Arriving at the Games. Pic E! News YouTube
We love a Wales family big day out, and Saturday’s surprise trip to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow served up a heap of fun and revelations. In fact, it counted as an historic day as the sports-loving George, Charlotte and Louis were making their first public appearance in Scotland, where Mum and Dad are known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay.
Good to see eight-year-old Louis is now officially trusted to attend public events with his siblings. Although he regularly attends royal events such as Trooping the Colour, this was only his second public engagement. Could this mean we’ll see him at Wimbledon next year? We hope so!
Anyway, back to the Commonwealth Games, where William joked that him and Kate embarrassed George, Louis rocked a Team Wales bucket hat and gymnastics-crazy Charlotte apparently doesn’t think much of her younger brother’s handstand technique.
At Wales House, the family met Welsh athletes, and had a high five from the Games’ mascot, a unicorn called Finnie. Catherine revealed Dame Laura Kenny, the Olympic champion cyclist, tried to convince her and William to “come and give it a go”, joking that she had replied: “Be careful what you wish for as they want to put us on a tandem bike in the velodrome.”
TV presenter Gethin Jones asked George, Charlotte and Louis: “Would you like to see Mum and Dad on a tandem in the velodrome later?” “No,” said George emphatically. Whereupon William laughed: “We embarrass you enough as it is.”
They also met medal-winning Welsh gymnasts Abigail and Emily Roper, the twin sisters secured bronze medals within an hour of each other. Plus, we learnt a bit about Louis’s new skill. “Louis, you’re perfecting your handstand at the moment, ” said Catherine. “A bit,” replied Louis. “But Charlotte says I’m not very good.” Bless him.
An honest George admitted: “I’m rubbish at anything that involves flexibility.” Although he did confess he enjoys chucking a javelin at school.
The rest of their day was action packed, starting at the netball semi finals and later at the Velodrome, where they met Sir Chris Hoy and Dame Laura.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh at the Games. Pic: Royal Family Insta
After Charles and Camilla opened the Games in spectacular style – with the help of a Tardis – the Royal Family have been supporting the event as much as possible, from Anne to Sophie and Edward (who is vice patron of Commonwealth Sport) attending as their schedule allowed.
Who me? Kate looking stylish in Patrick McDowell on Garter Day. Pic: Prince and Princess of Wales Insta
She’s always had our vote, as she manages to look incredibly well put-together, even while facing massive turmoil in her personal life. And yes, we know there’s a lot more to life than clothes, but the Princess of Wales manages to inspire us, all the time.
So, we’re with Tatler, who voted Catherine number one, for the second time (she previously got the top spot in 2022), thanks to her year of beautiful styling, such as her yellow Roksanda dress at Ascot and Emilia Wickstead green dress at Wimbledon.
Here are some of our favourite looks this year:
Pics: Prince and Princess of Wales
Wimbledon: Kate wore a green Emilia Wickstead dress to the men’s final at Wimbledon this year – she’s a long-time fan of the brand, for good reason.
Ascot: The Princess of Wales won the day at Royal Ascot, when she brought back a yellow Roksanda dress and Jane Taylor hat. She’s worn the dress previously at Wimbledon in 2022 and also in Jamaica, the same year.
Pics: Prince and Princess of Wales
Garden Party: We loved Catherine’s look at this summer’s Buckingham Palace Garden Party – she wore a Self Portrait skirt and jacket and a vintage hat from The Hat Circle.
Peak District: In January, the princess undertook a walk in the Peak District – she would later do the Three Peaks Challenge. Kate wore a Dubarry jacket, Holland Cooper jodphurs, Brora snood and The House of Bruar tweed cap. Her choice of walking boots, for anyone interested, are Berghaus Supalite.
Baftas: In February, Catherine shone in her Gucci gown at the BAFTAs, first worn in 2019, with a Prada clutch.
Some of the Queen’s dresses. Pic: Kerry Parnell
Our sartorial note: We went to see the wonderful Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style exhibition at the King’s Gallery, recently, and as we wandered the gorgeous collection of Norman Hartnell gowns, Maria pondered why Catherine doesn’t re-wear some of the late Queen’s vintage gowns. We realise the answer is they would have to be re-tailored and the Queen’s wardrobe is now housed as a collection, but, still, some of the dresses were so beautiful, we’d love to see them again.
We love the social media rewind William and Catherine’s team have started doing – where they post a carousel of the past few months’ highlights. “Thank you to everyone who has made the last few months so special!” they wrote, this week, with images of Wimbledon, Ascot, the Three Peaks Challenge and George, Charlotte and Louis’ birthdays. They’ve now signed off for a summer break, where it’s understood they will be enjoying lots of quality family time ahead of George going off to Eton in September. The family will be splitting their time between Windsor, Norfolk, Balmoral and possibly the Isles of Scilly, although they do keep their holiday plans private.
Harry this summer. Pic: Meghan Markle Insta
So how many units of As Ever fruit spreads will Meghan need to shift to help ease Harry’s increasingly sticky legal situation as he faces a potentially big bill since a four-year ‘breach of privacy’ court battle was wholly dismissed against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the UK’s Daily Mail. Harry and his fellow claimants, including Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, face a potential legal bill of more than £18m, after their insurance is taken into account. Associated incurred total legal costs of £34.5m but the claimants’ insurance covers just £16.2m, creating a potential shortfall of £18.3m. That’s a lot of fruit spread and flower sprinkles to shift. Still, Meghan’s recently launched a new Blackberry flavour, so every little helps, we guess.
The royal season slows down in August, so we’re signing off for our holidays, too. We’ll be off-line for a few weeks but we have scheduled some special newsletters during the month. Or why not listen to our cracking podcast episodes – Secrets of the Royals – about the tragedies that befell the family over the generations.
We’ll be back with new ideas and content, on 6 September with our usual free Sunday newsletter, but in the meantime, if there’s something you’d really like to read about, or have something you’d like to share, please comment below. We love hearing from you! Kerry and Maria x