Royal hospital dash

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia are now en route to New York to meet their new granddaughter.  The Swedish monarchs hopped on a plane first thing after their youngest child, Princess Madeleine, gave birth to a little girl at 22:41 local time in New York - about 4 in the morning in Stockholm.  Within hours, mum and dad were on a transatlantic hospital dash to see their own little girl and meet her little girl.

There may well be more dancing in the streets tonight as a proud king and queen meet their newest granddaughter

Proud uncle, Carl Philip, has been speaking to the press this morning telling them that he'd been in touch with his sister and her husband, Chris O' Neill, and couldn't wait to meet his new niece.  The latest royal daddy will give a press conference at noon, New York time, when we may yet find out the name of Sweden's newest princess.  And by then the country's king and queen should be in the hospital and holding her in their arms after a very royal hospital dash.

Jubilee evening in Sweden

The Swedish royal family are at the Stockholm Concert Hall for a concert marking the jubilee that's being celebrated over the weekend.  King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia arrived with their children and sons in law for the event which begins twenty four hours of festivities that will end with dancing in the streets.

 

The King and Queen of Sweden arriving at the Concert Hall in Stockholm for the celebration that kicks off twenty four hours of events to mark Carl XVI Gustaf's 40 years on the throne

 

Earlier the whole family had been at a special dinner to mark the event hosted by the government including Princess Madeleine showing the first hints of pregnancy.  The Prime Minister gave a speech to mark the occasion and then it was off to the concert, being hosted by parliament.  And then everyone's up nice and early tomorrow for a thanksgiving service at the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace before the party really gets started.

 

 

Two royal daughters, one royal son and two royal sons-in-law - the family join the king and queen of Sweden for a dinner and concert to mark the jubilee being celebrated this weekend

Kate, Letizia and Madeleine are best dressed royals

A wedding dress by Valentino is always going to get you noticed so it's not really that much of a surprise that Madeleine of Sweden has made it onto this year's Vanity Fair best dressed list.  The newly wed royal gets a nod for the frock she wore on June 8th 2013 to marry Chris O'Neill as well as for general glamour and gorgeousness.

A beautiful bride among the best dressed - Madeleine of Sweden in the Valentino dress that won her a place on this year's best dressed list published by Vanity Fair

(photo Ewa-Marie Rundquist, copyright kungahuset.se)

 

 

And no surprises that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge also makes the list with a special nod to the mummy tummy that got everyone talking when she left hospital last week carrying HRH Prince George on his way home.  Kate may have had a lower profile in recent months as she got ready to have her baby but the outfits still generate a massive amount of attention and other special nods went to the outfits chosen for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations last summer. 

 

 

 

Looking just like every mum who has just given birth - perhaps the Duchess' finest fashion hour as she shows the world just what happens to ladies with newborn babies

(photo Christopher Neve)

 

And also included in Letizia, Princess of Asturias.  Her top pick, according to the magazine, is the outfit worn to the coronation of King Willem-Alexander and Maxima back in April this year.  She's also singled out for the funky twist she's put on traditional suits for some of her royal activities. 

 

 

 

Letizia in dove grey to see a new king and queen crowned

 

 

Personally, my favourite outft of the coronation was the one worn by the new queen.  But while Maxima's sapphire blue was majestic and magnificent, some of her other choices have been a bit over the top.  So it's understandable that a bible of chic like Vanity Fair might steer clear of adding her to the list.

 

 

 

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima in an official portrait on the day of their accession to the Dutch throne, April 30th 2013

(Photo Dutch Royal Household)

 

Meanwhile, another royal has made the bid for the worst piece of fashion of the year.  She may be a proud granny but is that really a reason for the photo montage bag that Queen Sofia of Spain was proudly showing off in Mallorca the other day? 

 

 

Sofia, Leonor, Irene and Victoria all smiling from the front of granny's handbag