French State Visit to United Kingdom: March 2008

[Madame Royale]

Originally Posted by jcbcode99

Madame Royale--always a pleasure! And, I am in complete agreement with you. I am waiting impatiently for this tiara to reappear on the head of our Duchess. I think she would look wonderful wearing it and she needs a more subdued piece.
That being said, the riviere alone is enough to make me happy!

What can I say, jcbcode99? You're a woman of remarkable taste! Indeed, t'is always a pleasure...

[pamk]

I find that Carla Sarkozy seems to dress well - but her shoes are awful! She looked like a schoolgirl today upon her arrival in her flat, plain shoes and tonight --- again flat shoes that don't go with her dress at all.
Is she afraid to wear heels which would be more elegant because then she would be taller than her husband?
Queen Noor was always taller than King Hussein and she always looked so elegant -
I mean it is a fact: Carla is taller than her husband so go ahead and wear heels and not those dumb flat shoes which look cheap and too youthful -

[carlota]

i see nothing wrong with carla's shoes. in fact, i like them. they seem a special design of some jimmy choo's in flat. it would obviously be completely inappropriate to wear high heels when she is clearly the tallest out of her husband, the queen and prince phillip, even in flats.

i prefered her purple dress, this one makes her look much older! it is nevertheless still very elegant and the shoes are the highlight!

[lucien]

Originally Posted by charlottestreasures

For me The Queen's dress, which I know is a typical style or at least the same dress she wears often, is kind of saggy!!

Always white in eveningwear,there isn't a tablecloth left by now.
Dubbed her "Tablecloth Lilly" years ago,dear Lillibeth,the outstanding and astounding octagenarian.

[Nico]

The press coverage is excellent, and impressive, this morning in France. Of course Carla is on all the covers. She's praised for her retro style and her discretion, the new french glam weapon.
As you can see in my earlier posts i was not at all fan of the "Sarkozy circus", but i must confess that i am quite pleased by the new first lady: charm, elegance and the most discretion. Hope that she will stay like this...

[Jo of Palatine]

As it is known that the queen reads the Telegraph, I guess she'll smile about this article about the mother of Nicolas Sarkozy:

Nicolas Sarkozy, his mother and the Queen - Telegraph

Nicolas Sarkozy, his mother and the Queen

A quote from the article:
And, more significantly, she is of the same generation as the Queen and may find they have much in common over the cucumber sandwiches. So after Mme Sarkozy Snr has made sure Nicolas has taken off his naff Rolex and that Carla's dress isn't too low-cut, she can settle down with Her Majesty to enjoy a mutual complaining session about their difficult sons: why on earth did he have to marry again? Why on earth does he spend so much money? And isn't it a shame about his ears? For once on a state visit, the Queen could be amused.

[Paty]

Photos!

Galerías de imágenes

[Nico]

Some stuff from the D... Mail
All eyes on Carla, France's First Lady of Chic | the Daily Mail

Bruni's pert pillbox hat was perfect. Poor Camilla looked like a pheasant crash-landed on her head... | the Daily Mail

Articles with not so much interests, but good pictures though.
Why i "love" so much this piece of s...: Yesterday Camilla's look was demure, elegant and very british, today it's frumpy and laughable...anyway anyway anyway....

[Skydragon]

Originally Posted by Nico

And now ladies and gentlemen a very expected lady, perfect as usual:

Getty Images - Unsupported browser detected

Thank you for the pictures. Needless to say I think Camilla looked fantastic, I was very disappointed with Mrs Sarkozy's evening outfit after her earlier elegant attire when she arrived. The suit she then wore, was a complete disaster.

I hate to agree with the D Mail on anything, but they are right when they say that Mrs Sarkozy seemed to spend a lot of time 'posing' for the cameras.

[Regina]

In my opinion, Carla Sarkozi was very well all the time. The first outfit was a bit boring (especially the color of it) but she behaved perfectly well.
I liked her gala dress a lot! The color is beautiful, and the shape of it is really apropriate. I don't care if she didn't wear big jewel. She is already so pretty that she doesn't need them to shine.
Camilla and the french ministers were very elegant too. And the Queen was regal and lovely (as usual!!).

What makes me surprise is the presence of the mothers/mothers in law. It is so weird. They may be great fans of Queen Elizabeth but this should be an official trip, not a family tour to the Palace. They were the worst dressed, imo.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by Skydragon

Thank you for the pictures. Needless to say I think Camilla looked fantastic, I was very disappointed with Mrs Sarkozy's evening outfit after her earlier elegant attire.

Some papers have comments saying that Carla Bruni was like a model playing the role of "First Lady" in all demureness. Well, sounds plausible. But does anybody think she would have chosen the same drab clothes if Diana was still alive and married to Charles? I seriously doubt it.

And how unfair to compare a sixty-year-old "normal" woman to a fourty-year-old ex-model. If they wanted a fair comparison I must say I liked the pics of Camilla better, as she seemed to be the genuine article while Carla Bruni obviously posed. And in some close-ups you can see that Bruni is already far advanced in aging. She seems to have already reached the point of the, as we say in Germany, F or F-decision: Fett oder Falten, means fat or crinkles. Bruni obviously goes for crinkles...

Somehow I find that the style Bruni displayed was not genuine - it's not what she usually wears in France on similar occasions (or so some papers claim) and it's not what the First lady of France should wear in my humble opinion. Is drab grey really the fashion colour of this spring?

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by Regina

I

What makes me surprise is the presence of the mothers/mothers in law. It is so weird. They may be great fans of Queen Elizabeth but this should be an official trip, not a family tour to the Palace.

I wonder if this will become fashionable? Bringing the whole family to an official visit? Maybe Andrew started the trend when he took his daughter with him on tour?

[Her_Majesty]

The Queen looked great! Wow, this is a gorgeous Tiara! Suits her very well.
The Duchess of Cornwall also looked really elegant.

I don't want to comment on Carla Sarkozy's outfits.

[Skydragon]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

Somehow I find that the style Bruni displayed was not genuine - it's not what she usually wears in France on similar occasions (or so some papers claim) and it's not what the First lady of France should wear in my humble opinion. Is drab grey really the fashion colour of this spring?

I think she was caught, if she had worn anything 'exciting', the papers would have ripped her to shreds. Every media outlet was full of the nude picture, she had to try to downplay it. Why I don't know, it was taken a few years ago, most people have a past and although it is not something I would choose to do..... As many of the people interviewed in the street told Sky news, it just proves that 'the media are scum'!

[Paty]

Sarkozy´s Speech video at the State Banquet
Elysee.fr | Présidence de la République | PR TV

Text of The Queen's speech at the State Banquet
Media Centre > Speeches and srticles > State Banquet speech, 26 March 2008

A few more photos from actualidad Terra/Reuters
http://actualidad.terra.es/addon/img...b8c712ef9g.jpg
http://actualidad.terra.es/addon/img...b8c726ab2g.jpg
http://actualidad.terra.es/addon/img...b8c71a62bg.jpg

Galleries from Photoshot Home

At Windsor
visit to Westminster Abbey
State Banquet

[Warren]

13 pages (and counting) of comments, news and pics. We can say that this tour is successful, from both the British-French and TRF points of view.
Two bonuses: a curtsey for HM from Madame Sarkozy (not required by protocol but a mark of personal respect); and the increased number of 'gala' pics that have been made available compared to the usual meagre one or two that BP allows the public to see.

Lastly, on behalf of the British Moderating team, I would like to give a special thanks to Paty for the extensive pic, news and gallery contributions she has made to this thread.

Warren
BritMod