Queens of style
Why royal women are fashion’s biggest influencers
London Fashion Week had two special guests this week, when Thursday’s Vogue World Party featured Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the latter making her first public appearance post the birth of baby Ernest, in May. The princesses rocked the red carpet in gowns by Richard Quinn and Fendi, respectively.
It’s been a big week for royal fashion news – as the Princess of Wales sported an Alexander McQueen jacket for her visit to HMP High Down on Tuesday, news emerged her favourite designer Sarah Burton is leaving the label.
The announcement shocked the fashion world as Burton has enjoyed a successful tenure at the label, not least because she designed Catherine’s wedding dress in 2011 and has become a favourite of the royal ever since. “I am so proud of everything I’ve done and of my incredible team at Alexander McQueen,” she said in the statement. “I am looking forward to the future and my next chapter and will always carry this treasured time with me.”
We wonder if the Princess of Wales will support her successor, or if she will go with Burton to her next venture. It has been suggested she may set up her own label and continue to design for Catherine.
Royal women have long been responsible for fashion trends. Court dressing in the past was the red carpet of its day – the excessive Georgian court, for example, was as big a showbiz event as the Met Gala today. For anyone interested, do check out the exhibition Crown to Couture at Kensington Palace and Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians at The Queen’s Gallery, before both close soon.
And royal fashion influence hasn’t really abated, for while they have plenty of competition from movie stars and models, royal women have a special something which equals huge sales of whatever they choose to wear. We all love to see someone looking stylish, but even better if we think we can emulate it ourselves. The secret is, Camilla, Catherine, Meghan and co. look well put-together and classy, even when they’re off-duty. No cut-out dresses, bra tops and bum-bearing outfits for them, they always look chic and that’s what their appeal is.
Proof of the ongoing power of royal style was the incredible record-breaking auction of Princess Diana’s dresses this week at Julien’s Auctions, in Beverly Hills, where three frocks sold for more than $500,000 each.
Harry and Meghan: The real winners of the Invictus Games
This week Harry and Meghan hosted the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf and despite lots of media speculation about whether they’ve taken attention away from Prince William’s Earthshot Prize summit in New York tomorrow (we think not) and Meghan’s many outfit changes (does it matter?), in our opinion, they’re the real winners of the Games. These are The Royal List’s top takeaways from the couple’s time in Germany…
1) Meghan’s designer wardrobe and low-maintenance beauty combo is a hit with us. She looks great in her skinny jeans and tees.
2) Sweet Caroline is the new royal anthem – just like Kate, Wills and the kids sang along at Platinum Jubilee concert, Harry and Meghan bellowed it out in the Merkur Spiel-Arena.
3) They’re partners in sync: they love a PDA – something that’s definitely not in the royal rulebook.
4) Meghan said, “We can’t wait to one day be able to bring our kids also so they can experience just how amazing this is.” We’d love for Archie and Lilibet to see what great work their daddy has achieved and continues to do so for thousands of injured military personnel. Surely, Harry’s finest legacy.
Charles and Camilla say bonjour
The King and Queen begin their State Visit to France this week, after it was postponed due to riots. They will visit Paris and Bordeaux from Wednesday to Friday, meeting President Macron and attending a State Banquet at the Palace of Versailles.
The Queen, with Mrs Macron, will launch a new Franco-British literary prize at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Charles and Camilla will also meet emergency workers and communities affected by the 2022 Bordeaux wildfires and tour an organic vineyard.
It is the King’s 35th official visit to France, and the Queen’s ninth. The late Queen had a long and happy relationship with France. On her death, President Macron said, “We are grateful for her deep affection for France. Elizabeth II mastered our language, loved our culture and touched our hearts.”
Diana’s price-busting black sheep jumper
It’s one of the most iconic sweaters in the world and Princess Diana’s black sheep jumper, immortalised on The Crown, has now broken records. This week the knitwear, by Warm and Wonderful, plus a thank-you note from Diana, went up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York and fetched an incredible $1.14 million (£920,000).
She wore it in 1981, before her marriage to Prince Charles and on noticing she had made a hole in the sleeve, asked the brand if they could repair it. They replaced it instead and thought no more about it. However, when designers Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir unearthed the original in an attic, they were delighted. “It’s time for somebody else to have the responsibility of looking after it,” Sally said.
Pull up a Coronation pew
It’s the nearest most of us will get to a throne. If you fancy a piece of Coronation history, you can snap up one of the Coronation chairs used at the ceremony last May.
Christie’s is auctioning 12 chairs, to raise money for charity. The King and Queen have chosen four charities, Emmaus UK, SafeLives, The Prince’s Trust and The Prince’s Foundation.
While you won’t know which royal or dignitary sat on the chairs, you are buying a piece of history. Created by cabinetmaker N.E.J. Stevenson, with The Snowdon School of Furniture, 100 chairs were made using sustainably-sourced British oak and upholstered by the Royal Household Upholstery team.
Online bidding runs from October 13 and more chairs will be auctioned later. Visit christies.com