The dress code was ‘black tie with a hint of sparkle’.
And on her first official engagement of the year, the Duchess of Cambridge certainly stuck to the sparkle.
Around her neck was a priceless diamond necklace on loan from the Queen. The Nizam of Hyderabad necklace was given to Her Majesty as a gift when she married in November 1947.
Wearing a midnight blue Jenny Packham evening gown — plain to show off the beauty of her diamonds — Kate walked up a set of stairs encrusted in gold glitter in honour of the occasion with a hint of a tan courtesy of her recent holiday with Prince George to Mustique.
The Duchess was tonight attending the black tie Portrait Gala 2014 at the National Portrait Gallery in London in her role as patron.
She met with a selection of guests during a reception before attending the Gala Dinner. Those attending the event included legendary photographer David Bailey, Olympic Gold medallist Katherine Grainger, transvestite potter Grayson Perry, actor Alan Rickman and artist Jonathan Yeo.
Mr Perry recently collected his CBE from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace wearing what he referred to as his ‘Italian mother of the bride outfit’.
In doing so he became the first man to ever do so dressed as a woman. Fortunately the palace has become something progressive of late and his choice of attire was described as ‘entirely appropriately’ by the Queen’s spokesman, Daily Mail informs.
