30 Years Ago

ETA: This post was written yesterday, but I forgot to publish it! D'oh!

Do you remember where you were 30 years ago today (for those over you old enough to remember 30 years ago)? I do. Where was I? I was sitting in front of the TV at a ridiculously early hour to watch the royal wedding of Charles and Diana. Can you believe it's been 30 years?

Of course we all know how the story ended up, but in the beginning, it was a fairytale, complete with a beautiful maiden and a prince. What more could any little girl want?

Her dress was stunning by 1980's standards and watching that train go down the aisle made my heart skip a beat. When I got married, I insisted on the longest train possible because I still remembered watching Diana's train.

I love this photo.  I think it was the first glimps we go of her face. 

I'm pretty sure I sighed when this happened.

And who could forget the kiss?

This photo came out later and seems to romantic.  They looked so happy.

While it didn't end that way anyone expected, it started off in a way that blew everyone away.  It was beautiful and romantic and will always be "the" royal wedding.

Royal Wedding: Monaco

It wasn't quite the spectacle that the recent wedding of Will and Kate was, and you may not even know about it, but today there was a royal wedding in the tiny Principality of Monaco. Actually, there was a wedding yesterday too.
In several European countries, a bride and groom must be legally married in a civil ceremony. If they wish they can have a religious ceremony, but really, that's just for show. It's the civil ceremony that counts.
His Serene Highness Prince Albert II (53) married former South African Olympic swimmer, Charlene Wittstock (33), on June 1, AND July 2, 2011, making her HSH Princess Charlene.  The civil ceremony was quick and rather impersonal (it was for legal purposes though, so I can forgive that).  Both the Prince and his bride looked uncomfortable at times.  I can't say I blame them though.

Her dress (which was actually a lace bodice and palazzo pants) and jacket were made by Chanel, but purported to have been designed by Charlene and Karl Lagerfeld. She has stellar taste.  And a figure to go with it.

After the ceremony, they had a reception for 5000 Monegasques (citizens of Monaco), followed by a concert by French singer Jean Michel Jarre.

Today though was the event we all cared about.  The "real" wedding.  It took place in the courtyard of the royal palace as the main church (St. Nicholas) could not accommodate the number of guests.
Princess Charlene wore a stunning dress designed by Giorgio Armani (who also attended the wedding).  I found the dress interesting for several reasons.  It was obvious that Kate Middleton's dress was influenced by Prince Albert's mother, Grace Kelly, but Charlene's dress was almost a polar opposite.  Perhaps she's trying to say that she's not trying to fill Princess Grace's shoes.  Or perhaps she's making it known that she is her own person, not a stand in for the small countries beloved princess.  Or maybe she just likes off the shoulder, body skimming dresses.

Good grief, she's gorgeous:

According to the palace, the dress took the Armani team 2500 hours to make, 700 of those on the embroidery alone.   The dress was made of 130 meters (142 yards) of off white silk and sewn with platinum coated thread.  The decorations on the gown included 40,000 Swarovski crystals, 20,000 mother of pearl tear drops and 30,000 sparkling stones in "shades of gold."  The train was made of 20 meters (22 yards) of silk tulle and took 100 hours to make.

Enlarge this photo so you can see the details of the embroidery on the front of her dress. Stunning!  Her dad looked completely overwhelmed.

If you look at the dress from the side, it actually has 2 trains.  Long trains (KATE!).  I like how the top train attached  just below the shoulders instead of at her waist.

Now THIS is a royal wedding train:

The ceremony itself was very formal, but there were a few very cute moments.  During one of the songs, the prince reached over and put his hand on her leg and they both shared a laugh over something he said:

After she slipped the 18k gold Cartier ring on his finger, she smiled and then though bought laughed.  It was very sweet:

Prince Albert wore a cream colored summer uniform of the palace guards with gold oak and olive leaves embroidered on the sleeves.  He looked rather dapper.

After the ceremony they drove from the palace on top of the mountain, down through the town to Sainte Devote Church where the princess laid her bouquet in a tradition in honor of the Patroness of Monaco.  The princess wiped tears from her eyes several times as the choir sang.  It was lovely.

The princess opted to forgo a royal tiara in favor of this beautiful jeweled head piece that sat gracefully above her low chignon.  I have to admit, this is gorgeous and I wouldn't mind having one (could someone be a dear and let James Bond know?), but IMO, she should have gone with a tiara.

In case you were wondering what titles she'll hold, other than Her Serene Highness, Princess of Monaco, here's a list of all of Albert's titles (which would be quite a mouthful if they have to be said):

• Duke of Valentinois
• Marquis of Baux
• Count of Carladès
• Count of Polignac
• Baron of Calvinet
• Baron of Buis
• Lord of Saint-Rémy
• Sire of Matignon
• Count of Torigni
• Baron of Saint-Lô
• Baron of La Luthumière
• Baron of Hambye
• Duke of Estouteville
• Duke of Mazarin
• Duke of Mayenne
• Prince of Château-Porcien
• Count of Ferrette
• Count of Belfort
• Count of Thann
• Count of Rosemont
• Baron of Altkirch
• Lord of Isenheim
• Marquis of Chilly
• Count of Longjumeau
• Baron of Massy
• Marquis of Guiscard

Did you watch??

Of course you did. Even if you didn't watch it live, you know you saw a million clips (how could you have avoided it?). Indy and I watched it live (oh, and even James Bond joined us) and had a grand time. A few days before the wedding we went to our local British shop and bought some authentic British goodies to eat while we watched. We had scones with jam, sweet raisin bread, finger sandwiches (cream cheese, turkey and broccoli sprouts-at Indy's request), McVitties Chocolate Digestives (cookies), Mr. Kipling's Cherry Tarts, and tea.  We even used the fancy tea cups.  Indy even insisted on talking in British accents for the duration of the wedding.  It was loads of fun.

So, what did you think???  I have a lot of thoughts.

The hats!  OMG, the hats!!!!  I LOVE HATS!  Why don't American women wear them more?  They are awesome.  Though I have to say Princess Beatrice looked like she lived in Whoville with that thing on her head.  Insane!

William and Harry looked adorable.  Wills looked so nervous.  In case you didn't see it, he apparently said something to Kate's dad at the alter about how they were meant to have just a small family wedding.  Harry also made some sort of comment to Wills about the fact that Kate showed up.  How cute are they?

The dress...oh, the dress.  It was...nothing spectacular.  I was a bit disappointed in it to be honest.  The first thing I thought of when I saw it was Princess Grace's dress.  Apparently I was not the only one, as it was all over the news shows later.  It was elegant and striking, and fit her beautifully (like it wouldn't though), but it just didn't have the wow factor for me.  I did like the sculptural elements of the dress, but it looked like, well, an ordinary wedding dress (a friend on FB said it looked like something from David's Bridal!).  If you marry into royalty, you should bring on the sparkle!  I wanted more!  MORE!  I did think the sheerness of the veil was lovely though.

The tiara...too small!  With all the bling in the royal collection, she should have had something more blingy!  I'm sad she didn't wear one of the more famous tiaras.  I was personally pulling for one of the following:

The Grand Duchess Vladamir's Tiara, which is now owned by the queen, and can be worn with pearls or Cambridge emeralds:

The Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara (which would have been appropriate given that she is now the Duchess of Cambridge):

Or my personal favorite, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara:

There was so much to love about the day, but my hands down favorite moment was when Will and Kate first walked out onto the balcony and Kate saw the size of the crowd and said "Oh, wow."  That was a moment!

Speaking of the crowd, did you see how orderly they were?  It was unreal!  I was amazed watching them walk calmly down the Mall behind the row of Police Officers toward Buckingham Palace. When they got to the circle in front of the palace, the line of police split, one going around one side of the Victoria monument, one going around the other side.  The crowd very orderly followed them and met in the middle.  It was awesome to watch from the aerial camera.  I've tried finding a video of it, but I can't.  If you know where I can see it, PLEASE let me know.  James Bond missed it and wants to see it.

The guests were certainly a mishmash weren't they?  Royals, dignitaries, singers, actors, soccer stars, military members (several from Wills' own unit), and did you know that Kate invited her postman, butcher convenience store owner and a few other people she knew from her town?  How nice is that?  When I saw Guy Ritchie, I wondered if Madonna regretted the divorce.  If they'd stuck it out, she could have gone to the wedding.  I'm just saying. 

I loved the overall feel of the wedding though.  They seemed genuinely happy and despite all the pomp an circumstance, like two normal people excited to get married.  I hope their marriage is long and happy.

Oh, there are many more things I can say, but I think I'll stop for now.  I'm kind of on wedding overload.  What did you think???

Less than 2 weeks until the big day!!!

Hi, I'm Mom in High Heels and I am a royal watcher.  I do not say it with shame.  I say it with pride.  Sort of.  I mean, what little girl didn't dream of growing up to be a princess?  Since we have no royals of our own, the British royals are the ones to watch.  Sure, there are royals from loads of countries, but the Brits OWN royalty.  Own.It.  They have it all: money, power, fame, looks (some of them anyway) and even a sense of duty, responsibility (some of them) and charity.  In less than 2 weeks, the wedding of the year, the decade (and likely the early half of the century) will take place, and I will sooooo be watching.  I can't wait to see the pomp and pageantry and most of all, the dress.  Oh, I am dying to see the dress!!!!  What will Kate wear?  WHO will Kate wear?  It's all a big mystery that I can't wait to unveiled (get it?  un-VEILED?).  Until then though, I eat up every scrap of info that comes to the press about the big day with glee in my royal watching heart.  Some of it is ridiculous (do I really care that Posh Spice will be there?  Nope), some of it interesting (the fact that Kate will buck tradition and arrive in a car instead of a carriage or coach-do you know the difference?  If not, check out this Royal Wedding Wednesday post over at Decor to Adore), and some of it fun and silly.  Recently there was an ad by T-Mobile spoofing the royal wedding (with surprisingly good look-a-likes) that made me laugh.  I had planned on sharing it tomorrow, but it showed up today on the Yahoo front page (damn you, Yahoo scoopers), so I figured I'd go ahead and post it.  If you haven't seen it, it's well worth the time.  Enjoy!




Oh, and in case you're into Lego's (and boy is Indy into Legos), Legoland Windsor has a Lego version of the royal wedding.  Impressive.

Are you a royal watcher???

Unless you live under a rock, with your eyes shut, your fingers in your ears and sing "la-la-la" all day, you know there's a royal wedding coming up. You might not know that there are actually 2. In addition to Prince William and Kate, the reigning monarch of Monaco, Prince Albert will be marrying this summer. The heir to the most popular throne and a reigning monarch getting married within a few months of each other? Oh, it's going to be a banner year for royal watchers!
Laura Ingalls Gunn over at Decor to Adore is hosting Royal Wedding Wednesdays where she explores all aspects of the upcoming royal wedding. It has quickly made Wed into one of my favorite days of the week. Yep, I'm a nerd. I loves me some royals. I remember getting up crazy early back in 1981 to watch Charles and Diana get married and thought it was the coolest thing ever. Of course it didn't turn out too well, but that day was amazing and something I will not forget. I'm super excited to get to watch William and Kate get married but I'm crazy happy that I'm in a much better timezone for said wedding (I'm an hour ahead of London, so no early morning for me). I'm also hoping that there will be slightly more coverage of Prince Albert's wedding once Wills and Kate (that's right, I call them that) have tied the knot. We went to Monaco (which they pronounce Mon-AH-co) this past year and it was stunningly beautiful. The royal palace was gorgeous and the views! Oh, the views! I could totally see myself living there. You know, if I was ridiculously wealthy.
If you're a royal watcher be sure to check out RWW and enjoy!