Kate Wears Christopher Kane for Queen’s Garden Party

The Duchess wore familiar styles for the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace today, the first of the season. From left to right: the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Cambridge, HM, Princess Anne, Prince Philip and Princess Beatrice.

The Daily Mail’s Rebecca English shared this video of the Royals as the National Anthem was played.

Video: The National Anthem at today’s Buckingham Palace garden party. pic.twitter.com/d3mjEeqmro

— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) May 16, 2017

From the Royal Family site:

Garden Parties are an important way for The Queen to speak to a broad range of people… all of whom have made a positive impact in their community.

HM chose a lovely shade of pink for today’s event.

A better look at William and Kate.

Other royals attending today’s gathering included Princess Anne (seen below), Princess Beatrice and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

Prince Edward also was at the afternoon gathering.

Princess Beatrice speaking with guests.

Our thanks to Jenny, she left a comment saying Beatrice is wearing the Tory Burch Winston dress; Jenny also shared that the frock is on sale at Saks for $170. If really fond of the dress & unable to find your size, it is 50% off at Bloomingdale’s ($212, limited sizing); and also on sale at Spring ($299, that’s 30% off); it is the same price at Tory Burch.

HM will host a total of four Garden Parties this summer; two more at Buckingham Palace and one at Holyrood House in Scotland. On a related note, Prince Harry has been given permission to host his own Garden Party; the Not Forgotten Association Garden Party with active-duty and former members of the military is May 30 at the Palace. 

About 8000 people are invited to each party.

They are a way of “recognizing and rewarding people from all walks of life.”

Just what do you feed 8,000 guests? Erin Hill has more in this People story:

According to the palace, around 27,000 cups of tea are served and 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 slices of cake are consumed during the event.

While at today’s event Kate spoke about her sister Pippa’s wedding this weekend; more from The Daily Mail:

Kate chatted to Andrew Bates and his wife, Janet, about her sister Pippa’s wedding at the weekend – and revealed that while she was hugely looking forward to it, she was slightly nervous about how her children, Prince George, three, and two-year-old Princess Charlotte would behave as well.

The fitted coat-dress was a bespoke piece, crafted of an ice-blue eau de nil satin. It features multiple gores front and back, with four panels per side. There is also a covered front placket, vertical front pockets, a self-belt, and notched lapels. Kate wore the design in 2012 for the Opening Ceremony of the London Games. The Duchess wore the piece again in June of 2014 for Order of the Garter ceremonies.

This offers a nice view of Kate’s chapeau as worn today. It is the “Sweet Delight” by Lock and Co.; Kate also paired it with this coat for the 2014 Order of the Garter events.

Here is a quick refresher on Kate’s style at previous Garden Parties: the Duchess repeated an Emilia Wickstead dress for her first Garden Party in May 2012, accessorizing with a new Jane Corbett hat; Kate was in a sunny yellow Emilia Wickstead design for her second Garden Party in May of 2013; we saw the return of the very popular champagne lace dress by Alexander McQueen for a June 2014 party; in May of last year, Kate was in the Alexander McQueen design she first wore for Prince George’s christening; on the far right you see the ensemble chosen for the June 2016 party at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland, the brocade coat by Day Birger et Mikkelsen.

Today’s most intriguing accessory is Kate’s clutch. It isn’t a piece we have seen her carry previously. The bag has a multicolored pattern on the front flap, although I can’t make out the design very well.

UPDATE: With thanks to Holly on Facebook for a tip early this afternoon, it’s possible the bag is a vintage piece by Josef. Below you see the Duchess’s bag alongside a vintage Josef piece. 

The brand was known for its beaded bags, made by hand, mostly in France, but in other locations as well. NOTE: The photo above left is from a July 2019 Wimbledon engagement when Kate carried the bag again.  

Kate also wore her Gianvito Rossi suede pumps in the ‘praline’ colorway; we show them at My Theresa ($675). If interested in the style with a lower heel, the 3.5″ heel is available in limited sizes here.We saw the glittering, shimmering Blue Topaz and Diamond earrings by Kiki McDonough again; the Duchess debuted the pair in Luxembourg last week.

We’ll leave you with this ITV video of the party. At roughly 1:15 into the video you can hear William telling two guests “Hopefully we’re going to go to Norway very soon.” He then adds something about Scandinavia, but I wasn’t able to fully discern what he was saying.

LINKAGE:

• Learn more about Garden Parties at the Royal Family’s official site here
• Richard Palmer’s story in The Express may be read here; The Daily Mirror’s coverage is here; Rebecca English’s story in The Daily Mail is here
• Erin Hill’s story for People is here;
• the Fug Girls coverage is here;