The Princess of Wales wore the pearl-embroidered Lovers’ Knot tiara for a state banquet at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, stepping out with Prince William to host President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump as King Charles III and Queen Camilla presided over the formal dinner.
Kate chose a structured Phillipa Lepley silk crepe gown beneath a hand-embroidered gold Chantilly lace evening coat and carried a matching clutch. She also wore the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Family Order and the King’s Royal Family Order, along with a blue sash identifying her as a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.
The tiara itself has long been a favorite of the Princess of Wales. The Lovers’ Knot, a pearlescent piece created in 1914 by the House of Garrard for Queen Mary, has been in royal rotation for more than a century. The piece was kept in a safe at Buckingham Palace after Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022 and later passed to Kate. Diana, Princess of Wales, wore the tiara to the opening of Parliament in 1981, cementing its place in modern royal memory. Kate has worn the tiara on multiple state and formal occasions, including ten of her fifteen tiara appearances, making it one of her most frequently chosen headpieces.
The tiara’s backstory also includes a lineage of royal borrowing and family legacy. The piece was born out of a 1914 commission by Queen Mary, who reportedly sacrificed another tiara from her collection to fashion the Lovers’ Knot. While Kate’s use of the tiara continues a tradition of heirloom wearing at high-profile events, it remains among a small cadre of pieces the monarchy reserves for grand occasions. Cartier Halo and Lotus Flower tiaras are also in Kate’s rotation, though the Cartier Halo has seen far less public use since Kate’s engagement in 2011, and Elizabeth II never publicly wore the piece during her reign.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla arrived with King Charles wearing the Belgian sapphire tiara, a diamond bandeau dating back to 1932, paired with a deep royal blue Bruce Oldfield gown. Camilla also wore the King’s Family Order. The Belgian sapphire tiara’s provenance and its pairing with her dress marked a coordinated display of royal jewelry and style that underscored the state visit’s ceremonial tone.
The Trump delegation included Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos, alongside other members of the Trump family. The evening featured a speech by the King, who welcomed the Trumps to Windsor with a toast to the enduring partnership between the United Kingdom and the United States. He highlighted shared values and the long-standing “special” relationship that binds the two nations, noting the collaboration across culture, science, defense, security, and the environment. The President, in turn, praised Charles and highlighted the bond between the two countries, with remarks that mixed formal diplomacy and light humor.
Among the notable guests at the banquet were technology leaders and business executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who sat among other dignitaries. The menu featured Hampshire watercress panna cotta, Norfolk chicken ballotine, and vanilla ice bombe with a Kentish raspberry sorbet, a choice that surprised some in attendance for its conventional elegance rather than any experimental twists.
The banquet table stretched for more than 42 meters (about 52 yards) and was laid with 1,452 pieces of cutlery and 139 candles, arranged for 160 guests. Staff had spent days assembling the long table in St George’s Hall, part of Windsor Castle’s historic ground, as Buckingham Palace undergoes renovation work that has redirected several state functions to Windsor. The couple’s guests were greeted by ceremonial staff and a floral display of seasonal blooms gathered from a nearby estate. The event featured a blend of modern hospitality and centuries-old ritual, underscoring the enduring role of royal ceremonies in reinforcing the United Kingdom’s diplomatic ties.
The Presidents’ visit and the accompanying banquet showcased the long alliance between the UK and the US, a relationship described by the King as anchored in shared history and mutual priorities. As the night concluded, the royal hosts mingled with guests, signed off on formal toasts, and underscored the enduring bridge between the two countries, even as the pageantry reflected a tradition that has evolved with the times. The Lovers’ Knot tiara, worn with elegance and historical resonance, served as a focal point of the evening’s sartorial narrative, linking past and present in a single glittering statement.