William Shakes It Off with 'M8' Taylor
The birthday boy has a Swiftie selfie before bopping the night away at her Eras Tour, with George and Charlotte
The royal family is full of Swifties! William celebrated turning 42 on Friday - by taking George and Charlotte to see Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium and officially earning a new honorific: Dad Of The Year!
On Saturday, both Kensington Palace and Taylor posted these adorable pics from their unforgettable night. The world’s Queen of Pop wrote: “Happy Bday M8! London shows are off to a splendid start”, while the other royals said: “Thank you Taylor Swift for a great evening!”
The royal Swifties joined 90,000 on the first night of her Eras Tour hitting London, dancing away in a private box to Taylor’s amazing three-and-half-hour set. Check out William’s top dad moves to Shake It Off below. The Tindalls were also bopping next to the jiggling prince. Zara blinged up in gold sequins (another fantastic outfit of the week), while Mike rocked Swiftie merch in a T-shirt, pink jacket and pink shorts.
Earlier on Friday morning, the military band played Shake It Off at Buckingham Palace's Changing of the Guard ceremony.
William and Taylor go way back - at a charity event at Kensington Palace in 2013, the prince and pop star took to the stage and sang Livin’ On A Prayer with Jon Bon Jovi, check out it here. Maybe for Taylor’s next tour she’ll have the Prince of Pop belting out a few ballads with her.
Meanwhile, here’s hoping William, George and Charlotte returned home late Friday night with a couple of Taylor-made friendship bracelets for Louis and Catherine.
Best royal pic ever
Proving that we really are very lucky to have them, Catherine snapped possibly the coolest and most fun pic of the royals ever taken. Celebrating William’s 42nd birthday, the Princess of Wales posted the pic on their social accounts with the caption: “Happy birthday Papa, we all love you so much! Cx” The pic was taken last month on Holkham beach in Norfolk, close to their country retreat, Anmer Hall.
Last Sunday, Catherine posted this sweet pic of William hugging Charlotte, George and Louis, to mark Father’s Day in the UK. It was the first time the children had personally signed a post, saying: “We love you, Papa. Happy Father’s Day 💕 G, C & L”
Why super-stylish Zara won Ascot
It’s Royal Ascot and we have a clear winner - Zara Tindall. The equestrian is on top fashion form at the moment, appearing in a series of fabulous fashions on the field.
On Thursday, she sported a beautiful baby blue Rebecca Vallance dress and jaunty boater hat and on Tuesday, raced away from the pack in a buttercup-yellow Laura Green shirt-dress and another boater, which proved a real photo finish. And on Wednesday, she mixed it up with a pretty pink floral dress by Anna Mason and sculptural hat. Kerry wrote about her My Fair Lady moment for The Sunday Telegraph this week. This is what she said:
We love Zara, and the 43-year-old mum-of-three, who is known to be genuine and down-to-earth, was snapped warmly hugging her cousin, Prince William and adjusting his jacket. The pair – who were born 13 months apart – have always been close and she and husband Mike are referred to as “the glue” which keeps the Windsors together, no matter how hard the rest of them try to come unstuck.
Zara’s Ascotastic appearance followed hot on the designer heels of her Eliza Doolittle moment, when she appeared in a white shirt dress, also by Laura Green, with another boater, at a Buckingham Palace garden party, in May.
She and Mike rocked up to support a solo-William and again, she made the headlines. No wonder she repeated the style for Ascot – it got uniform praise, so if I was her, I’d be tempted to wear a version of it for the rest of my life. Forget trends - if it flatters, that’s all that matters, is my motto.
So, what’s the style secret of the silver-medal-winning Olympian? Her gold-standard Aussie dresser, Annie Miall. Annie, who worked in HR and coaching, switched to personal styling almost a decade ago and now offers “discreet and non-judgemental” styling services in London, for businesswomen, entrepreneurs, TV personalities, sportswomen and actresses.
She has worked with Zara for years, dressing her in labels including Aussie brands Rebecca Vallance, Zimmermann and Scanlan Theodore, as well as UK designer Laura Green and fashion editors’ secret Me + Em. Clearly, their partnership – Annie has an Instagram page full of pictures of Zara – is enjoying a winning streak.
Diana’s ‘revenge dress’ reveal - 30 years on
While we’re admiring Zara rocking statement frocks, this week marks thirty years since Diana made a statement in a stunning gown, without having to say a word.
On June 29, 1994, the Princess attended a dinner gala at London’s Serpentine Gallery wearing a Christina Stambolian off-the-shoulder black dress, complete with a chiffon train flowing in the breeze. It was immediately called her “revenge dress”, because the very same evening Prince Charles was confessing on TV that he had committed adultery during their marriage.
In an ITV documentary, that aired a year and a half following the couple’s separation, Charles said he was faithful to Diana, “until it became irretrievably broken down,”confirming his relationship with Camilla.
Hours before the broadcast, and presumably with the ultimate, “I’ll show you” in mind, Diana, who was supposed to be wearing a Valentino design, made a last-minute switch. “Three years went by and she hadn’t worn it. I was very disappointed,” designer Christina said in Diana: A Life in Dresses. “Then I realised she had been waiting for the right occasion.”
In June 1997, Diana auctioned off the gown in New York, along with 78 others, raising millions for charities. It was bought by a Scottish couple for £39,098. They reportedly put the dress in a bank vault following Diana’s untimely death.
Sophie and Edward open The Peninsula London
One of our favourite royal couples opened one of our favourite London hotels this week – the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh officially launched The Peninsula London on Tuesday, at its VIP party.
The day before their 25th wedding anniversary, Edward and Sophie joined guests including Sophie Turner, Sabrina Elba, Billie Piper, Amber Le Bon, Lady Helen Taylor, Kelly Hoppen, King Pavlov of Greece and Marie-Chantal Miller, Lady Penny Mountbatten and Prince Michael of Kent, for a party, with music from the London Philharmonic Orchestra, nine bands, DJs and a courtyard filled with gourmet food trucks and vintage cars.
The Royal List was lucky enough to review The Peninsula – you can read it here, on our sister newsletter The British Travel List – and we both enjoyed an absolutely stand-out dinner at Brooklands, courtesy of masterchef Claude Bosi, who has already earned two Michelin stars for his magical restaurant.
Happy 75th Birthday, Mr Middleton
Also at Ascot this week, Michael and Carole Middleton, making their first public appearance since Catherine revealed she was having treatment for cancer.
After months by their daughter’s side, the pair were enjoying a day off with William and other royals. We’re sure the super dad and grandad will again be surrounded by family today (June 23), as he celebrates hitting the same age as King Charles.