royal engagement

A Second Royal Wedding Planned As Queen's Grandaughter Gets Engaged

It looks like 2011 will be a wedding-centric year for England as a second royal wedding has been announced. Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne and the Queen's eldest granddaughter will marry her long-term partner, rugby player Mike Tindall.

This is another long term couple, the pair met back in 2003, the AP says that it was her cousin Prince Harry who introduced them in a Sydney bar during celebrations for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Tindall proposed to Phillips, who is 29, at their home in Gloucestershire on Monday. The engagement ring is a diamond solitaire set in platinum and surrounded by pave set diamonds. No wedding date has been announced yet but it seems likely that it will be in 2011. Phillips is 12th in line to the British throne and is a horse jumper winning winning individual gold at the World Equestrian Games in Germany in 2006.

Update: An earlier version of this story listed Zara Phillips as the Queen's niece. She is Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter and the niece of Prince Charles. We regret the error.

Tags: mike tindall, royal engagement, royal wedding, zara phillips

Royal Engagement Photos By Mario Testino Revealed

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

A few days ago I mentioned that fashion photographer Mario Testino was chosen to take the official engagement pictures of Kate Middleton and Prince William. Testino
hot the newly engaged couple within the last month. The two photos that have been released are rather formal image and one more casual one (shown above).

People reports that Kate Middleton did her own makeup for the photos although Testino's makeup artist was on hand for touch-ups. Her hair was done by her usual stylist, James Pryce, from the Richard Ward salon. The formal portrait was taken in the historic Council Chamber linked to Clarence House, the official residence of William's father Prince Charles. In the formal shot Prince William wore a Turnbull and Asser suit, while Kate selected a white Reiss dress and Links earrings. In he casual look, taken in the Cornwall Room of St. James's Palace, William wore a Turnbull and Asser shirt and Brunello Cucinelli sweater and Kate chose a Whistles blouse.

Tags: Kate Middleton, mario testino, Prince William, royal engagement, royal wedding

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Where to See Princess Diana's Dresses

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

With a royal engagement announced and Princess Diana's ring on Kate Middleton's finger, many are feeling nostalgic about the time when young Diana first came into the public eye. There are several places where you can see Diana's dresses. A special exhibition of ten dresses that belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales is on display at the Fashion Museum in Bath, England from now until January 9, 2011. The dresses were lent to the museum by their owner, Mrs Suzanne King and span the 16 years that Diana was in the spotlight as a style icon. The exhibit includes dresses worn during the Royal tours of Canada and New Zealand in the early 1980s, evening dresses by couturier Catherine Walker from around 1990, and little black cocktail dresses by designers such as Versace from the mid-1990s.

Since her tragic early death, Princess Diana's dresses have been in exhibits around the world and some have sold for quite a bit of money. Earlier this year the black taffeta gown that she wore on her first official appearance after her engagement to Prince Charles sold for £192,000 at auction. That dress was bought by the Fundacion Museo De La Moda in Chile. Jorge Yarur, the founder of the museum, has said that when he dies he plans to have this dress and the other Diana dresses he owns donated to Kensington Palace, where she lived from the time of her wedding in 1981 until her death in 1997.

Princess Diana's wedding dress is currently in Michigan at the Grand Rapids Art Museum where it is the star of an exhibit titled "Diana -- A Celebration," which opened earlier this month and runs through February 16, 2011. The exhibit of more than 150 personal objects includes the ivory silk taffeta and lace wedding dress, with a fitted, boned bodice and curved neckline. Admission to the exhibit is $20.

Tags: Princess Diana, princess diana dresses, princess diana engagement ring, Princess Diana exhibits, royal engagement, royal wedding

Prince Albert Of Monaco Gets Engaged To Charlene Wittstock

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Monaco has a royal wedding in its future. Prince Albert of Monaco has announced his engagement to Charlene Wittstock, a beautiful blonde former Olympic swimmer for South Africa. This would give the principality its first crown princess since Grace Kelly died in 1982. Wittstock bears more than a passing resemblance to a young Princess Grace. At 32, she is 20 years younger than her groom. The announcement did not include a wedding date but according to protocol royal couples must wait at least six months between the engagement and wedding day.

The two first met in 2000 and she has lived in Monaco since 2006. This will be the first marriage of a reigning prince since the marriage of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III in 1956. Prince Albert has two children which were born out of wedlock but has remained a lifelong bachelor. Fearing that he might never settle down with a wife, in 2002, the Parliament changed the constitution to allow one of his sisters' sons to take the throne if he never produces a legitimate heir. No details on the ring have been released yet but diamond watchers are agog at what appears to be one hefty sparkler.

Tags: charlene wittstock, monaco, prince albert, Prince Albert of Monaco, royal engagement, royal wedding