Bling it on - Camilla and Kate rock historic jewels
We take a look at the tiaras on display this week – including one for the first time in nine decades
We love a bit of glitz and glamour and this week we got the lot, with the State Visit of South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee.
The tiaras were out for the State Dinner on Tuesday, including one we haven’t seen for decades. Here’s what everyone wore:
Queen Camilla: She sported the late Queen’s Burmese Ruby Tiara and the Crown Ruby Necklace from Queen Victoria’s heirloom collection, alongside her own ruby ear-rings. The tiara was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II from Garrard’s in 1973 and looked wonderful with Camilla’s red Fiona Clare gown.
The Princess of Wales: Catherine wore a Jenny Packham white and gold gown and the Strathmore Rose Tiara, which hasn’t been worn for almost a century. Given to the Queen Mother in 1923 to celebrate her marriage, she used to wear the diamond tiara on her forehead, in the style of the ’20s, but it remained in the vault for years.
Princess Anne: The Princess Royal sported her own Diamond Festoon tiara and necklace and a white gown.
The Duchess of Edinburgh: Sophie wore a Suzannah London gown with her Wessex Aquamarine Necklace Tiara, matching pendant and diamond earrings.
Special mention also goes to Catherine’s red Catherine Walker cape and dress she wore earlier on Tuesday, which once again showed she’s the queen of royal fashion.
Charles, our K-pop King
With one half of The Royal List (Maria) spending a lot of time at K-pop gigs with her youngest daughter, we couldn’t help but be very excited by Charles embracing Korean pop this week.
During his first State Dinner since the Coronation, Charles’s speech delighted his 171 guests while namedropping K-pop bands and laughing at his “lack of Gangnam style”.
“Sadly, when I was in Seoul all those years ago, I am not sure I developed much of what might be called the Gangnam Style,” he said, referring to the 2012 hit by Psy which saw virtually everyone doing the galloping dance craze. He also mentioned BTS – South Korea’s biggest boy band - and equally as massive, girl group BLACKPINK, whose four members were at the State Dinner.
The following day BLACKPINK picked up honorary MBEs in recognition of their role as advocates for Glasgow’s COP26 Summit. “I applaud Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rose for their role in bringing the message of environmental sustainability to a global audience,” the King said of their investiture.
Eugenie says she never overshares
We don’t often hear from Princess Eugenie and that’s intentional says the princess. Talking etiquette on the Table Manners podcast, with Jessie and Lennie Ware, Eugenie said the Royal Family is brought up not to overshare. “The world doesn’t need to know everything about us … the way we’ve been brought up is to not – we don’t overshare,” she said.
She did open up about what life is like in the spotlight though, admitting she has “a couple of issues around food”, with expectations placed on her around how she should look. “I guess everybody has that if you’re in the public eye. I guess within our family, it happens at that perfect age where you’re, you know, 13 years old and you’ve got that dorky bowl haircut and you’re a bit chubby and, you know, all the boys are bullying you and all that kind of stuff,” she said.
She added that’s why she enjoys living in Portugal. “This is why Portugal is the dream because I can go to the supermarket in my exercise gear and my hair piled on my head and not mind. Not care. No-one cares,” she said.
Fergie’s ‘saucy underwear’ advice
The Duchess of York was on UK TV this week urging people to “get that sexy underwear out”.
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning, as a guest co-host and agony aunt, Sarah told viewers she was answering questions about “love and relationships and having hard times”.
Speaking to two callers, she shared her tips on spicing things up in the bedroom. “Get a lovely saucy underwear department in your chest of drawers and you really make the hair, you know, blow dry the hair and take him out on a treat,” Sarah advised.
Later, during the Monday show, she talked about teaching Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie perfect “manners for Granny” before they first took tea at Windsor.
Order your royally-approved Christmas hamper
If you are looking for a Christmas hamper as a special gift, then you’ll love DukesHill’s Deck the Halls Hamper, £60. The late Queen awarded DukesHill a royal warrant and this luxury Christmas hamper gives you a taste of their delicious produce. It’s just a taster (get it…) of our annual Royal Christmas List, coming next week.