Kate & William, William & Kate

"It's my mother's enagagment ring, so of course it's very special to me, and Kate's now very special to me, so it was only right to put the two together. ...[It's] my way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today and the excitement." --Prince William

"They've been practicing long enough."   --Prince Charles

Prince William and Kate Middleton are engaged, so the skincare post I planned will have to wait while outnerd myself on the happy news. It doesn't matter that we've all seen too many royal marriages make no one but tabloid publishers happy or that we can't help but remember that engagement interview from 29 years ago* ("Whatever being in love means")- there's going to be a wedding. And a dress. And flowers. And a very beautiful and happy couple.

Congratulations, William and Kate.

Photos: BBC, CNN

*Charles and Diana's engagement interview:

Queen Elizabeth II: A Photographic Portrait by Philip Ziegler- Book Review

Queen Elizabeth II: A Photographic Portrait just came out in the UK and I pre-ordered it, because that's what obsessed people royal watchers do. These are official, semi-official portraits and a handful of more casual pictures, including some taken by Prince Andrew. The photographs (by great names such as Sir Cecil Beaton, Marcus Adams and also Canadian pop star Bryan Adams) follow Queen Elizabeth from infancy up until last year. They are interesting not just for the magnificent jewels and clothes or the historic moments, but also for the way they work as a collection to reveal the flesh-and-blood side of someone we often see as a cartoon version (or the Spitting Image puppet) of herself.

The text part of the book, written by Philip Ziegler, is a pretty decent abridged biography of the Queen, suitable even for those who have limited interest in the subject (i.e. my husband). The text is super sympathetic to its subject to the point of trying to release Queen Elizabeth from any responsibility to the more questionable decisions from her past, such as pushing Princess Margaret to end her relationship with Peter Townsend. Still, it's interesting, well-written and serves as a good accompaniment to the truly wonderful photos.

Queen Elizabeth II: A Photographic Portrait by Philip Ziegler (£24.50 on amazon.co.uk) can be ordered online directly from the UK. even with shipping and exchange fees it's significantly cheaper than any other option.

Photo of (then) Princess Elizabeth and baby Prince Charles:  Britanica.com

Happy Birthday, Princess Anne

The Princess Royal turns 60 today. I enjoyed reading this interview with Princess Anne, which reminds me and everyone that there's a lot more to a real princess than shiny locks and a glamorous wardrobe. I like her a lot from afar, though I find her as intimidating as her mother. I need to check if any of our channels is going to air the BBC special.

Both photos by Norman Parkinson

Tweet For A Queen

I was highly amused to discover a couple of weeks ago that quite a few of you share my odd fascination with monarchy in general and the British royal family in particular. Of course, those of you in the UK probably get to see more than enough of them on the news and in the papers, but for the rest of us, here's a list of links and sites where we can indulge in this guilty pleasure:

The official website of the British Monarchy
The official Twitter account (sadly, Prince William doesn't tweet by himself)
The official Flickr account- lots and lots of photos, old and new (by the way, if someone at Clarence House or Buckingham Palace is reading, the link to Flickr from the official website is broken.
Royal news from the Telegraph
A general royal news aggregator and data base- Royal families from around the world (I'm partial to the Norwegians)

Do you have a favorite royal? Whom would you like to meet? Whom would you like to smack? What would you wear?


Photo of the Queen taking a photograph of the Duke of Edinburgh during their visit to Tuvalu in 1982 from the official Flickr account.

The Future Queen Of England?

Kate Middleton couldn't be lovelier or livelier. The engagement rumors are becoming more persistent, and the nerdy royal watcher that I am can't wait (and I can't even explain why. at least not in rational terms).
Are any of you royalists in disguise? Do you remember watching Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981?

Photo: Hello magazine

I spotted this book from afar at my local B&N store. The photo cover is instantly recognizable and embodies so much beauty, nostalgia and sadness that it fills you with all those memories of the prettiest princess and her tragic fairytale.

I was 10 years old when I sat at my neighbor's living room watching the wedding. That was when my royal obsession began. Twenty five years later, I'm still excited to see the photographs and to read the stories.

In which we get interactive

I'm going to be in London for a few days in the end of May. I know that there are interesting lines and products that are not available in the US, so I'd like to hear recommendations from UK readers:
What should I look for? What should I get there (sadly, I don't think that Prince William is anoption)?

Apparently, this is contagious

One of my biggest quirks is a healthy(?) interest with the British royal family. As a child I was interested in anything royal: the concept of real life queens and princesses was fascinating to me, much more than any Disney princess. When Prince Charles married Lady Diana in 1981 I became a rabid fan.

Years, scandals and divorces have gone by. I still read the magazines and buy the books. Despite everything, I am fond of the Prince of Wales and glad to see him so happy for the first time in his life. Camilla may never grace the cover of Vogue, but she seems to be a decent person and a good match for Charles. Something which poor Diana, as lovely as she was, could never have been.



Camilla has her own sense of style and most of the time it works well for her. But the choice of head gear for her daughter's wedding had a Medusa's hair quality to it. I'm not sure that it was the image she wanted.

But more disturbing than that, is that Kate Middleton, Prince William's very lovely girlfriend, seems to have taken fashion advice from her future stepmother-in-law(?) and is sporting something similar. I don't know why she would choose something like this. It's just wrong. She's still charming, though.