Days after Prince William posted a photograph of his mother Princess Diana to celebrate Mother’s Day in the UK, his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales made her own stylish and sentimental tribute.
Catherine demonstrated a quiet mastery of dress and tiara diplomacy at the state dinner for Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his first lady Reni Tinubu at Windsor Castle. The deep green of Catherine’s modest, high-necked gown by Singaporean designer Andrew Ng was an obvious nod to the Nigerian flag but her choice of tiara quietly reinforced her growing connection to Diana’s enduring fashion legacy.
With its 19 hanging pearls, the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara, made for Queen Mary in 1913, has become Catherine’s favourite piece of jewellery for official occasions. This is the fourteenth event she has worn the tiara to, since it was retrieved from the royal vault in 2015, following Diana’s death in 1997.
The notoriously heavy headpiece was also Diana’s first choice for events where a full display of majesty was required.
Since marrying Prince William at Westminster Abbey in 2011, Catherine has frequently referenced Diana’s style choices. Earlier this month Catherine visited the Royal National Lifeboat Institution tower on the River Thames in a baseball cap, preppy blazer and jeans, that was straight from the Diana playbook.
In 2018 Catherine wore a red dress with a white collar to introduce newborn Prince Louis to photographers, echoing Diana in the same colours when she posed with a newborn Prince Harry in 1984 at the same hospital.
Catherine’s diplomacy stretches beyond updating Diana’s wardrobe choices. Rather than appear to be picking sides, with Diana having divorced the then Prince Charles in 1996, Catherine is careful to respect the King with her outfit choices.
When greeting the Nigerian contingent earlier in the day, Catherine wore a grey double-breasted frock coat with white trim and buttons by Nigerian-British designer Tolu Coker.
On the first day of London Fashion Week, King Charles made headlines by sitting in the front row of Coker’s runway show, on a gold cushion, hours after his disgraced brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Coker was a recipient of the Prince’s Trust (now the King’s Trust) in 2018 when she decided to pursue launching her own brand, following roles at J W Anderson, Celine and Maison Margiela.
A bespoke cocktail hat by milliner Jane Taylor and the Collingwood pearl drop earrings, which once belonged to Diana, completed the look.
While Catherine paid tribute to Diana, Queen Camilla looked to her own mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth for inspiration. In a cherry blossom pink dress by her preferred designer Fiona Clare, Camilla wore the Greville Ivy Leaf clips on her lapel. They were gifted to the Queen by the Queen Mother for her 21st birthday.
At the state dinner, in an embroidered cream gown by Fiona Clare, Camilla wore a Belgian Sapphire Tiara, converted into a headpiece from a necklace by Queen Elizabeth in the 1960s.
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