Royal Wedding – what to wear

With Princess Eugenie’s wedding a couple of days away I’m rounding up my series of Instagram outfits that I would like to see some of the royal party wearing!

The Queen

I’m thinking pink for HM. It’s a colour she hasn’t previously worn at a royal wedding and one that would suit this time of year. Most likely to be by her milliner and couturier dream team Rachel Trevor Morgan and Stewart Parvin although she could choose something by her senior dresser, Angela Kelly, who designed the green hat she wore at the last royal wedding. One thing that’s easier to bet on is HM’s accessories – she may be known for dressing in a kaleidoscope of different colours for her formal events but her accessories rarely change: black patent shoes by Anello and Davide, black patent bag by Launer, classic pearl and diamond stud earrings – a wedding present from Queen Mary, a triple strand of pearls, and a diamond brooch. Her pearls are part of her regal uniform and I can’t imagine her not wearing them can you?!

Mother of the Bride – The Duchess of York

It will be a big day for the Duchess of York next Friday, welcomed back into the royal fold in her prominent role as Mother of the Bride. Fergie made two public appearances with the royals this year (at the Royal wedding in May and at Royal Ascot in June) wearing classic navy blue head to toe both times, but I’m expecting her to up the style stakes a little as MOTB. I think she might dress in Roland Mouret or Vivienne Westwood with hat by Philip Treacy and I’d love to see her in gold  –  she’d look great in a dress coat like this one by Claire Mischevani – classic still but with an edge of glam.

Hat: Rachel Trevor Morgan, clutch: bottarga Veneta; pearls: Annoushka; heels: Jimmy Choo; brooch: The Antique Jewellery Company.

Maid of Honour – Princess Beatrice 

Princess Beatrice was spotted leaving Ralph & Russo in London earlier this week carrying what looked like a shoe box I like to think it might have inside these gorgeous Empire pink suede and rose gold pumps – they look right up Princess Bea’s street. The York Princesses are known for their lively sense of style – who could forget the infamous pretzel hat Beatrice wore at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge! Her style has got more elegant and classic in recent years but still with a quirky edge, like the white tweed boater hat she wore to Easter Sunday service this year or the teal headband for the last royal wedding. If she was picking up R&R accessories then that could be a big clue as to who has designed her Maid of Honour dress…and possibly Princess Eugenie’s wedding dress too. I’d love to see her in something like this divine vision in blush from Ralph & Russo – perhaps a bit glitzy for a Maid of Honour dress but I’m sure they could tone down the sequins a bit so as not to steal the scene from Eugenie too much! I’ve pictured the dress here with R&R accessories, morganite earrings Kiki McDonough and a ceramic rose headband by Fi Graham Millinery.

The Duchess of Cornwall

As with many of the female royals The Duchess of Cornwall has go to designers for formal events like weddings. She almost always wears Anna Valentine dresses/dress coats and Philip Treacy hats, so I think this will be the combination she will choose at next week’s royal wedding. You can always count on Camilla to wear a proper hat – she wore a fabulous wide brimmed pale pink feather trimmed hat by Treacy for the last royal wedding so I’m hoping he will have designed another spectacular hat for this occasion too! Wide brimmed hats don’t suit everyone but it’s great to see them still worn by those that can carry them off. The Duchess tends to wear pastel colours in formal daywear so I’m imagining her in silvery grey this time. Something similar to this stylish “Michaela” graphite silk dress coat by Lalage Beaumont perhaps, pictured here with a hat by William Chambers, clutch and shoes by Emmy London and vintage jewels by Susan Caplan.

(N.B. since I wrote this post it was confirmed the Duchess of Cornwall is not attending the wedding due to a prior work engagement.)

The Countess of Wessex

Sophie always rings the changes with the style of her event outfits – at the royal wedding in May she wore separates: an elegant short sleeve ice blue silk top and matching midi skirt by Suzannah, and at Royal Ascot this year she was the first royal to wear a jumpsuit in the royal enclosure. I love how she’s not afraid to take risks and try new things with her clothes. She’s worn dressy shirt dresses in the past and I think the style really suits her so I’d love to see her in something like this burgundy/blush belted midi dress by Luisa Beccaria –  featuring a blush velvet collar, burgundy floral jacquard pattern and flared midi skirt. Elegant and formal but still a bit of a style statement. The Countess always wears hats by Jane Taylor (the one I’ve pictured is by Juliette Botterill and available to hire from The Cotswold Hat Club). Burgundy/blush is a great colour combination for autumn too – holding on to the blush from summer and dipping into some wintery burgundy! Other accessories: antique garnet earrings from The Antique Jewellery Company, velvet burgundy clutch by Jimmy Choo and blush velvet heels from Prada.

The Duchess of Cambridge

The Duchess of Cambridge doesn’t usually stray from her tried and tested style formula of a fit-and-flare dress coat with matching hat for formal events like weddings, usually from her ‘go to’ designers Alexander McQueen and Catherine Walker. She also usually prefers not to make too much of a style statement at weddings so as not to draw attention away from the bride. So I’m expecting either a repeat wear from Kate or something fairly neutral/classic. I really like this Catherine Walker beige tweed dress coat with peplum detail at the waist. I’ve accessorized it with a beautiful oyster silk pillbox hat by Juliette Botterill, pinky beige clutch by Loefflerr Randall, suede courts from Gianvito Rossi and morganite earrings by Kiki McDonough.

 

The Duchess of Sussex

The Duchess of Sussex has shown a preference for neutral colours in her working wardrobe as a member of the royal family. Her last appearance at a royal event in formal daywear was Prince Louis’ christening where she wore a khaki green dress and hat. I think she’d look great in this jewel green pleated silk dress by Gabriela Hearst. I’ve matched it here with an elegant saucer hat by Edwina Ibbotson, her black accessories by Givenchy and Aquazzura and diamond stud earrings from Birks.

Zara Phillips

Zara wore a teal dress coat by Claire Mischevani at the last royal wedding so I think this sapphire blue colour and cut by the same designer would also look good on her with a matching blue velvet headpiece by Juliette Botterill. Other accessories – heels by Manolo Blank, bag by Amanda Pearl and opal earrings from Annoushka.

Autumn Phillips

I’ve been studying the fashion form and Autumn tends to favour the fit and flare style of dress, similar to the Duchess of Cambridge. She wore an elegant ice blue coat by Suzannah Fashion with matching hat by Juliette Botterill for Easter Sunday in Windsor this year and for the last royal wedding she wore a beautiful turquoise dress coat by Hen House HQ with matching hat by Juliette Millinery, so she may well repeat this design duo next Friday. She isn’t afraid of wearing bright colours and often contrasts the colour of her hat with her dress so she may not go for a matchy-matchy look. I’ve picked out the Princess dress coat in flag red by Suzannah here and matched it with a silk bow headpiece by Juliette Botterill. Red is sometimes considered a bit of a taboo colour at weddings but I think it’s fine to wear it these days, especially in autumn/winter. The Duchess of Cambridge has worn red a couple of times to weddings. You can always tone down the look by adding nude accessories or a darker shade of red – like I’ve done here. The unwritten rules are that a guest should blend in as much as possible and not wear anything that detracts too much attention from the bride – red is often considered a bit of a scene stealing colour so I think that’s why many people steer clear of it at weddings. But if we’re talking about scene stealing then canary yellow a la Amal will do it just as much! As will any other brights. The only colours that are a no go are black and obviously white!

The Countess of Snowdon 

The Countess of Snowdon doesn’t get much media coverage at royal events compared to the more senior royals, which is a shame because she’s one of the most stylish. Often opting for chic pill box hats all “Lady Lucan” style! I think Serena would look great in a floral headband like this one from Laura Cathcart Millinert teamed here with a navy Ballerina dress by Suzannah and jazzed up with some gold/navy brocade shoes by Rupert Sanderson.