The Queen shocks London Fashion Week with surprise appearance (Video)

Marking her first time at Fashion Week, the beaming 91-year-old wore an Angela Kelly duck egg blue tweed dress and jacket embellished with tiny aquamarine Swarovski crystals. After meeting designers during a tour of the London Fashion Week showrooms, the Queen sat next to Conde Nast Artistic Director and US Vogue editor Dame Anna Wintour on the front row to watch the Richard Quinn show. 

They watched the show of designer Richard Quinn, who the Queen then awarded the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design.

Announcing Quinn's success, she described the award as her "legacy" to British fashion.

Mr Quinn won the award for his use of bold prints.

The Queen thanked the British Fashion Council for choosing the winner.

The inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design, which was created to recognise the role the fashion industry plays in society and diplomacy, will be awarded annually to an emerging British fashion designer who shows exceptional talent and originality.

Speaking from the runway at the end of the show, she said: "Our fashion industry has been renowned for outstanding craftsmanship for many years, and continues to produce world-class textiles and cutting edge, practical designs."

For the past two years, Angela Kelly, personal adviser to the Queen, has been working on designing an award which the Queen wanted to give in recognition of emerging British fashion talent. It was hand-produced by Birmingham-based Lucy Price at Bauhinia Studios in Birmingham's jewellery quarter.

The Queen was greeted by Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council (BFC), before presenting the award, saying it was a "Throughout your reign you have embraced fashion, using its power of diplomacy to communicate understanding between cultures and nations," she said as she addressed the monarch and the audience.

"Having visited the exhibition of your wardrobe at Buckingham Palace, we learnt that you had to challenge some of the norms, some of the dress codes that had been designed for men, making us in awe of how you have reflected the changes in our society." she added

She said the Queen had "worked with incredible designers" and "highlighted great crafts" - and deemed her a "fashion icon".