Prince Harry

In fair Verona (or wherever), where we lay our scene, Informative Caption tells me, "Prince Harry meets school children during the launch of the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour, 100 days before the Rugby World Cup." As ever when faced with children, he looks miserable and distraught.

Prince Harry

Behold, the obligatory button/unbuttoning of the suit jacket.

Wills

"DON'T WORRY. I TOO am here to wear the blue suit and button and unbutton things, even if I do have a tiny baby at home!" This is at a party for the 25th anniversary of Jewish Care. which "provides weekly care for members of the Jewish community, including Holocaust survivors and those with illnesses." Also present? LIONEL RICHIE. Be grateful I have spared you all of my HELLLLLO jokes.

Prince Harry

I am enjoying...a lot of things about this.

Prince Harry

Harry, in fact, did a lot this week. Here, he's at the unveiling of the Bastion Memorial at The National Memorial Arboretum, which is an event which thankfully requires uniform.

Prince Harry

Also required: The Royal Fist-Bump.

Prince Harry

This was earlier this week at the Gurkha 200 Pageant, about which I shall once again turn to Informative Caption: "The event, in aid of The Gurkha Welfare Trust, will chronicle and celebrate 200 years of Gurkha service to the Crown. For two centuries Gurkha soldiers have served alongside British forces in every major conflict, gaining a reputation for bravery and loyalty. During the two World Wars there were over 40,000 Gurkha casualties, while 13 Victoria Crosses have been awarded to Nepalese Gurkha soldiers. The 2015 bicentenary year recognizes and celebrates Gurkha service to the Crown. The Pageant is the centerpiece of a series of commemorative events taking place throughout the year."

QE2

Here's Her Maj at the same event (next to the sultan of Brunei), with a variety of her male family members milling about staring at stuff. This seems like it was QUITE A PRODUCTION.

Gurkha 200 Pageant

To wit. Was this a dramatic re-enactment? (I love a good re-enactment.)

QE2

"I have notes. That gentlemen on the left didn't seem fully commited to his character. What's his backstory? THINK, PEOPLE. THINK."

QE2

This is six year old Swechya Joshi and she is SO CUTE.

Queen Elizabeth II Views Ornate Gurkha Truncheon

This is earlier, but at an event celebrating the same anniversary. Has anyone ever looked this delighted by an "ornate Gurkha Truncheon (ceremonial staff), which is the Gurkha Rifles equivalent of a regimental Colour (battle flag) and was given to the Rifles by order of Queen Victoria in 1863"? No. But also probably very few people come face to truncheon. (Charles once again is demonstrating SERIOUSLY GOOD Pocket Square/Tie Coordination. NO ONE works the pocket square like Chaz.)

The Queen, Princess Michael of Kent, an eyepatch

In case you were wondering if Princess Michael of Kent had different eyepatches to match her different hats, the answer is YES.

The Queen, the rug

This is the new Ambassador of Thailand, Mr Kittiphong na Ranong, and they'll never speak of this rug again.

THE QUEEN

SO THIS IS AMAZING. Here, the Queen is presenting new colours to the Royal Welsh Guard and WHY DOESN'T SHE ARRIVE AT EVERYTHING THUSLY?

Chaz, Cams, and these dudes

This is a tea for The Battle of Britain Fighter Association and ergo all these dudes are awesome and I want to buy them a pint. Camilla NEVER looks happier than when she gets to hang out with jovial old men -- they really are her favorite group. Harry loves little kids, Camilla loves jaunty old men.

Camilla

And here, Camz and Chuck were at a D-Day Veterans portrait exhibition. Note the veteran with his portrait, in fact. Which is AWESOME. Both of Camilla's outings this week are making me miss my grandfathers.

Princess Anne

Informative Caption tells us that this is the Bicentenary Celebrations of The Royal Yacht Squadron but we all know that it's actually a stealth undercover operation.

Princess Anne

This guy is NOT GUILTY of whatever Anne's investigating. I love this photo.

Felipe and Letizia

Over to Spain. This photo also delights me. Felipe looks so pleased with himself and Letizia get to applaud. (I am not wild about that color on her, however. I also appreciate how fully leg-glossed she is.)

Felipe and Letizia

And I LOVE this on her -- she always looks good with a poufy skirt.

Queen Letizia

This is a re-wear and I never like it on her. It's like Zuul opened the portal to Gozer on her torso.

Felipe and Letizia

They're both wondering, "shit, did I leave the flat iron on?"

Maxima, Felipe and Letizia

This was at the memorial service for Prince Kardam of Bulgaria (and yes that is Maxima in the far corner). As a warm-up for this weekend's Swedish Royal Wedding Insanity, I dipped into Wikipedia, where I learned that he had basically been in a coma after his car crashed into a tree in 2008! That is too damn long to be in a coma.

Crown Princess Victoria

Because I like to cause as much emotional whiplash as possible in this feature, let us go from a tragic coma to wacky traditional outfits. This is Sweden's National Day outfit and Victoria does wear it with great charm.

CPV

Prior to coming home for National Day and the wedding, Victoria was in Portugal (some of which we covered last week), where she took part in a boat race. You KNOW how I feel about a royal boat race.

CPV and Jane Goodall

And then she met Jane Goodall, because why not? (CPV is having a very interested week indeed.)

Victoria and Daniel

And she and Prince Daniel also went to the Polar Music Prize, and (a) I LOVE this dress on her (let down the train, lady!) and (b) I think this hair is better on her and (c) LIPSTICK, VIC! Try it! But overall: WELL DONE and please keep leaving the house.

Queen Silvia and King Carl

At the aforementioned event. I generally dislike matchy-matchy shoes, but I might love these shoes specifically.

Crown Princess Mette Marit

M-M here is attending "the unveiling of a statue of King Olav V " AS ONE DOES. And the truth is that while she looks sort of as if she is in some kind of costume, with that hair and her coat, I LOVE THAT COAT.

Crown Princess Victoria, Daniel, Princess M-M

And today (I think; my time zones might be off, but it seems correct) was the big Pre-Wedding Dinner for Sofia and C-P. Crown Vic looks GREAT. M-M looks like she's going to an Anne of Green Gables convention later, as usual, although she wins the Hair Sweepstakes.

Sofia and C-P

Do we think Carl Philip is going to shave for tomorrow? (Not that I don't appreciate the scruff.) That important query posed: I think she looks great in this, which I believe is Elie Saab.* ALWAYS a good call. Well, almost.

*My bad, it's Zuhair Murad. STILL well done!

Queen Silvia and King Carl

In which Queen Silvia wears a formal pantsuit like a boss.

Lina Hellqvist, Sara Hellqvist

These are Sofia's sisters, the Pippas of the event (or the Laceys, if you rather). This has got to be quite surreal for them. They look nice, mildly shell-shocked.

Crown Princess Mary and Princess Isabella

CPM and her daughter Isabella did a variety of events together this week, but the most photogenic of them was OBVIOUSLY the one where they put on hip-waders and climbed into the drink.

Rahm Emanuel and Maxima

This is from last week, but I wanted to share with you Maxima's Chicago Turban anew. I LOVE it. I also love how delighted Laptop Kid looks. He's totally hiding the Royals Round-Up browser window right now. (Research, you know!)

Queen Maxima

AND THEN. Oh god, you guys. NO. NO.

Queen Maxima

GIRL. NO.

Queen Maxima Of The Netherlands Opens The Juliana Children's Hospital

Phew. MUCH BETTER.

Royals Round-Up, June 12, 2015

GET READY, because we have a lot to discuss this week, not the least of which is that Queen Maxima wore CULOTTES. Also, Fancy Dress kick-off for Sofia and Carl Philip's wedding, AND we're at Maximum Harry and it's only going to get maximum...ier. Or something. (See also: Previously, Prince Harry met Lady Gaga.) And, for some house-keeping: Saturday is both Trooping The Colo(u)r AND the aforementioned royal wedding, and we will be covering both of them over the weekend, so come on by! (Sophie Wessex and Prince Edward are the Brits whose names got pulled out of the hat to miss their own event in order to rep The Firm at the wedding. By which I mean, they're the ones who are senior enough to go without it looking like an insult who aren't also too important to miss their own shebang and who also aren't Prince Andrew. [I suspect Edward and Sophie always get the nod because the Queen knows they'll be well behaved. I look forward to seeing her hat!]) ANYWAY, I'm not quite sure which event is going to end up published first, but come on by anyway and cross your fingers Kate pops out to dangle George off the Buck House balcony. She IS going to be there Saturday, but George is a question mark (the RUMOR is that he's going to be in the carriage with Kate, but my guess is that it depends on his mood). I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the return of the Holy Triumvirate of Kate, Wills, and Harry. All this, and the Wikipedia Wormhole that comes from the rando aristos who attend any royal wedding! I am excited. ALSO: Some of you have been asking if you can get autographed copies of The Royal We and the answer is yes! We signed stock when we were in Chicago last weekend, so The Book Stall has a lot of signed copies at hand right now, and will happily ship to you wherever you may be. You can call them at 847 446-8880 to order, or email books@thebookstall.com. (They've actually got LOTS of signed books in stock, so take a look at the list and see if there's anything else you want, too.) And now, elsewhere: This is amusing. Our friends at People put Carl Philip's beard on a variety of other royals. Also at People, Kate and George popped out for snacks and groceries. Still at People, a primer on Trooping The Colour. (They used the "u" in color and SO SHALL I.) The folks at Duchess Diary chatted with Victoria Arbiter about what Prince Harry's new knighthood actually means. (A knighthood I forgot to mention last week because we were travelling for The Royal We and my mental note to add it fell out of my head.) This headline, at Hello!, makes me laugh: Duchess of Cornwall debuts quirky baked bean-inspired bag. Honestly, it's REALLY cute. Our friends at What Kate Wore take a look at new resort lines and make some picks for Kate. Huge thanks to Book Bub for including The Royal We on their list of great royal romances. This cocktail is called The Royal Promise and I WANT TO DRINK IT. (The Stripe) Apparently, Princess Charlotte is already sleeping through the night. I suspect she is the Easy Child after George, The Insane Child. (Yahoo) Harry will miss Charlotte's christening because the universe does not want us to see him holding a baby. (Hello!) Prince Philip turned 94 this week! (Hello!) Hello! also has more details on Princess Isabella of Denmark's week of official engagements. Pippa Middleton designed some pieces with Tabitha Webb in aid of the British Heart Foundation, and honestly, I really like that scarf. (Harper's Bazaar UK) At People, Queen Rania marks her 22nd anniversary via Instagram. (I am clearly going to have to start trolling her Instagram for photos, since we never get them from Getty. Thanks to a trusty Fug National for the heads-up there!) Smithsonian has a piece about the auctioning of royal wedding cake slices, and notes YOU SHOULD NOT EAT THEM. The upcoming Swedish royal wedding has been a great opportunity to eyeball other iconic royal wedding gowns. (Hello!) And The Court Jeweller has a REALLY great look at A Century of Swedish Royal Brides. And Order of Splendor's Tiara Tuesday is Swedish this week, and it's got a juicy story to go with it. Speaking of DRAMA, King Felipe has stripped his sister of her title, due to, you know, all the tax evasion and whatnot. Holidays might be awks for awhile at the palace. (Hello!)