Prince Harry & Meghan's Wedding: The Open Post

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good whatever it is wherever you are! This is your open post for chatting during the wedding of Prince Harry (now the Duke of Sussex!) and Ms. Meghan Markle (very shortly the Duchess of Sussex!).

Please make sure you read the notes at the bottom of the post.

Livestream links (YouTube):

The Official Channel of the Royal Family (Goes live at 11 am)

SkyNews Live

The Royal Family Channel (not the official channel)

These are far from your only options to watch the wedding, including other streams and television stations! I'll be mixing some streaming with PBS in the U.S., which is broadcasting the BBC's coverage.

Titles: The Queen this morning made Harry the Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton, and Baron Kilkeel.

Wedding Timeline (from the Order of Service, which is available here, and this PA video):

1. 9:30 am (4:30 am Eastern): Guests begin to arrive.
2. 11:00 (6:00 am Eastern): The first glimpse of the bride is expected, as she leaves her hotel.
3. 11:25: Members of the royal family arrive.
4. 11:40: The groom and his best man arrive.
5. 11:42: The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall arrive.
6. 11:45: The mother of the bride, Ms. Doria Ragland, arrives.
7. 11:52: The Queen arrives.  
8. 11:59: The bride arrives.
9. 12:00 (7:00 am Eastern): The ceremony begins.
10. The ceremony lasts approximately 1 hour, after which the newlyweds will take a carriage ride around Windsor.
11. 7:00 pm: The bride and groom head to the evening reception at Frogmore House.

Please note the following:

1. Please take a moment to read (or re-read) our commenting policy.
2. Don't feed the trolls! Just flag objectionable comments for me and move on to better discussions.
3. Comments that go into moderation on this open post will not be approved. This is because moderation doesn't happen instantly, and comments come in so fast on open posts that the wait time means they get lost in the fray. Including an active link in your comment is the most likely cause of moderation. You can resubmit without the link, etc., so that you can be part of the discussion in real time.

Enjoy! Our wedding posts will be up later on.

May 19, 2018

Tiara Watch of the Day: Queen Mathilde in Portugal

It's a multi-tiara event week, buckle your seat belts. (Speaking of which, don't forget that you can find our quickest coverage of the British/Dutch state visit over at the Jewel Vault, before it is covered here.)

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde began a state visit to Portugal yesterday.

Embed from Getty Images

First up in this week's state visits are the Belgians in Portugal. Queen Mathilde arrived in a repeated Armani outfit with a delicate lace coat and satiny dress, topped by a Philip Treacy hat. This outfit was debuted last year during events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele.

With the President of the Portuguese Republic
Belgian Royal Palace

Mathilde originally wore this for the Last Post ceremony, an event that went into evening. I think maybe that suited it better - although it's certainly easy to see why she categorized it as an outfit special enough for a state visit. That lace is like gossamer. (Also, she should wear more Philip Treacy hats.)

Belgian Royal Palace

The Queen rolled that gossamer feel right into the state banquet, wearing a new gown in a soft shade of sparkle blergh. The sash situation here is tricky. Making both the Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator and a sash look neat and tidy is a feat that's eluded two queens in a row now.

presidencia.pt

Anyway, this state banquet managed to provide multiple tiaras for us. Firstly, the Queen wore her Laurel Wreath Tiara. It was a wedding gift and her primary tiara for years and years; it's now one she's used for other visits like this one, to a republic.

presidencia.pt

The Duke and Duchess of Braganza are also regulars at these banquets. (The Duke is a claimant to the defunct Portuguese throne.) The pink-clad Duchess still has a few tiara options at her disposal; this one is a lovely necklace piece.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Diana de Cadaval d'Orléans (@dianadecadaval) on Oct 22, 2018 at 3:30pm PDT

Also present (and kindly sharing on her Instagram) was Princess Diana d'Orléans, Duchess of Cadaval, with her husband Prince Charles-Philippe d'Orléans. The Portuguese noblewoman wore the Cadaval Tiara, a tiara of diamonds and pearls she wore on her wedding day.

Qualifies as an A+ tiara turnout, I'd say! That's a good start to the week.

October 23, 2018