Royal Flashback of the Day: Peter and Autumn's Windsor Wedding

As the year of Windsor weddings continues, it's time for another look back. This couple just celebrated their tenth anniversary: Peter and Autumn Phillips.

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The Princess Royal's son married Canadian Autumn Kelly on May 17, 2008 at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Following the service, the couple departed via open carriage for their reception at Frogmore House.

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Autumn's wedding gown was a bespoke design from Sassi Holford made of Italian duchesse satin and Chantilly lace. The dress featured a three-tier sash above an A-line skirt with a cathedral train decorated with bows and lace inserts. A beaded lace bolero covered the bride's shoulders.

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Autumn wore the Festoon Tiara on loan from her new mother-in-law in her hair. The classic pearl and diamond earrings and matching necklace were the perfect basics for a new royal jewelry collection; fittingly, they were gifts from Peter.

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The bridesmaids wore strapless Vera Wang, and Princess Anne? Well, we just saw her festive brown outfit again earlier this month. No one-and-done special occasion outfits for her, thankyouverymuch.

Peter and Autumn's wedding kicked off the list of weddings of the Queen's grandchildren that's still growing. Of course, it was also the wedding where then-Kate Middleton flew solo as a guest (with Prince Harry's then-girlfriend) while Prince William was off at a different wedding, so some of the rest of this got a little overshadowed.

Psst: The blog will be back on Monday!

July 25, 2018

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Wedding: More Guest Fashion

How’s your royal wedding fever holding up? Still hanging in there? It’s like running a marathon, but on your couch, with snacks. We’ve already done the main stuff:

The bride, groom, and bridal party at the wedding ceremony

The royal guests at the wedding ceremony

The bride and groom at the evening reception

So let’s finish up the fashion business with a little look at what a few of the other guests - the ones that aren't members of the royal family - brought to the party.

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One of the first guests to catch my eye: Countess Spencer in Pamella Roland with a Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat. A purple outfit after my own heart! With a wee cape! She was terribly elegant back in 2011, too, I still remember her blush pink ensemble with a massive hat.

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Lady Kitty Spencer caught my eye too, in a green Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda dress with a hand-painted floral design and a Philip Treacy hat. Fantastic use of orange velvet accessories to give it an extra splash of interest.

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You give Oprah an invite to the royal wedding, she's not about to chicken out on the hat game. Her hat is Philip Treacy she's had since 2005, with new feathers for the occasion. I had quibbles on the dress until I checked Oprah's Instagram; Stella McCartney’s team made this for her overnight after she suddenly realized her planned beige outfit was going to photograph too white. All things considered? That’s a pretty good result. McCartney labels this a “blush, double tiered dress with lace trim made of sustainable viscose.”

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It’s hard to go wrong with a blush pink outfit for a royal wedding, isn’t it? Oprah would agree. This Versace dress on Serena Williams is just right, as is the fascinator that keeps clear of her long braids.

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Serena also posted her look for the evening reception, a Valentino gown. Not everyone could carry this print off, yet on Serena, it's pure fun.

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Amal Clooney opted for a bold color choice for the ceremony with this honey yellow Stella McCartney midi dress with a side tie detail in silk Cady, accompanied by a custom Stephen Jones hat. I loved this ray of sunshine during the broadcast, but in the photos, I suddenly want a little color variation. Maybe not full yellow on the hat?

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Meghan’s good friend Priyanka Chopra posted just after midnight that she was still waiting for her outfit to arrive, but no problems here: this is Vivienne Westwood with a to-die-for suit silhouette. A Philip Treacy hat tops it off.

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Also to-die-for: Priyanka’s evening look from Christian Dior. That is one sparkly dream of a dress, no? Let's get this on a princess or something.

The whole crew from Suits rolled up with their partners to support their former costar. I was watching all the guests arrive, trying to think which outfit I'd claim as my own if I were invited (as you do), and I think I found it: Jacinda Barrett's merlot grape Emilia Wickstead, be mine.

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Let’s end with the ever-appropriately dressed Middleton crew. The only surprise comes when you realize that Pippa’s floral dress from The Fold actually looks startlingly like an Arizona Tea can…and once you see it, there’s no turning back.

Who else caught your eye at the royal wedding?

May 19, 2018

Royal Jewels of the Day: The Fife Tiaras at Kensington Palace

We updated the status of the Fife Tiara back in January here, after news broke in 2017 that the tiara had been given to the U.K. government in lieu of inheritance tax and was scheduled to be displayed at Kensington Palace. That display - part of the reopened Victoria Revealed exhibition - opens today (March 30) and includes not just the big diamond Fife Tiara but two other Fife family tiaras. And, well:

BE STILL MY HEART. You can check out our entry on the Fife Tiara's history here.

Historic Royal Palaces. Click to enlarge.

Here's what the exhibition press release has to say about it:

"The majestic Fife tiara, given to Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Louise on her wedding day, is today considered one of the finest works produced by celebrated Parisian jeweller Oscar Massin, and represents the very zenith of tiara design. A gift from Louise’s husband the Duke of Fife, it comprises hundreds of diamonds ranging in weight from one to ten carats, and features a spectacular row of pear shaped ‘swing set’ diamonds, which would have dazzled onlookers when worn."

We also now have an opportunity to see those diamonds move:

But wait, there's more! As was also previously announced, the Fife estate has loaned Queen Victoria's Emerald and Diamond Tiara to the Victoria Revealed exhibit - plus its accompanying parure of a necklace, earrings, and brooch!

Historic Royal Palaces. Click to enlarge.

Historic Royal Palaces. Click to enlarge.

You can check out our last entry on the tiara here. And this is what the exhibition has to say:

"Comprising a magnificent diamond and emerald diadem, emerald necklace, earrings and brooch, this parure – or matching suite of jewels – showcases both the exquisite workmanship of nineteenth century goldsmiths, and Prince Albert’s own flair for design. Albert was fascinated by jewellery, and personally designed this dazzling headpiece for his wife. Created by the Queen’s Jeweller, Joseph Kitching, the tiara is set with cushion-shaped diamonds and step-cut emeralds, and surmounted by a graduated row of 19 inverted pear-shaped emeralds, the largest of which weighs an astonishing 15 carats. As a testament to Albert’s own creative talents, the pieces he designed for Victoria now constitute the only known examples of a tiara design by a consort for his Queen. Victoria, clearly delighted with the gift, wrote in her journal of her husband’s ‘wonderful taste’, and her delight at wearing this ‘lovely Diadem of diamonds and emeralds designed by my beloved Albert’.

Presented to Victoria in 1845, the tiara provided both the centrepiece and finishing touch to an existing emerald suite. It was created to complement a necklace formed of 9 oval emerald clusters, each set within a border of cushion-shaped diamonds, its accompanying pendant earrings and an impressive 20ct emerald and diamond brooch, all of which were gifts from Albert, and also go on display at Kensington Palace. Victoria would select these gems for Franz Xavier Winterhalter’s intimate 1846 painting of the royal family, for her son Prince Alfred’s christening (when she paired them with the lace from her wedding dress) and again for a striking Winterhalter portrait of 1859, which depicts the pieces in stunning detail."

A little glimpse of this tiara's sparkle, from The Jewellery Editor:

The way the light shines through those emeralds is absolutely magnificent.

And there's still more!

Historic Royal Palaces. Click to enlarge.

You can also see a classic diamond fringe from the Fife family, another piece that belonged to Princess Louise and was a gift from her parents on her marriage. Here's the press release description:

"Another of Louise’s jewels, a remarkable kokoshnik style tiara with graduated pavé-set rays of diamonds in white and yellow gold, takes inspiration from the cockscomb style headdresses of the Romanov court, and reflects the familial web created by Queen Victoria’s descendants throughout Europe; Louise could count the Emperor and Empress of Russia as cousins, while among her aunts were both the Dowager Empress and a Grand Duchess. A gift from her parents the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), its clever construction means it could be worn as a tiara or converted into a necklace, and it became one of Louise’s favourite pieces of jewellery."

Princess Louise wears the fringe tiara

Both the fringe and the emerald tiara are on long-term loan from the estate of the 3rd Duke of Fife. Victoria Revealed runs at Kensington Palace throughout 2018.

March 30, 2018