Kate Middleton, or Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, showcased two classy looks – one bold, one more demure – at her husband Prince William’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee celebration in London over the past week.
Scores of people have flooded the streets of London to watch the series of events that mark the 86-year-old monarch’s 60 years on the British throne. On Tuesday, June 5, the finale day of the celebrations, Kate wore a nude, lace and silk Alexander McQueen dress designed by Sarah Burton and a matching Jane Taylor Hat.
That day, she attended a special service for the queen at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. The monarch walked down the aisle with William, his brother Prince Harry, Kate, her son Prince Charles – the first in line to the British throne, and wife, Camilla. The monarch’s 90-year-old husband Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, was absent as he is currently in the hospital being treated for a bladder infection.
On Monday, Kate and William joined the queen for a ride on a royal barge for the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames. Kate wore a bright red Alexander McQueen pre-Fall 2011 dress with a pleated skirt that was also designed by Sarah Burton. She paired it with a red Sylvia Fletcher hat from James Lock and Co, nude LK Bennett pumps, a red clutch and a tartan scarf.
More than 1,000 boats sailed in a flotilla tribute to Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years on the throne that organizers say marked the biggest pageant on the river for 350 years.
Also on Monday, Queen Elizabeth II attended a concert at Buckingham Palace. The list of performers included Sir Elton John, who later met her backstage, Sir Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and British pop star Robbie Williams.
Kate has often paid tribute to McQueen, a British designer who died in 2010. famously wore a long-sleeved Alexander McQueen dress by Burton when she married William in April 2011. The wedding in London drew a global television audience of about 2 billion viewers.
Kate also wore a lilac Alexander McQueen gown by Burton to a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Brits to Watch event in Los Angeles during a U.S. visit the following July. In December 2011, she wore a strapless black velvet Alexander McQueen gown to the Sun Military Awards at the Imperial War Museum in London.