Remember when the Princess of Wales dropped $40K on a DIY craft tiara for the coronation in 2023? That is still one of the most bonkers royal-style moments of the past decade. The headpiece designer made a big deal about how amazing the piece was and how Kate is so stylish and it was so smart for Kate to wear that crafting project on her head. Well, no more. No more talking about Kate’s expensive headpieces or her attempts to homage Diana by wearing Royal Collection jewels. No more talk of buttons or Meghan cosplay or flag-dressing. From now on, Kate demands that no one talk about her clothes or her style. I’m sure this will go over well with the Keen fans.
As one of the most recognised women in the world, the Princess of Wales’s fashion choices have always been closely scrutinised and analysed. Now, in a move signalling her wish for the focus to be on her work not her wardrobe, Kensington Palace will no longer release details of her outfits.
Since Kate, 43, became a member of the royal family when she married in April 2011, Kensington Palace has routinely issued details of the clothes she wears on public engagements to some members of the media. But that will stop now the princess is continuing with her gradual return to work after completing her treatment for cancer last year.
A palace source said: “There is an absolute feeling that it [the public work] is not about what the princess is wearing. She wants the focus to be on the really important issues, the people and the causes she is spotlighting. There will always be an appreciation of what the princess is wearing from some of the public and she gets that. But do we need to be officially always saying what she is wearing? No. The style is there but it’s about the substance.”
Buckingham Palace routinely issues details of the Queen’s outfits for all her public engagements.
The move by Kensington Palace will be seen as part of a shift in Kate’s approach to her public work since being diagnosed with cancer. In a video message in September, confirming the princess had completed a course of preventative chemotherapy, she spoke of how her cancer journey had given her “a new perspective on everything” and the importance on reflecting on the “simple yet important things in life”.
It is understood that the palace may still occasionally issue details of significant outfits or jewellery worn by the princess for the most important family and state events, but not for her other public engagements.
I’ve been covering Kate long enough where I remember when she tried to make this into a thing many years ago, before Prince Harry even met Meghan. Kate – or someone at Kensington Palace – tried to complain about how much focus there was on Kate’s style over her substance. I believe KP has tried to not ID her clothes before as well. The thing is, all of that was quietly walked back long ago because… there’s not a lot of substance to talk about, and because even Kate’s biggest fans want to talk about her fashion over her “work.” Kate enjoyed those conversations back in 2017-2019, because she was telling everyone that only *she* got to wear Royal Collection jewelry (and not Meghan!) and she had the fashion contacts (Meghan was trying to get them!) and that she could style herself just like Meghan but better than Meghan (because Kate is white!).
This new insistence on “no fashion IDs” reads, to me, like Kate and her people severely misunderstanding her appeal to her biggest fans. It’s also an admission that Kate isn’t a fashionista, which has always been the case. Anyway, this will actually hurt the British fashion industry, even if the “Kate Effect” was always overhyped nonsense. The mass-market labels did get a genuine boost from Kate wearing their clothes, even if the couture houses rarely wanted Kate to wear their stuff.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
