The Duchess of Cambridge showcased a number of colourful outfits during her royal tour of India in April 2016, with one of the most memorable being the cobalt blue Jenny Packham and co-ordinating tanzanite Amrapali earrings she wore to the Bollywood Gala at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. And it appears the royals are such fans of the jewellery brand that they invited Amrapali founders Rajiv Arora and Rajesh Ajmera to the special UK-India Year of Culture Celebration at Buckingham Palace on Monday evening.
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The duo, who were the only Indian jewellers in attendance at the event, said they were honoured to be invited to the reception hosted by the Queen to mark the start of the UK-India Year of Culture. While there they had the chance to meet members of the royal family including Kate, who reflected on wearing the striking earrings last year.
The Duchess of Cambridge wore Amrapali earrings during her India tour in April 2016
"Kate and I had a lovely chat. It was good to see her," Rajiv Arora told HELLO! after the event. "She remembered wearing our Amrapali creations during her most recent trip to India. She was excited and happy to learn about the debut of the Amrapali Museum."
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Rajiv and Rajesh also had the opportunity to talk to the Queen about the soon to open Silver and Goldsmith Museum which is based at the House's Jaipur headquarters, and celebrates the jewellery and object d’art that they have collected on their travels since founding the brand in 1978.
Kate styled the jewels with a Jenny Packham gown
Kate looked stunning as ever at Monday's reception, wearing a shimmering gold pleated Erdem Rhona dress and glittering Oscar de la Renta heels. It has since been observed that Kate's dress has previously worn by another royal in recent months: Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway wore the same elegant dress to the Canadian Museum of History in Quebec in November 2016.
