The Queen hosted a reception for the Prince of Wales today at Buckingham Palace. The reception is to honor the fiftieth anniversary – this year, not today specifically – of Prince Charles’ investiture as the Prince of Wales. The Daily Mail points out that Charles technically became Prince of Wales at the age of nine, but he was only “invested” with the title on July 1, 1969. When he was 20 years old. So that’s the anniversary – the investiture.
For the reception, it just looked like a simple day-time palace reception. People were generally in suits and work-type dresses. This reception also marked the first time since Christmas that the Duchesses of Sussex and Cambridge were in the same general space. Meghan repeated her favorite white Amanda Wakeley coat, and her floral sheath dress is SO pretty. Meg’s wearing pantyhose too, because she’s at the palace and she knew she couldn’t go bare-legged. As for Kate, reportedly (according to Twitter fashion watchdogs) she’s wearing a Beulah London dress which is probably new, but looks familiar because she has several dresses in the same style. I don’t know, honestly, that ID could be wrong.
Personally, I think Meghan looks so fresh and pretty in her brocade dress and I think Kate defaults way too often to her “1980s secretary” look. Kate’s dress would have looked at home on Princess Diana in 1984.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, at a reception at Buckingham Palace in London to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the investiture of the Prince of Wales.
📸@PA https://t.co/e8fOGE23KX pic.twitter.com/cqYlAXJhyC
— Derek Momodu (@DelMody) March 5, 2019
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Kate has taken onto this cut and to the mint green. Someone please please change her makeup and hair, she literally looks exactly the same every single time. Meg looks awesome. I suspect this is her last engagement.
No, she got another two more engagement coming up.
She actually has an engagement on International Women’s Day!! I can’t wait to see her then. She looks lovely and I wish her and the baby so much health and happiness
Not yet. She has the women’s panel shes part of later this week that’s for International Women’s Day.
She is also attending a service for the Commonwealth at Westminster Abbey on Sunday.
I would like her to cut about six inches off her hair.
I think it’d make her look older, tbh.
If it was the right cut she would look more chic. Her hair looks schoolgirlish to me.
Why? She’s not 50-something, she’s 30-something. She has healthy, beautiful hair. Longer hair can look chic on women in their 30s and I get a cramp in my eye from all the eye-rolling I do when people say she needs shorter hair or to always wear her hair up. Where are all these supposed hair rules from? I don’t always like the way her hair is styled but she looks beautiful with hair this length and it looks perfectly fine in terms of professionalism.
Kate and Meghan have similar length hair but Kate always styles hers in an immature way. Professional women in their thirties don’t do sausage curls. She’s not changed her look since university and that’s almost 20 years ago. Her updos are also very often over complicated for occasions where it’s unnecessary. It’s too bad she got rid of the guy who admitted she had extensions because she probably looked her best then.
@Nic919: Kate’s hair here is fine, and it’s perfectly professional. Those are not sausage curls. They’re loose, curly waves. Real sausage curls are much, much tighter. Honestly, you can probably see Kate’s hairstyle in any office anywhere in the world, tbh.
That said, I agree with others that cutting some length off might be a good thing. I think she’d look great with less length and less curl.
Couldn’t agree more on these comments (and those in the article). Kate does look like a 1980s secretary, and I suspect it’s her take on “professional.” At first, I thought this was the dress that thirsty Pippa wore to Louis’ christening, but it’s not. Both items were terrible, yet very “Wisteria sisters.”
I like both of their dresses, but I don’t get Meghan’s coat.
Meghan’s dress is very pretty and flattering on her, and Kate’s is very delicate. I like the colour and the length, and that no matter how much we hate it, she is faithful to her own tastes and style.
I usually don’t mind anything she wears… but this is very old west school marm. But I do agree about the color. It’s very springy.
I do respect the fact that Kate is true to her style. But this dress, the more I look at it, is sooo dated. It’s just odd that a young woman, with a good body would wear something so matronly all the time. I could understand one or two of these dresses, but she has so many. Her make-up and hair does look good.
Agreed. I think Kaiser nailed it, ’80s secretary’; she looks like Jane Fonda in Nine to Five. And Beulah London really only has one dress style, they just change up the fabrics & lengths.
Kate has the strangest taste. I just can’t figure it out at all.
Honestly, I think Kate just likes what she likes. If I had money to blow, I would probably dress exactly like Kate anyway. I know its a dated look and people try to tell me all the time. I try to listen but at the end of the day…I just don’t care. lol
I like Meghans dress, but don’t like the coat. The coat looks too springy, bright white and stiff looking
I love how both of them are dressed, and I do love the coat but serious question, is it weird to wear the coat indoors? Like, should she have taken it off or not? I don’t know coat etiquete in this instant.
It’s spring here in the UK. And no, it’s not weird to wear the coat indoors. Buckingham Palace is not a warm place. Meghan’s cost is essentially the equivalent of Camilla’s or the Queen’s jackets.
I actually don’t like Kate or Meghan’s outfits. Kate looks so 80’s and not in a good way and I hate that shiny baroque fabric. The white coat is the only good thing.
Middleton looks 10 years younger than she did before.
Kate looks great.
Refreshed.
Fillers and Botox. Around the eyes in particular.
Facelift?
She seems to be wearing less make up.
LOL!
‘Tox overdose.
Kate’s makeup looks amazing here! It’s much lighter than usual (or maybe she just skipped the eyeliner?) and it makes her look softer and younger. I think both duchesses look beautiful…wish they’d been photographed together!
I think her makeup and hair look really good here.
I 💖 Kate’s overall look.
It’s Sloane Square Squiring round the town.
I have to respectfully disagree. I think she looks like the character Grace Farrell from ‘Annie’ – the Albert Finney 1982 film version. veeeeeery dated.
Her make-up really is on point. Her face and hair look fab.
I don’t like the dress, though. Like others have said, she has a great body and could wear anything. I would love to see her in one of the outfits Queen Laetizia was wearing last week.
I wonder if they spoke to each other. I do agree, the fight is between William and Harry. Meghan and Kate put on the smiles for the public. When the brothers are near each other, there is never a pleasant look on their faces.
The Dailymail would like us all to know that Meghan’s coat, though a repeat, is 895 pounds. No price for the Duchess of Cambridge’s dress.
I guess they would like her to wear rags. How dare the uppity black woman wear designer clothing!
Oh common… Meg has been spending like there is no tomorrow.
Women look lovely. Each loyal to her own style.
Oh @Milla it has been caught repeatedly that quite a lot of handbags, shoes/boots, jewelry and random articles of clothing were owned before Harry (plus having friends, who are designers & stylist has its perks) Anyway never forget how Kate spent, including the $50,000 necklace Kate bought and wore in 2012 with a blue Stella McCarthy shifr dress.
They really should have staged a photo op, while making it look casual (like a candid photo of the four of them laughing together or something.) Maybe there are those pictures out there and we just haven’t seen them yet.
And if her dress is Beulah London, that would be bery easy to price. Hypocrisy in action.
Her dress was privately made so no price available but you know it cost more than Meghan’s if it is coture
Kate’s dress is not couture, not by a long shot. And whatever you want to say about Kate, Meghan has outspent her by multiples. They both spend an insane amount, but that is one area where I think Meghan absolutely deserves some of the criticism she’s getting. It’s possible to look regal, royal, celebrity, whatever without spending as much as she has. That said, even if DM and others are exaggerating her price tags, I still think its more than Kate. They should both take lessons from Letizia.
hashtagwhat -Why is Kate’s dress not couture? According to TLo Kate’s is the one that would be most likely seen on the runways this season. It could be designer.
Couture is not the same thing as designer or bespoke, nor is something considered couture just because it debuts on a Paris runway, or any other runway for that matter. Couture is made to order (which Kate’s could be), often very elaborate, and technically the atelier in Paris (that makes the couture) must have at least 15 full time employees. To become a couturier, you also must be certified by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. It’s an art. See Meghan’s Ralph and Russo engagement picture dress (R&R are invited members as of 2013) and her Dior (long time member) gown for Morocco.
So Kate’s could be custom, or bespoke, by her own private dressmaker, and that appears to be the case. But that is NOT couture.
@Hashtagwhat…thank you for defining the differences – always have kind of wondered about that. TY
Isn’t this Stella Mc dress? No id on either dresses.
Couture also requires a certain percentage of handwork. There are very strict rules. Remember Cardi B in Mugler? That was couture.
I was outside the palace gates today. I was too late to see the arrival But I watched the departures. I fleetingly saw Charles, Camilla, William, Kate and Harry and Meghan and also Sarah Chatto, driving herself with her husband. 😄
Good lord can some tell Kate it’s 2019? She looks carbon-dated at times.
+1
I can understand Kate has an “idea” of how she should/wants to look. What I can’t reconcile is how she can get it SO RIGHT (white dress at BAFTAs), and SO WRONG (here). At the BAFTAs she looked, dare I say, regal, just gorgeous: young, stylish in hair and makeup, even her posture looked better! Here, she just looks worn out; that high buttoned up neck, long, floppy sleeves, color washing her out…
I *love* Kate, but this look… just no.
I love Meghan’s dress, but I wouldn’t’ve put a metallic clutch with suede shoes. Pregnancy suits her, as with Kate (in the last trimester).
They’re so lame. They could have done a kick back to the original outfits the Queen Mother, Anne, and Margaret wore. Now that would have been fly as hell. Solidarity in Easter colors!
But on a whole they look good and I love Meghan’s dress
Queen mum was a racist idiot. Kate and Meg are better than that.
I may be prejudiced as I loathe mint green, but Kate’s dress is just bad in every way.
She looks like a sister wife in that dress. It’s just bad. Maybe a bolder colour might make it better. Doubtful though.
She DOES look like a sister wife. The dress isn’t becoming, the only way to salvage it would be to wear it under a jacket or coat.
Truly. All she needs is lace up boots and her hair in a low bun.
Now that sister wife had been thrown out there… I can’t unsee it.
Wow, you’re correct, total FLIDS outfit there, just missing practical shoes. I’m having flashbacks to 1982 Jessica McClintock dresses. I hate this high neck trend, I remember when you learned backwards in the pew at church, and the high collar would choke you.
I miss Kate’s Diane Von Fuerstenberg wrap dresses! Long live the V-neck!
A V-neck is so universally flattering (esp. if the V doesn’t go all the way to your navel!)
I loved Kate’s wrap dresses, and esp. her Issa dresses.
At least she doesn’t blend in to the carpet and wallpaper
No that dress is hideous and looks like something from that Big Love Mormon sister wife show.
She looks tragic. The DM says it’s a McQueen. But she already has a nearly identical Beulah. Interestingly, the DM mentioned this fact in all of the articles on the event like they were throwing shade at her.
Pregnancy looks great on meghan. I really hope she keeps some of the weight. Kate looks so skinny.
I agree.
I’ve thought the same about Kate – it’s like she can’t find clothes small enough to fit her. She’s worn some lovely dresses, but many of them, including this one, are too big for her.
Charles and Camilla! I’m a huge fan of those two.
Me too……they make me giddily happy! It’s quite bonkers. 👑
Yay! I’m not alone!
Arggghhh… I still can’t get over the way he treated Diana, and Camilla looks like the north end of a southbound horse. But they seem blissfully happy together.
Different strokes. 🙂
I guess the whole Diana thing doesn’t bother me because I was never a Diana fan. Even when young and she was “IT!,” she always read as phony to me. Now, please don’t read me wrong, I think it’s terrible how she passed away, I was just never a fan.
As for Camilla…well, no, we all can’t be hotties. I’m a bit busted myself, which is probably why I have a soft-spot for a fellow non-looker like Cams. (That said, she has been looking great lately.)
Umm I still don’t understand what they’re celebrating… Is it just that Charles got a new title a few years ago?
Yup. It’s the 50th anniversary of becoming Prince of Wales. Royals are nothing without titles bestowed upon them so a milestone is a party.
He is the longest Prince of Wales in history. Has been for a while.
Oh! oh wow really… Thanks for the reply, i guess titles are important to them, but still seems weird to me to have a celebration for that. But maybe it’s cause i understand so little of royal values & protocol.
mtam: the whole thing is weird; I mean, who else would get the POW title?
Gosh yes! I remember watching his investiture on TV; it was a really big thing. Mind you TV was much more deferential then of course. Still, we all got very excited about it all, secretly fancying Chazza in spite of his churning agony in being who he was at that time.
(That’s why I adore him and Camz and their extended family 💕….he really did have such a publicly miserable time as a boy/young man.)
Yes, Glor!
I wasn’t around when he was younger, but recently read his bio by Sally Bledell Smith. The pages were pregnant with the agony Charles carried for never quite fitting in (in his younger days). I think that’s why I like him so much, we’re tortured in similar ways. Of course he is a wealthy monarch and I’m…the exact opposite. But still.
I also like that he seems to know that he’s not naturally brilliant, but works diligently to learn about things that interest him. And so many things seem to interest him. My dream job would be putting together weekly lunch parties for him, centered around a pre-determined topic, with 4 guests (6 total with Cams). I’m serious! I’ve given this way too much thought…lol. As hostess, I would always be privvy to the conversation as well. 🙂
What a pity his father could not be bothered to show up, he may be 97 but if he felt able to drive alone on public roads he could have come to London for this short ceremony. Philip seems to no longer hide the fact that he lives a life entirely separate from his wife and family.
Exactly my thoughts, these royals. Next thing we see, celebrate that they breathe or spending tax payers money for expensive clothing while visiting poor people at “their” charities.
Kate’s dress…yikes. There’s a very fine line between looking classic and looking dated.
This is exactly it. So many times we hear “Kate likes classic! Kate likes vintage!” and that’s fine in itself (I veer towards a more classic style) but like you said, there is a fine line between classic and dated, and this dress is the latter.
I love Meghan’s dress. I just wish she had taken her coat off so you could see more of it. I don’t understand the pattern of wearing your coat indoors. Even Kate apparently took her’s off.
Perhaps it is a shift dress with no sleeves?
I saw some other pics of Meghan’s coat and it reads much less stiff close up. From a distance, the details on the coat get lost. I love her dress.
Maybe she’s actually cold? It happens, especially if you don’t feel well and some RR posted this morning (although who knows what their source could possibly be) that Meghan’s having some Braxton Hix contractions.
The Princess Royal also left her coat on while there. Ann is wearing a beautiful outfit.
@Lady D, I liked the photo on twitter of The Princess Royal and Duchess Meghan talking. Hopefully they’ll work together in the future.
Mia — Loved that photo too. I’m always so surprised when I see pics of them together because Anne usually has something resembling a smile on her face. I think she genuinely likes Meghan! Which makes sense; they’re both worker bees.
But Anne legit terrifies me. 🙂
Fun Fact: Anne dated Camilla’s first husband for awhile back in the day.
it’s always a good day when we see Princess Anne! She’s the royals’ Helen Mirren…..in fact, that can be a fantasy friendship for my tiny mind now 😄
I think Meghan looks terrific, bar one misstep…that blasted collar should be down. Doubly so indoors. Fabulous cocktail dress there, very ‘her’.
But Kate (whom I really like and approve of, so there! ) Do we ever think she’s dressing according to someone else’s preferences? Sometimes her choices just do not compute, though granted she’s no fashionista by a long chalk.
She usually carries off even the most questionable rigouts, but in this Frock of Tears she reminds me alarmingly of Karen Carpenter, and that’s not a good look. It drags her down in pretty much every way.
Camilla! She loves the Meghan-inspired little handbags, doesn’t she? A perfect style for her I think.
(That suit jacket, which we’ve also we’ve seen in black….am I tripping, in reading those (leather?) seam details as an allusion to a majorly fabulous waspie /boned corset? If so, it’s very playful indeed; there’s an Edwardian ‘poule de luxe’ in her for sure, specially for Chaz. The pair of them, eh? in their lovely bubble ; sweet)
Really enjoyed this article, thanks. 🙏🏼
OMG Glor, that Karen Carpenter comparison is spot. On. That’s not a good sign.
I think Anne likes Meghan and is showing her support, she knows what is going on behind closed Palace doors.
I love Meghan’s dress but I don’t like the coat inside.
They both look bad here, Kate’s dress is like nursery curtains and Meg looks like she got her dress by stripping a fancy couch of its fabric.
I love Meghan’s look. I am usually one of the first to get annoyed at leaving coats on indoors, but for some reason here I don’t mind it. I think it “tones down” the shiny dress in a nice way.
When I saw Kate’s dress from the waist up, I thought, meh, pretty but she has almost that exact same dress already, and then I saw the whole thing and I think it looks dated. I said last week that I liked her in midi length dresses, but this one is a fail for me.
It looks like a Rochas swing shift from the collection from about 5 years ago. That dress was sleeveless. She could have gotten it from a vintage store.
Shiny brocade isn’t actually a daytime fabric. This would better be saved for after-5 as it makes Meg look overdressed.
+1
Really? I don’t feel like she looked over dressed at all and I saw some women with what looked like straight up black evening gowns. I also loved the coat and it was probably because it was sleeveless. When you’re into your third trimester and with her body shape I’m sure it’s tough to find formal wear that is both comfortable and appropriate.
Although I did not like Kate’s dress in the least her hair and makeup looked the best I’ve seen I think. She really toned down the rouge and eyeliner and she looked so much younger.
Yes, I think Meghan can carry off daylight glam very well. Only Queenie can do it so successfully too, and she should in any case be dripping with diamonds all day long! Even when out stomping around Balmoral 👑
It is very shiny
Eh. She has entered the third trimester blank check stage wherein all women, even duchesses, are given latitude in dressing. It is such an uncomfortable and frequently ugly feeling time. Nothing fits. You don’t sleep. Everything hurts or feels weird. Wear the shiny dress if it feels amazing.
I thought we got through this royal round without a pic of Willy. I was psyched (cause the guy sucks). But no, the human smug thumb is there. I see his little nub sticking up in the first picture.
You’re hilarious. He totally does look like a thumb. Can’t unsee it now.
“I see his little nub sticking up in the first picture.” Holy macaroni, I nearly spit my tea onto my screen!! That his hilarious!! All I’m going to think about now is William as the “the little nub.” hahahaha!
Thank you for that! 😀
Dumble and Fluff — So glad I have people to laugh at Willy with! Poking fun at him is pretty much my favorite gossip pastime.
In Dreamworld, I’m one of Meghan’s ladies-in-waiting — and she hires me just so I can neg Willy on the regular, and sometimes to his FACE! 🙂
haha just saw this. thanks for giving me a laugh.
But the anniversary is July 1st? It’s March. Are they so busy they can’t celebrate it in June?
Ps. Kate looks like one of those dressed up dolls made of porcelain that have a stand.
The royals have a lot going on in June, what with Royal Ascot and Trooping the Colour etc. This may well have been the only day all of them could manage.
Yes! Meghan hit it out of the ballpark with that brocade dress. I love how she is not afraid to try different textures.
Brocade is also timeless. I wore a similar brocade sheath dress to a wedding.
Eh, I like both Duchesses’ dresses. Neither are my style but it suits theirs just fine for the event.
Will and Harry are Will and Harry.
Same. Neither are bad or anything… but I’m just not really into either of them.
Yes Kate probably has 10 other dresses just like it in her wardrobe but that’s just how she rolls these days–this is her style and when she find something that fits in with it she buys it in three colors. I don’t hate it.
Kate needs to put on some weight. She appears way too thin even in pictures. If this is truly what her body type is, then she needs to choose more figure flattering cuts. I have a tummy and always have. So I wear looser tops. I also have a shirt torso so my outfits tend to make me more proportional. And if she is dieting, she needs to stop it ASAP.
Megs looks great. Love her outfit. And yes, she looks fresh, while Kate looks like she stepped out of a McCalls dress pattern drawing from the late 70s. And while I hear people say we shouldn’t compare the two, it will happen. Kate is an attractive woman and can play up her features. I have yet to see it on a consistent basis.
Agreed on all counts. And I actually think it’s natural to look at their fashion and simply compare and decide which one you’d prefer?
Kate really is not playing up her features at all and for someone who is so thin she fails to really do anything with it. Her uniform is fine but especially this time the dated silhoutte of her style really comes out to play. Even her hair is kind of Charlie’s Angels!
Yes I agree. Completely natural to look at both and compare and contrast. And I am an equal opportunity employer, I do this with men as well. But with men you don’t have as much to change. Some of the travesties I see at work are: pants way too short (even on suits), labels on the sleeves on taken off and the opening in the back is still sewn closed. My parents were both a seamstress and tailor they always commented on clothes. Anywho, and I don’t always agree with Megs fashion choices either.
I really think Kate’s thinness takes away from clothes. Queen Maxima is fuller and she always looks great. But she also enjoys what she is wearing; she wears the clothes and not he other way around. For Kate, the clothes wear her 🙁
Charlie’s Angels is on point. Her hair is very Jacqueline Smith. It was gorgeous in the late 1970s, but it feels so very dated now. I seem to be in the minority in that I am a fan of Meghan’s messy bun.
Her features only look good during and post pregnancy, which is a shame because she used to have a really healthy fuller figure before getting married into this mess. Now her eyebrows have more body than her actual body.
Damn girl, that McCalls reference drop kicked me back 40 years, lol. It’s the truth though.
Lol at that mint dress. Man, she’s hopeless. Miss Havisham.
Points for the Miss Havisham reference.
Kate is hopelessy frump. And the hair with big roller curls…ugh!
They both look old-fashioned to me; Kate because of the cut of her dress, Meghan because of the fabric. They both probably erred on the side of caution because the Queen was going to be there.
This is a small niggle for me, but I would like to see the two younger couples break apart more and work the room on their own. They’re all in their 30s and it seems a bit childish and insecure if they have to be clinging to their partner at a reception.
They did. There are loads of pics of Meghan chatting alone with Princess Anne and Kate with a few people (I couldn’t recognize them and they had their backs to the photographer).
Princes Anne was talking to Harry who was cut out of the picture which in turn made it look like it was Meg talking to her on her own.
Anne was talking to both of them.
I saw more pictures on twitter, and the Queen is wearing a really cute blazer – I feel like we so often see her in dresses or knee length coats – she looks pretty good for 92! And Camilla looked great too. All the other senior royal women besides Kate are wearing a coat (Camilla and Anne are wearing suits) so I wonder if either a directive went out – long sleeves or a jacket, and Meghan already had the dress picked out so she wore the coat over it at the last minute – or if Meghan got there, saw that the other seniors were wearing coats, and kept hers on? Or maybe she just liked the look, who knows.
I feel like her “coat” is more of a long blazer or a dress coat meant to be worn over a dress?
This is one of megan’s Best looks. It finally looks like she had something tailored to actually fit her!
I zoomed in the first picture to look at Charles but the looks on William and Harry behind him over each shoulder are not good. That body language startled me. I’m seeing what others have been seeing, discord between the brothers
YEAH, You can see they are trying to keep the distance and the video you can see it better. I still think it all goes back to when Harry release that statement and there was a story about how William didn’t like that. So the palace had to come out and say he was supporting his brother
The video is interesting. At the beginning, someone comes up to Kate to fill her in on something, and she looks over her shoulder and laughs with Meghan, so it looks like they’re getting along just fine. In the next clip, though, the brothers walk behind Charles, and although they pass almost shoulder-to-shoulder they don’t even acknowledge each other.
Well l saw a picture of William and Harry in that same scene and they were chatting and smiling together. We should not make a mountain out of what happens in a split second.
Yeah, the Sussexes were hugging the wall practically to stay away from the Cambridges. No love lost there.
In the video Megan and Kate are seen chatting and laughing so if there is an issue it is with the men not the women.
In the pictures on Laineygossip, you can see that Harry just cannot smile within 5 feet of his brother. Gah, I would LOVE to know the real story there…
Whatever the case, it make me like Harry because I appreciate people who snub ole rectangle head Willy.
Kate needs to lay off the Botox. Her dress is dated, but that’s the style she likes.
Meghan looks good. I like the combo of the brocade and the Amanda Wakeley coat.
The Queen looks good in purple. Wish we could see more of Camilla’s suit.
yeah she does but I have seen her in person and she has bad skin so I can see why she uses it. It’s very dry looking from long term smoking and excessive tanning. Plus she is like me and has jowls.
Her look has always been dated and given that she’s been cosplaying Diana for years her style ain’t gonna change. And I won’t start on her hair, it could look soo much better.
She s pretty girl but doesn’t dress for her silhouette.
The hair drives me crazy. It’s like a faded cover of a 1970s Vogue. It would look so much better with several inches taken off and without the bouncy curls. It does look stunning, though, when intricately done up for a tiara, so I’ll give her that.
Camilla suit looks a lot like a blue or teal one she has. Similar shape with the same satin vertical inserts around the waist. Flattering look on her.
Yes indeed, she looks wonderful. She has a really very excellent wardrobe these days.
I’d imagine she’s a woman who never ever dug clothes for their own sake, but now in her new rôle, she’s finding it’s all very much more enjoyable than she’d envisaged.
She appreciates the power of clothes now, and, married to such a great dandy with a keen eye,, she’s said “Sød it, I’m going to make up for lost time! Hmm..let me see. I wonder can one find very soft tweed in emerald green? Or even fuchsia? So useful (dare I?) for a walk in Gloucestershire!” 😍
I completely disagree on the dresses. Kate’s dress is old-fashioned, but it’s also very on-trend. I think her hair is the problem — the look would work if the hair was more modern. The lighter make-up really suits her.
Meghan’s brocade dress looks like it belongs on a woman over 65. It’s such an old fabric and style. (I do love her coat.)
Mormon sister wife inspired clothes is on trend?
Seems to be the case, weirdly enough.
Sort of. The street style girls have been wearing Little House in the Prairie florals with cowboy boots for a couple of seasons now. Kate has just happened on to part of the look. Her original Beulah dress would probably have looked better, this sack is hideous.
Brocade has been popular with other royal women for a couple years. Mary, Maxima, Victoria, Mette-Marit, Beatrice, Eugenie. They all have several brocade outfits (dresses, pencil skirts, midi skirts) they’ve worn for both day time and evening events.
Have to be honest I HATE HATE HATE Megan’s dress it looks like she is wearing the drapes, her hair and makeup look nice though but hideous dress.
About Kate I do wish people would come to terms with the fact that 80s and 90s fashion is back in style and stop saying its dated its the current trend. Although this dress does seem more late 70s early 80s and not as on trend. I wish she’d stop wearing these muted colors they was her out and she looks so pretty in the vibrant and bright colors. I also truly dislike this dress.
Honestly both women look lovely but they aren’t in great dresses.
80s/90s fashion may be back, but this particular dress still looks dated, especially with the way she has it styled. I think when wearing styles based off 80s/90s fashion, the rest of the styling becomes really important.
and I clearly state that in my comment
I know you did lol. You also said that this dress wasn’t actually 80s/90s fashion. My point was more that just because “80s/90s fashion is back” doesn’t mean it cant also look dated.
Last time commenting on this thread, promise! Kate’s dress is a longer version of another dress by the same designer from 2012. I don’t know if she bought it back then or if this one’s bespoke but it’s not a current style from this designer and the 80s and 90s were not on trend in 2012. It’s what she likes in her dressy work clothes, which is fine if that’s what she likes, but the overall look isn’t what everyday people are wearing.
Whatever she’s doing with her makeup though, I definitely approve. I like the softer look.
Kate actually has that dress from 2012. Or a very similar one. she wore it on their south pacific tour. (looking at it again it doesn’t seem to be the exact same, the buttons are different. It was described as bespoke back then.) but that one did look better.
https://whatkatewore.com/2012/09/14/kate-in-bespoke-beulah-london-for-mosque-visit-walkabout-and-luncheon/
ETA never mind I see someone commented below that it is from a private dressmaker, so not Beulah. Still, really similar.
So she took a bad Beulah design and essentially had someone else make a knock off?
Knock off essentially of an almost identical Little House on the Prairie dress. What a waste of money.
I agree- I’m not a fan of Meghan’s dress either. It looks like lamé and out-of-place for a daytime event. For everyone knocking Kate for her dated look, lamé just screams ’80s club scene to me. And just no to coats indoors. I, too, hope she keeps some of the baby weight. She’s really starting to favor her mother. I”m not especially enamored of Kate’s look, either. The high, ruffled collar has a Little House on the Prairie vibe. I love that she has a style she adheres to, but this is a tad too buttoned up. And yes, to the make-up change. Whether it’s subtle Botox or a gentler hand with the eyeliner, she’s looking younger these days.
I love Meghan’s ensemble and think she looks very regal and lovely. I prefer Kate in jewel tones as pastels wash her out.
ITA on Meghan. I suspect mint green looks better on Kate in person with her hazel eyes.
On the topic of Meghan wearing a coat with her dress, I’ve notice that this is becoming a maternity look in Hollywood. Everyone from Eva Longoria to Kim Kardashian have done that pretty often, I think because it’s meant to be more flattering to your figure. I read a stylist who said that it’s to showcase the bump while covering the fact that the overall figure has become wider on the sides and the rear. That’s the thinking anyway. So I’m not too surprised that Megan is sticking to that trend. I think she looks really nice in this particular outfit.
I have really liked a few of Kate’s outfits recently but not this one. The high collar and the buttons really don’t do it for me.
I don’t think it’s a Kate 1980’s secretary look, it’s more of a 1899 rebel (hem length) dress crossed with a very comfy and quite conservative peignoir look….. I’ll give Kate a pass on this….she returns home to a busy household.
Kate’s dress was confirmed to be by a “private dressmaker.” It’s not McQueen or Beulah. As for why she didn’t wear the (superior imo) Beulah… maybe she felt like it was too short or it doesn’t fit the way it did before she had kids? I think she looks appropriately dressed for a day event at BP, but I don’t love this version’s high neck and the longer skirt really makes it hang on her. But WOW does her make up look better here—that’s a good lipstick and blush on her, and it looks like she’s switched from brown eyeshadow to a lighter pink.
I have to agree. I actually like Kate’s dress but it looks like pretty much every other dress she wears. And it IS very dated. Especially when you see Meghan’s dress which looks so modern and sleek (love the pattern!). I know they have very different aesthetics, but I wish Kate would realize that a lot of her choices age her. I feel like she’s either dressed like a school girl or an older woman and no in between. BOTH of which makes her look older than she is.
Lol at Meghan’s dress looking modern. It’s a perfectly fine dress and she looks great, but modern? No.
Meghan looks fantastic here. Kate looks like a toothpick bobblehead with bad posture, per usual. She is so much healthier looking with that extra baby weight on her. The dress is awful, too.
I love meghan’s entire look hair and makeup included. I would wear the hell out of it. I love Kate’s makeup but I hate her dress. I’m just not into that school marm style.
Yikes, its a sad day when two thirty somethings are outfoxed by 3 pensioners.
The Queen, Princess Anne and Camilla all look more professional than Kate and Meghan.
Kate looks like a victorian housewife from a horror movie and Meghan looks very mother of the bride in her dress made out of 1980s shiny upholstery fabric.
You nailed it, so right!
This. Is. So. True
Hahahaha, great comment.
Their hair & make-up is fine, but both dresses are really bad. Kate’s dress looks dated and frumpy, Meghan’s shiny and cheap.
Anne’s hair is a thing of aquanet beauty.
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/05/13/10602120-6772677-image-a-19_1551793340533.jpg
It reminds me of Lego hair.
Everyone has a white envelope. Is it a card for Charles, (is this a card occasion?) or are they have programs for something?
The card may contain information about the order of the ceremony. A lot of household staff were roped in to ensure that the royals mingled with who they were supposed to. There were journalists there too. I was really annoyed to see that the awful creature Robert Jobson, a hack trying to reinvent himself as a royal biographer, coming out of the Palace. I really hope he kept his distance from H&M , he was the one that spread the stories about Meghan being difficult and making Kate cry..boo hoo! Anyway l gave the man a piece of my mind.
LOL
Meghan’s out fit looks dated and so does Kate’s.
What a surprise that you think Meghan looks great and Kate does not! I think they both look lovely in styles that are true to themselves.
+1
Kate is far too bony and angular now that she’s thinned down to a shadow to pull off what amounts to a granny dress and the colour reminds me of the paint jobs you see in school washrooms…washed out mint green.
Meg looks lovely and glowing.
I agree that the mint green washes Kate out. But I disagree on Meghan. It looks like she went to far too heavy handed with the blusher, highlighter and glossy lip gunk. She has gorgeous bone structure and just doesn’t need so much slap. For a second, I actually thought she had gotten lip injections, but it’s just the sheen of the gloss.
Jaded: What you say about Kate’s colour range edges me further into a mild suspicion that she is some kind of clothes partnership with the Irish designer Orla Kiely, whose business sadly closed a short while ago (Yikes….and bang went LK Bennett, too!) Kate wore her stuff, and it really suited her so much.
That Belfast light blue coat dress with the mad mini-cape and big buttons was Orla K to a T! And so is today’s frock, if it were in some 1972 print.
I know Kiely’s quirky clothes very well, having been an obsessive fan (and broke collector) for a good few years, and there was never a single garment that wouldn’t have been ‘Essence of Kate’.
Kate’s coming at it from a different place from Kiely, but they do seem to have a pretty similar idiom: the early 1970s, with the occasional dart back to Swinging London (the recent lime green woollen dress with [typically Orka Kiely, again!] mad pockets. )
Oh yeah, the colours: Kiely’s palette was famously very muted. Rarely any primary colours, mucho ‘rinsed’ shades, even at the darker end of the spectrum.
Golly…..I reckon Orla must be working in a little attic room at KP! If not actually creating, then maybe tracking down pieces Kate might like! 🤔
“Pretty, fresh” and “brocade” never correlate to me, but the lady is as big as a house now, so she can dress however she pleases. No comments from me – but like it, I don’t.
Kate seems au fait with present day Sloaney styles, so there’s that. It’s not a style I have much use for though. I vastly prefer her well-starched, double breasted coats and coat dresses so i’ll just wait for one of those.
Kate looks lovely. Meghan looks lovely, but I wish she hadn’t worn her too small coat inside. I guess she’s trying to wear it as a casual cover up but it misses the mark on an otherwise lovely outfit.
Kate and Meghan distract from the real drama. Only Anne attended. Edward had an official engagement (ok, I’ll buy that even though I’m sure this has been planned for some time, maybe that was too). Andrew had…. private commitments. Hahahahahahahahaha
So true. Tom Sykes, in his article about how the Fab Four missed an opportunity to put the feud rumors to rest, said something like, Charles has made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t enjoy his brothers’ company. That’s paraphrasing, but you get the point. So maybe it’s not drama after all, or water under the bridge drama and just the way things are. Sad that history seems to be repeating itself with Wills and Harry.
I can imagine Charles not liking Andrew’s company but what has poor old Edward done?
Meghan looks fine but to be honest her outfit is more suitable for an evening reception, particularly compared with what everyone else is wearing
In one of the photos, there is a woman behind Meghan who is wearing a long black dress with sheer sleeves and some kind of sequin applique. So maybe it was an evening-ish reception? In any event, there are others there who did not get business casual memo.
Yes, I noticed the long dress – definitely out of place.
Many of the people in long black dresses were the performers. Choral, I think.
The real winners here are HM the Queen and Camilla. They both look fantastic! Kate is so thin that her dress doesn’t do her any favors and I don’t like the differences in the hemlines between Meg’s dress and coat, but most of all I’m so glad that nobody cares what I wear, ever.
Forget about Meghan and Kate. What I noticed most is that the Queen is looking a bit more stooped and her gait is slower than I remember it this time a year ago. The Queen also appears to be shrinking — so perhaps she has some osteoporosis. Don’t get me wrong, QEII is remarkably vital and doing very well in terms of her health, looks and activities. She’ll be 93 next month, so it’s reasonable to expect her to slow down a bit. Some of the other articles noted that she still has a very big bruise on her hand that was there from last week, sparking some concern about her health. I am amazed at how spry and energetic QEII still remains though. I wish her continued good health.
I noticed that too. Her steps seemed to falter a bit. But as this woman still rides her ponies l think we should not read too much into it.
Between the two of them, I find that Meghan’s outfit is much more modern, professional and polished than Kate’s, who looks really staid and old in her puffed sleeves and high collar. The difference when they stand beside each other is startling, and not great. Kate can do a lot better than this, and we’ve seen her do a lot better than this tbh.
Meghan looks good. I like the contrast between the plain white of her coat and the glam of her dress underneath.
In general, Kate tends to dress in a more matronly fashion (unless she is wearing those jeggings she seems to favour lol) than Meghan who is definitely more modern. Even in pregnancy, she has yet to wear anything that seemed frumpy or tentlike.
Does Kate have a stylist who is leading her to choose these outfits or is it her personal taste I wonder. Sophie Wessex has got to be mid-fifties yet she is more modern and stylish – at least what she’s worn publicly.
Maybe Kate was dressing for the occasion by wearing what was in style 50 years ago?
Have you guys seen the severely bad 70’s & 80’s stuff coming down the runways?
Kate is def. on the money with that look, its all over the runways & fashion magazines.
I don’t personally like it, not on Kate and not on anyone else either, but then again with my salary there’s no danger of me being able to afford any of those “au currrant” looks right now LOL
Meghan looks good, I feel the brocade is a tad too much for an afternoon event, but there’s no denying she is looks healthy & happy. Which is all want for her to be at this point in her pregnancy.
QII is always herself, on a different level, as she should be. Charles is actually quiet dapper and far better than either of his sons with fashion. Camilla is standard Camilla and I’m actually quite fond of her now.
I guess these photos end the storyline that Harry quit drinking while Meg is pregnant.
How can you tell what’s in his glass? May well be elderflower spritzer.
(Though even if it were neat gin, who’d blame him, at these functions!)
It looks like water.
Looks yellow to me. I think it’s white wine.
I thought you were supposed to take your coat off indoors. Have the rules changed or is it a different rule for the royals or did I get it wrong in the first place.?
Meg is wearing a beautiful dress. Love her style. The coat indoors looks odd to me though.
Someone on another board was wondering if it was a sleeveless dress, which would been deemed “inappropriate.” That means she could have been told to keep it on. Pure conjecture, of course.
Oh my God, I hate Kate’s dress. I like both women equally, but fashion-wise, Meghan won this round, her dress is beautiful.