Kate Middleton Wants the Focus on Her Work Over Her Wardrobe
Interest levels in the Princess of Wales’s clothes have always been exceptional. Brands have seen sales rocket and websites crash, bloggers have documented every detail, and consumers continue to clamor to replicate her style. So much so that the phenomenon even has it’s own name: The Kate Effect.
However, the Princess’s outfits are in the spotlight for a different reason this week, with headlines that she wants the focus to be on her work not her wardrobe. The discussion originated with a story in the Sunday Times newspaper quoting a Palace source as saying that “she wants the focus to be on the really important issues, the people and the causes she is spotlighting.” The story also said that Kensington Palace will no longer release details of the Princess’s outfits. However, there has not been any announcement from the Palace to that effect.
Those who have been covering Kate’s engagements for some time will know that the idea she wants the focus to be on her work over her fashion is not new. Nor is this is the first time that the question of whether or not Kensington Palace will release outfits publicly has been discussed.
Back in 2019, Royal Correspondent Richard Palmer sparked interest with his tweet about the fact Kensington Palace had declined to say what the Princess was wearing to an engagement - something which up until that point it had become standard to share with journalists covering the event. Since then, details of outfits have continued to be passed on at times, but the decision whether or not do so to has been more variable in recent years.
Interestingly, those following the royals when Kate first joined the Firm in 2011 may remember that at the very beginning of her royal life Kensington Palace didn’t say what she was wearing and this resulted in online bloggers often being the first to identify an outfit. In some cases, there was uncertainly about whether or not a designer had been correctly named, which is possibly what prompted Kensington Palace to start passing on details.
The Sunday Times also quoted the Palace official as saying that the Princess does understand that there will be an appreciation of what she is wearing from some of the public. The publication’s sister paper today ran an opinion piece with a headline describing her fashion choices as her “superpower.”
Often, royal style choices are credited with communicating messages beyond fashion, such as wearing an emblem or color to honor a host or guest or draw attention to a particular cause. During her recent outing to meet Holocaust survivors in London, Kate was praised by Jewish owned brand Susan Caplan who said they were honored that she had chosen to wear their necklace to the event. On the same outing, she was criticized on social media for her choice of a Chanel handbag.
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