Kate Mixes Old & New for Queen’s Birthday Parade, George & Charlotte Join Palace Fly-by Crowd UPDATED

The Duchess mixed old and new pieces for today’s historic Trooping the Colour events.

Not only did the ceremony mark the Queen’s 90th birthday, but it was also the first time we saw Princess Charlotte join the crowd on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch the military fly-past.

The event begins with a 10am carriage procession. HM and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Prince Harry rode with the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Cornwall.

Also known as the Queen’s Birthday Parade, Trooping the Colour is the official celebration of the Monarch’s birthday.

It is always an amazing display. Below, you can just barely see HM in the center of the photo, she is a tiny speck of green.

The Queen reviewing her troops.

From left to right: Prince Charles, Colonel of the Welsh Guards; Prince William, Colonel of the Irish Guards; and Princess Anne, Colonel of the Blues and Royals.

From The Daily Mail’s coverage:

Cheers from the public in the Mall greeted the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s arrival on Horse Guards Parade – Henry VIII’s former jousting yard – where an audience of thousands were seated in stands.

On the parade ground in their famous scarlet tunics and bearskins were the Coldstream, Grenadier and Scots Guards – while the Irish Guards lined the Queen’s processional route from Buckingham Palace.

There were large crowds on the Mall watching the ceremony. From The Express:

Thousands of tourists and royals fans filled The Mall, stretching back from the iron palace gates, cheering the Queen and her family.

From The Telegraph’s coverage:

…well-wishers were treated to the sight of the monarch and 95-year-old Philip travelling to Horse Guards in the Ascot Landau, and the imposing presence of The Sovereign’s Escort, mounted troops from the Life Guards and Blues and Royals.

The Royal Air Force Red Arrows flying over the Mall.

Another aerial view.

The Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge in today’s carriage procession.

The Duchess of Cornwall @ClarenceHouse, Prince Harry & The Duchess of Cambridge @kensingtonroyal #TroopingtheColourhttps://t.co/vYSCJzVNl1

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 11, 2016

Readers will recognize Kate’s coatdress, it is the Alexander McQueen piece worn for Princess Charlotte’s christening. 

A refresher on how Kate styled the piece in July of last year.

These images focus on the seaming and darts in the neckline and bodice.

This offers a closer look at the horizontal panel below the waist.

Kate’s understanding of the unspoken messages sent by ceremonial wardrobe selections was evident today; bringing back a garment from an important occasion for another significant event strikes me as something she would be sensitive to when planning today’s wardrobe. The Duchess freshened the look with a new hat by Philip Treacy.

She accessorized with her Mappin and Webb ‘Empress’ pendant.

Today’s surprise was the choice of earrings; I don’t recall seeing Kate wear mabé pearls before. The large size was also unusual, Kate’s earrings choices generally feature drop/chandelier designs, often with colored stones.

The earrings have not yet been identified.  UPDATE: June 20 2016

The consensus is that Kate’s earrings *are* by Balenciaga, but not the pair many initially thought.  It turns out they look most like Balenciaga’s ‘Eugenia’ silvertone clips with faux pearls and crystal.    

The clips measure about 7/8″ in diameter. The “Eugenia” name covers a broad selection of jewelry at Balenciaga. Kate’s pair originally retailed at $745 at Net-a-Porter; unfortunately the style is no longer available.  

For some the earrings brought to mind Kate’s brooch from Trooping the Colour in 2014, worn atop an Alexander McQueen suit. (I’m pretty sure Harry was telling someone about the brooch as he spoke into his wrist. Cough-cough.)

With apologies for the poor quality of the photo, here is a look at that piece.

Allie left a comment reminding about the oversize buttons on Kate’s Alexander McQueen coat. I had forgotten all about those! Below you see Kate in the garment at the Commonwealth Day service in March of 2015. 

Carly of Kate Middleton Style Blog noticed that in a very wide shot Kate is holding a handbag. It looks like it is the ‘buttercream’ suede version of the Mulberry Bayswater Clutch Wallet that we saw Kate carry on the April tour.  

An FYI from our April post: the bag shown below is not the exact same clutch we think Kate carried, her bag appears to be suede. This is merely used to show the design.

We will continue updating throughout the day, there are quite a few more photos. For the time being we’ll leave you with this mother-daughter picture of Kate and Charlotte.

And a brief video of the Royal Family gathering to watch the aerial military display.  

The Queen and the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace #TroopingtheColour #Queenat90https://t.co/vA2xcOkwWr

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 11, 2016

For many more photos with Charlotte and George, along with details on their outfits, joins us at our sister site, What Kate’s Kids Wore.
LINKAGE:

• The Telegraph’s story is here and its photo gallery is here; The Express story is here
• For those who enjoy a rolling log of events as they happened, The Mirror’s live blog is here; its story about the event is here
• The RAF has a nifty photo-driven stack you may view here