King, Queen and William welcome diplomats to glittering Palace reception
The royal trio, who were not joined by the Princess of Wales this year, gathered in the state rooms for the annual event.
The King and Queen hosted a glittering diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace, with Camilla stepping out in the late Queen’s aquamarine and diamond tiara for the first time.
The Prince of Wales joined the monarch and consort for the grand white-tie affair on Tuesday night, but William was without the Princess of Wales, who is often a regular attendee at such events, at his side.
Camilla was dressed in a blue velvet evening dress by Fiona Clare, and opted for Elizabeth II’s small aquamarine and diamond tiara as she gathered with some 900 guests at the Diplomatic Corps reception.
The delicate headwear – sometimes known as the aquamarine ribbon tiara – features five large aquamarines set in intricate ribbons of diamonds.
The piece has been favoured in the past by the Duchess of Edinburgh who as the then-Countess of Wessex wore it to the gala dinner celebrating the Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg’s wedding in 2012, and at the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden in 2013.
William, in dapper white tie, wore his Order of the Garter blue sash with Lesser George badge.
The King, who wore white tie with traditional knee breeches and buckled shoes, was seen chatting warmly to his guests.
It is the first time the Queen has been pictured since Buckingham Palace announced on Monday that her beloved rescue dog Beth had been put down.
But she smiled widely as she made her way through the state rooms.
The annual event celebrates the presence in London of one of the largest Diplomatic Corps in the world, and hundreds of representatives of countries accredited to the Court of St James, are welcomed to the Palace dressed in their finery for the showcase of UK’s diplomatic year.
The history of the late Queen’s tiara is not entirely clear.
There is some suggestion the smaller tiara was made from additional aquamarine jewellery gifted to the late Queen by the Governor of Sao Paulo.
Camilla teamed the tiara with an aquamarine and diamond necklace and earrings, which are private pieces of jewellery.
The Queen also wore the King Charles III’s Family Order – a diamond-encased miniature portrait of her husband topped with a tiny gold and enamel Tudor crown and suspended on a pale blue silk bow on her left shoulder – which she first wore at the Japanese state banquet in June.
In 2023, Kate, in a floor-length pale pink dress by Jenny Packham, wore the Lover’s Knot Tiara, a diamond and pearl-encrusted headpiece made in 1914, which was often worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.
The diplomatic reception is traditionally held early next month in the run-up to Christmas, rather than in November, but the King is hosting a state visit by the Emir of Qatar in the first week of December.
The evening includes a buffet supper and dancing in the Palace ballroom.
