46 thoughts on “Royal Round Up: Crown Princess Victoria”

1. I love it when Victoria ties her hair in a ponytail. She looks young and fresh despite the fact that she’s about to give birth soon. Her smile is so genuine & friendly & even though she’s not as beautiful as Madeline she still radiates warmth & affection. I’m glad she’s found love & support from Daniel. Sweden is lucky to have them as the future Queen & Prince Consort, not to mention Estelle& her sibling.

   1. I agree she’s not as attractive as her sister but she has my total respect as a future queen. She looks unpretentious, good-natured and gracious. I can also see from the pictures that she is engaging and makes connection with the people she meets. She and Daniel make such a charming couple.

      If I would pick at something, it would definitely be her hairstyle. I actually googled her the other day and found so many pictures of her wearing her hair down or loose in more relaxed updos with more hight on top. She needs to change pulling her hair up so tightly. We know she likes updos but even a side bun with a more gentle knot would make a difference. She would look more feminine or even younger, as others mentioned.

      Anyway, I love Victoria in general, she’s doing a great job even at the last stages of her pregnancy. Being in the last month she may have already pre labor Braxton-Hicks but still does engagements. That says something for a royal.

      1. Victoria looks unpretentious when doing events with the people but she can also turn on the glamour that is so associated with royalty, which is great.

         1. I agree, KMR and I think she is very good at judging the appropriate time to dress each way. I thought her bun at the scholarship event looked very nice and added a little glamour.

         2. +1

            1. Yes, Yes, YES!

   2. I think both girls are lovely. Yes, Madeleine is a more traditional beauty but the warm and kindness in Victoria’s eyes and smile radiates in her and any “awkwardness” in her appearance is erased from my mind.. Also, you can tell how each girl’s husband (Chris and Daniel) is besotted with his wife. Heck, you can also see how crazy CP is about Sofia! Not only does their spouse love them, each couple clearly respects one another which is so important in any relationship (friendship, family, etc) but especially in a marriage. I think they’re all showing a great example to their children and the people of Sweden.

      Though CG is a near-constant grump, he and Silvia seem to have done a magnificent job at raising their children. (If I’m wrong on that last part, don’t hesitate to correct me. Thanks!)

      1. When I saw old pictures of Victoria, I thought she looked a lot like her mother. In my mind she got this warmth from the Brazilian side of the family. I agree with you about Daniel & Chris although Daniel is my favourite. All three couples seem so loving, though.

         1. Just love the Swedish Royals and Victoria continues to amaze me. There she is in the final phase of pregnancy, carrying on with amazing grace and tremendous interest in those she meets.

            She is beautiful, smart, loving and caring. There is nothing that she would not be up to doing, I believe. And, the love that her husband, Maddie’s and Sophia’s have for them is so touching to behold. I think Silvia is more responsible for helping her children become so well adjusted and loving individuals. The King does not show me any ways in which he may have been a kind, caring father.

            As for warmth. It comes from loving people no matter where they were born, or live. Some people have it and easily show it. Others, I think not. But, to say it comes from one parent because of where they are from? Sorry, that makes no sense to me.

            1. Oh no, Jenny, sorry, I didn’t mean to sound this way. I thought Silvia seems warm and caring and she happens to come from Brazil so what I meant is that these qualities seem to be coming more from her side of the family rather than the country! There was no intention to connect ethnicity with personality traits which in my opinion is totally non applicable. I wouldn’t go there even for a second. But then again, I may stand unfair to CG because I’m really no expert on him or his family. All I say about them is just my personal impression.

            2. +1 I love her.

            3. ELina, I did not mean to make you feel badly. I just thought the comment was a tad out of place, but understand what you were saying as I re-read your reply to me. I just think there are warm and wonderful people everywhere and not so warm and wonderful people everywhere, too.

               Silvia really has done an excellent job in her rearing of her children. I think Victoria and Madeleine are following suit.

         2. Great Elina, especially the “she got this warmth from the Brazilian side of the family”. Victoria visited Brazil when she was a teenager and people here loved the “brazilian princess”. She made a wonderful impression.

2. This is a video of the royal couples going to the Official Dinner the other night. I have to say, I like Victoria’s dress, now that I’ve seen it in motion (it matches the sparkly-ness of the Baden Fringe tiara!):

   http://www.svenskdam.se/2016/02/se-filmen-fran-kungamiddagen/

   Every time I see pics and video of Victoria doing her work, the other people seem so comfortable and at ease with her! That’s an indispensible thing to have for someone destined to be Queen.

   1. Thanks for the video LizB! So much sparkle! I agree Victoria’s dress looks so much better on film than in photos. And on my the sparkle on those tiaras – just amazing. And I loved seeing Princess Christina in one of the Button tiaras.

   2. Daniel seems very at ease, too. He looked like he was joking with the photographers. He’s a great support to CPV. Also, being nice to photographers * gasp * that would never happen in the BRF.

      1. I would say it’s a cardinal sin in the BRF to be nice to the photographers except that I’ve heard anecdotes about how both Sophie and Camilla are great sports in working with the photographers to make sure they get good photos.

         1. Does anybody know if the relationship with the photographers and the BRF has always been sour or only the last 35-40 years?

         2. Since their very existence as a ‘royal family’ is dependent on the people’s ‘good will’, you’d think they’d be on courteous terms with photographers. If it’s all too much of a chore, why not call it quits and live privately.

            The SRF from all appearances goes about its business with style and grace. I note that their events are of genuine public interest and of stature. You’ve mentioned that the Europeans do less events in total. Is this because they focus on events of national importance/ stature? Many of K+ W’s events are more fun events, like movie premieres, visits to tv sets, sailing etc, adding to totals but not in the same category as official/national events/etc.

            Kimothy asked a good question re. when the media battles started.

3. I wish Victoria wore ponytails more often. Yes, she wants to appear as an authoritative figure but but the bun makes her look old. I also love it how she radiates so much warmth and happiness–she and Maddie both, actually and it’s wonderful to see. She’s going to make a fantastic Queen especially with such a supporting husband in Daniel.

4. Okay, I’m taking back my indifference about Victoria’s dress. It’s much better seeing it moving and sparkling. The still photos lost something in translation.

   I think she is just great and is going to make a wonderful Queen!

   I agree with you KMR about the meetings photos. Not only did she give good and vital information, she actually looks like she’s working and engaged with the person she’s meeting. Sofia is still pretty new to all of this so I’m sure she’s taking notes.

   1. I also agree with documenting the private meetings. I think Letizia does that too. It serves to highlight the work that goes on outside of the immediate public sphere such as official visits, etc. It also points to a consistency around their work with their causes. I’d also like to point out that both the Spanish and the swedish RFs need to the improve their public goodwill, especially the Spanish since it is the RF that is most vulnerable to being deposed.

      I do think that the BRF needs public goodwill as well – Liz won’t live forever and I think that there’ll be a watershed in public opinion when she passes and Charles assumes the throne. I actually think that Charles is acutely aware of this, and has been working on improving his and Camilla’s public image for a long time.

      On the other hand, the Cambridges seem completely oblivious to this danger. Probably because they aren’t particularly bright people and because they have been sheltered in their little bubble of privilege. It is going to be a rude awakening for them when they become Prince and Princess of Wales. They are going to have to “work” much much more – and their public goodwill will have been seriously eroded if they continue on their current course. I don’t think that any other than dire necessity will change their behaviour when it comes to their public duties.

      The lack of documentation is the reason I don’t believe for a nanosecond that Kate does “secret” meeting with her patronages. The patronages need the publicity and, frankly, so does Kate to combat her lazy image.

      1. +1. Well said, Art Historian. The Cambridge’s attitude and ‘work’ are shown up even more acutely when compared to Victoria. Charles has an incredibly painful task ahead in persuading William and Kate to take their responsibilities seriously. I am not sure what the general perception is of these two in the UK, but if it’s anything like the comments on this blog, their reputations may be beyond repair.

      2. Well said as always, ArtHistorian. If you asked me a few years ago about Charles & Camilla, Iwould have reacted differently, but now after so many years of PR spinning and – I admit – hard work from Charles’ side but also from Camilla lately, I would agree they are the best choices for King and Queen consort when QE passes. The fortunate thing about Charles is that he had all the time to prepare/practice and also change public opinion when things got rough (especially after Diana’s death).

         On the other hand, what can we say about the Cambridges? In the absence of any substantial work, they only have PR to build their image on. I can’t even imagine the reality shock of them when they become Prince & Princess of Wales. They just try to avoid thinking about it, don’t they?

         1. I actually think that Charles is far more clever than people give him credit for and that William is far less clever/intelligent than people think. He is also spoiled and entitled, which is a most unfortunate when combined with a lack of intelligence.

            Charles most definitely knows that the BRF only exists on the goodwill of the people and the government. I think both he and Elizabeth were made painfully aware of this in the aftermath of Diana’s death. It seems, however, that he really took that experience to heart.

            I’m currently watching a documentary about Queen Victori’s children – and Wow! No wonder the BRF struggles with dysfunctional family relationships. She actually told her children that she resented their presence! Yikes!

            1. I really cannot say about their intelligence ArtHistorian, rather than the sense of serving the people and the country. So far QE is the champion of BRF on that. Is it danish tv that plays the documentary on Victoria? Fascinating era but unfortunately have to run some errands now. Tell us after what you thought about it. 🙂

            2. Yes. It gioves a fascinating insight into Queen Victoria and her relationship with her children, especially her daughters. It doesn’t draw a very flattering image of Queen Victoria – she most definitely deserve a place on the list of the most horrid parents as a self-obsessed woman with a pathological need to control her children with whom she had very little empathy. Her children were afraid of her when they were young – and her daughters had to fight for any kind of independance (usually through marriage). She actively tried to prevent her youngst daughter Beatrice getting married because she wanted her to take care of her in her old age. Yet Beatrice persisted, perhaps her greast act of independance – Victoria punished her by not speaking to her for six months, even though they saw each other every day.

               I did find many of her daughters to be very interesting, fx Princess Louise who trained to be a sculptor and who championed the Suffragette Movement, despite her mother’s furious objections. Victoria loathed the feminist movement.

            3. I don’t understand how someone who is Queen of a country can not approve and support the feminist movement. Like, you are Queen, do you think you do not deserve or are qualified to be Queen? Come on.

               Victoria sounds like a terrible mother and Queen.

            4. From what I’ve read about Queen Victoria she was dominated by her mother and John Conroy (her mother’s secretary with delusions of grandeur) and then she relied heavily on her husband Albert. I think she looked at becoming Queen as a way of getting out from under her mother’s thumb, but at the same time she really needed Albert. She wasn’t exactly brought up to be a strong woman. They (mother and Conroy) wanted her to bend to their will, especially after assuming the throne.

               I think that if she could have avoided pregnancies entirely she would have. She very much loved Albert and loved the physical part of their relationship so the pregnancies were a natural result that she dreaded.

               If I’m off base on this, please correct me. There are lots of people here with much more knowledge than I have. 🙂

            5. Lisa, that’s exactly it! She (and Albert) had miserable childhoods and, in order for her to escape her mother’s clutches, she married her first cousin!

               Also, yes, Queen Victoria desperately L-O-V-E-D him, especially in bed. She just hated the end results of their constant love-making. 😉

            6. I think that Victoria saw her status as queen as a mark of her exceptional status, not as something thathad anything to do with her gender. I think she was a strange product of a stifling childhood, where her mother sought to control her yet also elevated her because she was the heir (and an only child).

               The documentary really brought to light how she craved constant attention and affirmation. One of the reasons she resented the presence of her children was that they also had a share in Albert’s attention. After his death, she clung to her youngst daughter Beatrice in a pathological way – she was the daughter she didn’t want to marry. She was very cruel to that poor girl.

               Victoria seems to have had a special abhorrence of what happened to the body when pregnant and the effects child-birth has on it. She was furious when her daughter Alice decided to breast-feed her children (which was coming into fashion at the time, also among high society). She fumed that her daughter turned herself into a milking cow – she even named a cow in a royal dairy Princess Alice because of the issue of breat-feeding.

            7. And judging by her own letters she clearly had post partum depression after having her children and it lingered.

               A.N. Wilson’s biography on Victoria is great. It goes into her merits, and her flaws, and the political situations that changed during her reign.

            8. Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll check it out.

            9. Ellie I’ll add my thanks too for the recommendation! Definitely adding both books to my reading list.

            10. I found the above comments very interesting.
                Victoria was very interested in marrying her children into as many of the European Royal Houses as she could, leading to Haemophilia in the Russian Royal family of course.
                I believe there was a tradition in those times that the last daughter did not marry and stayed at home to look after her parents in their old age. I was under the impression that it was considered the normal thing to happen and wasn’t something that Victoria decided to do to Beatrice in particular.
                Someone has asked when the split happened between the BRF and the other royal families – could this have happened after WW1? Or was it due to the BRF not sending a warship (boat/whatever) to rescue the Russian Royal Family? I believe they were going to but then didn’t, sorry I don’t know the reason why, maybe ArtHistorian can help with the answer?

            11. Now, with the Romanovs, that’s a complicated explanation and I’ve heard the blame laid at the door of David Lloyd-George, the PM, or George V. I think they’re equally culpable but understand why they did what they did. If anyone wants to expound or correct me go ahead.

                The situation with the Romanovs was complex due to the political climate in Britain at the time where IIRC the PM, Lloyd-George, didn’t want to deal with the family. Lloyd-George made an offer in March, I believe, of 1917. George V was afraid that revolutionary tendencies could come to Britain. The offer was rescinded, and in 1917 they went to Tobolsk and we know the rest, don’t we. We also have to remember all of the children were ill with measles through the winter. Had that not happened, who knows.

                Victoria Milford-Haven, Alexandra’s sister, tried to get the girls out but Nicholas and Alexandra wouldn’t hear of it. Deluded as they were, though nobody imagined the Provisional Government would be toppled as it had.

                I had a very long love affair with those girls (one of my many historical obsessions!), and I am not a big fan of Alexandra as a mother or anything else, either, so that colors my opinion heavily.

      3. Yes, the Spanish court releases photos of Letizia’s meetings as well as information about what was discussed and who attended.

         Despite the reputation Charles has due to the Diana mess, I think Charles is a smart man and will make a good King. I think he learned a lot during the Diana mess and he has certainly played the long game and I think it will work out for him. He knows that public perception is important, even if he dislikes the press, and knows to play along.

         I agree with you that I don’t think the Cambridges are as smart. What Charles did so well was that he recognized that he needed an image makeover and hired the best people to do that for him. William thinks he’s always the smartest person and knows best and thinks he’s some PR savvy genius like his mother when he isn’t. So he doesn’t listen to the advice of the professionals.

         Re Kate’s “secret meetings”: I don’t believe they happen either. I think if they do happen, both Kate and her PR people are idiots, because if Kate is having meetings with her charities those need to be made public to counter her terrible lazy image. PR fluff articles about her “secret meetings” clearly aren’t doing the job her PR people want it to. The only thing that can change her current image is if she is shown working more. So if the secret meetings exist, then they need to be made public – at least release a photo, etc. They don’t need the full press pack there, just release a photo to prove the meeting happened.

         1. She could have her pet photographer take the pictures, Photoshop them and release the one she approves. No mobs of press, a photographer who kisses her butt and some much needed credit for attempting to work.

            1. Exactly. Problem solved!

         2. I don’t believe Kate’s secret meetings happen either, Kate likes having her photo taken way too much for it not to be documented somewhere. If they had happened then I’m sure that by now someone would have leaked on Social Media.

      4. +1

         1. +2

5. The Swedish people are so lucky that Victoria will be their future Queen!!

   The longer I’m following her the less her hair bothers me, it’s become her signature look in a way. And I have to say her fashion choices as of late have been right on the money, so kudos to her dressing for the late stages of pregnancy is never easy.

6. Through your posts, KMR, I continue to be impressed with Victoria’s support of efforts to promote social justice – recently her involvement with Futebol da Forca, which empowers young women, and now her partipating in the award ceremony for the Holocaust-related scholarships. I admire her for selecting and lending her weight to these endeavors.

7. I love this post. I think that Vic is the bee’s knees. I read more about her facial blindness and it truly has me curious. It shows that despite that, she still connects and truly enjoys her job. I think that she looks lovely.

   Thanks for such a nice review, KMR!

   1. And Victoria is said to have dyslexia as well!

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