Steering away from her trademark practicality, Princess Anne has been sporting some of her most glamorous outfits in decades over the past few weeks.
After donning a floor-length lace dress at the end of June, the Princess Royal once again showed off her elevated wardrobe in a pastel blue gown at a reception for recipients of the King’s Award for Enterprise 2026.
As she chatted to guests at St James’s Palace on 8 July, the royal was pictured in a scoop-neck dress with a sequin-embellished bodice, elegantly covering her shoulders with a blue and white shawl that matched her gloves.
Adding more sparkle to her look, she accessorised with a pearl necklace featuring an aquamarine pendant – an item she made out of her Cartier Aquamarine Pineflower Tiara.
Commissioned by King George VI for the Queen Mother’s silver wedding anniversary in 1948, the tiara was only spotted on Elizabeth on a handful of occasions, including a Royal Gala Performance of Twelfth Night in 1950. She then gifted the jewellery to her granddaughter Anne when she married her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, in 1973.
Two decades later, Anne turned the central aquamarine cluster into a pendant necklace and brooch, which she often wears to state banquets.
Diamond expert Maxwell Stone previously told HELLO!: “A large rectangular aquamarine sits in place of the element that the Princess Royal had removed for the brooch,” before estimating the brooch alone is worth around $150k.
The piece was on display at the V&A Museum from April to November in 2025, but Anne temporarily removed it to accessorise her outfit for the State Banquet held for the visit of US President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, in September.
© GettyAnne’s glam outfit
While many may question why Anne chose to wear gloves in the blistering UK heat, it is not uncommon for her to be spotted with the accessory.
For the recent Veterans’ Foundation’s 10th anniversary celebrations in London, King Charles’ sister looked elegant in a lace column dress with puff sleeves and a pale yellow hue, which she teamed with pearls and Opera-length gloves.
© The Veterans’ Foundation / Steph Friend Weddings & FilmShutting down rumours that she wears them to protect against germs while shaking hands, she said in the ITV documentary Queen of the World, which aired in 2018, that she is simply following tradition.
“I mean we never shook hands,” she said. “The theory was that you couldn’t shake hands with everybody, so don’t start. So I kind of stick with that, but I notice others don’t.
“It’s not for me to say that it’s wrong, but I think that the initial concept was that it was patently absurd to start shaking hands. And it seems to me that it’s become a shaking hands exercise, rather than a walkabout, if you see what I mean. So that, it has changed.”
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