Showing posts with label Order of the Garter Mantle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Order of the Garter Mantle. Show all posts

18 June 2018

Garter Day

The Queen gave a Luncheon Party for the Companions for the Most Noble Order of the Garter. A Service was held in St. George's Chapel this afternoon.
Embed from Getty Images

The Garter Service begins with the Garter Knights and Ladies walking down to St. George's Chapel, a procession full of pomp and ceremony. The Queen did not walk this year, however, choosing instead to ride in her car. I suspect this is a permanent change, bringing an end to her walking the distance in a mantle so long it needs two pages to bring up the rear. (I can't blame her, of course; I'm just glad she's still wearing the robes.) Her last time walking in the procession was actually 2015, since 2016's was switched to cars because of rain and 2017's service was cancelled.

Embed from Getty Images

Jewel-wise, the event remains a showcase for The Queen's earrings. It's been white stones for a few years now, and that continues in 2018 with Queen Mary's Floret Earrings. We haven't seen these in use since 2014, so that's a nice return.



We'll be chatting about the rest of the crowd at the other blog tomorrow, so stay tuned.
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14 October 2016

British Red Cross Portrait Unveiling, and Audiences

Today at Windsor Castle, The Queen unveiled a new portrait of herself commissioned to commemorate her six decades of patronage to the British Red Cross.

A third appearance already for one of HM's new-to-us brooches this year - and with this many appearances, it's feeling even more a safe bet that it's new to her this year as well.

Engagement and Wedding Rings 



And there's the portrait in question, by British artist Henry Ward, featuring HM in her Garter robes and Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara. It's certainly very dramatic. Bit gloomy, maybe. As ever, I am dying to know what she really thought.


October 12: The Queen held audiences at Buckingham Palace

Here's one I missed from earlier in the week, not that there's much to miss, since the brooch is but a twinkle that I can't make out. (Also, this room looks good with this dress. Next level accessorizing, this is.)
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13 June 2016

Garter Day

The Queen gave a Luncheon Party for the Companions for the Most Noble Order of the Garter. A Service was held in St. George's Chapel this afternoon.

Well, that facial expression pretty much says it all. The procession of stately Garter Knights and Ladies in all their plumed finery that I look forward to each year was nixed due to rain in Windsor. The procession and the carriages were swapped for cars and hardly a glimpse at much else.


I also look forward to Garter Day for some serious earring power from The Queen and, technically, she delivers here with the Coronation Earrings. But once again I have disappointed myself by getting my hopes up for sapphires or rubies (since we see so many white jewels all the rest of the time, you know?). Anyway, the Coronation Earrings were last seen at the Garter Service in 2004, by my flashback count.


The Garter spouses picked up some of the slack in the absence of a fancy procession of Garter robes. I would have appreciated a brooch on The Duchess of Cornwall (because apparently I'm in the mood to gripe), but the Anna Valentine coat she wore to the Cambridge wedding in 2011 is gorgeous as ever. She wore her Four Strand Pearl Choker with Small Diamond Clasp and her Everyday Pearl Pendant Earrings. 
I loved The Countess of Wessex's Alexander McQueen floral dress when she wore it at the Chelsea Flower Show, and I love it here too. Many said they wished for more of a shrug-style jacket last time around, and she is very promptly modeling that look for you. (I sort of prefer the slightly longer jacket? Basically these little shrugs always look to me like someone got trapped while pulling off a shirt.) 

Photos: @gabeyslave
The Duchess of Gloucester was there and bejeweled as always - she appears to be repeating the look she just wore for the National Service of Thanksgiving over the weekend. 

And then there was Kate! Not only was she a much-needed bright spot on a gray day with her repeated red Catherine Walker coat and red Lock & Co. hat, she was also the surprise winner in the jewel category. 
These jewels are in her personal collection, so they aren't tracked on this blog, but they're very much worth noting: the diamond bracelet she received as a wedding present (assumed by many to have been a gift from Charles), her Mappin & Webb Empress pendant necklace, and - most notable of all - the return of her bespoke diamond wedding earrings from Robinson & Pelham. This is the first time we've seen these earrings in public since her wedding day. Oh, I reallllly like these used as day earrings. More of that, please!
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15 June 2015

Garter Day

The Queen gave a Luncheon Party for the Companions for the Most Noble Order of the Garter. A Service was held in St. George's Chapel this afternoon.
After a busy morning getting her Magna Carta party on (ain't no party like a Magna Carta party, people), Her Maj got all fancied up in her feathery best for the annual service of the Order of the Garter.

By my own flashback count, Queen Victoria's big pearl earrings haven't been worn for Garter Day since 2000, so that's a welcome return (even though I can't help but hope for some colored stones every year, since we already get plenty of white stones at every other event). Usually there is a bracelet for us to drool over too, but I can't spot any this year.

Queen Victoria's Pearl Drop Earrings
Mantle and Bonnet of the Order of the Garter
Collar and Great George of the Order of the Garter


The Duchess of Cornwall was among the Garter spouses present:

She's wearing a triple strand of pearls that belonged to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and unfortunately here we can't see that it has a clasp containing a rather large diamond (something for us to cover in the future!). The rest of her jewels are all part of her daily uniform, including her Everyday Pearl Pendant Earrings and her Everyday Bracelets.

Tune in to the other blog tomorrow for more on the Order of the Garter Service, including more family members!

Photos:Top photo kindly shared by @Gabeyslave, and others via Getty Images
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26 March 2015

Visit to Kent

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, visited Capel-le-Ferne and Canterbury Cathedral, Kent. She opened a new Battle of Britain visitor center and at Canterbury Cathedral, the couple attended a service and unveiled statues of themselves created for the Diamond Jubilee.

For more: BBC article, KentOnline video, Zimbio gallery.
She wore one of Queen Victoria's brooches on the day the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 goes into effect, giving women an equal spot in the line of succession. It's one of her regulars anyway, obviously, but I prefer to consider it a cheeky sovereign queen high five.
And speaking of the line of succession, Prince Michael of Kent was there to greet her (in the first photo). He's one of the people who have been freshly reinstated in the line thanks to the act removing the ban on marriage to Catholics. (And he's also Patron of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, hence the appearance.)




Also, about those statues...well, I believe we have the George IV State Diadem, the Coronation Earrings, and the Mantle and Collar of the Order of the Garter here. So that part's recognizable. (Not that I should be critiquing, I mean, if you gave me a block of stone and asked me to carve you something, you'd get the same block of stone back with a couple chicken scratches on it. If you were lucky.)

Photos:via Getty Images and KentOnline video
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16 June 2014

Garter Day

The Queen gave a Luncheon Party for the Companions for the Most Noble Order of the Garter. A Service was held in St. George's Chapel this afternoon.
I am always and forever hoping for some quality rubies or sapphires on Garter Day, but I'll take a nice look at the Antique Girandole Earrings and the Baguette and Brilliant Bracelet instead. There's probably a watch on her other hand, but I haven't spotted it in any photos so far. Always a hunt for diamond sightings, Garter Day.

Lots of other family members were in attendance too, and I'll have some favorites on the other blog tomorrow.

Photos:Telegraph video and Arthur Edwards/AFP via Getty Images
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17 June 2013

Garter Day

The Queen gave a Luncheon Party for the Companions of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. A Service was held in St. George's Chapel this afternoon.
Click above for an article, pictures and video from the Daily Mail.
Well, Her Maj ignored my request for sapphires, but she's compensated by giving us another look at a little pair of earrings we've seen once before on the blog, these diamond pendant jobs. I'll take it.
I didn't really see a bracelet or watch, though - possibly under the gloves, not that extra jewels are ever easy to pick out from under the robe.


Photos:MalOnline screencap/WPA Pool/Getty Images
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03 May 2013

Recent Portrait Releases

Two new portraits of the Queen have recently been revealed.
Poor portrait painters. Most portraits just get criticized, and praise seems rare. Such is the case with the two most recent portraits of the Queen. The first (above) was commissioned by the Royal Mail - the first time they've commissioned one - to cap a special collection marking the 60th anniversary of the coronation. Click here to read more at the Royal Mail's site and here for more on the painting itself. For this painting, the Queen is wearing Queen Victoria's Pearl Drop Earrings and one of her three strand pearl necklaces in addition to her Garter robes.

The second was commissioned by the Welsh Rugby Union, again in honor of the 60th anniversary of the coronation. Click here for more. This is your daily Queen look: her button earrings, three strand pearl necklace, gold watch, and presumably twisting her engagement ring. The brooch could be the Diamond Bouquet Brooch, allowing for hefty amounts of artistic license, of course. UPDATE: This is the Daffodil Spray Brooch.
Photos:Royal Mail/PA
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18 June 2012

Garter Day

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh gave a Luncheon Party for the Companions of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. A Service was held in St. George's Chapel this afternoon.
Little known fact: Honi soit qui mal y pense was originally translated as "Make fun of the hat and die."

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The Mantle of the Order of the Garter

The Mantle, worn with the Bonnet and the Collar with Great George
One of the most distinctive pieces of the wardrobe of the Most Noble Order of the Garter - England's highest chivalric order - is the Mantle, sometimes referred to as a robe, cloak, or cape. The Mantle has been used in one form or another, with varying fabrics and colors, since the 15th century. The current version is made of dark blue velvet lined with white taffeta and is accented by a red velvet hood (also lined with white taffeta), elaborate cords for closure, and white ribbons at the shoulders. The Garter Collar, with the Great George as a pendant, is draped over the Mantle across the shoulders.
The Garter Star on the Queen's Mantle
The Queen, as Sovereign of the Order, has a fancier Mantle than the rest of the members: hers has the longest train, which requires two Pages of Honour to manage, and a Garter Star. The rest of the members wear a Mantle with a sewn on patch depicting the heraldic shield of St. George's Cross encircled by the famous blue garter which bears the Order's motto, Honi soit qui mal y pense ("Shame on he who thinks ill of it"). The Queen's Mantle has a bejeweled Garter Star of metal.
The Bonnet
The Knights and Ladies of the Garter also wear a distinctive hat, a Tudor bonnet made of black velvet with a plume of white ostrich and black heron feathers and an ornament depicting St. George's shield surrounded by the garter with the Order motto written on it.

Excluding portrait sittings, the mantle and bonnet are worn only for highly ceremonial occasions, such as the annual Garter Day service at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in June.

Click here for more information on the Order of the Garter from the British Monarchy's official website.
Click here for more on the general use of order insignia in all royal countries from Order of Splendor.

Other Featured Garter Insignia:
The Collar and Great George
The Star, Riband, and Lesser George  
The Garter 

Appearances:
2016: British Red Cross Portrait
13 June 2016: Garter Day
15 June 2015: Garter Day
26 March 2015: Canterbury Cathedral Statue 
16 June 2014: Garter Day
17 June 2013: Garter Day 
April 2013: Recent Portrait Releases
18 June 2012: Garter Day
All Years: The Garter Service

Photos: WPA Pool/Getty Images/Rex Features
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