Princess Anne goes bold in white waist-defining mother-of-the-groom dress

Mother-of-the-bride and mother-of-the-groom dresses can be difficult to shop for, but Princess Anne made it look effortless at Peter Phillips' wedding on 17 May 2008.

Anne looked like a proud mother as she joined her son and his ex-wife Autumn Kelly's celebrations at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle alongside her second husband Sir Timothy Laurence. King Charles' sister looked glamorous in a chocolate pleated dress that fell to her ankles, layered underneath a bold bridal white jacquard jacket that emphasised her waist with a brown ribbon.

A statement gold and diamond necklace drew attention to her outfit, which she completed with low heels, a coffee-coloured clutch bag and matching suede gloves.

Staying true to her fail-safe beauty look, Anne fastened her brunette hair into an updo and kept her makeup minimal, aside from a pop of colour on her lips.

Anne – who has been hailed as the hardest-working royal – has rarely been pictured with her hair loose around her shoulders, choosing to fasten it into a practical and chic chignon or bun for every occasion, from her wedding day to her military career and everyday royal engagements.

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"It's like armour," explained Claudia Harrison (who plays Princess Anne in The Crown) to Marie Claire.

Despite looking the picture of elegance at all times, the Princess Royal takes a similarly unfussy approach to her style. As President of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, Anne has thrown her support behind sustainable fashion – and she often leads by example by recycling items from her wardrobe, such as her trusted tassel House of Bruar knee-high boots.

"You go through the phase when fashion was very structured and people followed fashion, but you had tailors and dressmakers who absolutely fundamentally made that, but you could also alter it because they had the skills to do so.

“Now you’ve got instant fashion which you then throw away, you don’t alter it because it wouldn’t be worthwhile," she said during a trip to Sri Lanka.

“So whether we’ve got to relearn those skills, go back and say, 'Actually, we need materials that can do more than one evolution of fashion.'"

Anne has cemented her place as a style icon over the years, stepping out in colour-clashing outfits for the Prince and Princess of Wales' royal wedding and keeping it classic in plush velvet for King Charles' coronation. The latter served as inspiration for designer Silvia Venturini Fendi, who created a men's line around her uniform.

Speaking at Milan Fashion Week in 2024, she said Anne was "the chicest woman in the world… capable of maintaining her femininity while wearing a uniform."

She added: "I fell in love with the style of Princess Anne, who to my mind is the most elegant woman in the world. When I saw the coronation last year with Princess Anne in her uniform, I thought she looked beautiful. So I said, 'Let’s be inspired for a men’s collection.'"

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