UFO No More Podcast Episode 30: A Royal Fashion Hypothetical

On this episode, Laura answers a great question sent to her by Cecilia (follow Cecilia on Tumblr here). The question is: “Do you think that it would be accepted by the public if a duchess/princess/queen would perform official engagements without makeup and without high heels?”

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. If you listen on one of these sites, please consider leaving a rating and review.

UFO No More Podcast Episode 29: حب (with Special Guest Dina)

This week, Laura was joined by her good friend Dina (lovingtheroyals on Tumblr). Dina, who is Egyptian and a Muslim, felt very connected to Meghan’s first official solo project as a royal supporting the women of the Hubb Community Kitchen and helping them raise money through a cookbook. The ladies discussed the initiative and the launch event in detail. Dina also details a mistake Harry made at the event in a very informative and important way.

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. If you listen on one of these sites, please consider leaving a rating and review.

UFO No More Podcast Episode 28: William's Slip Up

ICYMI, this week Prince William made a mistake. He reference Chinese food at the opening of the Japan House. He quickly corrected, but the moment caused a lot of discussion online. On this week’s podcast, Laura shared her personal perspective of the moment as Laura is part Japanese.

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. If you listen on one of these sites, please consider leaving a rating and review.

UFO No More Podcast Episode 27: Race (with Special Guest Lee)

On this episode of the podcast Lee (ginghampearlsnsweettea on Tumblr) joins Laura to discuss race and royals.  She provides a lot of historical facts as well as insights on her experiences as a black woman.  It was a really deep and nuanced discussion filled with not only facts but also important insights.  We can't thank Lee enough for reaching out and offering to appear on the show.

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. If you listen on one of these sites, please consider leaving a rating and review.

UFO No More Podcast Episode 26: Feminism (with Recurring Guest Host Jessica)

On this week's episode, recurring guest host Jessica (follow her here and here on Tumblr) joins Laura for a deep dive on royals and feminism.  Major props to our friend Melissa from Tumblr whose question sparked this episode.  Laura and Jessica discuss the sexism in royal structures and how that varies around the world and the sexism of royal coverage.  They end on a happy note by discussing royals advocating feminist principles and causes.

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. If you listen on one of these sites, please consider leaving a rating and review.

UFO No More Podcast Episode 25: Madeleine's Big Move

On this episode of the podcast, Laura discusses the announcement that Princess Madeleine and her family will be moving to Florida and shares her conflicting feelings about it.  She also talks about Meghan's recent fashion and her hopes for the upcoming months and the British Royal Family.

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. Please leave a review for the podcast!

Photo: Anna-Lena Ahlström, Royal Court, Sweden

Photo: Anna-Lena Ahlström, Royal Court, Sweden

Crown Princess Marie Chantal Celebrates Crown Prince Pavlos' 50th Birthday and Princess Maria-Olympia's 21st Birthday

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On July 2, 2017, Crown Princess Marie-Chantal celebrated her husband and daughter's birthday in a star-studded joint birthday Bash. However, it is safe to say that the party was more for daughter Maria Olympia's 21st birthday which would happen on July 25th. Among the many guests were: Queen Maxima of the Netherlands,  Crown Princess Mette-Marit and husband Crown Prince Haakon, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Paris and Nicky Hilton, and Valentino Garavani.

For the party, Crown Princess Marie Chantal wore a custom Gucci gown that was embroidered with the words "Revolution" and "Prince". The dress also was embellished with what looks to be a sequin strawberry or pepper. She teamed the unique dress with an even more unique Philip Treacy star head piece.

Maria-Olympia's outfit has already been covered by the lovely Brittani, but just in case you all forgot, "Olympia" wore a Steven Khalil embellished one-piece outfit with a train, platform Gucci sneakers, and a Philip Treacy head piece. 

This birthday bash was one of the most extravagant royal birthday parties that took social media websites by storm, showing a different side of the royals we all know and love. Guests were even encouraged to use the hashtags #5021revolution and #princeandrevolution to show the multiple experiences happening at the party. 

So fun 💕 #5021revolution

A post shared by Marie-Chantal Of Greece (@mariechantal22) on

UFO No More Podcast Episode 24: Royal Scandals Past and Present

On this episode, Laura discusses several royal scandals.  She starts off with the recent Swedish Royal Academy scandal that forced the cancellation of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.  Then, she discusses the Countess of Wessex's scandal from 2001. Finally, she discusses the many scandals of The Duke of York.  The Telegraph article she mentioned can be seen here.

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. Please leave a review for the podcast if you are so inclined.  As Laura mentioned on the show, the summer schedule may be a bit different as royals take their holidays and because of Laura's busy schedule.

UFO No More Podcast Episode 23: Recapping William's Tour of Jordan, Israel, and Palestine with Dina and Debby

The podcast is back after a week hiatus.  On this week, Laura is joined by two of her good Tumblr friends to recap Prince William's historic tour of Jordan, Israel, and the Occupied Territories of Palestine.

First Dina (aka lovingtheroyals on Tumblr) joins the show to talk about the tour.  Dina is an Arab woman and spoke of how seemingly small details or light-hearted engagements were very significant to her and how the tour personally connected to her. She also talked about the recent news that Kate won't attend the RAF 100th Anniversary Service.

Next, Debby (aka avidroyalfan on Tumblr) joined.  She is Israeli and actually got to meet William in Israel.  She talks about the impact of the tour from her perspective and what it was like to meet William.  For more information about her meeting, check out this link.

Laura is so grateful to Dina and Debby for joining. It was a fun and interesting episode to record. Make sure to check out both of their blogs.

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher and leave us a review.

 

UFO No More Podcast Episode 22: This Week in Royal Fashion

On this week's episode of the podcast, Laura recaps all of the major fashion moments from last week in royal fashion, goes on a bit of a rant about royal protocol, and answers a question about Madeleine's kids speaking Swedish.

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher and leave us a review.

Programming Note: Barring any breaking news, I'm tentatively planning to take next week off from the show.

Swedish royal ladies at the 2018 Polar Music Prize

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I thought the Swedish royal ladies really hit it out of the park for the 2018 Polar Music Prize; so, I thought we would go ahead and highlight the outfits they wore last night, 14 June. Those in attendance at the event at Grand Hôtel in central Stockholm included King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Sofia and Princess Madeleine. 

Others in attendance last night were famous Swedish faces: Marie and Tomas Ledin, Niklas Strömstedt, Jonas Karlsson, David Lagercrantz, Petra Marklund and Karl-Johan Persson among many others. 

Without further ado, here are the looks:

Crown Princess Victoria: Victoria wore a red, one-shouldered caped red gown by Stylein A/W 18. She also wore a gold "Spike" headband by Maria Nilsdotter, as well as the Cherry Valley earrings by the same brand.

Princess Madeleine: The Princess was in a lighter green, floral gown by Giambattista Valli. She carried a pink clutch by Valentino, as well. For me, I can't decide between Madeleine's outfit and Sofia's for my favorite of the evening! 

Princess Sofia: Sofia was in another favorite of mine for the evening. She was in a deep green, high necked gown by what we believe is Ida Lanto (a customized version of their red similar gown with a train). Laura has reached out to them to get confirmation, and we will let you know when we get it!

What was your favorite look?

Our favorite royal gowns

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We've compiled our favorite royal gowns, and we included your picks, too. Thank so much to all of you who responded!

Brittani:

I didn't want to repeat choices I've already made in similar posts, but there are plenty that I just adore! 

I really like the gown Princess Tatiana of Greece and Denmark wore to the wedding of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden to Sofia Hellqvist in 2015. It was an off-shoulder, glittering bespoke gown by Celia Kritharioti. 

I also really like the pink Lela Rose gown then-Meghan Markle wore as a bridesmaid in her friend's wedding in 2016. 

@meghanmarkle/Instagram

@meghanmarkle/Instagram

Last but not least, I like the blue Bruce Oldfield gown Sophie, Countess of Wessex wore to the gala for the 60th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh Award in June 2016. 

Heaven:

I am pretty biased on this one but one of my favorite is the Elie Saab gown Princess Marie wore for the gala dinner for Crown Prince Frederik's 50th birthday. I love Elie Saab and I love Marie so this was my dream combo and I loved the result! I think the decision to removed the sleeves was the right decision as the sleeved version would have overwhelmed her I think.

Another favorite is the Rochas gown Queen Rania wore in 2006. It's one of my all-time favorite for Rania, it's so flattering, the color is beautiful and I loved the floral embroidery.

My third choice is the Ole Yde gown Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore in 2010 for Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel's wedding. It was a very beautiful gown and I love the color and the styling! 

 

Laura:

Fadi el Khoury Victoria wore to Madeleine's wedding. It was so exquisite. It was wearable art. And the picture of Victoria in it carrying Estelle was the epitome of modern royalty in my opinion.

By Frankie Fouganthin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26551717

By Frankie Fouganthin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26551717

Par Engsheden red gown Victoria wore to the Nobels. It just screams grand and regal. It was also the perfect gown to showcase that amazing cross necklace.

Finally, a Erdem gown Mary wore to Harald and Sonja's 80th birthday. It's not as grand as other gowns, but the print just sings on Mary. She just owned this look, there's no other way to describe it.

Samantha:

Elie Saab for Victoria at her wedding concert the night before her wedding in 2010. 

Another Elie Saab, this time the gown Princess Madeleine wore to Prince Carl Philip's wedding. (Royal Central's Deputy Editor, Jamie Samhan told us this was her favorite, as well):

And this Ida Lanto Princess Sofia wore for an official dinner hosted in March 2017 at the Royal Palace. It can be seen in the video below:

Sarah:

This was too hard! I felt like I couldn’t betray these Swedish masterpieces:

Crown Princess Victoria's one-shouldered pre-wedding gown by Elie Saab for the concert the night before her wedding. 

This Fadi el Khoury gown Princess Madeleine wore for the Nobels and Min Stora Dag.

Photo Anna-Lena Ahlström, The Royal Court, Sweden

Photo Anna-Lena Ahlström, The Royal Court, Sweden

Lastly, this Ida Lanto gown Princess Sofia wore to the 2017 Nobels:

© Nobel Media AB 2017. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

© Nobel Media AB 2017. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

Your Thoughts:

Asten: The red gown at the 2014 Nobels. The "I'M A PRINCESS" gown.

 

JR‏  on Twitter sent us these:

Madeleine at Nobels and kids tea party in Al Khoury - Madeleine has never looked better and come on, this is the best royal engagement ever right?

Photo Kate Gabor, The Royal Court, Sweden

Photo Kate Gabor, The Royal Court, Sweden

Victoria at Madeleine's wedding in Al Khoury. Amazing, I remember the gasp of the commentators when the camera hit Victoria and I agree - Can you do anything other than gasp. Great accessorising, too - Lilian's tiara, Josefina's stomacher necklace, wee Estelle.

Victoria at her pre-wedding gala in Elie Saab. Baam! Except for her wedding day Victoria has never looked better. I know many don't like the foam but I do. Again great accessorising with the Cupid's arrow worn by her grandmother, the epaulett earrings.

 

Dianne Dunn‏  said: 

I loved Duchess Kate in this Jenny Packham ! It’s such a beautiful shade of blue with just the right amount of sparkle!!

British High Commission, New Delhi/Flickr

British High Commission, New Delhi/Flickr

 

Princess Victoria‏  told us: 

My favourite gown is the Elie Saab Victoria wore on her pre wedding concert. I've seen it at the Royal Wedding Dresses exhibition, it's my dream gown

 

Duchess of Pemberley‏'s opinion. 

It was the Pronovias Sofia wore:

She also added the Alexander McQueen from the BAFTA's in 2017 saying, "Kate, who I love, doesn’t generally wow me with her evening gown choices, however, this one is a favorite"

 

Kat Es‏ thoughts:

Mine are Victoria's Elie Saab gown from her pre-wedding concert, and Letizia's gown from William and Kate's pre-wedding dinner, Madeleine's Elie Saab from Carl Philip's wedding, Kate's light pink Jenny Packham gown she wore in 2011.

(Since the gowns of Victoria and Madeleine have been listed above several times, we aren't reposting those photos. Below are the Letizia and Kate gowns):

Europe Correspondent for Royal Central, Laura Dekkers, sent us her favorites, too:

I loved Princess Madeleine’s Ida Sjösedt gown (or skirt) with those flowers in 3D which she wore at the Polar Music Prize last year.

And a Classic one but still gorgeous is Crown Princess Victoria in Fadi El Khoury at Princess Madeleine’s wedding. A true piece of art! (See the pictures above)

Princess Madeleine in Fadi el Khoury at the Nobel Prize 2014.

 

Queen Mathilde in Jan Taminiau, a red gown that she wore in 2016 for a concert in the Netherlands at Centre for Fine Arts.

 

Crown Princess Mary in a white Erdem gown with flowers from the banquet in Norway and the Birgit Hallstein that she's worn on a couple of occasions (including the gala dinner ahead of King Willem-Alexander's inauguration as King in April 2013.

Reader and guest on our podcasts The Royal Watcher sent us:

UFO No More Podcast Episode 21: Adrienne's Christening and Much More with Jess

On this week's episode, our unofficial recurring guest host Jess returns. As always, you can find Jess on Tumblr at duchessofostergotlands (her main blog), duchessofvastergotland (Victoria and family blog), and dresslikeaprincess (replication blog).

Jess and Laura cover the fashion of the christening, all of the amazing moments, and their thoughts (read anger) at Daniel not being a godparent. There's also a surprise mid episode when Sofia and Carl Philip posted a beautiful photo on Instagram as Laura and Jess were recording.

Finally, Laura and Jess have a discussion about royals and feminism after a great question from rifffraffrouge on Tumblr.  They are thinking about doing a full podcast on this topic in the quieter summer weeks.

Thanks again to Jess and make sure to follow her.  As always, you can subscribe to the podcast here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

UFO No More Podcast Episode 20: Let's Talk Tiaras (Featuring the Royal Watcher and Heaven)

First, Saad (aka the Royal Watcher) joined Laura to break down all of the glamorous tiaras at Frederik's 50th birthday celebration.  Be sure to check out Saad's blog the Royal Watcher here (he posts a lot about tiaras which is always interesting) or follow him on Twitter here.

Next, UFO No More Fashion editor Heaven joined. Heaven talked about Joachim and Marie's 10th wedding anniversary and what she heard from the Danish Royal Court, Frederik's birthday (specifically Marie in Elie Saab for the first time), and the Swedish Representation Dinner.  In addition to her work here, Heaven writes for Royal Central, has a blog on Princess Marie, and tweets about royals and fashion a bunch.

Make sure to subscribe to the podcast at your preferred platform. You can do so here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

Our favorite Luxembourg outfits

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Brittani:

I have to say that I really liked the amethyst gown by Marcin Lobacz that Princess Tessy wore to the Big Dutch Masters Gala on October 13, 2016, in London. It was from his Spring-Summer 2017 Couture Collection. I think the color really flattered her, and I really liked the way it was cut on the shoulder. 

I love a lot of Claire's outfits, and I really wanted to include her wedding gown. BUT, I thought it better to choose regular outfits she's worn. I really like the blue v-necked, sleeveless Jenny Packham gown that Claire wore to the wedding of Marie-Gabrielle of Nassau and Antonius Willms in Spain in 2017.

I've also always really liked the green Reem Acra dress which featured one long sleeve on the left arm. She wore it to the christening of Princess Amalia (the daughter of Prince Felix and Princess Claire) in 2014. More about the outfit can be read here.

Heaven:

I think my favorite Luxembourg outfits is this blue Elie Saab gown worn by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa in London in 2012. It's no secret Elie Saab is my favorite designer, and I think Maria Teresa wears his designs so well. This gown was my favorite of the collection at the time and it was so flattering on Maria Teresa, i loved it! (Truth be told, I could have chosen almost every Saab gown Maria Teresa has ever worn)

Another favorite is the Elie Saab gown Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie wore for her pre-wedding dinner in 2012. We never got to see it in full-length but I still think it's the best Stéphanie has ever looked - except for he wedding day of course.

I thought about choosing another Elie Saab gown as my third favorite but that would have been too obvious so I chose this Denis Durand gown Princess Claire wore for the Le Sourire de Lucie gala dinner in 2017. It is not a well-known designer but the gown was beautiful and flattered her a lot and I loved the way she styled it, everything was on point.

A post shared by X-u-i-n (@xuin10) on

Laura:

A favorite is the red Yves Dooms gown from the official portrait here. I love how stately this gown is. It’s gorgeous and a great color for Maria Teresa. Plus, I think this neckline suits her so well. 

© 2017 Cour grand-ducale / Lola Velasco / tous droits réservés

© 2017 Cour grand-ducale / Lola Velasco / tous droits réservés

The red Elie Saab gown from Will and Kate’s pre-wedding dinner. Again, I love red on Maria Teresa. And I love that bow detail. It adds interest but doesn’t overwhelm the look. It’s just a gorgeous, timeless gown. Read more: http://ufonomore.com/blog/2018/4/13/royal-wedding-of-will-and-kate-the-guest-outfits

Also, I like the white Ralph Lauren gown Stephanie wore to Cannes. I think she carries this simple gown well. There’s a bit of detailing around the waist which I like. And I love her bold earrings.

Sarah:

All I have to say about my three picks is: SAAB, SAAB, SAAB. All were by Elie Saab, and I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Samantha:

My first choice is the white Ralph Lauren sleeveless gown that Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie wore to the opening of the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. 

My second choice is the green dress by Natan that she wore during the Dutch state visit by the King and Queen to Luxembourg in May 2018. 

The white Paule Ka coat she wore for her last official photo released on her birthday is also one of my favorites. 

© 2017 Cour grand-ducale / Lola Velasco / tous droits réservés

© 2017 Cour grand-ducale / Lola Velasco / tous droits réservés

UFO No More Podcast Episode 19: More Royal Wedding Talk (Featuring Grace) and Brittani's Interview with Tessy

On this jam-packed episode of the podcast, Laura talks with Grace from princesscatherinemiddleton.net about Meghan and Harry's wedding.  Grace gave her constructive thoughts on the good and bad from the wedding and how the press handled it.  It was nice to have a voice with some constructive criticism on the show, and we can't thank Grace enough for joining.

Then, Brittani made her second appearance in a row to talk all about her interview with Tessy Antony, Princess of Luxembourg.  There are two part of that interview which you can read here and here.

You can buy the Project Playground bracelet Brittani talks about here.

As always, if you'd like to subscribe to the podcast you can do so here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. 

Photo courtesy of Tessy Antony, Princess of Luxembourg, via Instagram

Photo courtesy of Tessy Antony, Princess of Luxembourg, via Instagram

UFO No More Podcast Episode 18: Royal Wedding Recap with Brittani

On this week's episode, Brittani joins Laura to recap the wedding of Harry and Meghan, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They cover all of the cute and sweet moments from the event as well as a lot of fashion and jewelry talk.

Note: Brittani says in the podcast that the Earldom of Dumbarton is a first creation, but she meant to say that that the Kilkeel title was the one that was a first creation.

This was such a fun episode to record, and the wedding was such a stunning event. If you'd like to subscribe to the podcast you can do so here on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. 

UFO No More Podcast Episode 17: Royal Wedding Rewind and Predictions

On this episode of the podcast, Laura gets ready for Harry and Meghan's royal wedding discusses great stories from royals from around the world.  She also shares her thoughts on what Meghan will wear.

Thanks to claireofluxembourg on Tumblr and a Twitter friend for their help with this episode.

As always, you can subscribe to the podcast on the following platforms: iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.  And if you would leave a review, we'd really appreciate it!