The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit RAF Valley

"Oh, no. This LOOKS like plain orange juice, but it's actually a screwdriver. Who do you think I am? Okay, come closer and let me tell you all the tricks I learned about drinking heavily in plain sight from Zara."

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit RAF Valley

Have you seen this coat before? YOU HAVE. She wore it that one time she got off a bus with her hair looking weird, and then another time, where I complained that I never got a good look at this coat. WISHES ARE GRANTED. Thank you, Middleton.

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit RAF Valley

"Hey, everybody! Look who I found making out in the hallway!"

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit RAF Valley

I'm going to make an unhelpful and weird comment, but I hope you will understand me: I think that hat looks weird with her hair when she's inside, but totally fine outside at the parade, the photos of which you will see next. How...does that even work?

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This seems like a good place for Informative Caption to pop in and boss us all around with knowledge: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge [attend] a ceremony marking the end of RAF Search and Rescue (SAR) Force operations during a visit to RAF Valley on Anglesey, Wales...The ceremony commemorates the end of 75 years of service by the men and women who over the decades have often put their lives at risk to save others." That is also where Wills was stationed when they were first married and everyone left them alone. I'm sure it was a bittersweet occasion.

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit RAF Valley

I also learned from People that Wills' fellow officers bought up a ton of royal memorabilia and made him do the washing up with his own face, which is...a sincere delight to me. (Here, he's like, "what are you gonna do? Sometimes you need a dish towel.")

The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Visit RAF Valley

See? The hat works outside.

Wills Visits the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

LONDON, UNITED Informative Caption says, "Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, is shown around the crisis response centre room as he visits the Foreign and Commonwealth Office....During the visit Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of the FCO's Diplomatic Academy, William gave a speech, presented awards and visited the crisis centre room to see how their staff respond in the aftermath of international deadly attacks or natural disasters." But whatever with that. APPLAUSE to Getty photog Matt Dunham for this AMAZING photo wherein it appears the crown logo on the wall sits perfectly on William's head.

The Duke Of Cambridge Marks 1st Anniversary Of The FCO Diplomatic Academy

"I understand I am here to address the newest members of the Blue Suit Society, correct? Yes? NO?! Well, cripes. I have no idea what I'm going to say, then."

The Duke Of Cambridge Marks 1st Anniversary Of The FCO Diplomatic Academy

What a totes hideous room.

Queen Elizabeth II Attends Gold Service Scholarship Awards Ceremony

Doesn't she look DELIGHTED? SOMEONE got the lion's share of the sticky toffee pudding at this event.

QE2 Recieves Credentials

QE2 here is meeting the Ambassador of Senegal, Cheikh Ahmadou Dieng, and his wife Mrs Dieng, and everyone here looks very snazzy. Mrs Dieng's dress is beautiful.

Camz

Meanwhile, Camz pops over to "a preview of the new 'Wondercrump World of Roald Dahl' exhibition," and her purple coat seems like a very, very good choice.

The Prince Of Wales Visits The National Gallery In His Role As The First Royal Patron

I just thought this was a great photo. "The Prince of Wales visits the National Gallery to tour the new Delacroix exhibition and attend a reception to mark his new patronage."

The Prince Of Wales & Duchess Of Cornwall Visit Yorkshire

He also slurped tea and gave us a good look at that shirt/tie/pocket square combo.

King Willem-Alexander

Just another day in the Netherlands.

Spanish Royals Visit The Prado Museum

At first glance, this suit on Letizia seems boring. But then look at the lapels on that blazer. Beautiful.

Queen Letizia

This coat looks very cozy. Like it's the cousin to a robe.

King Felipe VI Of Spain Visits 'Gomez Ulla' Hospital

NEVER gonna deprive you of seeing Felipe in uniform. Here, he's filming a scene in Outbreak 3. (JK. Actually, he's visiting "the Central Hospital of Defense, which has recently opened a high-level unit to treat highly infectious diseases." So...similar.)

Belgium Royal Family Attends A Mass At Notre Dame Church In Laeken

Over to Belgium, where a bunch of Belgium's royals attend Mass. They are: Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein, Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein, Queen Mathilde and King Philippe, Princess Marie-Esmeralda of Belgium and Princess Lea of Belgium. I obviously went right to Wikipedia for gossip on any of these Rando Royals. Nikolaus and Margaretha are married, and, fascinatingly, "for the time being, this is the last dynastically equal marriage between two sovereign houses currently reigning in Europe." Princess M-E has nothing juicy on her page, but Princess Lea had A SECRET MARRIAGE to her prince, as they thought his mother would freak (because she was already twice divorced), despite the fact that said mother was ALSO secret-married because his father knocked her up! WAIT. There's MORE. His father's first wife died when his father drove their car off a cliff and into a lake! Said father also surrendered to the Nazis when he wasn't exactly supposed to, kind of screwing over other Allied troops (the British press raked him over the coals mercilessly -- "the Daily Mirror published a picture of Leopold with the headline 'The Face That Every Woman Now Despises'" -- and so did his own Prime Minister, although later it seems people came to the decision that maybe he had no choice). Blah blah blah, there was all this stuff with Hitler, and he was basically forced to abdicate and kicked out of the country. (His entire Wiki page is here, and it's fascinating. He's King Phillipe's grandfather) I LOVE a Random Royals Wiki Deep Dive.

Belgium Royal Family Attends A Mass At Notre Dame Church In Laeken

I also like those metallic shoes.

Queen Maxima

Obviously, we always close with Maxima waving. She waves so well.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima Of The Netherlands Visit Western Brabant

And the hats are BACK OUT.

Royals Round-Up, February 19th, 2016

This week's Royals Round-Up brings you the return of Maxima, some wacky hats, a SOLID Rando Royals Wikipedia Deep Dive, and all the details from Wills and Kate's outing yesterday, which I was unable to bring you in a more timely manner because I was on a plane when the photos all came in. More for today, right? Elsewhere: -- While we've got you here, I'm sure you'll hear more about this from us in the next few months, but The Royal We comes out in paperback in a couple of months, and it's available for pre-order NOW. Can I entice you by noting that it has a bonus chapter? (It's not new plot, but it is a look at an event in the book from the POV of another character.) (It also has a new cover for the paperback, so if you were in love with the hardback cover...FYI.) -- The Royal We is the book club pick this month for Forever Young Adult -- despite not being a YA book! We got a special dispensation -- and they actually made us our own cocktail. -- The Court Jeweller has an interesting piece on the on-going discussions of whether or not the Koh-i-Noor should go back to India. -- At Order of Splendor, an interesting tidbit on Imelda Marcos's Cartier tiara, which is going up for auction. (Don't worry; I know Imelda is not royalty, but you know. Tiaras. Of interest.) -- Good lord. OK! says Kate is pregnant again. Let me be clear: OK! will never, ever EVER EVER get the scoop on this. Anything you read about Kate in OK! is literally complete fiction. If that news is ever leaked -- doubtful, because the W&K set is famously close-mouthed -- it's because someone sold the story. And no one in a position to sell that story would go to a third-tier US tabloid. They're going to the Mail, or the Sun, or even People. -- Speaking of the DMIK, this made me laugh. I apologize: "The entrepreneurial younger brother of the Duchess of Cambridge is moving to Hong Kong next week to expand his personalised marshmallow business Boomf." As one does! -- At People, a sweet story about Wills and Kate's trip to Anglesey on Thursday -- that is, as Kate put it, where they started their lives together. -- Also at People: The Reluctant Royal! Belgium's Prince Laurent Says: 'I'm Tired of Being a Prince' You don't even have that much prince-y stuff to do, dude! -- Speaking of people who are very possibly not that thrilled with duties demanded of a role they were born into, this was a very interesting read at The Guardian: The Sun gives both barrels to Prince William. This is something I find fascinating. If you've read The Royal We, you know it's actually something we get into a lot in the book: Wills has a LOT of privileges but he also has very little choice about how to live his life, all because of to whom he happened to be born. The only option is to suck it up, basically -- and, yes, yes, yes, I know: he's got plenty of money and lot of advantages and I am not discounting that at all. But I think that if you are born to be king and haven't the constitution for that kind of life, one that also requires your child to be in the exact same situation, it would be a recipe for resentment (especially if you perhaps privately think the monarchy is a relic, and that the role of king will be essentially meaningless by the time it gets to you). I personally think the best option is to go the Princess Anne route and work your ass off for charities that are meaningful to you -- you cannot undo the family into which you are born -- but I also think that if you are Prince William, you're born into a construct that is designed to make you spoiled and then asks you to be utterly selfless. It's got to be kind of a mindfuck. (And I've got like 486 more pages of thoughts where this came from!) -- In related news, it seems like there's a case afoot for Anne: Delighted to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to our head office in Leatherhead pic.twitter.com/dxmoVHMxps — Dennys Brands (@dennysuniforms) February 17, 2016 [Photos: Getty, PA Wire]