Styling Kate: Submit Your Looks for the Dutch State Banquet!

It's that time of year again! As it's been such a quiet summer on the blog, I thought it might fun to hold our annual 'Styling Kate' post a couple of weeks early this year. As always, we're asking you to indulge your inner stylist and choose the ideal ensemble you would like to see the Duchess wear to a specific event. Last year, we chose Royal Ascot and a movie premiere. This time, I've chosen a real event which I think will prove popular with those who enjoy tiaras and a touch of sparkle :)

With news, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will make an official State visit to the UK in October, the itinerary is certain to include the glamorous State dinner. It is expect William and Kate will be there. The white-tie event is one of only a handful of occasions on the royal calendar where the royals bring out their tiaras (this is a great excuse to raid the royal jewel vault). 

Kate has attended two State banquets thus far. A refresher of her sartorial choices on both occasions: in 2015, the Duchess wore a bespoke red Jenny Packham gown, the Queen Mother's Lotus Flower tiara, the Queen's Diamond Chandelier earrings and Her Majesty's Wedding Gift Bracelet, and a bracelet worn by Queen Mary.

For the 2017 Spanish State banquet, Kate debuted a new bespoke pink Marchesa gown. It featured distinctive flared cuffs, a plunging neckline and a v-neckline at the back.

 It was teamed with the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara, Diana's pearl and diamond earrings and the Queen's Ruby and Diamond Floral Bandeau Necklace.

For those interested in sartorial diplomacy, the colours of the Dutch national flag are red, white and blue, but around the world, the Netherlands is closely identified with orange.

More from Dutch Amsterdam:

'If you have ever watched the Dutch national soccer team play football anywhere in the world — or if you’ve been in Amsterdam during Holland’s annual King’s Day celebration (formerly Queen’s Day) — you may wonder why nearly all Dutch people dress in orange during such occasions.

After all, the colors of the official Dutch flag are red, white, and blue. The answer is simple: Orange is the color of the Dutch Royal Family, which hails from the House of Orange.

On royal birthdays, the Dutch tricolor is flown with an orange pennant above it. Each year on April 27, Amsterdam — and indeed the entire county — turns orange. Revelers can be heard to sing, “Oranje boven, oranje boven. leve the Koning!” (Orange on top, Orange on top. Long Live the King!).'

The Netherlands produces approximately nine billion flower bulbs annually. Of those bulbs, the tulip (in a variety of colors) remains the most popular and widely recognized bulb by gardeners worldwide. Below, an aerial photo of tulip fields.

Designers and Retailers:

• Alexander McQueen Jenny Packham Temperley London Erdem Roland Mouret
• Nordstrom Net-A-Porter The Outnet My Theresa Matches Fashion Harrods
• ShopBop Neiman Marcus Bergdorf Goodman FarFetch StyleBop
• Jimmy Choo Gianvito Rossi LK Bennett Kiki McDonough Links of London Robinson Pelham
• To view jewels and tiaras available in royal vault, pop over to the wonderful Her Majesty's Jewel Vault.  

Before You Get Started:

• Leave a comment with your suggestions. Please include links to the designer/retailer in order for me to obtain images and to share your selection.
• I would be very grateful if you could include the colour of your accessories, as links to retailers can often land on shoes where several colours are available.
• Don't forget to leave a name or a moniker in order to ensure I can appropriately credit your look.
• The look can simply consist of one item, for example, a dress. If you wish, however, you can include footwear, a tiara, jewellery, a clutch, bag, etc. It can be as simple or as detailed as you want. Remember you're the stylist!
• Feel free to choose pieces already in Kate's closet.
• Please submit one look only.
• Submissions for the post showcasing all looks will be accepted until midnight on Monday, 6 August.

Happy styling! I'm very excited to see your submissions :)

On the Cambridge front, Hello! reports the family are expected to return from Mustique this week. On Saturday, William and Harry's friend Charlie van Straubenzee is marrying Daisy Jenks in Surrey. Harry is best man at the wedding and according to photographers on Twitter, William will also be there. There's a possibility Kate will join him.

Happy Birthday Prince George: A New Photo Released as the Cambridges Celebrate on Mustique!

To celebrate Prince George's fifth birthday tomorrow, Kensington Palace released a photo of the future king taken in the Clarence House garden by Matt Porteous after Louis' christening. The release follows the pattern of 2015 when Charlotte was christened at Sandringham in July and a photo taken with the official portraits was chosen to mark the prince's birthday.

William and Kate chose Matt Porteous to take their private photos after the christening. The couple decided to release one of Kate and Louis and it has been widely praised as the best shot of the five official portraits. Porteous also took George's third birthday portraits in Norfolk.

I do enjoy his style of photography and think he does a splendid job of capturing moments. I imagine the photo of the smiling prince will be framed at KP.

The Cambridges will celebrate their eldest son's fifth birthday on the paradise island of Mustique. Royal reporters Emily Andrews and Omid Scobie confirmed reports the family of five are enjoying their first holiday together in the Caribbean. Rebecca English noted they left London on Monday with the Middletons, so it's going to be quite a party.

There's a special significance to this week - Mustique is celebrating its 50th anniversary and there's an array of events taking place with a week of craft fairs, a tennis tournament which will have held great appeal for Kate, jazz nights and gala parties. According to The Sun, the group attended a star-studded party with Mick Jagger on Tuesday night.

Mustique was bought by Lord Glenconnor, Colin Tennant in 1958 for the sum of £45,000 and two years later he gave Princess Margaret a plot of land as a wedding present in order to associate it with the Royal family. Since then, Mustique has become a popular hideaway for royals and celebrities.

William, Kate and the Middleton family have come to adore the island and have visited on multiple occasions since the Cambridges' pre-engagement days. The Middletons usually make an annual trip every January, which has led to William and Kate not joining them over the past couple of years. With George and Charlotte's school schedules, I expect we might see July becoming their chosen month for the getaway.

It is not known where the family are staying, however they have previously stayed at Aurora House, owned by royal wedding guests, hedge fund manager Mark Cecil and his wife Kate.

Guests can watch the sunrise and sunset in this contemporary colonial style villa with sweeping vistas of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

The stunning property boasts contemporary bedroom suites, a pool, sun deck and sun lounges, and staff including a butler, chef, maid and gardener.

Indeed, Mustique was the location of the birthday boy's first holiday abroad. Kate took George for a holiday on the Island when he was six months old back in 2014.

To mark George's birthday, Rebecca English wrote a very insightful feature piece for the Mail: 'Revealing portrait of Prince George on his fifth birthday: Granny Carole feeds him chips and sweets, he is obsessed with volcanoes and is seeing more and more of grandad Charles':

'One day, the third in line to the throne — who wants to be a pilot, just like his adored ‘Papa’ who flew with the East Anglian Air Ambulance — will learn his life choices are somewhat restricted. For now, his parents are focused on providing him with the close-knit, carefree family life that mum Kate took for granted as she grew up — and that William’s own late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, fought to try to give her two boys.

Some have questioned whether William and Kate’s understandable protectiveness of their son, plus their instinctive wariness of the media, may have inadvertently rubbed off on George. But friends insist he is no different from other young children. ‘Just because he reacts more cautiously than Charlotte when there is a camera around isn’t an indication of what he is like behind closed doors,’ says one. ‘Your first day at school is a big enough deal without all these strange people watching you. He is a very happy little boy.’

‘They know there will come a time when they will have to sit down and talk to him about the implications of his royal status and why so many people are interested in him. He is becoming more aware of the cameras. But they are determined to do that at George’s own pace and feel that can all wait a bit.’

The piece included fascinating snippets on George's relationship with his grandparents:

'Charles’s ever-increasing workload — which now includes a number of duties that traditionally fell to the Queen, particularly foreign travel — means the time he has available is limited. But Prince Louis’s christening last week saw Charles host his growing family at Clarence House for what was described as a ‘really fun family afternoon’.

‘It is clear he is immensely proud of his sons and adores his grandchildren,’ one source told me. ‘I’d say things are better than they have been for a long time.’ Another said: ‘Charles understands that Kate gravitates to her mother and family and is actually very grateful for everything the Middletons do.

Carole, 63, and her husband Michael, 69, play a hugely significant role in their grandchildren’s lives — as their current Caribbean holiday together shows. She has taken George and Charlotte to work at the family’s Party Pieces HQ, a short drive from the Middletons’ Berkshire mansion, where they play at being shopkeepers. One visitor spotted George sitting in the ‘front of house’, exclaiming excitedly ‘Oh my gosh!’ as his indulgent granny gave him a bag of sweets for being a good boy.
Kate understands only too well that it is a grandparent’s prerogative to spoil their grandchildren — and still laughs about how she once called home from a foreign tour to speak to her mother, who was looking after George, only for him to tell her earnestly that his granny had given him ‘chips, again’ for dinner.'

Speaking of George's relationship with his grandparents, a splendid never-before-seen photo of Charles, William and George features in the summer exhibition - Prince and Patron - at Buckingham Palace.

I can still vividly remember the day in July 2013 when Prince George was born. Fast forward five years and the little prince has completed his first year of school and is now a big brother to two siblings. I thought it would be fun to take a look back on his birthday portraits. To mark George's first birthday in 2014, photos of the prince with his parents were taken at the Natural History Museum's 'Sensational Butterflies' exhibition. The photo of him looking both apprehensive and determined when touching a butterfly on William's hand is one of my favourites. Those cheeks...

To mark Prince George's second birthday, Kensington Palace released a new photo from Princess Charlotte's christening, taken earlier that month by Mario Testino. The prince is captured in his father's arms, smiling and leaning towards the camera.

Several lovely photographs taken by Matt Porteous were released for George's third birthday. The show-stealing photo from the set for me was the image of George and Lupo sitting on a rug outside; it captured a darling moment showing the Prince offering the family pet a taste of his ice-cream.

For George's fourth birthday, William and Kate chose a photo taken by Chris Jackson at Kensington Palace. Chris Jackson is married to Kate's assistant and stylist Natasha Archer and they have reportedly asked Chris to take a number of private photos over the years, so George was clearly very comfortable with him. Speaking of Chris and Natasha, congratulations are in order as the couple are expecting their first child in the coming months (click here for more). I love the natural smile in this photo.

I imagine celebrations will see the family enjoying lunch and cake, possibly on the beach and the children participating in the host of activities available on the Island.

Wishing George a very Happy Birthday!

UPDATED: Prince Louis' Christening Portraits Released

Almost a week after Prince Louis' christening, the eagerly awaited official portraits have been released. We saw several darling mother-son shots at the christening; it was a treat to see one from the photo session too.

Kensington Palace Twitter Feed

The portraits were taken at Clarence House's Morning Room following the christening at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, by renowned photographer Matt Holyoak. The photographer said "I was truly honoured at being asked to take the official photographs at the christening of Prince Louis, and to witness at first hand such a happy event. Everyone was so relaxed and in such good spirits, it was an absolute pleasure. I only hope I have captured some of that joy in my photographs."

Kensington Palace Twitter Feed

The photo of Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Cambridges and the Sussexes offers a very powerful visual image - the future of the British Royal family. Note, very adorably Charlotte is holding Louis' hand, and look at George's smile :)

Kensington Palace Twitter Feed

The family of five.

Kensington Palace Twitter Feed

The Palace released an additional photograph of Kate and Louis with the message "Their Royal Highnesses hope that everyone enjoys this lovely photograph of Prince Louis as much as they do." The photo was taken by Matt Porteous, the photographer took George's third birthday portraits. I imagine this is one from their personal album from the day. It offers by far the best look at the adorable prince. He really does look like his mother.

Kensington Palace

Matt Holyoak is one of the world's leading celebrity portrait photographers. His love of portraiture started at Art College, where he studied to be a fine artist, specialising in contemporary portrait painting and drawing.  He then discovered his passion for photography and perfected his craft working in still life, fashion and portraiture - assisting some of the most revered photographers of our times.

His photographs have been published internationally in magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, Another, Vogue, Dazed and Confused, Elle, Empire, Rolling Stone, Interview, L’Uomo Vogue and Vanity Fair. He has shot campaigns for Adidas, Gilette and Qatar Airways. A number of his pieces have been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery for their permanent collection.

Holyoak took the hugely popular 70th wedding anniversary images of the Queen and Prince Philip.

Prince Louis was baptised by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. The Lily Font and water from the River Jordan were used during the baptism. Louis wore a hand-made replica of the royal christening robe, made by Angela Kelly, dressmaker to the Queen. William and Kate chose six godparents for their eleven-week-old son. Kate's cousin Lucy Middleton and close friends Nicholas van Cutsem, Guy Pelly, Harry Aubrey-Fletcher, Laura Meade and Hannah Gillingham Carter.

The christening provided the first official photos of the Cambridges as a family of five.

The Duchess chose a bespoke cream Alexander McQueen dress with a neck and puff sleeves for the christening. Kate teamed it with a headband-style Jane Taylor hat, Jimmy Choo Romy Pumps and Cassandra Goad Cavolfiore Pearl Studs.

Prince George's christening portraits were taken by Jason Bell at Clarence House following his christening at the Chapel Royal. They included a portrait of the Queen with three heirs to the throne.

Princess Charlotte's portraits were taken at Sandringham House after the christening at St Mary Magdalene Church by royal favourite Mario Testino. They had a more relaxed, informal feel than George's.

If you're just joining us, William and Kate were in the Royal Box for the Wimbledon Men's Final this afternoon. Click here to view the post.

With George and Charlotte on summer holidays from Thomas's Battersea and Willcocks Nursery School, I expect the Cambridges will divide their time over the next couple of months between London and Anmer Hall. The Duchess isn't expected to resume official duties until the autumn, although it's possible she'll make an appearance or two before then. The release of the portraits seems the perfect way to close a very interesting week which included the christening, the RAF centenary and Wimbledon. Matt Holyoak did a splendid job with the photos, which one is your favourite?

The Duchess in Dolce for Wimbledon Men's Final!

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the Gentlemen's Singles Final of the Championships, Wimbledon.

The Duke and Duchess arriving.

William and Kate spent time with tennis royalty Rod Laver and Kim Clijsters. Laver's 200 singles titles are the most in tennis history. This included his all-time men's record of 10 or more titles per year for seven consecutive years (1964–70). He excelled on all of the court surfaces of his time: grass, clay, hard, carpet, and wood/parquet. Clijsters is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She won 41 singles and eleven doubles titles during her career.

It was very much a weekend of Wimbledon for the Duchess. Yesterday, Kate attended the women's final with the Duchess of Sussex and today she was accompanied by William. The Queen passed her patronage of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in December 2016 - an ideal fit for the ardent fan and keen amateur player.

The Duke and Duchess were joined in the Royal Box by Prime Minister Theresa May.

Prince William chatting with the PM.

The final saw Novak Djokovic face off against Kevin Anderson.

The Telegraph reported: "So here we are. After two weeks of baking-hot sun and intriguing (if not always thrilling) tennis, 126 men have headed home and we are left with just the two finalists: Kevin Anderson and Novak Djokovic. Were all things equal this would be a tricky match to call, what with Anderson's serve-heavy game well-suited to grass and his giant-killer pedigree burnished by defeating Roger Federer in Wednesday's quarter-final. There is of course though a huge 6hr 36min cloud hanging over Anderson, whose body will surely be in bits after Friday's marathon semi-final against John Isner. Anderson did at least theoretically have a day off yesterday but he looked drained of energy during his press commitments, and will be made to work extremely hard this afternoon by the almost sadistically durable Djokovic."

The Duke and Duchess watched closely as the final kicked off.

Kate with Sophie Winkleman. Sophie is the wife of Lord Frederick Windsor, son of the Queen's first cousin Prince Michael of Kent. Their daughter Maude goes to Thomas's Battersea with Prince George.

Famous faces in the Royal Box included Hugh Grant and Katherine Jenkins.

Actor Eddie Redmayne and his wife Hannah.

A tense moment during the match.

There were hair-raising moments during the third set.

In a special interview for a BBC documentary last year, Kate revealed her lifelong love of the tournament. "I have watched Wimbledon, that was very much part of my growing up. I was really taken by Agassi and Sampras, Ivanisevic and Steffi Graf. Those are my first memories." Kate also said she queued for hours to get into the tournament before joining the Royal Family, adding: “Being able to go into Wimbledon and be part of an amazing atmosphere is special.” She said: “It inspires young people including myself. Every time Wimbledon is on I am thinking ‘Yes, I could do the same’ and get out the racket. Sadly, not the same results.”

In the end, Djokovic was the victor winning in three sets. Today marks his fourth men's singles Wimbledon title.

Cheers, smiles and applause after the match.

William and Kate congratulated Novak on his victory.

The Duchess chose the vibrant and summery yellow Dolce & Gabbana Crepe Dress (with thanks to Replicate Royals). It's a beautiful choice for Wimbledon.

The £805 dress is described as "Crafted from smoothing crepe, this knee-length style is perfect for warm-weather events - think the races, weddings and garden parties. It's subtly darted through the bodice for a figure-hugging fit and finished with ruffled sleeves."

The dress is from the brand's tropical Resort 2017 Collection.

The Telegraph writes:

'The Duchess of Cambridge could be spotted from a mile off as she arrived at Centre Court today, to watch Novak Djokovic take on Kevin Anderson in the Wimbledon men’s finals.

Dressed in a slice of lemon-esque, Dolce and Gabbana dress, she looked entirely heatwave-ready, and is guaranteed to stand out on screen when the finalists pause for a breather between rallies and the cameras inevitably pan to HRH in the crowd.

The Duchess’ endorsement of the LYD, or little yellow dress, secures the status of ‘sunshine dressing’ as one of summer’s key trends.'

For those hoping to Repli-Kate the look, Kate J suggests the $108 Jax Shift Dress with Flutter Detail and the $72 (now reduced to $36) Little Mistress Grenoble Pleat Neck Dress.

The Italian brand is fast becoming a favourite of Kate's. For Wimbledon last year, Kate selected their Pleated Polka-Dot dress. Middleton Maven notes the dress is reduced by 50% to £825 at The Outnet.

Kate accessorised her look with the same bag and sunglasses as yesterday. The $1695 Dolce & Gabbana Pink Medium Miss Sicily Bag is described as "Structured grained 'dauphine' calfskin top handle bag in 'rose' pink. Carry handle at top. Adjustable and detachable shoulder strap with lobster clasp fastening." The stylish bag is available at My Theresa and SSENSE.

And the Ray-Ban Youngster Youngster Square Keyhold Sunglasses. They are currently available at Nordstrom.

Kate wore her trusty Cartier watch.

Kate accessorised with her citrine ring.

Kate was first spotted wearing it over a decade ago for her 26th birthday celebrations. She sported it again in May for the Royal wedding.

Kate completed the look with her Asprey necklace with charms from the Woodland Collection.

And Asprey Oak Leaf earrings (with many thanks to Katie, she received confirmation from the brand).

Kate's Wimbledon pin.

Kate's shoes were nude/beige, I'll update if photos of them emerge.

The official portraits taken at Prince Louis' christening will be released tonight. We'll see you later tonight :)