The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu are making a two-day state visit to the United Kingdom as guests of King Charles III. In the evening, King Charles III and Queen Camilla hosted a State Banquet at Windsor Castle in honour of the President of Nigeria and the First Lady.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, The Princess Royal, Sir Tim Laurence, The Duke of Edinburgh, and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were present at the State Banquet.
Queen Camilla wore a cream embroidered gown by Fiona Clare. The Queen also wore the Belgian Sapphire Tiara, paired with her Diamond Serpent Necklace and the King George VI Sapphire Earrings, as well as the sash and star of the Order of the Garter.
The Princess of Wales wore a green evening dress by Singaporean fashion designer Andrew Gn. The Princess also wore Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara and the Queen Mother’s Sapphire Fringe Earrings, along with the sash and star of the Royal Victorian Order.
Princess Anne wore Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara, Queen Mary’s City of London Choker, her Diamond Bow Brooch, and the sash and star of the Order of the Garter. The Duchess of Gloucester wore the Iveagh Tiara, Queen Mary’s Pearl Fringe Necklace, and an Art Deco brooch, along with the insignia of the Order of the Garter.
A stunning turnout by the lovely POW! Emerald green silk looks so regal with the pearl tiara that makes Catherine glow. MR
ReplyDeleteWhy do the Princess Royal and Duchess of Gloucester wear two Royal Family Order badges but Queen and Princess of Wales only wear one?
ReplyDeletePersonal choice
DeleteI think they are wearing both the royal order with the picture of Queen Elizabeth II and one with the picture of King Charles.
DeletePas fan de cette robe sur Kate que j’adore mais elle aurait avantage à prendre quelques kilo. Je préfère un chignon avec un diadème. Josée.
ReplyDeleteAgree, I also prefer a beautiful up do hairstyle with a tiara !!
DeleteI too prefer an updo.
DeleteTotally agree with you on every point.
DeleteIndeed update with a tiara
DeleteAll the royals brought their A-game gala looks to this event, and the jewellery was an absolute treat. Catherine channels Pre-Raphaelite allure, as she has done for a while now, in her evening outfits worn with her hair down, and I love this example.
ReplyDeleteI have just 1 tiny quibbles -- I wish the Duchess of Gloucester hadn't allowed her necklace to drape over the thick panels of her jacket. To my eye this is not a harmonious styling. Lyra
"Catherine channels pre-raphaelite allure" - well said, Lyra! She looks stunning.
DeleteAgreed on the Duchess of Gloucester. Pre-Raphaelite is the perfect term for Catherine's look - that was very much the vibe of her 40th birthday portraits too. I'm tired of it personally but that's the aesthetic!
DeleteDear Anon, I would have loved to see this green dress and tiara with the hairdo that Kate donned for the St Patrick's Day parade, there is too much tissue and hair othervise... I think that the Queen has looked mazing this week!
DeleteI for one love the pre-raphaelites. Paintings, clothes, wallpaper, table linen... beautiful time.
DeleteSome fantastically huge jewels ! All the ladies look fabulous, although I will say, and quite rightly, the queen steels the show. Anne’s blue sash would perhaps be a better colour for her dress; the off white is washing her out a little, although that can just be the photo/lighting. Could someone more knowledgeable than I remind us about the men’s wear with the red decorations?
ReplyDeleteThe men are wearing “The Windsor Uniform”, introduced by George III, in a slightly different version. Senior members of the Royal Family and some senior staff wear it for formal occasions at Windsor Castle.
DeleteCatherine's gown looks lovely, but to me it looks better on the model than on her. Her present slimmer morphology doesn't give her the body shape that a dress like this needs to show it off to it's best advantage.
ReplyDeleteThe Duchess of Gloucester wins the evening for me. Her dress, the colour, the fit, and her jewellery all conspire to create a wonderfully elegant and stately look.
- Anon 9:13
I agree with your comment about the Duchess of Gloucester. I think she always presents a classic elegance.
DeleteI agree, Kate's dress is beautiful but it's more suited to a fuller figure.
DeleteHer small hips can't hold up the weight of the skirt. The green colour of the fabric is marvelous.
I agree, the model looks better in the dress, Kate looks like is wearing a size too big. I also don’t personally like her heavy makeup. I believe it ages her quite a bit. Overall her face looks dark, a lighter colour palette would have helped a lot.
DeleteCH
Agree, Kate is too slim for this dress and in general I think too much extensions in her hair. It looks so unnatural but it seems that nowadays every woman has them
DeleteThe Duchess in Navy looks superb, I love this color, one of my favorites. Love the ensemble. Her tiara, what a joy to see! Love the necklaces and brooches, perfect placement. Additional diamond bracelets, Yes! She never fails ever, beautiful taste in clothes and jewellery.
ReplyDeleteThe 56 year old gown the Princess Royal is wearing looks superb, the fabric is so gorgeous. Love the fact she was able to re wear this gown. The tiara looks beautiful as does the wonderful pearl and diamond choker, this looks divine! Her choice of earrings and brooch, lovely, welcome additions.
The green color of Catherine's gown is glorious, what a beautiful color, she wears this shade beautifully. The gown appears to be subtle with protocol, I respect this fact. I do love the sapphire and diamond earrings, they are stunning, but to me there is a disconnect between the tiara and the choice of earrings, sapphire? The shoes the Princess wore with this gown are utterly gorgeous, she wore the same shoes in a portrait taken of the royal couple, she wore a green dress. The shoes are a wonderful shade of green, with the most divine buckle on the shoe! beautiful.
The Queen looks lovely, love the sapphire and diamond earrings, not a fan of this tiara, the design doesn't appeal to me. Her gown looks nice, the fabric up close is quite beautiful, but the gown seems; appears staid to me.
Yes, navy blue is elegant color whether it is for day time or evening time.
DeleteMy one of favorites also.
Dearest @ Ava,
Deleteyou gave an exhaustive outline ,I don't need to add a thing.
Only re: the disconnect between tiara and earrings (P.Catherine) , don't know, I don't see them clashing imo.
Agree with you on all the other points💯👍
Anon, 07.57 I agree, yes, good point, day or night it is such a refined and classic color.
DeleteP. the original. Hi there, Hope you are well. Lovely reply thank you. Hugs!
DeleteThe Princess of Wales: elegant, classy and with a nod for Nigerian flag colours. She really knows dress diplomacy. The Prince handsome as always.
ReplyDeletepow Catherine's dress looks better on the model. Duchess of Gluocester is very beautiful, thou she has too much jewelry and orders on the dress
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 06:30
DeleteThat is exactly what I would say. I just would add that the earrings worn by the PoW do not match the tiara. Pearl earrings would have been better
The Queen and Anne look very regal; love their jewels and tiaras (Tara)
ReplyDeleteThe ladies of the BRF are dazzling in some major jewelry! The glamour and sparkle are fabulous. I wish I could see more in terms of close ups of the jewels worn by the Princess Royal and the Duchess of Gloucester. I would also love to see more of Princess Anne's gown--it looks if it is a coat and gown. I cannot recall this being part of state banquet gowns she usually chooses to wear. Catherine is gorgeous in this green gown--this deep emerald green is so beautiful on her. I'm also glad to see her wear the Lover's Knot tiara again as I think it is perfect on her. I usually wish she was wearing one of her amazing updos but with this flowing gown I feel like her flowing curls are the perfect choice. The green is also a nice nod to her visitors as green is a prominent part of Nigeria's flag. I wish she had been able to wear the Greville Emerald earrings but the sapphire fringe earrings are beautiful too. Queen Camilla always looks wonderful in the sapphire tiara--it really must be a favorite. I still keep hoping to see her in the Vladimir tiara and it would have been perfect tonight with the emerald drops. Her gown is very elegant and the brocade fabric is beautiful. It is very hard to tell much about the First Lady's evening attire but there does appear to be some real sparkle there.
ReplyDeleteJanet
La Duchese de Gloucester sort du lot par son élégance comme d habitude.
ReplyDeleteBof bof Catherine, et ses anglaises coiffure d un autre temps.
Ce ne sont pas des anglaises, mais simplement des ondulations.
Delete(Que je n'apprécie pas trop moi non plus).
Les anglaises sont des grosses boucles enroulées en tortillons ou en "coques" comme Nellie Oleson.
Ce n'est pas vraiment le même style de coiffure.
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/12/11/nellie-oleson-cest-moi/
The gown and jewelry looked lovely on POW. Very elegant and stunning but I wish hair was little shorter
ReplyDeleteYes I agree
DeleteAgree
Delete100 percent. It ages her.
DeleteSuperbe Camilla dans cette robe blanche dont les lignes conviennent bien à sa silhouette ; bon choix que les diamants et saphirs - Quant à la duchesse de Gloucester, elle a toujours beaucoup de goût pour se vêtir comme là en portant une
ReplyDeletepetite veste sur une jupe, le tout bleu-nuit -Je ne pense pas avoir déjà vu son collier ; qui pourrait en dire plus ? Merci par avance !
The Duchess of Gloucester looks the best in my view, with her elegant navy dress and gorgeous jewelry. Her tiara and necklace are particularly exquisite.
ReplyDeleteI find Catherine’s look disappointing. Green is a good color on her, and I imagine she is being respectful of Nigerian conservative dressing mores with this voluminous gown, but the high neck, billowing sleeves, and super long hair make her look a bit swamped. The Lovers Knot tiara and the sapphire earrings do not coordinate particularly well with each other or the outfit. An updo and emeralds and diamonds would have looked better I think.
Anne is incredible with rewearing her coat from 50+ years ago. She must have an amazing system for storing and preserving her clothes.
Camilla is wearing her standard outfit. The large sapphire tiara looks remarkably good on her with her tiara hair.
-Royal Watcher
I relooked at the photos and agree she looks swamped.
DeleteRoyal Watcher - You wrote my exact thoughts on all four ladies!!
DeleteI applaud Catherine for dressing in the colors of the Nigerian flag. But, for me a few elements let the look down. Catherine has a slender frame, and the dress needed some strategic undergarments. The dress needed a belt to clinch her waist. Looking at the model, you can see the vision the designer had in mind. It needed shape to show it to its full glory.Also I am not a fan of wearing hair down at a meal. Catherine’s hair is so long now, it needed to be in one of her favourite updos. I also find the tiara sits just slightly off balance without the updo to keep it secure.
ReplyDeleteCamilla looked lovely in her true and tested state dinner choice.
The standout was PA who’s had this dress in her closet since 1969! It looks as good on her today as it did back then.
D.o.G looked lovely in navy. I loved she wore the Iveagh tiara, we don’t often see her wearing it.
I don’t know where Sophie was, she wasn’t present.
Lowri.
Very well stated.
DeleteContrary on what the majority says I cannot like Princess Anne's dress. No dress how much it costed in the past can still look good after such a long time. To me it looks more like a coat than a dress. The diamond necklace she is wearing looks very old too.(photo N°8). If she wants to wear such an old piece of jewelry is it not possible to have it cleaned professionally ?
ReplyDeleteThe Duchess of Gloucester is my winner here. Wow. Closely followed by - Anne Princess Royal. When someone is able do do vintage well, it must be her. The evening coat/gown clearly is from the 1970's, if not a little earlier. I simply adore her for being so retro (most of the time) and make it work. Bummer that The Duchess of Edinburgh had not been in attendance. I would so wish for Queen Camilla to bust out another tiara (like the Grandduchess Vladimir, perhaps without any pendants, to make it a bit lighter to wear for her?), or the Delhi Durbar, please!!! Then comes The Princess of Wales. While it was pretty obvious she would appear in something green (Nigerian flag nod), this dark forest green number is - well - too dark. Her earrings, beautiful as they are, mismatch the QM's Lovers Knot Tiara, as much in shape as in colour. Where is QM's Emerald Choker (worn as a tiara-like headband, perhaps)? Where is the Strathmore Rose Tiara? Where is the Cartier Halo Tiara? Where are the Cartier Bracelets (in different gemstone colouring, like emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and diamond only) that can be worn as a headpiece? Where is the playfulness with the Royal Jewel Collection? This whole look was quite predictable, and, therefore, devoid of any pleasant surprises.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about the jewels. I know we are living in somewhat austere times – people in general don’t seem to want to enjoy jewelry like we once did – but it also seems a waste that these royal ladies don’t take full advantage of all the varied items in the royal vault. They’re not bringing anyone any joy just sitting in the vaults.
DeleteAs stiff as ever...that's no tradition anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 17:06, are you trying to start a tradition of explanation marks?
DeleteYes Coralie, I wondered it myself. If I remember it has been said in the past that the use of several exclamation marks was forbidden.
Delete"QUEEN" or "KING" ..."PRINCESS" or "PRINCE"... who cares anymore of old fashioned "self-called tradition"... OUR WORLD is ALARMING changing, hopefully those PEOPLE, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
ReplyDelete@ Mrs or Mr Exclamation Mark
DeleteIf you don't like the pictures and the comments why you are on this blog ? There are monarchies who prefer to continue their old traditions and there are monarchies who prefer to be more modern and only make use of old traditions very occasionally. They also read and see what is going on in the world. Do we have to start living differently just because there are people who wish to change everything. Can I not wearing a beautiful dress or a piece of jewelry because of that. There are up-to-date fashioned clothes and jewelry which are beautiful too you know. If you are born in a royal family even if you don't like to be a prince or princess you'll have to live your life just like anybody else. The modern European royal families of today are much smaller than before. In most European monarchies you have the King, the Queen, the Crown Prince or the Crown Princess. The brothers and sisters of the crown prince or crown princess have to look for a job once they are adult.
The winner here is the Duchess of Gloucester; simple perfection. The emsembles of the other ladies are either boring, bad, or both. Catherine really should always wear her hair either up or back when a tiara is envolved. Also, when wearing her hair down, it's constistantly in danger of covering the Royal Family Order which I'm assuming is a faux pas. Don't even get me started about the ugly green dress. This is doing nothing for her. It seems a bit too much for her super slim frame and I don't think this shade of green is flattering to her skin tone. The only possative I can see is that it does look like it migh be comfortable and warm if the AC is up too high.
ReplyDeleteI would say there is heating in St. George's Hall, Windsor Castle (I've been there), but no such thing as A/C. What they have (in some rooms; Museums often have it, too) is a device that controls temperature (via the heating) and humidity. Too much humidity can cause mold, and that might damage some of the antiques in the castle.
Delete@ DSC
DeleteI went to Windsor Castle a few times over the years and never saw/ felt A/C either in St.George's Hall or in other rooms/ museums.
Odd comment from
@ Anonymous 17:34.
The Hanwell Environmental Monitoring System is in place in some palaces, as is the Condair Steam Humidifier for the Organ Chamber at Buckingham Palace (amongst other palaces/rooms with important musical instruments). Windsor might have similar systems installed, but the heating as such now mainly runs on heat pumps there. It is quite interesting once you dove in the subject a little more.
DeleteThe Duchess of Gloucester is the only stand out for the right reason. Great blue dress and I love the Iveagh tiara. The necklace could have been left off but I am too happy to see it. QC in a predictable dress that looks dull from afar but more interesting up close. Still not great. Princess Anne has thousands of dresses and pulled the this one. It looks good from afar and not good up close. The choker is interesting. The POW in a too big emerald dress. The color is good but the dress isn't. The usual for jewels. No Sophie.
ReplyDeletePost a Comment