Charlotte on the Queen’s Lap, George on Best Behavior in Historic Photo UPDATED

This evening the much-anticipated Annie Leibovitz photographs commemorating the Queen’s 90th birthday were released. In this image you see HM with her 5 great-grandchildren and 2 youngest grandchildren in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle.

©Annie Leibovitz/PA Wire

Not sure who everyone is? I was a little foggy on a name or two, so here is the official caption: The children are: James, Viscount Severn (left), 8, and Lady Louise (second left), 12, the children of The Earl and Countess of Wessex; Mia Tindall (holding The Queen’s handbag), the two year-old-daughter of Zara and Mike Tindall; Savannah (third right), 5, and Isla Phillips (right), 3, daughters of The Queen’s eldest grandson Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn; Prince George (second right), 2, and in The Queen’s arms and in the tradition of Royal portraiture, the youngest great-grandchild, Princess Charlotte (11 months), children of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

More from Patricia Treble’s story in Maclean’s Canada:

The most important role for Queen Elizabeth II is to be a matriarch. The head of the house of Windsor is in the ultimate family business, one passed down through generations, dynasties and centuries.

So for her 90th birthday on April 21, it was only fitting that the Queen would be surrounded by her family in a series of official portraits taken by the American celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz over Easter. They were taken in her childhood home, Windsor Castle, a place in which she’s perhaps the most comfortable.

And this from Victoria Murphy’s story in The Mirror:

Looking to the future is clearly important to her and what better way to show that than to pose with the youngest members of her family.

Mia Tindall holding the Queen’s handbag is just precious.

It was not a staged shot; The Daily Mail has more, quoting “someone who was there”:

‘The moment with Mia was completely spontaneous, it was not staged at all. She just picked up her great-granny’s handbag and that was it,’ they said.

It was, they revealed, a ‘happy, chaotic, warm afternoon’ with the parents of the children all present and trying to catch their offspring’s eye.

Princess Charlotte and Prince George look terrific. Charlotte has grown since the last time we saw her (not counting the pictures in her snowsuit when we couldn’t really see her size), and she still has those blue eyes. In her hands she has a toy horse to play with and a little pink barrette or clip holding back some of her hair. George looks taller and quite focused on being on his best behavior.

© PA Wire

We’ll begin with what Charlotte wore in the new picture. Her dress has a ruffled neckline and matching bloomers, it is very similar to the M & h Tiendas outfit worn in her previous two posed photographs. The muted colors and ruffle at the neck are much like the M&h frock, also hallmarks of many European heritage brands.

© PA Wire/ Chris Jelf, PA Wire/ HRH The Duchess of Cambridge

The bloomers seen below are from the M&h site; the print looks much like that in Charlotte’s outfit. UPDATE: It is not the same fabric, below left you see Charlotte’s fabric, and on the right, the material I thought might have been used for the dress.

M&h/M&h

UPDATE #2, Apr 22: M&h confirm that Charlotte is wearing their outfit and says it is from their winter collection. This morning the company shared an image of Charlotte’s dress.

M&h Tiendas Facebook

For those interested in the dress Charlotte has worn in previous portraits, it is still available. M&h had their vendor do another run of the fabric and there are two more styles available, in addition to Charlotte’s dress. Below left, Charlotte’s original dress and on the right, one of the new styles in her fabric. The dress on the right is available for sizes 9M – 3YRS, it is sells for 29.90 €, roughly $34.  M&h ships internationally, international customers are asked to email mhtiendas@hotmail.com.

M&h Tiendas

Soon it will be even easier to shop with M&h, the retailer is launching an ecommerce site.

M&h Tiendas

UPDATE 3 Apr 25: We have more to share related to Charlotte’s sweater. After corresponding with M&h about the sweater seen in the photo I believe it is most likely the company’s cardigan. Below you see the M&h sweater paired with Charlotte’s dress. It very much looks like what she is wearing in the photo. In particular the neck closure looks more accurate; in the photo Charlotte’s appears to have the button on the right while the Pepa sweater buttons from the opposite side. Additionally, logic dictates that Kate would have purchased the dress and sweater together, rather than purchasing the piece and then looking for a coordinating cardigan. I wrote Pepa about the confusion on April 22nd and haven’t heard back from the company. While it’s impossible to declaratively state the Princess is wearing the M&h sweater, I believe that is the case.

UPDATE: Charlotte was wearing Early Days pre-walkers. According to Monique’s story she is in the Early Days Emma, as opposed to the Early Days Alex that we suggested. We show both pair below. I still have this notion she has a t-bar shoe on in the picture, thus the inclusion of the Alex style in the photo below. However, if using this information for a purchasing decision I would go with Monique’s info, she is always correct and your truly has been proven erroneous on many an occasion, lol.

ChildrenSalon.com

Charlotte’s tights appear to be identical to those worn previously from Amaia Kids. The manufacturer of the tights is Condor, another Spanish brand. Below we show the Condor color chart with the product shot of a little pair of tights added to the left; it looks like Charlotte is in the Old Rose shown at the Condor site. (Again, the color could be off significantly depending on one’s monitor, screen brightness, etc..)

Now what George wore for the historic photograph. The young Prince was also in familiar brands, beginning with another Fina Ejerique sweater. We show the cardigan at Burattino Kids, where it is £25, discounted from £36. (That’s roughly $35 now, with an original price about $52.)

Burattino Kids Wear

You may recall the Fina Ejerique sweater George wore in the family photo shared last November. (According to the Margarita & Company website the piece is still available.)

Margarita & Co./Chris Jelf, PA Wire

My guess is that George is in another matched set, with a shirt and shorts. His shirt has a Peter Pan collar with red/cranberry piping, similar to the Neck and Neck Boys Piped Shirt shown below left; on the right, a Rachel Riley Peter Pan Collar Shirt, only for comparative purposes to show how much bigger that collar is in contrast to George’s.

Neck and Neck/PA Wire/Rachel Riley

UPDATE APR 26: People’s Monique Jessen has confirmed George wore a Neck and Neck boys piped shirt. She suggests he might be wearing this pair of shorts, the company has told her they were sent the same time as his shirt.

Neck and Neck

George’s shoes look like another pair of Start-Rites, the Jo navy leather (£37). (I originally linked to the Jo II, which was wrong, it is the standard Jo he is wearing.) George’s knee socks look familiar as well, they are most likely the Amaia Kids (by Condor) in navy blue.

Start-Rite/Amaia Kids

We have a splendid tip for readers in New Zealand; Stacie left a comment letting us know the Condor socks are available at Classic Child.

NOTE April 25: A previous version of the post showed a sweater from Pepa and Co., saying the sweater Charlotte was wearing is one of their pieces. I no longer believe that to be the case and have deleted that information from the post. If you have any questions just let me know, my best email is Susan@WhatKateWore. Below is a photo of the Pepa cardigan.

Pepa & Co.