46 thoughts on “Royal Round Up: Victoria, Estelle, Letizia, Camilla, Maxima, Mathilde, Mary”

1. Seeing Vic and Estelle is always a good thing. Major huzzahs to Vic for crouching in those heels and supporting Estelle on her knee. Estelle is a people person and her early training is just setting her up to be successful in her future position.

   Does Leti ever take time off? I’m not complaining, the lady does her job and does it well. I actually like her strappy sandals, but maybe they would be better with a different outfit.

   I did see the CNN piece with Charles and it’s nice to see that there are genuine feelings between them. And I don’t think he was throwing any shade on the former wife, I think he just wanted people to know how much he appreciates Camilla. I think this is his way of saying how much he loves her because he has never publicly proclaimed to love anyone. I think it’s just his upbringing in the role he’s in and this is his way. William, who seems to want to break all precedent, doesn’t say it either, but I think his reasons are far apart from his fathers, like he doesn’t really.

   Is it wrong for me to think that Camilla’s son looks goofy? He just…I just…with that hat perched on his head…goofy.

   Can we give Max props for pulling her hair back? I really like it. She gets some flack for her hair and I rather like this look on her.

   Queen Mathilde is like those old Timex commercials. She takes a licking and keeps on ticking. No cancelling and hiding until she can wear those heels again, she gets on with it.

   Mary – meh.

   1. Seeing Estelle just reminds me of how little we’ve seen of George. Victoria has given us a lot of Estelle, especially recently, between the firs engagement, Christmas pics/video, birthday pics, and now this engagement. Whereas we’ve only seen still photos of George three times (four if we count those grainy Mustique pics) since last April. The last video we have is from the April tour.

      I think Leti took the first two weeks of January off, but she’s worked every week since.

      I think Charles cares very deeply for Camilla; I don’t see the same from William to Kate.

      Lol no it’s not wrong that you think Tom looks goofy. He does look a bit goofy with that hat on.

   2. I agree with you Lisa, I don’t think Charles was trying to make comparisons between D&C, he just seems to be a happy husband.

      You are so right, Tom Parker-Bowles looks totally goofy in that hat.

2. Estelle looks far more at home with her royal role and her parents than Kate or William look with theirs. Victoria is hitting all of the right notes with her daughter, nurturing an apparently strong, loving, and warm relationship. And although Estelle has a nanny, the way she relates to her parents shows that there’s a cohesion there born from the nanny being a comforting sidelight rather than the center of her life. Go Victoria and Daniel!

   I really like that Maxima’s causes are ones that she is clearly knowledgable and passionate about. As I said last roundup, I appreciate her consistent engagement when she’s working and her personable interactions with those there. Well done, as always.

   Mathilde is impressing me with her determination not to let her injury sideline her. Good job, Mathilde! And she is very appropriately and nicely dressed to meet the Pope.

   1. Maxima is very expressive in all the photos, and even when listening to people talk she still looks engaged. rather than bored.

      Mathilde is impressing me as well with not letting her injury slow her down. I’m so used to Kate and how she would take 2 months off at least for any sort of injury. And she’d stretch it out as long as she could. Mathilde is just getting on with it. I like that.

3. Estelle is too sweat for words, and she was at the Podium when she was 1 yr old! Good for vic and Dan for being such wonderful parents, I wonder for how long george will be MIA, he so stressed and grumpy the few times we have seen him, not a happy kid!

4. What an amazing round up. These ladies are just amazing. I want to raid the closets of Vic, Max and Leti. They have a style that is unique to them all.

   I was also thinking that Leti works a lot. It is probably from her previous rile and experience.

   And Estelle. That little girl is walking sunshine. She is an adored child.

   1. Estelle has a pretty great wardrobe, too. I love Estelle’s purple coat. And she has a red coat that is cute, too.

   2. Leti has a really nice wardrobe. Victoria is best when it comes to gala gowns – and she has worn some odd, boxy piece for daytime lately.

      Maxima is really hit and miss when it comes to fashion. Sometimes she nails it and other times she is a sartorial nightmare.

      Personally, I like Mary’s wardrobe the best since it is very close to my personal style. Hers is the closet I really want to raid – or just abscond with the entire closet period.

      1. If I could choose, I’d take Victoria’s evening wardrobe and Leti’s day wardrobe.

5. Oh, I just love these Royal Roundups! Vic and Estelle are too cute together, very sweet to dress alike! Estelle seems to be an open, happy little girl who is secure in her parents love. And I like how Vic and Dan include her in engagements and make it a fun time with their daughter, not a chore to be done with as soon as possible.

   I had to chuckle when I saw Max’s necklace. She wears the most uncomfortable looking necklaces sometimes, pointy, sharp, poky things. I love that she is using her knowledge about finance to help young people understand it and maybe help future generations from becoming mired in debt.

   I was just wondering where Leti was, when she appeared this week. It seems to me that she is managing her engagements a week on and a week off, give or take a few days. With two young daughters this seems practical and a schedule that would work for other royal mothers. (hint, hint, wink, wink Kate). As always I thought she looked lovely and it was sweet to see her take her husband’s arm. Those two are not shy about showing how much affection they have for one another.

   I loved Mary’s dress, the color is so flattering for her complexion. But I think a skinny belt would have completed the outfit. Kudos to her for using a brooch in such a great way. I tend to think of brooches as something my grandmother would wear, slightly old lady-ish, but wearing them in unusual ways is a great way to bring back the look.

   Just watched Charles’ interview and I have to say he seems to mumble a great deal. And he does that whole chin down, looking up thing that Diana used to do, interesting. It sort of reminds me of a young child trying to be coy and cute. It used to just bug me when Diana did it and now Charles is doing it to, I wonder if W&K will be next. Other than that it was nice to hear how lovingly he spoke about his wife. But I was disappointed that she wasn’t in on the interview I was mostly interested in hearing what she had to say.

   1. Maxima also wears of lot glittering insects! She’s also a master when it comes to brooch deployment. So is QMII, who often wears some gorgeous pieces as stomachers at the front of her gowns, which is something that Mary has begun to copy. I love brooches but they can be a bit grandmotherly so it is also refreshing to see them worn in different ways. The QM sometimes wore hers on her hats.

      1. I love when the Swedes wear brooches in their hair.

         1. Me too! I adore jewellery used as hair ornaments. The SRF are masters at this and Mary seems to have picked up the trend after she had the ruby parure changed since now she has smaller pieces that has been used in her hair to great effect.

            Mary:
            https://www.pinterest.com/pin/342273640404061532/

            I love this one of Victoria with a diamond arrow in har hair!
            https://www.pinterest.com/pin/472807660854198194/

            Maxima with diamond stars:
            https://www.pinterest.com/pin/472807660853723687/

            Silvia – the undoubted master:
            https://www.pinterest.com/pin/472807660853542367/

            https://www.pinterest.com/pin/472807660851739600/

            Charlene at her wedding – so very beautiful:
            https://www.pinterest.com/pin/472807660851619887/

            1. Oh I love Charlene’s hair piece! I’ve never seen that one before.

            2. Since she opted out of a tiara on her wedding day, I’m happy that she chose to wear this beautiful piece in her hair. Charlene really looked very beautiful on her wedding day.

               Victoria’s bejewelled arrow is sassy and fun – it suits her very well.

   2. I’ve actually grown to like brooches. I didn’t like them at first and though they were too “old”, but I kind of like them now.

      Leti has been pretty consistent in her work schedule, working at least two days a week for the last six weeks or so.

      Charles is always very mumble-y in interviews. Every time I hear him speech he is mumbling.

      I would love for Camilla to give an interview, and the reporters have asked many times before, but she has always refused to give an interview. It would be great if she did. Charles should take note: the best PR for Camilla would be hearing her talk passionately about her causes.

      1. I firmly believe that the reason Camilla refuses to give interviews is that they would not be interested in her causes but in her husband’s ex-wife and all that mess. I can not even begin to think about how uncomfortable that would be for her. I like Camilla, I think she is a benefit to the BRF.

         1. Spot on. Diana and Charles were doomed from the get go. I blame Charles more, because he was older and more mature and should not have dragged Diana into the situation. But in the end, there were only adulterers in that threesome. They all made bad choices. Diana paid the ultimate price for hers. Since there is nothing to be done about that now, I applaud Charles and Camilla for pulling a solid marriage together.

            1. I guess it’s a positive for C&C that they managed to pull “a solid marriage together”, after the long drawn out painful messy public situation they put their loved ones through.
               Charles obviously thought she was worth it. I think to most people, it was a ridiculous soap opera acted out in the most mortifying way for everyone involved. He’s lucky his sons forgave him, and accepted her. Not to mention the embarrassment he put his mother through.
               Ever heard the saying “I want what I want when I want it”. Applicable.

            2. Ray that line “I want what I want when I want it” screams William to me. So he’s learned this behavior from his father. The big difference between the two is that PC has accepted his fate and William just refuses to. And as a result he may find himself truly on the outside of things at some point and he can sit at home and let Carole throw his cheese toast at him because she’ll be so pissed that she’s not running BP.

         2. Very true, Cloudycat. I hadn’t thought of that. I’d love to hear about her causes, but the media would want a gossip quote for the headline.

6. Estelle is just soo cute! The matching purple coats are a sweet little detail. She seems very comfortable on official engagements and that is great to see.

   The exhibits in Spain sounds very interesting. I wish I could go and see them. Goya is really one of the great masters of European art. I’m not very familiar with his early work since his late work is the most fameous – and the darkest in subject matter.

   I love that Maxima really ueses her financial expertise in her royal role. However, I don’t like her coat – too bocy for my taste.

   I loved that Mary was mentioned in one of these round-ups. She does a lot of work both with children, women’s health and issues such as domestic violence. I recently watched an interview in Danish tv about her work with the Mary Foundation and there was quite a lot of interesting info. How she and her staff found a lot of financial support for the foundation outside of the seed money she brought in. they also have partnerships with some of the really big industries in Denmark such as LEGO for particular projects.

   They also went into some of the particulars of her projects – like her foundations funds anti-bullying initiatives in schools and kindergartens, as well as give children at women’s shelters a backpack with different items – something that apparent is quite successful. She also works with the UN on women’s issues – and they showed a meeting she had in South Africa that dealt with domestic violence in a novel manner – it was about teaching and rehabilitation men who were/are abusers, which was quite interesting as an attempt to stop domestic violence at its roots.

   Mathilde is quite the soldier – I had a bit of a laugh seeing the priest awkwardly holding her crutches at the audience with the Pope. I was surprised to see that she has the “privilege blanc” (wearing white) at the Vatican since only very few royal ladies have that: traditionally, the Queen of Spain but also the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

   1. Art, would you explain “privilege blanc” please? Who has the privilege, why, how did Mathilde get the privilege? Thanks.

      1. The “privilege blanc” is the right to wear white in the presence of the Pope. It is an honour that is awarded to very few high-ranking Catholic ladies. I suspect that Mathilde has the privilge blanc because she’s a Catholic queen. Letizia also has the privilege blanc since she became queen – and she did indeed wear white when she visited the Pope not long ago. In comparison, when she visited the Pope as the Princess of Asturias, she wore black.

         As far as I can tell, only 3 royal ladies have the privilege blanc today: the Queen of Spain, the Queen of the Belgians and the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

         There more info on Wikepedia:
         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privil%C3%A8ge_du_blanc

         1. I think I remember seeing Charlene of Monaco in white when she meet the Pope.

            1. Yes, Charlene wore white when meeting the pope as well.

            2. I didn’t know that – I guess the “privilege blanc” also extends to Her Serene Highness of Monaco then.

7. Little Estelle is being groomed appropriately. Prince George, on the other hand, not so much.

   1. Yeah, if Estelle doesn’t turn out to be a heck of a great CP and queen, it will not be because he parents did not properly groom her for the role. Clearly they are doing everything possible to give her a great start.

      1. They are definitely giving her the best start they can.

8. Here’s to Victoria, Daniel and darling Estelle. What a beautiful family. So much love. How nice to see their close and happy relationship.
   Leti is a go-getter. Works, works, works. And, looks great whenever you see her.
   Love these roundups. Keep ’em coming, KMR!

9. I am not a huge fan of Camilla, but I respect the fact that her children have stayed out of the BRF and the public eye. Unlike Carole “Look at Me” Middleton!!! KMR great RRU!!! The SRF gets it!! This isn’t about Estelle growing up “normal” or like other kids her age, its about getting her comfortable and ready to live the life that she was born into. PW/Kate are setting George up to fail, he’s not a Middleton!!

   1. Very true re George. Will and Kate are inflicting their own hatred for the RF and royal duties onto their son by keeping him hidden. He will grow up with the same, or more of, a hatred for the responsibility of his role. The future does not look bright with the Cambridges.

10. Princess Mary of Denmark is very impressive. Always beautifully put together the complete package. But what is most noticeable is her work ethic and enthusiasm always, so engaging and natural, her pleasantness and lovely nature reflects in everything that she does. A lot could be learnt from her.

    1. I think that Mary, Mathilde, Maxima and Letizia in many ways are the forerunners for the redefinition of modern royalty. They don’t just make nice visits to select charities and wave, they also work very with larger social issues in a very focused manner – with foundations or with the UN (Maxima and Mary). It’s the Jolie approach to royalty – use the glamour of a royal title to draw attention to some serious issues. I like that these women have branched out from the more safe options (that they still do), and addresse issues on a larger humanitarian scale – these issues are political but they can be reframed successfully as humanitarian one. In fact, they are both IMO.

       1. Agreed wholeheartedly, so very well said

       2. Well said ArtHistorian. They prove that a royal can take on a cause that may seem controversial to some, and tackle it head on. The BRF and especially Kate seem to shy away from anything that would cause controversy.

          1. Well, it requires creative thinking and the BRF has never been known for their smarts.

             1. lol true

11. Victoria and Daniel, in addition to being loving parents, have hit the right tone with little Estelle. They make events fun for her. What do they say to Estelle? Whatever it is, they seem to prepare her for the day.

    1. They really do. She is so well behaved at the events she attends.

12. A bit of news:

    Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander arrived for their State Visit in Denmark 2 hours ago. There’s going to be a televised State Banquet tonight and I’m really looking forward to the tiara display, and Maxima in general because she exudes such warmth and charisma.

    The Dutch royal couple is apparently very popular with the DRF and the entire family turned up at the airport to greet them, which is unusual. QMII is Willem-Alexander’s god mother. There are a lot of smiles and hugs all around, a lot of happiness. I’ll also add that both Mary and Marie do an elegant deep curtsey – in a slightly different style than Mette-Marit but elegant nonetheless.

    All the ladies looked smashing. Daisy in bluish-purple with a black fur coat. Both Mary and Maxima sporting smart pillbox hats and Marie in a dashing black fedora. Princess Benedikte is as always very dashing in a large hat and a fur-rimmed cape. She’s not much on the radar internationally but she’s often very dashing and somewhat daring in her fashion choices. She also acts as regent in the rare cases where the Queen and her sons are out of the country. I recently had the great pleasure of meeting Princess Benedikte and she is a very gracious lady.

    There’s a video here (it is in Danish but the warmth comes through nonetheless):
    http://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelige/holland/video-hollands-kongepar-landet-i-kastrup

    1. Thanks Art Historian!
       I would have missed this without your link. You provide us with your professional knowledge and extra fun bits like this video.

       It is interesting to see all the broad smiles, warm hugs and kisses come first and then the formality of the deep curtsey.

       I noticed C.P. Mary received a sweet kiss from her husband. Both Mary and Marie could be seen walking hand and hand with their spouses. This kind of touching ends up being big news if displayed by Will and Kate.

       1. There was a major tiara fest tonight at the banquet – and some very lovely dresses. Max really brought out the big guns with the Mellerio Sapphire Tiara, a gorgeous sapphire brooch of the most splendid deep blue colour – and the blue Jan Taminau dress she wore at her husband’s inauguration.

          The speeches very really lovely too, with both monarchs adding some personal touches since Margrethe is Willem-Alexander’s godmother and he has know her his entire life.

          The Order of Splendour is covering both events extensively today:
          http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.dk/2015/03/state-visit-and-tiara-watch-of-day.html

    2. I don’t normally comment on clothing choices, but I’m really impressed by Maxima’s evening ensemble, just as I was when I saw it with a cape at the inauguration. She looks majestic, and that shade of blue is stunning.

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