The Royals Commemorate VE Day

Today and for the next three days leading up to May 8th, Britain is marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day. This morning, William, Kate, and their children all joined veterans and King Charles, Queen Camilla, and other senior royals for a military parade. They watched the parade from a temporary viewing platform by the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.

Later in the morning, the royal party enjoyed a flyover from the Buckingham Palace balcony.

I was very excited to see all three children attend the event. Obviously, Louis has been included in these big ticket events already, but I still am getting used to it. William and Kate only brought Prince George, though, to a tea held later at the Palace for veterans, which makes sense. That was a formal public engagement at which the young prince was expected to engage with veterans more directly, and it makes sense his parents only brought him.

Kate chose recycles for today’s events. The Princess was wearing the Emilia Wickstead coat-dress and Sean Barrett hat that she debuted at the Africa State Visit in November 2022. She added extra sparkle with ruby and diamond earrings and matching pendant.

Kate wore the pendant in Poland in 2017 with very similar earrings. Her earrings in 2017 had a different, longer drop, and they had a heavier diamond halo. I can’t quite tell if the rubies themselves were larger in 2017 or if the thicker halo gives the allusion that they are larger.

As you can see, if the earrings are the same, they have been reworked since 2017, although I kind of think the rubies themselves are smaller. In any event, her jewelry was a lovely addition to her ensemble!

Kate also put Charlotte in the beautiful tartan coat the little princess wore at Christmas. Although in some parts of the world the weather feels closer to summer, the autumnal vibes worked with London’s rainy day. And Kate’s pleated coat worked really well with the military themes of the day, too.

You have probably seen the headlines that the royal family hopes the VE celebrations will put Harry’s recent BBC interview out of sight and out of mind. The timing was certainly striking. Harry goes on BBC and actually articulates that he wants to still be operating in the U.K. undertaking public engagements—in essence, he admits he misses his royal life— and the royals are out in force the next Monday celebrating history and the country at a national event. Brutal for Harry.

Here at From Berkshire to Buckingham, we won’t be moving on from the BBC interview quite yet. I am writing more newsletters on the interview, and, fear not, the Meghan/HRH post is also in the queue.