fundamentallyroyal

[fundamentallyroyal]

The emeralds are stunning with her dark hair. They really pop. Gorgeous!

TIARA ALERT: Queen Mary of Denmark wore Queen Caroline Amalie’s Emerald Parure Tiara for a new official portrait at Christiansborg Palace on 25 April 2024.

[fundamentallyroyal]

This election is not about policy. This election is about protecting our democracy. I will happily vote for Biden, even though I disagree with some of his policy decisions (in particular his handling of Palestine and Israel). Biden will protect our democracy, Trump won’t. Full stop.

i ask this in 100% good faith as sometimes who's just read over Trump's 2025 manifesto: what the fuck are we supposed to do

like i know the big call is to not vote for Biden or Trump and trust me I do not want to vote for Joe, but the manifesto is going after the rights of women, pregnant people, every type of person under the LGBTQ umbrella, POC, and in a political climate where Roe v. Wade was overturned i feel like it's completely possible that he'd be able to achieve at least some of that so

is there a 3rd party candidate I don't know about?? or what is the plan here bc tbh as a queer person and someone who was planning to be pregnant in the next year I'm scared as hell like are we really just not voting? It's 7 months out and I feel like no one is agreeing on what to do

#vote blue no matter who

[fundamentallyroyal]

#WhoDey

In honor of the Super Bowl here are two of the most insane Joe Burrow scrambles…that happen to have been against both the 49ers and Chiefs

[fundamentallyroyal]

She’s a democrat. They hate that more than anything. The irony is that she’s only encouraged people to register to vote. She hasn’t been outwardly political since she endorsed Hillary, and that was less endorsing Hillary and more not endorsing Trump.

I don’t understand why republicans are h8ng taytay? She’s everything they’d normally love isn’t she? Girl next door, she’s not very political, she’s pretty, she’s white, isn’t she sort of southern?! You’d like they’d luv her. IDGI!!!

Is it bc their football team lost or some other stoopid man reason

[fundamentallyroyal]

For me it was Carl Philip and Sofia’s wedding!

You're not a true royal watcher unless you've watched a random live stream of an event that doesn't impact you whatsoever with no clue what anybody is saying

[fundamentallyroyal]

In London during the late spring of 1953, preparations for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation were reaching their denouement.

Couturier Norman Hartnell was completing a dress to outshine any other.

Tucked away at the back of Hartnell’s lavish Mayfair townhouse, a team of embroiderers were finishing stitching a floral garland on the ivory silk bodice and crinoline.

Pastel thread, jewels, sequins, beads and 10,000 seed pearls were sewn as Commonwealth emblems and British flora around an English Tudor rose scattered with diamond dewdrops.

Six young, aristocratic maids of honour, including 19-year-old Lady Anne Coke – best-selling author Anne Glenconner – were being drilled like guardsmen by The Duke of Norfolk, responsible for organising the coronation, as they rehearsed the walk to the Abbey altar, with his wife, the Duchess, standing in for The Queen.

“If the Bishops don’t learn to walk in step,” he remonstrated, “we’ll be here all night.”

The photographer Cecil Beaton, well-versed in photographing crowned heads and aristocrats in the Vogue studios, was prepping a vantage point in Westminster Abbey, high up by the organ pipes, as the best location from which to capture the ceremony.

It would be a long day; he’d fill his top hat with sandwiches to sustain him.

Nearby, at Garrard, the Crown Jeweller and his team of master craftsmen were hunched over workbenches altering the Imperial State Crown to fit the young Queen’s head.

Garrard had made the Crown in 1937 for King George VI – a replica of the crown designed and crafted for Queen Victoria, which contained virtually all the same stones symbolic of centuries of Royal history, fitted around a purple velvet cap and ermine band.

Clusters of diamond-set crosses and fleurs-de-lis linked by swags of diamonds, supported by sapphires, emeralds and pearls in the form of oak leaves and acorns, dazzled around the massive 317.40 carat Cullinan II diamond, the Second Star of Africa, cut from the largest diamond ever discovered.

Above it sat the Black Prince’s Ruby – in fact, a spinel, worn by Henry V at Agincourt – while the 104 carat oval Stuart sapphire gleamed at the rear of the band, with the cross atop the orb set with the sapphire from Edward the Confessor’s ring.

King George VI requested Garrard create an inner “hammock” style fitting, like a guard’s officer’s bearskin, to distribute the nearly three pounds of weight evenly on his head.

Reshaping the circlet for Queen Elizabeth II involved remounting the stones and motifs of which it is composed, as well as repositioning and lowering the arches, all of which required craftsmanship of the highest skill. 

The aim was to improve the strength of the crown with lightness of weight, which isn’t easy with large stones, and those which were cut nearly 300 years ago.

They were working against the clock. The new Queen required time before the ceremony to become accustomed to the crown’s feel and weight.

“There are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they are very important things,” said Her Majesty, recalling its heaviness on the 65th anniversary of the coronation.

“Fortunately, my father and I have roughly the same shaped head, so once you put it on, it stays.”

The media demanded constant updates on Garrard’s work, with the coronation making broadcasting history as the first service to be televised, adding to the sense of pressure.

In addition, two gold Armill bracelets of sincerity and wisdom, symbolic of the monarch’s bond with the people needed to be finished, which were replacing the 17th-century enamel bracelets dating from the coronation of King Charles II.

In previous ceremonies, the Armills had been carried, but these were made for the Queen to wear, decorated with two rows of engraving and Tudor rose clasps with red velvet linings.

Garrard was also inundated with cleaning requests.

“No one had worn their jewellery or tiaras during the war,” explains Lady Anne.

“People were queuing to have their tiaras, which were like great fenders of diamonds, stomachers and necklaces cleaned.”

On the day, 2 June 1953, it poured with rain.

Lady Anne remembers arriving at the Abbey:

“It was pretty dark and cold. Our dresses weren’t lined, there were clothing coupons after the war you see.

A tiny thread of blue cotton had been placed on the floor in the Abbey, so the Queen knew where to stand.

When the procession began, we walked past row upon row of tiaras, as well as people in their National dress.

The Queen walked a bit faster than the Duchess had in rehearsals, so we had to adjust our steps.”

The ceremony ended at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

Hartnell left after watching his historic dress sweep down the aisle followed by the procession of royal pages, maids of honour, peers and peeresses sparkling with diamonds, looking, he remarked:

“Like a lovely hunk of fruitcake, the damson jam of velvet bordered with clotted cream of ermine and sprinkled with the sugar of diamonds.”

Beaton rushed to Buckingham Palace to photograph the Queen theatrically against a painted backdrop, holding the orb and sceptre and wearing the Imperial State Crown.

The Crown Jeweller Garrard remained until The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had taken lunch in the Abbey annex, in case any last-minute adjustments to the diamond-encrusted Crown were needed.

“Cecil was waiting when we all returned from the Abbey,” Lady Anne continues.

“He had everything set up for the photographs, and that’s when I really noticed the Crown and jewels glittering under the bright lights and took note of it all.

The Queen looked so young, beautiful and vulnerable, so the contrast of seeing her crowned with all the regalia was extraordinary.

She was weighted down a bit, but I remember thinking it was terribly poignant.”

A tense moment followed.

“The Duke of Edinburgh was fussing around, and Cecil got irritated, put his camera down and said, ‘Oh Sir, would you prefer to take the photographs?’” Lady Anne laughs.

“The Queen looked a bit horrified, and The Duke wandered off. You see, The Duke would have liked the photographer Baron, but it was The Queen Mother who adored Cecil.”

Later, it was still rainy and dark outside.

When the gleaming, crowned figure of The Queen appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony, she shone with a sense of tradition and permanence.

With the Imperial State Crown, she wore the Coronation necklace and earrings, made in 1858 by Garrard and worn by Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary, including 25 brilliants suspending the Lahore diamond drop.

Time will tell if the Armills will return to being carried at the Coronation of HRH The Prince of Wales, and if he has inherited the Windsor head shape, but should substantial adjustments be required, the crown will appear once more unchanged.

The historical continuity of the regalia, and the fact the crown is still in constant use, makes these jewels created in the Garrard workshop the most potent in the world.

[fundamentallyroyal]

Beautiful! It looks like a store showroom. It’s stunning.

All set for our family Christmas Eve Eve dinner 🎄

[fundamentallyroyal]

There is an American comic book character named Katy Keene. Thats probably what he’s referring to.

Hi BB, don' judge me too harshly but I love a royal weekly discussion programme that I don't have to pay for. One I watch is the mail's palace confidential. Richard Eden is on most weeks and he had a theory as to where Kate's new scobie book nickname came from. Meghan had mentioned in an article that she had loved some American cartoon as a child and she identified with the heroine. I can't remember the baddie's name but the second word was keen. He was only delighted with himself solving, in his eyes, the origin of Katie keen. He never has a good word to say about meg and h. Becca, in fairness is more measured.

That Richard dude is such an ass! Have u listened to @claireofluxembourg radio show, u should!

[fundamentallyroyal]

Catherine or Louis?

Sharing some festive memories this Christmas because #ShapingUs is all about the vital importance of our early years and the role played by those around us in shaping the rest of our lives.

📸 of The Princess, Christmas 1983

Don’t miss the Together at Christmas Carol Service with @.earlychildhood this Christmas Eve at 7:45pm on @ITV.

via The Prince and Princess of Wales

[fundamentallyroyal]

It’s giving cowboy Barbie

The Crown of the Swedish Heir / The Crown Princess' Crown

King Karl X Gustav's Crown of the Heir Apparent with its blue cap is the crown of Crown Princess Victoria. It was made in 1650 by Jurgen Dargeman in gold and set with pearls, diamonds, sapphires, and rubies.

The crown was made quickly for Queen Kristina's coronation in 1650. Only 17 days before the coronation, the Queen reminded the council that, according to tradition, the heir to the throne wore a unique costume consisting of a cloak, a crown and a cap. Jürgen Dargeman had just over a week to make a new crown for Karl (X) Gustav.

Because time was so short, Dargeman reused the crown created for Queen Kristina the Elder to wear for King Karl IX's coronation. He applied enamel decorations from the old crown and newly mounted stones to a freshly made plain crown ring with eight triangular points.

At the coronation, the crown is not worn directly on the head — instead, it is placed over a velvet hat, embroidered in gold and silver and edged with ermine.

The Crown of Sweden's Heir Apparent remains virtually unchanged to this day. The only alteration of any significance was carried out for the coronation of King Gustav III in 1772 when two of the lower sceptres were replaced with black enamelled corn sheaves, the symbol of the great Vasa dynasty.

King Gustaf V was the last to wear the crown (sans velvet hat), and it can now be seen at the Treasury at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, and the hat can be seen at the Royal Armoury.

Photos: The Royal Court of Sweden

[fundamentallyroyal]

[fundamentallyroyal]

It’s like a cow’s opinion.

You know what titles I want of Charles to strip from Harry? It's the princely and HRH he can have that tainted duchy title all he wants.

That one is even more complicated to remove but, well, Charles won't do anything and neither the parliament so, as Joey would say, this is a Moo point.

[fundamentallyroyal]

Brigitte!

TIARA ALERT: The Duchess of Gloucester wore Princess Alice’s Emerald & Diamond Tiara for the banquet during the state visit from South Korea at Buckingham Palace on 21 November 2023.

[fundamentallyroyal]

Catherine!!

[fundamentallyroyal]

Also known as The Oregon Trail generation. I’m the same. I’m two months older than Catherine. We don’t really fit into a generation - we are on the cusp of two, so we made our own!

“Are William, Kate, Meghan and Harry Gen X or millennials? As a Gen Z, I can't fit them culturally into one of the two eras.” - Submitted by Anonymous

[fundamentallyroyal]

This is one of the best pictures I’ve ever seen of Catherine. She’s stunning.

The Princess of Wales during a Rugby League Inclusivity Day at Allam Sport Centre in Hull || 5 OCTOBER 2023

[fundamentallyroyal]

She stopped posting a while ago, but I checked out the archives all the time. I loved to just go look at the wedding dresses and tiaras. I learned so much from her. She really helped spark my interest in royals. *Sigh*

You can use the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to access the old versions of Queens Jewel Vault/Order of Splendor :)

Just google "Wayback Machine" and paste the blog url in the little box. I'm sure there are a few posts missing, particularly from OoS, but it's pretty good

Thanks! Will try it out