Kate Middleton is regal as she joins Prince William at the Commonwealth Day Service  

The Princess of Wales and Queen Consort were battling the wind as they arrived at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey today.

Kate Middleton, 41, looked elegant in a £2,000 floral Erdem jacket with a matching £1,000 skirt as she joined Prince William at the high-profile event on Monday afternoon. 

The mother-of-three chose a glittering pair of two-tiered flower-shaped earrings, which were previously owned by Princess Diana. 

The royal avoided a wardrobe malfunction as she arrived at the venue in London, holding onto her navy fascinator as a gust of wind tried to sweep it from her head. 

Meanwhile Camilla faced a similar struggle, gripping onto her vibrant blue fascinator as she stepped out of her car at the Abbey. 

During the service, the King issued a rallying call to the family of nations urging them to ‘strive together’ to achieve a ‘global common good’ in his first Commonwealth Day address. 

Today’s service is particularly poignant to the royals, as it marks the first time that the event has taken place since the Queen’s death in September. 

Royal mother-of-three Kate opted for an elegant ensemble for today’s appearance, donning one of her favourite designers – Erdem Moralioglu.

It’s a brand over which she is believed to have had tensions with Meghan Markle, according to reports, which stated that she was prioritised over the Duchess of Sussex by Erdem.

Both women are fans of the British designer, with the Duchess of Sussex falling in love with his clothes during her career as an actress, as reported by The Telegraph.

Despite sporting his designs to several engagements before entering royal life from 2016, once Meghan joined the Firm, the Princess of Wales is said to have been given priority over Meghan as she, too, was an existing customer.

The fact that frocks crafted by the British designer, who was born in Canada, were being handed to Kate first is said to have gone down badly with the Sussexes.

Today, the Princess wore her long brunette locks swept up into an elegant updo, revealing her late mother-in-law’s earrings, and opted for a touch of makeup for the outing.

Diana was spotted wearing the earrings on several occasions before her death in 1997 – including when she attended the Met Gala in New York City in 1996 and during a visit to Canada in 1991.

Now, they’ve been passed down to Kate, who previously wore them back in June when she attended Trooping the Colour as part of the Queen’s birthday celebrations.

She also donned Queen Alexandra’s Three Feathers Brooch on the lapel of her jacket, which features the Prince of Wales feathers emblem. 

She previously wore the brooch at the first state visit of King Charles’s reign in November 2022. 

The Princess appeared in high spirits as she arrived at the abbey alongside her husband Prince William. 

The Prince and Princess of Wales today joined King Charles and the Queen Consort, Princess Anne, and hundreds of dignitaries and schoolchildren for the annual event, which is an important date in the royal calendar. 

Meanwhile the new Duchess of Edinburgh was radiant in white as she arrived alongside her husband Prince Edward. 

Sophie looked stunning in a cream coat with matching accessories as she walked up the steps of the abbey today. 

Once inside, the family sat alongside one another for the service, before King Charles gave a poignant speech in which he spoke movingly about his mother’s work. 

Charles highlighted the institution’s ‘indispensable role in the most pressing issues of our time’ in his speech delivered during the annual Westminster Abbey service celebrating the Commonwealth.

He also paid tribute to his ‘beloved mother’, describing how Commonwealth Day was a moment of pride for the late Queen Elizabeth who ‘dedicated her long and remarkable life’ in service to the ‘Commonwealth family’.

Charles’s first Commonwealth Day service as monarch attracted a large number of spectators and a handful of protesters, carrying placards with the words ‘Not my King’. Protesters have staged events at a number of his royal engagements.

For his speech the King drew on the Commonwealth Day theme for 2023 – Forging a Sustainable and Peaceful Common Future – and emphasised the values of the family of nations from ‘peace and justice’ to ‘care for our environment’ embodied in the Commonwealth Charter, signed 10 years ago.

He told the congregation: ‘Whether on climate change and biodiversity loss, youth opportunity and education, global health or economic co-operation, the Commonwealth can play an indispensable role in the most pressing issues of our time.

‘Ours is an association not just of shared values, but of common purpose and joint action.

‘In this we are blessed with the ingenuity and imagination of a third of the world’s population, including one and a half billion people under the age of 30.

‘Our shared humanity contains an immensely precious diversity of thought, culture, tradition and experience. By listening to each other, we will find so many of the solutions that we seek.’

The King, who is head of the Commonwealth, delivered his address in person from the Abbey’s great pulpit in a move that was a departure from previous messages from the Queen, who sometimes pre-recorded her speech.

He concluded his message by saying: ‘The myriad connections between our nations have sustained and enriched us for more than seven decades. Our commitment to peace, progress and opportunity will sustain us for many more.

‘Let ours be a Commonwealth that not only stands together, but strives together, in restless and practical pursuit of the global common good.’

Today is the first time the family have come together to celebrate the Commonwealth since  Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Netflix series branded the Commonwealth as ‘Empire 2.0’. 

The Commonwealth was founded in December 1931 and currently contains 54 countries. According to the Royal Family’s website, the purpose of the organisation is to ‘foster international co-operation and trade links between people all over the world’.

In the third episode of the series, writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsh – author of the 2018 memoir Brit(ish) – described the Queen’s beloved Commonwealth as being ‘Empire 2.0’ before then going on to describe Prince Harry as ‘anti-racist’.

Discussing institutional racism in the UK, Afua said in the documentary: ‘Britain calculated that it needed to grant these countries independence in a way that protected its commercial and capitalist interest. So it created this privileged club called the Commonwealth.

‘The Commonwealth is still described as a club of friends who share common values. I find that language really problematic.

‘I sometimes call the Commonwealth ‘Empire 2.0′ because that is what it is.’

Appearing on an episode of Palace Confidential in December, the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor said the couple were ‘lucky’ that the late monarch wasn’t able to watch their TV special, which landed on the streaming platform yesterday morning.

Discussing the first episodes of the series, Richard said: ‘It’s almost lucky that Queen Elizabeth isn’t alive to see this because the Commonwealth was so central to her and bringing people together.

‘It’s a voluntary organisation whereas [in the documentary], it’s dismissed as this colonial body used for Britain to extract money and resources from the rest of the world. She would have been horrified.’

Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday’s Editor at Large Charlotte Griffiths pointed out how all the filming for the series finished in August 2022 – just weeks before the Queen passed away at the age of 96.

She said: ‘They were planning to do all of this thinking that The Queen would be alive to see it […] Thank God she didn’t.’

What’s more, Charlotte said Meghan’s ‘stance on the Commonwealth seems to have changed dramatically’ since her May 2018 wedding, where she wore a veil boasting different symbols to represent each nation.

In response to host Jo Elvin recalling how Meghan said she was ‘excited’ to visit the Commonwealth countries in her engagement interview, Charlotte said: ‘So she hadn’t done any research before getting married?

‘Is that what’s she saying? And now she’s done her research? That’s inconsistent with who Meghan is as a person, she’s obviously a very well-researched person.

‘I just think her whole stance on the Commonwealth has changed dramatically, maybe she fully believes what Afua is saying. I don’t know but it’s a pretty hard line [to take].’

It comes amidst a busy period for Kate and William, who last week  praised ‘amazing’ communities fundraising for families left homeless after the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Kate, 41, opted to recycle an Alexander McQueen black pleated dress, which she first wore to meet with well-wishers in Sandringham after the Queen’s death, for the outing at Hayes Muslim Centre in London. 

As a mark of respect the couple removed their shoes and Kate covered her head with a scarf, a black and white veil by Pakistani brand Élan, which is part of a set worn by the mother-of-three when she visited the country in 2019. 

During today’s engagement, the couple met with representatives from the centre who, through bucket collections and other donations after prayers, have raised over £25,000 for the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal.

The Prince and Princess also joined two pupils from Waldegrave School; Dila Kaya, 14, Lina Alkutubi, 15, and their teacher Natasha Rustam to help make an origami crane, a symbol of hope and healing during challenging times.

And Kate also visited the snowy Salisbury Plain Training Area to take part in a training exercise with the Irish Guards.

Dressed in military fatigues, boots, gloves and a woolly hat the Princess was almost unrecognisable as she dressed in camouflage kit for the engagement. 

With her hair pulled back in a sensible plait, Kate managed to look stylish in camouflage as she got stuck into a battlefield casualty drill during her first official duty as the new Colonel of the Irish Guards.

Crouching in the snow, she held the soldier’s leg as she was shown how to wrap the wound and check the casualty’s vital signs during basic battlefield first aid training.

As she placed a tourniquet – used to stop heavy bleeding – on his calf, the Princess apologised and said: ‘It’s the first time I’ve done this’.