The Duchess in Vibrant Coral Coatdress for Buckingham Palace Garden Party

The Duchess of Cambridge chose an Emilia Wickstead design for today’s garden party at Buckingham Palace. 

The Earl and Countess of Wessex were also at today’s party.

As was Princess Alexandra, the Queen’s cousin.

Prince William was in Staffordshire for the dedication of a new Submariners memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum.  

These are the first garden parties since 2019; concerns about the pandemic prompted the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 parties. Last week the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, and Princess Anne attended the first party of the season at Buckingham Palace.

The next day Princess Anne hosted the Not Forgotten Association party honoring 120 military organizations, joined by her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence. 

The Queen is not attending this year’s parties as mobility issues continue to be a challenge. Yesterday she was at Paddington Station to celebrate the opening of the new Elizabeth Line train.

Back to today’s events, here you see the royals heading down the steps to greet guests. 

Another view. 

The Duchess with guests. 

A video from The Telegraph’s Victoria Ward. 

The Duchess of Cambridge, in pink Emilia Wickstead, chats to guests at the second Buckingham Palace garden party of the season.. guests now enjoying sandwiches, cake and cups of tea in the ☀️ pic.twitter.com/gHi9lRjLIw

— Victoria Ward (@victoria_ward) May 18, 2022

Sophie, the Countess of Wessex. 

In these two images, you see the Duchess meet a young guest and then pose for a photo with her. 

An enormous number of tasty treats are served at each party, including about 20,000 slices of cake, 20,000 sandwiches, and more than 27,000 cups of tea, per The Royal Family’s social media. 

#DidYouKnow At every Garden Party around 20,000 slices of cake, 20,000 sandwiches and over 27,000 cups of tea are served? pic.twitter.com/6MlzIdh9s9

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 18, 2022

Here you get a sense of the crowd size. 

Another view of the Duchess with guests.
One attendee brought a scrapbook she shared with Princess Alexandra. 

The Duchess looked like she was enjoying herself at today’s party.

We look at today’s fashion now, beginning with the Countess of Wessex, who was in Erdem’s ‘‘Yusra’ Silk Voile Midi Dress ($1240). She accessorized with Jane Taylor’s ‘Moselle’ hat, Prada pumps, and the ‘MoneyPenny’ clutch by Sophie Habsburg. Thank you to Polka Popp for the ID information. 

Now for our look at what Kate wore for today’s party, a rich coral or salmon coatdress by Emilia Wickstead. 

The design features a fit and flare silhouette with a pleated skirt, peak lapels, set-in waistband, and concealed closure.  It is an Emilia Wickstead style the Duchess has worn in other colors, most recently for Easter church services in April.

We saw the return of Jane Taylor’s ‘Lyssa’ hat (£980, about $1200 at today’s exchange rates), a style first worn in 2017 at Trooping the Colour as shown below right.

The chapeau is described as “a fabulously flamboyant piece, involving swerving abaca pleats in tonal shades, which emphasize its depth and intricacy.” 

The Duchess carried her vintage Josef handbag. 

And brought back the Emmy London Rebecca Pumps in Makeup Pink ($420), first noted in Edinburgh last May. The shoe is a classic point-toe style with a 4.2″ heel. 

In some instances, the Duchess has worn heel protectors at garden parties, but that was not the case today.

The Duchess also wore earrings by Kiki McDonough. In some photos, they look like the Morganite Cushion Drops (£2300, about $2855), and in others, they look like the White Topaz Cushion Drops (£800, roughly $995). 

It is a treat to see garden parties return. Here is one more photo of the Duchess at today’s event.

We’ll see you tomorrow for the UK premiere of Top Gun: Maverick. 

The Mirror reports Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, and Val Kilmer are among those expected to attend tomorrow’s gala.