Kate Middleton’s Lilac Look for Queen Elizabeth’s 100th Birthday Reception Featured 3 Hidden Tributes

Kate Middleton arrived at Buckingham Palace wearing a vibrant lilac dress and pearls on Tuesday afternoon.

The Princess of Wales gathered with her royal relatives to mark what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday—and to join three men and women also celebrating their centenaries.

If you know anything about the Princess’s style, you’ll know she’ll have very carefully considered her look for the engagement—nothing was chosen by accident.

I’ve spotted three deliberate nods to the late monarch hidden in her outfit. Let’s see if you caught them all.

First, let’s start with the colour. That glorious, vivid lilac shade is hard to miss. I think it’s a clear nod to Queen Elizabeth’s iconic style:

The late Queen famously wore solid, block colours in a range of bright hues throughout her reign, all with one purpose in mind: to ensure she was easily visible in crowds.

She famously stated, “I have to be seen to be believed”, and wearing a bold colour meant people could claim they’d seen her—even from four rows behind a barrier!

Kate could have opted for a sober and unremarkable dress for the palace reception, but I think it’s telling that she went for something so bold and bright instead.

Ardent royal fans will have spotted the second reference straight away: The Princess chose to replicate another part of Queen Elizabeth’s iconic style by wearing three-strand pearl necklace:

The late monarch wore pearl necklaces to most of her daytime engagements—pull up a quick Google search of the Queen in bright, bold-coloured coats, and you’ll notice she’s wearing several strings of pearls in every single look:

I don’t think it’s a coincidence Kate accessorised this bold purple dress with a pearl necklace, too.

And these aren’t just any pearls… oh no! This triple-strand necklace actually belonged to the late monarch, too! (I believe it’s the same necklace Kate wore in the days following the Queen’s death in 2022, which the media confirmed was from the late Queen’s collection at the time.)

The third and final link to Queen Elizabeth is also a piece of jewellery worn by the Princess—the Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings.

The gorgeous earrings were crafted from pearls that the Ruler of Bahrain gifted to Princess Elizabeth as a wedding present in 1947.

The monarch wore the earrings frequently in the 1950s—including in the famous Dorothy Wilding portraits that featured on postage stamps for two decades (shown below).

The earrings were occasionally loaned out to various family members across the years before they were spotted on the monarch just one more time in 2015.

After that, the earrings were either gifted or loaned to Kate on a long-term basis. They’ve become a go-to for the Princess ever since.

A particularly thoughtful choice, to wear the late monarch’s earrings on what would have been her 100th birthday.

Quick Kate style info:

• Dress: likely by Emilia Wickstead, though unconfirmed. But it bears all the hallmarks of a Wickstead design.
• Shoes: Ralph Lauren Celia style, worn many times before.
• Pearl necklace: belonged to Queen Elizabeth
• Earrings: Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings, belonged to Queen Elizabeth