The Princess wore a deep green gown by Andrew Gn for tonight’s state dinner honoring the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu. 
The banquet was held at St. George’s Hall at Windsor Castle due to the extensive remodeling and refurbishment project at Buckingham Palace. Below is a photo of the King, Queen, President Tinubu, and the First Lady. 
The Duke of Edinburgh, Princess, and Prince William. 
The Duchess of Edinburgh wasn’t in attendance tonight. I do know she has been traveling quite a bit, most recently to New York and Italy.
In this image, you can see the Princess Royal on the right, and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, seen on the left. You can just make out the Duchess of Gloucester. 
The King, Queen, and guests of honor as they walked into dinner.
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Prince William and a guest, whom I was unable to identify. 
The Princess Royal and Sir Tim.
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The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
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A brief video showing their walk into St. George’s Hall.
Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, The Princess Royal and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, attending the Nigerian State Banquet at Windsor Castle, this evening! ✨👑♥️ pic.twitter.com/0jyBc1vsgm
— Princess Anne & Sir Tim Laurence ✨ (@TheLaurences_) March 18, 2026
More on tonight’s dinner from ITV’s coverage:
Mr Tinubu’s stay is the first incoming state visit by a Muslim leader during Ramadan since 1928 when King George V hosted King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan.
The President broke his fast privately at sunset before joining the Royal Family for the banquet. The First Lady is a Christian and an ordained Pentecostal pastor.
For the first time in living memory, canapes were offered ahead of the dinner to offer sustenance to Muslim guests who were unable to partake in iftar – the breaking of their fast.
Here, you get a sense of the massive table in the hall, which measures more than 150 feet; more than 140 candles were used for the dinner. 
More about the preparations and the flowers from this People story.
Palace staff started work setting up the table on Sunday and continued to make preparations until shortly before the dinner began. Among the last things to be added were the magnificent flower arrangements using blooms from the gardens at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and the Savill Garden in Windsor. Any flowers that cannot be reused after the banquet will be donated to Floral Angels, Queen Camilla’s patronage, which delivers flowers to hospices, elderly care homes, shelters and more.
In this photo, I believe guests are standing for the countries’ national anthems. 
ITV reports the menu included:
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Soft-boiled quail egg tartlet with watercress, kale, and a basil sabayon
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Filet of turbot, lobster mousse wrapped in spinach, beurre blanc sauce, sprouting broccoli with hollandaise sauce, fricasse of peas and broad beans, Jersey Royal potatoes
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Iced blackcurrant souffle with red fruit coulis
Almost one thousand knives and forks were used for tonight’s table service. 
The Princess laughing with a member of the Nigerian delegation. 
The Daily Mail has details on tonight’s beverages in this article.
English sparkling wine was used for the toasts for those who were drinking alcohol, and the menu did not include meat.
You can see President Tinubu drinking range juice in this photo, and the Princess sipping on water. 
King Charles and President Tinubu delivered remarks. The Telegraph offers more on the King’s speech.
The King’s banquet speech, customarily a mixture of serious diplomacy and jokes, included the “Yoruba wisdom” of “rain does not fall on one roof alone”, the Hausa saying “when the music changes, so does the dance” and the Igbo “knowledge is never complete, two heads are better than one”.
Speaking of a “tea and jollof” reception he hosted at St James’s Palace last week, the King entered the famous debate over which country is home to the best rice dish: “I was firmly assured that the jollof was only the best: Nigerian, of course… or perhaps Ghanaian or Senegalese. Diplomatically, I cannot remember.”
Sky News offers about one minute of the speech in this video.
‘Last week, I was delighted to host a jollof and tea party at St. James’s Palace. I was firmly assured that the jollof was only the best. Nigerian of course.’
King Charles welcomes Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu at Windsor Castle for his two-day state visit… pic.twitter.com/Dd5TEZS71J
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 18, 2026
Now, for a quick review of what some royal guests were wearing, beginning with the gentlemen, all of whom sported the formal red Windsor uniform, with its distinctive scarlet collar and cuffs on the jacket.
The Queen was in a cream embroidered gown by Fiona Clare, the late Queen’s Belgian Sapphire Tiara with matching earrings, and a diamond necklace that belonged to her mother.
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Princess Anne wore an evening coat dating back to at least 1969, with thanks to Royal British Fashion for that insight, and a bandeau tiara. The Court Jeweler reports that her earrings were an 18th-birthday gift from her parents.
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The Duchess of Gloucester was in a wonderful shade of deep blue. The Court Jeweller reports she wore Queen Mary’s Iveagh Tiara, with stacked necklaces and bracelets, and diamond clips from a tiara belonging to her mother-in-law. Pop over to TCJ for full details.
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We now turn to our look at what Kate wore. 
Her dress very much looks like a bespoke version of Andrew Gn’s Chiffon Pleated Gown in a bespoke color, with thanks to Laura and UFO No More for a speedy ID.
The 100% silk design is from the designer’s F/W 2021 collection, featuring a high neck, puffed blouson sleeves, pleating at the front neck and all around the waist, and a concealed back zipper. The Princess did not wear the pearl-buckled belt shown with the off-the-rack version of the style. 
As many readers may know, green is one of the two primary colors seen in Nigeria’s flag—more from this GB News story.
The colours carry clear meaning; green represents Nigeria’s rich natural wealth, especially its forests and agriculture, while white symbolises peace and unity.
Middleton Maven connected with the designer online. More from her Instagram post.
Andrew Gn confirms that he created this gown for the Princess of Wales in 2022, before retiring in 2023. He describes it as part of a belief in “heritage design” — beautifully made pieces to be treasured and passed down to the next generation, much like jewelry.
Below, the designer at the conclusion of his 2019 runway show.
More about Mr. Gn from Women’s Wear Daily.
While he’s dressed everyone from Queen Rania of Jordan to Lady Gaga, the genial designer has kept a relatively low public profile so far, preferring to cultivate close personal relationships with his customers. Early in his career, trunk shows introduced him to society doyennes such as Lynn Wyatt, Blaine Trump and Susan Gutfreund.
We first saw her wearing the glittering gems with an Erdem gown for the 2015 100 Women in Hedge Funds dinner.
Born to immigrant parents in Singapore in 1966, Gn (pronounced “gin” with a hard “g”) was encouraged to travel and ultimately studied in Paris, New York City, and Milan before founding his Paris atelier, The House of Andrew Gn, in 1995. What “began simply in his apartment with an assistant and a sewing machine,” Slinkard says, grew into a 28-year business that produced 80 collections and some 10,000 ensembles. One of the few independent fashion houses to succeed financially, the atelier (which closed in 2023) is known for rich ornamentation, impeccable materials, and the artist’s disparate global aesthetic
Making its North American debut, Andrew Gn: Fashioning the World illuminates the designer’s life and legacy, showcasing nearly 100 stunning works, including clothing, accessories, original illustrations and digital media. The experience is divided into thematic sections highlighting the designer’s signature blend of Western aesthetics, art history and Asian decorative art and design.
Carol
Wednesday 18th of March 2026
Although always a picture of grace and beauty, this dress was boring for me. The picture of the gown on the model looked much better showing the transparecy of the sleeve and more detail could be seen from a lighter shade. Too heavy a gown for the princess. To high a neck, To much fabric, to dark a color and I also feel the heavy dark navy blue sash did nothing for the look. She has worn her hair down quite a bit lately at these state dinners. Am I correct in her color looked darker and back to her original dark brown? I feel this is the most flattering on her. Maybe a 1/2 up 1/2 down like at her wedding. The sapphire earrings I imagine was to pick up the navy in the sash? Not a a cohesive look. With all the dresses and jewelry pieces avialable to her I wish she would show more sparkle! Overall it was not an exciting formal state dinner dress.
We should look at all the state dinner dresses and do a poll and the ones your readers have liked the most!
So happy to see her out and around so much latley! And Princess Catherine, Show a little skin!!
Graziele
Wednesday 18th of March 2026
I really liked the princess's look at the banquet; the dress is very beautiful. It's not quite the dress she wore in Jamaica in 2022 (which I was hoping she would wear today, actually), perhaps her second or third best green dress. Some details remind me of the red Givenchy dress she wore during her state visit to France last year, but today's dress is much better in my opinion. The sleeves and collar suited her very well. Although the Love Knot tiara looked beautiful with the dress, I'm tired of seeing it. It would be good if Catherine used other tiaras she's worn before more often, like the Lotus Flower tiara, for example. Anyway, she looked perfect today. I'm just disappointed that we didn't get an official portrait like we did at the last three state banquets.
PS: Will we have more state visits than 'normal' this year? Usually there are two a year, and the first visit in March gives me the impression that we'll have at least two more state visits throughout the year.
Bonnie
Wednesday 18th of March 2026
My first impression of Kate’s gown was that she is really covered up. Then I remembered that many of the guests are of the Muslim faith and therefore modesty for women is very important. Still I can’t help but think that I’d prefer this gown with a slightly shorter sleeve and a slightly lower neckline. The deep green is rich and the silk, chiffon pleats have a lovely drape and swish. I find the sapphire earrings to be a bit of a puzzle. They do not match with the tiara at all. The only thing they match is the blue sash and of course, her engagement ring. Diamond or pearl earrings, or a combo of both, might have been better.
When Kate is dressed for a state occasion the sashes and honours are necessary. For that reason, I do wish she would wear her hair in an up-do. There is a lot going on and her hair cascading over her bodice, just adds to the busyness. Hair, as she wore it on St. Patrick’s Day, would have been divine.
I smiled to read about the King mentioning jollof rice in his speech. March 6, was World Day of Prayer, when people of all faiths came together to pray for our world. This year, the universal service was prepared by women in Nigeria. During the social time after, we were served joloff rice, made by a Nigerian woman in the congregation. It has a wonderful spice blend and is very rich in flavour. I now have the recipe!
Gail Smith
Wednesday 18th of March 2026
Sorry to say but I loathe this gown and the way it's styled. It swamps her slender frame and is made even worse by having her hair down. I don't often think this but it's a huge miss by Princess Kate tonight :(
Lori
Wednesday 18th of March 2026
The color is spectacular and I love it even more seeing it amongst the flower arrangements. Not a big fan of the neckline or the oversized sleeves. I think her hair in a beautiful updo and the right earrings would mitigate much of the overall droopy effect of the dress. And gosh Windsor Castle is a beautiful backdrop for the evening.