Camilla debuted a special order at the grand state banquet!
Despite postponements, a shortened program and several major absentees, the state banquet of King Charles and Queen Camilla could finally take place last night. In a beautifully decorated ballroom at Buckingham Palace, they enjoyed a wonderful evening together with the Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
State banquet
The state visit of the Japanese imperial couple, which they had to wait almost four years for, could finally start yesterday. After an official welcome at Horse Guards Parade and the necessary formalities, day one traditionally ended with a state banquet.
Of course there was a toast…
…Speech…
…And a lot of chatting.
Glamour
And as is typical for such a grand banquet, everyone showed up in full costume. For example, we saw Queen Camilla in an ivory-colored Fiona Clare gown with the Burmese ruby tiara, and Empress Masako in turn wore the imperial Chrysanthemum diadem. A small first for the Empress, because according to insiders it is the first time that Her Imperial Highness has appeared with this impressive diamond work of art.
In addition to the royal couple and Prince William, several other members of the Windsor family were of course present. For example, we saw the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Richard and Brigitte…
…And Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie were also present. Sophie’s green dress has already been identified as a Suzannah London copy by experts at Instagram account @RoyalFashionPolice.
She combined this dress with the lotus tiara, a crown that has been worn by various British royal ladies over the years. This was the first time the Duchess of Edinburgh took the diadem out of the jewel vault.
Family order
There was also a small first for Queen Camilla. In addition to her tiara and ribbon of honor, there was also a new pin of honor on her custom gown…
Zoom in…
And yes! Camilla is the first royal lady to receive the family order of King Charles. She wears the order together with the family order of Queen Elizabeth II. Family orders are assigned by the reigning monarch to female members of the royal family. However, not every lady just gets such a pin.
Now the big question is of course: who will be next? If we had to take a guess, we would say that Princess Kate might be the next to receive such a prestigious order from her father-in-law. Fingers crossed!
Source: Instagram @RoyalFashionPolice, The Court Jeweller, Hello! Magazine | Image: NL Image
