"Fashion does matter – why what Kate wears will always be important"
As the future Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth countries, it’s little surprise that the Princess of Wales faces huge amounts of public scrutiny whenever she is seen in public.
The 43-year-old has now returned to a schedule of regular outward-facing engagements following an extended break last year, during which she was undergoing treatment for cancer.
Now, for 2025, a source has told The Sunday Times that Kate would prefer there not to be such a focus on her sartorial choices, with Kensington Palace no longer willing to share or confirm the names of labels the princess wears.
“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,” the 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 style is there but it’s about the substance.”
It’s not hugely surprising; after facing something so life-affirming as chemotherapy, the Princess of Wales’ priorities are bound to change, and wanting the focus to shift onto the meat and potatoes of the good causes she works towards is hardly a big ask. But the apparent dismissal of Kate’s style choices as nothing more than a frivolous distraction seems misguided.
Over the past 14 years, Kate has proven herself to be a style icon and a powerhouse in the fashion sphere. British brands have boasted of ‘the Kate effect’, referring to the tendency for items to fly off the shelves after she's pictured wearing them. Kate’s wardrobe is so powerful, it is thought her style alone has given an estimated £1 billion annual boost to the UK fashion industry – something that is much needed in this increasingly sluggish economy.
The effect is instantaneous the moment Kate steps out the palace doors, apparently. Jennifer Chamandi, who designs elegant heels often favoured by both the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex, saw a huge increase in brand awareness after Kate was spotted wearing them. “We had messages from stockists globally, wanting to know how quickly we could deliver a shipment of the style Kate wore,” Chamandi told Bazaar in 2023. “Being a British brand, having a member of the royal family wear my shoes was a dream come true. After another intense lockdown, it felt like a ray of optimism.”
It's the States that can really supercharge the clamouring for Kate’s clothes; with polls across the pond regularly revealing that she is the most beloved member of the royals, Americans see Kate as a celebrity whose style can be easily (and relatively affordably) emulated.
There are also somewhat cruder reasons why we’re all still fascinated with what Kate’s wearing. Putting it bluntly, Kate looks good in clothes, and has the ability to make every gown or coat she wears look effortless and elegant. Arguably, her glamour only draws attention to her charitable causes, rather than distract from them. For example, when the princess wore a sustainably sourced gown to the Earthshot Gala in Boston in 2022, she was a guiding light showing the uncertain that second-hand style can still be chic.
The announcement itself from Kensington Palace sources could be seen as defeatist. By suggesting that official royal channels no longer want to discuss Kate’s wardrobe, they’ve effectively insured that this is all people are going to be talking about. The Princess of Wales may want to be seen as a workhorse, rather than a clotheshorse, but what she wears will always matter.
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