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The Duchess Brings Back Fan Favorite for Earthshot Awards Green Carpet UPDATED

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The Duchess of Cambridge repeated a much-loved look by Alexander McQueen for tonight’s Earthshot Prize Awards. 

NOTE: This is a partial post; I have an out-of-town commitment I need to keep. I’ll update the post when I get back.  (FYI, the post has been updated.)

Below, a terrific shot of the Duchess as she walks on stage. 

More about the awards from a Kensington Palace news release. 

The Earthshot Prize has led an unprecedented global search for the most inspiring and innovative solutions to the greatest environmental challenges facing the planet. The Earthshot Prize is the most ambitious environmental prize in history and this inaugural ceremony will reflect this. A truly global event, anchored in London and connecting with Finalists and Winners all over the world, it will showcase the incredible global community working to repair our planet.

Below, a graphic showing the finalists.

Guests started arriving mid-afternoon on the green carpet at Alexandra Palace.  The hosts for the evening’s broadcast, Clara Amfo and Dermot O’Leary.

ITV photographer Graham Stothard shared a wide shot of the arrival scene at Alexandra Palace. Here is a quick clip of the hosts talking about tonight’s event. 

Other arrivals included actress Emma Thompson, who is presenting one of the awards.

More from Simon Perry in his story for People. 

Presenter Emma Thompson said she came in the outfit she wore when she last saw Prince William — her suit and the badge that signifies her damehood. 

“On our little notes they said ‘Please do not buy anything new for this.’ Can you imagine? The relief! So I got my dame suit that I wore when I went to the palace,” she shared.

Footballer Mo Salah, also presenting an award.

Another presenter, actress Emma Watson.  Her dress was quite the buzz as the arrivals were underway. 

The BBC reports her style was created from ten different garments donated to Oxfam.  NOTE: I just saw a tweet by @Mary_in_Fashion indicating this is a design by UK retailer Harris Reed. 

Actor and producer David Oyelowo, also presenting one of tonight’s awards and wife, Jessica Oyelowo. 

Rapper KSI, one of tonight’s performers. 

Singer, songwriter, and activist Yemi Alade, another performer.

Footballing great and Earthshot Prize Council Member Dani Alves with his wife Joana Sanz.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was at Wednesday’s Generation Earthshot engagement with the Duke and Duchess, and Saadiya Khan. 

Below, Lord Hague, a former foreign secretary and House of Lords member who chairs the Royal Foundation, and wife Ffion Hague.

The Duke and Duchess were the final guests to arrive. 

In this video, you can see how the gown moves. 

 Another view.

Rebecca English shared a quick video of the Duke and Duchess chatting on the green carpet before they went inside. 

The couple speaking with guests. 

Another view. 

The carpet isn’t the only thing that has been bright a vibrant green; in advance of the awards, London landmarks were also green.  Below, the London Eye. Buckingham Palace.

There were lots of social media posts about the event, including this one from the Prince of Wales. 

Five £1 million prizes are being awarded tonight. The prizes are based on five ‘Earthshot’ goals: Protect and restore nature; Fix our climate; Clean our air; Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world. 

More about tonight’s ceremony from the BBC. 

Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and KSI were among the acts that performed – and in keeping with the eco message, the music was powered by 60 cyclists pedalling on bikes.

No celebrities flew to London for the ceremony, no plastic was used to build the stage and guests were asked to “consider the environment” when choosing an outfit…

A view of the stage and orchestra. 
 
 
And the Duke and Duchess. 
Coldplay opened the show. 

Another view of the royals. 

Sir David Attenborough delivered remarks.  He was one of the judges for tonight’s awards and has been involved with the project almost from its inception.

From his speech: 

Our Finalists all give us hope which, we are told, springs eternal. But we don’t have eternity. We need to do this now. And over the next ten years, if we all put our minds to it, I believe we can.

I have posted the entirety of his remarks in the ‘Videos’ segment at the end of the post.  Below, the Duchess chatting with Sir David backstage. 

Here you see her backstage with Emma Thompson in a terrific photo from Yui Mok.

Mo Salah presented the award in the Revive our Oceans category.

It went to Coral Vita in the Bahamas, “A project run by two best friends who are growing coral in the Bahamas, designed to restore the world’s dying coral reefs. Using special tanks, they have developed a way to grow coral up to 50 times faster than they normally take in nature” per the BBC.  

Emma Watson presented the Fix our Climate award to AEM Electrolyser. You also see co-host Clara Amfo in this shot, below right.

The prize committee wrote: “The AEM Electrolyser from Enapter turns renewable electricity into emission-free hydrogen gas with a technology that has been developed quicker and cheaper than ever before and can transform how we power our homes and buildings and fuel transport”.

The Clean Our Air award was presented by David Oyelowo. It went to Takachar, a company in India that has developed “technology to help end the burning of agricultural waste, which causes severe air pollution. Their cheap, small-scale, portable technology attaches to tractors and converts crop residues into sellable products like fuel and fertiliser and helps reduce smoke emissions by up to 98%.” Below, co-founder Vidyut Mohan is seen on the left. 

The Build a Waste-Free World award was presented by Emma Thompson. It went to the City of Milan, Italy’s Food Waste Hubs.   

The BBC notes Milan won “…for collecting unused food and giving it to people who need it most. The initiative has dramatically cut waste while tackling hunger…”. 

The Duchess presented the fifth and final award.

That was the Protect and Preserve Nature Award.

The award went to the Republic of Costa Rica for pioneering a project paying local citizens to restore natural ecosystems.

From the Duchess’s remarks during the ceremony: 

Nature is vital to us all. A thriving natural world regulates our climate, nurtures our physical and mental health and helps feed our families. But for too long we’ve neglected our wild spaces and now we’re facing a number of tipping points.  If we don’t act now, we will permanently destabilise our planet and we will rob our children of the future they deserve. Our Earthshot Prize Finalists show us however that we can, by 2030, see the natural world growing, not shrinking, for the first time in centuries

The award was accepted by President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, who appeared via video call with his wife Claudia and son Gabriel.

Below, Prince William speaking at the end of the ceremony. 

More about his remarks from this Wales Online story. 

At the end of the event, televised by the BBC, William, who was joined by Kate, took to the stage to tell the audience: “I want to say something to the young watching tonight.

“For too long, we haven’t done enough to protect the planet for your future, the Earthshot is for you.

“In the next 10 years, we are going to act.

“We are going to find the solutions to repair our planet.

Below, one of the medals winners received.

More about the medals via this Telegraph story by Hannah Furness. 

The 50 medals, inspired by the first photograph taken of the earth from the moon in 1969, are made from recycled brass sourced from tiny fragments of metal in wastewater sludge.

The metal elements, originally from water pipe fittings, medicine, jewellery and electric waste, have been extracted via a centrifuge, and recast into pristine awards by the Royal Dutch Mint.

Each unique medal depicts the gradual rotation of the earth, and they will be displayed together before being presented to Earthshot winners over the next decade.

After the taping, the Duke and Duchess spoke with winners via video call.

Another view. 

Next year’s awards ceremony will be held in the USA in a location still to be determined. 

Now for our look at what Kate wore. 

She brought back the Alexander McQueen Grecian-inspired gown that was first seen in 2011 at a Los Angeles BAFTA gala during the North American tour. Below, a photo from 2011.

It was such a popular ensemble, it is in the Iconic Looks section of the site.  The gown featured Grecian-inspired lines with pleats from top to bottom; a blouson-style top, cinched-in waist, cap sleeves, and a full, flowing skirt with a fluted hem.  

Here is a closer view of the off-the-rack version of the gown.

The dress as seen tonight and back in 2011.

The Duchess wore a different belt tonight.  The belt worn in 2011 is on the right.  (This is not the belt Kate wore with her second wedding gown. )

UPDATE MONDAY, OCT 18:  With thanks to Couture Royals on Twitter, it looks like the Duchess wore a Jenny Packham belt similar to this style from the 2018 bridal collection. 

The belt features both gold and silver shades in a hexagon pattern; the one worn by the Duchess looks a little thinner than the belt seen with the bridal gown.

The Duchess did not carry a handbag this evening.  This is the third engagement in a row where she has elected not to carry a bag, perhaps something we’ll see more of going forward.

It appeared she *may* have worn her Kiki McDonough morganite earrings, but I need to take a better look when I get back.

UPDATE: Kiki McDonough confirmed the earrings are the morganite pair first worn at Pippa Middleton’s wedding.

I have not had a good look at her shoes.  The Duchess wore what looked like her Platinum Lamé Cabrina Pumps from Oscar de la Renta.

While this is not What William Wore, there has been considerable chatter about the Duke’s look this evening. The green velvet jacket is also a repeat, first worn for Centrepoint’s 50th-anniversary gala in November 2019. 

We’ll leave you one more image from this evening. 

VIDEOS: 

Here are 30 seconds from the Earthshot organization. 

This 3-minute BBC video has Sir David’s remarks. 

This 11-minute video features Prince William and Sir David. 

 Here is ITV’s 2-minute news story. 

 Here is the Royal Family Channel’s 4-minutes+ of coverage. 

 Here is a quick look at the green carpet arrivals. 

 
 

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Elisabeth

Tuesday 8th of November 2022

Where can we buy a replicate or very similar one? Please help, holiday season is coming up.

Deanna

Monday 25th of October 2021

The dress is just mesmerizing. So good to see it again. The dress moves exactly like a wonder of nature: The Blanket Octopus.

LuluA

Friday 22nd of October 2021

It is indeed a lovely dress. But if she really wanted to contribute to saving the environment, she would stop wearing man-made fibres. If she did, and she publicized that, it would make a world-wide impact, and possibly change the fashion world forever.

Tracy

Wednesday 20th of October 2021

They both look lovely! I love this dress, so beautiful. I’m really liking his velvet green jacket. Can’t go wrong with that for an Earth event. My only complaint, my usual complaint, when in a formal setting, I really wish she would wear some beautiful jewelry. There’s really nothing wrong with her jewelry, but it’s so, well just normal. I’m struggling to articulate what I mean by that. I guess I mean it looks like something I could own. I’m not saying she needs full bling, but one stunning piece would be something. Like I said, there’s really nothing wrong with her jewelry, but I’d like to see something more. I feel like it’s a wasted opportunity. She has access to some of the most beautiful jewelry, I wish she’d take more advantage of that. I’ve always been of the opinion that if you have something beautiful it should be worn, not locked in a box never to see the light. I’m just being knit picky here, because she does look gorgeous. Thank you.

Pat

Friday 22nd of October 2021

fully agree, not too sure about the Jewelry touch, her engagement/wedding ring is enough isn't it? Anyway, back to the point, really love HRH William's Green suede jacket and her modest, yet clean fitting dress...

Christine Muehling

Tuesday 19th of October 2021

What a wonderful event!! It's been a long wait to see if Kate would wear this lavender dress again. I like that she did a re-wear for this occasion, that was expected. However, it did seem quite a contrast to what William wore. I think both times Kate wore this dress, it looked great, however, I think she could have a better earing choice this time. Lavender does appear in nature in fall, but I fall into the camp that felt it was too summery. Overall, great occasion and great looks!

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