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A dress fit for a king

25th October 2008 by Helena 6 Comments  

One of the side-effects of moving to Abu Dhabi, apart from learning to pole dance and belly dance, is meeting interesting people and going to glittering events. It is true that in Gabian the most glittering event was watching Italy beat France in the football world cup with a few locals who seemed to care less than we did. I often wondered if we had hidden ourselves in the depth of the countryside a little too early.

The KingAll that has changed. As I write a stunning brown sequined gown lies in my bedroom ready for a reception this evening in honour of the King of Sweden. It is backless and off the shoulder, cut on the bias. I hope the king likes it. I have been told I might be able to interview him.

I have never met a royal, at least not knowingly. The closest I got was Margaret Thatcher and only because she had by then adopted the royal “we”. I am intrigued as to what he will be like. I know from Wikipedia that his father died when he was nine months old but that he wasn’t told about it until he was seven. Tragic and almost comic; you can imagine questions along the lines of “er, whatever happened to that bloke who used to have breakfast with us?”

I am keen to ask him what it’s really like to be royal. Is it as much fun as I think it could be; sleeping in silk sheets and having anything you want. Or does he feel like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday and long to escape? I wonder where he would go in Abu Dhabi – Marina Mall perhaps? There’s an IKEA there, we might find him asleep on one of the sofa beds.

 I suspect it really isn’t that much fun. It must be tiresome never being alone, always having someone around you to pick things up or tell you what your next meeting is. Meanwhile I am very much looking forward to slipping into my full-length glittering dress, it makes me feel like I’m going to the Oscars. Maybe if I’d worn it to the World Cup final the Gabian villagers would have perked up a bit. I may go back and try it at the annual school party.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2008


Filed Under: Abu Dhabi, Style, Sweden, blog --> Tagged With: dress

6 thoughts on A dress fit for a king

  • jose says:
    25th October 2008 at 11:25 am

    In this moment of gloom and doom in Europe you’ve made a
    canny choice so ENJOY while it lasts!

  • Ghinch says:
    25th October 2008 at 12:25 pm

    Good morning Dear Helena.

    Pleased to hear things are on the up.

    I believe that if you are presented to the King of Sweden you receive a medal. Swedes wear these at smart outings.

    The closest I ever got to a royal was in Oslo. My taxi stopped at the traffic lights and a mid-size black Volvo pulled up next to us. We went straight and he turned right, into the palace. The taxi driver informed me that it was the King of Norway; he didn’t have a full time chauffeur and drove himself when he popped into town.

    Once, while working in Buckingham Palace interviewing an IBM computer engineer, an equerry presented me with an elegantly printed card which said “His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, would like it to be known that you have been observed about your work”. We never met him, but he sure saw us.

    Please publish a pix of you in that glittery off-the-shoulder number in your next posting. You should send a signed photo of you and his majesty to your Gabian bistro.

    Love to all. G.

    I’m not sure “What’s it like being a Royal?” is a good opening line.

  • Nancy says:
    25th October 2008 at 7:54 pm

    Yes, please do post a picture of you in your amazing glittering dress with or without the king! Have a wonderful evening!

  • snusmormor says:
    25th October 2008 at 9:46 pm

    Wow, what an outfit he’s got!

  • Jennifer says:
    25th October 2008 at 10:05 pm

    Oh!!!

    You’re going to look gorgeous!

  • jose says:
    27th October 2008 at 9:03 am

    Helena, why brown? Surely it can’t be the new pink? Even with
    sequins it might be hard work catching the King’s eye but think
    coral, fuchsia even baby pink with a tan! What brown is it anyway – mustard, mud, chocolate? The suspense is mounting so
    post a picture tout de suite.

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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