22 April 2016

Royal Flashback of the Day: April 22

Birthday week - month! - continues with the second part of our flashback to the glorious royal-filled white tie banquet celebrating the King of Sweden's 60th birthday in 2006. We tackled the monarch generation; now we tackle the heir generation. The then-heir generation, actually, because a lot has changed in ten years.

The heir couples of the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and the Crown Princess of Denmark with Prince Carl Philip, Princess Madeleine, and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
Photo: The Royal Court
For the Swedish family, this was a perfect time capsule of this era in their royal style (right down to Queen Silvia's green shoulder scrunchie). 
Especially Victoria, who loved those dresses with this type of fitted top, spaghetti or skinny strap, and a train. The styles have changed, but the tiaras haven't: Princess Madeleine's favorite is still the Modern Fringe Tiara, and Crown Princess Victoria's signature is still the Baden Fringe Tiara.

Earlier this year, we flashed back to King Harald's birthday celebrations in 2007, where Princess Mathilde took over a similar group shot with her confetti skirt. One year earlier, it was her twin Máxima doing just the same, arising from a pouf of red tulle by Benito Fernandez to showcase the Mellerio Ruby Tiara.
Crown Princess Mary, attending without her Fred, borrowed Máxima's date. She also should have borrowed a bit of her pizzazz, because this dress is the blerghiest of blerghs, a non-color that doesn't do her own coloring any favors. Her Wedding Tiara is practically invisible, but her aquamarine jewels remain a highlight.

Outside of the group photo, I do adore Princess Marie-Chantal and her diamond fringe tiara, which is one of the best fringes around in the classic style. I also have a soft spot for her style overall...
...although I do think there should be limits on the amount of bodice clutter allowed when a sash is in play.

There are more guests to be spotted in the brief video below, including Princess Lilian, the King's sisters, and representatives from Jordan.

And with that bit of royal spotting, we wrap up our King CG 60th flashbacks! We're ready to go for this year's events in a week. The Norwegian and Danish courts have confirmed that most of their members will attend (Harald, Sonja, Haakon, Mette-Marit, Märtha Louise, Ari, Margrethe, Frederik, Mary, Benedikte), Mathilde and Philippe will reportedly attend again, a Spanish rep, the Romanians, and maybe more. Attendance is still being confirmed.