When the queen is not there, the countess wears wedges. It happened yesterday at the inauguration of the autumn edition of Chelsea Flower Show, the largest flower show in the world moved to September (traditionally held in May) due to the health emergency. They did the honors there Princess Anna and the Prince Edward accompanied by his wife Sophie pervaded by an irresistible desire to break the protocol. Most people know the antipathy that Elizabeth has towards that type of footwear: not wearing them in her presence is one of those rules, apparently unwritten, that the Windsor women would be called to respect.
Taking advantage of the sovereign’s custom of staying at Balmoral until October, the Countess of Wessex took advantage of the real absence to indulge in a pair of white leather espadrilles with a signature rope wedge. Penelope Chilvers, to top it off without socks, just to experience the thrill of transgression. The shoes were paired with the knitted dress from the fall 2021 collection by Victoria Beckham, characterized by the wide skirt below the knee and the slit in both puff sleeves that revealed large portions of bare arms. They completed the rather informal outfit, a necklace and a pair of earrings with an ethnic flavor and a leather bag with a colored shoulder strap designed by Sophie Habsburg for her leather goods brand Campo de ‘Fiori (the designer would also be known as Archduchess of Austria due to her descent from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine but that’s another story).
The Princess Anna he had a slightly more austere outfit: the overcoat in shades of blue was darkened by the black accessories, including gloves. There Princess Alexandra, Elisabetta’s cousin, wore a long black patterned skirt, a pink jacket and a ballerina with a raised heel that we would dare to define as wedges as well as those worn by Duchess of Gloucester, wife of the queen’s other cousin, dressed in a trench coat and a polka dot dress. Princess Michael in Kent, another member of the royal family present at the inauguration, instead opted for a light green jacket paired with a pair of wide black trousers.
While there is no dress code required for the Chelsea Flower Show, the event felt like a quiet afternoon with friends. Sure, Queen Elizabeth missing the grand opening for the first time since 2005 has always been flawlessly wrapped in her flamboyant coats. The true revolutionary of the court, the one who dared to challenge the idiosyncrasies of the most important woman in the United Kingdom with wedges, was Kate Middleton. In 2019 the Duchess of Cambridge slipped on a pair of beige Castañer with a floral dress by Erdem, in the face – smiling – of the sovereign. One of the many things that the 95-year-old has had to accept in almost seventy years of reign. Let’s face it, in this span of time, the queen has seen far worse than a pair of shoes that don’t meet her taste.
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