This evening Kate, William and Harry joined other family members at Windsor Castle for a private party celebrating the Queen and Prince Philip’s 70th wedding anniversary.
More on other attendees from a story in The Express:
Prince Charles was not far behind taking the front seat in a following car, with his wife Camilla expected to meet him there. His siblings Anne, Edward and Andrew were also joining the party.
And Her Majesty’s grandchildren the Princesses of York, Beatrice and Eugenie, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall – accompanied by Mike Tindall are also expected at dinner this evening.
In recognition of the platinum anniversary, a new series of photographs of the couple was released yesterday. (APR 2024: Photo removed per copyright mandate.)
Back to The Express story.
The Castle’s opulent State Apartments were closed to visitors during the day as preparations were put in place for the special black-tie reception and dinner to mark the milestone.
But the Queen and Prince Philip’s anniversary will be markedly different from previous public celebrations of the diamond wedding anniversary in 2007, which included a public service of thanksgiving.
Tonight’s quiet event is at the couple’s request as the pair are said to be against traditional celebrations following the deaths of a number of close friends in recent years.
Windsor Castle.
Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0
A brief look back to the 1947 wedding via The Mirror:
Elizabeth II was a 21-year-old princess when she married her consort Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten on November 20 1947 at Westminster Abbey.
The fairy-tale royal wedding was a morale booster in the tough years that followed the Second World War and millions of people tuned in to listen to the ceremony on the wireless.
The young princess wore a Norman Hartnell dress made of duchesse ivory silk-satin which was hand-embroidered with more than 10,000 pearls and crystals.
The signed register at Westminster Abbey. If you look at the upper right you’ll see an area marked ‘condition’; Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor’s condition is listed as “spinster.” The Abbey bells rang out for more than 3 hours today to mark the milestone.
Westminster Abbey Twitter
Earlier it was announced that HM presented the Duke with a special honor. From The Daily Telegraph‘s coverage:
The Queen has appointed the Duke of Edinburgh Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), honouring him for “services to the sovereign” on their 70th wedding anniversary.
The gesture will be seen as formal recognition of the devotion the Duke has shown through seven decades of marriage, supporting her publicly and privately.
Now to what Kate wore, at least from what we could see.
It appeared the Duchess wore her Zarita gown again; the Diane von Furstenberg design has proven a good maternity option for Kate. Below, Kate wearing the dress earlier this month at an engagement with the Anna Freud Centre.
In some of today’s photos, you can see Kate wearing a black coat that looks like it is made of a textured or nubby fabric.
UPDATE #1: Intrepid ID ace Middleton Maven suggests the Duchess is wearing Alexander McQueen’s Metallic Tweed Coat. From what we can see in the limited photos it certainly looks like this could be the piece.
UPDATE #2: Kate Johnson, an ID whiz of many years, posted on the Facebook page that she believes Kate wore the Alexander McQueen Textured Long Coat. Comparing this design with what we can see in the photos, I think Kate is right; this looks more like the garment.
A Tip of the Tiara also goes to Carolyn Smith; she suggested last night on Facebook this was the coat. The Long Textured Coat is made of a cashmere/wool/mohair blend. It features wide lapels, a concealed front placket, and front pockets. It is available at Farfetch ($4450). Here you see the piece in both black and white; the white version shows the fabric detail much better than the black. (I lightened the shot in the lower right.) Carolyn found the piece at L’Inde Le Palais ($4354), an Italian retailer. Thank you to both Carolyn and Kate for their ace identification skills!
There is a short jacket version of the piece; we show it at Net-a-Porter, where it is available ($1527) in limited sizes. It is also that price at Saks, as well as at Neiman Marcus. 
Today’s big news was the necklace worn by Kate. It is called the Four Row Japanese Pearl Choker. For more, we go to Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault (sister site to The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor):
The necklace includes four rows of pearls with a central diamond clasp in a curved shape, each side including three rows of diamonds that join at the top and bottom with marquise diamonds. According to Garrard: The Crown Jewellers for 150 Years, the Queen commissioned this from a set of the “finest cultured pearls presented to her by the Japanese government.”
Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault notes that the necklace remains in the Queen’s collection, but it is worn only occasionally. Below, HM and Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing the piece. Diana is shown wearing the necklace at a 1982 state dinner for the Netherlands.
Thoughts about the necklace on Kate from Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault:
This necklace is a good loan for Kate. While pearl necklaces aren’t a signature jewel for her, she wears several pairs of pearl earrings and has use of two tiaras with pearls from The Queen’s collection, plus other pearl jewels. So perhaps the Windsor fondness for pearls will continue to grow…
It looked like the Duchess wore Diana’s pearl earrings again. Below you see them on other occasions.
It was a delight to see Kate on her way to the dinner, especially with such an amazing necklace. If any other photos are released that I can license I will update the post. At this point, it looks like The Daily Mail has the most photos.
We have several repliKate options for the Zarita. One of the most popular is the Adrianna Papell Scalloped Lace Gown ($230) seen below left; we show it at Dillard’s. The middle two photos are of the Marina Long Sleeve Lace Gown ($79.97) as shown at Nordstrom Rack. On the far right, another Adrianna Papell style, the Lace Floor Length Gown ($139.99) at Off 5th.
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Our other topic today: Sales and Savings. It’s that time of year when we see a myriad of promotional offers from many retailers. I am working on a Black Friday/Cyber Monday post but wanted to share two sales already underway.
- The Hobbs US site has also started its Black Friday sale early, offering 30% off everything with promo code TREATTIME30. On the Hobbs UK site, the discount is 20%, and that promo code is OHMYDOG20.
- UPDATE NOV 21: Kate’s Monica Vinader Siren Earrings were 30% off yesterday (Monday) as part of the Monica Vinader Black Friday sale. They are no longer discounted (nor are the Riva cluster earrings or necklace); but at 30% off there are still some great buys.
If there are Kate-centric deals you think I should include, or that you want me to look into, just let me know.
We’ll leave you with this 2-minute montage of photos taken from the couple’s extraordinary 70-year journey together.
? Take a look at some of the moments The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have shared together over the last 70 years. pic.twitter.com/KRozbU5MKm
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 20, 2017
LINKAGE:
- The Daily Mail’s photo-laden coverage is here; The Daily Telegraph’s story is here; The Mirror’s coverage is here; The Express story is here
- PopSugar’s photo gallery is here; the Hello! story is here; People’s story is here; the Fug Girls have a terrific 45-slide piece here
katefanatic
Wednesday 22nd of November 2017
I agree with everyone else who thinks that the necklace would look best with a lower neckline, but it was lovely to see her wearing it nevertheless.
Her hair looks the best it has in a long time---lovely voluminous blowout with just the right amount of wave and no ringlets---fantastic.
I like the coat but perhaps not with this gown. I don't mind that the gown was a repeat as this was a private event and she probably didn't see the need to buy a new gown to fit her figure now, but which wont fit in a few months/weeks and would have to be altered to fit her after the pregnancy.
Larissa
Wednesday 22nd of November 2017
Wow, Kate looks fantastic. She is really glowing and her makeup is really well done! I'm so happy to see her rocking those pearls. I actually prefer her wearing them against the black lace to the Queen and Diana wearing them with white/cream - it really makes the pearls pop.
Not a fan of that coat at all unfortunately, good thing this was a black tie event so she wouldn't have kept it on inside! ;)
The photos of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are so lovely, and I'm glad he was officially honoured for his decades of support. Thank you for including the photo montage at the end.
BethE
Tuesday 21st of November 2017
The 1987 photo is my favorite from the montage. And whoever put that together struck a good balance of pageantry and humanity in the choice of pictures. I also like that they didn't shy away from blurry pictures being included. It gives you a sense that those are pictures the royals enjoy personally.
Kate looks radiant, the necklace is such a treat, and what an occasion to wear it for! ?
Barbara M.
Tuesday 21st of November 2017
I love pearls so I’m a big fan of this necklace. I hope that we see it on Kate again.
Kate looks beautiful in the Zarita dress. I do not like the McQueen coat. The texture makes it look scruffy rather than luxurious.
ella
Tuesday 21st of November 2017
it was a private event, not one for online keyboard warriors to start criticising her clothes. Can we please just have one day with no negative feedback and leave the poor pregnant girl alone!!