The re-emergence of the Princess of Wales has been one of the undoubted highlights of 2025.
After a challenging year marked by sickness and doubt, Kate reappears in the public eye with grace, elegance, and a sense of relatability that surely captivates her family members.
At just 43 years old, the past year has been a turning point in her life, offering new insights into her priorities. As she gradually resumes her royal duties, it is evident that the princess intends for the attention to be on her work rather than her attire.
In fact, a source within the royal circle revealed to London’s Sunday Times that Kate will no longer disclose information about the clothes she wears for upcoming public engagements.
In the face of her charitable mission and the personal battles she must still face, Kate’s wardrobe – no matter how beautiful – might at first appear a banal detail that obscures a more important message.
But I would caution her to think again.
By seeming to downplay the importance of her clothes, she is also downplaying the first and most fundamental purpose of modern royalty – as an absorbing and symbolic form of national entertainment.
Think tiaras, for example. Is there really a practical function for such glitzy head gear? Or are tiaras now worn to delight a viewing public eager to enjoy their glamorous and, these days, infrequent appearances?
After a harrowing year of illness and uncertainty, Princess Kate (pictured here on February 4) has stepped back on to the stage of public life still stylish, charming and projecting a relatability that is no doubt the envy of fellow family members.Â
AÂ royal source told London’s Sunday Times this weekend that Kate (pictured on December 3, 2024) will no longer release details of the outfits she wears on future public occasions.
Think tiaras, for example. Is there really a practical function for such glitzy head gear? Or are tiaras now worn to delight a viewing public eager to enjoy their glamorous and, these days, infrequent appearances? (Pictured: Kate on May 6, 2023).Â
The ritual, ceremony and pomp exemplified in beautiful clothing and jewelry are a central thread in the monarchy and how it functions in British national life.
The late Queen Elizabeth certainly understood the importance of glamour.
Take her sumptuous Normal Hartnell wedding gown created for her wedding to Prince Philip of Greece in November 1947, when Britain was still enduring the scourge of textile rationing.
This was created not just so that a young princess could marry her naval hero, but in order to dazzle and delight a nation still suffering the gloom and uncertainty of the new post-war years.
Five years later, Hartnell followed a similar brief from Elizabeth, now the new sovereign, and created a gown that literally glittered as its wearer glided through Westminster Abbey and towards the moment of her Coronation. It was embroidered with real gold thread and thousands of tiny pearls.
Elizabeth II knew that her impact and its importance for her people was routinely projected in what she wore.
In what would prove to be her final appearance in a tiara at the annual Diplomatic Corps Reception held at Buckingham Palace in 2019, she displayed a never-before-seen emerald and diamond necklace.
It finished off a sumptuous ensemble that reminded everyone who set eyes upon it that, despite her advancing years, the Queen remained someone who could delight, inspire and entertain.
It also seemed to prove that she had no particular concern that clothes, however glamorous, might overwhelm the message or the seriousness of what she conveyed.
Nor did Princess Diana ever shy away from the importance of looking good on even the most serious of assignments. This was true even in the post-divorce Dynasty Di years when, for a period at least, she embraced Hollywood glitz.
Always dressing to impress, Diana gave the public something to dream about when the magic moment of a live appearance had faded into mere memory.
And while I would resist comparing the second Trump administration to a new version of American royalty, the Trumps’ success, at least as visualized in the glamorous women who make up the family, are a reminder of how potent a tool glamour can be in the success of any dynasty.
Kate, too, has pioneered a new and dynamic age of royal dressing, garnering public attention by mixing an immaculate array of custom couture with high street creations, all of which have endeared her to a British (and international public). Fascination with Kate’s clothing has translated into an admiration for a woman who has successfully combined royal tradition with modern female values.
The late Queen Elizabeth certainly understood the importance of glamour. Take her sumptuous Normal Hartnell wedding gown created for her wedding to Prince Philip of Greece in November 1947, when Britain was still enduring the scourge of textile rationing.
In what would prove to be her final appearance in a tiara at the annual Diplomatic Corps Reception held at Buckingham Palace in 2019 (pictured), she displayed a never-before-seen emerald and diamond necklace.
Think of her incarnation as a veritable ‘Bond Girl’ in 2019 when, cloaked in Jenny Packham gold sequins, she outshone even 007 himself, Daniel Craig, on the London red carpet (pictured).
The Princess’s debut on the world stage in 2011 in a bespoke Alexander McQueen wedding gown, a confection of satin and lace, made her as iconic a royal bride as her late mother-in-law. There has been no shortage of glamor moments since then.
Think of her incarnation as a veritable ‘Bond Girl’ in 2019 when, cloaked in Jenny Packham gold sequins, she outshone even 007 himself, Daniel Craig, on the London red carpet.
Yet Kate has combined such highlights with an aspirational relatability, not to mention credentials as a devotee of the high street. This new and distinctly modern vibe has endeared her to her public.
To forgo such hard-won achievements – which far outweigh mere fashion credentials – is to overlook the innate power of clothing in the lives of women and in the story of monarchy.
