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The amazing Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara

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Elizabeth II's first tiara was a wedding present in 1947 from her grandmother, Queen Mary , who received it as a gift from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland in 1893 on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of York, later George V. Made by E. Wolfe & Co., it was purchased from Garrard & Co. by a committee organised by Lady Eve Greville. In 1914, Mary adapted the tiara to take 13 diamonds in place of the large oriental pearls surmounting the tiara. Leslie Field, author of The Queen's Jewels, described it as, "a festoon-and-scroll with nine large oriental pearls on diamond spikes and set on a base of alternate round and lozenge collets between two plain bands of diamonds".  At first, Elizabeth wore the tiara without its base and pearls but the base was reattached in 1969.  The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is one of Elizabeth's most recognisable pieces of jewellery due to its widespread appearance in portraits of the monarch on British bank

A commoner who became Queen of Norway

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Sonja Haraldsen was born on 4 July 1937 at Red Cross Clinic in Oslo, the daughter of clothing merchant Karl August Haraldsen (1889–1959) and Dagny Ulrichsen (1898–1994). Family She had three siblings, Haakon Haraldsen (1921–2016), Gry Henriksen (1924–1971)  and Karl Herman Haraldsen (1929–1936, who died in a boating accident). Childhood   She grew up at Tuengen Allé 1B in the district of Vinderen in Oslo and completed her lower secondary schooling in 1954. She received a diploma in dressmaking and tailoring at the Oslo Vocational School, and a diploma from École Professionnelle des Jeunes Filles (a finishing school) in Lausanne, Switzerland.  There, she studied accounting, fashion design, and social science. She returned to Norway for further studies and received an undergraduate degree (French, English and Art History) from the University of Oslo. Love and Marriage In June 1959 she first met Crown Prince Harald (the future King Harald V) at a party hosted by Johan H. Stenersen. Later

HRH: so many thoughts on royal style

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When I had the chance to choose a free book via Booktasters, my eyes immediately fell on this copy: "HRH so many thoughts on royal style" written by Elizabeth Holmes. I must say, I really enjoyed the book, reading it was a pleasure! It contains so many lovely and beautiful pictures and the more it was very positive about the royals. It had nothing to do with sensation. It also was written very well and the chapters were chronological. So, I'm happy this book is a part of my royal book collection. If you like royal  fashion this is a must read. "HRH so many thoughts on royal style" was released in November 2020 and has 327 pages. The author Elizabeth Holmes (born 1980) is an American writer and journalist based in san Francisco California. Known for her coverage of British  royal style and fashion. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Town & Country, Real Simple and InStyle. "HRH: So many Thoughts on royal Style" made the New York Times best

26 June 1914: Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark

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The fourth daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, Sophie was born on 26 June 1914 at Mon Repos , a palace in Corfu that her parents inherited after the assassination of King George I in 1913.  Nicknamed "Tiny" by her family, the princess grew up within a united household, together with her elder sisters Margarita (1905–1981), Theodora (1906–1969),   and Cecilie (1911–1937).  With their mother, Sophie and her sisters communicated in English, but they also used French, German, and Greek in the presence of their relatives and governesses. Childhood Sophie's early childhood was marked by the instability that the Kingdom of Greece experienced due to the First World War. The conflict divided her family into opposing branches, and Greece eventually set aside its neutrality due to the Triple Entente.  Sophie and her sisters were in the royal palace of Athens when it was bombarded by the French Navy during the battle in the capital on 1 D