The Duchess In Catherine Walker for Commonwealth Service

The Duchess brought back a Catherine Walker coat for today’s Commonwealth Service.

The service was at Westminster Abbey. 

A wave from the Duchess. 

Below, HM arriving.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. 

The Earl and Countess of Wessex.

There are 54 countries that are Commonwealth members, with a population of more than 2 billion citizens. The annual celebration is marked in Commonwealth nations in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, the Pacific and Europe. This year’s theme is ‘Delivering a Common Future’, “highlighting how the 54 member countries in the Commonwealth family are ‘innovating, connecting and transforming’ to help achieve some of its biggest goals like protecting natural resources and boosting trade.” Below, I believe the Cambridges  and Sussexes are standing as they await the arrival of HM. 

At today’s service we did not see the usual handshakes and hugs as people greeted each other; more from The Times of London: 

At the beginning of the service there were no handshakes between the members of the royal family and the clergy and Commonwealth dignitaries who were lined up to greet them. It is understood that the Queen and other senior royals were following the protocol that the Abbey has been operating under in the past few days.

There were more than 2000 in attendance at the service, including elected officials and dignitaries, ambassadors, faith leaders, and more than 800 school and young people. Below, flags of member nations are brought into the Abbey. Here you see senior members of the Royal Family at the service.

Highlights included performances from West-End star Alexandra Burke performing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

Along with a performance by an African drumming group called “One Drum.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson did a reading from Luke 10. 

Multi-platinum, multi-award winning singer-songwriter, Craig David sang his hit, ‘Unbelievable.” 

World heavyweight boxing champion and Olympic Medalist Anthony Joshua spoke.

Mr. Joshua said he was “proud to be a child of the Commonwealth” and asked people to remember how “our Commonwealth cousins stood shoulder to shoulder in combat” and spoke of the values of “fairness, responsibility, tolerance and diversity which bind us”.  

Below, HM and senior royals as they were leaving the service. 

They spoke with those taking part in today’s presentation.

Below, HM chats with Mr.Joshua.

The Duchess was given a posey by Ruby who is aged 6; she is from the 1st Magor Rainbows in Wales. 

We turn to our overview of what some of the royal women wore for today’s service, starting with HM. The Queen was in a powder blue cashmere coat by Stewart Parvin adorned by the Jardine Star brooch and carrying a Launer handbag.

The Duchess of Cornwall sported a navy coat by Bruce Oldfield and a matching blue feather hat by Philip Treacy.

The Duchess of Sussex wore Emilia Wickstead with a hat by William Chambers.  

The Countess of Wessex repeated a dress by Suzannah London first worn to Royal Ascot, accessorized by a Jane Taylor hat. 

And now for our look at the Duchess of Cambridge.

Kate brought back a Catherine Walker coat first seen on Christmas Day 2018. 

The double-breasted style features a fitted bodice, full skirt, slanted pockets, and velvet trim at the collar, cuffs, pocket flaps and on the buttons.

Kate carried her Prada clutch and a pair of gloves we’ve not identified. 

She brought back her Gianvito Rossi pumps in ‘Bordeaux’ suede. 

The Duchess wore a new hat by Sally Ann Provan, the SADA Felt Saucer Hat (£460) in ‘berry red.’

The piece is described as a “felt saucer style hat trimmed with hand-made silk camellias in toning shades, and finished with hand-made felt leaves in toning shades, and is perfect for a winter wedding or event.” Many thanks to PolkaPopp for the ID on this piece. 

As is evident in many of the photos, the Duchess’s hair was styled in an elaborate updo.

This provided a better view of her ‘new but familiar’ earrings. They appear to be reworked from a necklace by Mouawad Kate wore to the 2011 Sun Military Awards. The jewelry was believed to be a wedding gift. 

A closer look. 

UPDATE: A number of people have asked a very good question via their comments, something I should have originally addressed in the post. The question is about why I think the earrings are re-worked portions of the necklace. My personal belief is that because Kate wore the matching bracelet to the awards it is likely she would have worn the matching earrings as well if she had them. There is no way of knowing that; there is every chance I am wrong and the earrings seen today came with the necklace and bracelet. But my gut is that the earrings were created from the necklace seen in 2011.     

We’ll leave you with the bells of the Abbey ringing as the Royal Family leave following the service. 

The Westminster Abbey Company of Ringers are ringing 653 changes of Stedman Caters as The Queen and members of the Royal Family depart the service. ?#CommonwealthService#CommonwealthDay pic.twitter.com/GIY1OFOdvL

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) March 9, 2020

 

I’ll be back as soon as possible with a post on Kate’s repeat of the Jenny Packham for tonight’s Place2Be 25th anniversary gala at Buckingham Palace, seen below.   

VIDEO: 
With thanks to Bonnie for the heads-up, here is the entire broadcast of the service. 

The Royal Fashion Channel offers a 3-minute look at today’s styles.
 

LINKAGE: 

• Read more about the Commonwealth on the official Royal Family website here; view the Order of Service by clicking here; a recap of today’s service with photos is here
• Visit The Commonwealth website here; the organization’s Facebook page is here and its Twitter feed is here
• Learn more about the Royal Commonwealth Society on the group’s website here or its Facebook page here; you may also follow the Society’s Twitter feed here
• The Daily Mail’s coverage is here; a Daily Mirror story is here; a Telegraph story is here
• Hello’s story about the Duchess of Cornwall’s look is here; its article about Kate’s ensemble is here; its column on Meghan’s look is here; the magazine’s piece about Sophie’s ensemble is here; a Harper’s Bazaar gallery is here