Princess Catherine Made a Last Minute Change to Her Coronation Outfit

Kate Middleton at the Coronation ceremony

(Image credit: Getty)

published 7 May 2023

As Marie Claire reported yesterday, the Princess of Wales cut a stunning figure at yesterday’s Coronation ceremony in a red and blue cape over an ivory silk crepe Alexander McQueen dress embroidered with roses, thistles, daffodils, and shamrocks—which represent the four countries of the United Kingdom. On her head, Kate wore a Jess Collett x Alexander McQueen headpiece with crystal and silver leaf embroidery, and paid homage to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, with the same pearl and diamond earrings the then Prince Charles gave Diana before their 1981 wedding.

But The Mirror reports, “it appears she may have made a last minute change to the outfit, as one of the glitziest items she was due to wear couldn’t be seen on the same.” Kate was expected to wear Queen Elizabeth’s George VI Festoon Necklace, which King George VI commissioned for his daughter, then Princess Elizabeth, in 1950. The statement necklace features a three-strand diamond design containing 105 loose collet-set diamonds from the royal vault into a necklace.

“We don’t know exactly what happened, but it may have been removed in order not to overwhelm her Royal Victorian Order mantle edged in scarlet that was topped with a silver bullion, crystal and silver threadwork three-dimensional leaf embroidery headpiece by Jess Collett x Alexander McQueen,” the outlet reports.

Princess Charlotte, Kate’s only daughter, mirrored her mother in a similar headpiece by the same designer and an ivory silk crepe Alexander McQueen dress featuring the same rose, thistle, daffodil, and shamrock motifs as Kate’s.

Regardless of the unexplained absence of Her late Majesty’s jewelry, anyone watching the ceremony could feel her presence throughout the proceedings as a new monarch was crowned for the first time in 70 years, since her own Coronation in June 1953.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.