This post really serves no purpose except to offer you a Friday dose of pretty and glam. Just so you know.
This is
Dolce Paola...Queen Paola, that is. My favorite Paola is the young Paola of the 1960s, just after her marriage to Albert, the Prince of Liège. She was really almost shockingly beautiful, and the match of that beauty and the elegance of the 1960s fashions made for a royal picture not easily forgotten.
Born to an Italian princely family, Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria married the future King of the Belgians in 1959. She was just 21 at the time, and had met Albert less than a year earlier.
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| Double the beauty: Paola with Princess Grace |
The young Princess of Liège was an instant sensation. She and Albert were followed everywhere by cameras, and her face was splashed across numerous magazine covers. Paola became a style icon. Her beauty even inspired a song:
Salvatore Adamo's "Dolce Paola" ("Sweet Paola").
The life and marriage behind the stylish front might not have been so easy, but it's still easy to get lost in the glamour of it all, this level of chic that sometimes seems so lacking in today's fashions. A nice bit of fluff for a Friday daydream, at least.
Psst...: Here's a link for abdication times, which will says it will offer streaming for Sunday's festivities. Again, there won't be foreign royal guests, and it seems they're aiming for a normal National Day with just a few extras. We will not be hosting an open post for live viewing, but tune in next week for a look at the big day.
Photos: Corbis/Paris Match/TimeLife
