Though Kate Middleton, 42, continues her cancer treatments and remains out of the public eye, Queen Camilla has just followed in her daughter-in-law’s footsteps as she debuted the new Family Order at last night’s State Banquet at Buckingham Palace. The Family Order was bestowed upon the 76-year-old royal by her husband, King Charles, and marked a major change in royal tradition.
According to Hello! Magazine, Her Majesty wore a portrait of the 75-year-old monarch pinned to the blue sash on her dress, which shows King Charles wearing the uniform of the Admiral of the Fleet. Also, the portrait is surrounded by a diamond and gold frame with a tiny gold and enamel Tudor crown on top.
Per the outlet, the new Family Order is made of polymin, which is described as a “synthetic translucent treated plastic sheet.” This is a huge shift in the material used to make Orders (and a much more animal-friendly one). Formerly, the royals followed a not-so-great tradition that dates back to King George IV’s reign in the 1800s of making the Family Order out of ivory.
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During this year’s annual State Banquet, which marked the Japanese royals’ arrival to England, Queen Camilla wore the new Family Order above the late Queen Elizabeth’s Family Order, which she received in 2007, per People. Also per Hello!, Camilla wasn’t the first to deviate from the ivory Order tradition—Kate Middleton previously wore a Family Order that she received from Queen Elizabeth that was made from a different material.
Back in November 2023, Princess Catherine, Prince William, King Charles and other members of the British royal family attended the State Banquet, where they honored the President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeo and First Lady Kim Keon Hee during their visit to the U.K.
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At the time, the Princess of Wales wore Queen Elizabeth’s Family Order (which was bestowed upon her) along with an elegant white gown and a Strathmore Rose tiara. As I mentioned, similar to King Charles’s Family Order, Queen Elizabeth’s Family Order was made from a different material from ivory, which was certainly in line with Prince William’s own conservation work.
Talk about a positive change.
