Kate Middleton’s stylist certainly pulled out all the stops to make sure she took centre stage during last night’s state banquet – but one element of her extravagant get-up has ‘irked’ some people.
For those who missed it, Kate joined husband Prince William at Windsor Castle on Wednesday evening (3 December), where King Charles III and Queen Camilla hosted the German president and his wife for a formal get-together.
Frank Walter-Steinmeier and Elke Budenbender touched down at Heathrow Airport earlier in the day, where they were met by Wliiam and Kate, before enjoying a carriage ride through the streets of the Berkshire town, alongside Charles and Camilla, where a 41-gun royal salute also took place.
For the daytime festivities, 43-year-old Kate donned a super-chic navy Burberry dress, which she’d paired with a matching coat by designer Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.
The mother-of-three also rocked a similar shade for an official meal later that day to celebrate the historic state trip – the first from a German leader in over 27 years.
In photos released from the event, Princess Kate can be seen entering St George’s Hall, which had been decorated for the festive season with a colossal 16-foot Christmas tree, taken directly from Windsor Great Park.
Kate sported a cornflower blue Jenny Packham gown, the beauty of which was further highlighted by her glimmering headpiece – Queen Victoria’s famous Oriental Circlet Tiara.
However, the way Kate wore the magnificent jewel has rubbed some onlookers the wrong way, with several claiming it had become slightly lopsided.
“Kate’s tiara is crooked,” one Reddit user hit out.
Another agreed, adding: “Kate’s hair is terrible for the tiara. It being crooked is also irking me. It’s such a beautiful tiara too.”
“It’s interesting. From the back, Catherine’s tiara appears to be centred,” a third noted. “But in photos from the front / three quarter view, it looks crooked. I wonder what happened.”
“I like the tiara but it doesn’t look properly centred. Hmmm,” wrote another.
Designed over a century ago by German-born Prince Albert for the late ruler, the crown features an array of lotus flowers, perched within eleven Mughal arches, and set in over 2,000 diamonds from Garrard, London.
Following her husband’s death, Queen Victoria reportedly refused to wear the remarkable headpiece, instead designating it an ‘heirloom of the Crown’, and ruling that it be ‘worn by future Queens in right of it’.
Prior to Kate, the tiara had been worn by the late Queen Elizabeth II’s mum, the Queen Mother, who wore it throughout the early years of her husband, George VI’s, rule.
When he tragically died in 1952, however, unlike Victoria, she continued wearing it throughout her widowhood.
Her daughter, the late Queen, only wore the crown once – on a trip to Malta in 2005.
