Kate’s tiara, Melania’s hat: the looks from Trump’s UK visit

When Princess Catherine went high, Melania went low at the state banquet for US President Donald Trump, hosted by King Charles at Windsor Castle.

While Catherine’s exquisite couture Chantilly lace evening coat by British designer Phillipa Lepley, buttoned over a silk crepe gown, featured a regal high collar, America’s first lady bared her shoulders in a peppy sunflower yellow crepe column gown from US label Carolina Herrera with a clashing lilac belt.

Apart from a pair of emerald and diamond earrings, Melania took a democratic approach, wearing her hair down. Catherine donned the Lover’s Knot Tiara, her go-to for state banquets. The Princess of Wales seems less susceptible to the headaches which reportedly plagued her mother-in-law Princess Diana when she wore the headpiece.

In a Fiona Clare gown, Queen Camilla donned the Belgian Sapphire tiara, a favourite piece of Queen Elizabeth II, who had it made from a necklace that had belonged to Princess Louise of Belgium.

Diplomatic relations of the fashion variety began on Tuesday when Melania disembarked Air Force One at London’s Stansted Airport wearing a quintessentially British Burberry trench coat.

That was enough of a nod to the locals, with the former model changing into a severe grey Dior skirt suit from the French luxury label, paired with a purple hat that made eye contact with Camilla and Catherine challenging.

The low-brimmed style was reminiscent of the hat Melania wore to Trump’s inauguration earlier this year. The purple shade of the new hat, a perfect match with her husband’s tie, prevented the previous comparisons with the hat-wearing McDonald’s character the Hamburglar which flooded the internet.

At the meeting, Catherine stuck to the familiar territory of New Zealand-born, London-based designer Emilia Wickstead for her double-breasted, wine-coloured coat dress. It’s a tried and true silhouette from the Princess of Wales, who wore a similar Wickstead design in purple to the 80th anniversary of VE celebrations in May.

Finding meaning in the royal family’s selection of coat brooches, beyond the fact that they will never be short of diamonds, is difficult. Catherine wore Queen Alexandra’s three feathers brooch, made in 1863, a traditional accessory for the wife of the Prince of Wales, having been worn previously by Princess Diana and Queen Camilla.

The Queen wore a sapphire and diamond brooch that once belonged to Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, who smuggled it out of the country during the revolution, enhancing the international flavour of the event.

The brooch, worn by Camilla on a bright blue Fiona Clare coat dress, was sold by Empress Maria’s children to Queen Mary, before becoming a favourite of the late Queen Mother.

Later that morning, the Queen swapped the sparkler for a vintage 18-karat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch by Tiffany & Co., presented to her by the Trumps.

The royal family gave Melania a personalised bag by British designer Anya Hindmarch, presumably not one from her supermarket range for Woolworths. That would be too democratic.

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