Princess Eugenie is funereal in a sea of bright dresses at Queen’s party

Guests were dressed in all the colours of the rainbow and Queen Elizabeth donned vibrant blue, but Princess Eugenie ditched tradition for a more funereal blue-black ensemble at a Buckingham Palace garden party on Thursday in London.

The young royal wore a button-fronted dress with a nipped-in waist and unusual fluted sleeves and a matching hat with a short veil over her face for the second royal garden party of the year. The Express reported that about 8,000 people were at the party.

The princess’ hat, though, may’ve been a hint of happiness about her own upcoming wedding – she weds fiance Jack Brooksbank on October 12 – with the word ‘love’ picked out in silver jewels to decorate the brim of what hat-maker Misa Harada calls a “shallow boater”. The hat is available for sale for £191 (US$253, AU$335).

While Eugenie opted for dark attire, the Queen looked summery in a bright blue patterned dress and matching broad-brimmed hat, coupled with  her favourite sensible Anello & Davide court shoes and Launer handbag, both in black. (She reportedly owns 200 of the bags in various colours and pays £1,000 (US$1,329, AU$1,756) for the custom-made shoes, which she re-soles when they’re in danger of wearing out.)

It was such a lovely sunny day in London that the monarch even donned a pair of sunglasses, with the orange-tinted lenses that she always favours. But in a nod to the notoriously changeable English weather, she also carried a transparent umbrella. White gloves, a big diamond brooch and a three-strand pearl necklace completed Queen Elizabeth’s polished but surprisingly down-to-earth look. Prince William, meanwhile, donned a morning suit and top hat for the occasion that’s one of the highlights of the British summer for many people.

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The Queen hosts more than 30,000 people at her garden parties over the summer with invitees typically being rewarded for their public service. At this afternoon party, the Band of the Household Cavalry and the Band of the Royal Logistics Corps put on the entertainment. 

Princess Eugenie’s sombre outfit was in stark contrast to the summery floral dress she wore the previous day to meet Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award recipients. She posted a picture from that event in which she looked animated, and joked in the caption that “in my next life it looks like I cold be a comedian”.

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Eugenie’s wedding will be held at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, the same church that was the venue for Prince Harry’s recent wedding. She hasn’t yet revealed, though, whether her sister Princess Beatrice, with whom she’s very close, will be her maid of honour.

But she did recently post a lovely tribute to her “big sissy” on Instagram, showing that the siblings are as friendly as ever, even though Beatrice now lives in new York.