Monday, January 19, was a busy day for lots of royal women. Not only did Kate Middleton step out for three hours, but Crown Princess Victoria stepped out for the first day of her official trip to Silicon Valley (with her husband Prince Daniel and daughter Princess Estelle), Sofia Hellqvist (with fiance Prince Carl Philip) stepped out for the Swedish Sports Gala, Queen Letizia attended a Cancer society meeting, and Queen Maxima attended a conference in London.
On their first official day in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel toured iDoc24, a digital health company offering an easy way to access a licensed dermatologist through their mobile app, and met founder, Dr. Alexander Börve (he’s the man in the middle of Victoria and Daniel in the second photo below).
Victoria and Daniel also toured Tesla Motors, the electric car company started by Elon Musk. Victoria and Daniel also previewed the latest Nordic technology inventions at a special event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. On January 18, Victoria and Daniel brought Princess Estelle to a visit with FIKA at The Swedish Church.
On Jan 18, Victoria wore a gorgeous blue dress with a black belt. On Jan 19, Victoria wore a white graphic-print shirt and a black leather skirt, then changed into her white LK Bennett “Detroit Fitted Dress” she’s worn a few times (Duchess Kate has the dress in snorkel blue).
By the way, I love that they color-coordinated. Victoria was in a solid blue dress, Estelle was in a blue floral dress, and Daniel wore a blue tie.
Everyone’s favorite royal-to-be, Sofia Hellqvist, stepped out with fiance Prince Carl Philip for the Swedish Sports Gala in Stockholm. Carl Philip presented an award. He has attended this gala for years, but this is the first year Sofia got to go with him. Sofia wore a black and white BCBGMAXAZRIA “Ninah” Asymmetric Colorblocked Gown. Sofia actually looks nice, which is odd since usually her gown game is terrible.
Queen Letizia attended a meeting of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) as Honorary President of the organization. Letizia, along with heads of the organization and professionals, shared details for activities in the coming year, including strategy on palliative care to patients and the program of activities for World Cancer Day (February 4). Leti attends regular meetings of the AECC.
For today’s meeting, she wore a red wool wrap coat, navy Hugo Boss “Taru” trousers, scarf, black leather boots, and carried her Hugo Boss “Norrmalm” bag. Under her coat, Leti wore her Hugo Boss “Jetala” navy blazer and a new navy and white striped shirt. Leti looks so good in red.
This is my first time covering Queen Maxima, so here it’s goes. Maxima attended the “Financial Inclusion: The Next Move Forward” conference at the America Square Conference Centre in London where she gave a speech talking about financial exclusion and the impact it has on people around the world.
You can read the full speech here, she said in part: “While financial exclusion is most prevalent in developing countries, it is also a challenge in advanced economies such as the UK and other European countries, including the Netherlands. According to the World Bank, the UK ranks ninth worldwide in terms of banking inclusion. But, despite efforts to address the issue – still nearly two million adults here do not have a bank account. And, as in the Netherlands, we know that many families here have inadequate savings to buffer financial shocks, driving them into debt.”
Photos: Nordic Innovation House Facebook/Bjorn Lyrvall Twitter/Alexander Borve Twitter/Maureen Naylor Twitter/Kungahuset/Expressen/BCBG Max Azria/Getty/Casa de S.M. el Rey/Getty
Love Vic, Dan and Estelle. They are such a cute family and Estelle is learning her job early on and seems to be very comfortable.
I actually liked Sofia’s dress, but I didn’t care for the hair and her earrings. This is the kind of dress I wish Kate would attempt to wear. Just step out of her comfort zone a bit.
Leti and Maxima – they are working Queen’s and know how to do their jobs.
I love that they brought Estelle. Not only do we get to see great pics of her, but they are really doing it right when it comes to easing the future monarch into her role.
I was pleasantly surprised with Sofia’s dress. Usually her gown style is bad – with horrible lace or tulle and sequins – but she looks really nice in that dress.
Love them, too. How adorable little Estelle is and how wonderfully she is being eased into her future role in the Royal Family. This family seems to love one another very much and have their heads together concerning their roles. There is a real connection between them at the people of Sweden. Lovely, for sure!
Victoria, Daniel, and Estelle are my favorite little royal family. Estelle looks darling, as always, and I’m glad to see that her parents continue to take her to (age-appropriate) engagements. It’s nice to see a couple that actually seems to like each other and their child. I’m looking at you, William and Kate.
If I had to pick one word to describe Maxima, it would be “substance.” She’s studied and worked meaningfully in her field, and we know that she is knowledgable about the subjects she discusses. Her speeches always make good, specific, intelligent points about critical issues in society. Like Victoria and Daniel, she and Willem-Alexander seem to have a solid, loving relationship with each other and with their kids. This is a woman worth admiring in the royal world.
I LOVE Maxima. Smart as a whip, and her style is so perfectly suited to her. Also, has such a lovely warm smile.
I love Maxima too. She takes on substantial issues and she uses her knowledge and experience from her education and work history. It is very good to see how she has carved out a role that includes her area of competence. It demonstrates that someone who marries in to a royal family doesn’t have to sacrifice everything but can tailor their role in a way that allow them to utilize their experiences and professionl competences.
I love Victoria, Daniel, and Estelle, too. They seem so at ease with each other and aren’t afraid of their roles or the press. It’s so lovely to see, especially after the BS that comes with the Cambridges.
Maxima got right down to it in her speech, no mucking about. Kate really could learn a lot from studying Max, Leti and Victoria.
Hope harry marries soon, kate is suffocating us with all her bullshit!
Yes, please!
As long as Harry picks a suitable wife and doesn’t bring in another girl who’s going to suffocate us with her BS.
It would be lovely to see Harry marry someone who is Maxima or Mary-esque- someone smart, warm, and grounded. He seems to definitively have a thing for blondes (Chelsy, Cressida), so here’s hoping he ends up with one who wants to work and be an integral part of public life. (And not anothe Waity type or wannabe dancer.)
Harry needs to find a blonde who is smart and works hard.
Cressida is a wannabe actress now.
For some reason I can’t explain but I don’t like Sofia’s looks. I don’t find her attractive looking at all. Looking at her pictures of her eyes make me shudder. Her eyes just don’t relate gentleness, warmth and caring.
I suppose most of these ladies speak several languages?
There’s one thing that the British ladies don’t have is the diverse language capabilities. Granted that English has become the word’s universal language, they should strive to learn another language. One poster here had mentioned that Kate should learn a language and I do agree with that.
I think she looks pretty from far away, but in close ups I can’t help but stare at her teeth. They’re too small or something. It’s weird.
I know they all speak their native language plus English. Max would speak at least three: Spanish (since she is from Argentina), Dutch, and English. But I don’t know for sure if Victoria or Leti speak any other language.
I believe that Maxima also speaks Portuguese as that is a dominant language in Argentina. Victoria speaks German too, as Silvia is of German descent. I want to also say that she speaks French. That being said these accomplished women are multilingual whereas Kate and William are not.
An article on a Swedish website (https://sweden.se/society/the-swedish-monarchy/) suggests that Victoria does indeed speak French, which seems appropriate in light of the Bernadottes’ background.
Maxima also speaks Italian and French.
I heard that she immersed herself in learning Dutch too. She gets major kudos for that.
Yes, she “went to the nuns” http://www.reginacoeli.com/about-us/the-nuns-of-vught.html
Classes aren’t taught by the nuns anymore, but that’s where she went to study.
Thanks everyone for informing me of how many other languages these ladies speak. It makes me even more impressed with them.
Very nice of Vic and Dan to take little Estelle with them, it’ll ease the process of becoming a public person later on, also nice to see that other European royals are keeping busy
Also I’d like to point out a little event which I think should be used as an example to all European royal(England im looking at you) this week Princess Madeleine was spotted at a restaurant with Chris and Princess Leonore by a fan, she (Madde) didn’t send some one to send the girl away or increased her security or filed a report or made a statement for people to leave her alone or whatever it is royals do when they’re spotted, instead she went out of the restaurant taking Leonore with her, she greeted the girl and her friend, complemented the girls clothes and earrings, took a photo with her and said good bye, this is how royals should handle public interest in themselves and their children…..well done Madeleine I say (btw this is winter in Stockholm it was cold and the tempreture was abt 4 degrees Celsius she could’ve easily ignored her but didn’t
http://instagram.com/p/x_5CzXjqFO/
http://instagram.com/p/x_6jckDqIF/
Nice story to share with all of us. Thanks!
What a lovely thing for Maddie to do. Thank you so much for sharing!
Adam it is true! Halia
Thanks KMR for the lineup! always good to see Victoria, Daniel and Estelle; they look relaxed in their appearances….I love Sofia’s dress! in fact, it looks even better from behind..but my absolute favorite is Queen Maxima’s gorgeous ensemble…I like everything about the colors, the coat, shoes and wonderful necklace – she looks wonderful and I want to wear it all! yes, that’s how much I like it….
I agree. And that necklace is fabulous.
I’m partial to the blue on Victoria, but Maxima looks fantastic.
My grandmother would have loved that 20 pound rock necklace, but Maxima is a Go Big or Go Home kind of girl. We just have to accept that about her.
Maxima is definitely that, TwoPence. I find I am really starting to pay attention to her too. Not necessarily her clothes, because a lot of what she wears isn’t particularly my style, but she seems intelligent ad projects such confidence. She owns whatever she does. And her husband always looks like a happy guy too. 🙂
Bluhare, her work with microfinance is inspiring. And for clothes, you should watch their wedding video on Youtube. Gorgeous gown and veil, crowd cheering when they said their vows.
http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.com/2012/10/readers-top-10-wedding-gowns-3-princess.html
These two aren’t perfect (holiday houses, her father’s past), but I think they try hard.
I love that Max loves the big jewelry.
Thanks for covering these Royal ladies! I’m amazed at how many people think Kate is awesome but don’t even know who some of these ladies are. These royals have real substance to them and are the kind of women that young girls can look up to.
To be fair to those who don’t know about these ladies, I didn’t know about these ladies until I started really covering Kate, and then I found out about other royals from other countries.
I agree that these ladies make much better role models than Kate.
I think the work that Victoria, Maxima, Leti and Mary do is excellent. They are confident, know their roles, give substantive speeches, are genuinely knowledgeable and engaged in their work and their personalities shine through their fashion. I can’t see Kate ever doing similar work that these 4 women do–ever. I can’t see her being a successful Queen consort on the same level as these women. Can you? If you took the women out of these pictures and replaced them with Kate, what do you see? A hot mess. Seems like she just shows up at engagements and shakes hands and tries to seem engaged and interested. It’s now considered a successful event if she doesn’t wear dark colored non-maternity clothes or clutch her crotch. Fact is she doesn’t know anything about the engagements she is participating in — and it shows when you compare her to the other female high level royals. Sorry for the Kate tangent but this article gives me a clear perspective on how successful other royal women come across compared to Kate. Personally, I think the jury is out on Sofia in terms of what kind of royal she will become.
I really can’t see Kate being a successful Queen Consort. She is such a mess right now. She would have to make a serious overhall. I can’t even picture Kate as Princess of Wales right now, because she is so bad at being the Duchess of Cambridge.
Sofia hasn’t had a chance to really show herself as a royal yet, we’ll have to wait and see about her.
I can’t see Kate ever equalling Letizia, Maxima, or Mary. She may be educated, but Waity doesn’t seem to have any interest past being Stepford Duchess to William.
The one person I can think of who could have gone on to be an incredible Queen would have been Diana. Though she didn’t have the same level of education as these current women, she had a really keen acumen she was willing to put into research and speaking lessons so that she could go on and give a substantive speech. I admired her work with land mines and AIDS, and can’t see Waity creating the same legacy when she’s Princess of Wales.
Sarah Whalen latest post on lazywaity’s” 2nd pregnancy. “
I am in heaven with this post. I am a huge fan of Maxima. She just oozes warmth and confidence. She is lively and so accomplished. I have seen many videos of her dancing and just being down to earth. She is also instrumental in supporting Masako in her depression. There’s a picture of Max, Mary, and Mette-Marit at Vic’s wedding that makes my heart melt. You can see that they are close and supportive. I cannot see Kate joining these women or even becoming a confidant.
Vic, Daniel and Estelle are perfection. Estelle will be the most well adjusted her out of this generation. They seem at ease with her as she is with them. I find it funny that Vic wore the same dress as Kate. She’s a perfect example of a woman wearing a dress and not the other way around. You see her and her personality in it.
Leti looks great in slacks. She has a lot of knowledge and can give a passionate and informative speech like no other. I remember that Felipe cut her off once and she told him not to. Kate doing that? No. Will would divorce her on the spot.
Sofia. I’m all for the underdog and I always will be, but she is just…I think that she is trying. Maybe a little hard. I don’t like or hate the dress. She needs more personality or sass to wear it. I am about 50-50 on her right now. She needs to go shopping with Vic for help. But then, I would be willing to look a hot mess if CP were my fiancé.
I read an article about Princess Charlene and she made a point stating Queen Maxima has been extremely kind and supportive. She says she can call her any time for help. Wish I could remember the exact quote and source, but this was the general sentiment.
So it looks like Queen Maxima reaches a helping hand to other royal ladies on top of being a wife, mother, fashion icon, Queen ect.
Willem-Alexander is openly proud that other consorts come to Maxima for advice. He’s mentioned it several times. She wasn’t the first in the new crop of brides (that was either Masako or Mathilde?), but Maxima has reached out to mentor all of the newcomers.
That’s really wonderful of her.
I wonder if she reached out to Kate?
I really like that about Maxima, it shows warmth and compassion. As someone who has struggled for years with severe depressions I cannot stress enough how incredibly important it is to have someone who cares and show support. Maxima and Willem-Alexander recently visited Japan and the pics of Maxima and Masako really said it all. They exuded warmth and real joy.
Thank you for this post, KMR. It’s good to see these royal women doing everything in their power to make their position relevant. That is going to be the key for royals going forward. When people decide they are no longer relevant in society and bring nothing to the table, it’s just going to be over for them. Bye-bye. Leti is working hard to bring her husband’s family back from the edge of the abyss. Victoria is working hard to help her country now and insure that her daughter is ready when it’s her turn. Maxima has a huge personality and intelligence to match and just isn’t afraid who knows it. Good for all of them. Oh, and Sophia’s dress was great. She looked better than ever. I hope she learns from the other women mentioned in this article to have style AND substance.
I agree with your whole post. I love Maxima, Mary, and Letizia. If these three become the definitive standard of what a royal consort should be, they set a wonderful bar. I especially love Maxima. Aside from wanting her whole ensemble, I love her personality- warm and whip-smart.
I also love Victoria. I love the example she sets with Daniel and Estelle (who gets cuter and cuter). That LK Bennett dress looks great on her, and she wears it better than Waity since she fills it out more.
I like the LK Bennett dress on Victoria way more than Kate.
“It’s good to see these royal women doing everything in their power to make their position relevant. That is going to be the key for royals going forward. ”
Yes. And this is something Will and Kate don’t understand. They think the gravy train will last forever and they can do whatever they want. They are wrong. The royals need to keep themselves relevant and connected to the people, or else the people will get rid of them.
Maxima is one together, bright, lovely lady She rocks. So does that necklace.
I absolutely LOVE Queen Maxima’s coat! Her entire outfit is lovely, but oh, that coat!