Kate Middleton Breaks a Long-Held Fashion Rule—And Gets Away With It

It’s been a confusing few months for anyone obliged to write about Kate Middleton’s wardrobe for a living. First, there was a not-quite announcement, through a source quoted in The Times, that the Palace would no longer be issuing details on the Princess of Wales’s outfits. “She wants the focus to be on the really important issues, the people and the causes she is spotlighting,” the royal insider said. “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 story raised so many eyebrows that a Kensington Palace spokesperson felt the need to backtrack—taking responsibility for the comments before concluding, somewhat confusingly: “To be clear, there has been no change in our approach to sharing information about Her Royal Highness’s clothing.”

Regardless of whether the Palace has changed its tack when it comes to fashion credits, Kate’s wardrobe has remained, as ever, prim, proper and predominantly Catherine Walker-led thus far in 2025 (although she has, on occasion, recycled noughties pieces, such as a Ralph Lauren jacket she first wore in Cheltenham back in 2007). For today’s Wales v England match in Cardiff, however, the Princess wore the polar opposite of a headline-generating look: a navy, military-style coat over a classic black turtleneck.

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