The state banquet is the crown jewel in an official state visit, a tradition that includes a grand feast with speeches and royal toasts. Diplomacy dresses up to the nines, and it’s a moment where fashion will say more than you think—especially when it’s an unprecedented second state visit, which President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have been navigating since their arrival in the UK on Tuesday September 16.
Yesterday evening (September 17), King Charles III and Queen Camilla hosted the state banquet at Windsor Castle to honor the Trumps. After ensconcing herself in her best-of-British Burberry trench, failsafe Dior suit, and a face-eschewing, drop-brimmed mauve chapeau, Melania made quite the statement in a canary yellow, off-the-shoulder Carolina Herrera column gown with a lilac waist belt. She wore her hair down and loose, which revealed a pair of diamond and emerald drop earrings she’s worn on several occasions previous, and a pair of frosted velvet lilac Manolo Blahnik pumps. Trump, beside her, wore the traditional white tie tuxedo.
Melania’s choice of dress from the American label (helmed by American designer Wes Gordon, who produces their clothing in New York, and which Trump has looked to for previous presidential engagements) felt deliberate and considered—a dramatic, loud dress as a statement of American power at a historic diplomatic engagement, having up to this point worn the British heritage label Burberry, and Dior, now headed up by Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson—seemingly, a symbol of sartorial British politeness.
In contrast, Kate Middleton—Catherine, Princess of Wales—opted for one of her most glittering, glamorous looks in some time. The princess wore a cream-colored lace couture gown by British designer Phillipa Lepley, pairing it with a pearl-heavy tiara called the Cambridge Lover’s Knot. It is a favorite of Kate’s and the late Princess Diana before her, originally created for Queen Mary in 1914 by Garrard using existing jewelry in the royal’s collection, and that was later lent to Diana on her wedding day in 1981.
Queen Camilla also chose an astutely British look, carrying on her color palette from their earlier events of the day in a bright blue silk Fiona Clare dress with a v-neck, flowing sleeves, and a matching blue sash. As is tradition, she paired it with the coordinating Belgian Sapphire Tiara. The Queen’s tiara is also personally significant. It was commissioned in 1963 by the monarch Elizabeth to match a sapphire necklace that was given to her by her father, King George VI, as a wedding present, made from an antique sapphire and diamond necklace that once belonged to Princess Louise of Belgium. Camilla last wore the tiara during her very first state banquet as Queen Consort back in 2022, held in honor of President Cyril Ramaphosa, from the Republic of South Africa.
Other Royals in attendance brought out their own striking jewels and headpieces: Princess Anne, who attended with her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, wore her Aquamarine Tiara and suite of matching earrings, necklace, and brooch, as well as the family orders and her Order of the Garter star and sash. The Duchess of Gloucester, accompanied by the Duke of Gloucester opted for the Honeysuckle Tiara to match her periwinkle blue gown with a silk bateau neckline.
Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos were also in attendance at the state dinner. Tiffany walked in with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who she last met with Princess William and Princess Catherine. She wore a midnight blue taffeta strapless gown with a long blue sash and beading work. Other guests at the state dinner included media monarch Rupert Murdoch, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio—all in event-appropriate tuxedos.
Amid crowds of protesters taking to London streets in reaction to the Trump’s visit, it remains a curious, pivotal moment for deepening the special American-British relationship. Dressing the polite, quietly powerful part is tantamount.