Kate Mixes Zara with D&G for Queen’s Birthday Spectacular (UPDATED)

Kate mixed high and low pieces for the Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

The pageant was held on the private grounds of Windsor Castle and broadcast live on ITV.  Below, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh arriving.

Prince Charles welcomes his mother.

Below, a portion of the program for this evening, shared by Sue Courter.

This is part of the letter Prince Charles wrote for the program.

It could not be more fitting that a quite different group that also enjoys The Queen’s unfailing interest and support – horse, of myriad breeds and colour – will join the 600 soldiers, sailors airmen and women who make up this evening’s celebration.

Below (from left to right), Kate, Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse, Princess Alexandra, Prince William, Floria-Franziska of Hesse, Prince Harry. More from Rebecca English in The Daily Mail: 

Prince Donatus is a great-great-great grandson of Queen Victoria, through his paternal grandfather Philipp’s mother Margaret, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. His father was also a third cousin of the Queen.

The show getting underway.

The Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

The event showcased multiple military units and 900+ horses. More from The Telegraph:

The numbers involved in looking after 900 horses from around the world look like this: There are 1,160 horses stabled on site (for the birthday celebration and the Royal Windsor Horse Show) that have needed 3,000 bales of hay this week, 600 bags of hard feed, 4,400 bales of shavings, with 600 loos, 80 showers and a village shop for their riders.

The military performances came from UK and Commonwealth countries: the New Zealand Army Band, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the South Australian Police Band, the Fijian Army Dancers and Band, 100 Military and Commonwealth Pipers and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

Tonight’s celebration “told the story of Her Majesty The Queen’s remarkable life from her birth in 1926, through World War II to the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, continuing with her reign right up to the present day.” Acting as emcees, comedy duo Ant and Dec (Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly) helped segue through the various elements in the Queen’s life covered in tonight’s program. More from The Daily Mail:

Famous actors narrated the historic moments from the Queen’s life starting with Downton Abbey star Jim Carter who covered the monarch’s childhood years and introduced his wife Imelda Staunton who performed a song.

Dame Helen took the audience through the monarch’s war years and how the nation fought against Nazi tyranny.

The list of stars taking part in tonight’s pageant included Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Shirley Bassey, Kylie Minogue OBE, Damian Lewis OBE, James Blunt, Gary Barlow, and Katherine Jenkins, OBE. 

The Household Cavalry.

What a show. No room for error from the @HCMRegt!#HMQ90pic.twitter.com/M9dOVXOv2V

— ITV (@ITV) May 15, 2016

Jaguars zipping about the arena.

Several family members also took part in the celebration tonight: Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Zara Phillips and Lady Louise Wessex all rode in the event.

HM wore a sea green ensemble by Angela Kelly.

Princes Philip, William, and Harry were all wearing their Windsor Uniforms tonight, worn only at Windsor Castle.

The Duchess was in a Zara jacket, the retailer’s Blazer with Back Pleat ($99).

The piece is a poly/rayon blend with a touch of elastene for stretch. It features raglan sleeves, a back pleat adding extra volume (akin to what we used to call a swing coat), front pockets, oversized buttons, and what Zara refers to as a Peter Pan collar. Our thanks to Morel Melany for sharing the jacket ID on Twitter.

The Duchess was in another lace dress, it appears to be another one by Dolce and Gabbana, the brand’s Cotton Blend Lace Dress ($5995). It is a departure from the other Dolce and Gabbana lace dresses we have seen the Duchess wear, those have been sheaths. Today’s skirt has a bit of a boho feel, almost a 70’s peasant-style dress.

The frock is described this way on the Net-a-Porter site:

Dolce & Gabbana’s white dress is a romantic choice for special events or brides. This exquisite design is crafted from pretty cotton-blend lace with sheer sleeves, a nipped-in waist and tiered, swishy skirt. It comes with a smooth satin slip for coverage.

Our thanks for this identification to Pinball Wizard, also on Twitter. The jacket and dress do not seem like items well suited to be worn together; several friends at the event suggest perhaps Kate added the jacket at the last minute, realizing it was chillier than anticipated.

UPDATE MAY 16: The Duchess also carried a black clutch and shawl/wrap/scarf. The bag looks like the Prada clutch in black satin (£940) we first saw Kate carry in India.

Fittingly, Kate’s earrings are a pair loaned to her by the Queen.

We have seen them on several occasions. They were first worn to the 2011 BAFTA dinner in Los Angeles (center), as well as to the 2013 and 2015 diplomatic receptions at Buckingham Palace.

We will see you tomorrow for the Heads Together launch at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with Kate, William and Harry.

LINKAGE:

• For a visual overview of the Queen’s life visit this page at the Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration site
• The Royal Windsor Horse Show site is here
• Sky News has a 3-minute piece on HM’s love of horses you can watch here
• Victoria Murphy’s story in The Mirror is here; Gordon Rayner’s story in The Telegraph is here; Rebecca English’s story in The Daily Mail is here
• The Telegraph’s rolling live coverage (which is a great read) is here; Simon Perry’s People story is here