Battle of the bling! As Kate's Lotus Flower steals the show at the state banquet (trunc)

The Daily Mail ^ | 10-22-15 | Jo Tweedy

[afraidfortherepublic]

Few pieces of jewellery suggest blue blood like a tiara does. Worn on the grandest of occasions, they are shimmering visions of wealth, perfectly perched on some of the world's most regal crowns.

On Tuesday night at Buckingham Palace, all eyes were on the Duchess of Cambridge as she attended her first state banquet to welcome the Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan.

Kate, 33, matched a beautiful red dress by Jenny Packham - a nod to China's flag - with the Lotus Flower tiara once owned by the Queen Mother. The delicate diamond tiara has fan motifs crowned by floating diamond arches and is also known as the Papyrus Tiara; it was created by British jeweller Garrard from one of the Queen Mother's own necklaces.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Just a little distraction from our gloomy news. It makes me wonder, do you know any American family that owns a single tiara, let alone a whole collection of them?

These are really magnificent jewels. What does our Ambassador's wife do when invited to a State dinner in England? Does she have a source where she can borrow, or rent, a tiara? Or, is it considered gauche for a commoner to show up in a tiara?

I do know that common people in England do own them. I've seen them show up in the English version of Antiques Roadshow. And we learned on downton Abbey that it was inappropriate for an unmarried woman to wear one. The best one I saw on the Roadshow was one out of New Zealand, or Austrailia, that could be converted into a necklas for extra wear.

Go to the link for many, many pictures and histories of these, now rare, pieces of jewellry.

[beaversmom]

Thanks for the post.

[afraidfortherepublic]

You’re very welcome!

[beaversmom]

P.S. What’s the gloomy news? I miss one day of news, and I’m very behind.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Did Diana get to keep one after she divorced Charles? What about Sarah? What were they supposed to do after their divorces? How could they carry on, without one or two tiaras?

[immadashell]

What does our Ambassador's wife do when invited to a State dinner in England?

What would the Wookie or the Hilldebeest wear?

[afraidfortherepublic]

American killed in Iraq in a rescue mission. Americans refusing to classify it as a combat mission, even though he was there at the behest of his command; Benghazhi hearing treated as a big joke by Hillary and her minions. I’m sure thee were other things, but that was enough to get me down.

[Noumenon]

Edward Gibbon, the renowned historian who wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, described six attributes that Rome embodied at its end:

First, an overwhelming love of show and luxury;
Second, a widening gap between the rich and the poor;
Third, an obsession with sports and a freakishness in the arts, masquerading as creativity and originality;
Fourth, a decline in morals, increase in divorce and decline in the institution of the family;
Fifth, economic deterioration resulting from debasement of the currency, inflation, excessive taxation, and overregulation;
and Sixth, an increased desire by the citizenry to live off the state.

America is not Rome. But we're working on it.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I would shudder at the thought of either of them sitting at a classy table. Michelle would use the wrong fork, or pick the food up in her fingers. Hillary would drink too much and wind up under the table.

[beaversmom]

Thanks. I hear ya. I knew about Hillary, but not the others. It’s hard to keep up. And sometimes I have to play a little bit ostrichish to keep sanity. Look at funny cat pictures or beautiful tiaras. ;)

A cute short vid my little girl showed me not too long ago:

CAT SONG:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ58M1sAaWY

then I found this related one:

Everyone is Lonely:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7LBggDKEtM

They made me smile. :)

[beaversmom]

And Hillary would cackle loudly and inappropriately.

[ponygirl]

The Wookie could wear a spinning rim. Hilda could wear a noose.

[ponygirl]

Kate is just stunning. She has also injected some desperately needed DNA into that chinless, inbred Royal family.

[ozaukeemom]

Amy Farrah Fowler has one! A BBT reference. One of her best scenes. lol

[Politicalkiddo]

Baby Prince George is as cute as a button. Adding Diana and Kate did wonders for the looks of that horse family.

[Argus]

That giant beehive hat that the Pope wears is called the “Triple Tiara”.

It’s a royalty thang.

[ponygirl]

So was William when he was a wee bairn. But now he has morphed into his old man. Now Harry, on the other hand, has turned into quite the hottie.... Of course, there’s that small matter of him not being Charles’ son...

[Talisker]

That giant beehive hat that the Pope wears is called the “Triple Tiara”.

It’s a royalty thang

It stands for a halo, to signify blessedness and being chosen by God.

Dicey thing to fake, even with diamonds.

Just think it through. You die, and you're facing God and he's holding your crown or tiara, slowly turning it in His hands. Then He looks at you, and quietly says, "what the hell is this"?

What do you say?

[Argus]

“Thy ways are not our ways”?

[Talisker]

“Thy ways are not our ways”?

Just because the specific instance is mysterious, doesn't mean the basic concept isn't in effect.

It's just a matter of the sheer amount of things we do, and that we forget we've done. So to us its a mystery, but to God, it's cause and effect plain as day. Thus its best to keep the concept in mind, and not worry about the specific manifestation. We just don't have all the data.