During last week’s Gossip With Celebitchy podcast, CB and I talked about how King Charles and Queen Camilla had seemingly banned the Princess of Wales from state banquets, diplomatic receptions and any white-tie/evening-dress event for more than a year and a half. It was getting pretty noticeable, how Kate wasn’t being allowed out at night and she was serving some kind of “shadow ban” on wearing tiaras. Well, someone on the king’s staff listens to our pod, because wouldn’t you know, Kate was allowed to attend the state banquet at Windsor Castle last night.
I even said yesterday that I would be shocked if William and Kate turned up at the state dinner for President Macron and Brigitte Macron. So, I admit it, I was wrong, and I was very surprised. Kate wore a Sarah-Burton-for-Givenchy silk crepe dress in a blood red. She got to borrow the Lover’s Knot Tiara, and for the first time ever, Kate wore the king’s family order portrait on her chest. Will and Kate’s attendance was confirmed at the very last minute. I have no idea why, but I imagine they’ll say something about delicate Kate not knowing if she would have the strength to attend a dinner.
Hilariously, Will and Kate were not invited to take portraits with the Macrons or King Charles and Queen Camilla. In QEII’s day, she often invited her heir (Charles) to stand alongside her and her guests for the dinner portraits. Charles is not so generous with his heir, which is probably why his heir posted a photo on his own separate social media. As for Camilla, she wore an ivory horse tarp by Fiona Clare and the Belgian Sapphire Tiara, with the matching sapphire suite. Honestly, while I appreciate that Camilla loves to dust off some really spectacular Royal Collection pieces, wearing the whole suite of enormous sapphires was really overkill. Brigitte Macron looked wonderful – imo, the best-dressed woman there.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Kensington Palace.
- Queen Camilla, King Charles III with France’s President Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte arriving for the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of the French President’s state visit to the UK Featuring: Queen Camilla, King Charles III, Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 08 Jul 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
- The Prince and Princess of Wales, followed by the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh arriving for the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of the French President’s state visit to the UK Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 08 Jul 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
- The Prince and Princess of Wales, followed by the Princess Royal and theDuke and Duchess of Edinburgh arriving for the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of the French President’s state visit to the UK Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 08 Jul 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
- The Prince and Princess of Wales, followed by the Princess Royal and theDuke and Duchess of Edinburgh arriving for the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of the French President’s state visit to the UK Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 08 Jul 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
- Queen Camilla arriving for the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of the French President’s state visit to the UK. The queen is wearing the smallest new official portrait commissioned by the King for the Royal Family Order to be worn by the Queen on state occasions Featuring: Queen Camilla Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 08 Jul 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
- The Prince and Princess of Wales, followed by the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh arriving for the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of the French President’s state visit to the UK Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 08 Jul 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Brigitte is very Maxima esque both dress and colour
Maxima is so elegant when she wears these types of dresses for state occasions and the Dutch RF tiaras she wears are beautiful to look at.
Looks like the same gown Meghan wore in Figi all those years ago to me.
Kate wore a cape dress before. He managed to return her grin for photographers. It was overkill for Camilla and all the gems. Less is more. The keens look old for their ages
This is what stuck out to me, too. They both look fine clothing-wise, but their faces look so old and weathered for their ages. That’s what really shows what goes on behind closed doors…whether it’s stress, health, poor diet, sleep, all is not well over there.
It’s hard to believe that Macron is four or five years older than Will and Kate. He looks a decade younger, at least.
Actually one of the best dressed on the RF side which you didn’t show here was the Duchess of Gloucester. She looked more queenly than all of them. The French Presidents wife was wearing the same gown in the same colour that Meghan wore previously.
Kate’s face–and Camilla’s for that matter–shows why you should never smoke cigarettes! It not only gives one cancer and heart attacks, but also makes one’s face look like it is draped in wrinkled crepe skin.
Those stones on the Rottweiler are sapphires. Big giant sapphires. Was she making a statement to Kate who loves to flash Big Blue?
Couldn’t go past her fugly face. All these jewels are lipstick on this pig. She devalues the jewels that she wears. I’m sure when the time comes in auctioning her personal effects, her jewellery won’t fetch the same prices as Elizabeth Taylor’s or even the Duchess of Windsor’s.
She could be covered in gold but her misdeeds outweigh her appearance.
The earrings were the overkill, I think. I love seeing spectacular royal jewels but a pair of subtle diamond drops would have done better to set off the tiara and necklace. I get that it’s all a set, but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
It’s NOT a set. The earrings are her own personal that she’s had for a long time – Camilla does not have pierced ears so cannot wear many of the royal collection. The necklace was a birthday gift to Elizabeth from her father, George VI. And Elizabeth created the tiara herself from a necklace bought at auction.
Kate’s face looks painful, and my own face hurts just looking at her. She needs to stop with the nips, tucks, and botox
Au contraire, with these royal jewelry suites more is more. I say wear the whole dang set! Let them be seen from across the room! There are minions to help you walk when the weight of them all get to be too much!! I think she wore the bracelet, too. Now, if only there were a brooch & maybe a stomacher, that would have been the ticket.
Brigette looks great, Camilla looks drab and Kate looks basic…the usual.
That smile she’s throwing Will makes her looked deranged. All big eyed and joker smiles. Yikes.
Agree.
“Ivory horse tarp” omg screaming!
Bridgette Blue Dress looks like the ones Duchess Meghan has worn especially the unforgettable scarlet cape effect gown on one of her and Harry’s final engagements as Senior Royals Circa 2020
Oh how sweet ,they are doing the look of love .
I thought that was a ‘festive glance’.
With keens cape and Williams orders and medals it’s rather a Transylvania look.
Tessa I was trying to work out the weird look but you nailed it .
Sort of vampirish .
Certainly overdone, all those awards just look silly. Camilla is wearing too much jewellery and too much makeup.
I don’t get why people are supposed to wear all of their awards to formal events. It ruins the look of the dresses.
Bridgitte looks the best out of the three. Kate didn’t have to throw all that money out the window for this Givenchy dress when it looks exactly the same as all of her Jenny Peckham gowns. On the lawn portrait with Egg her make up makes her look like a ghost.
That photo’s got a “we’re off to the prom” vibe.
It also reminded me of that photo of Weinstein, Epstein and Maxwell that was taken on the grounds of Windsor Castle during Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday party.
She’d have looked better with a red lip. The dress is a great color (though I think it looks a bit matronly on her), and she should have matched her lipstick to it. Or would that be showing too much personality?
Brigitte’s dresses always have a modern flair, and she projects a mature, confident woman who’s not afraid to try something new (or slap her husband). Kate’s dress has sooo much fabric: a gathered bodice above a gathered skirt, and it’s too long, dragging on the grass. And yeah, gathering tons of fabric into a waistband and running up some cape sleeves isn’t something that’s terribly difficult or labor-intensive, even with couture sewing touches like probably boning in the bodice.
And @Sure, OMG, off to the prom. That looks like what my daughter wore to her prom, although with straps over the shoulders instead of all that fabric.
It really does look like so many of her Jenny packham gowns, just with a cape. But remove the cape and we’ve seen that exact dress before (and she has worn caped gowns before).
Now I can’t unsee it as a Jenny Packham dress.
Must have been a “good day.”
Lazy is on another of her attention-seeking “look at me” vibes. Dress reminds me of Letizia but she’s the Spanish queen so red and yellow are her national colours.
So this is the second time she favours red with these state affairs because the others wore white. There’s the BS she’s supposed to be doing the red of the French tricoleur but I’m sure the Rottweiler would have gone for the red. So she’s going to be the “red queen” to denote all the blood trails of women she’s chased away. It also matches the carpet 😂 reminds me of her red dress at Commonwealth Day to March the furniture.
The tiara doesn’t suit her. Diana doesn’t approve. Also, did she eat?
At this rate, she’ll miss Wimbledon because she’s done so much today!
She is no Diana and wearing Diana tiara does not change that.
Pretty much. It merely highlights the gulf of a difference of how awful a successor she is to Diana’s charm and work ethic.
Diana was the People’s Princess, Lazy is the middle-class social climber too dull, too lazy, too insular and too racist to contribute much to the nation.
*NB typo March = match in the previous post.
Diana’s tiara looks too big for her head..
She was good to go for the state dinner: the sun was outside the palace and the dinner room had air conditioning if course, all the winning conditions for her to be A OK and working working working.
This was very interesting to me.
If her attendance was genuinely up in the air for health reasons, then why get a new dress made? Why not plan on wearing an evening gown that she already had, since she has many, and some we have only seen once (pours one out for the black velvet McQueen we haven’t seen in a decade.)
And when she did not attend the Qatari state dinner last november we were specifically told that it was NOT due to health reasons that she was skipping which would have made more sense at the time.
So if she and william were always scheduled to attend – why not announce it? why wait until the last minute to make the announcement via IG? do they think that many people were waiting with bated breath to see Kate in another high neck caped evening gown with a tiara she’s worn a dozen times before?
She does have Charles’ order – I said yesterday that I wondered if SHE was refusing to attend events until she got it – but I dont think thats likely.
I think they released that garden picture because they knew they weren’t going to be part of the official pictures at the event. and bP released a video before of the behind the scenes prep and showed name cards for C&C but nothing for W&K.
i have no idea what is going on, but its very interesting to see this play out. Wonder if she was ordered to attend this as payback for Ascot?
I’m going to go with “They gatecrashed the event by publicly announcing their attendance and the palace organisers could not say no”.
And yes. They DO read all the news/celeb sites which they deem to be Sussex friendly, because their master plan is to eventually co-opt all that support for the Waleses. They have been trying to pick off and convert supporters on Twitter for years, and now they’ve moved to Spoutible and Bluesky and every so often pop up even on this site. That’s where all the KP IT (= bot + influencer) budget millions are being spent.
@Becks1: I honestly think that the new trend of not announcing/ last-minute announcing cathy and bill are going to make an appearance in to lower the expectation on them. I feel like once william will become king he is going to scale the royal visits back to pre-Elizabethan days when royals were rarely seen and never heard.
Say bye bye to all the bread and butter engagements
@Chloe I suspect you’re right and the thing that he doesnt get it is that those bread and butter engagements are what make people feel connected to the royal family, thats why they started doing them in the first place. Anne gives the winning ribbon at a county fair, or Charles opened the hospital wing where your spouse was treated for cancer, or even Sophie attended an event at your children’s school – that gives you a connection to this family that costs hundreds of millions pounds a year to support.
Snazzy IG videos are not the same thing. William has been able to get by avoiding those types of events mostly because he already has a lot of public support bc of his mother and because he and his wife are still viewed as young and learning the ropes. But how long can that last?
@Becks1 “pours one out for the black velvet McQueen we haven’t seen in a decade”…yes! She was youthful and having so much fun copycatting Diana’s black strapless velvet number that her smile actually reached her eyes. Although I prefer the black slim gown she wore to the diplomatic reception with the deep V-neck. The strapless velvet number is a bit too juvenile now for her to get away with it…
What I’d love though from that black velvet McQueen ensemble is the ruby parure, rumored to have been given from a Middle Eastern country for her marriage and never seen again…Flip the necklace and attach it to the proper frame and it would be gorgeous and suit her very well
Its so weird we’ve never seen that necklace again. We have seen the matching earrings once or twice but the necklace is just locked away somewhere.
I know some think Camilla wears too much jewelry at events like this, and I dont entirely disagree, but I also think its fun to actually see some of this jewelry being worn and used.
We’ll likely never see the black velvet McQueen again because there’s a structural problem—how do you keep a strapless gown in place without any semblance of a bosom to anchor it? The alterations required for it to fit her now would (a) ruin the look of the gown and (b) emphasize how physically unwell she is.
Sadly, yes Kate and KP are delusional enough to think people are waiting with bated breath to see if she will attend this event. But this event came and went like a fart in the wind. Plus, her dress just highlighted how frail and skinny she is.
At this stage, we’re keeping count of how many events that she actually attends before she goes on holiday.
Any anticipation of her appearance is tempered by the fact that she’s not genuinely interested in “working” and “representing” the Crown. Her events are counted in minutes, not hours.
She’s a poor representation of the British state if that is truly the case. She truly is evolving into the welfare Queen. And depending on how long Willy lives, she’s going to be a financial drain on the taxpayers.
I think she wasn’t given the order for the Qatari banquet and didn’t want to go. The rota were noticeably silent when Anne and Sophie were wearing theirs for the first time and they would have said Kate had it if she was given it as well. They played a similar game when Kate finally got the order from Elizabeth. Only when it was actually seen in 2017 they claimed she was given it much earlier and at a diplomatic reception where there were no photos of kate.
The Sarah Burton dress certainly shows there was some planning. She only started at givenchy in September 2024 and this was likely in the works as soon as the French state visit was announced.
This whole game of not announcing whether William and Kate would attend the banquet seems silly.
Could it be that it was not announced mostly bc they were unsure if she would cancel at the last minute? Due to having a good day turn into a bad day? And maybe Charles decided that her absence would become a bigger story than her just being there. She had to sit and talk to people and it almost felt like a reminder to her of this is part of your job. This is your future. Making diplomatic discussion and small talk.
I think these two are just last-minute people, always late to everything. Charles, on the other hand, is very much his mother’s son where BP plans things months in advance. I think Charles’ staff got to the planning stage of printing up the place cards, planning the photo ops, etc. & still didn’t have confirmation from KP so they planned around K&W–no individual photos with the main players, seats at the head table but behind the candelabra, Kate again not getting the memo about wearing white.
Logically, it’s not a perfect fit, but there’s definitely a lack of communication between father & son, BP & KP staff.
W and K are just coping Harry and Meghan’s play book! H and M, for most events, do not disclose their appearance. This heightens the anticipation and perception of H and M’s appearances. W and K are just copying!
But why is Kate wearing red? Isn’t white the official or sanctioned or whatever color for royal women at state dinners? White is what all the other Windsor women are wearing, from Camilla to Anne to Sophie.
Kate’s red could have given the impression this was a last-minute invite (like, maybe they invited her last minute to distract from the weird things happening earlier in the day, like Charles’ eye and Brigitte ignoring her husband and suitcases falling out of the back of that van, all of which could have given the impression of a clown visit). Except nobody pulls a brand new Givenchy out of their closet at the last minute, and we all know she has a white state dinner gown from previous state dinners.
So she knew/was ordered to attend. Was this is an attempt to grab the spotlight?
Yup. Red is the eye-catching colour but she doesn’t have the aplomb or confidence to carry it off. I’m sure Chuck is rolling his eyes but she was let out to play.
Yeah, I think she likes to wear red to events where she is desperately trying to stand out from everyone else. I noticed that she did that whenever she and Meghan were at the same event and has started doing that now with Camilla. It’s obvious that the agreed upon color for all of the royal women was white. Kate being her usual self needed to make everything about herself. That’s why she raised her dress up above her thighs at the last state visit she went to and why she wore white to another woman’s wedding and wore red accessories to Archie’s christening and why she doesn’t announce her appearance until the last minute or cancel at the last minute as well as why she went on the spree of grabbing William by his butt cheeks for some weird reason. She’s desperate for attention.
She always does that. Whenever the royal ladies are instructed to wear white (typical at a state dinner), Kate goes out of her way to wear red or a very bright colour. Similarly with the balcony. If the advice goes out to wear muted colours, she typically ends up being the only one in a very different, very bright colour, so she gets the front pages. It’s very passive-aggressive, and she has been doing this for a long time.
She looks quite skeletal in that dress.
Yup. Very passive-aggressive. She pretends she doesn’t speak to the tabloids (she allows her mother to speak on her behalf), but this is her way to show her narcissistic side.
Any of the rats mention how much did this Givenchy outfit cost the taxpayer?
I don’t want to be Kate’s advocate but there seems to be a coordination of colours in the dresses worn by Camilla, brigitte and Kate for the colours of the French flag (blue, blanc, rouge)…
@Magdelena, Skeletal is the right word. Her arms, when you get a glimpse of them, are scary. What the heck is going on at KP?
@FirstComment — we all know these things are highly choreographed — I highly doubt anyone just ‘shows up’ in any old thing they found in the closet — but it is fun to speculate and assign machinations.
EDA: Anne — maybe Anne can get away with it 😀
There is no way that Camilla agreed to wear the exact same color of white along with all of the other royal women and allow Kate to be the only royal woman wearing a standout blood red dress to the same event. I could see an agreement being made if it were Camilla actually wearing the red and being the standout as far as color choice but there is no way that she would be okay with Kate possibly stealing the show with a bright red dress.
@first comment they weren’t sitting near each other and weren’t photographed together. Flag dressing is not a done thing at state dinners. That’s giving Kate way too much grace. She likes to buck dress codes and stand out aka the coronation, the balcony appearances etc. She wants all the attention. Putting her behind two table decorations was hilarious.
She very rarely wears white to state dinners. I can only think of her wearing a white dress to the Korean state dinner two years ago and i think she has another white-ish evening gown that she wore to a diplomatic reception one year. oh wait I think she wore white to the trump state dinner. (just checked – she did.)
QEII didn’t always wear white, it just became the norm for her in later years, maybe because it was just easier to match jewels and such? Camilla wore the same red dress to both the korea and qatari state dinners.
With all those awards and jewels white would show them off better, at one dinner, I think it was Sophie who wore a coloured dress spoilt by whatever award she was also wearing I actually think that the dark red dress doesn’t look to bad with the sash and the award on the yellow ribbon. But I have seen Kate wearing a beautifully elegant dress spoilt by those awards.
Do they always have to flag cosplay? None of the other royal queens or princess really do that and they look so elegant everytime (thinking Princess Amalia at the State Banquet for Oman). Flag cosplay and the cape dresses both need to go imo
K’s looks for this state visit we’re actually so much better than the South Korean visit. I’m not much of a fashion person but I think if she really had to stick with these choices, maybe add a bit of white in the accessories and the hat for the Dior (or even if it was in a light summer colour as those suit K best) look and this gown could’ve been a more deeper shade to go with the silver so it doesn’t blend into the carpet and it would stand out more with the lighting and get rid of the cape or have it one-shoulder? (Lmk what you guys think)
I don’t think Sarah Burton is really the designer for such events tbh. I don’t know but I’ve always had a bad vibe about her or is it just me?
There really isn’t a requirement to wear white. QEII always wore white to state dinners, so the royal women often do/did as tribute to her, but other colors are OK too.
He might have managed to return a smile in the procession, but the posed photo of the W&K is very much giving ‘awkward co-workers who hooked up once’ vibes. He’s stood in such a way that he obscures her sash and family honours too. Not intimate, but not regal either. Just sloppy.
I was thinking Awkward First Date at the Renaissance Fair. They may be standing near each other, but there’s no warmth or closeness at all.
They look so awkward next to each other in any setting, but especially during these portraits. It’s as if their bodies are physically rejecting one another. Also, I can’t believe how visibly haggard their faces have become in such a short period of time. Even photoshop can’t paper over the cracks anymore. What the hell is going on with them?
Bridgitte is one of the best dressed women in the World, her clothes always fit well, appropriate for the occasion and her posture helps.
Cowmilla looks like she wears the same dress in different colors, even Dior didn’t help, they’re so many foundation garments out there that could help her and Sofestiva.
Unwilling to work looks like a hanger wearing clothes.
That blue gown is beautiful, but the giant bejeweled buttons along the broad shoulders emphasize the shortness of her neck. I think as an aging woman she might be losing some inches in her neck (or her spine as a whole), so I think the gown’s proportions at the shoulder are wrong for her. Beautiful yes, but not for her.
Kate looks like she’s wearing the drapes from Gone With the Wind. And Camilla with all that jewelry reminds me of Barbara Cartland, the prolific author of the worst, most addictive and horrible romances ever. The back cover of her books always had a photo of her in full splendor – a parure of aquamarines (?) – giant necklace, bracelet, ring, earrings.
Like scarlett said as she grabbed the drapes I’m going looking like a queen.
Not with Miss Ellen’s portieres!
Somebody called WanK’s outdoor photos prom pictures and that rings so true. They knew they were not getting the royal treatment indoors, so they made it work, kinda. Kate’s dress is her formal uniform for the next 50 years-that gown can be worn as a 40 year old or an 88 year old. Decent color, tho. Camilla really digs into that Old Bag Chic-keep wearing all the jewels all at once, girl!
Well well well. She was allowed out and a tiara. Did she throw a tantrum (a La Peg)? Is that why she didn’t show for Ascot? Did she want a change to the negotiations she agreed to? So many questions.
Did Kate have to beg to attend by doing those extra bows and curtseys
I believe that the courturiers are very aware of what is being said about her absence and they probably “forced”her to attend for optics…not that Kate would be unwilling…the ultimate goal is the preservation of the monarchy, so they are trying hard to maintain the illusion of the perfect family and the perfect princess..
I wonder if someone behind the scenes forced Charles’ hand and told him he couldn’t ban her from state events forever?
I think it’s a few things. She’s definitely fine to go skiing a lot and the public knows it. She wants to go to Wimbledon. And snubbing France, the next door neighbour, would be a bigger issue at this point.
I would be curious to know if Macron picked up any tension as he was sitting between Kate and Charles.
Also so many candelabra hiding Kate from many shots. And huge floral arrangements.
i think the leaked skiing trip was a turning point. it showed how much the press has been protecting the Waleses (no one thinks that was the first time they went on a secret skiing trip) and when you combine that with the OTHER skiing trip in December and the trip to Mustique, and even the bday pic of charlotte hiking on a family vacation – you’re suddenly getting the image of a woman who is fine to hike and travel and go on physical vacations like skiing……but can’t work.
And the PR scramble about Ascot was a disaster as well and I think Charles knows it.
I bet Mama Middleton told her to get off her arse and appear. Can imagine how much Carole would have basked in this type of gigs and her lazy daughter couldn’t GAF.
Can’t see who Lazy sat next to at dinner. Also read that Rose was around as well? Wonder what she wore.
Lazy (Kate) sat next to Macron! He was flirting with her. Billy was nowhere to be seen in the banquet table photos.
Bingo. Kate lives to be in close proximity to men who flirt so she can flirt back. Being Seated next to him was her reward.
But how can you tell he was flirting since she was seated behind the giant flower arrangement?
Good point. Don’t know.
Well, I guess that’s the new norm: they build up the suspense whether or not Kate would attend an event in order to draw the attention…anyway, she looks emancipated, photoshop, cape and all…the photo of William and Kate grinning at each other was taken by her favourite photographer so it was definitely staged…nothing comes natural with those two…and their photo before the banquet was a sort of damage control for William’s mostly indifferent appearance towards Kate at the arrival of Macrons…I like the colour of her dress, it’s a good colour for her, no matter how christmasy, but the design and the chiffon are basic and boring …and not so convenient weather like..
Emaciated or emancipated?
All the other Windsor women wore white or off white. I’m trying to remember but QE2 had some rule about wearing white to state dinners? Not sure if a rule or a custom and without googling I can’t say why. Then there’s Kate in blood red. And givenchy to boot (thanks Meghan!) Interesting choice! They did seem to position her behind centre pieces again though which was a hoot.
Has keen had more recent face work? Her brows are VERY raised. Could just be extra botox.
So boring, but appropriate and a good color for Kate. The dress is way too big and all that fabric even if chiffon-like completely overwhelms her fragile frame. Also, in the shots of the banquet you can see that her real hair is the dark bit at the front and drawn behind her ears, and right behind the tiara you see the bump of the bronde wig, which was then blended into her bronde extensions in the back. Probably sewn in right to the tiara. And congrats for the “here’s your King Charles Order finally, thanks for putting up with the heir and keeping your mouth shut” because it’s not like Kate does anything else to earn it…
I can’t believe Sarah Burton continues to get work, first for Alexander McQueen (!!) and then for Givenchy when she can’t design anything notable or interesting to save her life. All there is to say about Camilla is something something Coco Chanel take one thing off before you leave the house. I did rather like Sophie’s sculped heavy white frock as it’s a nice change for her, a bit stylish but not OTT. Boring usual Eye of Sauron tiara, boo. LOVED Birgitte of Gloucester’s turquoise parure, it fitted the red-white-and-blue theme but with a bit of a twist, she’s always so well dressed.
Yeah it’s funny to see this dress called givenchy, which it is, but it doesn’t feel like it? Or at least this dress doesn’t. But maybe I just don’t know much about givenchy under Sarah Burton.
Can I just say… I’m really tired of cape dresses. I’d like them banned for the next five years if possible.
Me too. I find them extremely ugly.
same – I see Madam Macron getting a lot of love for her look, but it looks like polyester to me in a lovely shade of blue — the only dress I truly love is the lady with the turquoise jewels (not my taste, but great with the dress.) The cape dress should go the way of sharpie eyebrows.
That’s the Duchess of Gloucester with the turquoise jewels. She is the wife of Queen Elizabeth’s cousin The Duke of Gloucester.
She is one that is still gets on the balcony and seems to usually be well dressed and looks pleasant.
Yep, Duchess of Gloucester was the best-dressed of the lot. And my goodness, that turquoise set!!!
I think the press put a lot of pressure on KP for Kate to attend the dinner. I would have thought that given Kate has gone all out to wear French fashion that she would have worn her wedding tiara. I suspect she asked to wear it and was told no.
Right? I was hoping for that tiara with a re-do from the wedding disaster, hair up in a nice bouffant like she did for the premiere of that James Bond movie where she was in gold with a great updo. Set against her dark hair, the Cartier Scroll would really shine…but I guess her (sole) big gun was required with someone as important as Macron
That gold dress keen wore was too Vegas. Did not like it.
The Cartier Halo Tiara has often been on loan for a large travelling Cartier exhibit for the last few years. It might not be available.
The updo she wore at the Bond premiere was awful!
I think Kate looks nice & it’s standard fare for her for a state dinner. I like the picture her & William took outside.
I feel like KP want to confirm Kate’s attendance at events last minute to create buzz around her appearances. Guess this is what they have to resort to
Bridgitte ate up all the ladies & I think Duchess of Gloucester (?) was the best dressed of the royals. I keep saying she’s more chic than the others
Yeah Birgitte is more effortlessly sophisticated then the rest.
The first photo I saw of Kate in this gown was the one in the garden.
My first thought was — this is an abaya, all she needs is a bit more fabric and she could go full burqa. She’s disappearing right before our eyes.
Also, I love the Lover’s Knot tiara, and Kate has looked lovely wearing it in the past, with her hair up to balance and complement it.
It looks ridiculous perched up on her head with flat long hair down underneath it. Makes me sad.
I wonder if it would be difficult to do an updo when most of the hair is fake. Asking for a friend.
The dress just hangs off Kate she’s so thin. She needs help. And if William is living in denial about his wife’s eating disorder then he needs help too. Kate’s on the same path as Karen Carpenter….question is: for how much longer?
Dreadful dress. Dreadful hair. Tiara looks too heavy.
Merely reflects her dreadful personality and deficit of character.
I think Kate looks lovely — that dress and the color of the fabric are really pretty.
No glamour whatsoever. Everything is so basic and mother of the bride.All three of them look like they just draped themselves in bedsheets and shuffled over.
I also would not like to be photographed next to my son having his hands above his crotch as always. :-/
Kate chose red to stand out but I think the gown swallows her up. Where are the arms? Swap out the tiara for a white hooded cap and Kate looks like an extra on The Haidmaiden’s Tale.
Saint Catherine continues to lose weight and looking haggard, and the look in her eyes is very strange, like demented. Regardless of the Dior’s, Givenchi’s and tiaras she still looks like and old, worn carpet. Bulliam seems to welcome and claim the pounds that Kate sheds for himself, rounded, puffy cheeks.
Ohh well…
There’s definitely an MH problem judging by the look of her eyes and they’re trying to camouflage it behind the cancer, the need to balance etc…whatever is going on, William seems completely indifferent to what is happening to the mother of his children….
He’s over the limpet but as one article wrote about them, they’re struck with each other. They’re trapped in this symbiotic relationship as they grew up in this fishbowl together. So Willy has a love/hate relationship with the woman he’s chosen but his indifference is making her suffer.
Sucks to be them. They’re both self-centred and they threw the Sussexes to the wolves because of their juvenile jealousy. So can’t quite muster enough sympathy for these two. Especially for the lazy, racist one.
Right? In one side shot his face looked like a chipmunk. I LOL’d!
None of these jewels are in the Royal Collection all them were the private property of QEII, she actually purchased the sapphire tiara. The media tries to imply that a lot of the jewels belong to the Crown but the majority are personally owned especially since the policy of state gifts not being private property only dates to 2011 or something
That sapphire tiara is so ugly and clunky. QEII really had horrid taste when it came to tiaras, she had a few made and they are all awful and clunky.
“most of the jewels are privately owned”… thats certainly whet the BRF would like everyone to believe, but see The Guardian’s excellently researched series on RF finances including especially the jewels and the truth is the opposite
As “too much” as it is from a fashion perspective, I sort of “hate” get it. If I was in the brf, I’d wear the shit out of every giant piece of jewelry all day AND a damn Sceptre! Thank you very much. I’d wear a tiara to the fucking dollar store in chip dust stained yoga pants! There’s literally no other reason to be in that family besides getting to wear the jewels!
LOL! Maybe you’d make the evening news and make everyone’s day dressed like that!
Lol
Duty fulfilled. Rest of the year off. On to Wimbledon.
That red dress just doesn’t seem to represent a Givenchy aesthetic at all. It looks for much a Sarah Burton design for Kate gown. But Dior and Givenchy all in the same day, but Kate manages to make both labels look just a tiny bit dowdy.
Someone mentioned the dress looked like the Jenny Packham gowns Kate has worn many times before and I agree.
Eurydice nailed it for me with the GWTW drapes! How can such an expensive dress look so dusty and drab?
She wore red to copykeen the red Carolina Herrera gown Meghan wore to a Children’s Hopsital gala lhat got weeks of rota coverage because Meghan looked so luminous in “her” red dress. Keener looks better in jewel tones than neutrals, so this is better than the twee Dior she wore earlier to greet the Macrons, but this is bland and highlights how painfully thin she really is. She needs completely benched until her health problems are addressed. KeNnER had pre-KaNcER that completely cured in less than a year when the medical standard to declare someone cancer free is 5 years isn’t her main health problem. It isn’t “normal” for a perimenopausal age woman who has spawned 3 times to be thinner in her mid-40s than she was in her early 20s. It is ghoolish to trot her out looking like this, especially when her and willy look miserable as a couple. Also. Her (or whoever picks her strange clothing) fixation on Meghan is creepy and in severe personality disorder/stalker territory. Also again. This family dripping in unearned generational wealth and pretend valor is in eat them eat cake territory. Eat the rich.
How does Kate manage to make a gown look so boring? I think it’s her lousy posture for one thing.
And this gown is so dull: just bolts of fabric draped over Kate’s skeletal frame.
thats the thing with a caped gown like that – you need impeccable posture to pull it off. that’s why they look so good on Meghan – she has amazing posture. Maxima looks good in a caped dress and I think Letizia does as well but I may be imagining that. I can see an actress like Charlize Theron or Zendaya pulling one off. But Kate does not have impeccable posture so the dress loses something.
I dont think QEII let Charles in the official state banquet photos too too much. She let him in the Trump photo though, maybe to take the edge off.
I thought this was one of Kate’s better state dinner looks. Sophie’s dress is awful.
I am sorry but Kate dress is not for her age. She looks matronly . As for her hand in that picture with William, is she squeezing his ass again ? The hand looks like it’s grabbing the ass . Bridgette dress is more modern, clean lines. Sarah Burton Clothes at least the ones she makes for Kate all suck . It’s like she thinks Kate is 73 and not 43
I don’t care for any of the dresses. Brigitte is so over it.
I really like Kate’s red gown, I think it’s beautiful. Ditto the tiara and earrings. What I find interesting, though, is the POW special portrait taking. That is once massive rift between father & son if the son has to hire his own photographer & take his own photos before an official event. I mean, that is one big juicy story the rota rats are leaving on the table.
Also, I noted the ‘festive glance’. Also noted that Kate was in red while all the other British women wore white. I see there’s another article on that, but I do believe it’s SOP for these things. Kate being Kate chose otherwise. But again, that is a gorgeous red gown.
“Horse tarp” for the win. Lol. And to those who said “drapes” for Kkkhate, agreed. I can say a lovely color for drapes. I do agree and like the color and cut of Brigitte’s dress the most. But, at these events no one looks as though they’re in their element. Maybe I didn’t see those photos, though and I have only looked at those here. I refuse to search. I’m picturing Elizabeth Taylor who would have looked wonderful in a gown, whilst also appearing completely in her realm.
I can’t imagine anything more mind-numbingly boring than needing to sit next to and converse with any of the dull, incurious, narrow-minded, judgmental snobs in that family. You’d have to fake a medical emergency to escape or else slowly maneuver one of the gigantic floral displays between you and your interlocutor. Hopefully the drinks and food would be good enough to salvage something from the evening, but I doubt it.
I said all sorts of unkind things about the Rottweiler while zooming in on that sapphire suite. I loathe her but those jewels are exquisite. Looks like Princess Anne was rocking some hardware too. Cackled out loud at the “horse tarp” comment, touché! At least it doesn’t have a zipper all the way up the front so thank god for small favors. Wills looked pinched. Kathy can’t carry that tiara and maybe she should have done a bit more recon and not worn a similar style gown as the guest of honor. Or did she do that on purpose? She loves to pull attention. I kind of dig those tailcoats on KC3, Macron and PE, they have a Napoléon flair. But all the red, white and blue and Frenchiness kind of looked like they were at a costume ball. The Macrons looked quite stylish, as usual!
The amount of ads on this site has reached the tipping point. It’s one thing that the page skips around constantly making it impossible to read comments, now comments are covered completely by ads. Everytime I think there can’t possibly be more ad issues, a new type of disruptive ad type appears on newer posts ,and it’s making me read less of the posts . I’m givingup on this post after just a few minutes of the page skipping around. Opposite of entertaining.
All I see are her huge veneered teeth drowning her already non-existent lips. Drowning in teeth and yards of fabric.
Camilla needed to listen to Coco Chanel, one of those pieces should have come off. Kate doesn’t look bad but without her hands showing, she is 1 blue sash away from ‘Handmaid’. I wonder if its a symbolic cry for help?
Kate’s chandelier earrings are overkill with that tiara; smaller, more tasteful earrings would’ve worked more.
Will and Kate seem like they almost actually like each other in these photos. I wonder how quickly the smiles dropped once they were out of camera range.