Can I complain about something random? Ever since the Windsors began hosting state banquets at Windsor Castle, there’s been a wide disparity between photo quality from state visit to state visit. When the German chancellor visited last fall, the photos looked like they had been screencapped from a poor-quality live stream, shot on someone’s ancient iPhone. And then these photos, from last night’s state banquet for the Nigerian president, are hyper-saturated, good-quality photos where you can see every little detail. It’s weird. They also don’t have a consistent photo-staging setup in the castle for some bizarre reason. Like, it feels like photographers are just placed wherever on a whim.
Anyway, as you can see, the Prince and Princess of Wales attended the banquet last night. Kate wore a dark green dress by Andrew Gn. This is a bold return to Kate’s “flag-dressing” past – the green resembles the same shade of green on the Nigerian flag. Additionally, Kate paired the Gn dress with the Queen Mary Lover’s Knot tiara. That’s the one Kate has borrowed the most, which makes sense because Princess Diana borrowed it frequently as well. Thoughts on the dress? It’s an improvement on the stewardess ensemble she wore earlier in the day, but that’s setting the bar pretty low. I like the idea of this dress but I would have made some edits. Like, there’s no reason for the dress to have a turtleneck. It should just have a high neck. And the sleeves are too billowing. Overall, the effect is so dated.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla wore white Fiona Clare, and she picked out the Belgian Sapphire Tiara, with matching sapphire earrings. The diamond serpent necklace is from her own personal collection. Incidentally, Prince Edward was third-wheeling with the Keens because Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, skipped the dinner. No reason was given for her absence. Princess Anne and Tim Laurence were there as well.
I’m also adding a photo from earlier in the day, where Charles and Camilla once again pushed William and Kate off the dais. It’s absolutely hysterical that William and Kate are always placed “outside the tent.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
