We’ve covered
the bride and her bridal party (including sister and mother of the bride). We’ve
taken on the tiara. So that leaves us with the guests, and I’m not sure this collective whole is really flipping my skirt up.
Part of that is not the guests’ fault, mind you, because their skirts were
literally being flipped up by strong winds. The same wind that was simultaneously turning their hats into a game of fetch and flinging small children up the steps. How are they supposed to show us their lovely outfits while dealing with such chaos? Mother Nature’s got some nerve.
We shall investigate one family group at a time.
This Main Lot
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The Duuuuuuke! So delighted to see the Duke of Edinburgh turn up at his usual dapper best. (Seriously, other than the groom, he wins Best Dressed Dude.) The Queen’s aiming for quite a sophisticated color palette in blue, peach, and gold – just overshooting it slightly with those super shiny gold buttons. Speaking of super shiny:
the Cullinan V Brooch, baby.
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This is another old-but-new Alexander McQueen for the Duchess of Cambridge: same style she wore for
Trooping the Colour 2017, just ordered in a darker pink and paired with a Philip Treacy hat and the
Diamond Pendant Earrings on loan from the Queen (which she also wore in 2017). This is an improvement in color from the other version. Thing is, though, the amount of interest I have in endless same-style-different-color bespoke McQueens is not an infinite resource. I’m all out.
The Duchess of Sussex wore a navy Givenchy coat and dress with a hat by Noel Stewart. Perfectly lovely and appropriate and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry, fell asleep there.
The Duchess of Cornwall was unable to attend due to a previously scheduled engagement. A shame, really, because we could have used one of her feather ferris wheel hats to spice this up.
Anne’s Crew
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The potential topic of this conversation is the most interesting thing happening here. The Princess Royal has clearly pulled this repeat to the top of the rotation in order to jump on the green bandwagon, because if there’s one word to describe Anne, it’s TRENDY.
Here’s that wind in action, trying to turn Anne’s kids into human bowling pins. Autumn Phillips and Zara Tindall are certainly on point for the wedding’s green and blue theme, Autumn in a dress by Suzannah with an Edwina Ibbotson hat and Zara in Claire Mischevani Couture with a Juliette Botterill hat. Autumn’s making my favorites list.
The Wessex Bunch
I’m so glad I saw the Countess of Wessex arrive on video, because this Azzedine Alaïa navy dress had a sparkle in the sunshine that doesn’t come across in pictures. Fits like a dream. Don’t mind the Jane Taylor hat, either. Throw her on the faves list too. (Lady Louise was covered in our bridal party post.)
Let's Play Spot the Kent
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That back row is largely the Kent branch of the family, including Princess Michael in a cape and feather hat combo I think we’ve seen a bazillion times. (You can also play Spot the Greek Royal in the front row, we’ll get to them in a sec.)
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A simple coat (this one by Catherine Walker) plus a froofy hat is a bit of a special occasion routine for Lady Frederick Windsor, whose daughter was among the bridesmaids. Lady Helen Taylor sported a Temperley dress I had my eye on for royal or red carpet use, so that’s satisfying.
Lady Gabriella Windsor – arriving with her new fiancé – turned up with some serious easy elegance. She wore a custom Claire Mischevani Italian crepe Raglan dress with a Philip Treacy hat.
Can you spot her? A turquoise dress and deep blue hat is a surprising combo that is turning out to be my jam today. Fab turquoise color earrings, too. Let’s put her on top of that faves list.
Hey, Some Color Surprises
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I would have thought the Duchess of Gloucester would be first in line for the blue theme, owning several navy or light blue options (and being tremendously fond of repeats). Likewise, Lady Sarah Chatto operates in her own color coordinated world where things are only either white, gray, or blue. And yet here they are to brighten our horizons in red and purple with yellow. I welcome all surprises, ladies.
Although the Countess of Snowdon certainly proves that one can take a color surprise too far. The teal tights really throw this into the HUH?! pile.
Also, Some Foreign Royal Representation
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Here we have Prince Christian of Hanover and Princess Alessandra, mixing the green trend with purple like a girl after my own heart. (Their
wedding was earlier this year in Peru; the York sisters attended.) The blond in front with the bird about to take flight is Princess Ekaterina, who attended with Prince Ernst August, and let's get a front view of THAT:
Honestly, I think she should get a standing ovation just for getting that hat through the wind in one piece. Camilla would be proud.
The Greek royals were there: Crown Prince Pavlos, Princess Marie-Chantal, Princess Maria-Olympia (in Dolce & Gabbana), and Prince Philippos. This feels very tame for our friend M-C. Do I want to add her to my faves list anyway? I think I do.
Did I just add enough people to my favorites list that I have to take back my non-skirt-flippy-up statement? Maaaaayyyyyyybe.
Who made your faves list?