Kate & William, William & Kate

"It's my mother's enagagment ring, so of course it's very special to me, and Kate's now very special to me, so it was only right to put the two together. ...[It's] my way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today and the excitement." --Prince William

"They've been practicing long enough."   --Prince Charles

Prince William and Kate Middleton are engaged, so the skincare post I planned will have to wait while outnerd myself on the happy news. It doesn't matter that we've all seen too many royal marriages make no one but tabloid publishers happy or that we can't help but remember that engagement interview from 29 years ago* ("Whatever being in love means")- there's going to be a wedding. And a dress. And flowers. And a very beautiful and happy couple.

Congratulations, William and Kate.

Photos: BBC, CNN

*Charles and Diana's engagement interview:

In which we get interactive

I'm going to be in London for a few days in the end of May. I know that there are interesting lines and products that are not available in the US, so I'd like to hear recommendations from UK readers:
What should I look for? What should I get there (sadly, I don't think that Prince William is anoption)?

Apparently, this is contagious

One of my biggest quirks is a healthy(?) interest with the British royal family. As a child I was interested in anything royal: the concept of real life queens and princesses was fascinating to me, much more than any Disney princess. When Prince Charles married Lady Diana in 1981 I became a rabid fan.

Years, scandals and divorces have gone by. I still read the magazines and buy the books. Despite everything, I am fond of the Prince of Wales and glad to see him so happy for the first time in his life. Camilla may never grace the cover of Vogue, but she seems to be a decent person and a good match for Charles. Something which poor Diana, as lovely as she was, could never have been.



Camilla has her own sense of style and most of the time it works well for her. But the choice of head gear for her daughter's wedding had a Medusa's hair quality to it. I'm not sure that it was the image she wanted.

But more disturbing than that, is that Kate Middleton, Prince William's very lovely girlfriend, seems to have taken fashion advice from her future stepmother-in-law(?) and is sporting something similar. I don't know why she would choose something like this. It's just wrong. She's still charming, though.