Queen Camilla rewears coronation dress, crown worn by Queen Elizabeth II for State Opening
Queen Camilla is upcycling in style.
King Charles III's wife arrived at the first State Opening of Parliament during his reign on Tuesday in her coronation dress and a poignant accessory linking her to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The ivory gown was designed by Bruce Oldfield and features silver and gold embroidered floral designs to represent the monarch's "affection for nature and the British countryside," according to the Royal Collection Trust. Her children, grandchildren and her two dogs were also embroidered in the hem.
Queen Camilla also paid tribute to the British royals that came before her by wearing the George VI State Diadem crown, originally made for the coronation of King George IV in 1820 and often worn by King Charles' late mother.
The crown became a staple for British queens and consorts after King George IV's coronation. Queen Adelaide, Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) and Queen Elizabeth II all once wore the headpiece.
Like Queen Camilla, Queen Elizabeth II wore the special crown to her first State Opening of Parliament in 1952. The late queen, who died in September 2022, also wore it to her coronation in 1953 ahead of the crowning ceremony and en route to most State Openings of Parliament before swapping it for the Imperial State Crown, which King Charles III wore Tuesday.
Commonly known as the Diamond Diadem, the jewelry is donned with 1,333 diamonds and four crosses alternating with four sprays to represent England, Ireland and Scotland's emblems.
At the State Opening ceremony, King Charles III sat on a gilded throne and read out the King’s Speech, a list of planned laws drawn up by the U.K.'s Conservative government and aimed at winning over voters before the country’s general election next year.
The king is performing a role that his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, fulfilled for seven decades and other British monarchs carried out before her in a tradition stretching back hundreds of years.
Britain holds elections every four or five years, with the government’s term divided into Parliament sessions that are roughly a year long. Each begins with a grand State Opening ceremony, where politicians and the monarch symbolically enact the tussle between Crown and Parliament that produced Britain’s constitutional monarchy.
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For the first time since 1951, Parliament is being opened with a King’s Speech rather than a Queen’s Speech. Queen Elizabeth II delivered 67 speeches during her 70-year reign, missing the occasion twice when she was pregnant and when she delegated the now-king to read the one in May 2022 on her behalf.
As Britain’s head of state, King Charles III reigns but does not rule. Monarchs are constitutionally obliged to follow the government’s advice as they carry out ceremonial duties such as opening Parliament and appointing new prime ministers.
Contributing: Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
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