Kate sparkles at the Palace... in a borrowed tiara
THE Duchess of Cambridge wore a tiara for only the third time last night at a lavish state banquet for China’s president.
Kate borrowed the priceless diamond and pearl headpiece, known as the ‘lotus flower’, for the glittering event at the Buckingham Palace ballroom.
It was also the Duke of Cambridge’s first state banquet in the UK.
Kate looked stunning in a bespoke, floor-length Jenny Packham gown, its striking scarlet shade a tribute to China’s national colour.
She was seated to the right of President Xi Jinping – the most prominent position for a female member of the royal family after the Queen, who sat on his left as is the custom.
Her tiara was originally a necklace given to the Queen Mother by her husband, George VI.
In her speech, the Queen said the president’s visit marked ‘a milestone in this unprecedented year of cooperation and friendship’ between China and the UK.
The Chinese national anthem played as the 170 guests rose for a toast to President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan.
They dined on a banquet that included fillet of West Coast turbot and Balmoral venison, with bottles of Ridgeview Grosvenor sparkling wine from East Sussex.
The meal was served to musical accompaniment from the Countess of Wessex’s String Orchestra, which played a number of Chinese folk songs. Other numbers included the Beatles track Eleanor Rigby and Nobody Does It Better, the theme music from the 1977 Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Madame Peng sat between Prince William and the Duke of Edinburgh, while other guests at the table incuded David Cameron, George Osborne and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and his wife.