When it comes to choosing outfits for significant events, the Princess of Wales is often seen as the epitome of elegance, rarely making a fashion misstep.
Whether she is at public engagements, supporting charitable initiatives, or attending official functions both in the UK and abroad, she is consistently admired for her polished and stylish appearances.
However, there are exceptions to every rule.
Despite her reputation for adhering to royal protocols, there is one type of event where Kate seems to enjoy bending the rules.
At the recent wedding of King Charles’s nephew, Peter Phillips, to NHS nurse Harriet Sperling, it wasn’t just the bride who donned white. In a surprising twist, Catherine also chose to wear white.
She opted for a £750 Roland Mouret dress, showcasing sophistication with its short sleeves, calf-length cut, button-down notched collar, and drop-waisted pleated skirt.
But the colour, a delicate blush pink, looked perilously close to white in certain lights – particularly in photographs, which tend to bleach out paler colours.
You don’t need to be a princess with a personal stylist, professional aide and private secretary to know that if there’s one thing a wedding guest should abstain from wearing, it is white.
At the wedding of King Charles ’s nephew Peter Phillips and NHS nurse Harriet Sperling on Saturday, it was not merely the bride who wore white. Rather rebelliously, Catherine appeared to wear it, too
Attending the nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel in 2018, she chose a £2,390 coat dress by Alexander McQueen (pictured), in an ultra-pale lemon hue that was almost indistinguishable from the white bridesmaid’s dress worn by Princess Charlotte
Adhering to her favourite wedding (non) colour palette, in 2012, Catherine wore a £740 Catherine Hooker coat with a matching £3,000 Jenny Packham dress to the June wedding of Prince William’s first cousin, Emily McCorquodale, and James Hutt (pictured)
In the pantheon of sartorial sins, a white or off-white outfit is far more egregious than those other wedding no-no’s, such as a low-cut top, a see-through dress or heels that are too perilously high to walk in.
Wearing white risks drawing attention away from the bride on her big day, a cardinal sin that is on a par with overindulging on the rose or bringing an uninvited guest. None of which appears to have deterred Catherine.
Nor was this the first time that the Princess has chosen to wear a whiter shade of pale to a high-profile wedding.
Attending the nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in 2018, she chose a £2,390 coat dress by Alexander McQueen, in an ultra-pale lemon hue that was almost indistinguishable from the white bridesmaid’s dress worn by her daughter, Princess Charlotte.
That it was also virtually indistinguishable from Meghan Markle’s white Givenchy wedding gown, albeit knee-length, may or may not have been another bone of contention between the allegedly fractious pair.
Adhering to her favourite wedding (non) colour palette, in 2012, Catherine wore a £740 Catherine Hooker coat with a matching £3,000 Jenny Packham dress to the June wedding of Prince William’s first cousin, Emily McCorquodale, and James Hutt.
This time, her outfit came in an ultra-pale blue – although it still contrived to look white in photographs.
At the 2011 wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall in Scotland, meanwhile, Catherine chose another pale shade, a subtle biscuit-hued Day Birger et Mikkelson coat worn with a coordinating lace dress, by Collette Dinnigan (pictured)
The Princess of Wales wore the same Day Birger et Mikkelson coat at the 2006 wedding of the Queen’s daughter Laura Parker Bowles and chartered accountant Harry Lopes in Wiltshire (pictured)
The Princess of Wales seen at the wedding of Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mark Tomlinson in Arosa, Switzerland, in March 2013 withthe Prince of Wales
At the 2011 wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall in Scotland, meanwhile, Catherine chose another pale shade, a subtle biscuit-hued Day Birger et Mikkelson coat worn with a coordinating lace dress, by Collette Dinnigan.
She teamed the look with a matching saucer hat by Gina Foster.
As one of the most watched and highly scrutinized women in the world, it is unlikely that the princess is choosing these almost-white shades in a bid to steal attention from the bride on her big day.
After all, Catherine has more than enough attention already. In fact, the outfit she wore at the Tindalls’ wedding in 2011 was a repeat, presumably chosen deliberately not to steal the spotlight from the bride.
She wore the same Day Birger et Mikkelson coat at the 2006 wedding of the Queen’s daughter Laura Parker Bowles and chartered accountant Harry Lopes in Wiltshire, as well as to the wedding of university friends Melissa Nicholson and Oliver Barker in 2010.
A more likely theory is that, like many guests, she gravitates towards off-white shades knowing they are a failsafe way to look smart and seasonally appropriate at a summer wedding.
Where Catherine leads, others tend to follow – in droves. Whatever the weather forecast predicts for their big day, summer brides may need to brace themselves for a whiteout.
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