Kate Middleton stepped into full royal splendour during last night’s state banquet at Windsor Castle, where King Charles III and Queen Camilla hosted German president Frank Walter-Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Budenbender. Earlier in the day, William and Kate greeted the couple at Heathrow before accompanying them on a carriage procession through Windsor, the streets lined with spectators and a 41-gun salute marking the occasion.
Kate kept things elegant for the daytime events in a navy Burberry dress layered with a matching Sarah Burton coat. Later, for the formal dinner inside St George’s Hall, she changed into a cornflower blue Jenny Packham gown, moving through the festive setting where a towering sixteen foot Christmas tree stood as the centrepiece.
But it was her choice of headpiece that drew most of the attention. The Princess wore Queen Victoria’s Oriental Circlet Tiara, an elaborate jewel set with more than two thousand diamonds. Despite the magnificence of the piece, eagle-eyed observers quickly noticed something that bothered them. Several online commenters pointed out that the tiara appeared slightly askew, at least from the front. Others remarked that her hairstyle may have contributed to the illusion, noting that from behind it looked perfectly aligned.
A tiara with a long and complicated history
The Oriental Circlet was originally commissioned by Prince Albert and later declared by Queen Victoria as an heirloom of the Crown. She herself refused to wear it after his death, but future queens continued the tradition. The Queen Mother wore it frequently during George VI’s reign and long after his passing. Queen Elizabeth II used it only once during a visit to Malta in 2005.
With that kind of legacy behind it, many viewers were thrilled to see the tiara make an appearance again. Others, however, remained distracted by the slight tilt they spotted in photographs. Even so, Kate’s overall look remained one of the most striking royal appearances of the year, and the tiara’s return added a touch of historic glamour that clearly caught the world’s attention.
