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It's a Royal Purple Jenny Packham Gown for "Digger" World Premiere

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It's a Royal Purple Jenny Packham Gown for

The Princess of Wales chose a chiffon gown by Jenny Packham for tonight's Royal Film Performance world premiere of “Digger.”

The glittering event was at London's ODEON Leicester Square theater. Below is a video of the couple arriving. 

More about the event via this Daily Mail story. 

The last Royal Film Performance was the premiere of Gladiator II in November 2024, which was attended by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

The King is patron of the Film and TV Charity, which benefits from royal premieres. 

Tonight's event is the 73rd Royal Film Performance in the organisation's 100-year history.

The charity provides support to those across the film, television and cinema industries, many working behind the scenes, with everything from mental and physical wellbeing to financial support. This includes a 24/7 helpline, free counselling and financial grants.

Digger's big star is Tom Cruise, seen below arriving for tonight's premiere.
The movie was filmed in the UK at Pinewood Studios. Warner Brothers describes the plot this way: "The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything."

Others walking the orange carpet tonight included Sophie Wilde. 
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Actress Sandra Hülle, who plays Tom Cruise's sister in the film, Emma Rockwell.
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Actor Riz Ahmed (R) and his mother, Mumtaz Ahmed.
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Actress Emma D'Arcy. 
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Director Alejandro González Iñárritu.
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Jesse Plemons, who plays the United States Vice President in the movie. 
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And John Goodman, who plays the President. 
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Among the notable names attending, but not appearing in the film, actress Hannah Waddingham.
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Actress Jodie Turner-Smith.
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 Actress Salma Hayek.
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Another look at the Princess as the royals arrived. 

More about tonight's events via this piece in The Telegraph.

Speaking about the Prince and Princess before their arrival, Cruise said: “I just love them. They are lovely people and I have great respect for them.”

He escorted the Princess up and down the stairs at the entrance of the Odeon Luxe, Leicester Square, first holding her arm and then her hand. It marks a reunion for the trio, who attended the Top Gun: Maverick premiere together in 2022.

The Royal Film Performance World premiere is in support of the Film and TV Charity.

The actor greeting the royals.

As The Daily Mail pointed out, "It was something of a reunion for the couple and Cruise, 64, who met at the UK premiere of his hit film Top Gun: Maverick in May 2022." 

Here is a video shared by Rebecca English of The Daily Mail. In the video, the couple is escorted by Marcus Ryder, chief executive of the Film and TV Charity, and the organization's chair, Claire Tavenier.

Another view of the Prince and Princess. 

Mr. Cruise leads the Princess into the theater.

This angle gives you a good look at the back of the gown.

The couple posed with the film's director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Mr. Cruise.

The foursome looked like they enjoyed chatting.

The Princess smiles at her husband.

The Prince and Princess spoke with the film's stars and producers.

The Princess with Mr. Cruise and Ms. Wilde.

A quick video of the Princess speaking with the cast and producers.

A wider shot gives you a better view of the group greeting the royals.

Once inside, the Princess was given lovely flowers. 

We learn more from this Daily Mirror article. 

The Princess was also presented with a posy and a programme by Evie Peters, seven, while four-year-old Sahrae-Lea Herbert, four, gave the Prince as programme. Both girls, who had been waiting excitedly for them, executed beautiful curtseys. The Princess of Wales said: "Thank you for my lovely flowers."

The Daily Mail's Rebecca English shared some darling videos of the girls waiting for the royals and practicing their curtsies. 

The royals posed for a photo with Sir David Beckham and two of his sons, Cruz, and Romeo. We learn more about the evening's fundraising element from the Daily Mirror story. 

Inside the cinema, the Royals were introduced to a line-up of beneficiaries from the Film and Television Charity including Chloe Malone, 27, who only last year was sleeping rough and is still in temporary accommodation but is about to embark on a production course at the National Film and Television School thanks to the charity.

She praised it for "saving" her, and William for his work to eradicate homelessness.

Another look at the Princess. 

Now for our review covering what Kate wore for tonight's premiere.

The dress appears to be a custom version of a design from the Jenny Packham A/W 2016 collection. The original design was crafted in grape silk chiffon, with a deep V-neck, cold-shoulder balloon sleeves, a cutout on the upper back, oodles of pleats, a concealed back zipper, and a full, flowing skirt with a short train. Among the changes to the Princess's gowns: the sleeves appear essentially closed with a cape-effect shoulder, and the back cutout is not as deep as in the original gown.  

The style reminded several of us chatting online of the diaphanous blue design worn for the SPECTRE premiere in 2015. 

The Princess wore her hair partially pulled back. 

Making it easier to see the Collingwood diamond and pearl earrings that belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales, and her heirloom necklace.

The Court Jeweler calls it the Queen Mother's Amethyst Sautoir Necklace. It was commissioned by Queen Alexandra and gifted to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, according to the "History and Lives of the British Royals" Facebook page.  That page describes it as "three rows of petite pearls interspersed with large oval amethysts surrounded by brilliant-cut diamonds, terminating in a large heart-shaped amethyst and diamond pendant."

Below, the necklace is shown in a 1923 display of wedding gifts for the Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in September 1923, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother then gave the necklace to Princess Elizabeth, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The current Queen wore a shortened version of the necklace in 2012 for the premiere of Skyfall at Royal Albert Hall

The Princess accessorized with two pieces first noted in December 2018, when she paired them with a tweed Erdem dress. Both are by Jimmy Choo. The bag was a made-to-order design, and the heels were either the Bordeaux velvet Romy Pointy Toe Pumps or the Anouk Pointy Toe Pumps. We never decided exactly which pair it was, and tonight I made no progress on that quest because the gown covered the heels.

I will leave you with one more photo of the Princess from tonight's premiere. 

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Emilie

Monday 28th of September 2026

Love the rich color, love her hair, and OMG do I love the necklace!

Mrs. Smythe

Sunday 27th of September 2026

Per the husband: It looks like a lot, but she wears it well. It looks like drapes.

Zell

Saturday 26th of September 2026

When I first commented on this look, it was with a mostly negative take, except for the glowing purple color of Catherine's gown, which I loved then, and still love!

But, Now, with a fresh new perspective and with more opportunities to view more photos of Catherine's gown, (including taking much closer looks at the photos on this Fine Site), I have a new take, and a new view and now it's genuinely All Positive, I'm Happy to say!!

So, my updated take is this:

With my own love of bold and rich color, the color of this Jenny Packham gown very much appeals to me. I think this rich hue looks GREAT on The Princess of Wales!

It is such a Glowing and Gorgeous Rich Royal Purple! I'm really in Love with this color on Catherine!!! (And also I think it is a Great color for just about anyone)!

I also now very much appreciate the design of the gown, as it is unique and beautiful. The parts of the gown that I, initially. didn't care for, like the bodice, sleeves, and waist, I now love! They really make this gown special and not the usual take on an evening gown.

I loved the flowing quality of this Greek Goddess gown on my first take of it, and still do! And, Yes, to me, Catherine does look like a Greek Goddess in this sumptuous pleated, flowy gown!

The Glorious Flow of this gown can most accurately be seen in the videos but even comes across nicely in the photos.

Catherine moves in this gown with innate and great grace, and it helps that the gown is like liquid chiffon, if such a thing can be said to exist, and I now think, with this town, that it Does exist!

The chiffon of this amazing gown is very silky, and has a definite sinuous quality that is very vampy, albeit in a very ladylike way.

I also now Love how unique the bodice is, with all the intricate pleating. I also love the full sleeves of dreamy chiffon.

I am now on board with the amazing necklace and pendant, too!

The necklace is truly not run of the mill, and has proportions that, at first glance, I thought looked rather off, and a bit odd to my eye. However, now that I more fully see the beauty of this special piece of historic Royal jewelry, I find it is actually the Perfect piece of jewelry to wear with such a gown!

At first, with this stunning necklace, I did think that it would have shown up best against a high bodice of deep purple, to showcase the white pearls, for instance, against the rich color of the gown - and that would have Definitely worked well - but there is also the beauty of the deep V neckline of the gown, paired with the V design of the necklace of pearls (and also, the amerhyst heart shape, itself, also forms its own V at the bottom portion of the heart shape). This is, to me, a very compelling, and quite adroit, repeating of a strong V shape in a trio of this shape (neckline of gown, pearl necklace and lower portion of the heart) that brings additional drama to Catherine's evening ensemble.

I'm also glad that Catherine is partial to hearts! I also am, myself: a heart is a gracious, graceful shape, and, beyond just the soothing and beautiful shape of it, is, of course, the ancient and very powerful Symbolism of a heart: for Love of all kinds, romantic, first and foremost, but for other loves too: family love, the love of friends, and, even, the bond between humans and their beloved furry friends, the animals that bring so much meaning and joy to our lives.

Beyond the gown and the jewelry, including Diana's pearl earrings, Catherine's hair is styled wonderfully for this gown!

I also appreciate the dark burgundy of her bag and shoes, which gives a lovely contrast (that also blends well with) the rich purple of the gown.

I'm glad I'm now seeing this marvelous evening look in a more accurate and positive way. It took me a bit of time, and I think it's because the design of the gown has a rather different quality to it, than other gowns Catherine has worn, especially with the bodice and sleeves.

So, if anyone should read my initial take on Catherine's gown and necklace, further down in the comments of this WKW post, please disregard those initial views as they are not what I really think, now that I've had time to re-evaluate What Kate Wore!

💜💜💜

Caroline A.

Saturday 26th of September 2026

This gown is a fabulous colour on The Princess. It makes her stand out from the other celebrities, yet it’s ladylike and timeless. The clutch and shoes echo the warmth of the gown and allow it to be the centre of attention, almost as much as the necklace. Catherine’s hair is in a real ‘princess’ style, which must have made the two little girls feel they had met a real princess 👸I love the side rolls and the cascading curls; I’m not a great fan of centre parts though, so it would have been more beautiful if that could have been avoided, but I know not how. I kept wanting to push some of the fabric at the front of the shoulders back — it looked a little heavy. I would have preferred less of a cape effect — just sheer sleeves and no cape, but that might have done away with the dramatic back of the gown, which was superb. The train was appropriate for this event, although the slight problem at the top of the escalator demonstrated that trains and escalators don’t mix well. It did illustrate, however, that The Princess cares for her companions,as she made light of it. I can’t love the necklace, no matter how I try. I suspect The Queen Mother felt the same, regardless of its provenance, as she seldom wore it. It’s a pity, as I love pearls and amethysts. Perhaps it might look better in a shortened version.

Susan B.

Friday 25th of September 2026

I love that color on the Princess of Wales, it really suits her and makes her stand out. And that necklace!!

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