Royals Round-Up, December 15th, 2017

This slideshow has SO MANY TIARAS AND GOWNs and also very very very smart people and Idris Elba (not that Idris isn’t also very very smart but he hasn’t won the Nobel for physics…yet).

And, in case you missed it this week/this morning:

Harry and Meghan have set the date! (It’s May 19th)

Kate wore a cute festive coat to hand out gifts; and she and Wills and Harry attended a memorial service for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

We also rounded up MANY sweaters that look like that great one that Prince Philip wore on The Crown.

And, speaking of The Crown, we’re doing fashion recaps of it here, and FULL ON epic long recap-recaps of it over at Previously.TV.

Elsewhere on the internet:

Meghan Markle IS spending Christmas with the Royal Family, which is kind of a big deal. Technically, she and Harry are staying with William and Kate at Anmer (so they’re not breaking the rule of No Unmarried Couples Sleeping Over at Sandringham), but she’s doing all the festivities with the royal family — including, I believe, the Annual Hand-Holding Walk to Church. There has been A LOT of talk about this for the last week or so, but my theory is this: This would not be happening if people weren’t concerned about this possibly being the last Christmas for Prince Philip (despite Her Majesty’s advanced age, I feel like she seems likely to keep kicking for another year — knock on wood). Many people are like, “of course, this is nice, Meghan has no family in the UK” — and it IS nice, but there is literally no reason Meghan couldn’t go home for one last Christmas in Los Angeles, as she has all the resources in the world, and I think it might even be reasonable to want to spend one last holiday as a civilian. Ergo, I think there must be some concern about Philip’s health. It’s exciting for us, though!

Also at Vanity Fair, Wills and Kate and Meghan and Harry all went to the big party for the Kensington Palace staff. AND Meghan apparently was the surprise guest at the Queen’s staff party at Windsor, where everyone reportedly hated her guts. NO. I am kidding! Of course, they all loved her and she was apparently a complete delight. It’s VERY smart of her to meet the staffs — that she hasn’t already met — in these more informal settings before they all leap right into, “HELLO LET’S PLAN MY WEDDING.”

The HRH Duchess Kate blog has more deets on the KP staff party, including possible menus. You guys KNOW I love menus!

ALSO about Christmas, Richard Kay at the Daily Mail (I KNOW) has a detailed article about the holiday logistics and say what you will about the Mail — I know, I do know, I promise: I know — their royals reporters really get the delight of logistics. My fave part is that the Queen would apparently — I am not making this up — really like a new rug.

You’re going to enjoy this, at Apartment Therapy: Gift Ideas for People Who Have Serious Royal Fever

We talked to Daily Break about Harry and Meghan’s engagement, The Royal We, and POSSIBLE WEDDING TIARAS.

And, in social media developments…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcsZXndljtq/?taken-by=koninklijkhuis