The Princess of Wales wore the Lover's Knot tiara and a pale yellow Elie Saab gown with cape detail as the Royal Family hosted a state banquet at Windsor Castle for the Sultan of Oman, just hours after Prince Harry's plea for reconciliation.
King Charles welcomed Sultan Haitham bin Tarik Al Said to St George's Hall, where 160 guests dined. Queen Camilla wore a bright blue gown and the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, a favourite of Queen Elizabeth. Kate wore her hair down and added earrings and a bracelet that belonged to the late Queen, while William and Charles wore white tie with Windsor tailcoats, distinguished by their scarlet collars and cuffs.
Seating and Guests
Kate was seated between the Sultan and Sayyid Khalid Hilal Al Busaidy, the minister of Diwan and Royal Court, while William's table neighbour was chef and food blogger Dina Macki. The banquet also marked the first for Andy Burnham as Prime Minister, who was decked out in white tie and tails and seated next to key guests and close to the King.
The table decorations included pomegranates from a tree planted by the King's late father, Prince Philip, more than 50 years ago, displayed in front of Charles and the Sultan.
Harry's Interview
The banquet came hours after a new interview by Prince Harry, who has a rocky relationship with his royal relatives, was released where he said he wants his disagreements with his brother and the King to "work out". In an interview with GQ magazine about grief and family, recorded in New York in late September and shared this afternoon, Harry was asked if he grieves his "complicated" relationship with his father and brother.
The Duke of Sussex said: "Yeah, yes, of course, from a family perspective, again another massively relatable issue for so many people. There's sibling disagreements, there's broken relationships between, you know, kids and their parents, kids and one parent. That continues to come up with me the whole time by people that I speak to, so I know how relatable it is."
"That's partly probably why there's so much fascination…," he said, adding: "Then people maybe look at us and go, 'how are you going to work it out?' Then 'maybe how I see you're going to work it out, maybe that will help me work my stuff out'. Some people don't want it to work out – I want it to work out."
Harry and Meghan, who are not working royals, did not attend the banquet and do not take part in official royal engagements.
State Visit Details
The King and Queen, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales, hosted the Sultan at Windsor all day. Sultan Haitham was greeted by the monarch in the open air outside Windsor and Eton Riverside station this morning amid autumn downpours. The King took off his top hat to greet the Sultan, giving him a wide smile as he shook his hand, while Kate performed a deep curtsey as they stood under the covered dais.
In the pouring rain, without umbrellas, the royals and their guests stepped into ornate horse-drawn enclosed carriages for the procession through the streets of Windsor to the castle for the ceremonial welcome in the quadrangle. The Oxford-educated Sultan joined the King in the Irish State Coach, where they chatted as they sat side by side. The Sultan was given a ceremonial welcome before lunch and shown items from the Royal Collection.
Tomorrow, the Sultan will hold talks with Mr Burnham in Downing Street, against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The Sultan last visited the King in the summer of 2025 for tea and a private meeting at Windsor Castle. Oman is a key Middle East ally of the UK, and the visit comes as America's war against Iran continues, with the vital shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz, close to the coast of Oman, a key pinch point.
