Kate Visits The Nelson Trust Women's Centre

Kate had two unannounced visits today and I love his coat, and also Informative Caption was written by the person at Getty who IS really informative. Behold: "The Duchess of Cambridge visits the Nelson Trust Women's Centre in Gloucester. The Women's Centre was set up in 2010 and is designed to support women who have vulnerabilities, particularly those who have experienced abuse and trauma. The centre has won numerous awards for the practical and emotional support it offers, with a focus on nine 'pathways of need'. These include; finances; physical, emotional and mental health; drugs and alcohol; trauma and abuse; sexual exploitation and sex-working.... During the visit, Her Royal Highness met with members of staff who deliver this vital support across The Nelson Trust Women's Community Services. The Duchess learnt about the various strands of work including; prison in-reach and social inclusion support, the Sex Worker Outreach Project, and Rural Outreach to young girls at risk. Her Royal Highness will also be introduced to women who have accessed support at the Women's Centre, and hear of their own personal experiences." See? SO INFORMATIVE.

Kate Visits The Nelson Trust Women's Centre

This is Gabriel, who is four months old, and his mom, Hlengiwe Sithole and OH MY GOD THAT BABY IS CUTE. Also, with the stripe-y socks, CLEARLY a soulmate of Kate's.

TKate Visits The Nelson Trust Women's Centre

It's not an official royal visit if you don't get to unveil a plaque.

The Queen

Per Informative Caption, here, "Queen Elizabeth II and Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos are seen through the window of the Diamond Jubilee State Coach as they depart his ceremonial welcome at Horse Guards Parade." You just know she's thinking, "damn it, I hope I remembered to DVR Vampire Diaries."

Colombian State Visit Shenanigans

HIDEOUS!

QE2 and Phil Welcome President Santos Of Colombia And Mrs Santos

Phil appears to be wondering if he forgot his wallet; Colombia's First Lady, Maria Clemencia de Santos looks nice, and I feel like Her Maj should be on the other side of the President to even out the composition of this photo.

Chaz and Cams

CHAZ: I feel like this might be overkill.

CAMS: I know, I KNOW. But isn't my new green suit fetching?

The Waleses and the Santoses

Over at Clarence House, we meet the Colombian president's kids: Maria Antonia Santos, Esteban Santos, and Martin Santos. I believe Martin is a journalist (as was his father) and I know -- because I have eyes -- that he is goooood looking.

The Colombian State Visit

So, whenever there is a state visit, they pull out items hailing from said country out of the Royal Collection and I swear half the time Phil's expression SO CLEARLY says, "huh! I didn't know we had this!" It's always a little weird to me, in that I assume a lot of the stuff in the Royal Collection was procured Back in the Day by...you know, imperial means. That said, Colombia was once part of Spain, and back in the day, Spain and England hated each other, so maybe you let the enemy of your enemy hang onto your stuff for you. I'm sure this is what President Santos's Nobel Peace Prize speech is going to be about, right?

Colombian State Banquet

HIDEOUS. (Although, TBH, I always want to them to turn down the lights a little bit in there. Give the joint a little mood lighting!

QE2

I always enjoy the image of the Queen rising from behind a giant pile of flowers to read at everyone before they get to eat.

QE2 Says Goodbye to the Santoses

I love that Mrs Santos packed her best Beige Heels for this trip. I feel you, lady. I might have done the same. (The Queen also looks so delighted to have hosted them, which is lovely.)

Duke Of York Hosts Pitch@Palace Event

Here, Informative Caption tells us, "The Duke of York accompanies his mother the Queen in to meet people attending the Pitch@Palace event, where people with bright new ideas look to gain financial help to promote these for future use and benefit from inventive Britons," but let's get real. I mostly just wanted you to see those HUGE SCONCES. They are BONKERS ENORMOUS.

The Queen Visits Newmarket

You know how much Her Majesty loves to meet a horse.

Queen Rania

I love this gown. It's so elegant.

Max and Wax Visit Australia

Meanwhile, Willem-Alexander and Maxima are visiting Sydney! I hope we've got some reports from the field -- please do let us know if you run into them. Maxima looks cute here -- although she may have borrowed that skirt from Mathilde. (They're posing here with New South Wales State Governor David Hurley and his wife Linda.)

Max and Wax Visit Oz

Yes, yes, but I need to know more about her necklace. IT LOOKS MAJOR.

Max and Wax Visit Oz

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra is required for all visiting dignitaries, and with good reason: It's an important place, and it's also SO beautiful. Maxima looks lovely here, I think. Additional interesting info from Informative Caption: "The Dutch royals are in Australia to mark the 400th anniversary of explorer Dirk Hartog's landing in Western Australia and the unveiling of Hartog's plate, which is the oldest existing relic of European exploration in Australia." That's VERY interesting indeed. (It is literally a plate. Not like a tectonic plate or something. Like a dinner plate.)

Max and Wax Visit Oz

What good timing for these two to be in town for the Melbourne Cup! Maxima looks FANTASTIC.

Max and Wax Visit Oz

Here's your Piano Picture!

Pope Francis Visits Sweden - Day 1

And over in Sweden, "the Pope is on two day visit attending Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration in Lund and Malmo." Somewhere, Martin Luther is STEAMED! (I will never tire of making Martin Luther jokes, because I am a nerd. Wait until you hear my bit about the five thesis he just couldn't get to land.)

Crown Princess Mary and Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami won the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award this year, and CPM got to present it. I decided that she and Camilla are in a book club together. Mostly, though, they just drink and gossip.

Queen Letizia

Something about the combo of this blouse, and her wide-legged pants, and her posture, makes Letizia look like she's about to launch into a tap dance. Maybe next week!

Royals Round-Up, November 4th, 2016

This week brought us Max and Wax in Oz, a state visit to London courtesy of the Colombians, a cameo from the Pope, a surprise outing for La Cambridge, AND MORE. In case you missed it earlier this week, we're obviously talking about the Meghan Markle/Prince Harry rumors -- although feel free to continue to chat about that here, if you so desire -- and Kate met a cat on a red carpet yesterday. And ELSEWHERE, loooots of Prince Harry dish, among other things: -- The Toronto Star has been covering the Harry/Markle thing with great and enjoyable attention to detail; go here if you need a refresher on all the latest. -- Us Weekly claims Meghan met Chaz at the shooting party for Harry's birthday, but they also claim she hasn't met Wills and Kate, but I read elsewhere that she HAS met Wills and Kate, and also I thought they were AT said party so....I sort of side-eye Us's royals coverage in general, to be honest. -- At People: Markle has been a bit coy on her Insta, and her PR has been kind of cutesy about her and Harry, too. In my studied opinion: This is what's going to scuttle it, if it's not just a fun fling in the first place (which, good for you if it is, lady!). The first rule of successfully dating someone in the Royal Family is discretion. No comment. Nothing. Keep your shit locked down, and you probably shouldn't even have an Instagram (difficult if you're an actress, of course). More than that, though, it's interesting to me that this news leaked the same week that we found out she has a clothing line coming out. And look, it might be pure coincidence. Camilla Tominey, who got the scoop, is a reliable royals reporter and she may have been working on this for ages. But while I don't think Markle's dating Harry solely for press, I DO think that the fact that their relationship became public knowledge at the exact perfect time for her to reap the maximum amount of benefit from the news is going to be looked at with huge suspicion. --The Crown drops on Netflix TODAY -- we will be covering it here in some form, of course! Starting next week (we don't get screeners, unfortunately, so we can't be as speedy with our coverage as would be ideal), so keep an eye open -- and Town & Country spoke to its actors about a question I've answered a lot in my day: Why Are Americans So Fascinated By the British Royal Family? -- T&C also had an interesting piece on The Crown's jewels and costumes. -- Per Hello! Pierre Casiraghi and Beatrice Borromeo are expecting a baby. Rumor has it that she's about six months along. Mazel! -- At Order of Splendor, tiaras tiaras tiaras!!! Speaking of Harry: Prince Harry said: "This big bull (male) elephant refused to lie down after it had been darted with tranquilliser. After about seven minutes the drug began to take effect and the elephant became semi-comatose, but it continued to shuffle for a while! They have a tendency to hone in on forests, rivers and people when in this state. Here we are trying to slow him down!" (Photo 3/5) photo @africanparksnetwork A photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Oct 28, 2016 at 3:12am PDT