Flashback Friday: Royal Wardrobe Malfunctions and Mishaps

I'd like to apologize in advance for the content of this post. Máxima made me do it. Let me tell you something: once you start looking at wardrobe mishaps and malfunctions, you can't stop. It's the train wreck that keeps on giving. Allow me to demonstrate:

Apart from flashbulb peril, Máxima seems to be prone to earring problems. (Goes with the territory when you wear giant rocks as jewelry, I suppose.) Noticing you lost an earring (left) is not nearly as embarrassing as not noticing (right).

Left to Right: Crown Princess Mary, Sara Buys (now Sara Parker-Bowles, daughter-in-law of Camilla) at Charles and Camilla's wedding, an engaged Lady Diana Spencer, Princess Michael of Kent

The unplanned problems are the saddest, really. Even the best laid outfit plans can go astray. Poor Máxima's not alone, Mary's also had some issues with camera flashes and visible undergarments. And who looks at the back of their skirt in a bus-climbing pose before purchase? Another failure to consider camera angles resulted in one of the most famous royal wardrobe malfunctions of all time from poor Diana. At least she didn't do it intentionally...ahem, Princess Michael.

Princess Eugenie's among the ones I just expect to have some embarrassing moments, what with all those perilously short skirts. She's not the only one to have let the wind get the best of her, though:

L to R: Queen Elizabeth, Queen Paola, the Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Letizia, the Princess of Wales, Princess Madeleine

Oh, wind. How dare you mess with the royal composure. You have to give credit to these ladies for rolling on like nothing happened after such unfortunate incidents - some worse than others. (If you recall Letizia's windy moment, you know that I am posting the most delicate photograph I could find. Poor girl.) I had a Marilyn Monroe moment once myself, on a street in London. It still pains me to think of it.

Extra composure points are awarded for those that have to deal with the wind on the worst possible days. Poor Marie. I'd make a face so much worse than that if nature decided to have its way with my wedding dress. Oh, we'd have words, Nature and I.

Some royals are more prone to mishaps than others, it seems. Mary's lost her hat on more than one occasion (at Parliament before her wedding, and not so long ago in Vietnam). Lucky for her dashing soldiers always seem to be around to do the hat fetching. Recently, she lost her shoe while in Washington, D.C, proving why a princess shouldn't leave the house without a pedicure. Just in case.

Here's my question: is Sarah Ferguson truly more prone to wardrobe malfunctions, or do people just take extra delight in her mistakes?

I know, Sarah. I'm not helping. But I take a stance like Boyfriend Dave there does: what good does a sour face do us? Just have a laugh and move on.

Finally, my investigation into the phenomenon of  the royal wardrobe malfunction turned up a few particularly disturbing incidences. What do you call it when a mishap is planned, and prepared for, and...intentional?

L to R: Princess Mabel, Princess Kalina of Bulgaria, Princess Caroline

Lest anyone be tempted to make excuses for these ladies, let me clarify: this is Mabel attending the King of Norway's birthday celebrations, Kalina attending the silver wedding anniversary in Luxembourg, and Caroline at the Rose Ball. Not a costumed function in sight.

Listen: if I have to be scarred for life, so do you. We're in this together, friends.

Top 10 Worst of 2010: The Runners Up

Narrowing down the field to just 10 of the worst appearances of the year was nearly impossible. You know I love the disastrous appearances. So, without further ado, the ones that almost made it:

Things that Make Me Sad

L to R: Princess Máxima, Princess Mathilde, Princess Alexia, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Princess Alexandra, Sarah Ferguson

From bad fabrics (that'd be Máxima and Maria Teresa) to bad shapes (Mathilde and Alexia), these ladies brought me down with their unfortunate selections. Designers make me sad, too: example being when NATAN attacked poor young Princess Alexandra. And when Sarah busted out her Alexander McQueen...it made me weep for the memory of that poor designer. Have some respect for his legacy, Sarah: retire that dress.

That's enough of the sad. Let's get back to the humorous appearances, shall we?

When Accessories Attack

L to R: Princess Elena, Princess Anne, Princess Michael, Queen Margrethe, Princess Claire

It's the bolero and the hair piece on Elena that takes this pink number from just enthusiastically ball-gownish to straight up costume. Similarly, Princess Anne's outfit on Ascot Day 2 wasn't that bad...until you saw the hair ornaments. It's a little disturbing on a woman of Anne's age (not to mention a woman of Anne's persona). Even more disturbing, though, is this fortune teller get up of Princess Michael. Talk about your costumes! What's not a costume, of course, is Margrethe's floral raincoat - that's just who she is (shame she didn't bust out the matching hat, though). And I'm sadly afraid that these necklaces attacking Princess Claire might just be who she is. Yikes.

Royal Hippies

L to R: Princess Cristina, Queen Sofia, Princess Letizia, Charlene Wittstock

A nice printed fabric, a lovely flow...just makes you yearn for the beach (or Woodstock). But on royal duty? Methinks not. At least we're getting a picture of where Elena might have gotten the inspiration for her clown pants. I have no explanation for Charlene, though. Let's just hope she'll have a better Armani experience come wedding time.

Prints Gone Wild

L to R: Crown Princess Margarita, Princess Irene, Queen Beatrix, Princess Märtha Louise (times 2!)

Oh, prints went wild on the dance floor too this year. Margarita combined the ever-popular jail bird trend with a nice floral for a truly mind-boggling frock, while Princess Irene and Queen Beatrix went paisley (why?). Märtha Louise, always one to give us something to snicker at, dished up two doozies this year: sea creature with a mullet at Victoria's pre-wedding dinner, and striped up like a football star during the Netherlands state visit. It should be noted that she's worn that dress before, to Frederik and Mary's wedding. She appears to only wear it when she has a sash that accentuates the stripe-age.

A Serious Case of Try Hard

L to R: Crown Princess Pavlos, Princess Nikolaos, Princess Letizia, Crown Princess Victoria, Crown Princess Mary, Princess Mabel

There's a lot of fashionable princesses mucking about out there. There are some that are truly stylish, and some that just think they are, but they all have their moments of Trying Too Hard. Marie-Chantal is a couture-clad designer, but I still don't get this overly metallic frock. (Too much.) Tatiana's another fashion industry veteran, but this black outfit crosses from fashionable to Halloween. (Too harsh.) Letizia tries, but I will never have any love for the M.C. Hammer pants. (Too wrong.) I love Victoria, but shooties? Seriously? (Too much of a travesty.) And Mary, she gets it right so often, but this top and these pants and those shoes on a pregnant lady...no. (Too much try.)

Naturally, we close once again with Mabel. With stripper shoes...and a jumpsuit. Wait, why didn't this one make the countdown? Crap.

Alright, you've heard me out. Now, tell me: who did I miss?

Gold Star: Sheikha Mozah's Glamorous State Visit

You know, we've been seeing a lot less designer clothes lately. Royal families are trying to be a little more down to earth, I guess, not going around shoving the fact that they have money in the faces of those that are dealing with recession and unemployment. Buckingham Palace went out of it's way to point out that the Queen has an evening dress with detachable ornamentation for maximum reuse, and that it was made by her dresser. Victoria's been out and about in H&M, and then of course you have the Queen (or Princess, rather) of this: Letizia, and her wardrobe of high street staples.

Nothing wrong with that, quite sensible really. Sheikha Mozah, though...now she seems to belong more in the "you know I'm rich, I know I'm rich, let's not play games about it" camp. Her wardrobe from the recent state visit to England is pure couture: Armani Privé, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino, Chanel, Dior.

I love it. It's like eating a decadent dessert after a day of salad. And if there's a woman alive that can carry off those names without looking like she's trying to hard, it's the Sheikha.

It's not just the clothes, either. How about those jewels? Bestill my little magpie heart.

And while we're accessorizing...

Heh. The mind of Karl Lagerfeld at work. Couture is the highest form of fashion as art, which means sometimes you'll get it and sometimes you won't. I say if you're going to go couture, go all the way, fug or not.

Gold star: awarded for pure glamour.

Photos: Getty/AP/HuffPo

Flashback Friday: Queen Margrethe's Birthday Celebrations, Part 3

And so we've arrived at the last of these fond memories of Queen Margrethe's 70th birthday celebrations.  The last event was a dinner with a black tie and tiara dress code...

Best of the Satiny and Shiny

L to R: Carina Axelsson, Queen Anne-Marie, Crown Princess Mary, Princess Nathalie

Apart from that embellishment around Carina's waist, which I think cheapens the whole thing, not a bad category.  I had to give it to Mary's repeat dress - great color, great cut, and bonus points for being a great canvas on which to showcase that Midnight Tiara.

Worst of the Chiffony and Floaty

L to R: Princess Marie, Princess Benedikte, Princess Alexia

For the record, I like Marie's dress, I just think it's more Hollywood starlet than tiara-sporting Princess. And as for Benedikte and Alexia...oh, no, dears.  Not flattering.  Benedikte isn't so bad, it's just the sleeves there, whereas Alexia's being choked by that forced empire waist.

Best of the Hmm...

L to R: Queen Margrethe, Crown Princess Victoria, Crown Princess Mette-Marit

Interesting selections from these three ladies.  Margrethe's doing her usual Margrethe thing, but this one just seems excessively...wide.  Victoria's just busted out of jail in her BCBG Max Azria gown, though I will submit that she's rocking it as much as anyone can rock a prison uniform.  Mette-Marit's also gone the love-it-or-hate-it route with her flower-iffic ice blue and magenta combo.  I vote for 'love it' - something about the color combo with the hair and make up just works.

Best of the Best

L to R: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Princess Máxima, Queen Silvia

What we've got here are three women doing exactly what they're known to do, in exactly the right way: Maria Teresa is doing her floaty Elie Saab thing, but this time she's made a flattering silhouette out of it; Silvia's dignified in Jacques Zehnder as always but well-fit and well-colored; and Máxima's loud yet lovely.  Here's why Máxima's Carolina Herrera wins it for me: this is the perfect dress to wear for a black tie and tiara shindig.  It makes the most of her sapphire jewelry, but couldn't be worn to a full gala occasion since the print would mess with all the orders and what not she'd need to wear.  And I'm all for capitalizing on an opportunity.

And Finally, the "Whoa!" Category

L to R: Queen Sonja, Queen Beatrix

Just thought we'd end on a humorous note.  That's all.

So, my lovelies, there you have it.  Who wins your overall best dressed award for the whole celebration?

Photos: bt.dk/zimbio

Flashback Friday: Queen Margrethe's Birthday Celebrations, Part 1

You know what we need more of in our daily lives, kids?  Sparkle.  Call me shallow if you must, but a good tiara is my favorite part of royal watching, hands down.  Even though I understand all of the reasons why the Greek wedding couldn't have been as glitzy as the Swedish wedding was, it still left me longing for a giant event of proper royal glam to drool over.  Though I have no idea when the next such event will be, I have a feeling it will be a long, long time from now, and that gives me the sads.

So, I thought:  let's dig one up anyways!  This wee blog was but a twinkle in my eye back in April when Queen Margrethe celebrated her 70th birthday.  This is a Queen that knows how to party: 3 tiara events, 2 of which were massively attended by other European royals sporting the finest in diamonds and other sparkly delights.  Now, you'll remember that right about this time that nasty volcano Iwouldntspellitrightanyways reared its ugly head to rain on the royal parade, but it still managed to be a grand event, and we'll be flashing back one event at a time for the next three Fridays.

Firstly, we'll take on the first event with big royal attendance: a white tie gala concert.  Let's give out some (retroactive) awards, shall we?

Worst of the (Literal) Eveningwear

Left to Right:  Princess Marie, Princess Benedikte, Queen Silvia

These ladies took their outfits a little too far into the evening by sporting downright bedroom-inspired ensembles.  With a few snips of the fabric, Marie could have herself a nice little lingerie ensemble.  It fits her like a glove, but why is that little belt thing necessary?  Benedikte's adapted the lingerie theme to an outfit more appropriate for her age.  I can't see a silk gown covered by floating lace without thinking nightie, sorry.  But the worst one here is Silvia, who ran in exactly the opposite direction and swathed herself in one giant nightgown.  She and the King arrived late to the concert because of volcanic travel issues, so there were no pictures of the couple.  What you're seeing here is a screencap from the concert broadcast along with pictures of the red Yuki (a designer, not an opinion) dress as it was worn for the Nobel ceremony a few years ago and her sapphire tiara from another outing.  Yuki is famous for his draping; he typically uses large pieces of fabric with very few cuts and seams.  Sure, there's art there, but I find everything he's done for Silvia to be totally disappointing (see also this dress).

Best of the Tapestries

L to R: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Queen Anne-Marie, Princess Alexia

These heavy floral fabrics are more reminiscent of a wall hanging than anything in the sartorial realm.  Sure, they can be successful on a dress, but one must tread lightly...unlike Mette-Marit.  I just think this dress looks like it weighs fifty pounds, and it's attempting to age her fifty years.  Fabric overload.  Anne-Marie's is age appropriate, but all that pattern is fighting with emerald weight on her necklace.  You should always let the emeralds win.  Now, Alexia I think came the closest to getting it right.  She limited the tapestry to the jacket of the dress, and it's cut well.  I don't even mind the little 80s pouf on the sleeves.  Well played.

Best of the Frills

L to R: Carina Axelsson, Crown Princess Victoria

Victoria's gone full-on foufy here.  I like it, don't get me wrong.  But that kind of ruffle overload needs to stand on it's own, without the orders and everything else.  Plus, that train was hazardous: her brother stepped on it on their way up the theater stairs and nearly caused a right royal wardrobe malfunction.  Thus, Carina wins by default.

Best of the Best

L to R: Princess Nathalie, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Queen Margrethe, Crown Princess Mary

Now we're talking!  These ladies hit the sartorial jackpot.  Nathalie's wearing a borrowed gown that's simple and lovely, and a choker was the perfect jewel to pair with it.  Maria Teresa's sporting my fave Elie Saab again.  This dress is magically magnificent; so intricate!  The jewels need help, though.  That Wonder Woman tiara needs a better hair pedestal to live up to its full potential.  If I was writing this in April, I probably would have named Mary the best of the best, but she's worn similar things since then, so it doesn't quite have a full "Wow" factor working for it in retrospect.  So the prize must go to the birthday girl herself.  She repeated this for Victoria's wedding, and why not: she looks fantastic.  Totally flattering, and that color is just out there enough to suit this Queen's taste.  Plus, is there any better way to say "I'm the Queen!" than to show up in neon apple green with mounds of diamonds and emeralds all wrapped up in a fur package?  I think not.

What was your favorite dress from this event?  Has your opinion changed since April?

Photos: bt.dk/svenskdam/zimbio/getty



Royal Fashion Awards: Nikolaos and Tatiana's Wedding

Well, this one is interesting.  Men in suits (save the Greek royals, who sported morning dress) and women in black tie appropriate gowns.  Once again with the intriguing dress codes - though I do suppose the politics and etiquette of planning a royal wedding in a country in which you are no longer royal must be the trickiest of business.  Per usual, the bride and her attendants will get their own special post, so until then let's chat royal guests:

Best Dressed: Neutral Division

L to R: Princess Theodora, Lady Gabriella Windsor, Princess Marie, Princess Alexia, Princess Rosario

Theodora's dress is such a pale pink it's almost white and almost a faux pas; but she looks hot enough to make up for it.  Talk about flaunting your curves!  You could say the same for Gabriella, who's wearing a dress I know I've seen before.  Maybe it's Amanda Wakeley.  Marie I like, but the embellishment seems to be stuck on hot glue styles; it's a little random.  I know you might disagree with me, but I almost named Alexia best in this category.  Look how pretty she looks!  The business shirt killed it, though, so I gave it to Rosario.  Elegant as always.

Best Dressed: Blues Division

 L to R: Princess Letizia, Queen Margrethe, Empress Farah Pahlavi, Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleberg

Excellent showings from the ladies in blue.  Another hit for Letizia; this girl is on a roll!  Both she and Alexandra are flanking the category picking up where Tatiana left off last night as the event's resident Greek goddesses.  Margrethe looks fantastic too - good enough to ignore the apparent tag hanging from her wrap (WTF is that thing - is it a security tag left over from her day job, or perhaps a ski lift tag from her last run on the Alps?).  This is just the perfect outfit for Daisy, isn't it?  It's whimsical enough to fulfill her creative side yet stately enough for a Queen.  Also stately?  Empress Farah.  Wow.  Could she be any more regal?  The slight fading at the bottom of the dress lightens it up from what could be a white tie gala dress.  Gold Star.

Best Dressed: Pink and Red-Hot Division

L to R: Crown Princess Pavlos, Queen Anne Marie, Queen Sofia, Carina Axelsson, Crown Princess Victoria

I've thought a lot about it, and I've decided that I like Marie-Chantal's thing here.  The color's lovely and the hair is fantastic.  It's a bit floral but not as much as her mother-in-law Anne Marie there, so that wins points.  Queen Sofia is over dressed (and wouldn't she be sweating up a storm?), and Victoria's in a repeat (from Joachim and Marie's wedding).  Like it though I do, I can admit that Marie-Chantal is a little too bohemian-bordering-on-frumpy, so I'll give the prize to Carina.  Fantastic color, great cut, great solution to the problem of covering one's shoulders in church.  Well done.

Worst Dressed: Candy Shop Division

L to R: Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Elena, Princess Máxima, Princess Madeleine

Here we've got every flavor of pastel candy leftover from your Easter basket, sadly not doing much justice to some lovely royals.  Princess Michael's got her pool-side cover up on.  Madeleine's all bunched up and tied that way with sparkly rope, and her top's making me fear for a serious wardrobe malfunction.  Máxima...I liked this at first glance - hey, her hair certainly looks fantastic - but then I noticed the waist.  It's hitting her in the most unflattering of spots.  Last but never least is Elena.  I give her one good mark, and she gives me back the gown version of that clown suit. 

Worst Dressed: Paisley and Floral Division

L to R: Princess Irene, Crown Princess Mary, Princess Cristina

First of all, I should not have to have a "paisley" division for fashion awards at a wedding, should I?  Somebody forgot to tell these first two ladies that (and Máxima, too).  Princess Irene...well.  Much like her sister Queen Sofia, I'm fearing for her in the heat.  This is not good, but I rather get the opinion she couldn't care less, so she gets a pass.  Mary - now, we all know Mary cares.  She should already know that a dull mishmash of dirt inspired colors does not a pretty dress make.  I almost gave her this title, but then I realized that Cristina had committed an even greater sartorial sin: she willfully made herself look double her size.

Talk to me: who was your best- and worst-dressed overall for the show?  Are you as baffled by the preponderance of paisley as I am?

And again - who'd I miss?  Shout it out in the comments if you find someone else.

Photos: Diario Fememino/Getty Images/Europa Press/Profimedia/Chris Jackson/Zimbio

Royal Fashion Awards: Nikolaos and Tatiana's Pre-Wedding Party

Alright!  Let the fun begin.  Tonight in Greece the royal family held a pre-wedding party in advance of tomorrow's big wedding.  Let's start with the main sartorial event: the bride and groom.

Tatiana's been rocking the Greek goddess thing for a while now, and this is the epitome.  Gor-geous.  But I included the two of them together for a reason, and not only to make sure you have ample time to admire the most tanned bridal couple in royal history.  Look at Tatiana. Now look at Nikolaos.  She's in a gown, he's in sneakers.  I'd really like to know what sort of dress code the invitation to this party spelled out, because we've got some interesting choices directly ahead...

Best of the Bumps: Real and Speculative

 Left to Right: Princess Letizia, Crown Princess Victoria, Crown Princess Mary

Mary, obviously, is actually pregnant (although curiously lacking in the baby bump area considering there's two of them in there).  But Victoria and Letizia seem dressed to spawn similar speculation themselves.  All three ladies look fantastic, I must say.  (Even Letizia!  Mark this one down on the calendar, I'm doling out compliments and she gets one!  Maybe I am a nice person after all.)  I'm guessing Mary's sporting Carolina Herrera here - UPDATE: nope, it's Missoni.  Victoria's my favorite - it's floaty and summery and I like it so much I'll do her a solid and ignore the shoes.

Best of the Prints

 L to R: Princess Cristina, Princess Elena, Lady Gabriella Windsor

A balmy cocktail night out is the perfect opportunity for a little fun with prints, and these ladies look excellent.  I could do without the shoes on Cristina and without the bag on Gabriella (is that sparkly?  With the printed dress?), so Elena wins by default.  Besides, she deserves a little encouragement after making my list of Top 10 Worst Dressed Royal Wedding Guests for her showing at Victoria's wedding.

Best of the Greeks

L to R: Princess Theodora, Princess Alexia, Crown Princess Pavlos

The Greek ladies seemed to be the ones that truly got the dress code right; and fittingly, it is their party after all.  Theodora looks just like the movie star she's trying to become.  Marie Chantal looks good too; she's finally found the right dress to wear those shoes with.  But Alexia - hello!  She hasn't looked this good since I started this blog.  This outfit fits her (finally!) and the black and turquoise combination is perfection.  Gold star.

Best of the Worst

L to R: Queen Anne Marie, Princess Máxima, Queen Sofia, Princess Rosario, Princess Marie

Ah, so much to pick from.  Dress code confusion abounds!  Let's break it down, one at a time:

• The mother of the groom.  This is a matching sweater set outfit.  I like the necklace and the smile, but this just doesn't seem fancy enough for a function celebrating your son's wedding. 
• Máx.  There's nothing inherently wrong with this dress, but the shoulder thing is a bit fancy for this event, and the overly strong slightly mismatched shoes have the air of unfortunately dressed bridesmaid about them.
• Sofia.  Wow.  Do we need to talk about why this is the unequivocal best of the worst?  Could there by any more patterns involved here?
• Rosario.  Now, this picture was labeled with the rest of the party pics on all the photo sites I saw, but I'm just desperately hoping they got that wrong.  Because that looks like a bikini top under there.  UPDATE: it is indeed a dress from earlier in the day.  Correct dress to come later.
• Marie, oh Marie.  She always tries so hard, and yet she always carries the ghost of the early- to mid-1990s with her.  This is part undergarment and part swimsuit cover up.  And wholly unfortunate.  UPDATE: this is from earlier in the day too, whoops.  I still don't like it, though.

So, what did you think?  Who makes your best- and worst-dressed lists for the wedding celebration kick off?

Here are the updated pics I missed the first time around:

Madeleine's wearing a repeat Oscar de la Renta, lovely.  Rosario and Marie - now, they certainly look better than what I originally thought, but I can't help but think at least some of my original critiques apply.

Many thanks to the ravishingly beautiful commenters that pointed me in the right direction for the updates.  E-smooches all around.

Photos: Getty Images/Daylife/BEW/Profimedia

Royal Trend Watch: Clothes Swap Edition

Eagle-eyed royal watchers (and Svenskdam, too) caught a few dresses that looked a little familiar at Crown Princess Victoria's wedding and associated celebrations....

Friend Anna Ek donned a couple of the Crown Princess's old gowns, while Daniel's sister borrowed another.  The added embellishment on the pink neckline and green waist is the same.

Can I just tell you how much I love Victoria giving out her old dresses to her friends?  Seriously.  I'm not surprised: this is the woman that once wrote her love 30 letters for 30 days they'd be separated.  (If you need to watch Daniel's wedding speech again - and, really, you do - here ya go.)  I like her so much.  I don't really understand the need to add the cheesy looking glitter to the pink and green dresses, but whatever.  So sweet.

We may not get many opportunities to witness royal ladies lending out clothes to friends, but we have seen our fair share of inter-family loans:

Sweden's Princess Birgitta loaned an old outfit to her daughter-in-law Nicole for Victoria's wedding. 

I think I might have at least sprung for a different jacket, so the loan would be a little less obvious.  I wouldn't want to foster too many comparisons with Birgitta, but that's just me (and just mean.  I'm sure she's a lovely person!).

Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleberg (left) borrowed one of her sister Princess Alexandra's old maternity gowns for Queen Margrethe's 70th birthday celebrations.

Sisters always share.  (Especially when they look exactly alike - Nathalie was the pregnant one, and that was the only way I can tell them apart.  What will I do now she's had the baby?)  Plus, this just makes sense - nobody wants to buy a whole new wardrobe they won't be able to wear next month, let alone 9 from now.  Hell, the same box of borrowed maternity clothes has been making the rounds in my circle of friends for a couple years now.

Princess Martha Louise wears a dress belonging to her mother, Queen Sonja.

I can't imagine wearing any of my mother's clothes.  That would never, ever happen.  Maybe I'd change my mind if my mother had a closet full of designer duds.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa has loaned clothes to her daughter-in-law Princess Tessy more than once; the teal outfit she wore to Felipe and Letizia's wedding was seen on Tessy at the National Day 2008 celebrations, as was a black and white evening gown.  National Day 2009 saw Tessy wearing a fascinator first worn by Maria Teresa at Tessy's wedding.

Once again, I am loving the sentiment here: Maria Teresa seems to have gone out of her way to welcome Tessy to the family, even if she did enter in a most unconventional way (as an unmarried 20 year old, she gave birth to the then-19 year old Prince Louis's baby, if you're not up on your Luxembourg scandals).  It's especially lovely given that tales of tension between MT and her own mother-in-law still circulate even now that Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte has passed away.  But once again I question the execution: these are two very different sized ladies, and the same clothes do not suit them both.  The added fabric on the bottom of the evening gown is particularly clumsy.

For the wedding of Prince Pieter-Christiaan in 2005, Princess Mabel wore the same dress that her mother-in-law Queen Beatrix wore when announcing her engagement to Prince Claus in 1965.

Pay attention, now, because this might be the only time I ever compliment Mabel's sense of style on this blog: I love this, absolutely and without reservation.  I love the gesture of wearing a dress with such a significant history, I love what it says about the relationship between these two women, and I love the dress itself.  There are few periods in fashion history that can be repeated without looking completely dated, and this dress falls into one of them.

I would love to see more of this, done just like Mabel (once again, probably the only time I will ever say that).  There should be more reasons to preserve royal clothes than just for future museum display.  Couldn't you picture Crown Princess Mary in some of the 1960s sheath dresses sported by then-Crown Princess Margrethe, or one of Queen Silvia's daughters digging out some of the amazing gowns she's donned for Nobel ceremonies past?  Or am I nuts, and we should always wish for fortunes large enough to bring us new couture, all the time?  (I wish for both, just to be clear.)

Photos: Getty Images/PPE/Corbis

Flashback Friday: Royal Engagement Rings

Charlene Wittstock's whopper of a pear-shaped diamond engagement ring set me off reminiscing about royal engagement rings past.  (Update: See an actual photo of Charlene's ring here.) You name a ring style, a royal bride has sported it; the question is, of course: which one is the best?

Let's start with the colored stones, which seem to be much more popular among royal brides than the rest of us common folk:

Sapphires

Left to Right:  Diana, Princess of Wales; Tatiana Blatnik; Marie Chantal, Princess Pavlos; Princess Anne (from her first husband)

Rubies

Top Row, Left to Right:  Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Queen Sonja (Sonja gave hers to Haakon when he proposed to Mette-Marit); Sarah, Duchess of York; Princess Mathilde; Crown Princess Mary

Bottom Row, Left to Right:  Princess Diana of Orléans; Clotilde, Princess of Venice and Piedmont; Princess Alexandra, now Countess of Frederiksborg (from her first marriage to Prince Joachim); Princess Märtha Louise

 Other and Multiple Colored Stones

Left to Right: Princess Marie (Joachim's second wife); Princess Máxima; Wallis, Duchess of Windsor

Diamonds, Small to Average Size

Left to Right:  Princess Madeleine (it may have been given back now, but it was nice while it lasted); Crown Princess Victoria; Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark; Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleberg; Lady Sarah Chatto

Diamonds, Climbing Up the Size Ladder

Left to Right:  Queen Elizabeth; Sophie, Countess of Wessex; Autumn Philips; Princess Letizia; Queen Beatrix

Diamonds, Holy Crap Category

Top, Left to Right:  Queen Margrethe; Princess Grace; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

Bottom, Left to Right:  Crown Princess Sarah of Brunei; Princess Soraya of Iran; Queen Saleha of Brunei; Queen Paola of the Belgians

So, what's your verdict?  My picks:

Best Royal Engagement Ring

Princess Grace

I'm a diamond girl myself.  Goes with anything and everything you want to wear, you'll never tire of it.  And as far as I'm concerned, a royal engagement ring should be huge.  It's a fairy tale thing, you know?  Grace's is perfect; impressively large without being as comical as Margrethe's, Soraya's and Saleha's, and the perfect emerald cut shape.

Worst Royal Engagement Ring

Princess Marie

 

Blech.  Supposedly, Joachim wanted to echo the colors of the French flag for his French fiancé.  Just buy her a souvenir flag instead, for heaven's sake.  This is gaudy and clunky, and not at all befitting Marie, who has much more delicate features than this ring demands.

UPDATES

Royal engagement rings that have popped up since this post was written:

Catherine Middleton receives Diana, Princess of Wales' sapphire ring from Prince William.

Zara Phillips gets a custom-designed diamond ring from Mike Tindall.