Memory Monday (Style Icons Part 1 Queen Maria of Hispania)

Let us spend some time on a Monday to remember the style legacies of some of our prominent Royals.

Queen Maria of Hispania is considered one of the most respected figures on the world stage. Her Royal heritage goes back, unhindered for hundreds of years and even the 96 Revolution did not entirely extinguish the Hispanian Royal flame. However, Maria was kept out of the public glare for the first part of her young life. She succeeded her grandmother to the throne as her father was killed in the revolution. This led to her living an isolated life as a very young queen as her mother and the government sought to protect and shield her from the related dangers. In 2011, she decided to take full responsibility for her life and her Royal duties. She thus mounted the world stage at the 2011 Royal Christmas Ball and has been an icon of Royal grace and style ever since. She carries her dignity with authority and sincerity and has been nothing other than an inspiration to her country and indeed women the world over. 

The first State Portrait released of the Queen when she officially assumed public duties after being kept under strict security for the first quarter of her life. This dress is more traditionally Hispanic. She pairs it with a veil, Crown Jewels and an iconic Hispanian Mantilla Comb. This says, "Queen", "Queen of Hispania" and "I mean business" in a very stylish yet unassuming manner. 

The next State Portrait was released in late 2012. It exudes a greater confidence and the lack of official jewels make this picture far more personally stylish, yet the black colour and design of dress still gives it a somber Hispanic flair. 

More style choices for this very confident and beautiful Queen. From top left, At the Heads of the Royal Houses meeting in 2012 she chose Barbie International, The Annual Knights Gathering in 2012 saw another Barbie design, The 2011 Christmas Ball a red Barbie dress, The Duke of Swann Anniversary Celebration in 2012 saw a white dress from the Queen's "in-house"design team and finally for the Scotney Memorial in 2012 Queen Maria wore another "in-house" dress. The Hispanic Royal Family have access to a vast and spectacular jewellery collection, which is very evident from these pictures. Queen Maria has a knack for choosing the right jewels or for pairing official jewels with the right dress.

At left, for the wedding of Queen Gloria of Normandia Maria wore another "in-house" number and at right, her daughter's Coming of Age Birthday Party saw yet another from this design team. The Queen being thrifty, makes a lot of use of her team of seamstresses and her own design ideas to produce what we call "in-house" designs. She does however sometimes wear famous labels but it seems to be far less frequent. 

For the 2012 Combined Birthday Ball held for the Duke of Swann and the Crown Prince Imperial Maria chose to be a bit more formal. At this event she opted for a less "sleek" outfit and wore a traditional ball gown created by her private dress design team and paired it with ruby jewels owned by the Crown.

For the State Visit of the Grand Duke of Hanoveria in 2012 Queen Maria impressed yet again with her signature sleek look. She wore this black velvet dress last month to great effect when representing her country in hosting the visiting Head of State from Hanoveria. This was Maria's latest outfit on the public stage and strangely it mirrored the one worn by the Grand Duchess of Hanoveria for the State Portraits taken just before the tour.

I don't think Queen Maria will ever put a foot wrong as far as dressing up for public appearances is concerned. She is an asset to her country and example to us all.