One of the funniest quirks about Royal Ascot is that Carole Middleton and the Middleton family only get invited whenever the Princess of Wales deigns to join the royals. Last year, Carole Middleton showed up at Ascot bright and early, expecting to join up with her daughter in the Royal Enclosure, only for Kate to pull out at the very last minute. The year before (2024), Carole was welcomed back to Ascot as some kind of quid-pro-quo, part of the negotiations to bring back Kate after her months-long disappearance.
All of which to say, Carole went to Ascot today and that’s how everyone knew that Kate would arrive in one of the carriages for the procession. Carole turned up bright and early, as she always does, but she didn’t have her husband on her arm. Michael Middleton was in the wind! Instead, Carole attended Ascot with her daughter-in-law Alize Thevenet.
Carole wore a repeat for this appearance – she wore this same pink Catherine Walker coatdress to Pippa Middleton’s 2017 wedding. Alizee’s dress is of more interest to me, because she looks like she just wandered into Ascot from the pre-WWII French countryside. The Middletons’ infamous lack of style has completely rubbed off on poor Alizee.
I will cover the Kate pics shortly! She’s wearing yellow.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- Royals attend day two of Royal Ascot 2026 at Ascot Racecourse Featuring: Carole Middleton and Alizee Thevenet Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Royals attend day two of Royal Ascot 2026 at Ascot Racecourse Featuring: Carole Middleton and Alizee Thevenet Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Royals attend day two of Royal Ascot 2026 at Ascot Racecourse Featuring: Carole Middleton and Alizee Thevenet Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Royals attend day two of Royal Ascot 2026 at Ascot Racecourse Featuring: Carole Middleton and Alizee Thevenet Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Royals attend day two of Royal Ascot 2026 at Ascot Racecourse Featuring: Carole Middleton Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 17 Jun 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
Alize looks like she’s wearing an old fashioned nightgown.
This! ….like Granny used to wear.
This! And it shows what most people think of these royal events – it’s participating in a giant costume party. All about fun, not that deep!
She married grifter JMiddy and she loves the attention. That’s why she’s dressed like an idiot – to get attention.
Very “Little House on the Prairie” to me… and something is seriously wrong with the cut of CM dress it is extremely ill fitting at least to me.
Yeah, it’s more pre-ww1 rather than ww2. I was thinking Sarah Stanley from Road to Avonlea. When Sarah Stanley went to a wedding. Or a random woman on the Titanic second class.
I was picturing Mrs Olson from Little house of the prairie all that dress is missing is Mrs Olson apron lol..
Or an extra on The Gilded Age.
Edwardian Nanny look again 🙄🙄🙄
Carole’s dress is ugly. Her companion is wearing a dress that looks like the robe I had when I was 5 back in the good old 70’s.
The desperation to dress from 1870 is interesting.
I think Caroles dress is completely fine and appropriate – it’s just that she walks like a farmer wearing wellies and checking the fences in slightly muddy terrain (no offense to farmers at all).
Alize looks like she wears a costume.
💯💯💯😄🤣😝
And the polka dress in one of the pictures shows that not all of these people dress in these horrid, dated clothes. People keep pushing the narrative that this style of dress is typical of British middle-aged women. I don’t see it at all.
Alizee looks like she’s wearing the Gunne Sax dress I adored in 1979. Also that hat looks like Carole went to pick her up and asked, “Where’s your hat?” So Alizee had to run around the house trying to find a hat, any hat.
The Era of the Granny Gown!
LOL, I feel for her. As a kid growing up in the sixties and seventies I had to exclusively wear Lanz of Salzburg nighties!
Modcloth brought Gunne Sax back but I’m trying to restrain myself. If you were old enough to wear it the first time….
lol Gunne Sax my 1983 junior prom dress..
I think if you took a photo of Alizee alone and in black and white you could reasonably convince a lot of people that this was from 1920. I know there’s a dress code, and that style is very cultural but goodness. Why are these people obsessed with dressing like they fell out of a time portal?
This isn’t even nods to past fashion, like you may get with 90s inspired, or 60s inspired outfits and fashion resurgences every once in awhile. It literally looks like she may have taken this from a clothing museum. I don’t get it, but I guess. Because everyone else seems to be dressed like this too.
I was picturing one of the impressionist paintings, only the hat brim may need to be a bit bigger. It absolutely looks like a costume (derogatory).
Ma always turns up early to make sure she gets her pap shots in before the real VIPs arrive and she’s ignored. At least she’s not showing off a 2nd hand Birkin this time (which I’m convinced was rented).
Alizee’s dress is of more interest to me, because she looks like she just wandered into Ascot from the pre-WWII French countryside – I am done for the day.
French countryside? See, my American self immediately had me thinking Little House on the Prairie.
she would’ve looked better with a different hat.
I see that being near the Middletons has removed any sense of French style from Alizée because that is ugly as hell and the hat makes it look worse.
I think its hilarious we’re all putting Alizee’s dress into different time periods. For me, put a bustle on it and its straight out of the late 19th century. Whatever it is, its not flattering on her and its not stylish. She looks uncomfortable and buttoned up.
I hope Carole enjoys royal ascot. She basically sold her daughter for days like this.
That’s where I was going, Victorian/Edwardian. It’s the sleeves, bodice, and neck that make me imagine that behind the skirt there is a huge bustle. I think the hat also lends itself to that – Summertime down the river with boats.
Heavens to Degas- what in the Madam Bovary is she cosplaying…
What in the Eliza Doolittle?! Where’s Professor Henry Higgins?
I think Alizee’s dress could be interesting if it were styled differently. I think styles that are such throwbacks have to be worn a little ironically; that is, you have to do something to give them a bit of a modern edge. Right now this website is showing me an ad for Fluevog shoes (I own a couple of pairs). Imagine if she wore a pair of quirky heels and a funkier hat. But because she played it so straight, she looks like she is cosplaying Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon.
Agree. I keep looking at the brim on the boater and it needs to be larger.
This is what you get when you want people to take fashion chances. Be careful what you ask for.
It’s amazing that Kate dresses older than her mother. Alizee’s outfit is terrible.
Is Alize going to boat down the Thames….in 1910? You have to admire her totally embracing trad wife, the Edwardian years.
The brim should be a little larger though.
I love Alizée’s outfit. Call me crazy. But it’s like a French spin on Annie Hall. She has scrupulously observed every codicil of the dress code whilst putting her own stamp on it and that is unmistakably her personal style. Especially that adorable cheeky hat.
Cosplaying Diana again. The Middletons all need decades of therapy.
alize timewarped back to 1905
Kaiser I am still laughing at your take on Azia dress because I was wondering when did we start this type of dressing again and if this is the new fashion, count me the f out .
I’m getting Picnic at Hanging Rock vibes from Alize’s dress.
Best comment. 😂
Potentially unpopular opinion, but Alize’s dress seems very fashion forward to me. Here in Houston, where there’s a big, wealthy, under 40 crowd, I’ve been seeing these Gunne Sax inspired dresses on some of the well known fashion girls at donor events I have to go to recently. And was just in Seattle last week for another and saw even more of the same. Cottage-core, Grandma-core, thrift-core are definitely happening. Little did I know what I wore to sophomore year Homecoming would ever be relevant again. Lol. It’s giving Yesteryear trad wife influencer vibes.
Yes, it’s totally 70s. The young uns don’t know what they’re talking about.
I wonder if this dress is another of Carole’s cast offs from something like Laura Ashley in the late 70s. Don’t forget Alizee actually wore Carole’s wedding dress when she married her son.
Where is Pippa?
Alizee’s ensemble isn’t even fit for a boating mishap. I really think Ma Middleton set her up.
I am curious to see if there are any photos of Kate actually interacting with The Other Sister-in-law. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any with her engaged in conversation with Alizee. The see she can be nice and welcoming to a new (white) sister-in-law – it’s just Meghan no one can get along with – stories are really grating.