Princess Kate wore Alessandra Rich to the Order of the Garter service in Windsor

Here are some photos from Monday’s Order of the Garter service in Windsor. The service was held at St. George’s Chapel, the larger chapel on the Windsor Castle estate. It’s an annual thing, and all of the knights of the Garter are invited and there’s some kind of secret meeting or something. Prince Andrew is a knight of the Garter, but he was told to stay home. Princess Anne and Queen Camilla are both ladies of the Garter, and Prince William and Prince Edward are both knights of the Garter. They were all in attendance, but the foreign stranger-knights of the Garter (like King Felipe and King Willem-Alexander) skipped. This was King Charles’s first Order of the Garter service as sovereign.

No one ever mentions this, but the Princess of Wales is not a lady of the Garter. While I get that she’s just a married-in royal, she’s wife to the future king and mother of the future-future king. You would think that after eleven-years-plus of marriage, they would invite her into this special club. They have not. Sophie’s not a lady of the Garter either. Both Kate and Sophie showed up to support their spouses though.

Kate wore a polka-dotted Alessandra Rich dress with a matching Philip Treacy hat. I looked it up – this is not a repeat of the Rich dress she wore to Ascot last year. That Ascot dress had bigger “dots” and a ruffle across the chest. The Rich dress this week had no chest ruffle, but did have a similar cut to other Rich dresses Kate has worn. Interestingly, I think this is the first time Kate has worn Alessandra Rich since Rich gave that interview late last year – Rich said all the right things, but I definitely got the vibe that she doesn’t think Kate is the right model for her designs. Rich would prefer to see women wear her dresses with some humor and lightness. Kate wears these prissy, overworked, beruffled pieces with too much earnestness, like she really thinks this is high fashion.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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105 Responses to “Princess Kate wore Alessandra Rich to the Order of the Garter service in Windsor”

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  1. girl_ninja says:

    At least her hair is up and we don’t have to see those raggedy wiglets. I don’t like the dress or the shoes. Sophie looks a mess too.

    • Cecile730 says:

      The dress is again a copy of Diana, very 80’s. Sophie is a (bad) joke again.🤣
      All that money and zero sense of fashion…..

      • Mary Pester says:

        Yep, it’s nearly an exact copy (other than the neckline and hat) of what Diana wore to the service in 1988

      • H says:

        Kate is very much copy keening Diana. However, I will say I love the hat and the shoes… But that dress is the worst. It does nothing to accentuate that Kate, when dressed properly, is an attractive woman. (I don’t like Kate but she really needs another stylist that befits the Princess of Wales.)

      • BayTampaBay says:

        Kate cosplayed herself!

        Even TLo commented that this Alessandra Rich dress is almost and exact copy of an Alessandra Rich dress that Kate already owns and the hat, even for the UK, is borderline ridiculous.

    • Aud says:

      I always get annoyed because I think Kate has the face to pull off a bob and look amazing but she insists on long curls.

      • L84Tea says:

        I actually saw a photoshopped picture of her once on Instagram where someone put a chin length bob on her and it looked amazing. She could actually look chic if she would chop off that ragged cocker spaniel hair.

      • BayTampaBay says:

        The Lady Mary Crawley Talbot look???

      • Peanut Butter says:

        Agreed, I think she’d look fabulous with a bob. Even if it were just a wig, it would be a fun look for her and so chic. I wonder, too, how she’d look with hair color that’s just a shade lighter brown to soften her current color a bit, and maybe the same for her eyebrows.

    • Eating Popcorn says:

      Even the shoes, which are different than a ‘normal’ spectator are a copy of Diana’s look circa 1988.

  2. OriginalLaLa says:

    ooof her look is taking Eliza Doolittle’s Ascot dress (in the movie) and dialing in 80s frumpiness up to 1000.

    • ThatsNotOkay says:

      Why are we commenting on what women wear?

      Kidding. Anyway, she looks off balance, like she’s going to fall over. Like her front side is heavier than her back. I like her outfit in theory but not execution. And the ruffles and puff sleeves? Anne Shirley would surely blush!!

    • Lightpurple says:

      Right? She just needs the parasol!

  3. Oh goody the polka dots and Victorian dressing is back. More pomp and circumstance crap to have ones picture taken.

    • Chloe says:

      Im kind off happy she’s back to the her victorian era dressing. This look in particular screams Diana but I get the feeling that it’s actually closer to her own style. She just loves frills and polka dots and buttons and a whole lot of busy on her dress.

      • WHAT says:

        She copied Diana’s royal ascot look all the way down to her shoes. She only spoke to Sophie when she saw no one else was around to talk to. It was quick and short. Still 😡 at her for going with Will to see the 🎥. Knowing Sophie can’t say no. She’s petty and mean spirited. Which is the reason she nor her Mom nor Pippa has female friends

      • SURE says:

        The shoes are by a brand that M wore when she visited a school in Dagenham to mark International Women’s Day. K’s clutch is by another brand championed by M. To my knowledge K has never worn Jennifer Chamandi or Strathberry before.

      • First comment says:

        At this point, I think it’s deliberate @sure. She wants to eliminate Meghan and her fashion choices by adopting them and wearing them constantly so that they become hers…Jennifer Chamandi, Strathberry and Aquazzura again today…in a few years nobody would speak about Kate coping Meghan…. as she would be the one she would wear them… 🙄🙄🙄

    • Mary Pester says:

      @susanCollins, I thought the hat was her taking the mickey out of the hats worn by the men, look at how closely it resembles them but on a smaller scale

  4. ML says:

    Sophie and Kate are giving off “evil queen” energy in those pics.

    • Gruey says:

      Maybe more ugly stepsister? Especially Sophie. I myself am a shorter, rounder woman with plump, bumpy arms. After a lifetime of dressing myself, I can confidently say Sophie has chosen one of the worst dresses possible in terms of proportion, business, what it reveals and what it conceals. Just the absolute inverse of what she should be wearing.

      Oh and I cannot believe Kate has two nearly identical polka dot dresses by the same designer. What a joke.

      • First comment says:

        Wait until you see her outfit for today, @Gruey. It’s also very similar to one she has…the only difference is the black outline of the pockets at this point we can be assured that she has a serious problem.

      • Tacky says:

        It’s the Duchess of Gloucester for the win.

      • BayTampaBay says:

        @Tacky – Agree! Birgitte Windsor wins the Best Dressed Award!

    • Theresa says:

      Did you notice the side-eye sophie was giving khate?

    • AmB says:

      And IMHO Sophie looks 800% better than Kate.

  5. Lucy2 says:

    From their Disney villain collection?

    • Penelope Pittstop says:

      Yes, the Evil Queen version of Diana’s 1988 Ascot polka dot and black-toed shoes.

    • LeaTheFrench says:

      Ha ha – I had the exact same thought 🤣 I think it’s the lipstick – it’s a darker, harsher shade than usual, and it’s not flattering, it looks very stark and severe and the polka dots are not strong enough to counter-balance that.

  6. M says:

    Very Eliza Doolittle. How fitting. And that lipstick color is all wrong for her.

  7. Brassy Rebel says:

    She is SO heavily made up! Think how much make up she will need in another ten years.
    And the hat is cosplaying a Garter hat. She may be dropping hints about wanting to join.

  8. UNCDancer says:

    She looks fine … like uninspired herself. But that hairpiece is working overtime on that chignon.

    • Chic says:

      One of the RR wrote about this outfit and how terrib similar it was to last year’s Ascot brown and white polka dress. Also, KKate buying the same bespoke ndress and outfits to give the appearance of recycling Defeats Earthshit goals

  9. Erica says:

    Did Kate get some filler? Her cheeks look a little full.

    • First comment says:

      I noticed that too ! In the photo on the carriage is quite clear…

    • Just an Aussie says:

      I wondered too. It seems to be bigger on her right side so did a cushion make contact there? Is she using the hat to try to hide it?

  10. SURE says:

    What about S’s outfit? The hat, gaudy printed dress, oversized baroque pearl necklace and white shoes with criss-cross detail. What an expensive mess!

  11. L84Tea says:

    Oof, this look is bad. Stuffy, dated, and right out of a Victorian period piece movie. What modern princess dresses like this??

  12. equality says:

    Are there a million articles about body language and Will’s dour expression? If PH went around looking like that there would be an influx of articles about how miserable he is in Calif and with Meghan. And what is up with the creepy way Sohie keeps staring at Kate?

    • BeanieBean says:

      There’s some barf-worthy articles about the ‘look of love’ between W&K. They’re clearly not seeing what we’re seeing.

      • The rota clowns are forcing down our throats the idea that William and Kate are so much in love with each other. You’re right they don’t see what we see which is a loveless marriage, a sham marriage. The British media are doing a propaganda to dupe the people into believing that William is not “Rose-bushing” and his marriage with his wife is not a marriage of convenience. Pictures of them don’t lie. These two are so over each other.

  13. JaneBee says:

    Genuinely surprised Baldimort okayed her attendance at this.

  14. Lizzie says:

    Is anyone keeping track of the thousands and thousands worth of new cloths Kate has worn since we found out her broke, grifting parents are not paying the millions they owe to small businesses who trusted them?

    • Nic919 says:

      She has worn something new almost every time she has done an engagement since the queen has passed. Even Camilla has worn more repeats than her.

    • First comment says:

      They are not only new. This whole ensemble is bespoke..even the shoes! Which means pretty expensive too.
      Add this bespoke appearance to the one on Saturday and you have thousands spent… and nobody talks about it. On the contrary, she’s admired for her clothing choices (yeah, believe it, it’s true..I was shocked when a group of friends, teachers and well-educated expressed their admiration for her troop ing the color appearance and her outfit for the weddingin Jordan. I guessed the propaganda works. We aren’t British but unfortunately every single outlet in my country repeats articles from daily fail etc.

      • Babz says:

        She’s giving Eva Peron now – the extravagant, expensive wardrobe, regardless of the occasion. Reminds me of the song in the musical about Evita’s Rainbow Tour to Europe, full of clothes and jewels with the justification that, paraphrasing here, the peasants – the descamidos – needed to see her “high flying, adored” to have hope and beauty in their lives. Kate hasn’t done that so far, but she’s approaching that idea with her heavy spending of those Duchy pounds on her clothing and accessories. The woman reveals her shallowness and lack of identity every day, and in my mind, anything authentic about her is well and truly gone.

      • HeatherC says:

        @Babz I will forever now see her as a second rate queen getting kicks with her crown

  15. Nanea says:

    Oof, the dress with the fake cummerbund.

    Just don’t take a deep breath.

    The makeup is much too heavy, especially for the weather, and the straps of the shoes cut into the flesh of Kate’s ankles.

    Water retention for whatever reason? No idea why she’s wearing these kinds of shoes then.

    • Nic919 says:

      She’s wearing them because Diana wore the same type when she wore a polka dot dress like this.

      • Babz says:

        Plus, Meghan wore the same type of shoe on the farewell tour in 2020 when she visited the school. Kate’s worn them a couple of times since then, but this particular pair isn’t attractive at all on her. You never see her with ankle swelling, but it seems apparent here. Not many women can carry off this style, but Meg did. It’s not working here.

  16. Jais says:

    A polka dot dress that closely resembles another polka dot dress. How scintillating and completely not wasteful at all.

  17. Eurydice says:

    Yeah, not fond of what’s happening in the poofy boob area.

    • Anners says:

      It is terrible! It makes her bust look really low – like it’s being held up by the cummerbund at her waist. The whole dress is not to my taste, but I can’t imagine spending $$$$ on a dress that makes me look so saggy.

  18. Red Weather Tiger says:

    Kate, as always, looks like a humorless tight-ass, an ironing board wrapped in fabric, and Sophie looks like a bridesmaid.

    These endless ceremonies held every year just seem like made -up nonsense designed to make the RF look busy and important. It’s pathetic.

    • SURE says:

      🎯

    • Babz says:

      Sophie always has such a complete “pick me” air about her, especially around Kate. Strangely, I didn’t get that impression of her the night she and Will did their engagement last week. She looked confident and happy, and he treated her with respect. Kate intimidates her, I think, so she tries too hard. It’s so junior high.

  19. Harper says:

    I love this Order of the Garter ceremony because Burger King always looks like he wants to die from embarrassment at the getup he has to wear. That photo with Kate and Sophie laughing at him as he marches by? Hilarious. I saw some folks trying to post some “festive glance” photos of Kate and Will from here, but they were a massive stretch. Per the usual, Willy’s eyes were focused elsewhere while Kate guffawed in his direction.

  20. Normades says:

    Wasn’t Megan ripped apart for wearing a sleeveless dress and here’s Sophie?

    I actually kind of like this wacky get up on Kate. She looks better when she wears her hair up.

  21. TheWigletOfWails says:

    I know it’s Diana cosplay but the silhouette (?) of her dress is also giving Wallis Simpson on her wedding day.

    She and Sophie look like they’re going to two entirely different events. No cohesion whatsoever. Also, isn’t Sophie breaking protocol with the sleeveless dress?

  22. Chaine says:

    Prim is an understatement.

  23. Becks1 says:

    God what a waste of money. She has an appallingly similar dress from last year and yet she still needs to buy a new one. and a new hat, because she doesn’t have enough black and white hats I guess?

    And I get that the Order of the Garter is traditional and one of the oldest Orders there is….but after the coronation and the weirdly muted trooping, I do not feel like this is sending the vibes about modernizing the monarchy and reaching a new generation etc that Charles and william talk about wanting to do…..

    • Green Desert says:

      Exactly, @Becks1. The first thing I thought of when I saw these photos was “oh, how modern” (sarcasm). At some point you’re just participating in tradition for tradition’s sake, without question. History has told us many times this is very bad practice.

      I’m never one to think about how much these people spend on clothes but even I am wondering why you’d buy such a similar dress to what you already own? I hate almost everything Kate wears that I generally don’t comment anymore on an outfit. It’s always some combination of unfashionable, matronly, and just bad style. Add waste of money to the list for this one.

      Something nice – this may be unpopular but I like the berry lips on her. She should experiment like that more often.

  24. HeyKay says:

    Didn’t they just have the Trooping of the Colors a few days ago?
    Now this, another big showy official duties day.
    Plus Fathers Day photos.
    Over exposed y’all.

    William in all the velvet, medals, feathered hat, LOL.
    He always looks miserable in those outfits, just grinding his teeth.
    Can’t blame him, he looks beyond goofy.

    • Babz says:

      June is a heavy month for these types of affairs. Ascot is coming up, and there’s usually a garden party at Buckingham Palace, although they just did one after the coronation. I think the Queen always had a week of royal engagements in Scotland in June, and then “the Season” ends and we never see them until October. Poor sausages need to rest up after all their society obligations. 🙄

  25. Amy Bee says:

    What a waste of money. Her bag and shoes were new too.

    • DOC says:

      I like how William has no interest and shows his distaste for Kate at every outing (karma baby). He looks like why me. Don’t talk to me. He’d rather be talking to the wall than to have to listen and be in Kate’s presence. Just go on and divorce her. Times have changed and no one will care if he upgrades. He’s thinking where is Sophie so I can talk to her. LOL!!

  26. elizabeth says:

    I think she looks good here. I like the outfit, except for the shoes which turn it into 40’s cosplay. The outfit would have looked better with some more modern shoes. But, she looks like a Princess, and that’s her job. Much better than that terrible green outfit from Trooping the Color.

  27. aquarius64 says:

    Why aren’t Kate and Sophie Ladies of the Garter when Camilla became one before she became queen? Also shouldn’t Kate be on the Privy Council by now given 11 years in the Firm? She’ll automatically become Counselor of State when it’s William’s turn. The clothes horse/”perfect” mom image they peddle doesn’t work here.

  28. HeyKay says:

    Catherine has way too much makeup on, it hardly looks like her in these photos.
    That dress is not a good look.

  29. Foodie Canuk says:

    Even though everything is ridiculous, I cant help but loving fascinators in general. I love a good hat! I would literally just have a fascinator party with my gal pals and just have afternoon drinks in the backyard.

    These dresses are really quite awful though – they look so..blech.

    • Bee says:

      You should totally do it! Friends of mine had one (with fancy cocktails and cute little sandwiches) and it was a lot of fun.

  30. Renae says:

    I can only comment on the pictures.
    Kate’s dress is fine but boring. Lose the damn ruffle/poof at sleeve.
    Carriage ride photo : wow!! Those two really do dislike each other.
    Walking down stairs(?) It looks like her boobs are at her waist. How does this happen?
    Ah! The picture of two birds getting ready to either take off in flight or just laying eggs!
    Just strange: Sophie in a sleeveless dress (which I think looks nice….it IS Sophie after all), while people pass by in heavy velvet. Quite confusing.
    How many more costumes are we going to see Chuck in next month?
    PS: forgot one. Top photo: I think Sophie is studying Kates makeup.

  31. Julianna says:

    Is it just me or does Kate looked completely ticked off. If you look closely, kate does NOT look happy standing next to Sophie. At all…

    Also, William looked absolutely MISERABLE standing next to kate and in the carriage but were about used to that now. What struck me was Kate’s behavior around Sophie. And I’m not necessarily insinuating anything with Sophie & William but I have a feeling she was NOT happy about their little engagement together the other day. And no, I don’t think it has anything to do with her snapping at Charlotte.

    And this looks like the same mess she always wears. And Sophie looks even worse.

  32. Saschafrom76 says:

    Look at the “ladies” all proud of their men in dress up clothes lol they are so cringe

  33. Lizzie says:

    Why did they arrive in carriages? So the peasants could gawk? BTW, I don’t see a picture of a crowd, so I assume there were tourists only.

  34. Blueberry 🫐 says:

    Why oh why did I zoom in on kkkhate’s hat fluff? The feathers are polka dotted too! 😆

    BillyBasher looks absolutely ridiculous…and he knows it.

  35. tamsin says:

    I guess Trooping, Garter Day, and Ascot are big fashion occasions for the women and fun for us to comment on. Both hats are very over the top! I can see Kate’s hat paying homage to the garter hate. If she keeps appearing in versions polka dot dresses, she could make it a signature look all her own. I don’t understand why Sophie is wearing a white hat with red and blue hues while her dress is pink and green on a white background. I think Sophie’s dress would be perfect for a garden party or a summer wedding. I notice she has a shawl in her hands- probably for inside the church.

    Camilla used to be the one to wear the giant sombrero sized hats. I always got a kick out of them. Now that she’s queen consort, she seems to be wearing smaller hats and Kate seems to have given up her smaller fascinators for giant brims and flying saucers. I love seeing hats, and the Brits are the only ones that always wear them at official engagments.

  36. one of the marys says:

    What a fussy constipated look lord she’s so bad at this

  37. BeanieBean says:

    I actually like Sophie’s hat & her Wilma Flintstone necklace. Nothing to say about Kate.

  38. Decowell says:

    I like the shoes and the look from the neck up. The rest of it doesn’t do anything for me and Sophie is just bad.

  39. Tessa says:

    Will looks like he would rather.be somewhere else.

  40. Beverley says:

    Kkkhate might be reading CB these days. Her posture seems to be a bit better, at least in these latest photos.

    • ArtFossil says:

      You should see the photo of Kate with McCartney at this event. Her posture is atrocious! Swayback + hunchback + head thrust so far forward I wondered she didn’t fall.

  41. mel says:

    Meh, to the hat. She looks ok, dull as usual.

  42. alisays says:

    Queen Latizia vibes , but ofc she will copy anybody with any sense of style .
    Poor thing !

  43. j.ferber says:

    I think Kate had more face work. Her facial skin looks super-moisturized, maybe shiny? Look what happens when Kate turns to Will. He won’t look directly at her and is shifty-eyed in his effort to appear not to notice her. That must have hurt Kate. He’s training her never to look at him publicly again. That is some bullshit in a marriage. I would never put up with that even if all the riches of the world were at the end of this rough road. They are both cruel, but they are also very cruel to one another (not that I care). If I’m Kate, I divorce that MOFO right NOW. But I know she won’t.

  44. ales says:

    The number one graduate of Mummy and Daddys school of grifting is out shopping again. No shame whatsoever, another new outfit. She makes the dress look awful, its so wrong for her body shape, the very busy hat looks like she is trying to copy the order of the garter hats, it does not match her dress, does she have a mirror ? Sophies dress is pretty, though a simple plain pink hat and matching bright pink shoes would have looked much more stylish. Wondering if Khate demanded that the other women around her dress in dowdy and dull colors, none of them look happy either.

  45. j.ferber says:

    Ales, none of them deserve happiness, do they?

  46. Justjan says:

    I actually like this for her. It gives her a bosom. The polka dots are just right for the occasion, I’m guessing… they take these ceremonies seriously? I just wish she had hips. Don’t they make undergarments that have fake hips in them? I know I keep asking …
    I like the vibrant pink that Sophie chose but someone needs to take some scissors to that hat. I actually think a fitted skirt would help the lines with a hat this big. Think inverted triangle. The good thing is that she has a standard body type of most women and it wouldn’t take that much to keep her from looking ridiculous.
    Do you see the lady over Sophie’s shoulder? In the gray with the peter pan collar? That hat would be better than these tree-toppers the royals wear.

  47. Lucky Charm says:

    WHAT is Sophie wearing on her head?! And what is Kate’s pathological need to buy multiples of “similar but not the same” outfits? Such a waste of money.

  48. Noor says:

    The UK tabloids called Kate Middleton “radiant” and ‘dazzling” in her various very expensive near identical polka dot dresses of yesteryears.

    We are persuaded that the theatrical theme dressing or cosplay is worthy and value for money in evoking Princess Diana, Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady, Pygmalion and an assortment of other costly allusions

    The tabloids willfully neglect to say that it is costing the taxpayers a ransom for the near identical endless polka dots display and to what ends?

  49. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    What’s with the side eye from Sophie?

  50. Kiki says:

    Anne is a Knight of the Garter, not a lady