'Palm Royale' in Palm Beach: Historic photos show the real town and its people in 1969 (2025)

Mrs. Diana Auchincloss, Mrs. Edward H. Cochrane and Mrs. Rodney Dillard pose during a fashion show at the gala to benefit St. Mary's Hospital at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach on March 8, 1969.

Mrs. Eric Javits poses during a fashion show at the gala to benefit St. Mary's Hospital at the Everglade's Club in Palm Beach on March 8, 1969.

Mary Obolensky poses during a fashion show at the gala to benefit St. Mary's Hospital at the Everglade's Club in Palm Beach on March 8, 1969.

Mrs. George Matthews poses during a fashion show at the gala to benefit St. Mary's Hospital at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach on March 8, 1969.

Alwin Franz, Eugenie Marron and Edwin B. Coleman go Christmas shopping on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach on Christmas Eve in 1969.

Mrs. and Mr. Earl J. Robinson and his mother Mrs. Andrew Fraser go Christmas shopping on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach on Christmas Eve in 1969.

Mr. and Mrs. George Hepworth at Mr. and Mrs. Peter I. B. Lavan's luau in Palm Beach on April 21, 1969. Lavan was an attorney and philanthropist who in the 1950s chaired the U.S. Committee of the United Nations.

Marjorie Merriweather Post (right) enters a Red Cross Ball at The Breakers in Palm Beach with Frederick Korth, a former U.S. Secretary of the Navy, on Feb. 1, 1969. This is the season during which "Palm Royale" takes place.

Tom and Agnes Carvel at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach for a gala to benefit St. Mary's Hospital on March 8, 1969. Tom Carvel is credited with inventing soft ice and founding the Carvel ice cream brand.

John R. Drexel III and Noreen Drexel receive a Marine escort into the Red Cross International Gala in Palm Beach on Feb. 1, 1969.

Cosmetics entrepreneur and icon Estée Lauder dances with Verne Casanave - a professional dancer who led several noted studios and helped to found the Fred Astaire Dance Studios - at the Red Cross Ball at The Breakers in Palm Beach on Feb. 1, 1969.

Lyn Fisher Sheresky Revson and John R. Drexel III at a Red Cross ball at The Breakers in Palm Beach on Feb. 1, 1969.

Barend Van Gerbig (left) with Jack Nicklaus at a cancer benefit golf event at The Breakers in Palm Beach on Feb. 24, 1969.

Perry Como (in green) with Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, daughter of one of the founders of Chrysler Corp., and Mrs. Homer Marshman at a cancer benefit at The Breakers in Palm Beach on Feb. 24, 1969.

Thomas Pace III, Thomas Pace Jr., Mickey Mantle and Paul Mountcastle are seen at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach in March 1969.

Mickey Mantle (left) rides with Thomas T. Pace III in a golf cart at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach in March 1969.

Lucille Parsons Vanderbilt Balcom and Ronald Balcom at Nando's Restaurant for a party in Palm Beach on Nov, 28, 1969.

Barend van Gerbig and his wife Victoria Susan Fairbanks van Gerbig host a party at Nando's Restaurant in Palm Beach on Nov. 28, 1969.

Estee and Joseph H. Lauder attend a fine arts festival at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach on March 23, 1970.

Mr. and Mrs. Jean-Louis and actress Loretta Young attend a gala to benefit St. Mary's Hospital at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach on March 8, 1969.

Dr. Roger Currie, Rose Kennedy and Richard Clasby attend a gala to benefit St. Mary's Hospital at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach on March 8, 1969.

Horace Flanigan and Joseph P. Savage host a gala to benefit St. Mary's Hospital at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach on March 8, 1969.

Socialites celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Everglades Club in Palm Beach on Feb. 27, 1969.

Mar-a-Lago (center) and The Bath & Tennis Club are seen looking west from above the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach in 1969.

Worth Avenue shops and landmarks are seen in Palm Beach in 1969.

Worth Avenue shops and landmarks are seen in Palm Beach in 1969.

The memorial fountain for architect and Palm Beach icon Addison Mizner in 1969.

A beachfront scene in Palm Beach is pictured in this 1969 photo.

Worth Avenue shops and landmarks are seen in Palm Beach in 1969.

The road to The Breakers in Palm Beach looked much different in 1969, without the now-instantly recognizable palms lining the way.