Our Highlights of 2016
To celebrate another fabulously royal year, our bloggers will be looking back at this year in royals and highlight some of their bests of the year. Stay tuned for next week when we look forward and share our wishes for the upcoming year. Here are the questions we asked each of our bloggers.
1) What was your favorite royal event of 2016?
2) What was your favorite royal fashion moment of 2016?
3) What was your favorite tiara moment of 2016?
4) Who was your favorite royal designer of 2016?
We want to hear from you too! Feel free to copy and paste these questions into a comment and share your highlights of the year.
1) What was your favorite royal event of 2016?
Photo Anna-Lena Ahlström The Royal Court, Sweden.
Sarah: I loved Princess Madeleine’s Prince and Princess Party held with Min Stora Dag. She made such a memorable day for all the kids who attended, and I thought it was probably one of the best ways to use her position. So many times we read about kids asking royals “Where is your crown/tiara” and Madeleine did not disappoint. She took the image that all kids have in their heads of what a “real princess” should look like and made it come to life. The fact that she also brought Leonore along just elevated the event in my book.
Heaven: It was easily Prince Oscar’s christening! It was so nice seeing the family together and also most of the Scandinavian royals together. I always love Sweden’s royal christening, but this one was slightly more emotional for me. Victoria and Daniel are my favorite royal couple, and I was so happy that they had the chance to have a second child!
Laura: Easily Princess Madeleine and Princess Leonore’s tea party for sick children with Min Stora Dag. Min Stora Dag is like Make a Wish in Sweden, and Madeleine did a great job making these kids’ wish come to life. When children think of princesses, they think of beautiful gowns, tiaras, and grand balls. We all know that’s not the reality, but I love that Madeleine indulged this fantasy. This is probably exactly what these children envisioned when they thought of tea with a princess.
Jessica: The christenings of Oscar and Alexander. At Oscar’s we got to see the bond between all the Scandinavian royals, and at Alexander’s we got some absolutely precious moments between the children: Nicolas chewing on his toothbrush, Leonore running around like a whirlwind, Estelle already acting like a perfect little royal, and Alexander and Oscar bonding already. It was such a beautiful, emotional occasion.
Brittani: The royal christenings of Prince Oscar and Prince Alexander. I love how the Swedes are so relaxed and just let children be children. They aren’t expected to be perfect at such young ages. And they are so adorable! I should also admit that the Swedish Royal Family is my favorite, so that plays a part.
2) What was your favorite royal fashion moment of 2016?
Photo The Royal Court, Sweden
Sarah: I thought nothing could top Princess Madeleine’s 2015 Nobel gown, but I was wrong- her 2016 Nobel gown- hands down- was my favorite. Excluding that gown, I would have to say either Victoria’s Alice + Olivia high-low skirt from the 100 Year Investor’s Dinner in October or her maroon and blue outfit from just last week in Italy.
Heaven: Probably Victoria in her H&M gown at the Nobels. She looked absolutely regal and beautiful! I’ll give a special mention to Princess Madeleine, though, because she wore a Fadi El Khoury gown for the last three Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony and she looked amazing each time. Madeleine and Fadi El Khoury are truly a winning duo.
Laura: I had a tough time with this but ended up picking King Carl Gustaf’s birthday banquet. There wasn’t one big fashion moment here, but this was an event where the sum was greater than its parts. All I had to do was look at that one photo with Kings and Queen and royals from all over the world all decked out in their banquet best (and tiaras on most of the ladies) to know that this was my winner.
Jessica: Princess Madeleine at the Min Stora Dag tea party. It was princess themed so she wore a gown, tiara, and her order. She went all out to embody the “princess” vibe. But she still happily got down on her hands and knees to play with the kids despite the expensive outfit. It demonstrated to me how fashion can be more than just a piece of clothing.
Brittani: This is a hard one. I want to pick so many of Princess Madeleine’s outfits! She was on point this entire year! I loved her outfit for King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 70th birthday, outfit for Prince Oscar’s christening, both Nobel outfits, her visit to Gotland with Chris and Leonore, and the Childhood Gala Dinner in NYC (she re-wore the dress I’ve been begging her to wear again). I’ll go with the Nobels because everyone looked so great! I just loved Madeleine’s pink Fadi El Khoury gown for the awards and banquet!! However, her outfit to the King’s dinner the next evening was gorgeous, as well!
3) What was your favorite tiara moment of 2016?
Photo Kate Gabor, The Royal Court, Sweden
Sarah: Princess Madeleine in the Aquamarine Kokoshink at the Min Stora Dag Party. The Aquamarines paired with Madeleine’s eyes are a knock out every time- either that or Madeleine wearing the Connaught Tiara to the 2016 Nobels.
Heaven: Princess Madeleine wearing the Modern Fringe tiara and the Connaught tiara as a necklace at the King’s Banquet for the Nobel Laureates! I wasn’t expecting that at all, and I was so happy to see Madeleine going all out with the tiaras. But the Nobels are in a league of their own, eight tiaras in two days!
Laura: Crown Princess Mary gets a new tiara! Before this, Mary had three tiaras in her rotation (and one of the three was owned by a jewelry company and loaned to Mary exclusively). This year she used a necklace she owns and made it a convertible tiara. This offers more flexibility to her tiara collection and also sets up nicely for the future. Since Mary’s daughter Princess Isabella and Princess Josephine aren’t in line for the throne, it makes sense to give them this tiara in the future so they have one at their disposal.
Jessica: Kate in the Cambridge Lover’s Knot again for the Diplomatic Reception. It just looks perfect on her, like it was made for her. It’s great to see the image being refreshed after it was associated with Diana for so long.
Brittani: Princess Madeleine wearing the Aquamarine Kokoshnik Tiara (previously worn for the 2015 Nobels and borrowed from her aunt Margaretha) to the fairytale tea party at Stockholm Palace in February for her patronage, Min Stora Dag.
4) Who was your favorite royal designer of 2016?
Sarah: I feel like this is no surprise given my last 3 answers- Fadi el Khoury. The man is a design genius. He manages to top himself every time we see a new gown, and I am still unsure how he does it (He hasn’t revealed his secret to me either… I did ask).
Heaven: Carolina Herrera. Both Queen Letizia and Princess Charlene wore her designs, and Kate wore one of her coats in Canada. Both Mary and Mette-Marit have worn Carolina Herrera before, but it was so long ago. CH is one of my favorite designers so it was great to see so many of her designs this year!
Laura: H&M. Being Swedish, the brand is a favorite of the Swedish princesses, but we’ve seen other royals in their designs. Crown Princess Mary wore an H&M Conscious Collection dress that we’ve seen Mette-Marit and Victoria in before. The Duchess of Cambridge wore a top of theirs too. But the one thing that made them my choice was Crown Princess Victoria wearing a custom-made H&M gown for the Nobel ceremony. It looked so beautiful and luxe, and the best part was that it was made of sustainable materials.
Jessica: Self Portrait. They were only worn by a few royals this year (Mette-Marit at the Nobel concert and twice in Canada, Kate at a movie premiere, Sofia at Victoriadagen, and most recently Madeleine at the formal meeting of the Swedish Academy), but I love their aesthetic so I was so excited every time we got to see them. Each of the pieces we saw this year were amongst my favourites from the whole year.
Brittani: I have to give the nod to Fadi El Khoury for the perfection of his dresses for Madeleine at the Nobels every single year.
