Holiday madness and excess already getting to you? It may be time to shut off the phone, lock the door and indulge in some guilty pleasure time.
What’s your guilty holiday pleasure? Do you secretly binge on Hallmark movies? Stash and eat festive chocolates? Lock yourself into the bathroom for some personal spa time?
My confession: I’m fascinated by the British royals, particularly their holiday pomp and circumstance.
I’m in very good company. Both the BBC and our own CBC news send out regular newsletters about the royals throughout the year. People Magazine has an entire tab dedicated to Royals around the world, but a quick glance shows that more than 90 percent of it is devoted to the British Royal Family.
In our modern world, monarchies can no longer do whatever the hell they want. People are watching, and commenting.
The British monarchy is a unique institution. Everyone knows its millennia of history, in countless ancient sites, novels, plays and movies. There’s so much rich material. Henry VIII alone has filled volumes and hours, as has his daughter Elizabeth I, not to mention the spectacular collapse of Charles’ and Diana’s marriage splayed all across the media.
While many question whether their country still needs an expensive monarchy, for others it brings a sense of stability and beloved customs, especially around the holidays. A lot of households still make time on Christmas Day to listen to the reigning monarch’s Speech. As quoted in the BBC Royal Watch newsletter, one woman “stressed that the speech was “a unifying point of quiet good sense in an increasingly violently conflicted world”, while another even said that if she has any guests over, “they have to all be quiet while it’s on”. For many, it’s been a tradition they’ve maintained since childhood.
Hallmark has innumerable holiday movies featuring life and unsuitable romance in fictitious kingdoms, and monarchies are a frequent setting for fantasy novels. But we have a real one right in front of us, and modern media provides a great window to enjoy all of its ups and downs.
I might feel differently if I was a British citizen, although I suspect not – Great Britain would be a very different place if the monarchy was dissolved. When my hubby and I visited Austria years ago, the monarchy was dead and dusty, and the Hofburg Palace nothing more than a museum.
Any visit to England is suffused with living centuries of ceremony and tradition. Just walking around London is an experience, from the grandeur of Buckingham Palace down to the little crowns that surmount signposts in St. James’s Park that spreads from Whitehall to the Palace.
But the royals, for all of their elevated status, are humans, subject to the same desires and foibles as we lesser beings, and they make fabulous watching, don’t they?
I think the wedding of Harry and Meghan is the most glamorous event I’ve ever seen. It was a great love story, and it seemed that Meghan could bring a much-needed infusion of diversity and style to what, at the time, was a very staid institution. Sadly, their part in The Firm (apparently how the monarchy refers to itself) went down in flames. Not picking sides here – from the little bits I’ve seen, it appears that the press was unbearably nasty to them, among other factors – but I wish things had turned out differently, for the boost they could have brought.
William and Kate have, I feel, stepped brilliantly into the breach, particularly after (the former Prince) Andrew’s stunning fall from grace. The British people seem to be sharply divided in opinion: tradition vs relevance. Bad behaviour can’t be swept under the royal rug any more, either on the British home front or the world stage.
The next generation (W & K) are working hard to prove their relevance, by supporting numerous charities and causes that are particularly personal to them, especially around children’s safety and mental health. I’ve read comments that Katherine is considered “pliable” (read ‘puppet who’s easy to manipulate’), but personally I’m impressed by all the work she does.
And I’m rather in awe of Kate’s personal style.
Damn, she’s got game! The frillier, more carefree outfits of her early days as just the Duchess of Cambridge have changed to sleek and polished for her very-public role as the future Queen at King William’s side. From what I’ve read, she works quite hard to maintain the trim figure that can carry off any outfit, even since her chemotherapy. I think her ultimate look was the one she pulled off at Queen Elizabeth I’s funeral: respectful of the occasion but incredibly chic, elegant and regal
I even follow one of the visual style blogs around her outfits on Instagram, princesswcloset. The posts are a welcome break in my busy days, especially when the world news is getting to me and I want to see something pleasant for a change. Kate and William have attended quite a few state banquets and visits since she’s back on the circuit, and she’s the picture of classy glam. And how does the whole ‘tiara’ thing work? Kate has four of them, looking fabulous as always: four tiaras on loan: the Cambridge Lover’s Knot, the Lotus Flower, the Oriental Circlet, and the Strathmore Rose.
Just as a point of interest, the famous Lotus Flower Tiara was remade from a necklace that was a gift in 1923 to the newlywed Duchess of York (later, the Queen Mother) from her husband, the future George VI. Crown Jewellers Garrard designed the necklace originally, then later dismantled it and turned it into the Tiara. It’s only had four royal wearers to date: after the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Serena Stanhope (who wore the tiara for her wedding to Viscount Linley, Princess Margaret’s son), and Princess Catherine.
But why only those four (I know, as if that’s not enough), and who decides which?
Well, there’s considerable etiquette involved.
- Although this is a bendable rule, traditionally women only wear one as a bride and from then on as a married woman.
- Tiaras are considered formal evening wear and are only worn after 5 pm, except for at royal weddings.
- The current Monarchdecides who wears the significant royal tiaras from the Crown Collection, ‘loaning them out’ for major events like State Banquets.
- The recipient chooses from the offered selection of tiaras, and can’t demand a different one.
- Tiaras are loaned to one person for their entire lifetime. No one else gets to wear those tiaras.
- Tiara placement is critical. If you place a tiara too far back, the jewelling will no longer face forward enough to enhance its sparkle. The proper placement (should you ever be in a position to wear one), is to put your thumb on your chin indent and your forefinger between the brows. Then, keeping the fingers the same distance apart, reposition them with the thumb between the brows and the forefinger on top of the head. The spot where the forefinger lands is the perfect place to put the tiara.
- Tiaras are often sewn into the wearer’s hair, using a piece of hair braided crosswise for the anchor. It simply wouldn’t do to have one’s tiara slip.
As for the holiday season, it more or less begins in England with the Princess of Wales hosting a Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey, which she did on December 5th. This is a big affair, with lush decorations and a variety of celebrities singing or doing the readings during the service.
Much is made of Kate’s choice of outfit, and this year’s was no exception: a superbly elegant dark forest green coat with matching faux-fur stole over a crystal-embellished tartan midi skirt, paired with high black suede boots.
Windsor Castle and its associated houses, which seem to be shifting to the new royal base away from Buckingham Palace, is being decorated to the rafters for the holidays.
The family generally spends Christmas itself at Sandringham Castle, where they relax and eat good food like the rest of us (except for the staff that do all the work). According to the cookbook Secret Palace Recipes from the British Royal Family, they may imbibe Queen Camilla’s Cosmo or King George’s Mulled Wine, and dine on things like lobster bisque, Tudor Turkey or Venison Stew or Holyrood Ham, with a variety of side dishes and perhaps plum pudding or Christmas Cake for dessert. If you want to have some fun trying out the recipes, you can buy the book on Amazon (free download on Kindle Unlimited).
Now isn’t this all more fun than the garbage in global news? I’d much rather spend time drooling over Kate’s fab closet and jewellery. Would I wish to be in her shoes? No, I don’t think I have the persona for it, I’d just love some of the clothes. Nevertheless, who doesn’t enjoy a glimpse into such an awe-inspiring institution and its place in British culture? From royal warrants to parades to all of the celebrations and parties – I mean, despite the circumstances, wasn’t Elizabeth II’s funeral one of the most amazing events of the 2000s – we are all witness to living history.
So that’s a look into my guilty pleasure. Care to ‘fess up yours? 😉