It was a low-key “controversy” around New Year’s – it seemed that the Duchess of Cambridge found herself suddenly without a stylist. Natasha “Tash” Archer had worked as Kate’s stylist for about four years. Tash had no background in styling or fashion, she was just someone who had worked for the royal family in various capacities for about a decade. Anyway, Tash had a baby and she’s still on maternity leave, which means that Kate very quietly had to hire someone new to help her out with fashion over the past three months, possibly longer. This explains so much, right? While the buttons and the tweeness is still there, Kate really has been adding some better looks overall – a few outings in trousers, several dresses with knee-length hems, and overall, a somewhat more sophisticated feel from Kate (sophisticated but button-flavored). Well, we have a name of this mystery button-seamstress:
Meghan Markle’s marriage to Prince Harry has prompted Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, to draft in a ‘secret weapon’ stylist to keep pace with the Duchess of Sussex’s style, it has been claimed. Catherine has reportedly enlisted the help of a very talented stylist amid royal watchers remarking on her upping her fashion game since Harry married Meghan last spring. The adviser has purportedly been assisting with the Duchess’s royal wardrobe and helping her pick out glamorous outfits for her official engagements. Kate’s new aide is apparently Virginia Chadwyck-Healey, an aristocratic 36-year-old former editor at Vogue magazine.
Ms Chadwyck-Healey goes by the moniker of Ginnie and is an old friend of William and Kate. The former fashion journalist went to the Cambridge’s wedding at Westminster Abbey in 2011.
Of the appointment, a supposed royal source told the Daily Mail: “Ginnie is Catherine’s secret weapon. She has made a big difference to the Duchess’s wardrobe for public engagements and has helped give her a whole new sense of confidence. Catherine has been really impressed and is very grateful for her help.”
Ms Chadwyck-Healey is the daughter of the 3rd Lord Strathalmond and has two daughters, Nancy, four, and Maggie, two, with her Old Etonian husband, Oliver Chadwyck-Healey.
I’m glad that Kate finally is working with someone who knows fashion and understands it better than Natasha Archer. That being said… the learning curve is not ideal. After eight years of duchessing, Kate only now has hired someone who really knows fashion, someone who can talk her out of the twirly miniskirts, grandma doilies and poorly placed buttons. I suppose that’s because loyalty is always more important to the royals than general ability or competence? Natasha has been loyal. Which makes me wonder what will happen when Natasha’s maternity leave is over. Will Ginnie stay on and Natasha will be shuffled to some other job, perhaps an upgraded position? Hm.
Photos courtesy of WENN and Avalon Red.
The new stylist is a keeper. Kate’s been looking great.
She’s been looking fabulous, I agree. I hope she can keep the new stylist on.
Yeah there was a big change in her style and I’m here for it.
Yep! She’s really got into her best groove. (Well except for that Karen Carpenter/surrendered wife frock and white stilettos…..aaargh! Though she wore it really well)
(That’s a great little grinning head shot leading the article, btw)
I read somewhere that the new stylist is some kind of old friend of her.
@IE – yeah, I think they knew each other from school. But at least this stylist did the trenches of Vogue (in terms of styling) and seems to know how to make Kate look less… Sloane rangery.
The post literally mentions that lol.
By all means she should keep this new stylist. I’m not 100 per cent on board with all of these looks but it’s a big improvement. Kate has a tall slender figure and she could look great all the time.
Right. I think if the stylist were to surreptitiously remove, one by one, all of Kate’s jeggings that would help a lot.
And still she dresses like an old lady.
Right! How about Queen Letiza of Spain for inspiration. She looks fabulous.
What’s so great about Queen Laetizia’s style? I’ve checked it since she is mentioned a lot in this site. Some of her clothes look cheap.
If these Royal ladies looking for inspiration, they should take a look on Claire Underwood of House of Card.
I’m not bothered myself…..there’s room among Euro royals for a quieter or more conservative vibe as well. God knows, not all citizens are fashionistas!
She always looks very pleasing (I reckon) and that’s her level of expression with clothes, I guess. Not a Maxima (💕) nor a Letitzia!
In that blue cape coat she looks like a student from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.
Is there an email address where I can send helpful tips to the new stylist?
Because jeggings or the super tight jeans, super wide pants, and school girl skirts need to go.
I actually like the idea of of coat dresses as a uniform.
I was thinking of the jeggings too but maybe she picked that look by herself…
I think she could find someone better. I’m not impressed with this stylist, either.
LOL, the new stylist is a Sloanie so Kate will continue to dress like she always has – hopefully the tailoring, accessorising and proportions are better.
Am not a fan of the coat dresses as they look like the kind of thing Carole wears – TBH Carole would look better in them. They age Kate and not in a good way.
The stylist has a super boring personal style, if instagram is an insight, and it is. But, hei, what do I know.
Some of the best and most famous stylists in the world have uniforms of shapeless black clothes and clumpy shoes…
One of the sloane rangers, let go by the new editor of British Vogue.
The former editor’s boyfriend wrote the vicious rehash piece on Meghan, for Tatler.
Ergh. I just perused her Instagram and so so very underwhelmed. Looks like elitist aristo and ***boring*** style
Other then a few pieces that look nice the rest seems to be what shes already wore.
The Beauxbatons coat! LOL!
Fantastic
She wore a backwards blouse and trousers and a sister wife dress and the rest were mostly repeats or else don’t look different from what she’s worn in the past. There’s not much of a difference with this stylist. And if a stylist is behind wearing a blouse backwards, then she should be ridiculed.
Improved, with plenty of room for improvement.
Kate has been looking better. I don’t think she’s at 100%, but she’s definitely looking better in terms of her fashion choices.
This lady just recently wrote an open letter to Meghan Markle on giving birth on the website she contributes to, which makes me question how true this is, or if Ginnie just provided her offered service of going through closets to edit and show the client how to remix things? Not saying she’s not allowed to do that, but it definitely got me like ???
What I want to know is, how is ‘Strathalmond’ pronounced? Especially given the spelling of Cholmondeley (Chumley).
” Strathamond” I.e Strath then how the nut “almond” is pronounced without the “l”.
At least that is my take.
Ah, I wouldn’t have guessed that.
The sad thing is this story is being used to distract from Turnip gate. Even sadder this story is suppose to put Kate in a good light but it shows she only cares about fashion. How about a story about the progress she is doing for her big initiatives this year? The work behind the scenes and new projects? The more i see the stories the more I think Harry and Meghan will be getting the better deal with their own household in the end.
They can’t really put out stories like that at that means she will have to followup and actually do some work. There is always talk about how much Kate does behind the scenes but that never translates into actual public work – the press have no other narrative than what she wears to talk about and that is on her as she has created that herself. Kate has proven time and time again that she cares nothing for the patronages she has been given – its nothing more than a PR exercise for her. If she did care she would do more, she has all but ignored EACH (one of her first patronages), support of that fell to Ed Sheeran and the Chumley’s to raise much needed money for them – I believe she has only visited once in the 8 years she’s been Duchessing and even then she looked very uncomfortable. William does at least care about his patronages – staff at Centrepoint have gone on record to say that he has been known to just turn up unannounced, am no big Willy fan but i give him props for this.
Honestly, I’d love to know all the behind the scenes. We know so little what’s really going on, their personalities etc!