Latest news with #PrincessKate
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I'm a fashion expert – I've found seven summer dresses that hide bingo wings… and they're not frumpy
Our round-up also reveals the colour of the season, and it has already been sported by both Kendall Jenner and Princess Kate LONGING FOR SLEEVES I'm a fashion expert – I've found seven summer dresses that hide bingo wings… and they're not frumpy Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BINGO wings beware – the high street has gone sleeveless mad. And if, like me, you don't love your upper arms, that's seriously bad news. 7 Bright red puff sleeve midi dress, £36, Next Credit: Next 7 Cream satin floral twist front maxi dress, £56, River Island Credit: River Island I know I'm not alone, either. When I ranted about this in the office, there was a chorus of agreement. Not because we're all body-conscious, but because — shock horror — some of us want to wear real clothes to places other than a beach. On TikTok, clips showing exercises to eliminate bingo wings have hundreds of thousands of likes. And I'm not surprised. At the age of 35, it's quite common for women my age — and older — to feel self-conscious about their arms. Over-50s fitness influencer Nikki Brow amasses more than 560k views on TikTok for her 'Menopause ladies' videos to banish bingo wings. And #armworkout videos have more than 4.5 billion views on the social media platform. But trying to find anything to cover our upper arms this summer is a relentless task. As someone who spends an unhealthy amount of time trawling the rails of the high street (it's my job, after all), I recently found myself storming through Zara in London's Oxford Street, wondering if the designers had collectively lost the plot — or just stopped believing in sleeves. Everywhere I turned it was strappy slip dresses, halterneck beachwear pretending to be occasionwear, and sequinned numbers clearly aimed at women who treat the club loos as a selfie booth. And sleeves? Nowhere to be found. There was one long-sleeved dress and, plot twist, it had no back. Shoppers run to bag on-trend spring dress with 'boho vibes' in Sainsbury's Brilliant. So now I've got to shell out again for a stick-on-bra and rolls of duct tape to keep everything in its rightful place. But it's not just Zara, either. Unless your upper arms resemble Michelle Obama's, your options are: repeat-wear something from last year, or whip out the sewing kit. And spare me the body-positivity speeches. 'Just go sleeveless,' they say, or 'Embrace your arms — no one cares'. Well, I care when I catch sight of my reflection in a shop window and see the glaring sight of a wide arm. I want sleeves. Not cap sleeves (a con), not flutter sleeves (cute but pointless), but sleeves that actually cover the upper arm. But never fear, I've done the legwork (or the arm work) and found the best sleeved summer dresses that tick all the right boxes. Because fashion should make you feel good and for some of us, that means keeping our arms under wraps. EMPIRE LINE Red, Next, £36 Empire line, with a seam and fitted under the bust, is flattering on everyone, from fuller busts to fuller middles. This number from Next in bold red and accented sleeves is perfect for summer. EVERY OCCASION WEAR Multi, River Island, £56 No one wants to splash out on a statement dress that will only see you through one wedding, or an annual trip to the races. You want a dress that's value for money and that you can wear all season. River Island's long-sleeved midaxi does just that. A knotted waist and slightly padded shoulders enhance an hourglass figure, while the busy print is disguising without being too loud. BOLD PRINT Floral, H&M, £27.99 7 Floral patterned midi dress, £27.99, H&M Credit: Supplied Ditsy florals have a habit of ageing us, whereas bolder colours and prints inject life into our outfits, like this button-down H&M dress. This is summer in a frock. With its pretty-yet-punchy pattern and elegant length, it's the non-frumpy floral dress we've been waiting for. Wear it on a Sunday stroll, or for a day at the races. BARGAIN BOHO Floral, Tu at Sainsbury's, £35 7 Floral boho maxi dress, by Tu at Sainsbury's, £35 Credit: Supplied Boho has made a triumphant return to fashion this year, but while most of us over 25 can't bear the thought of wearing disc belts and a mini dress, this embodies the trend without looking like 1970s fancy dress. Slight ruffled detailing gives depth, while breaking up the floral print. And a V-neckline is flattering for fuller busts. SHIRT DRESS Green, George at Asda, £38 7 Green shirt dress with linen, George at Asda, £38 Credit: Asda Create a defined silhouette with a classic shirt dress. This one has a slightly puffed sleeve that gives it an expensive feel. In a deep, verdant green, it also creates a bold look with zero effort and can be dressed up with metallic accessories for holidays and weddings, or dressed down with your favourite Birkenstocks for everyday wear. TIMELESS CLASSIC Polka dot, Primark, £14 7 Primark polka dot dress, £14 Credit: Primark From royalty to the high street, you can't go wrong with a bit of polka dot. It's one of those trusty staples you can keep in your wardrobe for years. With a three-quarter sleeve and shin-length skirt, this Primark dress is perfect for summer. HELLO YELLOW Broderie, New Look, £69.99 7 Yellow broderie anglaise midi dress, New Look, £69.99 Credit: Supplied Butter yellow is the colour of the season, with everyone from Kendall Jenner to the Princess of Wales sporting the hue. Another style synonymous with summer is broderie anglaise. And New Look's hybrid of the two trends, with a slit down the back, is the one for you. With three-quarter sleeves and delicate cut-outs, it's a designer-looking dress for less.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Royal photos taken just years apart show sad new reality
COMMENT There have been many moments that have come close to making and breaking the British monarchy, generally involving bloody battlefields,, the Tower of London, Spanish brides shipped over special-like, Marys (Tudor, of Scots) and blowing $80 million on a pan-Asian themed 'pleasure palace'. (George IV really knew his silk wallpaper.) One poor choice, made by King Charles back when he was just the Prince of Wales in 2012 and the world's poshest biscuit maker, was unmistakeable over the weekend. Every June the sovereign gets their official birthday parade, Trooping the Colour, which clogs the more touristy bits of St James's and this year, despite the usual circus of horse flesh and red coated, stiff-spined military sorts clomping down The Mall in regimental perfection, it had the whiff of the dud. Not even Kate, The Princess of Wales turning up in a mermaid-core aquamarine coat so bright it could dazzle a seeing eye dog, could quite save the event from having the zip and fizz of a perfunctory birthday Sara Lee cake being shared in a break room. The reason - back in June 2012 Charles wheeled out his vision for a slimmed down version of the royal family for the first time and the after-effects of that captain's call were unmissable at this year's Trooping. Sure, this year, as usual, we got ponies and a nice bit of gold braid but the remaining working members of the royal family allowed to take their place on the Palace balcony looked more like a Home Counties golf club board on their way to a wake than the exciting future of a multi-billion dollar institution. We could beat around a nicely trimmed yew bush or we could be blunt. The royal family is, overall, a tired, greying, much reduced outfit. Aside from Charles and his good lady Queen, Camila, who had luckily remembered to take her wellies off under her Anna Valentine coat dress, and Prince William and Kate and their adorable three children, there were only seven other official working HRHs allowed out on the balcony, the majority of whom are over the age of 75-years-old. Can even the most ardent of 'I've got all the commemorative teaspoons' monarchists tell the difference between the Duke of Kent (89-years-old and 42nd in line to the throne) and the Duke of Gloucester (80-years-old and 32nd in line to the throne)? How many people can tell me who Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence is? Aerial shots of this year's Trooping suggest I am not alone in feeling this way, with the 2025 crowd size, based on a bit of highly scientific eyeballing, appearing to be smaller than previously. For some reason the public was not willing to stand around for an age to see a few 80-something dukes who've never had to buy their own white sliced or fill out a job application stand on a balcony. Weird. The decision Charles made in 2012 was this: Fearing this image of a balcony mob scene would make the royal family look like a bloated, grasping lot and put the British people off the concept of a hereditary monarchy, he decided to limit who was allowed out for big events and restricting working royal roles to only those closest to the throne. Younger Windsor cousins, second cousins, third cousins and a blood princess here and there suddenly were surplus to needs. His Majesty wanted the royal family to be represented by a trim, toned, lean working cadre who would make the Crown Inc look like good value for money and not like a bunch of old Etonians scrounging off the Windsor teat. Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were reportedly barred from ever doing full-time royal duties and sent off to polish their LinkedIn pages. Charles' idea for a slimmed down royal family is now looking like a disastrous move and this year's balcony moment was a shadow of how things once were. Of the late Queen's eight grandchildren, William is the only one who is allowed to undertake official royal duties. A last hurrah came in 2019 when the late Queen permitted, what would be for the final time, more than 35 Windsors tromping out onto the balcony in a big, colourful gaggle. Waving space was at a premium and playing spot-the-crammed-in-minor earls was the pub drinking game you never knew you needed. Now there is so much room on the Palace balcony they could invest in individual sun loungers with optional shade coverings and still fit in an esky. What Charles' slimmed down plan did not factor in was the downfall of the spares. The first domino fell in November 2019 when Prince Andrew, The Duke of York went on Newsnight to defend holidaying with a convicted child sex offender and to give Pizza Express Woking untold millions in free publicity. Still, Andrew was hardly that much of a loss, unless you were a) an Kazakh magnate looking to curry favour in London, b) an alleged Chinese spy, or c) the Four Seasons Bahrain's brand manager who just lost their number one customer. What proved truly devastating was when, two months later in January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were done with toeing lines, smiling on cue and making do with a five-bedder horribly lacking in saunas and proximity to an Erehwon. Charles' slimmed down model relied on both William and Harry rolling up their off-the-rack sleeves and mucking in to do royal duties alongside their perpetually-game-and-cheery wives. In the space of that one January 2020 Instagram post, the future of Crown Inc went from relatively robust to worryingly malnourished. Back in 2019 when that last mass group balcony photo was taken, with Meghan still having that new duchess smell, there was genuine sizzle about the royal family. The addition of a biracial, divorced American go-getter who could wear the hell out of a pair of jeans was the shot in the arm the Palace never knew they needed so badly. The Sussxes made royalty seem relevant, interesting and contemporary in a way that a 1001 Hello covers and tireless visits to Bognor Regis never would. Imagine how this year's Palace balcony scene could have looked if the Great Megxiting had somehow been prevented. Harry, grinning up a storm and corralling his young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, Meghan doing superlative, stunning hat work. The combination of the Sussexes and the Waleses would have made the future of the royal family seem young, exciting, glamorous. Instead, what the photos of this year's Trooping the Colour spell out is that the loss of the duke and duchess is not something the Palace can or will recover from soon. (To a lesser degree, the permanent barring Beatrice and Eugenie from ever being full-time working members of the royal family is also looking short-sighted.) What the King thought he was doing was future-proofing the crown; instead the images from Trooping make it look like he could have accidentally hobbled it. In ten years, how many members of the royal family will be left to take the place on the Palace balcony? And how many people will bother to get off the sofa to come and watch? Kate and William and their kids were always going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting to keep the monarchy going - now the effort and struggle is going to be positively Herculean.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
William and Kate's discreet visit to India that left locals shocked... and joy for the new Lady Goldsmith-to-be: RICHARD EDEN'S DIARY
After losing an appeal over the levels of taxpayer-funded security that he and his family are entitled to while in Britain, Prince Harry whined to the BBC last month: 'I can't see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.' His brother and sister-in-law, the Prince and Princess of Wales, take a more robust approach to security threats. Someone involved in one of their visits overseas has revealed that the couple insisted on shedding their protection officers on a particularly sensitive engagement.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Wales family's tribute to Prince William on Father's Day
Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte paid tribute to their dad, the Prince of Wales, on Father's Day. But in a break from tradition, Princess Kate, a keen photographer, chose not to capture the image to mark the special occasion. George, 11, Charlotte, 10, and Louis, seven, were seen cuddling up to Prince William. In one image, the children beamed as they faced the camera, with William holding his daughter and eldest son, and Charlotte cuddling her younger brother, Louis. In a second, more candid snap, the children tackled their father with hugs, laughing as they played in a patch of grass. 'Happy Father's Day, Papa,' the caption read, highlighting that the more posed picture with the family smiling for the camera is the 'before', while the more candid monochrome shot of them giggling together is the 'after'. 'We love you! G, C & L.' Josh Shinner, one of the family's trusted professional photographers, captured both images, as opposed to Prince William's wife, Kate, who has, over the years, put herself behind the lens to capture family moments. The post was the first time a message from the three children featured on the family's social media accounts. The new post comes after the family celebrated Trooping the Color on Saturday. The Princess of Wales seemed to pay tribute to her late mother-in-law at the event. Kate wore a striking white and turquoise coat dress by the late Princess Diana's favorite designer, Catherine Walker, and echoed one of her most memorable looks. Royal watchers compared Kate's look to the tailored Walker suit worn by Diana during her official visit to New Delhi in 1992. Both outfits featured the same crisp white and turquoise color palette and sleek silhouette, evoking the timeless elegance that defined Diana's style legacy. Walker was a go-to fashion house for her, and Kate has followed in recent years, regularly stepping out in bespoke pieces from the British label. The designer's enduring link to the Royal Family and its polished aesthetic makes it a natural choice for Kate. The visual tribute didn't stop at the clothing. In a detail that delighted royal fans, Kate also opted for a cherished accessory with a storied royal provenance - the Bahrain pearl drop earrings, originally gifted to the then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947 by the Hakim of Bahrain as a wedding present. The jewelry, which features a diamond stud and suspended Art Deco-style diamonds ending in two Bahrain-sourced pearls, has become a symbol of royal continuity across generations. Diana was the first to wear the earrings after the Queen, having borrowed them as early as 1982 - a year after she herself became a royal bride. She often paired them with the Queen Mary's Lover's Knot Tiara, a piece now closely associated with the Princess of Wales, who continues to wear the tiara at formal state occasions. Kate has worn the pearl earrings several times since Queen Elizabeth II's passing in 2022, signaling both personal respect and royal tradition. 'Pearls are one of the very few jewelry items you can wear in mourning and are inextricably linked with Queen Elizabeth and her personal jewelry legacy,' royal jewelry expert Bethan Holt previously told People. The nod to both Diana and the late Queen was widely interpreted as a deliberate gesture, designed to underline the Princess of Wales's role as a bridge between the monarchy's past and future. Kate's decision to wear Catherine Walker for such a high-profile event was no surprise. She has often gravitated towards the label's sleek tailoring and understated colour palettes, much like Diana before her. One of the most notable early examples came in 1987, when Diana coordinated in a matching Catherine Walker look with a young Prince William for an Easter Sunday service. Now, nearly four decades later, William stood alongside his wife as she paid homage to the mother-in-law she never met but whose influence continues to shape her public image. Meanwhile, Princess Charlotte paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth. Kate's only daughter rewore a brooch she first wore to her great-grandmother's funeral. The young royal, ten, pinned the historic Diamond Horseshoe brooch to the front of her light blue dress for her grandfather King Charles's birthday parade. The brooch, which has been in the Royal Family for generations, had been a gift from her 'Gan-Gan' the Queen, and was a fitting nod to Her Majesty's love of horses. Trooping the Color is one of the most significant ceremonial events in the royal calendar. Dating back to the 17th century, the annual parade marks the Sovereign's official birthday and showcases the full spectacle of British pageantry.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
King Charles III, Prince William share sweet Father's Day tributes: See the photos
The British royal family is honoring generations of fathers this Father's Day. To mark the occasion on Sunday, the official X account for Prince William and Princess Kate shared heartwarming photos of the Prince of Wales with their three children -- Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Prince William, Kate Middleton and kids step out at Trooping the Colour In one image, William is seen standing with his arms around the kids, smiling as they huddle close. Another touching black-and-white photo shows the foursome lying on the grass, laughing together in a candid embrace. 'Happy Father's Day, Papa (before and after!) We love you! G, C & L ,' the caption of the post reads. Meanwhile, the official X account for King Charles III and Queen Camilla also marked the holiday with a pair of nostalgic photos. The first is a black-and-white image of a young Charles and his sister, Princess Anne, being pushed on a wooden swing by their father, Prince Philip. The second shows Camilla with her father, Bruce Shand, on her wedding day to Charles in 2005. 'To all Dads everywhere, we wish you a happy Father's Day today,' the caption of the post read. The royal tributes came just a day after members of the family -- including Prince William, Princess Kate and their three children -- joined King Charles and Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour. The annual military parade, which marks the monarch's official birthday, took place on Saturday, June 14. This year's event was the third Trooping the Colour for King Charles since his ascension. Though his actual birthday falls on November 14, the celebration traditionally takes place in June. In addition to members of the royal family, more than 1,300 parading soldiers and 300 musicians participated in the military parade, according to the British Army. King Charles III, Prince William share sweet Father's Day tributes: See the photos originally appeared on
