Today the Queen hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace in honor of the 50th anniversary of Prince Charles’s investiture as Prince of Wales. Charles was named PoW by his mother at the age of nine in 1958, but not formally invested with the title until the age of 20 in 1969. By his side for the anniversary were his two sons and daughters-in-law, the Dukes and Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex, as well as his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, and his sister, the Princess Royal.
Notably not at the ceremony were his younger brothers, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex, which is likely another nod towards his desire to “streamline” the monarchy to focus on the monarch and his or her children. Given that today was about him and not his mother, it thus makes a little more sense that the guests of honor were his own children. That said, the presence of his sister and not his brothers does lend a little credence to personal preference playing some role.
Also on hand were Prime Minister Theresa May, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a host of figures representing public life and Charles’s charity work in the UK, with an emphasis on Wales.
Naturally, most headlines are leading with the fact that this is the first time Kate and Meghan have been seen together since Christmas. That frankly has less to do with anything going on behind the scenes and more to do with the reality of the royal calendar. The majority of the events that prompt the entire family to gather occur over the summer, hence why there were a slew of appearances following the Sussexes’ May wedding – Trooping the Colour, Wimbledon, etc.
The other news of the day is that yesterday Kensington Palace posted updated guidelines for engaging with their social media accounts. It’s been widely reported that staff have had to deal with commenters using obscenities and threats towards members of the RF – mostly Kate and Meghan – as well as with each other, leading to some consternation over how to deal with the issue. The new rules state explicitly that such behavior isn’t allowed and can lead to being blocked or having the comment deleted.
It’s an ongoing issue that many royal reporters are also dealing with online. I’ve seen a little bit of it via other accounts, but never directly so a belated thank you to everyone who reads here or follows the Instagram account for always keeping it friendly 😉
On the fashion front, we have a rare occurrence of multiple pending IDs…though I will update when that changes. Kate’s dress looks very similar to a Beulah dress she wore to Kuala Lumpar in 2012, but the brand has confirmed today’s is not theirs. So, TBD…
Meghan, meanwhile, is wearing a bespoke floral brocade maternity dress, her white Amanda Wakeley coat that she’s recycled a couple times since debuting it, and Paul Andrew heels.
We’ll next see William and Kate tomorrow for a visit to Blackpool, and then Meghan on Friday in honor of International Women’s Day. I also have a historical post ready to go up on Thursday, so we have a full docket!