Athena, who was born January 24, 2012, is the second child for Prince Joachim and Princess Marie. Their son, Prince Henrik, was born May 4, 2009.

Athena is the name of the Greek goddess of wisdom, a tribute to the Danish royal family’s ties to Greece (Queen Margrethe’s sister Anne Marie is the former Queen of the Hellenes).

Marguerite is the French spelling of Queen Margrethe’s name.

Françoise is the name of Princess Marie’s mother.

… and of course, Marie for the new princess’ mother.

The little princess is the first girl for Prince Joachim, who has three boys in all. His two eldest, Princes Nikolai (1999) and Felix (2002), are from his marriage to Alexandra Manley, now Countess of Frederiksborg.

Today, the Danish royals and their extended family celebrate a new life and the latest chapter in their dynasty. Congratulations!

See the Getty image library for more.

At little Henrik’s christening, and at Athena’s christening

Some royals chose to buck that tradition, however, and instead go for a colorful gem – or two or three – to present to their intended brides. Look no further than this fascinating array of gems worn by several royal lovebirds for inspiration:

Stunning Sapphire –

The most famous precious gem in recent times belonged to the late Diana, Princess of Wales. The eye-popping 18-carat oval sapphire surrounded by diamonds was chosen by Diana herself for her engagement to Prince Charles in 1981. The engagement ring is now worn by her daughter-in-law Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Charles and Diana’s son, Prince William, used this ring to propose to the former Kate Middleton while on holiday in Kenya together. With Diana in his thoughts, “this was my way of keeping her close to it all,” said William.

However, Diana was not the first to wear a sapphire and diamond engagement ring. Several styles of royal rings over the years have incorporated the diamond and sapphire theme.

In 1973, Captain Mark Phillips presented the Queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne, with a triple-stone set ring – a sapphire flanked by two diamonds. In 1994, Prince Pavlos of Greece gave heiress Marie-Chantal Miller a cabochon cut blue sapphire alongside a heart-shaped diamond. Pavlo’s brother, Nikolaos, took similar inspiration and proposed to his girlfriend, Tatiana Blatnik, with a deep blue sapphire ring surrounded by a halo of smaller, channel-set diamonds.

Cultural Ties –

Many royal engagement rings have a cultural significance. A young Maxima Zorreguieta was betrothed in 2001 with an orange diamond presented to her by the Dutch Crown Prince, Willem-Alexander. The Dutch Royal house is also known as the House of Orange, a color which symbolizes the Protestant faith.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark was swept away by Australian-born Mary Donaldson, whom he presented with an emerald-cut diamond flanked by two emerald-cut rubies, the red and white colors of the Danish flag. His brother, Prince Joachim, set that precedent when he gave former wife Alexandra a ring with diamond and ruby stones set in gold when he proposed in 1995.

Fast-forward to 2007. Prince Joachim, now divorced from Alexandra, became engaged to his French girlfriend, Marie Cavallier. The Danish prince gets the award for most unique engagement ring of all with this proposal – he presented Marie with a gold “giraffe” style ring surmounted by three oval-cut stones: a sapphire, a diamond, and a ruby. The colors represent the blue, white and red colors of the French flag. The ring was designed by jewelry artist Mette Rosgaard.

Personal Perfection –

Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret, the Queen’s younger sister, was engaged to photographer friend Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960. He had the ruby and diamond ring designed to resemble a rose in honor of the princess, whose full name was Margaret Rose.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, proposed to his flame-haired girlfriend Sarah Ferguson with a ruby surrounded by smaller diamonds mounted in gold. The prince chose a stone to match his fiancée’s lovely hair.

The platinum-haired Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby was made a princess with a family heirloom ring from Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. The ruby and diamond ring was the engagement ring of Haakon’s mother, Queen Sonja, and his grandmother, Princess Märtha of Sweden.

(Many thanks to the people at the PriceScope.com message boards for a photo of Mette-Marit’s ring. It is hard to describe as just ruby and diamond. It takes a photo to really see it’s unique beauty!)

For all of your dreamy royal rings, check out Gemvara! You can personalize ANY ring and make it as unique as you are!

Regardless, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are officially engaged and Brad gave her a personally designed engagement ring. Apparently he strenuously pored over this design for a year with their private jeweler. It turned out to be a ring similar to the one worn by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall!

ANGELINA

[via Mamapop.com]

CAMILLA, DUCHESS OF CORNWALL

[via Antique Jewelry Investor]

Camilla’s ring once belonged to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother – Prince Charles’ beloved granny.

Even Hollywood can’t help but copy the royals. :)

God Save The Queen (from this).

Comments are closed for this article at the Huffington Post, so I wanted to discuss it here.

Princess Beatrice Hires Emma Watson’s Stylist At Rate Of $2,400 A Day

Far be it for me to criticize someone attempting to look classy.

Princess Beatrice of York took a lot of flack for her horrid hat (of royal wedding day fame). Needless to say, she’s toned it down a bit since then. Apparently the torrent of criticism over her chapeau faux pas has caused Bea to distrust her own fashion instincts, so she hired a stylist.

Of course, it is not just any stylist. Yes, rather than check out the cute style combos on a site like Polyvore for herself, Bea has hired celebrity stylist Charlie Anderson to put her together. Anderson is the former fashion director for Tatler UK and is said to charge $2,400 per diem for his services.

Royals are supposed to look nice, but $2,400 per day is a little extreme, especially when Beatrice is not planning on making royal duties a priority any time soon. So really, all the she needs to do is have a basic knowledge of color theory and perhaps an assistant to give her a once-over before she leaves the house (and I still strictly maintain that Polyvore is a girl’s best friend).

Relax Bea. We like you for you, don’t feel the need to go over-the-top. Just don’t wear hats that could scare an ox.

The Queen is known for her beehive-inspired bouffants (as seen on the royal website). Princess Mary was photographed sporting her own brand of beehive for the annual New Year’s banquet, as reported by the blog The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor.

Mary’s hairdo was surmounted by a diamond and ruby tiara in the form of leaves and berries. It was a tiara once worn by Queen Ingrid of Denmark, Margrethe’s mother.

Introducing…

Princess Marie Mash-up

Charlotte Chic

Maxima in Wassenaar

Royal Raingear

Jewelry

Letizia’s Bulgari Ring

Maxima’s Engagement Ring

The Queen’s Button Earrings

Queen Alexandra’s Pearl and Diamond Earrings

The Awards ceremony, held in New York City on November 1st, included the presentation of 21 awards to emerging artists in theater, dance and film, as well as the Prince Rainier III Award, presented to Julie Andrews.

Some of the stunning tributes to Princess Grace by Montblanc, the creator of fine writing instruments, are seen below [click to enlarge]:

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene were joined by a cadre of celebrities. Attendees included:

Anne Hathaway and Carlo Giordanetti

Julie Andrews

Martha Wainwright and Rufus Wainwright

Petra Nemcova

Selita Ebanks and CEO of Montblanc North America Jan-Patrick Schmitz

That afternoon, a reception and lunch was hosted by the Governor-General for the royal couple.

October 24th was an “away day” in Brisbane. The Queen and the Duke hopped aboard a river boat and traveled up the Brisbane River to Southbank. Once ashore, they visited the Queensland Performing Arts Center.

That afternoon, the royals met with emergency response personnel and members of the communities affected by the floods. The Queen and Prince Philip attended a re-dedication Ceremony of Rainforest and the opening of Rain Bank.

The Queen and Prince Philip were back in Canberra on Tuesday, October 25th. They visited the Australian War Memorial and viewed the Afghanistan Memorial, where the Queen placed a wreath. Later, the royal couple met with Australian Defense Force Personnel at Orientation Hall.

October 26th: Prince Philip and The Queen participated in another Away Day, this time in Melbourne, where they opened the Royal Children’s Hospital. That afternoon they toured Melbourne, starting with a visit to the Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria; a walk through Federation Square and a ride on a Melbourne Tram; attended a reception hosted by the Governor of Victoria at Government House. The Queen was resplendent in pink throughout.

After the Away Day activities, The Queen and The Duke departed Melbourne for Perth.

On Thursday, October 27th, the royals paid a visit to Clontarf Aboriginal College. The Duke of Edinburgh was especially keen to see the sporting facilities. Afterwards, they attended a Garden Party at Government House, where the Queen turned out in her second stunning turquoise and white ensemble for the day.

Approximately one hundred students from across Western Australia lined a path to the lower gardens, when the Duke stopped to chat. Philip asked why the students were in pairs, and when told it was because they were the head boys and girls, he said in his typical blunt fashion: “It’s obvious they didn’t choose the attractive ones then”. (!)

Premier Colin Barnett was pleased to have the royal visitors come to the country, and he thanked the Queen and Prince Philip for visiting WA and presented the royals with a gift – a book of drawings of wild flowers from the Eastern Goldfields by Phillipa Nikulinsky.

October 28th: Her Majesty arrived at the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The opening featured a vast array of leaders from around the world: 25 Prime Ministers, 10 Presidents, five Vice-Presidents, two Deputy Prime Ministers, one High Commissioner, a lord and the Sultan of Brunei.

“I have had the good fortune, together with Prince Philip, to attend many CHOGMs over many years. Their importance has always been in precise relationship to their relevance: always being attuned to the issues of the day, and always looking to the future with a sense of vision and practical action to match. In your deliberations over the days ahead, you have the encouragement of the whole Commonwealth to maintain this vital tradition.” – The Queen’s speech at the CHOGM

That evening, the royal couple attended a banquet at the Pan Pacific Hotel. For this occasion, the Queen busted out her best parure for the occasion – the brilliant aquamarine set in honor of the brilliantly blue ocean that surrounds Australia.

These gems are gifts from Brazil. The earrings and matching necklace were a Coronation gift to The Queen from the President and People of Brazil in 1953.

The stones sit inside a diamond and platinum setting. A few years later, in 1958, a bracelet and matching brooch were presented to The Queen by the Brazilian Government as a matching set to the original Coronation presents. Elizabeth then requested that royal jeweler Garrard complete the parure with a stunning tiara.

On Saturday, October 29th, the Queen and the Duke were feted by the Australian community during “The Big Aussie BBQ”. In the spirit of outdoor eating, the Queen topped off her elegant maroon and white outfit with a hat eerily reminiscent of a marshmallow. S’mores, anyone?

And so…

Elizabeth and Philip set off from Australia back to the U.K. after the barbeque. It was a highly successful visit and one that the Australian people will not soon forget. Her Majesty charmed everyone she met, and though there were one or two gaffes (Gillard’s curtsey controversy and Philip’s quips!) the royal couple made a happy and favorable impression on their Commonwealth neighbors. It also gave the United Kingdom a chance to present its history-making change to the succession law.

Vivat Regina! (And God Bless The Duke!)

Read all about it here.