Where are all of those pattern-recognition royalists when you need them? Are they still obsessing over Prince William and the Duchess of Sussex both mentioning scones within a 24-hour period? That was big news last week. Weirdly, those royalists don’t think it’s particularly newsworthy or any kind of pattern when the Princess of Wales wore two California-based labels during her handful of events in the past month. When Kate was in Italy, she made a point of wearing Jenni Kayne, an LA-based label worn often by the Duchess of Sussex. Then this week, Kate wore a (terrible) dress by Rodarte, another California-based label. Huh, what gives?? Well, People Magazine thinks Kate is sending a signal. Not a signal that she wants to wear Meghan’s face as her own, but a signal that Kate is planning a trip to America.
Kate Middleton just had a set of style firsts, leading to speculation that she’s hinting at some upcoming travel plans.
On Tuesday, June 2, the Princess of Wales, 44, attended a reception commemorating the 125th anniversary of the charity Cancer Research U.K. alongside King Charles, Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family.
Not only was the royal reception notable as King Charles and Princess Kate’s first time stepping out together for a cancer-related event since sharing their own diagnoses in 2024, but it also marked a fashion first for the Princess of Wales. Kate wore a red silk twill midi dress with heart-shaped polka dots by Rodarte. It was the first time that the royal wore the American brand, founded in 2001 by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy.
Princess Kate rarely wears American brands, often opting to spotlight her favorite U.K. brands or, when traveling abroad, highlighting the work of local designers.
However, the Rodarte dress was actually the second time in recent weeks that Kate wore an American designer.
During the second day of her stay in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia in May, the princess wore a skirt by another L.A.-based designer, Jenni Kayne, marking another first.
Meghan Markle is also a fan of Jenni Kayne, and the Duchess of Sussex, 44, has even worn the same pleated skirt as her sister-in-law. During her 2025 appearance on “The Circuit” with Emily Chang, Meghan wore a yellow version of the piece, pairing it with a sweater in the same shade.
I’m glad People Magazine mentioned that Meghan wore Jenni Kayne first. Meghan also wore two-tone flats first, only Meghan’s flats are Chanel and Kate wore some knock-off version (which looked a lot like Meghan’s). Now, I’ll be fair – Meghan has never worn Rodarte, nor would Meghan ever wear a puffy-shouldered Minnie Mouse dress with a parched wig. But it’s definitely weird as hell that Kate is now wearing so many California labels. Even with Natasha Archer out of Kate’s employ, it looks like Kate is maintaining all of her Meghan moodboards. Incidentally, I don’t think Kate is coming to the US this summer. Prince William isn’t even committed to coming… unless England makes it to the World Cup quarterfinals.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- The Princess of Wales during a Cancer Research UK reception to mark the charity’s 125th anniversary, at St James’s Palace, London. Picture date: Tuesday June 2, 2026.,Image: 1107433624, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Yui Mok/Avalon
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- 14/05/2026. Reggio Emilia, Italy. The Princess of Wales during a visit to the Salvador Allende pre‑school to observe how nature‑based learning is embedded within the Reggio Emilia Approach. Her Royal Highness spent time with children learning outdoors and met the educators whose commitment to nature shapes the design and ethos of the school. The Princess then joined a class of children for their outdoor morning assembly. Her Royal Highness also met an atelierista, who guided her around the grounds. The Princess then meet parents who volunteer at the school, to understand the strong community involvement that supports the pre-school.,Image: 1098940444, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Kensington Palace. This image may only be used for news or editorial reporting purposes. This image must NOT be used for any commercial or other use, save for news or editorial reporting and cannot be altered or amended in any manner or form whatsoever., Model Release: no , Credit line: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace/Avalon
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- 14/05/2026. Reggio Emilia, Italy. The Princess of Wales during a visit to the Salvador Allende pre‑school to observe how nature‑based learning is embedded within the Reggio Emilia Approach. Her Royal Highness spent time with children learning outdoors and met the educators whose commitment to nature shapes the design and ethos of the school. The Princess then joined a class of children for their outdoor morning assembly. Her Royal Highness also met an atelierista, who guided her around the grounds. The Princess then meet parents who volunteer at the school, to understand the strong community involvement that supports the pre-school.,Image: 1098940565, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Kensington Palace. This image may only be used for news or editorial reporting purposes. This image must NOT be used for any commercial or other use, save for news or editorial reporting and cannot be altered or amended in any manner or form whatsoever., Model Release: no , Credit line: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace/Avalon
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- The Princess of Wales during a Cancer Research UK reception to mark the charity’s 125th anniversary, at St James’s Palace, London. Picture date: Tuesday June 2, 2026.,Image: 1107433706, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Jonathan Brady/Avalon
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- The Princess of Wales during her visit to “Salvador Allende” Scuola dell’infanzia in Reggio Emilia, to view education in nature, on the second day of her visit to Italy. The visit to the area focuses on early childhood development and forms part of a high-level fact-finding mission to explore leading international approaches to supporting young children and those who care for them Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Reggio Emilia, Italy When: 14 May 2026 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Princess of Wales during her visit to “Salvador Allende” Scuola dell’infanzia in Reggio Emilia, to view education in nature, on the second day of her visit to Italy. The visit to the area focuses on early childhood development and forms part of a high-level fact-finding mission to explore leading international approaches to supporting young children and those who care for them Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Reggio Emilia, Italy When: 14 May 2026 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to rural Agriturismo ‘Al Vigneto’ in Reggio Emilia, to celebrate the power of inter-generational connection, on the second day of her visit to Italy. The visit to the area will focus on early childhood development and forms part of a high-level fact-finding mission to explore leading international approaches to supporting young children and those who care for them. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Reggio Emilia, Italy When: 14 May 2026 Credit: Phil Noble/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a Cancer Research UK reception to mark the charity’s 125th anniversary, at St James’s Palace, London Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 02 Jun 2026 Credit: Yui Mok/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a Cancer Research UK reception to mark the charity’s 125th anniversary, at St James’s Palace, London Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 02 Jun 2026 Credit: Yui Mok/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a Cancer Research UK reception to mark the charity’s 125th anniversary, at St James’s Palace, London Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 02 Jun 2026 Credit: Yui Mok/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a Cancer Research UK reception to mark the charity’s 125th anniversary, at St James’s Palace, London Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 02 Jun 2026 Credit: Yui Mok/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales speaks with guests during a Cancer Research UK reception to mark the charity’s 125th anniversary, at St James’s Palace, London Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 02 Jun 2026 Credit: Yui Mok/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Her hair kills me with how distractingly bad it is. Loved it when she chopped it shoulder length and had it dyed a darker brown (I think she was pregnant with George?).
The gopher wigs just highlight that she is not looking well.
I’ll say something nice. She seems to have dropped the awful doll/sausage curls. The wigs/halos are more “loose waves” these days, which is a more grown-up look.
But yes, it looks like she doesn’t own a brush or a bottle of leave-in conditioner.
Death to the sausage curls. Those were tragic.
It depends on where it is in her curling cycle, lol. With this round of wiglets (maybe the last two or three years) she goes from sausage curls to loose waves and then back again depending on when the curl took place.
“Not a signal that she wants to wear Meghan’s face as her own, but a signal that Kate is planning a trip to America.”
Omg, I died!!!!
Her natural hair colour is dark brown. But yes, it looked good shorter and her more natural colour.
It was the Queen who forced her to cut her hair, and she did it before Louis. But she continued wearing wigs and tons of extensions that sometimes she looked like her hair had been cast in plaster, she had so much of it on her head. Regardless, she definitely looked better with shorter hair, although it was a rough time for her, because then Meghan appeared with her beautiful, long hair, which clearly caused a problem for Kate.
That red dress is tragic. I was skinny for my first 40ish years on this planet so I do not like to comment on how skinny someone else is but… her waist and hips are so tiny that you could probably count her ribs. It looks really unhealthy.
Kate really, really needs to visit Canada, Australia, or any other Commonwealth country before she goes to the US. I say Canada and Australia because these would be “easier” politically (see: the Waleses’ Caribbean disaster tour) and they’d give her nicer press, too–not that these are great reasons, but you know, we’re talking about the Waleses here. Why would she go to the US, unless for the 250th, and it would be totally weird for her to visit and smirk with Trump without William at her side. It’s all so, so weird and reeks of “royal journalist” desperation.
And it’s rumored she’s visiting India for Earthflop next fall?
Absolutely! William has already been criticised for ignoring Australia, where he will be our King and head of state sooner rather than later.
She doesn’t “need” to visit Canada. Taxpayers here were on the hook $900,000 for her father in law’s last visit and she provides absolutely no value. Pass.
It’s the whole stupid ‘clothes silently signally’ thing that I find so ridiculous. If Kate were planning a trip to the US, she has an entire staff currently twiddling their thumbs that could put out a statement. Nobody has to discern her intent from her clothes the rare times she leaves her house.
People Magazine got this idea from one of the Kate fashion blogs. She’s been saying this for weeks. Plus, it’s not true that Kate rarely wears US designers. She wears a lot of Ralph Lauren clothes and she’s started wear Veronica Beard (another Meghan favourite) recently. In the past she has worn a lot of Kate Spade dresses. I note that the press is never outraged when Kate wears US designers. Anyway I don’t think Kate will be going to the US either. I think this year will be see her going to Wimbledon a few more times this year, maybe Ladies day and a QF before the finals weekend.
Sorry I’m laughing at Kaiser’s joke about People not taking this as a sign that Kate wants to wear Meghan’s face as her own. And while I knew Kate wore Jenni Kane, I didn’t realize it was the same skirt as that yellow one but in a different color. I’m surprised she didn’t wear it with the matching sweater. The blazer with it is fine and meh but I’d be curious to see it with the matching sweater. It is a very pretty and floaty skirt.
Talking about feet is weird but does anyone know what those lumps are on her feet? It looks painful.
Also, if only Kate could coordinate tones. She mixes cool tones and warm tones all the time and it’s jarring and looks unprofessional. But the fashion/colour people, just like the media, blow smoke and say she looks amazing in everything.
She has ruined her feet wearing all those stilettos all the time. Her feet are quite hideous, full of bunions, corns, unkempt and hammer toes. In the dating years, she used to go around with dirty feet.
The lumps may be ganglion cycsts. Benign and usually temporary, but depending on where they pop up, can be painful. I’ve got one in my foot at the moment that gives me grief first thing in the morning until things start to flex around it.
“Princess Kate rarely wears American brands, often opting to spotlight her favorite U.K. brands or, when traveling abroad, highlighting the work of local designers.”
Really??? It’s something many on CB have pointed out over the years: she doesn’t highlight local/national designers. The closest she gets to acknowledging a country and clothes is dressing in the flag colours.
At best she may wear a pair of earrings that her assistant picked up at the airport on the way in.
Gonna be real here for a moment. I do NOT photograph well. I am much more attractive in person than I am in photographs. My face just isn’t it when it comes to cameras. lol. However, even though there are like 2 good photos out of 1000 photos of me, I have never, not once in my life, made the faces she is making.
The big rictus grin, the bug eyes, the constantly looking shocked. I have heard she does these poses and holds them unnaturally long, so that cameras can get a good photograph, but honestly, imagine you are there trying to have a conversation with her and she stops the conversation in the middle, looking like she has frozen in place. It is so bizarre. If I was the person next to her I would think she was having a stroke.
I can’t believe they keep letting her do this and that no one has coached her otherwise.
Insightful comment.
The freeze posing is so so so terrible. She should have been/be coached on how to pose naturally during events when she’s speaking with people.
I am not photogenic either! Non photogenic people unite!! and because I am always talking, I’m often caught in super unflattering poses, because I’m turning my head quickly or using my hands too much or just in mid-gab.
So all that to say – yes these poses are deliberate. Shes not being caught mid conversation. She’s doing it on purpose.
Yas! Yay for the non photogenic crew!
I usually like to refer to the Princess of Wales as Keen or Buttons, but maybe I need to switch that up to Crazy Eyes.
I’m with you after seeing that first photo
I’m trying to imagine Meghan in that dress and it’s slaying me. Maybe if she wore it with her Minnie Mouse ears?
Meghan could make a paper bag look good, but even she could not save that dress.
Now I’m laughing imagining Meghan wearing it!
Meghan is far too classy and subtle to wear a child-like dress like Kate is wearing. Some women have style and Kate is not one of them.