It’s been a busy week for Anna Wintour. Hot on the heels of this year’s Met Gala on Monday evening, she was named Dame by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace today, recognizing her remarkable contribution to fashion and journalism.
In case you need a quick refresher on Wintour's professional trajectory, she's been the editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988; she started her career as editorial assistant at Harper’s & Queen in 1970, and then moved across the pond to become fashion editor at New York. She then edited British Vogue from 1985 to 1987 before returning to the States to breathe new life into the American Vogue, revitalizing it with more of a fashion focus, much like it had under the legendary direction of Diana Vreeland, as well as introducing iconic celebrity covers.
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Not only one of the most influential people in fashion journalism, Wintour has also made an unparalleled contribution to the arts. She's raised over $150 million to date for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute (which contains the three-year-old Anna Wintour Costume Center) through the annual Met Gala, which she organizes. The biggest night on the fashion calendar, this year’s theme was "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between," and, per usual, it gathered biggest names in the business to pay homage (or not) to the avant-garde designer.
Wintour was joined today at Buckingham Palace by her daughter Bee Shaffer, who is engaged to the son of Vogue Italia’s late Franca Sozzani, a close friend of Wintour’s. Thankfully, Wintour removed her trademark sunglasses before she entered the royal rooms. However, according to BBC, there was a slight wardrobe malfunction as the Queen struggled to fasten the insignia to Wintour’s pink Chanel Couture coat, which she wore with tan Manolo Blahnik heels. Ever the Chanel aficionado, it's the third time this week that Wintour has worn the hallowed French brand: She chose a feather and gold-flecked number for the Met Gala and a double-breasted cream tweed dress for yesterday’s Chanel Cruise show in Paris.
It's clearly been a hectic week for Wintour, but it's also been a big week for the Palace, with the news that Prince Philip is stepping down from his public duties come fall. "I congratulated her on Prince Philip's service because obviously that's so remarkable and such an inspiration to us all," Wintour told BBC, also giving some love to her former stomping grounds: "Obviously this is a city that I grew up in, a city that I have so much affection and love for," she told BBC. "It's always wonderful to get an award, but this one is extra special."