SHE HAS DESCRIBED IT AS 'A VERY USEFUL DRESS', AND THE QUEEN PROVED THE VERSATILITY OF HER FAVORITE EVENING GOWN LAST NIGHT AT A LAVISH STATE BANQUET IN TORONTO. THE GOWN, WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY WORN TO A STATE DINNER IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO LAST AUTUMN, HAD BEEN 'RECYCLED' BY THE QUEEN'S DRESSER AND PERSONAL ASSISTANT ANGELA KELLY. THE DRESS, WHICH HAD BEEN DECORATED WITH THE CARIBBEAN COUNTRY'S NATIONAL BIRDS, THE SCARLET IBIS AND CHIRICO, WAS TRANSFORMED WITH SWAROVSKI CRYSTALS FOR LAST NIGHT'S EVENT. THE SEAMSTRESSES REMOVED THE APPLIQUED BIRDS FROM THE TULLE LACE, WHICH IS EMBROIDERED WITH SEED PEARLS AND SEQUINS, AND STITCHED DOZENS OF CRYSTALS ONTO IT INSTEAD. AS A TRIBUTE TO CANADA, ONE OF THE QUEEN'S REALMS, THE CRYSTALS FORMED MAPLE LEAFS BOTH LARGE AND SMALL RUNNING UP THE DRESS'S RIGHT SLEEVE AND SHOULDER. THE INTERLOCKING LEAVES CAUGHT THE LIGHT AND WERE DESIGNED TO BE A BOLD STATEMENT AT LAST NIGHT'S DINNER HOSTED BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT IN HONOR OF ITS QUEEN. THE DRESS WAS COMPLEMENTED BY THE SOVEREIGN WEARING QUEEN MARY'S STUNNING TIARA. THE 'RECYCLING' OF A PREVIOUSLY WORN GOWN BY THE QUEEN IS SOMETHING SHE HAS DONE BEFORE, AND LAST NIGHT'S SPECTACULAR 'MAPLE LEAF GOWN' FOLLOWS IN LONG TRADITION OF THEMED DIPLOMATIC EMBROIDERY GOING RIGHT BACK TO THE 1953 CORONATION WHEN THE QUEEN HAD EMBLEMS OF AL HER REALMS SEWN INTO HER DRESS.
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