The hidden tribute to Prince Philip at the Oman state banquet

The stars of the Oman state banquet at Windsor Castle on Tuesday were, undoubtedly, the dazzling jewels and glorious gowns of the guests: Queen Camilla, the Princess of Wales, Princess Anne, and the Duchess of Gloucester all donned their finery to host the Sultan of Oman, wearing heirloom tiaras, bracelets, and earrings aplenty.

But the royal family found time to make some sweet, more subtle nods to the generations of Windsors before them. Notably, the sumptuous dinner displays in the dining room included a touching tribute to Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh.

How? The secret lies in the St George and the Dragon candelabra at the centre of the table, commissioned by King William IV in 1833. The grand 12-light piece was adorned with pomegranates grown on a tree that had been planted on Windsor Castle’s East Terrace by Prince Philip around 50 years ago, reports the Daily Mail.

The late Duke of Edinburgh was a passionate horticulturalist. After the War, he planned renovations to the East Terrace’s Rose garden, planting around 3,500 roses, which he chose with both colour and scent in mind. The Prince was also involved with designing a brand-new bronze fountain for the centre of the garden at the Castle, inspired by the shape of a lotus flower.

Speaking in the documentary Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers, Princess Eugenie said that her grandfather had a ‘creative gene’ when it came to gardening. Prince William also reflected on the late Duke’s impact on the Sandringham Estate, where he had served as Warden since 1952 and planted over 40 kilometres of hedgeland and over two million trees.

‘I think of him, being up here was an escape, and I think he’s a very practical man,’ William said. ‘He felt he could make an impact on Sandringham and other places like this… he’s really been heavily involved in shaping and deciding the future of the environment.’

While landscaping at Balmoral, he famously excavated a woodland pond, a project that involved some work with a bulldozer, much to the dismay of Queen Elizabeth II.

So it will have been heartwarming for King Charles and Princess Anne to see the fruits of their father’s labour celebrated all those decades on at such a glittering event.

The guests also found a way to pay tribute to royal history through their choice of jewels at the state banquet. Queen Camilla, for example, chose to wear the Girls of Britain and Ireland tiara, which became Queen Elizabeth II’s most famous diadem when she chose to wear it for the official portraits that were used on British currency throughout her 70-year reign.

Originally made by royal jeweller Garrard, this piece was commissioned by a fundraising committee chaired by Lady Eva Greville, daughter of the 4th Earl of Warwick, as a gift to Princess Mary before her wedding to Prince Albert, the heir to the British throne – but he tragically died before the nuptials, aged just 28.

But Mary of Teck grew close to his younger brother, Prince George, Duke of York. So close that she married him and eventually went on to become Queen Mary. The fundraising for her wedding tiara was so successful that a £3,000 surplus was donated, at Mary’s request, to the widows and children of 350 lost sailors after the HMS Victoria maritime disaster in 1893.

Designed to be transformable, the festoon-and-scroll diamond tiara can be worn as either a necklace or coronet; Queen Mary requested that Garrard replace the original pearls with diamonds and separate the bandeau from the base so that she could wear it as a headband.

In 1947, Queen Mary gave the tiara to her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, as a wedding present, and in 1969 the late Queen Elizabeth II asked for the bandeau and tiara to be reunited, as it remains today. It is seen every day on English coins and banknotes, and was worn in the late Queen Elizabeth’s official accession photographs in 1952. She wore it more frequently for royal duties than any of her other jewels, from banquets at the White House to historic events in Dublin.

Another way that the House of Windsor continues to pay its respects to the royal couple who defined the family for decades.