Kate Middleton Style Blog

A FASHION BLOG CHRONICLING KATE MIDDLETON—The Princess of Wales's— STYLE

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Kate Middleton Wows in White! Princess Glitters In Jenny Packham Gown & Tiara At South African State Dinner

Gianvito Rossi Rania 105 embellished pumps

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Alexander McQueen White Box Clutch

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Jenny Packham Elspeth Cape-Sleeve Gown in White With Shoulder Embellishments

 
 

Kate Middleton attended a State Banquet for the South African President at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday (22nd November 2023). The Princess looked resplendent in a white floor-length gown by British designer Jenny Packham.

The dress featured cape-like sleeves and silver metallic floral embellishments on both shoulders. The stunning dress is from Packham’s 2021 Bridal Collection. It’s known as the Elspeth gown.

There are two key differences between Kate’s dress and the Elspeth. First, the back. The bridal gown features an open keyhole back, Kate’s dress omits this detail. The photos below show the Countess of Wessex, but in the mirror behind her, you can see Kate’s reflection, showing the back of her gown.

Embed from Getty Images

The second difference is beading. There is more embellishment on Kate’s dress. The bridal gown has fewer beads and sequins across the shoulders. (Hat tip to Ellie Hall from Buzzfeed News for noticing the mirror reflection.  Thanks to Sarah for pointing out the beading.)

Looking to buy the Elspeth dress? District 5 Boutique is the only bridal stockist I’ve found that’s taking orders.

The company price the stunning white dress at £4,303.09 or $5.075 USD. You can pre-order it on their website, there’s a 10-12 week wait for delivery.

Kate works very closely with Jenny Packham, I expect she has her on speed dial for formal events and overseas tours. The designer creates daywear and evening gowns for the Princess on a regular basis.

SHOP THE LOOK

Looking for a show-stopping white gowns for your big day?

SAFIYAA CREPE CAPE GOWN, IVORY

This white floor-length gown from Safiyaa features a crystal-embellished neckline and a glamorous cape.  I think it’s the perfect way to interpret Kate’s State Banquet look for your own event.  

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JENNY PACKHAM GILDED TULLE CAPE GOWN, IVORY

This Ivory gown is by the same designer Kate wore to the State Banquet–and this dress is just as glamourous. The cape overlay is adorned with light-catching beaded embellishments that’ll sparkle as you dance.

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Shop at Net-A-Porter

Let’s look at Kate’s tiara now. The Princess of Wales paired her white gown with a familiar piece, the Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara. 

The tiara is often confused with the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara, an altogether different jewel that was sold at auction in the 1980s and is now owned by a German noble family. The two tiaras do, however, look very similar.

KATE MIDDLETON’S BEST OUTFITS

While you’re here, take a look back at the Princess’s best looks from the past 11 years, it’s a treat!

CLICK TO SEE

The Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara is the original. Queen Mary adored the piece and commissioned a copycat in 1913. Upon her death, Queen Mary bequeathed the tiara to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth loaned the tiara to her daughter-in-law Diana and later, to Kate.

The Court Jeweller has a comprehensive article about the two near-identical tiaras and the confusion surrounding the name and who wears what! It’s where I learned of the difference—I suggest reading the post if you’d like to learn more.

Of course, Diana regularly wore the tiara throughout her time in the Royal Family.

Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

Speaking of the late Princess, Kate finished her outfit with a pair of her pearl earrings. She also wore a bracelet that belonged jewellery that belonged to Queen Elizabeth. Let’s take a look at both.

Diana clearly loved the diamond statement earrings. She wore them frequently in the 1990s.

Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

Once again, I refer you to The Court Jeweller. It is my bible when it comes to Kate’s borrowed pieces—Lauren describes the upper stud part of the earrings as “intricate, featuring a horseshoe set with baguette diamonds, with a leaf portion wrapping over and around it”. Lauren also believes Kate attaches different pearls to the earrings, likely another pair from Diana’s collection.

So far, Kate’s worn the sparkling earrings on three occasions, to the 2019 BAFTAS, to Royal Ascot earlier this year, and earlier this month, to the National Service of Remembrance.

Unfortunately, little is known about Queen Elizabeth’s Four Strand Bracelet. We first spotted Kate wearing at a state banquet 2019. She notably wore it to Prince Philip’s Funeral and to Her Late Majesty’s funeral. (Also note: the piece is not to be confused with the three-strand pearl bracelet by Nigel Milne, which Kate has worn a handful of times. That is another item from Princess Diana’s collection.)

Onto Kate’s sparkling diamond brooch now. You’ll notice it on the top of her shoulder, pinning the blue sash (more on that below) in place.

She debuted the sparkling brooch on Remembrance Sunday, a couple of weekends ago (pictured above).

The antique jewellery store, Bentley & Skinner, listed an identical brooch on their website earlier this year (pictured above). Here’s how they described the piece:

An Art Deco diamond set brooch, of rectangular shape with corners cut away, with an openwork pattern comprising of a central, round brilliant-cut diamond with an estimated weight of 0.35 carat, with a baguette-cut diamond to the top and bottom of the rectangle, total estimated diamond weight 4.5 carats, all mounted in platinum, circa 1920, measuring approximately 4.4×2.2cm, gross weight 11.4 grams.

A sparkling Art Deco brooch. This brooch is of a classically Art Deco design, with geometric shapes and fine openwork platinum set throughout with lively diamonds. This beautiful piece was made in around 1920 and captures the glamour and elegance of the Jazz Age. It would look dazzling pinned to a silk scarf or the lapel of a jacket.

We speculate that The King purchased the piece from Bentley & Skinner for Kate’s 40th birthday back in Janruary. We know Charles has purchased jewellery from the shop for his wife Camilla and daughter-in-law Meghan before. The company holds two Royal Warrants. A cached version of the page for January 2022 shows the brooch cost £14,500.

Let’s look at Kate’s insignia now. You’ll notice the blue sash running over her dress, the Maltese cross hanging from it and the star badge? (Below right.) All three were given to Kate by the late Queen Elizabeth. They signify that the Queen appointed Kate as a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, an order of chivalry established in 1896 by Queen Victoria to recognise personal service to the monarch.

The yellow ribbon at the top of Kate’s gown (above left) is the Royal Family Order, which Kate received in 2017. It features a portrait of the late Queen surrounded by diamonds. The Royal Family Order is usually awarded by the Sovereign to female members of the Royal Family. King Charles is yet to issue his Royal Family Order. When he awards it to Kate, I expect she’ll wear both together, layered on the shoulder, as other royals have in the past. I just want to share this great resource from RoyalWatcherBlog.com. Their page on Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Family Order helped me fill in a few blanks. Worth a look if you want to learn more.

Kate’s white box clutch is by Alexander McQueen. The Princess owns several in this style.

It’s a bespoke piece. Alexander McQueen do sell the box clutches to the public, they often put something decorative or quirky on the clasp—a skull head, a beetle or a butterfly, as shown above. Kate will have these swapped for simpler jewelled designs.

The Princess has carried the bag on three formal occasions to date, to the 2019 BAFTA awards, to the US State Banquet and to 2019’s Trooping the Colour.

Need a white box clutch for your next big event? L.K. Bennett’s Dotty Clutch is a good option. Note: It’s a bit bigger than Kate’s.

Let’s look at Kate’s footwear next. The Princess wore the Gianvito Rossi Rania Embellished Pumps. I can’t licence the photo to show you, so click here and it’ll open in a new tab. Click to zoom, then pinch again to zoom further. You’ll see the contrasting pointed toe and tell-tale embellishments.

Kate’s worn the sparkling shoes just once before, to a reception in The Bahamas. (The photo above shows Kate wearing the shoe on that occasion.)

The shoes are made from mesh with suede inserts and are embellished with Swarovski crystals.  

With an RRP of £1,750 GBP / $2,496 USD, the shoes are the most expensive Kate has ever worn (in public). (Data Duchess confirmed this on Twitter.)

It looks like Gianvito Rossi produces the sparkling shoe in lots of different colours. Below, we show them in blue, nude/beige and offwhite:

The State Banquet was held for South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, who visited the United Kingdom on an official State Visit.

Both King Charles and President Ramaphosa delivered speeches during the dinner.

President Ramaphosa landed in the United Kingdom on Monday. William and Kate officially greeted The President at the Corinthia Hotel on Tuesday morning. They travelled together to Horse Guards Parade, where they met King Charles and Queen Camilla for a full Ceremonial Welcome.

On Wednesday), President Ramaphosa undertook engagements across London before returning to South Africa.

I’d just like to point out this was the first tiara we’d seen Kate wear in almost THREE YEARS (due to the pandemic). It’s been lovely to see her in one again. Especially with such a show-stopping gown.

LET’S GO SHOPPING!

Black Friday discounts on Kate’s handbags and jewellery!

CLICK TO SEE

Now get one like it! Show-stopping cape gowns by Jenny Packham:

22 Nov 2022

Brands: Jenny Packham
Tagged with: Silver • State Banquet • Tiara • White

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About Carly W

Thanks for stopping by! My name is Carly and I've been writing Kate Middleton Style Blog for 11 years! You can read more about me and my site on this page.

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Comments

  1. Helena says

    November 22, 2022 at 8:29 pm

    Thank you for posting and if I may, the UK is welcoming the South African President not PM.

    • Carly W says

      November 22, 2022 at 8:34 pm

      Of course, silly me!

  2. Kris Ward says

    November 22, 2022 at 10:47 pm

    What does the sash mean and the medallions either hanging from it or pinned next to it?

  3. Carly W says

    November 23, 2022 at 1:29 am

    I’ve updated the post now, hopefully the additions answer your questions!

  4. Helen M Rico says

    November 23, 2022 at 2:45 am

    She look so beautiful.

  5. Barbara Pfleger says

    November 23, 2022 at 3:22 am

    Why do you insist on calling her Kate Middleton? Surely she has been married long enough to use her proper name of Catherine and either her last name as Cambridge or Wales , whichever is proper! Surely now she should be known as Princess of Wales

    • Carly W says

      November 23, 2022 at 8:43 am

      This site is 11 years old, nobody had ever heard of the Duchess of Cambridge when I registered the site in the days following her marriage. Still now, thousands more people use “Kate Middleton” to search Google than “Princess of Wales”. If I changed how I address her now, it’d kill traffic. Same goes for social media too. I could not continue this site, it’d be death by algorithm. I only use Kate Middleton in the title and opening sentence for this reason.

      People wrote an article about this recently: https://people.com/royals/the-great-kate-debate-princess-duchess-kate-middleton/

  6. Connie Styba says

    November 23, 2022 at 5:41 am

    Kate could wear a potato sack and make it look good. She has impeckable taste and style.

  7. Marcia winters says

    November 23, 2022 at 7:37 am

    Is it not a white-tie event??

  8. G.A. says

    November 23, 2022 at 11:54 am

    Catherine looks stunning. It reminds me of the pale pink she wore when she was pregnant.

    Carly, I like the way you handled your blog with Kate becoming Princess of Wales. I think it gives a nod to Kate from the engagement on. I remember the first photo of Kate when she was at university and was on a ski holiday with William. Since I have been a fan of her fashion for about 20 years, Kate Middleton still comes to mind and I don’t mean to be disrespectful of her title.

  9. Judith Schwager says

    November 23, 2022 at 10:32 pm

    I am an American and we think the Prince and Princess of Wales are spectacular! Kate is gorgeous. Her taste in clothing is breathtaking. And she is a great mother. She has really given the royal family some zing and class

  10. Helen Burns says

    November 23, 2022 at 11:42 pm

    Please call her by her title. She has not been Kate Middleton for long while. She is married, a duchess and now Princess of Wales. I admire her and her determination to always put her best forward. Thank you.

  11. Sherry Bilbrey says

    November 23, 2022 at 11:48 pm

    I loved Queen Elizabeth. I loved Princess Diana snd Beautiful Kate Middleton with her special smile fits perfect into the line of Royalty. I enjoy so much watching Kate’s attire for the next event. She knows style and how to wear it.

  12. Margaret F Winfield says

    November 24, 2022 at 1:06 am

    Hi I live in the United States but always look whenever you bring up anything of Kate or Princess Catherine she is such a beautiful lady. I love the way how she has taken responsibility and she does it very well I think that her and Prince William will make a spectacular king and queen that the late Queen will be proud of. And I’m also glad to see that she not ashamed to be where like shoes or anything or used purses and stuff not like others that can I will not wear something twice I’m glad to see that she does. Prince William and Princess Catherine are such a lovely couple and I may have three beautiful children they should be very proud of themselves.

  13. Alison York says

    November 24, 2022 at 9:15 am

    You ( and others) are so disrespectful, calling her Kate Middleton .
    She is Catherine , Princess of Wakes.
    I don’t recall anyone calling Diana. “ Di Spencer’ for the whole of her life.
    Shame on you

  14. Jodi Leichman says

    November 25, 2022 at 12:16 am

    A quick question, the article refers to Camilla as Queen. Shouldn’t it rightfully call her Queen Consort Camilla?

    • Carly W says

      November 25, 2022 at 12:31 am

      I am calling the late Queen “Queen Elizabeth” and the current Queen, “Queen Camilla” or “The Queen Consort” to avoid confusion.

      I’m pretty sure that it’s correct to refer to Camilla using any of the three: The Queen, Queen Camilla or The Queen Consort.

      I think the palace are sticking with Queen Consort to avoid confusion/a mark of respect so soon after Queen Elizabeth’s passing.

      I’ll double check though, but I’m sure I read the above written by journalists in the days following Queen Elizabeth’s death but I could be wrong…!

  15. Rose says

    November 27, 2022 at 1:51 pm

    Thank you Carley for this informative and accurate blog.

    I usually love Catherin’s style and this time too but I would have changed things.

    Her earings are too much with so many glittery diamonds all over herself and her gown. I personally do not like these earrings, it’s too much going on. For this occasion, she could have stuck to pearls so as not to overdue it.

    I am not sure why she chose to wear the pin too. Her gown is gorgeous and it’s good she got a closed back version but in my opinion, the original pattern is nicer than the tightly packed one she was wearing especially given she was also wearing the stunning tiara.

    Her dress was a little long, It could’ve been a cm shorter.

    This outfit didn’t need the extras. Less is more. That is how she usually dresses so I was pretty surprised.

    Catherine is so beautiful inside and out!

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