There was much talk about a dressing down of finery prior to King Charles III’s coronation on May 6 this past weekend, but in the end, spectacle won. The 60-minute ceremony was shorter—Queen Victoria’s famously lasted five hours, while Queen Elizabeth II’s lasted three—but there were still plenty of ermine robes and formal mantles swanning around the halls of Westminster Abbey, where coronations have been held in Britain since 1066. Tiaras there were not, aside from Charles’s own St Edward’s Crown and Imperial State Crown, and Camilla’s Queen Mary’s Crown, but in their place? An array of intricate headpieces, from Princess Kate and Charlotte’s silver Alexander McQueen laurels—the mother and daughter of Wales, matching in embroidered leaf appliqués—to Duchess Sophie of Edinburgh’s floral fascinator, affixed to the side of her chignon.
The fashion, of course, didn’t stop once the royals stepped away from the balcony at Buckingham Palace, post-flyover and procession. Members of The Firm then attended an official coronation lunch and concert, still sporting the patriotic colour palette they’d been championing in the lead-up to, and during, the ceremony itself. Kate, for example, swapped her white Alexander McQueen gown for something more casual: a sky blue blazer over a white T-shirt, worn with black skinny jeans. For Anne, Princess Royal, it was the inverse. She paid her visit in a white tweed blazer over a blue striped shirt, and a dash of red lipstick to complete the trio of Union Jack shades.
At the coronation concert, the royals were joined by a host of performers—some, who had already headlined the ceremony earlier in the day. Katy Perry glittered on stage in a gilded Vivienne Westwood ball gown, while Lionel Richie sung in a suave white jacket. In the stands were the Waleses again. Kate wore a red Alexander McQueen suit, while Charlotte, her sartorial miniature, wore a white-and-black dress by Self-Portrait, the same designer behind Kate's dress from the pre-coronation reception a day prior.
Below, discover everything they wore after King Charles’s coronation.
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