Royal Wedding Style: the Queen's Colours

There are plenty of style questions waiting to be answered at the Royal Weddings of Windsor this year and while what the brides might wear is clearly top of all the fashion need to knows, what the Queen will choose is right up there, too. We know there will be a hat, we know there will be a sensible handbag, what we don't know is the colour. But we've got form to go on from previous royal weddings. Tomorrow, I'm looking at the outfits the Queen wore to her own children's weddings but today it's a glance at the style statements from her grandchildren's marriages being as that's the camp Harry and Eugenie fall into. There may even be a clue or two here as to what to expect from the Queen at the Royal Weddings of 2018....

Royal Wedding Venue: Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey, London has been the location for some of the most famous royal marriages in history

(photo credit: vgm8583 via Flickr)

Westminster Abbey is probably the most famous royal wedding location around thanks to the marriage there in 2011 of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. But while Wills and Kate were walking in historic footsteps as they traipsed down the aisle as royal husband and wife, the links between regal marriage and the abbey are sporadic to say the least. There was a gap of five centuries between royal weddings at this famous church and it's reputation as a marriage venue for kings, queens, princes and princesses owes a lot to the House of Windsor. It all starts with a very confident bride indeed....

Royal Wedding Tiaras: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg

Maria Teresa of Luxembourg on her wedding day

Every royal bride needs a tiara and even when they don't have one to call their own they can usually rely on a soon to be regal relative to find something they can borrow for their big day. That's exactly what happened to Maria Teresa de Mestre when she married the then Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1981 and walked into the Cathedral of Notre Dame wearing a tiara lent to her by the woman about to become her mother-in-law. It wasn't just a dash of sparkle, it was a family tradition in the making for the Congo Diamond Tiara worn by the royal bride that day had been used by her husband's mother for her own marriage almost thirty years earlier.

Royal Wedding Reception: St. George's Hall

This is where the party gets started. St. George's Hall at Windsor Castle is the venue chosen for the wedding reception for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19th 2018. It lies at the very heart of Windsor Castle and while it looks the very picture of medieval magnificence, all is not exactly as it seems. It's time to meet one of the stars of the first Royal Wedding of 2018.....

Royal Wedding Flowers lily of the valley

Let's talk flowers, it's August after all. Lily-of-the-valley has been used in two of the most famous royal wedding bouquets of the last sixty years. The tiny flower with its big scent was a feature in Kate Middleton's posy when she walked into Westminster Abbey to become Duchess of Cambridge while six decades earlier, Grace Kelly had used this flower alone in her bouquet. If you want to get the lace and loveliness vibe of these two famous royal brides, then lily of the valley is the way to go.

Royal Wedding: Victoria and Albert

It's one of the most famous royal weddings of all time and it took place #otd in 1840. Queen Victoria, the young monarch who had already shown she knew what she wanted and how to get it, wed her first cousin and one true love, Prince Albert, in a marriage that would make history. Here's what you need to know about this very royal wedding.

February Royal Brides: a Quartet of Historic Weddings

The most romantic royal wedding of all? Queen Victoria was a February bride to her beloved Albert

St Valentine's Day might be the feast of lovers but finding a royal couple happy to say 'I do' in this chilly month can be hard work. However, some regal lovebirds have been brave enough to get the bunting and bling out in February and ended up starring in some of the best known royal weddings in history. In this month of lovers, here are four historic royal brides for February.

Royal Wedding Dresses: Queen Victoria

This famous portrait of Queen Victoria in her wedding dress by Franz Xaver Winthalter was actually painted in 1847 as an anniversary present for Prince Albert

(picture Wiki Commons)

It's one of the most famous royal wedding dresses of all but very hard to define. The gown worn by Queen Victoria on February 10th 1840 at St James' Palace to marry her already beloved Albert is credited with making white weddings top of every stylish bride's wish list but try and describe it and you might just come a cropper. Of course, there are no photos (well, possibly but that's a whole other great big royal row) and artist's impressions are often just that - an idea or ideal. So what do we know about one of the most famous wedding dresses ever made?

The Queen's Accession Day

 

The Queen is marking 66 years on the throne today. Elizabeth II became monarch on February 6th 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI. It was the end of one brilliant reign and the start of another.

Royal Wedding Tiaras: Maxima of the Netherlands

The tiara is a pretty major part of any royal bride's wedding look but when you're walking down the aisle to marry a future king and become a queen in waiting yourself, it takes on a whole new dimension. When Maxima Zorreguieta married the then Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on February 2nd 2002, she became the first woman in over a century to be in line to become queen consort of the country. She was also the star turn in a hugely popular royal wedding and she and her fiance had captured plenty of hearts with their regal love story and general all round happiness. So it was no wonder that stars featured in Maxima's tiara.  She chose a diadem with plenty of history but made it all her own in a way that would form the basis for her very confident sense of style. Here's her royal wedding tiara....

Royal Wedding Dresses: Princess Benedikte of Denmark

Fifty years ago today a rather special royal wedding took place in Denmark. The bride, Benedikte, was the second daughter of the country's King and Queen while the groom, Richard, was the latest in a line of princes who traced their history back for centuries. Benedikte's big sister, heir to the throne Margrethe, had married just a year earlier while their baby sibling, Anne Marie, had become Queen of Greece at her own wedding in 1964. But while this wasn't the biggest wedding in the family, it had all the glitter we'd expect from a royal event including a rather lovely bridal gown. Here's a look at Benedikte of Denmark's wedding dress....

February Royal Brides - a hat trick

Spot the bride - Willem-Alexander and Maxima of the Netherlands on their wedding day

(official photo)

February isn't necessarily the most popular month to get married. It is cold, it can be snowy and wet and windy and all those things a bride doesn't dream of on her wedding day. But on the plus side, you're never likely to encounter date clash - no one else will be asking people along to their big day then so you have the marriage party to yourself. Royal brides aren't really that different - it's rare to get a royal wedding in February. But that's not to say that those couples who do choose to tie the not in this heart of winter month don't do so in spectacular style. Here are 3 modern royal February brides.

#RoyalVisitNorway: ski jumping to the end

They started with sport and ended with sport. All very circular. As #RoyalVisitNorway came to an end, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge headed to one of the best known ski-ing spots in Europe and put a snowy seal on their five days in Scandinavia. Here's how William and Kate in Norway came to an end....

Royal Wedding Number 2 of 2018 is on....

.....October 12th. The date that Princess Eugenie of York will marry Jack Brooksbank at St. George's Chapel, Windsor has been confirmed by her proud dad, Prince Andrew.

#RoyalVisitNorway: winter wonderland

It started with snow and ended with sparkle and all wrapped up with a rather cosy family feel. The first day of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's visit to Norway saw them hook up with their nearest royal relatives on the continent and have a pretty marvellous time while they were at it. Welcome to William and Kate's winter wonderland....

February's Royal Birthdays

Stand by everyone, it's February, it's birthday time and that can mean only one thing - it's epic. There are so many to get through, you need to start on the cake now just to keep the energy levels up to make it all the way to the end. We've got a king, a Crown Princess and a queen in waiting all lining up to celebrate so get ready to party, royal style. It's going to be exhausting.

#RoyalVisitNorway: the past trips

So long Sweden and howdy Oslo. William and Kate are wrapping up the first part of their Scandinavian tour and heading to Norway. They arrive there on the morning of February 1st for a two day visit that will include a royal gala dinner, a visit to a famous ski resort and a focus on culture. Lovely. They are following in plenty of regal footsteps as Norway's royals have swapped visits with the House of Windsor on plenty of occasions since Elizabeth II took the throne in 1952. The Cambridges aren't on a State Visit but don't worry, there are plenty of those to look back on already. Here's a glance at the past royal trips between Norway and the UK.....