Idle thoughts really…….

She's so beautiful and elegant, isn't she. I wish I could live long enough to know what will happen to George, Charlotte and Louis.
I had one of those silent phone calls just now. Just a shuffling sound and then silence. I do hate that. So I've put the answerphone on.

I read somewhere that Catherine uses both hands to hold her clutch in front of her as a Royal way to indicate people should not shake her hand in those situations.

I think she'll have a tissue tucked away discreetly. Pretty much everything else can wait a minute. Incidentally, I thought she looked absolutely stunning on the balcony today

I could not step out of my house without my handbag! The only time I don't carry one is on walks, when the handbag is locked in my car boot and I have shoved phone, money and debit card in to the zip pockets of my Berghaus jacket (where tissues always reside).

I have recently downsized to a smaller handbag which seems to contain everything I need; so now I wonder what on earth I carried in a series of much larger bags. I also have a much smaller purse than my old one - I haven't needed to carry actual money for most of the last two years!

Fascinating. I’m envious cos I wish I had started this thread.
I have also never seen a female royal have to hoick up a bra strap. No matter how well/professionally fitted I need to do this. I wondered if a dresser tied something through the back straps so this doesn’t happen?

Somebody said they never see the Queen with a handbag, she is never seen without one!
I realise I carry far too many things in mine, my purse,which is essential, my mobile also essential, a hand sanitiser, an inhaler, a few pens, a little torch, lipstick, car keys, these all weigh quite a lot and I sometimes wonder why I have a pain in my shoulder !

I dont go anywhere without my handbag,I did leave it for a while after my hip replacement when I had crutches, I then had my phone and cards etc. in the phone, but I was really lost without it, if its good enough for our Queen its good enough for me. I love to see the Queen always with her handbag and often wonder what she has in it, there cant be as much as I have in mine.

annsixty, I don't need any of the things you mention (surely, in jest) and just take my phone and debit card in a pocket.

My friend turned up, one day, just as we were leaving to walk the dog. I handed her the dog's lead while I put my boots on - and off we went. Much later, deep in the woods about a mile away, she had a complete meltdown - as she'd left her bag at my house.

It was baffling. My grandson was still at home, the bag was safe and she didn't need anything in it. When she calmed down (and stopped hyperventilating) she just said that she never went anywhere without it.

Later (when she'd gone) we came to the conclusion that it was like an addiction - or a comfort blanket. It had some deep symbolic meaning to her. We believe she needs help with her mental health, quite a worry.

annsixty

I never ever go out without a handbag.
Where on earth do you carry your money, your measuring tape, your shoe horn, your pen and notebook, your folding shopping bag, your painkiller/ indigestion tablets, nail scissors, hotel acquired sewing kit.
Wet wipes, plasters, the list is endless.

This made me laugh and where are all her receipts?

Digressing: I once witnessed a rather endowed Italian mum sit up from topless sunbathing at Garda years ago , and searching furiously for her designer sunnies! I bit the bullet and let her know they were tightlyly and safely tucked under her right boob! She laughed, I laughed ,her husband nearly had a fit laughing!!!

Zoejory

I hadn't looked at all the images but in that article but have now seen Prince Charles has an enormous handkerchief

My DH often was on duty when Chuck was visiting oop North and two things stuck with him: he ALWAYS ALWAYS. Wore that clapped out old camel overcoat , having it darned/repaired/remodelled over the years, and he ALWAYS used ENORMOUS white cotton hankies! Monogrammed? Dunno! But he says he was always a really attentive and appreciative guest, and made effort to have a quick word /joke or just a smile to those on duties for him. A thoroughly nice bloke was and still is his impression!

A hankie always comes flying out of my bra when I take it off at night. Other stuff DH has been amused by include raffle tickets, pound coins and the odd £20 note.

I always carry a shoulder bag, quite a capacious one. It has to accommodate two inhalers and spacers, a large purse, mobile phone, tissues!, wet wipes and protective underwear (the reasons for which I won't expand on here ). I designed and made the bag I'm using at the moment to fit all these things in as discreetly as possible. Nevertheless I sometimes feel like a packhorse! Sometimes I add inseam pockets into trousers and tops that I buy to slip a tissue in rather than stuff it up my sleeve. Tissues are a bit of a necessity for sinus sufferers. I would think the Royal's clothes also have hidden pockets designed into them.

I shall now carefully avoid shaking hands with any Royals I might meet!

Can’t imagine not having a handbag. As well as tissues, there’s, purse, comb, lipstick, phone, and these days a couple of masks in a clean cover.
Maybe Catherine’s lady in waiting carries all that for her but
I don’t think an outfit is finished without a bag.

Fun fact - as we get older the lining in our nose becomes thinner hence why it'll run more ?

Well in that case... although it's very unlikely anyway, I hope I NEVER have to shake the royal paw

Well, I wouldn't want to be without a hanky, which is why I choose clothes that have pockets.

I know exactly how hard these are to find for women, but as members of any royal family usually have their clothes made by tailors and dressmakers, it can' tbe such a problem for them.

If I were the Duchess of Cambridge's age I wouldn't want to be seen in public with anything as old-ladyish as a handbag!

Perhaps she does ask her lady-in-waiting for a tissue if she needs one.

DH frequently asks me for one, when he has forgotten to provide himself with a packet.

Lizzie44

Oh dear, another worry. Next time I shake a Royal's hand will it be germ-ridden?

It's going to be anyway. They will have been shaking all sorts of other hands. We'll maybe not since covid but before that....

Don't start me off on washing things I'd rather throw away. I try to be as environmentally friendly as I can recycling most things but some things I draw the line at.

I always carry tissues in my bag or pockets when I go out. Cold air and shopping centres make my nose run. Antihistamine tablets usually help as well.

I think blowing one’s nose into a cotton handkerchief is revolting ? imagine having to wash them! Yuck!

Rather the huge handkerchief than the hand Zoejory!

Very rarely feel the need to carry a handbag. I keep a couple of tissues, a lipstick,reading glasses and my phone in my coat pocket or sometimes my phone in my jeans pocket.

The Royal ladies all have Ladies in waiting to carry their essentials. You very rarely see the Queen carrying a handbag.

I often wonder about the royals accidentally breaking wind, I’m sure we all have at some point imagine them leaving a smelly trail ?