Kate Middleton.Photo: Dan Charity - WPA Pool/Getty
It might not have been a tiara, butKate Middleton’s choice of headwear at the coronation ticked all the right boxes for a modern new era.
“If they did take inspiration from those ornaments, it was a nice way to give Kate something that stood out visually while still reinforcing her current role as a supporter of the King and Queen,” Lauren Kiehna, writer atThe Court Jewellerblog tells PEOPLE.
Queen Elizabeth’s six maids, whose duties included helping her on arrival at Westminster Abbey, all wore bespoke Norman Hartnell dresses for the historic day, just like the monarch.
HM Queen Elizabeth II with her Maids of Honour, The Coronation, 2nd June 1953.Historia/Shutterstock
The design of Kate’s headpiece — a collaboration between the millinerJess Collettand the designer of her ivory silk crepe dress, Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen — involved many patient hands, according to one seamstress who helped create it.
The Queen and her maids on her coronation day in 1953.Historia/Shutterstock
“Everyone had a bit of a go because they needed so many flowers and leaves,” royal embroiderer Chloe Savage tells PEOPLE.
“You basically make the flowers and leaves on fabric with wires and then you cut them out. Then you bend and shape them accordingly,” says the seamstress, who has worked on several major royal garments in the past including both Kate andMeghan Markle’s wedding dresses. “Using real silver threads means you can damage it really easily and create gaps or damage in the wires. Part of our training is not to bruise the threads as we work, but it’s really tricky — you just look at them and they bruise!”
Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales on May 6, 2023.Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage
“It was 25 years ago that I secured my first loan from the @princestrust to start Jess Collett Milliner,” Collett wrote on Instagram on coronation day. “Thank you King Charles and @princestrust for your support ……….still going strong today and loving my trade.”
The official Instagram for King Charles' charity responded, “Thanks for being such a special part of our history and sharing your #PrincesTrust story today.”
Unlike at the 1953 coronation ofQueen Elizabeth, when most of the royal and aristocratic women were encouraged to dust off their family tiaras for the occasion, the dress code at the coronation ofKing CharlesandQueen Camillawas somewhat different.
With guests asked to wear formal daywear and fascinators and the royals asked to leave their tiaras at home, the sartorial tone of this modern-day coronation was always going to feel and look different. Luckily, Kate had been planning something a fitting alternative.
The Princess of Wales at the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla.WPA Pool/Shutterstock
There was some disappointment among royal style fans when PEOPLE learned five weeks before the May 6 coronation that Kate might not wear a tiara for the occasion. While those predictions were correct, the alternative still offered plenty of dazzle for such a momentous occasion.
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“Kate was still able to look very much like the second lady in the land, the future queen consort, while still fitting in with the other working royal ladies who also wore floral and feather headpieces,” says Kiehna: “I thought that Kate’s entire ensemble, given the overall visual look and dress code for this modern coronation, struck an excellent note. She looked regal and important, like a queen in waiting — but not a queen quite yet.”
Princess Charlotte at the coronation of King Charles.Samir Hussein/WireImage
In another modern touch, the designers also made a mini-me version of the silver and crystal headpiece forPrincess Charlotte— who, like her mom, wore McQueen for the event, a first for the 8-year-old.
source: people.com
