Celebrity Life

If the weddings of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are any indication, people are fixated on royalty.

Luckily for fans of the blue-blooded, Instagram has made keeping up with their lives just a tad easier. Welcome to the world of modern royalty, where younger generations have no qualms about sharing the ins-and-outs of life as society's upper crust. Ahead, we beckon you to take a tantalising glimpse into the lives of the most talked-about Asian royals, who use social media to advocate for their causes, showcase their wardrobes, or simply to share about their lives. Hit the 'follow' button. You know you want to.

Asian Royals to Follow on Instagram

1. Princess Ezurin Khyra

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The words 'crazy rich Asians' have nothing on Princess Ezurin Khyra — once married to Tunku Dato' Yaacob Khyra of Negeri Sembilan royalty, the socialite lives life large by way of high fashion.

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Her feed is a treasure trove of glamorous #ootds — the former princess is bold in her wardrobe choices, mixing the work of emerging designers and big name fashion houses.

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Of course, a woman so glamorous is blessed with an equally elite social circle of other blue bloods, celebrities — she counts Lionel Richies and Kim Kardashian among her friends — and fashion designers.

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What might also surprise you is that Ezurin is a proud mother of five, all of which she has enviably close relationships with.

2. Samantha Richelle

While they might be friends, Filipina social media star Samantha Richelle keeps her royal background low profile next to Princess Ezurin — it's not widely known that she is the daughter of Brunei's Prince Jefri Bolkiah. Richelle has an eponymous streetwear label and was recently in international TV series Almost Paradise. 

The down-to-earth beau is known for her edgy style that's amplified by her tattoos, and sometimes provocative photos.

But despite your initial impressions, Richelle is a family woman who's not shy to share about her devotion to her family. She frequently posts about her son named Myles that she dotes on.

3. Tengku Iman Afzan

The daughter of the Tengku Mahkota of Pahang is a classic beauty; she's blessed with an impressive height and model-esque looks of large doe eyes and long raven hair.

Her feed is a combination of photos at family gatherings with her husband Tengku Abu Bakar Ahmad Bin Almarhum Tengku Arif Bendahara Tengku Abdullah and son, as well as her appearances at charity events and outings with her equally prolific sisters.

As a young and modern princess, Tengku Iman proves that she's adept at balancing her royal duties with the trimmings of modern family life.

4. Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana

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Unfortunately for fans of Princess Sirivannavari, she does not have a public page on Instagram — you can, however, get to know her more through this interview with Prestige Thailand. The Princess is vocal about Thailand being rich in resources and creatives. As the designer of her popular namesake label, she herself is one of them.

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While you won't be able to follow her personal page, following her label's feed gives you an inside look into her personal style and creative process.

5. Prince Abdul Mateen

Unarguably the most popular of the Asian royals here, Brunei's Prince Charming is no stranger to the world. The blue-blooded bachelor has a a loyal following online (he now has 2.3 million followers on Instagram) and in real life.

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The fourth son of the Sultan of Brunei by his second wife Puan Mariam Binte Abdul Aziz, Prince Mateen shares about his royal and military duties, holidays in tropical destinations and fitness regimes.

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Prince Mateen is a lieutenant in the Bruneian army, and has a Master of Arts degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London.

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Follow him to see how he lives life as a young royal, juggling his duties with overseeing Jab Gym, a fitness studio that he recently founded.

6. Maharaja Padmanabh Singh

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The 303rd descendant of the royal family of Jaipur is a young maharaja, and a dapper dresser. The 21-year-old gained global fame when he accompanied Ava Phillippe, the daughter of Reese Witherspoon, to her debutante ball.

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As a national polo player, Singh is lauded for being the one who revived the sport. He was captain of the Indian team, and competed against England for the the first time in over sixty years.

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A regular face at elite events all over the world, Singh became the first Indian royal to walk for a big name label when he modelled for Dolce and Gabbana's Spring/Summer 2019 show.

7. Princess Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hayu

Princess Hayu of Yogyakarta is not your average princess. For starters, the fourth daughter of Sultan Hamengkubuwana X of Yogyakarta is part of what the international media are calling "the feminist revolution". Her eldest sister is said to be the next in line to the throne, a shocking possibility for a monarchy that has seen generations of male rulers.

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A look at her Instagram profile will confirm this, as she writes "helping ancient traditions going high tech" in her bio.

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Princess Hayu is a symbol of Java's changing gender roles, as she was a game producer for GameLoft and serves as chief of the IT and department affairs department in the palace. Her active career and role in royal affairs is an inspiration for women in the kingdom, who've traditionally taken a backseat to men.

The post Life as a Blue Blood: Asian Royals to Follow on Instagram appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

“Horse racing is as much an investment in lifestyle and leisure but with perks of prize money and profit in the process“. If someone had told me a few years ago that I’d own a racehorse, I’d have laughed at them. This year, quite unexpectedly, I had this opportunity. I had no idea how easy it could be to own…

The post Racehorses, An Investment For Profit And Lifestyle appeared first on The Luxe Insider.

He often grabbed headlines for his gaffes, but Prince Philip was portrayed by royalists as the silent stalwart, who shelved his personal ambitions to support to Queen Elizabeth II over seven decades.

Born into the Greek royal family — although he preferred to be thought of as a Danish prince — the Duke of Edinburgh never wore a crown himself. Yet he was a permanent public presence at the queen's side, who called him her "strength and stay".

Like her, his life was ruled by duty and tradition, putting his considerable energy behind numerous charities and carrying out 22,219 solo public engagements since Elizabeth rose to the throne in 1952. But Philip regularly got into hot water for what were politely referred to as "politically incorrect" off-the-cuff remarks — quips that from anyone else would be seen as downright racist.

"You managed not to get eaten, then?" he remarked to a British student who had trekked in Papua New Guinea in 1998. And on a historic state visit to China in 1986, the self-described "cantankerous old sod" warned a group of British students: "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed."

There was also his reputation as a womaniser, something that worried the royal family even before he and queen married. They reportedly found the young naval officer "rough, ill-mannered and uneducated" and worried he "would probably not be faithful". The man the queen's formidable mother privately referred to as "The Hun" because of his German Battenberg blood, was quickly suspected of a string of affairs, which would later be resurrected in the hit Netflix series The Crown.

But Philip laughed off talk of philandering — with Sarah, the Duchess of York's mother often cited as one of his former lovers. "For the last 40 years I have never moved anywhere without a policeman accompanying me. So how the hell could I get away with anything like that?" he said.

At home, the duke had a reputation for being cold towards his four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. But many observers considered Philip to be the glue that held together the royal family. And in a rarely seen softer side, it emerged the late princess Diana addressed him as "Dearest Pa" in letters in which he offered solace over her deteriorating marriage to his eldest son Charles.

Prince Philip: 'Trial and error'

Philip, the world's longest serving consort, was blessed with robust health for much of his long life, and conducted his final official appearance in August 2017 at the age of 96. But he was admitted to hospital with various complaints as he advanced into his 90s, most recently for a heart procedure.

In January 2019, at the age of 97 and still driving, he was involved in a car accident near the royal estate of Sandringham in eastern England. His Land Rover Freelander overturned and two other motorists were injured. Prosecutors decided not to press charges after the prince, who walked away unscathed, voluntarily surrendered his driving licence.

The accident saw him withdraw from public life and he spent much of 2020 in isolation with the queen at their Windsor Castle home west of London, shielding from the coronavirus pandemic. But he made several appearances, including at the wedding ceremony of his granddaughter Princess Beatrice in July, four months before celebrating his own 73rd wedding anniversary. He also attended a military ceremony at Windsor in July when he handed over his ceremonial military role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles regiment to his daughter-in-law Camilla, wife of Prince Charles.

Never one to talk about his own feelings, the prince admitted in a rare 2011 interview that he had carved out his own role in the royal family by "trial and error". Asked if he had been successful, he told the BBC in his typical forthright manner: "I couldn't care less. Who cares what I think about it? I mean it's ridiculous." But the queen has been more forthcoming about his worth.

"He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years," she said in a speech to mark their golden wedding anniversary in 1997.

Exile from Greece

Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark was born on a kitchen table on Corfu on June 10, 1921, the only son of prince Andrew of Greece — the younger brother of Greece's king Constantine — and princess Alice of Battenberg.

Aged just 18 months, he and his family were evacuated in a British Royal Navy ship from politically unstable Greece, with the toddler reputedly carried in a cot made from an orange box. The family settled in Paris with young Philip heading to the austere Gordonstoun public school in Aberdeenshire, northeast Scotland, where he became head boy.

He pursued his love of sailing and at the outbreak of World War II in 1939 became an outstanding Royal Navy cadet before serving on battleships in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. As the war progressed, Philip was mentioned in despatches and promoted through the ranks. By 1945, he was a first lieutenant and witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay with the British Pacific Fleet.

Philip had been formally introduced to princess Elizabeth, the future queen, in July 1939. The pair shared a great-great grandmother — Queen Victoria — making them distant cousins, and they kept in touch during the war, meeting on a number of occasions. But it was not until July 1947 that their engagement was announced and they tied the knot that year on November 20 at Westminster Abbey in London.

'Duty to serve her'

The royal couple made their first major tour together — to Canada and the United States — in 1951. By now a commander, Philip's naval career was cut short by the death of Elizabeth's father, king George VI, in 1952, which brought her to the throne. "Prince Philip was a highly talented seaman," said his contemporary Terence Lewin. "If he hadn't become what he did, he would have been First Sea Lord (chief of naval staff) and not me."

Philip once admitted the curtailment of his career was "disappointing" but said, "being married to the queen, it seemed to me that my first duty was to serve her in the best way I could". Yet he remained closely involved with the armed services and the queen marked his 90th birthday in 2011 by appointing him Lord High Admiral — the titular head of the British Royal Navy and an office until then held by her.

He was a keen flyer, clocking well over 5,000 hours of pilot time, and turned his love of horses to competition, first as a polo player and later representing Britain at carriage-driving. He also maintained an interest in science, technology and the environment and for years drove a liquid petroleum gas taxi around London. His greatest legacy may lie in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, which was set up in 1956 to develop the confidence and skills of young people aged 15 to 25 in Britain and the Commonwealth.

His youngest son, Edward, said its importance was likely to be greater due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on formal education. "I think the role of the non-formal in this present climate is going to be even more important than ever before because it's those skills and experiences which are going to be looked for," he told Sky News television

Philip was also patron of a number of organisations, including the World Wide Fund for Nature, and chancellor of the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh.

[caption id="attachment_219862" align="alignnone" width="2462"] British Queen Elizabeth II enters the House of Lords with the Duke of Edinburgh, in a ritual steeped in centuries of pomp and ceremony, 14 May, when she opened the British Parliament with the traditional speech setting out Prime Minister Tony Blair's legislative program for the next 17 months. (Image: Gerry PennyY/AFP)[/caption]

An A to Z of Prince Philip

A for AWARD: Since 1956, millions of youths worldwide have completed The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which promotes community service and self-reliance through volunteering, physical, skill and expedition challenges.

B for BARBEQUE: Prince Philip was in charge of grilling duties at the royal Scottish retreat at Balmoral, sizzling up the steaks by the river, with Queen Elizabeth doing the washing up.

C for CARRIAGE DRIVING: The duke took up the sport in 1971 after giving up polo. He compiled its international competition rules and represented Britain. He was still driving horses into his 90s.

D for DANISH: Philip was born into the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg and considered himself Danish by race.

E for ENGAGEMENTS: The prince conducted 22,219 solo engagements between 1952 and his retirement in 2017. He gave 5,496 speeches and 785 organisations had him as a patron, president or member.

F for FAMILY: The duke ran the royal family, deciding on his children's schooling, modernising the running of the palaces and trying to keep his son Charles's doomed marriage to Diana going.

G for GREECE: Born a prince of Greece and Denmark in Corfu in 1921, his family fled to exile in Paris within a year. He understands some Greek and signs his paintings with phi, the Greek letter P.

H for HMS MAGPIE: Philip commanded his own frigate from 1950 to 1952. The officer and his young bride spent two idyllic years stationed on Malta before King George VI died in 1952.

I for IRASCIBILITY: He is notoriously impatient and does not suffer fools gladly. Non-adherence to his "get on with it" approach is often likely to infuriate the hot-tempered prince.

J for JOKES: His off-the-cuff quips are designed to put the public at ease when meeting royalty but his politically-incorrect wisecracks have infamously come back to haunt him.

K for KURT HAHN: The Jewish educator heavily influenced the prince's life with his self-reliance doctrine. Hahn taught him in Germany then at Gordonstoun in Scotland, the school that Hahn founded in 1934, having fled the Nazis.

L for LIEGE MAN: At the 1953 coronation, he swore to be his wife's "liege man of life and limb" and to "live and die against all manner of folks", before kissing her cheek.

M for MOUNTBATTEN: Needing a surname after giving up his Greek and Danish titles to marry in 1947, he chose his mother's anglicised Battenburg family name. He was infuriated when told his children would be Windsors.

N for NATURE: An early activist for wildlife conservation, he spoke out on pollution in 1970 and was president of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) from 1981 to 1996, though he despised what he called green "bunny-huggers".

O for OLDEST: He is the oldest-ever male member of the British royal family and the longest-serving consort.

P for PARENTS: Prince Andrew, the son of Greece's king George I, left to live with his mistress on the French riviera, while Princess Alice was committed to a sanatorium. She is buried in Jerusalem.

Q for QUEEN: The couple met in 1939 when King George VI visited his naval college. They exchanged letters during World War II and he proposed in 1946. She described him as her "strength and stay".

R for ROYAL NAVY: The duke loved his naval years and was tipped for the top before his wife became queen. In 2011, she gave him her title as lord high admiral, the titular head of the service.

S for SPORT: He captained his school cricket and hockey teams and opened the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. A keen yachtsman, he played polo and led the International Equestrian Federation from 1964 to 1986. He captained an England cricket XI in 1949.

T for TELEVISION: The pioneering prince presented his own show in 1957, gave the first royal TV interview in 1961 and let in the cameras for a 1969 documentary that transformed how the world saw the Windsors.

U for UNCLE LOUIS: Lord Mountbatten — the last viceroy of British-ruled India — was a formative influence on the prince in the absence of his father. He steered Philip into the navy and took credit for engineering his marriage to the future queen.

V for VANUATU: The prince is revered as a god in a village on the island of Tanna. The cult grew when he appeared in person in 1974. They have exchanged gifts and pictures.

W for WORLD WAR II: He was mentioned in despatches for his role in winning the 1941 Battle of Cape Matapan, Italy's worst naval defeat. He was in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender.

X for XIAN: Prince Philip's greatest diplomatic gaffe came at this Chinese university in 1986 when he warned British students against going "slitty-eyed".

Y for YACHT: The Royal Yacht Britannia served the family for 50 years. He helped design the interiors and in 1956-1957 did a four-month world tour.

Z for ZAZA: Also known as a gin and Dubonnet. The royals' preferred cocktail before lunch. Prime Minister Tony Blair described them as "true rocket fuel".

(Main and featured image: Toby Melville/AFP)

This story was published via AFP Relaxnews.

The post Farewell, Prince Philip: A tribute to the strength behind the British crown appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The incredible history of Van Cleef & Arpels is intertwined with some of the world’s most prominent and illustrious women of their time, as Allyson Klass finds out.

In 1895, Estelle Arpels, the daughter of a gems dealer, married Alfred Van Cleef, the son of a lapidary craftsman and diamond broker. The pair shared the same values of a sense of family, the spirit of innovation and a passion for precious stones. This would mark the beginning of their bejewelled destiny as it led to the birth of a maison in 1906 bearing both their names – Van Cleef & Arpels – at 22 Place Vendôme. The boutique still remains at this legendary address until today.

The business included Estelle’s brothers, Charles, Julien and Louis, all experienced gem traders. With the maison’s location across from the swanky Hotel Ritz, which boasted a well-heeled clientele ranging from aristocrats to business magnates from Europe and the US, word about the house’s exquisite jewels travelled beyond the continent quickly. Soon, leading women the world over were captivated. From the elegant 1920s through to the Jet Set era of the early ’70s, Van Cleef & Arpels won some of the most legendary names as patrons, and forever immortalised their individual styles into history’s most epic pieces – some of which the jeweller has continued to recreate over the years. Here are four ladies who shaped the world of high jewellery through Van Cleef & Arpels.

HSH Princess Grace of Monaco

In 1956, American actress Grace Kelly was named the Princess of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier III. To celebrate their union, the prince visited the Van Cleef & Arpels boutique in New York and met with Louis Arpels, who convinced him that elegant pearls were befitting of his fiancee’s beauty. The exquisite suite chosen included a resplendent three-strand pearl necklace with diamond swirl motifs, three-strand pearl bracelet with diamond blossom motifs, pearl earrings featuring a swirl of baguette and marquise-shaped diamonds, and a diamond blossom ring with a pearl. A few months later, the jeweller was named the Patented supplier of the Principality of Monaco. The princess would be seen wearing this royal pearl parure on numerous occasions throughout her life.

A client of Van Cleef & Arpels before her engagement, Princess Grace enriched her collection over the years with the maison’s high jewellery pieces, which included bracelets, tiaras and clips. For casual occasions, she also loved wearing the house’s creations such as adorable animal clips from the La Boutique collection and Alhambra necklaces that she collected in various precious materials of coral, malachite and lapis lazuli.

Princess Faiza of Egypt

Born in Abdine Palace on Nov 8, 1923, Princess Faiza of Egypt was regarded as the most attractive of King Farouk’s five sisters. The lively, witty and rebellious royal was known for her fabulous taste in clothes and jewellery, favouring Parisian haute couture and joaillerie. Needless to say, Van Cleef & Arpels was her maison of choice when it came to jewellery.

Princess Faiza owned a number of noteworthy pieces created by the house, one of the most magnificent being a platinum Art Deco collaret featuring 10 drop-shaped Colombian emeralds – totalling 165 carats – set with diamonds in varying shapes and sizes. Designed in 1929 and modified in 1937, it was acquired for her in 1947 by an Egyptian court’s representative in France. The striking showpiece was worn by the fashion-forward princess as a court jewel and remained her property when she went into exile in Europe with her husband after the Egyptian revolution in 1952. Following her divorce, the princess took the necklace with her when she moved to California, where her mother Queen Nazli and sister Princess Fathia lived.

Another famous Van Cleef & Arpels piece that belonged to the princess is the double Clip Pivoine from 1938. It featured two peonies set in the famous Serti Mysterieux or Mystery Setting, which was inspired by the 19th-century Roman micro-mosaic technique. Patented in 1933 by Van Cleef & Arpels, the method revolutionised the art of setting precious stones as it enabled the gems to be fixed without the mount being visible, allowing the stones’ optimum brilliance to come through. The flower petals are set with 706 square-cut red rubies and 239 circular-cut and baguette-cut diamonds. Princess Faiza sold both brooches separately a few years before her death in 1994. While one of them is now in the Van Cleef & Arpels archives, the whereabouts of the second piece is unknown.

Equally impressive is a diamond bracelet from 1946 set with about 58 carats of round, baguette and emerald-cut diamonds. Fashioned to resemble a belt, the remarkable piece featured channel-set diamonds mimicking flowing fabric.

Wallis Simpson, The Duchess of Windsor

An important Van Cleef & Arpels client with very sharp taste, American socialite Wallis Simpson favoured simple, clean couture outfits that provided the perfect backdrop for her enviable jewellery collection. Over the years, her husband – the Duke of Windsor (also known as Edward VIII, the former King of the United Kingdom) – bought and customised many pieces from the maison as tokens of his love to her. Among these was a diamond and ruby bracelet with the inscription, “Hold tight 27.III.36” (gifted to Simpson a few months before his abdication) and a two-feather clip featuring Mystery Set rubies and diamonds for Christmas in 1936.

The Duke of Windsor also commissioned Van Cleef & Arpels to create the Cravate necklace with rubies and diamonds for the duchess’ 40th birthday in 1936. Its clasp was engraved with “My Wallis from her David, 19.VI.1936”. It is believed that Simpson had the necklace redesigned later by René Sim Lacaze, a prolific jewellery designer at Van Cleef & Arpels, to incorporate additional stones. The new platinum setting featured rows of intertwined rubies and diamonds, which ended in a spectacular cascade of more rubies.

The duchess is also said to have been the inspiration behind the house’s emblematic Zip necklace. Her favourite fashion designer, Elsa Schiaparelli, had started adding visible zip details to her pieces and the duchess suggested the utilitarian item’s bejewelled equivalent to Renée Puissant – the founding couple’s daughter and Artistic Director at Van Cleef & Arpels in the Art Deco decades. Designed to be worn either open around the neck, or closed to grace the wrist as a bracelet, the necklace that would later be synonymous with the maison was realised in the late 1930s.

Elizabeth Taylor, actress

Inspired by Venetian door knockers with a lion’s head and diamond-set mane forming the collar is the 1971 Barquerolles necklace. Set in yellow gold, the scintillating piece transforms into two bracelets and a brooch.

It was gifted by Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor, who wrote about the moment she first saw the piece: “I always know when something is right because my heart goes ‘click’ and my heart was clicking like a castanet when I saw this set. Richard loved it on me and he said, ‘Wow! You are so beautiful, nobody is going to believe you’re a grandmother.’”

This story was published in the March 2021 issue of Prestige Singapore.

The post Van Cleef & Arpels and The Royalty Who Wore Them appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Designer Philip Treacy, a haute couture hatmaker to the British royals and American stars, presented his collection in Saint Petersburg.

The post Royal hatter Treacy brings glamour to Russia despite pandemic appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Designer Philip Treacy, a haute couture hatmaker to the British royals and American stars, presented his collection in Saint Petersburg.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Other French royalty relics auctioned included a serviette she used at her coronation, and a lock of hair from her husband, Louis XVI.

The post Marie-Antoinette’s travel bag fetches sky-high price appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Other French royalty relics auctioned included a serviette she used at her coronation, and a lock of hair from her husband, Louis XVI.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Find out what these hotels and resorts offer that draw the cream of society's crop.

The post Hotels popular with royalty and film stars appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Find out what these hotels and resorts offer that draw the cream of society's crop.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Prestige is honoured to celebrate our 13th anniversary this month with the multi-talented HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana gracing our cover. She took time out of her busy schedule to talk about her work, passions and future plan.

The post A Modern-Day Princess appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

It’s the most talked about wedding since William and Katherine’s nuptials and the real-life fairytale seems almost too good to be true – boy meets girl, falls in love and asks her to marry him. Only deviation is, the boy is Prince Henry of Wales and the girl will be known as Her Royal Highness […]

The post Fit for Royalty appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.