Magpie meets The Queen

This may sound a little far fetched, but I did actually meet HRH last week. Ok, maybe meet is a bit of a strong term for it. But I was there, she was there, other Royals were there, hands were shaken, it was all very exciting.
It was the day of the England match, no not the ridiculously predictable one against Germany, but the one we actually won against Slovenia or Slovakia or someone like that. We had been let out of work early so that everyone could watch the match.
Of course, not really being a fan of football and generally finding the synthetic fibre-y-ness of football uniforms pretty awful, I was fairly uninterested. I'll watch men in crisp white tennis outfits on TV relatively happily, or even cricket, but football is really only exciting if you're actually there. Or drunk. Or if it's a hugely significant match and you're with all your friends. I was sober and in Southwark surrounded by office types who had all also been let out early and the idea of cramming into a smelly pub with them was quite horrible.
So I went for a stroll along the Southbank, up towards the Royal Festival Hall. It just so happens that around the same time I was wandering along, the Royals were preparing to arrive at said Festival Hall for Prince William's convocation into the Royal Society. So I joined the small handful of onlookers and paparazzi and the vast number of Festival Hall staff, security and police, to watch them arrive.
I even managed to take some pictures.

Let's start with Wills. Prince William really isn't hot. He has a very noticeable bald patch developing. I would need some serious gifts to go there. Maybe my own yacht would do it. But he is good at safe, boring suits. He gives them a bit of a James Bondish edge - very English, very plummy, a little bit dashing despite the bald spot. I don't know who this one is by, but I think a bit of Burberry and Dunhill would work for William. Kim Jones could work wonders on that man. Maybe after that I wouldn't need the yacht.

Princess Anne is definitely my favourite of the bunch. She's managed to have the same 70's Edwardian revival hairstyle for more than forty years now, which you have to respect. And she never has to go through the painful ritual of brushing out the backcombing. And look, she's rocking this summer's nudes! Plus those pearls. Those pearls are the only thing I actually want from the Royal family.

Now let's look at the matriarch. Frankly there is no excuse for this. I actually quite like the Queen, but this is just heinous, isn't it? There are hundreds of young, talented designers who could seriously benefit from her majesty's patronage but she chooses to go out in this. Who is this by? They should be ashamed of themselves. Ick.

Although she does have an awesome car...

This week has also been good for spotting royalty. Well, fashion royalty anyway. Sadly I didn't have my camera with me, but I was waiting for my dad at the Eurostar arrivals door in St Pancras when out walks none other than Giles Deacon. He was in a very snug fitting breton t and his trademark glasses and he was with a woman was carrying a very large pink Ungaro bag. What do you mean did you try and speak to him? What do you think I am, a journalist or something? Um...

Things I have learnt since my return

I'm back! Did you miss me? I have returned from my spontaneous and rather glorious two week holiday in South Africa where I visited the lovely EDF and her supremely warm and welcoming, and occasionally a little scary, family. I'm not going to bore you too terribly with the details of my trip, just give you a few edited highlights;

1/ I stroked a BABY LION. I wanted to bring one home with me, but having been involved in a nasty dog/car interface the day before I thought I'd better not do anything further to invoke too much bad animal karma.

2/ Cape Town has the most beautiful pub crawl I have ever seen. I am not usually a big drinker, but that doesn't seem to be an acceptable thing in South Africa and EDF's uncle George is extremely persuasive when it comes to drink. In LA, almost every South African I met would be considered an alcoholic. In London they'd just be those people who you think are really cool because they can hold their drink and be funny while all you can do is try and stop the room from spinning and grin.
George took us on something he calls 'the deep south tour' around the southern coast. I went green and threw up before we finished, but it was tremendous fun and drinking mini bottles of jack daniels as shots while looking at views like these is an unforgettable experience in the best kind of way.

3/ There's nothing like a bit of attention from a good looking younger man to make you feel a bit better about yourself. Of course I would never actually do anything, I am a one man woman, but it's still nice to feel attractive.

4/ My closest friends are some of the best people you will ever meet in your whole life. EDF is one of them. If you ever meet her know that you are in the presence of good stuff. She also makes an awesome mix CD.

5/ If your beloved camera dies, an HTC Desire phone is not a bad alternative. All the photos above were taken on my phone after my Canon G9 died in the first couple of days of my trip.

Things I have learned since returning to London;

1/ Being able to walk around the city is really very wonderful. I don't want to live for too long in a place where you can't amble around aimlessly and have to drive everywhere.

2/ Cheap maxi-tube skirts from Topshop might be fun, but they do tend to go baggy at the knees after half a days wear. It's my own fault for attempting to channel Daisy Lowe in the Vogue supplement I suppose - I'm old enough to know better, but I have decided I need to just dress the way I want to as much as possible while I'm still young enough to wear stupid things.

3/ Topshop makeup is ace. Kind of makes up for the skirt thing. I'm in love with the lipsticks - Narsesque crayons that glide on super easily and don't dry your lips out.

4/ Navy blue suede vintage Celine waistcoats are awesome and surprisingly versatile. Mine was discovered in a vintage shop on Long Street in Cape Town - a place highly recommended for vintage shopping - but has really come into its own with the maxi skirt and the warmer London weather.

5/ The perfect pair of sandals doesn't exist.

6/ Hot weather can be extremely disturbing for someone sensitive to bad clothing choices.

7/ It can also reveal some pretty awful things, like the woman on the tube who saw it as an opportunity to flaunt her toenails which she had grown long and pointy and had painted in a burgundy colour with an intiricate cream pattern to match her fingernails. This is the kind of sight that can scar you for life.