When Queen Elizabeth made a surprise appearance in the front row at the Richard Quinn Fall-Winter 2018 presentation at London Fashion Week, it marked Her Majesty's first time ever at a runway show. As fashion stars like Adwoa Aboah strolled the catwalk, jaws dropped as Her Majesty took in the new season trends from the FROW, wearing a duck egg blue tweed dress and matching jacket with Swarovski crystals designed by her longtime dressmaker Angela Kelly.
The British monarch, who sat in the front row next to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, attended the February 20 catwalk presentation before bestowing Richard Quinn with the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. Their very special meeting gave the designer a chance to chat with the monarch – and in turn, Richard has let royal fans in on the Queen's fashion tastes. Speaking to the Telegraph, Richard said that the royal, who is a big fan of color blocking styles, was "so positive and kind". He also revealed that Queen Elizabeth's fave looks from his collection were "the colors and florals".
"My team were convinced that Kate Moss was coming," said designer Richard, who kept Queen Elizabeth's visit a top secret from everyone Photo: Getty Images
The up-and-coming designer said that he wasn't able to tell anyone about Queen Elizabeth's planned visit to his London Fashion Week show – not even his own team! His staff were trying to guess who was going to be the guest of honor, and were shocked when it was Queen Elizabeth II who showed up. "[It was] surreal," he told The Telegraph. "I had known for weeks, but had to keep it a complete secret, so more than anything it was funny hearing people trying to guess what was going on when all I could tell them was: 'It's something big.'"
PHOTO GALLERY: ROYALS IN THE FRONT ROW AT FASHION WEEK
Richard said Queen Elizabeth's fave looks were the "colors and florals" Photo: Getty Images
MORE: CELEBRITY STREET STYLE AND FRONT ROW LOOKS FROM LONDON FASHION WEEK
Richard said that his team didn't quite understand his over-the-top excitement in the run-up to the one-of-a-kind show. "My team were convinced that Kate Moss was coming, and they were telling me that I was making too big a deal out of it. If only they'd known!"