Stand Out Style: A look at Letizia’s shoes

When your husband is 6’5″, you may feel a bit dwarfed. So what do you do? Spain’s Princess Letizia knows.

Letizia, a former newsreader, married Prince Felipe of Spain on May 22, 2004. Since then, the already elegant Leti has had her image honed to perfection. That includes even making the height ratio attractive.

To close the gap in their height difference, special shoes are designed for Her Royal Highness to maximize her stature. In the photo below – during a visit with the Sarkozys – you will notice that the princess’ shoes have ‘boosters’ on them:

(April 27, 2009 – Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images Europe)

A pair of black boosters:


(January 7, 2010 – Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images Europe)

Sleek gray:

(November 1, 2009 – Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images Europe)

A Handsome Pair:


(November 23, 2009 – Photo by Getty Images Europe)

The darker colors look more stylish than the lighter colors. I wouldn’t mind wearing a pair in deep navy blue, myself. To the rest of the ladies in the audience: would you wear these shoes?

BFFs: A look at some royal friendships

If you have ‘tweens’ or teenagers, chances are you’ve heard the term “BFFs”. The catchy abbreviation stands for “Best Friends Forever”, a term that’s taken seriously by some of Europe’s royals.

Take the Scandinavian troika of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, and Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria: all three are close friends and, like most European royals, are distantly related through Britain’s Queen Victoria.

These three all have close ties with one another, as they share a unique position of being the heir to a throne. The burden is eased knowing that they can talk and share ideas with someone who understands the pressures. Both Frederik and Haakon have always regarded Victoria as a “lillesøster” (little sister), attending royal ceremonies and performing official duties together whenever they can.

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“We share experiences from travel, and talk together on complex issues where we need to exchange ideas,” says Princess Victoria.

“We always have a really nice time together. Meeting points are obviously not as frequent as you want. Full calendars sometimes prevent you from being united, but I am very fond of both the Crown Princes and grateful for their support.”

One of their joint outings occurred when Frederik, Haakon, and Victoria visited the Antarctic as patrons of the International Polar Year, a project which allowed them to schedule working time together. They all have a keen interest in the environment and are usually seen together for such causes. In December 2009, they spent time in Frederik’s homeland of Denmark, where they attended the opening of the Bright Green Expo in Copenhagen.

Previously, Victoria was the only unmarried royal among the group, and would often accompany her princely “brothers” and their wives at royal functions. Now Victoria is escorted by Daniel Westling, her fiance, who will become a royal prince and the Duke of Västergötland upon their marriage on June 19th. The Crown Princess will walk down the aisle the same day her parents married in 1976.

The Scandinavian triumvirate are so close that Victoria was named godmother to Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Christian, the eldest children of Prince Haakon and Prince Frederik, respectively.

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The Crown Princesses of the Netherlands and Belgium are close friends through their royal husbands. Even their countries are intertwined. Belgium was once a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but gained independence in 1830. Both nations remain close allies.

Princess Maxima of the Netherlands and BFF Princess Mathilde carry out several engagements for their respective countries, but try to make it a joint effort as much as possible.

Many say that the pair work ‘seamlessly‘ when they attend events together. The opening of a new museum in Leven, Belgium, was no exception: Maxima and Mathilde smiled and greeted the crowds with warm enthusiasm and clearly enjoyed each other’s company as well.

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Mathilde and Maxima have a lot in common. Close in age, they both married heirs of thrones; both women are university-educated; they speak several languages fluently; and both were successful career women when they met their husbands.

Argentine-born Maxima was working at the New York branch of Germany’s Deutsche Bank when she began dating Prince Willem-Alexander. Mathilde was employed as a speech therapist when she met her future husband, Prince Philippe, during a casual game of tennis.

The pair of princesses also share a love of being hands-on, attentive mothers. Maxima has three girls and Mathilde has two boys and two girls. Mathilde is godmother to Maxima’s middle daughter, Princess Alexia.

Add your favorite royal pairings in the comments below!

Profile: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

Fondation Pour L'Enfance Ball In Versailles

Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, was born in Havana, Cuba on March 22, 1956.

Her parents, banker José Antonio Mestre y Alvarez and the late María Teresa de Mestre are both from families descended from the Bourgeoisie and Spanish nobility. They do not, however, carry any titles.

In October 1959, at the time of the Cuban revolution, the toddler Maria Teresa Mestre left Cuba with her parents. The family settled in New York where Maria Teresa was enrolled at Marymount School.

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Duke of Windsor changed his mind

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s secret plot

King George VI led the nation through the Second World War with his winsome wife, Queen Elizabeth, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. But as the war drew to a close, the king’s health began to fail. The formerly uninterested Duke of Windsor decided that he and his wife, Wallis, would take advantage of his brother’s illness and return to Britain to reign in his stead.

Prize Dogs

According to the Sunday Telegraph, Christopher Wilson, an acknowledged expert on the Royal family, has studied copies of the 1946 correspondence between Windsor friend Kenneth de Courcy and the Duke and Duchess. The plan formulated by de Courcy amounted to treason – the Duke would return from exile to reign in King George’s place, even though the Duke had already officially abdicated kingship a decade earlier. He would supplant the king’s daughter, Princess Elizabeth, the rightful heir.

To de Courcy, the ill George VI was similar to King George III during his years of madness – still technically king in name, but increasingly unable to reign. Shunting Princess Elizabeth aside could be explained away as merely keeping Lord Mountbatten from the throne. One letter explained it thus:

“I do not think it too much to say that if the Regency should be one primarily influenced by the Mountbattens [ie Lord Mountbatten and Prince Philip], the consequences for the [Windsor] Dynasty might be fatal… the Mountbattens, thoroughly well-informed of the situation, will do everything in their power to increase their influence…”

It was a plan for the Duke to become King Edward VIII once again, only this time it would be on his terms. Thankfully, such a scenario never occurred. Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II upon the death of George VI on February 6, 1952. The Queen will celebrate 60 years on the throne in 2012.

Saying goodbye to a generation

Even if you aren’t a history buff, the thought of the end of a generation is mind blowing.

I realized with breathtaking finality what it meant when I saw the Queen attending the service at Westminster Abbey to “mark the passing of the World War I generation”. The words alone are astounding.

This year, the three remaining veterans of WWI passed away: William Stone in January, and both Harry Patch and Henry Allingham in July. Allingham was the oldest Royal Navy Veteran, the last survivor of the battle of Jutland, and a founding member of the Royal Air Force.

Funeral of First World War Veteran Henry Allingham

The families of many of these WWI heroes attended the service. The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, laid a wreath on The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to commemorate the event.

http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary

Profile: Princess Marie of Denmark

Prince Joachim Of Denmark Announces His Engagement to Marie Cavallier

Marie Agathe Odile Cavallier was born in Paris on Februrary 6, 1976. The princess lived in a modest house there until the age of ten with her parents, Françoise and Alain, and her half-brothers Benjamin and Gregory.

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Winegums and Wilders

Winegums and Wilders: The latest RoyaltyNow! episode. See it today!

The Grimaldi Curse strikes again

Legend has it that the reigning family of Monaco will never find true happiness in marriage.

This 13th century ‘curse’ was laid upon them by a girl who was allegedly raped by Prince Rainier I. She became a witch in order to exact her revenge upon him and his family – the Grimaldis – who seem to be genuinely affected.

This time around it’s Princess Caroline – again – with reports that she is splitting from husband number 3, Prince Ernst August of Hanover.

Caroline, who has not been seen with Ernst since early June, has left the family chateau in Fountainbleau, according to magazine Point de Vue.

Below, some of the other nuptials gone wrong in the house of Grimaldi:

- Prince Rainier III, who died in 2005, lost his wife Grace in 1982 when she perished in a car accident. It was even reported that their marriage had gone sour long before the tragedy.

- Princess Stephanie married her bodyguard, had two children with him, and then divorced him when he was photographed cheating on her with a model. She had another relationship that went nowhere with another bodyguard, but it did result in a third child – daughter Camille. Stephanie has had a string of boyfriends since, one which culminated in another brief marriage.

- Prince Albert, the current reigning prince of Monaco, has fathered children with two different women and has dated many models and actresses, but has never settled down. His current girlfriend, Charlene Wittstock, is rumored to be the next reigning princess but so far no engagement ring has appeared.

- Princess Caroline married playboy Phillipe Junot against her parents’ wishes. She was only 19 at the time, and two years after they wed, they were divorced. Caroline tried to have the marriage annulled, but the Catholic church refused her.

Caroline met and married Stefano Casiraghi a couple of years later. The world thought that the princess had finally found happiness with a soulmate, but Casiraghi died in a speedboat accident at the age of 30. He left Caroline with their three children.

The princess married again, this time to a descendant of King George III of the United Kingdom. Prince Ernst of Hanover seemed to be a bit too gauche but she married him anyway after it was discovered she was pregnant with their daughter Alexandra.