Belpre woman has ties to English royal frenzy
Photo by Karen Anvil The photo of, from left, Prince William and wife Catherine and Prince Harry and wife Meghan, dubbed the Fab Four in England, taken Christmas Day 2017 by Karen Anvil, who follows the royal family.
Photo by Lori Dean Wood Lisa Collins of Belpre wears Swarovski Jewelry. She is a Twitter friend of Karen Anvil, who shot a viral photo of the Princes Harry and William and their wives, and is providing the jewelry for Anvil to wear to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, England’s equivalent of the Academy Awards, on Feb. 10.
Photo by Karen Anvil A photo of Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Harry of England, that was taken by Karen Anvil on Christmas Day 2018. Anvil became a media sensation in Great Britain and is a Twitter friend of Lisa Collins of Belpre, who is giving her Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski Jewelry to wear to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards ceremony.
Photo by Karen Anvil Karen Anvil, left, and her daughter Rachael.
Photos Provided Karen Anvil bought a puppy with the proceeds from the sale of the photos of the royal family. The dog is named Duchess Iris.
Photo Provided A sample of the Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski Lisa Collins of Belpre is giving to Karen Anvil.
Photo by Karen Anvil The photo of, from left, Prince William and wife Catherine and Prince Harry and wife Meghan, dubbed the Fab Four in England, taken Christmas Day 2017 by Karen Anvil, who follows the royal family.
Photo by Lori Dean Wood Lisa Collins of Belpre wears Swarovski Jewelry. She is a Twitter friend of Karen Anvil, who shot a viral photo of the Princes Harry and William and their wives, and is providing the jewelry for Anvil to wear to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, England’s equivalent of the Academy Awards, on Feb. 10.
Photo by Karen Anvil A photo of Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Harry of England, that was taken by Karen Anvil on Christmas Day 2018. Anvil became a media sensation in Great Britain and is a Twitter friend of Lisa Collins of Belpre, who is giving her Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski Jewelry to wear to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards ceremony.
Photo by Karen Anvil Karen Anvil, left, and her daughter Rachael.
Photos Provided Karen Anvil bought a puppy with the proceeds from the sale of the photos of the royal family. The dog is named Duchess Iris.
Photo Provided A sample of the Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski Lisa Collins of Belpre is giving to Karen Anvil.
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PARKERSBURG -- A Belpre woman who follows the royal family is connected to a fan frenzy in England.
Lisa Collins is a Twitter friend of Karen Anvil, the Norfolk mother who snapped a photo of Prince William, his wife Catherine, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle while they were walking to church on Christmas 2017. Princes Harry and William and their wives are called the Fab Four in England.
"People line the streets to watch them," Collins said.
The photo, taken on an Apple iPhone, went viral and caused a sensation in Great Britain where Anvil copyrighted the snapshot and got an agent to deal with all the media requests to use the picture.
"She got kind of famous, all of a sudden," Collins said.
Then this past Christmas, Anvil, again watching for the royal family from the streets of London while they walked to church, took another photo of the pregnant Markle, who came up to her. The two spoke for a few minutes.
That caused another sensation in England for fans of the British royal family and the 40-year-old single mother.
"Same thing happened again," Collins said.
Now Anvil, who bested all the professional photographers and their fancy and expensive equipment with a camera phone, was invited by Apple to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, England's equivalent of the American Academy Awards.
Anvil and her daughter, Rachael, will be wearing Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski from Collins.
"I'm going to give it to her," Collins said.
Swarovski Jewelry was established in 1895. Its crystal is cut to look like diamonds.
Marilyn Monroe was wearing Swarovski Jewelry when she sang "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," Collins said. Collins sells Swarovski Jewelry as one of her sideline avocations.
"They made a lot of jewelry for Hollywood," she said.
Collins also follows the British royal family and around Christmas time followed Anvil on Twitter. The two Twitter friends struck up a sort of pen pal relationship.
Anvil is a radiology assistant at the ManMillan Cancer Center. Her daughter is a nursing student.
Collins is selecting which pieces for Anvil and her daughter to wear to the awards ceremony. That's no easy task, said Collins, who has spent hours poring over the photos Anvil sent her of the dresses she and her daughter are wearing.
Jewelry not only has to complement what they are wearing, but has to be tasteful, too, Collins said. It also has to match the way Anvil will wear her hair and depends if her locks will be free flowing or worn up, Collins said.
The hairstyle has yet to be decided, she said.
"That's the next question," Collins said.
Time is starting to run out, she said. The awards ceremony is Feb. 10 at Royal Albert Hall.
"I've got to get this shipped out," Collins said.