On Thursday 12th September, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a dinner and awards ceremony for Tusk Trust, a small charity organisation with a big goal: to raise money for conservation, community development and environmental education programmes across Africa.
The Tusk Conservation Awards were held at The Royal Society in London. Kate dazzled on the red carpet in a sequined Jenny Packham dress:
A number of celebrity guests attended the ceremony too, including Kate Silverton, Ronnie Wood and Ben Fogle.
Kate’s Jenny Packham Dress:
Kate wore a glittering sequinned dress by her go-to designer Jenny Packham.
The dress was described by St. James’ Palace to reporters as “a drop-waist gown.” At first, royal fashionistas thought the dress was the stunning £1,953 (approx $3,090) figure-hugging number from Jenny Packham’s 2011 collection pictured below (left), but upon closer inspection, we now think Kate is actually wearing a dress from Jenny Packham’s “diffusion line”, from the No. 1 Jenny Packham collection for Debenhams (below, right).
This is more reasonably priced for a gown: it originally retailed for £225, before being reduced to £180 in Debenhams’ sale. (approx $285).
Meanwhile, here’s a closer look at Kate’s back in the dress, with the Debenham’s dress side-by-side for comparison:
You’ll notice the fabric strip around the bustier part of the dress? Some claim this is for comfort, to stop arms being rubbed by sequins.
Kate accessorised her sequinned dress with her pair of Jimmy Choo Vamp platform sandals, a diamond bracelet and matching earrings. (The earrings were barely visible due to Kate’s long hair!) Here we show them in Silver, but there’s some debate about if she’s wearing the more ‘champagne’ colour.
About Prince William and Tusk Trust:
Prince William is Royal Patron of the Tusk Trust and has been working with the organisation since 2005. You’ll remember that both William and Kate attended the London premiere of the film African Cats back in April 2012, plus they’ve been guests at a host of other events too. You can read more about those events and William’s involvement with Tusk Trust here.
Tonight’s awards ceremony recognised the outstanding achievements of individuals involved in the world of wildlife conversation. There were more than 50 nominations from a panel of experts, but only two awards were presented: The Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa and The Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa. You can read more about both awards and the finalists on the Tusk.org website. At the end of the ceremony, William gave a short speech.
Video:
Watch a video of William and Kate’s red carpet entrance:
She looks lovely but should have worn her hair up.