Royal Flashback of the Day: Princess Madeleine's Christening Looks

Swedish royal christenings have been very good to Princess Madeleine, sartorially. Or, I should say, she's made them very good. A flashback of her looks during the recent run of Swedish christening fun - and in case you weren't keeping count, that's been a serious run; they've had seven of them in the last six years! - reveals two of my all-time favorite Madeleine outfits and only one I'd say was a disaster. That's not a bad record. Not bad at all. (Click the kids' names to return to the individual christening posts.)

2012: Princess Estelle

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The first one turns out to be the most forgettable, this lavender belted coat with veil headpiece. I remember it mostly because she made the delicious choice to use diamond drops from the Connaught Tiara as earrings.

2014: Princess Leonore

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Two years later and it's Madeleine's turn to hold the baby. The first of her three was marked in a lace dress by Valentino which was very sweet and very short and very pink and very veiled. (I still think the veil with nothing much else to it looks silly.)

2015: Prince Nicolas

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Oh, but the second time was the charm, for this is one of those all-time faves. A Valentino so rich for the October season - and such a welcome break from all the pastels these christenings tend to produce - and so perfectly coordinated by bringing the color from the bottom of the skirt up to the fascinator. LOVE.

2016: Prince Oscar

Anna-Lena Ahlström, Kungahuset.se

She followed that all-time fave with the other all-time fave: the very best royal interpretation of the SLEEVES trend (sorry, Máxima), in a pink Roksanda Ilincic dress. Another fascinator is well deployed here. Best to leave all the volume to the SLEEVES.

2016: Prince Alexander

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Madeleine has a knack for picking the best from the Erdem pile. (Another example made your Best of 2017 list.) This one was practical, too; left all the froof at home and out of the way for the kid wrangling.

2017: Prince Gabriel

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One disaster, I said. Here it is. (She was pregnant with Princess Adrienne at the time.) The Valentino dress is kind of juvenile and it doesn't work with the coat, which she left on throughout the service. The whole thing feels more haphazard than we've come to expect from her.

2018: Princess Adrienne

Erika Gerdemark, Kungahuset.se

The latest addition to the christening outfit collection is, if nothing else, a return to a totally pulled together look. The Giambattista Valli dress, the flower crown, and the pieces of the Cameo parure make a pretty and carefully coordinated picture. My third favorite of the pack.

How do you rank Madeleine's christening looks?

Royal Fashion Awards: Princess Adrienne’s Christening (Updated)

Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary today by christening their third child, Princess Adrienne. Check out our open post here, with a link to watch the service.

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Princess Adrienne wore the royal christening gown we’ve seen several times in the past century, especially in the past few years. The heirloom details, from the royal court:

The christening gown worn by Princess Adrienne during the ceremony was first worn by Prince Gustaf Adolf when he was christened in 1906. The gown was also worn by Gustaf Adolf's siblings (Sigvard, Queen Ingrid, Prince Bertil and Carl Johan) and by Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sibylla's children, namely the Princesses Margaretha, Birgitta, Desirée and Christina, as well as The King.

The gown was also worn by Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Madeleine, Princess Estelle, Princess Leonore, Prince Nicolas, Prince Oscar, Prins Alexander and Prince Gabriel.

At the christening of Princess Margaretha in 1935, a cape and a cap made from cream-coloured silk satin were added. The names and dates of all the children christened have been embroidered in the lining of the cape.

The christening gown is made of cotton batiste and Valenciennes lace (bobbin lace) with a petticoat of satin woven silk. The gown has lace linings around the armholes. The gown is accompanied by a bodice of Valenciennes lace.

The christening gown also has a christening towel made of cotton batiste with Valenciennes lace.

Wee Adrienne grabbed right on to her baby sash of the Order of the Seraphim as soon as King Grandpa tucked it into place, because she knows what’s up.

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The rest of the family presented a united front with a gentle color scheme and a trio of floral frocks – all right on season and right on trend. Let’s hand out our awards:

Best in Floral and Best in Jewel Debuts

Princess Madeleine

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I had no expectations of any major jewel debuts from a christening, which made this even better: Princess Madeleine wore pieces of the Cameo Parure for the first time today! She used the bracelet and the earrings. As a card-carrying member of the Cameo Tiara Fan Club, I now have my fingers crossed for more, because that what’s happens when you give me a little bit. Madeleine and the royal ladies wore their portrait brooches of the King, as usual.

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The cameo pieces were perfect complements to the cream and gentle pinks of her floral dress by Giambattista Valli (h/t to Heaven). To my surprise, I even enjoyed the touch of flower power in her floral headband...or maybe that's just a little bit of carryover from my cameo delight.

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Princess Leonore joined the floral dress brigade led by her mother. She chose to de-accessorize by taking off her shoes. The Swedes let the kids be kids at these events (bless ‘em for allowing the antics), so go ahead and get comfy, girl. Leonore was without a partner in crime today; Princess Estelle was sick at the last minute and could not attend.

Runner Up in Florals

Princess Sofia

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My second favorite floral dress of the day belonged to Princess Sofia, interpreting the day’s pink color scheme in a bolder and sleeker fashion with this Ida Lanto dress. Little wrinkled after sitting through the service, but eh, that's life.

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If I quibble (and I will), I would have loved to see some more colorful accessories beyond the purse and perhaps more of an actual hat. A big ask of any Swedish royal lady at these events, I know.

Most at Home on the Prairie

Crown Princess Victoria

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Crown Princess Victoria could have used a dose of Sofia’s color contrast; on the broadcast especially, the colors in her dress blended together to muddy effect. It’s the only dress here that’s gonna make me say it: too Little House on the Prairie. (Only one prairie reference in a post full of florals, such restraint! Way to go, me.)

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I didn’t really understand her hat pairing, either; then again, I don’t understand her affection for these pile of embroidery hoop hats to start with. This is another version of the hat type she wore to Princess Leonore’s christening, at the time a nod to the headpiece Queen Silvia wore to Prince Carl Philip’s baptism (not the same hat, however).

Best in Standards

Queen Silvia
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As for Queen Silvia herself, well, she did her Silvia thing, and this faux wrap dress detail looks fantastic on her. Both grandmothers were operating at peak elegance. (Splendid brooch on Mrs. O'Neill, by the way.)

Best in Hat Sculpture

Princess Christina

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All four of King Carl Gustaf’s sisters were present at the christening; above from left to right behind the King and Queen, Princess Margaretha, Princess Birgitta, Princess Désirée, and Princess Christina. Only Princess Christina hatted up. (Lots of ladies didn’t and that’s par for the course at these events.) When Princess Christina hats up, she tends to hat up; this was sparkly and possibly capable of flight and I loved it. She had to make up for her sisters, after all. One hat to cover them all.

Who takes home your fashion awards for today’s christening?

 

UPDATE: The beautiful official photographs have been released. It's impressive, how they can always find the perfect corner of the palace to match their outfits. [All: Erika Gerdemark, Kungahuset.se]

 

Tiara Watch of the Day: Triple Tiaras in Sweden

The Swedish royal family is here to keep us in sparkle for another week! (A true public service.) They held one of their regular Representation Dinners last night; King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, and Princess Sofia attended.

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That's a pleasingly orchestrated color palette, isn't it? All muted and tailor-made for that Order of the Seraphim sash and accented with diamonds galore. Princess Sofia's gown ties the whole group together. She wore her Emerald and Diamond Tiara without the emeralds again.

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Feels like Queen Silvia uses this basic gown shape often enough that I can no longer tell when one is new or repeated. That's definitely a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," though, because this is really flattering on her. She finished it off with the Connaught Tiara.

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Crown Princess Victoria kept this weekend's fringe fest rolling by repeating the Baden Fringe Tiara. She wore an H&M Conscious Exclusive dress we've seen before, but...

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...I'm gonna go ahead and say that not every full-length gown is capable of handling a tiara event. This seems too casual. Besides, one never wants one's sash to be smushing one's ruffles.

Royal Outfits of the Day: Queen Letizia's Recents

It's been a minute, let's hit some selected highlights from Letizia's recent shenanigans:

Queen Letizia attended the inauguration of the 13th International Seminar of Language and Journalism yesterday.

House of HM the King

I saw the top half of this first and thought it seemed awfully tame for her. Lacking the Letizia touch, if you will. Until, of course, I saw the whole thing, and there it is. It works.

The Spanish royals attended Armed Forces Day on Saturday.

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This coat gives me a toothache, it's so sweet. Too sweet for her. Except I think she could get around that if she shook up the styling a bit; so far, we've seen this Carolina Herrera coat twice and both times she's worn it like this, like a dress with these pink heels. I'd nix the pink shoes, for a starter.

Queen Letizia visited the Dominican Republic and Haiti last week.

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This is my second favorite outfit from this trip. This is where those pink heels shine.

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And finally, my fave from the trip - and, really, my fave from all of her recent offerings - is a great polka dot dress. You can never go wrong with a great polka dot dress. From Carolina Herrera, natch. Extra points awarded for twirl-ability.

Royal State Visit of the Day: More from the Dutch in Luxembourg

Summer is almost here. Do you have your luxurious caftans ready for all the cocktail parties you shall be hosting on your yacht?

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima hosted a concert in Luxembourg, Máxima wearing a repeated Valentino caftan gown
RVD/Barney's

Queen Máxima's caftans come in the form of gowns and they are always ready, darling, whether for cocktails on a yacht or hosting a return event on the second day of the Luxembourg state visit.

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Grand Duchess Maria Teresa's looking ready for a little holiday glam too, with all the tropical foliage happening on her bespoke Elie Saab dress (per Heaven).

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And just a little tip for you from these ladies: Use those flowing garments as a showcase for your strongest necklace game. Queen Máxima wore the Ruby Peacock Necklace previously on this red gown; last night, she followed up on her Stuart Surprise with her Tutti Frutti-style necklace and bracelet. I wouldn't have thought that set would work so well with red, and yet it does. Just one reason that set belongs to her and not me, I guess. One of about 66,419 rea$on$.

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Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie may not have sported a caftan - her flowy dress is another Elie Saab nabbed from her mother-in-law's wardrobe - but she too came to play in the necklace department. One of the diamond rivière necklaces from the Luxembourg collection! Making up for the giant diamonds missing from the Lux side of the state banquet, are we? (Luxarazzi posted a video of these arrivals, worth a view if you're interested in Stéphanie's updo. Some impressive hair architecture going on there.)

Shall we hit the day events from days 1 and 2, briefly?

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For day 2, the Grand Duchess looked super cute - a great jacket in bold jewel tone, neatly paired with cropped trousers and a statement necklace. That is all I have to say about the day outfits on day 2. Moving on...

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Moving back, actually, to the arrivals and another can't-miss-it outfit from Queen Máx. If she'd leaned more into the green side of this and less into the yellow, she would have come pretty close to one of my all-time favorite QEII ensembles. But she didn't.

Speaking of hats, if you've ever wondered how royal women manage to greet each other when they're all hatted up, well:

Sometimes it doesn't work out so well. The Hereditary Grand Duchess won the prize for best welcome outfit anyway.

Psst: Check in over the weekend, fingers crossed we'll have some fun stuff to look at from Crown Prince Frederik's birthday!

Breaking Tiara News: Queen Máxima Wears the Stuart Tiara

It's the moment many have been waiting for since King Willem-Alexander took the throne: Queen Máxima wore the Stuart Tiara for the state banquet in Luxembourg tonight!

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It's a smaller version of that elusive Dutch big gun, to be clear; the setting has been lowered, the namesake pear-shaped Stuart Diamond has been removed from the top center with a smaller substitute in its place and other large diamonds from the top have been removed. Which was predictable, really; it is a massive tiara that comes with smaller settings, so easing into it is logical. Queen Máxima is wearing two of the removed large diamonds as earrings.  Read the tiara's full story here.

The Stuart Tiara in its full setting, as worn by Queen Juliana

There's the full version, as worn by Queen Juliana. The tiara was created for Queen Wilhelmina in 1897 and was regularly worn by Juliana, her daughter. Once Juliana's daughter, Beatrix, took over the throne, the tiara went unworn. Unworn for more than 40 years. Until now!

Royal reporter Rick Evers shared a fantastic video of the occasion, with some drool-worthy close ups and oh so much sparkle:

There is also a set of mega diamond jewels, the Stuart or House Diamond jewels, that Juliana wore with the Stuart Tiara. Máxima debuted the necklace from that set last year. Here, she wears the large bow brooch from the set, which she's used before. Her dress is a Jan Taminiau repeat.

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Also, other people were there! Let's do a quick sash check (left to right): Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume in the Order of Orange-Nassau from the Netherlands, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, King Willem-Alexander in Luxembourg's Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau, Queen Máxima in the same, Grand Duke Henri in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Blauw Bloed screencap. Click here for more sparkly video.

The Luxembourg ladies doubled up on their Elie Saab, Maria Teresa in a repeat and Stéphanie borrowing another dress from her mother-in-law's closet. The Hereditary Grand Duchess is giving us a double tiara appearance, technically, and a debut; she's wearing the Chaumet Diamond and Pearl Choker Tiara for the first time (without the pearls), and her sapphire and diamond necklace can also be used as a tiara.

Cour grand-ducale/Cyril Moreau

I must say, I'm a little disappointed in Maria Teresa when it comes to the tiara department. If there was ever a time for the Luxembourg Empire Tiara, right? Instead, the Grand Duchess stuck to her current favorite, the Belgian Scroll Tiara. Good thing her dress is divine, easily my favorite of the evening.

The Dutch arrived for their state visit to Luxembourg earlier today. The visit continues through Friday.

Royal Outfits of the Day: Camilla and Meghan in the Garden

Clarence House

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall hosted the Prince's 70th Birthday Patronage Celebration yesterday, a Buckingham Palace garden party for 6,500 people from 386 of his patronages and reps from 18 military affiliations. They were joined by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their first engagement as a married couple.

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I'm not entirely convinced that Meghan's dress in photos lives up to its promise on the hanger, but I see where she's going and she's headed in a more chic direction than we usually see at a garden party. That's promising. (The dress is from Goat.)

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Anyway, let's talk about that Philip Treacy hat and its perfectly matched updo. A brim! Huzzah. Sort of a beginner's entry into the serious world of hat shenanigans. Can you even really consider yourself a member of the British royal family before a hat has hula hooped its way around your head? I think not. She's officially in the fam now.

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Camilla's an experienced hat hula hooper, and she has the impressive collection of Philip Treacy designs to prove it. She's also wearing her Four Strand Pearl Choker with Large Diamond Clasp and her Everyday Pearl Pendant Earrings.

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Her Bruce Oldfield coat and dress looks like a rejected wedding option, right? "No, no, gotta leave the brights to the Queen and the white and light green to Doria. NEXT!" This minty coat is trying to trick us into believing there's a blazer involved too.

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We can't forget the birthday boy, can we? (Even though his birthday's not until November.) He likes his gray morning dress, and it works really well on him. Impeccable as ever.

Tiara Watch of the Day: The Dutch Diplomatic Corps Gala Dinner

It's about time we saw some Máxima tiara action around here.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, with Princess Beatrix, Princess Margriet, and Pieter van Vollenhoven, hosted their annual gala dinner for the Diplomatic Corps yesterday.

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I've never been wild about the combination of textures and colors and shine on this old Natan outfit, so that's all the more reason to focus on the gems: the Dutch Aquamarine Tiara plus earrings and an aquamarine pendant on a diamond rivière necklace. Starting small to build up to larger things later on, like the state visit to Luxembourg next month, I hope.

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Princess Margriet also had an interesting combination going on with her dress, business at the top and party at the bottom. More classic is her use of the Pearl Button Tiara - her wedding tiara! - with a pearl necklace and diamond and pearl earrings.

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Princess Beatrix stuck to her trademark tiara, Queen Emma's Diamond Tiara. Forever a great match for her, since the shape works just right with her trademark 'do.

They were entertaining in the evening and entertaining during the day, yesterday; the King and Queen received the President and First Lady of Mexico for an official visit and hosted a luncheon.

Presidencia de la República

Just in case the tiaras weren't enough, Máxima offers you something else: the return of your #1 favorite day dress of 2017! Still glorious, do you think?

Bonus Tiara Watch: The CHOGM Dinner, Plus Meghan's Latest

Let's dig into the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) festivities for the second time today, because a couple highly anticipated events occurred this evening.

The first, of course, is the tiara-filled dinner hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace!

Royal Family

The monarch got things started in a very sparkly way by piling on the diamonds and the rubies, including surprising us by wearing the Ruby and Diamond Floral Bandeau Necklace last seen on the Duchess of Cambridge and not seen on the Queen herself since the 1980s. Her tiara is the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara (her fave). You can, as always, see a complete rundown of her jewel selections right here at the Jewel Vault.

All available hands were on deck for the dinner, except Kate (for obvious reasons) and Meghan (who did attend a different reception with Harry earlier in the evening, keep scrolling for that). Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were present...

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...and we'll cut to the chase, there were no first tiara appearances for the sisters tonight. Although unmarried princesses have certainly worn tiaras in the past (Anne and Margaret most recently in the British royal family; plenty more outside of that), I'm not surprised that they didn't go digging through the vaults for this black tie occasion. My condolences to those of you nursing deep disappointment!

Plenty of other tiaras on display to soothe that disappointment, though. CHOGM provided a livestream which you can replay here; I have some shots below (just glimpses, mostly, so apologies for quality. We're lucky we got a livestream at all!).

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Typical selections for the Duchess of Cornwall and the Princess Royal. We just saw this whole look on Anne during last year's Spanish state visit, with the Festoon Tiara, and her diamond demi-parure. It's the Greville Tiara and the Pear Drop Diamond Demi-Parure for Camilla.

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The Wessex Aquamarine Necklace Tiara was looking splendid on the Countess of Wessex, who paired it with a colorful gemstone necklace that's part of a set of unknown origin that she's had for a few years. She appears to be wearing the dress she wore to the Swedish royal wedding in 2015.

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Princess Alexandra of Kent chipped in with the pearl setting of her Ogilvy Tiara, nicely accessorized with an intricate pearl and diamond choker.

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I was thrilled to see the Iveagh Tiara, such an interesting and intricate piece, make an appearance on the Duchess of Gloucester. She's also doing something interesting with a pair of jeweled clip brooches on her dress, too, so Birgitte's keeping up the good work.

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Wrapping things up on the tiara front, Princess Michael of Kent brought the Kent City of London Fringe Tiara out to play, another piece we haven't seen in a while.

While we're on the CHOGM evening topic, just before the big Buckingham Palace dinner, Harry and Meghan attended a Women's Empowerment reception. Meghan wore a power dress, basically:

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That's a great LBD. It's by Black Halo. Not too dressy, not too casual, all purpose as a great LBD should be. And that's as formal as she got today; Harry made a quick change for the Queen's dinner and Meghan will wait for the many such dinners she has in her future.

Phew! These kids are going all out for CHOGM. Gotta soak it up while we can.

Royal Outfits of the Day: Easter in Windsor

Easter Sunday and the Windsors flock to Windsor for service at St. George's Chapel. Get your Easter bonnets on:

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Of course the Queen (and her brooch) have already been covered in full at the Vault. Joining her on the pearl brigade was the Duchess of Cambridge, with a repeated brooch. Now that we've seen in her a few more brooches, I can't help but wish this faux-looking one would go away. The repeated brown Catherine Walker coat can stay, though! Elegant as it was the first time.

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There's a lot to love from the rest of this bunch. The Princess Royal's crowd represented very well, from Anne's jolly feather explosion to Autumn Phillips' sleek Suzannah coat and Zara Tindall's coordinated blues.

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Also a great show from the Wessex ladies here. I don't think anyone in this fam particularly needs another navy blue coat, but adding some sleeve interest à la Sophie and her Roland Mouret coat is a way to make it interesting. I assume she took that off before tucking into whatever form of very posh cheesy potatoes you get at an Easter lunch at Windsor Castle.

The York sisters might be my favorites of this whole crew. Princess Beatrice has adopted these boater hats worn at a jaunty angle; with her success at last year's Trooping the Colour and this Easter combo (with a Suzannah coat), I gotta say it really works for her.

Princess Eugenie did some splendid hat work here, too. An Easter service that can double as a wedding venue scouting trip must be more fun than it is most years, so why not throw a party at the bottom of your coat? (This party's by Oscar de la Renta.) Carrying the party all the way to the top of the look with a pink hat was just right.

A good show all around, right? Well done, Windsors.

Princely Event of the Day: Monaco's Rose Ball

The Rose Ball in Monaco - theme this year: Manhattan - didn't deliver the costume glory of 2017, but I think a step back into pleasing blacks and pinks was just what the couture doctors ordered.

Princess Caroline, Charlotte Casiraghi, Pierre Casiraghi, Beatrice Borromeo, and Princess Alexandra joined Karl Lagerfeld for the Bal de la Rose this weekend.

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It's Chanel as you would expect for Princess Caroline and Princess Alexandra, with a splash of yummy black velvet from Beatrice Borromeo and a literal pouf of fun from Charlotte Casiraghi.

Chanel Couture (left and center), Alberta Ferretti Limited Edition (right) 
h/t to Heaven

Caroline's Chanel looks like one that her old pal Karl had in mind for her from the start. Alexandra's seems like just the kind of thing an 18-year-old with access to haute couture should wear and possibly the kind of thing that only an 18-year-old with access to haute couture should wear. Beatrice's dress is modified from the runway to accommodate the confirmation that she is indeed expecting a second child, as has been reported.

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Swipe through for more pics from the evening.

Maybe also on rumor confirmation patrol tonight (because these Casiraghis don't really issue statements about this stuff), Charlotte showed up with beau Dimitri Rassam in tow and a ring parked on her finger, leading many to assume that this is her confirmation of their reported engagement. If you're going to be the center of inquiring attention, might as well do it in a giant feathery pouf!

Saint Laurent
h/t to Heaven

I don't really know what we'd call this - a wrap? a feather duster run amok? a coordinated ostrich attack? - so I'll just call it GLAM. It's playful! Oh, I'm definitely here for this.

Royal Outfits of the Day: A Windsor/Soon-to-be Windsor Grab Bag

A whole slew of Windsors and one soon-to-be Windsor will be out next week for the Commonwealth Day service - which we'll obviously be covering - so let's first get caught up with what a few of them have been up to this week. (There were even some Windsor diamonds out and about yesterday, check out the Jewel Vault for those.)

The Duchess of Cambridge visited a school in Oxford and opened the new Place2Be headquarters this week.

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Kensington Palace

These are both repeats (a cream JoJo Maman Bebe coat from 2015 and a blue Séraphine dress from the recent Norway trip) and both a wee bit snooze-worthy, but she was due for a few repeats after a run of new stuff, so really everything's all in order here.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry visited Birmingham yesterday.

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Noted admirer of blue coats with white trim and of the cropped pant + high heel look that I am, I am totally into this. There are pieces here that fall into the category of Stuff I Might Actually Wear, which is - to tell you the truth - rather a rare category around these parts and basically judged on a totally different scale by moi.

The Countess of Wessex has been on a visit to Malta as part of her role as Global Ambassador for 100 Women in Finance.

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It's been a good while since we checked in with Sophie, and she's bringing us the color we so need with this lovely Roksanda dress. The leather jacket pairing is a trendy nod; I'm not sure it's 100% successful but when one is hunting for some non-blue color from the Windsors, maybe beggars can't be choosers.

Royal Outfits of the Day: Letizia in Lace

The King and Queen of Spain attended the Innovation and Design awards yesterday.

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The latest update from the world of fussy lace comes to us by way of Letizia (in a Zara shirt), surprisingly enough. She's not the first one to reach for the voluminous sleeves, but she might be the only one that could make the voluminous sleeves and voluminous top work.

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It's really an awful lot of volume, though, isn't it? Yeah.

Queen Letizia attended the Princess Of Girona Foundation Prize in Arts and Literature last week.

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There's a touch of lace in this gem from last week, too, on the top underneath her sharp jacket. It was my only minor quibble on this an otherwise sleek combo of Carolina Herrera and Hugo Boss. Although I was entirely distracted from the lace - and all the other things - once I realized that she went full animal print on arrival.

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A cheetah print coat! Oh yeah.

Royal Trip of the Day: The Cambridges in Sweden, Day 2

Here's how I've decided this whole thing played out: "How dare people call my mustard floral gown upholstery," the Duchess of Cambridge fumed. "That was not upholstery. I'll show you upholstery," she exclaimed.

On the evening of the second full day of their official visit to Sweden, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel for a reception in Stockholm.

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Show us she sure did, in floral blue velvet from Erdem again. Definitely more upholstery-esque to this pair of eyes, but my definite favorite of the back-to-back Erdems.

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On arrival, the Duchess used her "diplomatic dressing" concept as a cover to add another black coat to her growing pile, opting for one from Swedish designer Ida Sjöstedt. Sjöstedt has been really popular with the Swedish princesses in the past few years, making all sorts of outfits from Princess Sofia's wedding gown to the dress Crown Princess Victoria wore the day before.

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For the evening event, Victoria also stuck to Swedish design and her designer from the evening before. A most unfortunate decision in this case, I'm afraid. It's just...oof.

The two couples also teamed up for engagements during the day.

Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace

Day two also repeated day one in that safer choices prevailed during the daytime and the coats were the best part of the deal for both ladies. In case you missed it the first 700 or so times I've said it, give me alllllll the houndstooth, including this snappy red version from Catherine Walker.

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Underneath those coats, Victoria's pantsuit begs you to debate the merits of pastel safari jackets, while Kate ordered up just about the most basic model you can get from Alexander McQueen. William was doing his part for diplomatic fashion too, by the way: his sweater is from Swedish brand Acne.

Also on day two, the Crown Princess couple hosted the Cambridges at their home, Haga Palace, and William and Kate had the biggest honor of the their trip (I'm sure): a private audience with Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar.

Raphael Stecksén/Kungahuset.se

Raphael Stecksén/Kungahuset.se

Next up for the traveling Cambridge circus: Norway!