While the Queen has always been one for royal protocol, it was touching to hear that she reportedly left an official dinner marking the Opening of Parliament this week to meet one of her footmen.

The footman, Fraser Marlton-Thomas, had tragically lost his brother, who had been serving in the war in Afghanistan.

Though the Queen is often seen as distanced from everyday life, it's moments like these that remind us of her humanity, diplomacy, and compassion. It also goes to show the loyalty she inspires - the footman chose to continue with his Opening of Parliament duties, even though the Queen urged him to take time off.

Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cornwall was also showing her compassionate side this week at Sir John Mortimer's memorial service.

Despite the sombre occasions, I couldn't help but notice the sartorial splendour of these two royals. The Queen looked like a fantasy snow queen in her white shimmer and silver sparkles,  while Camilla was chic in a black fitted suit with a magnificent headpiece.

On a similar note, proof of Princess Letizia's style was evident in her elegant barefoot walk down the Indian green carpet in honour of Mahatma Gandhi. Although the camera was too far away to capture the details, I'll bet the Spanish royal's feet were as perfectly presented as the rest of her (as opposed to the cracked heel, chipped nail polish look I see at the end of my own feet!).

I wonder if she and Jordan's Queen Rania were separated at birth? They certainly share uncannily similar looks, elegance and flair...

PS I'm keeping a copy of Michelle Obama's words of advice on pairing up to give to my girls when they grow up. I couldn't have said it better. Actually, I'll keep a copy for myself!

Ooh, la la, Carla and Nicolas are rumoured to be with child...well, best of luck to them, but I was just a little bemused at their friend Jacques Seguela's comment that the pair were a 'young' couple....eerrr, I know 40 is the new 30 and all that, but young ? ....Perhaps it's a European thing.....

Hats off to Michelle Obama for her openess about the trials and tribulations of marriage. While fighting wars, restoring economies, and reforming health care are par for the course in the American Presidentia, it's rare to hear such personally candid comments from a nation's First Lady. However, as they are guaranteed good press coverage, it seems Michelle, and Barack, are making the most of their position to educate and encourage in a more personal way...Go Obamas!

Very touching to see the story of the Danish royals nostalgic visit to Hanoi, and the unveiling of Henrik's grandfather's memorial plaque. They certainly look a relaxed and happy family....but hang on, while the royals take the relative luxury of a rickshaw, is that their bodyguard left to run alongside? Oh well, keeps him fit, I s'pose...

 

Meanwhile, at the "race that stops a nation" was the fab fascinator that stopped the nation. Well, that may be an exaggeration, but Zara's headpiece did look magnificent as she celebrated at the annual Melbourne Cup day.

Lately, it seems it's all about the artistic expression of leading ladies. But how do they compare?

According to its creators at Jailbreak Toys, the Michelle Obama doll is intended as a tribute to America's first lady. While Michelle herself certainly exudes a charismatic strength, this doll doesn't do her justice.

Yes, the doll is a deliberate exaggeration - anything made by a company called "Jailbreak Toys" doesn't sound like it would be a lifelike reproduction, after all - but then the company expects it be popular among girls. Hmm, I'm not too sure...

Michelle herself has chosen not to comment - hoping it'll just quietly go away, methinks...

 

Meanwhile, over at French First Lady Carla Bruni's website, a sketch of Sarah Brown has popped up. Now, I must admit to an initial frisson of envy - model, guitarist, songwriter, fashion icon, wife of sumptuously-haired French man... and now artist as well?

But no, Carla is generously showcasing fellow Gaul Alice Dechelette's work. Again, hmmm. While Sarah is known for her down-to-earth, first-lady-next-door vibe, the portrait isn't a particularly  accurate representation of the prime minister's wife.

Sarah's reported "bemusement" suggests that she's not too sure about it, either...

 

And then we have the winner of the leading lady images: Sweden's Princess Victoria, who looks so languidly chic on the cover of her new biography you could almost faint.

Displaying her elegant profile, the gorgeous black and white photo is a tantalising combo of classic European glamour and funky modernity. Exquisite!

Now there's an image that makes you want more..... Michelle and Sarah must be just a tiny bit jealous.

It's a curious thing how friends often resemble one another, and it seems royals (and statesladies) are no exception. Crown princesses Mathilde and Maxima, on official museum-opening business in Belgium, looked like two super-stylish peas in a pod, while over in New York, Queen Rania and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy looked similarly chummy and chic.

Maybe it's their understated, elegant outfits and sleek coiffures that imparts the soul sister vibe.

Or would that sisterly spirit be just as apparent if these girls were hitting the local shops in jeans and thongs (that's flip-flops to you).

 The two M's certainly did look like two good mates cutting loose for the day...but I wonder what they were giggling about together?

Mathilde expressing her hope for decent ceremonial scissors, perhaps (after all, wrestling a ribbon with blunt scissors doesn't make for an elegant look), with supportive Maxima giving a word of encouragement as she approached the dastardly ribbon.

 

Meanwhile, over at the 'Superfriends' charity function Carla and Rania looked a little more formal in their relationship.

But with their similar sleek style and Carla's growing involvement in charity work, perhaps their bond will deepen - there's nothing like shared interests to foster friendship....

 

As a fan of the Harry/Chelsy partnership, I'm very excited to read that they are apparently considering a reunion.

While absence makes the heart grow fonder, there's nothing like inhabiting the same general space to create connection, so their pending proximity in London bodes well for their romance.

Just think of it - she, cutting a swathe through the lawyerly world, he, flying about defending his nation, and then being able to come home and have a chat and a nice of tea together afterwards...what's not to love about that!

Although Chelsy apparently isn't happy with the level of general public nosiness into their personal lives, I don't know that much can be done about that - it seems there's no escape from conducting a royal romance chaperoned by a thousand or so camera lenses.

But, as I've said before, I do think they're made for each other, and shall await further developments with bated breath - not that I'm nosy, of course...

Perhaps Chelsy could look to the recent wedding of Italian Prince Edouard and Isabella Orsini for inspiring royal romance. I don't know if it was the royal/actress combo (shades of Prince Rainier and the super-glam Grace Kelly). Or those fabulous Italianate names that just rroolll off the tongue (try it). Or those gorgeous romantic photos of rose-festooned carriages and fairytale kisses. Whatever it was this wedding had me in a swoon - indeed, it almost gave me want to do the whole wedding thing.  

Anyway, Edouard and Isabella looked deliriously happy - now, if that's not inspiration, Chelsy....  

Princess Eugenie is on form as one of the Brit's most down-to-earth royals, following Will's lead by choosing to bunk down in the student dorms while she studies at Newcastle University.

The grass is always greener, isn't it....I mean, if I had the choice of sumptuously-appointed private apartment versus your basic, communal uni digs, I know which I'd go for, and it wouldn't be the one where I get to enjoy the night-time snorings and other goings-on of my fellow students through paper-thin walls.

But then, to her credit, mixing it with the ordinary punters seems to be Eugenie's thing, as demonstrated by her visit to Australia earlier this year. Go, Eugenie, we love you!

Besides offering a good degree course, Eugenie chose apparently chose Newcastle Uni for its fun-ness. But I do wonder how much fun and mischief can be had with (count 'em!) THREE bodyguards running around after one at all times. Romantic dinner for two....plus three burly, suited, glaring men eating next to you. Romantic boogie for two on the local disco floor....plus three burly, suited, glaring men boogie-ing next to you....Geez, makes you wonder how a royal romance gets going at all...

Speaking of royal romance, another Nordic nuptial occasion has been announced. Princess Madeleine has confirmed her engagement to lawyer Jonas Bergstrom a mere few weeks after her older sister, Victoria, revealed her own marriage plans.

But what really breaks my heart? He says, "I fell for her beautiful blue eyes..". Swoon! She says, "He's the nicest person in the world, a wonderful friend". Sigh! ...Where do I get me one of those......

Best wishes to both the girls!

Zara Phillips has certainly had a busy time of late. From yachting, to property buying, to wearing knockout dresses at friends' weddings, she is definitely the busy modern royal about town.

Zara and Mike Tindall have bought a house in Gloucestershire. A five-bedroom mansion in Gloucestershire, no less. That's lots of room for the little pitter-patter of future royal footsies - a whole football team if the five bedrooms are anything to go by.

But hang on, apparently it has no stables for Zara's 14 horses, so perhaps the extra bedrooms are to accommodate the gee-gees. With £250,000 pounds of renos going on, I'm sure the horses would find it most satisfactory. A lick of paint, fresh carpets, and some nice prints on the walls... well, no horse could complain about that.

Must admit to a certain envy at the photograph of Zara cosied up in the gorgeous arms of Bryan Adams (bit of a secret crush for a few years) at the Artemis yacht challenge. Oh yes, you might think there'd be a bit of dress envy about the photo of her in that cerise number at her friend's wedding, but, you know, there's envy, and then there's plain old dreaming.

Zara really is a poster girl for health and fitness and it's nice that she's continuing the family tradition started by her grandfather, Prince Phillip, in being involved in the yacht race. And also nice that her fiancé, oops, boyfriend, Mike Tindall accompanied her. Just a shame that lack of wind took the wind out of their sails. Better luck next year....

PS. Topless water ballet, topless horse-feeding.... George W , eat your heart out. As far as 'Action Man' awards go, it seems President Putin's beaten you, fair and square. And he did it all...topless.

 

I must admit the Belgian royal family weren't one of the bigger blips on my radar, but Queen Fabiola has certainly caught my attention.

Hellomagazine.com reports that an anonymous assassin threatened to shoot the Belgian queen with a crossbow.

A very scary proposition, and it would have been understandable for Queen Fabiola to take immediate evasive action.

I would have cancelled all appointments forever and ordered in for the remainder of my potentially short life.

She could have come up with a perfectly reasonable excuse to duck out of a public appearance at National Day like: 

• feigning a headache and pulling a sickie for the day
• arranging a last-minute schedule change to a more protected venue, texting the new location to bodyguards and other required people on route - I'm sure she's technology-savvy
• cancelling the procession altogether - she can do that. She's a royal.

No-one could have blamed her for it. But she chose none of those. She chose to forge ahead with her commitments, as planned, no alterations required, thank you very much.

An admirable move. But as if this wasn't enough, the grande old dame of royalty publicly mocked her would-be assassin with a feisty shake of a green apple, in a reference to folk hero William Tell.

Mocked him (or her). In public. In all her royal, not-wearing-an-arrow-proof-vest glory. That is one gutsy lady! It has to be said - at 81-years-old, Queen Fabiola has more feist in her little finger than I have in my whole body.

A question does spring to mind as to where she got the green apple... was it some child's unwanted snack scooped up off the ground? Was it her own snack?

Or was it pre-meditated? Did she deliberately stash it in her handbag to be used precisely for this purpose - now that's almost too delicious to contemplate.

Whatever the truth, Queen Fabiola is an inspiration! Fearless and funny, may she live to shake many, many more apples.

 

Hello, hello! Who is that dashing young bike demon in the full-body leather suit, thought I on first look. To my surprise, I found it be none other than the future King of England, Prince William (yes, yes, the future, future King of England if you want to get technical). Nearly fell off my chair, I did!!  After musing that Harry's the new royal superstar a couple of weeks back, it seems Wills is making a comeback bid for the title.

William looks like a cross between Elvis Presley (in that suit, circa 1968), and Darth Vader (before he took the helmet off - no, you have to admit he's charismatic in a dark side kind of way). Bet all those polo princesses nearly fainted, or at least spilt their glass of champers....The royals really have come a long way (see below) - could you imagine Prince Charles being allowed out at that age on the 1000cc (or whatever you call motorbike thingys) ? The outrage!  Just wouldn't have been approved of. And, as Wills notes, he can relax in anonymity with his helmet on (Darth, take note). Drop-dead gorge and disguised all at once  - way to multi-task, Wills!

Bless! The newest little Danish royal bub looks very cute in his first official photo.  He seems to have inherited dad Prince Joachim's looks. No surprises there, as it seems all the Danish royal children take after dad no matter who the wife. Forget that the mums did all the hard work of pregnancy, birthing, etc, etc - as far as looks go, Marie, Mary, or Alexandra just aren't getting a look in!

But aren't they a picture of the modern blended family? All steps and halfs, looking as content as.... well, your average happy family. And this feat apparently accomplished without a scrap of public outrage - unlike the British royals, who've had to go through so much difficulty over recent years trying to come to terms with modern family life and the public approval/disapproval thereof.

Either the Danes are an easygoing lot, or perhaps the British royals' travails paved the way for the rest of the European royals to have a smoother ride through the often treacherous path of modern relationships and family....

Yay! Another royal wedding in the making (gotta love a royal wedding), with Swedish Crown Princess Victoria's engagement announcement. In her Hello! Profile, Princess Victoria noted the difficulty in maintaining privacy around her romantic life. "I am tired of the speculations," she says. "It's really a problem to have a relationship with someone." Victoria's now put an end to that bit of speculation by announcing her nuptials to Daniel Westling, her personal trainer, no less! Well, her former personal trainer now turned gym chain owner.

Even so, could you imagine Harry or Wills announcing their plans to wed their former personal trainer? (Despite motorbikes and leather suits, British royalty isn't that progressive, is it??) Perhaps it's that that easygoing Nordic attitude again that allows Victoria to marry the man she loves, regardless of his aristocratic pedigree.

But really, Victoria's only swapped that bit of speculation for 'what will her wedding dress look like', followed closely by 'when are they having a baby' - dare I suggest she could gazump some of that spec by strolling down the aisle a few months preggers.....oooh, a shotgun wedding! The outrage!... or perhaps that's barely worth the bat of an eyelash in swingin' Sweden....

PS Melbourne better get sweeping and polishing their streets in preparation for a Royal visit. What Royal visit? Oops...that's supposed to be a secret !

So Prince Harry's been chowing down with one Natalie Imbruglia, has he? I guess having Nat as an burger buddy would make any hamburger more delicious. He and Nat seem to be getting quite a bond going - he was also a guest at her 34th birthday back in February.

Hmm...well, as one of the most gorgeous girls in the world (and I'm not biased because she's an Aussie or anything) one can understand Harry's enthusiasm, but as long as she's merely keeping a older-sisterly eye on him and guiding him back in the right direction to the one he really belongs with...we won't mention any names, shall we, Miss Chelsy...

Speaking of beauty, doesn't Charlotte Casiraghi just knock your socks off ?! Now, she would definitely vie with Nat in the beauty stakes (see, I'm not biased)....in a younger sisterly kind of way.  Okay, the cat's bum expression is a pretty edgy choice of facial pose  - a nice smile (a la her mum) is probably a safer option than cat's bum for photo ops, but hey, she's young, she's pushing the boundaries- Charlotte has surely inherited her mother's gorgeous looks and natural sense of style - so sleek, so chic!  Is it the white pant, or is there a unique Monaconista monarch thing going on there that lends its magic to their aura? Possibly so, for poor Charlene, despite donning said white pant, still looks more sheepish than chic here....

Onto Beatrice's apartment renovation which, according to a palace official, was last decorated a 'long, long time ago'. One imagines original Seventies brown shag pile carpet (emanating a particular corgi-esque scent), matching silver/brown abstract circle wallpaper (peeling at the edges), and lurid orange sphere lighting (complete with 20-year old blown bulbs) - actually it sounds rather 'now', or at least 'recent'.... but 300,000 pounds !! Geez, Louise ! Wonder if the royal family know there's a GFC on at the moment..... 

PS. Also wonder what brand  of hair product Harry uses to achieve that rakish laidback spiky 'do that he sports - now there's an endorsement opportunity waiting to happen - might help pay the bill for Beatrice's apartment overhaul....