HOSTING A SPARKLING RECEPTION AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE THE KING AND QUEEN GREET ESTEEMED GUESTS IN FULL GLITTERING REGALIA

The King and Queen were joined by the Prince of Wales as they hosted a glittering white-tie reception at Buckingham Palace.

- TRACY SCHAVERIEN

Their Majesties, dressed in their formal finery, welcomed around 900 members of the Diplomatic Corps to the palace’s opulent State Rooms, where Camilla wore an heirloom tiara for the first time.

Her Majesty, who has recently recovered from a chest infection, put on a brave face despite having announced the previous day that her beloved rescue dog Beth had been put down.

She wore a blue velvet evening dress by Fiona Clare with the insignia of the Order of the Garter, along with King Charles III’s Family Order – a diamond-encased miniature portrait of her husband, topped with a tiny gold and enamel Tudor crown and suspended on a pale blue silk bow on her left shoulder.

Family order badges are worn at formal evening occasions by female members of the royal family, having been bestowed by the sovereign as a sign of their importance within the royal household.