The eyes of the world might have been on the newest royal bride, Kate Middleton—soon to be Duchess of Cambridge—but when The Queen arrived in primrose yellow for the April nuptials of her grandson Prince William, a style moment of her reign was cemented.
Ahead of William and Kate’s wedding, the bet-makers were having a field day on the odds of The Queen showing up in various colours to the Westminster Abbey royal wedding, with yellow the clear favourite.
On 29 April 2011, The Queen confirmed what the odds predicted and showed up in a lovely yellow coat dress and matching yellow hat. The outfit was designed by The Queen’s personal dressmaker and close friend Angela Kelly, who, since 1994, has worked for Her Majesty.
The Queen’s wedding outfit is described as a double crepe wool coat and matching dress with the neckline featuring beadwork inspired by sun rays to evoke a hopeful spirit for the royal wedding of her grandson and heir. Her sailor-style hat featured a wide straw brim with yellow silk roses and deep yellow leaves. Its structural aspects were dyed the same shade of yellow as the dress.
The Queen accessorised her wedding outfit with the appropriately-named Lover’s Knot brooch, featuring brilliant-cut diamonds in a lover’s knot shape, inherited from her grandmother Queen Mary. The Lover’s Knot brooch was purchased from Garrard & Co. in 1932, and The Queen inherited it in 1953 upon her grandmother’s death.
In the decades since, The Queen has worn the Lover’s Knot brooch to important state events and family events, including Remembrance Sunday commemorations, state banquets, and the weddings of Princess Margaret and Prince William, in 1960 and 2011.
Though the dress itself was not visible on William and Kate’s wedding day, it was the outfit of choice for The Queen’s Christmas Message in 2013.
