AUSTRIA'S DESIGN ARISTOCRAT SOPHIE HABSBURG ON CREATING BAGS LOVED BY THE DUCHESS OF EDINBURGH

Soft hues, floral prints and perfectly coordinated millinery are staples of the Duchess of Edinburgh’s wardrobe.

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But for well over a decade, she has been adding a pop of pizazz to her looks thanks to a certain luxury handbag label: Sophie Habsburg.

Known as the Archduchess of Austria among her high-society circles – she is a great-niece of the lastEmperorofAustriabefore themonarchy’s abolition in 1919 – the Rome-based designer has been working with the UK royal since starting her business. Sophie, who was 59 last week, gets in touch with her when she’s looking for a new style and they work through options.

“The Duchess contacts me if she needs to,” Sophie, who also counts Lady Gabriella Kingston and the “very cool” Queen Máxima of the Netherlands among her clientele, tells hello!. “She might send a photo of a dress and we consult on what could match. And I send her photos of my new bags, like you would do with any good client. She knows what she wants to wear and what she doesn’t want to wear.”

ROYAL LINKS

The two women first crossed paths at the wedding of Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg to the then Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy in 2012 – Sophie Habsburg’s royal connections are something she is quite blasé about.

“Some of the European royal families are relations and we see each other on occasions so the door is more open in that sense,” she says.