Here are some photos from the annual Festival of Remembrance, which featured appearances by many members of the British royal family. The Princess Royal, the Duke of York, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Prince of Wales, Prince Edward, the Countess of Wessex, the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Queen were all in attendance. Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge were also there, front row with the Queen, Charles and Camilla. I always find it so interesting to study the seating arrangements/positioning for these events. Clearly, the front row of the royal box was for the Queen, her heir and her heir’s heir. But in the second and third rows, anything goes. The seating didn’t have any bearing on the line of succession.
Duchess Kate didn’t re-wear a frock for this event – she chose a sleek black number from Roland Mouret, a designer I love and I wish more royal women would wear. The asymmetrical neck is quite common in Mouret’s designs, as is the clean, simple silhouette. Don’t hate me, but I think this dress feels like something Meghan would have chosen more than Kate. Kate likes a full skirt. She likes a skirt cut above the knee. God knows, she loves buttons and lace. I’ll never understand why Kate doesn’t wear this kind of style more often, because it really flatters her figure, and the length is more demure and professional.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
She looks great.
I love Roland Mouret too. I think Kate looks great but somehow it doesn’t look quite right on her. Maybe it’s just because we are used to seeing her in more girly, lacey dresses. That’s just her style. I like both styles but this does feel like a slightly unusual choice for Kate.
It’s the neckline. It doesn’t suit her and it’s unflattering.
I actually think this neckline is very flattering, she has a long pretty neck. I might like the dress to be an inch or two shorter but overall I think it’s a win. She should dress like this more often.
@minx, Agree to disagree. I think the neckline slants too sharply and a bit too deep. It makes that part of the dress look askew rather than stylishly asymmetrical to me.
Yesterday she really looked fine. Today she wears ellegant- millitary style coat during Remembrance Sunday.
The coat she wore today was both, appropriate and stunning. Easily my favourite (UK) royal look of the year.
Me, too!! I LOVED that military coat. She has a great body for clothes, too thin sometimes in my view, but clothes look great on her. She is very lucky.
To be fair, with some exceptions, Kate has been favouring slightly longer hems since the Tour of Australia and NZ with George and William…
She looks fantastic here. The dress is very flattering on her, and I saw pictures of the dress on Twitter… It’s definitely more interesting than what we can appreciate here.
It is very easy to re wear this one, so I am sure we will see it again
Very chic and appropriate.
+1
actually, I’ve decided I don’t like this dress. It has a long exposed gold zipper down the back. UGH
Oh no, they still have those garish zippers? Ugh.
Wow. I hate those exposed zippers too. It always makes a dress look poorly made.
I think her style has really improved. I really like this lenght of hair.
Yep, she’s looking good. She’s still doing curls, but they look slightly less sausage-y somehow.
Asymmetry of any sort bothers me but Kate looks lovely here. Just spent $2500 on a bespoke dress for my daughter. It has an asymmetrical design. She loves it. Everyone else loves it. It makes me uncomfortable. But I guess that’s why I’m not a designer.
2500? If I spend 150.00 on a dress it feels like a splurge. I cannot imaging spending 2500 on a dress! Hell my wedding dress was 400.00.
I borrowed my dress from my MOH. It was her wedding dress and came off the rack at Nordstrom or something.
Honestly, people are entitled to spend their money however they want to ($2500 or $409)
She looks great!
I quite agree, she’s never looked better! I hope she keeps this up.
I agree the dress suits her. Like her hair at the moment, glad to see she’s either had a hair cut or finally chucked out the cheap wiglets she loves.
She looks amazing.
I love the dress and she looks great! The neckline really adds interest.
I wish she’d really embrace the look and go sleeker with the hair too. I don’t get bouncy curls with this dress.
When I first saw Kate’s hair I thought it was sleeker but then I saw the curls. I wish both Meghan and Kate would go a little shorter, like a lob. I think it looks more sophisticated.
I don’t understand this constant focus on getting women to cut their hair short. Long hair does not look unprofessional or unsophisticated.. Some of us do like our hair long..
Not short, shorter. Just below the shoulders maybe. I think it looks neater and less girlish. My opinion only.
I’d be content with the length if the curls would go away. They are tiresome and obvious.
She looks great. Something about Kate seems to have changed. I don’t know what it is but she seems different (in a good way).
I agree. I’m 42 and me and my friends agree we became our most confident selves in our thirties, and it’s definitely where I found my style. It involved some experimenting for sure.
She used to come across as shy or trying too hard to manage her image. She seems more relaxed, like she knows who she is and knows that it’s enough.
Agreed.
She seems to have settled in as a royal , a wife and mother. She’s more sure of herself and her role in the family.
Her and William are and strong and solid… I like the older, mature, less unsure Kate.
Meghan has worn Roland a few times since becoming royal, and he was a friend of hers from before Harry.
https://goo.gl/images/C8Tfup
Gorgeous. I thought all 3 women along with HM looked stunning. I love Kate’s hair
It’s a great dress on her for sure.
snooze. so boring.
why is Kate wearing poppy on the right side? everyone else has it on the left.
Apparently it’s supposed to be on the left ‘above the heart’ but she decided that wouldn’t work with the neckline.
The Royal British Legion says you can wear it on either side: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11975066/Poppy-etiquette-Are-you-wearing-yours-right.html
Does it really matter what side the poppy is worn on? Did Kate put her looks over the importance of poppy placement? I do like her in the dress, but it seems long for something she would wear.
@Lexa Thanks for the correction – I was relying on DM comments for guidance (shame on me)
@lexa – interesting – in Canada it’s worn on the left over the heart.
The woman behind her (appears to be in a different box) has hers on the right as well.
Roland Mouret’s designs are so expensive but the dresses and jumpsuits are beautiful, professional, and overall pretty classic. I really want Kate to wear more RM!
Same.
I have disliked Kate’s post-George style and haven’t been wild about her post-wedding style in general. She usually dresses for someone at least twice her age. But this is more like her pre-wedding style and I love it. She actually looks like a 30-something woman rather than HM’s mini-me.
this is a great look on her. she looks very polished and TALL! not a fan of that sleeve length but otherwise this was a win for her.
of course she’s back to her old tricks theme dressing on the balcony today with a military-esque coat.
Kate is tall. I’d say 5”9 and 6ft in heels. Some have argued she’s not but she is period.
I loved this dress on her.
The sleeves, yikes!!
She has really come into her own this year. Looks very confident & relaxed since the last baby.
This outfit is great. Ironically, she looks much younger when she doesn’t dress like a little girl.
My first A+ for Kate.
I keep reading comments about how Kate looks more regal/confident and it brings to mind a specific theory. I think (just complete speculation here) that the 6 months of maternity leave was not only for her to spend time with her child, but also to revamp her image if you will. The image no longer is one of a duchess but a future queen. I remember watching a documentary where they said that after Kate was bullied because of her looks she came back after the summer looking very pretty (i.e. wearing make up, etc.) and that completely changed people’s perception (at least in the looks department) about her. So essentially this was the second image revamp she’s had.
Her fake-interested face is so funny.
It’s a wild guess, but since the change is so obvious I wonder if it’s some sort of medication she is taking. Perhaps anti-depressants for Post-partum depression. They’d definitely make you feel more at ease with everyrthing.
She is super thin and still this dress makes her look…full. I like the idea of the dress but it seems off on her.
I have a picture of me at a party. I was 60 kg there so not fat at all but because of the way the dress I was wearing looked on me I seem to have thunder thighs (I don’t). I have several photos of that night but that one makes me look FAT. That’s what I am getting from this photos and it’s weird for me. Otherwise she looks grown up and beautiful.