Monday, July 19, 2010

Queen Astrid in Color

Here are some beautiful old chocolate cards based on photographs of Queen Astrid and her family. I am impressed not only by the lovely pastel colors but also by the facial features and expressions. Sometimes, in these kinds of images, the faces are not very individualized or true to life, but these are, unmistakably, Astrid! Since most pictures of the Queen are in black and white, it adds a whole new dimension to see her in these beautiful colors. She did, indeed, love color, as revealed by the briefest glimpse of her wardrobe. In her memoirs, Anna Sparre, Astrid's childhood friend, writes of King Leopold proudly admiring his wife's beauty and elegance one day: "Like a butterfly. Ravishing." Don't you agree?


1 comment:

MadMonarchist said...

I like the style of those sort of pictures, and it often seems that in the past they put them on every variety of package. I especially like the one of Queen Astrid and the children -their looks did not change much with age, they really look like miniature versions of themselves.