The Image is All.

In the hairdresser's this morning I caught up with the scandal magazines. I discovered which celebrities are looking really good in their bikinis only five or sixth months after giving birth to little what's-his-name! On the other hand, I also found out who has been letting themselves down and really shouldn't be showing off their cellulite down at the beach. A lot of bitching goes on down at the beach, or so it seems. 

 The holidays of the Spanish royal family gets a lot of coverage. No indiscreet pictures of Letizia in her swimwear. Lots of cute pictures of the little princesses, sometimes dressed identically and sometimes differently, which provoked comment. It is much more common here for siblings to be dressed the same. Outfits are sold in his and her versions so that you can have matching boys and girls. "Posh" kids' clothes (posh clothes, not clothes for posh kids but, on reflection, that might be the same thing) are generally much more traditional, not to say old fashioned, very formal. And little girls still often have big ribbon bows in their hair. When I have shown photos of our smallest granddaughter, six months old, I hear comments about how "modernita" she is. In other words she isn't dressed like a 1950s baby! 

One thing I read in the "prensa rosa" was about measures that King Felipe VI is taking to prevent scandal overtaking the royal family from the same angle as has happened with the Infanta Cristina and her husband. From now on the Royal Family is deemed to consist of King Felipe, Queen Letizia, the Infantas Leonor and Sofía and, of course, the retired (are they retired?) King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía. When or if the little princesses marry, their husbands will be part of the family but under certain conditions, of which more later. The Infantas Cristina and Elena are no longer officially members of the Royal Family, although the press still refers to them as "Infantas". I didn't realise you could be expelled from a family in that way. How very surprising! 

Of course, the big thing that goes along with this is that no member of the Royal Family will be allowed to work for a public company. So if the little princesses' future husbands want to continue working for some public company, then the princesses will have to leave the family. Of course, Leonor won't be able to do that as she is the Princesa de Asturias, heir to the throne. How complicated! Elena and Cristina, ex-members of the Royal Family will not represent the country and the throne any more unless requested to do so by the king and will receive no stipend. All of this, of course, still has to become law but that appears to be what is proposed. What a sensible back-covering King! 

And for now the press appears to have given up suggesting the Felipe and Letizia are on the verge of divorce. Instead they are expressing their concern at how thin Letizia is. 

It's all a matter of how you see things.