop music when people like Adam Ant wore flamboyant 'costumes' and had really big hair. Diana wouldn't have stood out as frumpy (far from it) in those days.

But strangely, I agree with the poster who said that they never admired her clothes even in later years. She had an incredible model physique and would have made a bin-bag look chic, but personally I agree that when you look at the hemlines they don't always suit her proportions. Remember she lived through the massive shoulder era too, and that looks weird today.

Please don't think I'm being bitchy here but I think it's interesting to re-assess things: it's conventional wisdom that Diana was 'the most beautiful woman in the world' according to some. She was an incredibly attractive woman with a superb physique, but I don't think her face was beautiful in the strictest sense - like Princess Grace or Vivien Leigh, for eg. I'm not putting her down a problem - it's just fascinating that her aura of glamour and the way she just glowed made her an absolute icon at the time. And inevitably her tragic death made her a bit beyond criticism.

*If you can get hold of a copy of Peter York's 'The Sloane Ranger Handbook' it's a hilarious deconstruction of the fashions and attitudes of the time, and there's a big section of Diana.

Well she wore a puffball skirt - which would have been OK if she'd not put a tailored jacket over it.