Royal Objets de Fantaisie

I know this isn't really royals or jewelry, but it's something in between.

As most of you may know, I make and sell tiaras in my Etsy shop, Moondust Jewels, but lots of other people make fantastic royal things on Etsy.

These are some fantastic hand-embroidered pillows I found on there, and I want to share them, because I am just beyond amazed at their detail. They are from the Etsy shop Objets de Fantaisie, by a guy named Dennis. I have no patience for sewing, so I am always amazed when I see people make this kind of thing.

Princess Diana Jeweled Frame Pillow

Diana Tiara Pillow

Royal Wedding Monogram Pillow

So if you're on the market for some super fancy royal pillows, this Etsy shop is the place for you! You will have to fork out quite a lot of money for them, though, but far less money than if you bought the actual jewels!

The full story behind Diana: Her True Story

I got interested in royalty after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. I was 11 years old, and all of a sudden she was on the cover of every magazine for months upon months. I read everything I could about her, and that started my obsession for royals.

One of those books I read was Diana: Her True Story, by Andrew Morton. At time I read it, I remember thinking she was this sad, tragic figure that needed everyone to pity her. I realize now that when she cooperated to make the book with Morton, she was in a very depressing period in her life, and the book doesn't paint the full picture of who Diana really was.

What's more, the publication of Diana: Her True Story changed the way the Palace responded to negative press about them. At one point, the Palace had so much power in Britain, that if you wrote something negative about any of its members, you would lose your job at whatever newspaper or publisher you worked for.

This video explains how Morton's book changed things in Britain:

For a more accurate picture on who the real Diana, Princess of Wales, really was, I suggest reading any of Paul Burrell's books. Burrell was Diana's butler, and he wrote two books about his service to her: A Royal Duty and The Way We Were: Remembering Diana. Burrell has been criticised for profiting off of the Princess, which he indeed has. I personally feel like her death left him without a job, and without a friend, and it gained him quite a lot of infamy, especially when he was in court for having so many of the late Princess' possessions, so what else was he supposed to do?

I know most of you probably feel differently on this matter, but I will say it is extremely sad that the Princess was so famous that after her death, pretty much everyone who had ever known or worked for her wrote exposés on her. Even her brother, The Earl Spencer, used her image on the cover of his book about the Spencers (because who would have read his book without the Diana connection?).

Creepy Painting of Danish Royals

I was Googling around to see if the Danish Monarchy has an official Twitter page, and this image came up:

Danish Royal Family by Thomas Kluge.

 Danish painter Thomas Kluge painted this last year, and it was widely criticised for being very creepy. I personally find it fascinating, there is such a close likeness to all the royals, and the children are like those kids from that movie, The Children of the Damned, but minus the glow-y red eyes. At any rate, they're definitely demonically possessed, especially Prince Christian, who is right up front.

I post about it because this is the kind of rad stuff that monarchies allow now days. Remember the Lucian Freud painting of Queen Elizabeth II, and her five o'clock shadow?

I personally love this painting of the Queen by Lucian Freud.

Where in medieval times you would have been beheaded for depicting monarchs in this way, they coolly let it be nowadays. Hooray for freedom of artistic expression!

The time I met Princess Martha Louise of Norway

I met Princess Martha Louise of Norway in 2006 when she was touring the US, promoting her children's book, Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns, illustrated by Svein Nyhus.

 

Princess Martha Louise came to Seattle twice, actually, but I missed her the first time around, but caught her at the downtown Seattle Barnes and Noble Bookstore during her second trip. I am the blurry character in the front right of the picture. I was so excited to meet her, and was too nervous to ask her any questions.

 

The beautiful princess. I remember she was wearing Guess? brand shoes.

My personalized autograph from the Princess (my first name is Allison; the name I use for this blog, Marie, is my middle name).

Martha Louise read the book to the apt audience of 5 people. Also, as was obvious by her facial expression, she was incredibly disappointed that almost no one showed up to hear her read the book. The bookstore tried in vain to collect a bigger audience by announcing over its loudspeaker that Princess Martha Louise was there, but to no avail.

My favorite part about the Princess' reading of her book was the way she said "Little Olav," in such an endearing way. I also learned how a Norwegian pronounces "Haakon" and "Maud." She also had a little green parakeet as a child, and she would have it attack her nanny, whom she didn't like much, I guess.

The newspaper clipping from the Seattle Times for her first visit to Seattle in October of 2005.

Seattle has its own share of Norwegian history. Many descendants of Norwegians live in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, and in 1975, Bergen Place in Ballard was dedicated by King Olav V of Norway. This plaque is right near the Ballard Sunday Farmer's Market, so if you're ever in town, take a look. King Olav was Princess Martha Louise's grandfather, and son of King Haakon VII, the first King of Norway.

Another anecdote that Martha Louise shared was a time when Queen Elizabeth II visited her home, and she had a beautiful white fur coat that she had left, hung up on a coat hook in a different room. Princess Martha Louise, being a small child, put the jacket on and was dancing around in it when her parents and Queen Elizabeth walked into the room! I don't remember if she said she got in trouble or not.

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway

 I'm always putting pictures of pretty princesses in fancy dresses and sparkling jewelry on this blog. I think it's time to put some men on this blog! Prince Haakon is one of the cute princes, I think the facial hair really works well for him. Did I ever mention that I met his sister, Princess Martha Louise of Norway, about 5 or 6 years ago? I totally did! Maybe I will share that story next post...

Meanwhile, enjoy all these pics of the hot Haakon.

Young Princesses of the Netherlands

The daughters of Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander, Princesses Ariane, Catharina Amalia, and Alexia.

Princess Ariane. All three of the daughters look remarkably alike, with their brown eyes and blond hair.

Princess Ariane of the Netherlands.

Princesses Ariane, Catharina Amalia, and Alexia.

Princesses Catharina Amalia, Ariane, and Alexia.

Princess Catharina Amalia of the Netherlands. She is next in line to the throne.

Princess Catharina Amalia.

The three daughters in cute matching dresses!

Princess Catharine Amalia. I think there are more pictures of her because she's "more important" as the heir to the Dutch Throne.

Catharina Amalia. I love their names, not quite so traditional.

Princess Catharina Amalia.

The Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia

The Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Older of Russia, also known as the Grand Duchess Vladimir.

The Grand Duchess Vladmir had perhaps the most expansive jewelry collection of all the royals. When she died in 1920, her jewels were auctioned, and many of her important pieces were snatched up by Queen Mary of England, grandmother to the present Queen of Britain.

A young Grand Duchess in fancy dress costume, with a concentric circles diamond tiara and wearing a diamond necklace with a large pearl drop as a headband.

The Grand Duchess wearing rows of pearl and a large diamond kokoshnik tiara, a style that all Russian Grand Duchesses owned.

Grand Duchess Vladmir  was born Marie Alexandrine Elisabeth Eleonore of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 14 May 1854, daughter of Grand Duke Frederick Francis II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Augusta of Reuss-Köstritz. She died on 6 September 1920 in Contrexéville, France.

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Vladimir.

The Grand Duchess Vladimir on her wedding day.

Grand Duchess Vladimir in her impressive pearl and diamond suite. Her tiara of concentric diamond circles and large pear pearls is in the collection of Queen Elizabeth II, who wears it often.

Grand Duchess Vladimir was the mother of Grand Duchess Yelena "Helen" Vladimirovna, aka Princess Nicholas of Greece, who was the mother of Princess Marina of Kent, who was the mother of the still-living Prince Michael of Kent.