Whimsical tote bags! Fascinating holes! Cheerful queens! Intriguing rugs! AND MORE.

ICYMI around here:

Kate went out and got her heel stuck in a grate.

– And we wrapped up EVERYTHING she wore on the recent royal trip to Sweden and Norway.

You might be interested in reading these things:

DRAMA: Japan’s Princess Mako is postponing her wedding. She says until 2020 — presumably so she won’t be stripped of her Imperial status before the upcoming planned abdication of her grandfather? I say, it’s probably postponed forever. People also has a good explainer of the Japanese rules of Imperial succession. I had no idea that they restricted it to males in 1947. It’s a fascinating piece. For example: “When Emperor Akihito abdicates the throne, as he’s expected to next year, his son Crown Prince Nahurito will inherit. But Nahurito only has one child, a daughter: Princess Aiko. So when Nahurito dies (or abdicates, though Akihito’s decision to do so is breaking 200 years of precedent), the throne will pass to his younger brother, Prince Fumihito — the father of Princess Mako. Fumihito has a son, Hisahito, who is set to inherit after him, but Hisahito is the only male of his generation in the family. The imperial family presently has less than 20 members, and experts worry that that number will continue to dwindle as the older generations die off and Akihito’s four grandchildren, three of which are female, marry outside the family. ‘Under the present system, there is the risk that Hisahito will be the only one left in the imperial family,’ Keio University Professor Hidehiko Kasahara told the Express.”

Crown Prince Frederik was meant to be at the Olympics for the full two weeks, but rushed home last night because his father, Prince Henrik’s, health has been failing rapidly. (He was, as of the time I write this, still alive but very unwell.) [People]

Heather and I were interviewed by Town & Country for a very important piece: What Will Duchess Kate Wear to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Wedding?

Also at T&C, this is very interesting: America’s Last Princess, Hawaii’s Abigail Kawananakoa, Is in a Legal Battle Over $215 Million Fortune

Also useful, from Tatler: How to organise a royal hen or stag do. (You can tell they’re British because they spell “organize” with an “s.”) The words “chest wig” are involved.

Per W, Alicia Vikander Tried to Talk to Prince William About The Crown. (He changed the subject to Game of Thrones.)

At Vogue: Kate the Great.

And, on social media:

 

[Photos: WU HONG/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock,  Utrecht Robin/action press/REX/Shutterstock, REX/Shutterstock, James Mason Photography/REX/Shutterstock, Alastair Grant/AP/REX/Shutterstock, M.A.PUSHPA KUMARA/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock, Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock,  IBL/REX/Shutterstock, MC/MARINA PRESS/REX/Shutterstock, Isopix/REX/Shutterstock]