This evening (12th July 2017), the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton) attended a State Banquet hosted by The Queen for King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain.
The Spanish royals visited the UK for three days. The banquet took place on the first day of the state visit.
Here are William and Kate in their car the way to the state banquet:
The banquet took place in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace. Here you can see a still image grabbed from the procession before the royals and their guests took their seats:
Kate’s outfit:
Kate’s wearing a blush pink gown by Marchesa. It appears to be custom-made. The top half is very similar to this blouse available at Shopbop.com (shared by Laura).
The fuchsia lace blouse top features a plunging illusion neckline, sheer sleeves and flared cuffs. It retails for $1,495 USD / £1,178.51.
A look at the back of the gown:
I’m sure all of our readers are excited to see Kate wearing a tiara once again:
It’s the Cambridge Lovers Knot Tiara.
Here’s how it’s described on the Order of Splendor blog:
This gem was commissioned from Garrard in 1913/1914 by everyone’s favorite magpie, Queen Mary. She modeled it off of a tiara owned by her grandmother, Princess Augusta of Hesse, the Duchess of Cambridge. […] Swinging pearls hang from 19 diamond arches capped with lover’s knots in this tiara.
Kate’s worn a tiara on six royal occasions, including to her wedding. This is the third time she’s worn the Cambridge Lovers Knot Tiara. The tiara was famously worn by Diana, Princess of Wales for many years:
A little bit about the tiara, from Wikipedia:
“The tiara was made using diamonds and pearls already in the Queen’s possession. Extremely French in its neo-classical design, the tiara consists of 19 openwork diamond frames each with a large oriental pearl drop. Each arch is below a lovers knot bow each centred with a large brilliant. The design is based on the tiara owned by Mary’s grandmother, Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, who married Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (the seventh son of George III)”
Royal followers may be aware that Queen Elizabeth gave Diana the Cambridge Lover’s Knot as a wedding gift in 1981. When Charles and Diana divorced, the tiara made its way back to the Queen.
Kate wore a pair of pearl earrings that also belonged to Princess Diana. They’re often referred to as the Collingwood Pearl and Diamond Earrings – they were a wedding gift to Diana from Collingwood, the Spencer family jewellers.
Kate’s diamond and ruby necklace is loan from The Queen. It’s referred to as the Ruby and Diamond Floral Bandeau Necklace.
The Queen received the necklace as a wedding gift from her parents. According to the Queen’s Jewel Vault blog, the necklace is set in silver and gold and it features single rubies between diamond flowers. This is the first time the necklace has been worn to a public event since the 1980s.
Video:
You can watch a live stream of the State Banquet on YouTube:
I love this gown. It’s so soft and classic.
But I can’t stop looking at Prince Harry. Lol.
The necklace, according to The Queen’s Jewels – is the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Bandeau necklace. The book continues: ” It’s a V-shaped diamond and ruby floral bandeau collar ending in a drop diamond pendant and is of Victorian workmanship and was bought by the Queen’s parents as a wedding gift.”
Great insight thank you.
Love Kate more every time I see her
ESPECIALLY when we see her in Tiaras!