In Photos: Kate Middleton and Prince William Host the Second Royal Garden Party of 2026

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The Prince and Princess of Wales along with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh seen arriving.

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Each garden party begins with the royal family’s ceremonial arrival and the British national anthem.

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The Princess of Wales is wearing a cream polka dot midi dress from one of her favorite labels, Self-Portrait, and a vintage wide-brimmed Mitzi Lorenz hat. Read more

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The Duchess of Edinburgh is wearing a familiar pastel blue Roland Mouret dress with a bow detail on the shoulder, previously seen at a Holyroodhouse garden party in 2024. She topped it off with a floral, cornflower blue Jane Taylor hat.

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Prince Edward looked dapper as always in a morning coat and top hat.

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Blue was apparently the color of the day. Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall, looked regal in a royal blue LEO LIN dress with a floral detailing on the skirt and ruching on the shoulders, paired with a Sarah Cant hat. She was also carrying an embroidered Aspinal of London canvas raffia clutch.

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William and Kate are seen mingling with the guests as garden parties are typically more casual affairs as far as royal events go.

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Prince William is seen chatting with guests at the beginning of the party. Earlier today, the Prince of Wales published a video tribute to BBC broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Read more

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Annual garden parties are a long-standing royal tradition dating back to the 1860s. Each one welcomes thousands of attendees; an estimated 30,000 people are invited on average each summer.

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There is a special dress code for palace garden parties, but again, it’s a bit more casual as far as royal events go. Men typically wear morning dress or suits, and women wear day dresses with hats or fascinators.

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Prince William is seen speaking with Rhian Mannings (center), the founder of 2 Wish, a charity supporting those affected by the sudden and unexpected death of a child or young adult with bereavement support.

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Stephanie Roberts (second right), an artist who founded The Street Fairy Project in 2021, presented Prince William with a small mosaic as a gift.

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Roberts started making these fairies, reusing waste materials, as icons to encourage conversation and stop violence towards women, men, and the non-binary community.

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Here, Kate is seen speaking with Maria Butler, who leads the Nobel Women’s Initiative, an international advocacy organization established in 2006 by six female winners of the Nobel Peace Prize to support women’s groups around the world in campaigning for justice, peace and equality.

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London was blessed with much finer weather on Friday afternoon than Wednesday, with partly cloudy skies. No umbrellas needed today.

Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.

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