“Wherever I lay my jewels, I lay my head.”

— HSH Princess Cécile zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg

It was on one of those stereotypically crisp, sunny late afternoons that are so emblematic of springtime in the City of Angels that I first met HSH Princess Cecile zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg for coffee on an outdoor patio at the heart of  West LA’s tony Brentwood Country Mart. Fresh faced with her hair pulled loosely back and dressed casually in a fitted leather jacket and jeans, my regal coffee date looked more like one of the chic Santa Monica locals buzzing around the popular shopping plaza than one might expect of the progeny of one Germany’s oldest royal families.

As the eldest daughter of Prince Kraft zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Charlotte of Croy, the granddaughter of Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, the great niece of Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II, the cousin to Princes William and Harry, and also a direct descendant of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, to say that Cécile zu Hohenlohe’s royal connections are not only significant but dizzyingly fascinating, if almost impossible to follow, would be something of an understatement. And yet, though she can count her place in the royal succession to the throne of England, the most discernibly royal quality about the woman sitting across from me clutching a warm beverage and a bag of jewels on that picturesque Southern California afternoon was the beatific nature of her smile and the unconsciously effortless graciousness of her demeanor.

In fact, it is immediately obvious within minutes of conversation with Her Serene Highness (who actually in a nod to modernity eschews any of the pretense of titles beyond their association with her work) that while she readily acknowledges the unique and privileged nature of her heritage, she is far less enamored of her royal ties than others (myself included) seem to be. She is even quick to admit to not knowing her family history well enough, much to the chagrin of her mother. Which is not to say that she takes it all lightly, because, in truth, her family history is in large part the reason we had convened to chat.

After a lifelong interest in art and beauty that began at boarding school and then continued through her study of sculpture, prop making and stage design at art school in London, Cécile has created a singularly glittering exhibition of one-of-a-kind “hand sculptures” called In the Space Between that can currently be seen through Labor Day at Grey Area in East Hampton, NY. A collection of rings filled with contrasts, in which that which is old is made new, while that which is high is commingled with that which is low, In the Space Between combines precious and semi-precious stones along with other elements that have been culled from the Hohenlohe family estate and grounds, Langenburg Castle in Germany and Cécile’s extensive travels to exotic and sacred locales around the world to give birth to artistic creations that seemingly float on the hand while simultaneously providing vessels for telling stories, which is what interests their designer most.

“I like using things which may not traditionally be set together or be what we perceive of as valuable objects or materials,” Cécile explains with a certain air of delight. “It can be a pebble or piece of old concrete but you set it with an amazing stone and suddenly a completely different kind of dialogue begins to happen for both pieces. I like the contrast. I [like] allowing these pieces to come into conversation with each other.”

Conversation and stories are in fact the very foundation of Cécile’s collection beginning with the intimate discourse she entered into with nature at a very young age in the scenic Hohenlohe region of Germany. “”Growing up [at Langenburg Castle] was a very protected upbringing in the sense that it was wholesome. I had much contact with nature around home which was a big part of my refuge as child,” Cécile recalls of the centuries old childhood home where she still maintains the studio to which she returns to create with the help of local master goldsmiths and silversmiths whose connection to her family traces back more than a century. “Being in the castle had a certain rigidity … it was quite conservative and conventional… freedom and inspiration was often found in the woods where I could be free because I didn’t have to be the person I had to be in the castle. Everyone in the village knew who you were. With my name in Germany you’re somewhat branded so to speak. Freedom for me was when I was able to be without any of that on my back. I found it in nature.”

Meanwhile back at the castle, a different and perhaps equally formative conversation was taking place between Cécile and her royal forbears. “There were family events and balls that my parents, my aunt and grandmother attended,” she recalls. “As a little girl I loved when all the preparation began and the dresses came out. They would discuss the gowns they were going to wear, and what tiara and jewels would match. When I was twelve, we were in London for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. We children were able to watch from Buckingham Palace. I was too young to go to any of the balls, but it was special watching my mother getting dressed up and adorning herself with the jewels. I adored just sitting there and staring at these beautiful treasures as well as growing up with them – not just in their boxes but actually worn by my family which is rarer and rarer these days.”

Of particular note to a young Cécile was a jewelry casket she found while rummaging through the castle’s many attics, cupboards and drawers, a practice which remains one of her favorite pastimes at Langenburg. “The box was just so beautiful because it had this vibrant Yves Klein blue lining like the sky on the inside and contained three trays,” she says. “Sadly it was empty because the jewels had been sold to support Russian family members after the revolution and what wasn’t sold was burned in the devastating castle fire in 1963. So it was up to my imagination to fill the boxes because there was nothing left other than the imprints of the jewels which were like echoes of past times. That box certainly was a big part of my inspiration. It was this blue emptiness allowing new things to arise from it.”

“My grandmother, Margarita of Greece, the sister of Prince Philip, would often show me jewelry and tell me stories,” she continues. “It was about the connection of the stories attached to [the gems], which made them more special. It was about who gave the jewels to her and on what occasion. She lost most of her possessions when the castle burned down in 1963 so sometimes she only had photographs of herself with these pieces that had been lost. I think there was a sense of displacement in her life, having fled from Greece to Paris and then marrying my grandfather in Germany. A way of connecting with her was looking at these jewels together and her allowing me to play with them as well. It was a special treat to adorn myself with her jewels even though the rings and bracelets would slip off my fingers and arms. I treasure these moments I had with my grandmother.”

Today, Cécile continues the tradition of telling stories through well-traveled jewels with the collection of her creations with which she has been making her way around the world for more than a year. “There are pieces I found on beaches such as in Jordan on the Red Sea, on the Black Sea in Bulgaria, on some islands in Greece, little pebbles from the Ganges and also from a number of sacred sites I’ve been to visit… Pieces that have meaning to me,” she offers in explanation of the make-up of her collection. “I always have my eyes peeled. Just the other day I was on the beach at a house in East Hampton that had been gutted and there were some fabulous crumbled chunks of concrete in a skip outside. I never know where I’ll find something that could end up in one of my pieces. It’s a constant way for me to be in contact with my environment where ever I am. So I schlepp these bags back from wherever I go filled with stones, rocks, this that and the other,” she says with obvious amusement at herself.

Perhaps more than any other, one particular ring captures the spirit and beauty of In The Space Between, because of the journey from the past to the present it tells. “I call it the Lotus Ring. It gives new life to the engagement ring my father gave my mother. I married it with a big chunk of molten bronze found in the ashes after the castle fire,” the artist says of the piece.

“My mother gave me the engagement ring after my father passed and I never wore it. It was sitting in a box in a drawer yet it meant a lot to me and I regretted not wearing it. When I was making the other pieces, it was placed there with all the other stones and I kept wondering what to do with it. I set it with other stones and it just wasn’t happening. Then its history came to mind. It was the only piece left from the box of jewels. Everything else had been sold or charred so it found its natural place with the molten piece of bronze. Symbolically speaking, it’s very much like the Phoenix rising from the flames, which happens to be our family crest, but I prefer the analogy to the lotus rising from the mud unstained.”

Like a Lotus rising from the mud indeed. Just as might be said of the entire collection, the name of which was inspired by the quote “In the space between thoughts, non-conceptual wisdom shines forth continuously” from Tibetan sage Milarepa, In The Space Between is an eclectic array of pieces that have traveled from places both significant and inconsequential to tell unique tales and share the uncommon sagacity of a most compelling life.

See a full range Cécile zu Hohenlohe’s stories told through her art at Grey Area in East Hampton through Labor Day and then keep your eyes peeled for upcoming exhibitions around the world in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Delhi and Mumbai.

To visit Langenburg Castle or find out more about its history click here.

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Who says you need a tiara to live like a royal?

Sure…royalty may be to London, as Wall Street is to New York or as Hollywood is to Los Angeles but it does not necessarily follow that one needs either a crown or a royal bloodline in order to live like a queen in England’s capital city. In fact, all one actually needs is a modicum of desire, a speck of pluck and a few exceptionally well-documented connections.

Though many significant arteries may flow from London’s thriving core, all roads ultimately lead back to the seemingly inescapably regal force that feeds and energizes the city. From its museums to its street names to its numerous palaces and parks, threads of royalty are woven into nearly every turn one takes in Londontown.

So with that notion in mind, I set out to make my last visit to London all about living like a royal, with the first step being to explore that exclusive coterie of persons and companies who provide goods and services to the royal family “By Appointment”.

Officially known as Royal Warrant holders, this prestigious collection of purveyors, filled with brands whose pedigrees date back centuries, is personally selected by either Her Majest The Queen, her husband, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, or her son, HRH The Prince of Wales. Unremarkably then, given the source, the current roster of around 800 royal warrant holders represents not only a who’s who of commerce in the United Kingdom but also some of the finest products and services Her Majesty’s realm has to offer.

Armed with this prized list, the first and most important step on my agenda was to select a suitably royal hotel, which turned out to be a much simpler affair than I had originally anticipated because the only such warrant ever granted for Hospitality Services by Her Majesty The Queen (or any other reigning monarch since the Middle Ages) belongs to The Goring Hotel. Serenely tucked away on a quiet street adjacent to Buckingham Palace, The Goring has a rich and storied history that offers more than adequate explanation for its designation as the royal favorite.

Not only has the hotel served as an unofficial annex to Buckingham Palace by playing host to a cavalcade or European royals, its very existence has featured prominently in the lives of the Royal family. For instance, in the early 20^th century, when Lady Randolph Churchill frequently visited her son, the future Prime Minister Winston Churchill who would see England safely through World War II, it was at The Goring that she took up residence.  Fittingly then, when peace was declared at the end of the war, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth celebrated by dining on sausages and scrambled eggs at The Goring with the Princesses Royal in tow.

Years later, with the scourge of war behind them and a new monarch on the throne, the Royal kin engaged the pastry chefs at The Goring to mark the christening of Prince Charles with the creation of a christening cake. And when it came time for the intended of Prince Charles’ son and heir, Prince William, to settle down to selecting accommodations for her final night as a single lady, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, opted for The Goring’s Royal Suite, the bathroom shower of which is fittingly adorned with a painting of a watchful Queen Victoria encased in glass. Even the hotel’s dining room, right down to the glittering, much-talked about Swarovski chandeliers that dangle above it, bears the royal imprimatur in that it was decorated by Viscount Linley, son of the late Princess Margaret and nephew of Queen Elizabeth II.

And that’s just an abbreviated history.

However, despite its very British-ness combined with the fact that it has been owned by a single family for more than a century, The Goring is not a hotel that finds itself stuck in a fussy, old-fashioned time warp. In fact, each of the hotel’s 69 rooms and suites has been individually decorated by one of London’s most acclaimed interior designers, with the result being an assemblage of rooms that, while all feeling quintessentially British, simultaneously represent a spectrum of styles that run the gamut from the very modern to the very traditional.

Likewise the Goring’s service, though thoroughly modern, also offers a nod to some of the better old traditions of English country estates. Honestly, I dare any guest not to be charmed by playful touches like the sheep that find their way into the décor of every room and suite or hear the echoes of a bygone Downton Abbey-esque era resound through their thoughts each night before turning in as they set their shoes outside the doors of their well-appointed rooms and awake to find them freshly shined alongside their daily newspaper of choice (compliments of the hotel, of course).

It is all quite enough to make one feel very noble indeed.

To find out more about Royal Warrant Holders, visit www.royalwarrant.org. For more information about The Goring Hotel, visit www.thegoring.com.

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Once safely (and royally) ensconced in my accommodations at The Goring, I set off to explore a few more of the more interesting names on my roster of Royal Warrant Holders, that grand coalition of people and companies whose products and services buttress the royal patina “By Appointment”.   At the top of my list was a bit of shopping at Fortnum & Mason, which was just recently graced by the first official joint appearance by The Queen, The Duchess of Cambridge (the former Camilla Parker-Bowles) and the Duchess of Cornwall (the former Kate Middleton). Does it really get any more royal?

Known simply as Fortnum’s to regular patrons, this emporium of high delights has supplied the Royal household with the finest wares and treats since a royal footman (Fortnum) opened the store with his friend and landlord (Mason) more than three centuries ago in 1707. From truffles, cheese and tea (specially blended of course) to jewelry, perfume and high fashion, Fortnum’s has served as the thoroughly elegant department store of choice for kings, queens and their titled flock since its inception. Still a fabulous place to be seen after all these years, Afternoon Tea at Fortnum’s remains a treat to all savvy enough to book a reservation.

From Fortnum’s I made my way to Piccadilly and the Princes Arcade to sample the sweet confections of Prestat, which I can only describe as the ultimate sugar rush wrapped up in ribbons of fantasy and stamped with the Royal seal of approval. At more than one hundred years old, this esteemed chocolatier has not only been awarded Royal Warrants by both Her Majesty the Queen and the late Queen Mother, but was also notably a favorite of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory author, Roald Dahl.

Small in area but outsized in whimsy and magic, all manner of chocolate commingles with everything from nuts, caramel and tropical fruit to Champagne, Pink Himalayan Sea Salt and gin in this fantastical little shop where brightly colored packaging embossed with the symbol of the Royal Warrant fills every corner of the space. Meanwhile, the counters are chock full of delicate creations, including a variety of truffles, which the family of Prestat’s original owner, Antoine Dufour, is credited with having created. That’s right…, the very first truffle was the creation of the Dufour family (and perhaps of Antoine himself).  And it was said to be so intoxicatingly delicious that it led Roald Dahl to formally express his predilection for the Dufour’s recipe by declaring “I also adore so-called truffels as Prestat makes them.” With such high praise, is it any wonder then that the Royal court has maintained such a longstanding affection for this precious chocolate shop?

The final stop on my Royal Warrant tour was in the Burlington Arcade at the Victorian era perfumer, Penhaligon’s which like Prestat also holds two Royal warrants from two generations of Royals – one from Prince Phillip and the other from Prince Charles. Venturing through the store is like taking a trip down through the history of scent, particularly as many of Penhaligon’s signature fragrances were created as much as (or more than) a century ago and as such reflect the sensibilities of a different time. If you have a hankering to smell the noblesse oblige of 1902, you need only pick up a bottle of the popular Blenheim Bouquet which made its debut in that year.  Or flash forward a few years and try 1910’s crisp, clean English Fern.

What makes the Penhaligon’s experience special is the uniqueness of the fragrances which stand apart in the world of cookie cutter scents that populate the market today. Anything but ordinary, a Penhaligon’s scent reeks of privilege and good taste and the wearers thereof feel a part of an exclusive club, membership to which can only be achieved by royal appointment, of course.

So again, I ask, ‘Who needs a tiara to live like a royal?”. As a commoner with no lineage to speak of I managed to sleep, eat, shop and even smell like a royal in a single day. And they say, you can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse. Clearly the believers of that old wives tale are most unfamiliar with my favorite new saying ‘When in London, do as the Royals do.”

To find out more about Royal Warrant Holders, visit www.royalwarrant.org.

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