The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a reception on their final evening in Jamaica (24th March 2022). Kate looked absolutely phenomenal in a green tulle gown by Jenny Packham.
The visit to Jamaica was part of a tour of the Caribbean to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Governor-General, Sir Patrick Allen, hosted the spectacular event at his official residence, King’s House. Sir Patrick represents the Queen in Jamaica.
During the evening, the pair mingled with guests.
William delivered a landmark speech at the reception. He expressed his sorrow over slavery in Britain, calling it “abhorrent”. “It should never have happened”, he added. You can watch the full speech below:
Kate’s green dress in Jamaica:
Kate wore a jaw-droppingly beautiful green gown by the British designer, Jenny Packham. It was one of her best evening dresses to date, in my opinion.
The dark green gown features an off-shoulder neckline complete with ruffles, a tulle skirt adorned with crystals/beads and a sweeping train. I think the enchanting piece had a ‘fairytale princess’ feel.
It’s thought Kate commissioned the dress from Jenny Packham directly. It features elements of the below two styles from Jenny Packham’s ready-to-wear offering:
The sea-foam green colour is from Packham’s Pre-Fall 2022 collection, I do not think it is available to buy ‘off the rack’ as yet. The black gown is older, I’m not sure from which year. It was previously sold at Neiman Marcus. It was called the “Off Shoulder Illusion Gown.”
Kate clearly chose the deep green shade in homage to her host country, the colour features on the Jamaican flag.
Jenny Packham is one of Kate’s go-to gown designers and a tour favourite.
This is Kate’s second Packham ensemble in the Caribbean. She chose a blue lace dress by the designer for her arrival in Belize earlier in the week.
For the evening reception, Kate borrowed an impressive pair of emerald and diamond earrings, plus a matching bracelet. As you can see, each piece features a knot design and tassels with emerald ends. The pieces were loaned by the Queen.
The Court Jeweller shared the following information about the earrings and bracelet:
[The] Duchess of Cambridge is wearing jewels from the Queen’s Emerald Tassel Suite […] The set was first worn by the Queen in 1989 during a state visit from the United Arab Emirates.
The modern diamond and emerald demi-parure includes earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet.The Court Jeweller
The set’s provenance is unknown. Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault suspects “one of the wealthier Middle Eastern monarchies” gifted the set to the Queen:
One possible suspect for the provenance of these pieces is Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates; pieces of the parure were worn at the return dinner he held at Claridge’s during his July 1989 state visit to the U.K., and the Queen has a history of wearing gifts or otherwise related jewels at return dinners. This, however, is not confirmed.
Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault
The Queen wore the set during a state dinner with President Obama in 2011.
Kate wore her insignia, the Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victoria Order, and her Royal Family Order Badge pinned to her green gown. She also wore her hair in an up-do.
I asked on Twitter if anybody had spotted Kate’s shoes in videos/images from the evening as I hadn’t seen them. Heaven from UFO No More replied with the following photo. She thinks they could be the green velvet Manolo Blahniks Kate first debuted in Dublin, during the 2020 visit. It’s a good possibility.
Back in 2020, the Duchess paired the velvet shoes with a green shimmery dress from The Vampire’s Wife. Both pictured below:
As an aside, I liked Lady Allen’s dress too. I spotted it on my hunt for Kate’s. It is by La Femme. It can be bought at Nordstrom.
