Here are some photos of the royal family at the annual Order of the Garter service yesterday at Windsor Castle. You know what I realized as I looked through these photos? Prince Harry has not been made/given an Order of the Garter. I imagine that will happen when Charles becomes King. For now though, it’s the Queen’s children plus Prince William, plus other assorted advisors and such who are part of the Order of the Garter. The Order of the Garter is “Britain’s oldest and highest level of chivalry, formed by King Edward III in 1348.” It’s a big deal to be part of the Order of the Garter.
I’m including photos of the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Earl of Wessex (Prince Edward), The Princess Royal (Anne looking badass again), the Duke of York and the Queen is in there somewhere. So much velvet! So many feathers. Surely they could do this event in the Autumn, when that heavy velvet might be more welcome than, say, the middle of June?
With Sophie, the Countess of Wessex and the Duchess of Cambridge aren’t part of the Order of the Garter, they did attend the event to cheer on their husbands, I suppose. Sophie and Kate are reportedly somewhat close. Sophie was the royal woman who was assigned to ease Kate into royal life when Kate and William first got engaged, and I guess Sophie is probably the most senior royal woman who is closest to Kate’s age.
Apparently, Kate repeated this Christopher Kane silk satin coatdress, but I didn’t remember it at all – this is the same coatdress she wore in 2012, to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. Ah. Okay, now I remember. Kate has SO MANY pale blue suits and coatdresses. Her hat is by John Lock and Co and her clutch is LK Bennett. I don’t have the ID on Sophie’s dress but those ostrich feathers are super-distracting.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Beautiful
Why is Sophie wearing a dust mop around her neck? Everyone else looks great wearing their best robes from Hogwarts.
All that was left were Ron Weasley’s dress robes…
Thanks for making me LOL today 🙂
I rather like Sophie’s feather collar. I’d wear trousers on the bottom half.
I agree. It’s a day of ridiculous feather ensembles, might as well embrace it!
I was thinking that too LAK. I am a trousers kind of lady though.
I like the feathers, but I wonder if they’re tickling her face. With my luck a bit of feather would fly into my eye and that would end the day for me.
I know, right? it looks like she picked her outfit up from Value Village. Nothing wrong with that of course, she looks like she’s having a good time.
Aside from Her Maj and the PoW, you can only have 24 of the gartered. Harry is probably waiting for a death and a vacancy!
I was surprised you missed Maggie Smith getting a Companion of Honour amid the Jolie/Dame brouhaha. You can only have 65 of those at any one time, so it was a big deal.
….or Hilary Mantel being made a Dame 😉
… with Kate doing the investiture!
Ha!!
There are 2 open spots right now, but I think Harry will have to wait for awhile. William got his because it was the 1,000th appointment and the Queen wanted it to be someone special.
There are precedents to being awarded the Order of the Garter. William??? Why? Makes me crazy. And the beautiful blue dressing gown Kate is wearing……a shade short and the wrong occasion, I think.
I really love that jacket
You know Tushy-gate is truly under control when you keep seeing, slim, knee-length dresses paired with slim, tailored coats. No chance of the bum escaping that ensemble.
I don’t like the shiny satin. It looks like a bathrobe. No shiny satin for daytime please.
Satin wrinkles very easily too. It’s 1 of my least liked fabrics.
She looks lovely. But.
Someone.
Please. BURN THOSE DANG PUTTY HEELS!
At least they aren’t the LK Bennett ones.
She needs to mix it up with some sling-backs.
Dang, Princess Anne really is one BAMF. Give her all the Garters, lol.
Another flying saucer hat again?!
That hat looks like a mint vagine.
Oh Mary! Thanks for that visual (heading out for brain bleach.)
Is Kate a dress-up doll, or a high-profile public figure? It’s a sad state of affairs when the focus of every article about her is on her clothes, hair and make up. Hopefully Sophie’s influence will rub off and she will start making meaningful contributions…
She’s a high profile dress-up doll. All flash, no substance.
Sophie does a splendid job, but Kate isn’t passionate about anything. If she were truly passionate about being charitable, she’d be in there working hard for them. But because she really has no interest in them, she can’t be bothered to be a real patron to them.
The reasons are obscure as to why she is not demonstrating an interest in charities. We hear that the queen is letting Kate ease into her royal role, and also, that Kate is in charge of her own schedule. (I’m sure that the queen would be delighted if she actually had a backbone). The question of William’s reluctance to be a “working royal” is also bandied about as an excuse. It is difficult to understand why Kate is getting this white glove treatment (it’s because she’s so sweet). And of course, all of us would choose to stay home with the baby in a palace, or country home, with lots of servants, and spending money. Aren’t the servants there so she can do other things? Are the servants paid for by the state? We are really not in the dark, after all the supposed “meetings” that she attends, to prepare for charitable work, and the endless fittings for her photo-calls. We’ve been holding our breath, and get a ding-bat. IMO.
I think that the queen is getting soft in her old age, and just wants her children to be happy, though I believe that it would be nicer for her to go (…), knowing all is well in the way of the royals. Can she trust Charles and William? I bet that she would rest better, if leaving the keys of the kingdom to Princess Anne.
Wolfpup
The Queen is not softer now. She just doesn’t take action unless it’s forced. She’s the woman in charge that will give you freedom over you life, but the more freedom you take outside of a life of service is just rope you’ll hang yourself with.
And I I think their staff is needed. You try cleaning a palace! While she could easily do more her staff is needed.
And those private meetings have been shot down for some time now. The paps and others got shots of Kate in and out of stores, tips on where and when a plane will land or what secret entrance of the hospital she’ll be using and when, but never a visit to a nonretail outlet. And I believe a reporters asked a charity of hers about the secret visits and they said they hadn’t seen her or heard from her in a year.
She just doesn’t want to work or use her platform. She wants to shop and work on her appearance. And that would be fine. Truly it would if she married a private citizen, but she didn’t.
I’d at least like for her to act like she cares. To visit a charity more than just the annual photo op. To help the charities that have problems getting interst in fundraisers, etc… The charity does not serve as a well orchestrated photo op for goodwill. Or it shouldn’t anyways. End Rant.
I quite agree with you FLORC.
Oh, Kate and those awful nude heels and potato chip hats. Where’s the dip? In the carriage photo where Charles’ plume overlaps the hat, it shows how good it would look with some additional flair. And while I dislike Sophie’s feather boa, at least she gets points for panache. And what else can you say about the indomitable Anne except that she rocks the military and medieval garb so well.
I could see why Kate and Sophie would be close. Not only they are close in age but also Sophie is a “commoner” who married into the royal house. There’s also a picture from the Daily Mail where Kate dropped into a curtsy when the Queen walked past. (Camilla was suppose to be there but she had a sinus problem.)
I don’t get why Harry is not a member of the order, especially when the Queen’s other children are members.
It’s not automatic and the order number is limited. Harry has to wait for someone to die or rescind their order. That’s how it works to join the garter club.
Maybe she waits until they marry?
I think the only thing they have in common is being commoners – Sophie is in her late forties and unlike Kate, seems to do a fair bit of work in terms of royal duties and without as much fanfare, I might add.
It looks as if Kate is wearing a corset under her coat. That can’t be comfortable. Maybe that’s why she forgot to curtsy when all the other people did. Tsk…tsk…forgetting protocol after 3 years in the Firm. Someone’s Princess lessons failed.
Is there a picture?
From all accounts Kate’s curtseys were never too right. She’d drop when she didn’t need to and not when she should have. Or the times when she would walk infront of the Queen.
1 event was a while ago. Queen and Kate. Kate wore a navy blue lovely skirt and blazer and the Queen wore…. I want to say that magenta and black joker like outfit. With the jagged 80’s style lines.
Anyways, Kate walked infront and the Queen stopped dead while security(?) moved her aside for the Queen.
Since my Grandmother was the Queens twin lost at birth I knew better from a young age than to walk ahead of an elder. Protocol or not, it’s rude.
Of the corset? Or the fumbled curtsy?
http://ppe-agency.com/500px/Jun2014/PPE14061680.jpg
It’s very rude and speaks to a couple of things. She either doesn’t respect them. Sees herself as their equal because she’ll one day be a queen too. Or she’s a dim bulb, who’ll never learn. I think it’s all of that, and…she’s so focused on William she sees nothing else.
I seem to recall a story around the time of the engagement about Kate being offended by the idea that she needed Princess Lessons, as of course she already knew how to behave in polite society. I’ve since assumed this to be the root of many of her troubles – surely she already knew which fork to use, but I would think most people would need advice on how to interact with foreign royals and heads of state, how to properly exit a car, internal family protocol, etc.
The Princess Royal looks stunning. I’ve always admired her.
I wonder how Princess Anne is with Kate when in private. They are so opposite! One is a hardworking person who takes her position seriously and the other is, well, just meh!
On other topic IMO Kate should have more Marilyn moments if only so she “works” more. 🙂
I think they’re all scared of Anne in private.
I agree. Anne seems the type to intimidate with a glance.
Anne is very no-nonsense and seems pretty shrewd and adept at sizing people up. As far as Kate is concerned, they are simply miles apart in their priorities with no common ground whatsoever. Kate lacks Anne’s work ethic, genuine interest in her charities and by extension, credibility. It’s obvious in all the press about Kate that she is style over substance personified — all the articles talk about is her clothes for God’s sake.
Anne and Diana didn’t much get along, I can’t IMAGINE that Anne has the time of day for Kate.
Very pretty outfit. Maybe I’m imagining things but Kate looks tired. Her smiles seem to be fake too. I usually don’t pick at small things like that but it’s the first thing that I noticed about these photos.
LadySlippers, I can’t find you anywhere! Things just aren’t the same without you…