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.)
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| Photos: @gabeyslave |
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!
