The Princess Debuts a New Brand for Royal Variety Performance

The Princess of Wales chose a gown by Safiyaa for tonight’s Royal Variety Performance.  

People’s Simon Perry shared a quick video of the couple arriving at Royal Albert Hall.

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden joined the Prince and Princess of Wales. 

This is the fifth time the couple has attended the performance. Most recently, they attended the event in 2021. 

Funds raised through tonight’s event will go toward providing expert care for residents at Brinsworth House—more from the Royal Variety Charity site. 

Set within over three acres of land, Brinsworth House is a beautiful mansion on the outskirts of Twickenham and for over one hundred years has become the home of many retired artists and those of who have spent their lives serving the entertainment industry.

Appropriately labeled the Old Pro’s Paradise, it can accommodate residents in 40 bedrooms who are cared for by a dedicated team of highly trained nurses and care assistants.

Funds are also used to provide grants to those in the industry needing assistance. Below, another view of the couple. 

And the Swedish royals. 

Also on tonight’s red carpet, Hannah Waddingham, who performed with the English National Opera.

Others performing this evening included singer, songwriter, and actress Beverly Knight. Pianist Lang Lang.

Here you see the Princess as she goes inside. 
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Below, the Princess was given flowers when she was welcomed inside.
The Crown Princess was also given a bouquet. The Independent notes this bouquet contained Campanulas, the national flower of her home country.

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More from The Independent’s story by Pol Allingham. 

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Rebecca English of The Daily Mail shared several videos of the royals chatting with performers, including headliner Cher. 

Here, you see the couples in the royal box during the national anthem. 
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A wide shot. 

And now we turn to fashion, starting with Crown Princess Victoria’s ensemble.

Bethan Holt reports in The Telegraph that tonight’s “dress, scarf, bag, necklace and bracelets were all by Swedish ‘It’Totome.” Royal Fashion Police notes the scarf is the Maxi Triangle style, and the bag is the black evening clutch. 

Now for our look at what Kate wore this evening. 

Her gown was by London-based Safiyaa, a new label for the Princess. It is the brand’s ‘Destiny’ style ($2445) in a color called ‘Poseidon Blue.’ The piece is made of a heavy crepe fabric that is 92% polyester and 8% elastane. It features a fitted silhouette with dramatic floor-length split sleeves, a concealed back zipper, crystal embellishment at the neckline, and a strong shoulder with shoulder pads.

Here is a closer look at the neckline. Thank you to Laura for her work on this ID and UFO No More for letting us know the exact dress became available online.

Thoughts on tonight’s look from Alice Newbold’s Vogue column.

Toeing the line between red-carpet wear and royal regalia, Kate’s evening look epitomized her appeal as a modern-day Princess. Since assuming her new title in 2022, she has cut back on any albeit subtle frou-frou and zeroed in on tailoring. This precisely-cut teal dress by a London label is an evolved version of a Kate signature, but spells out a quiet kind of confidence. It is aeons away from the woman who wore a Cinderella-blue Jenny Packham gown with a crystal overlay to the 2017 Royal Variety Show, for example. 

Background on Safiyaa comes via The Telegraph. 

If anyone understands the need to look good and feel good, without being distracted by your clothes, it is Daniela Karnuts, founder and creative director at Safiyaa. Her quietly elegant designs have been worn by Michelle Obama, the Duchess of Sussex, Gillian Anderson and most recently, Penny Mordaunt for that starring role in King Charles’s Coronation ceremony.

“As women, we bear the weight of multiple roles, our clothes need not be one of them,” Karnuts says. “What we wear should accentuate and elevate how we feel and what we project. As a designer, it’s my job to incorporate this spirit. If I can help any woman with that, I know I have succeeded.”

Here you see the Penny Mordaunt style referenced in The Telegraph piece.

The heels worn this evening are a topic of debate: are they the teal Gianvito Rossi pair worn in March for St. Patrick’s Day, shown below left? Or the Emmy London Rebecca in the Lake colorway shown below right? I am on the fence and don’t think we will know unless we get a clear photo of the sole.

Tonight’s handbag is the Casa design by Jenny Packham. The Princess wore her hair down this evening. 

She brought back the J. Crew earrings first noted at the 2018 Festival of Remembrance.

The earrings are no longer available, but I added a couple of possibilities to the repliKates Jewelry page.

The Princess wore a bracelet we hadn’t seen previously. It remains unidentified at this point.

Here is a glance at all of the Royal Variety ensembles. For 2014’s performance, the Princess opted for the ‘Zarita’ lace evening gown by Diane von Furstenberg; at the 2017 performance, we saw an icy blue Jenny Packham gown with illusion tulle covered in sequins and crystals; in 2019, the Duchess chose a black lace Alexander McQueen design; in 2021, the Princess brought back a Jenny Packham gown first worn in Pakistan.

Earlier today, the Prince and Princess of Wales welcomed Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel to Windsor Castle. 

More from this People piece by Simon Perry. 

The two couples greeted each other warmly with hugs and kisses on the cheek.

The Swedish royals are on a few days’ visit to the U.K., and William and Kate wanted to cement their relationship with their counterparts. With William and Victoria both heirs to their respective thrones, they share a unique bond and are uniquely placed to continue the close relationship between the two royal families and their two countries.

For this event, the Princess brought back a dress similar to an Emilia Wickstead design that was first worn in May 2019. 

It is similar to the lavender ‘Kate’ A-line Wool Crepe Dress first worn in Germany in July 2017 and also the blue style worn for a November 2019 engagement. The fit on the bodice and the waistband on today’s dress are much like these styles, but as Rosanna pointed out in a comment, today’s dress is much longer than these designs.

We saw the return of the Emmy Rebecca heels ($490) in the ‘greenway’ color.

The Princess also wore her diamond and sapphire cabochon cluster earrings that belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales. They are shown here as worn on another occasion.

Royal Fashion Police reports that Princess Victoria was wearing the Alice + Olivia Landon Cropped Tweed Jacket ($730), a blouse by SwedishStenströms, and a Saint Lauren’ Le Maillon’ bag she has frequently used.  

VIDEOS: 

The Royal Family Channel’s video. 

 Richard Palmer of The Express posted several videos on Twitter. 

https://twitter.com/RoyalReporter/status/1730319877510930560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener