Royal Outfits of the Day: Letizia and National Day

While we were tending to royal wedding business, the Spanish royal family was out and about for National Day. Queen Letizia left the color to her daughters, including the Princess of Asturias, who was wearing the brooch of the Order of the Golden Fleece she received earlier this year.

House of HM the King

Letizia remains exclusive to Felipe Varela for this annual event, and this offers exactly what you expect from Varela in terms of excellent fit and construction. It doesn't come without its quibbles, though; I'm not loving the length and froof of the skirt mixed with the structure of the jacket, plus this is one of those colors of blergh that kind of actively sucks up all the color around it. Not a bright outfit, not a bright day. (On multiple fronts, since the King and Queen ended the day visiting flooded areas in Mallorca.)

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But my outfit quibbles were much reduced once Letizia headed inside the palace for the reception, ditching the coat and allowing the delicate Chantilly lace skirt to be its best ballerina self.

House of HM the King

Color has already made its return - Letizia's best color, in fact. She visited Rome for World Food Day, repeating the Carolina Herrera dress she wore in Asturias last month. Definitely worthy of a speedy rewear. That said, this might be the first time I'm actively distracted by her Steve Madden heels with transparent straps. Man, I hate that I sorta want to advocate for a plainer nude shoe.

Princess Eugenie & Jack’s Wedding: The Bride and Bridal Party

We’ve done a deep dive on the tiara surprise at Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank; click here for all of the posts on this wedding.

The Bride

© MOD Crown copyright 2018

Princess Eugenie revealed in a pre-wedding interview that she was using a British-based designer for her wedding gown. British-based rather than just British set off a guessing game that was heavy on Erdem and very light on the actual correct answer: Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, founders of the British-based label Peter Pilotto. (Pilotto is Austrian and Italian; De Vos is Belgian and Peruvian.)

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I associate Peter Pilotto with innovative use of prints in intriguing silhouettes, something brought to life in royal wedding gown format through complicated construction and a custom jacquard fabric. The fabric was designed by Pilotto and De Vos to include several meaningful motifs: thistles for Scotland because the couple is fond of Balmoral, shamrocks for Ireland as a nod to the Ferguson family, York roses, and ivy since the couple live in Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace. Those symbols were crafted into “a garland of rope like motifs, woven into a jacquard of silk, cotton and viscose blend.” The design was then translated into a jacquard weave in Italy.

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The silhouette was identified after the designers researched previous dresses worn by members of the royal family, with close involvement from Princess Eugenie. The dress is constructed in multiple layers, including a corset, a complex underskirt, a fitted bodice, and a full pleated skirt.

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The neckline folds around the shoulders and dips into a low back. Eugenie specifically requested a low back because she wanted the scar from her scoliosis surgery at age 12 to be on full display. "I think you can change the way beauty is, and you can show people your scars and I think it's really special to stand up for that," she said in an interview before the wedding. She’s been very open about her battle with scoliosis; she’s patron of the hospital where she had her surgery. It’s a powerful statement. Quite a beautiful one as well.

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She went without a veil; a veil would have covered up the scar – and probably would have turned into a logistical nightmare, given the wind was snatching hats left and right today. The veil-free choice was all the better to display the best part of the gown: the full-length train. The back view was simply stunning, perfect for standing at the altar and walking down an aisle as grand as St. George’s Chapel. I didn’t love the neckline, but whatever it took to get to that low back is worth it.

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The wedding was the first time we’ve seen Princess Eugenie in a tiara and she certainly made a splash: the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara was a mystery before the wedding and hadn’t been previously worn by a member of the royal family. We’ve covered it in depth here. She paired the tiara with diamond and emerald earrings which were a gift from her new husband. Her wedding shoes were satin peep-toe heels by Charlotte Olympia.

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The bouquet was created by Patrice Van Helden Oakes, sister of Rob Van Helden, the main floral designer for the wedding. It included Lily of the Valley, Stephanotis pips, hints of baby blue thistles, white spray roses and trailing ivy, in addition to the traditional sprigs of myrtle from Osbourne House. That tradition goes back to Queen Victoria.

The Bridesmaids, Page Boys, and Special Attendant
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Blue and green were the big colors in this wedding, something emphasized by the outfits of the bridesmaids and page boys. These were designed by Amaia Arrieta of Amaia Kids. The colorful sashes around their waists are patterned with the same Mark Bradford artwork included in the Order of Service. A playful detail in action that I assume is also of some meaning to the couple.

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Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor was a special attendant in the bridal party, a.k.a. the designated wrangler of all the young ones. Unfortunately it's a bit difficult to find a decent pic of her (at the time I'm writing this), but she hit a nice note between grown up guest and color-coordinated bridal party member with her Claudie Pierlot dress Emily London hat.

The Maid of Honor and Mother of the Bride

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Princess Beatrice was named Maid of Honor. Rather than the position of train-wrangler in a matching gown you might have expected, it seems to have been more of a special designation for someone close to the bride. Beatrice wore a royal blue outfit from Ralph and Russo and a hat by Sarah Cant, plus a diamond buggy brooch on her side. Can we get MORE RALPH AND RUSSO for her, uh, right now?! She looked very sharp indeed.

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Sarah, Duchess of York was also quite sharp, I thought, in her green outfit by Emma Louise Design and a statement hat from Jess Collett Hats. She also had a meaningful touch in her outfit: her vintage Manolo Blahnik bag was carried by her own mother, the late Susan Barrantes, at Sarah and Andrew’s wedding in 1986. Sweet touches all over, just how it should be.

Royal Outfits of the Day: The Spanish Royal Family in Asturias

Last week the Spanish royal family visited Asturias to mark the 13th centenary of the Kingdom of Asturias, the centenary of the Catholic Coronation of the Virgin of Covadonga, and the centenary of the creation of the National Park of Covadonga Mountain. Phew! That's a lot of centenaries all at once.

House of HM the King

It was an historic day for one more reason, too: this marked the first official trip to Asturias for the Princess of Asturias, a big step in Leonor's official life. She was supported by her parents, King Felipe and Queen Letizia, and her sister, Infanta Sofia. Leonor's blue outfit went with her dad's tie; Sofia's pink with red accents went with her mom's red dress. Family coordination: check.

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And it's all very appropriate and very good, precisely as we have come to expect from them! Letizia's red dress is custom Carolina Herrera. She can never go too wrong in her best color.

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Leonor's light blue dress was a great background for some of the official gifts she received on her big trip. Leonor and Sofia received necklaces with medallions of the Virgin of Covadonga, which they both put on (Leonor's wearing hers above). Both girls received chain necklaces from Asturias with Asturian gold and sapphires (see here). As Princess of Asturias, Leonor received a beautiful bejeweled handmade badge, which you can read about and see here. She wore that during the day as well.

House of HM the King

They rounded things out with some hiking for that aforementioned national park centenary. If this picture's not a tourism advertisement for that park, I don't know what is. What a view! And what a well played day for the whole family.

Royal Trip of the Day: Victoria in Estonia, Plus Portraits

The Swedish royal family squeezed in a little official trip and dumped a bunch of new photos on us recently. For this summer kindness, we shall give them a post all their own.

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Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel visited Estonia to mark the country's 100th anniversary of independence. Victoria showed up looking, well, not unlike the Estonian flag in a repeated Dolce & Gabbana dress first worn during the celebrations for King Carl Gustaf's 70th birthday. I miss the big hat she wore it with that time around, honestly.

Kungahuset.se

The Dolce & Gabbana wasn't the only prior special occasion dress that made the cut for the trip; Victoria also repeated the Elie Saab dress from Prince Alexander's christening. (Queen Máxima owns this one, too.) A speedy visit, but worthy of a trip through her special occasion wardrobe. (See a few more pics here.)

Now: portraits! First up, Princess Madeleine's family wasn't the only one to get some new summer pictures taken. [These photos: Anna-Lena Ahlström, Kungahuset.se]

Additionally, the crown princess family shared some personal photos taken around Sweden this summer. The first five were taken by Crown Princess Victoria, the last taken by Prince Daniel. Bask in the outdoorsy Swedish summer fun!

Royal Outfits of the Day: Letizia Eases Into Summer Casual

The Spanish royals have settled in for their annual summer residency in Palma de Mallorca. But before Queen Letizia got there, she took a baby step that (sartorial) direction...

Queen Letizia opened the International Music School Summer Courses by the Princess of Asturias Foundation in Oviedo, her hometown, last week.

House of HM the King

A denim shirt dress is exactly the way to inch yourself towards those more casual summer holidays. A couple of her royal colleagues have certainly agreed in the past couple weeks, at least!

The Spanish royal family held their annual photocall after arriving in Palma de Mallorca, this year at the Royal Palace of La Almudaina. 

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Maybe she's still easing into her summer casual mode, because this dress is a little more formal than what Letizia's worn for the past few years of these photo sessions. (A lot of capris and sleeveless tops, basically.) She also wouldn't have much trouble finding royal colleagues to share her affection for the eyelet look either. And it's another winner, I'm gonna say.

Both dresses by Hugo Boss

Royal Event of the Day: National Day in Belgium

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The Belgian royal family was front and center this weekend to celebrate Belgium's National Day, which also marked the fifth anniversary of King Philippe taking the throne. (We covered the new portraits they released for the occasion last week.) They marked the event with a fair bit of family coordination and a fair few prints.

Royal Palace

But we'll start with Queen Mathilde's single color entry to the weekend's sartorial lineup, a Natan dress with Fabienne Delvigne hat. It's a pretty solid addition to her file of National Day looks. Although I do think the hat seems precariously perched in many shots. A tilt too far.

Princess Eléonore, Prince Gabriel, Princess Elisabeth, and Prince Emmanuel
Royal Palace

Combined with their mother, Princesses Elisabeth and Eléonore very nearly form a royal rendition of the black, yellow, and red Belgian flag. Which makes me extra glad for the lovely floral embellishment on Elisabeth's dress, just to keep things from being too literal.

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Prince Lorenz, Princess Astrid, Prince Laurent, Princess Claire

Princess Claire's commitment to red and white matched her sister-in-law Mathilde's commitment to the color, though I think Claire's look might have benefited from a solid color hat.

Royal Palace

One quick outfit change later, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde headed to the park for more National Day fun. I said it wouldn't be shocking if this green dress turned up in another royal closet, and here it is! We first saw this L.K.Bennett print on Princess Sofia.

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Mathilde was also mad for print at two pre-National Day activities. Yes, that's a jumpsuit up there, and...

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...yes, that's unmistakably an Erdem up there. Ruffles and shine and flowers and a high neckline, not unlike the divisive Erdem evening dress worn by the Duchess of Cambridge in Sweden in January. I don't know if this one is better or if I've just accepted this trend as our new reality, but I'm not minding Mathilde's version. I'm sure you'll set me straight in the comments.

Tuesday Tidbits for July 17: Summer Family Fun

Summer always brings quality royal family time. For example:

--The Danish crown princely family disappeared for a while there (summer vacation, I assumes), but now they're at Gråsten Palace, the royal family's summer residence. Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary, and the kids popped out to the gates to greet riders participating in an equestrian event. [YouTube]

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--A family appearance for the Dutch royals too, as King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima, and the A-team did their annual summer photocall. I like this denim dress on Máx.

RVD/Albert Nieboer

--Over at the Jewel Vault: the long-awaited debut of one of QEII's newer brooches!

--And finally, the photos from Prince Louis' christening were released. You can check them out at Kensington Palace's Instagram page.

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jul 16, 2018 at 2:00am PDT

Coming up this week: A birthday in Sweden, and more...

Tidbits is your spot for royal topics we haven't covered separately on the blog, all week long. Please mind the comment policy, and enjoy! 

Royal Fashion Awards: Trooping the Colour 2018

It’s time for the Queen’s official birthday parade, Trooping the Colour, the biggest royal gathering of the year so far and a second opportunity in 2018 for the Windsors to showcase their chapeaux.

Savannah Phillips playfully silences Prince George on the balcony
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And maybe showcase a little of their own royal kiddo antics. Can’t let the Swedes have all the fun, you know.

Leaders of the Pack

The Queen and her Royal Colonels

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The Queen led the way on her official birthday in light blue with her usual brooch selection, the Brigade of Guards Badge. It’s a symbolic choice tied to the regiments that perform this ceremony; you can read more about the brooch as well as the Trooping the Colour event here.

Royal Colonels, L to R: the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal
Sgt Randall RLC/MOD Crown Copyright 2018

Her Maj was well accompanied despite the absence of the retired Duke of Edinburgh, thanks to the members of the royal family that serve as Colonels to the Household Division regiments riding behind her: the Prince of Wales (Welsh Guards), the Duke of Cambridge (Irish Guards), the Duke of York (Grenadier Guards), and the Princess Royal (Blues and Royals). It was the Duke of York’s first time participating on horseback; he took over as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards from his father. The Duke of Kent (Scots Guards) no longer rides and instead accompanied the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their carriage.

Most Coordinated

The Duchess of Cambridge

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Any time the Cambridges appear with the kids, you know the Duchess will be orchestrating some sort of color coordination within their group. She started off outside the Cambridge circle by inadvertently matching her Alexander McQueen dress and Juliette Botterill hat with both the Queen and her carriage mate, the Duchess of Cornwall, who was repeating an icy blue ensemble from Bruce Oldfield and a Philip Treacy hat. Absolutely one of the best from Camilla’s current outfit rotation there.

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Blue for Prince George and Princess Charlotte on the balcony completed the Cambridge's own very specific family coordination. Charlotte even had red accents (shoes and hair ribbon), which I suppose you could say ties in William’s uniform. (By the way, while I see the Cambridge family coordination as intentional, I'm not prone to believing the elaborate family-wide color memo schemes some people like to suggest. The Queen is not said to notice nor care about what anyone else wears. So for this sort of thing? Like, when isn't half this family in blue?)

Most Nearly Repeated

The Duchess of Sussex

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The Duchess of Sussex made her Trooping the Colour debut and her Buckingham Palace balcony debut in a pink dress from Carolina Herrera and a pink hat from Philip Treacy. Repeating her color palette from her first post-wedding appearance, this hat is so close to the same that you have to examine things closely to determine that it is in fact a different hat. I’m really not a fan of the whole “two things nearly the same but not” deal.

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It all certainly suits Meghan, though, and it’s cleverly selected for the event; this outfit improves when she’s seated in a carriage, which matters when most pictures will only show the top of the ensemble. So that’s well played. (Hat tip to Autumn Phillips while we're here, once again using a magenta hat as a surefire way to pep up any outfit.)

Most Interesting Carriage

The York Princesses, with the Countess of Wessex and Lady Louise

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There was a treasure trove of sartorial interest in Carriage #3, carrying Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, the Countess of Wessex, and Lady Louise Windsor. Sophie’s got the intriguing cutout category all to herself (thankfully), in this Emilia Wickstead repeat from last Ascot, while the York sisters own two of the most interesting hats on the balcony.

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The positioning of Beatrice’s hat is fascinating; it’s labeled a pillbox, but I want to throw a brim on it and stick her in a Pride and Prejudice remake, with that front view. It frames her really well with this hairdo. (Her dress is a royal twin moment; Crown Princess Victoria wore it in 2016.)

Princess Beatrice's Lola straw bow pillbox hat by Sally-Ann Provan; dress by The Fold

Princess Eugenie's Leaf Brim hat by Bee Smith

Eugenie might have my favorite hat of the day, for the combination of brim and interest and the way that lovely green dress coordinates.

And the rest…

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Oh yes, wasn't joking about this being the biggest royal gathering of the year. (Bigger, in terms of numbers of family members, than the recent royal wedding.) I may add some close ups later, but for now, I'm leaving the identifying to you all.

Who takes home your prizes for Trooping the Colour 2018?

Royal Outfits of the Day: National Day in Sweden

Programming Note: Tomorrow we will have an open post for Princess Adrienne's christening. The christening starts at 12 noon (6 am Eastern). Then stay tuned later in the day for the full fashion rundown. Today, in lieu of our usual Thursday business, we're getting in the Swedish mood...

Linda Broström/Kungahuset.se

Sweden's National Day was yesterday and the royal family sent everyone their greetings with a new pic of Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar, as has become their tradition.

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Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel started the day with a trip to the Hallstahammar Municipality for them and - appropriately enough - a trip down christening memory lane for us. Victoria repeated the By Malina dress she wore for Prince Oscar's christening in 2016.

Anna-Lena Ahlström, Kungahuset.se

Given this frock's sporty feel, the removal of the hat feels just right. It might be better the second time around.

The day was capped with some family photos and the National Day concert, which means it's time for...

Henrik Garlöv/Kungahuset.se

...more of Prince Oscar's classic scowl of skepticism! (I love that he always looks like he's just Not Sure About This Whole Thing. Keep questioning, kid.) No, really, it's time to bust out the rest of those national costumes.

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Yellow and blue for the whole family! Except for the men, as always. They don't play that.

Royal Birthday of the Weekend: Frederik Turns 50 (with Gala Dinner Info)

A very happy birthday to Crown Prince Frederik, who is celebrating his 50th today! There's a gala dinner tonight that's shaping up to be quite the gathering of European royals and possibly (hopefully) quite the gathering of tiaras - more on those attendees, timing, and livestreaming at the end of the post.

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But first, the day began with a festive birthday balcony appearance for Frederik, Queen Margrethe, Crown Princess Mary, and the kids. Mary repeated a Vilshenko dress; Margrethe made sure to wear her diamond daisy brooch, a gift from her mother, Queen Ingrid. She wears this brooch for a lot of special family occasions, and it has extra significance today since Frederik was very close to his grandmother.

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Just a few people turned up to wish him well. Frederik and Mary both looked very touched, it was sweet. (You can watch it here.)

The royal house also released two new portraits, one of the Crown Prince and one of the whole crown princely family:

Franne Voigt

Franne Voigt

Lovely.

Now, about this evening's festivities...

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A gala dinner will be held at Christiansborg Palace, and we're crossing our fingers it will be a tiara event. The following foreign royal guests are confirmed so far:

• Sweden: King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel
• Norway: Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit
• Belgium: King Philippe, Queen Mathilde
• Netherlands: King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima
• Luxembourg: Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
• Greece: Crown Prince Pavlos, Princess Marie-Chantal, and their two eldest children are in Copenhagen according to Instagram; probably more from the Greek side of the family as well
• And others: A full guest list will be released this evening.

Timeline:

• 19:00 (7 pm local / 1 pm Eastern): Guests will start arriving.
• Around 19:30: Frederik and Mary will take a carriage ride to get to Christiansborg.
• 20:00 (8 pm local / 2 pm Eastern): The banquet begins. 

Livestreams: I will include links available internationally below, and if you come across more, please share them in the comments. 

• Billed-Bladet on YouTube
• DR1 video and text updates

Open Post: Those watching live may feel free to use this post as an open post. We'll have a fashion post after the event as usual.