Royal Parliament Opening of (Last) Week: October 7

Royal Parliament Opening of (Last) Week: October 7

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'Tis the season for royal parliament business, and Norway took their turn last week. The King opened parliament with the Queen and the Crown Prince in attendance. This is the standard group for this event, by the way; this is one that Mette-Marit does not attend.

Queen Sonja often favors colors that go with the surroundings, and this year's red peplum jacket, black skirt, and black hat with cut outs on the brim were no exception. She did wave her Norwegian fashion flag in an outfit from Peter Dundas, who is the current designer for Emilio Pucci, and jewelry from Gine Sommerfelt (per Kjell Arne Totland). I'm not particularly fond of that close-fitting hat style, but Sonja sure seems to like it.

As for the gentlemen, they both wore the collar of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav together with the blue riband of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit. 

Norway falls somewhere in the middle on the spectrum of fanciness in these royal parliament openings: not as sparkly as Britain's crowned affair and without the carriages and court dress of the Dutch Prinsjesdag, but still with a throne and uniforms. (The Danish version happens today, and we'll hopefully be covering that on its own later.) I think it's a happy medium. I don't always cover the Norwegian event here, but sometimes a little bit of pomp just hits the spot.

If you'd like to see this event on video, click here.

Photos: Sverre Chr. Jarild/Stortinget and Terje Heiestad/Stortinget, Bilder fra Stortinget via Flickr/Creative Commons

The Spanish Proclamation: The Main Event

The Spanish Proclamation: The Main Event

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Video: A short look above,

or click here for a full replay (I'm not sure if it will be up permanently)

It was a great day for a Proclamation in Spain – the sun was shining, the crowds were cheering, and King Felipe VI is officially on the throne. While I attempt to break my habit of writing “Princess Letizia”, let’s recap the sartorial side of the royal family’s big day.

Felipe has a commanding presence as king, don’t you think? Being dressed to the nines in his army gala uniform with his newly awarded red Captain General sash doesn’t hurt, obviously. He gave a strong speech that received a worthy (and lengthy) standing ovation, and that was just part of the warm welcome the royal family received today.

I felt like yesterday was about Juan Carlos and today was about Felipe, and I think Queen Letizia’s outfit choices have reflected that focus well. Today she chose a sleek white coat and dress with a hint of sparkly embellishment at the collar, needless to say from her favorite designer Felipe Varela. It was more formal than her usual choices, but not a drastic attention-grabbing departure from the style for which she is known. The collar added a patriotic touch with hints of red and yellow in the decoration, but not on a level that would make you wonder if she’d gotten lost on the way home from the World Cup. She avoided big jewelry but did add the small bow decoration of the Order of Charles III as a nod to the formality of the occasion. All in all, she walked a fine line and she walked it well, and unless she drops an enormously fabulous tiara appearance on us in the months to come, this will be a strong contender for her best of the year.

The brand new Princess of Asturias (Leonor) seemed a bit bemused by the extra attention, as did her sister Infanta Sofia, but they were both on their very best behavior. They wore matching outfits in different colors (pink for Leonor, blue for Sofia) with a little bit of fun in the hair department in the form of braids for Leonor and a sparkly dragonfly headband for Sofia. An A+ appearance if there ever was one.

Queen Sofia received her own well-deserved standing ovation during the Proclamation, and she sweetly accepted the affection in a sleek yellow ensemble with pearl and ruby jewelry (the pendant on her necklace belonged to her mother, Queen Frederika). She was supported by Infanta Elena, who wore cream and was spotted dropping a graceful curtsey to her brother. Also present at the Congress, and you can pick them out above, were Juan Carlos’ sisters Infantas Pilar and Margarita, plus Sofia’s siblings Princess Irene and King Constantine (with wife Queen Anne-Marie).

This was the rare day where there were no royal outfit flops to be found. Everyone was appropriate and everyone looked fantastic, and that really allowed the true purpose of the day to shine through. Well played, Spain.

P.S.: We won't have our regular post on Friday. Ascot is still happening over at the Vault, if you haven't checked in there.

Photos: RTVE video

Royal Balcony Appearance of the Day: June 16

Royal Balcony Appearance of the Day: June 16

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Trooping the Colour, the Queen's official birthday parade, went on in London this weekend. Hats and the upper two-thirds of outfits, here we come:

The Queen and her Duke first, of course (more on her gems at the Vault), followed by her Royal Colonels on horseback. (Shown at right are the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge, and the Princess Royal. William's in the middle.) Everybody's all very smart and such, not my favorite of the Queen's outfits but there are enough uniforms around her to distract me.

Any time Camilla wears her pink topaz pearl choker, she wins, those are the rules. The Duchess of Cambridge wore a brooch that looked pretty faux to me, but she still stood out as her smart suit was quite a bit smarter than what's going on with Sophie and Eugenie, I'm afraid to say. Yeah, I'm on Blergh Patrol today.

Over on this side of the balcony, we've got a selection of Kents for you, looking very neat and tidy all around. Well, I'm not sure what's happening with Lady Helen's outfit (she's the one in raspberry), but I'm sure it's all very fashion-y. Anyway, it's always nice to see Lady Gabriella (center) hasn't lost her fondness for a proper hat.

And finally, a selection of Gloucesters and some trailing Kents. We could talk about all of them individually but we won't because CAPE ALERT! Princess Michael has arrived. Dramatic (so we know it's still her), but tasteful too. Well played.

P.S.: Garter Day is on tap for tomorrow!

Photos: BBC1 video