Tag Archives: The Royals

The Royals and the beauty of the Himalayan Mountains

As the Royals visit the mountain Kingdom of Bhutan, it reminds us of an idyllic childhood spent for a while in the mountains in India, just on the other side in equally beautiful Arunachal Pradesh. The mountains we looked onto towards the west were the kingdom of Bhutan. The beauty of the mountains, pristine streams flowing through the valleys, River flowing through the Himalayaschildren and people wearing Baku (traditional dress) all reminds us of the beauty of untouched nature we grew up with there which continues to inspire us.  Monastry in Himalayan MountainsDevotee spinning prayer wheels Bhutan is well known for being a very friendly neighbour to India and we are pleased that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are visiting the country. It is naturally protected by the Himalayan moutons which form its boundary.Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Archery in BhutanDuke and Duchess of Cambridge in Bhutan We recall the pretty traditional clothes and patterns that the locals wear which brightens the atmosphere up, despite the weather being increasingly cold with altitude. We also love the beautiful weaves that that the traditional shawls are made of.  These are very special and as with all artisanal products, are handwoven and labour intensive. We drank yaks milk, as there are no cows here and there is not a rickshaw to be seen. Single file traffic crawling up the mountains due to the incline is often in convoys and quite restricted. Hence our fascination for rickshaws, trucks and autos (tuk tuks) as we had never seen them in the mountains before. Clouds descending on mountainsIt used to take us all day to start from the plains all the way up to the high mountains where we lived in a beautiful valley high up in the mountains.  This part of India is called Arunachal Pradesh, and this means ‘Land of the Rising Sun’. stream flowing through the valley (All photos are courtesy of Arunachal Tourism and The Duke and Duchess’ photos are from Tatler.) The untouched beauty of the mountains was brought home by the Royal Tour, and we are pleased the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have experienced this part of the world as well. Hopefully the Royal couple will go back inspired from the mountains as well. This is a nostalgic post, but tells you a little bit about some of our inspiration that derives from the Himalayan mountains.

The Royal Tour and Handblock Prints!

Its lovely to see the Royal Tour of India going so well-it looks like it is with sheer delight that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have taken to the bright and beautiful country that is India if the images on BBC News/Daily Mail/Hello Magazine/NDTV/Tatler are anything to go by! We love this picture of  the Duchess in the hand block print dress in Tatler the best! (Photos of the Duchess Courtesy Tatler) You can see more pictures of their tour on BBC News here The first day of the Royals Tour in India didn’t just involve floral garlands and meeting celebrities from Bollywood, but also visiting the site of the Mumbai attacks in 2008 including the famous Taj Mahal Hotel. Jasmine White London Handblock printed designsWhat caught our eye most, and we can’t help it, is the beautiful array of dresses worn by the Duchess, including the lovely hand block printed dress which we think is very elegant. Its in keeping with our ethos of an ‘artisanal chiclifestyle-which is true of Jasmine White London product ranges-both homeware and attire which promotes ethical production values and allows rural communities to survive.  We recently launched new designs in Ikat and Hand Block prints, the Gaia, Freya and Laxmi range and are delighted to see some similar designs on the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton. Our hand block print range is coming soon…so email us if you would like to reserve any items before they arrive on enquiries@jasminewhitelondon.com  hand block colour napkins Laxmi make up bags