Harriet Sperling wore Beulah London to Ascot Day 5: surprisingly good?

Here are some photos from the last two days of Royal Ascot – Friday was Day 4, and Saturday was Day 5. Apparently, Friday was crazy-hot, and as you can see in the photos, King Charles looked like he was completely melting in his morning suit. Queen Camilla wore turquoise on Day 4, and “royal blue” on Day 5. Those look like her normal, dumpy housedresses and coatdresses. To her credit, Camilla always dusts off some major jewelry for these events though. On Day 4, Camilla wore Queen Mary’s diamond-and-turquoise brooch, which I don’t think much of. I’m not a big fan of turquoise in general though. On Day 5, Camilla wore Prince Albert’s sapphire brooch, a really stunning piece.

Meanwhile, Peter Phillips and his bride Harriet Sperling made another appearance at Ascot on Day 5. People are really obsessed with Harriet’s look here – she wore a lacy Beulah London dress, and remember, the founder of Beulah London came to Harriet’s wedding. The founder is also married to the Princess of Wales’ ex, Rupert Finch. This Beulah London dress retails for $1,570, and I have to imagine that Harriet is being given freebies at this point. There’s no way she could afford this “Kate Lite” wardrobe on a nurse’s salary, and god knows, Peter doesn’t have that much money. What else? Harriet carried a Stow London bag and she wore a Jane Taylor hat.

One of the most interesting things about Harriet wearing all of these “inspired by Kate” ensembles is that Kate is finally the one being copykeened, after years of obsessively tracking every single thing Diana wore and every single thing Meghan wears. And I’m sure Kate absolutely hates being copykeened, not least because… Harriet is actually doing it better. Harriet’s look and body is more suited to these clothes. Kate would have looked like a prissy doily in this dress.

Bonus: Zara Tindall in a custom Claire Mischevani dress with giant polka dots. Ugh.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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30 Responses to “Harriet Sperling wore Beulah London to Ascot Day 5: surprisingly good?”

  1. Inge says:

    Its always quite obvvious that the dresses Kate wears look far nicer on models & they now look nicer on Harriet as well.

    Kate seems to select these dresses based on how they look not on wether they fit her body type.

    Btw the fabrics of what Camilla wears seem quite thick for the weather & that front zip is a choice…

    • Miranda says:

      Ughhh, that damn front zip! I sometimes wonder if perhaps I’m being too nitpicky when I notice these things, but a front zip on anything dressy bugs the hell out of me! It’s a minor detail that can spoil a whole look for me, and Camilla is a serial offender.

    • Irving says:

      To my mind, a front zip automatically makes it a housecoat. If you know, you know!

  2. Sqiudgy says:

    She is desperately leaning into the royal thing and you know, absolutely challenging ‘the perfect princess ‘ TM. She’s being paid by brands because of her royal connections. Omg shocking! Isn’t that profiting from royal connections or am I totally wrong? Never minds, she a perfect white divorcee. All good. Unless perfect princess TM gets annoyed.

    • Jais says:

      As is her husband. As is Zara. As is Mike. Idc. Let them get their bag. As long as they keep the sussex name out of their mouths, which Mike has been unable to do. The issue for me has always been the BM acting like Megan is tacky and profiting off the RF for selling cute jams and candles. Meanwhile, we got these people merching on the regular.

    • Nerd says:

      Sqiudgy and Jais that’s how we know it has to do with Meghan being an American woman of color and not because they honestly have a problem with her making money as a royal. They have a long list of white royals, born, married in and divorced, who they say nothing about them making their own money in part because of their royal connection, but as soon as the black biracial woman does it, there’s a problem. Everything they accuse Meghan of doing has been done or is being done by white people, in the family or out, yet there only problem is when she does it. Nothing she has done is wrong, the only thing wrong with Meghan when it comes to these people, is her race. This reminds me of how Bill Maher has a huge problem with Obama having a Presidential Center and wants to know why he has it and says the money could have been spent elsewhere. It’s always a problem when the person of color achieves what white people do and are celebrated for it.

  3. KC says:

    Peter’s clothes never fit properly. It drives me bonkers. Sir, get yourself to a tailor.

    • Yvette says:

      @KC … His outfit looks like a last minute off-the-rack rental.

    • Nerd says:

      It drives me crazy that it doesn’t matter where he’s at or what he’s being photographed for, he always looks like a little boy who found his father’s suit laying across a chair waiting to be taken to the cleaners. The suits are always too big, long and wrinkly, even at their wedding. I couldn’t believe that they had a magazine cover and no one bothered to make sure his clothes were sized properly.

  4. CatGotMyTongue says:

    I can’t imagine Kate is thrilled that there is a new shiny around.

    Harriet does pull these looks off well.

    • Me at home says:

      Nor would Willy pose leaning into Kate or holding her hand like Peter is doing here. Yes, they’re newlyweds, but the chemistry is there.

  5. Jais says:

    It’s very lacy. Almost bridal. Reminds me of a blue lacy one Kate wore years back. But she does look good imo. She looks healthy and has a glow.

  6. Chaine says:

    Don’t come at me, but I think they look better on Harriet because she looks healthy and happy and her smiles are genuine and her husband looks proud to be with her! If Kate was/had all of those things, she could wear the dress and probably look actually better than Harriet because of her coloring.

    • Jais says:

      It’s Kate style but on a woman who looks healthy and happy. And that makes a very big difference. I like the fit on Harriet better.

  7. 2131Jan says:

    Personally, I hate Harriet’s doily dress. And that pink purse does not go well with that dress and what looks like a reptile patterned shoe. Both way too informal for that type of dress.

    For the very first time in this round of races, I think Zara looks pretty good. Much better than she’s looked in past days. This is the first dress without poofy sleeves. Personally, I like polka-dots, and they’re “in” for the summer ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Cam looks like the Horse that got the sugar cube; she has the *worst* “smile’. In that first pic, first thing that shot to my mind was the SNL skit: “Ooops! I crapped my pants!” Lolol

    • Sure says:

      The bag and the shoes don’t work with the dress and hat – complete mismatch.

    • Harla says:

      I personally like the pop of color that the purse provides but the shoes should have either matched the purse or the dress.

  8. Mrs S says:

    I like Harriet’s and Zara’s outfits. King is always well-dressed. Nice weather.

  9. sunniside up says:

    Peter would look better if he wore the next size up, It looks slightly pulled

  10. Lady J says:

    The dress itself is pretty, but the hat combo is giving Second Wedding in Texas circa 1982

  11. YankeeDoodles says:

    I think if you had to parody the British reaction to Meghan, it’s like copyright infringement. Like, that’s OUR thing!!!! When you do it, it’s blowing the gaff, if I’m spelling that right. It’s dropping the mask. The merching and posing only works if it’s all from the same catalogue.

  12. dirtyduck says:

    Harriet’s dress is lovely. It reminds me of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Zara’s polka dots are not my cup of tea but she can wear anything because there is always the sleek, muscular body of a professional athlete underneath, and she beams at every occasion, which is always a good look.

  13. Eurydice says:

    British fashion designers have been so innovative and influential, it’s hard to believe that this is what the aristocracy and adjacent decide to embrace. I hate all these fussy dumpy dresses that look like a laundry bag with a belt – the droopy skirts, itty bitty handbags and prissy little hats. At least Camilla goes bold with her hats.

  14. Tina says:

    I don’t like the Beulah London dress or the too white hat. The shoes might have worked without the pink bag. It’s an ok look but she’s attractive and has a good figure. Zara’s look is pretty bad. It usually is. I love polka dots and I don’t like this dress without the belt and ugly hat.

  15. Kittenmom says:

    Peter looks like an off-brand Ken doll.

    I dislike Harriet’s (Kate’s) fussy style but she is pretty and everything looks much better on her than Kate.

  16. Amy Bee says:

    Harriet better watch her back. According to the royal fashion bloggers her jewellery is from Pragnell. It wouldn’t surprise me she’s being paid to wear their jewellery.

  17. IdlesAtCranky says:

    Ok, no, no, and no.

    Nice first: Harriet looks healthy and happy. That’s really nice to see.

    Harriet’s outfit: if that dress cost over 1k, someone got a lousy deal. It looks cheaply made: the sleeves are an awkward length, the fabric is limp, and the whole front of the bodice and collar are wonky and don’t lie properly.
    The shoes and bag are both wrong for the dress, and don’t go together either. It’s fine to play against the bridal look with accessories, but this was a random stab at that and it failed.

    Zara: pixelated polka dots and her usual smugness — ok, whatever, royal D List.

    QC Not-Diana: I can’t believe this cow is actually doing a worse job than QEII did at showing off these gorgeous jewels. QEII was always unimaginative, far too matchy-matchy, but at least the jewels showed to advantage.

    Not-Diana would have done way better to just swap the two brooches for these outfits — each brooch would have shown to far better advantage against the contrasting blue than they do against the matching colors.

    It takes real talent to make a jewel like the Prince Albert sapphire brooch look dull and insignificant! Yet she pulled it off. It doesn’t help that her ugly spirit shows so clearly on her face, but just looking at the fashion alone, this is honestly a crime.

    Ah well. I know who to look to if I want to see a Princess who is always elegant, graceful, and beautifully put together, whether she’s wearing a t-shirt and jeans or the haughtiest of haut couture… she lives in Montecito. 😎💛

  18. IdlesAtCranky says:

    Oh, and one more thing: will someone please explain to me, what in the everloving crocodile hell is it, with this obsession all these women have with the damn sleeves puffed at the shoulder?!?

    Is it some kind of secret sleeve tax on “royal” and royal-adjacent grifters on the public purse? THEY ALL WEAR THEM CONSTANTLY. Kate is the only one who often goes for sharp shoulders, on those eternal coat dresses (which is a whole other problem.)

    I started noticing it first on Beatrice, because she wears them on everything, with high necklines, on dresses a size too small, and it’s terribly unflattering on her. She actually has a nice figure but she never dresses what she has to advantage.

    Once Beatrice had sensitized me, I couldn’t stop seeing the damned puffed sleeves on all of them. Even Not-Diana’s cobalt zip-front house dress has the puff at the shoulder. It’s ridiculous.

    Help me out here, folks — what am I missing? Why is this childish, unflattering style so widely loved in the UK aristocracy?

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