Tag: Kensington Palace

The Beat of Her Own Drum: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

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Louise has always been my second-favorite of Queen Victoria’s daughter (the first being Vicky) and all of her daughters hold a special place in my heart since they’re some of the first figures in British history in which I became interested. I still distinctly remember reading Jerrold M. Packard’s book on all of them for first time when I was about 10 and it’s been re-read many times since. The length of their mother’s reign and the unprecedented change that Western Europe went through over the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century put them at the epicenter of the dramatically changing role that Europe’s Royal Families held (if they made it through without being abolished). Indeed, many of Queen Victoria’s daughters would make dynastically significant marriages, their own children ruling or taking places of prominence at courts around the globe.

Louise wouldn’t be one of them, but her uniqueness in shying away from that fate, frankly, makes her interesting.

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Style Transformation Part Two: The Duchess of Cambridge (2011-2017)

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Kate inspecting the shots from her British Vogue photo shoot in 2016

And so we dive into Kate Middleton’s style as Duchess of Cambridge. Now, as I should think will become abundantly apparent, I am not a fashion expert. I like clothes as much as the next girl, but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about them. I like what I like and what I am comfortable in, and that’s pretty much the extent of it. But I actually suspect that Kate is the same way – for all that she has become an arbiter of style, I don’t think she particularly cares that much.

Based on photos, I think she had slightly more fun with it in her 20s, and I think she enjoyed the novelty of dressing in the public eye the first two years of her marriage, but I believe that has tapered off since having children. She has a classic style, but isn’t too fussed about shoes or accessories. She is comfortable with a certain style of makeup and hair, and I think becomes markedly uncomfortable when she deviates from them. The crowd waiting for iconic fashion moments from Kate are going to be (and have been) disappointed. Her iconic looks are going to be her iconic looks because of who she is, but they certainly won’t be groundbreaking in and of themselves.

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William & the Press: A Bad Romance

On By RSBIn The House of Windsor2 Comments

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It’s become part of Prince William’s narrative that he hates the press. Now, William has never publicly said, “I hate the press,” so this is not a statement of fact. It is, however, a fairly safe assumption based on, you know, his behavior and that of his office. But from where does it stem?

The obvious answer, of course, is the death of his mother in 1997 and the role that paparazzi are believed to have played in that fatal car accident. Then there is the blatant intrusion that they have caused in his life – speculating about his parents’ marriage in the ’90s, his and his brother’s antics throughout their respective teens and 20s and his own relationship with Kate Middleton.

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Statue of Diana, Princess of Wales to Be Erected at Kensington Palace

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Kensington Palace announced today that a statue of the late Diana, Princess of Wales will be erected on the Palace grounds at the request of her sons, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry. The statue will commemorate the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death, which occurred on August 31, 1997.

The following statement was released on William and Harry’s behalf:

“It has been twenty years since our mother’s death and the time is right to recognise her positive impact in the UK and around the world with a permanent statue.”

It is hoped it will be completed and unveiled by the end of 2017.

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Whatever the Opposite of “Never Complain, Never Explain” Is: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle

On By RSBIn The House of Windsor3 Comments

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In November 2016, Kensington Palace issued a press release on Prince Harry’s behalf lambasting media outlets and online forums for the “racial undertones” and “outright sexism” of comments regarding his then-rumored relationship with American actress, Meghan Markle. The press release listed out the harassment that Markle and her family had endured, “nightly legal battles” to stop “defamatory” stories, and made a direct ask to the press to “reflect before any more damage is done.”

The statement also confirmed the existence of the relationship itself.

The release reads as indignant and desperate. And I say desperate not to insult it, but as an acknowledgment that to issue a statement like this must have been seen as a last resort – the only (effective) option left.

I have written many press releases in my life, I have never begun one with, “Since he was young…”

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Victoria Recap: Have You Come to Give Me a Lesson in Government?

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On Sunday night, the first two episodes of Victoria, “Doll 123” and “Ladies in Waiting,” premiered on PBS, filling the time slot left over when Downton Abbey ended last year. And it makes sense – both are British period dramas centered around a young, beautiful brunette who has no problem telling off the men that surround her. Only here, the main character is based on the very real Queen Victoria and not the fictional Lady Mary Crawley.

There’s been renewed interest in the early days of Queen Victoria’s reign, which began in 1837, most notably  2009’s The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt. These depictions seek to humanize a figure that has become best-known for being an overweight senior citizen shrouded in black, and whose reign has become synonymous with prudishness, longevity and the expansion of the British Empire in ways we now find politically and racially uncomfortable.

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But, as these depictions want to remind us, before she was a grandmother and a widow, she was an 18-year-old girl who left an overly sheltered existence as a princess in Kensington Palace to become the British queen, expected to go head-to-head with prime ministers, run a royal household and embody the institution of the monarchy. She was also – though the show hasn’t gotten there yet – a young woman desperately in love with her husband, who had a complicated relationship with motherhood. She was also jealous, domineering, stubborn and passionate. A lot to unpack there, and it’s not difficult to see why it’s tempting to want to take another look at her through a 21st-century lens.

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