An English Christmas Tree

One of my favorite parts of the holidays this year was decorating my little Christmas tree with English themed ornaments.  In England, the St. Nicolas company creates handmade, embroidered felt ornaments that are of historic people and places.  Most of the ornaments I collected from various palace and cathedral gift shops throughout London were made by the St. Nicolas company, and one of the ornaments was a gift!

The three ornaments below are of three British Queens who were Queens in their own right -- Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, and Queen Elizabeth II.

I had to look high and low for the Queen Elizabeth I ornament above, and I finally found one in the National Portrait Gallery gift shop.  I love the fire red hair!

There are about four iterations of the Queen Victoria ornament -- a couple when she was a princess, one when she was an older Queen with enormous royal garments, and then the one above when she is a young Queen.  Queen Victoria still looms large over London, and so it was no surprise that there were so many Victoria ornament options.

Above is Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her Coronation.  I think this depiction is fantastic because it really captures the sumptuous robes and dress she wore on that day, and I love that she is holding the orb and sceptre.  

Above is a Tudor Rose ornament that I found at Hampton Court Palace.  The Tudor Rose emblem was created following the end of the War of the Roses, when the House of Lancaster (red rose) and the House of York (white rose) united.  I became positively obsessed with the War of Roses after watching the BBC miniseries "The White Queen," or as many of my friends know, after I became positively obsessed with the actor, Max Irons!

 The Queen's 60th anniversary of her Coronation occurred in 2013, and there were amazing events celebrating this anniversary throughout the year.  I love the above ornament's depiction of the four countries that comprise Great Britain -- the daffodil for Wales, the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland and the shamrock for Northern Island.

Prince George was born a couple of weeks after I arrived in London, and I thought it would be fun to get an ornament commemorating being in London during this fun time!

And finally, my best friend, Hilly, made me this great needlepoint ornament of a Union Jack.  I adore it -- a perfect addition to my English themed Christmas tree.  I can't wait to collect more English themed Christmas ornaments in the years to come!

A Spontaneous Gesture

Exterior of Westminster Abbey, interior photographs prohibited.

At the back of Westminster Abbey, under a black marble plaque; an unknown soldier was buried in November 1920.  In 2002, after the Queen Mother's funeral, Queen Elizabeth laid the funeral wreath on top of the unknown soldier's grave.  It was a spontaneous gesture in memory of the bouquet her mother had laid at the grave at her own wedding in 1923.

Fashion Rules - Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth

Honestly, I could spend all day staring at dresses that queens and princesses have worn. I basically did just that for an entire afternoon at Kensington Palace, which currently has an exhibit called, "Fashion Rules," featuring the fashion of Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth.  I have to admit that I have seen several exhibits of Princess Diana's dresses already -- two at Kensington Palace and one in Kansas City (hello, Royal fashion junkie.  Is there a 12 step program for that?), but this was the first time that I had the opportunity to see a large number of Queen Elizabeth's and Princess Margaret's dresses.

I was most taken with Queen Elizabeth's dresses.  Good Lord -- those nipped in waists, that incredibly detailed beading.  She wore the above dress for the opening of the New Zealand parliament in 1963.  Norman Hartnell designed the dress and created the out-of-control, exquisite beading.

Norman Hartnell also designed the above white and green dress that the Queen wore on a tour of Pakistan.  The dress was made in green and white because those were the national colors of Pakistan, and the front of the dress is plain so as to better show the Queen's insignia that she wore across her chest.  Notably, Hartnell was the first man in fashion to be knighted.

Well, who knew the Queen had a little Jackie O in her?  Queen Elizabeth wore the above coat to a celebration of her Silver Wedding Anniversary.  I love its timeless cut and shape.  

The above dress is quintessential, show-stopping Princess Margaret.  She was a true fashion icon of her day, taking chances in fashion and wearing it all beautifully.  Carl Toms designed this dress, which Princess Margaret famously wore at a party on the island of Mustique.

I adore this fur coat designed by Christian Dior for Princess Margaret.  It was absolutely sumptuous in person.  It reminded me of the short fur coat my father gave to my mother as a Christmas present one year.  Inside the coat, my mother's initials are sewn into the lining.  When I get married, I plan to have my new initials sewn into the lining as well.

Princess Diana wore the above dress designed by Zandra Rhodes for a royal visit to Japan in 1986.  Zandra Rhodes is a fashion cult hero in England, and people such as Philip Treacy and Matthew Williamson apprenticed for her.  The light pink color of the dress was chosen to echo the pink of the Japanese cherry blossom.  One of the things I love about Royal dressing is how deliberate and thoughtful their fashion choices are -- almost always there is a nod to a host country by the choice of fashion designer or by the embellishments and details of the dress.

Catherine Walker created the above dress for Princess Diana to wear to a royal visit to Brazil in 1991.  Of its design Walker stated, "Shortly before this visit to Brazil, the national football team had lost to Argentina in the World Cup and the country was depressed about this disaster.  We received instructions that in view of these circumstances we should not design anything in green, yellow or blue, which were the official colors of the Brazil team, and definitely not in blue and white, which were the colors of the Argentinian football team."