Fashion Queen

Two days ago she officially named the horse that is leading today’s historic Trooping the Colour parade, an honour that would have no doubt utterly thrilled the young Camilla Shand. For Camilla is a countrywoman at heart: a Pony Club fanatic in her young days, Camilla is most at home with her Jack Russels at Highgrove. But the role of Queen often requires clothing that disregards practicality and prioritises pageantry instead. For her husband’s first-ever Birthday Parade, however, the Queen was able to fuse both – something that was no doubt music to her ears.

In homage to her new role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards - one of the seven regiments of the Household Division of the Army on display - Camilla wore a military-inspired red silk dress by London couture designer Fiona Clare. It was a break from tradition nobody could have foreseen, and an unprecedented fashion feat – rarely is a designer allowed to incorporate genuine military insignia into their designs. For such a specific task, it was unsurprising that Camilla called upon Clare – she is a couturier with over thirty years’ experience upon whom the Queen has relied for many important events in the past. The bespoke creation features traditional military epaulettes embroidered with the rank insignia of a full colonel, while the collar showcases the ‘Grenade Fired Proper’ (the symbol that appears on the buttons of the Grenadier Guards’ uniform) in gold bullion.

And the military references went as far as Camilla’s choice of headwear, too. Philip Treacy – described by Vogue as ‘perhaps the greatest living milliner’ – created a design reminiscent of a Guardsman’s bearskin, with a gold ‘grenade’ exploding into a feather plume.

An expertly curated masterclass in how to unite the history and symbolism of uniform with the unrivalled elegance of couture fashion.