The Princess of Wales swapped her tiaras for a flower crown for King Charles III’s Coronation at Westminster Abbey. Underneath her formal blue and red robes, Kate wore a long Alexander McQueen dress in ivory crepe, adorned with embroidery featuring rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock motifs to represent the four nations of the United Kingdom. The exact same flowers appeared on the royal’s wedding dress in 2011, also designed by Sarah Burton.
The royal arrived at the church with her husband, the Prince of Wales, and children Princess Charlotte—also wearing a matching floral headpiece by Jess Collett X Alexander McQueen—and Prince Louis. Prince George, who is one of the King’s Pages of Honour, walked ahead of his parents in the procession and behind his grandfather, carrying his robes.
As is tradition for the royal, Kate opted for a pair of meaningful diamond and South Sea pearl earrings, which previously belonged to Princess Diana. She has worn them on numerous occasions in the past, including the Remembrance Day service in 2022 and the BAFTAs in 2019.
Kate has mastered the art of symbolic dressing over the years, wearing red, white and blue in recent days in the run-up to the Coronation. For a visit to the Dog and Duck pub in Soho on 4 May, The Princess re-wore a red Eponine coat with a blue lining, along with a white dress underneath. The following day, the royal sported a white midi-dress by Jenny Packham for a formal lunch at Buckingham Palace, before changing into a royal-blue Self-Portrait dress for a reception for heads of state in the evening.
When it comes to her jewellery, Kate often opts for poignant choices, too. For the Buckingham Palace lunch on 5 May, she wore Queen Elizabeth II’s Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings, which she was previously seen in at Her late Majesty’s state funeral in September. In the evening, Kate dipped into the royal jewellery box once again, wearing the Queen Mother’s sapphire and diamond fringe earrings.
This story originally appeared in British Vogue.
