More than 7,000 people had gathered inside Windsor castle to
watch Queen Elizabeth and her family arrive for the annual Order of the
Garter service at St. George’s chapel yesterday.
The ceremony takes place every year in June and celebrates Britain’s
oldest and highest level of chivalry founded in 1348 by King Edward III
and dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England’s patron
saint. The order is awarded by Her Majesty to members of the
commonwealth who have served the Queen personally or contributed in a
particular way to Britain’s national life.
At the ceremony yesterday, the Order — which is limited to 26 members
consisting of the Sovereign, a Royal knight and twenty four Knights of
the Garter — welcomed two new members, Mervyn King, former governor of
the Bank of England, and Eliza Manningham-Buller, former head of MI5.
New members of the Order are announced on St. George’s Day in April but
the installment itself always takes place at Garter Day on the Monday of
Royal Ascot week.
Joining Queen Elizabeth at Monday’s ceremony were Prince Charles,
Prince William, The Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Anne, the Duke of
York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Duke of Gloucester, Princess
Alexandra and Prince Philip. The Duchess of Cornwall unfortunately had
to stay at home due to sinusitis.
Like Her Majesty and Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales and the Duke
of Cambridge arrived by carriage dressed in the Order’s traditional blue
velvet robes and black velvet hats with white plumes.
Following the ceremony Queen Elizabeth hosted a luncheon for the members and officers of the Order in the Waterloo Chamber.
The Duchess was often seen beside Sophie, Countess of Wessex and the two seemed to have plenty to talk about as they waited and they performed perfectly executed curtseys when the Queen passed by.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attended the traditional Royal Order of the Garter procession and service today and chose Scottish designer, Christopher Kane
for the occasion. The ice blue silk satin coat dress, which is not new
in the Duchess’s wardrobe, was worn for the first time in 2012 at a
reception before the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
To top off the elegant outfit, the Duchess had chosen a matching blue hat from London hatter, Lock & Co. The hat is called Sweet Delight and
is part of Lock & Co’s couture millinery collection. This very
special and very old hatter was founded in 1676 and has a royal warrant
for the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh. The clutch and shoes complimented each other perfectly. The Duchess
teamed her L.K. Bennett Natalie clutch with a new pair of nude Jimmy
Choo heels called Gilbert.
