Fact and Fiction: The Queen Dines at the Louvre Museum, 1957

A popular royal-inspired mystery series opens its latest installment with a glimpse into a real-life royal moment: a banquet given in Queen Elizabeth II's honor at the Louvre in 1957

S.J. Bennett’s popular mystery series, Her Majesty the Queen Investigates, gives the late Queen Elizabeth II a fascinating hobby: detective work. The fourth book in the series, A Death in Diamonds, begins in Paris during the Queen’s French state visit in the spring of 1957, with a remarkable dinner held among the treasures of the Louvre Museum. Today, I’ve got a look at the real banquet, which was very much like the event that Bennett depicts in her novel.

At the end of three days of state visiting in France, which featured meetings with countless dignitaries and eight different stylish ensembles, Queen Elizabeth II arrived at the Louvre Museum in Paris for the final event on the program on April 10, 1957. Opinions were divided regarding the Queen’s endurance during the marathon diplomatic program. On the previous two evenings, the monarch had been treated to a night at the opera and a river cruise on the Seine. Attendees at the final dinner reportedly whispered “Elle est fatiguée” as they watched the monarch move through the event. The correspondent on the ground for the Guardian, however, reassured readers that Elizabeth “showed no signs of fatigue” during the banquet.

Whether she was tired or not after three days of intense spotlight, Elizabeth arrived for the dinner in sparkling form. She wore an exquisite Hardy Amies gown in an intense shade of blue described variously as “Kingfisher” and “cornflower,” with the blazing red sash of the French Legion d’Honneur stretched across its bodice. The Telegraph noted that the gown featured embroidered embellishments spiraling from bodice to hem: “opalescent crystals and brilliants, shading from moonlight, through a Garter blue and aquamarine to darker shades.”

Prime Minister Guy Mollet and Queen Elizabeth II walk through the Louvre Museum on April 10, 1957 (PA Images/Alamy)

And, of course, there were diamonds. The Queen’s favorite diadem, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, was nestled firmly in her signature curled coiffure. The tiara would forever be a reminder of the woman who had given it to her: her grandmother, Queen Mary. Decades after receiving the jewel as a wedding present in 1947, Elizabeth still called the piece “Granny’s Tiara.” The brooch that she had pinned to her order sash, an energetic diamond ribbon tied in a lover’s knot, also belonged to Granny. Her necklace and earrings, though, were reminders of her parents. They had given her the earrings, spectacular Cartier chandeliers that had come from Mrs. Greville, for a wedding present, and her father had commissioned the diamond festoon necklace just a few years before his death. Her diamond bracelet also held special sentimental meaning: it was a wedding gift from her husband.