Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth

This is very gallant and touching to me. We saw on the BBC yesterday the clips of Chaz reciting a Shakespearean sonnet in his mother's honor, which was both very touching and also slightly funny, in that said reading involved calling her an "aged princess," which is true enough, but doesn't he know that you never call a woman old, EVEN WHEN SHE'S 90? (All joking aside, it was very lovely.)

The Queen & Duke Of Edinburgh Carry Out Engagements In Windsor

This was at Windsor yesterday, and it is with great sadness that I must tell you we DID NOT see this bit, where Phil and QE2 stood up and rolled around in their Range Rover like total ballers. I would have died all over again.

The Queen & Duke Of Edinburgh Carry Out Engagements In Windsor

We are absolutely in this photo somewhere. We were right at the top of the walk-about area; we saw the Queen's car roll down the hill and out of the gate, and everyone waved and cheered, and then she and Philip emerged about...ten feet ahead of us? It was THRILLING. And then later, we scampered around to the back gate of Windsor Castle and saw them drive back inside, which was the moment at which both Heather and I made full eye-contact and smiled, and she smiled back, and we didn't get any photos of this because we were GOBSMACKED and nearly died. It was just an exceptional moment.

The Queen & Duke Of Edinburgh Carry Out Engagements In Windsor

ALSO, as a lover of Royal Logistics, I LOVED watching all the nuts and bolts of a royal walk-about -- like, all the cadets and helpful military folks who were tasked with ferrying the gifts people gave the Queen back to the castle, and the way security was handled. LOTS of PPOs running about, but the uniformed security people were mostly women, and they were, to a woman, so pleasant and lovely.

The Queen & Duke Of Edinburgh Carry Out Engagements In Windsor

I actually also wore this hat. (He's the town crier, I believe. MUCH of this went on our SnapChat, and we've been saving those and are going to post them all later, so even those of you without the SnapChat can see them eventually.)

Queen Elizabeth II and Nadiya Hussein

READ NO FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED ON ANY GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW NEWS but this is the most recent winner of said precious show, and she baked the Queen's birthday cake. We also saw her interviewed on the news; that season of GBBO hasn't aired in the US yet, but she seems utterly delightful. (It is apparently an "orange drizzle delight with a butter cream and marmalade filling.")

A 62 Gun Salute For The Queen's 90th Birthday

We were at a cannon salute in Windsor, and the cannons were VERY small and yet VERY VERY LOUD. I would have had a difficult time during the Revolutionary War.

The Queen & Duke Of Edinburgh Carry Out Engagements In Windsor

I really don't know why EVERYONE doesn't light a flaming beacon to celebrate momentous birthdays. Personally, I am saddened that this one was not lit via Charles here using a flaming arrow. (I also, of course, love the head scarf on Her Maj.)

Camz and Chaz

I feel like this is the first time I've seen Camz holding a purse, but that can't be true. In other news, we saw the room in which these two were married in Windsor, and it's lovely. (It's also small, because -- as we were told -- Charles didn't want to have to invite all kinds of Obligation Guests, so they picked the room with the most petite capacity and could blame the fire and safety laws for certain peoples not being invited.)

POTUS, FLOTUS, The Queen and Prince Philip

I always get the impression that Obama and QE2 really really like each other. In my imagination, they text each other about, like, Downton on the regular.

President Obama And The First Lady Lunch With The Queen and Prince Philip

I decided Phil and her Majesty really tied one on last night for their big birthday bash and are a wee hungover today. I LOVE Michelle's dress. I want it for myself. It is, of course Oscar de la Renta.

The Queen & Duke Of Edinburgh Carry Out Engagements In Windsor

SWAG! I've already obviously bought a new Commemorative Mug. Will I get out of the country with merely one? (I've also bought two more Palace Pens. I have one from Buckingham Palace and it's literally the smoothest writing pen I own, so I obviously also got one at Windsor and one at KP.)

Fast Food Chain Changes Name To Burger Queen To Mark 90th Birthday Of Queen Elizabeth II

This just cracked me up.

The Duke and Duchess Of Cambridge Visit India and Bhutan - Day 7

In cleaning out my files, I came across a few snaps from the Taj that I neglected to post last week. This dress of Kate's is winning our Best of India and Bhutan poll at the moment, and I concur with that.

Wills and Kate at the Taj Mahal

I loved seeing this other angle of their surroundings. Also, they look like they MIGHT be secret spies here.

The Countess of Wessex Opens The Girlguiding Head Office

Meanwhile, this week, per Informative Caption, "Sophie, Countess of Wessex, accompanied by her daughter Lady Louise Windsor (wearing her Guides uniform) opens the newly refurbished Girlguiding head office." ALL of Lady Louise's Body Language is saying, "OH GOD MOOOOM," which makes me laugh. Also: the girl guides have a very functional uniform! I always loved my very impractical Girl Scout look, personally. It was bad for hiking or whatever, but it WAS very cute.

Queen Margrethe II Of Denmark And Family Celebrate Her Majesty's 76th Birthday

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, along with their kiddos, celebrate Queen Margrethe's 76th birthday here, earlier this week.

Queen Margrethe II Of Denmark And Family Celebrate Her Majesty's 76th Birthday

Herein we have Prince Joachim and Princess Marie, and their kids Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix Prince Henrik, and my favorite, Princess Athena who just wants to be able to see the view without a wrought-iron railing in her face!

Queen Margrethe II Of Denmark And Family Celebrate Her Majesty's 76th Birthday

Lots of Queen posing with their many grandchildren this week! Also, her crackpot husband who is always storming off and being a pill has changed his title in what sounds like potentially another snit.

Charlene and Al at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters at Monte-Carlo

Well, well, well, I guess these two are getting along.

Charlene and Al at Monte Carlo Rolex Masters at Monte-Carlo

Ding dong? (I do love Charlene's sunglasses/lip combo.)

Al, Char, Rafa

I am less enamored of her pants. Also: is it me, or is Rafa EXTRA EXTRA tan right now?

Queen Letizia

Over in Spain, Letizia literally just prompted me to put on a sweater. Not because she looks bad, but I would be so cold in that right now.

Queen Letizia

I enjoy all of these, even the beige shoes. Take note, Kate!

Felipe and Letizia Meet World Figure Skating Champion Javier Fernandez

Letizia looks FAB, but mostly I just wanted to give a shout-out to adorable and talented Javier Fernandez.

Queen Sofia Attends British Spanish Society 100th Anniversary Gala

Per Informative Caption, "Queen Sofia attends a gala commemorating the centenary of the British - Spanish Society, at the Dorchester Hotel" this week. I can't believe we didn't run into her, and also, WHAT IS SHE WEARING?

Queen and Crown Princess Of Norway Meet Sandefjord Waste Clearing Team

These two are doing community service instead of jail time, I assume? (JK. It's just normal old community service in the service of the community.)

Queen Maxima

I briefly thought Maxima was wearing camo. I would not put it past her.

Princess Beatrix

This is a lot of raspberry.

Crown Princess Victoria and King Carl XVI Gustaf

This is the cabinet meeting wherein the new baby prince's name was announced. I feel like Victoria looks so delighted!

Mathilde and Philippe

I reject Mathilde's gloves but I LOVE the striped dress and shoes.

Royals Round-Up: April 22nd, 2016

As we've mentioned previously, Heather and I happen to be in the UK this week, thanks to Visit Britain, and it's been WONDERFUL thus far, but never more so than when this happened: So we saw the Queen today. !!!!!! #OMGB #royalbritain #Queenat90 A photo posted by Jessica Morgan (@msmorganzola) on Apr 21, 2016 at 4:16am PDT We were in Windsor for the day, but I had NO IDEA we'd end up on the front lines of Her Majesty's birthday walkabout. It was, I must admit, extremely exciting to be present in person for such a milestone -- as an Anglophile, a lover of history in general, and someone who's written about royals both real and fictional for some time now. Heather and I both feel very lucky to have gotten to see her (and Philip, who is QUITE tall and spry in person). Lots of snaps from yesterday at Windsor in the slideshow, as well as other shenanigans. President Obama is here this weekend to have lunch with QE2 today, and then he and Michelle are having an event with Wills and Kate and Harry Friday night. I will definitely write about all of those events, but I'm not totally sure when I'll get to tonight's -- possibly Saturday, depending on where I am when the photos come in. (I mean, I will be in Scotland. But I might not get to it until later than usual.) It's going to be in their apartment in KP, so let's all be on alert for piano pictures. In case you missed it here this week: -- We're voting on our favorite look from Kate's trip to India and Bhutan. -- Wills and Harry visited the set of Star Wars and it was awesome. Chewbacca dispensed hugs. -- There were new portraits of the Queen released yesterday in honor of her birthday, and they involve tiny children, dogs, and Princess Anne. This post also has loads of pics from our trip. -- And you can see more pics from our trip over at Facebook. (We will be posting more pics later!) -- The paperback of The Royal We comes out on Tuesday, and you can still enter to win copies, and a prize pack from the UK! And in other news, I don't know if we're going to get better snaps of this, but: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Prince Harry on route to Windsor. pic.twitter.com/9jmALaGc5e — Niraj Tanna (@IkonPictures) April 21, 2016 Also, this happened: Prince George meets The President and First Lady of the United States pic.twitter.com/HZxelhSSr4 — Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 22, 2016 More pics to come later, but I think I speak for us all when I say, "!!!!" The dressing gown! Obama with kids! The inside of the KP apartment! -- People has good coverage of the very interesting BBC interview with Wills, which we saw much of while we were in London earlier. (As you can imagine, being here this week was VERY helpful for my job, although we tragically missed Elizabeth at 90.) His face goes full Aggressively Pleasant at one point; I almost called him Nick when I saw it. -- Also at People, Prince Carl Philip and Sofia have had their son and taken him home. His name is Prince Alexander Erik Bertil Hubertus. --Vogue UK has a good piece about this exhibit of QE2's clothes that's currently at Holyrood House, which we saw today, and which we are going to write about more in depth later. It is FANTASTIC and I highly recommend it; there's going to be HUGE version of it at Buckingham Palace this summer, as well. It's really, really well done. Also: so far, Holyroodhouse is the palace at which I MOST feel I could live, house-wise, thus far, in terms of the livability of its staterooms. DISCUSS. (I haven't been to Balmoral or Sandringham.) -- I love this piece in The Telegraph about the Queen's 90 years of style. -- Also at The Telegraph are 90 pictures for 90 years. -- ALSO at The Telegraph is a very interesting piece about the new recent stamps of Prince George. -- Via Harper's Bazaar: Nine of the Queen's unexpected powers and privileges -- At ArtNet: Celebrate the Queen's 90th Birthday With Favorite Shots From Her Royal Photographer -- The Brits are hiring a new social media manager, which I feel like we all suggested. I want one of you to apply! (Mashable) -- At Order of Splendor, a salute to the Queen's favorite tiara.