We may not have gotten a royal tiara at tonight’s British state dinner in France, but we did get to see an important set of royal sapphires come out of the vaults yet again!
The Palace of Versailles was spiffed up nicely ahead of tonight’s black-tie state dinner, held in honor of the visiting King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom.
King Charles and Queen Camilla were greeted at the palace by their hosts, President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte.
King Charles was dapper in his black-tie attire for the evening. He wore a flower in his lapel, and he also pinned the small button insignia of France’s Legion of Honour. Charles received the decoration back in 1984.
Queen Camilla paid tribute to her French hosts by wearing an evening gown and cape made by Dior. The midnight blue ensemble features braided detailing at the waist of the dress and the edge of the cape.
She accessorized with a suite of royal jewelry that has quickly become a favorite, wearing the necklace and bracelet from the King George VI Sapphire Suite.
The set was given to Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, by her father, King George VI, as a wedding present in 1947. It originally consisted of a necklace (which Elizabeth later had shortened and supplemented with a pendant) and a pair of earrings.
Queen Elizabeth later transformed the set into a complete parure by commissioning a bracelet and acquiring a tiara to coordinate with the jewels. Above, she wears the complete married suite in Belgium in 1966.
The suite continued to be a favorite of the late monarch throughout her reign. Here’s a look at her final appearance in the jewels, from a portrait taken at Windsor Castle in 2019.
The French state dinner marked the third time that Queen Camilla has been pictured wearing the necklace (which has been lengthened) and bracelet from the sapphire set.
She wears the jewels with a modern pair of diamond and sapphire earrings. These presumably have clip fasteners—Camilla cannot wear the set’s earrings because she does not have pierced ears.
Queen Camilla made her first public appearance in the sapphires at the South African state banquet at Buckingham Palace in November 2022.
She also wore the same jewels in December 2022 for the Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace. This time, she wore the longer version of the necklace with its pendant.
Queen Camilla wore the bracelet from the suite (stacked with the everyday bracelets she usually wears) on her right wrist. She also added a diamond and sapphire bangle on her left wrist.
Dark blue, sapphires, and diamonds was clearly the trendy choice for the dinner—here are the Macrons, with Brigitte wearing a navy blue and silver gown accessorized with diamond and sapphire jewels.
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