A service of thanksgiving was held yesterday to celebrate the lives of the Queen Mother (who died on March 30, 2002) and Princess Margaret (who died just a few weeks earlier, on February 9). Naturally, there was a big royal turnout, and everybody wore pretty much their usual fare - precisely as you would expect for an event like this, which is about fashion last.
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| Queen Elizabeth |
As expected, Queen Elizabeth wore one of her mother's brooches - a diamond and pearl shell brooch that was a favorite in the Queen Mum's later years and has now become a favorite all over again.
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| Princess Michael of Kent, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Countess of Wessex |
As expected, Princess Michael wore a big hat, the Duchess of Cornwall wore a better one, and the Countess of Wessex wore one with an explosion of feathers (which surely the Queen Mother, prone to feathery explosions of her own, would have appreciated).
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| Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice of York |
The York sisters got it almost right, just missing a secure hat fastening (Eug) and the right jacket (Bea). (And maybe also the right hat.)
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| Lady Sarah Chatto; Viscount Linley, Arthur Chatto, Charles Armstrong-Jones, Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Samuel Chatto |
Lady Sarah was elegant as always, and the kids were much more grown up than you thought you remembered them to be (as always).
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| Prince Harry of Wales and the Princess Royal |
If anything, Princess Anne was the one who came closest to surprising (and even then, not really) with her ever-so-slightly Yorkish hat tilt.
And speaking of Anne: she's a grandmother once again! Peter and Autumn Phillips welcomed daughter Isla Elizabeth (a jubilee baby indeed) on March 29th. Isla and big sister Savannah Phillips, born just over a year ago, are Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh's first great-grandchildren. The announcement yesterday was a lovely note to a day devoted to remembering another Elizabeth.
Photos: Daylife/Getty Images/APA Picturedesk
